English LCCC Newsbulletin For
Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For July 02/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
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Bible Quotations For today
Through Jesus forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to
you, and who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not
be freed by the law of Moses.
Acts of the Apostles 13/26-39:"My brothers, you
descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to us the message of
this salvation has been sent. Because the residents of Jerusalem and their
leaders did not recognize him or understand the words of the prophets that are
read every sabbath, they fulfilled those words by condemning him. Even though
they found no cause for a sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him
killed. When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they
took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the
dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee
to Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the
good news that what God promised to our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their
children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, "You are
my Son; today I have begotten you."As to his raising him from the dead, no more
to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way, "I will give you the holy
promises made to David."Therefore he has also said in another psalm, "You will
not let your Holy One experience corruption."For David, after he had served the
purpose of God in his own generation, died, was laid beside his ancestors, and
experienced corruption; but he whom God raised up experienced no corruption. Let
it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of
sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from
all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.?
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on July 01-02/2021
MoPH: 150 new coronavirus cases, 3 deaths
Day of meditation and prayer for Lebanon: Three closed sessions and a final
ecumenical prayer for peace
President Aoun follows up on events of Vatican’s “Day of Meditation and Prayer
for Lebanon”
Aoun: Together we can maintain our country’s unique message of coexistence
President Aoun chairs meeting devoted to drug subsidie
Pope Francis urges Lebanese leaders to shun partisanship
Bassil Urges Vatican to Revive Christians Role in Lebanon
Lebanese Press Syndicate Condemns Journalists Kidnapping
Israel PM Confirms Deal for Outpost Settlers to Leave by Friday
Lebanon approves ration cards for the poor as subsidies collapse
Diapers and Rags: Lebanon Crisis Plunges Women into Period Poverty
Shreim represents President, PM at U.S. Embassy celebration
Akar tackles with German officials willingness to assist Lebanon in several
fields in cooperation with European Union
Abu Shakra confirms to NNA fuel companies have started distribution process
UNICEF: Lebanon’s escalating crisis puts children at risk as majority of
families cannot afford to meet basic needs of their children
RDCL leads by example for Unity, Change, Engagement, Innovation
Ambassador to Kuwait launches Jazeera Airways' services to Beirut
Lebanon cannot change without a decentralized political system/Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab
News/July 01/2021
Iran’s calculations bring Haniyeh, Nasrallah together
An open letter to Presidents Biden and Macron: He who sows the wind reaps the
storm/Ambassador Dr. Hicham Hamdan/July 01/ 2021
Titles For The Latest English LCCC
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 30-01
July/2021
Iran restricts IAEA access to main enrichment plant after attack,
diplomats say
Iran oil workers strike for better wages amid economic crisis
Hard-line cleric under US sanctions becomes Iran’s judiciary chief
Danish minister says Qatar’s hosting of World Cup was ‘wrong’
Canada/Minister Garneau meets with senior members of Jordanian government
Jordan's King Abdullah heads to U.S. to meet Biden
Jordan’s military prosecutor seeks highest punishment for sedition accused
Anger simmers among Jordanian tribes as economy tanks
Russian Says Exposed IS Terror Plot, Killed 1 Suspect
Russia rejects renewing cross-border aid to Syria
Turkey’s withdrawal from treaty to protect women triggers outcry
Finland: Dane acquitted of 1987 ferry attack on backpackers
Russia posts record virus deaths for third day running
COVID-19 cases in Europe up again after 10 weeks of decline: WHO Europe
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC
English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
July 01-02/2021
Iran’s president-elect should face crimes against humanity probe/Dr.
Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/July 01/2021
Algerian president disappoints Islamists as he offers them limited role in
government/Saber Blidi/The Arab Weekly/July 01/2021
Influential Merkel begins long goodbye/Andrew Hammond/Arab News/July 01/2021
Will Christian Black Lives Ever Matter? The Ignored Genocide in Nigeria/Raymond
Ibrahim/July 01/2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese &
Lebanese Related News & Editorials published
on July 01-02/2021
MoPH: 150 new coronavirus cases, 3
deaths
NNA/July 01/ 2021
Lebanese has recorded 150 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths in the
past 24 hours, as reported by the Ministry of Public Health on Thursday.
Day of meditation and prayer for Lebanon: Three closed
sessions and a final ecumenical prayer for peace
NNA/July 01/ 2021
Pope Francis greeted at the house of Saint Martha in the Vatican the Lebanese
delegation attending the "Day of Meditation and Prayer for Lebanon," which His
Holiness had called for in a speech on May 30. In a statement, the Pope said he
"would meet at the Vatican on July 1 with the leaders of Christian groups in
Lebanon, for a day of reflection on the alarming situation in the country, to
pray together for the gift of peace and stability." "The Holy Pontiff (…) prays
for a more peaceful future for this beloved country," the statement said.
Attendees walked from the house of Saint Martha to Saint Peter's Basilica, where
they paused for prayer. This "Day of Meditation and Prayer for Lebanon" includes
three closed sessions at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. "His Holiness Pope
Francis, in a speech he addressed after the Angelus prayer last Tuesday, (…)
called upon everyone to unite spiritually and pray for Lebanon to rise from the
dangerous crisis it is facing, and show to the world its true image of peace and
hope," the statement read.
President Aoun follows up on events of Vatican’s “Day of Meditation and Prayer
for Lebanon”
NNA/July 01/ 2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, followed-up today, on live
television, the proceedings of Pope Francis’s opening of the “Day of Meditation
and Prayer for Lebanon”. This event is called for by the Pope with the
participation of Heads of Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical Christian
denominations in Lebanon, at a time when prayers are being raised for Lebanon’s
recovery from the current crisis. The Pope focused on the need to spiritually
unite with the Heads of churches in Lebanon to pray for Lebanon to rise from
this dangerous crisis it witnesses, and show the world its true face, the face
of hope and peace. The President had called on all Lebanese of different sects
to consider this day as a start for reviving all the elements of Lebanon’s
message in its surroundings and the world, which is the message of living
together on the basis of the recognition of rights, mutual respect and balance.
President Aoun said: “On this day, His Holiness Pope Francis called the world to
pray and meditate for Lebanon. He dedicated a special day to our country in the
Holy See. We are all invited, each from his position, to meet the aspirations of
His Holiness and Lebanon’s friends in the world, to restore the values and
effectiveness of our presence, so we deserve to be and remain the homeland of
the message”. The President then addressed the Lebanese youth and said: “I live
the depth of your concerns in the face of current difficulties. However, my
confidence is great. I will continue to work out of my faith and conviction that
we, with our common will, are capable of facing challenges, difficulties and
crises. We will emerge from these events stronger, no matter how long it takes.
Let the eyes of the world fixate on us today as a strong incentive for more
giving and impetus, to advance Lebanon from this repression, and consolidate the
foundations of the Lebanese resurrection”.—Presidency Press Office
Aoun: Together we can maintain our country’s unique message of coexistence
NNA/July 01/ 2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, wrote the following on his
Twitter account: “Today, His Holiness Pope Francis joins the world in prayer for
Lebanon.
Our call together, Christians and Muslims, is to consolidate the values of
truth, justice, balance and mutual respect for our national unity. Together we
can maintain our country’s unique message of coexistence, among its surroundings
and in the world”.—Presidency Press Office
President Aoun chairs meeting devoted to drug
subsidie
NNA/July 01/ 2021
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, agreed with Prime Minister, Dr.
Hassan Diab, to continue the policy of subsidizing medicine and medical supplies
within an application mechanism which notes the priority specified by the Public
Health Ministry, which was noted in the rationalization plan submitted by
Premier Diab to the Parliament. In addition, it was agreed to subsidize national
pharmaceutical industries in coordination between the Public Health Ministry and
the Syndicate of Lebanese Serum and Pharmaceutical Industry. The meeting, which
was devoted to address medicine subsidies was headed by President Michel Aoun
and attended by Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, Finance Minister, Ghazi Wazny,
Public Health Minister, Dr. Hamad Hassan, and Central Bank Governor, Riad
Salameh.
The President debuted the meeting by asserting that the approach to the
medicines file must take into account all citizen interests and need for
necessary health care, while prioritizing securing medicines without
overburdening citizens with the increasing prices.
In addition, President Aoun considered that subsidies on medicines and medical
supplies are one of the basic constants to reduce the social and living
sufferings which Lebanon is witnessing, stating that it is not permissible for
pharmacies to empty medicines, especially those which are essential and
necessary for citizen health.
“It is not allowed to monopolize, smuggle or store medicines, while preventing
its access to citizens to raise prices randomly, which makes it difficult for
citizens to purchase them” President Aoun continued.
Moreover, the President emphasized the importance of subsidizing the Lebanese
pharmaceutical industry, and pointed out that “Lebanese pharmaceutical factories
enjoy high standards of quality, which makes them able to produce medicines
which help meet Lebanese market needs and reduce the crisis which Lebanon is
recently witnessing. This crisis is considered, in multiple aspects, a
fabricated crisis, which is added to the series of crises facing the Lebanese
these days, increasing their sufferings”.
Afterwards, Premier Diab said: “The most serious issue which we are witnessing
today is providing medicines for people. The Lebanese have endured a lot pf
social and living pressures, and dealt with them realistically. However, the
prices of medicine and their loss from the market is an unsustainable issue.
Therefore, this issue is very sensitive and dangerous. No one can bear the
consequences of losing a drug or increasing its price in such a way that people
will be unable to purchase it. This issue is a national issue, and it shouldn’t
be dealt with as if it were a commercial commodity. With this problem, people
will not be silenced and no one will blame them, since the situation is much
more dangerous than all imagined.
Responsibilities are great. It is not permissible to be accounts of profit and
financial loss in medicine, since there are those who are losing their lives. It
is necessary to tackle this file with the highest degree of responsibility,
because all consequences will be catastrophic”. Then, current pharmaceutical
affairs and proposals to address the drug crisis were deliberated.
Statement: After the meeting, the following statement was issued:
“President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, chaired a meeting attended by
Prime Minister, Dr. Hassan Diab, Finance Minister, Ghazi Wazny, Public Health
Minister, Dr. Hamad Hasan, and Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh.
The meeting was devoted to discuss the issue of financing the import of
medicines and medical supplies. It was agreed to continue subsidies on medicines
and medical supplies within an applied mechanism which notes the specific
priorities of the Health Ministry.
These priorities were noted in the rationalization plan submitted by the Prime
Minister to the Parliament, taking into account the necessity and importance of
subsidizing national pharmaceutical industries in coordination between the
Public Health Ministry and the Lebanese Syndicate of Serums and Pharmaceuticals
Industry.An exceptional approval will be issue later on by the President of the
Republic and Prime Minister, in order to establish the continuation of subsidies
on medicines, medical supplies and medical implants”. ----Presidency Press
Office
Pope Francis urges Lebanese leaders to shun partisanship
Najia Houssari/Arab News/July
02/2021
BEIRUT: Pope Francis has called on Lebanon’s leaders to put aside partisan
interests and work to restore peace and stability in the crisis-hit country.
The pontiff made the appeal at the end of a day-long summit with Lebanese
Christian leaders in the Vatican on Thursday. Earlier Francis welcomed the
Christian patriarchs for a day of prayer amid growing fears over the threat
posed by Lebanon’s economic and financial collapse, coupled with an 11-month
political deadlock over the formation of a new government. “I would reiterate
how essential it is that those in power choose finally and decisively to work
for true peace and not for their own interests,” Francis said. “Let there be an
end to the few profiting from the sufferings of many. No more letting
half-truths continue to frustrate people’s aspirations,” he said during a
closing prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica. Away from the media, the pontiff
held three closed sessions with heads of the Lebanese churches to discuss ways
out of Lebanon’s “dangerous crisis.”
Lebanese Christians, as well as Muslims, are facing the worst economic collapse
in the modern history of the country.
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri said that he hoped “the Vatican meeting
will be crowned with success in inviting all Lebanese to protect their
coexistence, and for Lebanon to be blessed with the pope’s visit as
promised.”The pope repeated his wish on Thursday to visit Lebanon.
A survey by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) found that “more than 30 percent of
children in Lebanon went to bed hungry last month” amid worsening poverty in the
country.“Successive crises have put families and children in Lebanon in
deplorable conditions,” it claimed.
UNICEF’s Lebanon representative, Yuki Muko, said: “The number of families
struggling to survive is increasing.” Families were forced to cut back on meals,
send their children to work, marry off their underage daughters or sell their
belongings, she said.
Muko warned: “Lebanon cannot bear seeing children deprived of nutrition, forced
to leave their schools, suffering from poor and fragile health, or facing
aggression, violence and abuse.”
According to UNICEF’s survey, 77 percent of families “do not have enough food or
money for essentials.”It added: “The figure increases to 99 percent for Syrian
families, while 60 percent of families are buying food by leaving bills unpaid
or by borrowing money.”
