English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For  September 01/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For today
If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ
Letter to the Galatians 01/01-10/:”Paul an apostle sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead and all the members of God’s family who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed! Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 31-September 01/2021
US Senate delegation in Lebanon to discuss political, economic crisis
UNIFIL mandate renewed, peacekeepers to help Lebanese Army
UNIFIL to Back Lebanese Army with Food, Fuel as Its Mandate Renewed
Aoun Urges Exposing Those Monopolizing Medicine, Baby Milk and Fuel
Report: Baabda Upbeat as Hizbullah-Backed Ibrahim Begins Mediation
Reports: Government Formation Hits a Wall
Mills Threaten to Close as of Today unless Diesel is Secured
Lebanon's 'New Poor' Pull Children Out of Private School
Medicines shortage forces Lebanese to buy basic drugs from Turkey
EU Removes Lebanon from Covid Safe List for Non-Essential Travel
Lebanon exodus reaching tipping point as crisis accelerates/George Azar/Arab News/August 31, 2021
Unable to bear economic pressures in Lebanon, Syrian refugees head back home/Najia Hossari/Arab News/August 31/2021
Berri marking Imam al-Sadr's disappearance: We are not against lifting immunities in the port crime

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 31-September 01/2021
Taliban to follow Iran model, appoint Supreme Leader as highest authority: Report
Taliban Control Now-Quiet Kabul Airport after U.S. Withdrawal
US lawmakers: Biden ‘not living in reality’ for calling Afghanistan pullout a success
US made ‘secret’ deal with Taliban to set up a gate to evacuate Americans: Report
EU Ministers Meet to Discuss Afghanistan, Refugees
Biden warns Iran of ‘other options’ if nuclear diplomacy fails
After leaked videos, Iran opens cases against prison guards
Iran appoints ex-roads minister as head of nuclear agency
Postwar closure eased up on Gazans as Israel allows building goods in
Israel Oks Gestures to Palestinians after High-Level Meet
Israel Urges Netanyahu Return Gifts; He Denies Keeping Them
Turkish, UAE Leaders Talk on Phone as Tensions Seem to Ease
Lawyers Seek ICC Probe into Alleged War Crimes in Yemen
Cyprus: Syrian Oil Slick Could Reach the Island in 24 Hours

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 31-September 01/2021
Peddling US-Taliban friendship is the new narrative/Rami Rayess/Al Arabiya/31 August ,2021
Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was inevitable/Trisha De Borchgrave/Arab News/August 31/2021
Gantz-Abbas meeting changes nothing for Palestinians/Osama Al-Sharif /Arab News/August 31/2021
The megatrends still shaping our world/Afshin Molavi /Arab News/August 31/2021
Yemen’s deadly attack and Tehran’s regional escalation/Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/August 31/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on August 31-September 01/2021
US Senate delegation in Lebanon to discuss political, economic crisis
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/01 September ,2021
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy was joined by Senators Chris Van Hollen, Richard Blumenthal and Jon Ossoff. A delegation of senior-ranking US senators landed in Beirut Tuesday as part of a trip that will also see them visit Israel, Senator Chris Murphy said. “Wheels down in Beirut,” Murphy, a member of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, tweeted. He said the visit to Lebanon was aimed at working “on a solution to the political and economic crisis” that has hamstrung the country for the better part of two years. The Democratic senator was joined by three other senators from his political party: Chris Van Hollen, Richard Blumenthal and Jon Ossoff. The US senators will then head to Israel to “build bridges with the new Israeli coalition government,” Murphy said. US ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea was seen welcoming the senators at Beirut’s International Airport. 

UNIFIL mandate renewed, peacekeepers to help Lebanese Army

Jerusalem Post/August 31/2021
UNIFIL is composed of 10,000 peacekeepers from 46 nations, tasked with helping the Lebanese Army keep the south of the country protected
UNIFIL is already tasked with helping the Lebanese Army keep the area south of the Litani River free of unauthorized armed personnel, such as Hezbollah, as well as to prevent arms smuggling. Israel and the United States have in the past called for the UNIFIL mandate to be strengthened to allow it to better monitor the situation. The UNSC condemned “acts of harassment and intimidation against UNIFIL personnel in the strongest terms and urges all parties to ensure UNIFIL’s freedom of movement and access to the Blue Line,” UNIFIL said. It also condemned “all violations of the Blue Line by air and ground, and strongly calls on the parties to respect the cessation of hostilities, prevent Blue Line violations,” it said. In addition, the UNSC urged the Israelis and the Lebanese to cooperate fully with the United Nations and UNIFIL and to fulfill its ceasefire obligations. UNIFIL is composed of 10,000 peacekeepers from 46 nations. Later in the morning, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace process Tor Wennesland told the UNSC that the “situation in the UNIFIL area of operations remains tense.”He highlighted how rockets had been launched from Lebanon towards Israel on 4 and 6 August and Israel had responded with artillery fire and airstrikes in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah took responsibility for the rockets, he said. Wennesland spoke at the monthly UNSC meeting in New York on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where many of the 15-member states expressed concerned about a renewed outbreak of Gaza violence, including US Deputy Ambassador Richard Mills. The US deputy envoy urged Palestinians and Israelis to halt inflammatory steps, particularly in light of escalating regional tensions. “The United States urges Palestinians and Israelis to refrain from actions and rhetoric that inflame tensions and further endanger the fragile peace of the last three months,” Mills told the UNSC. Mills took both Israelis and Palestinians to task with a list that included “incitement to violence” as well as the Palestinian Authority’s compensation of “individuals who are imprisoned for acts of terrorism.” Mills also urged Israel not to engage “annexation of territory” and “settlement activity,” and to halt Palestinian evictions and home demolitions. “The US is deeply concerned about the risk of escalation in the region, particularly in light of the recent provocations” such as the Palestinian “use of incendiary devices along the Gaza border.” The renewal of Gaza border violence makes it particularly difficult “to deliver humanitarian relief” necessary in the aftermath of the 11-day Gaza war in May, Mills said. Israel in the last month has made a series of economic gestures to the Palestinians in Gaza, including the approval of a mechanism to provide Qatari funds to 100,000 impoverished families and the easing of restrictions at the crossing. This, however, has not prevented an escalation of Gaza violence. Mills called on Israel to take additional steps at improving access to goods at the crossings. He also urged all UN member states “to redouble their efforts to help Gaza recover.”

UNIFIL to Back Lebanese Army with Food, Fuel as Its Mandate Renewed
Naharnet/August 31/2021
The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday adopted Resolution 2591, extending UNIFIL’s mandate for another year. The new resolution reaffirms UNIFIL’s mandate, as set out in Resolution 1701 (2006) and confirmed in subsequent resolutions. In Resolution 2591, for the first time, the Security Council requests UNIFIL to take “temporary and special measures” to support the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) with non-lethal material (such as food, fuel, and medicine) and logistical support for a period of six months. "This would be done within existing resources, and in compliance with the U.N. Human Rights Due Diligence Policy. The Council also strongly urges further and increased international support for the LAF, while reiterating the necessity of an effective and durable LAF deployment in south Lebanon," UNIIFIL said in a statement. "The Security Council further urges the parties to make constructive and expanded use of UNIFIL’s Tripartite mechanisms, including the sub-committee on the marking of the Blue Line. Tripartite meetings are the only forum where Lebanese and Israeli representatives meet and are essential to conflict resolution and confidence-building," the statement added. The Security Council, while urging the parties to "abide scrupulously by their obligation to respect the safety of UNIFIL and other U.N. personnel," also called on the parties to "take all appropriate measures to enhance the safety and security of UN personnel and equipment."The Council also called for "the rapid finalization of investigations launched by Lebanon into all attacks against UNIFIL in order to swiftly bring to justice the perpetrators of these attacks." In the resolution, the Security Council called upon the parties to strengthen their efforts to "fully implement" all provisions of Resolution 1701 (2006) without delay. "The Council condemns all violations of the Blue Line by air and ground, and strongly calls on the parties to respect the cessation of hostilities, prevent Blue Line violations, and cooperate fully with the United Nations and UNIFIL," the statement said. It also condemned "acts of harassment and intimidation" against UNIFIL personnel in the strongest terms, urging all parties to "ensure UNIFIL’s freedom of movement and access to the Blue Line." UNIFIL has around 10,000 peacekeepers from 46 troop-contributing countries with a mandate to monitor the cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel. It is also mandated to assist and support the Lebanese Armed Forces in keeping the area south of the Litani River free of unauthorized armed personnel, weapons, or other assets. Further, it assists the Government of Lebanon (at its request) in securing borders and other points of entry to prevent the unauthorized entry of arms or related materiel.
 

Aoun Urges Exposing Those Monopolizing Medicine, Baby Milk and Fuel
Naharnet/August 31/2021
President Michel Aoun on Tuesday called on military, security and judicial agencies to “deal transparently with citizens as to the outcome of the raids on the warehouses of medicine, foodstuffs and gas stations.”“In order to restore their confidence in the state and all its agencies and institutions, the Lebanese have the right to know the real culprits behind the monopoly of medicine, baby milk and medical supplies… They also have the right to know those who hoarded fuel and whether they have been arrested,” Aoun added. Urging security agencies to “inform citizens of the fate of the confiscated material,” the President promised that he “will not hesitate to put all facts at the disposal of the public opinion so that it does not fall prey to rumors and fake news, and so that they know the truth of those insisting on their unethical and inhumane practices.”
Aoun also pledged that the fight against corruption “will not stop no matter how much pressures and blackmail intensify,” noting that the judiciary has an “essential and necessary” responsibility as to pursuing “monopolists, corrupts and violators” so that they “get the punishment that they deserve.”

