LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 27/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
What is impossible for mortals is possible for God
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 18/24-30/:”Jesus looked at him and said, ‘How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ Those who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ He replied, ‘What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.’Then Peter said, ‘Look, we have left our homes and followed you.’And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.’”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on October 26-27/2019
Anti-Govt. Protests Rage Unabated in Lebanon for 10th Day
Protesters Take to the Streets for 10th Day, Defying Hizbullah
Presidency: Aoun Did Not Reject Anti-Corruption Law
High Stakes for Army as Protests Engulf Lebanon
Police Remove Some Roadblocks as Nationwide Protests Touch 10th Day
Lebanese block roads as mass demonstrations enter 10th day
Injuries as Lebanese Military Scuffles with Protesters near Tripoli
Several Wounded in Gunfire Shots in al-Baddawi
Lebanese Police Drag Protestors, Remove Roadblocks in Beirut
Hezbollah Supporters Assault Protesters in Downtown Beirut
High Stakes for Army As Protests Enter Tenth Day
Protests Rattle the Postwar Order in Lebanon and Iraq

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 26-27/2019
UN Chief Urges World Leaders to Listen to Protesters' Issues
Esper: US troops, armored vehicles going to Syria oil fields
Russia Describes US Presence in Syria as ‘State Banditry’
Erdogan Threatens to Clear Syria Border Area of Kurdish Fighters If Russia Fails to Act
At least seven Iraqi protesters shot dead by militia in Hilla: Sources
Iraqi paramilitaries threaten ‘revenge’ after offices torched
Elite troops deployed in southern Iraqi city Nasiriya to break up protests
Iraq MPs tied to populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr declare sit-in at parliament
Syrian army reaches border area, deploys around Turkish zone
US boosts force in oil-rich east Syria, crosses regime checkpoints
Syrian army reaches border area, deploys around Turkish zone
Turkish FM: Germany’s proposal on the int’l safe zone in Syria is not realistic
Erdogan should be prosecuted over Syrian offensive: ex-UN investigator del Ponte
Algerians Protest against Bensalah for Downplaying Demonstrations
Egypt, Iraq, Jordan FMs Prepare for Baghdad Tripartite Summit


Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on October 26-27/2019
People are not fooled: The Lebanese government’s reforms are not the solution/Sami Atallah/Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2019
Lebanon Battles to Be Born at Last/Roger Cohen/The New York Times/October 26/2019
Open Letter to Aoun, Berri, and Hariri/Elie Aoun/October 26/2019
Lebanon protests rock Hezbollah's grip on power. That's cause for hope — but also danger./Sulome Anderson/Think Site/October 27/2019
How Lebanon’s sectarian lens was broken/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/October 26, 2019
Lebanon must strategise and turn these peaceful protests into a win in the long run/Raghida Dergham/The National/October 26/2019
Turkey-Backed Jihadists in Syria Call Women 'Whores,' Execute Prisoners."/Seth Frantzman/The Jerusalem Post/October 26/2019
Europe's Populist Wave Reaches Portugal/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/October 26, 2019

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on October 26-27/2019
Anti-Govt. Protests Rage Unabated in Lebanon for 10th Day
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 26 October, 2019
Protesters poured back onto streets and squares across Lebanon on Saturday, despite army efforts to unblock roads, with no end in sight to a crisis that has crippled the country for 10 days and kept banks closed. Army and security commanders met to plan ways to re-open main arteries to get traffic flowing again while “safeguarding the safety of protesters”, the military said in a statement. But people have closed routes with barriers, sit-ins and mass gatherings demanding the government resign. The General Security agency -- one of Lebanon's top three security bodies -- said it has started to implement a plan to open key roads. An army spokesman told AFP that security forces would negotiate with protesters, without resorting to violence. Lebanon has been swept by days of protests against a political class accused of corruption, mismanagement of state finances and pushing the country toward an economic collapse unseen since the 1975-90 civil war. Banks, schools and many businesses have shut their doors. “We won’t leave the streets because this is the only card that people can pressure with,” Yehya al-Tannir, an actor protesting at a makeshift barricade on a main bridge in the capital Beirut. “We won’t leave until our demands are met.”Northeast of Beirut, dozens of demonstrators formed a human chain to prevent the army from removing a dirt berm blocking a seaside road. As night fell on Saturday, the first day of the weekend, protesters flooded streets across the country amid patriotic music, Lebanese flags and protest banners. Demonstrators who had slept in tents near Martyrs Square, said they were still defiant. "We will stay on the streets," said Rabih al-Zein, a 34-year-old from the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon. "The power of the people is stronger than the power of the parties," he told AFP.
Near the northern city of Tripoli, the army said it fired into the air during a disturbance with protesters. Five soldiers and a number of civilians were injured, it said. Banks will stay closed until life returns to normal and will pay month-end salaries through ATMs, the Association of Banks in Lebanon has said. It has held crisis meetings in recent days amid growing fears that a rush on the banks when they reopen could deplete dwindling foreign currency deposits.
Emergency reforms The protests have continued to grip Lebanon despite the government announcing an emergency reform package this week that failed to defuse anger. It has also yet to reassure foreign donors to unlock the billions in badly needed aid they have pledged. President Michel Aoun suggested banking secrecy should be lifted from the accounts of high-ranking officials. Ministers and lawmakers affiliated with the president's Free Patriotic Movement are set to lift banking secrecy from their own accounts next week, according to an FPM statement.
In recent days, loyalists of Hezbollah and the FPM have mobilized counter-demonstrations across the country, sparking scuffles with demonstrators and journalists. Lebanon has one of the world’s highest levels of government debt as a share of economic output. The country’s largely sectarian political parties have been wrong-footed by the cross-communal nature of the mostly peaceful protests. Waving Lebanese flags rather than the partisan colors normally paraded at demonstrations, protesters have been demanding the resignation of all of Lebanon's political leaders. "All of them means all," has been a popular slogan.
In the southern coastal city of Sidon, some shops opened their doors after days of closure. “Shopkeepers are opening up to see if they can get things moving. The end of the month is near, people have rents to pay,” said protester Hoda Hafez. “But in the end, they will all take part and come down to the (protest) square.”Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Friday against a power vacuum and urged followers to stay away from the protests after they assaulted demonstrators in central Beirut.

Protesters Take to the Streets for 10th Day, Defying Hizbullah
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 26/2019
Demonstrators in Lebanon blocked roads and trickled into streets across the country for a tenth consecutive day Saturday, defying what they said were attempts by Hizbullah to defuse their movement. The demonstrators -- who have thronged towns and cities across Lebanon since October 17 -- are demanding the removal of the entire political class, accusing many across different parties of systematic corruption.Numbers have declined since October 20, when hundreds of thousands took over Beirut and other cities in the largest demonstrations in years, but could grow again over the weekend. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday called on his supporters to leave the streets, warning that any cabinet resignation would lead to "chaos and collapse" of the economy. He also said that the protesters were being manipulated by "foreign powers" who wanted to leverage the unrest, shortly after his supporters clashed with demonstrators in Beirut. His statement sowed divisions among Hizbullah supporters, some of whom were still protesting on Saturday morning. Hassan Koteiche, 27, from a Hizbullah stronghold in Beirut, said he agreed with most of Nasrallah's "excellent" speech, but had some reservations. "This does not mean we are against his discourse but there is a divergence in opinion," he told AFP. "The main thing I disagree with is his belief that if the government or parliament falls then we would have no alternative," he added. "That is not true. We have alternatives. We have noble and uncorrupt people," who can govern.
'We will stay'
Main roads remained closed across the country on Saturday morning, as the army tried to reopen key routes. Northeast of Beirut, dozens of demonstrators formed a human chain to prevent the army from removing a dirt berm blocking a sea-side road. In central Beirut, they sat cross-legged on a key artery that connects the capital to its suburbs and surrounding regions but the army later cleared them and opened the road. Nearby, droves of volunteers swept streets and collected rubbish after protests went late into the night, with people dancing on the street and in and abandoned former movie theatre. Demonstrators who had slept in tents near Martyrs Square, said they were still defiant on the tenth day of their protest movement, despite attempts by Hizbullah to rattle protesters. "We will stay on the streets," said Rabih al-Zein, a 34-year-old from the Shiite-stronghold of Tyre, which saw unprecedented demonstrations over the past week. "The power of the people is stronger than the power of the parties," he told AFP in central Beirut, adding that Hizbullah supporters would not keep them from demonstrating.  Lebanon's largely sectarian political parties have been wrong-footed by the cross-communal nature of the largely peaceful protests. Waving Lebanese flags rather than the partisan colours normally paraded at demonstrations, protesters have been demanding the resignation of all of Lebanon's political leaders.
"All of them means all," has been a popular slogan.
- Counter-demonstrations -
In recent days, loyalists of Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) -- a Christian party founded by President Michel Aoun -- mobilised counter-demonstrations across the country, sparking scuffles with demonstrators and journalists. The Iran-backed Hizbullah, considered a terrorist organisation by Israel and the United States, is the only movement not to have disarmed after Lebanon's 15-year civil.Hundreds of its supporters gathered in the group's strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs and the southern cities of Nabatiyeh and Tyre on Friday after Nasrallah's speech, brandishing party flags. In central Beirut, they clashed with protesters, prompting riot police to intervene to break up the fight. In Nabatiyeh on Saturday, dozens of anti-government demonstrators returned to the streets, with a protester saying he was counting on the army and security forces to protect them from party loyalists. In a suburb north of Beirut, dozens of FPM loyalists staged a counter demonstration to express their support for the embattled president. Lebanon endured a devastating civil war that ended in 1990 and many of its current political leaders are former commanders of wartime militias, most of them recruited on sectarian lines. Persistent deadlock between them has stymied efforts to tackle the deteriorating economy, while the eight-year war in neighbouring Syria has compounded the crisis. More than a quarter of Lebanon's population lives in poverty, the World Bank says.

Presidency: Aoun Did Not Reject Anti-Corruption Law
Naharnet/October 26/2019
The Lebanese presidency media office on Saturday said in a statement that President Michel Aoun did not reject an anti-corruption law and that he referred it to the Parliament to introduce some “amendments.”
“Social media have circulated inaccurate information about President Aoun and that he rejected an anti-corruption law in the public sector and the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission to the Parliament,” said the Presidency on Twitter. “President Michel Aoun did not reject the law but he referred it to the Parliament for amendments,” it added.

High Stakes for Army as Protests Engulf Lebanon
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 26/2019
It's one of the iconic images of Lebanon's protests: the tears of a soldier torn between his duty and a loving crowd -- the same dilemma now facing the national army. An unprecedented, cross-sectarian protest movement demanding the removal of an entrenched political elite has paralysed the country since October 17, leaving the army with a difficult task. When demonstrators this week blocked roads to press their demands, soldiers were deployed to reopen them. What could have been a tense sequence ended with protesters singing the national anthem, praising the soldiers and handing them flowers. "There have been repeated attempts by the political establishment... to get the military to clear the street," said Aram Nerguizian, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The Lebanese Armed Forces have resisted these attempts," said Nerguizian. Fadi Daoud, a retired army general, said the armed forces had to juggle what have become "two contradictory duties" -- protecting the people's freedoms and executing the orders of the political establishment. Its task has been further complicated by the emergence of counter-demonstrations by party loyalists looking to confront the protesters lambasting their leaders. The Lebanese army was in tatters at the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, an empty shell in a country that was under Syrian occupation until 2005. Meanwhile, the Iranian-backed Hizbullah grew to outgun the army, which took years to restore its credibility but never lost its popularity.
'One of us'
"The Lebanese military is one of the very few institutions that is both close to being representative of the public, demographically, and at the same time behaving in a way over time that is broadly credible," Nerguizian said. With around 80,000 personnel, the army is seen as a symbol of national unity that has weathered sectarian divisions and tensions over the years. According to Daoud, the unprecedented protests that have gripped the country could be an opportunity for the army to further increase the legitimacy it needs "to build up its strength and viability." It has received billions of dollars from the West in recent years but its claim to being the country's protector continues to be rivalled by Hizbullah, the only group that did not disarm after the civil war. Observers say the unprecedented nationwide nature of the protest movement is likely to create bridges between the demonstrators and the army. In 2005, which was the last time that many people took to the streets, the army was caught between the rival pro-Syrian and anti-Syrian camps. Today, political leaders have diverging positions "but the street is one", said Daoud, who served in the military from 1983 to 2019.
The images of the soldier who was moved to tears by the protests and those of another embracing his father who was among the demonstrators touched the heart of the Lebanese public. "He's crying because he's one of us, he feels our pain and we feel his," said Ali, a 34-year-old among the thousands occupying the main square in Beirut every day. Graffiti reading "the army is a red line" has started appearing on the walls of Beirut, another sign of its popularity among the protesters. With the protesters calling for the wholesale dismissal of the political class without offering a clear alternative, some have argued the army could step in. Pictures of the commander of the armed forces, Joseph Aoun, have started appearing on social media with the slogan: "Save us!"