The survey also found that 30 percent of Lebanese children have no access to
primary healthcare, while 76 percent of families have been badly hit by the
steep increase in the price of medicines. An uneasy calm prevailed in Tripoli on
Thursday after huge protests erupted a day earlier amid claims that a child had
died after power to his oxygen supply device was shut down. Activists on social
media circulated a video of young people calling for President Michel Aoun’s
resignation, and chanting that they are “fed up with starvation and
humiliation.”
Energy and Water Minister Raymond Ghajar’s office said in a statement that Army
Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun had agreed to lend the ministry diesel from army
reserves to power electricity generators until credits are opened for diesel
ships and their shipments unloaded.
More than 2.5 million liters of diesel will be distributed in Tripoli, the
statement said.
Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, Grand Mufti of Lebanon, warned protesters against
attacking troops or security forces after soldiers were hit by chairs and stones
thrown by demonstrators.
The Future Movement, which views Tripoli as its bastion, said that the army
needed support to save the city from “chaos and destruction.” Motorists
continued to queue outside gas stations on Thursday as fuel supplies ran low,
while van and bus drivers cut off the international highway near Baalbek in
protest at the price and scarcity of fuel oil.
Bassil Urges Vatican to Revive Christians Role in
Lebanon
Naharnet /July 02/2021
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil tweeted on Thursday about the
importance of the Vatican’s support for the role of Christians in Lebanon. "The
presence of Christians in Lebanon is linked to their role,” the FPM chief said.
“If their role disappears, their presence will too. If the Vatican doesn’t take
this into consideration, a severe damage will occur, the least of which is
Christians’ complete emigration,” Bassil added. “The role of the Vatican is
pivotal and moral,” Bassil stated. “Christians don’t need to have their
presence imposed, but rather their role to be recognized. The Holy See is able
to reinforce their strength, so they can rest assured about their tomorrow."
Lebanese Press Syndicate Condemns Journalists Kidnapping
Naharnet /July 02/2021
The Lebanese Press Syndicate emphasized on freedom of expression in times of
distress, after the kidnapping of two foreign journalists in the southern
suburbs of Beirut, in a statement issued on Thursday. According to the
Syndicate, which strongly condemned the kidnapping, “the incident continues to
receive local and international interactions, especially in Britain.” The Press
Syndicate stressed on the freedom of opinion and expression in Lebanon both “in
theory and practice.” “The kidnapping of foreign journalists will give the world
another evidence of the complete deterioration of the Lebanese general
situations,” the Syndicate stated, urging the security and judicial authorities
to identify the perpetrators and take action against them. The journalists,
Matthew Kynaston of Britain and Stella Männer of Germany, had been detained for
several hours by “Hizbullah agents” while covering Lebanon’s fuel crisis at a
gas station on the Airport Road, media reports said. They were later handed over
to the Lebanese General Security after the intervention of the British and
German embassies and released on the same evening, unharmed.
Israel PM Confirms Deal for Outpost Settlers to Leave by
Friday
Agence France Presse/July 02/2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has announced a deal for Jewish settlers
to leave an illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank by Friday, with a
possibility of returning. Settlers had built the Eviatar outpost near
Nablus over recent weeks in defiance of both international and Israeli law,
sparking fierce protests from Palestinians in neighboring villages. Bennett, who
previously led a key settler lobbying group, on late Wednesday released details
of the deal, which calls for Eviatar's inhabitants to leave by 4:00 pm Friday
(1300 GMT). A letter outlining the terms of the previously reported arrangement
confirmed that the settler's homes will remain at the site and the Israeli army
-- which has occupied the West Bank since 1967 -- will establish a presence in
the area. Following the evacuation, the defense ministry "will perform a
process of land survey on the site as quickly as possible" to determine whether
it can be labelled Israeli state land, the letter said. If the study declares it
to be Israeli land, "a religious institution will be allowed to be built and
accompanying residential quarters for it and for the yeshiva staff's families,"
the letter added. All Jewish settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal
by most of the international community. Palestinians in the nearby village of
Beita, who claim Eviatar was built on their land, have categorically rejected
any compromise other than a permanent evacuation of the settlers. Four
Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in clashes over Eviatar, which
lies near the Palestinian city of Nablus and close to several other settlements.
The fracas has stirred tensions within Israel's new, ideologically divided
coalition government, which includes right-wing settler supporters like Bennett,
centrists, dovish parties nominally opposed to settlement expansion, and a
conservative Arab party. Anti-settlement group Peace Now blasted the Eviatar
arrangement. "Politically, this agreement means that the new government
doesn't want to confront even a small (albeit loud and forceful) minority," the
group said in a statement. "Settlers can still do as they please."
Lebanon approves ration cards for the poor as subsidies
collapse
The Arab Weekly/July 01/2021
BEIRUT – Lebanon’s parliament Wednesday approved ration cards for the poorest to
cushion the gradual collapse of subsidies due to the economic crisis, though
officials still need to secure funding for the scheme. The decision came one day
after authorities hiked the price of subsidised fuel to shore up dwindling
foreign currency reserves at the central bank. The government, which subsidises
key commodities including flour and medicine, has also started to gradually
reduce support on other key items, after months of deliberations and without any
official announcement. Lebanon is in the throes of an economic crisis the World
Bank has described as probably one of the world’s worst in modern times. More
than half the population lives below the poverty line and minimum wages are the
equivalent of less than $40 a month, measured by the black market exchange rate.
On Wednesday, parliament “approved … the ration card system and the opening of
special credit lines to fund it,” the official National News Agency reported.
Government estimates put the cost of the initiative at $556 million, $300
million of which officials hope to secure through World Bank loans and the rest
of which is to come from the central bank, a government official said.
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri said it would be up to the government to
determine how to distribute and fund the ration cards which exclude residents
that already benefit from outside assistance. The government official, who spoke
on the condition of anonymity, said half a million families would receive ration
cards. Tuesday’s steep fuel price hike has caused Lebanese to brace for higher
transportation and electricity costs and in turn higher prices for services and
goods, including bread. The economy ministry on Wednesday said it raised the
cost of bread from 3,000 pounds for a 910-gram packet ($2 at the official
exchange rate) to 3,750 pounds for a 865-gram one, in the second such price hike
this week. Subscriptions to private generators, which in some regions operate
for 22 hours a day, are also expected to become especially expensive. This is
all expected to compound the woes in a country whose currency has already lost
more than 90 percent of its black market value against the dollar. The Lebanese
pound, pegged at 1,507 to the greenback since 1997, has traded at more than
17,000 on the black market this week, a record low. Lebanon’s government
resigned last summer in the wake of an August 4 explosion at Beirut’s port that
killed more than 200 people.Yet the country’s bitterly-divided political leaders
have failed to form a new cabinet ever since, despite mounting international
pressure led by France.
Diapers and Rags: Lebanon Crisis Plunges Women into
Period Poverty
Agence France Presse/July 01/ 2021
With prices soaring in crisis-hit Lebanon, Sherine can no longer afford sanitary
pads. So instead each month, she is forced to make her own using baby nappies or
even rags. "With all the price hikes and the frustration of not being able to
manage, I'd rather stop having my period altogether," the 28-year-old told AFP,
tears rolling down her cheeks. The price of menstrual pads, the vast majority of
which are imported, has risen by almost 500 percent since the start of a
financial crisis the World Bank has dubbed likely one of the world's worst since
the 1850s. Packs of sanitary towels now cost between 13,000 and 35,000 Lebanese
pounds -- between $8.60 and $23 at the official exchange rate -- up from just
3,000 pounds ($2) before the economic crisis. With more than half the population
living in poverty, tens of thousands of women are now on a desperate hunt for
affordable alternatives. Sherine initially turned to cheap sanitary pads that
she said caused skin irritation, but even those have become too costly. "Right
now, I'm using towels and pieces of cloth," she said. "At first, I felt
defeated," the young mother told AFP, her hair tied up in a bun. "But I chose to
put my daughter first. I would rather buy her milk. As for me, I can make do."
But that has often meant repurposing some of the diapers a charity shop has
given her for her toddler, cutting each in half to create two separate pads. She
said the process has been one of trial and error. In the beginning, "I was
always having to check if (blood) had leaked and stained my pants," she said.
Newspaper, toilet paper
The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90 percent of its value against the dollar
on the black market since the fall of 2019, and Lebanese earning salaries in the
local currency have seen their buying power plummet. The government has
subsidized essential goods including medicine, fuel and flour to ease the blow,
but has come under fire for failing to include pads on its list. In the absence
of state support, the Dawrati (My Period) initiative was launched last year to
address rising period poverty in Lebanon. The group distributes free menstrual
products to women in need, including some who were once members of the
fast-vanishing middle class. "Middle-class women also need them -- like a bank
employee whose salary in Lebanese pounds is no longer enough to get by," said
co-founder Line Masri. According to Dawrati, half of women suffering from period
poverty are using newspaper, toilet paper or old rags instead of pads, while
two-thirds of adolescent girls have no means of purchasing sanitary products.
Yet the association is struggling to keep up. "We aren't able to meet demand...
because donations have declined significantly," Masri said. At a Beirut charity
store initially set up to distribute free clothes to the needy, employee Izdihar
said a growing number of women were struggling to manage their periods. Izdihar
said she even sometimes had to resort to giving baby diapers from the store to
her three daughters, aged 12 to 14.
Her youngest, who started menstruating this year, was having trouble adapting.
"She's stopped leaving the house when she has her period," Izdihar said.
Syria 'all over again'
Activists are seeking to produce viable alternatives to disposable pads. In the
Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, international NGO Days For Girls and
local partner WingWoman Lebanon are training refugee women to stitch reusable
sanitary pads out of colorful cloth. Each includes a protective shield and
absorbent liner, and can be washed and reused for up to three years. The project
already distributes them to Lebanon's most vulnerable communities, including in
Syrian refugee camps. Rima Ali, a Syrian mother of six, was among dozens
learning to make the pads. The 45-year-old, who fled the war in Syria nine years
ago, said she used to buy only the cheapest pads for herself and her three
daughters, but they had become prohibitively expensive. With her family running
through around six packets a month, reusable pads seemed like a much better
option. "Back in Syria, there were some rough days when we couldn't even afford
to buy bread," she said. "We used to cut up material to use" instead of sanitary
pads. "I never thought we would have to relive it all over again."
Shreim represents President, PM at U.S. Embassy celebration
NNA/July 01/ 2021
The press office of Caretaker Minister for the Displaced, Ghada Shreim,
indicated that the Minister represented President Michel Aoun and Caretaker
Prime Minister Hassan Diab, at a celebration hosted by the U.S. Embassy via Zoom
app, to mark the independence of the U.S.A.
Akar tackles with German officials willingness to
assist Lebanon in several fields in cooperation with European Union
NNA/July 01/ 2021
Deputy Prime Minister, caretaker Minister of National Defense and Acting
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants, Zeina Akar, visited Germany where she
held talks with Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, in the presence of
Lebanon's Ambassador to Germany, Mustafa Adib.
Talks dealt with bilateral relations and the situation in Lebanon and the
region. They also touched on the projects implemented by Germany in Lebanon, the
repercussions of the Syrian displacement, and the best means to help Lebanon
overcome its current crisis.
Minister Maas expressed his country's readiness to "assist Lebanon in several
areas, in cooperation with the European Union, especially since Germany ranks
second among the countries supporting Lebanon." Minister Akar praised "the
historic and distinguished relations between the two countries, and the great
assistance and support that Germany has bestowed upon Lebanon over the past
years, especially after the Beirut port explosion."Minister Akar later met with
Parliamentary State secretary for Defense Affairs, Thomas Silberhorn, due to the
presence of Federal Defense Minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, outside the
country. Discussions featured high on the situation in Lebanon, especially the
state of affairs of the Lebanese Army under the current circumstances, and the
possibility of providing aid in that regard. Research also dealt with the
assistance provided by Germany to the Lebanese Navy after the Beirut port blast,
where three agreements were signed for the reconstruction of the port's navy
base, the establishment of a training school, and the provision of a special
radar for the navy.
Minister Akar was handed an invitation from the German Minister of Defense to
attend the first conference of women defense ministers to be held in August in
Berlin.
The Lebanese minister also convened with Secretary of State for Economic
Cooperation and Development, Norbert Barthle, because the Federal Minister for
Economic Cooperation and Development also happened to be traveling. They
discussed the projects implemented by the German Foundation for International
Development, and the RF program (3). Barthle expressed the German companies'
readiness to conduct a study on the reconstruction of the port of Beirut. Akar
later met with Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Norbert Röttgen, and
discussed with him political affairs, in addition to bilateral relations and
ways to bolster them.