Report: Baabda Upbeat as Hizbullah-Backed Ibrahim Begins Mediation
Naharnet/August 31/2021
Hizbullah has intervened in a bid to resolve the hurdles blocking the government’s formation and prevent the possible resignation of PM-designate Najib Miqati, media reports said on Tuesday. “Hizbullah has pushed General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to launch a mediation between Miqati and President Michel Aoun, following the failure of the mediation of the lawyer Carlos Abou Jaoude between them,” informed sources told the Nidaa al-Watan. Ibrahim’s endeavor is not limited to “reconciling viewpoints and relaying messages” but rather delves into “the mission of fine-tuning and suggesting candidates with the aim of facilitating the birth of the government,” the sources said. “Backed by Hizbullah, Ibrahim is carrying a ‘basket of proposed names’ which can represent a solution for the standoff between Aoun and Miqati over the controversial portfolios, mainly the portfolios of justice, social affairs and economy,” the sources added. Moreover, the sources revealed that Ibrahim has been shuttling between Baabda and Miqati’s residence and has held several meetings between Aoun and the PM-designate, adding that the communication between Paris and Miqati has also intensified in recent days. Sources close to the PM-designate meanwhile welcomed Ibrahim’s mission, stressing openness to “any proposal that might help resolve the obstacles.”Baabda sources also told the PSP’s al-Anbaa news portal that there are behind-the scenes efforts aimed at bridging the gap between Aoun and Miqati, “which might help resolve all obstacles.”“Things are leaning to an understanding,” the sources added. Informed sources meanwhile told al-Anbaa that “surprises might happen this week or in the beginning of next week.”“Either the government will be formed or the country will head into a major crisis that will be a lot more difficult than  everything than Lebanon has witnessed,” the sources added.

Reports: Government Formation Hits a Wall
Naharnet/August 31/2021
President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati have “failed to find a common ground” in the government formation process which means Miqati has no chances to form, media sources said. Informed sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks published Tuesday, that Miqati’s designation will soon “hit the wall of obstruction” and that “the collision moment is near.”A conclusive decision will be reached within hours according to sources, putting an end to two months of “procrastination” and of “imposing conditions” that Miqati cannot accept.
Miqati’s designation is facing the same fate of former PMs-designate Mustafa Adib and Saad Hariri, the source stated, adding that “a governmental vacuum” is expected. “Aoun is insisting on naming nine Christian ministers in addition to one Druze minister -- a share of more than one-third -- which cannot be accepted by Miqati and other political parties, the source revealed.

Mills Threaten to Close as of Today unless Diesel is Secured
Naharnet/August 31/2021
Lebanon’s Mills Association threatened to stop operating as of today, Tuesday, unless diesel is provided to them. The mills owners announced in a statement that "all mills might be forced to close due to the lack of diesel, which could lead to a flour crisis."
They added that "no positive results have been reached despite the efforts made by the association and by caretaker Minister of Economy Raoul Nehme to secure the mills’ diesel needs.”The association urged the officials to act quickly "before it is too late,” adding that the mills are running out of diesel and “have not received the needed quantities in the past ten days, despite the promises that had been given to them."

Lebanon's 'New Poor' Pull Children Out of Private School
Agence France Presse/August 31/2021
Roula Mrad wanted to give her children a head start in life with a private education, but Lebanon's economic crisis is forcing her to move them to the substandard state system. "My children have always been educated privately," said Mrad, who works at the finance ministry. But "now we can no longer afford that privilege." She is just one of thousands of newly impoverished parents in the Mediterranean country pulling their children out of private classrooms because they can no longer pay the fees. More than 90,000 Lebanese students have already been moved since the crisis broke out in 2019, says the education ministry, which is bracing itself for many more when schools start re-opening from September 27. Since 2019, Lebanon's financial meltdown, one on the planet's worst since the 1850s, has decimated the country's middle class. Entire families have seen their savings all but vanish and salaries dwindle to barely a tenth of their previous dollar values. The U.N. says poverty now affects more than three quarters of the population. Unable to keep up with ever-rising private school fees, last year Mrad moved her eldest son to a state facility to finish his last year of high school. The move slashed 18-year-old Rawad's fees from around $3,000 a year to just $170 -- and suddenly the books were free. This year his 14-year-old brother Rayan will follow suit. But the family will try desperately to keep their youngest daughter in the private system a little longer.
'The new poor'
Sami Makhlouf, a 55-year-old plumber, says he used to spend the equivalent of $13,000 a year on private education for his four children. But as his earnings plummeted last year, he was forced to uproot the whole family from a Beirut suburb back to his home village in Lebanon's east. He says life is cheaper in the village of Qaa, where he has planted a vegetable garden and enrolled his children at a government school. "This crisis has decimated the middle class," Makhlouf said. "We've become the new poor." The coronavirus pandemic has compounded the problem. More than a million children in Lebanon have been out of school since Covid-19 arrived in Lebanon in February 2020, according to aid group Save the Children. Now the country is set to return to nationwide in-classroom learning, after months of battling to implement distance learning despite petrol shortages and never-ending power cuts. The education ministry says it is doing its best to adapt. With international assistance, it has provided solar panels to 122 schools and hopes to equip 80 more soon, caretaker education minister Tarek Majzoub said last week. Hilda Khoury, who heads the ministry's counselling and guidance department, said the influx of new students from the private sector was a "huge challenge."But, she adds, it is also an "opportunity" for the public school system, which already accommodates more than 383,0000 students, to prove it is fit for task.
'Even education is collapsing' -
Meanwhile, private schools are hiking fees, cutting costs or even closing. Better-off pupils are emigrating with their families, while those with poorer parents are moving to cheaper private institutions or state schools. The country's network of Catholic schools, which used to educate 185,000 pupils, last year lost 9,000 of them and was forced to close 14 of its 321 facilities. "If the private sector is not supported, it will be the end of quality education in Lebanon," warned the network's former secretary-general Boutros Azar. Lebanon once provided the fourth-best maths and science education in the world, according to a 2016 World Economic Forum report. The country has long been known for its well-educated, multilingual citizens. "But that could all soon change," said Rodolphe Abboud, head of the private school teachers' union. He said a few thousand of the union's 43,000 members had already joined the country's brain drain. Lama Tawil, a representative of parent committees at private schools nationwide, said parents earning in Lebanese pounds could barely keep up with old tuition costs, let alone afford the 30-percent fee hike announced by some private schools. Many have already emigrated to Europe, the United Arab Emirates or Cyprus, she said. "We've never seen anything like it," she added."Even education, the cornerstone of our society, is collapsing."

Medicines shortage forces Lebanese to buy basic drugs from Turkey
Arab News/August 31/ 2021
ISTANBUL: A desperate shortage of medicines has forced many Lebanese to travel to Turkey to stock up on vital drugs for family and friends, health experts have revealed. The country’s deepening economic and financial crises have left pharmacies struggling to obtain even the most basic products used to help treat a range of conditions. And the Lebanese government’s recent decision to stop subsidizing medicines has reportedly resulted in racketeers stockpiling drugs to sell on at inflated prices. Ahmad Musbah, 80, recently returned to Lebanon after a week-long trip to Turkey to buy more than three dozen packets of medicine for relatives. He told Arab News: “I bought my own medications that have been out of stock for over three months. Meanwhile, when relatives knew I was in Istanbul, they asked me to buy them medicines too. The shortages (in Lebanon) are dramatic and unbearable.”
The retiree said he had visited eight Turkish pharmacies and in each met two or three fellow Lebanese visitors buying medicine. Business manager Najah Ahmad said that for some time she had been asking friends traveling to Turkey to buy medicine for her sick parents due to their unavailability in Beirut.“I know at least 10 people who’ve been doing the same for four months and coworkers who have also been doing so since pharmacies started running out of stock,” she added. A recent report by aid agency ACT Alliance showed the pharmaceutical crisis in Lebanon to have worsened since the country’s central bank became unable to meet the costs of subsidized medicines. One 46-year-old freelancer, who wished to remain anonymous, said his luggage had been half-filled with 120 packets of different medication worth more than $500 on his return to Beirut from Istanbul. “Friends and relatives asked me to bring them medications. Knowing the harshness and the life-threatening impact of Lebanon’s medicine shortage on people, I couldn’t refuse.”Businesswoman Hala Walid said she had made three trips to Istanbul in the past two months to purchase medical supplies. “Every visit I buy loads of medication for friends knowing how scarce it has become. One cannot even find simple medicines such as paracetamol, aspirin, Flagyl, or Nexium at Lebanese pharmacies,” she added. Istanbul pharmacist Kamal Eyup said around five or six Lebanese clients visited his shop on an hourly basis. “It’s a highly noticeable trend. This is seriously heartbreaking, and I have clients who have cried before me when they discovered that their requests (for drugs) were available,” he added. Guzel Yunus who manages a pharmacy in Besiktas, Istanbul, said: “The situation is dramatic, and many clients walk in carrying handbags to fill them with medicines.”Another Turkish pharmacist said: “My coworker who speaks Arabic attends to Lebanese clients. What I’ve seen is horrible. He helps them fill their bags with meds.” He noted that one of his customers recently paid more than 10,000 Turkish lira ($1,200) for medicines. One Lebanese woman, who gave her name as Salam, who was visiting a pharmacy in the Taksim area of Istanbul, blamed the Lebanese government and “greedy monopolizts” for the situation.

EU Removes Lebanon from Covid Safe List for Non-Essential Travel
Agence France Presse/August 31/ 2021
The European Union on Monday removed six territories including Lebanon and the United States from its list of countries exempted from restrictions on non-essential travel during the coronavirus pandemic. "Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia and the United States of America were removed from the list," a statement from the European Council said. The recommendation from the Council, which represents member state governments, is not binding on national capitals, which may yet choose to allow fully vaccinated travelers to visit. But most EU members have followed Brussels' travel advice during the crisis so far. Non-essential travel into the bloc from outside the 27-member EU and eight associated countries -- Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican -- has been restricted. Some countries and territories, however, have been exempted from this list, but their number has been shrinking in recent months and now includes only 17 members, plus China if Beijing reciprocates. "This list will continue to be reviewed regularly and, as the case may be, updated," the statement said.
 

