LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
December 20/17
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias/english.december20.17.htm 

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Bible Quotations
Watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles, Keep away from them
Romans 16/:17-20:"I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.  For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 19-20/17
The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook/Josh Meyer/December 18-20/17/
Qatar and its Weapon Purchasing Policy/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/December 19/17
Is It Really about Jerusalem/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/December 19/2017
The US Embassy Move to Jerusalem vs. The "Peace Process"/Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/December 19/2017
Turkey Mania: "Jerusalem is Muslim"/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/December 19/2017
Russia's Military is Leaner, but Meaner/Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/December 19/17
Suffering of Iran’s women increases under ‘moderate’ Rouhani/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 19/ 2017
Before Gaza turns into Somalia/Nadav Eyal|/Ynetnews/December 19/17

Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on December 19-20/17
Cabinet Holds Year's Last Session, Postpones Expansion of Landfills
Mogherini Arrives in Beirut for Talks with Top Officials
Aoun meets Mogherini, renews calls for safe return of Syrian refugees
Future bloc hails government's oil related decision, condemns Huthi missile on Riyadh
Hariri receives French MPs
Kanaan after Change and Reform meeting: We will remain the guarantor of people's rights
Rahi receives UNIFIL Commander
Three killed, 80 wounded in protests in Iraqi Kurdish town: local officials
Army Chief meets French Deputy Lakrafi
Berri meets Abu Faour, contacts UK Ambassador
Hariri Says March 8, March 14 Can't Rule Country without 'Partnership'
Report: Diplomatic Ties with KSA 'Growing Worse'
Hariri Says Parliamentary Polls on Time in May
Police Bust Aramoun Cafe in Prostitution, Drugs Racket
Report: Obama 'Hindered' Hizbullah Probe to Preserve Iranian Deal
Mashnouq Says Security 'Excellent', Hails Swift Arrest of Briton's Killer
Tensions escalate over decree promoting Army officers
Lebanon: Israel plans to build a wall along our border
Kataeb Chief Meets with President of the National Assembly of France
Former President Amine Gemayel Voices Concern over Freedoms in Lebanon
Body of Missing Man Found in Metn Valley
Tensions Resurface Between Aoun and Berri over Army Promotion Decree
Hankache: People's Revolution in Upcoming Polls Is Only Solution

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 19-20/17
Lapid: If Obama Blocked Hezbollah Probe Over Iran Deal, He Should Give Back Nobel
Report: Obama 'Hindered' Hizbullah Probe to Preserve Iranian Deal
Why aren’t Israelis told that Hamas High Command is behind the persistent rocket fire?
Lieberman Says Israel 'Will Not Tolerate' Gaza Rocket Fire
Saudi Says It Intercepted Yemen Rebel Missile over Riyadh
Trump Slams China, Russia in 'America First' Security Strategy
Kremlin Denounces 'Imperialist Character' of US Strategic Report
Pence Delays Mideast Visit amid Anger over Jerusalem Shift
Macron Hits Back at Assad over 'Terror Sponsor' Remark
136 Killed in Saudi-Led Strikes on Yemen in Just 10 Days, UN Says
Saudi-Palestinian Summit to Confirm Rejection of US Decision
Five Terrorists Killed in Clashes with Egypt Police
Iran Wants to Examine Missile Parts

Latest Lebanese Related News published on December 19-20/17
Cabinet Holds Year's Last Session, Postpones Expansion of Landfills
Naharnet/December 19/17/The Cabinet on Tuesday held its last session for 2017, during which it decided to postpone a decision on expanding the Costa Brava and Bourj Hammoud garbage landfills.“There were two agenda items on waste management – the expansion of Costa Brava and composting and the general plan of waste management. The two issues were combined and a ministerial panel has been formed to study the entire topic and raise it in Cabinet's next session, because the matter cannot bear further delay,” acting information minister Pierre Bou Assi said after the session. “The solution for the two issues requires a transitional period to prevent the accumulation of garbage on the streets,” the minister added.The Cabinet also decided to extend for another year the contracts of mobile network operators Zain Group (touch) and Orascom Telecom (Alfa) pending “a comprehensive national mobile network plan.”

Mogherini Arrives in Beirut for Talks with Top Officials
Naharnet/December 19/17/The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, arrived Tuesday in Lebanon for talks with top officials. She will meet with Prime Minister Saad Hariri in the evening for talks on “the latest developments in Lebanon and the region and means to support Lebanon in the face of the repercussions of the Syrian refugee crisis. Mogherini and Hariri will then hold a joint press conference to talk about the outcome of the meeting. Hariri will later throw a dinner banquet in honor of the European official. Mogherini is also scheduled to meet with President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri during her visit. An EU statement released Monday said the senior EU official will “reaffirm strong partnership and continued EU support to Lebanon's stability, security and prosperity.”The High Representative's second visit this year shows “the EU's strong and long-standing partnership with Lebanon,” the EU Delegation said in a statement. The European Union will continue to “support Lebanon in meeting the challenges that lie ahead and remains committed to the country's unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement added.

Aoun meets Mogherini, renews calls for safe return of Syrian refugees
Tue 19 Dec 2017/NNA - President of the republic, Michel Aoun, hoped that the conferences to be held in support for Lebanon in Europe would beget executive decisions in terms of backing the Lebanese military and securing a safe return for the Syrian refugees to their homeland. "Lebanon, as it appreciates the support of the European Union for its causes, hopes that the participation of the EU states in the conferences special for Lebanon will be effective," Aoun said during his meeting with EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini, at Baabda palace. Moreover, the President reminded of the toll the displacement of more than 1.8 million Syrians had taken on Lebanon's economic, social, educational, and healthcare conditions. Also, Aoun renewed calls to secure a safe and progressive return of refugees to the stable areas in Syria. Furthermore, he highlighted to his guest the importance of national unity in overcoming the crisis that had erupted following Prime Minister Saad Hariri's resignation. "The governmental work is back on track, and the legislative polls will be held on their due date under the new election law," he said. Aoun did not fail to renew his condemnation of the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Accordingly, he urged the EU to exert pressure to axe that decision "as it does not help make peace in the Middle East region.""Jerusalem cannot belong to one religion, because it is the cradle of all the monotheistic religions; and it must not be owned by other than its sons," he stressed. For her part, Mogherini hailed Aoun's salient role during the fresh governmental crisis, praising his ability to preserve stability despite the critical juncture that had jolted the country. Moreover, she confirmed EU states' continuous financial support for Lebanon to help address the refugee crisis."Lebanon can count on the EU support in all fields," Mogherini said.

Future bloc hails government's oil related decision, condemns Huthi missile on Riyadh
Tue 19 Dec 2017/NNA - Future parliamentary bloc on Tuesday hailed the government's granting oil exploration and digging licenses, maintaining that this step shall be promising for the Lebanese economy and youth. Moreover, the bloc considered that holding the legislative elections on time was a "conclusive commitment by the government and its head to the democratic system and constitutional due dates." "It is an invitation to re-form power through the ballot box," the bloc said in a statement issued following its weekly meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, at Bayt-al-Wasat. On a different note, the bloc sternly condemned the US "biased " position, deeming it as "a flagrant violation of the international resolutions supporting the rights of the Palestinians."Furthermore, the bloc berated the "Huthi militia" over the missile launched from Yemen on Riyadh. "The bloc considers this hostility as a blatant beach of the international laws and Arab pacts," conferees said, voicing full solidarity with the Saudi kingdom and people.

Hariri receives French MPs
Tue 19 Dec 2017/NNA - Prime Minister Hariri received this evening the head of the Lebanese-French Friendship Committee in the French National Assembly, MP Loic Kervran and discussed with him the bilateral relations between the two countries.Hariri also received French MP Amal-Amelia Lakrafi, accompanied by Joe Moukarzel and the "En marche" representative in Lebanon, Rita Moukarzel, in the presence of the Prime Minister's advisor for Development Affairs Dr. Lina Awaidat.

Kanaan after Change and Reform meeting: We will remain the guarantor of people's rights
Tue 19 Dec 2017/NNA - Secretary of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, on Tuesday maintained that "our gift for the Lebanese upon the holy season is that we shall remain the guarantor of their rights and economy.""This cannot be achieved through mottos, but through practice, performance, and work," Kanaan said in remarks following the bloc's weekly meeting, under the chairmanship of Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. "We started our meeting by discussing the latest developments regarding Jerusalem, and the very important international position and unanimity in that respect," he added. "This has proven the correctness of the Lebanese position on all levels."On a different note, Kanaan highlighted the necessity to finalize the 2018 state budget, reminding the Finance Minister and the government of their undertakings in that respect.As to the oil sector, Kanaan asked: "What prevented the achievement that is taking place today from happening in 2013? Why did we have to lose all that time for the sake of political quandaries?""We were not mistaken in 2013; the Change and Reform bloc led the battle of oil, as well as the budget and other developmental and social battles," he concluded.

Rahi receives UNIFIL Commander
Tue 19 Dec 2017/NNA - Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Beshara Boutros Rahi met, at Bkerki on Tuesday, with the General Commander of the United Nations' Interim Force in Lebanon, Major General Michael Beary. The pair reportedly discussed the UNIFIL activity in Lebanon and the implementation of UN resolution 1701, in addition to the current situation following US President Donald Trump's decision regarding Jerusalem.

Three killed, 80 wounded in protests in Iraqi Kurdish town: local officials
Tue 19 Dec 2017/NNA - hree people were killed and 80 wounded during protests in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Ranya on Tuesday, local government officials said. Hundreds of people were protesting to demand that the semi-autonomous region’s government quit, in a second day of violent unrest in Iraq’s Kurdish north. ---Reuters

Army Chief meets French Deputy Lakrafi
Tue 19 Dec 2017/NNA - Lebanese Army Chief, General Joseph Aoun, on Tuesday met with French Deputy Amal Amelia Lakrafi from the French National Assembly. The pair reportedly discussed the current situation in Lebanon and the broader Arab region.

Berri meets Abu Faour, contacts UK Ambassador
Tue 19 Dec 2017/NNA - Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri, received, at his Ain-el-Tineh residence on Tuesday, MP Wael Abu Faour, delegated by Democratic Gathering Head, MP Walid Jumblatt. "Both Berri and Jumblatt agree over the necessity to respect the constitutional and legal procedures, as well as the principles of competence and balance, while making all the decisions, especially those related to key institutions that guarantee civil peace, such as the military institution," Abu Faour told reporters following the meeting. Separately, Berri met with Head of National Dialogue Party, Fouad Makhzoumi. He also welcomed General Security Chief, General Abbas Ibrahim, and the government's commissioner before the UNIFIL, General Malek Shamas. Berri later held talks over the current situation with former Deputy Speaker Elie Ferezli.On a different note, Berri called UK Ambassador to Lebanon, Hugo Shorter, to whom he paid condolences following the killing of British diplomat Rebecca Dykes.

