LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 18/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.november18.19.htm

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

Bible Quotations For today
Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested
Book of Revelation 02/08-11/:”‘To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life: ‘I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on November 17-18/2019
Army Commander calls for "moving away from rumors aimed at creating a rift between citizens and the military institution"
FPM: Hariri's policy is based on the principle of “I and no one else” as head of cabinet
Bank Employees' Syndicates Union: Strike continues tomorrow, resumption of operations depends on outcome of Banks Association meeting on Monday
Rahi supports Lebanon's Intifada
Hajj Hassan says popular movement's demands a top priority, government formation a pressing need to achieve these demands
Report: Efforts Underway to Convince Hariri to Lead New Govt.
Independent candidate Melhem Khalaf wins Beirut Bar Association
Protest Movement-Backed Candidate Elected Head of Bar Association
FPM Nominee Pulls from Bar Association Vote over 'Situation' in Lebanon
Lebanon’s outgoing PM Hariri blasts president’s party over delays
Hariri Slams FPM over Safadi Nomination Controversy
Lebanon: Hariri Blames Aoun's Party Over Delay in Forming Cabinet
Lebanon’s outgoing PM blasts president’s party over delays
Lebanon’s Safadi withdraws candidacy for PM, urges Hariri for post
Safadi gives up Lebanon PM bid under protest pressure/He expressed hope Hariri would be reinstated.
Lebanon: Safadi Withdraws Candidacy for PM
Safadi to Testify over Zaitunay Bay, Voices Surprise over Hariri Statement
Safadi asks Judge Ibrahim to open an investigation into case of Zaitunay Bay
US embassy in Lebanon ‘supports’ peaceful protests
U.S. Embassy in Lebanon Denies Link to 'Revolution Bus'
Qaouq: Some Planting Mines in Way of Govt. Formation
Arab Banks Union to convene in Cairo upcoming December 8 & 9


Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published 
on November 17-18/2019
36 killed 1000 detained in Iran’s protests in two days
Hundreds arrested as Iran regime clamps down on petrol protests
Rouhani says protest-hit Iran cannot allow ‘insecurity’
Iran Supreme Leader Warns 'Thugs' amid Gas Price Protests
‘The US is with you’: Pompeo reaffirms US support for Iranian protesters
US will not hesitate to sanction Iraqi officials, says White House official
US State Department: Iranian regime scared of its own people
Iran to Inaugurate ‘Laser Air Defense System’
Iran's Khamenei Backs Petrol Price Hike Decision Amid Protests
Exclusive: Petrol Price Hike Ignites Revolt in Iran
Iraq Protesters Block Some Roads amid Strike Call
Iraqi protester dies in bridge clashes in Baghdad
Rocket hits Baghdad Green Zone, no casualties reported: Sources
Egypt officials: 3 security forces killed in Sinai blast
Russia sets up air base in Qamishli, challenges US/Israeli air force control of northeast Syria

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 17-18/2019
With deadlock continuing, Lebanon’s crisis is set for the long haul/Samar Kadi/The Arab Weekly Editorial/Sunday 17/11/201
The bright side to the Lebanese October revolution/The Arab Weekly Editorial/Sunday 17/11/2019
Lebanese abroad look for ways to get involved in protest movement/Justin Salhani/The Arab Weekly/Sunday 17/11/2019
Let Aoun, Nasrallah and Bassil be the ones to emigrate/Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/November 17/ 2019
What's next for the Lebanese banking sector?/Dan Azzi/Annahar/November 17/2019
Lebanon protests one month in: Demonstrators score electoral win but politicians still deadlocked/Sunniva Rose/The National/November 17/2019
*Russia sets up air base in Qamishli, challenges US/Israeli air force control of northeast Syria/DEBKAfile/Sunday, 17 November 2019
For Russia, Even the Language Can Be a Weapon/Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/November, 17/2019
The “Great Pleasure in Destroying Christians”: The Persecution of Christians, September 2019/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/November 17, 2019
Iran’s shrinking economy faces further beating in 2020/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/November 17/ 2019
Why transhumanism is a dangerous leap for humanity/Nidhal Guessoum/Arab News/November 17/ 2019
All quiet on the Turkish-American front/Yasar Yakis/Arab News/November 17/ 2019
Daughter of former Iranian president sounds alarm/Ali Alfoneh/The Arab Weekly Editorial/Sunday 17/11/2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on November 17-18/2019
Army Commander calls for "moving away from rumors aimed at creating a rift between citizens and the military institution"
NNA/November 17/2019
Army Chief, General Joseph Aoun, called Sunday for staying away from rumors that only serve to create a wedge between citizens and the army, and aim at misleading the public opinion.
"History will show that the Lebanese army saved Lebanon," he underlined. Aoun's words came as he inspected the military units deployed in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, in charge of maintaining security in wake of the ongoing popular movements in various areas. The tour included army regiments in Sarba, Naccash, Roumieh, Ras Beirut, Baabda Presidential Palace Road and Fayadieh Barracks. The Army Chief praised the efforts of the military units during these exceptional circumstances and the awareness they showed in dealing with the recent events, sparing the country any opportunity for trouble. "The Army is working and acting in the manner it deems fit," he stressed.
General Aoun commended the "level of professionalism, discipline, high morality and courage demonstrated by the army in carrying out all the tasks entrusted to it with honor, sacrifice and loyalty in the face of challenges at all costs."Addressing the military men, Aoun hailed their devotion and dedication to their oath in serving their country, and in proving that the military establishment is an umbrella for all citizens of the country, regardless of their orientations, affiliations or views. "You have preserved the rights of citizens, all citizens," he emphasized. "The army, like all armies, is trained to face enemies and dangers, while the Lebanese army is currently carrying out the task of maintaining security at home before its citizens and people," the Army Chief went on, stressing that the army is "responsible for the security of demonstrators and other citizens." Aoun reiterated herein that road closures are not permissible acts, highlighting the fact that "freedom of movement is sacred in international conventions." Pointing to the recent arrests, the Army Commander indicated that "these arrests included individuals who worked to create chaos and riots, and confronted the army and tried to prevent it from carrying out his mission," adding that "they also included non-Lebanese citizens and others found to be in possession of drugs." Aoun expressed his deep regret for the death of young Martyr Alaa Abu Fakhr. "The case is in the hands of the judiciary," he said, noting that this incident was the only one to occur during a month of popular movements in Lebanon, whilst the situation is different in a number of countries that are experiencing similar events, where a large number of victims are falling. "This is what we are working to avoid," he corroborated. The Army General concluded by calling for "maintaining utmost degrees of readiness and awareness in the face of the challenges lurking ahead of our country."

FPM: Hariri's policy is based on the principle of “I and no one else” as head of cabinet
NNA/November 17/2019
In an issued statement by the Free Patriotic Movement's central media committee this evening, it criticized Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri's policy, considering that it is based on the principle of "I and no one else" as head of government. "While the efforts of the Free Patriotic Movement were a platform to facilitate the process of establishing a rescue government, starting with reaching consensus over the new PM who can bring the Lebanese together in terms of economic and financial rescue away from political divisions, we were surprised by the statement issued by Caretaker PM Saad Hariri's press office, which contained a series of fabrications and distortion of facts," the FPM statement said. In light of the above, the Movement clarified that "the reasons for Lebanon's difficult situation witnessed at this stage is due to the financial and economic policies and practices that have embraced the approach of corruption for 30 years, and which still persist till now."The statement indicated that FPM provided all possible means to accelerate bridging the gap caused by the resignation of Prime Minister Hariri, by not rejecting any name put forward by Hariri.
The statement stressed that the Free Patriotic Movement's utmost concern in the end is the formation of a government capable of stopping the financial collapse and preventing chaos and sedition in the country.
The FPM statement, thus, urged Hariri to rise above any political rivalry and combine efforts to form the new government. "We call on him [PM Hariri] to join us in the efforts to agree on a prime minister who is uniting of all the Lebanese...We say that there is still an opportunity for all of us to save the country, instead of continuing to slaughter it with bankruptcy and corruption," the statement underlined.

Bank Employees' Syndicates Union: Strike continues tomorrow, resumption of operations depends on outcome of Banks Association meeting on Monday
NNA/November 17/2019
In a statement by the Union of Bank Employees Syndicates Executive Council on Sunday, it indicated that their strike will continue tomorrow, noting that the resumption of operations depends on the outcome of the Banks Association's meeting on Monday in terms of work mechanism. "The cessation of the strike requires first of all an atmosphere of safety in various work stations, especially in bank branches, to be achieved by the measures undertaken by the security forces," the statement indicated. Meanwhile, the Executive Council commended the procedures announced by the Directorate General of the Internal Security Forces to ensure the safety of employees and customers in the banking sector, considering them "adequate and suifficient."In this connection, the Council thanked Caretaker Interior Minister Raya El-Hassan and ISF Director General Imad Othman, for promptly responding to the Banks Association's request in terms of providing the necessary security and safety measures upon the resumption of work in banks.

Rahi supports Lebanon's Intifada
NNA/November 17/2019
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rahi, called on Lebanese politicians during Sunday's Mass service in Bkirki to "support and respect the peaceful intifada of the Lebanese youth."Meanwhile, Rahi urged the demonstrators to "adhere to the code of ethics and respect the freedom of movement and stay away from conflicts." He also prompted politicians to form a new government and rise above their personal interests and narrow calculations for the country's sake.

Hajj Hassan says popular movement's demands a top priority, government formation a pressing need to achieve these demands
NNA/November 17/2019
Head of the Baalbek-Hermel Parliamentary Bloc, MP Hussein Hajj Hassan, considered Saturday that the civil movement and its demands are a top priority, adding the formation of a new cabinet is an urgent necessity to realize these demands. Speaking at a political gathering organized by the Baalbek Municipalities Union at its headquarters, Hajj Hassan said: "The demands of the popular movement are rightful, for we are fed up of corruption, and we all suffer from wasted public money, absence of jobs and lack of efficiency and integrity."He added: "At the municipal level, we also suffer from the confiscation of municipal responsibilities and decisions, in terms of construction and administrative decentralization, and delayed payment of dues."The MP praised the civilized manner in which the people of Baalbek and Hermel took part in the uprising and voiced their demands. "We know how much the region is in dire need for developmental projects," he said, highlighting the need for balanced development in all Lebanese areas.

Report: Efforts Underway to Convince Hariri to Lead New Govt.
Naharnet/November 17/2019
After the proposed nomination of Mohammed Safadi for the PM post was dropped under popular and political pressure, there is inclination to task caretaker PM Saad Hariri with forming the new government, ministerial sources close to the Presidency said. “The formula under which he might return to the post is being discussed,” the sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Sunday. And as sources close to Hariri said he is still insisting on the formation of a technocrat cabinet as a precondition for returning to the post, the ministerial sources noted that there are efforts to convince the caretaker PM of a format that he has recently rejected. The proposed solution calls for the formation of a government in which the four so-called sovereign portfolios – defense, interior, foreign affairs and finance – would be held by political figures. The rest of portfolios would go to technocrats.

Independent candidate Melhem Khalaf wins Beirut Bar Association elections
Georgi Azar/Annahar/November 17/2019
BEIRUT: Melhem Khalaf, a law professor at Saint Joseph university, has become the new head of the Beirut Bar Association after beating out the political ruling class' candidate. Khalaf, an independent candidate, ran against Nader Gaspard, who was backed by the Free Patriotic Movement, Lebanese Forces, Future Movement and Progressive Socialist Party.  In the first round, Khalaf was elected as a member of the Bar Association before securing a commanding majority in the second round to head the Beirut Bar Association. Khalaf is the first independent to head the association in recent years. “We hope this day will renew democracy within Lebanon’s institutions,” Khalaf said after his win.

Protest Movement-Backed Candidate Elected Head of Bar Association
Naharnet/November 17/2019
A candidate backed by the protest movement that is sweeping the country was on Sunday elected as head of the Beirut Bar Association, scoring a precious win for the nascent movement over the country’s established political parties. Lawyers who backed Melhem Khalaf erupted in joy and chanted “revolution, revolution” as the results were announced. Protest movement supporters also took to social media to celebrate the news as a dear victory that came as they marked one month since the beginning of their uprising. Khalaf also received votes from the opposition Kataeb Party as the defeated independent candidate, Nader Kaspar, was backed by the political parties of the ruling coalition, including al-Mustaqbal Movement, the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party. Speaking after he was declared the winner, Khalaf saluted “the enthusiasts of democracy,” hoping democracy will renew all institutions.
“We want the institutions to be an immune fort for the protection of the country and its citizens, in the vein of the Bar Association,” Khalaf said. “The Bar Association has been the first fortress of freedoms for 100 years and it will always be,” he added. Khalaf and three other activists had in 1985 founded the prominent Lebanese NGO Offrejoie (Joy of Giving), with a declared mission of "mobilizing around social projects promoting the unity of the Lebanese people." In 1982, Khalaf and three other volunteers of the Lebanese Red Cross assisted the wounded during the war. Horrified by what they saw, they wanted to act in favor of children suffering from the violence and misery of war, thus founding Offrejoie.

FPM Nominee Pulls from Bar Association Vote over 'Situation' in Lebanon
Naharnet/November 17/2019
The candidate of the Free Patriotic Movement for the post of president of the Beirut Bar Association, Georges Nakhle, announced Sunday that he withdrew from the race over “reasons related to the general situation in Lebanon.”
“I leave the full freedom to the colleagues who support me to choose the appropriate candidate,” he added. MTV later announced that those who were elected as members eligible to run for the chief post were Melhem Khalaf, Pierre Hanna, Saadeddine al-Khatib, Nader Kaspar and Ibrahim Musallem.
This year’s vote comes amid an unprecedented popular uprising in the country against the entire political class.

Lebanon’s outgoing PM Hariri blasts president’s party over delays

The Associated Press, Beirut/Sunday, 17 November 2019
Lebanon’s outgoing prime minister is harshly criticizing the party of the country’s president after weeks of delay in forming a new Cabinet. A statement released on Sunday by Saad Hariri’s office called the policies of Michel Aoun’s party “irresponsible.”Almost three weeks after Hariri resigned amid massive anti-government protests, Aoun has yet to call for consultations with parliamentary blocs’ leaders to name a new premier. Nationwide demonstrations began on October 17 against new taxes amid a plunging economy. They’re now calling for the downfall of the political elite who have run the country since the 1975-90 civil war. Some major factions in Lebanon’s sectarian political system want to keep Hariri in the new government. But they want him to form a cabinet of politicians and technocrats. He’s insisting on only technocrats.

