English LCCC Newsbulletin For Le

English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For June 08/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews21/english.june08.21.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
But now I am going to him who sent me; and not one of you says to me, Where are you going
John 16/04-11: I have said these things to you so that when the time comes, what I have said may come to your mind. I did not say them to you at the first, because then I was still with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; and not one of you says to me, Where are you going? But your hearts are full of sorrow because I have said these things. But what I am saying is true: my going is for your good: for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And he, when he comes, will make the world conscious of sin, and of righteousness, and of being judged: Of sin, because they have not faith in me; Of righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no more; Of being judged, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 07-08/2021
Health Ministry: 71 new Coronavirus cases, 6 deaths
Abiad: Medical Services May Stop without a Solution to Shortage
Lebanese Parliament's Finance Committee Approves Capital Control Law
Aoun, Belhaji Discuss World Bank Assistance for Lebanon
Report: France to Hold Aid Conference to Support Lebanese Army
Diab Signs Loan to Buy Fuel for Lebanon’s Problematic EDL
Wazni sends letter to Salameh with exceptional approval to cover treasury advance for EDL
France probes actions of Lebanon’s central bank chief
Parliament's Finance Committee Approves Capital Control Law
Hizbullah Mourns Iranian Cleric who Helped Found It
Iran Cleric who Founded Hizbullah, Survived Book Bomb, Dies
Israel Combs Security Fence with Lebanon Overnight
What role will Hezbollah play in Lebanon’s future government?/Iran is taking an interest in seeing its ally Hezbollah receive more power./Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/June 07/2021
Ministry of Defense inks two mine action agreements with UNDP, Dutch embassy
Bukhari meets Army Chief
Wazni sends letter to Salameh with exceptional approval to cover treasury advance for EDL
Middle East Council of Churches: The Amman Incident and the Consolidated Society
Berri tackles developments with WB’s Belhaj, Pakradounian, President of Constitutional Council

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 07-08/2021
Western powers avoid resolution against Iran at IAEA board - diplomats
Restrictions on businesses, outdoor gatherings to lift in Ontario on Friday
Hamas has no intention of using aid to help Gaza - editorial
UNRWA finds attack tunnel under one of its Gaza schools
Israeli Right Calls Off Jerusalem March as Hamas Warns of New Violence
Vote on New Israeli Government to be Held in Coming Week
IAEA chief: Deeply concerned Iran hiding nuclear material
Hamas using ‘cheap manipulation’ with fake hostage video, Israel says
Attorney-General Mandelblit throws Sheikh Jarrah issue back to the court
Turkey kills top Kurdish official in Iraq operation
US envoy calls for ‘end to inhuman violence’ in Marib
Dbeibah's message to Haftar: 'Volcano of Anger' is Libya's army
Scores of casualties in South Darfur tribal violence
Putin Signs Law Exiting Open Skies Security Pact
Muslim family of four killed in ‘premeditated’ Canada truck attack

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 07-08/2021
Report: China could save Israel from Iran-But no way Beijing will end Tehran ties./Yonah Jeremy Bob/Jerusalem Post/June 07/2021
Al-Qaeda Is Still in Afghanistan, and It’s Fighting for Victory/Thomas Joscelyn/FDD/The Dispatch/June 07/2021
Good time for a timeout in the Iran nuclear talks/Benjamin Weinthal and Alireza Nader/Politico/June 07/2021
Arabs: Hamas and Iran Turned Gaza into Cemetery for Children/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/June 07/2021
The crossroads after the Gaza war/Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/June 07/2021
Egypt's leadership emerges again in brokering Middle East stability/Seth J. Frantzman/The Hill/June 07/2021
Biden Supports ‘Guilty’ Muslims, Ignores ‘Innocent’ Christians/Raymond Ibrahim/June 07/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on June 07-08/2021
Health Ministry: 71 new Coronavirus cases, 6 deaths
NNA/June 07/2021
The Ministry of Public Health announced, on Monday, the registration of 71 new Coronavirus infections, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date to 541628. It added that 6 deaths were also recorded during the past 24 hours.

Abiad: Medical Services May Stop without a Solution to Shortage
Naharnet/June 07/2021
Head of the Rafk Hariri University Hospital Firass Abiad said on Monday that Lebanon faces a crucial week ahead if the shortage in medical supplies is not resolved. “Doctors and nurses faced grave dangers as they battled in the frontlines against Covid. Now, they find themselves battling other diseases almost empty handed. That is not acceptable. This week will be crucial. Without a solution to these shortages, many services may stop,” said Abiad on Twitter. “The Pfizer marathon efforts yesterday, in low registration regions, were commendable, though hopes were for more people to come. Hesitancy is clearly a big obstacle. It is fortuitous that Covid numbers are declining at a time of rising shortages in meds and medical supplies,” he added. Abiad noted that the vaccination drive in Lebanon must improve. “The surge in (covid) numbers noted in other countries with better vaccination rates, such as the United Kingdom, should be a warning sign. Unless our vaccine drive improves, the careless attitude widely seen will facilitate a virus comeback,” he warned.

Lebanese Parliament's Finance Committee Approves Capital Control Law
Naharnet/June 07/2021
The Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee on Monday approved a draft capital control law after several months of discussions. Al-Jadeed TV said the draft will now be studied by the Administration and Justice Committee and the Joint Parliamentary Committees before being discussed in a plenary parliamentary session. Speaking after the session, the head of the finance committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, said the draft will be submitted to the speakership in the “coming days.”Kanaan also stressed that "when the law is issued, it will become more binding than any selective circular that could be issued today and annulled tomorrow." The lawmaker added that the law would allow every depositor to withdraw 15 to 20 million Lebanese lira and 400 to 800 U.S. dollars every month. "The final decision will be taken in the plenary session in light of the information that has been requested from the Central Bank in order to take a decision based on official numbers," Kanaan went on to say.

Aoun, Belhaji Discuss World Bank Assistance for Lebanon
Naharnet/June 07/2021
President Michel Aoun discussed with the World Bank Group Vice President for Middle East and North Africa Farid Belhaj the role of the Bank in providing Lebanon with assistance at the current critical phase, the National News Agency reported on Monday.
In its report early in June, the World Bank said Lebanon's economic collapse is likely to rank among the world's worst financial crises since the mid-19th century. The report predicts that Lebanon's economy will shrink by close to 10 percent in 2021 and stresses there is "no clear turning point in the horizon". Lebanon is wrangling with an unprecedented economic and financial crisis since 2019. Lebanon defaulted on its debt last year, the currency lost around 85 percent of its value and poverty is devastating a country once seen as a beacon of prosperity in the region.

Report: France to Hold Aid Conference to Support Lebanese Army
Naharnet/June 07/2021
France reportedly aims to hold an aid conference in June aimed at supporting the cash-strapped Lebanese army, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported Monday.
The daily said in the “next few hours,” France will announce the date of a virtual conference to support and aid the Lebanese army, with an initial date set on the 17th of June. Zeina Akar, the Deputy Prime Minister, caretaker Minister of Defense and Acting Foreign Minister; and General Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese army chief are to take part in the conference. A diplomatic source told Nidaa al-Watan on condition of anonymity that members of the International Support Group for Lebanon began serious proposals on how to provide urgent financial assistance, in accordance with a reform program, with international funds to achieve the minimum level of economic stability until officials succeed at forming a new government in Lebanon. In May, Aoun had warned that Lebanon’s worsening economic crisis had largely impacted the military, putting it on the verge of collapse. France has therefore offered emergency food and medical aid in a bid to alleviate the impact of the crisis and in hopes of preserving law and order.

Diab Signs Loan to Buy Fuel for Lebanon’s Problematic EDL
Naharnet/June 07/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab signed on Monday a letter presented by caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni approving a loan to buy fuel for Electricte du Liban after a fuel shortage threatened to drench the country in total darkness. Wazni has approved an advance payment in foreign currency and requested the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to approve exceptionally an advance payment in foreign currency to purchase fuel needed for the Electricite du Liban. Wazni’s move came after President Michel Aoun asked him to discuss with Central Bank governor Riad Salameh, securing financing for EDL in foreign currency.

Wazni sends letter to Salameh with exceptional approval to cover treasury advance for EDL
NNA/June 07/2021
Caretaker Minister of Finance, Dr. Ghazi Wazni, on Monday sent a letter to Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, relaying an exceptional approval by President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, and Caretaker Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, to cover a treasury advance for Electrecite du Liban EDL in foreign currency to purchase fuel. The letter requested of Salameh to “kindly work on implementing the aforementioned exceptional approval, which the Ministry of Finance had previously approved and sent.”

France probes actions of Lebanon’s central bank chief
The Arab Weekly/June 07/2021
The French prosecutor’s office said the investigation around Riad Salameh was opened in late May involving potential charges of money laundering and association with an organized criminal group.
PARIS--The French national financial prosecutor’s office has opened a preliminary investigation into the actions of Lebanon’s central bank governor involving potential money laundering, the prosecutor’s office said Monday. The French move came months after Switzerland started a probe into possible money laundering and embezzlement at Lebanon’s central bank, which is now at the centre of an unprecedented financial crisis roiling the small Mediterranean country. The French prosecutor’s office said the investigation around Riad Salameh was opened in late May involving potential charges of money laundering and association with an organized criminal group. It gave no further details. Salameh, 70, who has run Lebanon’s central bank for nearly three decades, was for many years seen as the symbol of monetary stability in the tiny country. But Lebanon was in 2019 plunged into its ever worst economic and financial crisis. The Lebanese pound, pegged for more than 20 years to the dollar at 1,515, is now trading at nearly 13,000 on the black market. Anti-government demonstrators now refer to Salameh, a former investment banker with Merrill Lynch, as a “thief” and protests have been repeatedly held outside his office in Beirut amid the crash of the local currency and contraction in the economy that crossed 20% in 2020, according to the World Bank. In January, Switzerland’s attorney general said he has asked Lebanon for cooperation into the probe of the central bank, without offering further details. It is also not clear what prompted the Swiss investigation. Local media reported over the past months that Salameh and his brother as well as one of his aides have been involved in illegal businesses, including money transfers abroad despite the capital controls imposed at home. The central bank governor had denied making such transfers. Salameh, who has held the central bank post since 1993, has defended his role, alleging a systematic campaign meant to hold him responsible for the country’s financial crisis.

Parliament's Finance Committee Approves Capital Control Law
Naharnet/June 07/2021
The Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee on Monday approved a draft capital control law after several months of discussions. Al-Jadeed TV said the draft will now be studied by the Administration and Justice Committee and the Joint Parliamentary Committees before being discussed in a plenary parliamentary session. Speaking after the session, the head of the finance committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, said the draft will be submitted to the speakership in the “coming days.” Kanaan also stressed that "when the law is issued, it will become more binding than any selective circular that could be issued today and annulled tomorrow." The lawmaker added that the law would allow every depositor to withdraw 15 to 20 million Lebanese lira and 400 to 800 U.S. dollars every month. "The final decision will be taken in the plenary session in light of the information that has been requested from the Central Bank in order to take a decision based on official numbers," Kanaan went on to say.