Abu Shakra confirms to NNA fuel companies have started distribution process
NNA/July 01/ 2021
Fuel distributors’ representative in Lebanon, Fadi Abu Shakra, on Thursday
reassured citizens through a phone call with the "National News Agency" that
fuel ships have started the unloading process and that importing companies have
started distributing fuel to gas stations. “There are companies that have
expressed their will to even continue the distribution process over the weekend
to ease the market,” he added.
UNICEF: Lebanon’s escalating crisis puts children at risk as majority of
families cannot afford to meet basic needs of their children
NNA/July 01/ 2021
Children in Lebanon are bearing the brunt of one of the world’s worst economic
collapses in recent times, according to a survey released by UNICEF today.
A series of mutually reinforcing crises, including a devastating recession, have
left families and children in Lebanon in a dire situation, affecting just about
every aspect of their lives, with few resources and virtually no access to
social support.
“With no improvement in sight, more children than ever before are going to bed
hungry in Lebanon. Children’s health, education and their very futures are
affected as prices are skyrocketing and unemployment continues to increase. More
and more families are being forced to resort to negative coping measures,
including sending their children to work in often dangerous and hazardous
conditions, marrying off their young daughters or selling their belongings”,
said Yukie Mokuo, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon.
According to a recent assessment conducted by UNICEF:
• Over 30 per cent children went to bed hungry and skipped meals in the past
month.
• Seventy-seven per cent of households do not have enough food or enough money
to buy food. In Syrian refugee households, the figure reaches a 99 per cent.
• Sixty per cent of households have to buy food on credit or borrow money.
• Thirty per cent of children are not receiving the primary health care they
need, while 76 per cent of households said they are affected by the massive
increase in medication prices.
• One in ten children have been sent to work.
• Forty per cent of children are from families where no one has work and 77 per
cent are from families that do not receive any social assistance.
• Fifteen per cent of families stopped their children’s education.
• Eighty per cent of caregivers said their children had difficulties
concentrating on their studies at home – which might indicate hunger or mental
distress.
The protracted economic depression is just one of the compounding crises in
Lebanon, which is reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the
aftermath of the massive August 2020 Beirut Port explosions, as well as the
persistent political instability. While the 1.5 million Syrian refugees are the
most hard-hit, the number of Lebanese people in need of support is growing
rapidly.
“The World Bank has described what is happening in Lebanon as possibly one of
the top three economic collapses seen since the mid 19th Century. What the
UNICEF survey shows is that children are bearing the brunt of this escalating
catastrophe,” Yukie Mokuo remarked.
UNICEF reinforces its call to the national authorities to implement a major
expansion of social protection measures, to ensure access to quality education
for every child, and to strengthen both primary health-care and child protection
services.
“Determined, concerted action is critical to mitigate the suffering,
particularly among the most vulnerable, who are trapped in a spiral of poverty”,
said Yukie Mokuo. UNICEF is expanding its programme and, with the support of the
donor community, the agency will be ready to help more children and families.
“Children’s well-being and safeguard must be a top priority to ensure their
rights are met under any circumstance. Lebanon cannot afford children to be
nutritionally deprived, out of school, in poor health and at risk of abuse,
violence and exploitation. Children are an investment, the ultimate investment,
in a nation’s future.”—UNICEF
RDCL leads by example for Unity, Change, Engagement,
Innovation
NNA/July 01/ 2021
In a historical quorum of 98%, the business leaders voted yesterday for Gender
Equity, Multiculturalism, Liberalism, Economic Sovereignty, Unity, Innovation,
Transformation, Social Equality, Youth and Change.
Beyond RDCL these elections provided a very strong message with regards to the
aspirations of the Lebanese leaders to the take charge and lead by example.
Mr. Nicolas Boukather was elected unanimously as president of the RDCL along
with Mrs. Hadia Minkara as Vice President, Fady Sawaya as secretary General &
Nadim Daher as board treasurer. The new elected members, Roula Gharios Zahar,
Joumana Dammous Salamé, Fateh Bekdache and Farid Homsi joined the board along
with remaining members Mourad Aoun, Cyrill Arida, Robert Kanaan and Jean Tawile.
After the election, Mr. Fouad Rahme who had been leading the RDCL for the past 4
years, emphasized on the ‘’Quorum electoral historical record, the proper
governance and the exemplary transition of power on time’’.
The new elected President Mr. Boukather, called the private sector “to unite and
innovate, rather than fight on the little that remains. The country is living
existential critical moments, the private sector has been dismantled and many
are on the verge of bankruptcy. If we don’t unite, change and innovate we will
die”. He also called for “a strong engagement of all RDCL members in the
creation of the multi sectoral incubator for innovation to re-create hope and
reinvent the Lebanon of tomorrow, this will not happen if we don’t change our
mindset”.
RDCL calls on all business leaders of Lebanon and the diaspora willing to bring
Innovation, Engagement and Unity to join their rows.
The RDCL (Rassemblement de Dirigeants et Chefs d’entreprises Libanais – Business
Leaders association of Lebanon) :
Founded in 1986 with the mission to unite multi-sectorial business leaders under
one roof to safeguard economic liberalism and equality of chances. Acting as a
business power house, and having the reputation of a think-tank, and a powerful
lobbying group for economic transformation, the RDCL has confirmed its
institutional role, establishing itself in public life and within economic
bodies as a credible interlocutor and international community. It also has a
dedicated chair inside the Lebanese economic organizations.
Ambassador to Kuwait launches Jazeera Airways'
services to Beirut
NNA/July 01/ 2021
Lebanon's Ambassador to Kuwait, Hadi Hashem, launched the Jazeera Airlines'
Beirut-Kuwait flight route, following the company's decision to resume its
services to the Lebanese capital. Under this step, six flights are expected to
land in Beirut each week, thus allowing more tourists and expatriates to visit
Lebanon. "We are excited for the return of flights to a favorite summer
destination for tourists and travelers visiting family and friends," said Rohit
Ramachandran, Chief Executive Officer of Jazeera Airlines.
"Beirut was one of the first destinations operated by Jazeera Airways back in
2006, and demand for the capital remains strong. Our fully vaccinated pilots and
cabin crew look forward to welcoming customers on board the Beirut flights," he
added.
Lebanon cannot change without a decentralized political
system
Khaled Abou Zahr/Arab News/July 01/2021
Quickly reading through three key headlines about Lebanon makes you understand
where the country stands and who is really in control. The first related to this
week’s visit by a Hamas delegation, which concluded with a press briefing
thanking President Michel Aoun for his support to the Palestinian people and
stating that Palestinian camps were a factor in the stability of the country.
The second was the detaining by Hezbollah of two foreign journalists reporting
on Lebanon’s fuel crisis. And the third was the leader of Hezbollah’s
parliamentary group, Mohammed Raad, criticizing “those who continue to argue as
the queues lengthen in front of gas stations, hospitals.”
This is exactly why I have been warning against the voices within the opposition
that have downgraded their criticism or demands to the removal of the “corrupt
political elite,” or what they call “the ruling mafia.” This is simply because
they have been, as we can now clearly see, making the case for Hezbollah’s own
narrative and shielding the group from accountability. Indeed, for Hezbollah,
the resistance and its people — as they refer to themselves — are above this
petty bickering between greedy politicians. However, in their narrative they
disregard the fact that they are the real cause of the deadlock, as they have
set up the political landscape in a way that gives them oversight and control
over state affairs without being responsible for the decisions taken.
As we can easily link the country’s situation to regional affairs, Hezbollah
will not budge while Iran is renegotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action nuclear deal. Tehran sees the geopolitical balance moving to its
advantage in the coming year. Therefore, the suggestion of imposing sanctions on
Lebanese politicians while Hezbollah will soon benefit from the lifting of
sanctions against Iran will not change much in the political and economic
situation in Lebanon. It is something that should be done to punish them for
their nefarious role, but we must not expect it to change anything.
There is, nevertheless, a sad truth about the current situation; one that will
not make people happy when it is stated. We mostly describe Lebanese as good and
helpful people, and this is true. But when we describe the current situation, we
describe them as being innocent victims that have done nothing to deserve such
punishment. But is this the truth? Are the Lebanese innocent or are they part of
this corruption?
I will start to answer with one of the main crises the country is facing, which
is the collapse of the banking system and the evaporation of people’s deposits.
Many years ago, I remember warning a Lebanese friend of the risks of these
high-return accounts, as it was clear the biggest part of the borrowing was
allocated to the Lebanese state, which would eventually be unable to repay its
debt for obvious reasons. He ignored my comments. And so, as we were recently
discussing the terrible situation, I could not help but tell him that agreeing
to deposit one’s hard-earned money for high interest rates that were unavailable
anywhere else in the world was more like accepting a bribe than being caught in
a Ponzi scheme. Most Lebanese knew this all along and were expecting the
international community to bail the state (and them) out at some point.
We need to break the current system, which is consistently and ruthlessly used
and abused by occupation forces.
If we continue down the Banque du Liban route, another small indication is
Circular 331, which was established in 2013 to empower the startup ecosystem in
the country. I think many would be surprised if a forensic audit was carried out
into the processes and allocations of the funding and the partnerships created
for these investments. It would show that the Lebanese upper and middle classes
were accomplices of what today they call the political mafia. In fact, very few
chose to resist and oppose it. Those who did do not live in Lebanon.
The fact is that this ruling clan structure — that has been exploited by
occupation forces — offers protection to its people and is reassuring. The
Lebanese have been living with it for generations. In Lebanon, you can probably
get away with any crime if you have the right protection, simply because your
political leader can offset it within negotiations with other leaders and bypass
the justice system. I do not know whether Carlos Ghosn or Ziad Takieddine are
innocent or guilty, but the fact they are able to avoid international justice in
Lebanon is an indication of how things work in the country.
We can trace this thought process to how elections are conducted and the
purchase of votes by various candidates. When I was once discussing with a
friend the deficit of political vision and Hezbollah’s role in elections, he
bluntly stopped me by stating: “In Lebanon’s elections, you have a lira, you are
worth a lira.” In other words, corruption is part of the political system. In
that sense, I am confident that politicians who are preparing for next year’s
parliamentary elections are quite satisfied that they will be able to buy their
votes for much less than in the last elections due to the devaluation of the
Lebanese currency. This was also true during the Syrian occupation, and it has
continued with Hezbollah.
We need to recognize this if we want to bring true and positive change to the
country. The political structure empowers trade-offs and compromises between
confessional groups at the cost of the rule of law. The reality is that we need
to break this system, which is consistently and ruthlessly used and abused by
occupation forces. The only solution I can see for Lebanon is a decentralized
political system, if not a full shift toward a federation. There are signs of
hope, such as this week’s victory for independent opposition groups in the Order
of Engineers and Architects elections, as well as in student elections and the
lawyers’ syndicate. We need these voices to push for the right agenda, which is
structural change.
Whether we want to recognize it or not, we are still tribes. We are still stuck
with blood and soil. The formation of a government to unlock international help
will only be a palliative solution that will cost the Lebanese people even more
and plunge the country into more debt and incertitude. So the only way to save
the country is to break the capacity of the occupation forces to push fear and
empower an inter-confessional trade-off system. We urgently need to give more
power to the regions and municipalities on every level, including legislative,
judicial and executive. Lebanon cannot and will never change until a
decentralized political system is put forward. It is time to recognize our own
faults and ills to stop the occupying forces using the country to hide in plain
sight.
• Khaled Abou Zahr is CEO of Eurabia, a media and tech company. He is also the
editor of Al-Watan Al-Arabi.
Iran’s calculations bring Haniyeh, Nasrallah together
The Arab Weekly/July 01/2021
BEIRUT – The top leaders of the militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas held talks
in Beirut on Tuesday about last month’s 11-day war with Israel in the Gaza
Strip.
Political sources in Lebanon told The Arab Weekly that talks between Ismail
Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah were part of an effort to
underline the links between Hamas and the Iranian regional agenda. Haniyeh, the
sources added, is hoping to downplay Egypt’s role in mediating a ceasefire
between the Palestinian Islamist movement and Israel. The aim, according to the
same sources, is to keep in check Cairo’s expanding influence in the region, in
a way that appeases Tehran’s concerns.
Haniyeh arrived in Lebanon on Sunday and met several top officials, including
President Michel Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
On Tuesday, Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah discussed how
they can build on the experience of the latest round of violence.
A statement by Hezbollah’s media office, reported by Al-Manar TV on Tuesday,
said that during the meeting, the two sides reviewed in detail “the battle of
Saif al-Quds, its causes, course and impact on the Palestinian, Arab, Islamic
and international levels.”
The statement added that this “enables the resistance in Palestine and the axis
of resistance in the region to build on this great victory,” stressing “the
depth of the existing relationship between Hezbollah and Hamas.”