Hariri Slams FPM over Safadi Nomination Controversy
Naharnet/November 17/2019
Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Sunday harshly criticized the Free Patriotic Movement – the political party of President Michel Aoun -- after weeks of delay in forming a new Cabinet. A statement released by Hariri's office called the policies of the FPM "irresponsible" in connection with the controversy over the nomination for the premiership of ex-minister Mohammed Safadi. Below is the full text of an English-language statement issued by Hariri’s office: “Since former Minister Mohammad Safadi asked to withdraw his candidacy for the formation of the new government, the Free Patriotic Movement has been trying, either through statements from its deputies and officials or through media leaks, to hold Prime Minister Saad Hariri responsible for this withdrawal, under the pretext that he backed down on promises made to Minister Safadi and that this candidacy was only a maneuver to limit the possibility of forming a government to Prime Minister Hariri. In view of the persistence to make false accusations, the following points should be clarified: First: Reviewing the withdrawal statement of Minister Safadi is sufficient to show that he was sure of Prime Minister Hariri's support for him and his best relationship with him. He also hoped that Prime Minister Hariri would be designated again, which totally contradicts the FPM’s version. It is also clear in the statement that Minister Safadi was sincere and transparent in announcing that he found difficulty in “forming a homogeneous government supported by all political parties that would enable it to take immediate rescue measures that would put an end to the economic and financial deterioration and respond to the aspirations of the people in the street”, which completely contradicts the allegations of the FPM and its officials.
Second: It was Minister Gebran Bassil who insistently proposed twice the name of Minister Safadi, which Prime Minister Hariri quickly agreed to, after Hariri's proposals of names from the civil society, most notably Judge Nawaf Salam, had been repeatedly rejected. It is not surprising that Prime Minister Hariri approved the candidacy of Minister Safadi, as everyone knows their friendship that was translated in many political occasions. Third: Prime Minister Hariri does not maneuver, and does not seek to limit the possibility of forming a government to himself. He was the first to present alternative names to form a government. He was clear, from the first day of the government's resignation, with all the representatives of the parliamentary blocs, that he does not evade any national responsibility, but national responsibility itself requires him to inform the Lebanese and the parliamentary blocs in advance that if he is named in the binding parliamentary consultations imposed by the constitution, he will only form a government of technocrats, based on his conviction that only such a government is capable of facing the severe and deep economic crisis through which Lebanon is going. Fourth, and finally: The policy of maneuvers and leaks and the attempt to score points adopted by the Free Patriotic Movement is an irresponsible policy in the major national crisis that our country is going through. If it had done a real review, it would have stopped such an irresponsible policy and its repeated attempts to infiltrate the government lineups, and the government would have been formed and would have begun to address the serious national and economic crisis. And perhaps our country wouldn’t have reached this point in the first place.”

Lebanon: Hariri Blames Aoun's Party Over Delay in Forming Cabinet
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 17 November, 2019
Lebanon’s outgoing prime minister is harshly criticizing the party of the country’s president after weeks of delay in forming a new Cabinet. A statement released Sunday by Saad Hariri’s office called the policies of Michel Aoun’s party “irresponsible,” the Associated Press reported. Almost three weeks after Hariri resigned amid massive anti-government protests, Aoun has yet to call for consultations with parliamentary blocs’ leaders to name a new premier. Nationwide demonstrations began on Oct. 17 against new taxes amid a plunging economy. They’re now calling for the downfall of the political elite who have run the country since the 1975-90 civil war. Some major factions in Lebanon’s sectarian political system want to keep Hariri in the new government. They want him to form a cabinet of politicians and technocrats. for his part, Hariri is insisting on only technocrats. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Lebanon slipped deeper into political crisis on Sunday after the withdrawal of a top candidate for prime minister fruther narrowed the chances of creating a government needed to enact urgent reforms. Mohammad Safadi, a former finance minister, withdrew his candidacy late on Saturday, saying it was too difficult to form a "harmonious" government with broad political support. Safadi was the first candidate who had appeared to win some consensus among Lebanon's fractious sectarian-based parties since Hariri quit as prime minister on Oct. 29. However, protesters denounced the choice of Safadi, a prominent businessman and longtime politician they said was part of the elite they sought to oust. "We are in a deadlock now. I don't know when it will move again. It is not easy," said a senior political source. "The financial situation doesn't tolerate any delay."According to Reuters, another political source described efforts to form a new government as "back to square one."

Lebanon’s outgoing PM blasts president’s party over delays
Associated Press/November 17/2019
BEIRUT: outgoing prime minister is harshly criticizing the party of the country’s president after weeks of delay in forming a new Cabinet. A statement released Sunday by Saad Hariri’s office called the policies of Michel Aoun’s party “irresponsible.”Almost three weeks after Hariri resigned amid massive anti-government protests, Aoun has yet to call for consultations with parliamentary blocs’ leaders to name a new premier. Nationwide demonstrations began on Oct. 17 against new taxes amid a plunging economy. They’re now calling for the downfall of the political elite who have run the country since the 1975-90 civil war. Some major factions in Lebanon’s sectarian political system want to keep Hariri in the new government. But they want him to form a cabinet of politicians and technocrats. He’s insisting on only technocrats.

Lebanon’s Safadi withdraws candidacy for PM, urges Hariri for post
Reuters/Sunday, 17 November 2019
Former Lebanese finance minister Mohammad Safadi withdrew his candidacy to be the next prime minister on Saturday, saying that he saw that it would have been difficult to form a “harmonious” cabinet supported by all parties. Safadi, 75, emerged as a candidate on Thursday when political sources and Lebanese media said three major parties had agreed to support him for the position. His decision to withdraw throws Lebanon’s push to form a government needed to enact urgent reforms back to square one in the face of unprecedented protests that prompted prime minister Saad Hariri to resign last month. Safadi said in a statement that he had decided to withdraw following consultations with political parties and a meeting on Saturday with Hariri. “It is difficult to form a harmonious government supported by all political sides that could take the immediate salvation steps needed to halt the country’s economic and financial deterioration and respond to the aspirations of people in the street,” the statement said. Protesters who took to the streets on Saturday denounced Safadi’s potential nomination, saying it ran counter to nationwide calls to oust a political elite they see him as part and parcel of. In the statement, Safadi thanked President Michel Aoun and Hariri for supporting his candidacy and said he hoped Hariri would return as premier to form a new government. Hezbollah and its ally Amal had agreed to back Safadi following a meeting with Hariri late on Thursday, according to Lebanese media and political sources, but no political party had since formally endorsed his candidacy. The two Shia groups, along with Aoun, a Maronite Christian, have sought for Hariri to return as premier but have demanded the inclusion of both technocrats and politicians in the new cabinet, while Hariri has insisted on a cabinet composed entirely of specialist ministers. The process for choosing a new premier requires Aoun to formally consult members of parliament on their choice for prime minister. He must designate whoever gets the most votes. Lebanon’s prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim, according to its sectarian power-sharing system.

Safadi gives up Lebanon PM bid under protest pressure/He expressed hope Hariri would be reinstated.
The Arab Weekly/Sunday 17/11/2019
Lebanon's former finance minister Mohammed Safadi has backed down from seeking to be the country's new prime minister, after reports of his nomination sparked ire among demonstrators railing against the ruling elite. The wealthy 75-year-old businessman and former finance minister Safadi said Saturday it would be difficult to form a "harmonious" government in the country rocked by a month of unprecedented nationwide protests demanding radical reform. The tycoon said in a statement that he hoped outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri, who resigned on October 29 under pressure from the street, would be reinstated. Protesters, who see Safadi as emblematic of a corrupt and incompetent establishment, had reacted angrily on Friday to media reports that key political players had chosen him for the top job. Although there was no official confirmation of his nomination, demonstrators gathered in front of one of his properties in his hometown of Tripoli to protest against what they regarded as a provocation. It came as the US embassy in Lebanon on Saturday expressed support for the cross-sectarian protest movement that has swept the Middle Eastern country since October 17. "We support the Lebanese people in their peaceful demonstrations and expressions of national unity," the embassy said on Twitter. Several mass rallies are planned for Sunday in cities across Lebanon to keep up the pressure on the country's rulers, widely seen as irretrievably corrupt and unable to deal with a deepening economic crisis. The government has stayed on in a caretaker capacity since stepping down. Some local players, notably the powerful pro-Iranian Shia movement Hezbollah, have accused "external parties" and Western embassies of supporting the popular uprising, including through financial backing. On Saturday, a so-called "revolution bus" traversed the multi-religious country from north to south, decorated with the names of protest hotbeds. According to protesters, the initiative sought to break down geographical and sectarian barriers and overcome the collective trauma of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Lebanon: Safadi Withdraws Candidacy for PM
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 17 November, 2019
Former finance minister Mohammad Safadi withdrew his candidacy to be Lebanon’s next prime minister on Saturday, saying that he saw that it would have been difficult to form a "harmonious" cabinet supported by all parties. Safadi emerged as a candidate on Thursday when political sources and Lebanese media said three major parties had agreed to support him for the position. His decision to withdraw throws Lebanon's push to form a government needed to enact urgent reforms back to square one in the face of unprecedented protests that prompted prime minister Saad Hariri to resign on October 29 -- nearly two weeks into the demonstrations demanding the removal of a ruling elite seen as corrupt and incompetent. Safadi said in a statement that he had decided to withdraw following consultations with political parties and a meeting on Saturday with Hariri. "It is difficult to form a harmonious government supported by all political sides that could take the immediate salvation steps needed to halt the country's economic and financial deterioration and respond to the aspirations of people in the street," the statement said. Protesters who took to the streets on Saturday denounced Safadi's potential nomination, saying it ran counter to nationwide calls to oust a political elite they see him as part and parcel of. In the statement Safadi, a prominent businessman, thanked President Michel Aoun and Hariri for supporting his candidacy, and said he hoped Hariri would return as premier to form a new government. The process for choosing a new premier requires Aoun to formally consult members of parliament on their choice for prime minister. He must designate whoever gets the most votes.

Safadi to Testify over Zaitunay Bay, Voices Surprise over Hariri Statement
Naharnet/November 17/2019
Ex-minister Mohammed Safadi on Sunday said he has requested to appear before the financial prosecutor to refute allegations about the Zaitunay Bay promenade and marina. “After the issue of Zaitunay Bay was tackled in a false manner, and after the controversy, ambiguity in people’s minds, the launch of accusations and the claims about the presence of violations, Minister Mohammed Safadi took the initiative of calling Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim and asked him to schedule a meeting,” Safadi’s office said. “He urged him to launch a complete and comprehensive probe and to hold accountable any wrongdoer in order to wrap up the file once and for all,” the office added. Safadi, who is a partner in the Zaitunay Bay project, has been accused of being involved in a venture that encroaches on public seaside property and of suspected money laundering and other violations. Separately, Safadi’s office commented on a statement issued by the press office of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The office said Safadi was “surprised” by the statement which “divulged the details of negotiations” between him and Hariri, which he had wanted to remain confidential. Describing the statement as an attempt at “political exploitation,” the office said Hariri did not keep promises made to Safadi to convince him to accept the nomination. “This prompted me to declare my withdrawal and today I call on everyone to show prudence and realize that Lebanon is bigger than us all and that it is in impending danger,” Safadi said in the statement.

Safadi asks Judge Ibrahim to open an investigation into case of Zaitunay Bay
NNA/November 17/2019
Former Minister Mohammad Safadi said in a statement on Sunday that he contacted the Financial Attorney General, Judge Ali Ibrahim, urging him to schedule an appointment to initiate an investigation into the case of Zaitunay Bay and hold any perpetrator accountable for any crime in this regard."

US embassy in Lebanon ‘supports’ peaceful protests
AFP, Beirut/Sunday, 17 November 2019
The US embassy in Lebanon said on Saturday it supported the one-month-old anti-government protest movement in Lebanon. “We support the Lebanese people in their peaceful demonstrations and expressions of national unity,” the embassy said on Twitter. Lebanon has since October 17 been swept by an unprecedented cross-sectarian protest movement against the entire political establishment, which is widely seen as irretrievably corrupt and unable to deal with a deepening economic crisis. The government stepped down on October 29 but stayed on in a caretaker capacity, and an economic crisis has also battered the country. Some local players, notably the powerful pro-Iranian Shie movement Hezbollah, have accused “external parties” and Western embassies of supporting the popular uprising, including through financial backing. Several mass rallies are planned for Sunday in cities across Lebanon to keep up the pressure on the country’s ruling class. On Saturday, an initiative dubbed the “revolution bus” traversed the country. Lebanese anti-government protesters arrive in a “revolution” bus escorted by Lebanese army soldiers in the southern city of Sidon on November 16, 2019. (AFP) Leaving Akkar region in the north in the morning, the bus - decorated with the names of protest hotbeds in the multi-confessional country - arrived early in the evening in the southern city of Sidon. According to protesters, the initiative sought to break down geographical and sectarian barriers and overcome the collective trauma of the 1975-1990 civil war. In an incident that became emblematic of inter-sectarian schisms during that deadly conflict, a bus was strafed by gunfire.

U.S. Embassy in Lebanon Denies Link to 'Revolution Bus'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 17/2019
The U.S. embassy in Lebanon has said that it supports "the Lebanese people in their peaceful demonstrations," but denied financing a so-called “revolution bus” that sparked controversy. “We heard the rumors and no, the U.S. Embassy is not financing ‘the revolution bus’,” the embassy tweeted.
"We support the Lebanese people in their peaceful demonstrations and expressions of national unity," it added. Rumors circulated on social media had accused some organizers of the bus initiative of having ties to Washington and the U.S. embassy. The rumors created tensions and the bus was prevented from moving south beyond the Elia square in Sidon over security fears. Organizers and protesters who started their journey in the northern Akkar region had sought to reach the southern cities of Tyre and Nabatiyeh, strongholds of Hizbullah and the AMAL Movement which have also witnessed anti-corruption protests. Lebanon has since October 17 been swept by an unprecedented cross-sectarian protest movement against the entire political establishment, which is widely seen as irretrievably corrupt and unable to deal with a deepening economic crisis. Some local players, notably the powerful Iran-backed Hizbullah, have accused "external parties" and Western embassies of supporting the popular uprising, including through financial backing. According to protesters, the bus initiative sought to break down geographical and sectarian barriers and overcome the collective trauma of the 1975-1990 civil war. In an incident blamed for sparking that deadly conflict, a bus was strafed by gunfire on April 13, 1975 in the Beirut suburb of Ain el-Rummaneh.

Qaouq: Some Planting Mines in Way of Govt. Formation
Naharnet/November 17/2019
A senior Hizbullah official on Sunday accused some parties of “planting mines in the way of the government formation process” in a bid to “change the political equations” in the country. “Regardless of the government’s shape and whoever its premier might be, Lebanon will not have a government subject to American diktats that would work on implementing the U.S. wishes at the expense of the Lebanese interests, specifically at the expense of Lebanon’s strength in resistance,” Hizbullah central council member Sheikh Nabil Qaouq said. “From the position of historic national responsibility, Hizbullah has managed to thwart strife and Israel’s civil war ambitions, and it is keen on facilitating all contacts and consultations for the sake of forming a new government,” Qaouq added. Noting that “U.S. policy and Saudi electronic media sought to push citizens into clashes on the streets and were waiting for the eruption of strife among the Lebanese,” the Hizbullah official acknowledged that protesters on the streets “are rallying in order to rescue the country and demand their social rights.”But he warned that “those who infiltrated the popular protest movement, be them political parties or U.S. interferences, do not want to rescue the country but rather to bring it down in order to achieve political gains.”

Arab Banks Union to convene in Cairo upcoming December 8 & 9
NNA/November 17/2019
The Union of Arab Banks is expected to hold its annual conference on December 8 & 9, 2019, which will tackle the "impact of political and economic fluctuations on the flow of banking operations in the Arab region."
"The conference will discuss the economic reforms and their impact on achieving economic and social security, as well as the pressure imposed by international legislation on the banking sector and its repercussions," the Union's Secretary General Wissam Fattouh said in a statement. Referring to the Beirut banking conference, Fattouh indicated that it was postponed due to the developments in Lebanon. He added that the conference will be held immediately upon the new cabinet formation and after the return of political conditions to normal, with the participation of all parties and international institutions and Arab monetary funds. "This reflects the belief in Lebanon's financial and economic role, and comes as a token of devotion which the Arab bankers have for Lebanon," he said. "Beirut remains the capital of financial and banking conferences, attracting all Arab bankers who insist on the Lebanese capital to hold their conferences," Fattouh concluded.

