English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For November 27/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews19/english.november27.20.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day.”I am the bread that came down from heaven
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 06/40-44: “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves.No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day.”Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 26-27/2020

Ministry of Health: 1859 new coronavirus cases, 24 deaths
Macron: Aoun must call on politicians to set aside sectarian interests
Aoun receives team work who presented "Let us Unite" song: Educators must follow up with children and raise them to love the other
Berri chairs Parliament bureau meeting
Army chief meets UNIFIL's Del Col
Wehbe partakes in EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting
Civil movement groups rally outside Central Bank in Hamra
US-sanctioned Hezbollah’s Qard al-Hasan installs ATMs, violating Lebanon's fiscal law
Lebanese electoral motion sparks questions over timing, sectarian impact
Wazni Denies Telling Audit Firm It Won’t Get Info Needed
Alvarez and Marsal Affirms Withdrawing from Lebanon Forensic Audit
Consul in Turkey Sounds Alarm over Human Smugglers Robbing Lebanese
Kubis Says Lebanon Better Agree on Election Law Prior Due Date
Ibrahim, Kubis Discuss Latest Lebanon Developments
UNIFIL Joins NCLW in Marking Int'l Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Loyalty to Resistance bloc calls for swift government formation, says ready to discuss development of vote law
AU Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Dr. Jad Melki receives Shoman Award
Why Is it Difficult for Hezbollah’s Allies to Maintain their Alliance?/Hazem Saghieh/ Asharq Al-Awsat/November, 26/2020

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
 on
November 26-27/2020

Airstrikes Kill 19 Iran-Backed Fighters in Syria
UAE's Flydubai Lands 1st Scheduled Flight in Tel Aviv
US election: Trump will leave the White House if Electoral College votes for Biden
4.4 magnitude earthquake strikes near Lebanon-Syria border, reports EMSC
France will arrange aid conference for Lebanon by video in December
Greek FM Nikos Dendias: Turkey has gone too far, behavior unacceptable
France, EU Lawmakers Push for Sanctions on Turkey Next Month
US Blacklists Libya’s Kaniyat Armed Group
Israeli Govt Instructs Military to Prepare for US Strikes against Iran
Bomb plot trial to shed light on Iranian terror activities in Europe
US to Impose Iran-related Sanctions on Russian, Chinese Entities
Sisi: Egypt Succeeded in Maintaining Regional Strategic Balance
Iraq Seeks to Purchase Russian Weapons
Ethiopia PM Orders Final Offensive against Tigray Leaders in Mekele


Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 26-27/2020

Biden's Homeland Security Pick Is No Border Softie/Noah Smith/Bloomberg/November, 26/2020
Why Palestinians Owe Arabs an Apology/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/November 26, 2020
Iran can't keep using foreign nationals as bargaining chips/Con Coughlin/The National/November 26/2020

Iran should bear responsibility for Middle East chaos/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/November 26/ 2020
Egypt-US relations unlikely to suffer under Biden/Dr. Abdellatif El-Menawy/Arab News/November 26/ 2020

 

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on November 26-27/2020

Ministry of Health: 1859 new coronavirus cases, 24 deaths
NNA/November. 26, 2020
The Ministry of Public Health announced 1859 new coronavirus cases, which raises the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 122159.
24 deaths have been registered over the past 24 hours.

Macron: Aoun must call on politicians to set aside sectarian interests
The Daily Star/November. 26, 2020
BEIRUT: French President Emmanuel Macron Thursday urged his Lebanese counterpart to call on all political authorities to put aside their sectarian interests and form a government for the sake of the country and its people.
“It is your duty as head of state to respond to [demands of the people],” Macron said in a congratulatory message to President Michel Aoun on the occasion of Lebanon’s 77th Independence Day.
Macron expressed his deep concern for the deteriorating situation in Lebanon, asking Aoun to “call strongly on all political forces to put aside their personal, sectarian and factional interests in order to achieve the supreme interest of Lebanon and the interest of the Lebanese people.”
Macron affirmed France’s continued support to Lebanon, saying “you can be assured that France stands today, as at all times, with Lebanon and the Lebanese people.”
However, the French President said that his country’s support alone is “not enough, as the multifaceted crisis that Lebanon is going through on various economic, financial, social and political levels, calls for strong measures.”
Macron pointed to the French road map that all Lebanese political parties had committed to on Sept. 1. “Putting this map into practice alone will guarantee the mobilization of the international community necessary to avoid the collapse of the country.”
Lebanon’s political leaders, following the devastating Aug. 4 Beirut Port explosion, had agreed to implement a road map proposed by France to avert the country’s total collapse. Under the French initiative presented by Macron to Lebanon’s political leaders, the new government would carry out reforms and take measures to fight endemic corruption, curb waste of public funds, and overhaul the country’s ailing electricity sector, which bleeds the cash-strapped state Treasury around $2 billion annually.
Lebanon has been left without a fully functioning government since caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab submitted his Cabinet’s resignation on Aug. 10 following the blast, which killed at least 190 people and wounded thousands.


Aoun receives team work who presented "Let us Unite" song: Educators must follow up with children and raise them to love the other
NNA/November. 26, 2020
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, stressed that "educators should follow up on children and teach them the love for others and the virtues that benefit them and others, and how to deal with their brothers in the homeland, and provide them with adequate immunity to combat the pandemic that is spreading in society."The president stressed the importance of caring for innocence, which is not confined only to childhood, but rather to the innocence of conscience, which is the means of expression for the human being in general.
President Aoun's words came during his reception this afternoon at Baabda Palace, of the team working for the song "We Want to unite” performed by Lebanese children, and aim at raise awareness of the importance of peace and living in safety.
Mrs. Rene Michel Daou, who presented the idea of this work and the stages that were completed, said that the aim is to call for a decent life and to live in peace in this country in which children and adults believe in.
Mrs. Suad Habaka, explained that through this song the children expressed their feelings with words that they understand, which are spontaneous and sincere, and to convey a message that they want to live in peace in Lebanon.
Mr. Johnny Abboud addressed the President saying: Mr. President, we thank you for welcoming us to the Baabda Palace, the palace of the Lebanese people. let me repeat what Jesus said: “Let the children come to me and do not stop them because for those like them is heaven.”
“Take the truth from the mouth of children,“ he said. “We want to live, is the most beautiful expression of the childhood when on August 4 explosion the children rebelled peacefully and lovingly to deliver a message to the leaders in Lebanon and the clergy and called them to unite. Children adhere to honesty because it leads to the truth and builds bridges of trust between everyone. We are committed to honesty, and God is the one who holds accountability. We urge you, Mr. President, to put your hand in the hand of these children to build together a nation we all dream of, for every child has the right to live in dignity without humiliation. ”He indicated that childhood should not live early masculinity, education and knowledge must be secured for children, and not begging on the streets on exposure to unpleasant surprises that make life difficult for them.”
President Aoun heard a number of children pleading him, in Arabic, English and French, to protect childhood and secure a bright and prosperous future for them and all others. Then they performed their song with their angelic voices that rang out across the hall, expressing with their spontaneous and sincere words their desire to live in peace and security in Lebanon, “the most beautiful countries."
President Aoun
President Aoun welcomed the children and those who concluded the work, expressing his joy and emotions by what the children presented, with the innocence radiating from their eyes, and said: “It is the duty of educators to follow up with children and raise them to love others and learn the virtues that are good for them and others, and how to deal with their brothers in the homeland, and provide them with sufficient immunity to combat the pandemic that is spreading in the society. We are living today in a difficult situation. As you are watching children, you realize the importance of caring for them and for their innocence, which is not limited to childhood only, but goes beyond to the innocence of conscience, which is considered the means of expression for the human beings in general, to have a clear conscience in all the stages of life, even if concerned about how to secure the livelihood of family and children, and follow up on the work and daily concerns ... This life is one that carries meaning, instead of being empty and phased with no trace in society, then every person has an impact that he leaves, whether big or small, and this matter begins in the family, and I am confident that these children will become prominent people and will succeed in bridging distances with others. " The idea of the song emerged after Mrs. Rita Abboud, the owner of the BEBES CALINS nursery for children, listened to a number of children who expressed their sad feelings due to the explosion in Beirut port last August 4. She decided to put these feelings in a song performed by children, and she communicated with a number of those responsible for this work, including the writer and composer, artist Johnny Abboud, the executive producer, Mrs. Souad Habaka, the responsible for arranging the music, Mr. Gabriel Sassi, and the responsible for recording and editing the sound, Mr. Faris Abu Melhab, who all provided their experience and effort without financial reward. The children who did not exceed seven years of age began to be selected and subjected to training sessions, before the song was filmed and recorded.-- Presidency Press Office

Berri chairs Parliament bureau meeting

NNANovember. 26, 2020
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Thursday chaired at his Ain El-Tineh residence a meeting of the Parliament bureau body, attended by Vice Speaker, Elie Firzli, and MPs Michel Moussa, Alan Aoun, Samir Jisr, Agop Pakradonian and Hadi Aboul Hosn, as well as the Council’s Secretary General Adnan Daher. The meeting was devoted to discussing the agenda of the parliament session which will be held tomorrow [Friday] at 2.00 pm at the UNESCO Palace. On the other hand, in response to a question about the circulated news that the Parliament had received a letter on the Beirut port explosion, he said: "We have done the necessary and responded accordingly."

Army chief meets UNIFIL's Del Col

NNANovember. 26, 2020
Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, on Thursday welcomed at his Yarzeh office UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col, with whom he discussed the general situation in the southern border region. Maj. Gen. Aoun then met respectively with a delegation from the Educational Center for Research and Development, and a delegation of the Lebanese Artists Syndicate.