The bruising war had caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip, brought
life in much of Israel to a standstill and killed at least 254 people.
There were no comments after the meeting that brought Nasrallah and Haniyeh
together. It was the first between the two since September.
During the war, Hamas and other militant groups fired over 4,000 rockets into
Israel with dozens of projectiles flying as far north as Tel Aviv, the country’s
bustling commercial and cultural capital. Israeli airstrikes and shelling caused
wide destruction in Gaza.
Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war in 2006 that ended in a draw.
After the end of the war in Gaza, Haniyeh visited Egypt for Palestinian
reconciliation talks. He later visited Morocco and Mauritania before arriving in
Lebanon.
Well-informed Lebanese sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that
Iran has been doubling efforts to downplay Egypt’s role and show that it
maintains exclusive influence over Hamas. Iran, which backs Hamas with weapons
and funds, apparently hopes to monopolise the mediation process and use the
Palestinian conflict as a political bargaining chip in any future talks with
major countries, particularly the United States.
Commenting on the visit of the head of the Hamas political bureau to Beirut,
some Lebanese political sources asked: “What are Haniyeh’s intentions in
Lebanon, a country that is practically ruled and controlled by Hezbollah? Did he
come to confirm that Lebanon is aligned with Iran and that it is an active
member of the ‘resistance axis’ led by the Islamic Republic from Tehran? Aren’t
the misfortunes of Lebanon enough? Can the Lebanese, already humiliated in the
light of the current crisis, be ready to bear the burden of Hamas, which does
not know what it wants?”
Lebanese writer Khairallah Khairallah said, “It is not known which camp within
Hamas is represented by Haniyeh, but it is certain, through his movements and
statements, that he represents the Iran-backed camp that invests in mere slogans
to cover up its failure and inability to come up with any political project that
could prove beneficial to the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank and
Jerusalem.
“Haniyeh, who met senior Lebanese officials, has been proclaiming himself as a
representative of Palestine, meaning that Hamas has become an alternative to the
Palestine Liberation Organisation and the National Authority in Ramallah. To
this end, Haniyeh has been trumpeting a so-called victory that was achieved
after the last Jerusalem-Gaza war. The outcome of this war, which lasted eleven
days, is still ambiguous. Besides, there is no sign of any progress at the
political level, one month and a half after the war,” Kharaillah added.
So far, Hamas has not come up with any specific political programme that would
allow it to deal with the post-war phase.
The movement, which claimed victory after the latest round of violence, has
tried to take advantage of the developments. In a recent speech, Hamas leader
Yahya Sinwar spoke about the two-state solution and the establishment of East
Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine, in statements that emulate
those of Yasser Arafat, the historical leader of the Palestinian people.
Despite the rhetoric, Hamas has only shown a concern with power and political
control. With little regard for the results of the most recent war, the Islamist
movement has seized the opportunity to weaken the Palestinian Authority in
Ramallah and the Fatah movement in particular. In its push to consolidate
political power, Hamas of course did not hesitate to hijack the revolution of
the people of Jerusalem and the residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.
In a statement to The Arab Weekly, Khairallah said, “There is no need to prove
how eager Hamas was to seize power in light of the catastrophic failure in
Cairo. The failure took place despite Egypt’s efforts to achieve any kind of
Palestinian-Palestinian reconciliation.”
He added, “There is no such thing as resistance for the sake of resistance and
there is no right of return. The fact that Haniyeh speaks about such right in
Beirut will not convince the Lebanese people that Palestinian refugees will not
remain in their camps forever.”
Khairallah called on the head of Hamas’ political bureau to ask himself very
simple questions: What balance of power is there to guarantee the “right of
return”? Or is Haniyeh relying on the President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, to
achieve this goal?
During his meeting with the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri on
Monday, Haniyeh called for “the respect of civil and human rights of
Palestinians with the aim of ensuring them a decent life until their return.”
There are 174,422 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, in 12 camps and 156
communitie, according to the latest census of the Lebanese Central Bureau of
Statistics for the year 2017.
In previous statements, Haniyeh had hailed the strong relations with Hezbollah
and Iran. On his visit to Lebanon last September, he stressed, during a meeting
with Nasrallah, “the stability and strength of the axis of resistance,” as well
as the strength of relations between Hezbollah and Hamas, which are relations
based “on foundations of faith, brotherhood, Jihad and a common destiny.”
He added at that time that Hamas was harbouring rockets capable of “hitting Tel
Aviv and even beyond”.
An open letter to Presidents Biden and Macron: He
who sows the wind reaps the storm
Ambassador Dr. Hicham Hamdan/July 01/ 2021
Dear Sirs,
Perhaps young President Macron did not know anything about Lebanon before 1975,
when the civil war began. Of course, he does not know anything about the
ill-fated Cairo Agreement of 1969. But I hope that President Biden, whom we pray
may have a long life, still remembers that Lebanon was called the Switzerland of
the East. Lebanon, which was the mecca of the Western and free world, and all
those fleeing persecution in the neighboring dictatorial countries, and the
refuge of families eager to offer the highest standards of education to their
children, or seeking the best medical hospital in this East, or wishing to know
the meaning of cultural openness, and enjoying human freedoms and the natural
and historical blessings of God in Lebanon.
Did you forget that Lebanon was the cultural bridge for you to enter the Arab
world? Did you forget, Mr. Biden, that the Evangelical School, founded there in
1862, has turned into the most important American university in the East? Robert
Kennedy said in the sixties that the number of graduates working in the United
Nations exceeded the number of graduates from any other university in the world,
including Harvard? Have you forgotten, Mr. Macron, that Beirut was the center of
the Francophonie in this East?
Where in the world the wall of a church is also the wall of a mosque, and only
400 meters far is a Jewish synagogue? Where other than in Lebanon are churches
and mosques spread in the same area and remain active peacefully for hundreds of
years? How could you ignore that Lebanon was the seat throughout its history for
so many schools, cultural centers, and universities from almost all types of
educational systems?
Have you forgotten that democratic Lebanon and its public freedoms were your key
entrance to the Arab way of thinking and that its banks were the way for Arab
money to reach yours? Have you forgotten that its beaches, mountains, and plains
were full of evidence of human transformation and that its historical landmarks
since the Phoenicians five thousand years ago were the kiss of scholars,
researchers, and those who were eager behind the secrets of nature, history, and
man?
Have you forgotten that the Old Testament referred to Lebanon and its cedar more
than seventy-five times? Its cedar was the song of the sacred books, and its
wood was the material that sailed the seas as the first indication of the
importance of trade for world peace. Then have you forgotten what Saint John
Paul II, son of Poland, said in 1997, that Lebanon is more than a homeland and
is a message to Humanity? Have you forgotten that your predecessors, especially
Presidents George Bush Jr. and Nicolas Sarkozy, said in their conference in
Washington in 2007 that Lebanon is necessary to democratic West? Did not
President Bill Clinton say at the 2015 Dulles Conference about leadership that
sound leadership in Washington include the ability to help restore stability to
this small, model country in the Middle East?
Your Excellencies,
Lebanon has adhered to the armistice agreement with Israel since 1949. It did
not enter into any war against it after that. Why should Lebanon continue to be
a battlefield and keep paying such a high price in terms of Humanity's suffers,
dignity, role, and children's future? Mr. Biden, Lebanon He participated with
President Roosevelt in establishing the United Nations in 1945. He also
participated with Mrs. Roosevelt in writing the Bill of Human Rights in 1948. Is
it permissible to be left to his suffering in this despicable form? Mr. Macron,
Lebanon participated in creating the Francophone Group and has been with you for
thousand years, throughout those many wars, to establish this East. You are the
ones who contributed to the establishment of Greater Lebanon. How can you leave
it now to the fate of the black-minded ideologists?
The Lebanese in your two countries have actively and effectively contributed to
their progress and prosperity, so is it permissible for you to turn your back on
their families in their mother country?
Lebanon is now not an option between Israel and others. The issue is no longer
related to Israel's security and survival, but instead, its security and
survival have become closely linked to the protection and survival of Lebanon,
the homeland. The issue now is between Lebanon's positive neutrality and the
armistice agreement and Iran, which threatens the countries of the entire Middle
East, not only Israel, and controls and occupies it through its party's weapons
in Lebanon. No country in the world accepts to submit to a party affiliated with
a foreign country in terms of ideology, politics, money, and weapons. Is this
not the height of national treason in your national and international legal
concepts?
What is required? Is it a deal on behalf of our sovereignty to satisfy Israel's
desires for some of its territorial waters and oil? Shouldn't you, first of all,
defend the values on which your two countries were founded and planted in the
Charter of the United Nations? Your indulgence in this regard pushed Russia and
Syria to expand into Lebanon's territorial waters and its oil in the north. Your
deal will bring to an end your lore, for he who sows the wind reaps the storm.
All we ask of you is that you lead the Security Council to completes its
resolutions on Lebanon. You are leading the UNIFIL International forces, which
should be authorized to playfully their role to liberate Lebanon under
Resolution 1701 (2006) and earlier resolutions and help its people transition to
a normal state. Our people have all the capabilities to return Lebanon to its
traditional role and prosperity. This resolution is related to the Armistice
Agreement. Therefore, it derives from Chapter VII, Article 40 of the Charter,
referred to in that agreement to which Lebanon and the United Nations are bound.
The Security Council must enable the international force to implement the
resolution taken, even by using force.
We hope that neither Russia nor China will object to such a resolution in the
Security Council. But if they object, Resolution 370, titled "Uniting for Peace"
of 1950, allows the General Assembly to take such a decision. You have reverted
to this resolution several times during the cold war era. A United Nations Force
was deployed in Lebanon in 1958 upon a resolution taken in the general assembly
under resolution 370.
Lebanon appeals to you to intervene. You are entrusted under the United Nations
Charter to protect the international peace and security threatened in Lebanon.
And must help to save Humanity from all forms of violated human rights daily
committed in Lebanon. We appeal to you to protect our democratic system, seized
by a corrupted authority that fully supports Hezbollah. Our people deserve your
support> They have provided you with all the services to spread your values
throughout history. Please do not betray them at this fateful station.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on
July 01-02/2021
Iran restricts IAEA access to main
enrichment plant after attack, diplomats say
Reuters/July 01/2021
PARIS/VIENNA: Iran has been restricting UN nuclear inspectors’ access to its
main uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, citing security concerns after what it
says was an attack on the site by Israel in April, diplomats say. The standoff,
which one official said has been going on for weeks, is in the course of being
resolved, diplomats said, but it has also raised tensions with the West just as
indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the Iran nuclear
deal have adjourned without a date set for their resumption. It follows various
moves by Iran that breach the 2015 nuclear deal or have angered Washington and
its allies, ranging from enriching uranium to close to weapons-grade to failing
to explain the origin of uranium particles that the UN nuclear watchdog found at
several undeclared sites. “They are provoking us,” said one Western diplomat who
follows the International Atomic Energy Agency closely, adding that inspectors
should be able to have full access next week. Iranian officials were not
immediately available for comment. The IAEA declined to comment, citing its
general policy of not commenting on inspection matters.Any reasons for Iran’s
move beyond the official security and safety concerns it cited as explanations
are unclear, but it has quarreled with the IAEA over access before. Iran in 2020
denied the IAEA access to two locations for snap inspections. In 2019, Iran held
an IAEA inspector and seized her travel documents. The IAEA has so far stopped
short of reporting the issue to its member states and calling an emergency
meeting of its 35-nation Board of Governors as it did in November 2019 when Iran
briefly held the IAEA inspector who diplomats say had sought access to Natanz.
An explosion and power cut in April at Natanz, the heart of Iran’s
uranium-enrichment programme, appears to have damaged centrifuges at the
underground, commercial-scale Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) there. The last
quarterly IAEA report on Iran in May showed its enrichment output had slowed.
“Because of the accident/sabotage in April, certain accesses have been limited
for safety and security reasons,” a Vienna-based diplomat said, adding that the
move “had very little impact on the agency’s ability to carry out verification”.
The IAEA and Iran have discussed the issue “in order to avoid that these
limitations become permanent and therefore start eroding the verification
capability”, he added.
Washington and its European partners have been pressuring Iran over its breaches
of the deal, which was built around lengthening the time Tehran would need to
produce a nuclear weapon if it chose to. Iran insists its nuclear aims are
entirely peaceful. Inspections and monitoring have also been in the spotlight
recently as Iran reduced its cooperation with the agency in February, removing
the legal basis for snap IAEA inspections at undeclared facilities that had been
introduced by the 2015 deal. At the same time, Iran ended IAEA monitoring of
some nuclear activities that the deal introduced. A temporary agreement with the
IAEA kept that monitoring going in a black-box-type arrangement under which data
continues to be collected but the IAEA will only have access to it at a later
date. That temporary agreement expired last week, however, and the IAEA has said
Iran has not responded when asked about the status of that agreement, which the
IAEA hopes to extend. The Western diplomat said Iran had now agreed to grant
inspectors full access to the FEP, which should happen next week. Another said
the move was carefully calibrated by Iran to create a nuisance without causing a
major diplomatic incident. “The Iranians are being very tactical,” he said.
