English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese,
Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For March 08/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/eliasnews21/english.march08.21.htm
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Bible Quotations For today
The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the
one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under
compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Second Letter to the Corinthians/09/1a.05-15./Now it is not necessary for me to
write to you about the ministry to the saints, So I thought it necessary to urge
the brothers to go on ahead to you, and arrange in advance for this bountiful
gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a voluntary gift and not
as an extortion. The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap
sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of
you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under
compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with
every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you
may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written, ‘He scatters abroad,
he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever.’He who supplies seed
to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing
and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every
way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through
us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints
but also overflows with many thanksgivings to Through the testing of this
ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of
Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others,
while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God
that he has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”.
Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on March 07-08/2021
Elias Bejjani/Visit My LCCC Web site/All That you need to know on Lebanese unfolding news and events in Arabic and English/http://eliasbejjaninews.com/
Values That We Can We Learn From “The Lost Son”
Parable/Elias Bejjani//March 07/2021
Lebanon summons Iranian ambassador over media report on Maronite leader/Najia
Houssari/Arab News/Updated 07 March 2021
Lebanon’s schools shutdown to protest a worsening socio-economic situation
Health Ministry: 2,377 new Corona cases, 33 deaths
Al-Rahi Slams 'Intentional' Govt. Delay, Says Popular Revolt Justified
Rahi, Wehbe confer over prevailing conditions
Report: Hizbullah Won't Press Aoun, Nasrallah’s Proposal Unfeasible
Hizbullah, Amal Deny Involvement in Dahiyeh 'Riots'
Road-Blocking Protests Continue across Lebanon
Diab Threatens to Suspend His Duties as Caretaker PM
Al-Khazen after meeting with al-Rahi: To form a government as soon as possible,
support Bkirki's initiative
Sami Gemayel: There are two tracks for a solution in Lebanon, the first being
Arab and international, the second internal
Musharrafieh following his visit to Syria: Syrian authorities are ready to
secure return of refugees
Titles For The
Latest
English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on
March 07-08/2021
Pope Celebrates Largest Mass of Historic Iraq Trip
Pope Francis meets father of drowned Syrian boy Alan Kurdi in Iraq’s Erbil
Pope Francis calls for peace from the ruins of Mosul
One Christian Family Remains in Iraq’s Nasiriyah
US Defense Secretary: Saudi Arabia is a Strategic Partner
US Says Will Do What's Necessary to Defend Itself after Attack in Iraq
Former US Official: Khashoggi Report Abuse of Intelligence Power
Explosion on Gaza Fishing Boat Kills 3 Palestinian Anglers
Iran’s President Urges Europe to Avoid 'Threats’
Iran Frees British-Iranian Aid Worker Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Her Lawyer Says
Analysts, Officials Call on Biden to Increase Pressure on Houthis
Washington Supports 2-State Solution, to Renew Diplomatic Relations with
Palestinians
Biden sends B-52 heavy bomber over Persian Gulf in signal to Iran
Tit-for-tat: Iran threatens to turn Israel into ashes if it ‘commits any silly
acts’
Saeed Mohammad, head of IRGC’s biggest commercial enterprise, runs for president
Arab Coalition intercepts, downs 12 Houthi drones in one day
Saudi-Led Coalition Jets Pound Yemen Capital after Huthi Strikes
Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 07-08/2021
A Pope’s Visit Amidst the Ruins/Charles Elias Chartouni/March
07/2021
New Life Is Breathed in Mosul/Noura Al Kaabi//Asharq Al-Awsat/March 07/ 2021
Can Pope Francis save Iraq's Christian heritage?/Janine di Giovanni/The
National/March 07/ 2021
The message behind the Pope's trip to Iraq/Monsignor Yoannis Lahzi Gaid/The
National/March 07/2021
Biden's emphasis on democracy and diplomacy isn't new or practical/Raghida
Dergham/The National/March 07/ 2021
A Storm Over the American Republic/Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/March
07/2021
Could Iran Really Be Linked to 'Eco-terrorism' against Israel?/Seth J. Frantzman/The
Jerusalem Post/March 07/2021
The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials
published on
March 07-08/2021
Elias Bejjani/Visit My LCCC Web site/All That you need to know on Lebanese unfolding news and events in Arabic and English/http://eliasbejjaninews.com/
Values That We Can We Learn From “The Lost Son” Parable
Elias Bejjani//March 07/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/73276/elias-bejjani-values-that-we-can-we-learn-from-the-lost-son-parable/
In our Maronite Catholic Church’s rite, on the Fourth Lent Sunday
we recall and cite the biblical Lost Son’s parable that is known also as The
Prodigal Son. (Lost Son) This impulsive, selfish and thoughtless son, as the
parable tells us, fell prey to evil’s temptation and decided to take his share
of his father’s inheritance and leave the parental dwelling.
He travelled to a far-away city where he indulged badly in all evil conducts of
pleasure and corruption until he lost all his money and became penniless. He
experienced severe poverty, starvation, humiliation and loneliness.
In the midst of his dire hardships he felt nostalgic, came back to his senses
and decided with great self confidence to return back to his father’s house,
kneel on his feet and ask him for forgiveness.
On his return his loving and kind father received him with rejoice, open arms,
accepted his repentance, and happily forgave him all his misdeeds. Because of
his sincere repentance his Father gave him back all his privileges as a son.
This parable is a road map for repentance and forgiveness. It shows us how much
Almighty God our Father loves us, we His children and how He is always ready
with open arms and willing to forgive our sins and trespasses when we come back
to our senses, recognize right from wrong, admit our weaknesses and wrongdoings,
eagerly and freely return to Him and with faith and repentance ask for His
forgiveness.
Asking Almighty God for what ever we need is exactly what the Holy Bible
instructs us to do when encountering all kinds of doubt, weaknesses, stumbling,
hard times, sickness, loneliness, persecution, injustice etc.
Matthew 07/07&08: “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find.
Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who
seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened”
All what we have to do is to pray and to ask Him with faith, self confidence and
humility and He will respond.
Matthew 21/22: “All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will
receive.”
We are not left alone at any time, especially when in trouble, no matter how far
we distance ourselves from God and disobey His Holy bible. He is a Father, a
loving, caring and forgiving Father.
What is definite is that in spite of our foolishness, stupidity, ignorance,
defiance and ingratitude He never ever abandons us or gives up on our salvation.
He loves us because we His are children.
He happily sent His only begotten son to be tortured, humiliated and crucified
in a bid to absolve our original sin.’
God carries our burdens and helps us to fight all kinds of Evil temptations.
Matthew11/28-30: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle
and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light.”
God is waiting for our repentance, let us run to Him and ask for forgiveness
before it is too late
The Parable Of The Lost son
Luke15/11-32: He (Jesus) said, “A certain man had two sons. The younger of them
said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his
livelihood between them. Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of
this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with
riotous living. When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that
country, and he began to be in need. He went and joined himself to one of the
citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He
wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him
any. 15:17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my
father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! I will get up
and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of
your hired servants .”’ “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was
still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and
fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned
against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on
him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. Bring the fattened calf,
kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate; for this, my son, was dead, and is alive
again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate. “Now his elder son
was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. He
called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on. He said to him,
‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he
has received him back safe and healthy.’ But he was angry, and would not go in.
Therefore his father came out, and begged him. But he answered his father,
‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment
of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
But when this, your son, came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes,
you killed the fattened calf for him.’ “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always
with me, and all that is mine is yours. But it was appropriate to celebrate and
be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and
is found.
N.B: The Above Piece Is From The writer’s Faith Achieves
Lebanon summons Iranian ambassador over media report on
Maronite leader
Najia Houssari/Arab News/Updated 07 March 2021
Hezbollah ally the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) on Saturday issued a
“categorical rejection” of the media report, saying it constituted “an assault”
on the position of the patriarch
BEIRUT: Lebanon has summoned the Iranian ambassador over a media report on the
country’s Maronite leader. Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi
was the focus of a report on the Iranian Al-Alam News Network website that
accused him of supporting normalization with Israel.
Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe said on Saturday that Ambassador Ghazanfar
Roknabadi had been summoned for a meeting on Monday. The minister said the
conversation with the ambassador would be “frank and sincere, based on the
existing friendship between the two countries.”
An apology from the Iranian side had reached the patriarch, he added, and
Lebanon’s ambassador to Tehran had been asked to provide details of what was
reported by Al-Alam. “He informed me of an apology and condemnation issued by
the Iranian government,” the minister said.
Earlier this month at a rally in Bkerke, north of Beirut, the cleric had called
for a UN-sponsored international conference to deal with Lebanon’s economic
collapse and political stalemate. He urged neutrality so that the country would
no longer be the victim of regional conflicts. But his comments drew anger from
Hezbollah, as well as the critical report on the Al-Alam website. The report
said that Al-Rahi was “plotting today against the weaponry of the resistance and
describes it as a militia loyal to Iran. He claims to be prudent and objective
and talks about neutrality in the war for existence with global Zionism. We will
definitely see him tomorrow in the arms of Israel.”The patriarchate condemned
the “insulting” report and said that, since it was issued by a foreign media
organization, it was considered as “interference” in Lebanon’s internal and
national affairs as well as interference in the church’s affairs.
Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi’s call for neutrality
embarrassed the Free Patriotic Movement, whose supporters did not participate in
the Bkerke rally. It demanded the channel “back off and apologize” so that it
did not cause internal and external unfortunate repercussions, especially since
Al-Rahi’s words were clear. “The TV channel is trying to fabricate a headline to
mobilize people against Bkerke, which called a spade a spade, put the finger on
the wound and spoke about the situation of all the Lebanese, without exception,”
it added.
The Maronite League in Lebanon, headed by former MP Naamatallah Abi Nasr,
denounced the report’s accusations about Al-Rahi and said it retained the right
to “resort to the competent judiciary.”It called on the Foreign Ministry to
summon the ambassador and inform him of Lebanon’s rejection of such
attitudes.Hezbollah ally the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) on Saturday issued a
“categorical rejection” of the media report, saying it constituted “an assault”
on the position of the patriarch. Al-Rahi’s call for neutrality embarrassed the
FPM, whose supporters did not participate in the Bkerke rally.
After a meeting of its political council on Saturday, the FPM said that Bkerke
“was and still is a beacon for open thought and an edifice of
convergence.”“Patriarch Al-Rahi has always advocated adherence to the roots of
this East, and solidarity with all its components in the face of the dangers and
enemies that lie in wait. It has never been a conduit for plotting against its
people.”
Lebanon’s schools shutdown to protest a worsening
socio-economic situation
Tala Ramadan, Al Arabiya English/March 07/2021
The rapidly evolving prospects of the economic crisis in Lebanon are leaving
students uncertain and worried about the future as financial issues have
developed between school-owners, parents, the government, and teachers over
tuition fees and teachers’ salaries. During a press conference, caretaker
Minister of Education, Tarek al-Majzoub, announced on Friday a weeklong
suspension of teaching, considering it “the first step in response to those who
have evaded their promises.”Majzoub said that he wants to show “the consequences
of putting the education sector at the bottom of the priority list,” as he
criticized Lebanon’s central bank and the government’s failure to notice the
ministry’s requests for financial aid for schoolteachers and families. “We’ve
asked for financial support for parents, students, and schools so that teachers
could get their salaries, but all the requests have been met with utter
recklessness because unfortunately, in Lebanon, education is not a priority,”
Majzoub said. “At the same time, he also stressed that the academic year must
not be wasted. We must not lose our educational body, and vaccination must be
its full right,” Majzoub added. Hilda Khoury, Director of counseling and
guidance in Lebanon’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education, told Al
Arabiya that it is the Ministry of Education’s responsibility to ensure a safe
and positive school environment that provides favorable conditions for learning.
“This is why the Minister of Education suggested that the government should
secure elements for the gradual reopening of schools and called for the teachers
to be on ‘list of preferred’ to receive COVID-19 vaccinations,” Khoury added.
Khoury also highlighted that if schools were to continue in distance learning,
the government should help in making internet connection accessible for
everyone. A source close to the Private School Teachers Union, who asked to
remain anonymous, told Al Arabiya English that the minister, especially in a
caretaking government, cannot impose the strike on private schools. “Thus, many
won’t be taking any action and will continue teaching regularly next week,” he
added. Kinda Zahzah, a student in Grade 9, told Al Arabiya English that this
decision came as a shock to her as she is preparing for her grade 9 official
Brevet exams.“This strike is only hindering us from properly learning all the
material we have to study for our official exams, and this is making me
anxious,” Zahzah added. Back in 2020, Majzoub has announced the cancellation of
official exams for Baccalaureate [high school] and Brevet [middle school]
students after much back-and-forth on the outcome of official exams, taking into
consideration all the obstacles that schools have been facing. “My son is an
enthusiastic student whose interest and motivation declined amid remote
learning, and now, the strike,” a Lebanese mother whose child is a public-school
student told Al Arabiya English. She explained that her child is starting to
express anger and signs of depression, to the point that she is considering
pulling him out of remote school and will try to begin home-schooling him.
Considering the vulnerability indices in Lebanon, very few students have the
proper conditions for online learning. Several technological constraints are
already hindering online learning in Lebanon, with the telecommunications and
internet infrastructures remaining inadequate in many areas.
Consequently, weak, or unstable connectivity poses potential setbacks in
creating distance-learning strategies. Using video-conferencing applications
successfully requires a secure connection and stable bandwidth for both teachers
and students; however, this is not always available.