Wehbe partakes in EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting

NNANovember. 26, 2020
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Charbel Wehbe, participated Thursday in the EU-Southern Neighbourhood Ministerial Meeting, hosted by Spain, under the chairmanship of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European Neighborhood Policy.
The video conference was devoted to discuss the strategic strategy between Lebanon and the EU. In his intervention, Wehbe underlined Lebanon's keenness on the development of the Lebanese-European ties, exhorting the EU to contribute to securing the safe repatriation of Syrian refugees.
"Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis until today, Lebanon has been and still is the top host of massive scores of displaced Syrians, whose number exceeded 1/3 of Lebanon's entire population," he said. "The reverberations of this crisis have become severe," he added, indicating that 75% of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon are below the poverty line. Moreover, Wehbe maintained that "Lebanon holds onto the Partnership Priorities and the EU-Lebanon Compact adopted in 2016, and it highlights the necessity to assess the implementation of those priorities." In addition, the Minister stressed on the importance of regional security and stability.

Civil movement groups rally outside Central Bank in Hamra

NNANovember. 26, 2020
Civil movement activists on Thursday rallied outside the Central Bank in Beirut, calling for implementing forensic audit, unveiling the corrupt and looters of people's money and recovering smuggled funds, National News Agency correspondent reported on Thursday. Activists also called for the protection of depositors' money. The groups chanted revolutionary slogans and national hymns, calling for changing the sectarian system and continuing the revolution until goals are met.
 

US-sanctioned Hezbollah’s Qard al-Hasan installs ATMs, violating Lebanon's fiscal law
Al Arabiya English/November. 26, 2020
US-sanctioned Hezbollah’s non-governmental organization Qard al-Hassan has installed multiple ATMs over the past month in areas controlled by the Iran-backed militia in the southern suburbs of Beirut, in a clear violation of Lebanon's fiscal law. The ATMs allow those who receive direct payments from Hezbollah, and those who benefit from the institution's loans, to withdraw cash in either Lebanese lira or US dollars without any restrictions. Lebanon is suffering from unprecedented economic crisis, which has led banks to enforce an informal capital control on Lebanese citizens' accounts to save the remaining shrinking foreign currency reserves and avoid further depreciation of the Lebanese lira exchange rate, which already lost over 365 percent of its value. Hezbollah’s Qard al-Hassan institution is not a bank, nor a financial institution, and is not subject to the Lebanese monetary and credit law. It has no legal or financial relationship with the Central Bank of Lebanon.
Consequently, it cannot buy dollars from the central bank. It is a non-governmental institution licensed by the Lebanese Ministry of Interior in 1987. According to its website, the institution has more than 400,000 contributors and had given out loans worth in total over three billion US dollars by the end of 2019. The new installation of teller machines further indicates Hezbollah's total independence from the Lebanese banking system, an expert told Al Arabiya English. “Al-Qard al-Hassan institution serves as Hezbollah's central bank for its parallel economy," the expert said, wishing to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. "Iran's Revolutionary Guard controls over 80 percent of the industrial sector in the country. They have a grip on Iran's economy. This is the same model Hezbollah is trying to deploy in Lebanon, and Qard al-Hassan is part of this scheme with all the loans given to business owners and industries," he added. "Qard al-Hassan, by itself, is just one side of the story. As the Lebanese baking system and economy collapsed, Hezbollah is using this as a chance to build a completely independent parallel economy, through those loans, through illegally or legally importing Iranian and Syrian products, and through exporting to those countries as well," the expert added.
The expert said all that is done by Qard al-Hassan is against Lebanon's fiscal and monetary laws. It falls outside of the official banking system. He further elaborated that any institution that deals with people's money or investment and gives out loans should fall under the Central Bank's judiciary.
With the anti-government protests that broke out in Lebanon last October and the banking system's loss of trust, citizens transferred the economy into a cash economy. Most people took their deposits out of the banks and even stopped using debit or credit cards.
The expert explained that this cash economy allows Hezbollah to gain faster control of the economy and easier accessibility in building its parallel economy.
The Central Bank cannot trace cash transactions, and all sanctioned entities can freely conduct business in a cash economy. This may give Hezbollah better flexibility in sucking the foreign currency from the Lebanese market -predominately the foreign cash reserves of companies and families - which are estimated to be between five and seven billion US dollars.
The Central Bank of Lebanon has suggested enforcing a new digital currency as of 2021. Implementing this suggestion would suck back the cash from the market and help stabilize the currency. It is important to note that pro-Hezbollah media, were the first to attack this initiative as it will again weaken the parallel economy initiated by Hezbollah, the expert told Al Arabiya English. Hezbollah is adopting a western liberal baking strategy. They are controlling people and business owners through all those loans, the expert added. The only solution stopping this parallel market's growth is rebuilding trust in the banking sector to get clients back under the Central's bank umbrella. With a digital currency enforced and with citizens depositing again in the banks, all transactions would be traceable. However, this can only happen when there is a political will to do so.
Under US sanctions
In 2007, the US Treasury Department targeted Hezbollah's support network by sanctioning and designating the finance firm Al-Qard al-Hassan under Executive Order 13224. The Treasury said Hezbollah had used the Al-Qard al-Hassan firm to manage financial activities, adding that Hezbollah shifted accounts of people and entities previously blacklisted by the Treasury to the firm and its employees. According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Hezbollah is encouraging people to use Hezbollah financial institutions to exchange and deposit their money—especially al-Qard al-Hassan, which has recently become the group's primary money exchanger and the default bank replacement for its Shia constituency.

 

Lebanese electoral motion sparks questions over timing, sectarian impact
The Arab Weekly/November 26/2020
Lebanese politicians accuse Hezbollah of trying to divert attention, along with its Shia ally, Amal Movement, from basic issues.

BEIRUT – The proposal to amend the election law in Lebanon has brought back to the forefront the complexity of the various conflicts in a country looking for urgent solutions to its exacerbated problems due to a continuing political stalemate, whether in the area of forming a new government or in the area of dealing with the repercussions of the big explosion in Beirut port in early August. The debate within the House of Representatives over amending the election law coincides with the opening of the no less important files on the criminal investigation into Central Bank accounts, and of the file on criminal investigations into the Beirut blast under the supervision of parliament. The amendment proposal sparked speculation about politicians’ “diversionary intent.”
The Amal Movement, headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, led the demand to amend the election law. Opponents of the amendment questioned “the reasons for bringing it up at the present time and for whose benefit it was brought up.”
Parliamentarian George Adwan from the Lebanese Forces Party said, “Any bet on postponing the elections is fated to fail, because there is already a law in effect on which the elections can be based.”
Adwan stressed that his party’s demand is to hold early elections, considering that what is being proposed in the parliament “is not related to changing the election law, but rather to changing the political system in Lebanon.”
For his part, Deputy Parliament Speaker Elie Ferzli said that the parliamentary election law “needs time and a real national dialogue that leads to achieving the desired development under the roof of the constitution and under the roof of what was called the Taif (Agreement) and other laws in effect.”
Lebanese politicians blame the political majority in parliament, represented by the Free Patriotic Movement, the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, for the widespread collapse in Lebanon.
MP Pierre Bou Assi of the Strong Republic bloc said, “The proposal to discuss the electoral law is deceptive, because behind the form related to respecting the constitution and the Taif (Agreement), there is a very dangerous matter related to the validity of political representation and creates great anxiety among the Christian societal and political bases, specifically those that have lived through a very bad experience between 1990 and 2005 and refuse to have it repeated.”
He added that the issue of amendments raises questions about their “content, timing and repercussions” on Lebanon, noting that, currently, “the parliament is the only space for dialogue between the Lebanese and there is fear that it will be turned into an arena for confrontation.”
Bou Assi warned that the repeated proposal to amend the election law may create tension in the street, expressing at the same time his fear that the proposal is aimed at “diverting attention from the port explosion, economic failure, inflation, corruption and the criminal investigation.”
Calls to amend the current electoral law have revived a new-old debate in the country over sectarian divisions that have been in place for decades. Lebanon had organised legislative elections in 2018 according to a new proportional system that divided the country into 15 constituencies, in which voters would choose the 128 members of parliament.
Previous polls had followed a traditional process provided by the 1960 law based on simple majority rule. Lebanese politicians have previously likened the amended 2017 electoral law to a creature that was made to fit the interests of its authors, but became surprising and frightening after coming out of its bottle.
MP Alain Aoun from the Strong Lebanon bloc said that he “submitted a proposal to move the issue of the election law to the national dialogue table because it is the appropriate place to present it.”He added, “The dialogue was calm, profound and responsible during the session that took place, and we tried to confirm that the debate must recognise the existence of an election law in force, and what we are facing is a proposal that simulates constitutional matters and a change in the political system.”Pressure is mounting in Lebanon to hold early parliamentary elections, in line with the demands of the popular movement that was launched on October 17 of last year. Lebanon is still living through a deep political and economic crisis that has affected various aspects of life in the country.
Political actors are looking for an almost absent consensus between political forces and parties due to policies linked to the Amal movement and Hezbollah. Efforts to form a new government led by the leader of the Future Movement, Saad Hariri, remain stalled due to differences with President Michel Aoun over names and positions. Observers believe that successive calls to open controversial issues such as the electoral law and attempts to focus only on certain issues suggest that there are political parties that benefit from the status quo and are working to maintain the vacuum in the government and the economic crisis in order to achieve their political goals. Lebanese politicians accuse Hezbollah, along with its Shia ally Amal, of trying to divert attention from basic issues demanded by a large segment of the Lebanese people, such as combating rampant corruption in state institutions.


