LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 24/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.may24.19.htm

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

Bible Quotations For today
Jesus cures the Blind Man In Bethsaida
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 08/22-26:”They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on May 23-24/19
3 Sons of ex-MP Yaaqoub Arrested in Bednayel
Kanaan Unveils Huge Numbers of Illegally Hired State Employees
Jumblat: Finalizing Budget More Important than Futile Debate
Khalil Signals Preparations for 2020 State Budget
Hajj Hassan Reveals Political Interference in Mobile Sector
Bassil: Budget Steps Insufficient, Some Decisions Need Courage
Report: Bassil’s 12 Suggestions that Pushed Budget Approval Until Friday
Israeli Troops Try to Nab Shepherd, Seize 200 Goats Instead
Najarian: Country's Problems Not Being Treated Thoroughly
Structural Reforms May Push Lebanon's Fiscal Deficit Down to 1.2% by 2023, IIF Says

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 23-24/19
Pentagon to present plans for 10,000 more troops to Mideast
Iran, US tension is a ‘clash of wills’: Guards commander
Saudi Arabia Downs Explosive-Laden Drone from Yemen
Trump torpedoes meeting with Democrats, blasts Pelosi’s ‘cover-up’ accusation
Pelosi Warns Move to Impeach Trump Now Premature, 'Very Divisive'
Ankara Stops Buying Iran Oil Out of Respect for U.S. Sanctions
Pompeo: Huawei Not Truthful about Ties with China's Government
Trump 'Less Prepared' than Putin for Key Meeting, Says Tillerson
Two air strikes kill 14 Afghan civilians
Deadly New Air Strikes as Syria Army Battles Jihadists
Hamas sympathizer threatening to blow up Trump Tower arrested
UN Agency for Palestinians Rejects US Call to Dismantle It
Palestinians Confirm Will Not Attend U.S.-Led Meeting in Bahrain
Israel Cuts Gaza Fishing Limit after Fire Balloons
British Government Postpones Brexit Vote
Dutch, UK Polls Open, Starting 4 Days of European Election
US, Japan, S.Korea, Australia hold first naval drills in Western Pacific
Pakistan test-fires nuclear-capable missile

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 23-24/19
Structural Reforms May Push Lebanon's Fiscal Deficit Down to 1.2% by 2023, IIF Says/The National/May 24/2019
Saber-rattling alone will not scare Iran/Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/May 23/2019
EU threatened by its failure to focus on real issues/Ana Palacio/Arab News/May 23/2019
Abe to continue charm offensive as Trump visits Japan/Andrew Hammond/Arab News/May 23/2019
Lieberman returns to defense in next Netanyahu government. IDF will stop firing at Gaza rioters/Debeka File/May 23/2019
Palestinians: The New Hamas List of 'Traitors'/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/May 23/2019
Iran: Planning to Kidnap and Kill More Americans/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/May 23/2019

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on May 23-24/19
3 Sons of ex-MP Yaaqoub Arrested in Bednayel
Naharnet/May 23/2019/Three sons of controversial ex-MP Hassan Yaaqoub were arrested Thursday in the Baalbek district town of Bednayel. The National News Agency said an army patrol apprehended the trio at their home, seizing weapons and amunition. The development comes after a verbal dispute between ex-MP Yaaqoub and Bednayel mayor Ali Jawad Suleiman escalated into gunfire.The dispute was linked to the removal of a construction violation on land owned by Yaaqoub, which resulted in the wounding of a Syrian man. The patrol also raided the house of a man from the Suleiman family without finding him.

Kanaan Unveils Huge Numbers of Illegally Hired State Employees
Naharnet/May 23/2019/The head of the finance parliamentary committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan on Thursday unveiled a final report related to the file of employment in public administrations, disclosing that 5,473 civilian employees were hired after August 21, 2017, among them only 460 in a legal manner. “32,009 people were hired before August 2017 in a blatant crime,” Kanaan lamented. He added that the committee has lodged the documents and reports it has with the Court of Audit to facilitate its inspection mission, noting that the committee has recommended suspending all employment pending a “comprehensive survey and restructuring of administration and public institutions.”

Jumblat: Finalizing Budget More Important than Futile Debate
Naharnet/May 23/2019/Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat on Thursday called for finalizing the stalled 2019 state budget. Lamenting that the PSP's recommendations on seaside properties and a progressive taxing system were rejected by the majority of political forces, Jumblat tweeted that “finalizing the budget is more important than impeding it or engaging in a futile and obstructive debate.”“It's about time we reached a result in order to discuss the 2020 budget,” he urged. The Cabinet has held around 17 sessions to finalize the budget and several parties have accused Foreign Minister Jebran 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.

Khalil Signals Preparations for 2020 State Budget
Naharnet/May 23/2019/Minister of Finance Ali Hassan Khalil circulated a memo to the ministries and state departments to start preparing the draft budget of 2020, were discussions will expectedly start with ministers next week, LBCI reported on Thursday. In that regard, Interior Minister Raya el-Hassan earlier noted that the government must finalize the 2019 state budget discussions because by law the budget of 2020 must be submitted in one month. “We should not be too late with the 2019 budget. We have to be aware that we are looking at the budget of 2019 while having to submit the budget of 2020 in a month. We can not handle everything at once. We have to give a positive signal to the markets and the international community,” Hassan told the daily. The Cabinet has held around 17 sessions to finalize the budget and several parties have accused Foreign Minister Jebran 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.

Hajj Hassan Reveals Political Interference in Mobile Sector
Naharnet/May 23/2019/MP Hussein Hajj Hassan, Head of the Media and Telecom parliamentary committee revealed on Thursday that there had been political interventions in the past to allow certain companies to operate Lebanon's mobile phone services, the National News Agency reported. "There had been political interference in the past by some ministers to annul some tenders in order to give them to specific companies," the Minister said in a press conference held at the Parliament. "We have started the study of the capital and operating expenses with a total value of $222 million," added Hassan. "We have also requested a feasibility study for all the tenders that took place in 2018," he concluded.

Bassil: Budget Steps Insufficient, Some Decisions Need Courage
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/May 23/2019/Free Patriotic Movement chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil on Thursday described the austerity measures included in the 2019 draft state budget as “insufficient,” urging “courage” in taking some painful decisions. “What has been so far accomplished in Cabinet is insufficient,” Bassil said at a press conference he held after an emergency meeting for the FPM-led Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc. “We are before a chance that will not be repeated,” he warned, urging further reforms. Cautioning that some inside and outside the country “want to leave the country and the presidential tenure under the mercy of the crisis,” Bassil said his dispute is not with a single person but rather with several parties. “Do not intimidate us by saying that some don't want a state budget. We all want a speedy state budget,” Bassil added. And lamenting that “we lack a political decision to shoulder the cost of an austerity budget,” the FPM chief pointed out that “every reform has a cost and someone has to bear it.”He reassured: “The state budget will be finalized and the deficit has been lowered but we're seeking a bigger reduction and there is no need for scaring people.”“We want a drastic solution, not painkillers, and we have offered the necessary sacrifices in our ministries,” Bassil said. He added: “We reject the persistence of this situation and we have an economic plan to resolve the crisis. We are not imposing it on anyone, but we have a responsibility towards the Lebanese.”“I've been hearing calls for postponing things for the past ten years in Cabinet, so when will the decision to rescue the country be taken?” Bassil asked. “We have reached a lot of reforms in the state budget and this is something good for everyone who has participated in it, from the finance minister to the rest of those concerned, but we consider it insufficient,” he went on to say. As for Friday's cabinet session on the state budget, Bassil said: “We will continue our positive work and we're not pressing regarding anything, but there are decisions that need courage in order to be taken.”“Is it acceptable that the Lebanese are paying compensations for the family of an MP who won his seat in 1947?” the FPM chief wondered, referring to proposals to slash the salaries of incumbent and former ministers and MPs. He added: “We want the state budget to restore people's confidence in the state, encourage investment, reassure the international community, restore confidence in the markets and activate the economic cycle.”“Only 5,000 Syrians in Lebanon have work permits, is this acceptable?” Bassil decried. As for his tense ties with Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, the foreign minister said: “We don't want a problem with anyone, but rather solutions for the sake of Lebanon and the Lebanese.”The Cabinet has held around 17 sessions to finalize the budget and several parties have accused Bassil of hindering the discussions with side proposals. Proposals he made in Wednesday's session prompted Prime Minister Saad Hariri to give ministers 48 hours to study them. 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.