With deadlock continuing, Lebanon’s crisis is set for the long haul
Samar Kadi/The Arab Weekly Editorial/Sunday 17/11/2019
BEIRUT - The month-old demonstrations that brought Lebanon to a halt and toppled Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government have yet to deliver on protesters’ demands for an “emergency administration” of independent technocratic ministers capable of rescuing the country from its acute financial crisis.
Reports that a consensus was reached to nominate Mohammad Safadi, a former Finance minister, as prime minister fuelled the anger of protesters who gathered outside Safadi’s home. “Reports about Safadi’s nomination could be a test balloon to see how it would be received. The people reacted with more protests. I don’t think that would work, unless the ruling class wants to confront the people,” said political analyst Amin Kammourieh.
“We are stuck in an impasse,” he said. “A government of technocrats will not be accepted by Hezbollah and its allies while a cabinet of politicians and technocrats will still face opposition in the street.”Hariri, who resigned October 29 after unprecedented protests against ruling politicians blamed for rampant state corruption and an economic crisis, said he would only return as prime minister of a cabinet of non-partisan specialist ministers. While the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies, the Shia Amal Movement of parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and the Free Patriotic Movement of President Michel Aoun, wanted Hariri to return as prime minister, they insisted on a cabinet of both technocrats and politicians. “They want him (Hariri) back because he represents a Sunni majority and has strong relations with the West, which they don’t want to lose,” Kammourieh said. Kammourieh said a cabinet of independent technocrats would eliminate or weaken the hold of Hezbollah, which does not want to be seen as “if it has conceded to the international community, notably the West and the Americans,” he said.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly insinuated that critics of Hezbollah’s political line were manipulating the protests and that the demonstrations had been exploited by international and regional powers against Hezbollah. Protesters blocked roads and crammed city squares despite little sign of an imminent breakthrough. Lebanon appears to be in for a prolonged crisis. The first fatality in the protests occurred November 12, when a Lebanese soldier shot a protester south of Beirut shortly after a live interview during which Aoun implicitly rejected the protesters’ demand for an independent cabinet.
A non-partisan cabinet of experts with a well-defined agenda, including early general elections, “is the only option to surmount the crisis,” said Sami Nader, director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs.
“If the deadlock persists, Lebanon will be plunging into a more severe economic crisis. The World Bank has warned that 50% of the Lebanese will fall into poverty. That will lead to complete chaos and all-out civil disobedience.”Neither side appears prepared to compromise and there is no political leadership or opposition party that could be an alternative to the ruling parties. “Hezbollah and its allies are not willing so far to relinquish their dominion over the political establishment but, in the meantime, the country may collapse… We are still at square one.”

The bright side to the Lebanese October revolution
The Arab Weekly Editorial/Sunday 17/11/2019
No matter whether the demonstrators succeed or fail, politicians will never again dare to steal with impunity as they have so frequently done in the past.
Sunday 17/11/2019
The popular demonstrations in Lebanon that began with euphoria and hope and forced the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri are unlikely to unfold the way the crowds wish.
Drastic changes in the political and social structure of Lebanon, which is what is needed if the demands of the people are to be met, are highly unlikely.
Meaning that the revolution is dead? No, far from it. The revolution is in its infancy. It is only starting. A revolution is a continuous movement. It is ongoing. It is perpetual, otherwise it dies. It was not only residents of Beirut taking to the streets -- so, too, did people in cities around the country. They protested in Sidon, in Tripoli, Tyre and many other locations. It is likely that some changes will be introduced. However, the demonstrators will soon realise that not all of their demands will be accepted by the establishment. Much to the displeasure of the establishment, it will soon realise that it has no choice but to adapt to the new realities. Lebanon’s traditional leadership, based along confessional and sectarian -- almost tribal-clannish -- lines reflecting a quasi-medieval social structure, has led the country to the brink of economic disaster, almost reaching the level of a failed state. This cannot go on.
It is inevitable that some changes as demanded by demonstrators over the last month are going to be met but not all the demands will be addressed and many promises will be broken.
However, in typical Lebanese manner, the president will appoint a new prime minister, who will introduce some new faces to the political arena and will retain some of the establishment’s defenders. Those may be second- or third-tier establishment people who will continue to serve their masters, rather than their country. Lebanon’s revolution is unlikely to be successful in its first try. This must be seen as a multistep endeavour, which may take decades. As with almost every major development in Lebanon since its independence, the crisis will have to be resolved through consensus.
There is, however, a bright side to the dark and murky waters of Lebanese politics and some changes to the Lebanese political scene are inevitable. Many people in Lebanon are realising that, while they may not be as optimistic as they were in the early days of the protests, there may be a silver lining.
No matter whether the demonstrators succeed or fail, politicians will never again dare to steal with impunity as they have so frequently done in the past. Flagrant disregard of laws and corruption simply because one is powerful enough to get away with it will not disappear entirely but changes of motion set out in the October revolution will make those with bad intentions think twice before committing similar crimes. The real test -- to see how many Lebanese have changed and just how much they have changed -- will become apparent at the next elections.
Will the country continue to vote for the same people who took the nation to the brink of the economic meltdown or will they be faithful to the ideals of the October revolution and vote in new faces without the traditional requirement of belonging to a certain religion, group, sect or party?
If Lebanon aims to achieve a true level of democracy, it should strive to have its laws made applicable to all citizens and residents of the country. That includes the Hezbollah-dominated sectarian system of benefits, many of which smack of unfairness and corruption.

Lebanese abroad look for ways to get involved in protest movement
Justin Salhani/The Arab Weekly/Sunday 17/11/2019
PARIS - As Lebanon marks one month of protests, activists and demonstrators are charting their next steps in the effort to remove what they say is a corrupt political system. The Lebanese diaspora, which faces a different set of struggles, is finding ways to get involved in the movement.
When the protests began, many Lebanese outside the country experienced a whirlwind of emotions. There was pride in compatriots standing up to the long-entrenched government but also some uneasiness about not being present to support them.
This was not the first time Lebanese have had a protest effort aimed at revolutionising the political system but previous setbacks made many lose hope. In 2005, massive demonstrations led to the expulsion of occupying Syrian forces but the following ten years were punctuated by social and economic crises. In 2015, a waste-disposal crisis led Lebanese to again protest in mass but that movement broke down because of internal divisions and the political class’s efforts to keep them at bay.
“I really lost heart after the (2015) ‘You Stink’ (protests),” said Drew Mikhael, a Belfast-based academic who said he visits Lebanon around eight times each year. Mikhael said that, after the collapse of the 2015 protests, he stopped keeping up with Lebanese news.
This time, however, something feels different, protesters said.
“The united nature crosses sect, class, gender. It’s inclusive of the LGBT community and it has reignited hope,” Mikhael said, adding that the new social contract forged by Lebanese across the country appears to be a watershed moment in casting off sectarian divisions.
The Lebanese diaspora is re-energised. Weekly protests have taken place in New York, Paris, London and elsewhere since mid-October. There has been a significant backlash to Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s suggestions that Lebanese unhappy with their government can simply emigrate. That struck a particularly harsh note with the diaspora, many of whom left because of a lack of opportunity at home.
Many Lebanese living abroad confess they feel guilt, shame or fear of missing out in the protests. It isn’t helped that they are sometimes stigmatised by other Lebanese for having left their country, whether or not by choice.
Nasri Atallah said he was at a protest in London, where he lives, and heard people chanting how they wish to live and work in Lebanon. While he doesn’t disagree, he said his personal situation is different.
“I thought about how, even if things in Lebanon were ideal, I would probably leave anyway because my ambitions are matched in a place like London or New York,” Atallah said.
When the protests broke out, Atallah said he considered returning to Beirut but he felt uneasy. “I felt it would be conflict tourism to go to my own country as an expat under these circumstances and I thought about how I could be of better use in my own city,” he said.
Since then, he’s been talking to others in the diaspora about how to help and build a network that can help find opportunities for young Lebanese artists or professionals, similar to networks used by the Armenian or Chinese
communities abroad.
There is a stark dichotomy between the lives of Lebanese diaspora members and Lebanese at home, many pointed out. A meme on social media during the first days of the protest movement showed a drawn figurine of an expat woman watching developments on her laptop surrounded by trinkets and dishes that reminded her of Lebanon.
“For the first week, I was glued to (Lebanese news channel) MTV and I’d be at my job and listening to all the latest developments at the same time,” said Micha Maalouf, who lives in New York. “I told everyone at my office what was happening and why this was so important.”
She was not the only Lebanese living abroad eagerly keeping up with the news but while expatriates used social media to stay informed, they sometimes struggled to manage their daily lives. Maalouf admitted she’s had to shut off the news so her work performance didn’t suffer.
Many diaspora members observed a strange dichotomy between following developments in Lebanon and staying connected to local happenings. Some found it surreal to flip through memes of their friends and family supporting the protests, only to be interrupted by an Instagram story featuring a plate of food posted by a non-Lebanese colleague.
“It felt like a moral obligation at first,” Youssef Mallat, a Lebanese living in Paris, said about focusing solely on “the revolution.” “When I’d see posts not about the revolution it made me a bit angry because I felt it wasn’t time to talk about other things and we have bigger problems but as an expat what do you do? At some point, your life is still going,” he said.
The divide reminds the Lebanese diaspora of the duality of their lives. Many left Lebanon for the chance at a more stable life but their hearts are with protesters on the streets of Lebanon chanting “thawra, thawra, thawra!”

Let Aoun, Nasrallah and Bassil be the ones to emigrate
بارعة علم الدين/اتركوا عون وباسيل ونصرالله يحاجروا من لبنان
Baria Alamuddin/Arab News/November 17/ 2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=80647&action=edit
Michel Aoun’s depressingly out-of-touch interview last week — culminating in him disparagingly declaring “let them emigrate,” addressed at all Lebanese discontented with the miserable status quo — focused renewed popular anger against the president. A month after it began, the revolution accumulates momentum, energy and confidence with each passing week.
The nomination of Mohammed Safadi to head a new government reassured nobody that Lebanon’s sectarian governing framework has renounced its clientelistic instincts (Safadi has since withdrawn his candidacy anyway). Protesters denounced the 75-year-old former finance minister as one of the corrupt elite’s more grotesque faces. “Choosing Mohammed Safadi for prime minister proves that the politicians who rule us are in a deep coma,” remarked one demonstrator.
No possible choice of Sunni prime minister can solve this crisis — the sectarian system is rotten to the core and must be abolished in its entirety. Saad Hariri is one of the few leaders to understand the depth of the popular anger; hence his insistence on only cooperating with a government entirely composed of technocrats. Hariri was burnt by his participation in previous governments for the sake of consensus and civil peace — yet amounting to no more than a sticking plaster over a gaping wound.
Following his opportunistic embrace of the pro-Syria/Iran camp after his 2005 return from exile, Aoun became the cornerstone on which Hezbollah consolidated its dominance of the Lebanese state, effectively neutralizing Lebanon’s Christians as a potential counterweight to Iranian hegemony.
Aoun, at the age of 84, is disconnected from the realities of contemporary Lebanon. His son-in-law Gebran Bassil has been the real driving force behind efforts to cobble together a government behind the scenes and subvert the revolution’s momentum. These labors reportedly included meetings with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to prepare the ground for a transition of power from Aoun to Bassil. Yet Bassil is even more deeply loathed than Aoun — as attested by the unrepeatably rude chants from demonstrating crowds. Even among erstwhile Christian supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement, there is recognition that Aoun and Bassil stand guilty of facilitating Iran’s hostile takeover of their homeland.
This weekend’s sudden outbreak of protests across Iran over skyrocketing petrol prices, along with the sustained explosion of anger against Iranian meddling in Iraq, should be a salutary reminder to Nasrallah that the future disintegration of the Islamic Republic will cause the ground to disappear beneath his feet. Until recently, Hezbollah appeared omnipotent; yet, with each passing day of mass protests, Nasrallah is left scrabbling to adjust to new realities.
Ordinary people’s voices have been extinguished entirely in a state governed for the malign pleasure of oligarchic and foreign interests.
The Iranian protests already have many commonalities with the Lebanese and Iraqi uprisings, with economic grievances rapidly giving way to calls for “death to the dictator.” Attempts by Iraqi and Lebanese protesters to directly communicate with each other indicate a way that citizens can capitalize on their common grievances — as they all ultimately desire an end to the detested ayatollahs’ regime.
Lebanon’s sectarianism and factionalism have set communities against each other, rendering the country a plaything of foreign powers, with France, the US and various regional states having their favored factional allies. However — as is the case with Syria and Iraq — Arab influence in Lebanon has lamentably withered away altogether in recent years.
Of all the foreign parties, it is Tehran that came to dominate the Lebanese arena through its chosen vehicle of Hezbollah, while exploiting clients like Aoun to monopolize the entire political system. Instead of the sectarian system guaranteeing that all communities are represented, ordinary people’s voices have been extinguished entirely in a state governed for the malign pleasure of oligarchic and foreign interests. The Aoun-Bassil relationship is a further reminder of the feudal nature of Lebanon’s politics, with the same few families monopolizing power since pre-civil war days. How can anybody mistake this for democracy?
The civil war shattered Lebanon’s sense of collective national belonging. Recent protests herald the rebirth of this unified identity, the rejection of sectarianism, and an assertion of national sovereignty. The revolution’s first martyr, Alaa Abou Fakhr, has posthumously come to embody this patriotic mood, with his face appearing on huge murals and across social media, while the local school and the American University of Beirut have pledged to cover the costs of his bereaved children’s education.
Whether in Iran, Lebanon or Iraq, democracy only exists when people’s choices at the ballot box are meaningfully reflected in the composition and agenda of the administration. A nation state can only exist when people’s primary loyalties and affiliation are to the entire motherland and not to communities segmented along bitter sectarian divides or to foreign powerbrokers.
Aoun’s insulting retort about appointing independent technocrats — “Where can I find them? On the moon?” — illustrates his blinkered detachment from the deep reserves of experienced, educated and dedicated figures that Lebanon can draw on when the crooks are forced to step aside.
Lebanon’s chronic crises and cronyism, generation after generation, have consistently impelled its finest minds to choose the uncertainties and rootlessness of exile. Rather than dismissively exhorting patriotic citizens to emigrate, future leaderships should offer their most outstanding citizens incentives to invest their energies, wealth and expertise in their homeland.
This is a nation capable of great things, if only protesters retain the courage of their convictions and follow through on this revolution to bring in a new generation of leaders dedicated to Lebanon’s well-being rather than their own.
If Nasrallah, Aoun, Bassil and others dislike this aspiration, then they know where they can go.
*Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and has interviewed numerous heads of state.

What's next for the Lebanese banking sector?