Hizbullah Mourns Iranian Cleric who Helped Found It
Associated Press/June 07/2021
Hizbullah on Monday mourned Iranian Shiite cleric Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, who as Iran's ambassador to Syria had helped found the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group in the eighties of last century. In a statement, Hizbullah extended its condolences, praising Mohtashamipour for his role "in the service of the (Iranian) revolution" and in providing all forms of support toward the launching of the Islamic resistance in Lebanon and the Palestinian cause. "The bloody wounds on his hands, face and chest as a result of the assassination attempt are evidence of his great jihadi position, particularly at that stage of the conflict with the Zionist enemy," the statement said. Mohtashamipour died Monday of the coronavirus. He was 74. A close ally of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mohtashamipour in the 1970s formed alliances with Muslim militant groups across the Mideast. After the Islamic Revolution, he helped found the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Iran and as ambassador to Syria brought the force into the region to help form Hizbullah. In his later years, he slowly joined the cause of reformists in Iran, hoping to change the Islamic Republic's theocracy from the inside. He backed the opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi in Iran's Green Movement protests that followed the disputed 2009 re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran Cleric who Founded Hizbullah, Survived Book Bomb, Dies
Associated Press/June 07/2021
Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, a Shiite cleric who as Iran's ambassador to Syria helped found Hizbullah and lost his right hand to a book bombing reportedly carried out by Israel, died Monday of the coronavirus. He was 74.
A close ally of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mohtashamipour in the 1970s formed alliances with Muslim militant groups across the Mideast. After the Islamic Revolution, he helped found the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Iran and as ambassador to Syria brought the force into the region to help form Hizbullah. In his later years, he slowly joined the cause of reformists in Iran, hoping to change the Islamic Republic's theocracy from the inside. He backed the opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi in Iran's Green Movement protests that followed the disputed 2009 re-election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"If the whole people become aware, avoid violent measures and continue their civil confrontation with that, they will win," Mohtashamipour said at the time, though Ahmadinejad ultimately would remain in office. "No power can stand up to people's will."
Mohtashamipour died at a hospital in northern Tehran after contracting the virus, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. The cleric, who wore a black turban that identified him in Shiite tradition as a direct descendant of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, had been living in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq, over the last 10 years after the disputed election in Iran.
Hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi, now considered the leading candidate in Iran's presidential election next week, offered condolences to Mohtashamipour's family.
"The deceased was one of the holy warriors on the way to the liberation of Jerusalem and one of the pioneers in the fight against the usurping Zionist regime," Raisi said, according to IRNA. Born in Tehran in 1947, Mohtashamipour met Khomeini as the cleric remained in exile in Najaf after being expelled from Iran by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In the 1970s, he crisscrossed the Mideast speaking to militants groups at the time, helping form an alliance between the future Islamic Republic and the Palestinian Liberation Organization as it battled Israel.
Once arrested by Iraq, Mohtashamipour found his way to Khomeini's residence in exile outside of Paris. They returned triumphant to Iran amid the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In 1982, Khomeini deployed Mohtashamipour to Syria, then under the rule of dictator Hafez Assad. While ostensibly a diplomat, Mohtashamipour oversaw the millions that poured in to fund the Guard's operations in the region. Lebanon, then dominated by Syria, which deployed tens of thousands of troops there, found itself invaded by Israel in 1982 as Israel pursued the PLO in Lebanon. Iranian support flowed into the Shiite communities occupied by Israel. That helped create a new group called Hizbullah, or "the Party of God." The U.S. blames Hizbullah for the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people, as well as the later bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in the Lebanese capital that killed 241 U.S. troops and another attack that killed 58 French paratroopers. Hizbullah and Iran have denied being involved.
"The court finds that it is beyond question that Hizbullah and its agents received massive material and technical support from the Iranian government," wrote U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in 2003. Lamberth's opinion, quoting a U.S. Navy intelligence official, directly named Mohtashamipour as being told by Tehran to reach out to the nascent Hizbullah to "instigate attacks against the multinational coalition in Lebanon, and 'to take a spectacular action against the United States Marines.'"
An IRNA obituary of Mohtashamipour only described him as "one of the founders of Hizbullah in Lebanon" and blamed Israel for the bombing that wounded him. It did not discuss the U.S. allegations about his involvement in the suicide bombings targeting Americans. At the time of the assassination attempt on him, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency had received approval from then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to pursue Mohtashamipour, according to "Rise and Kill First," a book on Israeli assassinations by journalist Ronen Bergman. They chose to send a bomb hidden inside a book described as a "magnificent volume in English about Shiite holy places in Iran and Iraq" on Valentine's Day in 1984, Bergman wrote.
The bomb exploded when Mohtashamipour opened the book, tearing away his right hand and two fingers on his left hand. But he survived, later becoming Iran's interior minister and serving as a hard-line lawmaker in parliament before joining reformists in 2009.

Israel Combs Security Fence with Lebanon Overnight
Naharnet/June 07/2021
Israel said its troops carried out a wide combing operation overnight on the border with Lebanon, Israeli spokesman AvichayAdraee said in a tweet Monday. Adraee said Israeli forces carried out “extensive combing work” after “detecting traces of two suspects in the area close to the security fence” with Lebanon. However he ruled out any act of “sabotage.” Adraee stated that "Israeli troops and police continue their search” operation and that “residents in neighboring (Israeli) towns have returned to normal life.”The Blue Line marks Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon in May 2000 after 22 years of occupation.

What role will Hezbollah play in Lebanon’s future government?/Iran is taking an interest in seeing its ally Hezbollah receive more power.
Seth J. Frantzman/Jerusalem Post/June 07/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/99542/%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ab-%d8%ac-%d9%81%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%aa%d8%b2%d9%85%d8%a7%d9%86-%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%b1%d9%88%d8%b2%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%85-%d8%a8%d9%88%d8%b3%d8%aa-%d9%85%d8%a7-%d9%87%d9%88-%d8%a7/
Lebanon’s endless political crisis has continued. Lebanon has lacked a government since Hassan Diab resigned last year after the port explosion. Since then the country has lurched from crisis to crisis. Hezbollah has benefited from this. Lebanese President Michel Aoun has held discussions with Saad Hariri, incumbent premier and prime minister-designate. Hariri’s father was murdered by Hezbollah.
Back in March there was failure to agree on a new cabinet. Aoun wants Hariri to step aside. Hezbollah has refused suggestions that the cabinet be made up of technocrats. "A government of technocrats that is not backed by political groups won't save the country," Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah said in March.
In May the crisis continued. Nasrallah, at this point, was getting sick with an undisclosed illness. Hariri told parliament that “the truth of what is happening is that the president of the republic tells the deputies in his message: ‘You named a prime minister, I do not want him, and I will not allow him to form a government. Please, get rid of him.’ This is an attempt to absolve the president of the republic from the accusation of obstructing the formation of the government,” according to reports.
According to Arab News, former US assistant secretary of state for Middle East affairs David Schenker said in an interview with Al-Hurra channel on Friday that “President Aoun and MP Gebran Bassil, the president’s son-in-law, do not want a technocratic government that begins with reforms because that would undermine Hezbollah’s position, as well as some political ambitions of Lebanese politicians.”
Now Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri appears to be siding with Hezbollah. The posts in Lebanon’s government are dominated by sectarianism. Aoun is a Christian, Hariri a Sunni, Berri a Shi’ite. “Experts argue the main stumbling block to the formation of a new government is still the issue of the ‘blocking third’ of portfolios, with Hariri now wanting to know the affiliation of the two Christian ministers who will enter the government when the number of its members is raised to 24, as Berri suggested,” says The Arab Weekly.
Iran is taking an interest in seeing its ally Hezbollah receive more power. Hezbollah has established contacts with Hariri and Bassil, who is the head of the Lebanese National Free Movement, according to Tasnim. According to the report, “Hezbollah representatives told Saad Hariri that they had talked to Lebanese President Michel Aoun about the need to resolve the issue of forming a government, and that Gebran Bassil had emphasized that he would not complicate the process of forming a cabinet. The Lebanese nationalist leader also told Hezbollah representatives that he was positively interacting with the initiative of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on the issue of forming a government, and that negative signals should not be allowed to dominate the cabinet.”
Hariri now has another week to sort things out. “The differences are not limited to these barriers, but there are major differences over ministries, especially government posts. The Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Justice are among the posts that are highly sensitive because they are key and because they have to deal with the important affairs of the country after the formation of the government,” Tasnim says. The report admits that Lebanon needs a government to deal with its crises.
“Today, the crisis has become an everyday term for Lebanese citizens, a term that defines all aspects of their lives throughout the day and night: from long queues for petrol quotas to rising power outages, drug and healthcare crises, garbage dumping on the streets, restrictions on access to bank accounts, the endless surge in prices for basic goods and, of course, the ongoing political upheaval that prevents government formation. In such a situation, the World Bank has warned in its latest report about the collapse of the Lebanese economy and its socio-security consequence,” says Iran’s Tasnim.

Ministry of Defense inks two mine action agreements with UNDP, Dutch embassy
NNA/June 07/2021
Lebanon’s Ministry of National Defense on Monday inked two mine action agreements with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Dutch Embassy in Lebanon. The agreement with the UNDP addresses the humanitarian and development impacts of mines, cluster munitions, and explosive remnants of war, as well as empowers the Lebanese Mine Action Center (LMAC). As for the Dutch donation agreement, it covers the entire expenses of the Lebanese National Mine Action Program (LMAP) for a period of three years. Deputy Prime Minister, Caretaker Minister of National Defense and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Zeina Akar, indicated that the signature of these agreements came at a time when mines and explosive remnants of war were still causing innocent casualties, let alone remained a lingering threat to the safety of citizens. She lauded the UNDP and the Netherlands’ unrelenting efforts combating this dangerous issue and their continuous endeavors to reduce the number of victims. In turn, the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program in Lebanon, Celine Moyroud, thanked all the parties who had participated in the realization of these agreements, noting the "long-term partnership between the Ministry of Defense, the Lebanese Army, and the United Nations Development Program in the field of demining. Moreover, she underlined the importance of evaluating the goals that have been achieved, explaining that the support that will be provided “is in line with the new LMAC strategy." She also praised the capabilities of the Lebanese Army, especially the National Office for Demining, which was ranked second in the world in clearing mines. For his part, Dutch Ambassador to Lebanon, Hans Peter van der Woude, affirmed his country's support for this "important project". “The Netherlands is one of the first countries that supported and still supports the mine-clearing project, and it calls on Lebanon to join the Ottawa Convention for a mine-free world,” the Dutch diplomat said. He pointed out that his country also supported building the capabilities of the Lebanese army. “Lebanon has made great strides in the process of combating and removing mines,” he added.

Bukhari meets Army Chief
NNA/June 07/2021
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid bin Abdullah Bukhari, on Monday met at his Yarzeh residence with Army Commander Major General Joseph Aoun.

Middle East Council of Churches: The Amman Incident and the Consolidated Society
NNA/June 07/2021
Following the resentment that spread among the Christian community in Amman with the Governorate of the Capital removing a sign bearing a verse from the Bible, the Middle East Council of Churches issued the following statement: The proclamations of His Excellency Mr. Yousef Al-Shawarbeh, Mayor of Amman and former minister, andthe answer and explanation of His Excellency Metropolitan Christophoros Atallah, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Amman and president of the Heads of Churches Council in Jordan, came with no surprise. Both persons were raised in the same loving unitedJordanian culture that cherishes its children regardless of their religious affiliation. What His Excellency Mr. Yousef Al-Shawarbeh said in the Orthodox Archdiocese of Amman was clear, categorical, and unambiguous. It stressed on the fact that civil peace in the beloved Jordan and mutual respect among its citizens is not a matter of discussion. Mistakes have been made, apologies have been presented and going back to the right path is the highest of virtues. The words of His Eminence Metropolitan Christophoros were as clear, forward and unequivocal. He spoke about the adherence to the homeland and the united life among the people of the country, focusing on the historical blending of different socio-religious groups in Jordan, while maintaining stability under all circumstances. In this perspective, it is important for the Middle East Council of Churches, an institution whose membership includes all the churches of the region, to emphasize this perceptive approach in dealing with crises, especially those of a religious character, even if just in appearance. We commend the stances and words of His Excellency the Mayor of Amman and the Metropolitan of Jordan, since the positions that were taken and the words that have been said are an effective solution in such circumstances, to ward off the worsening of the situation and prevent the rise of extremist postures that may lead to undesirable consequences. This is a temporary solution while we wait for a radical one for when similar incidents would strike, either because of ignorance or premeditation and determination at the hands of those who aim to harm the nation. As for accountability and dismissal of the statement author, it is subjected to the laws in force, and ecclesiastical authorities are following up on it with government institutions. The wise leadership preserving the entity and stability of Jordan for decades in a region that is always prone to be shaken, would easily prevent strife, whether big or small, by raising the level of awareness among people by following up on the implementation of educational, informative and dialogue programs that we extensively see in Jordan, in which our Council, the Middle East Council of Churches, is ready to participate, presenting its years of experience in thefield. Nowadays knowledge is mandatory. Knowledge and awareness have proven to be the best stimulators for social progress, and the society and state of Jordan hoard from these primary resources and will preserve them from the difficulties that come upon nations.-- Middle East Council of Churches