Lebanon exodus reaching tipping point as crisis accelerates
George Azar/Arab News/August 31, 2021
DUBAI: Immigration from Lebanon is entering a state of “exodus” as the many crises hitting the small Mediterranean country remain unresolved, according to the Crisis Observatory, an interdisciplinary research program launched by the American University of Beirut. The continuing immigration of thousands of Lebanese is reaching a tipping point, the research program noted, with alarming indicators suggesting that scores of people are escaping political, economic and social hardship. “Airport data is misleading, as a number of those exiting the country could be doing so for tourism or business trips,” Nasser Yassine, the program’s director, told Arab News. Yet several patterns suggest Lebanon is nearing the beginning of a mass exodus wave — the third in its history. Some 330,000 people left Mount Lebanon during the First World War, while another 990,000 escaped the carnage of the 1975-1990 civil war. “The alarming percentage of Lebanese youth who want to leave, the mass migration of medical and education staff and the expected chronicity of Lebanon’s crisis are worrying signs,” Yassine said. The Arab Youth Opinion Survey revealed last year that 77 percent of young people were thinking about immigrating — the highest rate of any Arab country. This is a direct consequence of Lebanon’s collapse, the report noted, which has forced 61 percent of companies in Lebanon to reduce their permanent staff numbers by an average of 43 percent. Last year, former MP Elias Hankach revealed that the number of immigration applications submitted in Lebanon exceeded 380,000, citing a source close to the Embassy of Canada to Lebanon. These applications were only for Canada, Europe, and the US, he said. The health and education sectors, once staples of Lebanon’s identity, have also been hit hard. According to data reviewed by the observatory, 1,600 nurses have immigrated since 2019 while hundreds of educators have left for the Gulf or North America. “At the American University of Beirut alone, 190 professors have departed, making up about 15 percent of the educational body,” the report said. With no end in sight for Lebanon’s various crises, “hundreds of thousands will be forced to leave their homeland in pursuit of investment, work, study and retirement,” the report added. According to World Bank data, Lebanon needs at best 12 years to return to its 2017 levels of GDP, and in the worst case up to 19 years. This suggests a “deliberate collapse given the absence of a political decision with a serious approach to the Lebanese crisis,” the observatory said. “If we add to these three ‘local’ indicators another factor, which is the increasing need for labor, professionals and youth in many (of) the most advanced countries in the world, which are witnessing a decline in population growth rates and an increase in the proportion of the elderly, then we can conclude a large wave of Lebanese immigration in the coming years,” the report concluded. Lebanon’s national currency has lost some 90 percent of its value since mass protests erupted in late 2019, plunging over 50 percent of the population below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. The crisis has spared no one, with outgoing Interior Minister Mohammad Fehmi deploring an increase in desertions among the ranks of the Internal Security Forces, who have seen their purchasing power collapse. Speaking Tuesday with Lebanese daily Al-Joumhouria, Fehmi said “the rate of desertion of ISF agents has recently increased, as some have sought new sources of income.” Salaries of most security agents and officers have plummeted to below $50 per month at a time when clashes between Lebanese as a result of acute fuel shortages are on the rise.
 

Unable to bear economic pressures in Lebanon, Syrian refugees head back home
Najia Hossari/Arab News/August 31/2021
BEIRUT: The economic crisis in Lebanon is prompting a remarkable number of Syrian workers residing in the country to return to Syria.
The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has decreased to 851,717, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees’ latest census, though the Lebanese government stopped allowing the UNHCR to register Syrians as refugees in 2015.
The crisis has also led to confrontations between Lebanese and Syrian refugees, with the financial collapse exacerbated by the country’s political paralysis. Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati has so far failed to overcome a series of long-running obstacles and form a government.
Syrian workers and refugees are paying a heavy price as a result, with the World Bank ranking the situation among the world’s three worst financial crises since the mid-19th century. Mahmoud, a concierge in one of Beirut’s residential neighborhoods, said that he came from Syria in 2005, settled in Lebanon and had six children.
With his monthly salary and the assistance provided by residents in the building, he explained that he was able to make ends meet, but with the vast rise in prices, he cannot now provide for his family.
Mahmoud is no longer able to stay in Lebanon, so has decided to return to Manbij in northern Syria after his relatives, who were also working in Lebanon, went back and encouraged him to follow.
UNHCR spokeswoman Lisa Abu Khaled told Arab News: “Like all communities in Lebanon, refugees are deeply affected by the compounded crisis and critical situation affecting the country, with … around 90 percent living in extreme poverty and making difficult choices of survival every single day, including skipping meals, not seeking urgent medical treatment, and sending children to work.”
She noted: “Over the last 18 months, the Lebanese currency lost more than 85 percent of its value, with the poorest communities being the hardest hit.”
Abu Khaled added: “As is the case in all communities, the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon had been quite difficult long before the economic meltdown. Their situation is made even more impossible today.”
A few years back, numerous Syrians crossed into Lebanon illegally. But refugees now speak about some families silently returning as they can no longer bear the economic pressures they face.
Voice of Syrian Refugees’ Lebanon spokesperson Abu Ahmed Soaiba said the UNHCR had recently received more than 150 requests from Syrian refugees living in rented houses, asking it to allow them to set up tents inside refugee camps in Lebanon.
She told Arab News: “Landlords are demanding refugees to pay rent either in dollars or in Lebanese pounds according to the daily exchange rate on the black market. Where would an unemployed refugee come up with 1.5 million Lebanese pounds ($995) to pay rent for a mere studio apartment?”
Soaiba added: “A Syrian refugee left his tent at midnight on Sunday in the town of Arsal, which includes the largest concentration of refugees in Lebanon, and started screaming hysterically. He wanted to burn the tent with his family in it and then commit suicide, saying that he was no longer able to put food on the table for his wife and children. He was crying out that death is more honorable than helplessness.”
A UN report has warned that half of the Syrian refugee families in Lebanon suffer from food insecurity.
Soaiba said a Syrian woman took her son, who suffers from a severe disability in his back, to Beirut to be examined by a doctor.
“When she returned, she started crying in the middle of the camp, saying that transportation to Beirut and back cost them 700,000 Lebanese pounds, and the doctor told her that there was nothing he could do for her son and referred them to another doctor with a different specialty.”
The aid the refugees receive as part of the response plan to the Syrian refugee crisis funded by international community organizations has lost 69 percent of its value.
It has decreased to around 100,000 Lebanese pounds per person.
A refugee receives $27, but the bank pays it in Lebanese pounds, at the exchange rate of 3,900 pounds to the dollar.
A refugee in Bekaa said: “The owner of the electricity generator raised the subscription fee from 55,000 Lebanese pounds to 220,000 Lebanese pounds for one ampere. If I pay this fee I will no longer be able to afford a bundle of bread. Our life inside the plastic tent has become hell.”
Many Syrian refugees, much like the Lebanese who are affected by the severe economic crisis, resorted to adapting to the situation by reducing health and education expenses. The phenomena of Syrian child labor and early marriage among females have also increased. A Syrian refugee is not legally allowed to work in Lebanon, while a Syrian worker has the right to work specific jobs in the construction, agriculture and cleaning services sectors. Lebanon is one of the world’s smallest countries hosting one of the largest number of refugees in the world, but the Lebanese authorities refuse to officially recognize them as refugees, calling them displaced people instead, and urging the international community to facilitate their return to Syria.
Several revealed that many of them have been subjected to exploitation and racist treatment. Soaiba said: “Syrian refugees rely on motorcycles for transportation, which is less expensive than using cabs. Nowadays, they are insulted at gas stations, where they are either refused service or forced to pay more than the specified price.”On Saturday, a dispute occurred in the town of Kawkaba in western Bekaa between young men from the town and Syrians. The dispute turned into a fight with weapons, which led to the serious injury of two Lebanese youths.
The situation in the town, which has been inhabited by nearly 900 Syrian refugees for years, has remained tense, necessitating the intervention of army intelligence and security services, which surrounded the town until the early hours of the morning to prevent any further escalation.
The townspeople in Kawkaba unanimously asked the Syrian families to leave the town within hours. Most of the refugees, the majority of whom work in agriculture and the construction sector, vacated their homes and moved their belongings outside the town.
Tension is not limited to conflicts between Lebanese and Syrians but has become prevalent among many Lebanese themselves. On Sunday, disputes renewed between the people of Maghdoucheh, east of Sidon, and the people of the neighboring town of Aanqoun, against the background of access to fuel from a station in Maghdoucheh. These tensions almost turned into sectarian clashes between the two towns, as a group of Shiite youths stormed the Christian town of Maghdoucheh, leading to retaliation, with several people injured. Calm was restored after political and religious figures met on Sunday night.

Berri marking Imam al-Sadr's disappearance: We are not against lifting immunities in the port crime
NNA/01 September ,2021
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri indicated in a televised speech on the 43rd anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr and his two companions that "words can no longer answer the troubling questions of all the Lebanese about the fate of their country, their regime, their civil peace, their political stability, and their strength in the face of the Zionist danger." He pointed out that "the Libyan authorities did not cooperate enough to assist the Lebanese judiciary in completing the investigations into the case of Imam al-Sadr," noting that "the outbreak of Corona and the military developments in Libya did impede the work of the investigator and the official follow-up committee.""We reiterate our full confidence in the Lebanese judiciary, and the work of the investigator and his impartiality. We also call upon the concerned authorities to protect him from any pressure or threat, so he can get to the truth," Berri went on to say, in reference to Al-Sadr's vanishing. The Speaker also asked for "justice and fair retribution for the crime of the port explosion," saying: "We were the first to extend a helping hand to the families of the martyrs, and we affirmed that there is no immunity that covers any person involved. Immunity is only for the judiciary, the martyrs, and justice.""We have cooperated and will cooperate with the judiciary to the utmost. We never said we are against lifting immunities; all we asked for is the application of the law and the constitution, but unfortunately there are those in Lebanon who are used to investing in just causes for cheap electoral goals and perhaps in implementation of suspicious agendas," he went on. "The path to the truth is well paved; it lies in revealing who brought in the ship, to whom the nitrate cargo belongs, and who was allowed to store it for so long.""The judicial investigator is required to implement the laws, starting with the Constitution," Berri added. He called for an immediate initiative to put aside differences and speed up the formation of a government with its priority to liberate the Lebanese from the queues of humiliation and activate the work of the judiciary and the security and control agencies to combat corruption and black market dealers, and hold parliamentary elections on time.
 