Report: Bassil’s 12 Suggestions that Pushed Budget Approval Until Friday
Naharnet/May 23/2019/As the government was finalizing its budget discussions during a session on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil made 12 suggestions to include in the budget and slash the deficit which pushed its approval until Friday, media reports said on Thursday.
Bassil had insisted that his proposal constitutes an “opportunity” to take advantage of the largest reduction in deficit rate, which Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil strongly opposed because “we are short on time,” al-Joumhouria daily reported.
According to the daily, Bassil raised the issues of:
- Measure No 3 which was referred to Defense Minister Elias Bou Saab, Interior Minister Raya Hassan and head of the Internal Security Forces.
-Subjecting Banque du Liban to interest tax.
-Setting a ceiling for educational grants - reducing high salaries - stopping the scales or their financial effect - abolishing illegal public employment that violated law No 46- closing the country’s illegal crossings, controlling the borders, stopping tax evasion and reducing the contributions - fees on yachts, raising the tax on sand and gravel from 1000 to 15,000 Lebanese pounds.
-An additional reduction in the budgets of ministries of health, social affairs, youth and sports. Bassil announced his willingness to slash the budget of his ministry by LBP10 billion, and he urged for the abolition of the ministry of the displaced, according to the daily. Media reports said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri was “dismayed” by Bassil’s proposals and addressed him saying: “Do you want to trigger a social revolution.”On Wednesday, the Cabinet failed anew to finalize the 2019 state budget and will hold another session on Friday to continue the discussions. The session reportedly witnessed "heated discussions over what some ministers described as time waste in discussing and approving the state budget."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 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.

Israeli Troops Try to Nab Shepherd, Seize 200 Goats Instead
Naharnet/May 23/2019/An Israeli force on Thursday failed to kidnap the shepherd Ismail Z. who was grazing his flock in the Jabal al-Shahel area west of the southern border town of Shebaa, the National News Agency said. “The seven-member patrol chased him for dozens of meters north of the border line without managing to abduct him,” NNA added.“It instead seized 200 goats and took them into the occupied Shebaa Farms,” the agency said.

Najarian: Country's Problems Not Being Treated Thoroughly
Kataeb.org/May 23/2019/Kataeb's Secretary-General Nazar Najarian on Thursday voiced regret that problems are not treated thoroughly in Lebanon where things are dealt with in a reckless and random way, expressing concern that the simplistic approach adopted to discuss the 2019 budget draft would lead to future problems. "The government is seeking to reduce the budget deficit randomly just to appease the international community in order to unlock the CEDRE funds," Najarian said in an interview on Tele Liban. "We fear that the government won't be able to commit to the figures included in the budget because the country's problems are not being treated in depth," he added. Najarian stressed the need for the government to examine the state's structure, reduce expenses, control the state's resources and halt tax and customs evasion. "They are seeking to boost the state's revenues by snatching LBP 5000 from here and LBP 10,000 from the citizens' pockets, while billions are being squandered in public institutions or through tax and customs evasion." Najarian stressed the need to regain the international community’s trust, calling on the government to implement drastic structural reforms in the economy, administrations, resources management and spending.

Structural Reforms May Push Lebanon's Fiscal Deficit Down to 1.2% by 2023, IIF Says
The National/May 24/2019
The fiscal goals set by Lebanon's government, which is vying to push through its 2019 budget this week, will help one of the world’s most indebted countries to reduce its ballooning public debt, spur economic growth and reduce the fiscal deficit.
“Our projections show that the fiscal deficit could narrow from 11.2 per cent of the gross domestic product in 2018 to 8.4 per cent in 2019 and 1.2 per cent by 2023,” Garbis Iradian, chief economist for the Middle East and North Africa at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said in the latest report on Lebanon. With the reduction in fiscal deficit, the public debt-to-GDP ratio, around 150 per cent now, will be “placed on a firm downward trajectory”, declining to 130 per cent by 2023, he added. Bleak forecasts had projected the debt-to-GDP ratio to surge to 180 per cent if structural reforms are not implemented. Lebanon is behind only the most highly indebted countries such as Japan, Greece, Sudan and Venezuela.Lebanon amassed its public debt, which currently stands at $86.2 billion (Dh316bn), after the end of its 15-year civil war in 1990 as the country rebuilt its devastated infrastructure. Subsequent skirmishes, a war with Israel and various junctures of internal political bickering that left the country without a president or government for prolonged periods over the past decade, also delayed much needed structural reforms.
One of the key steps to Lebanon’s recovery will be exploring “serious revenue-enhancing measures”, accompanied by significant cuts in non-productive expenditures, according to the IIF. Reforming the wage bill to minimise the negative impact on poorer segments of the population and restructuring the utility company Electricite du Liban, which has been bleeding funds and raising tax revenues, should be the priorities for policymakers. The electricity company costs the government more than $2bn a year in subsidies.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government is on the cusp of pushing through a contentious austerity budget for 2019 that has been lambasted by civil servants, pensioners and employees of the central bank amid fears of salary cuts.
Access to about $11bn of concessional loans from friendly nations, which is contingent on the implementation of fiscal and structural reforms, is critical for Lebanon’s economy and its ability to revive growth. These funds will help change the debt dynamics and would also contribute to higher growth and lower interest rates, the IIF said.
For every one-percentage point increase in growth, the public debt-to-GDP ratio would decline by 1.5 per cent a year, according to IIF estimates. A reduction in the interest rate on debt by one percentage point would decrease the debt-to-GDP ratio by 1.4 per cent a year.
“In the absence of meaningful adjustment and external support, Lebanon would remain in a vicious cycle of rising debt, high interest rates, depressed private investment and subdued growth,” said Iradian. If the intended reforms are not carried out as planned, Lebanon’s fiscal deficit would remain above 11 per cent of GDP, and the debt-to-GDP ratio would increase further to 180 per cent by 2023, which would threaten the stability of the exchange rate. Addressing corruption and improving governance should be the essential components of fiscal and structural reforms,” said Iradian. However, fighting corruption is likely to be a gradual process requiring strong political will and can bring substantial fiscal benefits, including lower revenue leakage, less waste in expenditures and a higher quality of infrastructure, he said.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 23-24/19
Pentagon to present plans for 10,000 more troops to Mideast
The Associated Press, Washington/Thursday, 23 May 2019/The Pentagon on Thursday will present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, in a move to beef up defenses against potential Iranian threats, US officials said. The officials said no final decision has been made yet, and it’s not clear if the White House would approve sending all or just some of the requested forces. Officials said the move is not in response to any new threat from Iran but is aimed at reinforcing security in the region. They said the troops would be defensive forces, and the discussions include additional Patriot missile batteries, more ships and increased efforts to monitor Iran. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans have not been formally announced. Thursday morning’s meeting comes as tensions with Iran continue to simmer, and it wasn’t clear if a decision would be made during the session. Any move to deploy more forces to the Middle East would signal a shift for President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly emphasized the need to reduce America’s troop presence in the region. US officials have provided few details about possible Iranian threats but indicated they initially involved missiles loaded onto small Iranian boats. This week, officials said the missiles have been taken off the boats near Iran’s shore, but other maritime threats continue. Sending more troops could also raise questions on Capitol Hill. During back-to-back closed briefings for the House and Senate on Tuesday, defense leaders told congressional officials the US doesn’t want to go to war with Iran and wants to de-escalate the situation. In early May, the US accelerated the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to the Mideast and sent four B-52 bomber aircraft to the region. The Pentagon also decided to move a Patriot air-defense missile battery to an undisclosed country in the area. The Trump administration has evacuated nonessential personnel from Iraq, amid unspecified threats the administration said are linked to Iranian-backed militias in the country. On Sunday, a rocket was fired into Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, landing less than a mile from the sprawling US Embassy. There were no injuries and no group claimed responsibility, but the rocket was believed to have been fired from east Baghdad - which is home to Iran-backed Shiite militias.

Iran, US tension is a ‘clash of wills’: Guards commander
Reuters/May 232019/GENEVA: The standoff between Iran and the United States is a “clash of wills,” a senior commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday, suggesting any enemy “adventurism” would meet a crushing response, Fars news agency reported. Tensions have spiked between the two countries after Washington sent more military forces to the Middle East in a show of force against what US officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region.“The confrontation and face-off of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the malicious government of America is the arena for a clash of wills,” Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Baqeri said. He pointed to a battle during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war where Iran was victorious and said the outcome could be a message that Iran will have a “hard, crushing and obliterating response” for any enemy “adventurism.”On Sunday, US President Donald Trump tweeted: “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!“Trump restored US sanctions on Iran last year and tightened them this month, ordering all countries to halt imports of Iranian oil or face sanctions of their own.
Trump wants Iran to come to the negotiating table to reach a new deal with more curbs on its nuclear and missile programs. Reiterating Iran’s stance, the spokesman for its Supreme National Security Council said on Thursday that “There will not be any negotiations between Iran and America.”Keyvan Khosravi was also quoted as saying by the state broadcaster that some officials from several countries have visited Iran recently, “mostly representing the United States.” He did not elaborate, but the foreign minister of Oman, which in the past helped pave the way for negotiations between Iran and the United States, visited Tehran on Monday. “Without exception, the message of the power and resistance of the Iranian nation was conveyed to them,” he said. In Berlin, a German diplomatic source told Reuters that Jens Ploetner, a political director in Germany’s Foreign Ministry, was in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with Iranian officials to try to preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and cool tensions in the region.