This comes as Lebanon remains in a protracted state of transition to
digitization, exacerbated by the unstable political climate. Lebanon ranking
60th on the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) world ranking of internet quality
among 100 countries. The study assessed four significant aspects of quality
internet, availability, affordability, relevance, and readiness.
Health Ministry: 2,377 new Corona cases, 33 deaths
NNA/March 07/2021
Ministry of Public Health announced, on Sunday, the registration of 2,377 new
Corona infections, thus raising the cumulative number of confirmed cases to-date
to 395,588.
Also, it indicated that 33 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.
Al-Rahi Slams 'Intentional' Govt. Delay, Says Popular
Revolt Justified
Naharnet/March 07/2021
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday lashed out at politicians over what
he called the “intentional delay” in forming the new government, as he noted
that the popular protests that are engulfing the country are totally justified.
Warning in his Sunday Mass sermon of “a period of lethal challenges that can
destroy the country, the people and the entity,” al-Rahi accused politicians of
wasting the people’s “money and hope” and creating a state of poverty, hunger
and unemployment. “This state is not limited to a certain religion, sect, party
or region,” the patriarch noted, adding that citizens have nothing else left but
to take to the streets. “How can these people not revolt after the dollar
exchange rate exceeded LBP 10,000 overnight? How can these people not revolt
after the (monthly) minimum wage dropped to $70? How can these people not revolt
after their pockets were emptied of money and they no longer can buy bread, food
and medicine?” al-Rahi asked. “And yet some are wondering why the people have
exploded!” he exclaimed.“It would be better to see the people exploding and the
country remaining instead of the country exploding and the people ceasing to
exist!” he added.
“But we shall remain and the people are stronger than those transgressing
against the nation, no matter how mighty their means might be!” al-Rahi went on
to say.
Rahi, Wehbe confer over prevailing conditions
NNA/March 07/2021
Caretaker Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Minister, Charbel Wehbe, visited today
Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, with whom he reviewed "the
internal political conditions and developments in the region.”The visit of His
Holiness Pope Francis to Iraq and its significance under these circumstances
also featured high during their discussions, as it serves to preserve
coexistence, Christian presence and continuous dialogue in this region.
Report: Hizbullah Won't Press Aoun, Nasrallah’s Proposal
Unfeasible
Naharnet/March 07/2021
Hizbullah does not intend to press President Michel Aoun over the stalled new
government and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s proposal for resolving
the crisis is unfeasible, Arab and foreign diplomatic sources said. “Hizbullah
is appeasing President Aoun to the max, not only to preserve their strategic
alliance, but also to delay the government’s formation for considerations
related to enabling Iran to hold cards in the region,” the sources told Saudi
Arabia’s Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Sunday. Hizbullah also
fears that pressuring Aoun might give the president the impression that such
pressure might also apply to the presidential race and that it could be a signal
that the party will not endorse Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil’s
nomination, the sources added. The sources also noted that the formation of a
new government “might create the conditions for stopping the financial and
economic collapse,” warning that “Aoun’s insistence on absolving himself will
take the country to a major popular explosion that might spiral out of control.”
“This explosion must be fended off as soon as possible,” the sources advised.
Hizbullah, Amal Deny Involvement in Dahiyeh 'Riots'
Naharnet/March 07/2021
Hizbullah and the Amal Movement overnight issued a joint statement denying their
involvement in “acts of rioting” that took place in Beirut’s southern suburbs,
an area also known as Dahiyeh. “Some social media activists have circulated that
supporters of parties in the southern suburbs have carried out road-blocking and
sabotage acts in some Dahiyeh areas, especially at the al-Imam al-Hussein
Roundabout in al-Kafaat,” the statement said. It added that the two parties deny
“any link for their supporters in the acts of rioting” and call on security and
judicial agencies to “pursue and prosecute anyone who attacked public and
private property.”Beirut’s southern suburbs have witnessed protests in recent
days as part of the wave of protests that engulfed most Lebanese regions after
the dollar exchange rate reached record high levels on the black market.
Road-Blocking Protests Continue across Lebanon
Naharnet/March 07/2021
Lebanese demonstrators pressed on with their road-blocking protests on Sunday as
the political stalemate continued in the country.
In Beirut, protesters blocked the roads leading to Martyrs Square with burning
tires. The highway linking Beirut to the South was meanwhile blocked for a few
hours in the Jiye area. Protesters also blocked the Elia roundabout in Sidon and
the army was trying to reopen it.
The National News Agency said young men were burning tires there in protest at
the dire living situations and the surge in the dollar exchange rate. In the
North, protesters blocked the Minieh international highway at the Bhannine
intersection, placing trucks, rocks and tires in the middle of the road.
“Motorists between Tripoli, Minieh and Akkar had to take alternative routes,”
NNA said. In the Akkar Plain area, protesters blocked the Abdeh-Abboudiyeh
international highway with burning tires, demanding “the trial and punishment of
all officials who have impoverished and starved the people.”
Protesters in the North also blocked roads in Chekka, Koura, al-Mhammara, Wadi
al-Jamous, the Palma highway and Halba. In the Bekaa, protesters blocked roads
in Saadnayel and Taalabaya as activists in Baalbek staged a sit-in at the Khalil
Mutran Square, denouncing the deterioration of the economic, social and
financial situations. “The Decision is for the People”, read a banner carried at
the rally as protesters chanted slogans demanding accountability. Elsewhere,
protesters blocked the Chanay road in Aley and the Choueifat road at the Tiro
intersection, an area where a motorist ran over several protesters with his car
overnight prompting their comrades to smash and torch his car. The currency has
continued its rapid collapse against the dollar, trading at nearly 11,000
Lebanese pounds on the black market on Saturday for the first time in its
history. Angry protesters have blocked streets and highways across the country
with burning tires for the past several days. The crash in the local currency
has resulted in a sharp increase in prices as well as delays in the arrival of
fuel shipments, leading to more extended power cuts around the country, in some
areas reaching more than 12 hours a day. The crisis has driven nearly half the
population of the small country of 6 million into poverty, wiped out savings and
slashed consumer purchasing power. "The dollar is 10,500 (pounds) and everyone
has four or five children on their neck, including their parents. They (corrupt
politicians) need to feed us," cried one protester on Saturday.
"They vaccinated themselves from corona but they opened the country so that
people could die," he added, referring to a group of lawmakers who inoculated
themselves in parliament last month without prior approval, a move that led the
World Bank to consider suspending its financing of vaccines in Lebanon. Another
protester who identified himself only by his first name, Ali, said he was
frustrated that other Lebanese were still sitting at home. "Where are the
Lebanese people? The dollar is now 10,500 (pounds) and it will reach to 15, or
20 (thousand). Why are we in homes? We have to go down!" In October, former
Prime Minister Saad Hariri was named to form a new Cabinet but five months
later, disagreements between him and President Michel Aoun on the shape of the
Cabinet have stood in the way of a new government's formation. Lebanon has also
been in desperate need of foreign currency, but international donors have said
they will only help the country financially if major reforms are implemented to
fight widespread corruption, which has brought the nation to the brink of
bankruptcy.
Diab Threatens to Suspend His Duties as Caretaker PM
Associated Press/March 07/2021
Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab warned Saturday that the country was
quickly headed toward chaos and appealed to politicians to put aside differences
in order form a new government that can attract desperately needed foreign
assistance. Diab threatened to suspend his duties if that would increase
pressure for a new Cabinet to be formed. He spoke in a terse address to the
nation as the currency continued its rapid collapse against the dollar, trading
at one point at 10,500 Lebanese pounds on the black market for the first time in
its history. Angry protesters have blocked streets and highways across the
country with burning tires for days, as the pound slid to record new lows. The
crash in the local currency has resulted in a sharp increase in prices as well
as delays in the arrival of fuel shipments, leading to more extended power cuts
around the country, in some areas reaching more than 12 hours a day. The crisis
has driven nearly half the population of the small country of 6 million into
poverty, wiped out savings and slashed consumer purchasing power. Diab, who
resigned in the wake of the massive August 4 explosion at Beirut port, suggested
he might stop working in his role. "If it helps to form a government, I am
prepared to resort to that option even though it goes against my principles," he
said. In October, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri was named to form a new
Cabinet but five months later, disagreements between him and President Michel
Aoun on the shape of the Cabinet has stood in the way of a new government's
formation. Lebanon has also been in desperate need of foreign currency, but
international donors have said they will only help the country financially if
major reforms are implemented to fight widespread corruption, which has brought
the nation to the brink of bankruptcy. "What are you waiting for, more collapse?
More suffering? Chaos?" he said, chiding senior politicians without naming them
for grandstanding on the shape and size of the government while the country
slides further into the abyss. "What will having one minister more or less (in
the cabinet) do if the entire country collapses," he asked."Lebanon is in grave
danger and the Lebanese are paying the price."
Al-Khazen after meeting with al-Rahi: To form a government
as soon as possible, support Bkirki's initiative
NNA/March 07/2021
"Everyone knows that the concerns of His Beatitude and the Patriarchal seat, as
well as our concerns are one without exception, and they are not hidden from
anyone, namely the citizen’s daily sustenance, the economy, and the dignity of
the people, the homeland and the entity," said MP Farid Haikal al-Khazen today,
following his visit to Bkirki where he met with Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal
Bechara Boutros al-Rahi. "In the face of the current deteriorating conditions,
this huge daily-living crisis, this economic stagnation, and the paralysis in
constitutional institutions, we call for a speedy formation of an mission
government that meets the French initiative, revives the economy, rebuilds
Beirut and restores confidence in Lebanon," al-Khazen emphasized. He considered
that "what the Patriarch has proposed is essential, in terms of neutrality and
holding of an international conference, points that ought to be the subject of a
sincere national dialogue that serves the interest of Lebanon, contributes to
the rescue process, and puts an end to the country’s continuous
bleeding.”Regarding the ongoing contacts between Bkirki and Hezbollah, MP Khazen
said: “We all know that the intentions are good, and there is a meeting that
will be held on Tuesday by the joint committee, and we hope that it will lead to
initiating a serious dialogue that will achieve the desired outcome…and be a
fruitful start to accomplishing what serves the interest of Lebanon."
Sami Gemayel: There are two tracks for a solution in
Lebanon, the first being Arab and international, the second internal
NNA/March 07/2021
“There are two tracks for the solution in Lebanon, the first being an Arab and
international track in lifting the tutelage, because it is not possible for the
Lebanese to deal with this matter on their own, as there are international UN
resolutions that the international legitimacy ought to oversee and confirm their
implementation so as to restore sovereignty in the country. As for the second
track, it is internal, and the people must rise-up and push for change through
parliamentary elections," underlined Lebanese Kataeb Party Chief, Sami Gemayel.
Speaking in an interview with Al-Hadath TV Channel, he affirmed that "the time
has come for the MPs who stand in the way of change, to resign and allow for new
elections in order to get out of the current disaster,” adding that “the ruling
authority is before two options, either to form an independent government that
works with the IMF and donors to restore Lebanon's image, or to leave and allow
room for the people."Gemayel commented on the recent words of the Caretaker
Prime Minister, saying: "Hassan Diab's government is already suspended from work
and is not doing anything, for the decision is in the hands of Hezbollah and its
cooperating system that holds the Parliament House and disrupts the formation of
the new government that would salvage the country."He stressed that "the
economic collapse is occurring even in the presence of a caretaker cabinet, as
things are deteriorating and the citizen is losing purchase power, and the
caretaker government cannot stop this matter because it is powerless since the
decision lies in the hands of Hezbollah and the system…and as long as the
parliament is being controlled, there is no possibility for rescue.”Gemayel
considered that the parliament is the one to ensure the balances that in turn
form a government, and it is the one that names the prime minister and gives
confidence and elects a president. "Consequently, the problem remains in the
Parliament Council, as the basis for any start, but as long as Hezbollah
controls this Council, it controls the institutions,” he said.
"If we saw that there was a possibility for change, we would not have resigned
from the House of Parliament," Gemayel asserted. Touching on the difficult
economic and dire living conditions in the country, Gemayel stressed that "the
people are angry and want a solution, and the resentment is real over the heads
of all the political system, including Berri and Nasrallah.""The people's
uprising that crosses sects and regions is a natural thing and a clear way to
pressure in the direction of real change in Lebanon, and Nasrallah has no
ability to mobilize his street against its livelihood interests," he
corroborated. Gemayel, thus, called for returning to the institutions by holding
early parliamentary elections that would help withdraw people from taking to the
street, as their demands and concerns would be addressed through institutions.
“For those who want to help Lebanon, there are international resolutions adopted
unanimously by the Security Council, such as the UN Resolutions #1559 and #1701,
which stipulate the disarming of militias and controlling the entry of
weapons…So, let the states take the two decisions and press for their
implementation, but this thing is not in our hands,"” he emphasized.
“We are present on the ground, and we are confronting steadfastly, and resisting
the control over the Lebanese decision. We hope the international community will
help the people to regain their decision and their right to self-determination
and supervise the democratic change,” Gemayel concluded.
Musharrafieh following his visit to Syria: Syrian
authorities are ready to secure return of refugees
NNA/March 07/2021
Caretaker Minister of Social Affairs and Tourism, Ramzi Musharafieh, indicated
that "the difficult circumstances in Lebanon and Syria in light of the spread of
the "Covid-19" pandemic and the difficult economic conditions make this file a
priority," hoping that this file would end soon.
In a statement to the Syrian “Al-Watan”, after his meeting with the Syrian
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Faisal Al-Miqdad, Musharrafieh
confirmed that his visit to Damascus came as a continuation of what was
discussed during the conference on the return of Syrian refugees that was held
last November in Damascus, as well as to place the Syrian government in the
framework that Lebanon is working on in this context. Musharrafieh considered
that "joint coordination is required between the two countries to overcome any
obstacle to their return."