Police Remove Some Roadblocks as Nationwide Protests Touch 10th Day
Associated Press/Naharnet/October 26/2019
Lebanon's army on Saturday removed roadblocks set up by protesters in at least one critical juncture linking Beirut to the suburbs and the country's east amid a nationwide wave of protests, including a campaign of civil disobedience.
The protesters had set up several roadblocks around Beirut and on major roads to enforce their calls for the government to step down. The protests, now in their tenth day, have paralyzed the country, which already faces a major economic crisis. But the unprecedented demonstrations have also brought together Lebanese from all sects and political affiliation, uniting them in a common demand that long-serving politicians, accused of corruption and mismanagement, step down. On Saturday, Lebanese army removed chairs and tents set up in the middle of the intersection that links Beirut to the presidential palace, the mountain overlooking the city, the east and suburbs of Beirut. The protesters did not resist but one broke into tears, telling the local LBC television station that he was disappointed the army had to make them remove the roadblocks. The military had warned that blocking roads was in violation of the law. Other roadblocks have continued. In one location on the coastal highway to the south, the residents blocked the road as security forces attempted to remove a roadblock. In central Beirut, two women and two men were manning a roadblock that separated the eastern and western sector of the Lebanese capital. They said they have been at the roadblock for 10 days and have no plan to dismantle it but added that they would not fight the army. They let through an ambulance and a motorcycle. "This is an uprising of a people who have been suffering for the last 30 years and can no longer tolerate their lies, theft and hypocrisy," said 29-year-old Rima, who was manning the roadblock, referring to the government. "We are protesting. We are not vandalizing or violent." Rima declined to give her last name, worried about her safety.

Lebanese block roads as mass demonstrations enter 10th day
Associated Press/October 26/2019
The demonstrations have brought together Lebanese from various religious sects and political affiliations, with many protesters directing their anger at their own representatives. Chanting “all means all,” the protesters have simultaneously indicted the entire political system and tried to head off
BEIRUT:Lebanese anti-government protesters stepped up their efforts to block roads in and around the capital Beirut on Saturday, lying in the streets and chanting “peaceful, peaceful” as security forces struggled to drag them out of the way.
The dispersals were largely peaceful, but clashes broke out near the northern city of Tripoli, injuring a number of people. The campaign of civil disobedience came on the 10th day of nationwide anti-government protests, the largest Lebanon has seen in years. “This is an uprising of a people who have been suffering for the last 30 years and can no longer tolerate their lies, theft and hypocrisy,” said Rima, a 29-year-old who was manning one of the roadblocks in central Beirut, allowing in ambulances and motorcyclists. She declined to give her full name for security reasons.
The rallies have paralyzed a country already grappling with a severe fiscal crisis that demonstrators blame on political elites who have ruled since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. Banks, universities and schools have been closed since last week.
Saturday’s attempts by demonstrators to step up resistance appeared to be in defiance of calls to open the roads — the protesters’ main pressure point on the government to respond to demands for major changes.
The demonstrations were sparked by proposals for new taxes, including one on WhatsApp voice calls and messaging services that came on the heels of recently passed austerity measures. They soon escalated into a call for the overthrow of the post-civil war political establishment, seen by many as corrupt and incompetent. Now, some protesters are calling for early parliamentary elections and a new, smaller Cabinet and have rejected economic reforms proposed by the current prime minister. “This is not a protest. This is a revolution,” said George, a civil engineer who also declined to give his last name for security reasons. In Beirut, there was some pushing, shoving and screaming as riot police tried to drag protesters away by the arms and legs. There were no reports of arrests or injuries. On one road, an armored personnel carrier came within several meters (yards) of a group of protesters lying in the road before turning back.
Near Tripoli in northern Lebanon, the army said it intervened after a group of people began fighting with protesters who had blocked a road. It said five soldiers were wounded by stones and fire bombs, and that the soldiers responded by shooting in the air and firing rubber bullets, wounding “a number” of people. The army didn’t elaborate. Videos posted online showed large numbers of people running through the streets, some hurt, as soldiers chased them while gunfire can be heard. It was a rare case of the army interfering to remove the road blocks.
On one major thoroughfare in downtown Beirut, security forces and protesters engaged in a cat and mouse game. After security forces dragged the protesters off the asphalt, the demonstrators returned to present them with flowers. Then they sat in the road, blocking a main route between the city’s east and west.
“The people want to bring down the regime,” the protesters chanted, reprising the main slogan of the Arab Spring uprisings that swept the Middle East in 2011. “We are not bandits,” one man cried as demonstrators were being dragged away. “We have rights and are asking for them.”
On the coastal highway north of Beirut, a large crowd of residents sat on the ground as others stood in a line as a military bulldozer approached, forcing it to turn back. To the south, Lebanese soldiers removed chairs and tents set up in the middle of an intersection linking Beirut to the presidential palace on a hill overlooking the city.
In each incident security forces appeared reluctant to forcibly confront the protesters. But Hezbollah’s criticism of the demonstrations raised concerns about a possible backlash. The demonstrations have brought together Lebanese from various religious sects and political affiliations, with many protesters directing their anger at their own representatives. Chanting “all means all,” the protesters have simultaneously indicted the entire political system and tried to head off any sectarianism. On Friday, the military warned that blocking roads was a violation of the law. The leader of the Hezbollah, the most powerful armed force in the country, called on the protesters to open the roads and ordered his supporters to leave the rallies after they brawled with rival protesters. In a speech Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah cast doubt on the spontaneous nature of the protests, saying foreign powers and rival political groups were exploiting the rallies to go after his group, which is closely allied with Iran. Shortly before he spoke, Hezbollah supporters fought with protesters who had criticized Nasrallah in the epicenter of the protests in central Beirut. Amnesty International, meanwhile, said that blocking the roads a way for the protesters to make their voices heard and called on authorities to protect the rallies against violence from political opponents.Later on Saturday, in one of the main demonstrations in Beirut, protesters chanted: “We aren’t afraid of the sectarian leaders.”

Injuries as Lebanese Military Scuffles with Protesters near Tripoli
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 26 October, 2019
The Lebanese army said it fired gunshots into the air after a clash at a protest road-block near the northern city of Tripoli on Saturday, injuring several people. The army said it had intervened to break up a skirmish between protesters and people trying to drive their cars on the road. Stones and fireworks were thrown at soldiers, injuring five of them, it said in a statement.After using tear gas, the army said it then fired into the air and also used rubber bullets, injuring several people. A witness said soldiers shot into the air after trying to re-open a road out of Tripoli that some protesters had been blocking, near the Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp. LBCI television said eight people were wounded, two were in critical condition. As part of the tenth day of unprecedented protests demanding the government resign, people have closed routes across Lebanon with makeshift barriers and sit-ins for days. Reuters TV footage showed soldiers and young men throwing stones at each other. The Lebanese Red Cross said on Twitter that three people were injured there and vehicles were being sent to the scene. The army said it brought reinforcements and the situation had quieted down. Television footage showed the protesters eventually embracing the officers, putting an end to the tensions.Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s office said he has asked the army’s commander to investigate the incident.

Several Wounded in Gunfire Shots in al-Baddawi
Naharnet/October 26/2019
Several individuals were wounded in Tripoli’s al-Biddawi when gunshots were fired during the military's attempt to reopen the road blocked by protesters. The Lebanese army forces reportedly fired gunshots into the air to disperse the protesters. It was unclear who fired the gunshots but video footage circulating on social media showed a state of chaos and people running around, some with blood on their clothes. An ambulance was seen taking the wounded to the hospital. Earlier the army had asked residents of the area to "stay inside their houses until the tensions subside."The protesters said the army troops had shot at them after firing tear gas.

Lebanese Police Drag Protestors, Remove Roadblocks in Beirut
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 26 October, 2019
Lebanese security forces pushed and dragged away protesters who refused to move from roadblocks in central Beirut on Saturday, to reopen roads closed during a campaign of civil disobedience. The protesters had set up several roadblocks around Beirut and on major highways to enforce their calls for the government to step down amid nationwide protests, now in their tenth day. When the riot police moved in to clear the roadblocks on the ring road that links eastern and western Beirut, many protesters sat or lay down on the asphalt in defiance. Some protesters chanted: "The people want to bring down the regime.""We are no bandits," cried one man. "We have rights and are asking for them."
Pushing and shoving, the security forces successfully opened the road and traffic flowed through. In another part of Lebanon, the army removed a roadblock without incident. But on the coastal highway to the north, a large crowd of residents sat on the ground and others stood in one line, blocking the military's efforts to remove the roadblocks with a bulldozer. The military retreated. The military warned that blocking roads was in violation of the law. The head of Lebanon's powerful militant Hezbollah group, Hassan Nasrallah, called on protesters to open the roads in a speech Friday.
The protests have paralyzed the country, which already faces a major economic crisis. Banks, universities and schools have been closed since last week.
But the unprecedented demonstrations have also brought together Lebanese from all sects and political affiliation, uniting them in a common demand that long-serving politicians, accused of corruption and mismanagement, step down. Squares in Beirut and other cities have filled up in a spontaneous expression of anger at the country's political elite. A common chant, "All means all," has demanded all incumbent officials step down. Nasrallah ordered his supporters to leave the protests on Friday after they clashed with anti-government protesters who criticized him. The Hezbollah leader tried to cast doubt on the spontaneity of the protests, saying that foreign powers and rivals are trying to exploit the rallies for political gains against his group. Just before the security forces moved in on Saturday, two women and two men were manning the roadblock on the ring road. They said they have been at the roadblock for 10 days and have no plan to dismantle it but added that they would not fight the army. They let through an ambulance and a motorcycle. "This is an uprising of a people who have been suffering for the last 30 years and can no longer tolerate their lies, theft and hypocrisy," said 29-year-old Rima, who was manning the roadblock, referring to the government. "We are protesting. We are not vandalizing or violent." Rima declined to give her last name, worried about her safety.
To the south, Lebanese soldiers removed chairs and tents set up in the middle of the intersection that links Beirut to the presidential palace, the mountain overlooking the city, the east and suburbs of Beirut. The protesters did not resist but one broke into tears, telling the local LBC television station that he was disappointed the army had to force them to remove the roadblocks. Amnesty International has said that blocking the roads was part of the protesters' efforts to make their voice heard, and called on authorities to protect the rallies against violence from political opponents.
The right of peaceful protesters to demonstrate on and block public roads has consistently been upheld by international human rights bodies which view urban spaces as a legitimate space for protest. The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association has stated that “the free flow of traffic should not automatically take precedence over freedom of peaceful assembly.”Amnesty explained that restrictions can only be placed on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly where strictly necessary, proportionate and provided by law – such as clearing a access road to a hospital or removing an assembly which has caused substantial disruption for a significant period of time to accommodate a pressing social need.

Hezbollah Supporters Assault Protesters in Downtown Beirut
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 26 October, 2019
The ninth day of protests in Beirut witnessed tension for the second consecutive day after Hezbollah supporters clashed with demonstrators who have been holding a sit-in in the capital’s central district demanding the government’s resignation and an end to rampant corruption. Hezbollah supporters descended against on Friday on Riad al-Solh square near the Grand Serail to express their rejection to slogans against their leader, but they clashed with demonstrators and riot police that were deployed en masse in the area. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah spoke shortly after his supporters clashed with protesters, calling on them to leave anti-government protests to avoid friction. Even after his televised speech ended, Nasrallah’s supporters continued their assault on protesters but riot police were finally able to remove them from Riad al-Solh square and the abutting Martyrs Square. The show of force continued when Hezbollah supporters held rallies in the party’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs and other areas, including Tyre, Nabatiyeh, the Bekaa Valley and Hermel. During the rallies, they expressed support to Nasrallah, rejecting that demonstrators equate him with corrupt politicians. Lebanese protesters have set up tents, blocking traffic in main thoroughfares and sleeping in public squares mainly in Beirut's Riad al-Solh and Martyrs Square to enforce a civil disobedience campaign and keep up the pressure on the government to step down. The unprecedented mass protests come amid a deepening economic crisis in Lebanon.