Saudi Arabia Downs Explosive-Laden Drone from Yemen
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/May 23/2019/Saudi Arabia on Thursday shot down a bomb-laden drone deployed by rebels in neighbouring Yemen to attack an airport in the kingdom, the Riyadh-led coalition fighting on the side of Yemen's government said. "An explosive-laden drone sent by the terrorist Huthi militia to target Najran airport" was intercepted and destroyed by the Saudi air force, coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki was quoted by state media as saying. The Yemeni rebels' Al-Masirah TV said the attack -- the third against Najran airport in 72 hours -- had targeted a Patriot air defence system.
Maliki said "the rebels attacked a civilian airport" and warned of a "response."An armed drone sent on Tuesday had hit a weapons depot at the same airport, setting off a blaze, according to Al-Masirah. Maliki said on Tuesday that the rebels attacked a "civilian installation" in Najran province bordering Yemen with an explosives-laden drone, but did not report casualties. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to push back an advance by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who continue to hold the capital Sanaa, and to restore to power President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. Since then, the conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, relief agencies say. It has triggered what the U.N. describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 24.1 million -- more than two-thirds of the population -- in need of aid.

Trump torpedoes meeting with Democrats, blasts Pelosi’s ‘cover-up’ accusation
Reuters/Thursday, 23 May 2019/President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly cut short a White House meeting with Democratic lawmakers on infrastructure, then ripped into them over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s accusation that he is engaged in a cover-up and asserted that he could not work with them unless they dropped multiple investigations. “I don’t do cover-ups,” the Republican president, clearly agitated, told reporters at a previously unscheduled Rose Garden appearance after his brief meeting with Democratic congressional leaders that Pelosi described as “very, very, very strange.”
Unleashing a familiar litany of gripes about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe and the follow-up congressional inquiries that he has been stonewalling, Trump also complained that Democrats had met to discuss whether to impeach him - or, as he called it, “the I-word.”The rupture bodes ill for any possible cooperation between the president and the Democrats who control the House of Representatives on legislation on infrastructure or other matters as Trump seeks re-election in 2020, signaling deepening political gridlock in Washington. Pelosi, the top congressional Democrat, did not back down afterward and pointedly mentioned the possibility of impeachment, the US Constitution’s process for the House and Senate to remove a president from office. “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,” Pelosi said in an event at the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington policy advocacy group. The president is stonewalling congressional investigations by ignoring subpoenas, refusing to let current and former advisers testify and not handing over documents in the aftermath of the April release of Mueller’s report that detailed Russian interference in the 2016 election to boost Trump’s candidacy. In the run-up to the infrastructure meeting, Trump was stewing over Pelosi’s cover-up remarks, according to a White House official. Pelosi, amid growing talk about impeachment, had told reporters about an hour before the scheduled meeting that Trump is engaged in a cover-up. As the meeting neared, Trump told aides he wanted to hold an event in the Rose Garden to make a statement. When Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer arrived in the Cabinet Room, Trump walked in, stood at the head of a long boardroom table, and told them he had asked them over to talk about infrastructure, but that the speaker had just accused him of a cover-up. The meeting lasted only three to five minutes, the official said. Once Trump exited, Pelosi told Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and others in the room that prior presidents like Theodore Roosevelt had brought people together on infrastructure but Trump had walked out, two sources familiar with the meeting said. Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway asked Pelosi, “Do you have a response to what the president actually said?” Pelosi fired back, “I’m going to engage directly with the president, not the staff.”“That’s very pro-woman of you,” Conway fired back, the sources said. Afterward, Trump strode to a podium adorned with a professionally made sign that read, “No Collusion, No Obstruction” and that also listed the cost and length of the Mueller probe. Trump said, “I walked into the room and I told Senator Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, I want to do infrastructure. I want to do it more than you want to do it. I’d be really good at that - that’s what I do. But you know what? You can’t do it under these circumstances. So get these phony investigations over with.”

Pelosi Warns Move to Impeach Trump Now Premature, 'Very Divisive'
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/May 23/2019/Democrats are not yet ready to initiate impeachment proceedings against US President Donald Trump, the party's congressional leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, warning that such a course of action would be "very divisive." The powerful House speaker, whose high-profile rivalry with Trump spilled into open warfare this week, also said the president himself is "disappointed" that Democrats have not launched formal steps to remove him from office because such a move could fire up his conservative base and help his re-election effort. But she reiterated her position that impeachment was not presently the path forward for holding Trump to account. "We can get the facts to the American people through our investigation," she told reporters, referring to ongoing congressional probes that Trump has resisted. "It may take us to a place that is unavoidable in terms of impeachment or not, but we're not at that place."Pelosi reaffirmed her charge that Trump is engaged in a "cover-up" related to alleged efforts to obstruct justice regarding the special counsel's probe of Moscow's election interference and Trump's connections with Russia, but she cautioned that "impeachment is a very divisive place to go in our country.""The House Democratic caucus is not on a path to impeachment -- and that's where he wants us to be," the veteran Democrat said. Several Democratic lawmakers and 2020 presidential contenders are eager to assert constitutionally mandated congressional oversight powers as a check against the executive. But there are concerns the impeachment tactic could backfire, energizing Trump's base ahead of the election. "The white House is just crying out for impeachment," Pelosi added. The speaker also repeated her concern that Trump on Wednesday walked away from negotiations aimed at concluding a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan because he could not deal with Democrats on policy until "phony investigations" are brought to a close. Trump weighed into that debate again early Thursday in a series of tweets. "The Democrats are getting nothing done in Congress," Trump wrote. "It is not possible for them to investigate and legislate at the same time" because Democrats are focused on a "fishing expedition" regarding the Russia report, he added.

Ankara Stops Buying Iran Oil Out of Respect for U.S. Sanctions
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 23/2019/Ankara stopped importing oil from Iran at the beginning of May out of "respect" for American sanctions despite disagreeing with them, a Turkish official said Wednesday. "As a strategic ally" of the United States, "we respect" the sanctions, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous, during Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yavuz Selim Kiran's visit to Washington. Since pulling out of the landmark Iran nuclear deal a year ago, President Donald Trump's administration has hit Iran with severe sanctions prohibiting the export of Iranian oil, as well as targeting countries that continue to purchase it. Turkey was among eight countries, also including China, India and Japan, that were initially exempt from the sanctions and allowed to continue importing Iranian crude, but the exemption ended May 2 and has not been renewed.
Ankara initially appeared unwilling to comply, but according to the anonymous official, Turkey did stop importing Iranian oil after May 2. While meeting with Trump, the Turkish delegation in Washington discussed the various points of tension between the two NATO allies, including Ankara's recent controversial purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Moscow. Washington says the deal with Moscow is a threat to Western defense and in April suspended Ankara from the F-35 fighter jet program in a bid to halt the purchase. "It's a done deal," the Turkish deputy minister told journalists in Washington, reaffirming the country's stance on maintaining the contract with Moscow. The Turkish government proposed a joint technical working group with the Trump administration to help dispel any fears on the part of the U.S., which worries that the S-400s will be used to collect technological data on NATO military aircraft, which Russia will be able to access. "We're still waiting for their answer" on the technical group, added the Turkish official. U.S.-Turkish relations have grown tense over multiple issues, including U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish forces labelled terrorists by Ankara, and Washington's refusal to extradite Pennsylvania-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of being behind a failed coup in Turkey in 2016.

Pompeo: Huawei Not Truthful about Ties with China's Government
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 23/2019/U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged Thursday that Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is not truthful about its relationship with China's government. When Huwawei says it is not working with that government, "that's just false. That's just false," Pompeo told CNBC. "To say that they don't work with the Chinese government is a false statement," Pompeo said of Huawei, which has effectively been banned by the U.S. over worries that Beijing uses it as a tool for espionage. Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei, Pompeo said, "isn't telling the American people the truth, nor the world."

Trump 'Less Prepared' than Putin for Key Meeting, Says Tillerson
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 23/2019/US President Donald Trump was less prepared than Vladimir Putin for their first meeting, allowing his Russian counterpart to promote his own agenda and leaving US officials at a disadvantage, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has told lawmakers. Tillerson, who was fired by Trump last March, delivered his assessment of Trump's approach to the talks in Hamburg in 2017, in remarks to a Congress committee Tuesday reported by the Washington Post. "We spent a lot of time in the conversation talking about how Putin seized every opportunity to push what he wanted," a committee aide told the newspaper. "There was a discrepancy in preparation, and it created an unequal footing." Trump met with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in July 2017 under a cloud of rebuke for his reluctance to criticize the Russian leader directly over Moscow's meddling in US elections the previous year. He later said he got along with Putin "very, very well" at the meeting. Tillerson attended the Hamburg talks, which were intended to be a brief meeting but span out into a two-hour discussion on a variety of global issues, anonymous committee aids told the Washington Post. The following year Trump met again with Putin for their first formal summit in Helsinki, dismissing top aides for two hours of talks, in a sharp break with standard diplomatic practice. The businessman-turned-politician has previously expressed skepticism about the importance of preparation for high-stakes diplomacy, describing "attitude" as more useful than research. Ahead of his first meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last year, Trump said with characteristic bravado: "I don't think I have to prepare very much... It's about attitude, it's about willingness to get things done."Trump dismissed Tillerson's remarks, claiming he was "perfectly prepared" for meetings with Putin. "We did very well at those meetings," he said, according to the newspaper. Tillerson has previously described Trump as an "undisciplined" figure who repeatedly wanted to break the law -- leading the US president to respond that his onetime cabinet member was "dumb as a rock" and lazy as hell."