Hariri Says March 8, March 14 Can't Rule Country without 'Partnership'
Naharnet/December 19/17/Prime Minister Saad Hariri stressed Tuesday during meetings with his visitors that “partnership” among all political components is essential for the country. “This country is a magical, unique and wondrous formula among the countries of the region and the world. After the martyrdom of ex-PM Rafik Hariri, we in the March 14 camp tried to lead the country on our own, and then the March 8 camp also tried. We both failed,” Hariri said. “We disagreed over the one-third veto power and the 'kingmaker minister' and all of this was futile. We believe that partnership among everyone is what holds the country together, and through accord among each other we have made a lot of achievements during this period,” the premier added. Hariri had caused widespread perplexity on November 4 when he resigned during a TV broadcast from Saudi Arabia, citing alleged threats to his life and blasting the policies of Iran and Hizbullah in Lebanon and the region. After a puzzling mini-odyssey that took him to France, Egypt and Cyprus, Hariri returned to Lebanon and then rescinded his resignation after securing a deal with the Hizbullah-led camp on distancing Lebanon from regional conflicts.

Report: Diplomatic Ties with KSA 'Growing Worse'
Naharnet/December 19/17/Relations between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon are reportedly “strained” lately as the diplomatic accreditation of ambassadors remains unsettled so far, al-Akhbar daily said on Tuesday. SA has not yet accredited Lebanon's ambassador to the Kingdom, Fawzi Kabbara, although he was appointed five months earlier by the Lebanese government, said the daily.It added that the customary three-month deadline for the date of accreditation has expired, and the “Kingdom has not even made a reply on Kabbara's appointment.”Lebanon, on the other hand, has “agreed to appoint Saudi ambassador for Lebanon, Walid al-Yaaqoub, although the foreign ministry has not yet set a date for him to present his diplomatic credentials,” it added. In accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, ambassadors are not regarded as having officially taken up their duties until the accreditation process is complete. Accreditation occurs when a new ambassador presents diplomatic credentials, to the host country's head of state. SA-Lebanon relations have reportedly been “strained” after Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation in November—which he eventually rescinded-- from Riyadh, in a move that was highly blamed on SA.

Hariri Says Parliamentary Polls on Time in May
Naharnet/December 19/17/Prime Minister Saad Hariri stressed on Tuesday that Lebanon's parliamentary elections will be staged in May 2018 as agreed. “The parliamentary elections will take place on time in May and will be crucial for all political parties and for our democracy, diversity and way of life. Most importantly is to continue our democracy-based approach, which adds to Lebanon's charm and makes it a small miracle in an environment full of fighting” Hariri's media office quoted the Premier as saying. Addressing a visiting delegation of association of Beirut mayors at the Center House Monday evening, Hariri said: "We managed to avoid the fires around us because all the political parties, in addition to the army and the security forces, carried out their responsibilities to the fullest, and we were able to combat extremism. “However, the basis of stability was not only in the fight against extremism, but because we, as Lebanese, took a decision not to return to the past and always look towards the future,” he added. Tuning the newly approved oil and gas drilling licenses, the PM said: “The cabinet approved last week one of the most important projects that concern Lebanon, which is related to oil and gas, about which the Lebanese have been hearing for decades. In this government and because of this consensus and cooperation, we have been able to sign agreements with the most important consortium of oil companies in the world. “This is only the beginning, with two out of ten blocks being allocated, which means that there will be new tenders in the future, and if oil is found we will become an oil state,” concluded Hariri.

Police Bust Aramoun Cafe in Prostitution, Drugs Racket
Naharnet/December 19/17/During raids on a coffee shop in Aley's Aramoun area, police arrested a group of Lebanese and Syrian nationals involved in drugs and prostitution, the Internal Security Forces Directorate said on Tuesday. ISF said it monitored and raided the coffee shop after obtaining information of "illegal acts" taking place inside. Police raided the destination last Thursday confiscating drug pills, cannabis and birth control pills. Two Lebanese, one the cafe owner, were arrested on charges of facilitating prostitution and drug trafficking. Seven Syrian females and 19 males were also apprehended for the same charges in addition to some who have illegally infiltrated Lebanese soil. Three of the suspects are wanted on theft arrest warrants, added ISF.

Report: Obama 'Hindered' Hizbullah Probe to Preserve Iranian Deal
Naharnet/December 19/17/Former US President Barack Obama's administration has been accused of “blocking investigations” into an operation to stop “Hizbullah smuggling drugs” into the United States so that the nuclear deal with Iran could go forward, the US Politico said in a report on Tuesday. Obama's administration has reportedly “blocked investigations to stop Hizbullah and its Iranian backers from smuggling drugs,” fearing that pursuing the suspects would undermine chances of reaching an agreement with Tehran over its nuclear program, according to Politico. In a lengthy three-section report, the magazine reviewed documents and interviews with current and former US officials who said that Hizbullah has transformed from a political and military organization operating in the Middle East into an “international organization that earns up to $1 billion a year from trafficking in arms, drugs and money laundering.”
The report said that US officials in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Treasury obstructed the Drug Enforcement Administration complex operation in 2008 called “Project Cassandra” to tackle Hizbullah. Politico added that Obama's administration has worked towards a deal to stop Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions which made the DEA's work more difficult. It claimed it threw a number of obstacles, effectively paving the way for Hizbullah's “illegal activities.”Officials at the Justice and Treasury departments have reportedly obstructed or delayed requests of Project Cassandra leaders as they sought approval for significant investigations, it concluded.

Mashnouq Says Security 'Excellent', Hails Swift Arrest of Briton's Killer
Naharnet/December 19/17/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq reassured Monday that the security situation in Lebanon is “excellent,” while hailing the Internal Security Forces over its swift arrest of a taxi driver accused of killing a female British embassy staffer. “The security situation is excellent and the clearest example is the special achievement of the ISF and its Intelligence Branch, who arrested the killer of the British embassy employee only hours after the murder,” Mashnouq said. He had earlier in the day lauded the “extraordinary efforts” of the ISF and the Intelligence Branch and their “special security achievement.”“This achievement once again proves the high professionalism and skill that have characterized the ISF's work under the command of Maj. Gen. Imad Othman and the Intelligence Branch's work under the command of Colonel Khaled Hammoud,” the minister added. “Such achievements reassure the Lebanese and prove that security is under control. They also strengthen the confidence of foreign authorities in the work of Lebanese security agencies,” Mashnouq said, emphasizing that Lebanese authorities are “very keen on preserving domestic stability and the safety of all foreigners residing on Lebanese soil.”An ISF official has said the murder of the woman, identified as Rebecca Dykes, was a "criminal act" and was not politically motivated, adding that the suspect had confessed to the killing. The official said authorities tracked the suspect through security cameras that showed his car driving from Beirut to the area where Dykes' body was found, just east of the Lebanese capital. He said the suspect, identified as a Lebanese Uber driver, was detained at his apartment. A forensics official told The Associated Press that the woman was strangled with a rope and there were signs she was sexually assaulted. He also said that official examination reports can take up to four days.

Tensions escalate over decree promoting Army officers
The Daily Star/December 19/17/BEIRUT: Tension further escalated Tuesday over a decree that promotes military officers who served with President Michel Aoun when he was an Army commander in late 1980s. There has been disagreement over the decree, which was signed by Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, but has been rejected by Speaker Nabi Berri, who heads the Amal Movement. Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, a key political aid to the speaker, has also refused to do sign it and called the decree "null and void” Monday. Tension rose Tuesday after Cabinet agreed on the decree, despite it not being on the set agenda for the session, deciding to promote the officers who graduated from the military in 1994 and advancing their seniority and rank by one year. Aoun, according to media reports, has said that the decree does not require the Finance Ministry's signature, arguing that there are no real financial issues related its signing. However, Khalil told reporters after the session ended that "there are constitutional principles that require the Finance Minister to sign any decree that impacts financial spending.”

Lebanon: Israel plans to build a wall along our border
MEM/December 19, 2017/Lebanese President Michel Aoun said in a statement yesterday that Israel “is preparing to build a separation wall on the Blue Line [Lebanese-Israeli border]”, the Anadolu Agency reported. The statement was issued after a meeting with the Acting UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Pernille Dahler Kardel at the presidential palace in Beirut.Aoun told Kardel that his country sticks to the UN resolutions on top of them the resolution 1,701, noting that the planned Israeli wall “does not comply with the international border line.”“President Michel Aoun has communicated to UN Coordinator that Israel has violated the Lebanese border 11,000 times [since 2000] until today and it is continuing these violations insistently,” the statement said. It also noted that the president told Kardel that “Lebanon, as a response to the Israeli violation, is only defending itself in compliance with the UN rules.”
The statement said that Israel’s preparations for the wall are worrying as they do not comply with international border rules. After the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon in 2000, the UN designated a Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel. Since then, Lebanon has complained of numerous Israeli violations.

Kataeb Chief Meets with President of the National Assembly of France
Kataeb.org/December 19/17/Kataeb chief Samy Gemayel met with the President of the National Assembly of France, Francois de Rugy, in Paris as part of an international tour aimed at relaying the party's viewpoints and stances. During the meeting which lasted for more than one hour, Gemayel provided de Rugy with an insight on the role that the Kataeb is playing as an opposition force, stressing that there will be no real stability in Lebanon unless sovereignty, democracy and public freedoms are totally preserved. The Kataeb leader pointed out to other dangers facing Lebanon, citing the oppressive acts restricting the freedom of expression as well as the growing political interference in the judiciary's work. Both Gemayel and de Rugy highlighted the importance of holding the parliamentary elections on time, as the latter stressed the need for Lebanon to implement all of the Security Council resolutions and reiterated France’s continuous support for the Middle Eastern country. The French official hailed Gemayel’s non-sectarian positions, wishing him success in his political career.

Former President Amine Gemayel Voices Concern over Freedoms in Lebanon
Kataeb.org/December 19/17/Former President Amine Gemayel on Tuesday expressed his concern over the state of freedoms in Lebanon, fearing that the country would be turned into an oppressive regime where the Judiciary is used as a political tool. “I am here to voice deep concern over public freedoms in Lebanon,” Gemayel said at a gathering at the residence of MP Boutros Harb to show solidarity with TV presenter Marcel Ghanem. “There is fear of slipping into a security state which exerts pressure on the judicial authority,” Gemayel warned, urging unity to curb suppressive practices.

Body of Missing Man Found in Metn Valley
Kataeb.org/December 19/17/The body of Joseph George Warde was found on Tuesday after his car had crashed into the valley of Beit Misk in Metn. Wardeh was reported missing as he never made it home after leaving his jewelry shop in Ashrafieh on Saturday.

Tensions Resurface Between Aoun and Berri over Army Promotion Decree
Kataeb.org/December 19/17/Tensions seem to be marring ties between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri once again, as divergences re-emerged over the signing of a decree promoting a number of military officers who served under the term of Aoun when he was the Army commander. Both the President and Prime Minister Saad Hariri signed the decree without requiring the signature of Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil; an act that angered Berri and prompted him to reject the decree. Around 190 army officers graduated from the Military Academy in 1994 after they had joined it during the period when Aoun headed the transitional government in Lebanon. Those officers did not get to carry on their enrollment process until after one year, given the unrest that prevailed over the country back. However, this one year of inactivity was not added to their total period of service; the reason why President Aoun has decided to promote them by granting those officers one year of seniority ahead of others. Local newspapers quoted Berri as saying that the decree dashes equal power-sharing and that the dismissal of the finance minister's signature is a "dangerous", unprecedented act.