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 31-September 01/2021
Taliban to follow Iran model, appoint Supreme Leader as highest authority: Report
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/01 September ,2021
The Taliban are designing a government based on Iran’s model through appointing the group’s leader Hibatullah Akhundzada as the Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, CNN-News18 reported on Tuesday. While Iran has a president and a cabinet, the supreme leader is the religious authority who holds the highest office in the country with powers to dictate policy, overrule laws and override the president. He has the final say in all matters of state. “Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada — who has never made a public appearance and whose whereabouts have largely remained unknown — will most likely be the Supreme Leader, presiding over a Supreme Council of 11 to 72,” CNN-News18 said citing sources. The report added that Akhundzada, who led the Taliban since 2016, will mostly work out of Kandahar. Kandahar was the birthplace of the group and the epicenter of the Taliban’s iron-fisted government in the 1990s. The Taliban announced on Sunday that Akhundzada is in Afghanistan. “He is present in Kandahar. He has been living there from the very beginning,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. Mujahid also told Reuters on Saturday that the group will announce a complete cabinet within a week, and it will include not just ministers but leaders as well. With AFP

Taliban Control Now-Quiet Kabul Airport after U.S. Withdrawal
Associated Press/August 31, 2021
The Taliban were in full control of Kabul's international airport on Tuesday, after the last U.S. plane left its runway, marking the end of America's longest war. Vehicles carrying the Taliban raced back and forth along the Hamid Karzai International Airport's sole runway on the northern, military side of the airfield. Before dawn broke, heavily armed Taliban fighters walked through hangars, passing some of the seven CH-46 helicopters the State Department used in its evacuations before rendering them unflyable. Taliban leaders later symbolically walked across the runway, marking their victory while flanked by fighters of the insurgents' elite Badri unit. "The world should have learned its lesson and this is the enjoyable moment of victory," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a livestream posted by a militant.
Mujahid also addressed the gathered members of the Badri unit. "I hope you be very cautious in dealing with the nation," he said. "Our nation has suffered war and invasion and the people do not have more tolerance."At the end of his remarks, the Badri fighters shouted: "God is the greatest!"
Later speaking to Al-Jazeera Arabic on the tarmac, Mujahid rejected having a caretaker government and insisted that Kabul remained safe.
"There will be security in Kabul and people should not be concerned," he said.
In another interview with Afghan state television, Mujahid also discussed restarting operations at the airport, which remains a key way out for those wanting to leave the country. "Our technical team will be checking the technical and logistical needs of the airport," he said. "If we are able to fix everything on our own, then we won't need any help. If there is need for technical or logistics help to repair the destruction, then we might ask help from Qatar or Turkey." He didn't elaborate on what was destroyed. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. military's Central Command, earlier said troops "demilitarized" the system so it can never be used again. Officials said troops did not blow up equipment in order to ensure they left the airport workable for future flights, once those begin again. In addition, McKenzie said the U.S. also disabled 27 Humvees and 73 aircraft so they cannot be used again.
Taliban fighters draped their white flags over barriers at the airport as others guarded the civilian side of the airfield. Inside the terminal, several dozen suitcases and pieces of luggage were left strewn across the floor, apparently left behind in the chaos. Clothes and shoes also were scattered. A poster of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the famed anti-Taliban fighter, had been destroyed. "Afghanistan is finally free," said Hekmatullah Wasiq, another Taliban official. "The military and civilian side are with us and in control. Hopefully, we will be announcing our Cabinet. Everything is peaceful. Everything is safe."Wasiq also urged people to return to work and reiterated the Taliban pledge offering a general amnesty. "People have to be patient," he said. "Slowly we will get everything back to normal. It will take time."
The airport had seen chaotic and deadly scenes since the Taliban blitzed across Afghanistan and took Kabul on Aug. 15. Thousands of Afghans besieged the airport, some falling to their death after desperately hanging onto the side of an American C-17 military cargo jet. Last week, an Islamic State suicide attack at an airport gate killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.
But on Tuesday, after a night that saw the Taliban fire triumphantly into the air, guards now blearily on duty kept out the curious and those still somehow hoping to catch a flight out. "After 20 years we have defeated the Americans," said Mohammad Islam, a Taliban guard at the airport from Logar province, cradling a Kalashnikov rifle. "They have left and now our country is free." "It's clear what we want. We want Shariah (Islamic law), peace and stability," he added. Mohammad Naeem, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Qatar, similarly praised the takeover in an online video early Tuesday. "Thank God all the occupiers have left our country completely," he said, congratulating fighters by referring to them as mujahedeen, or holy warriors. "This victory was given to us by God. It was due to 20 years of sacrifice by the mujahedeen and its leaders. Many mujahedeen sacrificed their lives."Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special representative who oversaw America's talks with the Taliban, wrote on Twitter that "Afghans face a moment of decision & opportunity" after the withdrawal. "Their country's future is in their hands. They will choose their path in full sovereignty," he wrote. "This is the chance to bring their war to an end as well."
But the Taliban face what could be a series of major crises as they fully take over the government. The majority of the billions of dollars Afghanistan holds in foreign reserves is now frozen in America, pressuring its now-depreciating Afghani currency. Banks have implemented withdrawal controls, fearing runs on their deposits in the uncertainty. Civil servants across the country say they haven't received their salary in months. Medical equipment remains in short supply, while thousands who fled the Taliban's advance remain living in squalid conditions. A major drought also has cut into the country's food supplies, making its imports even more important and raising the risk of people going hungry. During the evacuation, U.S. forces helped evacuate over 120,000 U.S. citizens, foreigners and Afghans, according to the White House, making it the largest airlift in the history of the American military. Coalition forces also evacuated their citizens and Afghans. But for all who got out, foreign nations and the U.S. acknowledged they didn't evacuate all who wanted to go. At the airport's eastern gate, a handful of Afghans still tried their luck to get in, hoping for any flight. As of now, however, commercial airlines are not flying into the airport and it remains unclear who will take over managing the country's airspace. On their way out, the U.S. military warned pilots the airport was "uncontrolled" and "no air traffic control or airport service are available."Several of those trying to come into the airport came from Kandahar province, the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan that saw some of the war's fiercest fighting. One of the men, Hekmatullah, who like many Afghans goes by one name, carried paperwork he said showed he worked as a translator. Hekmatullah said he had waited four days for an opportunity to leave. "But now I don't know what chances I have," he said.

US lawmakers: Biden ‘not living in reality’ for calling Afghanistan pullout a success
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/01 September ,2021
US Republican lawmakers criticized on Tuesday President Joe Biden for describing the American withdrawal from Afghanistan as an “extraordinary success,” saying he was “not living in reality.” “Last night in Kabul, the United States ended 20 years of war in Afghanistan. The longest war in our history. We completed one of the biggest airlifts in history — with more than 120,000 people evacuated to safety... No nation has ever done anything like it in all of history,” Biden said in a press conference. “The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill, bravery and selfless courage of the US military, our diplomats and intelligence professionals,” he added. After 20 years of US military presence in Afghanistan, the last of US troops and officials left the country on Monday. US officials said there are at least 200 Americans left in Afghanistan. There are also thousands of US-allied Afghans who want to flee Taliban rules left in the country. Republican lawmakers took to Twitter to criticize Biden’s declaration of a resounding success, some going as far as calling for his resignation.
Congressman Dan Meuser said: “This withdrawal was an unmitigated disaster that could have been avoided. President Biden is not living in reality if he thinks leaving behind Americans and our allies, and handing over US military equipment to the Taliban is an ‘extraordinary success’.”Republican Joe Wilson said: “The admin’s unconditional surrender in Afghanistan has put the US back to where we were before 9/11, susceptible to attacks. And on this day, a deadline established by the Taliban, the US left hundreds of Americans and thousands of allies to face a murderous fate.”
“This failure of leadership is the reason that I am calling for the resignation of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and for the firing of Sec of State Antony Blinken, Defense Sec Lloyd Austin, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan,” he added.
Republican Richard Hudson said: “Today, President Biden called his withdrawal a ‘success.’ This is an extreme insult to 13 new Gold Star families, as well as thousands of US citizens and allies stranded. Additionally, billions in equipment funded by US taxpayers now in the hands of the Taliban is not success.”
Thirteen US servicemen died last Thursday after ISIS-K, the extremist group’s arm in Afghanistan, bombed Kabul airport, also killing over a 100 Afghans and wounding scores more. “He may declare the War On Terror over. But terrorists who’s hateful ideology compels them to kill Americans haven’t stopped,” Hudson added. US Representative Mike Rogers, Lead Republican of the House Armed Services Committee said in a statement: “President Biden’s words today were hollow. One American left behind is one too many. The fact is President Biden abandoned Americans in Afghanistan – leaving them at the mercy of the Taliban and ISIS-K. The President made a promise to the American people that he would stay until every American was out. Today, he shamefully tried to paint his failure as a success.”He added: “This isn’t the end of a war – the terrorists still exist, and they killed 13 American service members last week. They will not stop because the President arbitrarily picked a date.”

US made ‘secret’ deal with Taliban to set up a gate to evacuate Americans: Report
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/31 August ,2021
The US made a secrete arrangement with the Taliban to set up a “secret gate” at Kabul airport for evacuating American out of Afghanistan, US defense officials told CNN. The arrangement included the Taliban escorting Americans to the gate to “ensure their safety.”The officials told CNN: “Americans were notified to gather at pre-set muster points close to the airport where the Taliban would gather the Americans, check their credentials and take them a short distance to a gate manned by American forces who were standing by to let them inside amid huge crowds of Afghans seeking to flee.”
The US embassy in Afghanistan had warned American citizens on Saturday to avoid traveling to Kabul airport because of security threats. The warning came a day after the deadly suicide bombing which targeted Kabul airport and claimed the lives of over a 100 Afghans and 13 US servicemen, in addition to wounding scores more. The Pentagon said ISIS-K was behind the attack, and the extremist group later claimed responsibility. After 20 years of US military presence in Afghanistan, the last of US troops and officials left the country on Monday. “The last American soldier to leave Afghanistan: Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commanding general of the 82nd Airborne division, XVIII Airborne Corps boards an US air force C-17 on August 30th, 2021, ending the US mission in Kabul,” the Department of Defense said.