Berri tackles developments with WB’s Belhaj, Pakradounian, President of Constitutional Council
NNA/June 07/2021
House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Monday welcomed at his Ein El-Tineh residence, World Bank Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, Farid Belhaj, in presence of the WB Regional Director of the Mashreq Department, Saroj Kumar Jha. Speaker Berri then welcomed President of the Constitutional Council, Judge Tannous Mehleb, in presence of Constitutional Council member, Judge Aouni Ramadan. It is to note that the House Speaker had separately met with Tashnag Party Secretary General, MP Hagop Pakradounian, with whom he discussed the general situation and the latest political developments in Lebanon.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 07-08/2021
Western powers avoid resolution against Iran at IAEA board - diplomats
Reuters/June 07/2021
Britain, France, Germany and the United States will not push for a resolution against Iran at next week's meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board despite Tehran's failure to explain uranium traces found at three sites, diplomats said on Friday. A resolution could have prompted an escalation between Tehran and the West that would have jeopardised talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal taking place in Vienna, where the atomic watchdog is also based.
At the last quarterly meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors, the three European powers, with U.S. backing, prepared a draft resolution criticising Iran but did not formally submit it as IAEA chief Rafael Grossi announced new talks. Those talks - aimed at breathing new life into efforts to get Iran to explain the origin of the traces, which are believed to be linked to activities long predating the deal - failed to produce new explanations, the IAEA reported on Monday. That raised the question of whether the resolution would be revived. "The May 31 report can't be ignored just because the JCPOA talks are ongoing, but a resolution is not likely now," one diplomat said, referring to the 2015 deal by its official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Five other diplomats said there would not be a resolution but simply statements by countries on the board. "There need to be strong statements," said one diplomat from a country that backed a resolution at the last board meeting. "They (Iran) have obligations and they need to fulfil them."It remains unclear whether a resolution would have had the necessary support to be adopted by the board, the IAEA's main decision-making body that meets more than once a year. Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on both countries returning to full compliance with the deal will resume next week, with an election on June 18 likely to usher in a more hard-line Iranian president. "No progress has been made in the dialogue between Iran and the agency with respect to providing substantiated answers to the IAEA's questions," a French foreign ministry spokeswoman said, expressing "great concern" at the IAEA's report on Monday. "We strongly urge Iran to provide such answers as swiftly as possible," she added.

Restrictions on businesses, outdoor gatherings to lift in Ontario on Friday
The Canadian Press/Mon., June 7, 2021
TORONTO — Ontario will start its economic reopening a few days ahead of schedule on Friday, loosening restrictions on outdoor activities and businesses. The province announced the move on Monday, saying health indicators have improved enough to begin lifting some pandemic restrictions. Limited outdoor dining, outdoor fitness classes, outdoor religious services and camping can resume under the first step of the plan. Outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people are also permitted and more retail businesses can open for in-person sales with capacity restrictions. Premier Doug Ford thanked residents for their "enormous sacrifices" and credited the ongoing vaccine rollout for making the early move possible.
"As we begin to enjoy the benefits of the first step in our roadmap, like meeting friends on a patio or visiting your favourite local store, please do so safely by continuing to follow all public health guidelines," Ford said in a statement.
The changes will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Friday. The province had originally planned to move to the first step of its reopening plan next week. It said 72 per cent of adults in Ontario had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Sunday night, placing the province ahead of its 60 per cent target set for the reopening date. Daily COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations had also declined, the province said in a news release, with those trends expected to continue "in the coming days." Ontario reported 525 new COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths from the virus on Monday, with 547 COVID-19 patients hospitalized. The province will follow a three-step reopening plan throughout the summer as it climbs out of a harsh third wave of the pandemic. Restrictions are expected to lift further after at least 21 days, based on vaccination rates and other health indicators. Ford suggested last week that the reopening might come ahead of schedule, though top officials warned a new, more infectious variant that first appeared in India would have to be monitored.

Hamas has no intention of using aid to help Gaza - editorial
Jerusalem Post/June 07/2021
Sinwar boasted that the last round of bloodshed with Israel represented only “a small battle,” and that the next war will be more significant. There is no pretense of a move to peace. The 11-day war between Israel and Hamas last month started after the terrorist group launched seven rockets at Jerusalem as Israel was celebrating Jerusalem Day. It continued as Gaza-based terrorist organizations released barrages of more than 4,000 rockets and mortars indiscriminately on Israel. Each of those rockets is a war crime.
Operation Guardian of the Walls took a toll in human lives; in the sphere of physical and mental health, and, of course, economically – on both sides, in Israel and in Gaza. As has happened in previous operations and mini-wars between Israel and Gaza, no sooner was it over than the effort began to mobilize the West and the Arab world to pour more funds into the Gaza Strip to rebuild it. There was the usual talk of helping solve the severe poverty there in an effort to prevent economic despair that could erupt into another round of war. Unfortunately, while sound in theory, this aid in practice ends up helping boost Hamas. Even worse, it signals to Palestinians under the Palestinian Authority areas in the West Bank that violence, rather than cooperation, pays off.
If the past teaches us anything, it’s that Hamas has no intention of using the funding to peacefully rebuild its quasi-state to benefit all those living there. It was true after the 2014 war, and was proven again over the weekend in a speech by Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader in Gaza. As noted by The Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh, Sinwar gave a defiant “victory speech” claiming that Israel had failed to destroy “the capabilities of the Palestinian resistance” during Operation Guardian of the Walls. He also claimed that Israel destroyed less than 3% of Hamas’s tunnels. “Our people proved to the occupation and the rest of the world that our ummah (Muslim community) is ready to defend al-Aqsa Mosque,” Sinwar said. To the chants of “Allahu akbar!,” Sinwar listed the ways in which he considered Hamas had won the latest round of warfare, describing them as “strategic goals.” These included demonstrations on the Lebanese and Jordanian borders with Israel, Palestinian rioting, rocket attacks on Tel Aviv, thwarting Israel’s (perceived) plan to divide al-Aqsa Mosque, and more.Most sinister of all, the leader boasted that the last round of bloodshed with Israel represented only “a small battle,” and that the next war will be more significant. There is no pretense of a move to peace.
In this context, it is important to remember what happened in Gaza regarding UNRWA, the UN agency dedicated to helping Palestinian “refugees” – a unique status that can be passed on through the generations in the case of Palestinians, but to no other group of refugees in the world.
Palestinian factions last week declared Matthias Schmale, UNRWA director of operations in the Strip, persona non grata, and that he would not be allowed to return to the territory. Schmale’s deputy, David de Bold, was similarly blacklisted by the Hamas leadership. The factions absurdly claimed that Schmale was “a major reason for the suffering of thousands of Palestinian refugees and UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip.”The real reason for Schmale’s ousting is that he refused to abide by Hamas’s false narrative.In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12, Schmale said that the Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip appeared to be carried out with “sophistication” and “precision,” and that Israel had made an effort to avoid civilian casualties. Following an uproar by the terrorist organizations, Schmale released an apology on Twitter, but this was obviously not enough for Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations there. Hamas wants nothing that could infer that Israel is doing all it can to abide by the highest moral standards when forced to fight, and nothing that shows Hamas’s use of its own population as human shields.
This should raise serious questions about the kind of aid that can be provided to Gaza to help alleviate the suffering of the ordinary Palestinians – suffering caused by its own leadership there. Sinwar’s comments show clearly that Hamas has no intention of ending the hostilities. Efforts to help Gaza must take this into account. A way must be found to help Gaza without strengthening Hamas.

UNRWA finds attack tunnel under one of its Gaza schools
Jerusalem Post/June 07/2021
The Agency also took issue with IDF activity, noting that the school was an emergency shelter and should have been immune from attack.
A tunnel used by Palestinian militants in Gaza was discovered under one of the schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency last month. The UNRWA Zaitoun Preparatory Boys’ School “A” and Elementary Boys’ School “A” was one of two of the organization’s facilities damaged during the 11-day Gaza war that ended on May 21. At the end of May, UNRWA found what “appears to be a cavity and a possible tunnel, at the location of the missile strike,” the organization reported over the weekend. “The depth of the cavity is approximately 7.5 meters below the surface of the school. UNRWA discovered the existence of a possible tunnel in the context of the investigation of the fired missile,” it explained in a statement to the media. UNRWA said that the tunnel was not connected to the school. There is no “indication of the existence of any entry or exit points for the tunnel within the premises,” it added.
The organization condemned both Palestinians who built the tunnel and the IDF for its attacks, which it alleged caused damage to the school.
“UNRWA condemns the existence and potential use by Palestinian armed groups of such tunnels underneath its schools in the strongest possible terms. It is unacceptable that students and staff be placed at risk in such a way,” the organization stated. But it also took issue with IDF activity, noting that the school was an emergency shelter and should have been immune from attack. “The Agency’s installations, like all United Nations facilities, are marked as such and fly a United Nations flag on the roof. UNRWA shares the coordinates of all of its installations periodically with relevant Israeli authorities and in times of conflict, the coordinates of designated emergency shelters are shared daily,” UNRWA noted. Such actions by Palestinian arms groups and the IDF violate UNRWA’s “inviolability and neutrality” which must be respected at all times, the organization stated. “UNRWA demands that all parties desist from any activities or conduct that put beneficiaries and staff at risk and undermine the ability of UNRWA staff to provide assistance to Palestine refugees in safety and security,” UNRWA stated. UNRWA’s call for safety at its facilities followed an announcement by its Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini Thursday that he had asked the organization's Gaza Director Matthias Schmale to exit the Strip and come to Jerusalem after threats were issued against him. “UNRWA strongly protested and contested the position conveyed by the De Facto authorities in Gaza that they could no longer guarantee the safety and security of our staff. Regrettably, such a position left the Agency with no other choice than to ask the staff to leave the Gaza Strip as their security is of paramount priority to UNRWA,” Lazzarini said. Threats were issued after Schmale gave an interview to Israel’s N12 television on May 22, in which he said he did not dispute Israel’s assertion that its air strikes were “precise.” Schmale has apologized for his remarks in which he was commenting on the ferocity of the air strikes and said: “... precision was there but there was unacceptable and unbearable loss of life on the civilian side”.An UNRWA official told Reuters that Deputy Commissioner-General Leni Stenseth would temporarily lead the Gaza team.“UNRWA has unequivocally condemned the killing and wounding of all civilians, including Palestine refugees, and has consistently called on all parties to ensure the protection of civilians during the recent hostilities in Gaza and the recent escalation of violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” Lazzarini said.
Reuters contributed to this report.