He also noted that "the Lebanese authorities are persuading the West to help the
displaced in Syria just as they are helping them in Lebanon." In this context,
the Minister of Social Affairs affirmed that the Syrian government has shown its
full readiness to receive its citizens, and that its stance is firm on this
issue. He also indicated that the Syrian government is working to take serious
steps in this file. Finally, the Caretaker Minister revealed that the Lebanese
government is preparing a list of data related to this file, and that there is
full coordination for returnees to Syria.
The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on March 07-08/2021
Pope Celebrates Largest Mass of Historic Iraq Trip
Agence France Presse/March 07/2021
Pope Francis vowed Sunday to keep Iraq in his heart, as he concluded the largest
mass and final public event of a historic trip meant to encourage the country's
dwindling Christian community and deepen interfaith dialogue. The pontiff
celebrated among thousands of smiling worshippers in a sports stadium in the
Kurdistan region's capital Arbil, after visiting Christian survivors of the
Islamic State group's reign of terror. The 84-year-old was driven in his white,
windowless "pope-mobile" into the stadium, where jubilant worshippers sat
socially distanced on white chairs spread out on the greens. Others stood,
craning their necks to catch a glimpse of Francis, in the stands ringing the
Franso Hariri Stadium, named after an Iraqi Christian politician who was
assassinated by extremists 20 years ago. In concluding the mass, the Pope vowed
to keep Iraq in his heart even when he returns to the Vatican on Monday. "In my
time among you, I have heard voices of sorrow and loss, but also voices of hope
and consolation," he said. "Now the time draws near for my return to Rome. Yet
Iraq will always remain with me, in my heart."The faithful wore hats featuring
pictures of Francis, and face-masks to protect them from Covid, as a second wave
has driven up cases to around 5,000 new infections per day in Iraq. The stadium
seats around 20,000, but large swathes of the stands were empty after
authorities had trimmed down the allowed attendance in recent days. "It's a
special trip, also because of the conditions," said Matteo Bruni, the Vatican's
spokesman, who described the visit to Iraq as "a gesture of love for this land
its people". Iraq's Christian population has shrunk to fewer than 400,000, from
around 1.5 million before the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. Arbil has been a place
of refuge for many Christians who fled violence over the years, including IS
jihadists' 2014 onslaught and ensuing reign of terror. The heaviest security
deployment yet is protecting Francis in northern Iraq on what is perhaps the
riskiest day of his historic trip.The city was targeted just weeks ago by a
deadly rocket attack, the latest in a series of strikes blamed on pro-Iranian
forces.
'The most beautiful day'
The visit to the north came the day after the leader of the world's 1.3 billion
Catholics met Iraq's top Shiite Muslim cleric, the reclusive Grand Ayatollah Ali
Sistani, who agreed Iraq's Christians should be able to live in "peace". It also
embodies a cause close to the pope's heart: reaching out to Iraq's traumatised
Christian community. Watching from afar as IS swept across the northern province
of Nineveh in 2014, Pope Francis said he was ready to come and meet the
displaced and other victims of war in a show of solidarity. He fulfilled
that promise on Sunday, first visiting Mosul, the onetime bastion of the Islamic
State group, still largely in ruins. Standing in front of the partially
collapsed walls of the centuries-old Al-Tahera (Immaculate Conception) Church,
Francis pleaded for Christians in Iraq and the Middle East to stay in their
homelands. He said the "tragic" exodus of Christians "does incalculable harm not
just to the individuals and communities concerned, but also to the society they
leave behind". The Al-Tahera Church, whose roof collapsed during fighting
against IS in 2017, is one of the oldest of at least 14 churches in Nineveh
province that were destroyed by the jihadists. The pope was driven in a golf
cart around the historic Old City, largely razed during the grinding fight to
dislodge the jihadists. "Today was the most beautiful day for us, being visited
by the pope!" said Hala Raad, a Christian woman who had fled when IS seized
Mosul but returned to see the pope. "We hope to come back to Mosul in health and
wellbeing. The most important thing is security -- we want stability."
'Do not lose hope!'
Before visiting Arbil on Sunday, the pope held a prayer service in Qaraqosh,
whose ancient church -- named Al-Tahera, like the one in Mosul -- was torched by
the jihadists as they destroyed most of the town. Residents of Qaraqosh
have since rebuilt their homes with little government help. Al-Tahera too has
been refurbished, its marble floors and internal colonnades buffed to host its
most important guest yet. Dressed in traditional embroidered robes, hundreds of
Christians -- who speak a modern dialect of Aramaic, the language spoken by
Jesus Christ -- welcomed the pontiff with hymns and olive branches. "Do not stop
dreaming! Do not give up! Do not lose hope!" Francis urged those gathered.
"Now is the time to rebuild and to start afresh."
Pope Francis meets father of drowned Syrian boy Alan Kurdi
in Iraq’s Erbil
Reuters/March 07/2021
Pope Francis on Sunday met the father of Alan Kurdi, the boy whose body washed
up on a Turkish beach six years ago became an image of the suffering of Syrians
trying to escape war. The pontiff, winding up a historic trip to Iraq, met
Abdullah Kurdi at the end of Mass in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil, the
Vatican said in a statement. “The pope spent a long time with him (Kurdi) and
with the help of an interpreter was able to listen to the pain of a father for
the loss of his family,” it said. Kurdi thanked Francis for his closeness to the
tragedy and to the pain of “all those migrants who seek understanding, peace and
security, leaving their country at the risk of their lives,” it added. Alan
Kurdi drowned along with his mother and brother when a smuggling boat taking
them to Europe capsized off the coast of Turkey in 2015. An image of his body
washed up on the shore captured the world’s attention as millions of Syrians
fled the civil war there and many boarded unsafe ships bound for a Europe that
eventually began shutting its doors. Many drowned trying to make the journey.
The pope has long called for more compassionate treatment of migrants and
refugees. In Iraq, where Abdullah Kurdi now lives in the autonomous Kurdish
region, the pontiff preached for an end to conflict and sectarian violence.
Pope Francis calls for peace from the ruins of Mosul
The Weekly Arab/March 07/2021
QARAQOSH, IRAQ— Pope Francis made a emphatic appeal for peaceful coexistence in
Iraq on Sunday as he prayed for the country’s war dead amid the ruins of four
demolished churches in Mosul, which suffered widespread destruction in the war
against the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group.
Francis travelled to northern Iraq on the final day of his historic visit to
minister to the country’s dwindling number of Christians, who were forced to
leave their homes en masse when ISIS militants overtook vast swaths of northern
Iraq in the summer of 2014.
Few have returned in the years since ISIS was routed in 2017, and Francis came
to Iraq to encourage them to stay and help rebuild the country and restore what
he called its “intricately designed carpet” of faith and ethnic groups. For the
Vatican, the continued presence of Christians in Iraq is vital to keeping alive
faith communities that have existed here since the time of Christ. In a scene
unimaginable just four years ago, the pontiff mounted a stage in a city square
surrounded by the remnants of four heavily damaged churches belonging to some of
Iraq’s myriad Christian rites and denominations. A jubilant crowd welcomed him.
“How cruel it is that this country, the cradle of civilization, should have been
afflicted by so barbarous a blow, with ancient places of worship destroyed and
many thousands of people – Muslims, Christians, Yazidis — who were cruelly
annihilated by terrorism — and others forcibly displaced or killed,” Francis
said. He deviated from his prepared speech to address the plight of Iraq’s
Yazidi minority, which was subjected to mass killings, abductions and sexual
slavery at the hands of ISIS. “Today, however, we reaffirm our conviction that
fraternity is more durable than fratricide, that hope is more powerful than
hatred, that peace more powerful than war.”The square where he spoke is home to
four different churches — Syro-Catholic, Armenian-Orthodox, Syro-Orthodox and
Chaldean — each of them left in ruins.
ISIS overran Mosul in June 2014 and declared a caliphate stretching from
territory in northern Syria deep into Iraq’s north and west. It was from Mosul’s
al-Nuri mosque that the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, made his only
public appearance when he gave a Friday sermon calling on all Muslims to follow
him as “caliph.”Mosul held deep symbolic importance for ISIS and became the
bureaucratic and financial backbone of the group. It was finally liberated in
July 2017 after a ferocious nine-month battle. Between 9,000 and 11,000
civilians were killed. Al-Baghdadi was killed in a US raid in Syria in 2019.
The Vatican hopes that the landmark visit will rally the country’s Christian
communities and encourage them to stay despite decades of war and instability.
Throughout the visit, Francis has delivered a message of interreligious
tolerance and fraternity to Muslim leaders, including in an historic meeting
Saturday with Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
The Rev. Raed Kallo, was among the few who returned to Mosul after ISIS was
defeated. “I returned three years ago and my Muslim brothers received me after
the liberation of the city with great hospitality and love,” he said on stage
before the pontiff.
Kallo said he left the city in June 10, 2014, when ISIS overran the city. He had
a parish of 500 Christian families, most of whom have emigrated abroad. Now only
70 families remain. “But today I live among 2 million Muslims who call me their
Father Raed,” he said.
Gutayba Aagha, the Muslim head of the Independent Social and Cultural Council
for the Families of Mosul, encouraged other Christians to return. “In the name
of the council I invite all our Christian brothers to return to this, their
city, their properties and their businesses.”
Francis will later travel by helicopter across the Nineveh plains to the small
Christian community of Qaraqosh, where only a fraction of families have returned
after fleeing the ISIS onslaught in 2014. He will hear testimonies from
residents and pray in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, which was
believed to have been torched by ISIS and has been restored in recent years. He
wraps up the day with a Mass in the stadium in Erbil, in the semi-autonomous
northern Kurdish region, that is expected to draw as many as 10,000 people. He
arrived in Erbil early Sunday, where he was greeted by children in traditional
dress and one outfitted as a pope.
Public health experts had expressed concerns ahead of the trip that large
gatherings could serve as super-spreader events for the coronavirus in a country
suffering from a worsening outbreak where few have been vaccinated.
The Vatican has said it is taking precautions, including holding the mass
outdoors in a stadium that will only be partially filled. But throughout the
visit, crowds have gathered in close proximity, with many people not wearing
masks. The pope and members of his delegation have been vaccinated but most
Iraqis have not.Iraq declared victory over ISIS in 2017, and while the extremist
group no longer controls any territory it still carries out sporadic attacks,
especially in the north. The country has also seen a series of recent rocket
attacks by Iran-backed militias against US targets, violence linked to tensions
between Washington and Tehran. The ISIS group’s brutal three-year rule of much
of northern and western Iraq, and the grueling campaign against it, left a vast
swathe of destruction. Reconstruction efforts have stalled amid a years-long
financial crisis, and entire neighborhoods remain in ruins. Many Iraqis have had
to rebuild their homes at their own expense. Iraq’s Christian minority was hit
especially hard. The extremists forced them to choose among conversion, death or
the payment of a special tax for non-Muslims. Thousands fled, leaving behind
homes and churches that were destroyed or commandeered by the extremists.
Iraq’s Christian population, which traces its history back to the earliest days
of the faith, had already rapidly dwindled, from around 1.5 million before the
2003 US-led invasion that plunged the country into chaos to just a few hundred
thousand today.
One Christian Family Remains in Iraq’s Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah (Iraq) - Asharq Al-Awsat/March 07/2021
As Pope Francis prayed for Iraq's minorities Saturday from the birthplace of the
common patriarch of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths, one Christian
family awaited him. Maher Tobia, 53, says his is the only remaining Christian
family in the city of Nasiriyah, less than 20 kilometers from the desert site of
the ancient city of Ur, where the Prophet Abraham is thought to have been born.
Tobia and his brother head the only two remaining Christian households in
Nasiriyah -- and they were both extremely reluctant to share details of
day-to-day life in the city, AFP reported.
Over the past two years, violence at anti-government protests in the city has
left dozens dead, including six demonstrators who were shot dead in the weeks
leading up to the Pope's visit. There are no churches, which means Tobia has to
travel to Baghdad or to the main southern city of Basra for the weddings or
funerals of fellow Christians.
But he is glad to talk about his family history.
His father was born in Nasiriyah just before World War I to a businessman who
had settled in the city when it was under Ottoman rule. Throughout the following
decades -- which brought World War II, the rise and fall of the Iraqi monarchy
and finally the socialist Baath state led by Saddam Hussein -- the Tobia family
stayed in the city, now capital of Dhi Qar province. In the 1990s, the world
imposed crippling international sanctions against Saddam. "There were only 20 to
30 Christian families around at the time," recalled Tobia, saying they were
mostly public sector employees on short assignments to Nasiriyah from other
cities. Following the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam in 2003, those numbers
dwindled further: "Only two Christian families stayed in Nasiriyah," he said.
Nearly two decades on, the Tobia name is the only one left, he said.
All of the Christian friends he had during his childhood have left, either to
the capital or to the autonomous Kurdish region in the north. Often, after that
first move, they'd leave the country," he said.
The dramatic drop in the number of Christians has been mirrored nationwide: from
1.5 million before the invasion, less than 400,000 remain today. Francis'
four-day tour is the first-ever papal visit to Iraq and he aims to use it to
encourage the country's remaining Christians to deepen their roots.
Tobia, for one, is hopeful. "The coming of a man of this stature with this much
religious weight could benefit Dhi Qar and its pilgrimage sites," he said.