EU Ministers Meet to Discuss Afghanistan, Refugees
Associated Press/August 31, 2021
European Union justice and home affairs ministers are meeting Tuesday to discuss the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan and the flow of refugees and migrants it is expected to produce. The meeting comes the day after the last U.S. forces flew out of Kabul's international airport, ending America's longest war.
The 27-nation bloc is looking for ways to prevent a repeat of a 2015 refugee crisis fueled by Syria's civil war. The arrival in Europe of well over a million migrants that year led to infighting among EU member nations over how best to manage the influx. A new wave of migrants from Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate tensions. The EU is likely to provide funding to house refugees in countries bordering Afghanistan to prevent them heading for Europe. "It's important that we are in a position where we can avoid a humanitarian crisis, migratory crisis and a security threat from Afghanistan," European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said before the ministers' meeting. "But then we need to act now and not wait until we have big flows of people at our external borders or until we have terrorist organizations being stronger," she added. "So that's why we need to act now to support people in Afghanistan, in the neighboring countries, and work together with international organizations."The EU's focus on accommodating migrants close to Afghanistan will not please rights groups. Amnesty International said in a letter to Johansson that the EU and its member nations "must refrain from extremely damaging responses that put emphasis on keeping the EU's border 'protected' and proposing or adopting measures that shift the responsibility for the protection of refugees to third countries." The human rights group said the EU should give Afghans who reach Europe "access to the territory and to fair and effective asylum procedures and adequate reception conditions" and also consider all Afghan women and girls as "prima facie refugees" due to the risks they would face in Afghanistan. American forces helped evacuate over 120,000 U.S. citizens, foreigners and Afghans after the Taliban regained control of the country, according to the White House. Coalition forces also evacuated their citizens and Afghans. But foreign nations and the U.S. government acknowledged they didn't evacuate all who wanted to go. According to some EU estimates, around 570,000 Afghans have applied for asylum in Europe since 2015.
Asylum applications by Afghan nationals have climbed by a third since February as it became clear that the United States would pull troops out of Afghanistan. More than 4,648 applications were recorded in May, according to the EU's asylum office. About half of the applications tend to be successful.

Biden warns Iran of ‘other options’ if nuclear diplomacy fails
Arab News/August 31, 2021
LONDON: The US is prepared to turn to alternative avenues if diplomacy fails to solve the crisis surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, President Joe Biden said. Speaking after meeting with new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Washington, Biden reaffirmed his commitment to preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, and said the US “is ready to turn to other options” if the diplomatic impasse cannot be overcome. The US withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, in 2018, under Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, who called the deal “defective.” Talks to resurrect the JCPOA have been ongoing in Vienna, with Biden saying he is prepared to lift sanctions on Tehran if it stops breaching its commitments to the deal. “We’re putting diplomacy first and see where that takes us. But if diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options,” Biden told reporters after the 50-minute meeting. Tehran, according to Tel Aviv, is now enriching uranium at close to weapons-grade level, with the Israeli Defense Ministry saying Iran is just two months away from acquiring enough nuclear material to build a bomb. Bennett praised Biden’s stance, saying: “I was happy to hear your clear words that Iran will never be able to acquire a nuclear weapon, and that you emphasize that you will try the diplomatic route, but there’s other options if that doesn’t work out.” Bennett, whose predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu was frequently at odds with former US President Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president, added that he looks forward to working with Biden “now and many years ahead.”

After leaked videos, Iran opens cases against prison guards
AP/September 01, 2021
DUBAI: Iranian prosecutors opened criminal cases against six guards at the country’s notorious Evin Prison, the judiciary reported on Tuesday, after footage showing the widespread abuse of detainees at the facility leaked out last week. The judiciary’s three-day investigation into mistreatment and grim conditions at Tehran’s Evin Prison had landed “some” prison guards in detention, said judiciary spokesman Zabihollah Khodaeian. Authorities also summoned two guards and punished others, Khodaeian said, without elaborating on the penalties or identifying the suspects. The revelation comes days after The Associated Press published parts of the videos and a report about the abuse at the facility in northern Tehran, long known for holding political prisoners and those with ties to the West whom Iran uses as bargaining chips. An online account, purportedly by a self-described hacker group, shared footage of the incident, as well as parts of other surveillance video it seized.“The scenes shown in the published films were against the law and it is not justifiable under any circumstances,” said Khodaeian, noting that the leaked clips had been selected and edited from different scenes over the course of years. In one part of the footage, a man smashes a bathroom mirror to try to cut open his arm. Prisoners — and even guards — beat each other in scenes captured by surveillance cameras. Inmates sleeping in single rooms with bunk beds stacked three high against the walls, wrapping themselves in blankets to stay warm.
Since its construction in 1971, the prison has seen a series of abuses that continued into the Islamic Republic.

Iran appoints ex-roads minister as head of nuclear agency
AP/August 29, 2021
TEHRAN: Iran’s president on Sunday appointed a new director of the country’s nuclear department, state TV reported, replacing the nation’s most prominent nuclear scientist with a minister who has no reported experience in nuclear energy but ties to the defense ministry. Iran’s newly elected hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi chose Mohammad Eslami, a 64-year-old civil engineer who previously oversaw the country’s road network, to lead Iran’s civilian nuclear program and serve as one of several vice presidents. He succeeds Ali Akbar Salehi, a US-educated scientist who was a key player during the years of intense international diplomacy that led to Tehran’s now-tattered 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers. The deal curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief, but then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and reimposed crushing sanctions. Iran, in response, has gradually and publicly abandoned all restrictions on its stockpiles of low-enriched uranium. During the tenure of relatively moderate former President Hassan Rouhani, Eslami served as Transport and Urban Development Minister. Before joining the Cabinet in 2018, he worked for years in Iran’s military industries, most recently as the deputy defense minister responsible for research and industry. He holds degrees in civil engineering from Detroit University of Michigan and the University of Toledo, Ohio. Iranian media did not report details of Eslami’s experience in the nuclear field, but his engineering background speaks to the country’s renewed focus on power plant construction at a time when rolling electrical blackouts have plagued the country. Iran is building two nuclear power facilities to supplement its sole operational 1,000-megawatt reactor at the southern port town of Bushehr, which went online with Russia’s help in 2011. Under its long-term energy plan, Iran aims to reach 20,000-megawatt nuclear electric capacity.

Postwar closure eased up on Gazans as Israel allows building goods in
AP/August 31, 2021
JERUSALEM: Israel allowed dozens of truckloads of construction materials into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, easing a tight blockade it has maintained on the Hamas-ruled territory since an 11-day war last May. The imports came during a tense period in which Hamas activists have launched incendiary balloons into Israel, sparking a number of wildfires across the border, and staged a series of sometimes violent demonstrations along the separation fence with Israel. An Israeli soldier who was shot by a protester on Aug. 21 died of his wounds on Monday. Two Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy and a Hamas militant, have also been killed from Israeli gunfire. Despite the tensions, Israeli officials this week allowed the entry of the badly needed building materials for Gaza’s private sector in a step that may help calm the situation. Bassam Ghabin, director of the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing, said that 30 truckloads of cement, 120 trucks of gravel and 15 trucks of steel entered Gaza on Tuesday. He said the materials began entering on Monday, and that the crossing was operating almost at the same capacity as before the war. An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity under policy guidelines, confirmed that building materials had entered Gaza. He had no specific details, but said they came under previously announced government decisions.
In recent weeks, COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian issues, said it was planning to allow more goods into Gaza if the security situation stabilized. Last week, it said it would “expand the entry of goods and equipment for international civilian projects in the Gaza Strip.”
Israel, with Egyptian help, has maintained a tight blockade over Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007, a year after winning a Palestinian election. Israel says the blockade is needed to keep Hamas, an Islamic militant group sworn to Israel’s destruction, from rearming, while critics say the closure amounts to collective punishment. The blockade, which restricts the movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza, has devastated Gaza’s economy. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars since 2008, and Israel has tightened the blockade since the latest fighting in May. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, and construction goods are badly needed. Later on Tuesday, Hamas activists held another nighttime demonstration along the Israeli border to call for a lifting of the blockade. Gaza health officials said three Palestinians were lightly wounded by Israeli gunfire. Egyptian mediators have been trying to broker a longer-term cease-fire. But Israel has demanded the return of the remains of two dead Israeli soldiers and freedom of two Israeli civilians in Hamas captivity. Gisha, an Israeli human rights group that has pushed for an end to the closure, called Tuesday’s move “crucial but insufficient, especially given the scope of the damage in Gaza, as well as Israel’s legal and moral obligations toward residents of the strip.”“The situation in Gaza is not simply a humanitarian crisis that can be managed via narrow humanitarian gestures,” Gisha said. “Any meaningful attempt at resolving this dire situation requires much more expansive opening of the strip, underpinned by a broader political process.”

Israel Oks Gestures to Palestinians after High-Level Meet
Associated Press/August 31, 2021
Israel's defense minister on Monday announced a series of gestures aimed at strengthening the Palestinian Authority, including plans to loan $150 million to the cash-strapped autonomy government in the occupied West Bank. The announcement came a day after Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the first high-level meeting between the two sides in years. The stepped-up contacts and Israeli gestures mark a shift in direction after the complete breakdown of communication between Abbas and Israeli leaders in recent years. Israel's new government has said it is interested in bolstering Abbas in his rivalry against Gaza's ruling Hamas militant group. "The stronger the Palestinian Authority is, the weaker Hamas will be," Gantz was quoted as telling Israeli military correspondents Monday. "And the greater its ability to govern is, the more security we'll have and the less we'll have to do."
The Israeli moves come two days after President Joe Biden urged Israel's new prime minister during a White House meeting to take steps toward improving the lives of Palestinians. Gantz's office said he told Abbas that Israel will take new measures to strengthen the Palestinian economy. It said they also discussed security issues and agreed to remain in touch. It was believed to be the highest level public meeting between the sides since 2014. Later on Monday, Gantz's office confirmed that Israel had agreed to loan the Palestinian Authority 500 million shekels ($155 million). The money is to be repaid with tax funds that Israel normally collects for the Palestinians.
Israel will also authorize work permits for an additional 15,000 Palestinian laborers and resolve the residency status for a number of people living in the occupied West Bank. These include Palestinians originally from Gaza and foreign spouses of local Palestinians. Hussein Al Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official who oversees relations with Israel, said an initial deal had been reached to resolve the status of some 5,000 families. He said it was "a first batch in the road to finalising this file entirely." Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is a hard-liner who opposes Palestinian independence, as do key partners in his diverse, ruling coalition. But Bennett has said he supports building up the Palestinian economy and expanding autonomy for Palestinians. He also is interested in weakening Hamas in the wake of an 11-day war last May. Egyptian-led attempts at brokering a long-term cease-fire have foundered in recent weeks, and Hamas has staged a series of violent demonstrations along the Israeli border in hopes of pressuring Israel into easing an economic blockade of the territory. While Biden supports a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, his administration is focused on interim confidence-building measures.
Israel's former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pursued a hard-line policy toward the Palestinians, backed by former President Donald Trump. The Trump administration took a number of steps that favored Israel, including moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem. Abbas halted most contacts with the U.S. and Israel in return. Netanyahu had repeatedly claimed Abbas was not a reliable partner for negotiating a peace deal, a portrayal dismissed by Netanyahu critics as a pretext for avoiding making concessions.