Iran oil workers strike for better wages amid economic
crisis
The Arab Weekly/July 01/2021
TEHRAN — Thousands of workers in Iran’s vast energy industry have gone on strike
over the past week to press demands for better wages and conditions at oil
facilities, Iranian media reported. The widespread demonstrations underscore the
mounting economic pressures on the country as it struggles to secure relief from
crippling sanctions. Footage has spread across social media showing construction
workers at 60 oil and petrochemical installations, largely in the country’s
oil-rich south, walking off their jobs in protest. In some videos, cars honk and
crowds of workers cheer as they stream into the dusty roads, the refinery’s
hulking white storage tanks receding behind them. Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani vowed Wednesday to “solve” oil workers’ grievances and sought to assuage
fears over any economic reverberations. He said the labour demonstrations were
mainly limited to private construction workers on temporary contracts at the
plants and would not hurt Iran’s oil production. The protests have not yet
reached the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company, where some 200,000 workers
receive wages three times as high and better protections under Iran’s labour
law.
“We do not have and we will not have any problem in the production, transfer,
distribution and export of oil,” Rouhani told his weekly cabinet meeting. “I
promise the workers of the oil industry that their problems will be solved.”
The striking workers at remote facilities in the southern desert reaches of the
country, where summer temperatures exceed 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees
Fahrenheit), are pushing for wages on par with their counterparts in the state
oil company. They also want ten days off a month to visit their families in
faraway cities. The contractors currently receive some $200 a month, just one
day off per week and two and a half vacation days a month. Iran’s oil sector,
the lifeblood of its economy, has been devastated by the impact of American
sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Three years ago, then-President
Donald Trump pulled America from Tehran’s landmark 2015 atomic accord with world
powers and returned sanctions on Iran that have slashed its petrochemical
exports and clobbered its economy. Diplomats from parties to the deal have been
struggling to resurrect the agreement in Vienna.
With the coronavirus pandemic worsening Iran’s economic woes, inflation has
spiralled over 40%, exacting a heavy toll on ordinary labourers. Workers have
staged scattered, low-level strikes in various cities and industries over
salary, retirement and pension issues in recent months.
There have been no reports of tough action against the strikers by security
forces. Human rights groups have nonetheless raised the alarm, citing the
country’s dark history of crackdowns on popular unrest. Iran’s news media,
strictly controlled by authorities, has paid little attention to the oil
workers’ strikes. Organised labour demonstrations in the oil sector remain
politically sensitive in Iran, where in 1978 mass strikes over wages and working
conditions in the oil industry severed production and swelled into demands for
the overthrow of the pro-Western monarchy before the Islamic Revolution months
later. “The issues facing the oil industry’s workers are the same as those
facing all workers in Iran; the authorities should begin addressing their urgent
needs,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Centre for Human Rights in
Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, warning of potential for “violence
against the strikers if these work stoppages continue and grow.” In the
meantime, however, Iranian officials say they’re trying to address workers’
demands. In an emergency parliamentary committee meeting about the strikes this
week, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said he received backing from lawmakers to
remove wage restraints from construction contracts in the oil industry. The
former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was barred from running
again in Iran’s presidential election this month, sent a letter in support of
those on strike. Following his disqualification, the well-known populist has
sought to rally support by posturing as an anti-establishment figure. Iran’s
hard-line judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi, won the vote widely seen as tipped in
his favour. “I warn all related authorities and officials,” said Ahmadinejad,
whose reelection in a disputed 2009 presidential vote saw security forces
suppress Iran’s Green Movement protests with brutal force. “Disregarding the
protests of those who have found all usual forms to express their demands
blocked will not carry good consequences.”
Hard-line cleric under US sanctions becomes
Iran’s judiciary chief
The Arab Weekly/July 01/2021
TEHRAN - Iran’s supreme leader on Thursday appointed a hard-line cleric
sanctioned by the West as the country’s new judiciary chief, state media
reported, replacing the president-elect who previously held the powerful post.
The new chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi, 64, takes the reins from Ebrahim
Raisi, who will ascend to the country’s highest civilian position after his
election victory earlier this month. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final
say on all state matters in Iran, announced Ejehi’s appointment, urging him to
advocate for justice and fight corruption. In a decree, he praised Ejehi’s
“valuable experience, shining records and legal competence.” Ejehi takes over a
judiciary widely criticised by international rights groups for being one of the
world’s top executioners, as well as conducting closed-door trials of dual
nationals and individuals with Western ties. Raisi, the previous judiciary chief
and a protege of Khamenei, was sanctioned by the United States in part over his
involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988,
as well as over his tenure at the judiciary. Thursday’s announcement was widely
expected as Ejehi, considered close to Khamenei, had served as deputy judiciary
chief after a long history in the branch, including as prosecutor general. In
that post, from 2009-2014, he pushed to further limit access to the internet and
popular social media apps, sparking worries among his opponents over the
increase of social oppression. From 2005-2009, during the first term of
hard-line populist former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ejehi served as
intelligence minister, following decades of deep involvement in the services
dating back to his role as head of the ministry’s recruiting office in the
1980s.
The conservative cleric landed on the US Treasury Department and European
Union’s sanctions lists over allegations of severe human rights abuses linked to
Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election in 2009. That vote, considered rigged by the
reformist opposition, sparked massive “Green Movement” protests and a sweeping
crackdown in which thousands of people were detained and dozens were killed.
Ejehi’s relationship to Ahmadinejad became strained in 2009, when as
intelligence minister he openly opposed the administration’s tactic of
broadcasting televised confessions from government opponents arrested in the
post-election turmoil. In 2009, Ahmadinejad dismissed Ejehi from his post. Even
before the 2009 crackdown, Ejehi was associated with moves to jail reformist
politicians. In 1998, he became known as the ultraconservative judge who shocked
Tehran, the capital, with a harsh verdict against its reformist mayor. He
initially sentenced Gholamhossein Karbaschi to five years in prison, 60 lashes
and a hefty fine. Ejehi also has come under heavy criticism over his role as a
prosecutor in the Special Court of Clerics in the 1990s. His opponents accuse
him of involvement in a string of killings of activists, dissidents and
intellectuals that began in 1998. Many moderates saw the slayings as an assault
by hard-liners against the country’s reform movement. The intelligence ministry
admitted in early 1999 that rogue agents were behind a limited number of
killings and the intelligence minister resigned. Dissidents claim that more than
80 opposition activists were killed by the security services in the 1990s. The
outgoing relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani congratulated Ejehi on his
promotion, praising his “efficiency as well as important organisational
experience.”
Danish minister says Qatar’s hosting of World Cup was
‘wrong’
The Arab Weekly/July 01/2021
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Denmark’s culture minister criticised FIFA’s bid process
that allowed Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, saying Wednesday it was “wrong”
and raised questions of corruption in international sports organisations. Joy
Mogensen said it “undermines the values and integrity of the beautiful sport
that binds the world together.”In a statement after a virtual meeting of the
Nordic culture ministers that she hosted, Mogensen said the five nations,
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland, “share a similar view of the
problem.” “Closeness and corruption is something we must get rid of in top
sports,” she said, adding that the Nordic countries must work together “if we
want to get anywhere.” In 2010, Qatar won the right to host the World Cup in a
contentious FIFA vote that sparked corruption investigations into the entire
bidding process. Evidence was not found by FIFA to warrant stripping Qatar of
the hosting rights. The natural gas-rich emirate has spent tens of billions of
dollars to build hotels, a new transport system and lavish stadiums to cope with
staging one of the biggest sporting events. Qatar has faced great international
scrutiny over the treatment of blue collar workers ever since it won the rights
in 2010 to host the first World Cup in the Middle East. The emirate has,
however, introduced several labour reforms since 2010, which it says have
benefited workers including raising the minimum wage last year to $275 a month
and removing obstacles to changing employers. In March, players from the
national soccer teams of Germany, Netherlands and Norway wore shirts before
World Cup qualifiers voicing concerns over human rights in Qatar after Britain’s
Guardian newspaper said it had calculated at least 6,500 migrant worker deaths
in Qatar since it won the hosting rights. Qatar had said the reported deaths
were within the expected range for the size and demographics of the population
of the workers concerned and that the mortality rate had consistently declined
since 2010 due to health and safety reforms. The World Cup is expected to
contribute around $20 billion to the economy with a significant portion
benefiting the construction and tourism industries.
Canada/Minister Garneau meets with senior members of Jordanian
government
July 1, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs
Canada
The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today met with H.E.
Bisher Al-Khasawneh, Prime Minister of Jordan and Ayman Safadi, Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Jordan. Minister Garneau reiterated Canada’s strong
partnership and friendship with Jordan, with whom Canada works closely to
advance peace and security, humanitarian development and trade priorities. He
also underscored that Canada values Jordan’s continued generous efforts in
supporting refugees. In recognition of Jordan’s ongoing efforts, Minister
Garneau highlighted Canada’s ongoing support, including a commitment of $575.7
million since 2016, through the Middle East engagement strategy, notably to help
expand education and health services to refugees, which is especially vital
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister Garneau restated Canada’s recognition of
Jordan’s custodianship over the Muslim and Christian Holy Sites in Jerusalem and
conveyed Canada’s appreciation of Jordan’s constructive efforts and recognition
of the key role it plays towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for the
Palestinian and Israeli peoples. The minister and his interlocutors shared their
views on advancing Middle East peace efforts and committed to continue working
together, and with the international community, to ensure sustainable peace and
security in the region.
Jordan's King Abdullah heads to U.S. to meet Biden
Reuters/July 01/ 2021
Jordan's King Abdullah left for the United States on Thursday for a three-week
visit that includes the first meeting by an Arab leader with President Joe Biden
at the White House since he took office, a palace statement said. The statement
said the monarch, accompanied by his wife Queen Rania, would attend an investors
meeting followed by a private itinerary ahead of a working visit to Washington
for talks with congressional leaders and administration officials. An official
said the king's talks with Biden were expected some time after mid-July. The
staunch U.S. ally will lobby senior officials for an extension of a five-year
$6.4 billion aid package that ends next year to help shore up Jordan's
struggling economy, the official added. Washington is Jordan's single largest
source of bilateral assistance, providing more than $1.5 billion every year, and
the kingdom ranks among the top recipients of U.S. foreign aid, U.S. diplomats
say. Biden reaffirmed strong U.S. support for the monarch shortly after the
kingdom announced it had quashed a rift within the royal family that shook
Jordan's image as a beacon of stability in the region. Abdullah had strongly
opposed former U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, which he
saw as a national security threat that would also undermine his Hashemite
family's custodianship of the holy sites in Jerusalem. Officials say the shift
in U.S. policy under Biden towards a more traditional commitment to a two-state
solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict has relieved pressure on Jordan. A
majority of Jordan's 10 million population are of Palestinian origin.
Jordan’s military prosecutor seeks highest punishment
for sedition accused
Arab News/July 01/2021
AMMAN: Jordan’s military State Security Court (SSC) prosecutor on Thursday asked
the court to inflict the highest punishment on Bassem Awadallah and Sharif
Hassan bin Zaid over their alleged involvement in a high-profile sedition case.
Awadallah, a former chief of the Jordanian Royal Court, and bin Zaid, a distant
royal family member, are standing trial at the SSC on charges of plotting to
undermine the regime and the country’s security and stability. The two men were
arrested on April 3 along with 15 other people suspected of involvement in the
case, which also involved Prince Hamzah, a half-brother of Jordan’s King
Abdullah. Jordanian authorities said that Awadallah, bin Zaid and Prince Hamzah
were attempting to destabilize Jordan in collaboration with “foreign entities.”
Prince Hamzah’s case has been settled within the Hashemite family on directives
from King Abdullah. The Jordanian Royal Court published a letter signed by
Prince Hamzah in which he vowed allegiance to the monarch and confirmed that he
would act “always for His Majesty and his crown prince to help and support.”The
charge sheet against Awadallah and bin Zaid said the two defendants were
long-time friends because of the nature of their work and connection to Prince
Hamzeh. Prince Hamzeh was seeking to become the ruler of Jordan and “took
advantage of certain incidents, including the COVID-19 pandemic, to create chaos
and frustration in the country,” the charge sheet added. Their strategy included
attacks and criticisms of King Abdullah “with the hope of gaining popular
support.” Awadallah and bin Zaid pleaded not guilty during their opening trial
earlier this month. Both suspects presented written statements to the SSC on
Sunday. The SSC prosecution sheet also included a charge against bin Zaid of
possessing illegal narcotics (hashish). During Thursday’s fifth closed-door
session, the defense team asked the SSC for time to prepare their closing
arguments, according to the state-run news agency Petra. The SSC, which looks
into cases related to terrorism and state security, set next Tuesday as the date
for the trial. Awadallah’s lawyer, Mohammad Afif, was quoted by government-owned
Al-Mamlakah TV on Wednesday as saying that the defense team has requested that
princes Hamzah, Hashemite and Ali be summoned as witnesses along with Foreign
Minister Ayman Safadi. Afif, a former SSC president, did not elaborate, but
sources familiar with the case told Arab News that the SSC turned down the
request. According to lawyers, the two defendants could receive prison terms of
three to 20 years if convicted on charges of incitement and sedition.