Hankache: People's Revolution in Upcoming Polls Is Only Solution
Kataeb.org/December 19/17/Kataeb politburo member Elias Hankache on Tuesday condemned the government's plan to expand the Costa Brava and Burj Hammound landfills, deeming such a move as a crime against the people.
“Unfortunately, the influential political groups in Metn agree to what is happening,” Hankache told Voice of Lebanon radio station, criticizing Environment Minister Tarek Khatib for being ignorant when it comes to environmental issues. “The future generations will witness a real catastrophe if the government approves today the expansion of the two landfills," he warned. “We know that everything that is claimed to be temporary ends up becoming permanent."
“Today, we will see who will object to the plan and who will approve on it."Hankache assured that the only solution is that the Lebanese people revolts in the upcoming parliamentary elections and seeks a real change.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 19-20/17
Lapid: If Obama Blocked Hezbollah Probe Over Iran Deal, He Should Give Back Nobel
Jerusalem Post/December 19/17/“Obama must return his Nobel Peace Prize,” if the Politico story about Hezbollah is correct, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said.
Israeli politicians lashed out at former US president Barack Obama after an exposé in Politico alleged that his administration had blocked a major investigation into Hezbollah’s global drug trafficking activities so that Iran would sign the 2015 deal to curb its nuclear activities.“Obama must return his Nobel Peace Prize,” if the Politico story is correct, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said.“Israel warned repeatedly that there can be no connection between the nuclear deal and anti-terror activity, certainly against Hezbollah... We also warned of this specifically, because of the proven link between Hezbollah and Iran.”
Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi wrote on Facebook that the report is not surprising, due to Obama’s “persistent efforts to give Iran, Nasrallah’s patron, legitimacy at any price. “Up until the Obama Administration, every American President fought terrorism uncompromisingly... I am convinced that the Trump administration will not turn from that tradition, and that the outrageous and mistaken policy that was revealed this week will not be repeated,” Hanegbi said. The Politico piece details the efforts of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, which launched Project Cassandra in 2008. The group tracked Hezbollah’s global criminal-syndicate operation, backed by Iran, including drug and weapons trafficking worth $1 billion annually. But while DEA gathered evidence, including of Iran-backed activities in Latin America and the US, Politico charged that the Justice Department and other US authorities refused to file charges against major players. This included, according to Politico, “Hezbollah’s high-profile envoy to Iran, a Lebanese bank that allegedly laundered billions in alleged drug profits, and a central player in a US-based cell of the Iranian paramilitary Quds force.”Among those against whom no US action was taken, was Ali Fayad, a suspected Hezbollah operative held from 2014 to 2015 by the Czech Republic. “The administration also rejected repeated efforts by Project Cassandra members to charge Hezbollah’s military wing as an ongoing criminal enterprise under a federal Mafia-style racketeering statute, task force members say,” according to the Politico article.It further charged that the administration blocked other initiatives to give the Cassandra Project legal tools to halt Hezbollah’s activities. Even as far back as 2007, the article claimed, planes flew from Caracas to Syria and then on to Tehran with drugs and cash, returning with arms and agents. The article relied heavily on the testimony of a former US Defense Department financial analyst, David Asher, who worked for the Cassandra Project. “This was a policy decision, it was a systematic decision,” said Asher, according to Politico. “They serially ripped apart this entire effort that was very well supported and resourced, and it was done from the top down.”Asher also publicly testified to Congress in 2015 on the need to do more to combat Hezbollah’s criminal and financial activities. The article also put forward counter theories that would have accounted for the Obama administration’s actions, including turf wars among different US agencies, the destabilization of Lebanon and reprisal terror attacks. Former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren, currently a deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, said the news “wouldn’t surprise any Israeli involved in the attempts to prevent a bad nuclear deal with Iran. “It was clear that the government was willing to do anything to reach an agreement, including ignoring Iranian terror that took the lives of hundreds of Americans and Israelis and hundreds of thousands of Syrians,” Oren said. “This exposé and others that may be published in the future must strengthen our resolve to dance or at least significantly change this dangerous agreement.”Communications Minister Ayoob Kara called the report “excellent,” tweeting that the Obama administration allowed Hezbollah to grow stronger.
“Does anyone still doubt why Obama was bad for Israel and how Trump is better for us?” Kara asked.

Report: Obama 'Hindered' Hizbullah Probe to Preserve Iranian Deal
Naharnet/December 19/17/Former US President Barack Obama's administration has been accused of “blocking investigations” into an operation to stop “Hizbullah smuggling drugs” into the United States so that the nuclear deal with Iran could go forward, the US Politico said in a report on Tuesday.
Obama's administration has reportedly “blocked investigations to stop Hizbullah and its Iranian backers from smuggling drugs,” fearing that pursuing the suspects would undermine chances of reaching an agreement with Tehran over its nuclear program, according to Politico.In a lengthy three-section report, the magazine reviewed documents and interviews with current and former US officials who said that Hizbullah has transformed from a political and military organization operating in the Middle East into an “international organization that earns up to $1 billion a year from trafficking in arms, drugs and money laundering.”The report said that US officials in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Treasury obstructed the Drug Enforcement Administration complex operation in 2008 called “Project Cassandra” to tackle Hizbullah. Politico added that Obama's administration has worked towards a deal to stop Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions which made the DEA's work more difficult. It claimed it threw a number of obstacles, effectively paving the way for Hizbullah's “illegal activities.” Officials at the Justice and Treasury departments have reportedly obstructed or delayed requests of Project Cassandra leaders as they sought approval for significant investigations, it concluded.

Why aren’t Israelis told that Hamas High Command is behind the persistent rocket fire?
Debka File/Dec 19, 2017/After 20 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip in the three weeks since Dec. 7, limited punitive IDF air strikes, which never stopped them before, are still not working. The identity of the hand orchestrating the rocket campaign depends on whom you ask. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman attributes it to “infighting among the Gaza Strip’s rival terrorist groups,” although he holds Hamas accountable for failing to prevent it. The IDF spokesperson issued a statement on Monday, Dec. 18, listing 40 IDF retaliatory strikes against Hamas terrorist targets: “Hamas is exclusively responsible for the situation in the Gaza Strip. The IDF views the firing of rockets at Israeli communities with the utmost gravity and will not allow any harm or attempt to harm the citizens of the State of Israel.” Hollow words indeed so long as no effective action is taken for putting a stop to the bane. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians, including many thousands of children, live in fear of their lives. Some of Israel’s mainstream media join in Lieberman’s game of obfuscation for absolving Hamas of keeping its hand on the button for releasing the rocket barrage. One headline proclaimed: “Hamas tortures Salafis to curb Gaza rocket fire,” and sends messages to Israel that “it does not seek escalation.” Hamas may well be torturing Salafis, but DEBKAfile’s military sources assert this has nothing to do with the rockets launched almost daily from the Gaza Strip. It is the supreme command of Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezz e-din Qassam Brigades, which is directly responsible – not small factions or other terrorist groups. The commanders of the radical Islamist group are motivated by burning resentment of their political leaders’ compliance with Cairo’s drive for reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah and the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip. Hamas terror chiefs have no intention of handing Gaza’s border crossings with Israel and Egypt to the control of PA security forces, or of accepting a permanent mission in Gaza City of generals from the Egyptian intelligence ministry. Hamas is venting its resentment typically by goading Israel with an as-yet measured barrage of rockets, taking advantage of the wave of Islamic protest generated by US President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The order coming down from the Hamas high command is to its allow any group, including its own activists, to shoot rockets into Israel. The level of fire must not be allowed to get out of hand; neither is it stopped or the launchers impounded. This keeps the barrage irregular and spasmodic – yet controlled, a bane for Israelis living within range, who are trying to carry on with their lives. Hamas is fully capable of stopping it, if it so wishes, but Israel is so far avoiding outright action for making this happen.

Lieberman Says Israel 'Will Not Tolerate' Gaza Rocket Fire
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 19/17/Israel is ready to pay the price for the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as its capital but will not accept Palestinian rocket fire, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday. President Donald Trump's December 6 decision to recognize Jerusalem and move the U.S. embassy there has led to near-daily protests in the Palestinian territories, with at least 15 rockets or projectiles fired at the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip. A number have fallen inside the Palestinian enclave itself or been intercepted by Israel's missile defense systems, but a few have hit Israel. They have caused minor damage but no injuries, although the attacks have raised fears of a new round of confrontation with Gaza's rulers Hamas, with which Israel has fought three wars since 2008. "It was clear to us that the U.S. President's declaration (on Jerusalem) will have a price, and I repeat, we are ready to pay the whole price. This determination (on Jerusalem) is important," Lieberman said during a visit to a military base near the Gaza border. "We will not tolerate any leakage" of rockets fired from Gaza at Israel, he added. Since the last round of conflict in 2014, Islamists Hamas and Israel have observed a tense ceasefire. The Israeli army believes the rocket fire from Gaza has not come from Hamas but from more radical Islamist groups, broadly called Salafists. Lieberman said Hamas had arrested Salafists in recent days, but there has been no confirmation of this from Hamas. "Israel is ready and set like never before," Lieberman added. "Hamas has also understood and internalized (this), and this is why we've seen dozens of Salafi activists arrested by Hamas."