Israel Urges Netanyahu Return Gifts; He Denies Keeping Them
Associated Press/August 31/2021
Israel's prime minister's office has urged former premier Benjamin Netanyahu to return dozens of expensive gifts he received while serving in the nation's top job. The request, confirmed Monday by the office of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, came as Netanyahu reportedly vacationed on a private island in Hawaii almost wholly owned by billionaire Larry Ellison. The Oracle founder is a friend of Netanyahu's and also a witness for the prosecution in the former leader's corruption trial. Israel's longest-serving prime minister, now opposition leader, has developed a reputation for enjoying a lavish lifestyle, often at taxpayer expense, and is on trial for allegedly accepting expensive gifts from wealthy associates. Netanyahu, ousted from the top job and replaced by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in June, has denied all charges and has said he's a victim of a smear campaign.
A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, confirmed the prime minister's office contacted Netanyahu to return gifts he received as premier. The Maariv daily, which first broke the story, said Netanyahu has been asked to return 42 items, including gifts from former President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is customary for foreign leaders to bestow gifts on each other during official trips. But gifts worth over a certain amount — 300 shekels or about $90 — are the property of the state of Israel. Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, did not return those, according to a letter sent by the legal adviser in the prime minister's office, Maariv said.
The unreturned gifts allegedly include a rectangular box made of glass decorated with gold leaves, bearing Obama's signature and the first book of the Bible from Putin. The list also reportedly includes gifts from French and German leaders, a pope and various benefactors and ambassadors.
In a statement, the Netanyahu family said all gifts the law required to be returned have been given back, and that those "in question are not in the possession of former Prime Minister Netanyahu." The U.S.-educated Netanyahu, who spent some 15 total years as prime minister before he was ousted in June, has long had a reputation for living large. During his first term in office in the 1990s Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, were suspected of pocketing gifts and foreign contributions received from world leaders — items considered state property. The Netanyahus also were suspected of accepting favors from a contractor. Both cases were closed without charges.
Netanyahu's recent term was filled with gossipy scandals about his official spending. His spending on ice cream caused a meltdown when it was reported that in 2012 he'd budgeted 10,000 shekels (about $3,200) of taxpayer money for his favorite flavors, vanilla and pistachio, for family and staff.
More outrage ensued the next year when it was reported that he spent $127,000 to furnish a bedroom aboard a plane for a five-hour flight to London to attend the funeral of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In 2016, an official expense report revealed that Netanyahu spent more than $600,000 of public funds on a six-day trip to New York, including $1,600 on a personal hairdresser. Netanyahu contended he was unaware of the cost and halted the practice. Sara Netanyahu was charged in 2018 with misusing some $100,000 in public funds to order lavish meals from celebrity chefs at the prime minister's official residence, even though she already had cooks on the government payroll. She later was ordered to pay a fine of some $15,000 as part of a plea bargain. Also in 2018, a recording surfaced of Netanyahu's eldest son, Yair, joyriding with his super-rich buddies to Tel Aviv strip clubs in a drunken night out in a taxpayer-funded government vehicle. Now, Netanyahu himself is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of cases while he served as prime minister. Among the witnesses prosecutors have named is Ellison, though it is unclear why. Ellison bought almost all of Lanai in 2012 for a reported $300 million. He did not return calls seeking comment. But Ellison and Netanyahu have long been reportedly close. The Haaretz daily reported that Ellison came forward to help Netanyahu with his legal representation in the criminal case, and that the former prime minister wanted the billionaire to buy some Israeli media properties, including a newspaper. For weeks, the family spokesman refused to confirm that the Netanyahus were on vacation on Lanai, saying only that they are paying for a vacation out of their own pocket.
But others on holiday on the island have relayed sightings to the The Associated Press of a conspicuous Hebrew-speaking security retinue on the Pacific idyll. Yair Netanyahu also was spotted on Lanai, the vacationers said.
Photos and other accounts on social media appear to confirm the family stayed for two weeks in Ellison's private enclave. One photo appeared to show a scowling Netanyahu sitting on a luggage cart in San Francisco's airport on his way to Hawaii. Another showed him lying on the ground while apparently doing Pilates. Asked about the propriety of hanging out with a witness in Netanyahu's corruption trial, the family spokesman replied: "The law doesn't forbid him from meeting with witnesses." The trip has also raised eyebrows because Netanyahu, who led the country's fight against the coronavirus before he was ousted, ignored recommendations by government experts to avoid unnecessary travel abroad while the country grapples with the fast-spreading delta variant. Hawaii Gov. David Ige last week urged tourists to stay away, citing a surge there in coronavirus infections. Netanyau's family is required to go into a mandatory one-week quarantine upon their return to Israel.

Turkish, UAE Leaders Talk on Phone as Tensions Seem to Ease
Associated Press/August 31/2021
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken with the United Arab Emirates' de-facto leader, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, by telephone, Erdogan's office said late Monday, in a sign of easing tensions between the countries.
The two discussed their countries' relations and regional issues, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency. The statement did not say when the conversation took place. The UAE's state-run news agency said the leaders "reviewed the prospects of reinforcing the relations between the two nations in a way that serves their common interests and their two peoples." The call came two weeks after Erdogan hosted a top UAE security official and discussed investment in Turkey. UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan's trip was the highest-level public visit by an Emirati official to Turkey in years. The two countries have seen their ties affected by regional tensions, including the conflict in Libya, where the UAE and Turkey have backed opposing sides in recent years. Turkey has in recent months relaxed its tensions with a number of Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Alongside the UAE and Bahrain, they had backed a blockade of Turkey's ally Qatar, leading Turkey to boost its support. The dispute was resolved earlier this year with an agreement signed by the Saudis. Turkey and the Gulf states and Egypt have also clashed over Turkey's support for the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Arab regimes see as a threat.

Lawyers Seek ICC Probe into Alleged War Crimes in Yemen
Associated Press/August 31/2021
Human rights lawyers representing hundreds of victims of Yemen's civil war are calling on the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition during the devastating conflict. British lawyer Toby Cadman filed the request Monday, highlighting three separate incidents — an August 2018 airstrike that destroyed a school bus and killed dozens; a missile attack in October 2016 that killed at least 110 people; and allegations of torture and murder of civilians being held in prisons in the south of Yemen.
The filing came a day after a missile and drone attack, blamed on the Houthi rebels, on a key military base in Yemen's south killed at least 30 troops. The civil war in Yemen erupted in 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthis swept across much of the north and seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government into exile. The Saudi-led coalition entered the war the following year on the side of the government. All sides are accused of atrocities in the yearslong conflict. Lawyer Almudena Bernabeu, representing victims of the school bus attack, said that the coalition said it would investigate the deadly strike and bring those responsible to justice. "Of course, they did no such thing," Bernabeu said in a statement. "As the court of last resort, victims and families have no choice but to call on the International Criminal Court to ensure justice is done."A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. Yemen is not a member state of the court and nor are key coalition members Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. However, in a 212-page written submission, the lawyers argue that the court should exercise jurisdiction because some members of the coalition are ICC member states. A written submission filed by the lawyers says Jordan deployed fighter jets to the coalition, Senegal provided troops, while the Maldives supported it diplomatically. The lawyers also allege that crimes were committed in Yemen by mercenaries from another ICC member state, Colombia.
"The ICC can and must use its clear jurisdiction to investigate these undeniable and evidenced crimes," said Cadman. The ICC, set up to investigate crimes in countries that are unable or unwilling to prosecute them, receives hundreds of requests each year to open investigations. Many are rejected as falling outside its jurisdiction, others are studied to establish whether they merit a full-scale investigation. It can take years for the court's prosecutors to decide whether to open an investigation. Cadman said that lawyers for Yemeni victims are also looking at other ways of seeking justice. "While our campaign begins at the International Criminal Court, we intend to fight our case using all and every legal avenue available. Those who perpetrate the worst crimes can and will be held accountable," Cadman said.