Two air strikes kill 14 Afghan civilians
AFP, Kabul/Thursday, 23 May 2019/Two air strikes have killed 14 civilians in Afghanistan in recent days, the United Nations said Thursday, as the US intensifies its air war across the country. According to the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), five women and seven children were among the 14 civilians killed in Helmand province in the south on May 20, and Kunar province in the east on May 22. “Civilian casualty toll from airstrikes in Afghanistan continues to rise,” UNAMA said on Twitter. “Parties must respect international obligations to protect civilians from harm.”While the Afghan military does have a fledgling air force, most strikes are led or supported by American air power. US Forces Afghanistan declined to comment. According to US Air Force Central Command, the US dropped 7,362 bombs in Afghanistan in 2018, the highest number since at least 2010.
In April, UNAMA published a report saying Afghan civilians are for the first time being killed in greater numbers by US and pro-government forces than by the Taliban and other insurgent groups. During the first three months of 2019, international and pro-government forces were responsible for the deaths of 305 civilians, whereas insurgent groups killed 227 people, UNAMA said. The development comes as the US steps up its air campaign in Afghanistan while pushing for a peace deal with the Taliban, who now control or influence more parts of the country than at any time since they were ousted in 2001. At least eight police officers were killed May 16 in southern Afghanistan during a “friendly fire” strike from US forces. And UNAMA last week said it was probing allegations of civilian casualties resulting from US air strikes against purported drug-making facilities in western Afghanistan. The allegations center on strikes conducted earlier in May in Farah and Nimroz provinces, where dozens of structures said to have been used to produce heroin and other illegal drugs were destroyed.

Deadly New Air Strikes as Syria Army Battles Jihadists
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 23/2019/Syrian government aircraft bombed several towns in northwestern Syria on Thursday killing five civilians as troops and militia battled jihadists on the ground, a monitor said. The new bombardment of the largely jihadist-controlled region of Idlib followed strikes on Tuesday night and Wednesday that killed 23 civilians, 12 of them at a busy market. In neighbouring Hama province, Syrian troops battled for a third straight day to repel a jihadist counterattack around the town of Kafr Nabuda, leaving 15 combatants dead, 11 of them jihadists, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian government forces retook the town on May 8 but the jihadists retook most of it on Wednesday, the Britain-based monitor said. More than 100 combatants have been killed in the fighting around Kafr Nabuda since Tuesday. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance, which is led by l-Qaida's former Syria affiliate, controls much of Idlib as well as adjacent slivers of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces. The jihadist-dominated region is nominally protected by a buffer zone deal, but the government and its ally Russia have escalated their bombardment in recent weeks, seizing several towns on its southern flank. The United Nations has warned that an all-out offensive on the Idlib region would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe for its nearly thee million residents. More than 200,000 people have already been displaced by the upsurge of violence since April 28, the U.N. has said. A total of 20 health facilities have been hit by the escalation -- 19 of which remain out of service, it added.

Hamas sympathizer threatening to blow up Trump Tower arrested
AFP, New York/Thursday, 23 May 2019/A young man threatening to blow up Trump Tower and the Israeli consulate in New York was arrested Wednesday in New Jersey, the state’s federal prosecutor said. Investigators found a series of threatening message posted on social media by Jonathan Xie, 20, a sympathizer of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. Xie, originally from the affluent New Jersey neighborhood Basking Ridge, was charged with two counts of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization – each punishable by up to 20 years in prison – two counts of making false statements and one count of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. “The threat from homegrown violent extremists who self-radicalize remains persistent,” said US Attorney Craig Carpenito in a statement. “While more Americans may be familiar with ISIS, we take seriously those who wish to help any designated terrorist organization.”In December, according to the prosecution’s statement Xie sent $100 via virtual transfer to an individual in Gaza whom he believed to be a member of the al-Qassam Brigades. He then bragged about it on Instagram, posting, “Pretty sure it was illegal but I don’t give a damn.”
He said in February he wanted to join the US army “to learn how to kill.” In April, he posted photos of Trump Tower on Instagram superimposed with text saying he wanted to plant a bomb there. On one photo, he added a “Yes/No” poll asking, “Should I bomb Trump Tower?” along with as a bomb emoji.
Later in the month, he posted an Instagram live video in which he displayed a Hamas flag and a handgun, stating he wanted to go to a “pro-Israel march” and wanted “to shoot everybody” there, the statement added. The last attempted attack in New York was in December 2017, when a Bangladeshi man, inspired by ISIS, tried to detonate a bomb in a tunnel below the Port Authority bus terminal, not far from the iconic Times Square. The bomb, which he strapped to his body with zip wires, did not detonate as planned and failed to seriously injure anyone other than himself. Convicted last November, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced on September 10, 2019.

UN Agency for Palestinians Rejects US Call to Dismantle It
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 23/2019/The head of the United Nations organisation for Palestinian refugees on Thursday rejected a US call to dismantle the agency, saying it cannot be blamed for stalled peace efforts. UNRWA's commissioner general Pierre Krahenbuhl rebuffed the criticism from US envoy Jason Greenblatt during a visit to the Gaza Strip. "I unreservedly reject the accompanying narrative that suggests that somehow UNRWA is to blame for the continuation of the refugee-hood of Palestine refugees, of their growing numbers and their growing needs," he said in response to a question about Greenblatt's comments. "The fact that UNRWA still exists today is an illustration of the failure of the parties and the international community to resolve the issue politically -- and one cannot deflect the attention onto a humanitarian organisation," he told a press conference in Gaza City. The United States last year cut off its roughly $300 million annual donation to UNRWA, and administration officials now argue the agency has run its course. Speaking to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Greenblatt said the "UNRWA model has failed the Palestinian people." He said it was time to hand over services assured by the UN agency to countries hosting Palestinian refugees and NGOs. He said the US had given $6 billion in aid to UNRWA since it was founded in 1949 "and yet year after year UNRWA funding fell short.""We need to be honest about the situation. UNRWA is a bandaid and the Palestinians who use its services deserve better," said Greenblatt. More than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or forced to flee their lands in the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel and they and their descendants make up the millions of Palestinians refugees across the Middle East. UNRWA provides education, health and other key services for the refugees with funding from international donors. The US and Israel say the agency perpetuates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in particular by classifying refugees' descendants as refugees too. UNRWA argues it is simply providing services until a political solution is found.
The US is due to hold an economic conference in Bahrain on June 25-26 as the first part of the administration's long-delayed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, though the Palestinians will not attend, accusing the United States of seeking to eliminate their cause. UNRWA hosts a conference on June 25 at which international donors are expected to pledge financial support.

Palestinians Confirm Will Not Attend U.S.-Led Meeting in Bahrain
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 23/2019/The Palestinian leadership confirmed Wednesday they would not attend a U.S.-led peace conference in Bahrain next month. The White House announced Sunday it would co-host the June 25-26 conference in Manama focusing on economic aspects of President Donald Trump's long-delayed Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, with the declared aim of achieving Palestinian prosperity. The Palestinians had already said they had not been informed about the event and were expected not to attend but confirmed the stance late Wednesday. "Palestine will not attend the Manama meeting," a statement on the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) website said. "This is a collective Palestinian position, from President Mahmoud Abbas and the PLO Executive Committee to all Palestinian political movements and factions, national figures, private sector and civil society." The White House has so far not provided details on attendees but a number of prominent Palestinian businessmen have said they rejected invites to the event. The Palestinians have boycotted the U.S. administration since President Donald Trump broke with decades of consensus and recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017. They consider the eastern part of the city the capital of their future state and have opposed the proposed U.S. peace plan, which they fear will be heavily biased in favour of Israel. The Trump administration is expected to unveil the long-awaited plan possibly as early as next month. The Bahrain conference could see large-scale investment pledges for the Palestinian territories but is unlikely to focus heavily on the political issues at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel Cuts Gaza Fishing Limit after Fire Balloons
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 23/2019/Israel reduced the offshore fishing limits it imposes for vessels operating out of Gaza from Thursday after Palestinians floated balloons fitted with incendiaries over the border, officials said. The cut came just two days after Israel restored the limits to those set in April ahead of an Israeli general election. "A decision was taken this Wednesday evening to reduce the fishing zone off the Gaza Strip to 10 nautical miles until further notice," said COGAT, the defence ministry unit that oversees such regulations. "The decision was taken after the launch of incendiary balloons from Gaza towards Israel," it added. Palestinians in Gaza have frequently floated balloons fitted with firebombs over the border to damage Israeli property and have in the past succeeded in setting fire to large areas of farmland. Israel banned fishing completely when two days of deadly violence erupted earlier this month, but lifted the ban with a restriction of up to 12 nautical miles following a truce. The 15-nautical-mile limit that had been restored on Tuesday was the largest allowed in years by Israel, which has fought three wars with Palestinian militants in the enclave and has blockaded it for more than a decade.
But human rights activists note that it still falls short of the 20 nautical miles agreed under the Oslo accords of the 1990s. Israeli authorities have not said whether the 15-mile limit was one of the understandings reached as part of the May 6 ceasefire in Gaza but Israel media reported on Monday that it was. The additional nautical miles are important to Gaza fishermen as they bring more valuable, deeper water species within reach. Four Israeli civilians and 25 Palestinians, including at least nine militants, were killed in this month's exchanges across the border.