Dan Azzi/Annahar/November 17/2019
This also makes the current unwinding that we’re currently witnessing, the biggest destruction of wealth in the history of the country.
Who remembers a banker or politician beaming proudly about the banking sector’s $170 billion in deposits? The Lira is safe, they would continue without skipping a beat, because the size of our deposits is 3 times GDP. This is like me borrowing $3 million from someone and going around town bragging that I’m a multi-millionaire. Deposits are liabilities, i.e. debt, owed by the banks to you, the depositor. Banks and people forgot this simple principle, which is why we are where we are today. The banking sector and the central bank in Lebanon have presided over the biggest artificial creation of money and wealth in the history of the nation, which I wrote about here Effectively, they did something that nobody’s ever done before — they printed US dollars. If this had happened in physical form, special agents from the US Secret Service, wearing Oakley sunglasses, would have been dispatched to Beirut to investigate ... except it was all perfectly (or imperfectly) legal. This also makes the current unwinding that we’re currently witnessing, the biggest destruction of wealth in the history of the country.
We were featured in the Guinness Book of Records in 1976 for the biggest bank heist in history, the British Bank of the Middle East (HSBC today). The armed bandits, thought to be PLO, made out with around $125 million in today’s dollars, and, except for the largest Hummos plate, we haven’t graced its pages for anything significant since. We will soon have the dubious honor of being featured again, for the biggest bank heist in history, except this time it won’t involve armed men with AK-47s and RPGs. It was perpetrated by men in Ermenigildo Zegna suits, Hermès ties, and Rolex watches.
It will more accurately be featured as the largest government-sponsored Ponzi scheme in the history of mankind, more than double the size of that amateur Madoff. A Ponzi Scheme is defined as a fraudulent investment scheme paying inexplicably high returns to old investors, funded by new investors. This definition applies precisely to what happened in Lebanon, except the fraudulent part. Madoff promised high returns using a “split-strike option strategy” — an outright lie, and too complex-sounding for anyone to ask further questions. In our case, it was explained by “financial engineering” which was also too complex-sounding for anyone to ask further questions, however nobody actually lied, meaning nobody claimed that this was being invested in widgets, when they weren’t. Banks simply offered high returns of say 15% to a customer who didn’t know or care how these returns were being generated.
While Madoff affected a few hundred rich investors, our Ponzi involves the government, the whole banking sector, and will touch, in some shape or form, some 5 million Lebanese citizens, as well as a few adventurous foreigners — Iraqis, Syrians, and even the likes of some Jordanian banks, tempted by the interest rates offered by our banking geniuses, unmatched anywhere in the world. Once again, they will be reminded, the hard way, of the eternal cliche and fallacy, “too good to be true” and “this time is different.”
A few months ago, in a conversation with the author of the book with the same title, the renowned expert on financial crises, Harvard Professor Carmen Reinhardt, said, “Lebanon has been the source of largest errors in the Kaminsky-Reinhart early warnings model (i.e. Chronic false alarms) ... Lebanon is a tricky and very interesting case. I have been expecting a currency devaluation for a long, long time! I think you have sources of funding that are difficult to track.”
If more than half of all dollar deposits in Lebanon are fake, as I’m claiming, how does this affect day-to-day life?
For one thing, whether or not you believe in the inevitability of a haircut, it’s pretty clear that a dollar outside Lebanon (or cash) is worth more than a dollar in your bank account (let’s call this a fake or “Lebanese dollar”). We’ve already seen this reflected in some unusual transactions in the market, such as a person trading a $100,000 deposit in his bank account for $80-90,000 in cash. We’ve also seen a spike in real estate transactions, meaning people buying land or apartments using checks drawn on fake dollars to buy tangible assets — the bet here is that even if real estate drops further (which it will), it’s a better store of value than the eventual recovery value of a typical deposit. A developer is happy to take a check for fake dollars, because his bank has no choice but to accept it in return for his loan in (real dollars). In some sense, this is positive for the banking sector, because it shrinks their balance sheets and reduces their nonperforming loans. Of course, a person buying real estate with real dollars (cash or dollars transferred from an overseas account to an overseas account) might pay half-price on the same deal. Other forms of these types of deals might be buying a used car (or other depreciable assets or even commodities such as gold or diamonds) using fake dollars, and exporting it outside the country and selling it overseas ... assuming the seller accepts fake dollars. The only seller who would accept it is one in debt, because his bank has no choice but to accept this check to settle a loan.
Traditionally, banks have competed ferociously for your deposit. Have you noticed that these days they’re not offering you high interest to switch to their bank? Why do you think that is? Because, the dollars you’re transferring are fake and you’re probably switching banks assuming that the receiving bank will be more permissive in letting you withdraw money or transfer overseas. In other words, you’re making the problems of the receiving banks worse, because of increasing the demand on their dwindling real dollars, rationed by the central bank.
They no longer want you.
In fact, banks will no longer be as proud of their deposits increasing, because those are liabilities (debt) that they can’t pay.
The best banks today are the ones who can reduce their deposits, reduce their loans (especially NPL), and unwind as much as they can from their deposits at BDL. That last one is the most tricky part and the key to its survival.

Lebanon protests one month in: Demonstrators score electoral win but politicians still deadlocked
Sunniva Rose/The National/November 17/2019
Independent Melhem Khalaf elected to lead Beirut Bar Association as uprising enters its second month
As Lebanese politicians seemed to be caught in a disastrous deadlock on Sunday, the anti-establishment protest movement scored its first electoral win, voting in an independent to lead the Beirut Bar Association.
Melhem Khalaf won by a comfortable margin against Nader Gaspard, a candidate backed by the Free Patriotic Movement, Lebanese Forces, Progressive Socialist Party and the Future Movement.
Pierre Hanna, previously backed by the LF, PSP and Future Movement, withdrew his candidacy in favour of Mr Gaspard to try to secure his win.
“We hope this day will renew democracy within Lebanon’s institutions,” Mr Khalaf said in his victory speech.
Until now, the Beirut Bar Association had not taken a formal stance on the month of mass protests against corruption, poor governance and a crumbling economy. But as Mr Khalaf’s name was announced, many in the crowd of lawyers at the tally cheered and broke into chants of "thowra", or revolution.
Meanwhile, a plan by parties to form a new government to tackle the dire economic situation and address the demands of protesters appeared to fall apart. Two days after he was chosen by Lebanon’s most powerful political parties to be the country’s next prime minister, veteran politician Mohammad Safadi withdrew his candidacy on Saturday evening.
As the country faces a possible “total economic meltdown with potential violence”, its political system is “completely paralysed” by the mass protests that started on October 17, analyst Imad Salamey said.
After resigning on October 29, caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri had reportedly agreed to meet protesters half-way by forming a small government of technocrats.
An apolitical government is one of the key demands of protesters. Triggered by a suggested tax on WhatsApp calls, the protest movement quickly became a rejection of the entire Lebanese political system, based on sectarianism.
But Mr Hariri’s proposal was reportedly dismissed by President Michel Aoun, who wants politicians to be part of the new government.
In a meeting on Thursday evening, the Christian Free Patriotic Movement founded by Mr Aoun, Lebanon’s two Shiite parties, Hezbollah and Amal, and Mr Hariri all agreed on Mr Safadi’s nomination.
Lebanon’s prime minister must be Sunni Muslim, according to the country’s sectarian power-sharing system. But picking Mr Safadi, 75, a billionaire with strong ties to the country’s elite, to lead a government that would include other familiar politicians was a slap in the face for protesters, who rejected the proposal. Mr Safadi, an MP for 18 consecutive years, held key ministerial positions between 2005 and 2014. Like Mr Hariri, he made his fortune in real estate. Adding insult to injury, it was caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, the most unpopular politician with protesters, who said parliamentary consultations would begin on Monday and would confirm Mr Safadi’s nomination as new prime minister.
Mr Bassil, who has aspirations to succeed his father-in-law as president, is regarded by protesters as representative of one of the worst aspects of Lebanese politics: nepotism. Mr Bassil took over leadership of the FPM from the president in 2015.
But nepotism is not limited to the FPM. Mr Hariri inherited his position from his father, Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005.
Parliament is made up of political dynasties, long-time politicians and their relatives. Mr Bassil's announcement immediately led to attacks from Mr Hariri’s party, the Future Movement, which accused him of overstepping his powers. Parliamentary consultations should normally be announced by the country’s president, not a caretaker minister.
Mr Bassil’s office argued that local media had distorted his words, the Lebanese daily L’Orient-Le Jour reported.
Analysts have suggested that choosing Mr Safadi in a closed-door meeting was unconstitutional, although opaque procedures are standard practice in filling top posts in Lebanese politics.
Even Ibrahim Al Amine, editor in chief of Al Akhbar, a newspaper close to Hezbollah, which has accused protesters of receiving funding from abroad, questioned the FPM and Hezbollah’s agreement in an article on Saturday titled: “Those who thought of the Safadi option, suggested it or accepted it, are crazy.” By Saturday evening, Mr Safadi had withdrawn his candidacy.
He said it would be “difficult to form a harmonious government supported by all political sides that could take the immediate salvation steps needed to halt the country’s economic and financial deterioration, and respond to the aspirations of people in the street”.
Mr Safadi also said he hoped Mr Hariri would return as premier to form a new government. As politicians bicker over power, others have used the threat of a new civil war. Mr Hariri condemned the FPM, saying Mr Safadi’s name had not been used as a pretext to build support for him to return as prime minister in the next government. “Prime Minister Hariri does not manoeuvre and does not seek to limit the possibility of forming a government to himself,” his office said. “He was the first to present alternative names to form a government. He was clear, from the first day of the government's resignation, with all the representatives of the parliamentary blocs, that he does not evade any national responsibility.”
Mr Hariri also said Mr Safadi’s name had been put forward by Mr Bassil, whereas the prime minister was pushing for Nawaf Salam, a judge at the International Court of Justice and formerly Lebanon’s ambassador to the UN.
Caretaker Defence Minister, Elias Bou Saab, said on Thursday that the country was in a “very dangerous situation”. But protesters refuse to back down.
“Politicians love saying how dangerous the situation is because they want people to be too afraid to protest,” said Alaa Sayegh, an activist from the LiHaqqi political movement created in 2017. “They want the situation to go back to what it was like before October 17, but there is no bigger danger than the same political parties staying in power because they brought Lebanon to economic ruin." The source of Lebanon’s deadlock is the dichotomy between Hezbollah and its allies’ strong grip on local politics resulting from the 2018 parliamentary elections, and the country’s economy that relies on Arab and western support, Mr Salamey said.
One of the most indebted countries in the world, Lebanon needs international help as it faces imminent economic collapse. But donors would be reluctant to help a government dominated by Iran-backed Hezbollah, designated a terrorist group by the US. Lebanon is suffering from a liquidity shortage that has led to banks limiting daily withdrawals, causing difficulties for importers.
As a result, there is a shortage of basic goods such as fuel and medication, and prices in supermarkets have increased in some areas by up to 20 per cent.
Mr Salamey said the only solution for Lebanon was to establish a “new political formula” that is not beholden to the outcomes of the elections in 2018.
“The situation hinges on Hezbollah and the FPM’s willingness to make serious concessions in that direction,” he said. But on Sunday, Hezbollah signalled that it was not yet open to concessions. “There are those who deliberately lay mines in the path of forming a government and whose goal is to change the political equations between the country’s main forces,” said senior Hezbollah official Nabil Qawouq. “Lebanon will not be a government of American dictates."

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 17-18/2019
36 killed 1000 detained in Iran’s protests in two days
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 17 November 2019
Thirty-six people have died since protests erupted across Iran, according to Radio Farda, while the Iranian opposition reported earlier that 27 people were killed during these protests. Al Arabiya and Al Hadath television sources reported that the Iranian security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters in Martyrs’ square in the capital, Tehran, while protests were reported across the country under a unified slogan: “The gasoline uprising.”Fars news agency also reported that 1,000 protesters across the Islamic Republic were detained during the last 48 hours, while 100 banks had been torched. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday backed the gasoline price rise that has caused nationwide protests, which he blamed on the Islamic Republic’s opponents and foreign foes. “Some people are no doubt worried by this decision ... but sabotage and arson are done by hooligans, not our people,” the Iranian Supreme Leader said in a live speech on state TV. Some Iranian lawmakers, who planned to discuss ways to force the government to revise its decision, withdrew their motion after Khamenei’s Sunday speech, Iran’s state media reported. Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said in a statement reported by the Tasnim news agency that the protest leaders had been identified and “appropriate action” was being taken. “People have the right to protest. But that is different from riots. We cannot let insecurity in the country through riots,” Iran’s Hassan Rouhani said. Iran imposed petrol rationing and raised pump prices by at least 50 percent on Friday, saying the move was aimed at helping citizens in need with cash handouts. Anti-government protests have erupted in over 93 Iranian cities since the decision was announced. In the meantime, the Iranian National Security Council approved a draft law to regulate fuel consumption and called on parliament to take the necessary measures to control and supervise gasoline prices so as not to harm the people, according to the Mehr news agency. Protests have intensified and spread to more than 100 Iranian cities and territories. Iranintl.com reported that a large number of cars blocked the highway in Tehran on Sunday. Protesters in the central city of Isfahan set ablaze a police station on Sunday. Iran has almost completely shut off access to the internet across the country as protests over an increase in fuel prices intensified for the second day, cybersecurity NGO Netblocks confirmed in a report.
Despite the nationwide internet blackout, Iranian activists on Twitter have been taking to the social media platform to share videos and updates on the demonstrations, triggered by fuel rationing and price hikes. Iranians are in the streets protesting peacefully against the recent 3-fold price hike of gas prices. People have had enough of rulers' corruption#IranProtestswith Reuters

Hundreds arrested as Iran regime clamps down on petrol protests
The National/November 17/2019
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei orders security forces 'to implement their tasks' amid internet disruptions across the country
Iran’s Interior Minister warned citizens protesting over petrol price increases that security forces would become involved if they continue.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tehran and about two dozen other Iranian cities over the weekend in response to a government decision to raise petrol prices by 50 per cent.
Authorities said one person was killed when demonstrators abandoned their cars and blocked highways. Videos shared online showed police using tear gas to disperse gathering crowds. About 1,000 people have been detained over two days, Fars reported, citing security officials. “Security forces have so far shown restraint and have tolerated the protests," Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said. "But as the calm and security of people is our priority, they will fulfil their duty to restore calm if attacks on public and individuals’ properties continue.”
The country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also ordered security forces “to implement their tasks” and for Iran’s citizens to keep clear of violent demonstrators. That seemed to indicate a possible crackdown could be looming. Economic protests in late 2017 into 2018 were met by a heavy reaction by the police and the Basij, an all-volunteer force that is part of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. “Such illegal actions would not solve any problem but add insecurity on top of other problems,” Mr Khamenei said. “Lack of security is the biggest calamity for any country and society. That is what they are looking for.” Cheap petrol is practically considered a right in Iran, home to the world’s fourth-largest crude oil reserves. President Hassan Rouhani pushed for higher prices for months to offer payments to the poor. While the price increase was eventually expected, the decision still caught many by surprise and sparked immediate demonstrations overnight. The government also imposed a strict rationing system of 60 litres for each private car. Mr Rouhani defended the moves in comments to his cabinet on Sunday, saying the alternatives were less favourable.
"The government's purpose in the livelihood support programme is to help low- and medium-income families who are under pressure in the situation with economic sanctions," he said, according to a report of the meeting on his official website.
"For this... we should either increase taxes on the people, export more oil... or
Report: Qatar knew of plan to attack ships off Fujairah
There were disruptions to internet access Friday night into Saturday, said NetBlocks, a group which monitors worldwide internet access.
By Saturday night, “real-time network data show connectivity has fallen to just 7 per cent of ordinary levels following 12 hours of progressive network disconnections as public protests have continued across the country”, NetBlocks said. “The ongoing disruption is the most severe recorded in Iran since President Rouhani came to power, and the most severe disconnection tracked by NetBlocks in any country, in terms of its technical complexity and breadth,” the group said. Forty people were arrested in the central Iranian city of Yazd after clashing with police during the protests, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Sunday. Those detained were "disruptors" accused of carrying out acts of vandalism and most of them were not Iranians, ISNA cited the province's public prosecutor, Mohammad Hadadzadeh, as saying. Mr Khamenei expressed the same sentiment, calling the demonstrators “thugs” and blaming outside actors for the disruption. He specifically named those aligned with the family of Iran’s late shah, ousted 40 years ago, and a group in exile called the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq. "Setting a bank on fire is not an act done by the people. This is what thugs do,” Mr Khamenei said. However, Mr Khamenei made it a point to back Mr Rouhani's decision to raise petrol prices. The country's petrol is among the cheapest in the world.
The new prices jumped to a minimum of 15,000 rials (Dh1.30) per litre of petrol – 50 per cent up from the day before. That’s 13 cents a litre, or about 50 cents a gallon.