US Defense Secretary: Saudi Arabia is a Strategic Partner
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 March, 2021
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday that Saudi Arabia is "a
strategic partner in the region.”“My focus is to defend this country and protect
our interest,” Austin told ABC's "This Week" program.
"Saudi is from my perspective a strategic partner in the region. And certainly
we have security commitments in that area.”“It’s necessary to work together to
make sure that we achieve our goals and objectives,” he added.
US Says Will Do What's Necessary to Defend Itself after
Attack in Iraq
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 March, 2021
The United States will do what it views as necessary to defend its interests
after a rocket attack against Iraq's Ain al-Asad airbase, which hosts American,
coalition and Iraqi forces, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday.
Speaking on ABC's "This Week" program, Austin said the United States was urging
Iraq to quickly investigate the incident and determine who was responsible.
"We'll strike, if that's what we think we need to do, at a time and place of our
own choosing. We demand the right to protect our troops," he said, adding that
Iran would have to draw its own conclusions if and when the United States
acts.On Wednesday, 10 rockets were fired at the sprawling airbase in western
Iraq that is home to many of the 2,500 American troops still in Iraq. No service
members were wounded, but a civilian American contractor died from a heart
attack while sheltering during the rocket attack. The rocket attack followed a
US airstrike in eastern Syria last week that targeted a compound used by
Iranian-backed Shiite militias that Washington had assessed were responsible for
a deadly rocket attack on another US facility in Erbil.
Former US Official: Khashoggi Report Abuse of Intelligence Power
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 March, 2021
Kirsten Fontenrose, a US official in office at the time of Saudi citizen Jamal
Khashoggi’s murder, said the 2018 intelligence assessment of the crime — on
which the 2021 assessment is based — was “an abuse of the intelligence
community’s power.”Fontenrose, who was serving as senior director for Gulf
affairs at the National Security Council at the time of the murder, said the
assessment was not based on any damning evidence. Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake
told The Lancet that Fontenrose, who worked for the George W. Bush and Barack
Obama administrations, informed him that she was very concerned with the report.
She was “so concerned at the time that she warned the CIA that if the report was
included in the president’s daily intelligence briefing, she would attach a memo
that warned him, ‘this is intelligence based on supposition and triangulation
and being used to force your hand,’” he wrote.
The one-page assessment that was released by the American administration was not
based on any human sources or documented evidence, rather it was based on
supposition and false assumptions. After Fontenrose’s argument with the CIA, the
agency then went on to produce a less classified version of the report, making
it possible to spread it far and wide, said Lake. “That meant that every senior
national security adviser on the hill now had access to it,” Fontenrose said.
“They released it on the day Congress came back into session, knowing that these
guys would all come back from recess and it would cause an explosion.”“For the
Washington establishment, the Khashoggi story was a morality play about the
politicization of intelligence,” whereby the “intelligence community sought to
portray supposition as fact, egged on by a press corps that saw itself engaged
in a cosmic struggle of good versus evil” with then President Donald Trump, said
Lake. “Fontenrose told me that the declassified document released last month
used very similar language to the classified report that crossed her desk in
2018,” he continued. “The only piece of this that is high confidence is the last
paragraph,” she said, noting that this paragraph lists the names of people
involved in the case, but makes no mention of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. In September 2020, the
Saudi general prosecution closed the Khashoggi case after issuing jail
sentences, totaling 124 years, against eight people.
Explosion on Gaza Fishing Boat Kills 3 Palestinian Anglers
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 March, 2021
Three Palestinian fishermen were killed Sunday after a blast ripped through
their boat off the Gaza shore, officials said. Nezar Ayyash, of the association
that represents fishermen, said the anglers — two brothers and a cousin — were
plying their trade off the coast of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza
Strip when the explosion happened. The cause of the blast was not immediately
clear. Palestinian media reports blamed Israeli navy fire, but the Israeli
military said it was not involved in this incident. The Hamas-run interior
ministry in Gaza said it opened an investigation. Minutes before the explosion,
local media reported that Hamas, the militant group ruling the Gaza Strip, was
test-firing rockets toward the sea.
Iran’s President Urges Europe to Avoid 'Threats’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 March, 2021
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani Sunday urged Europe to avoid "threats or
pressure" in any negotiations with Tehran, as he received Ireland's foreign
minister, Simon Coveney, amid diplomatic efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear
deal. Ireland is currently "facilitator" for the United Nations Security Council
resolution that enshrined the nuclear accord between Iran and six major powers,
according to the Irish foreign ministry. The deal, known formally as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has been hanging by a thread since former
US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018 and reimposed
punishing sanctions on Tehran. Following Joe Biden's US presidential election
victory in November, the US, the European parties to the deal -- France, Germany
and Britain -- and Tehran have been trying to salvage the accord.
"The best way to solve problems with European partners at various bilateral,
regional and international levels, is negotiations based on mutual respect and
avoiding any threats or pressure," Rouhani told Coveney at Sunday's meeting,
according to a statement by the Iranian presidency.
Ireland is not party to the nuclear deal, but currently sits on the UN Security
Council. As "facilitator" for resolution 2231 - the UNSC resolution enshrining
the nuclear deal -- Dublin is tasked with keeping other council members briefed
with implementation of the deal. The Iranian president criticized Europe's
"inactivity on JCPOA commitments" and added that Iran is committed to
"preserving the JCPOA and is the only party that has paid a price for it.""But
this situation cannot continue as it is," Rouhani stressed, according to Agence
France Presse. "Preserving and reviving" the deal requires all sides to act on
their commitments, he said. The three European parties to the nuclear deal on
Thursday scrapped a draft resolution at the UN's International Atomic Energy
Agency that criticized Iran's suspension of some nuclear inspections, a move
welcomed by Tehran. Biden has signaled his readiness to revive the deal, but
insists Iran first return to all its nuclear commitments, most of which it
suspended in response to the US sanctions. Tehran meanwhile demands Washington
take the first step by scrapping the sanctions. Iran on February 23 started to
restrict some IAEA inspections. But a visit to Tehran by the UN nuclear watchdog
chief Rafael Grossi just before the restriction came into force led to an
interim technical deal for up to three months. The arrangement would allow the
body to continue monitoring "all the key activities," Rossi said at the time.
Rouhani noted that "Iran still remains committed to cooperation with the
IAEA."He added that Iran is ready to reverse the restrictions "after the lifting
of America's illegal sanctions and it stopping the policy of threats and
pressure."
Iran Frees British-Iranian Aid Worker Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Her Lawyer Says
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 March, 2021
Iran has released British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, her
lawyer Hojjat Kermani told Iranian website Emtedad on Sunday, after her
five-year prison sentence for plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment.
“She was pardoned by Iran’s Supreme Leader last year, but spent the last year of
her term under house arrest with electronic shackles tied to her feet. Now
they’re cast off,” Kermani told the website. “She has been freed.”Iran’s
judiciary officials have yet to comment about the release. It was not
immediately clear whether she was allowed to leave Iran. Kermani was quoted as
saying that “a hearing for Zaghari’s second case has been scheduled at branch 15
of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran” according to the website.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was
arrested at a Tehran airport in April 2016 as she prepared to head back to
Britain with her daughter after a family visit. She was later sentenced to five
years in jail after being convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran’s clerical
establishment. Her family and the foundation, a charity that operates
independently of media firm Thomson Reuters and its news subsidiary Reuters,
deny the charge. She was released from jail in March last year and put under
house arrest in Tehran in response to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in
Iran’s prisons, but her movements were restricted and she was barred from
leaving the country.
Analysts, Officials Call on Biden to Increase Pressure on
Houthis
Washington - Muath al-Amri/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 March, 2021
The new American administration has been taking serious and intense steps to end
the crisis in Yemen and end the escalation of the Iran-backed Houthi militias on
civilians in Yemen and infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
However, several analysts and officials are urging Joe Biden’s administration
against being lenient with the Houthis, calling on him to instead increase
pressure on the militias that are still relentlessly waging their war on Yemen.
Republican Senator Michael McCaul tweeted last week: “Over the past several
weeks, I called for the administration to apply more pressure on the Houthis to
end the violent conflict in Yemen.”
He welcomed the US sanctions against two senior Houthi leaders for procuring
weapons from Iran and attacking civilians.
"While this action is appreciated, I urge the administration to continue
applying pressure to all parties so a negotiated solution to end this
devastating war can occur,” he added.
Kirsten Fontenrose, of the Atlantic Council in Washington, said the situation in
Yemen was deteriorating because the Houthis have been emboldened by the recent
decisions by the Biden administration and their recent military success in Marib.
At the same time, the Houthis believe they have no reason to turn to
negotiations or agree to a political settlement that could reflect their actual
numbers among the people.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, she said any political understanding the American
administration may now reach could exaggerate the Houthis’ actual representation
on the ground. Moreover, she noted that it would only be a matter of a handful
of months before the agreement is rejected by other Yemenis.
An agreement would not put the Saudis at ease or offer them a sense that the US
wants to protect their interests in Yemen, she added. At the same, they trust
newly-appointed US envoy Tim Lenderking, but they still feel that Biden’s
openness to Iran over a new nuclear deal means Washington is ready to abandon
Saudi security for the sake of reaching an agreement with the Houthis that would
also please Tehran.
Fontenrose, who had worked at the White House and Department of State during the
terms of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said Lenderking is leading
international talks aimed at reaching a political solution in Yemen. She added
that he is respected in the region and boasts a great working relationship with
UN envoy Martin Griffiths. The Houthis, on the other hand, are doing nothing to
forge long-term ties with him because they were not part of influential
legitimate Yemeni politicians over the decades during which Lenderking was
involved in diplomacy with the Gulf.
Lenderking is aware that ending the war in Yemen is a priority for the American
administration and that its end will be beneficial to Saudi Arabia and Iran
alike in terms of their reputation in Washington, Fontenrose said. She remarked,
however, that the administration’s recent actions left him with few carrots and
sticks to motivate the Houthis to end their push in Marib and agree on a
political arrangement that is supported by the rest of Yemen.
The administration must obtain from Iran a drive to end the war in Yemen, which
Tehran is not at all seeking, she went to say. The strategy must also force the
Houthis to offer concessions in recognition of the favorable American moves
towards them, but they are not.
Fontenrose criticized the strategy for presenting several favors to the Houthis
without asking them for anything in return. It removed their terror designation,
ended US support to the Saudi-led Arab coalition and froze offensive arms sales
to Saudi Arabia. The Houthis responded to these positive moves by attacking
Riyadh, forging ahead in the offensive on Marib and preventing UN inspectors
from accessing the Safer tanker, which risks an environmental disaster off
Hodeidah. The US abandoned most of its influence before even kicking off
political negotiations.
Fontenrose said the US could persuade Saudi Arabia and other countries in the
region to join a non-aggression pact with Iran. Such a deal should demand that
Iran cease its support to the Houthis in exchange for assertions that Saudi
Arabia would request the US to reduce the number of its forces, which may
perhaps lead to an end to support to Iranian opposition groups.
Political analyst at the Atlantic Council, Carmiel Arbit, meanwhile, told Asharq
Al-Awsat that the Biden administration’s decision to revoke the Houthis’ terror
designation helped create a space for not only relief efforts, but diplomacy.
She said the move reflected a more pragmatic, possibly even sympathetic,
approach, towards Iran compared to the maximum pressure policy of the former
administration.
What next? Arbit said that after six years of bloody conflict, there appears to
be no simple solution to the crisis. Moreover, it is growing increasingly
difficult to reunite the country. On the short term, relief efforts must be a
priority for each of the US and international community. The Biden
administration will likely approach Yemen the same way it does Iran whereby it
will search for opportunities to ease tensions between Arab Gulf allies with
Iran, while at the same time resort to punitive measures, such as targeted
sanctions, and seek to secure small gains wherever they may be.
In an article to the Council on Foreign Relations, former US Special
Representative for Iran, Elliot Abrams said the Trump administration’s decision
to call the Houthis terrorists is attributed to their repeated acts of
terrorism. “And the main critique of the Biden administration’s revocation of
that decision is equally simple: the Houthis have long committed, and continue
to commit, acts of terror. They should be designated a Foreign Terrorist
Organization (FTO) because they are an FTO.”
“The motivation for the Biden decision is clear: the FTO designation may have a
negative humanitarian impact in Yemen. It may also be that the administration
concluded the terrorism designation would make negotiating with the Houthis more
complex, thereby hindering efforts to end the war,” he added.
“But if one’s central goal is to end the war, what is the impact of this FTO
reversal regarding the Houthis? Is it clear that they will react by changing
their behavior and stopping acts of terror? Wish Mr. Lenderking good luck, for
he has been handed a most difficult file,” he continued.
“Logic suggests an alternative view: that the Houthis will be less inclined to
negotiate, especially because the administration’s decision comes only days
after its statement that it would no longer support offensive military
operations by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. If I were a Houthi leader, I might conclude
‘I am winning. The Americans want out. They’ve walked away from the Saudis and
reversed the terrorism designation even though my own behavior has not changed.
Why negotiate?’ If that is right, the Biden administration ought to be thinking
hard about ways to change the incentive structure it has backed into,” Abrams
said.
Washington Supports 2-State Solution, to Renew Diplomatic
Relations with Palestinians
Washington - Ali Barada/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 7 March, 2021
The United States has affirmed it will work to “renew” its diplomatic relations
with the Palestinian Authority and “closely” with Israel, in line with its
commitment to strive to push for the two-state solution earlier negotiated
between both parties. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Biden’s
administration believes that the two-state solution is the best way to ensure
Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state, living in peace alongside a
viable and democratic Palestinian state. He noted that the US will work closely
with Israel to achieve this goal, in addition to renewing its diplomatic
relations with the Palestinians. Consultations will take place with partners in
the region and abroad (...) and with all those who have a common interest in
supporting efforts exerted to advance a lasting peace in the Middle East, he
explained.