Wazni Denies Telling Audit Firm It Won’t Get Info Needed

Naharnet/November, 26/2020
The media office of caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni on Thursday denied remarks made in a statement released by Alvarez and Marsal, alleging the Ministry informed the firm it will not receive the information requested “in the near future” to conduct an audit into the central bank’s accounts. Wazni’s media office issued a statement in that regard. It noted that Wazni had made it clear during his meeting with the firm at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, that necessary measures will be taken to deliver documents it requested after extending a November 3 deadline by three months. The Minister noted that the agreement was made at Baabda Palace on November 5 in the presence of President Michel Aoun, ex-Minister Salim Jreissati, Director General of the Lebanese Presidency Antoine Choucair, and Managing Director with Alvarez and Marsal. “In meetings held on November 4 and 5, the (Lebanese) Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Lebanon confirmed that the information requested by Alvarez and Marsal would not be forthcoming in the near future,” the consultancy said in a statement Thursday, announcing Alvarez’s withdrawal from the audit.

Alvarez and Marsal Affirms Withdrawing from Lebanon Forensic Audit
Naharnet/November, 26/2020
The international firm Alvarez and Marsal affirmed that it had withdrawn from a forensic audit of Lebanon's central bank accounts after failing to receive data it needed for the mission, media reports said Thursday. The firm’s confirmation came after caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni informed President Michel Aoun on November 20 that he had received a letter from the firm terminating the contract signed with the finance ministry. “Due to the lack of sufficient information, Alvarez & Marsal could not complete the review and formally notified the Ministry of Finance of its decision to terminate the engagement," the company said in a statement. “In meetings held on November 4 and 5, the (Lebanese) Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Lebanon confirmed that the information requested by Alvarez and Marsal would not be forthcoming in the near future,” it added.

Consul in Turkey Sounds Alarm over Human Smugglers Robbing Lebanese
Naharnet/November, 26/2020
Consul General of Lebanon in Istanbul Mazen Kabbara warned on Thursday that the Lebanese are at risk of being exploited by mafias deceiving them into paying huge amounts of money in return for smuggling them into Europe, the National News Agency reported. In a statement, Kabbara said the mobsters are taking sums of money making Lebanese believe they will be smuggled into Europe, but they only abandon them on border between Greece and Bulgaria. Kabbara added that on these borders, the abandoned undocumented individuals get arrested for illegal entry. “We at the consulate provide assistance for these individuals, which is limited to securing their return back home,” noted Kabbara. He said it has turned into an "alarming situation taking into consideration the growing number of people," as he urged vigilance on part of the authorities in Lebanon.

Kubis Says Lebanon Better Agree on Election Law Prior Due Date
Naharnet/November, 26/2020
UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis said on Thursday that if Lebanon decides to change its electoral law, it should agree on that “well before holding the 2022 parliamentary elections” to avoid a delay. “An important discussion in the Parliament on election-related issues, electoral law. It is necessary to clarify the situation well before holding the 2022 elections on time,” said Kubis in a tweet. The parliamentary blocs met on Wednesday and discussed a proposed electoral law submitted by Speaker Nabih Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc and calls for turning Lebanon into a single electoral district under a full proportional representation system and without so-called preferential votes. The session has inflamed political and sectarian tension, amid multiple rises grappling the country.

Ibrahim, Kubis Discuss Latest Lebanon Developments
Naharnet/November, 26/2020
General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim held talks on Thursday with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis and discussed the latest political and security developments in Lebanon and the region, media reports said. The reports did not go into any details about the meeting.
Earlier this week, Ibrahim had met with the US Ambassador Dorothy Shea where discussions touched on an array of issues of common interest, in addition to the outcome of his latest visit to Washington.

UNIFIL Joins NCLW in Marking Int'l Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
Naharnet/November, 26/2020
UNIFIL on Wednesday joined the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) in marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence at the Mission’s headquarters in Naqoura.
Speaking at a ceremony, attended by NCLW President Claudine Aoun and other dignitaries, UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col said the COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe social and economic impact in the communities and deepened the existing inequalities, including gender inequality. “The pandemic has also increased, globally, the levels of domestic and sex and gender-based violence to unprecedented levels," he said. “More than ever, women and girls need protection and security.” The UNIFIL head also commended NCLW and Claudine Aoun for adopting Lebanon’s National Action Plan to implement the landmark Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. “UNIFIL is proud to support you in your efforts and work with you for a better future for the Lebanese women and girls,” he added.
Del Col said UNIFIL has been working with the Social Development Centers and “South Lebanon Sex and Gender-Based Violence Working Groups in the Mission’s area of operations to prevent and respond to incidents of violence. They are doing this by creating safe spaces for victimized women, and by engaging first responders in socio-psychological training." “Violence against women and girls is malice that we as humanity should persevere to eliminate NOW. UNIFIL is committed to the U.N Secretary-General’s UNiTE campaign to End Violence against Women by 2030.” he said. “Protection, security and economic growth of women and girls is at the center of the U.N. for a more peaceful and prosperous world that leaves no one behind.”The global observance for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, under the theme “Orange the World: Unite to End Violence Against Women,” is part of an initiative launched in 2008 and known as the UNiTE campaign to end violence against women and girls. It aims to raise public awareness around the issue as well as increase both policymaking and resources on the issue.

 

Loyalty to Resistance bloc calls for swift government formation, says ready to discuss development of vote law
NNA/November, 26/2020
The Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc on Thursday called all sides to cooperate to form the new government in the nearest time possible, highlighting the necessity to respect the conventional balances in the country.
"The bloc considers that the delay in the formation of the government has become likely to take a toll on the country at all levels; therefore, we call for speeding up action in that respect," the conferring lawmakers said in a statement issued following their weekly meeting. Also, the bloc stressed the obligation to conduct the forensic auditing, welcoming the message of President Michel Aoun and the speedy response of House Speaker Nabih Berri. On another note, the bloc maintained that it was fully ready to discuss all proposals aimed to develop and improve the current election law.

AU Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Dr. Jad Melki receives Shoman Award
NNA/November, 26/2020
The Lebanese American University, LAU, has announced that Dr. Jad Melki, Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the School of Arts and Sciences and Director of LAU’s Institute of Media Research and Training (IMRT), has won the 2020 Abdul Hameed Shoman Arab Researchers Award in recognition of his research on the impact of social media in the Arab World. Dedicated to promoting scientific research throughout the Arab world, the prestigious award is granted to researchers who have contributed to scientific and applied knowledge and public awareness of the importance of scientific research. Out of 477 candidates from various Arab universities and institutes, 13 winners were selected in six scientific fields: medical and health sciences; engineering sciences; basic sciences; economics and administration sciences; agriculture and technology; and literature and humanitarian, social and educational sciences, the category in which Dr. Jad Melki shared the award with Dr. Badriya Nasser Abdullah Al-Junaibi from the UAE. Dr. Melki has recently led two major research studies Media Uses and Trust During the Protests – also published in Arabic in Al-AdabJournal, and Mitigating Infodemics: Media Uses in Lebanon During the Coronavirus Pandemic, that shed light on the Lebanese population’s response and selective exposure to media in times of unrest, crisis and uncertainty.The award, said Dr. Melki, highlights the role played by the Department of Communication Arts at LAU in advanced scientific research in the media, which goes beyond the technical, preparatory, media and research fields. Furthermore, he said, it underscores the robust research capabilities of Lebanese universities despite the challenges the country is facing. It is noteworthy that the number of award winners since its launch in 1982 has reached 447 from Arab universities, academic institutions and scientific centers. In addition to the winning certificate, the award includes a financial reward and participation in preparing and inspiring a generation of Arab researchers, experts and specialists in various academic fields. This is the second Shoman Award for an LAU faculty member. In 2017, LAU Associate Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology, Dr. Mirvat El-Sibai, was honored for her extensive and impactful body of research in cancer metastasis.
Studies prepared by Dr. Jad Melki and colleagues at LAU’s Institute of Media Research and Training can be accessed on this link:-- Lebanese American University (LAU)