Saudi Says It Intercepted Yemen Rebel Missile over Riyadh
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 19/17/Saudi Arabia said it shot down a ballistic missile Tuesday over Riyadh fired from Yemen by Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who announced that the target was the official residence of King Salman. The audacious attack aimed at the heart of Saudi power follows the downing of another missile last month near Riyadh airport that triggered the tightening of a Saudi-led blockade on hunger-stricken Yemen. For the past three years Saudi Arabia has led a military campaign involving air strikes and ground troops against the Huthis, who seized the Yemeni capital from the internationally recognized government in 2014. The kingdom accuses the Shiite rebels of being a proxy for its arch foe Iran, which vehemently denies arming the insurgents. An AFP correspondent in Riyadh heard a loud explosion at 1050 GMT, shortly before King Salman was due to oversee the unveiling of the Saudi annual budget. "The missile was aimed at populated residential areas in the Riyadh area, and -- thank God -- was intercepted and destroyed south of Riyadh without any casualties," the official Saudi Press Agency quoted a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition as saying.
"The possession of Iranian-manufactured ballistic weapons by terrorist organizations, including the Iran-backed Huthi militia, is a threat to regional and international security," Turki al-Maliki added. More than 8,750 people have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the government's fight against the Huthis in 2015, triggering what the U.N. has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis. "In exchange for a thousand days of bombardment with internationally banned weapons, there has been a thousand days of steadfastness in which our people have demonstrated that their resolve will not be broken," rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi said in a speech Tuesday. "Today our people reached the heart of Riyadh – the government palace – with a ballistic missile."The missile attacks, which could further escalate the Saudi-led military campaign, underscore how the raging Yemen conflict is increasingly spilling across the border.
'Big bang'
Saudi Arabia angrily accused Iran of supplying the missile involved in last month's attack to the rebels, a charge Tehran strongly denied. On Thursday, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley presented what she called "undeniable" evidence that the missile was "made in Iran."
But her comments went beyond the findings of a U.N. investigation which reached no firm conclusion on whether the missile came from an Iranian supplier, saying only that it had a "common origin" to some Iranian designs.Residents in the Saudi capital reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing smoke after Tuesday's attack."I was in my office when I heard a big bang," said Tomas Kompikan, one of the many foreign workers in Riyadh. "Suddenly after around 30 to 45 seconds I heard a next sound... and we saw a white smoke." The Huthi rebels last month warned that they considered "airports, ports, border crossings and areas of any importance" in Saudi Arabia, as well as its ally the United Arab Emirates, as legitimate targets. Saudi-led air strikes have intensified since the December 4 killing of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh at the hands of the Huthis after his alliance with the rebels collapsed.
The U.N. human rights office said Tuesday it was "deeply concerned" by the surge in civilian casualties due to intensified coalition air strikes. U.N. rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein told AFP a combination of the violence and the blockade the coalition imposed on rebel-held ports last month had created "a horrifying situation in Yemen... literally an inferno for many Yemenis."Pro-government forces have also stepped up attacks on the rebels and last week retook the Red Sea town of Khokha. A medical source in Yemen said Tuesday that 23 Huthi fighters had been killed in clashes with Saudi-backed government forces over the past day in Hodeida province on the Red Sea coast. A military source said at least 14 pro-government fighters were killed in the same period.

Trump Slams China, Russia in 'America First' Security Strategy
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 19/17/U.S. President Donald Trump's first National Security Strategy pillories China and Russia as "revisionist powers" bent on rolling back American interests, according to the hard-hitting text released Monday. The document -- designed to serve as a framework for the Trump administration's approach to the world -- uses remarkably biting language to frame Beijing and Moscow as global competitors. "China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity," the document shapes -- a sharp break from Trump's friendly approach to Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Accusing China of seeking "to displace the United States" in Asia, the strategy is a litany of U.S. grievances, from the Chinese stealing data to spreading "features of its authoritarian system.""Contrary to our hopes, China expanded its power at the expense of the sovereignty of others," it says. Russian nuclear weapons are deemed "the most significant existential threat to the United States" and the Kremlin is described as a power that "seeks to restore its great power status and establish spheres of influence near its borders.""Russia aims to weaken U.S. influence in the world and divide us from our allies and partners," it warns.Trump will expand on the new strategy -- based on his trademark "America First" slogan -- at a speech later Monday.
Guidepost or diversion?
The document -- which has been 11 months in the making -- is required by law and is designed to form a framework for how America approaches the world. Previous national security strategies have been released without much fanfare and served as guideposts, rather than doctrinal commandments.
But in this topsy-turvy administration, the document has taken on extra significance. Allies will now look to it for clarity about the intentions of the world's pre-eminent economic and military power. The text identifies four main priorities: protecting the country and the American people; promoting American prosperity; preserving peace through strength; and advancing American influence. Foreign officials in Washington often complain that there are effectively "two administrations" -- one that they hear from day-to-day in contacts with the State Department and Pentagon and another coming from Trump, often via Twitter in 280 characters or fewer. Trump and his advisors often publicly differ starkly on fundamental security issues from the Middle East to talks with North Korea. But there is little evidence that Trump, who has bucked norms repeatedly in his meteoric rise to power, will stick to the script. His comments about Russia will be especially closely watched. He has repeatedly played down concerns from the Pentagon, State Department and CIA about Putin's meddling in the 2016 election. So far, four Trump campaign aides have faced criminal charges as a result of an investigation into possible collusion between Trump's campaign team and Moscow.
Legacy of ashes
Since coming to office, Trump has work to dismantle the legacy of his predecessor Barack Obama on issues ranging from climate change to free trade, sometimes leaving Washington isolated on the world stage. On Monday, the United Nations Security Council overwhelmingly voted to approve a resolution to reject Trump's controversial recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel -- a move Washington blocked with its veto. Trump's National Security Strategy also breaks with allies on the threat of climate change, avoiding the term outright and instead calling for "energy dominance.""America's central position in the global energy system as a leading producer, consumer, and innovator -- ensures that markets are free and U.S. infrastructure is resilient and secure," it says. Ascending to power on a message resolutely skeptical of climate change, Trump said in June that he would pull the US out of the Paris agreement on climate change signed by almost 200 countries. A year before he left office, Obama said climate change would affect the way America's military must defend the country, through profound adjustments in organization, training and protection of infrastructure.

Kremlin Denounces 'Imperialist Character' of US Strategic Report
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 19/17/The Kremlin denounced on Tuesday the "imperialist character" of the American report on national security strategy, accusing Washington of clinging to a "unipolar world". "The imperialist character of this document is obvious, as is the refusal to renounce a unipolar world, an insistent refusal," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "No doubt we cannot accept that the country is treated as a threat to the security of the United States," he added. US President Donald Trump on Monday unveiled his first National Security Strategy that pilloried Russia and China as "revisionist powers" bent on rolling back American interests. The 68-page strategy report was put together by key aides and said Russia challenges "American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity". At the same time, Trump used the launch of the report to laud benefits of cooperation with Russia. He noted that a recent CIA tip-off about a terror attack on a landmark Orthodox cathedral in Saint Petersburg, Putin's hometown, had prevented deaths "in the thousands". Peskov praised the US report's "modest" positive features, pointing to what he said was Washington's readiness to cooperate with Russia in areas such as an exchange of security information. "This agrees with our approaches because Moscow is also looking for cooperation with the USA where this would serve our interests," the Kremlin spokesman said. Moscow will have to study the document closely, he added.

Pence Delays Mideast Visit amid Anger over Jerusalem Shift
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 19/17/U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has delayed a visit to the Middle East, the White House said Monday, as a crunch tax vote on Capitol Hill looms and anger in the region over Washington's policy shift on Jerusalem persists. The trip to Egypt and Israel, due to begin Tuesday, has been pushed back to mid-January, allowing Pence to remain in Washington in case he needs to cast the deciding vote in the Senate over President Donald Trump's tax reforms. "The tax vote is still in very good shape, but we don't want to take any chances whatsoever," said a senior administration official. Senator John McCain's return home to Arizona to fight cancer has left Republicans with a razor-thin margin to push the legislation over the finishing line. Having failed to clear a series of legislative hurdles, the package is seen as key to Trump's ability to secure support among his base and skittish political donors. "We have some senators who obviously can't make it there for the vote and the vice president feels that it's important for him to be here for the largest tax cut in history," the official said. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the package on Tuesday with the Senate vote to follow late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
'All about' tax cuts
Officials denied that Pence's decision was motivated by a wave of deadly protests in the wake of Trump's controversial decision to declare Jerusalem as Israel's capital. "This is all about the largest tax cut in American history and having the vice president and the full team here," the official said. "It's an odd case to make given we are going to be there in two or three weeks," a second senior White House official said, slapping down suggestions of a delay. Breaking with decades of US policy, Trump also said on December 6 that he would move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Aside from the protests, Palestinian, Muslim and Coptic leaders had cancelled meetings with the vice president, who had already trimmed the trip by three days. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah faction had called for a massive demonstration to coincide with Pence's visit and ruled out meeting him in Ramallah or Bethlehem. The fallout continued Monday as the United States was forced to veto a draft U.Nl resolution rejecting Trump's Jerusalem move, after all 14 other Security Council members -- including allies like Britain -- voted for the measure. The text was introduced by Egypt, where Pence had been scheduled to arrive Wednesday for talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Pence had also planned to address the Knesset, visit the Western Wall and meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Now were are going to look at January and the trip may even be a little bigger. We'll obviously still go to Egypt and Israel, but we may add additional countries," the official said.

Macron Hits Back at Assad over 'Terror Sponsor' Remark
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 19/17/President Emmanuel Macron hit back at Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday after the Syrian leader accused France of supporting terrorism in the war-torn country, saying the comment was "unacceptable". Assad had on Monday called Paris "a standard-bearer of support for terrorism in Syria since the early days of the conflict", referring to early French support for rebels fighting his regime. Macron emphasised that France has been focused for years on destroying the Islamic State group as part of a US-led coalition. "We have been consistent since the beginning" in fighting IS, Macron said at a joint press conference with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg. As the brutal Syrian war grew out of anti-government protests in 2011, France was among Western countries insisting that Assad must go. Macron's predecessor Francois Hollande confirmed in 2014 that France had sent weapons to anti-Assad fighters, after providing logistical support to rebels it considered moderate, including Kurds. It launched air strikes against IS positions in September 2015, intensifying them two months later after the jihadists claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. After Macron won the presidency in May, he confirmed that the policy had shifted towards prioritising the destruction of IS rather than ousting Assad, warning of a "failed state" if the leader were forcibly removed.  In a televised interview Sunday, Macron called Assad "an enemy of the Syrian people" who should ultimately face a war crimes court. But he nonetheless said it was crucial to engage him in diplomacy, calling for the regime and opposition forces to join new peace talks next year after the failure of the latest round in Geneva last week.Paris blamed Damascus for the failure, accusing Assad's government of an "irresponsible strategy of obstruction". Assad's fate has been the stumbling block to progress in every round of UN-backed indirect negotiations in Geneva so far between his representatives and those of the Syrian opposition. Damascus favours talks to be organised in Sochi, Russia, in 2018 by Moscow, the regime's main ally, over the Geneva process. More than 340,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in March 2011.

136 Killed in Saudi-Led Strikes on Yemen in Just 10 Days, UN Says
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 19/17/At least 136 civilians have been killed over 10 days of Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen this month, the United Nations said Tuesday, with the organisation's human rights chief decrying an "inferno" on the ground. The UN human rights office said it had tallied 136 civilians killed and another 87 injured in the strikes on Sanaa, Saada, Al Hudaydah, Marib and Taez governorates between December 6 and 16. "We are deeply concerned by the recent surge in civilian casualties in Yemen as a result of intensified air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition," spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva. A Saudi-led coalition has been waging an air campaign against Huthi rebels since March 2015 in an attempt to shore up the internationally recognised government of Abedrabbo Mansur Hadi. More than 8,750 people have been killed in the conflict since the intervention in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country, where more than 2,000 people have also died of cholera this year. The air strikes have intensified since the December 4 killing of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh at the hands of the Huthis after his alliance with the rebels collapsed.In an interview with AFP on Monday, UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein lamented "the total impunity that seems to exist (in) attacks from all sides", although he said "the majority of casualties is still coming from the coalition air strikes." - 'Horrifying situation' -He said a combination of the violence and a blockade the coalition imposed on rebel-held ports last month, blocking desperately-needed aid, had created "a horrifying situation in Yemen... literally an inferno for many Yemenis."Last week, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, warned: "8.4 million Yemenis are a step away from famine."And on Tuesday, the UN children's agency UNICEF said the blockade had sparked critical shortages and had hit access to safe water across the country. "Water pumping stations serving over three million people via public networks in 14 cities are quickly running out of fuel," it said in a statement. Colville said the rights office had verified that four civilians were killed on December 9 when coalition strikes hit the official Yemen TV channel, Qanat Al Yemen. At least seven civilians were also killed when air strikes hit the Al Hudaydah on December 10, with 45 more perishing in attacks on a prison in Sanaa three days later, he said. The office said it had also just verified reports that 20 civilians, including 14 children, were killed in an attack on a farmhouse in Hudaydah governorate on December 15, while one woman and nine children were killed a day later as they returned from a wedding party in Marib governorate. Colville called on all sides in the conflict to "take all feasible precautions to avoid, and in any event to minimise, the impact of violence on civilians." Zeid voiced hope that a recently-appointed team of international war crimes investigators, set to arrive in Yemen next month, "will have a chilling effect on actions taken against civilians."