Commenting on whether the administration plans to resume financial aids and
cooperation with the Palestinian leadership in light of the latter's support for
the International Criminal Court (ICC) probe into possible war crimes that may
have been committed by Israel or the Palestinian factions, Price said it will
find means to support the Palestinian people. “We have pledged to do so.”He
recalled Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statements, in which he rejected
ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda’s decision to open an investigation into
Israel and Palestinian factions’ possible war crimes in the occupied territories
since 1967.“We firmly oppose and are disappointed by the ICC prosecutor’s
announcement of an investigation into the Palestinian situation.” “The ICC, as
we have said, has no jurisdiction over this matter. Israel is not a party to the
ICC, and it has not consented to the court’s jurisdiction, and we have serious
concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli
personnel.”The Palestinians do not qualify as a sovereign state and therefore
are not qualified to obtain membership as a state in or to participate as a
state in or to delegate jurisdiction to the ICC, Price stressed.
Nevertheless, the senior US diplomat said his country “remains firmly committed
to ensuring justice and accountability for international atrocity crimes.”He
pointed out that he “is aware of the role that international courts such as the
ICC can play in pursuit of these major goals.
A peaceful, secure and more prosperous future for the Middle East population
depends on building bridges and creating new means of dialogue, rather than
unilateral judicial procedures that would lead to exacerbating tensions and
undermining efforts to advance the two-state solution, he noted.
“Our position is consistent. We encouraged Israel to avoid unilateral steps that
exacerbate tensions and make it more difficult to preserve the viability of a
two-state solution.”“We will continue to uphold our strong commitment to Israel
and its security, including by opposing actions that seek to target Israel
unfairly,” Price added.
Biden sends B-52 heavy bomber over Persian Gulf in signal
to Iran
The Jerusalem Post/March 07/2021
In seventh mission into CENTCOM’s area of operation in the last four months
Israeli Air Force F-15s accompany B-52 heavy bomber over Israel. In a clear
signal to Iran, a United States Air Force B-52H “Stratofortress” bomber flew
over the Persian Gulf, before the plane was spotted in Israeli airspace heading
back to its base in the US. It was escorted by Israeli Air Force F-15s as it
passed over Israel. It was the seventh mission into CENTCOM’s area of operation
in the last four months and the second deployment of the heavy bomber since Joe
Biden became president on January 20.
The US has been trying to get the Iranians to return to the negotiating table to
discuss its illicit nuclear program and in the meantime has dispatched the B-52
heavy bombers and recently attacked Iranian militia targets in Syria.
Last week, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Israel was updating its attack
plans against Iran’s nuclear facilities. "We have them [the attack plans] in our
hands, but we will continue [to] constantly improve them," Gantz said. "The
Iranian nuclear aspiration must be stopped. If the world stops them before, it's
very much good. But if not, we must stand independently and we must defend
ourselves by ourselves," Gantz said. After a recent deployment, the US Central
Command said the bomber was sent to the Gulf to underscore America’s commitment
to regional security and the ability to rapidly deploy to the region as needed.
“The United States continues to deploy combat-ready capabilities into the US
Central Command area of responsibility to deter any potential adversary, and
make clear that we are ready and able to respond to any aggression directed at
Americans or our interests,” said Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander, US Central
Command, at the time. “We do not seek conflict, but no one should underestimate
our ability to defend our forces or to act decisively in response to any
attack.”
Tit-for-tat: Iran threatens to turn Israel into ashes if it ‘commits any silly
acts’
Ismaeel Naar, Al Arabiya English/March 08/2021
Iran is threatening to “turn Tel Aviv and Haifa into ashes” if Israel “commits
any silly acts,” in comments attributed to Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami.
“Zionists should know that if they commit any silly acts, Iran will turn Tel
Aviv and Haifa into ashes,” Hatami warned on Sunday.
Hatami’s comments come just days after his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz said
Tel Aviv was ready to act independently against Tehran if needed and would not
“wait will not wait for the international community to stop Iran’s “nuclear
escalation.”US President Joe Biden has been pushing for direct talks with Iran
over the JCPOA, an acronym for the Iran nuclear deal, signed in 2015. Former US
President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the agreement and imposed heavy
economic sanctions on Iran. “In a world dominated by bullying powers, a country
with no power will be humiliated because the hegemonic powers know nothing but
the language of power,” General Hatami was quoted on Sunday as saying by the
pro-regime Iranian Students News Agency. “Iran’s soft power has different
aspects and the country uses its power to ensure its security and stability,” he
added.
“Zionists’ occasional threats against Iran is out of desperation and as the
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Zionist regime is not Iran’s main
enemy and that they are not even the size of Iran,” Hatami stressed.
Israel accused Iran last Wednesday of being linked to a recent oil spill off its
shores that caused major ecological damage, calling the incident environmental
terrorism.
Saeed Mohammad, head of IRGC’s biggest commercial
enterprise, runs for president
Ismaeel Naar, Al Arabiya English/March 08/2021
Saeed Mohammad, the head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters run
by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has resigned from his position to run
in Iran’s June presidential elections. The Khatam al-Anbiya (PBUH) Construction
Headquarters is behind some of Iran’s largest domestic infrastructure projects.
The Iranian Students’ News Agency reported his resignation on Sunday via a
letter he penned to the IRGC in which he described himself as the “soldier of
the Revolution’s Supreme Leader.”“As a soldier of the Supreme Leader of the
Revolution, I will always be proud to serve the holy people of Iran in the
service of the holy system of the Islamic Republic and in the light of the Imam,
the leadership and the precious martyrs of the Revolution,” Mohammad wrote.
Mohammad is considered a veteran of the IRGC with and close links to the office
of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In recent months, Mohammad has spent time
raising his public profile by touring key Iranian cities like Ahwaz and Tabriz,
cities which saw significant protests in recent weeks by angry retirees who say
their pension funds no longer provide them with a decent life amid high
inflation and unemployment. “Mohammad is not only the first ‘second generation’
Guardsman to head Khatam al-Anbiya, he is also the first with no military
background or fighting experience in the IRGC. With a PhD in civil engineering,
he represents the Guard’s technocratic and educated class and has been at the
forefront of driving the economic expansion of the IRGC, which now controls as
much as 40 percent of Iran’s economy,” Iran expert Kasra Aarabi wrote in a
profile on Mohammad for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. “This
experience and the absence of a military background would enable Mohammad to
present himself as both a loyal Guardsman and ‘civilian’ technocrat, potentially
appealing to regime supporters beyond the IRGC’s traditional sphere,” Aarabi
added.
Arab Coalition intercepts, downs 12 Houthi drones in one
day
Tamara Abueish, Al Arabiya English/08 March /2021
The Arab Coalition intercepted 12 explosive-laden drones launched by the
Iran-backed Houthis towards Saudi Arabia in one day, Colonel Turki al-Maliki
said on Sunday. Two drones were destroyed on Sunday afternoon, the coalition
said. Five armed drones heading towards Saudi Arabia were intercepted after
another five Houthi drones had been downed earlier on Sunday morning.The
Iran-backed group’s explosive-laden unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is the latest
in a series of escalated cross-border aerial attacks on Saudi Arabia and areas
in Yemen under the internationally-recognized government’s control. The Houthis
have been intensifying their attacks on Saudi Arabia and Yemen because coalition
forces have made significant advances in Marib, the spokesperson said. The
coalition has been monitoring explosive-laden Houthi drones and has destroyed
multiple aircrafts that the group had deliberately launched towards civilians
and civilian objects, he added. “We are working to protect civilians in
accordance with international humanitarian laws,” al-Maliki said. The Saudi
Press Agency ) The Houthis launched multiple drones and ballistic missiles
towards Riyadh, Jazan, and Khamis Mushait in the Kingdom. At least seven
civilians were injured in Houthi attacks this past week, Saudi Arabian
authorities said.
Saudi-Led Coalition Jets Pound Yemen Capital after Huthi
Strikes
Agence France Presse/08 March /2021
A Saudi-led military coalition mounted air strikes on Yemen's Huthi-controlled
capital Sanaa on Sunday after it intercepted a string of drones launched by the
Iran-backed rebels, state media reported. The developments mark a new escalation
in Yemen's six-year conflict between the coalition-backed Yemeni government and
the rebels, despite a renewed US push to end the conflict. The strikes triggered
huge explosions in Sanaa and sent plumes of smoke rising in the sky, according
to AFP correspondents at the scene. The rebels reported seven air strikes on the
city. "The military operation targets Huthi military capabilities in Sanaa and a
number of other provinces," the coalition was quoted as saying by the official
Saudi Press Agency. The raids come after the coalition said it intercepted a
total of 12 drones launched by the rebels on Sunday, in a sharp escalation in
cross-border attacks on the kingdom. The coalition -- fighting in Yemen
alongside the internationally recognized government against the insurgents --
said the drones were aimed at "civilian" targets in Saudi Arabia, SPA reported,
without specifying the locations. Targeting civilians in the kingdom was a "red
line", the coalition said after the retaliatory strikes on Sanaa.
Amid a new U.S. push for a resolution to the grinding conflict, it added that
the Huthis' actions "will not lead to an imposition of a political settlement."
The rebels did not immediately claim responsibility for the drone attacks.
'Beyond humanitarian assistance'
The grinding conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced
millions, according to international organizations, sparking what the United
Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. On Sunday, David Gressly,
the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, was in the Red Sea port of
Hodeida, a key entry point for both humanitarian aid and commercial goods. "I
need to understand the situation of food, fuel, health, water, education and
other needs of the people," he told reporters. "What we would want to see is the
port to be open, not only for fuel but other commodities."
The UN had warned of a "death sentence" against Yemen after a donor conference
last week yielded less than half the funds needed to prevent a devastating
famine. It appealed for $3.85 billion to pay for urgently needed aid, but just
$1.7 billion was offered at the virtual pledging conference.
"After over a year of Covid throughout the world, the economies are weak and
those who are giving funding find it more difficult to give money," said Gressly.
"So we need to find a way to go beyond humanitarian assistance to help the
economy come back."
Escalation in fighting -
The Huthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, while they
escalate an offensive in Yemen to seize the government's last northern
stronghold of Marib.The escalation comes after the United States last month
delisted the Huthis as terrorists and stepped up efforts to de-escalate the
six-year conflict. The terror designation, imposed late in the administration of
former U.S. president Donald Trump, had been widely criticized by aid
organizations, who warned it would hamper their efforts to alleviate a
humanitarian crisis in Yemen. "The removal of the Huthis from the list of
terrorist groups has been interpreted in a hostile way by the militia," SPA
cited the coalition as saying. The coalition added that their "victories" in
Marib had prompted the rebels to step up attacks on the kingdom. On Saturday,
Yemeni government sources said fierce fighting between pro-government forces and
the rebels in oil-rich Marib had left at least 90 combatants on the two sides
dead over the span of 24 hours. Years of bombing have failed to shake the
rebels' hold on Sanaa, and they have steadily expanded their reach in the
country's north. U.S. President Joe Biden has halted support to Saudi offensive
operations in Yemen's war, which he called a "catastrophe" that "has to end."
But he has also reiterated U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in defending its
territory.
The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on March 07-08/2021
A Pope’s Visit Amidst the Ruins
Charles Elias Chartouni/March 07/2021
شارل الياس شرتوني: زيارة قداسة البابا فرنسيس وسط الدمار والأنقاض
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/96731/charles-elias-chartouni-a-popes-visit-amidst-the-ruins-%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b3-%d8%b4%d8%b1%d8%aa%d9%88%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%b2%d9%8a%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d9%82/
“Fraternity is more durable than fratricide, hope
is more powerful than hatred, peace more powerful than war.This conviction
speaks with greater eloquence than the passing voices of hatred and violence,
and it cannot be silenced by the blood spilled by those who pervert the name of
God to pursue paths of destruction.” Pope Francis, speech, Mosul, March 7 2021.
Contending observers wonder about the Pope’s visit to Iraq, its purview, impact
on the future of Iraq and its reverberations on peace chances across the Middle
East.
We have to realize, at first, that Pope Francis is not an actor in the ongoing
political and conflict theatrics and not expecting to be one, he positions
himself from a different angle as a dramatis personae in a human tragedy taking
place in a region and a place, where not only the future of native Christian
Churches and communities is at stake, but the prospects of peace in the whole
Middle Eastern ambit are under the mercy of a monumental unraveling which
destroyed the centennial interstate system, and left the whole region at lurch.
The Vatican being a moral authority and the federating structure around which
operate the various Catholic Churches worldwide, its old and ubiquitous
diplomacy have proven to be highly instrumental mediating conflicts throughout
the world and bringing parties of conflict around negotiating tables.
The Pope’s visit was symbolically successful breaking up Iraq’s isolation on the
international scene, helping the Iraqis claim their independent stature away
from Iranian hegemony, inter-Islamic power rivalries, assert their
ethno-religious and cultural pluralism and the need to manage it on the very
basis of an egalitarian civic credo and democratic institutions embodied by its
nascent federal system, and deal with the bloody past through the ethics of a
transitional justice system that helps heal and repair the injustices of the
immediate and distant past.