High Stakes for Army As Protests Enter Tenth Day
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 26 October, 2019
It's one of the iconic images of Lebanon's protests: the tears of a soldier torn between his duty and a loving crowd -- the same dilemma now facing the national army. An unprecedented, cross-sectarian protest movement demanding the removal of an entrenched political elite has paralyzed the country since October 17, leaving the army with a difficult task. When demonstrators this week blocked roads to press their demands, soldiers were deployed to reopen them. What could have been a tense sequence ended with protesters singing the national anthem, praising the soldiers and handing them flowers. "There have been repeated attempts by the political establishment... to get the military to clear the street," said Aram Nerguizian, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The Lebanese Armed Forces have resisted these attempts," said Nerguizian. Fadi Daoud, a retired army general, said the armed forces had to juggle what have become "two contradictory duties" -- protecting the people's freedoms and executing the orders of the political establishment. Its task has been further complicated by the emergence of counter-demonstrations by party loyalists looking to confront the protesters lambasting their leaders. The Lebanese army was in tatters at the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, an empty shell in a country that was under Syrian occupation until 2005.
- 'One of us' -
"The Lebanese military is one of the very few institutions that is both close to being representative of the public, demographically, and at the same time behaving in a way over time that is broadly credible," Nerguizian said. With around 80,000 personnel, the army is seen as a symbol of national unity that has weathered sectarian divisions and tensions over the years. According to Daoud, the unprecedented protests that have gripped the country could be an opportunity for the army to further increase the legitimacy it needs "to build up its strength and viability."It has received billions of dollars from the West in recent years but its claim to being the country's protector continues to be rivaled by Hezbollah, the only group that did not disarm after the civil war. Observers say the unprecedented nationwide nature of the protest movement is likely to create bridges between the demonstrators and the army. In 2005, which was the last time that many people took to the streets, the army was caught between the rival pro-Syrian and anti-Syrian camps. Today, political leaders have diverging positions "but the street is one", said Daoud, who served in the military from 1983 to 2019. The images of the soldier who was moved to tears by the protests and those of another embracing his father who was among the demonstrators touched the heart of the Lebanese public. "He's crying because he's one of us, he feels our pain and we feel his," said Ali, a 34-year-old among the thousands occupying the main square in Beirut every day. Graffiti reading "the army is a red line" has started appearing on the walls of Beirut, another sign of its popularity among the protesters. With the protesters calling for the wholesale dismissal of the political class without offering a clear alternative, some have argued the army could step in. Pictures of the commander of the armed forces, Joseph Aoun, have started appearing on social media with the slogan: "Save us!"

Protests Rattle the Postwar Order in Lebanon and Iraq
Associated Press/Naharnet/October 26/2019
Tens of thousands of people, many of them young and unemployed men, thronged public squares and blocked main streets Friday in the capitals of Iraq and Lebanon in unprecedented, spontaneous anti-government revolts in two countries scarred by long conflicts.
Demonstrators in Iraq were beaten back by police firing live ammunition and tear gas, and officials said 30 people were killed in a fresh wave of unrest that has left 179 civilians dead this month. In Lebanon, scuffles between rival political groups broke out at a protest camp, threatening to undermine an otherwise united civil disobedience campaign now in its ninth day. The protests are directed at a postwar political system and a class of elite leaders that have kept both countries from relapsing into civil war but achieved little else. The most common rallying cry from the protesters in Iraq and Lebanon is "Thieves! Thieves!" — a reference to officials they accuse of stealing their money and amassing wealth for decades. The leaderless uprisings are unprecedented in uniting people against political leaders from their own religious communities. But the revolutionary change they are calling for would dismantle power-sharing governments that have largely contained sectarian animosities and force out leaders who are close to Iran and its heavily armed local allies.
Their grievances are not new.
Three decades after the end of Lebanon's civil war and 16 years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the streets of their capitals echo with the roar of private generators that keep the lights on. Tap water is undrinkable and trash goes uncollected. High unemployment forces the young to put off marriage and children. Every few years there are elections, and every time it seems like the same people win. The sectarian power-sharing arrangement that ended Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war distributed power and high offices among Christians, Shiites and Sunnis. It has mostly kept the peace, but has turned former warlords into a permanent political class that trades favors for votes. A planned tax on WhatsApp amid a financial crisis was the last straw. In Iraq, a similar arrangement among Shiites and minority Sunnis and Kurds has led to the same corrupt stasis, with parties haggling over ministries so they can give jobs and aid to supporters while lining their own pockets. The devastating war against the Islamic State group only exacerbated decades-old economic problems in the oil-rich country.
"They (leaders) have eaten away at the country like cancer," said Abu Ali al-Majidi, 55, pointing toward the Green Zone, home to government offices and Western embassies. "They are all corrupt thieves," he added, surrounded by his four sons who had come along for the protest.
In Iraq, a ferocious crackdown on protests that began Oct. 1 resulted in the deaths of 149 civilians in less than a week, most of them shot in the head and chest, along with eight security forces killed. After a three-week hiatus, the protests resumed Friday, with 30 people killed, according to the semi-official Iraq High Commission for Human Rights. In both countries, which share a history of civil strife, the potential for sustained turmoil is real. Iraq and Lebanon are considered to be firmly in Iran's orbit, and Tehran is loath to see protracted political turbulence that threatens the status quo, fearing it may lose influence at a time when it is under heavy pressure from the U.S.The Iran-backed Hizbullah in Beirut and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Baghdad have said they want the governments in both countries to stay in power. The protests against Iraq's Shiite-led government have spread to several, mainly Shiite-populated southern provinces. In Lebanon, demonstrations have erupted in Shiite communities, including in south Lebanon for the first time.
Signs of a backlash against Tehran's tight grip on both countries can already be seen.
Among the protesters' chants in Baghdad, one said: "Iran out, out! Baghdad free, free!" Protesters trying to reach the heavily fortified Green Zone were met with tear gas and live ammunition. Men in black plainclothes and masks stood in front of Iraqi soldiers, facing off with protesters and firing the tear gas. Residents said they did not know who they were, with some speculating they were Iranians. In the south, headquarters of Iran-backed militias were set on fire.
In central Beirut, Hizbullah supporters clashed with anti-government protesters. Supporters of the group rejected the protesters equating its leader with other corrupt politicians. A popular refrain in the rallies, now in their ninth day, has been: "All means all." Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned in a televised speech that the protests — although largely peaceful until now — could lead to chaos and civil war. He said they were being hijacked by political rivals opposing the group. "We are closing the roads, calling for toppling the system that has been ruling us for the past 30 years with oppression, suppression and terror, said Abed Doughan, a protester blocking a street in southern Beirut. After Friday's deadly violence in Iraq, a curfew was announced in several areas of the south. Hundreds of people were taken to hospitals, many with shortness of breath from the tear gas.
The current round of protests has been endorsed by nationalist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has a popular base of support and holds the largest number of seats in parliament. He has called on the government to resign and suspended his bloc's participation in the government until it comes up with a reform program. However, powerful Shiite militias backed by Iran have stood by the government and suggested the demonstrations were an outside "conspiracy." Iraq's most senior Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, appealed for protesters and security forces to avoid violence. In his Friday sermon, he also criticized the government-appointed committee investigating the crackdown in the previous protests, saying it did not achieve its goals or uncover who was behind the violence.
As in the protests earlier this month, the protesters, organized on social media, started from the central Tahrir Square. The demonstrators carried Iraqi flags and chanted anti-government slogans, demanding jobs and better public services like water and electricity. "I want my country back, I want Iraq back," said Ban Soumaydai, 50, an Education Ministry employee who wore black jeans, a white T-shirt and carried an Iraqi flag with the hashtag #We want a country printed on it. Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has struggled to deal with the protests. In an address to the nation early Friday, he promised a government reshuffle next week and pledged reforms. He told protesters they have a right to peaceful demonstrations and called on security forces to protect the protesters. Similarly, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri issued an emergency reform package few days after the protests began on Oct. 17 — a document that has been dismissed by protesters as "empty promises."

People are not fooled: The Lebanese government’s reforms are not the solution
Sami Atallah/Asharq Al Awsat/October 26/2019
The government’s decision on October 17 to increase taxes and impose a fee on WhatsApp sparked unprecedented protests across Lebanon. These are not the first protests in the country – but this instance is different.
Firstly, the protests are spontaneous and leaderless, as people took themselves to the streets on a Thursday night. Secondly, the protests are not Beirut-centric: They are truly nationwide, including in political party strongholds usually immune to such movements. Thirdly, unlike the 2005 protests following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, those of 2011 against the sectarian system, or those of 2015 which were was triggered by the garbage crisis, this movement is primarily a socio-economic revolt triggered by tax.
Taken aback, politicians had to quickly acknowledge the grievances of an estimated one million protesters across the country. But they failed to understand how deep the discontent is. Prime Minister Saad Hariri came out with a 72-hour ultimatum to his coalition members. When it came on Monday, October 21, he announced a list of 25 policy measures to address the socio-economic crisis – most of these measures had already been proposed in the CEDRE conference back in April 2018.
It is striking how popular pressure suddenly sped up the government’s ability to act. In three days and one governmental session, it passed measures and bills which far exceeded the two bills - electricity in April 2019 and the Budget Law 2019 in July - that took more than 35 sessions held between February and last week.
Some of these key measures would be welcome: a reduction of the deficit, a commitment to no additional taxes on the people, the adoption of a pension law, and a pledge to fight corruption. However, many of the measures seem unrealistic and fall short of people’s expectations.
The reforms are too little, too late, and there are several concerns.
It is unclear how the government will reduce the deficit from more than 7 percent to almost 0.6 percent of GDP in one year. The task to cut $5 billion is monumental. The government’s claim that it found a way in just three days to achieve this cut, after more than 30 years of chronic budget deficit and without major tax reforms, is suspicious. A roadmap for implementing the plan and putting in place a sustainable and fair public finance framework is missing.
Reducing the deficit without taxing the people reveals how arrogant and greedy the political elites have been. They have consistently taxed working people and made them disproportionately carry the tax burden while arguing that there were no other options. The government only backtracked when the unfair tax system triggered this revolt.
The government’s plan to fight corruption – adopted from an existing government strategy – is ridiculous and is merely an attempt to appease donors and suggest it is taking action.
This time, people will have none of that.
If it were serious about reforms, the government would have prepared or even adopted the draft law to make the judiciary independent. It would have also strengthened the oversight agencies including the procurement office. These are crucial elements to fight corruption but the government has been silent on them.
Tellingly, it seems even the prime minister is not convinced of his own plan. He stated that in order to avoid corruption in state contracts, capital investment from taxpayers’ money - a key part of growth - will be zero. To state that the foreign-funded capital investment will be free of corruption is to admit that all publicly contracted projects are already infested with corruption. If this is the case, he should be setting up an independent committee to review all these contracts.
Likewise, Hariri provided few details on how pension reforms could work or be funded, and the policy seems to be merely another attempt to appease protesters.
The prime minister also repeated one of the demonstrators’ demands – to give back “stolen money.” But he clearly has neither the intention nor the means to implement a solution. How could he, when many of those who have contributed to public theft are either politicians, or have strong connections to them?
The timeline of the program is also unfeasible, considering how the Lebanese government works. All the proposed policy measures lack credibility, and they hollow out the state rather than build an effective one. There has been a deep failure in governance, and these policy measures cannot and will not be implemented without effective and sustained pressure.
There is a chance that Hariri has used the protests to pass measures which had been previously obstructed by his coalition partners to appease donors and gain access to CEDRE money.
But this is not what the country needs.
We need an effective state that works for the people, an accountable government that we can trust which listens to people’s needs, and a social contract where rights are protected and taxes are fairly allocated. None of this has been offered, and people are not fooled.
The protesters have made key gains. Not only have they forced the government to cancel its plans to tax working people, but they have imposed their agenda and are shaping political discourse in the country. They are breaking down the limits of possibility defined by the political elite and are drawing up their own set of rules. This is how fair, democratic, and accountable systems emerge.
*Sami Atallah is the executive director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies (LCPS). He leads several policy studies on subjects including political and social sectarianism, electoral behavior, and governance of the oil and gas sector. He is currently completing his PhD in Politics at New York University.