Rouhani says protest-hit Iran cannot allow ‘insecurity’
AFP, Tehran/Sunday, 17 November 2019
President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that Iran could not allow “insecurity” in the face of rioting after two days of violent demonstrations against a petrol price hike. “Protesting is the people’s right, but protesting is different from rioting. We should not allow insecurity in the society,” Rouhani told a cabinet meeting, as quoted by his official website. Rouhani defended the controversial petrol price hike - which the government says will finance social welfare spending - arguing the alternatives were less favorable. “The government’s purpose in the livelihood support program is to help low- and medium-income families who are under pressure in the situation with economic sanctions,” he said. “For this... we should either increase taxes on the people, export more oil... or reduce subsidies and return the revenues to the people in need.”
Iran’s economy has been battered since May last year when President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a 2015 nuclear agreement and re-imposed crippling sanctions.

Iran Supreme Leader Warns 'Thugs' amid Gas Price Protests
Associated Press/Naharnet/November 17/2019
Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday backed the government’s decision to raise gasoline prices and called angry protesters who have been setting fire to public property over the hike “thugs,” signaling a potential crackdown on the demonstrations. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments came as authorities shut down the internet across Iran to smother the protests in some two dozen cities and towns over the rise of government-set prices by 50% as of Friday. Since the hike, demonstrators have abandoned their cars along major highways and joined mass protests in the capital, Tehran, and elsewhere. Some protests turned violent, with demonstrators setting fires and there was also gunfire. It remains to be seen how many people have been injured, killed or arrested. Authorities on Saturday said only one person was killed, though other videos from the protests have shown people gravely wounded.
In an address aired by state television Sunday, Khamenei said “some lost their lives and some places were destroyed,” without elaborating. He called violent protesters “thugs” who had been pushed into violence by counterrevolutionaries and foreign enemies of Iran. He specifically named those aligned with the family of Iran’s late shah, ousted 40 years ago, and an exile group called the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.
“Setting a bank on fire is not an act done by the people. This is what thugs do,” Khamenei said. However, he made a point to back the decision of Iran’s relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani and others to raise gasoline prices. Gasoline in the country still remains among the cheapest in the world, with the new prices jumping up to a minimum of 15,000 rials per liter of gas — 50% up from the day before. That’s 13 cents a liter, or about 50 cents a gallon. A gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. costs $2.60 by comparison. Khamenei ordered security forces “to implement their tasks” and for Iran’s citizens to keep clear of violent demonstrators.
That seemed to indicate a possible crackdown could be looming. Economic protests in late 2017 into 2018 were met by a heavy reaction by the police and the Basij, the all-volunteer force of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. “Such illegal actions would not solve any problem but add insecurity on top of other problems,” Khamenei said. “Lack of security is the biggest calamity for any country and society. That is what they are looking for.” The protests have put renewed pressure on Iran’s government as it struggles to overcome U.S. sanctions strangling the country’s economy since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers over a year ago. Though largely peaceful, the latest demonstrations devolved into violence in several instances, with online videos purporting to show police officers firing tear gas at protesters and mobs setting fires. While representing a political risk for Rouhani ahead of February parliamentary elections, they also show widespread anger among Iran’s 80 million people who have seen their savings evaporate amid scarce jobs and the collapse of the national currency, the rial.
Cheap gasoline is practically considered a birthright in Iran, home to the world’s fourth-largest crude oil reserves. Rouhani had been pushing for higher prices to offer payments to the poor for months. While the hike was eventually expected, the decision to raise gasoline prices still caught many by surprise and sparked immediate demonstrations overnight. Iranian internet access meanwhile saw disruptions and outages Friday night into Saturday, according to the group NetBlocks, which monitors worldwide internet access. By Saturday night, “real-time network data show connectivity has fallen to just 7% of ordinary levels following 12 hours of progressive network disconnections as public protests have continued across the country,” NetBlocks said. “The ongoing disruption is the most severe recorded in Iran since President Rouhani came to power, and the most severe disconnection tracked by NetBlocks in any country in terms of its technical complexity and breadth,” the group said.
The semi-official ISNA news agency reported Sunday that Iran’s Supreme National Security Council ordered a “restriction of access” to the internet nationwide, without elaborating. Protester chants seen in online videos mirrored many from the economic protests in late 2017, which resulted in nearly 5,000 reported arrests and at least 25 people killed. Some criticized Iran’s spending abroad on Palestinians and others while the country’s people remain poor. The tensions in Iran came as weeks of anti-government protests have engulfed Iraq and Lebanon, two Mideast nations that are home to Iranian proxies and crucial to Tehran’s influence abroad. Iran long has suffered economic problems since its 1979 Islamic Revolution cut off the country’s decades-long relationship with the U.S. Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s followed, further straining its economy.
The collapse of the nuclear deal has exacerbated those problems. The Iranian rial, which traded at 32,000 to $1 at the time of the accord, fell to 122,600 to $1 in trading on Saturday. Iran has since begun breaking terms of the deal as it tries to force Europe to come up with a way to allow it to sell crude oil abroad despite American sanctions. The U.S. so far has had a muted response to the protests, with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeting overnight: “As I said to the people of Iran almost a year and a half ago: The United States is with you.”In Dubai, the new U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates told The Associated Press that America was “not advocating regime change. We are going to let the Iranian people decide for themselves their future.”“They are frustrated. They want freedom,” Ambassador John Rakolta said at the Dubai Airshow. “These developments that you see right now are their own people telling them, ‘We need change and to sit down with the American government.’”

‘The US is with you’: Pompeo reaffirms US support for Iranian protesters
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 17 November 2019
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed on Saturday the US’s support for the Iranian people following countrywide protests that erupted on Friday causing at least 29 deaths following the Iranian government’s decision to hike the price of gas. Pompeo referenced a tweet he had posted in 2018 in a direct message to Iranians, saying: “The United Stated hears you. The United States supports you. The United States is with you.”At the time, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had warned US President Donald Trump that a war with Tehran would be “the mother of all wars.”
Trump had responded in a tweet by saying: “To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.”
In his most recent tweet about the recent protests in Iran, Pompeo reiterated the US’s support for the people of Iran.
US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus also tweeted that the US stands with “the long-suffering Iranian people,” condemning the shutting down of Internet services by the Iranian government.
Iran had almost completely shut off access to the internet across the country as protests over an increase in fuel prices intensified for the second day, cybersecurity NGO Netblocks confirmed in a report.
“Iran is in the midst of a near-total national internet shutdown as of 18:45 UTC, Saturday. Real-time network data show connectivity has fallen to just 7% of ordinary levels following twelve hours of progressive network disconnections as public protests have continued across the country,” Netblocks said.
Meanwhile, security forces continued to use live ammunition, water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters across the country, leading to at least 29 deaths and several injuries. US Congressman Will Hurd also voiced support for the protests on Saturday, tweeting: “The only way we prevent Iran from supporting terrorism and obtaining nuclear weapons is a change in government, and that can only happen if the Iranian people stand up.”In Dubai, the new U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates told The Associated Press that America was “not advocating regime change. We are going to let the Iranian people decide for themselves their future.”“They are frustrated. They want freedom,” Ambassador John Rakolta said at the Dubai Airshow. “These developments that you see right now are their own people telling them, ‘We need change and to sit down with the American government.’”
Police have arrested 40 people during protests in Iran’s Yazd city on Sunday, ISNA news agency reported. In the city of Bam in the Kerman province, media reports said authorities arrested at least 15 demonstrators.
Iran imposed petrol rationing and raised pump prices by at least 50 percent on Friday, saying the move was aimed at helping citizens in need with cash handouts. Anti-government protests have erupted in over 53 Iranian cities since the decision was announced.
As Iran struggles to overcome US sanctions that have severely weakened the country’s economy, the protests serve as a renewed pressure on the Iranian government following the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal.

US will not hesitate to sanction Iraqi officials, says White House official

Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 17 November 2019
The United States would impose sanctions if Iraqi officials were found to be involved in the crackdown on demonstrations, a senior White House official told Al Arabiya English, noting that Washington knew that Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was behind the suppression of the protests and had been to Baghdad.Soleimani is the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - Quds Force. In an exclusive interview, the US official said: “The situation in Iraq is pretty bad. It is so sad to see so many young people shot dead.” He said that the US does not want to give the impression that the United States is intervening in Iraq because some will use this and use it as evidence of Western intervention and this is the case In Lebanon, where we are accused of being behind the demonstrations. Washington knows that Iran was behind the attempts to suppress the revolutions, he said. “The Iranian intervention in Iraq is clear and we know that Qassem Soleimani went to Baghdad and told the government how to crush protestors. … the Iranians have a pretty well-established mechanism for doing that. And, you know, we have open-source reporting of snipers shooting protesters.”“We were really intrigued yesterday by the story about the Iraqi national football team beating the Iranians and the soccer players wearing masks in solidarity with the protesters. And that’s a symbolic thing but it can, I think, really focus international attention. And I think that’s what we want to do.” the official said.
He said they discussed the demonstrations in Iraq as well as the situation in Lebanon and Syria at the meeting of the strategic alliance in the Middle East, known as Mesa, which includes the GCC countries along with Egypt and Jordan “in order to come up with a unified international response on Iraq.”
“We appreciate the role of the United Nations mission in Iraq. And I think that enlarging their mandate and having them support new elections, and revising the Iraqi electoral law so that the mechanism of government is more effective and responsive is another good tool that isn’t just the United States," he said.
“But we want to find other ways to support the demonstrators and I think they are in providing American medical assistance to the demonstrators.”
"We see a reaction from the Iraqi people and the demonstrators, which is hostile to Iran in nature, and it will be difficult to arrest them only with a campaign of violence and arrests. This will be condemned in the Security Council and by the international community. If there is a campaign to suppress the demonstration, I think this will unite the international community to impose quick sanctions on Iran ". “This may be the best way to reverse Iran's influence in Iraq," the official said. “We will not hesitate to impose sanctions on Iraqi officials, including blocking the entry of the United States and freezing their assets. We have done this in the past with one of our NATO allies,” he said. “We’re bound by the law not to provide security assistance to counterparts that are engaged in gross human rights violations. So, we’ve warned the Iraqi government and our counterparts in the Iraqi security forces. That if you take part in violent oppression of protesters, we are required by law to stop all of the foreign aid assistance given to the security forces which is considerable. If any evidence shows they are doing so, we will do so,” he said. “And it applies in Lebanon as it does in Iraq.”

US State Department: Iranian regime scared of its own people

Souad El Skaf, Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 17 November 2019
The US State Department criticized the Iranian regime’s treatments of its people amid nationwide protests against the government’s decision to hike the price of gasoline. Morgan Ortagus, spokesperson of the US State Department said in an interview with Al Hadath on Sunday that the “Iranian government is looking for a scapegoat and a reason for these protests, but there is no one to blame for the actions other than the regime itself.”Ortagus said that the US administration sees more to the protests than the fuel price hike. “We think it is much bigger than that, if you look on what has gone on in Iran the past several years, the Iranian people are quite smart, and they know that the regime got billions of dollars since sanctions were relieved under the JCPOA, that money did not go to funding new schools, new hospitals, improved roads or improved lives of its citizens, instead the money was sent to terrorist proxies that Iran deploys around the Middle East,” said Ortagus. She added that the protests across Iran echo “the frustration” of the Iranian people as the regime puts foreign policy “ahead of the needs of their own people.”Condemning the shutting down of Internet services by the Iranian government, Ortagus said this action “shows a striking lack of respect for their own people and shows that the regime is quite scared of their own people. They are scared of the Iranian people having their voice be heard.”She said “this shows a great amount of insecurity by the regime to cut off the internet” reiterating the US administration’s call for the regime to “turn the internet back on.”

Iran to Inaugurate ‘Laser Air Defense System’
Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 17 November, 2019
Iranian Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Qassem Taqizadeh said that Iran is working on a project to increase the range and the precision of its cruise missiles.Taqizadeh noted that efforts are underway to manufacture ground-to-ground ballistic missiles with pinpoint accuracy, adding that Iran is now among the world's "top five powers in the missile industry."The research and design for a home-grown laser air defense system has been completed and it is now being mass-manufactured in a production line, he continued.
Moreover, Qaher 313 underwent its initial tests and is ready for further tests.Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami affirmed Saturday that: “The conspiracy of the hegemonic system led by the US against Islamic Iran has failed on various fronts, but the enemy will not miss any chance to hit the country.”The sanctions of the US "will not fade away and the only way to counter them is improving the power in every vital field", especially in the military field.

Iran's Khamenei Backs Petrol Price Hike Decision Amid Protests
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 17 November, 2019
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday voiced support for a decision to impose petrol price hikes and rationing that sparked protests across the country. "I am not an expert and there are different opinions but I had said that if the heads of the three branches make a decision I will support it," he said in a speech aired on state television, AFP reported. Protests flared across Iran after the price hike agreed by the High Council of Economic Coordination made up of the president, parliament speaker and judiciary chief was announced at midnight on Friday. "The heads of the branches made a decision with the backing of expert opinion and naturally it must be implemented," said Khamenei. "Some people would definitely get upset over this decision... but damaging and setting fire (to property) is not something (normal) people would do, it is hooligans," he stressed. According to AFP, one civilian has been killed and others injured during the unrest, with motorists in cities blocking highways and some in the protests damaging public property and fuel stations. Khamenei noted that for the past two days "all the centres of the world's wickedness against us have cheered" the unrest.
"What I am asking is that no one help these criminals," he said, calling on people to distance themselves from those stoking the unrest. Meanwhile, a local prosecutor said on Sunday that 40 people were arrested in the protests in the central city of Yazd.