Israeli Right Calls Off Jerusalem March as Hamas Warns of New Violence
Agence France Presse/June 07/2021
Israeli right-wing groups Monday cancelled plans for a controversial march through annexed east Jerusalem this week, citing police restrictions, as Islamist group Hamas warned the event would spark new violence. The so-called March of the Flags was due to take place on Thursday and proceed through flashpoint areas of east Jerusalem that have seen repeated clashes recently between Israeli police and Palestinians. "Police refused to give us authorization" for the requested route, a spokesperson for one of the groups organizing the march said. Israeli police said in a statement that "the current route at this time is not approved", without stating that the march had been scrapped. But some extreme-right Israeli politicians said they would go ahead with the march anyway. Ultra-right wing MP Itamar Ben-Gvir, whom police have accused of stirring unrest in Jerusalem, along with conservative Likud member May Golan tweeted that they would march in Jerusalem on Thursday, which they can do with parliamentary status. The statement from police came as Khalil Hayya, a senior figure of the Palestinian group Hamas ruling Gaza, warned the march could spark new violence, following the military escalation of May 10-21.
"We warn the occupation (Israel) against letting the march approach east Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday," Hayya said. "We hope the message is clear so that Thursday doesn't become (a new) May 10." The latest war started after Hamas had issued a short deadline for Israel to remove its security forces from flashpoint areas in east Jerusalem, then launched its first volley of rockets at Israel. Earlier on May 10, organizers had called off plans for another march, to mark "Jerusalem Day". The event commemorates what Israelis consider the "reunification" of the disputed city following the 1967 Six-Day War, when it seized east Jerusalem before annexing it. Right-wing organizers have described this week's planned march as a routine demonstration of free expression, but many critics feared it could set a match to already inflamed tensions. The march was set to pass through the Old City's Damascus Gate, the site of clashes last month between anti-settlement demonstrators and Israeli security forces. Defense Minister Benny Gantz had urged police to cancel Thursday's event over concerns it could reignite fighting. In the latest Gaza war, Israeli strikes killed 260 Palestinians, including 66 children and some fighters, and wounded over 1,900 people, the Gaza health ministry says. Rockets and other fire from Gaza killed 13 people in Israel, including a child and an Arab-Israeli teenager and an Israeli soldier, medics and the military say. Some 357 people in Israel were wounded.

Vote on New Israeli Government to be Held in Coming Week
Associated Press/June 07/2021
Israel's parliament speaker said Monday that a vote to approve a new government that would end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year rule will be held in the coming week, without setting a precise date. The announcement by Yariv Levin, a close Netanyahu ally, leaves time for the prime minister's efforts to try to peel away supporters from the fragile coalition arrayed against him, which consists of eight parties and has only a narrow majority in Israel's 120-member Knesset, or parliament. Netanyahu's supporters have launched a blistering campaign against his opponents, including death threats and raucous protests outside their homes that has forced the Knesset to beef up their security details. Netanyahu has accused his erstwhile right-wing allies of betrayal for allying with leftists and a small Arab party that he had also courted. The so-called change coalition appears to be holding together despite the attacks and its ideological differences. Naftali Bennett, an ultranationalist former Netanyahu ally, would serve as prime minister for two years, followed by the centrist Yair Lapid. "This government is being formed because it's the majority," Lapid said Monday, insisting that it would serve all Israelis and be based on "trust, on decency, on goodwill." "These past few days proved how much we need change. If the leadership uses violence and incitement against Knesset members, against their children, against the very essence of the democratic process, then we need change," Lapid said. Israel held four elections in less than two years, the most recent in March. Each time, voters were deeply polarized over whether Netanyahu should remain in office while on trial for corruption. An emergency government formed last year to address the coronavirus pandemic was mired in political infighting and collapsed in December. Netanyahu tried and failed to form a government after the March elections before the mandate was given to Lapid. The political transition, which could yet be derailed, comes amid heightened tensions following weeks of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police in Jerusalem that ignited a wave of ethnic violence in Israeli cities and triggered an 11-day Gaza war.

IAEA chief: Deeply concerned Iran hiding nuclear material
Jerusalem Post/June 07/2021
“After many months, Iran has not provided the necessary explanation for the presence of the nuclear material particles at the 3 locations where the Agency has conducted complementary accesses."IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi on Monday told the organization’s Board of Governors that he is “deeply concerned” that Iran is hiding nuclear material, given its refusal to clarify open issues over an extended period. “After many months, Iran has not provided the necessary explanation for the presence of the nuclear material particles at any of the three locations where the Agency has conducted complementary accesses,” he said. Grossi stated, “In the absence of such an explanation from Iran, I am deeply concerned that nuclear material has been present at the three undeclared locations in Iran and that the current locations of this nuclear material are not known by the Agency.” In addition, he said, “Nor has Iran answered the questions with regard to the other undeclared location, or clarified the current location of natural uranium in the form of a metal disc. “I am concerned that the technical discussions between the Agency and Iran have not yielded the expected results and of the consequent lack of progress in clarifying these safeguards issues,” said the IAEA chief. Moreover, he noted “the requirement for Iran to clarify and resolve these issues without further delay by providing information, documentation and answers to the Agency’s questions. “The lack of progress in clarifying the Agency’s questions concerning the correctness and completeness of Iran’s safeguards declarations seriously affects the ability of the Agency to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” said Grossi.

Hamas using ‘cheap manipulation’ with fake hostage video, Israel says
Jerusalem Post/June 07/2021
Hamas is using the issue of Israeli captives to try to cover up for its losses in its last escalation with Israel, the government’s chief negotiator for the release of hostages Yaron Blum said. Hamas is using the issue of Israeli captives to try to cover up for its losses in its last escalation with Israel, the Israeli government’s chief negotiator for the release of hostages Yaron Blum said Sunday night. Blum’s remarks came after Hamas released a tape to Al-Jazeera that it claimed was of an Israeli captive. Hamas has held two mentally ill Israeli civilians, Avera Mentistu and Hisham al-Sayed, in captivity since 2014 and 2015, respectively, and the bodies of two soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, since 2014. In the recording, someone speaking in awkward and heavily-accented Hebrew says he is an Israeli soldier “in the captivity of the Al-Qassam Brigades" – though no living Israeli soldiers are known to be held in Gaza – and that he “dies every day.” “I hope the state of Israel still exists…I hope I will soon be in the arms of my family,” he says. Deputy Hamas Military Commander Marwan Issa told Al Jazeera that Hamas has “bargaining chips to complete a respectable prisoner exchange deal, and the inmates are the most important thing that is now on the table.”Blum said that “Hamas is in distress after the severe blows it suffered in Operation Guardian of the Walls and is using cheap and transparent manipulation.” “Israel is well aware of the situation of the boys Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, of blessed memory, and of the two civilans Avera Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayed who crossed the border while they were still alive,” Blum added. “Israel will continue to act with determination and responsibility to bring back the boys and the civilians.” Mengistu’s mother told Israeli media that it is not her son’s voice in the recording.
“I am waiting for my son and hope to meet him soon, like they always promised me,” she said. Al-Jazeera also played previously unseen footage of former captive IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, released in 2011 in exchange for 1,027 terrorists. Schalit is seen exercising on an eliptical machine, doing push-ups and sit-ups, and getting shaved, all in a sparsely-furnished room.Issa told Al Jazeera that he was in charge of keeping Schalit hidden. He said the Palestinian Authority and Egypt tried to secure Schalit’s release earlier, and that Hamas moved him from place to place, leaking disinformation about his location.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

Attorney-General Mandelblit throws Sheikh Jarrah issue back to the court
Jerusalem Post/June 07/2021
Mandelblit's decision frees the High Court to decide whether or not to hear the appeal of the Palestinian families. Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit has no intention of intervening in the High Court of Justice proceedings with respect to the pending eviction of four Palestinian families from the east Jerusalem Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The four families are awaiting a court decision over whether to accept their appeal of two lower court verdicts that they must leave their homes. The appeal proceedings were paused, however, to allow for Mandelblit to decide if he would weigh in on the proceedings.
On Monday his office said that Mandelblit had reviewed all the materials. "In view of the many legal proceedings conducted over the years in relation to the real estate at the center of the dispute, the attorney-general came to the general conclusion that there is no room for him to appear in the proceedings," his office stated. His statement frees the High Court to decide whether or not to hear the appeal. The four families are part of a group of 28 families, in danger of eviction over a 50-year property dispute as to the ownership of their homes. The Palestinian families originally lived within what is now sovereign Israel, in places such as west Jerusalem, Jaffa and Haifa, but fled to east Jerusalem during the 1948 War of Independence. In 1954 they struck a deal with the Jordanian government that ruled east Jerusalem at the time, that they would receive homes on land that had been owned by two Jewish companies prior to 1948, if they would give up their refugee status. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in the aftermath of the 1967 war and in 1972 the Jewish owners sought to reclaim the land, which is near the tomb of a high priest from the Second Temple period called Shimon Hatzadik. The Nahalat Shimon company now claims ownership of the property and wants to develop it for Jewish housing. The pending eviction of the Sheikh Jarrah families has garnered international attention, including from the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, all of whom have called on Israel to allow the families to remain in their houses.Hamas in Gaza has also cited the plight of the Sheikh Jarrah families as one of the reasons that it launched rockets at Israel last month.

Turkey kills top Kurdish official in Iraq operation
The Arab Weekly/June 07/2021
“We will continue to exterminate terrorism at its source,” said Erdogan.
ANKARA – A senior official from Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was killed in a Turkish intelligence operation in Iraq, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday. Erdogan accuses the PKK of using the mountainous area in Iraq’s north as a springboard for its insurgency against the Turkish state.The Turkish president said Selman Bozkir, also known as Doctor Huseyin, was the PKK chief in Makhmur, a Kurdish refugee camp in northern Iraq. “We will not allow the gruesome separatist organisation to use Makhmur as an incubator for terrorism,” Erdogan said on Twitter. “We will continue to exterminate terrorism at its source,” he added. The presidency’s communications director Fahrettin Altun warned that “all terrorists will end up like him.”Set up by the United Nations at the end of the 1990s to host Turkish Kurds, the Makhmur camp was hit Saturday by a Turkish drone strike that left three civilians dead, a Kurdish official from the camp said. Ankara regularly accuses the PKK of running the Makhmur camp, which is 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of the Turkish border. Turkey frequently conducts cross-border operations and air raids on PKK rear bases in Iraq, moves that have strained relations between the two neighbours, launching its latest offensive in April. Earlier this week, Erdogan likened Makhmur camp to the Mount Qandil region along Iraq’s eastern frontier, where the PKK has bases. “If the United Nations does not clean up this district, we will take care of it in our capacity as a UN member state,” Erdogan warned. Turkish troops have maintained a network of bases in northern Iraq since the mid-1990s on the basis of security agreements struck with the government of late president Saddam Hussein. The PKK has waged a rebellion in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey since 1984 which has claimed more than 40,000 lives and uses bases in Iraq to train fighters and launch attacks on Turkey.

US envoy calls for ‘end to inhuman violence’ in Marib
The Arab Weekly/June 07/2021
Missile attack by Houthis against petrol station kills 21 civilians.
MARIB, Yemen--US and British diplomats urged Houthi forces to end an offensive in northern Yemen on Sunday after at least 21 people were killed in an explosion caused by a Houthi missile strike. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels acknowledged their forces were behind the missile attack which caused the carnage. But they said on Sunday that their troops were targeting a military base in strategic northern city Marib when they instead hit a nearby petrol station. Houthi political commander Mohammed Ali al-Houthi tweeted a call for an “independent investigation” into the attack, promising to pay “compensation” if his group were found responsible. It is rare for the Iran-backed rebels to admit attempting to strike a target near where civilians have died. “We asked the brothers in the Ministry of Defence (in the unrecognised Houthi government) and they said that they only bombed the base,” said Houthi. “We welcome and demand that independent committees investigate the matter,” he added. On Saturday, state media said a strike killed 17 civilians at the petrol station in the city of Marib, the government’s last northern stronghold and blamed the rebels for the attack. Medical sources at the hospital told Reuters on Sunday that the death toll had risen to 21. Among those killed in Saturday’s explosion near a petrol station in Marib City was a five-year-old girl whose was charred beyond recognition. Reuters TV footage showed the partially covered bodies of the child and a man, whom the interior ministry said was her father, lying in a military hospital. The internationally-recognised Yemeni government, which has been battling the Houthi movement for over six years, said the blast, which wrecked the petrol station and gutted cars, was caused by a Houthi missile. Marib has become the focal point of the war since the Houthis launched an offensive to seize the gas-rich region, the government’s last stronghold in northern Yemen. “This inhuman violence must end,” Cathy Westley, charge d’affaires at the US embassy, said in a statement. The British ambassador to Yemen, Michael Aron, said on Twitter that serious engagement by the Houthis with UN efforts to secure a nationwide ceasefire would “prevent such tragic losses”. Yemen has been mired in violence since the Houthis overran government troops in Sana’a in 2014 triggering a Saudi Arabian-led military intervention in March 2015 to “restore legitimacy”.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, including in coalition air strikes and caused what the United Nations says is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with 80% of the population reliant on aid.