Lebanon Battles to Be Born at Last
روجر كوهين: نيويورك تيمز: وأخيراً صراع لبنان ليولد من جديد
Roger Cohen/The New York Times/October 26/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/79890/79890/
The Middle East could use a decent country. One million Lebanese protesters are demanding one. Hezbollah has other ideas.
BEIRUT — Lebanon was ahead of the game on civil war and now is last to the Arab Spring, or at least an Arab something — a vast, united exhalation of disgust at the thievery, corruption and nepotism that has caused widespread misery across this wounded land.
There they are, the people, citizens undifferentiated, with their suddenly discovered Lebanese flags, outside the Central Bank, demanding that its longtime governor, Riad Salameh, quit, hand himself over to judicial authorities, explain his son’s opulent wedding in Cannes this year, and provide details of money stolen by the government.
“All of them means all of them,” is the revolution’s cry — out with Salameh, and the Maronite Christian president, Michel Aoun, and the Sunni prime minister, Saad Hariri, and the Shia speaker, Nabih Berri, and even Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, the militant group and political party that is a member of the coalition government.
Nasrallah? Taboos are falling at a giddying pace. Perhaps one million people have taken to the streets, a quarter of the Lebanese population. In this most sectarian of countries everyone stands together, for now.
The unity is fragile. Lebanon, through Hezbollah, is Iran’s proxy on the border of Israel. Hezbollah fought to save Bashar al-Assad in Syria. It won’t let its Lebanese power base go lightly. Already, Nasrallah has started blaming outside forces for the unrest and warned of chaos.
But young Lebanese are tired of being other people’s proxies. They are claiming their own country; hence those flags. Beirut is in lockdown. Banks are closed, businesses shuttered. A speech by Aoun, a week into the protests, was a flop. “Regime change, young fellows, does not take place in the streets,” he declared — and was mocked. The crowds believe that’s precisely where transformation occurs.
What else is new? A leaderless popular movement, propelled by social media, determined — with sudden unity — to overturn the status quo and render justice to the people. From Turkey to Chile, from France to Egypt, from Brazil to Libya, such upsurges of fury and idealism have marked the past decade, only to fail or fade more often than not. To be leaderless is beautiful. It is not necessarily effective.
But this is Lebanon, with its one feeble government, two armies (the state’s and Hezbollah’s), two currencies, 18 officially recognized religious groups, and one thousand conspiracy theories. The current situation cannot hold for long.
The state is weak, the economy on the verge of collapse, and an awakened citizenry unready for compromise with their leaders, whose demands for fealty have spread division and woes. Enough of war and warlords and the sectarian politics of fear! Lebanon is seeking a fresh start.
“This is the first time in our history that Christians, Druze, Sunni and Shia and everyone get together like this,” Rudy Marroum told me, standing outside the Central Bank. “It’s make or break, a last chance for Lebanon. The Lebanese and Palestinians helped build Dubai. They could not build their own countries, so they had to go and build other countries to feed their children.”
Mona Massalkhi stood nearby with her 20-year-old daughter, Leila, an occupational therapist. “We are not a poor country,” Massalkhi said. “We are just governed by thieves. I will stay in the street as long as it takes for the sake of my daughter, who has no future without change.”
I heard elaborate theories — never in short supply in Lebanon — about how the economy is dollarized in order to enslave the country to American interests, and how Salameh, the Central Bank governor for the past 26 years, has facilitated the offshore transfers of vast sums by government ministers, their families and cronies.
The economy, starved of capital inflows, is in free fall, with no growth, high unemployment and huge pressure on the Lebanese pound. Banks have not opened for a week for fear of a panic-driven stampede for dollars.
Garbage piles up. Electricity is intermittent. Sewage spills into the sea. “The only thing we recycle here is politicians,” Paula Yacoubian, an independent member of parliament, told me. The gold necklace she was wearing formed the Arabic word for “Enough!”
Via a back entrance to the Central Bank, across a garage, past a black Audi and BMW, I made my way, through elaborate security, to Salameh’s office. Only a skeleton staff is working. The governor wore a great suit and tie in a dimly lit office redolent of cigars. He was clearly under strain but also indignant about the accusations against him.
“Today, everybody can say whatever via social media,” Salameh, who came to this job from Merrill Lynch, told me. “I have read various so-called biographies of myself, and am discovering I did not know who I was before.” He smiled a wan smile. “My contribution over the years has been to try to hold Lebanon stable.”
It’s not easy, he said, when you have a tiny dollarized economy, where 73.5 percent of deposits are in foreign currency, budget deficits are high, and protecting the currency is a daily battle.
“I don’t know if the government is very corrupt,” he continued, “but I can say I worked very hard to put in place a special investigation commission to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and I never compromised on this. Those who suffered from my decisions are now trying to drag me down with accusations of corruption.”
The Central Bank, he insisted, had no control over the private bank accounts of government members. “The Central Bank does not handle private accounts. I do not have this privilege. The banks should know their clients and report to us if they see something suspicious.”
As for the supposedly lavish Cannes wedding, the focus of much ire, Salameh said it took place overseas because his son, a Christian, wed a Muslim and it was easier to have a civil marriage in France. “It was just a normal dinner,” he said.
Salameh was clearly worried. He said he had no idea how the confrontation would end. Small and medium-size enterprises make up most of the Lebanese economy, and for now they have no income, with the country paralyzed. “The solution is not a violent one,” he told me. “You need to regenerate confidence.”
I asked if he would quit. “If it serves the country, but I think it may have the opposite effect, in terms of the confidence of markets.” He paused. “Look, if I am the problem, you can consider it solved. But mobilizing by identifying capital and money as the enemy is not the way forward. We need to build the state and build an economy that has growth.”
Thirty-six years ago I was in Lebanon covering the civil war for The Wall Street Journal. I recall visiting the Central Bank governor then, making my way through rubble and gunfire. Everything is relative. Beirut is not in flames, not yet at least.
In a way, the battle today sees a generation that did not live that war struggling to overcome its legacy at last. It would be a miracle if they succeed, but some new Lebanon has flickered to life these past nine days and will not quickly be snuffed out.
*Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
*Roger Cohen has been a columnist for The Times since 2009. His columns appear Wednesday and Saturday. He joined The Times in 1990, and has served as a foreign correspondent and foreign editor. @NYTimesCohen

Open Letter to Aoun, Berri, and Hariri
إيلي عون: رسالة مفتوحة إلى عون وبري والحريري
Elie Aoun/October 26/2019
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/79883/elie-aoun-open-letter-to-aoun-berri-and-hariri-%d8%a5%d9%8a%d9%84%d9%8a-%d8%b9%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%b1%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a9-%d9%85%d9%81%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%ad%d8%a9-%d8%a5%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%b9%d9%88%d9%86/
I lived in the United States for more than twenty years. When I returned to Lebanon, there was a “dispute” (within the extended family) which had been unresolved for more than twenty years. I did not cause that dispute, I was not a party to it, and it was not my responsibility to solve it. Despite these facts, I took the initiative and resolved it in less than two months. In my humble opinion, this is an example of what a responsible leader would do.
Similarly, there are many problems in Lebanon which had been lingering for decades. Yet, no one from the three presidents assumed responsibility for any of them and resolved them. To the contrary, the language spoken was always one of blame. Each side blaming some unknown for prohibiting it from doing what they consider to be “reform.”
The speeches made by government officials and the comments made by supporters of the ruling political parties reveal a huge gap between what they proclaim and the actual meaningful solutions. Even if one wishes to consider the three presidents as the most decent and honorable individuals, the fact remains that they are not equipped to save the country. They simply do not know how, even if they want to.
A dispute on a family level was not resolved because the mentality of the individuals involved was not compatible to coming up with solutions – not necessarily because they were bad people. Similarly, the mentality of the ruling class is not “compatible” to elevate the country to a better status.
True leaders make changes from the first day on which they assume responsibility. Their entire being reflects the desire to make a difference, to improve the wellbeing of their people and those whom they love.
Many people now ask: What is the solution to the situation in Lebanon? How do the Lebanese cross the bridge from ineffective leadership to an effective one?
The answer does exist, but it has to be implemented by those who have the solution (and not to write about the solutions for others to implement them). We cannot present solutions to three presidents who have themselves declared by words and by inaction that they could not do anything throughout their term in office. Whomever they wish to blame is of no significance. What is significant is that they failed.
The three presidents face the following options:
(1) Refuse to acknowledge their failure;
(2) Refuse to acknowledge their inability to solve any of the country’s problems (with their history being an example, since everything in the country had been consistently deteriorating while they watched and did nothing meaningful); or
(3) Acknowledge their failure and inability and take the necessary measures to replace themselves with those who are willing to assume responsibility and solve existing problems.
The solution for Lebanon today is for the existing political class to surrender to reality – that they have failed and that they do not know how to establish a nation and protect its people. If they did, the people would not be demonstrating against them.
The so-called “solutions” presented by present politicians are of elementary level. They do not resolve the root cause of the problems and do not rise to the level of what the current situation demands.
There is one thing that the three presidents need to do and to do it well – and that is to replace themselves in a peaceful and constructive way. If they do so correctly, then they would be truly patriotic.
The three presidents have to agree on appointing one individual with full power to decide and implement decisions related to all economic and social aspects which caused the people to overwhelmingly go to the streets.
That person would assume full responsibility for one year, six months, four months, or even two weeks – whatever the three presidents decide.
What can a person do in two weeks or four months? This time-frame is enough to at least introduce the principles and measures that would put the country on the right path. Try me and watch. If I fail, hang me.
For some, it is very difficult or impossible to fly in the sky. But for an eagle, that is normal. Those who think that nothing meaningful can be done in two weeks or four months, they think so because they are not eagles.

Lebanon protests rock Hezbollah's grip on power. That's cause for hope — but also danger.
Sulome Anderson/Think Site/October 27/2019
I spoke to the militant group's fighters. Their leadership is facing an existential crisis, which the U.S. can benefit from if it acts prudently.
On Wednesday, I spoke with the leader of a Hezbollah tank battalion over the phone. It sounded particularly chaotic in Dahieh, a Hezbollah-controlled neighborhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Other parts of the city have been racked by massive demonstrations sweeping Lebanon, and he kept pausing to answer another mobile phone.
I’ve known this Hezbollah fighter for more than six years, and I have never heard him express anything but loyalty to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia militia, U.S.-designated terror group and political party that, along with allied parties, holds more than half of the Cabinet seats in the Lebanese government. So it came as quite a shock when he criticized Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who is revered by his followers, and expressed support for the anti-government protests.
Open expressions of frustration with Hezbollah during public protests — let alone support for such protests from Nasrallah’s dedicated foot soldiers — are exceedingly rare.
“I support the protest movement because I am disgusted with life here,” the battalion leader told me, speaking on condition of anonymity because Hezbollah does not permit its members to be interviewed by Western media. He noted that while some Hezbollah followers have clashed with protesters as recently as Friday, others have actually joined in the demonstrations. “All of our ministers are corrupt,” he said. The Hezbollah leadership “is in a situation of chaos. They don’t know what to do right now.”
As someone of Lebanese descent, I am incredibly moved to see so many people unite in opposition to a government that has exploited the country for too long. Images of protesters dancing with abandon and displaying humorous signs railing against the political elite demonstrate a surge of Lebanese spirit I never imagined I would see in a population so ground down by conflict and political stagnation. Across Lebanon, immense crowds have been heard shouting crude chants against some of the country’s most prominent leaders since the demonstrations began a week ago.
The day Donald Trump stopped being the leader of the free world
While some of the coalition government’s leaders and parties have been frequent targets of demonstrations in this fractious country of divided religious sects, such as the Western- and Saudi-backed Sunni Prime Minister Saad Hariri, open expressions of frustration with Hezbollah during public protests — let alone support for such protests from Nasrallah’s dedicated foot soldiers — are exceedingly rare.
Hezbollah has weathered many storms in the 30 or so years it has been officially active, from an Israeli invasion in 2006 to the turmoil of the Syrian war next door, but never has it faced such strong domestic sentiment against it from across different sects. Whether Hezbollah chooses to quell the protests with force or sacrifice some of its political gains to appease demonstrators, one thing is certain: From a domestic standpoint, its leadership is facing the greatest existential crisis it has experienced in a long time.
This discontent with Lebanon’s most powerful political force represents either a potential crisis for the country if the situation turns violent, or an opportunity for its people to take the government in a new direction. In both cases, how the Trump administration chooses to respond could tip the scales in a positive direction for the Lebanese people or worsen a fragile and potentially disastrous security situation.
There are many unprecedented aspects to these demonstrations, including their size, scope and cross-sectarian nature. The protests erupted in response to an economic crisis that largely stems from long-standing corruption and political ineptitude as well as a massive refugee crisis brought on by the Syrian civil war.The nuclear risks in a U.S.-Iran conflict remain very real — and very scary
But the U.S. has also played a role: Crippling sanctions on Hezbollah recently imposed by the Trump administration have accelerated Lebanon’s economic woes. The U.S. accuses the Iranian proxy force of being behind a spate of kidnappings and bombings of American targets in the 1980s and now building up its arms for another war with Israel. Strengthened U.S. sanctions are being promoted as a way to force Hezbollah to its knees by strangling its sources of funding and ability to conduct financial transactions.
This U.S. role in the economic upheaval also underscores Hezbollah’s increasingly tenuous position. Nasrallah gave a speech Saturday in which he acknowledged the validity of the protesters’ demands, but expressed his opposition to the formation of a new government by including a thinly veiled threat that Hezbollah could try to contain the situation by taking over Beirut, as it did in 2008. “Shall Hezbollah … participate in the demonstrations, we won’t back down until our demands are met, even if we have to stay for months in the streets,” Nasrallah said.
In the speech, Nasrallah maintained that no foreign countries are influencing the protests - but he changed his tune this Friday, warning of a potential civil war erupting in Lebanon and urging followers to stay away from the demonstrations because he says international actors that oppose Hezbollah are exploiting them for their own purposes. Some still-loyal members of Hezbollah are predictably casting blame on the U.S. and Israel, and a Hezbollah infantry fighter I also spoke with was clear about who he believes is behind the unrest in Lebanon.
“The American pressure has had an effect,” he said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. “We were like a man walking on only one leg, and they broke that leg as well. … It is important to America to destabilize the situation in Lebanon.”
Bilal Saab, an analyst at the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think tank, says that while the impact of the protests on Hezbollah’s political and military strength should not be overstated, there is no doubt the demonstrations have shaken the group’s confidence.
[These protests] are taking place across the country in places where you never expected Shia activism against the representatives” of the government, Saab said. “The very audacity of that, the widespread nature of it — it's certainly new, and it's not good news for the organization.”
Indeed, this popular uprising presents the Trump administration with an opportunity to carefully express support for a movement that could lead to a better government from America’s standpoint as well as for the Lebanese people without applying the kind of heavy-handed, inflammatory rhetoric Trump did with recent protests in Iran.
But there is also a significant risk that, should the U.S. repeat characteristic missteps, it could unleash even more chaos in a turbulent region. Unlike former President Barack Obama, Trump “uses sanctions like a sledgehammer and bangs away, and the more things break, the better,” said George A. Lopez, a professor at Notre Dame and an expert on sanctions.
Thus far, there has been a peculiar lack of messaging from the Trump administration regarding the Lebanese protests. While progressive 2020 Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are publicly supporting the demonstrations, the usually vocal Trump is strangely silent on events that may be weakening a longtime U.S. foe. Saab said this silence could be a sign of the confusion that has marked much of Trump’s Middle East policy. It could also be that the U.S. doesn’t want to be viewed as instigating the protests and thereby undermine them.
Whatever the goal and strategy, if Hezbollah doesn’t peacefully cede some of its political clout in response to the demonstrations, the situation could turn violent. Given the presence of other Iranian proxy forces across the region, any confrontation between the U.S. or its allies and Iran in Lebanon could spread to other parts of the Middle East.
In addition to Nasrallah’s own subtle threat to use force to maintain his grip on government, his followers, too, indicate a limited tolerance for the protests, should they go on.
“What [the protesters] are doing now, with half-naked dancers and drinking and whatever, this culture is not for us,” the Hezbollah infantryman told me, referring to what he sees as the immoral behavior protesters are engaging in. “We want official, organized reform, and changes made by the current government, but not chaos. If they start calling for us to dismantle our weapons, we will spill blood — even if it is our brothers’.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/lebanon-protests-rock-hezbollah-s-grip-power-s-cause-hope-ncna1072256?fbclid=IwAR1dRbsk0uk4WrBx6cCc12FACacuvh6tD8jexsHkOYl2LjmlmJUn
**Sulome Anderson
Sulome Anderson is a journalist and author based in Beirut and New York City. Her award-winning book "The Hostage's Daughter" was published by HarperCollins in 2016. Follow her on Twitter @SulomeAnderson.