British Government Postpones Brexit Vote
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 23/2019/The British government on Thursday postponed a crucial Brexit vote scheduled for the first week of June, following an outcry from hardline Brexiteers over concessions made by Prime Minister Theresa May. The beleaguered premier is in the last throes of a tumultuous period in power focused all-but exclusively on guiding her fractured country out of the European Union. "We will update the house on the publication and introduction of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill on our return from the Whitsun recess" on June 4, government official Mark Spencer told MPs. Spencer said the government had planned to hold the vote on a landmark piece of legislation to implement Brexit on June 7 but had not been able to fix this date. May is under intense pressure to resign after holding out the prospect of a parliamentary vote on a second referendum to try and persuade MPs to support the divorce deal she has struck with EU leaders.The deal has already been rejected three times in parliament, forcing a delay to the planned date of Brexit on March 29, and still faces strong cross-party opposition.
'Brexit fiasco'
Meanwhile there are already several leading Conservatives, including members of her own cabinet, who are campaigning to take over from May when she quits. The prime minister's woes were made worse on Wednesday when Andrea Leadsom -- one of cabinet's strongest Brexit backers -- resigned from her post as the government's representative in parliament over her handling of the slowly-unfolding crisis. "I no longer believe that our approach will deliver on the (2016) referendum results," Leadsom said in her resignation letter. In her response May thanked Leadsom for her "passion, drive and sincerity", but took issue with her assessment of the government's Brexit strategy. "I do not agree with you that the deal which we have negotiated with the European Union means that the United Kingdom will not become a sovereign country," May said. Many of Thursday's newspaper front pages pictured May leaving Downing Street late on Wednesday apparently with tears in her eyes. "May set to go after Brexit fiasco," said The Sun tabloid. Thursday's European elections are being interpreted in Britain as a referendum on Brexit and on May's ability to get the job done. They make grim reading for the government team, with Nigel Farage's Brexit Party well ahead in the polls.The current deadline for Brexit set by EU leaders is October 31. The Brexit Party and leading Conservatives are calling for Britain to leave the EU on that date without an overall deal but businesses fear this could cause severe disruption.

Dutch, UK Polls Open, Starting 4 Days of European Elections
Associated Press/Naharnet/May 23/2019/Dutch and U.K. polls opened Thursday in elections for the European Parliament, starting four days of voting across the 28-nation bloc that pits supporters of deeper integration against populist Euroskeptics who want more power for their national governments. A half hour after voting started in the Netherlands, polls opened across the United Kingdom, the only other country voting Thursday, and a nation still wrestling with its plans to leave the European Union altogether and the leadership of embattled Prime Minister Theresa May. The elections, which end Sunday night, come as support is surging for populists and nationalists who want to rein in the EU's powers, while traditional powerhouses like France and Germany insist that unity is the best buffer against the shifting economic and security interests of an emerging new world order. French President Emmanuel Macron says the challenge is "not to cede to a coalition of destruction and disintegration" that will seek to dismantle EU unity built up over the past six decades. In a significant challenge to those centrist forces, populists appear largely united heading into the elections. On Saturday, Italy's anti-migrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini was joined at a rally by 10 other nationalist leaders, including include far-right leaders Marine Le Pen of France's National Rally party and Joerg Meuthen of the Alternative for Germany party. On Thursday morning, U.K. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn released a message with a warning that "the far-right is on the rise" and adding that "the actions we take now will have huge consequences for our future." Voters across Europe elect a total of 751 lawmakers, although that number is set to drop to 705 when the UK leaves the EU. The Dutch make up just 26 currently and 29 after Brexit. The UK has 73 European lawmakers, who would lose their jobs when their country completes its messy divorce from the EU. Results of the four days of voting will not be officially released until Sunday night, but Dutch national broadcaster NOS will publish an exit poll after ballot boxes close Thursday night.
The Netherlands could provide a snapshot of what is to come. Polls show the right-wing populist Forum for Democracy led by charismatic intellectual Thierry Baudet running neck-and-neck with the center-right VVD party of Prime Minister Mark Rutte. While the country, an affluent trading nation, profits from the EU's open borders and single market, it also is a major contributor to EU coffers. Skeptical Dutch voters in 2005 rejected a proposed EU constitution in a referendum. Baudet, whose party emerged as a surprise winner of provincial elections in March, identifies more with hard-line Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban than with the nationalist populist movement led by Salvini, although in a debate Wednesday night he called Salvini a "hero of Europe" for his crackdown on migration. "The immigration we get here from Africa and the Mideast is completely contrary to our culture, our values, our way of life, tolerance, love of women and so on," Baudet said. "That has to stop and it will not happen at the European level."

US, Japan, S.Korea, Australia hold first naval drills in Western Pacific
Reuters, Tokyo/Thursday, 23 May 2019/US Navy ships conducted joint drills with warships from allies Japan, Australia, and South Korea in their first combined exercise in the Western Pacific, the US Navy said on Thursday. The Pacific Vanguard exercise near the US island of Guam takes place ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan this weekend, as Washington looks to allies in Asia to help counter China’s military might in the region. “Pacific Vanguard joins forces from four, like-minded maritime nations that provide security throughout the Indo-Pacific based on shared values and common interests,” Vice Admiral Phillip Sawyer, commander of the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet, said in a statement. The six-day exercise involves two Japanese destroyers, two Australian frigates and a destroyer from South Korea, with as many as 3,000 sailors participating. The US Navy has deployed five ships as well as fighter jets and maritime patrol planes for the drills, which include live fire and anti-submarine warfare exercises. Pacific Vanguard is the latest show of combined naval force in the Asia Pacific region. This month US ships conducted drills with French, Japanese and Australian ships in the Bay of Bengal, and held separate exercises with a Japanese helicopter carrier and warships from India and the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea. China claims almost all of the strategic South China Sea, through which passes about a third of global seaborne trade. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam have competing claims to the waterway. On Wednesday, the US Navy sent two ships through the Taiwan Strait, its latest transit through the sensitive waterway and a move likely to anger Beijing at a time of tense relations between the world’s two biggest economies.
Taiwan is one of a growing number of flashpoints in the US-China relationship, which also include a bitter trade war, US sanctions and China’s increasingly muscular military posture in the South China Sea, where the United States also conducts freedom-of-navigation patrols.

Pakistan test-fires nuclear-capable missile
The Associated Press, Islamabad /Thursday, 23 May 2019/Pakistan’s military says it has successfully test-fired a long-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. A statement from the military says the surface-to-surface Shaheen-II missile, which has a range of 1,500 kilometers, was launched on Thursday and ended in the Arabian Sea. The announcement comes after a six-week general election in neighboring India, Pakistan's chief regional rival. Both nations have nuclear arms and have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. They regularly test-fire missiles.Vote counting in India shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party have a commanding lead, making another five-year term for the Hindu nationalist leader very likely.