Why Is it Difficult for Hezbollah’s Allies to Maintain their Alliance?
Hazem Saghieh/ Asharq Al-Awsat/November, 26/2020
The recent US sanctions imposed on Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil might create a rift between the FPM and its ally Hezbollah. That rift could potentially widen. Many Lebanese observes, not all of them opponents of the former or the latter, unanimously agree on this.
Beyond that, if US sanctions do indeed have this effect, they would accelerate the appearance of a deeper truth that is still kept quiet about in Lebanese political life: The difficulty of coming to a mutual understanding with Hezbollah. The FPM, between 2006 and 2020, has been the major exception to this rule, providing Hezbollah with “Christian cover” and breaking the isolation that was suffocating the party in the aftermath of the Rafik Hariri assassination.
The US sanctions announced that the agreement had been an exception, and it opened the door to applying the rule, why?
In Lebanon, sectarian parties are many and religious parties are few. Hezbollah is the only party that is simultaneously religious and sectarian. This makes it a party enclosed and satisfied with itself; rather, it has an inflated perception of itself. In principle, allying with such a political player is always difficult. Moreover, it puts its ally in an awkward position for other reasons as well: such an alliance undermines the allied party’s ability to represent its sect according to the constraining criteria of Lebanon’s sectarianism. The Aounists, because of their ties to the party, are in very deep water. After the Beirut port explosion, faltering justifications turned into attempts at distancing themselves.
Furthermore, how can a movement established by a former army commander ally with a party whose army is stronger than the national armed forces themselves? A party for whom weapons are its raison d’etre and that does not conceal being in a perpetual state of war, sometimes in Israel and other times in Syria, or that it alone decides when and how it wages wars. On top of that, the party does not deny its absolute allegiance to Iran. The awkwardness has exacerbated recently under the pressure of the Trump administration, its decisions and then its sanctions: it has become extremely difficult for anyone to reconcile being “open to the West”, which traditionally means a lot to the Christians, with Hezbollah’s presence, let alone allying with it.
Things that could be overlooked during periods of ascension are no longer this way during the era of decline and recession.
The Shiite Amal Movement’s situation is different in degree, but not at the core. Amal is part of the traditional Lebanese political establishment that operates through the famously corruption-laden networks of patronage and nepotism… The alliance with Hezbollah constrains it and limits such activity: Hezbollah’s Iranianism, ideology and its emphasis on armament clash with the proclivities and functioning of the Amal Movement, which is described as flexible and pragmatic. A reminder: the battle between Amal and Hezbollah in the late 1980s was one of the fiercest during the Lebanese war (1975-1990) and required Syrian-Iranian intervention to bring it to a halt and reconcile the two sides. The sentiments have not evaporated, but fear, in all likelihood, sustains the alliance more than anything else. While it is true that Hezbollah arms and finances scattered Sunni and Druze factions, it is also true that it embarrasses its clients to the same extent that it arms and finances them. Those who receive its aid must content themselves with a secondary position within their sects and the fact that that they are mere Sunni and Druze Hezbollah underlings. This, in turn, is not an attractive or popular approach for Sunnis or Druze.
There is no avoiding two other observations here: the Lebanese situation is becoming increasingly sectarian in general, and the role of weapons and the contraction of the state’s role are instrumental to this. However, with sectarianization peaking, the standing of the party’s allies within their sects will be undercut by their minimalist sectarianism as a result of this alliance.
Furthermore, most of the inter-sectarian reservations and objections about sectarian leaders pertain to demands for more radical and hardline positions vis-à-vis Hezbollah. This is true in the Christian environment, including Aounists, just as it is true in the Hariri’s Sunni environment.
Just as Christian, Sunni and Druze allies are forced to appear as less Christian, Sunni and Druze to their supporters in light of the country’s suffocating sectarian makeup, the communists are also forced to appear as less communist. Their dead’s’ killers are not named. Their rhetoric about their role in the resistance, the revolution and everything else is to be subjected to self-censorship and adapted to what Hezbollah deems suitable... This implies that the only “national front” possible under the party’s leadership is of the kind that communists established in Eastern Europe or the Baathists set up in Iraq and Syria. Lebanon, despite everything, has not gone this far yet. Could it get there? Maybe. Clinging to the perpetuation of the exception and disrupting the rule may lead to something of this sort.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 26-27/2020

Airstrikes Kill 19 Iran-Backed Fighters in Syria
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
Airstrikes likely carried out by Israel killed at least 19 pro-Iran militia fighters in war-torn eastern Syria, a war monitor said Thursday. The early morning strikes hit positions of Iran-backed militias outside the town of Albu Kamal in Deir Ezzor province, killing mostly Pakistani fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syrian state media did not report the attack and Israel rarely acknowledges individual strikes, but the Observatory has accused Israel of launching at least two other aerial attacks against pro-Iran forces in Syria since Saturday. Early on Wednesday, at least eight Iran-backed fighters were killed in strikes near Damascus and in southern Syria, according to the war monitor, which is based in the UK but relies on a network of sources inside Syria. On Saturday night, air strikes near Albu Kamal killed at least 14 pro-Iran militia fighters from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Observatory said. Iran backs President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria's civil war. The latest strikes came after Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan called on the Security Council to take immediate action to remove Iranian forces from Syria. "Israel ... demands a total rollback of Iran and its proxies from Syria and the removal of Iranian military infrastructure from Syrian territory," he said in a letter addressed to the head of the U.N. Security Council. Israel has carried out hundreds of air and missile strikes on Syria since the country's civil war broke out in 2011, targeting Iranian and Lebanese Hizbullah forces as well as Syrian government troops. Syria's war has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions more since starting in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

 

UAE's Flydubai Lands 1st Scheduled Flight in Tel Aviv
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
A flight operated by budget airline flydubai landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday, the first scheduled commercial service between the two cities following the normalization of ties between the UAE and Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on hand for the arrival of the inaugural flight after its nearly four-hour trip, called it "a moment of history." "As-salaam alaikum (Peace be upon you)," he said to arriving passengers. "Come again and again and again." The United Arab Emirates in September signed a landmark US-brokered deal to formalize relations with Israel. Commenting on the accord in a tweet Thursday, UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said it would foster "prosperity and progress" in the Middle East. "The start of scheduled flights will contribute to economic development and create further opportunities for investment," flydubai CEO Ghaith al-Ghaith said when the service was announced earlier this month. The Dubai carrier will fly the route twice daily, and Israeli airlines El Al and Israir are both expected to launch their commercial services between the cities next month. Etihad Airways, based in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, has said it will begin flying to Tel Aviv in March 2021.
The UAE and Israel have already signed treaties on visa-free travel along with accords on investment protection, science and technology.


US election: Trump will leave the White House if Electoral College votes for Biden
Reuters/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. In the nearest he has come to a concession, Republican Trump said if Biden is certified the election winner by the Electoral College he will depart the White House. Biden is due to be inaugurated on Jan. 20.

4.4 magnitude earthquake strikes near Lebanon-Syria border, reports EMSC
Rawad Taha, Al Arabiya English/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
Reports from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) indicated a 4.4 magnitude earthquake occurred 58 km East of Beirut on Thursday night near the border with Syria.
developing

France will arrange aid conference for Lebanon by video in December

Reuters/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
France will host a video conference with international partners on Dec. 2 to discuss humanitarian aid for financially-strapped Lebanon, President Emmanuel Macron’s office told Reuters on Thursday. The meeting, organized in conjunction with the United Nations, will aim to have the highest-level representation possible with the objective of soliciting aid for Lebanon’s debt-crushed economy. Macron has vowed to push ahead with efforts to prevent Lebanon collapsing after a massive explosion in Beirut’s port in August destroyed large areas of the city and compounded the country’s political and financial crisis. However, a French initiative to stabilize Lebanon and enable the release of billions of dollars of international aid to fix the economy has yet to bear fruit. Three sources familiar with the situation said that given the worsening economic situation and the COVID-19 pandemic, France had decided to press ahead with the humanitarian conference. “There isn’t huge appetite to help Lebanon from the international community, but relief should go directly to the people,” said one person aware of the conference.
Conference details are still to be ironed out early next week, but it aims to attract as many senior government officials as possible. Earlier in the day, restructuring consultancy Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) confirmed it had withdrawn from a forensic audit of Lebanon’s central bank as it had not received the information required to carry out the task. The decision, first announced by Lebanon’s caretaker finance minister on Nov. 20, was a blow to the country as the audit is a key demand of foreign donors to help it exit a financial meltdown, its worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. (Reporting by John Irish, Elizabeth Pineau and Michel Rose.

Greek FM Nikos Dendias: Turkey has gone too far, behavior unacceptable

Rawad Taha, Al Arabiya English/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
The European Union should arrive at conclusions that will give Turkey a clear sign that it has gone too far, and that its behavior is unacceptable, said Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias during an interview with Al Arabiya on Thursday evening. "What we are facing is a challenge of a neo-Ottoman state which tries to impose its will upon its neighbors, with violence if needed," said Greek Foreign Minister. "We see Turkey transfer mercenaries to Syria, to Libya, to the Southern Caucasus, terrorist mercenaries, a huge danger for the public order of all countries of the region," he added.
Dendias considered that Turkey is trying to overwrite the rules in the overall region of the Mediterranean. "Turkey is trying to undermine President el-Sisi's government in Egypt; Turkey is present wherever there is trouble. Turkey has invaded Syria and Iraq," he added. "Sometimes the EU has allowed Turkey to arrive at the wrong conclusions, and that is not good for Turkey, not good for the union, not good for the Turkish society, and it is not good for the peace and stability in the Mediterranean and generally in the region," the minister added.
"For many, a country [Germany] dedicated to peace should not sell weapons to a country [Turkey] threatening peace and stability and threatening EU members," he added. "We cannot even perceive that Germany would allow a country to threaten Greece; Germany would not allow a country that threatens EU members with war to possess attack weapons that can change the overall balance in the region," he concluded.

France, EU Lawmakers Push for Sanctions on Turkey Next Month
Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
France is leading a push for European Union sanctions on Turkey next month to follow through on a threat made by the bloc in October, but has yet to win support from EU governments beyond Greece and Cyprus, officials and diplomats said. Paris said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has not heeded EU leaders' warnings on Oct. 1 to back down in a dispute over gas exploration in the Mediterranean or face consequences. The European Parliament on Thursday is expected to call for sanctions, decrying Erdogan's visit earlier this month to the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of the island of Cyprus.
"Turkey knows what it needs to do," France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a French parliamentary hearing this week.
"Confrontation or collaboration, it's up to them."
For its part, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has criticized the EU for discussing sanctions, saying such debate was not helpful, Reuters reported. No detailed sanctions have been drawn up by France, but diplomats say said measures would hit areas of Turkey's economy aimed at limiting Turkish hydrocarbon exploration, likely in shipping, banking and energy. Also at stake are a plan to broaden Turkey's trade preferences with the EU, its top trading partner, and its formal status a candidate to join the EU, which Austria said should end. Erdogan has called for a boycott of French goods, which one EU diplomat said did not bode well for deeper trade relations. "However, Turkey is a key partner in many areas, so there's no consensus in the Council (of EU governments). It is still too early," said another EU diplomat. France is also at odds with Turkey over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Paris has accused Ankara of fueling the crisis in the Caucusus, a charge it rejects. Support for any sanctions lie with Germany, which holds the EU's six-month presidency. Berlin put its hopes in mediating between Greece and Turkey but was angered when Ankara, which withdrew an exploration vessel before EU leaders met in October, began exploring for gas off Cyprus again last month. "Erdogan really went too far with the Germans," a senior French official told Reuters. "They didn't take at all well the new ship going back to the eastern Mediterranean just after the Oct. 1 summit."A new spat between Germany and Turkey over the interception of a Turkish vessel in the Mediterranean this week has worsened already deteriorating EU-Turkey ties. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the boarding was an act of "piracy" and summoned EU, German and Italian envoys to protest, which Berlin said was unjustified. "I think now there's a common understanding that there will be sanctions," said a senior EU diplomat. "The question is what the market will bear."
 