Saudi-Palestinian Summit to Confirm Rejection of US Decision
Riyadh- Fatah Al-Rahman Youssef/Asharq Al-Awsat/December 19/17/Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is due to meet Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman today and assure the rejection of the US decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognize it as the capital of Israel. The visit also comes as a verification of the Saudi preliminary stance on the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem and rejection of all these changes. Ambassador of Palestine to Saudi Arabia Bassem Abdullah al-Agha affirmed in a phone call with Asharq Al-Awsat that President Abbas's visit is an affirmation of the Saudi commitment to the Palestinian cause and Jerusalem, which will be the main focus of the Saudi-Palestinian summit talks in Riyadh today. “The US decision on Jerusalem made a fuss although King Salman advised, alerted and warned the US side of announcing this,” Agha said, adding that Trump has killed the peace process and violated UN resolutions and directions. Agha pointed out that the Palestinian people are acting against the decision, dictating their conscience, patriotism, Islamism and Arabism, explaining that some "described this move as a Palestinian revolution, but it is actually the world’s revolution against Trump and his Israeli counterpart Netanyahu."“We wanted peace, but Trump and Netanyahu don’t,” Agha said. Amidst that, the Saudi positions are “preliminary and principled as Jerusalem is the heartbeat of King Salman and his Crown Prince.”We have seen over the years Saudi Arabia's positions in the UN, UNESCO, Geneva and all international institutions, and the Kingdom's stances have always been with Palestine and Jerusalem. The Kingdom considers the Palestinian cause an internal and external issue at the core of its policy as it has never stopped protecting the Palestinian people and cause from enemies.The Palestinian-Saudi relations will never change, Agha said, pointing out that Saudi Arabia has never stopped supporting Palestine politically and financially.

Five Terrorists Killed in Clashes with Egypt Police
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat//December 19/17/Egypt’s Ministry of the Interior announced Monday that five terrorists were killed and 11 others were arrested in a security crackdown in Alexandria, New Valley and Qalyubia governorates.This preemptive action came in the framework of the ministry's efforts to thwart the terrorist attacks and plots to destabilize Egypt's security, the ministry said. “The public security sector managed to monitor the movement of a number of terrorist elements in the vicinity of the three governorates as they were preparing to carry out a series of terrorist attacks against Christian places of worship and vital institutions in the country,” a statement issued by the Interior Ministry explained. t said security forces located the terrorists' hideout in Obour, north of Cairo, adding that the terrorists opened fire at policemen after they were discovered. The terrorists used a building under construction as a basis for their terror activities, the ministry said The police also seized three machine guns, a shotgun and ammunition at the hiding place. The investigations confirmed that a number of these elements received financial support from the terrorist cadres fleeing in northern Sinai to finance their movement.

Iran Wants to Examine Missile Parts
Asharq Al-Awsat/December 19/17/London- Adil al Salmi/United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley presented on Thursday the debris of a missile at a military base in Washington which she said was made by Iran and fired at King Khalid International Airport on November 4 by Houthis.
Haley's claims prompted Iranian official responses namely from Defense Minister Amir Hatami who said on Monday that Iran should be given a piece of the missile to do its own investigation. “Enemies of the Islamic Republic can claim many things, but following Iran’s complaint, a debris of the missile should be given to Iran to examine it and announce its final analysis about it,” Hatami said. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif also announced his country lodged a complaint with the UN protesting Haley's press conference in which she presented "irrefutable evidence" that Tehran sent weapons to Houthis in Yemen. Zarif called the missile show “a piece of metal” and said the accusations by Haley were “unfounded”. "Rajanews" website claimed that the missile was Iranian but launched in Deir Ez-Zour in June in response to ISIS' attacks in Tehran. It was unclear whether Iran's foreign and defense ministries had lodged a single complaint with the UN or two. The Iranian defense ministry’s technical department is looking into Haley’s claim and her recent missile show at the UN, Hatami said on Monday. On Thursday, Haley held a news conference at a military hangar at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, just outside Washington, and uncovered the remains of the missile. The new Trump administration step comes two months after announcing a strategy to counter Iran's destabilizing activities, mainly the role of the Quds Force, foreign arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the development of ballistic missiles.
At the time, Trump refused to ratify Iran's commitment to the nuclear deal and gave the US Congress 60 days to declare its position on the reimposing nuclear sanctions, but the period ended without any clear decision. US sources said last week that Trump might announce US withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran next month. Hatami told semi-official Tasnim news agency on Monday that US claims cannot be answered remotely. "One cannot respond to this allegation without an inspection and from afar; therefore, the Islamic Republic's complaint will soon be prepared and forwarded to the UN," he said. On March 24, 2017, the Security Council passed Resolution 1747 with the approval of all its members, which includes sanctions on Iranian companies producing missiles, and prohibits the decision to export or import heavy weapons to and from Iran. It forbade Iran from providing any arms to anyone, anywhere and called on all nations to refrain from exporting any major arms to Iran. Last week, reports circulated stating that UN experts had prepared a report proving Houthis fired an Iranian-made ballistic missile. Haley's press conference came after the commander of IRGC Mohammed Ali Jafari officially announced that Iran provides "advisory" support to Houthis. For six years, Iran has been describing its military presence in Iraq and Syria as "consultant". In a series of tweets, Zarif tried to downplay the significance of US ambassador's remarks, but the announcement of the defense minister reflects serious concern in Tehran of international action against Iranian activities. This is not the first time Iran is accused of sending weapons to Houthis. In January 2013, the US military announced that it intercepted an Iranian ship sent to Houthis and loaded with 40 tons of anti-tank weapons. On February 24, 2015, former US Secretary of State John Kerry accused Iran of supporting Houthis in overthrowing the Yemeni government. During the same period, it was reported that "Unit 190" of al-Quds Force was responsible for transferring weapons to pro-Iranian groups in five Arab countries: Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. In a report, Fox News mentioned that the unit was moving weapons through the sea, land and air to Tehran's allies. Iran's defense minister did not comment on the charges against al-Quds' activities in the region. In addition to "Unit 190", "Unit 400" of al-Quds is responsible for the execution of military and intelligence operations outside the Iranian border. In March 2015, Reuters quoted US officials as saying that information revealing IRGC's role is still limited in Yemen, but the corps are training Houthis in Yemen. In the same report, Reuters quoted a US official who confirmed that the role of IRGC in Yemen is "rising." The report also quoted US sources as saying that the Revolutionary Guard transferred military weapons to Houthis in Yemen.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 19-20/17
The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook
December 18-20/17/An ambitious U.S. task force targeting Hezbollah's billion-dollar criminal enterprise ran headlong into the White House's desire for a nuclear deal with Iran.
By Josh Meyer
Illustrations by Daniel Zender
https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obama-hezbollah-drug-trafficking-investigation/

Qatar and its Weapon Purchasing Policy
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/December 19/17
Qatar's recent military deals are enough to protect a state ten times its size and population.
Since the crisis began, Qatar bought 24 British Typhoon fighter jets, 15 US F-15 fighter aircraft worth $12 billion, 24 French Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft, seven Italian warships worth $6 billion, 62 German military for $2 billion and $2 billion military equipment from Turkey. Most of these deals have political goals aiming to win over major governments against the four countries boycotting Qatar: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE. However, since the first military deal and till now, this didn't result in terminating any of the anti-terror quartet’s measures. Aside from few statements that urge reconciliation and call for lifting the boycott, they didn't serve Qatar politically either and these calls fell on the other party's deaf ears. Unfortunately for Qatar, these purchased weapons will eventually serve the four countries within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and they only serve Doha within a collective and defensive framework. Therefore, Qatar’s rush into purchasing and stockpiling weapons do not frighten Riyadh and the other boycotting countries. These weapons will actually come in handy if the crisis with Qatar ends during the upcoming four years.
I assumed it will take four years because this is the duration to produce and deliver the weapons, and not the time it takes for the dispute to end.
I cannot predict the way the rift will be solved whether friendly or dramatically, but the sure thing is that Qatar is the party damaged by this crisis, while the four countries consider it a “small problem.”The anti-terror quartet does not need Qatar even if the severed ties lasted for long years. Doha is suffering on all levels, and it does not have enough air space to train the fighter aircraft it bought, just like there are not enough lands for camels to graze and it had to transfer them via ships to Kuwait and other countries. As long as these deals are part of a political solution, one must ask what has the Qatari government achieved so far? It has achieved very little and what Doha invested in Washington was not enough and it had to sign a security memorandum of understanding with the US. Under the memorandum, Doha made several concessions, including allowing US to monitor its financial activity. Qatar also had to provide US officials with information about people and institutions from other countries and that are linked to it, imprisoned some wanted men and expelled others from the country. Qatar tried to evade doing all this in the past, until its crisis with the four countries erupted and the Qataris rushed to the US offering to cooperate as they fear the crisis will escalate. During the first few days of the crisis, we noticed how the Arab quartet embarrassed Doha when they added the US wanted-lists in Qatar to their demands. In the end, those military deals didn't grant Qatar much if the aim was to mobilize major countries into forcing Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE to put an end to the crisis. Qatari ships are still transporting camels to Kuwait and planes are still transporting cows from the UK and Australia. Meanwhile, borders between Qatar and the quartet are still closed. If the purpose of such deals was to provide military protection, then this is an underestimation of the problem and its possibilities. Even if major countries are involved in these military deals, Qatar’s purchases are no match to that of the Arab quartet. We must keep in mind that major countries may postpone their decisions, meaning the time is not in Qatar’s favor. As for the four Arab countries, they are not under any pressure and actually consider closing their borders with Qatar and cutting ties have deprived Doha from creating internal problems in their countries.