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 23-24/19
Saber-rattling alone will not scare Iran
Mohamed Chebaro/Arab News/May 23/2019
The war of words between Washington and Tehran continues on an almost daily basis. Will there be war? Or just low intensity skirmishes that result in a stalemate, which will hurt the US and its allies in the region more than the sanctions-resilient, ostracized Iran? On the one side, you are led to deduce from statements like those made by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that Iran is not pursuing war, and that “the difference between us and them is that they are afraid of war and don’t have the will for it,” as Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the elite IRGC, told Fars News Agency this week. But should we believe him?
On the other side, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US could not be seen to waver after a series of carefully synchronized attacks that fell short of disrupting oil shipments.
An assessment issued this week by the Norwegian Shipowners’ Mutual War Risks Insurance Association concluded that the IRGC was “highly likely” to have facilitated last week’s attacks on four oil tankers, including two from Saudi Arabia, off Fujairah in the UAE. The report stipulates that the attacks were likely carried out by a surface vessel operating close by that dispatched underwater drones carrying 30 to 50 kilograms of high-grade explosives, which detonated on impact.
In a joint letter sent to the UN Security Council, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Norway said the attacks had been deliberate and could have resulted in casualties and spillages of oil or harmful chemicals.Saudi Arabia has announced that it wants to avert war in the region but stands ready to respond with “all strength” following last week’s attacks on its oil assets; telling Iran that the ball was now in its court. Riyadh has accused Tehran of also ordering the drone strikes on two oil pumping stations in the Kingdom, claimed by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.
Meanwhile, steps by the US to cut down staff at its missions in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East coincided with a missile falling in Baghdad’s Green Zone, close to the US Embassy. Last week’s attacks took place against a backdrop of US-Iranian tension following Washington’s decision to try to cut Tehran’s oil exports to zero and beef up its military presence in the Gulf in response to what it called Iranian threats.
In short, the situation in the Gulf is nothing but a barrel full of explosive powder short of a fuse.
Across Iran’s capital, the talk seems to always come back to how things may get worse, according to the Associated Press. But most believe that war will not come to the region despite the US saber-rattling.
In short, the situation in the Gulf is nothing but a barrel full of explosive powder short of a fuse.
The attacks by drones operated by the IRGC or its many Arab agents in the region, such as the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq or Hezbollah in Lebanon, bear the hallmarks of Tehran’s modus operandi. One would be foolish to believe that saber-rattling alone will scare Iran or compound its problems, as its theocratic regime has been thriving on threats since it dared to take US hostages at their own embassy in Tehran in 1979.
I am not an advocate of war, but history has shown that Iran has been emboldened time and again to take occasional shots at the US in the region or to undermine the state authority of various countries. Empty threats from the Trump administration will hinder rather than help the prospects of peace and security in the Gulf, and risk further denting the stature of the US and its allies in the region.
Iran’s brinkmanship and its ability to maneuver and outplay the international community is evident. Tightening the noose on what is already a pariah state energizes the resolve among its ranks, regardless of the starving Iranians at home.
Over many years, the theocracy in Tehran has developed a key operation manual that is activated whenever the going gets tough. It raises the level of rhetoric and then fires a few strategic warning shots via its many proxies — and this is usually enough for the West to retreat.
Iran is in breach of international law if it is proven to be the mastermind of the attacks on the cargo ships in UAE waters and the oil installations in Saudi Arabia. It has done so before and maybe the world then chose to go after the proxy rather than the source.
Iran is likely to go further, as many say it has nothing to lose. Tehran could reactivate its nuclear program as a reaction to what it perceives as the US and its allies’ belligerent acts to suffocate its economy. It may carry out a test of a new and more lethal long-range missile, in defiance of the international community. Tehran could even further harden its anti-American stance in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Gaza and Lebanon. Last but not least, the country’s leadership has repeatedly warned that, if Iran is squeezed, it could deport nearly 3 million Afghan refugees, creating an unprecedented wave of migration that could force Western liberal democratic countries to buckle.
This brinkmanship, played by Tehran all along and now played by Washington too, could miraculously be a prelude to a new deal. But, make no mistake, the Middle East nowadays is not home to miracles. The Iran regime can withstand all US pressure short of a military strike and, unless the Iranian people decide enough is enough, the regime has proven in the past its impressive resilience and ability to outplay its opponents, ensuring its grip on power outlasts the relatively short political life of all its Western opponents.
*Mohamed Chebaro is a British-Lebanese journalist with more than 25 years’ experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy. He is also a media consultant and trainer

EU threatened by its failure to focus on real issues
Ana Palacio/Arab News/May 23/2019
This year’s European Parliament elections have spurred months of nail biting. Will the pro-European center hold? Will the body be too fractured to function? Will a vocal contingent of nationalist-populists disrupt every sitting?
While important, discussion of these questions has missed the forest for the trees. Now that the election is finally here, Europe can stop obsessing about its possible outcome and focus on the real challenges ahead.
The first challenge is the coming economic downturn. A decade after the financial crisis upended Europe’s economy, throwing its politics and social model into disarray, average annual growth remains a sluggish 1.5 percent. And there are strong signals that worse is to come: Debt levels are rising fast and the European Central Bank has relaunched stimulus measures to stave off recession.
Unlike the crisis of 10 years ago, the damage caused by the coming slowdown will not be concentrated in Southern Europe; it will hurt the euro zone as a whole, including almighty Germany. The EU barely survived the first crisis: A recession that hits the EU core would amount to a serious, even existential, threat.
One would think that 10 years would be enough to take steps to prevent history from repeating itself. But initiatives like the creation of a banking union and the completion of the single market have not been realized because Europe’s leaders have insisted on discussing issues at the margins, rather than implementing difficult reforms. It is as if they haven’t noticed the lowering clouds on the economic horizon.
It is time to look up. The new European Parliament must urgently do what it takes to buttress the EU. But the impetus for such action must come, first and foremost, from the EU’s largest and most influential members — in particular, Germany and France.
The second core challenge that Europe faces is the fracturing of liberal democracy. This is not strictly a European phenomenon: It can be seen throughout the liberal democratic world, not least in the US. But growing support for populist appeals to emotion, nostalgia and resentment have been particularly pointed in a Europe still feeling the effects of the last financial crisis and facing growing questions over the viability of its social model.
To address the manifold problems it faces, the EU must recognize that member states are steering the boat, and adjust accordingly.
So far, efforts to resist the populists have been underwhelming and sometimes misguided. Some, such as Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, have made the mistake of mimicking their message and approach. Others, such as French President Emmanuel Macron, have peddled largely hollow visions of hope, with mixed results. Then there were the poorly conceived efforts to connect the EU to the people, exemplified by the series of chaotic televised debates that have marked this year’s campaign for the European Commission presidency.
If they are truly to counteract the populist trend and reinvigorate support for liberal democratic principles, the leaders of the EU and its member states must do a better job of reconnecting with citizens. Finding a better approach will require a broader, more nuanced perspective and strong political will. Part of this entails constructing a compelling narrative for the European project and much of it, frankly, involves delivering results.
This is all the more important, given a third key challenge that is confronting Europe: The growing divide between the EU’s liberal and illiberal governments. In the last five years, a crack has grown into a chasm, as Hungary and Poland have suppressed independent media, attacked nongovernmental organizations and undermined judicial independence. This has driven EU leaders to take the unprecedented step of triggering Article 7 sanctions procedures against Poland and Hungary for eroding democracy and failing to adhere to fundamental EU norms.
But, though majorities in the European Parliament backed these measures, support has been less than enthusiastic, leaving the EU’s institution-driven process toothless. Yet again, a lack of common purpose is undercutting the EU’s ability to do what is needed — in this case, bring illiberal governments to heel.
The final challenge the EU faces is structural. This includes, of course, Brexit, which — no matter what form it ultimately takes — will profoundly reshape the EU. But the more fundamental issue is that the EU continues to pretend that it is a transnational construction, even as decision-making is largely, and increasingly, conducted at the intergovernmental level. To address the manifold problems it faces, the EU must recognize that member states are steering the boat, and adjust accordingly.
None of the challenges the EU faces come as a surprise. Yet its leaders have so far utterly failed to address them, let alone build broader resilience into the system. Instead, they have allowed institutional power rivalries to divert their focus from genuine problem-solving. The EU’s push to bolster its defense capabilities is a prime example, with as much energy being devoted to who will control programs and manage funding as to developing the programs themselves. This lack of focus on real issues could well bring about the downfall of the EU.
Europeans have begun to recognize this. In 11 of 14 countries recently surveyedby YouGov and the European Council on Foreign Relations, the majority of respondents reported anticipating a possible EU collapse within the next 10 to 20 years. For a project that once seemed like a beacon of hope for values-based global cooperation, this is a devastating reversal.
Whatever the next European Parliament’s composition, the imperative for Europe is the same: EU institutions must trade ambition for humility, focusing their attention not on their own power or status, but rather on upgrading and fortifying the project for which they claim to stand. If they fail, the road ahead will only become more perilous.
*Ana Palacio is former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain and former Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group. She is a visiting lecturer at Georgetown University.
*Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2019. www.project-syndicate.org