US Blacklists Libya’s Kaniyat Armed Group
Washington- Heba El Koudsy/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
The US has imposed sanctions on Libya’s Kaniyat group, alleging it was responsible for murdering hundreds of civilians in Tarhouna. The Treasury Department took this step against the armed group and its leader after Russia last week prevented a UN Security Council committee from imposing sanctions over human rights abuses by the group. The United States and Germany earlier this month proposed that the Council's 15-member Libya sanctions committee impose an asset freeze and travel ban on Kaniyat. However, such a move has to be agreed by consensus and Russia said on Friday it could not approve the sanctions because it wanted to see more evidence first that the group’s members had killed civilians. The US sanctions were imposed Wednesday under the Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the US government to target human rights violators worldwide by freezing assets and prohibiting Americans from doing business with them. "Mohamed al-Kani and the Kaniyat militia have tortured and killed civilians during a cruel campaign of oppression in Libya," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “The United States stands with the Libyan people and will use the tools and authorities at its disposal to target human rights abusers in Libya and across the world,” he added. “The Kaniyat militia is also responsible for hundreds of summary executions at Tarhouna prison, numerous forced disappearances, and the displacement of entire families from Tarhouna,” said the Treasury.

Israeli Govt Instructs Military to Prepare for US Strikes against Iran

Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
Israel’s government instructed the military to prepare for a possible US strike against Iran during the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term, according to military sources. The instructions were given because officials anticipate “a very sensitive period” prior to the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, and not because of any intelligence or assessment that the US will order an attack. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has spoken twice over the past two weeks with US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller to discuss the Iranian issue, the situation in Syria and the security memorandum of understanding between Israel and the US. If the Trump administration acts against Iran, Israel is expected to receive advance warning of the action. However, due to the great uncertainty, the army has been instructed to ensure that Israel’s defense systems are ready for any scenario that may arise from a US attack on Iran, the sources added. In case of a US attack against Iran, the latter might strike Israeli targets through its militias or “Hezbollah” forces in Syria, or even from Hezbollah's locations in the Lebanese south. Citing four current and former US officials, The New York Times reported that a meeting occurred in the Oval Office two weeks ago. Trump asked senior aides what possibilities he had for an offensive strike on Iran's primary nuclear site in Natanz. Senior advisers including Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence dissuaded Trump, but he might still be looking at ways to strike Iranian assets and allies. Pompeo recently visited Europe and the Middle East – State Department officials, meanwhile, told reporters that “all options are on the table,” regarding Iran.


Bomb plot trial to shed light on Iranian terror activities in Europe
The Arab Weekly/November 26/2020
BRUSSELS—The Iranian bomb was meant to explode in a Paris suburb during a huge rally being held by an exiled Iranian opposition group the the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), formerly known as Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK. It could have caused carnage.
Instead, the explosion ripped apart the robot that army specialists were using to defuse the bomb after it was found in the car of a couple arrested in a Brussels suburb. More than two years after the last-minute, cross-border operation that thwarted the planned attack, the couple will go on trial Friday alongside two Iranian nationals, including a diplomat believed to be the plot’s mastermind. The court case in the city of Antwerp has the potential to embarrass Iran and to shed light on its terrorist activities in Europe. According to legal documents from the two-year investigation obtained by The Associated Press, Belgium’s intelligence and security agency (VSSE) says the diplomat, Assadollah Assadi, operated on orders of Iran’s authorities and brought the explosives to Europe himself. In a note to Belgium’s federal prosecutor, the agency argued that “the planned attack was conceived in the name of Iran and at its instigation.”
The prosecutor’s office did not comment on the case because the trial had yet to start. A Belgian court last July ordered that four suspects including the Iranian diplomat will face trial.
The four are charged with “attempted murder of a terrorist nature” and of “taking part in the actions of a terrorist organisation,” a spokesman for federal prosecutors, Eric Van Der Sypt, said.
In July 2018, Belgian anti-terror prosecutors announced they had foiled an attempt to bomb a June 30 meeting of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Villepinte outside the French capital.
Operational commander On June 30, 2018, Belgian police officers tipped off about a possible attack against the annual meeting of the the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, stopped the couple’s Mercedes car. In their luggage, they found 550 grams of the unstable TATP explosive and a detonator. In its report, Belgium’s bomb disposal unit said the device was of professional quality.
TATP has been used in several attacks in Europe in recent years, including in 2016 when suicide bombers killed 32 people on the Brussels subway and at an airport. It could have caused a sizable explosion and panic in the crowd, estimated at 25,000 people, that had gathered that day in the French town of Villepinte, north of Paris. Regarded by investigators as the “operational commander” of the attack, Assadi is suspected of having hired the couple years earlier. According to a VSSE note, Assadi, 48, is an officer of Iran’s intelligence and security ministry who operated under cover at Iran’s embassy in Vienna. Belgium’s state security officers believe he worked for the ministry’s so-called Department 312, the directorate for internal security, which is on the European Union’s list of organisations regarded as terrorist.
Assadi was identified by the NCRI as “a senior official of the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the station chief in Austria.” “Working on the cover of the third consul, he handed over a powerful TATP explosive to Amir Saadouni and Nasimeh Naami in Luxembourg on June 28, 2018, to bomb the gathering in Villepinte,” it added in a statement Wednesday where it named other alleged accomplices. France has accused Iranian intelligence of being behind the plot. “This is the first time a diplomat in Europe has been put on trial for direct involvement in terrorism,” pointed out an NCRI statement.
Assadi’s lawyer, Dimitri de Beco, told the AP his client contests all the charges against him.
“His defense will raise a number of procedural issues, including the question of his diplomatic immunity, since it is not disputed that he had diplomatic status, at least at the time of the facts,” de Beco wrote in a short message, expressing his hope that the court case won’t be a “political trial.”
The NCRI, once an armed organisation with a base in Iraq, is the most structured among exiled Iranian opposition groups, and is the target of hostile acts by Iranian authorities. It was removed from EU and US terrorism lists several years ago after denouncing violence and getting western politicians to lobby on its behalf. The NCRI supports US President Donald Trump’s hard line on Iran and backs US sanctions on the country.
Among dozens of prominent guests at the rally that day were Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani; Newt Gingrich, former conservative speaker of the US House of Representatives; and former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.
The organisation’s leader, Maryam Rajavi, has alleged without offering evidence that Assadi received his orders from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“The regime’s leaders must be prosecuted and face justice,” she said last month during a video conference with journalists. Assadi allegedly recruited the couple — Amir Saadouni and Nasimeh Naami, who were of Iranian heritage but lived in Antwerp — to obtain information about the Iranian opposition. The fourth suspect, Mehrdad Arefani, is a Brussels resident suspected of traveling to Villepinte on the day of the planned attack. Investigators found that he was in possession of a phone with Assadi’s number.
Red notebook
Travel records show Assadi made several trips to Iran in the months leading up to the rally, returning from the last one little more than a week before the thwarted attack. According to a note from the prosecution’s files, Assadi carried the explosives on the commercial flight to Austria. He allegedly handed the bomb over to Saadouni and Naami during a meeting in a Pizza Hut restaurant in Luxembourg just two days before they were arrested. Both have denied they were aware that the diplomat — whose code name was Daniel — had given them a bomb. Naami said she believed the parcel contained fireworks.
Belgium’s bomb disposal unit said the triacetone triperoxide charge in the couple’s Mercedes car was ready to use. It was “wrapped in plastic and concealed in the lining of a vanity case.” They also found a digital remote trigger in a small bag belonging to Naami that contained feminine hygiene items.
Upon his arrest, investigators also found a red notebook in Assadi’s car with instructions on how to use the bomb. The analysis of the suspects’ text messages and emails revealed they used code language to communicate, with “PlayStation 4” the alleged name for the explosive device.
The French side of the investigation also established that Assadi visited Villepinte during the 2017 MEK rally, possibly on a reconnaissance trip. If convicted, the four suspects face between five years and 20 years in prison on charges of “attempted terrorist murder and participation in the activities of a terrorist group.” Hearings will last between two and three days and a verdict is expected be delivered by the end of next month.