Dbeibah's message to Haftar: 'Volcano of Anger' is Libya's army
The Arab Weekly/June 07/2021
Observers say that Dbeibah’s challenge to Haftar stems from his conviction that the LNA is unable to undertake any hostile actions towards his authority.
TRIPOLI – The attendance by the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdelhamid al-Dbeibah, at the passing out parade of two groups of graduates from the “Burkan al-Ghadab” (Volcano of Anger) forces, sent a specific message to the Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The gist of this message is that the GNU relies on these forces to build the Libyan army and not on those under Haftar’s command. The field marshal had in recent weeks invited Dbeibah to attend a military parade in Benghazi to mark the seventh anniversary of the launch of Operation Dignity, but Dbeibah turned down the invitation and went instead on a visit to Algeria as part of a foreign tour. Dbeibah and Abdullah al-Lafi, the vice-president of the Presidency Council and army supreme commander,, attended, on Saturday, the graduation ceremony of two batches of the “Burkan Al-Ghadhab” forces. According to separate statements issued by the government, the Presidency Council and Operation Volcano of Anger, the ceremony honoured the fifty-first batch of military academy graduates and the third batch of cadets studying at the Air Defence College in Misrata. The two batches included more than 400 graduates, according to a statement by the media centre for “Operation Volcano of Anger” posted on its Twitter account. The ceremony was attended by “the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Muhammad Al-Haddad, various chiefs of staff, commanders of military regions, ministers of transportation and local government and the minister of state for communication and political affairs.”Dbeibah congratulated the “officers and non-commissioned officers among the graduates,” wishing them success in the performance of their duties.
He explained that this graduation is part of “the modernisation of the Libyan army and the infusion of new blood into it by integrating, absorbing, training and preparing them professionally.”
He added, “I am looking forward to seeing the graduates (from the Volcano of Anger Forces) in leadership positions in the Libyan army as soon as possible.”“Volcano of Anger” is the code name for a military operation launched by the then Government of National Accord on April 4, 2019, to thwart the LNA’s offensive towards Tripoli. Mostly pro-Islamist military personnel and armed militias participated in the operation. The continued presence of armed formations and militias is among the main challenges impeding the building of national understanding and ending divisions within Libya. It is also a point of contention that hinders the unification of the military institution. While the GNU authorities consider it necessary to integrate the armed formations and militias into the regular services, Haftar calls for their dissolution and disarming.
Speculation varied as to why Dbeibah refused to attend Haftar’s parade in Benghazi at the end of last month. Some said that the ceremony could have angered the armed groups in the western region, especially in Misrata, from which Dbeibah hails, not least since some Misratans had the fought against the LNA in Benghazi during its Operation Dignity. Others considered Dbeibah’s refusal to attend a logical reaction, given the tension between himself and Haftar. This came out into the open after the army prevented a plane carrying GNU officials from landing in Benghazi to hold the first ministerial meeting of the government in the city.
Haftar later issued a statement in which he pointed out that his forces are not under the command of the Government of National Unity. But he subsequently invited Dbeibah, his government and the Presidency Council to attend the military parade.
The invitation was considered an attempt by Haftar to embarrass Dbeibah in front of the Cyrenaicans whom he is trying to woo as part of his attempts to isolate the field marshal and reduce his influence in the eastern region. After Dbeibah was blocked from holding his planned cabinet meeting in Benghazi, tribal and local delegations instead went and met the prime minister in Tripoli. But Dbeibah’s failure to attend the LNA military parade while going to the graduation ceremony of members of the “Volcano of Anger,” may undermine his efforts for rapprochement with the eastern region. His action is likely to be seen as reflecting hostility towards the LNA, which consists mostly of people from the eastern region and some cities in the western region that are opposed to Islamists and connected to the previous regime. Observers say that Dbeibah’s escalation of his moves against Haftar stems from his conviction that the LNA is unable to undertake any hostile moves against him in view of the international consensus in favour of closing the chapter of war and moving forward towards unifying the country and ending divisions. These observers do not rule out that Dbeibah has received expressions of support during his foreign tour in Europe and the Gulf, in a way that reduces the possibility that the LNA’s traditional allies would back the army in a new war as threatened by Haftar during a speech he gave during the military parade. “We will not hesitate to engage again in battles to impose peace by force, if it is obstructed,” Haftar warned, according to the Libyan Centre Gate. “Let us give ample room to a just and peaceful solution in Libya, which requires the departure of foreign forces and the dissolution of armed groups deployed in the capital, Tripoli,” he added.

Scores of casualties in South Darfur tribal violence
The Arab Weekly/June 07/2021
“Military forces were deployed to the areas of clashes to resolve the conflict between Fallata and Taisha tribes which left 36 killed and 32 wounded,” SUNA reported late Sunday citing South Darfur officials.
KHARTOUM--Tribal violence over the weekend in South Darfur has killed at least 36 people and left dozens wounded, according to state media and witnesses. The fighting broke out on Saturday between the Arab al-Taisha and ethnic African Fallata tribes in the remote Um Dafuq area of South Darfur, witnesses said. Official news agency SUNA said calm was restored by Monday. “Military forces were deployed to the areas of clashes to resolve the conflict between Fallata and Taisha tribes which left 36 killed and 32 wounded,” SUNA reported late Sunday citing South Darfur officials. It was not immediately clear what triggered the clashes but similar fighting often erupts in the Darfur region over land and access to water. “We heard the sound of heavy weapons throughout the fighting,” which broke out Saturday and continued on Sunday, Um Dafuq resident Eissa Omar told AFP by telephone. The vast Darfur region, located in western Sudan, has been the scene of similar bouts of violence in recent months. In April, at least 132 people were killed in West Darfur fighting between members of the Massalit tribe and Arab communities, forcing authorities to impose a state of emergency.
In January, renewed clashes between Arab and non-Arab tribes in the West and South Darfur regions killed more than 250 people. The violence came as Sudan navigates a rocky transition following the toppling of long-time president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, following mass protests against his rule. The transitional government installed after Bashir’s ouster has been pushing to end long-running conflicts including those in Darfur. It signed a landmark peace agreement with multiple key rebel groups in October and it is currently in talks to forge peace with the remaining two holdout groups.
The recent violence in Darfur appeared not to involve any signatories to the October peace deal. On December 31, a hybrid United Nations and African Union peacekeeping mission ended its operations in Darfur. The end of peacekeeping patrols sparked protests by fearful Darfuris in late December. Darfur was the site of a bitter 2003 conflict pitting African ethnic minority rebels against Arab nomads backed by the Khartoum government under Bashir. The deadly conflict,which killed some 300,000 people and displaced 2.5 million, subsided over the years but inter-ethnic clashes still occasionally erupt.

Putin Signs Law Exiting Open Skies Security Pact
Agence France Presse/June 07/2021
President Vladimir Putin signed legislation Monday formalising Russia's withdrawal from the Open Skies security treaty after Washington quit the key post-Cold War defence accord last year. Moscow announced in mid-January it was leaving the treaty that allows signatories to carry out unarmed surveillance flights over each others' territories. It cited a "lack of progress" on maintaining the treaty after the United States withdrew last year. The document formalising Russia's decision was published on a government website Monday morning. The decision by the Russian leader comes ahead of a highly anticipated summit between Putin and US President Joe Biden in Geneva next week. Biden intially signalled his administration could reverse his predecessor’s move to quit the accord, but then confirmed late last month Washington would not revisit the decision. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in response last week there was no reason for the security pact to feature on the agenda at the meeting between Putin and Biden, since the United States had made its position on the future of the accord clear. Russian lawmakers in both the upper and lower houses of parliament had earlier voted in favour of ending Moscow's participating in Open Skies. Members of the accord included countries across Europe, the former Soviet Union and Canada. Moscow and Washington had long accused each other of breaching the terms of the agreement, and then-US president Donald Trump formally pulled the US out last November. The pact allows members to request copies of images taken during surveillance flights carried out by other members. A country under surveillance is given 72-hours' warning ahead of a flight and 24-hours' notice of the flight path, to which it can suggest modifications.

Muslim family of four killed in ‘premeditated’ Canada truck attack
AFP/08 June/2021
A man driving a pick-up truck slammed into and killed four members of a Muslim family Sunday evening in the south of Canada’s Ontario province, in what police said Monday was a “premeditated” attack. A 20-year-old suspect was arrested at a mall seven kilometers (four miles) from the intersection crosswalk in London, Ontario where it happened, and has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. A child was also hospitalized following the attack. “There is evidence that this was a planned, premeditated act, motivated by hate. It is believed that these victims were targeted because they were Muslim,” Detective Superintendent Paul Waight told a news conference.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 07-08/2021
Report: China could save Israel from Iran-But no way Beijing will end Tehran ties.
Yonah Jeremy Bob/Jerusalem Post/June 07/2021
China is one of the few actors which could potentially save Israel from Iran in favor of stability, a new report by the Institute for National Security Studies exclusively first obtained by The Jerusalem Post. According to the report, with Dr. Kevjn Lim as lead author on behalf of INSS, China has started to try harder to portray itself as a “more responsible global power.” In that light and due to the Islamic Republic’s deep reliance on Beijing, it may be “one of only very few actors, if willing, capable of changing the balance in the Middle East in favor of stability.”This will not be easy and the report even warns that a direct appeal to China to sever its ties with Tehran would fail. “Directly persuading China to sever or significantly downgrade its ties with Iran is unrealistic, and probably even counterproductive. Such a strategy would be seen as heckling a major power, one that prides itself on maintaining good ties with all regional actors, into taking sides,” said the report. Part of the reason, writes Lim, is that “China’s motives for deepening cooperation with Iran have little to do with Israel. Rather than dissuade China from advancing ties with Iran, Jerusalem should instead constantly persuade Beijing, as a non-partisan actor seeking predictability… to pressure Iran into moderating its destabilizing conduct.” “Alongside more robust and farsighted US policy in the Middle East, this would benefit the entire region’s stability, and with it Chinese commerce and economic interests,” says INSS.The report further says, “Israel should likewise prod China towards a stricter stance on nuclear assistance and proliferation,” on top of reducing Iranian conventional military aggression.
What leverage does Israel have to convince China?
For one, Lim notes that until Iran moderates its threats against Israel, the Jewish state will likely continue to “degrade and disrupt Iran’s diplomatic, along with economic and military options, and certainly its nuclear program.”These disruptions can also delay and destabilize Chinese trade with Iran and in the Middle East in general. In other words, China may not force the Islamic Republic to change direction all at once for stability, it may start to more regularly press for restraint the same way that many US administrations press Jerusalem for restraint. The report also notes new opportunities for leveraging China to restrain Tehran by virtue of the Abraham Accords.For example, “If Israel and its burgeoning Sunni allies in the Gulf and elsewhere coordinate with each other in their interactions with China, they face better odds of getting Beijing to factor into account their preferences regarding Iran.”
“At the very least, this could nudge China towards more actively pressing Iran to moderate its conduct… this strategic realignment could also in the longer run shape not only how Beijing conducts its commerce, but also how it thinks about its strategic, diplomatic and security priorities in the region,” writes Lim.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO.) is another place that the report states China could positively impact Israel-Iran issues. Israel has applied to the SCO for dialogue partner status, which is two grades lower than being a full member.
If Israel is admitted, the Jewish state would occupy some of the same diplomatic space with Iran.
INSS speculates that “Relative proximity in such forums allows for the possibility of contacts mediated by third parties like China (or Russia),” while conceding progress from such contacts would still likely be very limited. The report does warn Israel to be careful to balance its closeness to China with its alliance with the US and with the risk of information being leaked to the Islamic Republic. It states, “the presence of Chinese state-owned enterprises and their subsidiaries in construction and infrastructure projects in both Iran and Israel require careful treatment and insulation, and Jerusalem must assume information-sharing between Beijing and Tehran.” “Some of these projects are hot-wired with control, signaling, and monitoring networks looped into broader urban or national-level grids that can be electronically disrupted and manipulated, while others may be located in the proximity of sensitive government sites including military, naval, and intelligence facilities,” says the report. According to INSS, “the China Railway Tunnel Group, which holds 51-percent shares in a joint consortium constructing much of the red line segment of Tel Aviv’s light rail network, is a subsidiary of CREC.”
But “CREC is partnered with the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbia conglomerate in the construction of the Tehran-Qom-Esfahan fast rail,” notes Lim. The report explains, “For Israel’s part, recognizing the strengths and limits of China-Iran relations will be crucial to moving forward.”
Lim is a senior risk adviser for the Middle East and North Africa at IHS Markit Country Risk, where he runs the Iran desk and is a research fellow at INSS.