The Pope’s “ministry of reconciliation” (Paul, Corinthians 2/ 5:11-21) was quite
effective assisting Iraqi leaderships( Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni) in their
endeavors to reaffirm their national sovereignty, Pluralism, and equidistance
away from actual and impending imperial inroads, and bringing into light the
dramatic conditions of the ethno-religious minorities( Yezidi, Kakai, Sabean….),
their long historical track of moral degradation and the late annihilation
campaigns engineered by the late ISIS. The Kurdish and Shiite leaderships (
represented by President B. Saleh, PM. Moustapha al Khadimi, and Kurdistan PM.
M. Barzani ) have deftly maneuvered to organize the Pope’s visit, emphasize
their operational autonomy towards Iran’s heavy sway on Iraqi Politics, promote
their pro-Western intellectual and political proclivities, and circumscribe the
scope of the politics of fear.
This visit is a diplomatic feat carefully crafted, organized and achieved on the
very background of a ramshackle republic which has stumbled over the last three
decades between regional wars, endemic instability, internecine civil wars,
different interludes of terror reign under the Iranian piloted Shiite terror
squads, and the savagery of ISIS, and the plundering of Iraqi resources by the
rising Shiite oligarchs and their clientelist networks under Nuri al Maliki.
Moreover, the meeting with grand Ayatollah al Sistani is quite indicative of the
Holy See elective affinity with the spiritual and quietist tradition of Shiism,
in contradistinction with the political and violent proned khomeynism and the
ruling jurist governance.
Otherwise, the apostolic nature of the visit was meant to help redress the
imbalances driven by waves of massive Christian migration which started in the
thirties of the last century (featured by the installation of the Assyrian
Patriarchate in the US, and the cascading departures after the first and second
Gulf wars), heal the wounds of the Islamic State interlude, consolidate the
demographic, socio-economic, political and educational restructuring platforms
and the various Church ministries of the Catholic and Christian denominations
bound to manage their new plight, between the minority Church in their native
land, and the widely scattered diasporas throughout the five continents.
The Iraqi configuration compares largely with the Lebanese one, with one major
difference, Lebanese Christianity is an independent actor whose moral and
operational autonomy is strong enough to challenge the political arrogance of
destructive Iranian and Islamist power politics, their eroding legitimacy and
derelict geopolitical platforms.
Western democracies are definitely invited to draw inspiration from the
Vatican’s diplomacy and step once again into the Middle Eastern whirlwind to
contain the destructive Iranian, Turkish and Russian politics, bury the ISIS
legacy and reset the political dynamics on a constructive course of conflict
resolution, integrated development, and alternative political and civic cultures
that are deeply entrenched in the yearnings of regional civil societies which
have experienced the excruciating travails of political and social
authoritarianism, Islamic totalitarianism and pervasive instability. Pope
Francis has set the course, Western democracies have to relay at this pinnacle
moment.
New Life Is Breathed in Mosul
Noura Al Kaabi//Asharq Al-Awsat/March 07/ 2021
After the fall of the terrorist ISIS state in Iraq’s Mosul in July 2019, stories
of pain began to emerge from under the ashes of war. The stories showed the
world the ugliness of hatred practiced by the organization against man and the
city, against mosque and church, Muslim and Christian and humanity and life.
Traumatized by terrorism, hope soon shined from Abu Dhabi to restore light in
the city through the Revive the Spirit of Mosul UNESCO initiative. The United
Arab Emirates was among the first and fastest to take the initiative to rebuild
the Great Mosque of al-Nuri and its iconic Al-Hadba minaret in 2018. And since
the principles of humanity are indivisible and immune to discrimination, the UAE
expanded the project after Pope Francis’ historic visit to the country in 2019.
The initiative was expanded to include the renovation and reconstruction of the
Al-Tahera and Al-Saa Churches in a message of hope and tolerance aimed at
restoring the historic standing and human heritage of Mosul that had never
discriminated between people based on religion, race or color. Today Mosul and
the whole of Iraq are celebrating Pope Francis’ visit in a hope that it would
give a new push for human fraternity that was launched during his visit to Abu
Dhabi. The initiative bolsters social cohesion and human harmony and
consolidates moderation, tolerance and coexistence, which is the only way to
develop and elevate humanity.
The pope is carrying out his visit to Mosul under the slogan, “We are all
brothers”, in an embodiment of the Document of Human Fraternity that he signed
with Sheikh al-Azhar Dr. Ahmad al-Tayyeb in Abu Dhabi in 2019. The document was
a message to the world that dialogue between religions and tolerance, social and
cultural diversity were our choice and the choice for humanity. It was the
strong human response to the ideology of darkness and terrorism that fuels
conflicts between man.
A new life was breathed into Mosul, one that is in sharp contrast to the dark
spirit that ISIS tried to implant in the youths of the city. Today, we bear
witness to how Christians are helping rebuild the al-Nuri mosque and its minaret
and how Muslims are renovating and rebuilding the Al-Tahera and Al-Saa churches.
They are discovering, without discrimination, their prestigious Mosul heritage
that was formed through the values of solidarity between cultures and religions
and friendship between peoples of different sects. Together they shaped the
civilized image that embodies the spirit of “Human Fraternity” and the noble
goal that was spelled out in the Abu Dhabi document. The UAE-UNESCO partnership
in this significant project was aimed at reviving three neighborhoods in Mosul.
Combined, these neighborhoods form a heritage of humanity and civilization and
witness to the grandeur of man. At the same time, the project created job
opportunities for the people of Mosul and helped in sustainable development
through the formation of an attractive environment for tourists from different
parts of the world, thereby becoming a source of income for the city. The
support for the Revive the Spirit of Mosul initiative is an extension of the
UAE’s keenness to preserve human heritage away from religious, sectarian or
geographic considerations. For dozens of years, the UAE has contributed in
several renovations of global heritage sites, such as the Dome of Rock at the
Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, Omar bin al-Khattab Mosque and Church of Nativity
in Bethlehem, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan or former Imperial Theater at
Chateau de Fontainebleau in Paris, Museum of Islamic Art Cairo, Library of
Alexandria, Marib dam in Yemen, Macmillan Memorial Library in Nairobi, and Nuzul
Al Salam in Bahrain, among several others.
We welcome Pope Francis in our Arab region and we will continue to bolster and
consolidate the message of “Human Fraternity”, which is one of harmony and love
that we hope would prevail in the world, so that man can help fellow man and so
that humans can become partners in progress, not conflicts, wars and hatred.
Can Pope Francis save Iraq's Christian heritage?
Janine di Giovanni/The National/March 07/ 2021
I have a photograph on my desk that keeps me going during difficult moments. It
is from a time when I climbed Mount Maqlub in northern Iraq to reach the
Monastery of Mar Mattai shortly after the fall of ISIS.
Mar Mattai is a Syriac Orthodox monastery, a holy site for Iraqi Christians,
founded by a hermit escaping Roman persecution in the year 363. My photo is of a
lone crucifix looming high over the dusty Nineveh plain, symbolising strength
and unity.
For reasons few understand, when ISIS cleared villages and left a trail of
destruction in Nineveh in 2014, it never made it up the road to the monastery.
The believers I met in Mar Mattai told me that it was an act of God. “We need to
be protected,” one told me. “And we were protected.”
This is why Pope Francis’s determination to visit Iraq “as an act of love”, to
give moral support to vulnerable Iraqi minorities, is so crucial.
The 84-year-old pontiff, who has been vaccinated, has arrived at a perilous
time: amid a resurgence of Covid-19 and multiple rocket attacks on Iraqi bases
and institutions. It is the Pope’s first trip abroad since the pandemic began.
The fact he chose Iraq, and to focus on the Christians, is not inconsequential.
They are in grave danger.
Iraqi Christians are considered the oldest continuous Christian community on
Earth with roots going back 2,000 years. Yet this millennia-old connection is
looking increasingly tenuous. Christians are an integral part of the mosaic that
is Iraq, but their numbers are dwindling.
Before the US-led invasion in 2003, when I was living in Baghdad, there were
nearly 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, mainly Catholic Chaldeans. Today, there
are between 250,000 and 300,000 left, according to Samuel Tadros, a senior
fellow at Hudson Institute, the Washington-based think tank. But no one really
knows the correct figure.
“In five years, we will be no more,” one priest told me gloomily in 2003.
Eighteen years later, I reflect on his words. He was not entirely correct –
Christians still exist – but their position is precarious.
Back in the Saddam Hussein days, I would worship on most Sundays at the
white-stoned St Mary’s Chaldean Church in Shorja district. Sitting with people
meditating and singing quietly in Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ, was a
respite for me.
A few days before Christmas in 2002, I knelt with terrified Christians
celebrating mass in Mosul. The entire congregation was praying, mindful of
impending war. A few months later, on Ash Wednesday, I sat with some Chaldeans –
descendants of some of the oldest Christians in the world – at St Mary’s Church
on Palestine Street in Baghdad. In 2009, St Mary’s would be blown up by a bomb
as worshippers were leaving. After the US-led invasion, insurgency groups
launched a series of bombings targeting churches in Iraq. On October 31, 2010,
six ISIS members wearing suicide vests entered the Church of Our Lady of
Salvation in Baghdad during the evening mass. They killed 58 people, including
priests, worshippers and police officers. Some were murdered by sprays of
gunfire, others by grenades or explosions. The brutal attack was an act of
retaliation against a Florida-based evangelical minister who had threatened to
burn the Quran. In a later message, ISIS called the church “the dirty den of
idolatry".
“We’re worried,” an Iraqi Christian told me in 2018. “Even with ISIS gone,
there’s another big threat: there is no work for us. Our enemy is emigration.
People are leaving every day.”
This is the tipping point. We are seeing the gradual decline of Christianity in
the region and, perhaps, the end of its existence by the next century. Thousands
are fleeing the birthplace of Christianity – the lands where the prophets
wandered, where Christ walked and preached – not only because of religious
persecution, but also because of a bleak economic future. Climate change and the
rise of other radical groups also threaten their existence.
For the youth, there is little future, little work, little incentive. This is
why a leader with the charisma and courage of Pope Francis can bring a
restorative hope to people whose lives have been crushed.
As a Catholic, I admire Pope Francis for many reasons, including his humanity
and simplicity. His fortitude – going to Iraq at a time when it is so weakened –
has made me an even bigger admirer. In a time when people fear contact with
others, he is moving amongst a crowd. He is not preaching from a pulpit. Like
during his early days, when he roamed the neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires and
engaged with the poor, he is doing field work.
“Jesus teaches us another way,” he once said. “Go out. Go out and share your
testimony, go out and interact with your brothers. Become the word in body as
well as spirit.”
It is easy to be cynical about one's motives, especially when they pertain to
religion. After all, they can often be used to distort narratives. But I see the
Pope’s decision to go to Iraq as something pure and hopeful – in a time when we
have been deprived of hope.
*Janine di Giovanni is a senior fellow at Yale’s Jackson Institute. Her next
book, The Vanishing, about Christians in the Middle East, is out in the autumn
of 2021
The message behind the Pope's trip to Iraq
Monsignor Yoannis Lahzi Gaid/The National/March 07/2021
hile in Baghdad in 2010, I experienced the aftermath of an extremist attack on
the city’s Our Lady of Salvation church. Witnessing the remnants of the 58
innocent people killed and blown up by ISIS extremists, I felt intense sadness
and disbelief at the fact that someone could blow themselves up to kill others,
solely because they have a different religion. Now, 11 years later, Pope Francis
is visiting this site of religious persecution, with a message of peace and hope
for the wounded people of Iraq and the Middle East. The trip is a new stone in
the edifice of human fraternity, for which the Pope has worked tirelessly
throughout his life. The visit marks his first foreign trip since the start of
the coronavirus pandemic and the first papal trip in history to Iraq. I think
that His Holiness prioritised this visit to the Middle East for three reasons.
First, he is giving this distressed region a special place in his heart and
wants to convey the voices of its people to the whole world. The Pope wants to
send a positive message that the most dangerous pandemic of all is to neglect
those who are suffering – whether at the personal or state level.
Second, he intends to send a message of reassurance to those who find themselves
forced to leave their homelands and emigrate in pursuit of security, freedom and
justice.
Third, to affirm that we are all brothers in humanity and to invite everyone to
the “word of fraternity”, in order to overcome the mistakes of the past and
build the future together.
Human fraternity is the most important issue that His Holiness Pope Francis is
working on. In 2019, I accompanied him on his historic visit to the UAE, where
he signed the Document on Human Fraternity with Grand Imam Ahmed Al Tayyeb of
Egypt’s Al Azhar. The joint statement urges the reconciliation of all people in
the service of universal peace. This weekend, Pope Francis attended an
interfaith meeting in Ur, the biblical location of the birthplace of Abraham.
The event in itself is a message of fraternity, showing us that we all descend
from the same father and believe in God, who called his Prophet Abraham and his
descendants to worship Him alone and live as brothers among themselves. In
renewing and reviving this message, the Pope’s mission can be summarised in just
four words, “you are all brothers", the motto of the trip, affirming that what
unites us is much greater than what separates us. I have great love for Iraq and
its people. I hope that the Pope’s visit will represent a spark of hope for a
new dawn, in which Iraq returns to the regional and international position it
deserves.
*Monsignor Yoannis Lahzi Gaid is a member of the Higher Committee of Human
Fraternity and previously served as the personal secretary to Pope Francis until
2020.
Biden's emphasis on democracy and diplomacy isn't new or
practical
Raghida Dergham/The National/March 07/ 2021
Earlier in the week, the Biden administration published a document called the
“Interim National Security Strategic Guidance”. It reveals interesting ideas but
also some flawed thinking on the part of the new team in the White House.