US to Impose Iran-related Sanctions on Russian, Chinese Entities

Washington - London - Moaz al-Omari and Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
The US Special Representative for Iran announced on Wednesday Iran-related sanctions on four entities in China and Russia, accusing them of activities promoting Tehran’s missile program. The Trump administration plans further pressure on Tehran, with sanctions related to arms, weapons of mass destruction and human rights, Reuters quoted Elliott Abrams as saying. Meanwhile, European powers are looking to President-elect Joe Biden’s administration to swiftly reduce nuclear tensions with Tehran but won’t press Washington to re-enter the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran quickly, according to senior diplomats. Officials from France, Britain and Germany—countries that helped negotiate the accord—say a full return to the agreement might not be achievable or even desirable before Iran’s presidential elections in June, amid growing European concerns about Iranian nuclear research activities.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the diplomats urged Washington to agree to a speedy agreement once Biden takes office next spring, which requires offering some relief from comprehensive US sanctions on Tehran in exchange for Iran’s retreat from its increased nuclear activities.
Providing some tangible economic benefits to Iran before the June elections will serve as an incentive for the new Iranian government to follow up on diplomatic discussions, the sources noted, adding that this will require a quick cessation of some nuclear activities. They, however, pointed out that Biden’s team has not announced its detailed plans for Iran nor yet shared future plans with European allies. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has earlier said that he hopes the new administration would choose a different course.
“They took a very different view. They lived in a bit of a fantasy world. They led from behind,” he said in an interview with Fox News, stressing that 2020 is different from what it was in 2015. “I hope they’ll see the things that we have done and how this has delivered greater peace in the Middle East, how it’s reduced risk, where we took down what was a very tense situation when we came into office.”The US policy towards Iran compels the current administration to leave some troops in the Middle East to face any threats from Iran and its affiliated militias, calling on the next administration to benefit from the gains achieved by President Donald Trump’s administration. Pompeo defended the maximum pressure strategy adopted by the US that has isolated Iran. He pointed out that it deprived Iranians from tens of billions of dollars but in fact saved lots of lives and lots of American lives. “Appeasing terrorists, appeasing those who have hegemonic desires, appeasing those who are underwriting militias all throughout the region and destabilizing the Middle East cannot possibly be the right course of action,” he stressed, adding that this would put them on a pathway to a nuclear weapon, and “we should never give Iran that chance.”

Sisi: Egypt Succeeded in Maintaining Regional Strategic Balance
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah el-Sisi praised the pivotal role being played by the Egyptian armed forces in maintaining security, stability and strategic balance in the Middle East region. This came during his meeting Wednesday with Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Mohamed Zaki, and Commander of the Egyptian Air Force Abbas Helmy. Sisi called for maintaining the highest levels of readiness “to protect the country's national security in light of the great challenges facing the region," Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said. The president was briefed on several issues related to the activities and preparedness of the armed forces' main branches, particularly the Air Force. According to Rady, Sisi also reviewed the results of recent joint military exercises with a number of units. In a related context, Egypt’s Army Chief of Staff Lt. General Mohamed Farid and several chiefs of staff on Arab countries’ armed forces attended the main stage of a joint military drill dubbed "Saif Al Arab," - "Sword of Arabs". The participating countries include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Sudan.
This phase showed the accuracy of hitting fixed and moving targets, and the high maneuver capability of the forces through joint work.

Iraq Seeks to Purchase Russian Weapons
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
Moscow has said it was willing to meet Iraq’s needs for weapons amid an ongoing debate in the country on the post-Trump phase. Speaking at a joint news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein in Moscow on Wednesday, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov said: "We are ready to provide Iraq with any Russian-made military products." Lavrov stated that the Russian-Iraqi ties don’t rule out being on good terms with the West and neighboring countries. He deemed the visit of Hussein as a boost to bilateral ties and the region’s security. Iraqi parties, as well as militias, are engaged in a debate on the way to deal with the delicate transitional phase until President-elect Joe Biden enters the White House in January, and the possibility of US President Donald Trump launching a strike on Iran and its arms in Iraq. Last week, several missiles hit near the US embassy in the Green Zone and caused division among Iran-backed militias. In the meantime, Iranian Quds Force commander Esmail Ghaani made a secret visit to Baghdad to limit tension and avoid a US retaliation. Prominent pro-Iran militias such as Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq slammed the party that struck the Green Zone last week, and didn’t claim responsibility for the attack. Kataib Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Mohi said some parties are trying to grant the US an excuse to attack. The US shouldn’t be given any opportunity to tamper with the security again, Mohi warned. MP Muhammad Karim accused the US of lacking seriousness in the recent decision to withdraw from Iraq. He further accused it of forging facts.

 

Ethiopia PM Orders Final Offensive against Tigray Leaders in Mekele
Agence France Presse/Thursday, 26 November, 2020
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Thursday ordered Ethiopia's army to launch a final offensive against Tigray's leaders in their regional capital Mekele, saying the window for their surrender had expired. "The Ethiopian National Defence Forces have now been directed to conclude the third and final phase of our rule of law operations," Abiy said in a statement on Twitter. "In this final phase, great care will be given to protect innocent civilians from harm. All efforts will be made to ensure that the city of Mekele, which was built through the hard work of our people, will not be severely damaged."

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 26-27/2020

Biden's Homeland Security Pick Is No Border Softie
Noah Smith/Bloomberg/November, 26/2020
President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to end many of Trump's harsh new immigration policies. But his choice of Alejandro Mayorkas to lead his Department of Homeland Security indicates the new administration won't be embracing open borders, or even crafting especially welcoming policies toward migrants arriving over the Mexican border. President Donald Trump’s harsh treatment of immigrants was one of the most contentious issues of his first three years in office, and Biden will certainly expect Mayorkas to take a kinder approach toward asylum seekers, refugees and the undocumented.
Biden probably will reverse many of Trump's signature initiatives: separated families, kids in cages, sweeps through so-called sanctuary cities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and the ban on travel from many majority-Muslim countries. “Dreamers” who have never known any other home than the US will be safe under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that Trump tried to cancel.
ICE intrusions into communities will be curbed, families will be reunited and conditions in immigrant detention camps will improve dramatically. But when it comes to the thorny issue of Central American asylum seekers, Biden's policy is unlikely to swing in a direction radically opposite to the one under Trump.
Mayorkas has publicly signaled his sympathy with migrants seeking refuge in the US. And he helped design the DACA program when he served under President Barack Obama as deputy secretary of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and the Border Patrol.
But the Obama administration had its own tough border policies, and the selection of Mayorkas may signal Biden's desire to continue with that approach. Obama presided over a record number of deportations -- surpassing even Trump in raw numbers -- though he focused mainly on deporting those who committed serious crimes.
When a surge of Central Americans came north in 2014, Obama enacted policies that, while nowhere near as severe as Trump’s, were explicitly intended to deter migrants.
Biden, then serving as vice president, told Guatemalans in 2014: Those who are pondering risking their lives to reach the United States should be aware of what awaits them. It will not be open arms…we’re going to send the vast majority of you back.
Years of witnessing Trump’s cruelty will temper that harsh message substantially. But the fact remains that both Biden and Mayorkas are veterans of an administration that also saw caravans of asylum seekers as a problem.
In the 2010s, a wave of families came seeking refuge from the poor and violent countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. This wave was only a fraction of the number of people who had immigrated from Mexico in previous decades, but the sight of tens of thousands of destitute Central American families streaming north alarmed many conservatives.
Compounding this was the fact that the US system didn’t really have a good way to deal with large numbers of people crossing the border illegally and then turning themselves in to authorities and requesting asylum. It generally wasn't possible to tell whether these people were coming for economic reasons or to escape the endemic violence that plagues many Central American countries -- in fact, it was probably almost always a mix of both. And even if judges decided most migrants didn’t deserve asylum, the long waiting periods before their hearings tempted some to slip away to live in the US without documents.
Trump’s policies quashed that asylum wave. In addition to the cruel treatment, Trump deployed a blizzard of legal changes. He tightened the standards for granting asylum, required many migrants to remain in Mexico while awaiting their hearings, and struck agreements that sent many asylum seekers to Central American countries different from their origin nation. As a result, the border surge had fizzled out even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck.
If Biden hits reverse too hard, it could cost him politically. In economic terms, a few hundred thousand Central American migrants will do little to hurt the US, but their presence will rile up law-and-order voters who bristle at the notion of people crossing the border illegally or skipping out on asylum hearings. That could hurt Biden with constituencies like Hispanic voters who live in the Texas border counties that swung hard to Trump in 2020.
That means that the new administration is highly unlikely to embrace radical pro-immigration ideas like open borders, or recent Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro’s call to decriminalize unauthorized border crossing.
Instead, Biden and Mayorkas will probably try to accept asylum seekers from Central America at a slow and ordered pace. Detention will probably persist, in a much more humane form. And Biden may even negotiate new, though less rigid, agreements to keep some asylum seekers at home as the administration tries to improve living conditions in those countries. In other words, expect Biden’s policy toward Central American migrants to be more welcoming than Obama’s, but not nearly as welcoming as many activists would like.