How Lebanon’s sectarian lens was broken
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/October 26, 2019
As a second week of protests continues in Lebanon, nothing seems to calm the popular wrath; on the contrary, every time an official makes a public speech, the public grows more offended at what they see as government hypocrisy and blatant mockery of their suffering. There is total discontent with the current system and political class, and an urgent need to move to something new.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri presented a program of economic reforms last week, but it was aimed more as fodder for media consumption than as a genuine plan to drive the radical and drastic reforms the country needs. For example, one of Hariri’s proposals was a 50 percent reduction in the salaries of ministers and members of parliament. However, the waste of public money that is bringing Lebanon to its knees is not due to the salaries of officials, but to the corruption associated with major government projects. Many officials receive kickbacks on such projects, or make illegal profits by bypassing the competitive bidding process while awarding contracts.
Three days after Hariri’s speech, President Michel Aoun also addressed the people and promised to fight corruption. He told the protesters he was willing to meet their representatives, but insisted that the streets were not a proper forum for bringing about reforms, which should be conducted through government institutions. However, his speech only fanned the flames and drove more people to the street. One protester said: “What reforms? We have seen nothing from his three-year presidency except a sectarian election law.” The Lebanese people do not trust government institutions that are controlled by corrupt politicians. The protesters were not even deterred by the speech of Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, who warned that the protests could lead to a new civil war. The demonstrators just kept coming.
The irony is that many of the politicians complaining about corruption and sectarianism are themselves a symptom of these two ailments. That is why one of the slogans shouted by protesters in the streets is: “All means all” — in other words, the whole government must go. This has led some politicians to grow nervous, and to start a blame game to save their own skins. A recording emerged of the sister of Gebran Bassil — the foreign minister and president’s son-in-law, who has been widely accused of corruption — in which she defended her brother and accused parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri of corruption. Sooner or later, the politicians who have driven the country into the ground will all blame each other.
The significance of the protest movement lies in the fact that the Lebanese people have begun to look beyond their religious denominations and their party affiliations. The sectarian lens has been broken. People now realise it is the current system that has driven them to the situation they are in. They want change — but how?
They like to call the protests a “revolution,” but it is more of a spontaneous movement. The protesters have even composed their own anthem, an adaptation of the Ode to Joy, the 18th-century German poem set to the grandiose music of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, but the movement still has no proper structure, no head and no leadership. Every now and then the media gets different cues from people in the streets. Some say they want the parliament to resign, and they demand early elections. However, that would not solve the problems of Lebanon. The election law has resulted in gerrymandering the different voting districts in a way that promotes the sectarian political structure. The chances are, if an early election took place, Lebanon would end up with the same political figures, even if the law were changed. The system has not allowed for alternative political figures to flourish. This is why the country badly needs a proper political transition in which it moves from the democracy of the denominations to the democracy of the citizen
It is important to properly manage this movement and to steer it in the right direction; to capitalize on the momentum to carry out the necessary structural changes and reach a true democracy, a democracy in which the individual is treated as a citizen and not as a member of one denomination or another. Such a system in return would make each citizen feel first and foremost Lebanese, before they feel Christian, Sunni, Shiite or Druze.
The irony is that many of the politicians complaining about corruption and sectarianism are themselves a symptom of these two ailments.
I have written before that the Lebanese people need the support of the army, but that does not mean that Lebanon needs military rule. Rather, Lebanon needs the military to be the guardian of the political transition. The transition should drive government departments to be reformed and made efficient and cost effective. At this point there is a need for international institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to set the standards and processes to conduct such reforms. Most importantly, the transition should involve criminal trials of corrupt politicians and the reacquisition of embezzled funds. Once these criminals have been exposed and put on trial, the Lebanese people will totally break with the traditional corrupt political elite and move on to a new era, an era of genuine democracy.
*Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She holds a PhD in politics from the University of Exeter and is an affiliated scholar with the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.

Lebanon must strategise and turn these peaceful protests into a win in the long run
Raghida Dergham/The National/October 26/2019
Protesters have to thwart agendas to turn their country into a failed state as that would then make it an arena for proxy wars
Lebanon’s wonderful, civilised protests have induced panic in the ranks of sectarian leaders, warlords and oligarchs and will bear more fruits if the protesters consolidate gains and pocket demands. What is happening is historical, not a fleeting outburst that will be contained, as many political leaders falsely and arrogantly believe.
Yet in order to remove the rot from a regime that has become accustomed to disregarding people and their rights, it will not be enough to disobey and overcome fear. The Lebanese must fasten their belts and be vigilant of those trying to overturn the uprising into dangerous populist demagoguery. To prepare for the next round, the people must insist on reforms and adopt a strategy of calculated perseverance. For now, however, we must congratulate the Lebanese for their demands, their insistence on their rights and in their refusal to fall into sectarian traps and be appeased.
More than a week after the protests started, threats by political leaders have failed. The unity and spontaneous organisation among protesters has been astonishing. The message is: the Lebanese have woken after a long coma. It is clear to the people that greed and stupidity drive the decisions of Lebanon’s rulers. The people will now accept only those who they can trust to occupy government posts.
Persisting with peaceful protests is the people's strongest card. They must continue in their refusal to be drawn into clashes as this will protect the uprising against corruption, sectarianism, crony capitalism and the deliberate impoverishment of the country. It is crucial for protesters to develop a strategy to thwart agendas to turn Lebanon into a failed state that could become an arena for proxy wars.
This is not a revolution of the hungry, as some like to characterise it. It is a revolution to take back the state from a clique that thought it could subdue its people through sectarian fearmongering and treating them like cattle in a herd.
One after the other, Lebanon’s leaders have spoken with contempt, believing the uprising will be short-lived. President Michel Aoun’s belated bungled speech prompted pity for him and anger against those who allowed the presidency to fall so low. The prime minister’s office is in no better shape, thanks to the performance of Saad Hariri, who falsely believes he can appease people through half measures and that stalling would be in his favour.
Refusing to be drawn into clashes will protect the uprising against corruption, sectarianism, crony capitalism and the deliberate impoverishment of Lebanon
For his part, parliament speaker Nabih Berri believes he is above accountability, even as people accuse him of being at the heart of corruption.
It wasn't enough for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to tell the people that he alone controlled the decision of whether or not the government would resign. He had to shake his famous index finger in the face of the Lebanese, threatening that they would have to pay a price for protesting. The people’s response came quickly. From the southern coastal city of Tyre to the north via Martyrs’ Square in Beirut, they refused to back down.
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt thought that he could engage in political acrobatics once again, but people again responded. His fear of Nasrallah would no longer be an acceptable justification for realpolitik. Gebran Bassil, the foreign minister, spoke from Baabda Presidential Palace as though he was the acting president, and declared his continued allegiance to Hezbollah. The street protests have pledged to prosecute him.
Yet none of these men will step down easily. Many of them believe they must stay to ward off total collapse. Some of them will try to convince the army to suppress protests. Some will take it upon themselves to have their thugs assault protesters and divide them.
So far, the world has watched the events in Lebanon from a distance. Washington has been keen to reject calls by some Lebanese leaders to advise them on whether to resign or stick to their posts. Washington has rejected playing the puppet master. The US in its refusal to make decisions for Lebanon’s leaders is a good sign.
Washington says it will not back those who have sought half measures rejected by the people. Washington will not save the banks, will not offer immunity and will not stand in the way of a peaceful anti-corruption uprising. Washington will not intervene to save Mr Hariri’s government or the Aoun-Bassil presidency. It is clear in its support for the army and its neutrality. Washington’s decision is that the uprising belongs to the Lebanese alone, and its achievements must be protected against accusations of American meddling.
If this anti-corruption uprising survives attempts at sectarian infiltration, it could topple the entire political class. Further, the protests could hinder Hezbollah’s project to dominate the future of Lebanon, and avoid US sanctions crippling the group's operations and targeting its funding sources in Tehran.
The protests have dented Hassan Nasrallah’s halo as a man who is above accountability and left him scrambling. Nasrallah at first dismissed the protests. Then he issued threats, betraying his anger and panic at a mass revolt that could decimate his project and the project of his masters in Tehran. He has to either cave to the protesters’ demands and stop blocking the government’s resignation — allowing it to be replaced by a technocratic government that he would not control — or spill blood, including among Shia Lebanese protesters.
Hezbollah may decide to destroy the whole temple on top of everybody’s heads if it senses that it has been structurally weakened. Hezbollah will not easily relinquish control of its domination of Lebanon, the presidency, and the government thanks to the ‘accord’ between Hariri, Nasrallah, and Aoun, midwifed by Bassil, the accord which has pushed Lebanon off the cliff and into the abyss. In other words, Nasrallah may decide that turning Lebanon into a failed state serves his interests, and pushes the country in that direction.
It is therefore imperative for the Lebanese uprising to adopt a counter-strategy to prevent the state’s collapse while insisting on binding social, political, and economic reforms that range from the immediate to the gradual. The uprising must adopt a tactic of “take and demand more” in order to consolidate its gains and push for accountability.
Right now, the most important matter is to persist in the protests and protect them, by avoiding the trap of provocation. Indeed, charging people amid the collapse could lead to riots, and attacks on homes and properties, which must not happen.
It is important to understand boundaries and factor them into tactics in order to achieve strategic wins against corruption and greed festering in the ruling class. If the public interest is best served through a technocratic government formed by Mr Hariri with figures acceptable to the people, then this would not count as a strategic concession but a tactical move as part of a broader strategy to prevent total collapse. It would count as a battle won among many coming battles.
A gradual approach is necessary. The first stop, after the revolution achieved historical gains by rising up against the ‘government of accord’, is to stabilise the economy in order to cope with political shocks. This does not mean giving up the demand for fundamental rights such as new parliamentary elections on the basis of a new law and a broad campaign to prosecute the corrupt and restore looted public funds. But pragmatism is important, and pragmatism at this stage requires protecting the uprising from Hezbollah’s weapons and any bid to collapse state institutions.
*Raghida Dergham is the founder and president of the Beirut Institute

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 25-26/2019
UN Chief Urges World Leaders to Listen to Protesters' Issues
Associated Press/Naharnet/October 26/2019
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on protesters around the world Friday to follow champions of nonviolent change like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., and urged world leaders "to listen to the real problems of real people. The U.N. chief told reporters that "disquiet in peoples' lives" has sparked demonstrations around the world from the Middle East to Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. While every situation is unique, he said, "it is clear that there is a growing deficit of trust between people and political establishments, and rising threats to the social contract.""The world is also wrestling with the negative impacts of globalization and new technologies, which have increased inequalities within societies," Guterres said. "Even where people are not protesting, they are hurting and want to be heard."He said people want their human rights respected, they want a say in decision-making about their lives, and they want "a level playing field — including social, economic and financial systems that work for all." The secretary-general reiterated his deep concern that some protests have turned violent and led to the loss of life, stressing that governments are obligated to uphold freedom of expression and assembly and "security forces must act with maximum restraint, in conformity with international law." "There can be no excuse for violence — from any quarter," he said.
Guterres said in response to a question about demonstrations in Iraq which turned deadly that the U.N. has been "systematically appealing for non-violence and for restraint" by Iraqi authorities and other actors, and he pointed to recent U.N. preliminary findings which showed "substantial violations of human rights that took place and need to be clearly denounced and condemned." As for protests in Lebanon, he said, his message is "that the country must solve its problems with dialogue. "I urge maximum restraint and no use of violence, both from the side of the government and the side of the protesters," he said. Guterres called for action to create "fair globalization, strengthen social cohesion, and tackle the climate crisis." He said these are the objectives of U.N. goals for 2030 aimed at ending extreme poverty, promoting economic development, preserving the environment and combating inequality."With solidarity and smart policies, leaders can show they 'get it' — and point the way to a more just world," the secretary-general said.