Abe to continue charm offensive as Trump visits Japan
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/May 23/2019
Donald Trump starts on Saturday a multi-day trip to Japan with a packed agenda, including preparations for next month’s G-20 summit. The primary reason for the visit, from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s viewpoint, is the opportunity to deepen his personal bond with the mercurial president and fortify US-Japan ties in the face of significant international uncertainty.
Top of the agenda is not just the unraveling US-North Korean talks, but also the potential for finalizing a US-Japan trade deal, which Trump and Director of the US National Economic Council Larry Kudlow have, remarkably, said could be done by the end of the month — an assessment that seems very optimistic. The fact that Trump is visiting Japan so soon before next month’s G-20 meeting in Osaka, and after the two leaders met only last month in the US, underlines the relative warmth of Washington-Tokyo relations right now. Abe, in particular, has invested massive personal political capital in the relationship — even reportedly nominating the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize.
To be sure, Abe’s charm offensive has paid some dividends. This includes the energy that is now being put into the US-Japan free trade deal, with Kudlow scheduled to be in Tokyo on Friday to try to accelerate the negotiations.
However, Japan has also been caught by surprise on several fronts by Trump during his presidency. This includes North Korea, as Tokyo was concerned, especially last year, about the speed with which the US president appeared to be pushing forward talks with Kim Jong Un.
While Abe asserted that Trump showed “courage” in doing so, including the summit in Singapore last year, the prime minister has been wary about where the talks could lead. There has been particular anxiety that Tokyo’s key interests are pressed by Trump in the talks, including the issue of Japanese nationals abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.
Abe has also been worried that Trump may look to a do a deal with Kim without taking Japan’s broader security interests into account. This included Pyongyang potentially agreeing to give up missiles capable of reaching the US, without eliminating the short and medium-range missiles that threaten Japan and other nearby countries.
One of the key reasons Abe is keen to be so close to Trump is Japanese concerns about a 'rising China.’
Tensions between the two sides on this issue most recently surfaced this month, when the long-time security allies appeared to disagree over Pyongyang’s recent launch of short-range ballistic missiles. Tokyo criticized the move as a violation of UN resolutions, while Trump said he did not believe the moves were a “breach of trust” by Kim.
On the economic front, Abe is pleased with the energy that is being put into the US-Japanese talks, even though he and other Japanese officials are skeptical that the negotiations can be concluded this month. In part, this is because the Washington-Tokyo negotiations come in the context of previous political tensions over the bilateral economic relationship, including Trump’s often negative comments about Japan on the 2016 US president election trail.
Securing close ties with Washington is important for Abe, who is on track to become the longest-serving premier in post-war Japanese history. One of the key reasons Abe is keen to be so close to Trump is Japanese concerns about a “rising China” in the Asia-Pacific region.
The prime minister has particular worries about China’s growing influence in the context of the uncertainties that Trump’s presidency has brought, including the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is a trade and investment deal originally intended to lock Washington into deeper economic partnerships with its traditional allies in the region.
In this fluid geopolitical landscape, Abe is seeking to align his long-standing foreign policy plans around that of Trump’s “America First” agenda. Thus, in a context whereby the president appears to want a more internationally assertive Japan, the prime minister has a long-held ambition to overturn much of the remaining legal and political underpinning of the country’s post-war pacifist security identity so that it can become more externally engaged. Here, it is no coincidence that one of the visits Trump may reportedly make during his trip is to a naval base in Yokosuka. This will see him visit a destroyer that has been refitted as what is being depicted as Japan’s first post-war aircraft carrier.
One big, specific measure Abe wishes to push for is the abolition of Article 9. This is the clause in Japan’s post-war constitution that constrains the country’s military to a strictly defensive role, rather than a conventional army, and has meant that defense spending has most often remained below 1 percent of gross domestic product.
To overturn this, Abe would need not just a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the legislature, but also a simple majority in a national referendum. This could prove a major challenge, however, given the large body of Japanese public opinion that still values its post-war pacifism. Japan remains the only country in the world to have ever been attacked with nuclear weapons.
Taken overall, Trump’s trip therefore represents Abe’s latest move to fortify Japan’s US alliance in the face of China’s rise. He would dearly love to cap his long period of office off with historic change around the country’s post-war pacifism, which may enable it to become more internationally engaged, but at the risk of significantly inflaming tensions with Beijing.
*Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economic

Lieberman returns to defense in next Netanyahu government. IDF will stop firing at Gaza rioters
Debeka File/May 23/2019
Avigdor Lieberman stands ready to regain the defense portfolio in the cabinet Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hopes to put together next week. He has already taken part in a security conference with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi and Shin Bet Director Nadav Argaman on the Gaza situation. Reports abound about some sort of six-month ceasefire deal having been concluded between Israel and Hamas. Much is made of Israeli concessions compared with vague Palestinian commitments to de-escalate terrorist violence. This information is mostly pumped out by the IDF spokesman. It reflects the imprecise nature of the deal. For months, negotiations led by Egypt have meandered uncertainly back and forth in Cairo, interrupted by Palestinian rocket fire, incendiary balloons and explosive clashes between the Israeli military and Hamas-inflamed mobs on the Gaza-Israeli border. However, according to our sources, one provision is crystal clear: Israel’s army chiefs have agreed to stop firing on the Palestinian mobs rampaging on the border week after week, provided only that they don’t cross a 300-meter deep boundary line.
This one-sided concession is unprecedented in any national army’s fight against terrorists.
The rest of the “deal,” drawn up between Israel, Hamas, Egypt and Qatar, is full of holes and unlikely to hold up any longer than its precedents. Egypt and Qatar are backing Hamas’ refusal to commit to any reciprocal specifics, such as a ceasefire, a cessation of hostilities, or non-belligerence. Therefore, what happens next in the Gaza crisis remains open to speculation, like the content of Liberman’s conference with Gen. Kochavi and Argaman ahead of his return to the Defense Ministry.
Even before this happens, Hamas offered him a timely reminder of who called the shots in the past year and still held the initiative. On Wednesday, May 22, amid exceptionally hot, dry and windy weather conditions, Palestinian terrorists released a cloud of incendiary balloons which started 11 blazes in Israel fields. In a further attempt to push the caretaker Israeli government to the wall, Hamas on Thursday, released a list of alleged “promises” which Israel was accused of failing to uphold. The terrorists gave Israel one week to keep them or face renewed violent demonstrations and rocket fire.
One of those “promises” concerned paychecks for Hamas’ armed wing operatives, i.e. active terrorists. Qatar, which with Israel’s approval has been pumping large sums into Gaza to cover the needs of its distressed Gaza population, is blamed for giving every fighter a $50 food coupon instead of his wages.
Hamas is feeling the pinch since Israel cut off the funds owing to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah over its insistence on allocating payments to convicted terrorists. A portion of those funds was regularly diverted to the Hamas government. And so, Israel finds itself in the paradoxical position of de-funding certain Palestinian terrorists, on the one hand, while being required to allow Qatar to cover the paychecks of the Palestinian terrorists of Gaza.
It turns out, therefore, that Hamas is taking a hand – not just in the fate of the communities of southern Israel but also attempting to assert its will on the formation of Israel’s next coalition government. Its leaders feel they are sitting pretty, owing to two developments: 1. The favorable deal taking shape with Israel and the IDF; and 2. Its rival terrorist movement, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is immobilized by a leadership split. DEBKAfile reveals that Jihad’s Gaza-based leaders, Muhammed al Hindi and Muhammed al Batsh, have broken with Ziyad Nahaleh, who operates out of Beirut or Tehran.
The outcome of the current maneuvers around Gaza is likely to be an undefined deal being struck between Hamas and Israel with Egyptian and Qatari intercession, after the Palestinian group is awarded a much larger slice of funding. Hamas won’t give up a cent of the hundreds of millions of Qatari cash due in the coming six months.
Barring unforeseen events, Binyamin Netanyahu will meanwhile establish a government coalition next week; Lieberman will be sworn in for his second stint as defense minister; and the IDF will abide by its commitment to refrain from firing live bullets into Gaza. It may be recalled that Lieberman quit as defense minister on Nov. 14, 2018, in protest against what he called the government’s “surrender to terrorism” in the Gaza Strip. It was his resignation that led to a general election on April 9 and a new government.