Is It Really about Jerusalem?
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/December 19/2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11560/palestinians-jerusalem-israel
It is worth noting that the campaign against US institutions also states that the Palestinians' real goal is to "liberate Palestine, from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river." In other words, this means that the true goal of the Palestinians is to destroy Israel.
Why do Mahmoud Abbas's remarks come as a surprise? He is simply reiterating the official, long-standing policy of the Palestinian Authority. Where has the West been when Palestinian leaders have declared outright, decade after decade, that Israel has no right to exist and Jewish history is nothing more than lies?
Let us get things straight, finally. The Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims cannot stomach the fact that Israel exists, period. Their real problem is not with Trump's recognition of the reality -- that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Rather, they have a problem with Israel's very existence.
The protests that have swept the West Bank, Gaza Strip and large parts of the Arab and Islamic world in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital show that most Arabs and Muslims still have not come to terms with Israel's right to exist.
The protests also provide further evidence that many Arabs and Muslims, including, of course, the Palestinians, continue to view the US as an enemy and "big Satan" because of its support for Israel. Trump's announcement is just another excuse for Arabs and Muslims to vent their long-standing hatred for Israel and the US.
For the Palestinians, Trump's announcement simply provided the latest opportunity to step up their violent and rhetorical attacks and threats against Israel. As such, there is nothing new about the Palestinian protests that erupted after Trump's announcement.
Palestinian terrorism against Israel is one of the oldest stories in the book. The many shapes it takes, from rock-throwing to stabbings to shootings to suicide bombings and rockets, began long before Trump's announcement and will continue long after it. Hardly a day passes without an incident of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
However, because most of the violent attacks do not injure or kill Israelis, they are ignored by the media. Clashes between stone-throwing Palestinians and Israeli soldiers are as old as the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have even become part of the norm. Shootings and car-ramming attacks? Well, they have been taking place almost every week for the past few decades.
It is disingenuous, then, to claim that Trump's announcement triggered the latest spate of Palestinian violence. At most, the announcement catalyzed the Palestinians to amplify their ongoing terror attacks against Israel. The announcement has also contributed to exposing the Palestinians' long-standing vicious hatred of the US, regardless of who is sitting in the White House -- a Republican or Democratic president.
The Palestinians are on record as failing to distinguish meaningfully between Republicans and Democrats, because the US is, in any event, supposedly "controlled by the Zionist lobby." Consider what political analyst Qais Qadri said during the last US presidential race:
"There is no difference between the Republicans and Democrats with regards to their hostility towards the Palestinian cause. We are weaker than the Jewish lobby to cause any changes in American policy."
Thus, the Palestinian hostility towards the US has nothing to do with Trump himself, but rather concerns general American policies, especially US support for Israel. True, many of the Palestinians who took to the streets in the past week did burn effigies of Trump, but they also torched US flags and chanted slogans accusing the US as being an enemy of the Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.
This uproar is more about hating the US and Americans than protesting a purported change in the status of Jerusalem. Otherwise, why would a Palestinian shop owner hang a sign at the entrance to his business that reads: "Dogs and Americans Not Allowed to Enter"?
Or why would Palestinians launch a campaign to demand the closure of all American institutions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in helping the Palestinians build a viable future Palestinian state? That is just another example of how the Palestinians are shooting themselves in the foot to satisfy their craving to demonize the US. It is worth noting that the campaign against US institutions also states that the Palestinians' real goal is to "liberate Palestine, from the [Mediterranean] sea to the [Jordan] river." In other words, this means that the true goal of the Palestinians is to destroy Israel.
This brings us to the issue of anti-Israel incitement, which has long been an integral part of the Palestinian campaign to delegitimize and demonize Israel and Jews. This campaign, especially through the Palestinian media, began long before Trump's announcement; it gained momentum after that. It is hardly the case that Palestinians were teaching their children to accept Israel's right to exist and live with it in peace before Trump's announcement. On the contrary: for many years now, the Palestinians have been doing their utmost to indoctrinate their children and deny any Jewish attachment or history to the land.
This incitement reached its peak last week, when Palestinian Authority (PA) President delivered a speech before the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Turkey. Abbas claimed that the Jewish history of Jerusalem is false and declared that there will be "no peace in the region and in the world" without a Palestinian state and Jerusalem as its capital. Even the left-wing lobbying Jewish group, J Street, condemned Abbas's "divisive and inflammatory rhetoric."
Yet, why do Abbas's remarks come as a surprise? He is simply reiterating the official, long-standing policy of the Palestinian Authority. Where has the West been when Palestinian leaders have declared outright, decade after decade, that Israel has no right to exist and Jewish history is nothing more than lies?
This week, we received yet another reminder of how Palestinians deny Jewish history. The PA's Ministry of Information released a statement in which it dismissed the existence of the Western Wall, Judaism's most sacred site. Referring to the Western Wall by its Islamic name, the ministry said: "Al-Buraq was, still is and shall be a Palestinian, Arab and Islamic site."
This Palestinian denial of Jewish history did not start after Trump's announcement. In fact, it has nothing to do with the announcement and has always been the public position of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and all Palestinian groups and leaders.
Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are furious not because of any purported change in the status of Jerusalem. They know full well that Trump's announcement will not change anything on the ground and is mostly symbolic. They are not angry because the US embassy is about to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. They are well aware that such a move is unlikely to happen any time in the near future. Besides, why would the PA, which claims it wants East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, oppose moving the US embassy to West Jerusalem?
The answer is simple. It is because the Palestinians and Arabs view all of Jerusalem as an "occupied" city, just as they view all of Israel as an "occupying" power. The protesters on the streets of Arab capitals and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip appear to be more honest than their leaders when they chant: "Palestine is 100% Arab and both parts of Jerusalem, east and west, will be the eternal capital of Palestine!"
Let us get things straight, finally. The Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims cannot stomach the fact that Israel exists, period. Their real problem is not with Trump's recognition of the reality -- that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Rather, they have a problem with Israel's very existence. They see no difference between East Jerusalem and West Jerusalem. For them, the entire city is "occupied," the same way that Haifa, Jaffa, Lod, Ramle, Acre, Nazareth and Tiberias are "occupied" cities.
Palestinians and their fellow Arabs and Muslims hated Israel and the US before Trump's announcement and they will continue to do so after it. For them, Israel has no right to exist, pure and simple. Yet, events do provide cover: Before the announcement, they used Jewish visits to the Temple Mount as an excuse for their rejectionism and terror. This time, they are using the Trump announcement.
Palestinian behavior has made their message as clear as water: the conflict is not about an embassy or a settlement or a fence or a checkpoint, but about the very presence of Jews in this part of the world.
**Bassam Tawil is an Arab Muslim based in the Middle East.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