Esper: US troops, armored vehicles going to Syria oil fields
The Associated Press/Saturday, 26 October 2019
The United States will send armored vehicles and combat troops into eastern Syria to keep oil fields from potentially falling into the hands of ISIS extremists, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Friday. It was the latest sign that extracting the military from Syria is more uncertain and complicated than President Donald Trump is making it out to be. Though Trump repeatedly says he is pulling out of Syria, the reality on the ground is different. Adding armored reinforcements in the oil-producing area of Syria could mean sending several hundred US troops – even as a similar number are being withdrawn from a separate mission closer to the border with Turkey where Russian forces have been filling the vacuum. Esper described the added force as “mechanized,” which means it likely will include armored vehicles such as Bradley armored infantry carriers and possibly tanks, although details were still being worked out. This reinforcement would introduce a new dimension to the US military presence, which largely has been comprised of special operations forces not equipped with tanks or other armored vehicles.

Russia Describes US Presence in Syria as ‘State Banditry’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 26 October, 2019
Russia's defense ministry on Saturday slammed the US over plans to maintain and boost its military presence in eastern Syria, saying its actions were motivated by a desire to protect oil smugglers and not by real security concerns. In a statement, the ministry said Washington had no mandate under international or US law to increase its military presence in Syria and said its plan was not motivated by genuine security concerns in the region. "Therefore Washington's current actions - capturing and maintaining military control over oil fields in eastern Syria - is, simply put, international state banditry," it added. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Friday Washington would send armored vehicles and troops to the Syrian oil fields mainly in Deir Ezzor province in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of ISIS militants. Some 200 US troops are currently stationed there.His comments came after President Donald Trump earlier this month pulled some 1,000 US military personnel out of northeast Syria, a move that prompted Turkey to launch a cross-border incursion targeting the Kurdish YPG, a former US ally against ISIS. US troops and private security companies in eastern Syria are protecting oil smugglers who make more than $30 million a month, Russia’s defense ministry statement said. Moscow has further bolstered its position in Syria following the US withdrawal from the northeast of the country, negotiating a deal this week with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to help remove the Kurdish fighters from within a 30 km strip along the Syrian-Turkish border.

Erdogan Threatens to Clear Syria Border Area of Kurdish Fighters If Russia Fails to Act
Istanbul- Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 26 October, 2019
Turkey will clear northeast Syria of Kurdish YPG militia if Russia does not fulfill its obligations under an accord that helped end a Turkish offensive in the region, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday. Under the deal hammered out by Erdogan and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Russian military police and Syrian border guards are meant to clear the YPG fighters from within 30 km (19 miles) of the border over a period of six days ending on Tuesday. From Tuesday, Russian and Turkish forces will start to patrol a narrower, 10-km strip of land in northeast Syria. Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist organization linked to Kurdish insurgents in southeast Turkey. Its Syrian offensive, launched after President Donald Trump pulled out 1,000 US troops from the area, drew criticism from Turkey’s NATO allies. “If this area is not cleared from terrorists at the end of the 150 hours, then we will handle the situation by ourselves and will do all the cleansing work,” Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul. Russia has already warned the YPG that it will face the full force of Turkey’s army, the second biggest in NATO, if it fails to withdraw its fighters and weapons from the designated area in northeast Syria within the agreed deadline. Erdogan also accused the European Union of lying because it had promised 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) to help house and feed around 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey but had only provided half of that amount. Turkey has spent around $40 billion euros on the refugees, Erdogan added. The president repeated an earlier threat to send the refugees to Europe if European countries failed to provide more financial support to help resettle them in a “safe zone” Ankara wants to establish on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey. “If Turkey’s plans for the return (of the refugees)... is not supported, we will have no choice but to open our borders. We would open the borders, they can go to Europe,” he said. Turkey’s NATO allies, including the United States, have criticized its military incursion in northeast Syria, fearing it will undermine the fight against ISIS militants. In a move sure to further infuriate Ankara, former prosecutor and UN investigator Carla del Ponte said in an interview published on Saturday that Erdogan should be investigated and indicted for war crimes over the incursion. Ankara has long accused its Western allies of turning a blind eye to what it says is a serious security threat it faces from Kurdish militants based both inside Turkey and in Syria. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu defended Turkey’s record in Syria on Saturday, saying it was providing humanitarian aid to civilians there and would not tolerate any human rights violations in areas where its forces are operating. Cavusoglu, speaking at a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, also said there was no question of forcibly returning refugees to Syria. Amnesty International this week said Turkey was repatriating some refugees against their wishes to what it said was still a conflict zone. Ankara says more than 350,000 Syrian refugees have already voluntarily returned to their country.

At least seven Iraqi protesters shot dead by militia in Hilla: Sources
Reuters Sunday, 27 October 2019
At least seven protesters were killed and 38 wounded in the Iraqi city of Hilla early on Sunday when members of the Iranian-backed Badr Organization militia opened fire on demonstrators, police and health sources said. Protesters had gathered across Iraq on Saturday in a second day of anti-government protests, in which at least 65 people have died.

Iraqi paramilitaries threaten ‘revenge’ after offices torched
AFP, Baghdad Saturday, 26 October 2019
The heads of powerful Iraqi paramilitary factions threatened they would take “revenge” on Saturday after their offices in the south of the country were torched during deadly protests. Demonstrators set fire to dozens of government buildings and offices belonging to the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) militias better known as Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force across southern cities late Friday. In Missan province, the headquarters of the Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, one of the PMU militias, was torched and a leading commander of the group reportedly killed. Wissam al-Alyawi was later pronounced dead by the group, after footage circulated online showing him writhing in an ambulance as a crowd of men tried to break into it. Asaib chief Qais al-Khazaali was in Baghdad on Saturday for the funeral procession of Alyawi and his brother Issam, apparently killed in the same incident. “His blood is on America and Israel’s hands, but I will take revenge - many times over,” Khazaali told mourners, holding back tears as he stood next to their wailing mother. “This blood is proof to all our people of the size of the conspiracy that is targeting us,” he said. Dozens of PMUs fighters were gathered in military fatigues for the procession in central Baghdad, just a few districts south of where protests were taking place in Tahrir (Liberation) Square.
Another paramilitary force, Saraya al-Salam, had also been spotted in Baghdad in recent days after their leader Moqtada al-Sadr threw his weight behind the demonstrations. The PMUs was founded in 2014 to fight ISIS but its factions have since been ordered to incorporate into the state security services.
The US and Israel fear some of the factions are too closely tied to Iran, their regional foe. The Badr Organization, a powerful Iranian-backed armed group whose offices were set alight in the southern city of Diwaniyah, also blamed Israel and the United States for Alyawi’s death. “They don’t want a stable Iraq. They want to pull it into discord and chaos,” said its head Hadi al-Ameri, who also attended the funeral. And Harakat Nujaba, an Iraqi paramilitary faction close to Iran, warned protesters to stay peaceful. “Take a careful look, and let us be united,” it said in an online statement.
On Saturday, three people died in the southern city of Nasiriyah as they tried to torch a local official’s home, a police source told AFP, and three protesters also died in Baghdad, according to the Iraqi Human Rights Commission. The violence came a day after 42 protesters died from live rounds, tear gas canisters or while torching government buildings or PMUs offices in the south. The storming of those buildings marks a new phase in the south, and authorities imposed strict curfews that prevented renewed protests on Saturday in most of those cities. There have been no such incidents so far in the capital, where hundreds of protesters were still gathering.The United Nations on Saturday said it was “tragic” to see renewed violence but also warned against “armed spoilers.”“Armed entities sabotaging the peaceful demonstrations, eroding the government’s credibility and ability to act, cannot be tolerated,” said the UN top official in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

Elite troops deployed in southern Iraqi city Nasiriya to break up protests
Reuters, Nasiriya Sunday, 27 October 2019
Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) deployed to the southern city of Nasiriya where protesters clashed with security forces on Saturday, broke up demonstrations by beating and arresting dozens, local police and security sources said. Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi earlier ordered the CTS to deploy in the streets of Baghdad and use any means to end protests against his government, two security sources told Reuters on Saturday. Meanwhile, Iraqi lawmakers linked to populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr began an indefinite sit-in on Saturday night at parliament headquarters, two MPs told AFP, amid widespread anti-government protests.A second wave of demonstrations demanding an end to corruption and an overhaul of the political system have rocked the capital Baghdad and the south since late Thursday.

Iraq MPs tied to populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr declare sit-in at parliament
AFP, Baghdad Sunday, 27 October 2019
Iraqi lawmakers linked to populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr began an indefinite sit-in on Saturday night at parliament headquarters, two MPs told AFP, amid widespread anti-government protests. A second wave of demonstrations demanding an end to corruption and an overhaul of the political system have rocked the capital Baghdad and the south since late Thursday. Al-Sadr has already demanded the current government resign, but on Saturday members of his Saeroon bloc - parliament’s largest with 54 MPs - said they would escalate. “We are on our way now to parliament for the sit-in, until the enactment of all reforms the Iraqi people are demanding,” said MP Badr al-Zayadi. Saeroon lawmakers were in touch with others to persuade them to join the move, he added. Al-Zayadi told AFP the bloc had sent an “official request” to Iraqi President Barham Saleh who, according to Iraq’s constitution, could then ask parliament to withdraw confidence from the premier. MP Raed Fahmy, a member of Iraq’s Communist Party who is allied to al-Sadr, confirmed the sit-in. “We have joined the opposition and we demand the government resign,” Fahmy told AFP. Protests first erupted in Iraq on October 1, over unemployment, poor services and perceived government graft. More than 150 people died in the initial six-day wave of protests, and another 63 have lost their lives since the rallies resumed this week. Al-Sadr has called for early elections under the supervision of the United Nations.
But he himself was effectively kingmaker of the current government, after his bloc secured 54 seats in the May 2018 legislative elections. At least 63 people have died in two days of anti-government protests in Iraq’s capital and across its south, a national rights watchdog said Saturday.
In a related development, the heads of powerful Iraqi paramilitary factions threatened they would take “revenge” on Saturday after their offices in the south of the country were torched during deadly protests.

Syrian army reaches border area, deploys around Turkish zone
AFP Saturday, 26 October 2019
Syrian troops reached a key area near Turkey’s border Saturday after sending further reinforcements to the region, in what a war monitor said was its largest deployment there in years. Syrian regime forces entered the provincial borders of the town of Ras al-Ain, state news agency SANA said. The regime forces entered the area, which was taken by Turkish forces following a weeks-long offensive against Syria’s Kurds. Troops also deployed along a road stretching some 30 kilometers south of the frontier, SANA added. Turkey and its Syrian proxies on October 9 launched a cross-border attack against Kurdish-held areas, grabbing a 120-kilometer-long swathe of Syrian land along the frontier. The incursion left hundreds dead and caused 300,000 people to flee their homes, in the latest humanitarian crisis in Syria’s brutal eight-year war. This week, Turkey and Russia struck a deal in Sochi for more Kurdish forces to withdraw from the frontier on both sides of that Turkish-held area under the supervision of Russian and Syrian forces. On Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said some 2,000 Syrian troops and hundreds of military vehicles were deploying around what Turkey calls its “safe zone”. In the army’s “largest deployment” in the area in years, regime forces were being accompanied by Russia military police, the Observatory said. Moscow has said 300 Russian military police had arrived in Syria to help ensure Kurdish forces withdraw to a line 30 kilometers from the border in keeping with Tuesday’s agreement. Despite Saturday’s deployment, the Observatory said that Kurdish fighters and Ankara’s Syrian proxies traded artillery fire in the region. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

US boosts force in oil-rich east Syria, crosses regime checkpoints
AFP, Qamishli Saturday, 26 October 2019
Washington has started to send reinforcements to oil-rich eastern Syria, a US defense official said on Saturday, as a military convoy flying American flags crossed into the war-torn country from Iraq. The official told AFP that Washington has begun reinforcing positions in Deir Ezzor province with extra military assets in coordination with Kurdish fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The aim was to prevent ISIS fighters and other actors from gaining access to oil fields in an area of Syria that was once under extremist control, he said, declining to elaborate. His comments came as a convoy of around 13 military vehicles crossed into Syria from Iraq, heading to Hassakeh province, an AFP correspondent said. It passed regime checkpoints and drove through the city of Qamishli, de facto capital of Washington’s Kurdish allies, the correspondent said. ome 200 US troops are already stationed in Deir Ezzor but President Donald Trump this month ordered an American pullout from Syria’s northern border, paving the way for a long-feared Turkish invasion. Trump last week said a “small number” of US troops would stay to secure the oil, changing the rationale for his country’s involvement in the war. Russia responded on Saturday by accusing the United States of “international banditry.”“What Washington is currently doing - seizing and placing under control the oil fields of eastern Syria - is simply international banditry,” Russia’s defense ministry said.