Anger simmers among Jordanian tribes as economy tanks
The Arab Weekly/July 01/2021
KARAK, Jordan – Jordan has drawn a curtain of secrecy across the unprecedented
public rift within its royal family, but the social tensions laid bare by the
palace drama that unfolded in April, particularly the economic despair of its
influential tribes, can be seen everywhere. Years of economic crisis have frayed
the historic patronage-for-loyalty bond between the king and the tribes, a
bedrock of the Hashemite family’s decades-long rule. That may have been an
underlying factor in an alleged plot by the half brother of King Abdullah II to
try to take a throne he was once in line to inherit. The prince has been
silenced and his purported co-conspirators are on trial behind closed doors. But
even some government insiders fear that anger percolating under the surface
could erupt at any moment, a warning bound to worry the kingdom’s Western
allies.“I’m afraid of what is next because of the tragic living situation, that
people won’t bear it anymore and (that) people will explode,” said Sayel al-Majali,
head of the governing council of Karak province, where unemployment has reached
40%. “I fear losing control of security matters” if problems aren’t solved, said
al-Majali, a retired army brigadier and a member of one of Karak’s most
prominent tribes.
Palace drama —
Prince Hamzah, stripped of his title of crown prince in favour of Abdullah’s
eldest son in 2004, allegedly sought to harness such dissatisfaction to take the
throne. Hamzah has denied he tried to incite dissent against his half brother.
Yet he also nurtured ties with the tribes over the years. In a self-made video
leaked from house arrest, Hamzah played up his connection to ordinary
Jordanians, contrasting it with what he described as an aloof ruling system bent
on enriching itself. “I tried to remain connected with people in the hope that
they realise that there are members of this family who still love this country,
who care for them and will put them above all else,” Hamzah said, using a
portrait of his still widely-beloved father, the late King Hussein, as a
backdrop. Over the years, Hamzah earnt a reputation for honest piety, making him
a symbol of hope for change, especially among younger members of the tribes,
said analyst Labib Kamhawi.“The issue is not Hamzah visiting these tribes,” he
said. “The issue is how these tribes received Hamzah.”The prince has not been
charged, with the king saying the family will deal with him. But his name
appears throughout the indictment against Bassem Awadallah, a former royal court
chief and Sharif Hassan bin Zaid, a distant cousin of the king. The pair
allegedly worked on social media messages the prince was to post to stir
discontent and also offered to seek foreign help.
Sinking into poverty —
Hope is scarce in Jordan’s rural areas and provincial towns that are home to the
kingdom’s original Bedouin tribes. In the neglected provincial capital of Karak,
downtown shops and streets were largely deserted during a recent visit. Young
men hung around in small groups, smoking and chatting to pass the time. Karak’s
main attraction is a crusader castle, but the coronavirus pandemic halted
tourism. Even before the pandemic, there weren’t enough jobs for a young,
rapidly growing labour force. The lives of many young Jordanians are on hold
because they cannot follow the traditional path of job, marriage and children.
Karak resident Mustafa Shamayleh amassed academic credentials over the past
decade, hoping to find a job. He is now 30, still unemployed and living with his
parents, despite his Ph.D. in economics from a top-tier university in India. “I
can’t live life,” said Shamayleh, who delivers food on a motorbike for pocket
money to ease the burden on his 70-year-old father. “If I want to marry now,
how? I have nothing.”Shamayleh keeps searching for work in his field even though
scarce jobs tend to be awarded through personal connections, or “wasta,” which
he says he does not have. His father Ali, a retired ambulance driver, recalls
when royal patronage provided a safety net. Tribal Jordanians had access to jobs
in the security forces and the civil service. They were given preference over
the descendants of Palestinian refugees, also a large segment of the population,
but one seen as less loyal to the monarchy.
“It’s not that the king doesn’t want to give them (jobs) now,” said Kamhawi, the
analyst. “He doesn’t have the money. The government doesn’t have the money. The
country doesn’t have the money.”The pandemic made things worse. Officially,
unemployment rose to 23.9% in 2020, but it is believed to be higher. More
Jordanians are sinking into poverty, with the figure expected to exceed a
quarter of the population soon, up from 15.7% three years ago. The economy
contracted last year for the first time in three decades, the World Bank said.
Limiting the damage
Former Information Minister Mohammed Momani said Hamzah tried to exploit the
economic pain, accusing him of “evil coordination” with his two alleged
co-conspirators. “It’s not an attempt to try to help the country,” he said.
“It’s an attempt to try to destabilise the country.”Momani brushed aside
suggestions the economic downturn was eroding the historic bond between the king
and the tribes. He said the tribes might disagree with some government policies,
but that “at the end of the day, they stand by the country and the monarch.” The
indictment also suggested the defendants sought foreign aid, a version
reinforced by Momani. Bin Zaid allegedly asked officials at an unidentified
foreign embassy about their potential support, while the charge sheet played up
Awadallah’s Saudi ties. Awadallah holds Jordanian, US and Saudi citizenship, has
business interests in the Gulf and has been linked to Saudi Arabia’s powerful
crown prince. Still, Jordan stopped short of accusing Saudi Arabia, an important
financial backer, of involvement in the alleged plot. In an apparent attempt to
limit the damage from the royal scandal, the king appointed a 92-member
commission that is to deliver a plan for political reform by October. Momani, a
member of the panel, said he expects concrete results because there is a hard
deadline and the king presided over the launch to underscore its importance.
Still, calls for opening the political system have largely gone unanswered over
the past decade, amid fears that significant electoral reform could boost the
Muslim Brotherhood, the kingdom’s only organised opposition group.
Frustration with decision-makers
Atef al-Majali, a tribal leader in Karak, shrugged off the committee as an empty
gesture. He said calls for reform have not been heard, adding that the tribes
don’t just demand a better deal for themselves, but for all Jordanians. The
tribe is still upset over the arrest of two senior members, including Hamzah’s
chief aide, Yasser al-Majali. At the time, the prince was placed under house
arrest and more than a dozen prominent tribal figures and officials were
detained. All detainees were released three weeks later, but the tribe’s al-Majalis
took issue with security forces storming homes, saying it was insulting and that
an invitation to the local police station would have sufficed. Yasser al-Majali
and other members of Hamzah’s staff have not been allowed to return to work and
the prince has not been heard from in public. Like others, Atef al-Majali
expressed frustration with the decision-makers, saying tribal leaders are being
ignored despite their traditional influence.“Our voice is loud, but no one hears
us,” he said. “We try to be patient, but in the end, patience has limits.”
Russian Says Exposed IS Terror Plot, Killed 1 Suspect
Associated Press/July 01/ 2021
Russia's domestic security agency said Thursday it has discovered a plot by
followers of the Islamic State group to conduct terror attacks in Moscow and
southern Russia, and killed one suspected conspirator. The Federal Security
Service, the main KGB successor agency known by its Russian acronym FSB, said
that two Russian nationals were plotting the attacks with firearms and knives in
crowded areas in Moscow and the southern city of Astrakhan under the IS leaders'
guidance. The agency said that one of the suspects was killed when he resisted
arrest in the Astrakhan region. Another suspected plotter was arrested in
Moscow, it said. The FSB said it had seized weapons and extremist literature
during searches at the suspects' homes. It didn't say when the busts happened.
Russia rejects renewing cross-border aid to Syria
The Arab Weekly/July 01/2021
NEW YORK - UNITED NATIONS – Russia’s UN ambassador on Wednesday called a
proposal to reopen a border crossing from Iraq to Syria’s northeast for
delivering humanitarian aid “a non-starter.” He also refused to say what will
happen to the only crossing now in operation, from Turkey to the country’s
rebel-held northwest. A UN Security Council draft resolution proposes sending
aid through both crossings, but Vassily Nebenzia said at a news conference that
Russia is discussing only the possible continuation of deliveries through the
Bab al-Hawa crossing to Idlib in northwest Syria. He refused to say whether
Russia will vote to keep it open or use its veto to close it. Russia has come
under intense pressure from the UN, US, Europeans and others who warn of dire
humanitarian consequences for over a million Syrians if all border crossings are
closed. Nebenzia was commenting on a draft resolution circulated to the Security
Council last Friday that would keep Bab al-Hawa open and reopen the Al-Yaroubiya
crossing from Iraq in the mainly Kurdish-controlled northeast that was closed in
January 2020. The Security Council approved four border crossings when aid
deliveries began in 2014, three years after the start of the Syrian conflict.
But in January 2020, Russia used its veto threat in the council first to limit
aid deliveries to two border crossings in the northwest, and then last July to
cut another. So today, aid can only be delivered through the Bab al-Hawa
crossing, and its mandate ends July 10.
Moscow’s intransigence
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Western donors, who are the
major providers of humanitarian aid to Syria, of “blackmailing” Moscow by
threatening to cut humanitarian financing for its close ally Syria if the
mandate for Bab al-Hawa is not extended. “We consider it is important to resist
such approaches,” he said in a recent oral statement conveyed to UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “We believe that further concessions to the
Americans and Europeans under the pressure of financial threats will undermine
the credibility of the United Nations, its Charter and the Security Council’s
resolutions.”Nebenzia reiterated Russia’s criticism of cross-border aid and said
humanitarian assistance should be delivered across conflict lines within Syria
to reinforce the Syrian government’s sovereignty over the entire country. He
reiterated Lavrov’s criticism of the continuous attempts since April 2020 to
block a convoy by the United Nations, International Committee of the Red Cross
and Syrian Arab Red Crescent to Idlib from Syria’s capital, Damascus. The
Russian minister blamed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the strongest militant group in
Idlib, “with the connivance” of Turkey, for refusing to allow the cross-line
delivery. Nebenzia was pressed at a news conference on Russia’s reaction to the
resolution, which was drafted by Ireland and Norway, both serving two-year terms
on the Security Council. The draft was discussed Wednesday by council experts
for the first time, he said. The Russian ambassador said he told Ireland and
Norway “in the very beginning that what we hear from our colleagues about
reopening the closed cross-border points is really a non-starter.”That appears
to doom Al-Yaroubiya’s reopening.
US disappointment
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who recently visited the Bab al-Hawa
crossing, expressed disappointment Friday that the draft resolution didn’t call
for aid deliveries through three crossings, including the second crossing from
Turkey to the northwest at Bab al-Salam, which was closed last July. “Millions
of Syrians are struggling, and without urgent action, millions more will be cut
off from food, clean water, medicine and COVID-19 vaccines,” she said. Nebenzia
said the Syrian government wants to close cross-border deliveries, and dismissed
claims there is no alternative.
There were predictions of “disaster” when Al-Yaroubiya was closed, “but today
facts on the ground confirm, and the UN says that they have increased
humanitarian assistance to the northeast … through the cooperation with the
Syrian government,” he said.
He said cross-border aid was approved in 2014 “in special circumstances when
there was no access to many parts of Syria.” “But, of course, today it is now an
outdated operation and eventually it will be closed,” he said. Asked whether he
didn’t see the need for even a single crossing now, Nebenzia said, “I will not
give you a definitive answer at this time. I will only tell you we continue
consulting on this issue.”
Turkey’s withdrawal from treaty to protect women
triggers outcry
The Arab Weekly/July 01/2021
ANKARA - Turkey on Thursday formally exited a treaty combatting femicide and
domestic abuse, in a controversial move by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
condemned by the West and rights groups. Erdogan sparked outrage in March by
pulling out from the world’s first binding treaty to prevent and combat violence
against women, known as the Istanbul Convention. The 2011 pact, signed by 45
countries and the European Union, requires governments to adopt legislation
linked to the prosecution of crimes including marital rape and female genital
mutilation. Erdogan’s move came as he clings on to support from Islamist and
nationalist groups to maintain his 18-year rule. Rights organisations say
Erdogan’s decision will put women at greater risk of violence when femicide is
already prevalent in Turkey. The president on Thursday insisted Turkey’s
commitment to end violence against women would not suffer because of his
decision. “As the fight against violence against women did not begin with this
treaty, so will our commitment not end because we are withdrawing,” he said. He
was speaking at an event at the presidential palace in Ankara for a national
action plan to combat violence against women. But in comments likely to anger
Turkish women under a president who often bases their value on whether they are
mothers and their relationship to men, Erdogan said “the fight was about
protecting the honour of … our mothers and daughters.” Erdogan in 2016
recommended women have three children and suggested a woman was “incomplete” if
she did not have any.