Cyprus: Syrian Oil Slick Could Reach the Island in 24 Hours
Associated Press/August 31/2021
An oil slick believed to have originated from a power plant inside one of Syria's oil refineries could reach Cyprus' northeastern tip in the next 24 hours, the Mediterranean island nation's Fisheries and Marine Research Department said Monday. The Department said the most recent computer model indicates the oil spill could affect Apostolos Andreas Cape in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus by late Tuesday. It said information and photographs received from ships in the region show the slick is a thin film of oil rather than thick crude. The Cypriot government has informed Turkish Cypriot authorities about the slick's progress and is ready to offer any assistance. Syria's state news agency said last week that the spill occurred after fuel leaked from a tank at the Baniyas Thermal Station. Syria's oil resources are mostly outside of government-controlled areas but its two refineries are under government control. This makes Damascus reliant on Iran for fuel, but U.S. Treasury sanctions have hindered the supply network, which spans Syria, Iran and Russia.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials published on August 31-September 01/2021
Peddling US-Taliban friendship is the new narrative
Rami Rayess/Al Arabiya/31 August ,2021
A political narrative is building momentum that will allow everyone to forget what the War on Terror, and the invasion of Afghanistan was really all about. The narrative has the ultimate aim of bringing the Taliban into the international fold. The group will have its government legitimized and it will work with the West to fight terrorist groups in the country. The public awareness campaign is underway. It is telling us already that under the pretext that the US will not have ‘boots on the ground’ it’s the Taliban instead that will take the war to America’s enemy: ISIS. This is the only choice and is a good thing to protect America we’re starting to be told. Building narratives is easier than building democracies, it seems, and quicker than the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan. The UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson leapt forward and suggested that if the Taliban want diplomatic recognition it will need to prevent Afghanistan from incubating terrorists. I thought the Taliban were terrorists.
The Director of the Middle East Program and former Special Envoy to the Global Coalition To Defeat ISIS, Ambassador James Jeffrey said that the ISIS attack on Kabul airport “is a fundamental challenge to Taliban control and underscores the continued threat from Afghanistan after the American withdrawal."I wonder if ISIS had swept to power would the West have built relations with them to fight the Taliban. ‘My enemy’s enemy is my friend’ is a wonderful strategy to follow in international relations, but probably not the ethical and moral thing to do when dealing with the Taliban. Collaboration is the strategy guiding both the US and the Taliban. After the unilateral American military withdrawal from Afghanistan, Washington will seek to have the Taliban counter any threats that endanger its own national security.
But, the Taliban, in turn, needs urgent American help to crush other insurgents that do not fall under its control. This is a win-win scenario for both. Striking a deal with the Taliban to counter potential terrorist attacks appears sensible on one level, so why not? Forget the human casualties and the billions of dollars spent over the last 20 years. This is a new chapter in the making. Whether the US will adhere to its demands that the Taliban respect minorities and women’s rights is yet to be tested. The priority is to handle the high risks that are expected now that America has withdrawn completely. Reincarnating the American experience with Syria and to a lesser extent Iraq might partially work in Afghanistan. In Syria, Washington is supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces against ISIS. In Iraq, the Pentagon extended support to the Iraqi Security Forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga in their respective fight against ISIS.
Now that the Taliban is the major player in Afghanistan its policies not only affect Afghans at the local level, but also the terrorist movement worldwide.
The US defeat tarnishes Washington’s image of being the biggest global power. It also sends a signal to terrorist cells around the world that fighting superpowers is not doomed to failure: wars can be won. A terrorist you know is easier to handle than one you do not, but I’m skeptical that an agreement with the Taliban guarantees protection this protection. Holes can be picked in any evidence that suggests that the group can reign in others spread across Afghanistan. The Haqqani network isn’t likely to acquiesce to demands set out by the Taliban, and although al-Qaeda’s muscle has diminished somewhat, its presence remains. The pressure cooker will heat up now that the US has withdrawn. Terrorist cells will rebuild their position in Afghanistan. Civil war is on the horizon. Despite enormous technological advancement in satellite images and drones, striking terrorist groups relies on timely, definitive and accurate information.
If the US and the Taliban were to become friends, the latter could pass on intelligence, with American drones targeting ISIS-K and others. Filling this security vacuum is important, but it allows the Taliban to build its own narrative for the Afghan people: its government is the only one that can tackle internal insurgents. Striking a deal with the Taliban is unpalatable to the Western public. Selling such a move is no easy task. Becoming best friends with a staunch enemy you fought against for twenty years will not happen overnight. Political populists understand one crucial point about introducing dubious policies successfully: public opinion needs to be on their side. A strategic narrative offers control over how any given population interpret the ‘why, where and how’ of the scenario being pursued. In the case of war, justifying it is a delicate matter. One year from now, on the day of the anniversary of the US’ exit from Afghanistan only three people will understand what the 20-year war was for. The first person will have died, the second went insane and I’ll have forgotten. Given the pursuit of the new narrative, the aim is for you to forget too.

Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was inevitable
Trisha De Borchgrave/Arab News/August 31/2021
Much of the heartbreak over the recent collapse of the Afghan government and Taliban victory is being channeled into public outrage. Past and present political and military leaders and opinion writers blame the Biden administration for a botched exit and the US-led international coalition of NATO allies for failing to deliver a sustainable socioeconomic and political legacy for Afghanistan. But a mixture of wishful thinking and denial among the very same military and political leaders disguised the fact that it was only a matter of time before the Taliban would retake power.
Since 2008, the yearly audits by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction have been littered with examples of lack of accountability, questionable costs, failures of planning, construction deficiencies, and critical shortages for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.
The fact is that, for the last 20 years, tens of billions of US aid dollars have been redirected to Afghan military leaders, political grafters and tribal warlords, with much of it ending up in overseas property and other undeclared assets in more stable locations.
National Public Radio reporter Sarah Chayes covered the fall of the Taliban in 2001. She then moved to Kandahar and spent 10 years setting up two nonprofits to help women create independent livelihoods. In 2010, she became an adviser on Afghanistan strategic policy to then-US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen.
When I interviewed her in 2018, she explained how, as far back as November 2001, young people in Kandahar were telling her that the proxy militias the American forces had armed and provided with US fatigues were “shaking them down at checkpoints.”
By 2007, delegations of elders would visit her, as the “the only American whose door was open and who spoke Pashtun.” Over “candied almonds and glasses of green tea,” Chayes watched one of them smack himself on the face, while describing how “the Taliban hit us on this cheek, and the government hits us on that cheek.” It didn’t take Chayes long to conclude that Afghanistan was not a country with a corruption problem, but one governed by a crime syndicate; a “mafia-esque system, in which money flows upwards via the purchase of office, kickbacks or ‘sweets’ in return for permission to extract resources… and protection.”Salaries for nonexistent government officials and soldiers, illegal land grabs, disappeared customs revenue, fake loans, drug trafficking, and ransoms and bribery forced people to rely on regional and local power-holders. Yet, in 2011, according to Chayes, the US government decided “to dig in the same dry well” by making the conscious decision to avoid the issues of corruption that directly impacted on fighting outcomes. All in all, the US poured up to $2 trillion over 20 years into a country incapable of disbursing funds into productive projects or of absorbing the benefits of fair elections and centralized governance. As Afghanistan rotted from the inside, Chayes and others warned US decision-makers that Afghans could not be expected to take risks on behalf of a government that was as hostile to their interests as the Taliban were.
In the meantime, the Taliban regrouped, strategized, learned and enriched themselves. They too stole and siphoned American aid. Above all, they bided their time alongside a weak and undermined Afghan military, dependent for their survival on American and other foreign contractors, who enriched themselves in the process.
Afghans could not be expected to take risks on behalf of a government that was as hostile to their interests as the Taliban were. Where were today’s furious critics during those years of supposed “reconstruction,” of troop surges, anti-insurgency campaigns and valiant elections? Did they challenge the 2018 Trump administration’s “peace process,” which, given the then-US president’s declared intention to leave the country, became an unwilling surrender by the Afghan government? Who was kidding whom on the kind of resilience that was needed for the Afghan armed forces to operate independently in countering the Taliban after the American departure? We were not wrong to try to help grow Afghans’ political rights and institutions, and to promote greater religious tolerance and improve the rights of women and girls. Large portions of the Afghan people were ready to overcome their troubled past and build a better future. Women, as well as men, gave their lives to this vision.
But, as Chayes points out, “fragile” or “failing” states are deceptive. They are run by sophisticated networks whose objectives are not to govern, but to enrich themselves. And now, thanks to our hubris, the ingrained corrosion of Afghanistan by those in power, and the misguided interventions of Taliban supporters, the best we can hope for is that Afghanistan under Taliban rule morphs into an Islamic republic where religious autocracy at least allows women to be educated and society some measure of social freedom, even if they are politically powerless. The priority is to ensure that the Taliban do not return Afghanistan to being an incubator of international terrorism, especially when hatched by cyber-savvy extremists still pursuing their weapons of mass destruction dreams. And, once again, women’s socioeconomic rights will fall by the wayside.
*Trisha De Borchgrave writes for print and online media and is based in the UK. Twitter: @TrishadeB

Gantz-Abbas meeting changes nothing for Palestinians
Osama Al-Sharif /Arab News/August 31/2021
If anyone is familiar with the law of diminishing returns, it must be Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The peace process that he had embraced since the early 1990s is no more, and in the past decade not a single round of diplomatic talks have been held with Israel. So when Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz paid a rare visit to Ramallah on Sunday night to meet with Abbas, sources close to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett were quick to reiterate that there was no diplomatic process with the Palestinians on the horizon.
Abbas’ office did not comment on the public meeting, the first of its kind since 2010, but Gantz tweeted that he had discussed security policy, civilian and economic issues, and that he told Abbas that Israel seeks to take measures that will strengthen the Palestinian Authority’s economy. He went on to say that he discussed shaping the security and economic situations in the West Bank and in Gaza. “We agreed to continue communicating further on the issues that were raised during the meeting.”
The meeting took place a day after Bennett returned from his first official visit to Washington. Before the Israeli leader left, he made it clear that there would be no peace with the Palestinians and that the Israeli siege on Gaza will continue as long as Hamas rules the coastal enclave. He told The New York Times that there will be no progress in the peace process, claiming peace talks would not happen because the Palestinian leadership is fractured and rudderless, and reiterating that he is resolutely opposed to Palestinian sovereignty.
While the Biden administration has committed to the two-state solution, it is not ready to launch a new peace process. Its priority for now is to support the financially troubled PA and Palestinian institutions, and improve the lives of Palestinians, including those in the Gaza Strip. The White House has pressured Israel to ease the economic blockade of Gaza and support efforts for reconstruction following last May’s showdown, which inflicted heavy damage on the enclave’s infrastructure.
Israel recently agreed to increase Jordanian exports to the West Bank and, under US pressure, will take steps to advance what Bennett called “fiscal measures” to support the PA.
It is clear that the US and Israel are worried about the survival of the PA. Politically, Abbas, Fatah and the PA have suffered badly since last May’s military confrontation between Hamas and Israel. Furthermore, Palestinian institutions are in a state of political paralysis, with no sign that Abbas is willing to set a new date for legislative and presidential elections.
Meanwhile, the PA has been rounding on critics and activists, and using force against journalists. The human rights situation is getting worse, and the EU and UN have expressed concern over the use of force against Palestinians exercising freedom of expression and assembly. Palestinians have been demonstrating against the PA following the death in custody of activist Nizar Banat in June. Those close to Abbas say he feels isolated.
While the Biden administration has committed to the two-state solution, it is not ready to launch a new peace process.
The Gantz-Abbas meeting covered the only thing that remains of the Oslo Accords: Security coordination. Hamas was quick to condemn the meeting, saying that Abbas cares only about maintaining security coordination with Israel, which is an insult to Palestinians.
Egypt has given up on its mediation between Hamas and Fatah in a bid to end intra-Palestinian friction and reach reconciliation. Hamas feels emboldened after its recent clash with Israel, as its popularity in the West Bank has spiked at the expense of Fatah, which remains deeply divided.
It is ironic that Abbas’ survival now depends on the goodwill of Israel, which is being ruled by a premier whose ideological beliefs reject Palestinian statehood as a matter of principle.
With no political breakthrough in sight, Israel will continue expanding settlements, subjugating Palestinians and cementing apartheid rule. The PA can do nothing to stop the slow encroachment on Palestinian lands, while the current US administration will not sponsor a new political process, but hopes to manage the conflict by improving the lives of Palestinians.
It is a sad reality that after decades of struggle for liberation, Palestinians find themselves facing a ruthless occupation that defies international law on the one hand, and an authoritarian president who remains delusional about the prospects of negotiating a peace deal with Israel on the other. Even sadder is that Palestinian activists and critics are being hunted down for demanding basic rights not by Israel but by the PA’s security forces.
Israel’s support of the 86-year-old Abbas aims at keeping the Palestinians at bay and under control, while negotiating a long-term truce with Hamas. It is an ideal situation for Israel — for now — but one that is unsustainable in the long run.
*Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010