Exclusive: Petrol Price Hike Ignites Revolt in Iran
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 17 November, 2019
But, who took that decision? And, who is in charge? These were some of the questions raised within Iran’s ruling elite on Saturday amid reports of nationwide protests against the decision to triple the price of petrol, thus fanning the flames of rampant inflation.
The protests started in the capital Tehran where some drivers of the United Bush Company parked their vehicles in the middle of a major highway, blocking all traffic. There were also reliable reports of protests from Shiraz, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Tabriz and Mash’had. At least four people were reportedly killed in Sirjan, Behbahan and Tehran’s suburbs. Over 50 were reported injured in 11 cites, although in some places, for example in Isfahan and Mash’had there were reports of the police either showing sympathy for protesters or even protecting them against attacks by pro-regime militants.
The question “who took the decision’ was raised by Hamid-Reza Tabesh, a member of the Islamic Majlis (parliament) after Speaker Ali Ardeshir Larijani told members in private that there has been no consultation with the parliament. Tabesh called for an emergency session, implicitly calling for President Hassan Rouhani to appear in person to explain what had happened.
The question “who is in charge” came from former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a speech in Zahedan, southeast Iran. “We cannot remain silent in the face of mass poverty and oppression by a handful of God-forsaken individuals,” he said. “We want to know who is in charge of this country.”
The answer isn’t easy. Rouhani’s Chief of Staff Mahmoud Va’ezi told reporters on Thursday that the decision to raise the price of petrol was taken by “the highest instances of the system”, implying that “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei had been involved. Khamenei’s entourage who claimed he does not intervene in routine government decisions quickly denied that. That denial, in turn, was denied by the official agency IRNA, controlled by Rouhani’s faction, which quoted Khamenei as ordering the government to reduce domestic consumption of petrol from 105 million liters to under 65 million, presumably by raising the price.
Chief Justice Ibrahim Ra’isi has also denied his involvement, claiming that the judiciary does not intervene in economic decisions.
Two things are certain.
First, unable to make money by exporting oil, the Islamic Republic is getting desperately short of cash. Best estimates by the Central Bank of Iran indicate that the government has enough money to cover basic needs for a further 18 months. Tehran had hoped that, under a scheme proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, it would be able to export enough oil to secure revenues of around $60 billion a year. That is, the minimum needed to cover “basic needs” including, payment of civil, military and security personnel, and financing the operations of surrogates and lobbyists abroad.
However, by last month it had become clear that the Macron “life-saver” scheme was getting nowhere and those other sources of money had to be found. The plan to raise petrol prices had been worked out in the 1990s, but shelved because there was no need for it as, thanks to help from US President Barack Obama, the Islamic Republic was able to increase oil exports and get access to some of its frozen assets.
To sugarcoat the decision, Rouhani decided to announce that the entire income from the price increase would be devoted to a special scheme for helping 60 million Iranians, or 70 percent of the population, who live below the poverty line. The problem is that the government seems to have no idea how this is going to be done. First, no one knows who will qualify as a recipient if only because living under poverty line is a flexible notion. Next, any payment in cash through bank transfers could be hit by an inevitable rise in inflation, reducing the actual purchasing power of the subsidy. Payment in the form of food and clothing baskets is also under discussion. But that, too, could open the way for mass corruption and with the state opting for mass purchases of food and other items contribute to further rises in prices of necessities for all citizens.
According to government estimates, the price rise could increase an extra $2 billion a year, which would mean just over $110 for each of the 18 million “poverty stricken” families Rouhani is talking about.
Interestingly, the total extra revenue is still lower than the estimated $2.5 billion the Islamic Republic spends annually on “exporting revolution”, including by financing the remnants of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus (not counting the free oil he gets), Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and a dozen other militants groups in Palestine, Afghanistan, Pakistan and even Latin America. On Saturday, the Iranian leadership appeared divided and confused as how to cope with a situation that seems to be running out of control.

Iraq Protesters Block Some Roads amid Strike Call
Associated Press/Naharnet/November 17/2019
Anti-government protesters in Iraq have closed some roads in response to a call for a strike from an influential cleric. The protesters are also trying to expand their presence in the Iraqi capital further after seizing control of a strategic square in central Baghdad. Protesters in Baghdad’s sprawling Sadr City neighborhood on Sunday blocked roads in an effort to keep employees from getting to their workplaces, snarling traffic in some areas. The roadblocks are in response to a call by influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for a voluntary strike. Protesters are also trying to reach the Ahrar bridge, after seizing part of the Sanak bridge and the strategic Khilani square in central Baghdad, as they continue to try to get to the heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of government.

Iraqi protester dies in bridge clashes in Baghdad
The Associated Press, Baghdad/Sunday, 17 November 2019
Iraqi security and medical officials say a protester has been killed by a direct hit to the head from a tear gas canister amid fresh clashes on a strategic Baghdad bridge. The officials said 32 others were wounded on Sunday, hours after protesters retook control of half of Ahrar Bridge. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Ahrar Bridge leads to the other side of the Tigris River near the heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s government. Security forces had deployed on the other side of the bridge and erected concrete barriers to keep protesters from pushing into the area. Demonstrators had taken control of these bridges earlier this month but were later repelled when security forces took harsh suppressive measures.

Rocket hits Baghdad Green Zone, no casualties reported: Sources
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Sunday, 17 November 2019
A rocket hit Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, which houses embassies and government buildings, on Sunday but caused no casualties or major damage, two police sources said. Diplomatic sources said aerial bombardment sirens sounded after a blast, Reuters reported. Iraqi local media said three mortar shells fell in the vicinity of the Green Zone. On Sunday, anti-government protesters blocked several roads and bridges in Iraq’s Basra, a go-to tactic for the regime change movement that erupted in early October, Iraqi News Agency reported. A general strike was also announced by activists for Sunday.

Egypt officials: 3 security forces killed in Sinai blast
The Associated Press/Sunday, 17 November 2019
Egyptian officials say a roadside bomb has killed at least three members of the security forces in the restive northern Sinai province.
The explosion hit their armored vehicle on Sunday in the town of Sheikh Zuweid. Four other security force members were wounded, including an officer. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk to reporters. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Egypt has for years been battling an insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula that’s now led by an ISIS affiliate.

Russia sets up air base in Qamishli, challenges US/Israeli air force control of northeast Syria
DEBKAfile/Sunday, 17 November 2019
The arrival this week in Qamishli of 50 Russian military trucks, 300 troops and hardware confirmed the revised US intelligence regarding Moscow’s military intentions in Syria, as DEBKA Weekly 869 first revealed on Nov. 8. Until recently, US strategic experts estimated that Moscow’s interests focused on expanding its Mediterranean coastal footholds up to Libya, for which the Khmeimim air base was designed. This US assessment changed abruptly two weeks ago, when the first Russian military delegation arrived in Qamishli, capital of the Kurdish cantons in northern Syria.
The delegation was first thought to be looking for accommodation for the Russian troops taking part in joint patrols with Turkey along a 10-km deep strip on the Syrian-Turkish border. But when Russian officials were photographed closely examining Qamishli airport and asking Syrian and Kurdish officials technical questions, warning signals flashed. Moscow was now seen to be eying Qamishli airport for conversion into a major military airfield to compete with expanding US military involvement in the region. The Russians were then discovered negotiating a 49-year lease for Qamishli airfield with local Kurdish authorities. That contract was to keep part of the area in civil aviation use, while a large section was to be closed off as a Russian military facility. The deal is evidently now in the bag. DEBKAfile’s military sources report. Substantial Russian military forces have since arrived at Qamishli: 50 trucks with 300 soldiers, consisting of a combat contingent for securing the new Russian air base and an engineering unit to build it; Mi-35 and Mi-8 assault helicopters have also landed, as well as Pantsir-S air defense systems for stationing around the facility.
Loud explosions emanating from the site in the last few days indicate that construction work has begun for expanding the small Qamishli airport into a large air base able to accommodate the landings of Russian fighter jets and large air freights. Moscow has clearly decided against allowing the US military to play unchallenged on the strategic playing field of northeastern Syrian and negotiated a counter-bid with America’s own Kurdish allies.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 17-18/2019
For Russia, Even the Language Can Be a Weapon
Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/November, 17/2019
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, “Russophobes,” “aggressive nationalists” and certain countries (nod toward Ukraine and the Baltic states) are waging a “war” on the Russian language. That’s a strong word. But because Russian is regarded as the only major language under the monopoly control of the eponymous state, the resistance it runs into and the losses it suffers are greater than those faced by other widely spoken languages.
Russian, according to Ethnologue, the resource dedicated to cataloging the world’s more than 7,000 living languages, is the eighth-most-used in the world, with 258 million speakers. That makes it one of the few languages with lots of speakers outside the titular country: Russia’s population is 145 million.
The countries where such languages originated don’t usually have, or want, any kind of rule-setting monopoly or ownership rights on them. The US and the UK are equally important sources of English, but neither tries to force its standards on Australia or India. China invests in the global spread of Mandarin Chinese through Confucius Institutes, but the Taiwanese variety of Mandarin, the official language of Taiwan, is proudly distinct from that of the mainland. Germany doesn’t try to dictate rules and usage to the people of Austria and Switzerland. The French mock the Belgians but can’t get them to use the same idiom and pronunciation as Parisians. It probably makes more sense to learn the Brazilian version of Portuguese than the one used in Portugal.
Russian isn’t like them. Tomasz Kamusella, who studies language politics and history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, counts 22 polities in which Russian is widely used “in writing, speech, the mass media, administration, publishing and education.” This approaches Arabic’s spread. But, Kamusella wrote last year, Russian is the sole world language that is construed as a homogenous and unitary entity, officially with no diverging state or ethnic varieties. The situation seems to be like that because Russia and other post-Soviet states concur with Moscow’s highly ideologized insistence that speaking Russian as a first language is the sure sign that a person belongs to the Russian nation, despite the fact that at present she or he may be a citizen of numerous other countries than Russia. This Moscow-led Russophone aspiration to national and linguistic unity and homogeneity — so typical of ethnolinguistic nation-states in Central Europe — is unheard of among states that employ other world languages for official and educational purposes.
The rules of Russian are laid down and its official dictionaries are written in Moscow. Any deviations from this norm that occur wherever else the language is spoken are frowned upon and treated as errors and sometimes even politicized. One example is the phrase “in Ukraine.” The norm backed by Moscow is “na Ukraine,” while that country’s Russian speakers use “v Ukraine” — and though the meaning is the same, one can usually determine the speaker’s political views concerning Ukraine’s relationship with Russia by this usage alone.
This goes a long way toward explaining a curious exchange that took place during a meeting on Tuesday of the Russian Language Council in the Kremlin. Picking up on Putin’s mention of war, presidential adviser Vladimir Tolstoy, a great-great-grandson of the author of “War and Peace,” lobbied for a special government program to stop the “incessant shrinking” of the “Russian world” beyond the Russian Federation’s borders:
A war is on in the so-called civilized world against the Russian world, the Russian language, and this allows us to see it as a powerful, dreaded weapon that must be kept in full combat readiness.
Let’s not use such words. I’m serious, it makes sense to refrain from using them. Why do I say so? Because if it’s a weapon, they’ll start fighting it as a weapon. They’re fighting it anyway, but for other reasons. Yes, [the Russian language] is power in a certain sense, a kind of soft power. That’s quite enough, I think.
Putin’s propaganda machine sees the Russian language as a tool for communication with this so-called Russian world, understood as a diaspora — the Russian-speaking populations of post-Soviet countries cut off from Russia by the Soviet Union’s collapse. The official term is “compatriots living abroad.”
The concept of Russians as a nation divided calls for a centralized approach to language as a tool for keeping these people’s links to Mother Russia alive. But from the point of view of post-Soviet nations, especially the Baltics, the line is thin between tool and weapon, diaspora and fifth column. After all, the Russia-backed separatist insurrections in Moldova in the early 1990s and in eastern Ukraine since 2014, as well as the annexation of predominantly Russian-speaking Crimea by Russia, followed Moldova’s and Ukraine’s refusal to recognize Russian as an official language.
One could argue, however, that the tens of millions of Russian speakers living in post-Soviet countries, in Europe and beyond, don’t all belong to a diaspora that wants to retain a link to Russia. Many see themselves as members of an ethnic minority with interests firmly tied to their current nation’s politics (that’s a common identity in the Baltics), as multilingual members of their society (that’s often the case in Ukraine), or as immigrants eager to integrate into European cultures (a frequent case in Western Europe).

The “Great Pleasure in Destroying Christians”: The Persecution of Christians, September 2019
ريموند إبراهيم: تقرير عن اضطهاد المسيحيين لشهر أيلول/20019/هناك فرح لدى البعض في تدمير المسيحيين
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/November 17, 2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/80639/%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%88%d9%86%d8%af-%d8%a5%d8%a8%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%87%d9%8a%d9%85-%d8%aa%d9%82%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%b1-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d8%a7%d8%b6%d8%b7%d9%87%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad/