Syrian army reaches border area, deploys around Turkish zone
AFP Saturday, 26 October 2019
Syrian troops reached a key area near Turkey’s border Saturday after sending further reinforcements to the region, in what a war monitor said was its largest deployment there in years. Syrian regime forces entered the provincial borders of the town of Ras al-Ain, state news agency SANA said.
The regime forces entered the area, which was taken by Turkish forces following a weeks-long offensive against Syria’s Kurds. Troops also deployed along a road stretching some 30 kilometers south of the frontier, SANA added. Turkey and its Syrian proxies on October 9 launched a cross-border attack against Kurdish-held areas, grabbing a 120-kilometer-long swathe of Syrian land along the frontier. The incursion left hundreds dead and caused 300,000 people to flee their homes, in the latest humanitarian crisis in Syria’s brutal eight-year war. This week, Turkey and Russia struck a deal in Sochi for more Kurdish forces to withdraw from the frontier on both sides of that Turkish-held area under the supervision of Russian and Syrian forces. On Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said some 2,000 Syrian troops and hundreds of military vehicles were deploying around what Turkey calls its “safe zone”. In the army’s “largest deployment” in the area in years, regime forces were being accompanied by Russia military police, the Observatory said. Moscow has said 300 Russian military police had arrived in Syria to help ensure Kurdish forces withdraw to a line 30 kilometers from the border in keeping with Tuesday’s agreement. Despite Saturday’s deployment, the Observatory said that Kurdish fighters and Ankara’s Syrian proxies traded artillery fire in the region. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Turkish FM: Germany’s proposal on the int’l safe zone in Syria is not realistic

Reuters, Al Arabiya English Saturday, 26 October 2019
Turkey’s foreign minister said on Saturday that Ankara does not find Germany’s proposal on the international safe zone in Syria realistic. Speaking at a joint news conference with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, Cavusoglu also said Turkey would not tolerate any human rights violations in northeast Syria and would investigate any allegations that they had taken place. Turkey sent troops into northeast Syria this month targeting Kurdish YPG forces. Fighting has ceased in the area following a US-brokered ceasefire followed by an agreement Ankara reached with Moscow for Russian and Syrian forces to clear the border area of the YPG fighters, viewed by Turkey as terrorists.

Erdogan should be prosecuted over Syrian offensive: ex-UN investigator del Ponte
Reuters, Zurich Saturday, 26 October 2019
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should be investigated and indicted for war crimes over his country’s military offensive in Syria, former prosecutor and UN investigator Carla del Ponte said in an interview published on Saturday. Del Ponte, a former member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said Turkey’s intervention had broken international law and had reignited the conflict in Syria. Ankara says its incursion - launched after US troops withdrew from the Syrian-Turkish border area - solely targeted Kurdish YPG forces, which it regards as terrorists linked to Kurdish insurgents operating in southeast Turkey. “For Erdogan to be able to invade Syrian territory to destroy the Kurds is unbelievable,” said del Ponte, a former Swiss attorney general who prosecuted war crimes in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia. “An investigation should be opened into him and he should be charged with war crimes. He should not be allowed to get away with this scot free,” she told the Swiss newspaper Schweiz am Wochenende in an interview. Ankara halted its military offensive last week under a US-brokered ceasefire. Erdogan then negotiated an accord with Russian President Vladimir Putin whereby Syrian border guards and Russian military police began clearing the YPG from within 30 km (19 miles) of the Syrian-Turkish frontier. From Tuesday Russian and Turkish forces will start to patrol a narrower, 10-km strip of land in northeast Syria where US troops had been deployed for years alongside their former Kurdish allies. Turkey’s NATO allies, including the United States, have criticized its military incursion in northeast Syria, fearing it will undermine the fight against ISIS extremists. But del Ponte said European nations were reluctant to confront Turkey over its actions after Erdogan threatened to “open the gates” for refugees to head to Europe. “Erdogan has the refugees as a bargaining chip,” she said. Del Ponte joined the three-member Syria inquiry in September 2012, chronicling incidents such as chemical weapons attacks, a genocide against Iraq’s Yazidi population, siege tactics, and the bombing of aid convoys.
She quit in 2017, saying a lack of political backing from the UN Security Council made the job impossible.

Algerians Protest against Bensalah for Downplaying Demonstrations
Algiers- Boualam Ghimrasah/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 26 October, 2019
“The people cannot be insulted,” a slogan Algerian demonstrators repeated against President Abdelkader Bensalah after a video surfaced showing the head of state reassuring Russian President Vladimir Putin that the protests in the African state won’t amount to anything. At the beginning of the popular movement, nine months ago, millions of protesters on the street demanded Bensalah step down from power because he reminded them of Abdelaziz Bouteflika's reign, which was symbolized by corruption and mismanagement. Algerians have been further angered by remarks made by Bensalah and broadcast by the RT television network, in which he "reassured" Putin that the situation in Algeria "is under control". Footage of the comments has gone viral on social networks with Algerians saying they felt "humiliated" by Bensalah's comments. It "is shameful and an insult to the intelligence of the Algerian people," one user tweeted. "When you are president, you do not 'reassure' a foreign country on internal politics... (while) ignoring the millions of Algerians who are protesting for democracy," said another on Twitter. According to RT, Bensalah met Putin on Thursday on the sidelines of a Russia-Africa summit in Sochi. "I asked to meet you to reassure you that the situation in Algeria is under control," Bensalah was quoted as telling Putin. "The media has exaggerated the reality of what is happening in Algeria... although it is true that some elements are out on the streets each week" protesting, he added. Algerians flooded the streets of the capital Friday to demand the overhaul of the political establishment and protest army-backed calls for presidential polls in December. The demonstration came on the eve of a deadline for presidential candidates to register. Bouteflika resigned in April under pressure from the street.

Egypt, Iraq, Jordan FMs Prepare for Baghdad Tripartite Summit
Cairo- Sawsan Abu Hussein/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 26 October, 2019
Foreign Ministers of Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq held a trilateral meeting yesterday on the sidelines of the 18th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. The three ministers discussed means of attaining the outcome of the second summit between Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, Jordanian King Abdullah II, and Iraqi President Barham Salih in New York in September. They also agreed that the next ministerial meeting will be held in Amman in November, in preparation for the tripartite summit among the three countries' leaders in Baghdad. The ministers tackled means of boosting economic, development and cultural ties, as well as continuing political consultation among the three states. The latest regional updates, including those related to the Palestinian issue and the Syrian, Yemeni, and Libyan crises, as well as the fight against terrorism were also discussed. With regard to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) negotiations, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry updated his Jordanian and Iraqi counterparts on the outcome of the recent meeting between Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Sochi. In this regard, Shoukry said that Egypt seeks to reach a binding agreement that guarantees the three countries' rights based on the international law and rules of international legitimacy. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed al-Hakim have expressed their support for Egypt in preserving its rights to the Nile waters and resolving its dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) through negotiations. The talks covered Iraq's efforts to establish security and stability while achieving the Iraqi people's aspirations. They also discussed preparations for the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction set to be held in November in New York.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 26-27/2019
Turkey-Backed Jihadists in Syria Call Women 'Whores,' Execute Prisoners."
Seth Frantzman/The Jerusalem Post/October 26/2019
NATO member Turkey has sent hundreds of far-right extremists that it recruited under the banner of the Syrian National Army to fight in Syria. It has used them as both shock troops and canon fodder to fight mostly Kurdish forces along the border, but as a ceasefire began last week these units turned to looting attacking civilians and mutilating corpses, according to videos they posted online. The US says human rights violations may be occurring. Kurdish activists wonder why NATO stands behind religious extremists whose statements look little different than ISIS.
The first videos of jihadists being sent to fight Kurds under the banner of 'Syrian rebel' groups appeared in the lead-up to Turkey's offensive on October 9. Videos showed men waving swords and chanting about "killing the kuffar" or "infidels," terminology often used by ISIS. On October 12 a video emerged of a group executing two Kurdish detainees by the side of a road in Syria. According to reports it took place near the M4 highway inside Syria.
Another group of Turkish-backed Syrian rebels stopped a convoy of cars that included Future party leader Hevrin Khalaf. She was dragged from the car by her hair, shot and her body stomped on. Members of Ahrar al-Sharqiya, one of many groups in the SNA, were accused of the attack. Video showed the cars being stopped and the aftermath with her lifeless body covered in dirt while the jihadists praise God for helping them murder an unarmed woman.
The funeral of Syrian Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf, who was dragged from her car and executed by Turkish-backed militia last week.
Initial reports said she had been "stoned to death," but the autopsy said she had been been beaten on the head, beaten on the leg, "dragged from her hair causing the hair to take off from the skin of the head." Turkey, a "NATO ally," as the US describes the country, claimed the murder was a "neutralization" of the woman, "a successful operation," according to its leading right wing daily Yeni Safak.
On October 16 more extremists were caught on video on a bus singing about killing "infidels" before arriving in Syria. Another video on October 19 alleged to show the execution of civilians near the village of Suluk. A video from the same day shows a unit of Arab fighters backed by Turkey saying they will "behead" the infidels they encounter. The men, with small beards and long hair, say "in just a few hours we will show you the heads." A video that circulated at that time showed men in fatigues beheading people, but it was unclear where it was from, even though it appeared to be recent and take place in Syria. That video was so graphic it was taken down by social media accounts.
A photo from October 20 shows elements of Jabha al-Shamiya in Tel Abyad, along with members of other groups such as Liwa al-Salam, Faylaq al-Majd of the "Third Legion" painting graffiti on houses belonging to Armenians and Syriac Christians, claiming them for themselves, similar to what ISIS did in Mosul in July 2014. Another photo from the same days shows civilians executed in Sere Kaniye and members of the Sultan Murad group posing with the bodies.
On October 21 a video of a group calling itself Jaish Islam, calls on its members to treat Christians as second-class citizens in areas that are conquered and to make them pay special taxes in accordance with discriminatory religious laws. More accounts that emerged on October 22 showed a man with a beard and his friends celebrating the killing of what they call "the corpses of pigs." They claim to be from the "mujahideen of Faylaq al-Majd." The man shows off a dead body of a woman and says "this is one of your whores whom you have sent us. This whore is under our feet." Another video from the same day shows a member of Ahrar al-Sharqiya hitting a male civilian and calling him a "pig."
An October 24 video shows more Turkey-backed extremists shouting and holding a woman prisoner. They claim to be fighters from the "Dar Izza regiment" and claim the woman is a "PKK member."
*Seth Frantzman, a writing fellow at the Middle East Forum, is the author of After ISIS: America, Iran and the Struggle for the Middle East (2019), op-ed editor of The Jerusalem Post, and founder of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis.