Washington, under President Joe Biden, seems to have returned to its oft-used
twin-pronged principles of democracy and diplomacy as a means of safeguarding
its national security. Also intriguing, if not altogether surprising, is its
view of Iran. The administration does not place Tehran at the same security
threat level as the previous Trump administration did. The regime is still
dangerous enough to merit Washington’s attention and, if the need arises,
deterrence. But the US will use its diplomatic tools for this purpose –
particularly if the regime moves to undermine the sovereignty and security of
its allies in the region. The Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign
finds less purchase in the new team. The security document also makes clear the
Biden administration’s unwillingness to view military force as “the answer to
the region’s challenges”.
This comes just weeks after the withdrawal of US support for the war in Yemen,
primarily between government forces and Houthi rebels. Furthermore, even as it
condemned the repeated assaults being mounted by the Houthis on neighbouring
Saudi Arabia, the administration has taken them off the US terror list. This
will have no doubt come as good news to the rebels and their patrons in Tehran.
Apparently taking aim at China and Russia in the paper, the Biden administration
has declared its willingness to use democracy as a weapon against what it views
to be authoritarianism regimes. Democracy, according to Mr Biden, is America’s
“fundamental advantage” and that Americans “must prove that our model isn’t a
relic of history”. How he intends to carry out his agenda is a mystery, because
history is a witness to Washington’s failed projects in the Middle East and
elsewhere. It’s a different world now and, as the new administration begins
working closely with governments in all shapes and forms, Mr Biden will end up
backtracking on this approach. How high, for instance, will democracy and human
rights be on his agenda while dealing with security allies, such as Turkey, and
with countries he appears interested in dealing with, such as Iran?
If the administration is serious about human rights, it could begin by looking
at Lebanon.
If the political elite in Beirut is, by virtue of its corrupt practices and
inefficiencies, denying its people access to international aid, then does that
not count as a human rights violation? Could the Biden team not support the
Lebanese people’s right to have a neutral foreign policy, as opposed to one that
is favourable towards Iran? Could the US not call for an international
investigation into possible crimes against humanity more than six months after
explosions at Beirut Port destroyed parts of the capital, killing and injuring
many of its residents?
Today the same politicians continue to rule Lebanon, mostly because the
international community has done little to hold them accountable. The Biden
administration surely has the clout to make a difference.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely to do so. Because, like in the case of the
Europeans, America’s priority right now is to revive the nuclear deal it signed
with Iran in 2015 or, better still, secure a new one. Tehran will not allow
Washington or Brussels to get involved in the so-called internal affairs of
Beirut, which is firmly in its grip. And this could count as a strong example as
to why Iran rejects any attempt to discuss its malign regional behaviour even if
the nuclear issue is addressed. This is what it did in 2015, after which it
expanded its destabilising operations in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen; and
this is what it intends to do again. Interestingly, while the security document
makes no mention of the US relying on Europe's influence to get tricky
negotiations done, this is effectively its current approach to prospective talks
with Iran. In their joint bid to get Iran to the table, there is concern that
the West will avoid seeking major concessions from Tehran, instead allowing it
to fulfil its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and
nothing more. This way, the US will be able to fulfil Iranian demands in return,
which could even include the lifting of some sanctions, using the European
channel.
Europe’s gambit could be seen through a move to put forward, and then withdraw,
a proposal to censure Iran at a global IAEA meeting. This will thereby allow the
regime, in return, to supposedly backtrack on its refusal to talk to the US
about reviving the 2015 deal. It all seems like theatre.
But an increasingly hardline regime in Tehran is convinced that the Biden
administration is more desperate than it is for a deal. And until the sometimes
contradictory statements and positions of American officials become clearer, the
rest of the world will continue to hold its breath.
*Raghida Dergham is the founder and executive chairwoman of the Beirut Institute
and a columnist for The National
A Storm Over the American Republic
Guy Millière/Gatestone Institute/March 07/2021
The atmosphere in the United States remains poisonous. Critics claim that
stoking in the public is being done on purpose -- to create a false narrative
that not only is Trump supposedly a "threat to democracy," but that his more
than 74 million supporters are, too. Others, however, claim that the real threat
to democracy is actually these serial liars, violators of the Constitution and
falsifiers of information.
The right to challenge and criticize, which is an integral part of the freedom
of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment, appears seriously threatened. The
right to defend oneself against charges also appears threatened, and the legal
profession dangerous to practice.
Expressing doubts about the November 3 election is now a liability.
Substantiated reports show that it was far from perfect. The American economist
Peter Navarro, in his private capacity, drew up three meticulous analyses: "The
Immaculate Deception," "The Art of the Steal" and "The Navarro Report". They
have been zealously disparaged -- many think unjustly.
Some authors describe what is happening as a slide towards authoritarianism.
They note that many Americans and corporations, while behaving in an
increasingly authoritarian manner, accuse their opponents of being authoritarian
-- in other words, blaming their opponents for what they themselves are doing.
For more than three years Trump was accused, without any evidence apart from a
fake "dossier", of being a Russian agent. The accusations eventually proved
baseless, but not before $32 million of taxpayers' money were spent in what the
prosecutors knew from the start was a fraud. They also tried to frame,
incriminate and send innocent people to prison. The exercise was, at bottom,
nothing more than an attempted coup d'état.
Throughout his entire term, Trump was faced with threats, abuse of power and
unremitting attacks. Even though Trump is no longer president, the war against
him continues.
If H.R.1 becomes the law of the land, it will entrench those "very things that
made the election of 2020 such a mess". These include, among other things, the
flooding of states with millions of unsolicited mail-in ballots, failure to
verify signatures, no chain of custody of ballots, same-day voter registration,
and ballot-harvesting -- many of which are invitations to commit fraud. As a
bipartisan report in 2005 from the Commission on Federal Election Reform,
chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James
Baker III, concluded: mail-in ballots "remain the largest source of potential
voter fraud." If H.R.1 is passed in the Senate, countless ways of demolishing
election integrity will be set in cement.
The atmosphere in the United States remains poisonous. Critics claim that
stoking in the public is being done on purpose -- to create a false narrative
that not only is Trump supposedly a "threat to democracy," but that his more
than 74 million supporters are, too. Pictured: Members of the National Guard at
a checkpoint on Capitol Hill on March 5, 2021, in Washington, DC.
January 20, 2021. President Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the
United States. The scene, however, is devoid of any human presence. The streets
of Washington DC are empty. People had been urged to stay at home and Americans
throughout the rest of the country asked not to come. The city is under the
protection of 25,000 members of the National Guard, heavily armed. High barriers
topped with razor wire surround the Capitol area. In the streets planned for the
new president's "parade", barriers separate the sidewalks from the roadway. The
only people visible are men in uniform carrying rifles. A day that is usually a
day of celebration in the United States is, this year, strange and sad.
The explanation given by city officials and the FBI was that there was a risk of
serious disruption. Other inaugurations had faced disruption, but had never
placed the city under siege. On January 20, 2017, during President Donald J.
Trump's inauguration, hostile protesters had come to Washington DC, burned cars
and smashed windows. The police had protected the ceremony without razor wire
and soldiers. Hundreds of thousands of people had cheered the new president.
This year, on January 6, responding to President Trump's calls for a big rally,
a huge crowd gathered at the Ellipse, near the White House. Most listened to
Trump's speech and returned home.
However, several thousand people went to the Capitol, a 30-minute walk away from
Trump's rally, and there a group of well-organized people smashed windows on the
Capitol and entered the building. It was not ransacked, but items were stolen.
An unarmed woman was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer. Two protesters
died of heart attacks. One person fell to the ground and was trampled. A member
of the Capitol police died the next day, possible due to suffering a stroke.
The incident, though serious, fell far short of the scenes of looting, arson and
extreme violence that had taken place in many of the country's major cities over
the entire summer. The difference was that a riot now licked at the heels of the
political class, not just the rest of us.
What happened on January 6 was unanimously condemned, including by Trump
himself. There was no equivalence between those who had come to listen to him
and those who marauded. The former had exercised their constitutional rights of
free assembly; the latter had committed criminal acts.
Police could have made arrests and justice been served. The page would have been
turned. That is not what happened.
Protesters had "stormed" the Capitol several times before: on March 1, 1954, by
Puerto Rican Americans who fired guns and injured five congressmen; on March 1,
1971, by members of the radical Weather Underground who placed a bomb in the
building; on November 7, 1983, by a group calling itself the Armed Resistance
Unit, who also placed a bomb in the building; and on October 6, 2018, by people
protesting the confirmation vote of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Overlooking that, however, on January 7, President Joe Biden described the
incident of the day before as a major and unprecedented "attack":
"What we witnessed yesterday was not dissent. It was not disorder. It was not
protest. It was chaos. They weren't protesters. Don't dare call them protesters.
They were a riotous mob. Insurrectionists. Domestic terrorists. It's that basic,
it's that simple."
The mainstream media spoke of an assault on the "citadel of democracy" and a
sign that a "will to overthrow the republic" had taken shape. Trump's supporters
-- as a whole -- were described as dangerous people. Trump's constitutional
challenge to the result of the November 3 election had already been presented
for weeks as an attempt to "overturn" the result of a perfectly irrefutable
election and as a "Big Lie". The mayhem, though vicious, was now being presented
"as if the U.S. has become a war zone."
On January 8, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, after
asking President Trump to "immediately and willingly" leave office before
President-elect Biden's inauguration, launched what would be a second
impeachment procedure against him. Insinuating that Trump was mentally unfit,
she announced that she had spoken to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen.
Mark Milley, "to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable
president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes".
Her request, which breached the chain of command, was reported as sedition.
Nevertheless, on January 13, discarding all due process, the House of
Representatives hastily voted on an article of impeachment accusing President
Trump of "incitement to insurrection."
President Biden, at his inauguration on January 20, while speaking of "unity",
all the same echoed the words he had used on January 7: "a rise in political
extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will
defeat".
Since then, the Biden Administration has led a fight against those Biden has
designated as such. "President Biden," read a statement from the White House,
"will use the National Security Council to track down and combat political
extremism and domestic terrorism".
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a "stand down" order to the entire US
military for commanders to address "extremism" in the ranks. "White supremacism,"
John Kirby, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, announced, "poses a particular
problem" for the US army.
In the Senate, impeachment proceedings against former President Trump commenced.
The official impeachment managers described the events of January 6 as an "armed
insurgency" that had threatened the lives of representatives of the people. They
presented these alleged "high crimes and misdemeanors" -- minus evidence and
witnesses -- as the direct result of Trump's speech on January 6, as well as his
having contested the election's result -- which they presented as "incitement to
violence". The impeachment managers ignored that the results of presidential
elections have been contested for decades with no objection.
They also claimed that the events of January 6 left five dead, but failed to
note that only one fatality -- Ashli Babbitt, a protestor shot by a policeman --
could be directly linked to the event.
Trump's attorneys had no trouble refuting the allegations. They recalled that
Trump had asked the demonstrators on January 6 to assemble "peacefully and
patriotically" and that his a speech was fully protected by the First Amendment.
They presented evidence showing that those who initiated the break-in on the
Capitol had prepared it for weeks; that they had acted while Trump was still
speaking, and that a causal relationship between Trump's January 6 speech and
the break-in on Capitol Hill simply did not exist.
They emphasized that the impeachment proceedings were conducted in violation of
the Constitution and that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts had declined
to oversee the proceeding. Trump, after all, now out of office, was no longer
President Trump, just citizen Trump; did the US really want to start
"impeaching" its citizens? They also pointed out that the evidence presented had
once again (referring to the fraudulent , three year "Russia hoax") been
falsified.
Trump's lawyers asserted that what happened was not an insurrection -- a violent
and organized action aimed at overthrowing the established power: no one
entering the Capitol had been carrying a weapon.
Unsurprisingly, Trump was once again acquitted.
The atmosphere in the United States remains poisonous. Critics claim that
stoking in the public is being done on purpose -- to create a false narrative
that not only is Trump supposedly a "threat to democracy," but that his more
than 74 million supporters are, too. Others, however, claim that the real threat
to democracy is actually these serial liars, violators of the Constitution and
falsifiers of information (here, here and here).
Actions against supposed "domestic extremism" and "domestic terrorism" --
meaning, supposedly, the 74 million Trump supporters -- continue. Those labeled
"extremists" and "terrorists" face continued threats. Trump's defense lawyers
received threats as well. Michael van der Veen, for instance, has said he had to
hire armed bodyguards and send his family to an undisclosed location. His house
was vandalized.
The right to challenge and criticize, which is an integral part of the freedom
of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment, appears seriously threatened. The
right to defend oneself against charges also appears threatened, and the legal
profession dangerous to practice.
Calls for political purges continue. The leftist organization MoveOn.org has
launched a campaign against what it calls the "Treason Caucus" and the expulsion
from Congress of Senators described as "complicit in Trump's deadly
insurrection." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- apparently trying to create an
equivalence between the worst terrorist attack suffered by the United States on
9/11/2001 and the events of January 6, and seemingly trying to position the
government to suppress free speech -- has announced that Congress will move to
establish a 9/11-type commission.
A member of the Democratic National Committee, David. O. Atkins, suggested ,
"how *do* you deprogram 75 million people? Where do you start?" and "We have to
start thinking in terms of post-WWII Germany or Japan."
"White supremacists," President Biden announced, "are the greatest domestic
terror threat in the US. It's complex, it's wide-ranging and it's real."
Journalist Kyle Daly, in an article called, "How to deprogram America's
extremists", describes a measure "that could make a difference: Keeping
extremists out of the institutions where they could do the greatest damage -
like the military, police departments and legislatures... The U.S. needs a
Marshall Plan against domestic extremism."