“These regulations [from 2006] stipulate that all places of non-Muslim worship must be licenced. However, the government has yet to issue any licence for a church buildings [sic] under this ordinance, ignoring applications from churches to regularise their status in accordance with the ordinance.” — International Christian Response, September 25, 2019, Algeria.
Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board sought to deport a refugee family — a mother and three children — that had fled their native country of Nigeria after they were attacked and threatened with death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity…. “They face a ‘fatwa’ (a pronouncement of death) against them for converting to Christianity from Islam. They believe they face certain death if they are returned to Nigeria. They are quite fearful.” … Supporters of the family said the government was not taking the time to establish the family’s humanitarian status or perform a proper risk assessment. “They’re trying to boot [them] out of the country before then.” The family’s current status is unclear.
Around mid-September, British police in Preston, Lancashire announced that they would be taking no action against a man who had earlier threatened to sodomize anyone who dares convert to Christianity. Pictured: The city center of Preston.
The Slaughter of Christians
Nigeria: On September 22, the jihadi group, Boko Haram, released a video depicting the execution of two Christian aid workers. Lawrence Duna Dacighir and Godfrey Ali Shikagham, both members of the Church of Christ in Nations, appeared on their knees, in front of three armed men, who proceeded to shoot them. Both Christians had gone to Maiduguri — near where they were captured — to help build shelters for people displaced by Islamic extremist violence. In the same video, and “speaking in the Hausa language, the middle one of the three terrorists says … that they have vowed to kill every Christian they capture…” Responding to the executions, Pastor Pofi, a cousin of the two executed Christians, said:
“Lawrence and Godfrey left Abuja for Maiduguri in search of opportunities to utilize their skills for the betterment of humanity and paid with their lives. We will never get their corpses to bury. The community will have to make do with a makeshift memorial to these young lives cut short so horrifically.”
Separately, a Christian pastor and the wife of another pastor were killed in two different raids by Muslim Fulani herdsmen. “After they had killed her [Esther Ishaku Katung], they were still demanding the ransom without telling her family that they had killed her,” a local Christian said. “It was only after the ransom was paid that it was found by her family that she had been killed by her abductors.” Her mutilated body was found dumped in the bushes.
Pakistan: Police in Lahore tortured to death a 28-year-old Christian man, Amir Masih. After Masih’s employer — for whom Masih had worked as a gardener — reported an incident of theft, police instructed Masih and the other employees to come in for questioning. “My brother went to the police station of his own will,” Sunny Masih, Amir’s brother, explained. “When he reached there [on August 28] the cops seized his phone, bundled him into a vehicle and spirited him to some unknown place.” Four days later, police contacted his distraught family to say Amir was ill and that they should take him to a hospital. “We rushed to the police station, where we were handed a semi-conscious Amir,” his brother continues, “He was beaten up mercilessly, and his body was full of bruises.” While en route to the hospital, Amir told Sunny that six officials, two inspectors and four constables, had tortured him for four days. “He told us that the police officials had urinated on him while cursing him for being a Christian and tried to force him to confess to the crime.” Sunny also noted that all other employees who were questioned regarding the theft were released “without a scratch,” and that his brother “was subjected to severe torture because he was a poor Christian whom police believed could be coerced into a false confession….”
“But my brother was innocent, and he refused to admit to something that he had not done, which further infuriated his interrogators. They increased the intensity of the violence, also subjecting him to electric shocks.”
Two hours after arriving in the hospital Amir succumbed to his injuries and died. A post-mortem report indicated broken ribs and visible torture marks on the hands, arms, back, and feet. The murdered Christian is survived by a wife and two sons, aged 7 and 2-weeks-old.
In a separate incident, also in Pakistan, three Muslim men — Muhammad Naveed, Muhammad Amjad, and Abdul Majeed — participated in the murder of two Christian brothers, Javaid and Suleman Masih [No relation to Amir and Sunny Masih. Masih is a common Christian name in Pakistan]. According to Javaid’s widow:
“For over a year, we have been experiencing and smelling hatred against us by our Muslim neighbors. Often their women discussed and passed insulting remarks against Christians. However, keeping our safety in view, we always kept quite [sic] and never replied…. The Muslim neighbors did not like our van, which carries a holy cross inside, to be parked next to their door. They often criticized it.”
Javaid’s 17-year-old son continued: “Naveed, one of the Muslim family members, was trying to put some scratches on the wind-screen of my uncle’s van on the incident day. When I tried to stop him, he reacted in anger stating ‘whenever I step out of my house, I see this hanging stuff (holy cross) in the van – which I don’t want to see.’ He pointed out the cross in an insulting way. ‘Therefore, you must remove it,’ he ordered.”
Soon thereafter, both brothers “left their house to visit a relative in the neighborhood,” Javaid’s widow resumes; “they were suddenly attacked in front of their house by the two Muslims with knives. Each received 5 – 8 attacks, which resulted into their deaths. The father of the two Muslims was provoking his sons and chanting loudly, ‘don’t spare, kill all of these Chooras!'” (Chooras is a derogatory word used for Christians in Pakistan.) Javaid is survived by his wife and four children (aged 10 to 17). Suleman was recently married; he and his wife were expecting their first child just a few weeks after his murder.
Violence against and Abuse of Christians
Philippines: In the early hours of September 6, an explosion occurred in the marketplace of a predominantly Christian area in the south of the country; several people were injured. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. According to one report:
“The group issued a statement late on Saturday saying the motorcycle bombing had wounded seven Filipino Christians at a public market. It was the fourth blast in the area in 13 months, according to the Philippine military, which said a militant group operating in the mostly Christian city of Isulan in the province of Sultan Kudarat was among the suspects…. [T]hree incidents in the past year authorities said were suicide bombings by militants linked to the Islamic State.”
Burkina Faso: “Christians … are currently being exterminated or expelled from their villages by Muslim extremists,” a September 18 report noted. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a local source said that the militants sometimes give Christians a chance to convert to Islam; he referred to it as “part of a program by the jihadists who are deliberately sowing terror, assassinating members of the Christian communities and forcing the remaining Christians to flee after warning them that they will return in three days’ time—and that they do not wish to find any Christians or catechumens still there.” He elaborated on the recent experiences of the village of Hitté:
“At the beginning of September, 16 men arrived in the village, intercepting the villagers who were returning from the fields. Some of the men forced the people to enter the church where they threatened the Christians and ordered them to leave their homes in the next three days, while others set fire to whatever they found in their path. Now Hitté no longer has any Christians and any catechumens.”
He also made an observation that has been made of militants in Nigeria: “Weapons like these [those used by the Muslim invaders] are not made in Burkina Faso. We know that the arms are supplied by international organizations. We are calling for the removal of these weapons, so that peace can return to Burkina Faso…. The situation is critical.”
Egypt: Unknown persons hurled bricks at Marina Sami Rageb, a Christian woman, as she exited her church. The 21-year-old medical student’s skull was fractured from the assault and she suffered a hemorrhage. Little else is known about the incident or assailant(s). According to the report:
“This type of incident, unfortunately, is common place [sic] in Egypt. Christian women are not religiously compelled to cover their hair, but are constantly pressured to do so by their Muslim peers. Uncovered women are frequently targeted for harassment, and even attacks. This underlying threat greatly impacts their ability to walk freely in Egypt and to choose their clothing preference.”
One woman comments that “In Egypt, there are a lot of security threats in the streets. But I always avoid walking in the radical Muslim districts or areas, just preferring the main streets.” “I always wear long clothes,” explained another Christian woman. “In the streets, I always avoided dealing with the extremists or the radical Muslims.”
Pakistan: On September 16, Muhammad Ramiz and four other Muslim men kidnapped a 14-year-old Christian girl, Samra Bibi, from her home while her family was away, “in what is but the latest in a long series of kidnappings and forced conversions of underaged minority girls, often obtained under threat and after sexual violence,” the report adds. Samra was subsequently forced to convert to Islam and to marry her abductor. Upon learning what happened, her family rushed to the local police, who refused to open the case and instead mocked and insulted the distraught family. After two days of continued pleading from local Christian leaders and the family, police arrested Muhammad — only to release him an hour later, in part due to pressure from Islamic clerics. According to Samra’s father:
“Muhammad Ramiz had long set his sights on Christian girls and teased them. When they told him to stop, he used abusive language against them. When we were not at home, he abducted our underage girl. About ten days have passed and no one has been arrested.”
Discussing this and other similar incidents, a human rights activist said, “According to the law, no minor girl can be converted to any other religion but here no one has courage to challenge the radicals who are committing such crimes.” Another family representative said:
“Sometimes courts seem to be more supportive of perpetrators…. For example, in Samra’s case, the girl is 14, a juvenile who cannot be married; yet police deliberately wrote in their report that she is between 15 and 16 years. We will also challenge this aspect during the trial.”
Attacks on and Hostility for Muslim Converts to Christianity
United Kingdom: Around mid-September, police announced that they would be taking no action against a Muslim man in Preston, Lancashire who had earlier threatened to sodomize any Muslim who dares convert to Christianity. Zaheer Hussain, 41, made a video, which subsequently went viral, while chatting with a laughing companion. Speaking into the camera, Hussain said:
“Bro, listen… any motherf**er wants to convert to f**king Christianity, we’re both gonna f**k you up the a**, you under-f**king-stand? … We’re gonna f**ck you up the a** [moves his pelvis in a mock-sexual act]…. Why you f**king converting for, you motherf**kers? Huh? Why you f**cking — why would you want to become Christian? You f**king baptizing sh*t motherf**kers. Ah [mocking sound] ‘in the Lord of Jesus’…”
The above was spoken in English, of a sort, though extended portions of his tirade were in a foreign (probably Pakistani) language. The Christian woman from Preston who reported Hussain to police said:
“After seeing that video, it frightens me now to identify myself as a Christian to someone that I don’t know.
“It’s sad that I have to hide my religion. This man’s dangerous views on something so normal like people changing religions is unacceptable.
“His threats to sexually assault those who convert to Christianity is the heart of hate speech.”
Despite the UK’s anti-hate-speech laws, police took no action, even though, as one report noted:”Hussain’s generous treatment by the authorities contrasts sharply with that meted out to Scottish comedian Markus Meechan … who was arrested, charged, and convicted in a trial without a jury for causing gross offence with a viral video in which he trained his girlfriend’s pug dog to imitate the “least cute thing that I could think of, which is a Nazi.'”
Uganda: After the Muslim-in-laws of a widowed mother learned that she had converted to Christianity, they attacked her children and her, and drove them out from their home. 54-year-old Lezia Nakayiza’s problems began when her eight-year-old “told one of the relatives of the wonderful choir at church, and that we have been attending the church since March. This, she said, “was the beginning of our persecution”. It was not long before a “Christian neighbor informed me that the family was planning to attack us.” Soon after, and “by the light from moonlight, I peeped through the window and saw many people approaching our house with sticks and other weapons with loud noise from the animals’ shed.” She heard them shouting, “Away with this infidel!” Nakayiza and her children managed to escape from the backdoor. Afterwards, “We walked on foot for two hours and arrived at the church compound around 11 p.m., and we were received by the pastor.” On the following day, the pastor learned of the “huge destruction” her deceased husband’s brothers visited on her home, including “five cows and six sheep killed, iron sheets pulled down, windows and doors destroyed…. The family has to be relocated to another place,” the pastor added.
“Life for them is so hard. The children are out of school. They are very fearful of their lives. Even the church is at risk from the relatives who are radical Muslims. Our church is still too small to support the family.”
Last reported, Nakayiza was offering to wash people’s clothes and work their land to earn enough for the basic necessities of her children, four of whom are aged 15, 13, 11, and 8. “What we are going through at the moment is almost unbearable,” she said.
Iran: The Islamic republic denied two sons (17 and 15) of an imprisoned Christian pastor their high school diplomas, until such time that they complete Islamic education first. Their father, Yousef Nadarkhani, had made headlines in 2009, when he was arrested for protesting Iran’s educational requirement that all students study the Koran. The government responded by arresting him, a convert to Christianity, and charging him with the death penalty for apostasy. Due to international pressure, he was released in 2012—only to be arrested again in 2016. He is currently serving a 10-year sentence.
Contempt for Churches and Crosses
Turkey: “A local municipality in Trabzon (northern Turkey) has ruled that architectural elements of houses which resemble crosses will not be tolerated,” says a report:
“This decision follows an investigation which opened last December following complaints that the balconies of certain villas in the village resembled crosses. Photos show that houses had two levels and a cross shape divided the houses into four quadrants. Multiple complaints from primarily local Arab families led the houses to be destroyed on the basis of their architecture incorporating the cross…. [T]he situation is not unusual. In other locations, such as Gaziantep and Ankara, buildings have been renovated so that the cross shaped architecture is no longer visible.”
Separately, on September 18, a hooded man approached and threatened the Church of St. Paul in Antalya, Turkey. The incident occurred as representatives from three churches were meeting together, in part to prepare for celebrations of the 20th anniversary of their cultural center’s founding. According to the report,
“The man became verbally abusive, and made threats of physical attacks. The identity of the man is unknown, and he was careful to keep his face hidden from security cameras. … The man was shouting that he would take great pleasure in destroying the Christians, as he viewed them as a type of parasitism on Turkey. Police are investigating the incident. Hate speech is one of the primary challenges facing Turkish Christians, who are often viewed as traitors to their country since they have left Islam. While violent persecution attacks are rare, the increase of hate speech throughout Turkey does cause alarm of what it may foreshadow in the future.”
A separate study published in Armenian in September found that there were a total of 6,517 incidents of hate speech in Turkish media in 2018. The two peoples most targeted were Jews and Armenians, followed by Syrians, Greeks, and other Christian groups.
Iran: The government removed tax exemption status from all non-Muslim institutions. According to one report,
“The Tehran City Council will no longer consider churches and synagogues as eligible for tax exemption… Before this decision, these non-Islamic institutions were eligible for tax exemption so long as they were purely religious in nature. The city’s decision has been heavily criticized by Assyrian [Christian] parliamentarians… Iran’s constitution recognizes the freedom of religious practice only for those who can prove that their families belonged to certain non-Muslim faiths prior to the 1979 revolution. These [sic] means that, technically, Assyrian and Armenian Christians should have some (albeit limited) freedom of religious expression. The reality, however, is that Iran does not follow its own laws. All Christian groups, as well as other religious minorities, face heavy persecution from the authorities.”
Algeria: Authorities shut down two more church buildings. On September 24, eight police officers arrived at the Church of Boghni, and sealed off the doors and windows of the Protestant church. “I was surprised when one of the police officers contacted me to meet them at the site where our church is,” Pastor Chergui explained. “I had not received any notice; they went straight to proceed with the closure by sealing. They could have warned us before; why didn’t they?” The building had served two separate churches—Pastor Chergui’s congregation of 190 members, and another Protestant church of nearly 200 members from a neighboring village. Police left a note explaining that they closed down the building because it was being “illegally used … to celebrate non-Muslim worship.” A separate report discussing this same closure elaborates on the law being cited:
“Since November 2017, the government has been engaged in a systematic campaign against Christians. EPA-affiliated churches [the Protestant Church of Algeria] have been challenged to prove that they have licenses according to the requirement of a 2006 ordinance regulating non-Muslim worship. These regulations stipulate that all places of non-Muslim worship must be licenced. However, the government has yet to issue any licence for a church buildings [sic] under this ordinance, ignoring applications from churches to regularise their status in accordance with the ordinance.
“This closure raises the number of sealed church buildings affiliated with the EPA, to eight. Another four church groups have been ordered to cease all activities. In at least two cases, authorities have pressured the landlords renting to churches to deny Christians access to the premises.”
Separately, on September 26 — just two days after the closure of the Church of Boghni — authorities sealed off another church which had served 70, mostly elderly, people; it also functioned as a Bible school. “They told us that they are giving us time to clear useful objects out before they come back to seal it,” church leader Ali Zerdoud said the day before. “I can only say one thing: This is an injustice.”
General Discrimination against Christians
Egypt: Coptic Solidarity, a human rights group, took several initiatives in September — particularly by contacting the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, better known as “FIFA” — to draw attention to the fact that Christian soccer players in Egypt are regularly discriminated against. Although Christians are about 10 percent of Egypt’s population, not a single player on the national and reserves teams is a Christian, Coptic Solidarity noted in a September 17 letter sent to the Normalization Committee of the Egyptian Football Association, a portion of which follows:
CS has received dozens of reports of discrimination from Coptic footballers in Egypt, indicating systematic discrimination against them based solely on faith, which prevents them from reaching the highest levels of competition. In response, CS published a report titled Discrimination Against Copts in Egyptian Sport Clubs, which we also submitted to FIFA by email and via the online complaints mechanism.
The report contains an overview of the widespread discrimination against Copts in football including ample sources and testimonies by moderate Muslims corroborating reality of the ongoing discrimination. It also includes a sampling of 25 of the cases reported to Coptic Solidarity by Coptic footballers.
The Egyptian Olympic Mission to Brazil in 2016 was completely devoid of Copts, and the same applies to the Egyptian national team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Not a single Copt can be found on either the main team or the reserve. There are currently 540 players in the top-flight soccer clubs in Egypt, and that number includes only one Coptic footballer.
Canada: The Immigration and Refugee Board sought to deport a refugee family — a mother and three children — that had fled their native country of Nigeria after they were attacked and threatened with death for leaving Islam and converting to Christianity. According to a spokesperson for the family:
“They ran because her mother wrote her [daughter] a letter saying that she is very disappointed that she is a Christian, but she must run because her father wants to kill [her] to become higher in the organization.”
According to Randy Lorenz, of Canadian Aid to Persecuted Christians:
“They face a ‘fatwa’ (a pronouncement of death) against them for converting to Christianity from Islam. They believe they face certain death if they are returned to Nigeria. They are quite fearful.”
According to LifeSiteNews: “Ironically, both Hephzibah and Rejoice [two of the children, 14 and 10 respectively] were featured in a CBC News photograph with Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau, with an accompanying caption saying they were his supporters. In reality, they and a spokesperson for the family had delivered a plea to Trudeau in person when he appeared in Niagara-on-the-Lake last month.”
Supporters of the family said the government was not taking the time to establish the family’s humanitarian status or perform a proper risk assessment. “They’re trying to boot [them] out of the country before then.” The family’s current status is unclear.
Raymond Ibrahim, author of the new book, Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians by extremists is growing. The report posits that such persecution is not random but rather systematic, and takes place irrespective of language, ethnicity, or location.
© 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’s shrinking economy faces further beating in 2020
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/November 17/ 2019
When it comes to economic growth, 2019 has been one of the worst years for Iran’s ruling mullahs since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. Last week, even President Hassan Rouhani admitted for the first time that the “situation is not normal” and that the Islamic Republic is going through “one of its hardest years since the 1979 Islamic revolution.”
The US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and its reimposition of draconian sanctions, which had been lifted under the Obama administration, began having a real impact this year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month again adjusted its forecast for Iran’s economy, stating that it is expected to shrink by 9.5 percent, down from 6 percent, by the end of 2019.
One of the reasons for the IMF’s gloomier picture of Iran’s economy is the Trump administration’s decision not to extend its sanctions waivers for Iran’s eight biggest oil buyers: China, India, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea. As a result, instead of showing economic growth in 2019, Iran’s economy will only be about 90 percent of its size compared to two years ago, based on a recent report from the World Bank.
What about 2020? Iran’s economy is not likely to rebound next year — instead it will most likely continue to take a beating due to several factors.
First of all, the Trump administration continues to step up its “maximum pressure” policy against the Iranian regime, and specifically its energy sector. The Islamic Republic depends heavily on oil revenues to fund its spending. Iran has the second-largest natural gas reserves and the fourth-largest proven crude oil reserves in the world, and the sale of these resources accounts for more than 80 percent of its export revenues.
Even though Khamenei boasts about the country’s self-sufficient economy, several Iranian leaders have hinted at Iran’s major dependence on oil exports
Iran’s 2019 budget totaled nearly $41 billion, with the regime expecting to generate approximately $21 billion of this from oil revenues. This means that approximately half of Iran’s income comes from exporting oil to other nations. But the regime’s oil exports continue to plummet. Before the US Treasury Department leveled secondary sanctions against Iran’s oil and gas sectors in November 2018, Tehran was exporting more than 2 million barrels per day (bpd). In just a year, its oil exports went down to less than 200,000 bpd — a decline of roughly 90 percent.
Even though Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei boasts about the country’s self-sufficient economy, several Iranian leaders have hinted at Iran’s major dependence on oil exports. Rouhani last week admitted: “Although we have some other incomes, the only revenue that can keep the country going is the oil money.” He added: “We have never had so many problems in selling oil. We never had so many problems in keeping our oil tanker fleet sailing… How can we run the affairs of the country when we have problems with selling our oil?”
Iran can partially compensate for its revenue loss by accumulating taxes from all sectors and businesses. Nevertheless, the wealthiest Iranian organizations, which are mainly owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or the Office of the Supreme Leader, such as Astan Quds Razavi and Setad, are deemed exempt from paying any taxes and technically operate outside the formal economy.
Another issue is Iran’s devalued currency, which will likely continue to put extreme strain on the economy in 2020. Iran’s currency, the rial, is now trading at about 105,000 to the dollar.
Third, if Iran continues to step up its violations of the nuclear deal, other countries, particularly the Europeans, might be forced to impose unilateral sanctions on Tehran, as well as reinstate the UN Security Council’s sanctions. After the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that it had found uranium particles at an undeclared site in Iran, the EU, France, Germany and the UK last week warned the Islamic Republic to comply with the 2015 nuclear agreement or face action.
Finally, some of the major domestic factors behind the country’s economic crisis will most likely continue to persist in 2020. These include the widespread corruption within the theocratic establishment, the mismanagement of the economy, embezzlement and money laundering within the banking system, and the hemorrhaging of the nation’s wealth on militias, terror groups and proxies across the region. These shortcomings are ingrained in the political and financial institutions that are the country’s backbone. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Iran is ranked 138th out of 180 countries.
Iran’s economy took a major beating in 2019, and it will most likely continue to deteriorate in 2020 due to the US sanctions, declining oil exports, its currency devaluation, financial corruption, economic mismanagement, and the potential reimposition of further sanctions, as Iran continues to breach the nuclear agreement.
* Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Why transhumanism is a dangerous leap for humanity
Nidhal Guessoum/Arab News/November 17/ 2019
It was reported last month that many employees at the Swedish unit of the German travel company Tui had volunteered to have a microchip implanted in their hands. What for? The chip opens office doors by pressing against an electronic reader, activates printers, opens locks on cabinets, and allows other such actions to be performed quickly. The employees reasoned that, instead of having to carry magnetic cards or various kinds of keys and risking forgetting or losing them, they could just have the chip implanted in their hands and have it programmed for all kinds of devices and functions.
At my university, we have magnetic cards that allow different people to open different doors, as well as “YubiKeys” — electronic keys that resemble USBs and function as long, secret and unbreakable passwords (this system was installed to prevent the hacking of the academic records that professors and administrators enter into the university’s database). And if I count all the (physical) keys I carry, it would indeed make my life so much easier if there was a chip implanted in my hand that was programmed for all the various functions I need keys for.
Modifying my body even in such a seemingly small, useful and innocuous way may seem like a novel and small step to take, but it is actually a giant leap that I — and I think humanity — should refuse to take. Let me explain why.
In the last few decades, a new techno-socio-philosophical movement called “transhumanism” has been growing and attracting thinkers from fields ranging from robotics and artificial intelligence to philosophy and sociology. Transhumanism, which could be called “Humanity 2.0,” is a movement that aims to “upgrade” human bodies and brains using technology. It says quite simply: If our bodies, including our brains, have obvious limitations and tend to break down with age, why not replace them with better performing parts (prosthetics for legs, hearts, eyes, etc.) even before they start to break down.
Transhumanists argue that, if we can raise humans’ capabilities — such as better vision and hearing, greater cognitive abilities, larger memory storage and faster retrieval — then it makes no sense to forego such possibilities and stick to the deficient bodies that we have. They point out that we have been replacing body organs for many years. This latter argument is simply wrong, however, as it ignores the distinction between replacement and enhancement — a crucial point in this ethical matter.
We need to set limits on what modifications will be allowed while still preserving ‘human’ nature.
But are we today able to (or close to) producing 2.0 versions of human bodies and brains, or is this just science fiction, exaggerated and amplified from little tricks like the above chip implants in hands?
We are certainly not yet at a point where eyes and brains (or parts thereof) can be replaced, but today’s prosthetic legs do allow for strong runs and jumps without fatigue, and various devices can now “supplement” some organs. Indeed, major body transformations will require great advances in nanotechnology, genetic engineering, computer science and electrical engineering, but this is coming.
Various projects, big and small, are already under way. Large ones include the research currently being conducted by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Facebook, and Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which aims to control objects remotely using brain implants. Smaller schemes are undertaken by “biohackers,” individuals who “hack” their bodies to make them do things that they normally cannot (e.g., attract a piece of metal like a magnet).
Now why do I believe that even small “enhancement” steps are dangerous leaps that humanity must not allow?
First, because this would change the nature of the human body, which carries intrinsic limitations and declines with age. We need to keep a clear understanding of what it means to be human, body and mind, and from that we need to set limits on what modifications will be allowed while still preserving “human” nature. After all, everyone agrees that cyborgs (robots that are built in the shape of humans) are not human; indeed, they can do things that humans cannot.
Secondly and very importantly, any chips and advanced devices that we implement in our bodies will be connected to the Internet and thus subject to monitoring (by authorities) and to hacking, with the hackers becoming able to make our bodies do what they want them to do.
Last but not least, such transformations will be very expensive, at least at first, and thus open only to rich people. The technology will probably later become affordable to the general public, but by the time this happens there will be a new advanced step that will be very expensive and open only to very rich people, and so on. And, when a class of humans becomes superior in various ways to others, there will be a temptation to either subjugate the weaker, low-performing hordes or to get rid of them altogether.
Society, through its thinkers, opinion-makers and decision-makers, needs to address this transhumanism trend that is creeping in slowly and surreptitiously. We need to set clear definitions of what it means for us to be humans — bodies, minds and spirits — and to set laws and regulations to try to ensure the preservation of humanity. We do not want to become cyborgs without noticing.
*Nidhal Guessoum is a professor at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. Twitter: @NidhalGuessoum