The megatrends still shaping our world
Afshin Molavi /Arab News/August 31/2021
The former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was once asked by a young journalist to reflect on the greatest challenge facing a statesman. His response: “Events, dear boy, events.”
Of course, what he meant was that even the most meticulous planning can be upended by events that require immediate attention. Long-term strategic goals must often wait until the fires are put out.
US and Western policymakers are currently trying to put out a tragic fire in Afghanistan that is occupying virtually all of their foreign policy bandwidth. Other nations are also engaged broadly in this effort. Good luck to any longterm policy planner seeking to get the attention of the US secretary of state or national security adviser today, or even the head of a major Middle East government. The headlines are too hot, the fires still scalding, the tragedy still unraveling.
Megatrends, however, do not have a timeline. They quietly and powerfully shape our world and our future — and often serve as the driving forces of the fires that we see today in the world. That is why it is vital to explore these megatrends to see where we are headed.
Let us start with urbanization, a megatrend shaping politics, societies, business, technology and much else besides. It is a megatrend with two centuries of history. In 1800, only 3 percent of the world’s population lived in cities, with the figure rising to 15 percent by 1900. Today, 55 percent of people live in urban spaces, a proportion that is likely to reach 66 percent by 2050, according to the UN. That is what you call a steady “up and to the right” chart of growth.
While the global pandemic — another “event” that is re-ordering our world — has led to some pockets of de-urbanization in advanced economies and a temporary return to rural areas of large numbers of city-dwellers in India amid shutdowns, the basic impulse behind the mass urbanization we have seen in the developing world remains the same. Cities offer the jobs and opportunities that people need. Even so-called knowledge workers crave the city’s dense networks and better internet bandwidth. Urbanization is here to stay.
What about demographics? As I have written in these pages before, more than 85 percent of the world’s population lives outside the Western world. Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East currently account for roughly 8.5 out of 10 people in the world today. While population growth numbers are never linear (after all, “events” can change course), we will still be living with this “85 world” domination for the next few decades.
According to the UN, Africa’s population could double by 2050, rising from 1.2 billion to nearly 2.5 billion. We will see more than a billion urban Africans by then. Sub-Saharan Africa is also young. The median age is 19. By contrast, the median age in Europe is 41.
There are tremendous challenges inherent in this population growth — as well as tremendous opportunities. Every government and business with longterm ambitions should be developing an Africa strategy.
There is also a migration challenge ahead for Europe. While the world today is focused on Afghan refugees, we can expect a steady flow of economic migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, trying to make it to Europe by whatever means available. Never underestimate the human will to seek a better life, and despite some impressive pockets of new growth and dynamism across African markets, a bigger jobs crunch looms. Factory automation does not help. Expect more migrants to seek a better life in Europe.
While Africa is young, other parts of the world — notably Europe, but also China — are aging. The Middle Kingdom’s decades-long one-child policy has left its population growth at Scandinavian levels. India will surpass China as the world’s most populous country within a decade. As China grays over the next few decades, India will continue to rise.
A third megatrend is connectivity. A British historian, shortly after the Cold War ended with the fall of the Soviet Union, once famously said: “All of the ‘isms’ are now ‘wasms’.” While not quite accurate (note the lingering appeal of socialism, even in Western market economies), we can safely say that there is a powerful “ism” that has grown worldwide. Let us call it connect-ism. It is a view that has swept the world, though it does not come with a Karl Marx-like intellectual forefather. Its forefathers are global tech companies that prefer to hook you on their products, not announce their intentions in manifestos.
With tech evangelists promoting the “metaverse” — a world of 3D augmented reality creating new forms of connectivity and spawning online lives and identities — we are headed deeper into Tech-istan.
The pandemic has blown a heavy gust of wind into the sails of this megatrend. Consider how much more critical connectivity has become to how we work, consume and connect. Consider the record profits of companies such as Amazon and Facebook amid the pandemic, even as other physical and bricks-and-mortar businesses have faltered.
Consider India’s historic Internet connectivity push over the past year. At one point in the past few years, three Indians were experiencing the Internet for the first time every three seconds. Now, with tech evangelists promoting the “metaverse” — a world of 3D augmented reality creating new forms of connectivity and spawning online lives and identities — we are headed deeper into Tech-istan, with dramatic consequences for our future.
These, and other megatrends ranging from climate change to shifting economic centers of gravity, will shape our future in ways that the headlines may not always reflect. These are the tectonic shifts changing our future quietly every day.
*Afshin Molavi is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Editor and Founder of Emerging World newsletter. Twitter: @afshinmolavi

Yemen’s deadly attack and Tehran’s regional escalation
*Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg/Arab News/August 31/2021
The Houthis’ deadly attack on a military base in southern Yemen was another indication of the ongoing escalation by the movement and its Iranian sponsors. On Sunday, ballistic missiles and drones targeted Al-Anad Air Base, killing and injuring scores of people. Official sources have put the number of dead at about 30, in addition to 60 more injured, but said they were still investigating and the exact figures could be higher.
Also on Sunday, three Houthi drones targeted Khamis Mushayt in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Unlike the attack on Al-Anad, these drones were intercepted and were all foiled. The Saudi-led coalition has recorded more than 1,000 ballistic missile and drone attacks by the Houthis, in addition to nearly 100,000 shorter-range projectiles and hundreds of naval mines. Underscoring their lack of commitment to peace efforts, the Houthis have also committed more than 30,000 violations of the Stockholm Agreement that was concluded in December 2018.
Targeting Al-Anad signifies a new intensification of the Houthis’ war against the internationally recognized government. Yemen’s largest military base, Al-Anad is located about 60 km north of Aden. It was built by the Soviet Union in 1976 and expanded in 1986. It represents an important symbol of the government’s legitimacy and defense capabilities.
Al-Anad base is considered to be the effective gate to Aden and the south. It was taken by the Houthis in March 2015, but government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, were able to retake it in August of that year, weeks after dislodging the Houthis from Aden. The Houthis have attacked the base again since then, most recently in January 2019 resulting in several deaths and injuries, including some senior government officials.
Prior to March 2015, Al-Anad was also a center for information gathering and coordinating attacks against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula terrorists. It served as a base for US intelligence-gathering and counterterrorism operations, but America’s remaining special forces were withdrawn after the Houthi attack and the brief takeover of the area by AQAP.
In recent months, the Houthis have focused their attacks on Marib. Attacking Al-Anad, 400 km to the south, widens the scope of their war and fits into a pattern of probing and harassing loyalist forces in other areas of Yemen. They are clear signs that the militiamen are still wedded to a military solution. Their stonewalling in the face of persistent calls by the government for negotiations has frustrated US and UN mediation efforts.
Sunday’s attacks on Al-Anad and Khamis Mushayt can be seen as part of a trend in the wider region by Iran’s new government. Sworn in on Aug. 5 with declarations that it would seek peace and regional cooperation, the new government in Tehran has yet to prove its peaceful intentions. Instead, it has opened new fronts and continued existing conflicts.
In the past few days, there has been a rocket attack on a US base on the Iraq-Kuwait border and another on Kuwaiti territory. On Friday, a rocket attack was carried out on the US military base located near the Safwan border crossing between Iraq and Kuwait. On Saturday, Kuwait confirmed that a rocket fired from Iraq had landed on its side of the border.
While attacks by Iran-backed militias targeting the US and the Global Coalition Against Daesh have continued unabated, attacks on Iraq’s civilian infrastructure, including power installations, have escalated. UN ReliefWeb and the Iraq Security and Humanitarian Monitor, an Iraq-based online monitoring group, have recorded numerous such attacks recently. For example, on Aug. 24, Al-Rafidain Center for Dialogue, a think tank based in the city of Najaf that is focused on finding peaceful solutions, was attacked by rockets. This unlikely target has suffered rocket attacks three times now.
Meanwhile, new Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s conduct was at odds with other guests at the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership, which Iraq organized on Saturday. Baghdad intended the summit to bring the region together, ease tensions and stimulate trade and investment. The conference was attended by high-level delegations from Gulf Cooperation Council states, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Iran, in addition to France and regional organizations.
Targeting Al-Anad signifies a new intensification of the Houthis’, and Tehran’s, war against the internationally recognized government.
The Iraqi hosts skillfully succeeded in organizing important bilateral meetings on the margins of the conference, including those between Amir-Abdollahian and regional leaders. However, his belligerent remarks were not consistent with the conference’s theme. He criticized his hosts for not inviting Syria and launched a diatribe about the killing of Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. His protocol “mistakes” were widely discussed on regional social media, with many believing that they were intentional and were meant to undermine his hosts and other guests. His wild claim that Iran-Iraq trade has reached $300 billion a year was quickly contradicted by officials, who said that their total trade did not exceed $13 billion annually. Earlier in the year, the two sides had expressed hope that trade would one day reach $20 billion.
Iran’s escalation in Iraq and Yemen, plus its stalling of the nuclear talks in Vienna, may be emboldened by the events in Afghanistan and what it perhaps regards as an American retreat from the region. In addition, the new government may be seeking to assert its revolutionary colors, having come to power representing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its hard-line views on regional security.
As the US quits Afghanistan, it needs to shore up its posture elsewhere to disabuse Tehran of its notions about Washington’s intentions. One of the first steps should be consulting with regional partners to regroup and coordinate their next steps toward preserving regional peace and security after the Afghanistan withdrawal.
*Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg is the GCC Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs & Negotiation, and a columnist for Arab News. The views expressed in this piece are personal and do not necessarily represent GCC views. Twitter: @abuhamad1