Europe's Populist Wave Reaches Portugal
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/October 26, 2019
André Ventura, leader of Portugal's new populist party Chega! (Enough!), has said that the traditional parties "no longer respond to the people's problems" and that he represents "disillusioned Portuguese." He has called for lowering taxes, strengthening borders and increasing penalties for serious crimes.
Ventura has also called for a public referendum on reforming the Constitution in order to replace the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system that better guarantees the separation of powers. The existing political system, he said, was created by Marxists and fascists after the 1974 revolution in order to share the spoils after four decades of dictatorship. Indeed, the Portuguese Constitution calls for opening up "a path towards a socialist society."
In the area of ​​foreign policy, Ventura has called for opposing European federalism, safeguarding national sovereignty from encroaching globalism and taking Portugal out of the UN's Global Compact for Migration. He has called for reinforcing Portugal's role in NATO, and for fighting against the "hegemonic temptations" of China, Iran and the European Union. He has also called for an "unequivocal commitment" to support the State of Israel and for transferring the Portuguese embassy to Jerusalem.
"If there is a problem with the community, we need to know where they are, who they are, what problems they have. And in Portugal you cannot even talk about it." — André Ventura.
A Portuguese populist party called Chega! — Enough! — has secured a seat in Parliament, after winning more than 65,000 votes in legislative elections held on October 6. It is the first time that an anti-establishment party has entered Parliament since Portugal became a democracy in 1974. Pictured: The Assembly of the Portuguese Republic, the parliament of Portugal, in Lisbon. (Image source: Andrés Monroy-Hernández/Wikimedia Commons)
A Portuguese populist party called Chega! — Enough! — has secured a seat in Parliament, after winning more than 65,000 votes in legislative elections held on October 6. It is the first time that an anti-establishment party has entered Parliament since Portugal became a democracy in 1974.
Chega leader André Ventura, a 36-year-old law professor and television sports personality, campaigned on a theme of law and order and opposition to both political correctness and the imposition of cultural Marxism. He rode a wave of discontent with traditional center-right parties, which in recent years have drifted to the left on domestic and foreign policy issues.
The Socialist Party won the election with 36.3% of the vote, far short of an outright majority. The center-right Social Democrats won 27.8%, the party's worst result since 1983. Chega, which was founded in March 2019, won 2% of the vote in Lisbon and 1.3% of the vote nationwide.
Political observers agreed that Chega's result was impressive for a party that is only seven months old, and that Ventura's entry into Parliament would give Chega greater prominence and media visibility, in addition to financial support.
Ventura, who has said that the traditional parties "no longer respond to the people's problems" and that he represents "disillusioned Portuguese," has called for lowering taxes, strengthening borders and increasing penalties for serious crimes. He has called for a reducing by half the number of Members of Parliament, introducing term limits and implementing measures aimed at increasing transparency and reducing corruption.
Ventura has also called for a public referendum on reforming the Constitution in order to replace the existing parliamentary system with a presidential system that better guarantees the separation of powers. The existing political system, he said, was created by Marxists and fascists after the 1974 revolution in order to share the spoils after four decades of dictatorship. Indeed, the Portuguese Constitution calls for opening up "a path towards a socialist society."
In the area of ​​foreign policy, Ventura has called for opposing European federalism, safeguarding national sovereignty from encroaching globalism and taking Portugal out of the UN's Global Compact for Migration. He has called for reinforcing Portugal's role in NATO, and for fighting against the "hegemonic temptations" of China, Iran and the European Union. He has also called for an "unequivocal commitment" to support the State of Israel and for transferring the Portuguese embassy to Jerusalem.
Portugal's establishment media and left-wing parties have sought to discredit Chega by branding the party as "far right," "extremist," and "populist right wing." A review of Chega's "70 Measures to Rebuild Portugal" shows it to be a conservative party promoting classical liberal economic policies and traditional social values. These policies include:
Promote the teaching of Portuguese history and culture.
Overturn the Parity Law (Lei da Paridade) [Promulgated in March 2019, the law states that candidate lists for Parliament must have a minimum representation of 40% of each sex] and other positive discrimination quota policies in favor of merit-based policies.
Increase tax benefits for large families and introduce measures to increase the birth rate. Portugal has a birth rate of 1.3 children per woman, the second-lowest in Europe, after Cyprus, with one child per woman.
Ensure that parents have control over the moral education of their children by requiring schools to obtain express authorization from parents or guardians for any activity involving ethical, social, civic, moral or sexual values for students up to secondary education.
Reform national adoption laws so that women with unexpected or unwanted pregnancies have information, assistance and alternatives to abortion.
Change the Penal Code to require chemical castration for anyone convicted of sexual crimes against children under 16 years of age.
Introduce mandatory prison sentences with no possibility of a suspended sentence for crimes involving rape.
Introduce life imprisonment for the most serious crimes, namely crimes of homicide or terrorism. Portugal abolished life imprisonment in 1884 and many criminals are released from prison after serving short or partial sentences.
Publish nationality and origin data in crime statistics.
Reduce public spending, in particular by reducing the number of Members of Parliament to 100, down from 230, and by eliminating the perks of high office.
Reduce the role of the state in the economy. Abolish inheritance taxes. Eliminate or reduce tariffs on electricity, gas and water.
Eliminate access to free health care for illegal immigrants.
Immediately inform the United Nations of Portugal's departure from the Global Compact for Migration. The issue of immigration should be dealt with in accordance with the reality and the sovereignty of each country.
Promote a new European treaty, in line with the Visegrad Group of countries, on borders, national sovereignty and respect for the values of European culture.
Deport all illegal immigrants to their countries of origin. Deport all immigrants who, even if they have a legal status, commit crimes that lead to the sentence of imprisonment.
Any illegal immigrants within the country will be excluded from the possibility of regularizing their situation and receiving any state support.
For those seeking Portuguese nationality, increase the requirements in spoken and written Portuguese, as well as cultural integration.
Loss of nationality for citizens of foreign origin who commit acts of terrorism or attacks on Portugal's sovereignty, security and independence.
Combat political and religious practices which violate the Portuguese legal system (especially anti-Semitism, gender ideologies, the application of Sharia law, female genital mutilation, forced marriages of minors, among others).
Reassess Portugal's role in the United Nations, "which has become a producer and spreader of cultural Marxism and mass globalism that we are unwilling to consume, much less pay for."
Another document titled "Chega 2019 Policy Program" states:
"CHEGA is a Conservative party that advocates a view of the world and of life based on the values ​​of freedom and representative democracy, the rule of law, a limited state and the separation of powers.
"CHEGA fits into a current of thought that, based on an uncompromising defense of the dignity of the individual (who, as a human being, has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness), encourages the harmony of interests and rules of voluntary cooperation. All this in a society historically built over centuries, with its own cultural identity defined by a certain set of values, customs and traditions.
"This line of thought is also affiliated with respect for democracy, freedom, private property and the rule of law, against arbitrariness, the use and abuse of power...that is, against all forms of totalitarianism and 'soft tyrannies' that Alexis de Tocqueville so well characterized. This line of thought therefore argues for a liberal, democratic and pluralistic conservatism, committed to defending spontaneous order and promoting organic, orderly and peaceful progress in the primacy of unconditional political, economic and civic freedoms.
"For the avoidance of doubt, our political theory and practice is based on the reflections of authors such as Adam Smith and their 'Spontaneous Order'; Montesquieu and his 'Separation of Powers'; John Locke and his 'Natural Rights'; Edmund Burke and Roger Scruton and their reflections on the interconnection between 'Freedom, Free Markets, Tradition and Authority'; or Ludwig von Mises with his Treaty on 'Human Action' or Friedrich von Hayek and his 'Law, Legislation and Freedom.'
A section titled "Globalization and European Federalism" reads:
"We defend a Euro-integration against a Euro-dilution, as we defend a globalized but not globalist world, against a massified and yes globalist world. Because globalization is a global interaction of different people, families, nations and civilizations; globalism is the attempt to destroy all differences by obtaining, as a result, an amorphous mass of peers who do not interact but absorb the dictates, censorship, and slavery imposed by a Big Brother, a sophisticated name for a mere foreman of global slaves who are powerless because they are castrated....
"European integration is not, and cannot be, a dilution of all European nations, and all their citizens, in a watery and indistinct solution of standardized and all equal Europeans.
"It is in the name of respect for the difference of men and peoples, and the identity of Europe, that we reject this Euro-dilution. True integration could lead Europe to reverse the path of its decay. But a dilution of all in all can only accelerate and make irreversible that same path.
"The concept of a globalized world presupposes, in our view, a world of different men, interacting, not a world of massed men, all poor in hopeless equality, unable to make an original and innovative contribution. A globalized world is life. A globalist world is death.
"If globalization is understood as a global method of the leveling and progressive de-differentiation of men, nations and cultures, the modern Right is against globalization. But if it represents a greater and more creative interaction between men and different cultures, each with its own unique and unrepeatable contribution, the modern Right is in favor of this globalization. Thus, it is important to distinguish two different concepts by using two different terms to describe them. We will call globalization the global interaction between the different, and globalism the global interaction between massified men because they are artificially equal to each other.
"Men, cultures and nations cannot be enclosed in themselves, and this is a fact that cannot be doubted; but men, cultures and nations must open themselves to the world in their unrepeatability and their difference, not accepting that they fade into a global and undifferentiated melting pot.
"Respect for difference is an essential condition for the exercise of freedom. And Freedom is the basic condition of humanity. There can be no political action that does not respect freedom, because it would be a political action against the essence of man who is, for the modern Right, the alpha and omega of all political action.
"This is why we place respect for difference as the cornerstone of the political building we intend to build. Because without respect for difference there is no freedom, and without freedom man loses his basic humanity, that is, his prime reason for existing."
A petition is now circulating to ask the Constitutional Court to ban Chega. Ventura responded:
"It strikes me as very curious that in a democracy that has just elected a party with legitimate votes of the people, counted in a ballot box, there are groups calling for its unconstitutionality. This is to say that almost 70,000 Portuguese people are silly or have turned their backs to the Constitution."
Livre, an eco-socialist feminist party, said that Chega has no place in Parliament, known as the Assembly of the Republic (AR). Ventura replied:
"Fortunately, it is not Livre that decides who goes to Parliament or not, it is the Portuguese people. The Portuguese people understood that they should give us this confidence and this mandate, and we will fulfill it. Labels worry us very little. We consider ourselves essentially an anti-system party and what Livre should ponder is why Chega won more votes than Livre, when Livre is six or seven years old and Chega is four months old. Livre should give some thought to why this happened. In fact, I think all parties should ask themselves how a four-month party elects a deputy to the AR."
Much of the criticism of Ventura dates back to 2017, while he was campaigning for mayor of Loures, a municipality south of Lisbon. At the time he made the politically incorrect observation that local gypsies, also known as Roma, "live almost exclusively from state subsidies" and that some Roma think that they are "above the rule of law."
More recently Ventura elaborated:
"I think there is a problem of 'subsidiarity,' [a principle that problems, including social problems, should be resolved at the local level] there is a problem of non-integration into the rule of law, some disrespect for the rule of law. We are going to propose are two things: First, that there is a national census to know where, who and how many Gypsies we have in Portugal, because right now nobody knows. If there is a problem with the community, we need to know where they are, who they are, what problems they have. And in Portugal you cannot even talk about it. The second aspect is effective control over the rule of law for the Roma community. For example, do child marriages still exist with girls aged 12 and 13? Are women still prevented from going to school? To do this one must act and not look the other way. We will do this in relation to the Roma community as we will do the same about female genital mutilation in relation to African communities that exist in Portugal, and as we will do to a number of others."
When a journalist noted that only 50% of the Roma in Portugal live on welfare, Ventura responded:
"The studies we had available showed that only 15% of the Roma population lives on income from their work. I know people say I'm obsessed with this, but I think if we don't solve this problem of Roma integration we will have very serious consequences. We had a judge who said this year that it was okay for Gypsy children to leave school because it was their tradition. There is a 14-year-old girl, for example, who is not entitled to her normal rights according to the rule of law because it is understood that there must be special protection here.
This special protection we give to the Gypsy community is precisely why we cannot solve the problem. We always say they are poor things, they can't find work, that nobody wants to integrate them and then we think we have to protect them. I think we have to take this problem seriously, because it exists. The Roma community has a problem of integration. Most of this community does not want to integrate, but they have to integrate into the rule of law, otherwise it makes no sense to call this the rule of law.
"I understand there are different traditions, but we can't have marriages at 13 years of age. We can't have children out of school at 13 years of age. We must demand responsibility from those communities to which we give most as a state. We who pay taxes feel that we have a responsibility to others. But is there no duty from others to us? In Loures I found situations of brutal debt in social housing. This debt corresponds to 12 million euros. This means that there are people who have never paid a euro for their assigned home. If we do not demand they pay, just because they are Gypsies, Afro descendants or poor minorities, we are contributing to the worst: breeding ghettos. We have to demand responsibility from them. These people have to collaborate. Today my feeling is that the Roma do not collaborate or want to collaborate and prefer to be outside the rule of law. I think Roma leaders need to be called to accountability and to promote integration."
Portugal's establishment media have been apoplectic about the rise of Chega. In an article titled, "Far Right Comes to Parliament," the newspaper Público opined:
"The far right comes to Parliament by the hand of André Ventura, who has moved into the limelight after accusing the Gypsy community of living on subsidies.
"In Chega he was able to gather party militants who came essentially from traditional right parties, who had turned to a party that claims to be 'conservative in customs, liberal in economics, national in identity and personalist.'
In an essay titled, "We really have a problem," commentator Paulo Baldaia warned:
"There is reason to be concerned about the arrival of Chega, a one-man extremist party that does not hesitate to exploit the fears of the weak to electoral success.
"If, at a time of low unemployment and economic growth, André Ventura was elected, one can imagine the growth potential of this party, which is openly intolerant of racial and ethnic minorities, if the unemployment rate is once again close to 18% (38% among young people), as it was in 2012/2013."
In an opinion article titled, "The Snake's Egg," Paula Ferreira, the Deputy Executive Editor of Jornal de Notícias, wrote:
"Portugal is no longer an oasis in Europe. Here too, against the expectations of the most optimistic, the far right has appeared. Just like there, the discourse against immigrants and the non-acceptance of difference conquers the way. In line with the Visegrad group, made up of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Chega is committed to combating immigration. For the new party with a parliamentary seat, the UN 'is a spreader of Marxist ideas,' for which Ventura is unwilling to pay. This strategy cannot be ignored."
Ventura has called on Portuguese citizens and media commentators to remain calm: "Chega is a democratic party. There is no reason for unusual alarm or attacks. Chega is not here to undermine democracy." In a tweet, Ventura added:
"They have to get used to Chega and our way of doing politics. We do not want ministries, secretariats of state or senior posts. We want to be the voice of discontent for an entire people. That is why we are going to Parliament!"
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
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