At The New York Times, the journalist Kevin Roose, in "How the Biden
Administration Can Help Solve Our Reality Crisis", offered what looks like the
creation of the "Ministry of Truth" in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four:
"Several experts I spoke with recommended that the Biden administration put
together a cross-agency task force to tackle disinformation and domestic
extremism, which would be led by something like a 'reality czar.'"
Expressing doubts about the November 3 election is now a liability.
Substantiated reports show that it was far from perfect. The American economist
and former Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, Peter Navarro, in his
private capacity, drew up three meticulous analyses: "The Immaculate Deception,"
"The Art of the Steal" and "The Navarro Report". They have been zealously
disparaged as "nonsensical," "riddled with dubious claims," and "largely
debunked allegations" -- many think unjustly (for instance here, here and here).
In another article, "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the
2020 Election," in Time Magazine, Molly Ball, the publication's national
political correspondent, shows in detail that a "well-funded cabal of powerful
people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the
scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and
control the flow of information", and that the action of this cabal "touched
every aspect of the election," including election laws, and engaged in a unified
legal front to change voting systems and laws ".
Ball, also the author of an extremely laudatory biography of Nancy Pelosi --
whom she describes as an "icon of the Resistance" to Trump -- claimed that the
purpose of the cabal was not was not to rig the election, but to "fortify" it.
Organizations that ravaged major American cities during the summer, she adds,
were used by the cabal: "the left actually did control the activities of groups
such as Antifa, Black Lives Matter." In another article, she wrote that what was
done was to "save democracy", and manages to conclude that using undemocratic
means to distort a democratic election somehow "saves" democracy.
A worrying drift seems to be dragging the United States away from the
institutions of the American Republic and far from what can be expected of a
democracy worthy of the name. Some authors describe what is happening as a slide
towards authoritarianism. They note that many Americans and corporations, while
behaving in an increasingly authoritarian manner, accuse their opponents of
being authoritarian -- in other words, blaming their opponents for what they
themselves are doing.
The legitimacy of Trump as a president was being thwarted and denied, for
example by "Crossfire Hurricane" and serial FISA abuse [Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act] even before he was elected. Nineteen minutes after his
inauguration, the Washington Post released the headline, "The campaign to
Impeach President Trump has begun".
For more than three years Trump was accused, without any evidence apart from a
fake "dossier", of being a Russian agent. The accusations eventually proved
baseless, but not before $32 million of taxpayers' money were spent in what the
prosecutors knew from the start was a fraud. They also tried to frame,
incriminate and send innocent people to prison. The exercise was, at bottom,
nothing more than an attempted coup d'état.
Later, Trump was accused of "endangering the security of the country" on the
basis of an innocuous telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky. For the accusation to appear plausible, one of his accusers had to
reinvent the conversation. The first attempted impeachment that followed has
been rightly described as a "travesty of justice" and "the equivalent of the
Stalin's show trials". Throughout his entire term, Trump was faced with threats,
abuse of power and unremitting attacks. Even though Trump is no longer
president, the war against him continues.
Much of the mainstream media have ceased being news organizations and have
become anti-Trump activists. For publishing all that fake news, The New York
Times and the Washington Post were even awarded Pulitzer Prizes.
When, in 2020, the summer riots became destructive and Trump talked about using
the military to restore order and protect property and lives, his political
opponents compared him to Hitler and Goebbels, and indignantly defended the
rioters as essentially "peaceful protesters", acting in the name of legitimate
grievances. They apparently overlooked that the Insurrection Act was invoked by
several Presidents, such as President George H.W. Bush in 1992, after California
Governor Pete Wilson requested help to quell riots in Los Angeles.
Several months before the 2020 election, Trump's political opponents strangely
anticipated his defeat and accused him -- in advance, again without any evidence
-- of preparing to break the law. Pelosi, suggesting that Trump would not leave
the White House, intimated that he might have to be "fumigated out". Biden
predicted that the military would intervene. "I am absolutely convinced they
will escort him from the White House with great dispatch", he said.
The roots of what is happening are actually older.
The Communist Party of America never succeeded in obtaining broad political
influence. The movement seemed to gain ground after World War II but was crushed
in the 1950s after it was discovered that some of its members had spied on the
country on behalf of the Soviet Union.
A new trend took shape in the 1960s. Its strategy seems to have been defined by
a German activist, Rudi Dutschke -- a follower of the Italian Marxist Antonio
Gramsci -- as "the long march through the institutions". As the author Roger
Kimball describes, it gradually took hold of the humanities sector in
universities, then spread throughout the education system, the cultural sector,
the mainstream media, and finally the political sphere.
It drew on the writings of the philosopher Herbert Marcuse, who spoke of the
need for a "great refusal", "a protest against that which is". Marcuse suggested
practicing what he called "repressive tolerance" -- consisting of "intolerance
to right-wing movements" until they would be rendered non-existent. He added
that the "non-integrated forces of minorities" should be used.
These developments were also inspired by the leading thinkers of what is called
the "French theory": Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault. Derrida spoke of the
need for "deconstruction" especially of the idea of truth. Foucault defined
existing power structures as oppressions to be abolished.
The methods used were those of the radical political theorist Saul Alinsky, who
recommended that radicals become "community organizers". "The job of the
organizer," he added, "is to maneuver and bait the establishment". In 1971,
Alinsky published Rules for Radicals, outlining how radicals can take power
using thirteen rules. He noted that the tactic of accusing one's enemies of what
one is guilty of can be extremely effective.
This movement seems to have decided to spread the "great refusal" defined by
Marcuse, adopt the ideas of French Theory, and use the methods of Saul Alinsky
-- sharpening "repressive tolerance" to erode institutions from within while
eradicating the concept of truth. Some followers who became "community
organizers" acted to abolish power structures and accused their enemies of doing
what they themselves were doing.
President Barack Obama, as an example, prior to entering politics, worked as a
"community organizer" in Chicago. Shortly before being elected president in
2008, he said, "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United
States of America." He did not say into what.
President Trump, prior to his election, promised to "drain the swamp" -- which
remains woefully in need of draining. The swamp's inhabitants undoubtedly saw
him as a threat to their plans. Making Trump fall at any cost and regaining
their lost power evidently became imperatives for the swamp's inhabitants. They
appeared ready to use any means necessary -- and they achieved their goal.
Biden, in the first weeks of his presidency, has issued a battery of executive
orders, some of which violate the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and in
addition will throw thousands out of work for the benefit of Russia and China.
The House and Senate were not consulted.
When 74 million law-abiding Americans are described as terrorists and racists
who need to be "reeducated", tolerance for ideas differing from one's own is
clearly vanishing. Calls are also out for closing down television stations that
offer a differing version of "the truth."
H.R.1, also called the "For the People Act", the first legislative proposal by
the House for 2021, passed the House of Representatives on March 5. The noted
attorney J. Christian Adams, President and General Counsel of the Public
Interest Legal Foundation and founder of the Election Law Center, noted:
"H.R.1 packs into one 791-page bill every bad idea about how to run elections
and mandates that the states must adopt -- the very things that made the
election of 2020 such a mess. It includes all of the greatest hits of 2020:
Mandatory mail ballots, ballots without postmarks, late ballots and voting in
precincts where you don't live."
If H.R.1 becomes the law of the land, the results will be the flooding of states
with millions of unsolicited mail-in ballots, failure to verify signatures, no
chain of custody of ballots, same-day voter registration, and ballot-harvesting
-- many of which are invitations to commit fraud. As a bipartisan report in 2005
from the Commission on Federal Election Reform, chaired by former President
Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker III, concluded: mail-in
ballots "remain the largest source of potential voter fraud." If H.R.1 is passed
in the Senate, countless ways of demolishing election integrity will be set in
cement. President Biden has also introduced an immigration reform bill. It has
been described as a way to import, legalize and naturalize non-Americans
crossing the US border illegally, and clearly has the intent of trying to create
a permanent single-party majority. If passed, it could, as former senior advisor
to President Trump Stephen Miller said, "fundamentally erase the very essence of
American nationhood".
Economic proposals such as raising the minimum wage to $15, will, if
implemented, cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and create immense hardship for
small businesses already hit hard by pandemic lockdowns as well as for
disadvantaged people at the entry level competing for work. There would be fewer
jobs and more people looking for them -- before one even starts including a
prospective flood of "undocumented" newcomers. Perhaps that is the intent: to
reward big corporate campaign donors while squeezing out their small
competitors, and at the same time creating more desperate people who will keep
reaching out to a Big Government to depend on it for help.
One of Biden's first decisions was to disband the 1776 Commission, which was
created to "return to the unifying ideas stated in the Declaration of
Independence". The alternative narrative, the 1619 Project, which describes the
United States as founded on slavery, "structurally racist", and therefore
illegitimate from the start, has been criticized by prominent historians for its
total disrespect of basic facts. This distortion of history, which contains
nothing about what makes America good, is apparently now teaching children to
hate America in public schools.
The author Dennis Prager said last year:
"Civilization can be crushed in one generation. Germany was the most advanced
artistic cultured country in Europe. People say how could the country that gave
us Beethoven and Bach and Schiller and Heine give us Auschwitz? It's a common
question. Of course, it's not asked at colleges today because they never heard
of Beethoven, Bach, Schiller, Heine, or Auschwitz. Nevertheless, those who heard
of them ask that question, and the answer is, it can happen anywhere. We are
watching the undoing of American liberty in one generation, in our case, by
those who call themselves progressives."
After the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked
Benjamin Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"
Franklin responded, "A republic, if you can keep it."
Part of America has "declared war" and "is intent on destroying the most
tolerant, inclusive, egalitarian society ever created," wrote the American
author David Horowitz recently. "The good news," he added, "is that a patriotic
movement has risen, rededicated to the propositions that all men are created
equal and endowed with God-given rights to life and liberty, and is prepared to
defend them".
A storm is currently hanging over the United States. The coming months will
reveal if this patriotic movement will dispel it.
*Dr. Guy Millière, a professor at the University of Paris, is the author of 27
books on France and Europe.
© 2021 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Could Iran Really Be Linked to 'Eco-terrorism' against
Israel?
Seth J. Frantzman/The Jerusalem Post/March 07/2021
Tar from an oil spill in the Mediterranean washed up on a beach near Michmoret,
Israel, March 1, 2021.
A shocking claim by Israel's environmental protection minister on Wednesday that
a Libyan ship dumped containers of crude oil off Israel's coast, causing one of
the country's worst environmental disasters, is making waves. This is because
Environment Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said that Iran was responsible for
the environmental harm.
The story of the ship that allegedly caused the spill is convoluted – like many
things at sea that involve the shipping industry. This is because ownership of
ships is often murky and involves shell companies and ships registered in one
place, flying the flag of a different place, owned by a third party and
captained by people from a fourth nation.
This is especially true of ships involved in illicit activity linked to
countries that are under international sanctions, such as Iran.
Israel says that the ship is the Libyan-owned Emerald tanker.
Environment Protection Minister Gila Gamliel has suggested that a tanker
illicitly carrying Iranian oil to Syria deliberately dumped its cargo off
Israel's shores.
"This is a crude oil tanker called Emerald, owned and operated by a Libyan
company," Gamliel said. "It was illegally carrying cargo from Iran to Syria. The
ship was flying Panama's flag. Iran is waging terrorism not only by trying to
arm itself with nuclear weapons or trying to establish a base near our borders.
Iran is waging terrorism by harming the environment.
"Our battle on behalf of nature and animals must be a cross-border one," she
said. "Together, we will bring to justice those responsible for the
environmental terrorism, those who committed this crime against humanity. We
will continue to rehabilitate the damaged beaches and the animals that were
harmed. Together, we will win, and we'll remove the pollution from our country's
shores."
The ship was allegedly going from Iran to Syria where it was smuggling crude
oil, Israel claims. Ships trying to get to Syria from Iran in the past have been
interdicted so the transit can be illicit. The vessel also turned off its
automatic identification system, a kind of transponder.
This is common in the shadow world of ships that conduct illicit business.
According to reports, the Emerald came within tens of kilometers of Israel's
shores, within the exclusive economic zone. It spilled its oil on February 1 and
2 before continuing on to Syria. It took two weeks for the tar oil to reach
Israel's shores.
Can a ship purposely dump containers of crude oil to harm Israel's environment?
Can countries begin to use environmental terror?
Iranian eco-terrorism is not out of the realm of possibility.
It is not out of the realm of possibility. In the past, Israel has had friction
with Syria over water issues, including fishing, and the Jordan River was a
cause for conflict in the early years of the state. Disputes over a dam in
Ethiopia have led to a war of words in northeast Africa.
However, the ability of a ship to purposely dump oil so that, two weeks later,
it harms a country's coastline appears very complex. That would require study of
the currents off the coast and knowledge of where cargo needs to be dumped and
at what time to end up in a certain place.
It leads to further questions about why such activity wasn't judged to be
suspicious when it was happening, rather than almost a month later.
The chance that Iran would risk damaging the coastline of Gaza or its Hezbollah
friends in Lebanon – who all share a coastline with Israel – would appear to be
a major risk for Tehran.
Nevertheless, recent incidents like the reported Iranian cyberattack against
Israel last year, could mean that the Islamic Republic is using every asymmetric
means of attack at its disposal, including the environment.
*Seth J. Frantzman is a Ginsburg-Milstein Writing Fellow at the Middle East
Forum and senior Middle East correspondent at The Jerusalem Post.