Al-Qaeda Is Still in Afghanistan, and It’s Fighting for Victory
Thomas Joscelyn/FDD/The Dispatch/June 07/2021
The problem with Joe Biden’s ‘over the horizon’ strategy for fighting terrorism.
On May 28, President Biden addressed service members and their families at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia. Midway through his speech, the president offered his rationale for withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan. They don’t need to be stationed inside the country, Biden argued, because “over-the-horizon” operations can neutralize any worrisome terrorist threats.
“And now, as we draw down, we’re also going to focus on the urgent work of rebuilding over-the-horizon capabilities that’ll allow us to take out al-Qaeda if they return to Afghanistan—but to focus on the threat that has metastasized,” the president said.
“Return to Afghanistan”? Al-Qaeda is already there, and so is ISIS.
On June 1, a team of counterterrorism experts working for the U.N. Security Council published its latest analysis of al-Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan. One U.N. member state reported to the team that al-Qaeda is currently operating in at least 15 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. This intelligence is bolstered by al-Qaeda’s own weekly Arabic newsletter, which has reported on the group’s presence in still more Afghan provinces over the last year. Senior al-Qaeda figures have also been hunted down in Taliban-controlled areas, as they continue to enjoy the protection of their jihadi blood brothers.
On that latter point, the U.N. report confirms, once again, that there’s been no break between the Taliban and al-Qaeda. This is true despite assurances from former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad that the Taliban would betray al-Qaeda as part of the pact they negotiated with the jihadists on behalf of the Trump administration.
The Taliban and al-Qaeda “remain closely aligned and show no indication of breaking ties,” the U.N. monitoring team reports. The U.N.’s member states “report no material change to this relationship, which has grown deeper as a consequence of personal bonds of marriage and shared partnership in struggle, now cemented through second generational ties.”
The main al-Qaeda branch inside Afghanistan is Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, which is composed of fighters from throughout the region. But the U.N.’s analysts say al-Qaeda has a wing known as Jabhat al-Nasr—meaning the “Front for Victory.” That is, they are planning on winning the war and resurrecting the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan after America and its NATO allies complete their retreat from the country.
Tucked away in a footnote is a potentially key detail concerning Sirajuddin Haqqani, the deputy emir of the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate. The U.N.’s team of experts assesses that Haqqani is not only a senior Taliban leader, but also a “member of the wider Al-Qaeda leadership.” It’s not clear what position Haqqani is thought to hold inside al-Qaeda, but his close alliance with the organization founded by Osama bin Laden and currently led by Ayman al-Zawahiri is well-known.
In February 2020, the New York Times published an op-ed attributed to Sirajuddin Haqqani. The piece was carefully crafted by someone to make it appear as if the Taliban was interested in some form of peace, while there is absolutely no other reason to think that is the case. As I’ve written previously, the piece was likely disinformation. The Times should have informed readers that Haqqani is a U.S. and U.N.-designated terrorist whose dossier is filled with al-Qaeda references. If the U.N. is correct that Haqqani holds a leadership role within al-Qaeda itself, then this compounds the problems with that op-ed. It would mean that the Times published a deceptive piece written in the name of a full-fledged al-Qaeda man.
The importance of this allegation goes well beyond the problems with op-ed placements in America’s elite newspapers. As the U.N.’s report accurately relays, the Haqqanis are the most effective fighting force within the Taliban’s insurgency. And the allegation concerning Sirajuddin’s role raises additional questions concerning the true strength of al-Qaeda inside Afghanistan. After all, the Haqqanis have thousands of fighters of their own—men who are often dual-hatted, belonging to the Taliban and al-Qaeda at the same time. This implies that al-Qaeda is much more heavily invested in the Afghan war than President Biden lets on.
The U.N. analysis points to a persistent ISIS presence in Afghanistan as well. Though far from the peak of its power, the ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) branch has continued to launch high-profile attacks, including in and around the Afghan capital of Kabul. The U.N. describes the leader of ISIS-K as an “ambitious new leader” known as Shahab al-Muhajir. He coordinates his operation with an ISIS office (known as Al-Sadiq office) that oversees the former caliphate’s operations throughout all of Central and South Asia, “including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Central Asian republics.” Though the ISIS mother ship probably provides only limited funding to ISIS-K at present, the two still maintain “communications”—meaning ISIS-K isn’t some truly independent entity, but instead part of a cohesive network.
During his speech on May 28, President Biden argued that the threat from both al-Qaeda and ISIS is more worrisome elsewhere—far from Afghanistan. “The greatest threat and likelihood of attack from al-Qaeda or ISIS is not going to be from Afghanistan; it’s going to be from five other regions of the world that have significantly more presence of both al Qaeda and organizational structures, including ISIS,” Biden said.
That is debatable. It’s true that both al-Qaeda and ISIS have significant arms in several jihadi hotspots throughout the Middle East and Africa. So the jihadists have more potential launching pads for attacks in the West today than in 2001. But this doesn’t mean that the threat from Afghanistan (and Pakistan) is non-existent. Indeed, the purpose of the “over-the-horizon” operations Biden intends to employ is to counter any perceived threats to the U.S. and its Western allies emanating from Afghanistan.
As the U.N. notes in its most recent report, al-Qaeda still maintains significant leadership cadres in Afghanistan and Pakistan—leaders who can order up attacks staged elsewhere. The elderly Ayman al-Zawahiri, to name just one, is thought to be living somewhere in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Thousands of jihadis around the globe—in the hotspots mentioned by President Biden—still owe Zawahiri their loyalty. So, it is not the case that the jihad in Afghanistan is distinct from the jihad elsewhere. In fact, the jihadis hope that a victory against the Afghan government will be a boon for their cause globally—as many new recruits would be convinced that the jihadis can actually win.
America’s military presence in Afghanistan is coming to an end. Nothing written here will change that. And there’s much to criticize with respect to how this war was prosecuted. But the U.S. should understand what it is leaving behind.
*Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD’s Long War Journal. Follow Tom on Twitter @thomasjoscelyn. FDD is a nonpartisan think tank focused on foreign policy and national security issues.

