LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 27/2019
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
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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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