Catering to Islamist conservatives
Justifying the withdrawal in March, Erdogan’s top press aide Fahrettin Altun
said the treaty’s references to gender-based abuses had been “hijacked by people
attempting to normalise homosexuality”. The LGBTQ movement is “incompatible”
with Turkey’s social and family values, he said. Major Turkish cities were
convulsed earlier this year by student-led protests supporting broader rights.
Homosexuality has been legal in Turkey since the Ottoman Empire. But women’s
rights groups accuse Ankara of withdrawing from the treaty to appease
conservatives at a time when Erdogan’s ruling Islamic-rooted party is recording
lower levels of support. The withdrawal was condemned by the European Union and
the United States. Turkey’s highest administrative court on Tuesday rejected an
attempt to annul the withdrawal, saying that Erdogan had the “authority” to make
the decision.
Femicide on the rise
Last year, 300 women were murdered in the country, according to the rights group
We Will Stop Femicide Platform, while 189 have been killed so far this year.
“The withdrawal sends a reckless and dangerous message to perpetrators who
abuse, maim and kill: that they can carry on doing so with impunity,” said
Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnes Callamard. There are protests
planned for Thursday evening across Turkey, with a large rally in Istanbul. The
Istanbul governorate banned a Pride march last weekend, which saw police use
force while detaining dozens of protesters and pin an AFP photographer to the
ground, prompting a formal complaint. The parade was held annually in Istanbul
until 2015, an event which had been attended by thousands of people. Critics say
the bans on the Pride march and the treaty withdrawal demonstrate a creeping
Islamisation under Erdogan, who first came to power as prime minister in 2003.
“We will continue our struggle,” Canan Gullu, president of the Federation of
Turkish Women’s Associations, said on Wednesday. “Turkey is shooting itself in
the foot with this decision.” She said that since March, women and other
vulnerable groups had been more reluctant to ask for help and less likely to
receive it, with COVID-19-fuelled economic difficulties causing a dramatic
increase in violence against them. One monitoring group has logged roughly one
femicide per day in Turkey since a sharp rise five years ago.
Finland: Dane acquitted of 1987 ferry attack on
backpackers
AP/July 01/ 2021
In one of the oldest unsolved criminal cases in Finland, a Finnish court on
Wednesday acquitted a 52-year-old Dane of murder and attempted murder over an
attack on two young German backpackers on a Baltic Sea ferry more than 30 years
ago.
Klaus Schelkle, aged 20, was killed and his 22-year-old girlfriend Bettina Taxis
severely injured in a brutal attack while they were sleeping on the outer deck
of the Viking Sally, en route from Stockholm in Sweden to the Finnish port of
Turku in July 1987.
The crime took place on Finnish waters near the Aland Islands archipelago. The
ship was later sold and renamed, and sank seven years afterward with great loss
of life in one of Europe’s worst peacetime maritime accidents. Following decades
of investigation, Finnish police concluded last year that the Danish man, at the
time a 18-year-old boy scout going to an international jamboree in Finland and
who allegedly arrived first at the scene to help the victims, was the key
suspect in the complex case. The man denied all charges during the one week-long
trial that ended late May. He wasn’t taken into custody and returned to Denmark.
The district court based in Turku, western Finland, said the prosecutors “had
failed to prove the defendant ... to be the only person having had the
possibility and opportunity to commit the crimes in concern.”
The court also stressed that the murder weapon was never found, saying that “the
defendant hasn’t had any such knowledge about the murder weapon that only the
perpetrator of the offences could have had.”
Prosecutors alleged that the man had earlier confessed to committing the crime,
and were seeking a life sentence for him. They claimed the Dane had given such a
detailed account of events during the investigation and media interviews that it
was impossible he was simply an outsider who just happened arrive at the scene
first. According to Danish and Finnish media, the man has a criminal background,
including prison sentences for an armed robbery and illegal arms possession. In
April, the Danish tabloid BT reported that he had sent threatening messages to
his ex-wife in 2015-16 and bragged to her that he had committed unspecified
killings. However, the Finnish court dismissed the alleged confession in its
ruling. “The defendant has not confessed to being guilty of the crimes in such a
way that his guilt through this would be considered proven or even probable,”
the court said.
Martina Kronstrom, the Danish man’s lawyer in Finland, told The Associated Press
that her client was relieved and “very happy and satisfied with the result.” She
said he “didn’t worry too much because he had full confidence in the legal
system.”
“One would expect that if you press charges after 33 years, you would actually
have quite a lot to go on,” Kronstrom said. “Something new, something that you
can actually use and what you can use to have a verdict. In this case, we quite
easily could see that there is no such thing. There were some stories by our
client that was the only actually new thing they had. But that’s not enough in a
murder case.” Kronstrom said she saw “very little space for an appeal” over the
verdict by prosecutors, who haven’t commented on the court decision. The Germans
were airlifted from the ferry to a hospital in Turku where Schelkle was
pronounced dead. Taxis survived but had no memory of the assault. Prosecutors
said the weapon used was a hammer-type tool that apparently was stolen from the
ferry and thrown into the sea by the perpetrator. Viking Sally was later sold to
an Estonian shipping company and sailed under the name of M/S Estonia. The ferry
later sank in the Baltic Sea going from the Baltic nation’s capital, Tallinn, to
Stockholm in September 1994, causing the loss of 852 lives. --
Russia posts record virus deaths for third day running
AFP/July 01/ 2021
Russia on Thursday reported 672 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours,
according to a government tally, setting a pandemic high of fatalities for the
third day in a row. The country is battling a surging outbreak driven by the
highly infectious Delta variant and worsened by a lagging jab drive, with
President Vladimir Putin urging Russians on national television Wednesday to get
vaccinated. The daily death toll released Thursday topped Wednesday's record of
669 and Tuesday's of 652. Saint Petersburg, which is due to host the Spain vs.
Switzerland Euro 2020 quarter-final on Friday in front of thousands of
spectators, saw the most deaths with 115. Dozens of Finland supporters were
infected in the city, where authorities have introduced minimal restrictions
beyond banning food sales at fan zones, after they travelled there earlier this
month for their team's loss to Belgium.
In Moscow, where the city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said that the Delta
variant -- first identified in India -- accounts for 90 percent of cases,
authorities have introduced a host of new restrictions. Businesses have been
ordered to send home 30 percent of unvaccinated employees and restaurants to
only serve inside patrons who have been inoculated or infected in the past six
months.Sobyanin also earlier this month required 60 percent of the city's
service industry workers to be fully inoculated by mid-August, with more than a
dozen Russian regions since following his lead.
- Booster jabs -
On Thursday, the Western exclave of Kaliningrad became the latest region to
introduce new restrictions, unvaccinated tourists from taking bus tours.Also
Thursday, hotels in the Krasnodar region -- home to Russia's popular Black Sea
resort city Sochi -- began accepting only vaccinated guests or those with a
negative test. The Kremlin had set a goal of fully inoculating 60 percent of
Russia's population by September, but conceded earlier this week that it would
not be able to meet that target even though free jabs have been available since
early December. Authorities have faced a population highly sceptical of
coronavirus vaccines, in particular Russia's homegrown jabs, with independent
polling showing that 60 percent do not plan on getting inoculated. As of
Thursday, just 17.4 million of Russia's population of about 146 million people
-- or about 12 percent -- had been fully vaccinated, according to the Gogov
website, which tallies Covid data from the regions. But even as Russia struggles
to vaccinate its population, Moscow Mayor Sobyanin on Thursday urged the city's
residents who had been inoculated more than six months ago to already get a
booster jab with the country's homegrown Sputnik V vaccine or the one-dose
Sputnik Light. Russia, with 135,886 deaths from the virus, has the highest
official toll from Covid-19 in Europe -- even as authorities have been accused
of downplaying the severity of the country's outbreak. Under a broader
definition for deaths linked to coronavirus, statistics agency Rosstat at the
end of April said that Russia has seen at least 270,000 fatalities.
COVID-19 cases in Europe up again after 10 weeks of
decline: WHO Europe
WHO/July 01/ 2021
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday (Jul 1) said COVID-19 cases were
on the rise again in Europe after two months of decline and warned a new wave
would come "unless we remain disciplined". "Last week, the number of cases rose
by 10 per cent, driven by increased mixing, travel, gatherings and easing of
social restrictions," WHO's regional director for Europe Hans Kluge told a press
conference. "There will be a new wave in the WHO European Region unless we
remain disciplined," Kluge added. Kluge cautioned this reversal came in the
context of rising cases of the Delta variant, first spotted in India, which the
regional director said "overtakes Alpha very quickly", referring to the variant
that first emerged in Britain. A report by the EU's disease control agency ECDC
estimated the more contagious Delta variant could account for 90 per cent of new
cases in the EU by the end of August.
Kluge also said that the Delta variant could become the dominant strain in WHO's
European region, which is made up of 53 countries and territories - including
several in Central Asia - by August. The regional director said that the vaccine
roll-out was nowhere near where it needed to be to offer the necessary
protection. Vaccines have been shown to also protect against the Delta variant,
but a high level of protection requires two doses. Kluge said that the average
vaccine coverage in the WHO's European region was 24 percent, and half of
elderly people and 40 percent of healthcare workers were still unprotected.
"That is unacceptable, and that is far from the recommended 80 percent coverage
of the adult population," Kluge said.
The Latest The Latest LCCC English
analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
July 01-02/2021
Iran’s president-elect should face
crimes against humanity probe
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/July 01/2021
The Iranian regime succeeded in hand-picking Ebrahim Raisi to be the next
president. This is a significant blow to the people of Iran, who have been
struggling for four decades to establish a democratic system of governance that
ensures the rule of law, the freedoms of speech, press and assembly, and respect
for human rights in the country. Raisi is no regular politician. He is known as
“The Butcher” for his role on the “Death Commission” in the 1980s. Many Iranian
people truly despise him for his bloody history. After his orchestrated victory
in last month’s election, Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes
Callamard issued an important statement regarding his background. She said:
“That Ebrahim Raisi has risen to the presidency instead of being investigated
for the crimes against humanity of murder, enforced disappearance and torture,
is a grim reminder that impunity reigns supreme in Iran. In 2018, our
organization documented how Ebrahim Raisi had been a member of the ‘death
commission’ which forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed in secret
thousands of political dissidents in Evin and Gohardasht prisons near Tehran in
1988. The circumstances surrounding the fate of the victims and the whereabouts
of their bodies are, to this day, systematically concealed by the Iranian
authorities, amounting to ongoing crimes against humanity.”The president-elect’s
crimes against humanity and his role in the massacre of tens of thousands of
political prisoners should not be disregarded or underestimated. In a matter of
about two months, nearly 30,000 political prisoners, some of whom participated
in the 1979 revolution that led to the clergy’s rise to power, were executed in
a hasty manner.
Raisi’s role in the massacre of tens of thousands of political prisoners should
not be disregarded or underestimated.
In one of the largest mass purges of dissidents in history, some political
prisoners were lined up before a firing squad and others were executed by
hanging. There were no trials and many did not know they were going to be killed
until a few minutes before their execution. Those who died were buried in mass
graves without their families being informed of their fate or their whereabouts.
This event shocked the nation and many families still do not know where their
loved ones are buried. Girls, pregnant women and children were among those who
were executed. Women were reportedly raped in front of their husbands or
brothers. The late Hussein-Ali Montazeri — one of the founding fathers of the
regime, as well as a human rights activist, a theologian and the designated
successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini until the very last moments of
Khomeini’s life — wrote in his memoir: “Many of those who were being arrested…
were girls and they were executing them on charges of waging war on God. I told
the judiciary officials and Evin officials and others… that they must not
execute girls. I told judges not to write death sentences for girls. This is
what I said. But they perverted my words and quoted me as saying: ‘Don’t execute
girls. First marry them for one night and then execute them.’”
What is also shocking is that Raisi is proud of his role in the mass executions.
When asked about it, he said he should actually be applauded for his actions.
“Everything I’ve done in my time of holding office has been to defend human
rights. If a legal expert, a judge or a prosecutor has defended the rights of
people and the security of the society, he must be lauded and encouraged for
preserving the security of people against assaults and threats,” he said.
Another member of the so-called Death Commission, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, echoed
that message when he boasted that he was proud to “carry out God’s will” and
claimed he had not lost sleep over what he did. Raisi is an extremely dangerous
man. It is also worth noting that he was the head of Iran’s judiciary when about
1,500 people, including teenagers and hundreds of women, were killed and many
more arrested, imprisoned and tortured during the 2019 protests.