Good time for a timeout in the Iran nuclear talks
Benjamin Weinthal and Alireza Nader/Politico/June 07/2021
With the U.S. moving at an astonishingly fast pace to re-enter the complex 2015 Iran nuclear deal, it is time for wiser heads to prevail. As negotiators hit pause on the talks this week, over unresolved points of contention, it is time for the American negotiators in Vienna to take a timeout to evaluate recent European intelligence findings about the Islamic Republic’s illicit atomic weapons activities.
It is unclear whether the U.S. Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, has examined the intelligence from the European agencies. Malley has been criticized for his concessionary bargaining that will release tens of billions of dollars into the Tehran regime’s coffers without any effort to permanently halt its drive to build nuclear weapons.
The intelligence gathered by European countries is significant, and alarming. Even as EU countries push for a U.S. return to the nuclear deal, reports by their agencies make it clear that Tehran sought technology in 2020 for constructing nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction.
“Iran also conducts industrial espionage, which is mainly targeted against Swedish hi-tech industry and Swedish products, which can be used in nuclear weapons programs,” Sweden’s Security Service declared. “Iran is investing heavy resources in this area and some of the resources are used in Sweden.”
The Netherlands’ General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) reported that Iran’s regime sought technology for nuclear and possibly other WMD weaponry. According to the Dutch intelligence agency, “The joint Counter-Proliferation Unit of the AIVD and the MIVD [the country’s Military Intelligence and Security Service] is investigating how countries try to obtain the knowledge and goods they need to make weapons of mass destruction. Countries such as Syria, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea also tried to acquire such goods and technology in Europe and the Netherlands last year.”
Dutch intelligence services “investigated networks that tried to obtain the knowledge and materials to develop weapons of mass destruction. Multiple acquisition attempts have been frustrated by the intervention of the services,” the document noted.
Meanwhile, in Germany, each of the country’s 16 states has its own intelligence agency and publishes an annual report that documents threats to its democratic, constitutional system. Two of these outlined Tehran’s efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction material on German soil in 2020.
“Proliferation-relevant states like Iran, North Korea, Syria and Pakistan are making efforts to expand their conventional arsenal of weapons through the production or constant modernization of weapons of mass destruction,” the state of Bavaria’s agency wrote in its report. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein disclosed in its intelligence report the deceptive methods Iran uses to cover up its efforts to secure illicit technology for the world’s most deadly weapons: “Proliferation-relevant countries such as Iran, North Korea and Syria, but also Pakistan, try to circumvent safety precautions and legal export regulations and to disguise illegal procurement activities. To do this, they turn to mostly conspiratorial means and methods,” the intelligence agency wrote.
While these reports have gotten relatively little attention from Western journalists, the media in Middle Eastern countries such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — which will be within a stone’s throw of any Iranian nuclear missile — have followed them closely. In the U.S., Malley’s immediate predecessor, Elliott Abrams, has argued that the reports call for caution in the ongoing talks over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA as the Iran nuclear deal is called. The Trump administration withdrew the US from the JCPOA in 2018 because the accord only reduced Tehran’s capability to construct atomic weapons to within a 10- to 15-year timeframe.
“Surely the fact that Iran continues actively to seek the elements it needs to build nuclear weapons is relevant to those talks [in Vienna],” Abrams wrote on his blog at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Those Iranian procurement efforts remind us how closely Iran must be monitored — far more closely than is guaranteed by the JCPOA.”
If Iran’s regime, as it claims, has nothing to hide about its atomic program, why is it concealing its efforts to obtain WMD technology?
The U.S. government and its European allies need to know what types of illicit goods Tehran sought in 2020 and how many attempts the Islamic Republic of Iran made to obtain them. A joint U.S.-EU task force ought to be set up, with its findings released, at a minimum, to Congress.
European intelligence agencies aren’t the only ones sounding a warning. Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the Iranian regime and the U.S. could not simply return to 2015 JCPOA, since the old terms are obsolete given Tehran’s violations of the agreement and its work on more advanced centrifuges.
“We found traces of uranium that has (sic) been subject to industrial processing in different places, which had not been declared by Iran,” Grossi said. “That is a big problem.”
“My responsibility is the credibility and integrity of the non-proliferation regime. I could say, ‘Don’t say anything,’ but then five years down the line something happens, and then it is a dereliction of duty on our part.” It is also unclear whether the IAEA examined the fresh European intelligence.
Malley should heed Grossi’s warning and take heed of the damning intelligence that shows the Islamic Republic certainly hasn’t halted its nuclear-weapons ambitions. To safeguard the Middle East and the world, there is a pressing need to temporarily halt the talks with Iran and evaluate the European findings.
Act I of the nuclear talks require an intermission. There is always time for an Act II.
*Benjamin Weinthal is a research fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Alireza Nader is a senior fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow them on Twitter @BenWeinthal.
*AlirezaNader. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Arabs: Hamas and Iran Turned Gaza into Cemetery for Children
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/June 07/2021
خالد أبو طعمة/معهد كايتستون: العرب يقولون بأن حماس وإيران حولا غزة إلى مقبرة للأطفال
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The Arabs are aware that Hamas’s only interest is to appease the mullahs in Tehran for the sake of milking them for more money and weapons. The Arabs understand that this just is another farce by Hamas and particularly Iran.
It is… refreshing to see how many Arabs are aware of the dangers of Iran’s involvement with Palestinian terrorist groups that seek the elimination first of Israel, then of them.
“The Hamas militias in the Gaza Strip belong to Iran…. Iran wants to use the Palestinian issue as a winning card at the Vienna negotiations….. to force the US to lift the sanctions on Iran in return for ending the security escalation which threatens Israel…. Iran’s weapons are for destruction, not construction.” — Amjad Taha, prominent Arab journalist, Twitter, May 27, 2021.
“The more killing and destruction, the more Hamas’s income increases while the Palestinians continue to suffer from siege and poverty.” — Saeed Al-Kahel, Moroccan writer and political analyst, Assahifa, May 29, 2021.
“Iran exploited Hamas and the Islamic Jihad for its own benefit only, and if it wanted the interest of the Palestinians, it would have contributed to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip…. Tehran has not contributed or made donations for humanitarian or reconstruction projects in Gaza….” — Samir Ghattas, former Egyptian parliament member and head of the Egyptian Middle East Forum for Strategic Studies, Al-Arabiya.net, May 26, 2021.
The Egyptian expert [Muhammad Mujahid Al-Zayyat, a consultant at the Egyptian Center for Thought and Strategic Studies]… is joining other Arabs in warning the Biden administration and the Western powers against allowing Iran to be rewarded for Hamas’s war of terrorism against Israel.
It now remains to be seen whether the Biden administration and the Western powers will heed this warning or continue to bury their heads in the sand, pretending that the mullahs in Iran, in exchange for massive bribes from the US, will magically change their savage stripes. They did not last time; what will happen to the region if they again do not?
Hamas’s claim that it “won” the last war with Israel has become the subject of ridicule and mockery by many Arabs, who are aware that Hamas’s only interest is to appease the mullahs in Iran for the sake of milking them for more money and weapons. Pictured: Iran’s “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (right) greets Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on February 12, 2012. (Image source: khamenei.ir/AFP via Getty Images)
Hamas’s claim that it “won” the last war with Israel has become the subject of ridicule and mockery by many Arabs who are not afraid to call out the Iranian-backed terrorist group for lying to the Palestinians and the rest of the world.
The Arabs are also not afraid to hold Hamas responsible for the massive destruction and the loss of the lives of innocent Palestinians and Israelis in order to serve the interests of its masters in Iran.
Scenes of Palestinians celebrating the Hamas “victory” sparked a wave of condemnations in the Arab world, especially in the Gulf states. The reactions of the Arabs to Hamas’s self-proclaimed victory shows that many in the Arab world are not fooled by the terrorist group’s propaganda machine. The Arabs are aware that Hamas’s only interest is to appease the mullahs in Tehran for the sake of milking them for more money and weapons. The Arabs understand that this just is another farce by Hamas and particularly Iran.
Prominent Arab journalist Amjad Taha, an expert on international affairs and a popular commentator on the media and social media networks in the Gulf, burst into laughter when asked during a TV interview if he thought Hamas had scored a “victory” against Israel.
“In the war in the Gaza Strip, no one won,” Taha said. “The children and women on both sides lost. Does victory mean the use of women and children as human shields? Does victory mean the death of 269 Palestinians and the injury of 8,900 in the Gaza Strip?”
Taha pointed out that some of the Palestinians killed during the 11-day war were victims of Hamas rockets: “Out of 3,700 rockets fired by Hamas [into Israel], 400 rockets fell on residential areas in the Gaza Strip and killed women and children.”
“How strange. We live in an era where defeat has become victory. Bon appetite to [Qatar-based Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh for the Mercedes car, the Rolex watch and the Armani suit. Bon appetite to Hamas for trafficking in the blood of innocent Palestinians. As usual, Haniyeh won, the people lost.”
Echoing the widespread belief in the Arab world that Iran was using its Palestinian proxies, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to extract concessions from the US and other world powers at the Vienna negotiations to revive the 2005 Iran nuclear deal, Taha added:
“The Hamas militias in the Gaza Strip belong to Iran. What these militias recently did was serve Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps. Iran wants to use the Palestinian issue as a winning card at the Vienna negotiations. Iran wants to use the Palestinian issue to force the US to lift the sanctions on Iran in return for ending the security escalation which threatens Israel. The terrorist Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar, said, ‘We thank Iran for giving us money and weapons.’ Iran’s money is intended to help the mercenaries to continue trafficking with the Palestinian issue. Iran’s weapons are for destruction, not construction.”
The negotiations between Iran and the world powers over the 2015 nuclear deal resumed last week in Vienna with the goal of bringing the US back into the agreement.
Emirati journalist and writer Mohamed Taqi was even more blunt in his criticism of Hamas’s alleged victory and its alliance with Iran.
“God’s curse on all those who exploited the al-Aqsa Mosque, the Palestinian issue and the Palestinian people in return for personal glory and money,” Taqi said in a video he posted on Twitter. “God’s curse on the traitors who sold the Palestinian issue to give it on a silver platter to the mullahs of Iran.”
Like many Arabs, Taqi denounced the Hamas leaders for living in luxury in Qatar and Turkey while sacrificing their own people in the Gaza Strip to appease Iran.
“Which ‘resistance’ are you talking about, Haniyeh, when you and your children are staying in hotels in Qatar and Turkey?” Taqi asked, addressing the Qatar-based Hamas leader who was seen travelling in a new Mercedes car in Doha during the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
“Which ‘resistance’ are you talking about when you are sacrificing your people while you and you children are living the good life? Then you ask the Arabs, whom you have accused of treason, to rebuild the Gaza Strip while you are presenting your ‘victory’ to Iran?”
Moroccan writer and political analyst Saeed Al-Kahel accused Hamas of turning the Palestinian issue into a “commercial asset.”
Hamas, Al-Kahel wrote, “does not want the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to end because it wants to achieve political and financial gains. Hamas has turned the Palestinian issue into a commercial asset that generates funds from various sources and ensures prosperity and wealth for its leaders.”
Al-Kahel, too, shares the view that Iran is using its Palestinian allies’ campaign of terrorism against Israel to get the US to lift the sanctions on Iran. “Hamas has turned the ‘resistance’ into a pressure card in the hands of Iran, which is exploiting it in its conflict with the West in order to lift the sanctions over its nuclear program,” Al-Kahel wrote.
“Therefore, whatever the outcome of the armed confrontation with Israel, Hamas will not declare its defeat. Rather, it will make it a victory, even if it celebrates it among the ruins and coffins. The more killing and destruction, the more Hamas’s income increases while the Palestinians continue to suffer from siege and poverty. What is worse is that political Islamic organizations are proud of the illusory victory achieved by Hamas. None of these organizations asked about the nature of this victory and its gains for the benefit of the Palestinians and their cause: how much land was liberated, how many prisoners were released, and how many [Palestinian] refugees returned? None of this has been achieved, and will not be achieved as long as Hamas controls the Palestinian decision-making process. Palestinian blood has become cheap for Hamas, as well as for the Islamic Movement [in Morocco], whose leaders were quick to congratulate the Hamas leadership on a ‘clear victory.'”
Samir Ghattas, a former Egyptian parliament member and head of the Egyptian Middle East Forum for Strategic Studies, also warned against Iran’s attempt to use Hamas to obtain gains from the US and other world powers during the Vienna negotiations.
Ghattas noted that Iran tried from day one of the fighting between Israel and Hamas to assert its presence in the battlefield by issuing statements in support of the Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip. The statements, he said, included a letter sent by Major General Esmail Qaani, head of Iran’s Quds Force, to Hamas arch-terrorist Mohammed Deif, pledging full support for the Palestinian war on Israel.
“Iran wants to achieve qualitative and strong progress in the Vienna negotiations, and is playing the card of the factions and militias loyal to it in the region, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine in order to confirm its regional strength and weight,” Ghattas said in a clear warning to the US administration and the world powers negotiating with Iran. “Iran exploited Hamas and the Islamic Jihad for its own benefit only, and if it wanted the interest of the Palestinians, it would have contributed to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip,” he added.
“Tehran has not contributed or made donations for humanitarian or reconstruction projects in Gaza, but rather contributed to financing the purchase of weapons and others in order to turn Gaza into a weapon center that threatens the security of the region. The recent Gaza war and the similar wars that preceded it in 2008, 2012 and 2014 were just opportunities that Iran exploited politically and militarily for its own interests only, not for the interest of the people of Palestine and Gaza, but at the expense of their blood.”
Muhammad Mujahid Al-Zayyat, a consultant at the Egyptian Center for Thought and Strategic Studies, said that Iran’s support for Hamas during the war with Israel was aimed at sending a message to the West that the Palestinian terrorist groups have become a bargaining chip for Iran in its dealings with the West.
The recent Gaza war, Al-Zayyat argued, is another attempt to show strength on the part of Tehran and hint that it will go to the Vienna negotiations with a Hamas “victory” in its hands in order to lift the sanctions against it and achieve what it wants from the Iran nuclear deal.
The Egyptian expert, in other words, is joining other Arabs in warning the Biden administration and the Western powers against allowing Iran to be rewarded for Hamas’s war of terrorism against Israel.
Saudi political analyst Abdul Rahman Altrairi also scoffed at Hamas’s claim that it won the war. He pointed out that Iran’s Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist militia had previously declared victory over Israel after causing massive destruction to Lebanon’s infrastructure during the 2006 war with Israel.
Altrairi reminded those Westerners who are working hard to appease Iran that the Iranians are responsible for “destruction and corruption” in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
Altrairi warned the West that one of Iran’s goals during the Gaza war was to destroy the peace treaties between Israel and some Arab countries and “reposition Israel as an enemy of the Arabs.”
Emirati preacher Dr. Waseem Yousef also condemned Hamas for its hypocrisy in dealing with the Arabs:
“Hamas fired rockets from people’s homes, and when the [Israeli] response came, Hamas cried and shouted: ‘Where are the Arabs, where are the Muslims.’ Hamas turned Gaza into a cemetery for innocent people and children. Hamas burned the flags of most Arab countries, insulted all Arab countries, and did not respect anyone.”
It is refreshing to see voices from the Arab world ridiculing Hamas for declaring victory against Israel while bringing disaster to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It is also refreshing to see how many Arabs are aware of the dangers of Iran’s involvement with Palestinian terrorist groups that seek the elimination first of Israel, then of them.
The most important message coming from many Arabs, however, is one that is directed to the Biden administration and the Western powers, alerting them to the fact that Iran is seeking to take advantage of the recent war in the Gaza Strip to intimidate them into making additional concessions to Tehran. It now remains to be seen whether the Biden administration and the Western powers will heed this warning or continue to bury their heads in the sand, pretending that the mullahs in Iran, in exchange for massive bribes from the US, will magically change their savage stripes. They did not last time; what will happen to the region if they again do not?
*Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.