Palestinians: The New Hamas List of 'Traitors'
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/May 23/2019
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14251/palestinians-hamas-traitors
One of the Arabs who have dared to speak the truth about Hamas and Islamic Jihad is Nadim Koteich, a prominent Lebanese journalist, who recently accused Islamic Jihad of starting the last round of fighting with Israel.
In an interview with the Lebanese LDC TV channel, Koteich said that Hamas and Islamic Jihad, representing the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran respectively, should have turned the Gaza Strip after Israel's withdrawal in 2005 into an opportunity for a national Palestinian compromise.
Instead, he said, the two groups have "thwarted all opportunities for peace" and have ended up in a prison called Gaza."
Such voices from some Palestinians and Arabs are a sign they may have finally woken up to realize that Palestinian leaders, particularly Hamas and Islamic Jihad, are leading their people towards the abyss. If the voices of the critics grow, then there will be hope that one day the extremist camp among the Palestinians will be weakened.
The Palestinian Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip has never tolerated any form of criticism. Hamas claims that Palestinian Authority and Fatah leaders who dare to speak out against it are "traitors" and "collaborators" working with the "Zionist enemy."
The Palestinian Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip has never tolerated any form of criticism. It does not accept any criticism from Palestinians living under its rule in the Gaza Strip. It does not accept any criticism from its rivals in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its ruling Fatah faction. It certainly does not accept any criticism from Israel or the United States.
Now, Hamas is saying that it does not tolerate any criticism from Arabs. Hamas claims that Palestinian Authority and Fatah leaders who dare to speak out against it are "traitors" and "collaborators" working with the "Zionist enemy."
Arab media personalities who recently criticized Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip have now been placed on its list of "traitors" and "collaborators."
Recently, some Arabs, particularly in the Gulf states, Lebanon and Egypt, have spoken out publicly against Hamas and held it responsible for the continued suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. These Arabs, in other words, have dared to speak the truth about Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two major forces in the Gaza Strip.
One of those Arabs is Nadim Koteich, a prominent Lebanese journalist, who recently accused Islamic Jihad of starting the last round of fighting with Israel. In an interview with the Lebanese LDC TV channel, Koteich said that Hamas and Islamic Jihad, representing the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran respectively, should have turned the Gaza Strip after Israel's withdrawal in 2005 into an opportunity for a Palestinian national compromise. Instead, he said, the two groups have "thwarted all opportunities for peace and have ended up in a prison called Gaza."
This logical and constructive criticism of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, however, has sparked a wave of vicious condemnations against the Lebanese journalist on various Palestinian and Arab social media platforms. Koteich only spoke the truth, particularly his remark about a missed opportunity after the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Back then, some Palestinians were dreaming of turning the Gaza Strip into the "Singapore of the Middle East."
Instead, the situation in the Gaza Strip has since gone from bad to worse. The deterioration reached its peak when Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip after overthrowing President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority in the summer of 2007.
Hamas, nevertheless, refuses to acknowledge that its rule over the Gaza Strip is the main reason for the ongoing suffering of the Palestinians there. It also refuses to admit that its rocket attacks on Israel have brought disaster on the Palestinians living under its rule. Instead of listening to the voices of its critics, the Hamas leaders continue to blame everyone but themselves for the economic and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
One of the techniques Hamas uses to discredit its critics is accusing them of being Israeli and American agents and puppets.
Consider, for example, Hamas's response to the criticism of the Lebanese journalist. Raafat Morra, a senior Hamas official, lashed out at Koteich and other Arab media personalities who dared to speak out against the rulers of the Gaza Strip. "Any [Arab] media figure who attacks the resistance in Palestine or speaks out against our people in the Gaza Strip, needs to check his DNA," the Hamas official said. "Perhaps they will discover that their mothers breastfed them from the cow of the Children of Israel."
In other words, the Hamas official is implying that the Lebanese journalist and any Arab who dares to tell the truth about the situation in the Gaza Strip must be a Jew or somehow connected to Jews.
Morra and other Hamas officials have also strongly denounced Atef Abu Seif, the Palestinian Authority Minister of Culture, who recently said that the Gaza Strip "may be one of the filthiest and worst places in the world because its controlled by Muslim fundamentalists." Of course, Abu Seif was referring to Hamas's responsibility for the harsh conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
No one knows how bad the situation in the Gaza Strip is better than Abu Seif. Last March, he was badly beaten by masked men in the Gaza Strip believed to be members of Hamas. He was transferred to a Palestinian hospital in the West Bank for medical treatment. A few weeks later, Abu Seif was appointed Minister of Culture in the new Palestinian government headed by Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh.
Hamas is now accusing Abu Seif of treason for speaking out against its bad policies and repressive measures against Palestinians. "The Palestinian Authority Minister of Culture is promoting treachery to appease the [Israeli] occupation," Morra, the senior Hamas official, said on Twitter. "Shame on you, and you should not hold any position related to culture. The culture of our people is one of dignity, patriotism, steadfastness and resistance. We call on all Palestinian academics to move quickly to seek the dismissal of Abu Seif from his job as Minister of Culture."
Another Hamas official, Hazem Qassem, accused the minister of "promoting Israeli propaganda" by criticizing the situation in the Gaza Strip. By criticizing Hamas, Qassem said, the minister was assisting Israel in its campaign to "demonize the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian resistance groups there." The Hamas official went on to make a more serious charge against Abu Seif: "Exonerating Israel from its responsibility for the blockade and covering up for the criminal sanctions imposed by the Palestinian Authority leadership on the residents of the Gaza Strip."
If the Palestinian minister ever returns to the Gaza Strip, he would probably be executed by Hamas on charges of "high treason."
Abu Seif is rather fortunate that Hamas allowed him to leave Gaza after he was physically assaulted there. Hamas possibly regrets that he survived the assault. Moreover, it is safe to assume that Hamas also regrets that it allowed him to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in the West Bank.
Koteich, the Lebanese journalist, will also never set foot in the Gaza Strip after what he said about Hamas and Islamic Jihad -- nor will Abbas or any of his senior officials in the West Bank who have been condemning Hamas for the past decade. Hamas has already said that if and when Abbas ever returns to the Gaza Strip, he will be out on trial for "high treason" -- a crime, in the world of the Palestinians, punishable by death.
In an encouraging development, however, Hamas's bloody threats seem to hold little fear for some Arab media figures who continue publicly to state the truth about the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian "resistance" groups there. In recent months, a growing number of Arabs have begun speaking out against Hamas and Islamic Jihad, holding them responsible for destroying the lives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
It is refreshing to see how these Arabs are not afraid to denounce Hamas and tell the truth about its responsibility for the violence with Israel. Take for example, what Saudi writer and journalist Abdullah al-Sharif recently said:
"Hamas is committing foolish acts against our people in the Gaza Strip. It fires primitive rockets [at Israel] and, in response, brings daily [Israeli] military strikes against the defenseless people. Then, Hamas cries over what has happened to the people. It is better for us to stop the farce of some Palestinian leaders that is killing our people because of the unprecedented stupidity of these leaders."
Such voices from some Palestinians and Arabs are a sign they may have finally woken up to realize that Palestinian leaders, particularly Hamas and Islamic Jihad, are leading their people towards the abyss. If the voices of the critics grow, then there will be hope that one day the extremist camp among the Palestinians will be weakened.
Meanwhile, it seems that only a handful of Arabs and Palestinians are prepared to take the risk of speaking the truth for fear of being labeled "traitors" and "Zionist collaborators" in the social media and mosques.
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
© 2019 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Iran: Planning to Kidnap and Kill More Americans
د.ماجد رافيزادا/معهد كايتستون: إيران تخطط لخطف وقتل المزيد من الأميركيين
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/May 23/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/75143/%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%af-%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%81%d9%8a%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%af%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%87%d8%af-%d9%83%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%b3%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%aa%d8%ae/
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14254/iran-kidnap-kill-americans
A leading Republican lawmaker, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), also the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has pointed out that recent intelligence obtained about Iran's threat was extremely detailed.
These are simply preemptive measures that any rational state would take in the face of those clear threats. They were being taken to save the lives of American citizens and prevent the world's official leading state sponsor of terrorism from destabilizing the region.
What do critics of the Trump administration expect the American government to do...? Do these critics want the Trump administration to ignore Iran and its terror groups until another terrorist act like 9/11 occurs? Or is it possible that these critics, deep-down, do not care about U.S. national security and the lives of ordinary citizens?
According to leaked reports, Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, the elite branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), recently traveled to Iraq and instructed the leaders of Iraqi Shiite militia groups, which operate under the name Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), to "prepare for proxy war".
While plans were being concocted to harm or murder Americans, it is mind-boggling that people -- even entire governments -- were criticizing the Trump administration for preparing preemptive measures against multiple credible threats from the Iranian government and its forces.
While people were squabbling over the choices the Trump administration was making, the Iranian leaders, known to have mastered conducting asymmetric warfare, were giving directives to kidnap and kill American soldiers.
A leading Republican lawmaker, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), also the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has pointed out that recent intelligence obtained about Iran's threat was extremely detailed.
"To the extent I can discuss it, it was human intelligence," he said, and added that, "One of the Hezbollah cells is known for its kidnapping and killing operations, and their directive was to go in and kill and kidnap American soldiers."
According to leaked reports, Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, the elite branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that is mandated to advance Iran's revolutionary and political interests in foreign nations, recently traveled to Iraq and met with the leaders of Iraqi militia groups that the Iranian regime controls.
Iran's most senior general instructed the Iraqi Shiite militias to "prepare for proxy war". Iran's leaders continue to exert significant influence both directly and indirectly in Iraq through a conglomerate of more than 40 Iraqi militia groups that operate under the name Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
Soleimani is also well known as one of the Middle East's deadliest operatives, and is considered by many Iran's most dangerous man. The Quds Force has, in addition, given birth to a variety of designated terrorist groups, including Asaib Al-Haq and Kataib Al-Imam Ali (KIA), which use horrific tactics of torture similar to the Islamic State (ISIS).
Kataib Al-Imam Ali is, like ISIS, known for showing videos of beheadings and burning bodies; Asaib Al-Haq reportedly receives more than $2 million a month from Iran.
A recent report showed that Iran has murdered more Americans in Iraq than was previously thought. This is in addition to the thousands of innocents — including Iraqi children and women — who have been killed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Quds Force, and their militias.
It is not the first time that the Quds Force had prepared militias and proxies to carry out attacks against foreign entities. The Quds Force has been accused of failed plans to bomb the Saudi and Israeli embassies in the US, and to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. at the time, Adel Al-Jubeir. An investigation further revealed that the Quds Force was also behind the assassination of Lebanon's Sunni Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, and implicated in the 9/11 attacks. US Federal Judge George Daniels issued an order stating that Iran, its Lebanese Shiite proxy Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda were jointly responsible for those terrorist attacks.
In Iraq, the Quds Force has been busy stoking unrest by providing deadly, sophisticated bombs such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that have killed countless soldiers and civilians, including Iraqis and Americans.
The Quds Force rules over roughly 20,000 members and it can also use forces from the IRGC and Basij paramilitary group in cases that are considered emergencies, or hire fighters from a multitude of countries, including Afghanistan, to fight as proxies.
As a result, considering these serious threats, the U.S. State Department recently ordered all non-emergency employees immediately to leave Iraq. There are approximately 5,000 American troops in Iraq. The U.S. also took preemptive measures by deploying an aircraft carrier, along with B-52 bombers and other military forces, to the Middle East. In addition, President Trump stated to Iran that if it threatens the US, Tehran would meet its "official end".
These were simply preemptive measures that any rational state would take in the face of those clear threats. They were being taken to save the lives of American citizens and prevent the world's official leading state sponsor of terrorism from further destabilizing the region.
What do critics of the Trump administration expect the American government to do, aside from putting the issue "temporarily on hold"? Do these critics want the Trump administration to ignore Iran and its terror groups until another terrorist act like 9/11 occurs? Or is it possible that these critics, deep-down, do not care about U.S. national security and the lives of ordinary citizens?
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 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.