Why Palestinians Owe Arabs an Apology
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/November 26, 2020
The Palestinian decision to renew ties with Israel comes at a time when the Palestinian media is continuing to condemn other Arabs for engaging in normalization with Israel.
"They [the Palestinians] were trampling on the pictures of our leaders. But we have not seen them trampling on the pictures of Abbas." — Emirati social media user BintUAE1900, Twitter, November 18, 2020.
Several Palestinians and Arabs took to social media to demand sarcastically that the PA withdraw its ambassador from Ramallah to protest its own decision to "normalize" relations with Israel.
The PA leadership's decision to restore ties with Israel and return the Palestinian ambassadors to the UAE and Bahrain is viewed by some Palestinians as an apparent attempt to cozy up to a possible new US administration under the presumptive new President-elect Joe Biden. Abbas is also likely hoping that in return, the US and some Gulf states will resume pouring money into the PA coffers -- for a start.
Will the Palestinian leadership apologize to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates for accusing them of betraying the Palestinians and Arabs by signing peace agreements with Israel? Pictured: Palestinians in Ramallah burn pictures of UAE Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on August 15, 2020. (Photo by Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
Will the Palestinian leadership apologize to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for accusing them of betraying the Palestinians and Arabs by signing peace agreements with Israel?
Last week, the Palestinian Authority (PA), led by President Mahmoud Abbas, in a surprise move, announced that it has decided to restore all relations with Israel, including security coordination between the PA security forces and the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank.
Abbas also owes Palestinians an apology because his decision to sever ties with Israel deprived Palestinian patients -- except for another prominent Palestinian leader, Saeb Erekat -- from receiving medical treatment in Israel. The decision also deprived thousands of Palestinians from receiving full salaries: Abbas had refused to accept tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinians.
In addition, the PA decided to return its Palestinian ambassadors to Bahrain and the UAE after recalling them for consultations to protest the peace agreements between the two countries and Israel.
The PA leadership had accused the UAE and Bahrain of stabbing the Palestinians in the back and "betraying the Palestinian people, Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque" by agreeing to establish relations with Israel. Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem had demonstrated against the normalization agreements by burning flags of Bahrain and the UAE and pictures of the rulers of the two countries.
Ironically, some Palestinians are now accusing the PA leadership of hypocrisy and "stabbing the Palestinian people in the back" by restoring relations with Israel. Several Palestinians and Arabs took to social media to demand sarcastically that the PA withdraw its ambassador from Ramallah to protest its own decision to "normalize" relations with Israel.
The PA leadership's decision to restore ties with Israel and return the Palestinian ambassadors to the UAE and Bahrain is viewed by some Palestinians as an apparent attempt to cozy up to a possible new US administration under the presumptive new President-elect Joe Biden. Abbas is also most likely hoping that in return, the US and some Gulf states will resume pouring money into the PA coffers -- for a start.
While a Biden administration may be happy about the Palestinian gestures, Arabs in the Gulf are demanding an apology from PA President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership. These Arabs are demanding to know why it is all right for the Palestinians to renew their ties with Israel, but not all right for Bahrain and the UAE to sign peace treaties with Israel?
Bahraini political analyst Abdullah Al-Junaid, addressing Abbas, wrote:
"Your Excellency President Mahmoud Abbas, as a citizen of the Arab Gulf states, I welcome the decision to return Palestinian ambassadors to Manama and Abu Dhabi, but you must immediately issue a formal statement of apology to all citizens of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for your statements and insults against us."
Al-Junaid pointed out that Abbas chaired a meeting of Palestinian factions in September to condemn and hurl insults at the Arabs of the Gulf and their leaders.
"Since the 1960s, the children of the Gulf states used to contribute their daily allowances to support the Palestinians," Al-Junaid noted. In return, he added, the Palestinian leaders have shown nothing but contempt for the Gulf people:
"You accused us of selling Jerusalem and the Palestinian people, while you return to your security understandings with Israel without issuing an explanatory statement to the Palestinian public, let alone the Arabs. This was followed by the return of the [Palestinian] ambassadors to Abu Dhabi and Manama without any shame or the issuance of a statement of apology on your behalf. I am not concerned with your internal affairs, Mr. President, but any attack against a Gulf citizen is a matter that is no longer acceptable. You must publicly and personally apologize for what you have done to us."
Al-Junaid and other Gulf Arabs called for boycotting the PA leadership until Abbas issues an apology for having insulted and the Gulf states and incited their citizens to revolt against the rulers of the UAE and Bahrain.
Emirati writer Turki Hasher demanded that the PA leadership apologize before sending the Palestinian ambassadors back to Bahrain and the UAE. The Palestinian leadership, he said, has finally admitted that the withdrawal of the ambassadors was a mistake. "But I do not think that bringing them back will be so simple because there needs to be an official apology for this hasty decision, which reflects confusion and mismanagement," Hasher wrote.
Kuwaiti political analyst Mohammed Al-Mulla wondered why all those who had condemned the UAE and Bahrain for signing peace treaties with Israel were now silent over the Palestinian leadership's decision to renew relations with Israel:
"We heard about the threats and intimidation from all the Palestinian factions and Islamist parties on the subject of peace agreements between the Gulf states and Israel. But where are they today with regards to Palestinian-Israeli normalization?"
Emirati social media user BintUAE1900 replied: "They [the Palestinians] were trampling on the pictures of our leaders. But we have not seen them trampling on the pictures of Abbas."
Some Gulf Arabs responded to the PA leadership's decision to restore ties with Israel by calling for the expulsion of the Palestinian ambassadors to the Gulf states and boycotting Palestinian products.
Another Kuwaiti writer, Abdel Muhsen Husseini, said that he found it strange that while the Palestinian leadership denounced the normalization agreements between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, it welcomed its own decision to restore Palestinian relations with the Israelis.
Noting that the PA leadership's decision was tantamount to normalization with Israel, Abdel Muhsen wrote that the Palestinians remain divided due to the ongoing dispute between Abbas's Fatah faction in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. According to Muhsen:
"The Palestinians have wasted efforts and time without taking a step to complete the Palestinian project to establish a Palestinian state... [Former PLO leader] Yasser Arafat wasted all Palestinian efforts and always raised his hand with the slogan of victory, but he was unable to achieve anything."
Recently, the Gulf Cooperation Council demanded an apology from Abbas and other Palestinian leaders for their "irresponsible rhetoric, incitement and threats" against the Gulf countries that signed peace treaties with Israel. Abbas and the PA leadership, however, have chosen to ignore the demand.
The Palestinian leadership has soared to yet greater heights of hypocrisy. In Arabic, its decision to send the Palestinian ambassadors back to the UAE and Bahrain is called "wakaha" (effrontery). The Palestinian decision to renew ties with Israel comes at a time when the Palestinian media is continuing to condemn other Arabs for engaging in normalization with Israel. The next time the Palestinian leadership accuses Arabs of stabbing the Palestinians in the back, Abbas and his officials will first need to take a good look in the mirror and see that their earlier deceptions are no longer their present deceptions.
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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Iran can't keep using foreign nationals as bargaining chips

Con Coughlin/The National/November 26/2020
The release of an Australian-British academic who had been jailed by Iran on spying charges highlights the Iranian regime’s willingness to play politics with the lives of foreign nationals to achieve its own ends – as it does with its own people.While the precise details surrounding the release of Middle East scholar Kylie Moore-Gilbert may never be known, all indicators suggest it was part of a prisoner swap for three Iranians being held in Thailand on terrorism-related offences. Many Western governments, including the US and UK, refuse to negotiate deals with Tehran over nationals held on spurious spying charges.
But although Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to comment on the circumstances surrounding the academic’s release, Iranian state television claimed that Dr Moore-Gilbert was exchanged for the three Iranian terrorists.
“A businessman and two (other) Iranian citizens detained abroad on the basis of false accusations were freed in exchange for a spy with dual nationality working for Israel,” Iran’s state-run Iribnews reported, repeating Iran’s unfounded allegation that Dr Moore-Gilbert was a foreign spy.
One of the three men released in exchange is believed to be Saeid Moradi, who was jailed in connection with a failed bomb plot against Israeli diplomats in Bangkok in 2012.
The two other men were detained after homemade explosives destroyed the roof of the Thai house in which they were staying. The three returned to a hero’s welcome in Iran, with Iranian media showing them draped in Iranian flags and being met by officials including Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
And judging by Iran’s response thus far, Tehran will conclude that by subjecting Dr Moore-Gilbert to an ordeal in which she spent 800 days in prison, it has ultimately succeeded in its political objective of securing the release of the Iranian prisoners.
Taking foreign nationals captive has become a familiar feature of Iranian policy since the 1979 revolution, when 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days.
On that occasion the regime was seeking, among other aims, to put pressure on the US government to repatriate the Shah and his family, who had fled into exile. Iran also resorted to hostage-taking during the latter stages of the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s, when scores of foreign nationals, including British hostages John McCarthy and Terry Waite, were seized as part of Tehran’s campaign to end Western intervention in the conflict.
And Tehran continues to employ this tactic to this day, with a number of foreign nationals currently being held by the Iranian authorities so that they can be used as bargaining chips to help the regime achieve its policy goals.
The detention of British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been held in Iran since 2016 and at one point shared a prison cell with Dr Moore-Gilbert, is another example.
While the Iranian authorities have accused Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe of being a spy, it appears their main objective in holding her has been to put pressure on the British government to release funds seized at the time of the Iranian revolution.
According to the Iranian authorities, Britain owes Iran about £400 million ($534m) for an order placed under the Shah for 1,000 tanks and armoured vehicles. The order was cancelled following his overthrow and has been the subject of a long-running legal dispute between Tehran and London ever since.
The link between Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s detention and the outstanding debt was demonstrated clearly earlier this year, when Iranian officials threatened to bring fresh charges against her after a UK court case about the debt was postponed. Since then, she has remained under house arrest with her parents until a new date for her hearing has been fixed.
Apart from using detained nationals as a bargaining chip to negotiate deals that served their interests, on other occasions Tehran holds foreign nationals to intimidate its enemies.
The plight of Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-Swedish professor who has been sentenced to death on spying charges, has been linked to the assassination of a number of high-ranking Iranian scientists said to be working on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme.
Prof Djalali, who formerly worked in Stockholm at the Karolinska Institute, a medical university, was arrested during a visit to Iran in April 2016.
He was sentenced to death the following year after being found guilty of passing information about two Iranian nuclear scientists to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.
There are now fears that his execution is imminent, after he was recently transferred to solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison. But the fact that he has been granted Swedish citizenship while in prison threatens to create a major diplomatic row with Stockholm if the death sentence is carried out. Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde has already contacted her Iranian counterpart to raise concerns about the planned execution, writing on Twitter: “Sweden denounces the death penalty and is working to not have the sentence carried out.”
The prospects of Sweden’s last-minute intervention on Prof Djalali’s behalf, though, do not look promising if Tehran’s response to previous Western appeals are anything to go by. In September, Iran executed a wrestler Navid Afkari Sangari accused of murder despite international calls for clemency, including an appeal from US President Donald Trump.
Even so, Iran needs to understand that so long as it continues using foreign nationals as bargaining chips for its wider strategic goals, it has little chance of establishing a more constructive relationship with the outside world.
*Con Coughlin is a defence and foreign affairs columnist for The National