The crossroads after the Gaza war
Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/June 07/2021
As it rids itself of "Bibi" does the Biden administration have a peace project that provides hope for the Palestinians?
The only constants after the recent Gaza war are the rise of Hamas and a new Israeli government that will remove Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu from the position of prime minister which he has held for 12 years. Everything that is happening in the light of the last Gaza war is strange and unusual. Through the rockets it fired from Gaza, Hamas had kept Bibi afloat. That was possible because right wing politicians rallied around him, temporarily. They quickly changed their minds, however, and decided to play a role in ending his political career.
The Hamas bet on a new Israeli government is very intriguing. It is a government headed by the right-wing settler Naftali Bennett, a government that combines all the contradictions, including the presence of Palestinians from the Muslim Brotherhood led by the Israeli Knesset member, Mansour Abbas.
What unites the members of this government is only their desire to get rid of Bibi, who seems to have sparked many personal rivalries, especially with Israeli politicians from the far right. Bennett is now set to be the next prime minister, for only two years. He is thereafter supposed to be succeeded in the premiership by Yair Lapid.
Lapid leads a centrist party that opposes the religious and right-wing parties and even considers them to be his staunch opponents.
It was an historic photo opportunity moments after the latter was approved as prime minister and secured a majority in the Knesset when Mansour Abbas, whose faction is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, stood smiling next to Naftali Bennett, the Jewish leader who has defended settlements.
The participation of the two figures (Bennett and Lapid) in standing up to Bibi pushed Mansour Abbas up on to the Israeli political stage to participate in the government. This, after his small Islamist faction achieved a simple majority that served the interests of the Jewish parties hoping to remove Netanyahu.
The United Arab List (UAL) will become the first ever party from the Arab minority, which represents 21 percent of Israel's population, to participate in an Israeli government. Mansour Abbas put aside all his differences with Naftali Bennett, the incoming prime minister and former leader of the largest organisation defending Jewish settlements and demanding the annexation of most of the occupied West Bank.
The Muslim Brotherhood joined in support of the Israeli right wing in a move that casts aside every possible principle of any kind and reveals its true nature.
Bennett was famous for a statement he made in the recent past, in which he said, “I killed so many Arabs that I would have not any issue” with the participation of Palestinian Arabs from Israel in the government
Who is Mansour Abbas, who revealed that there are no limits to the Muslim Brotherhood's lust for power? Abbas hails from the town of Maghar near Lake Tiberias whose population is made up of Sunnis and Druze.
His party is the political wing of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, after it split from the wing of Raed Salah, who is imprisoned on charges of inciting terrorism. The Muslim Brotherhood rallied behind the Israeli right shedding principles of all kind. It is known that the Islamic movement in Israel was founded in 1971 and traces its origins to the Muslim Brotherhood, of which Hamas is an integral part despite all allegations to the contrary.
Abbas, who is professionally a dentist, says he hopes to improve conditions for Arab citizens who complain of discrimination and government neglect.
In a message to his supporters after signing the coalition agreement with Bennett and Yair Lapid, he said that his faction decided to join the government “in order to change the balance of political power in the country.” Spokespersons for the UAL said that the agreement provides for the allocation of more than 53 billion shekels (16 billion dollars) to improving infrastructure and combatting violent crimes in Arab cities.
The UAL added that the agreement also includes provisions to freeze the demolition of homes built without permits in Arab villages and to grant official status to Bedouin towns in the Negev desert, which are considered Islamist strongholds.
Mansour Abbas asserted that when the government was formed with the support of the Arab faction, he would be able to influence the cabinet and garner achievements for the Arab community. Is Bibi a thing of the past? Much will depend on whether the Bennett-Lapid government is viable and whether Netanyahu will be able to escape his problems with the Israeli judiciary given the corruption charges under which he is being tried.
What is certain is that the phase after the Gaza war will not be the same as the phase preceding it.
It is also certain that the internal situation in Israel is on the verge of incoming turbulence. In the meanwhile, the biggest question is that, while Israel drifts away, what will Hamas do with the political victory it achieved thanks to Iranian missiles, which thrust it to the fore at the expense of the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah?
What is clear in the midst of all this political turmoil in Israel, is that the Biden administration is not unhappy with getting rid of Bibi who has been able to exert pressure on Washington through the Republican Party and extremist Christians who consider themselves proponents of the Zionist ideology.
Finally, Bibi went as far as to assert that the Iranian nuclear concerns are more important than avoiding frictions with the United States.
He simply wanted to say that he was ready to clash with the US administration if he had to. This is exactly what he did previously with the Barack Obama White House, an administration that was enamoured of Iran. He succeeded in that to some extent.
As its rids itself of Bibi what does the Biden administration have to offer after the formation of the Naftali Bennett cabinet? Does it have a peace project that provides hope for the Palestinians? More importantly, will it be easier for the US to deal with Bennett than with Bibi, despite the presence of Yair Lapid at the foreign ministry?
After the Gaza war, the outcome of which no party in the region and beyond had expected, there are many lingering questions and none of them has yet had any answers.
Among those that will have to be addressed is what is to be done in Gaza itself and what is the future of the Egyptian role there?
What will the Biden administration do with Iran, its nuclear programme, its missiles and with its behaviour outside its borders in the absence of Bibi? It is not possible to talk only of American confusion and an administration that was surprised by Gaza's missiles. There is also Palestinian confusion, the best expression of which remains the participation of the Muslim Brotherhood in a government headed by one of the settlement leaders in the West Bank. There is also Israeli confusion embodied by a government formed of all possible contradictions.

Egypt's leadership emerges again in brokering Middle East stability
Seth J. Frantzman/The Hill/June 07/2021
When Egypt helped to broker a May 21 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after 11 days of fighting, ending a largely pointless conflict that pitted Hamas and its massive missile arsenal against Israel’s air force, Cairo renewed its tradition of trying to reduce tensions between Israel and the Gaza Strip. This time, however, Egypt publicly went beyond its previous work and, on May 30, hosted Israel’s foreign minister in Cairo for the first time in 13 years. It appears to be part of a slow but consistent shift for Egypt as it tries to resume a leadership role in the Middle East.
The symbolic visit by Gabi Ashkenazi, the Israeli minister, for meetings with his counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, came as Israel builds ties with new peace partners in the Gulf and Egypt expands its contacts and outreach to countries in the Horn of Africa. While Ashkenazi was in Cairo, the Egyptians sent their intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Though Israel has had relations with Egypt for decades — Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel in 1979 — for most of that time, those relations have run cold. Often, there are no public diplomatic visits and Israel’s ambassador sometimes has not even been based in Egypt because of tensions.
Egypt’s outreach now is part of a wider agenda by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Almost a decade after the “Arab Spring” led to the toppling of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, Egypt is signaling its tentative steps back to regional leadership. From the 1950s to 1990s, Egypt was a major Arab country exporting culture, military power and leadership. That changed with the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, as Cairo became more inward-looking, with protests and the temporary rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. Sisi came to power to remove the Brotherhood, but he has spent the past decade slowly rebuilding the country’s clout. That clout begins in north and east Africa. At the end of May, Egypt sent planes with humanitarian aid to Djibouti, and Sisi went to Djibouti for diplomatic talks. Though a small country, Djibouti is host to strategic bases for Western powers and plays a big role in security in the Horn of Africa. After Djibouti, Egypt concluded military drills with Sudan. Egypt and Kenya have signed a new technical agreement on defense cooperation. Egypt’s chief of staff of the armed forces, Mohamed Farid, has visited Kenya and Rwanda. Egypt also has conducted training with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan, and sent an aid convoy to Gaza.
Egypt’s outreach to African states is not just about exporting influence and military or security ties. Egypt is also concerned about an Ethiopian dam project. The U.S. has a special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, who recently went to Khartoum for talks about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Egypt and Sudan are worried the dam may affect their water supplies from the Nile.
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Additionally, Egypt has played a role in Libya, concerned about terror and extremism from the country in the midst of a civil war. Egypt has had tense relations with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, leading to greater partnership between Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and Israel. Perhaps most importantly, Egypt has reached out to the Syrian government and Egypt’s foreign minister has called for Syria to return to the Arab League, 10 years after its suspension because of the Syrian civil war.
The overall picture shows Egypt beginning to step back into the leadership role it once held in the Middle East. It is seeking to create stability from Libya to Syria, and in Gaza — currently three main centers of conflict in the region. If Egypt can help reduce tensions in these areas, it will have succeeded where many have failed in the past decade.
*Seth J. Frantzman is executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis. A former assistant professor of American Studies at Al-Quds University, he covers the Middle East for The Jerusalem Post and is a Ginsburg/Milstein writing fellow at the Middle East Forum. He is the author of “After ISIS: How Defeating the Caliphate Changed the Middle East Forever.” His new book, “Drone Wars,” will be published in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @sfrantzman.

Biden Supports ‘Guilty’ Muslims, Ignores ‘Innocent’ Christians
Raymond Ibrahim/June 07/2021
ARSA, an Islamic terror group of Rohingya operating in Myanmar.
On May 16, President Biden issued a brief video ostensibly dedicated to expressing his support for the religious freedom of “all” people (though in reality dedicated to only one religious group):
All people should be able to practice their faith with dignity, without fear of harassment or violence. We will defend the right of all, as we stand with you. That’s why I ended this shameful Muslim travel ban. And that’s why this administration will speak out for religious freedom for all people, including Uighurs in China and Rohingya in Burma. We also believe Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live in safety and security and enjoy equal measure of freedom, prosperity, and democracy. My administration is going to continue to engage Palestinians and Israelis and other regional partners to work toward sustained calm. It is hypocritical for Biden to claim that he cares about the religious rights of “all” people—when he clearly means only “all Muslims.” So too is it vexing to note that, unlike those whom he totally ignores—for example, the hundreds of millions of Christians currently being persecuted at the hands of Muslims—those Muslims whom he does mention as deserving protection are not exactly innocent.
Consider the three Muslim peoples he singled out: the Palestinians, the Uighurs in China, and the Rohingya in Burma. Far from trying to live peaceably with their non-Muslim neighbors, and like other Muslim populations living alongside or under the authority of non-Muslims, all three have been known to engage in hostile, subversive, and terroristic activities.
One need not dwell much on the well-documented scourge of Palestinian terrorism—primarily in the guise of Hamas and Hezbollah—which, as is well known, is the root cause for conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. But consider the other two lesser known Muslim peoples.
The Rohingya of Burma have been committing the same sort of anti-infidel mayhem, violence, terrorism, and rape that one is accustomed to associating with “radical Islam”—though news of it seldom reaches the West. The main difference is that, unlike, say, the West, Burma has responded with uncompromising ruthlessness—thereby making it the “bad guy” in the media. Consider the words of popular Buddhist leader Ashin Wirathu, whom the media refer to as the “Burmese bin Laden”: “You can be full of kindness and love, but you cannot sleep next to a mad dog,” says the monk in reference to Muslims: “I call them troublemakers, because they are troublemakers.”
Similarly, Reuters quotes the Chinese government saying that it “destroyed 1,588 violent and terrorist gangs” in Xinjiang, where most Uighurs and other Muslims live, “arrested 12,995 terrorists, seized 2,052 explosive devices, punished 30,645 people for 4,858 illegal religious activities, and confiscated 345,229 copies of illegal religious [jihadi] materials.” The same report says that 30 Islamic terror attacks occurred between 1990 and 2016, killing 458 and injuring 2,540.
Critics may argue that China is untrustworthy and essentially fabricating claims of Islamic terrorism to demonize and persecute the Uighurs. And yet, history and current affairs indicate that wherever and whenever Muslim minorities live amidst non-Muslim majorities, they tend to instigate, agitate, subvert, and resort to terrorism. Either way, like Burma and unlike the West, no doubt the Chinese have been intolerantly brutal in the crackdown on their Muslim population.
The point here, of course, is not to argue that all Muslims are troublemakers and therefore “deserve” whatever treatment they get; rather, it is to highlight another instance of humanitarian hypocrisy, this time by Joe Biden. For, while he never mentions the persecution of those minorities who do no wrong, seek to live peaceably with their neighbors, and certainly never resort to terrorism—and yet are persecuted solely on account of their religious identity, as millions of Christians throughout the Muslim world are today—he expresses concern only for Muslims, who are notorious for provoking others into prolonged conflicts.
Incidentally, it’s worth adding that, unlike most of Islam’s persecuted Christians—who are indigenous to the land, often many centuries before Islam invaded it—Muslims in Burma, China, and Israel are not indigenous, but rather the descendants of Muslim conquerors or forced converts, another inconvenient fact that helps shed light on the current conflicts.