All quiet on the Turkish-American front
Yasar Yakis/Arab News/November 17/ 2019
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week paid a “historic” visit to Washington — at least this is how it was portrayed in the Turkish media. The agenda was full of critical issues, ranging from the US imposing sanctions on Turkey because of its military operation in Syria to the adoption in the House of Representatives a resolution under which the US would recognize as genocide the events that took place against the Armenians during the First World War.
Before Erdogan left Ankara for Washington, a major train crash looked unavoidable. Many analysts offered suggestions on how to avoid it. However, none of the doomsday scenarios they predicted materialized.
While Donald Trump was hosting Erdogan in the White House, he made an unusual move by inviting some senators to join them. This was meant, firstly, to let the senators tell Erdogan exactly what they had in mind, thus avoiding the difficult task of Trump having to convey the intricate details of the senators’ message to Erdogan. Secondly, it demonstrated that the US president was under pressure because of the senators’ attitude toward Erdogan. And thirdly it gave Erdogan an opportunity to explain to the senators his policy on the Syrian crisis and the Kurdish issue.
Ahead of the visit, the senators leaked to the press the disturbing questions they were going to ask Erdogan. If this scenario was designed by Trump, it actually worked well. For instance, on the Armenian genocide issue, Sen. Lindsey Graham, after participating in the White House meeting, told senators that history should not be written by them and blocked the resolution. Furthermore, the senators were given an opportunity to prove to their constituencies that they have done what they could to corner Erdogan.
The Trump-Erdogan summit was first held in a “plus-one” format, with the participation of the two countries’ respective foreign ministers, plus interpreters, in addition to the presidents. This was followed by a lunch, with the full participation of both delegations.
Apparently the leaders were led to the conclusion that there was no need to get entangled in unnecessary debates on the endless list of controversial issues.
The controversial issues were brushed under the carpet to ease the gloomy atmosphere that prevailed in the two countries’ relations.
At the press conference held after the meetings, Trump made a lengthy introduction to express how he was a big fan of Erdogan. He emphasized mostly the positive aspects of Turkish-US relations, but without denying the presence of annoying controversies. He did not forget, for instance, to reiterate that the US had “a great relationship with the Kurds.” “We are with them now,” he continued, “we get along with them.” Then, remembering that this might hurt Erdogan, completed his statement by saying: “Many Kurds live currently in Turkey, and they are happy and they are taken care of.”
He made a special effort to encourage the reporters to ask “friendly” questions to Erdogan. “A friendly person from Turkey, friendly. Only friendly reporters. We like to see, there are not too many of them around,” he said. Actually, the Turkish reporters that were present were mainly the “friendly reporters” of pro-government media outlets.
One question to Erdogan — which was probably pre-arranged — gave him an opportunity to explain Turkey’s Kurdish policy. A self-confident Erdogan told the reporters that Turkey did not have any problem with the Kurds and that there were more than 50 parliamentarians of Kurdish origin in his party, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). He added that his problem was with terrorists, irrespective of their ethnic origin, citizenship or religion.
Erdogan was also given a chance to explain what happened to the letter that Trump had sent to him last month. The letter was hardly compatible with the tradition of diplomatic correspondence between two heads of state. Before leaving Turkey, Erdogan had promised he would tell Trump he was dismayed by the contents of the letter. A Turkish reporter asked a question about it and Erdogan said he showed the letter to Trump and told him that he was dismayed, thus fulfilling his promise to the domestic audience.
All in all, the visit may not have solved any of the controversial issues, as they were brushed under the carpet to ease the gloomy atmosphere that prevailed in the two countries’ relations — the alternative was for these issues to become worse. The efforts to find solutions to the problems have been postponed to a time when the circumstances will be more propitious.
The parties have to be congratulated for having kept the harsh discussions behind closed doors and placing the emphasis on positive subjects.
Therefore, we may say it was all quiet on the Turkish-American front, as long as US sources do not leak to the media embarrassing details of the debates that may have taken place behind the scenes.
*Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkey and founding member of the ruling AK Party. Twitter: @yakis_yasar

Daughter of former Iranian president sounds alarm
Ali Alfoneh/The Arab Weekly Editorial/Sunday 17/11/2019
There was a time when Faezeh Hashemi was mostly known for being the daughter of former President Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani but increasingly she is emerging as a national political figure in her own right.
She is a political figure who said she fears for the destiny of the regime her father helped create. A regime, Hashemi said, that has been “in decline” since the era of populist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The question is whether Iran can correct its course. Just as relevant is the question of whether the Iranian public accepts Hashemi’s recipe for a brighter political future or blames her for her father’s commanding role in the regime.
Hashemi’s recent appearance in Ardeshir Ahmadi’s online talk show “Goftegou” [“Dialogue”] nicely represents the essence of her political agenda. Dressed in the traditional chador, blue jeans and canvas sneakers, she fearlessly thundered against the performance of Iran.
Asked her opinion of the Islamic Republic, the 56-year-old said: “I believe our regime is deprived of its substance.” Discussing the “Islamic” and “republican” elements in the regime, she accused the rulers of ignoring Islam, except when it is to legitimise their abuse of power.
The “republican” element is just as problematic: “It is correct that we have elections and the people, to a certain extent, participate but republicanism is not just elections. It also [requires] freedom of speech, which is guaranteed in our constitution,” she said.
“But we limit the freedom of speech by calling it ‘propagation against the regime,’ ‘disturbing the public opinion,’ ‘dissemination of lies.’ In other words, the freedom to criticise [the regime] is defined as a political crime.”
Turning to the issue of compulsory hijab for women in Iran, Hashemi said: “I don’t believe in compulsory hijab. Compulsory hijab is just as wrong as Reza Shah’s ban against the veil [in 1936].” She compared present-day Iran with 1979, the year of the revolution: “Today, the society has become less religious and abides less by the hijab compared to 40 years ago.”
Continuing her cannonade against the regime, she said: “We have created phobia against religion. We caused the people to turn away from religion. We provoked anti-religious sentiments… This is all because of the compulsory hijab.”Still worse for the regime, she asked: “The very name, Islamic government, and the fact that we commit all our mistakes in the name of Islam, does it strengthen religiosity or does it harm religion?”
Turning to the regime’s claim of independence in world politics, she asked: “How long are we willing to pay protection money to Russia because of lack of [diplomatic] relations with the United States?”
Rather than blame Russia for systematically betraying Iran, she asked why Iran is not pursuing its national interests, why it is not establishing diplomatic relations with the United States and why it is creating obstacles in the path of relations with Arab countries, the Europeans and others?
Iran’s ideological and political bankruptcy is well known and Hashemi’s fearless criticism will resonate with large parts of the Iranian public but her argument has a fundamental weakness: The complicity of the Rafsanjani family in creating the monstrous regime. How come she did not voice criticism against injustice in the heyday of her father? How come the Rafsanjanis first became critical of the Islamic Republic as the regime gradually marginalised them?
It is not entirely unlikely that the Iranian public buys Hashemi’s recipe for a brighter future, despite the sins of her father. The regime’s ability to listen to her counsel and perhaps provide her with the opportunity to run for public office and restore some public trust in the regime is less likely. She is ringing the alarm and the Islamic Republic is the entity for which the bell tolls.