The US Embassy Move to Jerusalem vs. The "Peace Process"
Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/December 19/2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11561/jerusalem-embassy-move-peace-process
The Palestinians do not want peace. They want victory, a victory that will lead to the elimination of Israel and the expulsion of the Jews.
The 1968 charter of the PLO has never been changed, despite decades of promises that it would be modified. Although secular in character, it advances much the same attitudes as those found in the Hamas charters. In Article 2, for example, it defines "Palestine" in boundaries encompassing the entirety of Israel: "Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit". This means that calls for a Palestinian state based on that definition are also calls for the destruction of Israel.
All attempts at normalization between Palestinians and Israelis or between other Arab states and Israel are routinely dismissed as treachery, a position that endangers the lives of any Palestinian who seeks peace.
Meanwhile, Western leaders, including religious figures such as the Pope, are enchanted with the fantasy that a peace process exists, and forever chant the mantra that nothing must be done to interrupt it. President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is the first time any world leader has stood up to the threats of anger and violence.
On December 6, US President Donald Trump fulfilled a promise that was made by Congress on November 28, 1995 in its Jerusalem Embassy Act -- to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and to mark this by moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the ancient city. That move, according to the Act itself, was to "be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999". Trump's declaration that the US will now implement the Act has been a historical démarche. So why has it taken so long to act on this agreement?
For more than two decades, this clear expression of the will of Congress had, in effect, been held in abeyance following an amendment (section 7) that introduced a waiver that allowed presidents to "suspend the limitation set forth in section 3(b) for a period of six months if he determines and reports to Congress in advance that such suspension if necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States". Since then, every president who followed (including Trump, six months earlier) exercised this waiver.
Over the years, implementation of the Act was caught up in increasingly complicated legal and diplomatic issues that made deferment appear judicious and necessary in the belief that stalling it might help the so-called "peace process" between Israel and the Palestinians: according to Time Magazine:
"though both the Clinton Administration and Israeli government 'support the move to Jerusalem in principle, they would prefer to see the peace process more stabilized before confronting the explosive issue of Jerusalem'."
Clinton's naïve, but at the time understandable, belief that movement was being made towards Israeli-Palestinian peace was only shattered five years later when Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat walked away from a major round of agreements at Camp David and some months later started the Second Intifada (the so-called al-Aqsa Intifada) that lasted from 2000 to 2005, and led to the deaths of thousands on both sides. So much for that peace process.
On his return to Israel after the failure at Camp David Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, wisely commented:
We did not succeed because our Palestinian neighbors have not yet internalized the fact that in order to achieve peace, each side has to give up some of their dreams; to give, not only to demand.
Since then, there have been numerous attempts to arrive at a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. Not even the most promising of these has succeeded, and that lack of success must be put down flatly to the refusal of the Palestinian leadership to accept a single proposal, or even proposing a counter-offer. Everyone who has ever been involved in setting up a deal in business, in law, in a religious or political dispute is aware that nothing can be achieved if there is no one on the other side willing to play the game and make compromises, even if a few compromises might lead to their benefit. Regrettably, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, currently in the twelfth year of his four-year term, is doubtless correctly convinced that any deal he might sign would propel him to be "drinking tea" with assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, the first Arab leader to sign a peace agreement with Israel.
Like his predecessor Yasser Arafat (left), Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (right) is doubtless correctly convinced that any deal he might sign would propel him to be "drinking tea" with assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, the first Arab leader to sign a peace agreement with Israel.
The simple reason for this recalcitrance in the Israel-Palestinian dispute is that the Palestinians do not want peace. They want victory, a victory that will lead to the elimination of Israel and the expulsion of the Jews. A victory would also end Jewish immigration. To say the Palestinians and their allies do not want peace is not based on a contrarian imagination. When eight Arab states met in Khartoum shortly after the 1967 Six-Day War, they passed a resolution that included "three Nos": No peace with Israel, No recognition of Israel and No negotiations of Israel". Although Egypt and Jordan subsequently did make peace treaties with the Jewish state, the spirit of Khartoum among the Palestinians is, after decades of further anti-Israel indoctrination, stronger than ever.
When the Palestinians (and their supporters in the West) chant "Palestine will be free from the river to the sea", they could not be clearer: it means a Palestinian state will stretch from the Mediterranean to the River Jordan, where it will sit alongside (or merge with) the long-standing Palestinian state of Jordan.
Declarations of the Palestinian aspiration to replace Israel with a triumphant Arab state (see any map of "Palestine") are not confined to protesters in the West Bank or on US and British university campuses. They are deeply embedded within the four Palestinian charters: the twin religious charters of Hamas (1988 and 2017) and the two quasi-secular charters of the Palestinian Liberation Authority (1964 and 1968). The current Hamas charter, for example, rejects "the Zionist state" (Article 18), is explicit in encouraging armed resistance through jihad (Article 21), and in Article 19 insists on total reclamation of what they consider Palestinian land: "We do not leave any part of the Palestinian's land, under any circumstances, conditions or pressure, as long as the occupation remains. Hamas refuses any alternative which is not the whole liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea."
The 1968 charter of the PLO has never been changed, despite decades of promises that it would be modified. Although secular in character, it advances much the same attitudes as those found in the Hamas charters. In Article 2, for example, it defines "Palestine" in boundaries encompassing the entirety of Israel: "Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British Mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit". This means that calls for a Palestinian state based on that definition are also calls for the destruction of Israel. Like Hamas, the PLO still calls for the use of brute force to achieve its aims:
Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. This it is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase. The Palestinian Arab people assert their absolute determination and firm resolution to continue their armed struggle and to work for an armed popular revolution for the liberation of their country and their return to it. (Article 9)
How exactly is one to believe that a peace process is even on the table given the expressed intentions of Hamas and the PLO in a context of repeated Palestinian violence against Israel: three wars launched by Hamas from Gaza, two major intifadas and terrorism conducted from the West Bank and inside Israel.
Every time there is a prospect of peace on the horizon, the Palestinians react with tantrums, anger and outright violence if they cannot get everything they want, which is 100%. They are probably unique in this. In 1922, the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland), despite a bloody Civil War, entered into a peace treaty with the United Kingdom, and agreed to give up its northern counties. If Ireland is ever to be reunited, that shift will take place by a democratic process, not violence. But the Palestinians seem wedded to violence. In both Gaza and the West Bank, the entire culture is devoted to hatred of Jews, admiration for suicidal terrorism, financial benefits to murderers and their families, anti-Semitic school textbooks, maps that portray a Palestinian state that eliminates Israel, mosque sermons that call for armed resistance, and political speeches that do the same. Nowhere is there the least effort to pursue peace. Last year, four Palestinians who visited Israelis along with other Palestinians to wish them well for the Sukkot holiday as part of a peace event, were arrested by the Palestinian Authority. All attempts at normalization between Palestinians and Israelis or with other Arab states and Israel are routinely dismissed as treachery, a position that endangers the lives of any Palestinian who seeks for peace.
There is no sign of a genuine peace process on the horizon any time soon. The minute Trump's decision was made public, the Palestinian Authority media were packed with threats of violence from leading politicians. As of this writing, orchestrated "spontaneous" protests have broken out across the West Bank:
"The most violent confrontations occurred in [the West Bank towns of] Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron, where Israeli security forces fired teargas and plastic-coated rounds as hundreds of protesters threw stones and set alight barricades."
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has incited a fresh intifada in response to what he calls Donald Trump's "declaration of war". Perhaps in response to that, rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel, forcing the Israeli Defence Force to declare a red alert in Hof Ashkelon. In Egypt, television host Hisham Abdallah has already called on Palestinians to set Jerusalem on fire. According to Patrick Wintour in the Guardian, there have been protests in Istanbul, a Tunisian labour leader has, like Haniyeh, condemned the US decision as a declaration of war, and, more widely, the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) met in Istanbul on December 13 in a special session to co-ordinate a response.
It is an only too familiar story. Once again, the Palestinian response is not to sit down and talk about the changes this act of recognition would bring about.
Meanwhile, Western leaders, including religious figures such as the Pope, are enchanted with the fantasy that a peace process exists and forever chant the mantra that nothing must be done to interrupt it. President Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is the first time any world leader has stood up to the threats of anger and violence. His decision has been almost universally celebrated by Jews around the world, and by Christians and others who care for both Israel and peace; his announcement is likely to go down in history as a game-changing move that will have long-lasting consequences for the good, however much it is now being derided by Israel's enemies in the Islamic world and the West.
"The Palestinian claim to Jerusalem is of no consequence in the world of modern politics. Jerusalem has never served as an Arab or Islamic capital. Muslim religious claims do not even match scriptural or historical fact", as the Pakistani historian Mobarak Haidar explained the day after Trump's speech.
In contrast to the calls for war and violence summarized above, Israel's President Reuven Rivlin reacted to the US move by expressing his gratitude to President Trump and stressing his hope for peace:
Jerusalem is not, and never will be, an obstacle to peace for those who want peace. As it is written, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, may all that love her prosper, may there be peace in her quarters and palaces". (Psalm 122:6)
*Dr. Denis MacEoin is a Distinguished Fellow of the Gatestone Institute and, before official retirement, a university professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Turkey Mania: "Jerusalem is Muslim"
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/December 19/2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11553/turkey-jerusalem
By rejecting Jerusalem's Judaic history, Erdogan is ironically denying that his holy book, the Quran, recognizes the Land of Israel. The Quran does not say that the Israelites originated in Alaska.
The United States will not retract its decision just because it angered the already angry jihadists in Turkey or elsewhere in the realm of Islam.
"There is only one conclusion we can draw from this comparison: The 'ummah,' the Muslim religious community, is tired of the Jerusalem issue.... [F]or many years angry groups have been chanting 'Down with Israel' and nothing happens to Israel. The angry slogans and burned flags have been no use for many decades. Most leaders of Muslim-majority countries are wary of the issue, and the Palestinian cause is used in many other countries simply as an outlet to reinforce the ruler." — Ahmet Hakan, columnist, Hurriyet Daily News.
US President Donald Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has unveiled multiple hypocrisies that sadly capture the minds of Islamist leaders and their willing choruses of jihadists.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey, not surprisingly, champions the global Islamist war on Trump's move. In a latest show of "solidarity with the Palestinian cause," Turkey spearheaded efforts at a summit of Islamic nations in Istanbul to declare "eastern Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine under occupation".
Erdogan's argument is too weak and unconvincing from the beginning. He has simply chosen to attack Israel although what has newly entered the political equation on Jerusalem was a sovereign U.S. pronouncement. The pragmatist in Erdogan wanted to ignore that simply because the U.S. is too big to bite for him.
Erdogan said of Jerusalem: "Al-Quds [Jerusalem] has been viewed as the prayer place of Muslims and Christians and, partially ... as if it is the prayer place of Jews". Partially? It is elementary history that Jerusalem's pre-Islamic period of 3300-1000 BCE appeared in the book of Genesis -- the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- when Erdogan's ancestors were probably hunters in the steppe of Central Asia. The years 1000-732 BCE marked the period of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Simply put, Jerusalem's Judaic history dates back to thousands of years before the birth of Islam. By rejecting Jerusalem's Judaic history, in fact, Erdogan is ironically denying that his holy book, the Quran, recognizes the Land of Israel. The Quran does not say that the Israelites originated in Alaska.
Angry Islamists also argue that the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital city is a move against peace in the Middle East. They do not explain, however, if there was ever peace in the modern history of the Middle East. They do not explain, either, if thousands of Muslims in the Middle East kill thousands of other Muslims every year because President Trump declared Jerusalem as Israel's capital city.
Erdogan's prime minister, Binali Yildirim, said that with its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the United States has primed a bomb in the Middle East. The bomb Yildirim mentioned has always been planted somewhere in the Middle East and detonated by Muslims mostly against other Muslims of a different sect, tribe, ethnicity or religious practice.
Since Trump's statement on the status of Jerusalem, protesting Israel and the United States has been part of daily life in Turkey's big cities. Producing and selling Palestinian flags must be one of the most lucrative businesses these days. Turkish protesters gather in crowds to chant anti-Jewish and anti-American slogans and carry placards ornamented with Arabic script that they cannot read. They are angry. They threaten to go globally violent. "If al-Quds [Jerusalem] fell, no capital in the world will be safe," a big group of protesters in Ankara warned the world.
Erdogan's argument on the international illegitimacy of Jerusalem as Israel's complete and united capital is based on a United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 478, of August 20, 1980, which "condemned in 'the strongest terms' the enactment of Israeli law proclaiming a change in status of Jerusalem and called on all states 'that have established diplomatic missions' in Jerusalem to withdraw them from the city".
Not too bad. But 478 is not the only UNSC resolution, and Erdogan chooses to ignore some others.
For instance, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a statelet on the island's north and recognized only by Turkey, is an illegal entity, as per UNSC resolutions 541 and 550. The UN General Assembly, in a host of resolutions since 1974, when Turkey invaded the northern third of the island, has demanded, inter alia, respect for the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, unity and the non-aligned status of the Republic of Cyprus, the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all occupation (Turkish) troops, the return of the refugees to their homes in safety, as well as respect of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots. These resolutions have been systematically violated and disregarded by Turkey. The Turkish military has remained on the island since 1974.
Once again, the realities surrounding the Islamist sentiments over Jerusalem and the entire Middle East will be different from what the big angry Turks want them to be. The United States will not retract its decision just because it angered the already angry jihadists in Turkey or elsewhere in the realm of Islam. Sooner or later, it will be business as usual. Thousands of Muslims will be killing thousands of other Muslims along sectarian and every other line and put the blame on "Yankees and Jooos." Thousands of Muslims will kill more Muslims, while blaming foreign powers for their violent divisions. Even at the start of the new "Jerusalem belongs to Islam" campaign, the Islamic world seems divided. On the eve of the Istanbul summit on December 13, Ankara criticized what it said was a "feeble Arab reaction to the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital." It said that some Arab countries were scared of angering Washington.
Ahmet Hakan, a prominent columnist from the ranks of political Islam, mentioned in a recent op-ed piece two television broadcasts: The first showed people who had gathered for a big sale at an electronic goods store in a conservative Turkish city:
"There was such a big crowd in front of the store that if you saw it, you would likely think that it was a political party meeting, and that the party was headed to power."
The second broadcast showed different groups in Turkey protesting Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.:
"In none of them was there any crowd similar in size to the one in front of the store selling discounted electronic goods... This lack of interest was not only in Turkey; a similar situation was valid everywhere in the Islamic world."
Why? Hakan explains:
"There is only one conclusion we can draw from this comparison: The 'ummah,' the Muslim religious community, is tired of the Jerusalem issue.
"Why is it tired?
"Perhaps because for many years angry groups have been chanting 'Down with Israel' and nothing happens to Israel. The angry slogans and burned flags have been no use for many decades. Most leaders of Muslim-majority countries are wary of the issue, and the Palestinian cause is used in many other countries simply as an outlet to reinforce the ruler. The Middle East is already full of bloodshed that nobody can do anything about".
Whether Jerusalem stands as Israel's united capital or not, in the Middle East it will simply be bloody business as usual.
**Burak Bekdil, one of Turkey's leading journalists, was recently fired from Turkey's leading newspaper after 29 years, for writing what was taking place in Turkey for Gatestone. He is a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Russia's Military is Leaner, but Meaner
Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/December 19/17
During Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual press conference on Thursday, a friendly journalist asked Putin whether the escalating tension in relations with the US and the crumbling of arms control treaties would draw Russia into an unsustainable arms race. "We will ensure our security without engaging in an arms race," the president replied, citing widely diverging dollar numbers for the US and Russian defense budgets.
That's a simplistic answer from a politician starting an election campaign. The more pointed question that should be asked is this: How, with a relatively small and decreasing military budget -- 2.77 trillion rubles ($42.3 billion) for 2018, down from some 3.05 trillion rubles this year -- is Russia is still a formidable military rival to the US, with its enormous and increasing budget of almost $692.1 billion in 2018, up from $583 billion this year?
The equalizing value of the two countries' well-balanced nuclear deterrents is enough of a reason to avoid direct confrontation. But leaving that aside, Putin may well understand the nature of modern military challenges better than US President Donald Trump and US legislators -- and Russia's authoritarian system may be more efficient when it comes to military allocations. Note that Russia is now almost an equal to the US as a power broker in the Middle East, where the Russian military has just helped Syrian regime head Bashar Assad effectively win a civil war -- in which the US was helping the other side. At the same time, Russian defense spending numbers are deceptive. The country is far more militarized than its defense spending suggests.
Trump's military spending hike, which makes it necessary to remove the existing cap on defense expenditure, is a dubious and likely outdated response to decreased global security.
Quite aside from the cost of maintaining the world's most powerful military, the US, according to the Washington think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, has spent at least $2 trillion on its wars since 2001. But, considering the less transparent costs, such as those of caring for veterans, war-related increases to the Department of Defense base budget and interest on the debt taken on to cover defense spending, it's closer to $4 trillion at the very least. The Afghan conflict has cost the US at least $840 billion -- more than four times Afghanistan's cumulative GDP since 2001. Since the 2018 US defense budget contains additional funds for sending 3,500 more troops to Afghanistan, the results of the massive outlay over the years are clearly sub-optimal.
Today's wars aren't fought with fat wads of money. The adversaries are mostly small, agile forces that aren't as well-resourced as nation states. Fighting them requires a combination of local knowledge, brute force applied only at important points in a conflict and ability to shift risks onto the shoulders of irregular fighters. Russia kept cutting its defense budget all through its participation in the Syrian war. Yabloko, an opposition party, earlier this year put the cost of the Syrian operation for Russia at about 140.4 billion rubles ($2.4 billion at the current exchange rate) since September, 2015; that's some 4 percent of what the US allocated to overseas contingency operations in 2017 alone -- and the outcome is as good as Russia could have expected.
The US is pumping money into comparatively inefficient war-fighting -- and into preparing for the kind of large-scale war that's not likely to take place because of existing nuclear arsenals and unauthorized nuclear proliferation. Even North Korea, with its unknown but probably small nuclear capability, is dangerous enough to deter the US from attacking.
US defense budgets, of course, feed a large, powerful domestic industry; even the indirect US involvement in a conflict lifts the stock prices of major defense contractors, research has shown. In Russia, the biggest contractors are state-controlled; they have far less lobbying clout, and the technocratic Russian government has kept them on a short leash, though some of the military's purchasing decisions have served regional development rather than defense purposes.
That said, in relative terms, Russia is spending more on force-related functions than the US does. Trump's budget proposal allocated $71.8 billion to the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department. Add that up with the defense spending, and the total security budget will stand at $764 billion, less than 19 percent of total federal spending. Russia will spend a combined 29 percent of its federal budget -- some 4.8 trillion rubles -- on defense and domestic security.
Russia could show the world how to spend efficiently on more than adequate defense -- but instead it is engaged in an arms race against its own development. For years, it has been under-funding areas such as education and health, undermining what Putin told the press conference was his vision of the country's future -- flexible, technology-driven, highly productive. Judging by Putin's answers to reporters on Thursday, he still prefers not to notice that.