Iran should bear responsibility for Middle East chaos
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/November 26/ 2020
After the Iraq War of 2003, the phrase “you break it, you own it” was coined with regard to international interventionism. This means that, if a country chooses to intervene in a domestic file and things go badly wrong, then that country has the responsibility to find solutions and basically pay for the consequences and the damage it caused.
Unfortunately, if this concept applies to global powers and regional ones in the Middle East, it seems it does not apply to Iran. Iran is left unchecked to intervene in and break countries all over the Middle East without any real consequences. Worse, most often the responsibility for finding solutions following Iran’s actions is shifted to the leading Arab countries. So it has become: Iran breaks it, but Arabs own it.
A clear example is Lebanon, and hence I am always puzzled when I see interviews of Gulf officials by Western media outlets. The way they frame their questions around Lebanon tends to put the blame on Gulf states, as if the current situation in Lebanon is the Gulf states’ fault or responsibility. They never really question the negative role of Iran and its surrogate Hezbollah.
The same applies to Yemen. While we all acknowledge the difficult situation for the local population, one never asks who created the situation. Who pushed it to the brink? Once again, it is expected that Saudi Arabia and the UAE should disavow their own national security and just yield to the will of Iran, letting the Houthis take control of the country and threaten the local population and their own security. This week’s missile strike by the Houthis on Saudi oil tanks highlighted this policy. Once again, Iran breaks a country but the Arabs need to own the problem and solve it.
In Iraq, Iran has pushed its militias to destabilize and threaten not only Iraqi security, but the region’s too. Until now, the Arabs have been accused of pushing Iraq out, when in fact Iran has weaponized the country against the entire neighborhood. It is yet another example of Iran breaking a country and Arabs needing to step in.
When it comes to Lebanon, Hezbollah has been blocking all paths to reform through violence and, unfortunately, there is no true opposition. There is no voice capable of rebalancing the power structure and forcing Hezbollah, if not to renounce its arsenal, to at least compromise for the sake of the country. This opposition weakness serves Hezbollah, which has no interest in saving Lebanon or serving the Lebanese. Its objective is to serve Iran and its regional hegemonic plans. Nothing will change this it seems — not the loss of all the bank deposits of hard-working Lebanese, not the collapse of all government institutions, and not even a devastating explosion, which, like all other catastrophes, seems to hide Hezbollah’s responsibility. When it comes to every single institution that is accused of corruption by the Lebanese people, from the electric grid to communications networks, there seems to be something hiding for Hezbollah.
It is for this reason that I see a responsibility on the local political forces that oppose Iran’s proxies and aim to rebalance the regional power play, such as Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. It is, in a simple way: “Help us help you.” In Lebanon, one cannot expect to rebuild if we are this weak and abide by the will of Hezbollah; and the same applies to opposing the Houthis in Yemen, Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi in Iraq or even Hezbollah in Syria.
It is also time for the West to ask the right questions and to frame its narrative properly, especially in the coming period in the Middle East. Who broke it? Who broke Lebanon? Who broke the peace process? Who broke Yemen? Who keeps destabilizing peaceful situations? In all these scenes and files, it has been Iran delegitimizing the state and empowering militias. The regime in Tehran has been consistently pushing for its own order.
One cannot deny that, in the 1980s, the Iranian regime was in an enemy’s surroundings and could have justified some of its actions. Since then, the Middle East has changed and opened up, but this regime is still stuck in medieval times. The US and its allies, including Arab countries, have tried many approaches, from opposition to appeasement, only to see this regime consistent in its policy of breaking and destabilizing.
There has been a debate around the efficiency of sanctions on the Iranian regime, mainly stating that they do not change anything. However, even if sanctions do not change the regime’s actions, at least they make sure it has less money to pursue its “breaking” objectives, and this makes a difference for the citizens of Lebanon and the other Iranian playgrounds.
It is important for the local political forces in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq to stand up to the Iranian proxies.
While Western policymakers usually focus on the nuclear file, this is actually not the only risk. Iran’s consistent interference in other countries should attract greater attention than it currently does. In this sense, I cannot help but think that, should Iran be working on a covert nuclear weapon program, it will simultaneously create revolutions in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen as it announces its military nuclear capacity. It will cover these states with an iron veil, under which they will be stuck for decades to come.
This is the solution Iran foresees in the region and why it keeps breaking its neighboring countries. I am worried that the coming years will be the time this becomes reality. Nothing in the Iranian regime’s behavior seems to indicate that it is willing to move toward positive regional and government-to-government relations. It is, therefore, important for the local political forces in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq to stand up to the Iranian proxies and refuse to be shrouded by this iron veil.
Finally, if the international community puts the responsibility for stability in the region on the leading Arab countries, it cannot and should not exclude them from negotiations either with Iran or with any other power that is meddling in Arab affairs. Arab countries should also not accept such a scenario and make it clear they should be part of any regional accord.
*Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.

Egypt-US relations unlikely to suffer under Biden
Dr. Abdellatif El-Menawy/Arab News/November 26/ 2020
Many Egyptians, politicians and non-politicians alike, believe that Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the US presidential election was not in the best interests of their country. Their fears are based on the stance that was taken by former President Barack Obama, which was considerably different from that of his successor, Trump.
However, this view of political science is not correct at all. Rather, it indicates a narrow view and simplistic understanding of the rules of international politics, based on the idea that “no friendship lasts nor is enmity prolonged in the world of politics.”
Trump is a friend of the Egyptian state and has been supportive of its policies in specific areas, in particular its efforts to combat terrorism. The Obama administration, on the other hand, was largely supportive of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood movement. But this does not necessarily mean that Biden will adopt Obama’s policy by supporting the Brotherhood and putting pressure on the Egyptian state.
The Obama administration supported the Jan. 25 revolution in 2011 and Obama himself delivered an eloquent speech in which he praised and gave his blessing to the youth movement in the country.
With the passing of a period of instability, consultations took place between US officials and representatives of the Brotherhood in Egypt, which was considered the strongest and most organized faction on the ground (we heard that a lot in those days). As a result, the Obama administration decided that US interests were best served by backing the group.
Washington gave its blessing to the election of Mohammed Morsi as president of Egypt in June 2012, but when a constitutional declaration in November that year effectively granted him unlimited powers, opinions about him and the Brotherhood grew more divided among administration officials. Some, including US Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson, continued to believe American interests were best served by the Brotherhood remaining in power, while others were concerned that the group was attempting to establish a fascist religious state.
The popular uprising in Egypt on June 30, 2013, shocked the Brotherhood and its supporters, who intervened forcefully in an attempt to defeat those who had taken to the streets to save their country. Nevertheless, the revolution succeeded and the Brotherhood regime was toppled.
This was a defining moment in the evolution of the form of the relationship between Egypt and the US. I say “form” and not “content” because the new administration in Cairo was supported by the vast majority of the Egyptian people, while Washington was constrained by its recent actions, experiences and contacts with Egypt, and an incomplete understanding of the reality of the changes there. As a result, there was friction in bilateral relations, made worse by areas of mutual misunderstanding.
The second and third generations of leading Brotherhood figures in other countries, who had been educated in the UK, the US and Canada and spoke fluent English, set about trying to save their comrades in Egypt. They wrote articles for major newspapers, magazines and think tanks, and their voices were heard in the US Congress.
The Egyptian state was keen to end this nightmare. When Republican candidate Trump defeated his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton — who, like Obama, was a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt — in the 2016 presidential election, he began to implement an overhaul of US policies. Among other things, he rejected the Brotherhood, canceled US treaties with Iran, and even made diplomatic overtures to North Korea and Russia.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian state sought to make improvements architecturally, socially and economically, and to build bridges of communication with the world. These efforts have borne fruit. Egypt has become an important international force on many levels and in issues such as combating terrorism, Mediterranean gas, the Libyan crisis, and peace in the Middle East.
As president, Biden’s policies will be based on the current realities, not past events.
As a result of the progress made by Egypt in these areas and others, the international community is increasingly eager to cooperate with Cairo. Over time, the world saw through the Brotherhood’s lies and unfounded allegations of injustice.
This brings us back to Biden, whose foreign policy team will certainly adopt a different approach to Egypt than that of the Obama administration, in which Biden served as vice president. As president, his policies will be based on the current realities, not past events.
Those Egyptians who are unhappy about Biden’s election are ignoring the enhancement of economic relations between Egypt and the US in recent years. This was only possible by agreeing to deal with American leaders.
During President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s visit to New York in September 2019, we saw the extent of the recent growth in US investment in Egypt, which the new occupants of the White House will certainly take into consideration during their dealings with Cairo.
Egypt has also acquired a prominent new position in the natural gas sector in the eastern Mediterranean — a development the Biden administration will want to study well and benefit from. There are also the issues of the Libyan crisis, illegal immigration to Europe, and regional peace to take into account, all of which are issues in which Egypt has become a pivotal player.
*Dr. Abdellatif El-Menawy is a critically acclaimed multimedia journalist, writer and columnist who has covered war zones and conflicts worldwide. Twitter: @ALMenawy