It is incumbent on the UN and the West to open a formal investigation into
Raisi’s actions and bring him to justice. • Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a
Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on
Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International
American Council. He serves on the boards of the Harvard International Review,
the Harvard International Relations Council and the US-Middle East Chamber for
Commerce and Business. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh
Algerian president disappoints Islamists as he offers
them limited role in government
Saber Blidi/The Arab Weekly/July 01/2021
The appointment of the former minister of finance, Ayman Benabderrahmane, as
prime minister, reinforced the fears of Hams that the coveted spoils will not
materialise.
Thursday 01/07/2021
ALGIERS - Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s announcement of the
appointment of a technocratic prime minister deepened the disappointment of
Islamists who were eager to win an active role in the government or even
monopolise the executive power. His moves gave the impression that the make-up
of the new government would be very far from fulfilling the ambitions of the
Muslim Brotherhood’s sympathisers.
The appointment of the former minister of finance, Ayman Benabderrahmane, as
prime minister and his assignment to continue consultations with the political
parties and the bloc of independents, so as to form the new cabinet, reinforced
the fears of the largest Islamist party in the country, the Society for Peace
Movement (Hams), that political spoils would not materialise.
To pre-empt developments, the party made the surprise announcement that it was
abstaining from participation in the new government.
Abderrazak Makri, Hams’s top man, said the Brotherhood was not impressed by the
offer made to them by Tebboune, during the meeting he held with them as part of
political consultations between the presidency and the winning parties after the
recent legislative elections. Makri’s reaction reflected the shock of the
movement, which aspired to play a major role in the government formation and
implementation of its programme.
The head of the Society for Peace Movement said that “the offer received by the
party to enter the government does not allow us to influence the political and
economic policies as we had pledged to the voters”.
Islamists were hoping to lead the new political scene, despite taking third
place in terms of parliamentary seats.
The head of Hams justified the party Shura Council’s decision to abstain from
entering the government, Wednesday, by saying, “Tebboune reminded us that
whoever wants to be in the government must adhere to the 54-point programme that
he had presented to voters. We suggested to the president a way to address this
issue by integrating the president’s programme with ours, but we did not find
anyone with whom to continue the dialogue on the subject of the programme.”
He pointed out that the presidency asked Hams to send a list of 27 names from
which four or five would be picked to hold ministerial positions in the new
government. This, he said, suggested that nothing had changed in the status quo
that prevailed before the February 2019 Hirak movement.
Makri was alluding to the absence of any real change in the exercise of power,
especially with regard to dealing with political parties.
However, he did not conceal the movement’s previous ambition to play a more
consequential role in the new political scene by saying, “Hamas aspired to
participate in power and not in the government.”
He was referring to the Brotherhood’s desire to expand its presence in the
various official institutions and bodies of the state and not just to continue
to perform a limited role in the government.
He mentioned in this regard the influence wielded by the National Liberation
Front in various institutions through the appointment of its members as
ambassadors, governors and into various government positions.
Tebboune seems to have deluded the Islamists by telling foreign media that
authorities were not worried by the rise of Islamists, as he said that,
“Islamists in Algeria comply with the laws of the republic and do not carry an
ideological project as it exists in some Arab and Islamic countries.”
Algeria watchers say that this statement gave Islamists the impression that the
authorities needed them. But eventually only a limited offer was made to them
reminding them of their true political size.
Even the expected presence of the second faction of the Brotherhood (the
National Building Movement) in the government will not change anything.
After blaming the failure to achieve the parliamentary majority on election
fraud (without accusing Tebboune), Makri criticised the popular Hirak movement,
especially the opposition political parties, which he accused of “serving narrow
and ideological partisan purposes, which enabled the gang and the remnants of
the gang (the pockets of the Bouteflika regime), to co-opt the Hirak movement
and change its essence.”.
Analysts say that Makri, who pre-empted Taboune’s surprising move by announcing
non-participation in the government, wanted to maintain bridges with the
Algerian street through what he called “Hams’s performance of the opposition
role within parliament, and working to establish a national political consensus,
open a comprehensive dialogue and seek appeasement measures.”
But analysts believe that this role could have been coordinated with the
authorities, given that the new parliament was almost entirely dominated by
loyalists, a situation that called for the presence of an opposition to convince
public opinion of the existence of a democratic system.
Makri expressed his movement’s adherence to “defending freedoms, the right to
establish parties, national unity and the continuation of the search for
national consensus,” a discourse that was absent from the Hams narrative until
the last election campaign.
Influential Merkel begins long goodbye
Andrew Hammond/Arab News/July 01/2021
Europe’s dominant politician, Angela Merkel, on Friday heads to the UK to begin
a series of foreign farewells as she seeks to consolidate her legacy amid one of
the most fluid political and economic landscapes in decades.
After more than 15 years in office, Merkel may now have fewer than 15 weeks left
as chancellor (including as a post-ballot “caretaker” while a new coalition
forms), with Germany’s Bundestag election taking place in September. However,
despite the narrowing window of opportunity, she has key goals she wants to try
to achieve; building on the role she has played on the international stage for
the last decade and a half, which has cemented her status as the most important
political leader in continental Europe.
To put her longevity into perspective, four US presidents (George W. Bush,
Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden) and five UK prime ministers (Tony
Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson) have served
during her long tenure. By the end of her fourth term this autumn, the only
person to have been chancellor for longer will be Otto von Bismarck, who served
for almost two decades from 1871-90 during a period in which he was a dominant
force in European affairs, having previously helped drive the unification of
Germany. Merkel believes that post-pandemic Europe and the wider world is now, a
century and a half later, at another critical juncture — hence her desire to
consolidate her political legacy.
Her first pit stop is the UK, where she will meet with Prime Minister Boris
Johnson. It won’t only be the future of bilateral ties on the agenda, but also
the UK-hosted COP26 climate summit in November and the search for a potential
resolution to vexed post-Brexit issues, especially the Northern Ireland
Protocol.
But Merkel’s geographical horizons in her remaining weeks in office are not
limited to Europe. On July 15, she will make a high-profile visit to the US to
meet Biden and discuss a range of issues, including promoting economic
prosperity and international security in the post-pandemic world.
German-US ties are in a much stronger place under Biden than they were during
Trump’s presidency. This is especially so as wider US-EU issues, such as the
near-17-year dispute over government subsidies to Airbus and Boeing, may now be
on the cusp of resolution. However, there are also tensions, including over the
future of the West’s relationship with Russia. Here, there is a US-German
standoff over the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is more than 90
percent complete and will soon start delivering Russian gas to Europe. The US
last month waived sanctions on the company behind the pipeline, offering three
more months to try to resolve the dispute.
Germany and some allies are pushing for the pipeline’s speedy completion,
despite sustained US opposition. Biden fears Moscow could use Nord Stream 2, a
1,230-km pipeline that will double the capacity of the existing undersea route
from Russian fields to Europe, as leverage to weaken EU states by increasing
their energy dependency on the Kremlin.
Another point of tension between Biden and Merkel is a US-proposed global
intellectual property rights waiver that Washington believes will get vaccines
out to the developing world faster. Germany is at the vanguard of EU resistance
to this plan and insists such a measure would do little or anything to boost
vaccine supply.
Merkel believes post-pandemic Europe is at a critical juncture — hence her
desire to consolidate her political legacy.
With much to play for in the coming weeks, any new deals that Merkel brokers
will add to the legacy of her final year, which has seen her shepherd a wide
range of pan-European deals, including when Germany held the presidency of the
EU Council in the second half of 2020. She oversaw a historic European recovery
fund to respond to the coronavirus crisis, plus a new long-term EU budget and a
post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal, all of which will shape the continent well into
the 2020s.
Even though the €1 trillion ($1.19 trillion) EU budget and €750 billion
coronavirus recovery fund were both primarily economic in nature, they
represented a major political milestone in the postwar history of European
integration. The historic package deal Merkel helped broker was a milestone not
just because of the mammoth size of the overall agreement, but also because, for
the first time ever, EU leaders committed, in the coronavirus recovery package
element, to the principle of mutualized debt as a funding tool. This could pave
the way for greater future EU supranational powers of taxation and a more
politically federalized continent. There was even talk last year of a
“Hamiltonian moment” for Brussels, in reference to Alexander Hamilton, the first
treasury secretary of the newly created US, who in 1790 convinced Congress of
the benefits of common debt.
This exemplifies the historic nature of Merkel’s period in office, which has
seen her preponderant in Europe for an extraordinarily long time. While she has
a significant number of critics, domestically and internationally, few dispute
that her achievements make her one of the most important European leaders in the
postwar era.
*Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.
Will Christian Black Lives Ever Matter? The Ignored
Genocide in Nigeria
Raymond Ibrahim/July 01/2021
All throughout sub-Saharan Africa — in Nigeria, Mozambique, the Central African
Republic, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo — Muslims are terrorizing and
slaughtering Christians, and have been for many years now.
Nor is there any hope on the horizon, for problems that cannot be correctly and
objectively addressed are doomed to persist in perpetuity. As far as the Western
“mainstream” is concerned, all such persecution and terrorism is a byproduct of
economic grievances — or, in the words of an April 16, 2021 report, titled “How
poverty and corruption fuel terrorism across Africa,”
On March 24th, a group of jihadis struck the town of Palma in Mozambique,
killing dozens and burning government buildings to the ground. ISIS claimed
responsibility for the attack — but doubts have been cast over who was behind
the siege[.]
The remainder of the report argues that such attacks, which “are on the rise
across the African continent,” are “a consequence of poverty, domestic
grievances new and old, and Africa’s resource ‘curse,’ which paradoxically
impoverishes people living on land which is rich in natural resources.”
This has been the mainstream media’s argument, and they’re sticking to it — no
matter all the mountains of contradictory evidence.
Take the little-known genocide of Christians that has long been going on in
Nigeria. “Not less than 32,000 Christians have been butchered to death by the
country’s main Jihadists” between just 2009 and the first quarter of 2020.
According to the most recent report, between January and April of this year
alone, 1,470 Christians were hacked to death. On average, this comes out to
about 368 Christians killed every month for four months straight. Since just
2016, 13,000 churches have been destroyed by “Allahu akbar”–screaming Muslims.
The full name of Boko Haram, the premier terror group that dominates northern
Nigeria, is “Sunnis for [Islamic] Propagation and Jihad.” “Boko Haram,” their
nickname, means “Western education is a sin” (not “we kill because we’re poor”).
Their stated goal is the establishment of a pure sharia state in Nigeria and the
brutal subjugation or slaughter of the nation’s Christians. Moreover, the Muslim
Fulani herdsmen, who in recent years have terrorized more Christians than even
Boko Haram, are acting on jihadi teachings and hate for Christians.
Despite all this, the Western “mainstream” remains committed to describing the
jihad in Nigeria — and increasingly all throughout sub-Saharan Africa — as a
byproduct of “inequality” and “poverty,” to quote Bill Clinton, when once
explaining what is “fueling all this stuff” (“stuff” being a reference to the
aforementioned genocide of Christians in Nigeria).
Or, in the words of Barack Obama’s assistant secretary of state for African
affairs, Johnnie Carson, speaking after the bombing of a church that left nearly
forty Christian worshipers dead on Easter Sunday, 2012 — one of countless
churches to be burned or bombed before and since that Easter: “I want to take
this opportunity to stress one key point, and that is that religion is not
driving extremist violence” in Nigeria.
But as the Nigerian nun Sister Monica Chikwe once observed, “[i]t’s tough to
tell Nigerian Christians this isn’t a religious conflict since what they see are
Fulani fighters clad entirely in black, chanting ‘Allahu Akbar!’ and screaming
‘Death to Christians.'”
Similarly, the Christian Association of Nigeria once asked: “How can it be a
[secular or economic] clash when one group [Muslims] is persistently attacking,
killing, maiming, destroying, and the other group [Christians] is persistently
being killed, maimed and their places of worship destroyed?”
Such is the current state of affairs: a jihad of genocidal proportions has been
declared on the Christian population of Nigeria — and has since spilled over
into several other sub-Saharan nations — even as Western media and analysts
present Nigeria’s problems in purely economic terms that defy reality.
The inability to accept these straightforward facts; the inability to factor
ideological or existential motives, seeing only material motives (money, land,
etc.); the almost instinctive conclusion that Muslim violence is proof positive
of a legitimate grievance — all of these are so ingrained in the predominant
paradigm, from the mainstream media to mainstream politicians, and all of these
are poisoning Western civilization from within, and eroding its influence and
capacity to act from without.
And, in the context of what is happening in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan
states, it means that, for Western media and politicians, black lives most
certainly do not matter—at least not when they’re Christian, and being
terminated by Muslims.