Suffering of Iran’s women increases under ‘moderate’ Rouhani
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/December 19/ 2017
According to the recently released World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report, Iran is among the five worst countries in the world when it comes to improving women’s rights, parity and equality. The Islamic Republic of Iran is ranked 140th of 144 countries, ahead of only Chad, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen. The report measures gender equality using various parameters, including economic participation, health and survival, healthy life expectancy, political empowerment and opportunity, and education. While the majority of countries in the Middle East have shown progress, the Islamic Republic of Iran is heading in a negative direction.
According to the WEF’s report, Iran has gone backwards “on the educational attainment and health and survival gender gaps”. This is happening while other countries in the region have improved. For example, according to the report, Saudi Arabia “re-closes its gender gap in enrolment in primary education” and sees progress “in gender parity for professional and technical workers.”The findings are intriguing as they highlight the fact that Iran’s deteriorating stance on gender parity is occurring under the watch of the so-called “moderate” president, Hassan Rouhani, and his Moderation and Development Party. Rouhani made promises that he would improve women’s economic situation, create jobs and enhance their rights.
Nevertheless, after his election, not only did Rouhani not fulfil his promises, but he gave a freer rein to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Ministry of Intelligence, the militia group Basij, and the judiciary to crack down on women. His first proposed names for cabinet ministers were also all male.
This is a strategy that the Islamic Republic has used since its foundation in 1979. In order to mobilize women and obtain their support, the officials make promises to improve women’s conditions. Nevertheless, after they assume power, women’s rights not only take a back seat on their agenda, but actually further deteriorate. It is worth noting that the worst area for women in Iran is the economic participation gap and the difference between women and men in the labor force. Iran ranks 143rd of the 144 countries, followed only by Syria at the bottom of the list. Iran scored 0.225 while the average is 0.667 — this means that the gender gap in the economic landscape is roughly three times greater than the average.
Women from minority ethnic and religious groups such as Sunnis, Christians, Arabs and Kurds suffer the most. Naghmeh, a 26-year-old woman from Tehran, told Human Rights Watch: “I am a mechanical engineer and I was interviewed for a position in Iran’s oil and gas fields… My contact in the company told me that they really liked me, but that they did not want to hire a woman to go to the field.” The worst area is the economic participation gap and the difference between women and men in the labor force, in which the Islamic Republic outranks only one country — Syria.
In addition, these findings show that the nuclear deal has not benefited the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people, as advocates of the deal had predicted. President Rouhani promised the nuclear agreement would improve the economic standards of the population because of the relief of sanctions. But the WEF’s report clearly shows that half of the country’s population, Iranian women, have not benefited at all.
This is due to the fact that the regime has not taken any concrete initiatives or legislative moves to ensure that women would benefit from the extra billions of dollars that the regime is receiving. The IRGC and the office of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, have been the major beneficiaries. Rouhani has further intensified the unequal economic reality.
Official figures indicate that 42 percent of Iranian women between the ages of 15 and 29 are unemployed. And Iran has the highest brain drain in the world, with many skilled and talented women leaving Iran for better economic opportunities. Finally, the Iranian regime is not only among the world leaders in the execution of minors, according to Amnesty International, but Tehran is also among the worst when it comes to executions of women. Many women in Iran’s prisons, specifically in the notorious Evin Prison, which is known as a torture factory, say they would prefer to die than endure the atrocities and heinous acts committed by the Iranian regime. In conclusion, although the Iranian regime’s revenues have substantially increased, the situation of women under the presidency of the “moderate” Rouhani has significantly deteriorated. Rouhani has failed to fulfill his promises. This also ought to be a warning sign for those who call for more business with the Iranian regime and advocate for more appeasement policies toward the ruling mullahs. • Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. He serves on the boards of the Harvard International Review, the Harvard International Relations Council and the US-Middle East Chamber for Commerce and Business. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

Before Gaza turns into Somalia
Nadav Eyal|/Ynetnews/December 19/17
Op-ed: To save the strip from a collapse, which will naturally become Israel’s problem, there is a need for an international humanitarian intervention that will get rid of the Hamas rule one way or another; while Israel is incapable of leading such an intervention, it can explain its urgency to the world.
The “drizzle” of missiles from the Gaza Strip at Israel’s southern communities has been going on for more than a week now. For the residents and their children, who are forced to run into bomb shelters, it doesn’t feel like a drizzle but rather like ongoing torture.
Since US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, four Palestinians have been killed by IDF fire on the Gaza border, including a double amputee. Another round of fighting in the south won’t take anyone by surprise, but this time we need to rethink the situation.
International law forbids the use of force between two states. The United Nations Charter states two basic exceptions to this rule: Self-defense and military measures approved by the UN Security Council to “restore international peace and security.” There is an agreement that self-defense could also include preventive measures, like the ones Israel took in the Six-Day War.
Recent decades have seen the development of a practice of another exception to the prohibition on use of force—humanitarian intervention. The idea behind armed humanitarian intervention is that it is sometimes the international community’s duty to protect citizens from an intolerable situation of government abuse and atrocities, and that such an intervention could be legal even if it is not self-defense and even if it wasn’t approved by the UN Security Council—like in the 1999 NATO bombing of Kosovo.
The Gaza Strip is not a state, but a semi-independent political entity. It is controlled by a violent fundamentalist organization, which forcibly seized power from the (unelected) Palestinian government.
The situation in Gaza is disastrous: About 95 percent of the water in the strip is undrinkable; huge amounts of wastewater are discharged into the sea following the sewage system’s collapse; the unemployment rate is around 40 percent; there is no power most hours of the day; there is a chronic malnutrition crisis, mainly among children; and the health systems are on the verge of collapse.
Both the IDF and the UN secretary-general agree that Gaza is on the verge, or beyond the verge, of a serious humanitarian crisis. The reconciliation process between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, which should have perhaps improved the situation in the strip, has basically collapsed.
This is a horrible situation, first and foremost for the Gazan citizens and children who are suffering tremendously. But when it comes to Israel, this situation has strategic and practical implications. It was Israel that initiated the basic change in the situation in Gaza, twice: First in the Oslo Agreements, and then in the disengagement. The Gazans supported Hamas, and they paid and keep paying a heavy price for it—in the terror organization’s cruel policy inside the strip and in Israel’s siege policy.
History and its lessons, however, won’t change the basic situation: Gaza’s collapse and a humanitarian crisis in the strip will become Israel’s problem. Whether right or wrong, that’s what will happen, and that’s why the coordinator of government activities in the territories sent a letter to the UN warning of a humanitarian crisis in the strip. Furthermore, there is a possibility that Gaza will turn into Somalia, and if that happens, Hamas itself may lose its effective ability to control the different organizations in the strip which are now firing rockets at Israel.
There is a need for an international humanitarian intervention in the Gaza Strip, which will get rid of the Hamas rule one way or another. Israel is not a good candidate for such an intervention; it will be suspected of trying to reoccupy the strip from Hamas, its bitter enemy. It is perfectly clear that neither the Egyptians nor the Arab League or the PA forces would be interested in launching a military intervention, and it’s also clear that the West—which has grown weaker in the past decade—will have trouble doing so too.
Nevertheless, Israel should lead this approach as soon as possible and try to find supporters. It should explain that an Israeli humanitarian intervention is out of the question because of the country’s history of conflict with the strip, but that such an intervention is necessary and urgent. It is necessarily to restore security in the region, it is necessary for the south’s residents, and it is certainly necessarily for millions of Gazan citizens who are living in hell. The world, Israel and Egypt cannot afford a Somalia or South Sudan in Gaza.
**Nadav Eyal is Channel 10's chief international correspondent.