LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 16/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations
Jesus Said To the Devil: Do not put the Lord your God to the test
Matthew 04/ 01-11: "Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. Then the Devil came to him and said, “If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn into bread.” But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks.’” Then the Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, the Holy City, set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, “If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the scripture says,‘God will give orders to his angels about you;they will hold you up with their hands,so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.’” Jesus answered, “But the scripture also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. “All this I will give you,” the Devil said, “if you kneel down and worship me.” Then Jesus answered, “Go away, Satan! The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’” Then the Devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped him."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 15-16/18

Tillerson urges Lebanon to distance itself from the Hezbollah militia/By Carol Morello/The Washington Post/February 15/18
Western Feminists: Hijab Hypocrisy/Khadija Khan/Gatestone Institute/February 15/18
European Officials: Apologists for Arab-Islamic Repression, Terrorism/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/February 15/18
Turkey's "Peace Operations"/Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/February 15/18
Time To Act On ‘Suicides’ Of Iran’s Political Prisoners/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/February 15/2018
Iraq: When Countries Build While Others Destroy/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/February 15/18
Piketty Thinks the EU Is Bad for Eastern Europe. He's Half Right./Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/February 15/18
A world summit for the future of mankind/Mohammed Al-Hammadi/Al Arabiya/February 15/18
Why Britain needs to forge closer ties with the GCC/Najah Alotaibi/Al Arabiya/February 15/18
Rising above hunger and all forms of malnutrition/José Graziano da Silva/Al Arabiya/February 15/18

Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on February 15-16/18
In Beirut, Tillerson Says Hizbullah Actions Threaten Lebanon, Region
U.S. Secretary of State in Lebanon, Meets Senior Officials
Tillerson: Growing Hezbollah arsenal a threat to Lebanon
Tillerson urges Lebanon to distance itself from the Hezbollah militia
Aoun To Tillerson: Lebanon Is Sticking To Its Borders, Rejects Israeli Claims Over Disputed Area
Tillerson Says Growing Hezbollah Arsenal Threat To Lebanon
Aoun Urges Tillerson to Act over Israeli ‘Assaults’ despite Cold Welcome
Aoun Briefs Cabinet on Tillerson, Satterfield Talks, Says Lebanon to be 'Gas Producing Country'
Aoun: We Don't Want War with Anyone, U.S. Must Put End to Israel Violations
Lebanese presidency denies U.S. Secretary of State kept waiting at palace
Jumblatt: White House should hear our message
Lebanese Journalists Attend Seminar on STL, Int'l Criminal Proceedings
Qassem Soleimani Assails Israel, Commemorates Mughniyeh
Jumblat: Lebanon Won't Waiver Border Rights, Must Benefit from Upcoming Entitlements
Collapsed Building Kills Mother and Child in Beirut Southern Suburbs

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 15-16/18

US Defense Secretary to Al Arabiya: Iran is behind all regional crises
De Mistura says current Syria situation most dangerous he’s seen in 4 years
Monitor: 15 Russian private security workers dead in Syria
Syria 'repels' Israeli surveillance aircraft
Egypt army: Militants looking to Sinai for new home base
Egypt arrests ex-presidential candidate and government critic Abul Fotouh
UN expects 200,000 more Southern Sudanese refugees north
17 Killed in Florida School Shooting by Former Student
Strikes Hit Yet Another Hospital in Syria's Idlib

Latest Lebanese Related News published on February 15-16/18
In Beirut, Tillerson Says Hizbullah Actions Threaten Lebanon, Region
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/February 15/18
Hizbullah's actions pose a threat to the security of Lebanon and have a destabilizing influence in the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday. "Hizbullah is not just a concern for the United States. The people of Lebanon should also be concerned about how Hizbullah's actions, its growing arsenal, bring unwanted and unhelpful scrutiny on Lebanon," Tillerson said in Beirut after talks with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. "Hizbullah entanglement in regional conflicts threatens the security of Lebanon and has destabilizing effects on the region," he said of the Iran-backed Lebanese movement. Hizbullah, branded a "terrorist" organization by the United States, is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has fighters on the ground in the war-torn country supporting the regime. "Their presence in Syria has perpetuated the bloodshed, increased the displacement of innocent people and propped up the barbaric Assad regime," Tillerson said at a news conference with Hariri. "Their presence in Iraq and Yemen has also fueled violence. And the consequences of Hizbullah's involvement in these far-off conflicts -- which have nothing to do with Lebanon -- are felt here," he added. Hizbullah's influence was at the heart of a political crisis in Lebanon over Hariri's shock resignation announced from Saudi Arabia in November that was later rescinded.
On Wednesday, speaking in Amman, Tillerson conceded that Hizbullah is part of the "political process" in Lebanon, appearing to soften Washington's tone. "We support a free, democratic Lebanon free of influence of others, and we know that Lebanese Hizbullah is influenced by Iran. This is influence that we think is unhelpful in Lebanon's long-term future," he said. "We also have to acknowledge the reality that they also are part of the political process in Lebanon." Later, U.S. Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein said however that Lebanon "would be better off without Hizbullah's terrorism and malign influence."The Beirut visit comes amid a new U.S. effort to squeeze Iran with sanctions against Hizbullah and the Trump administration is hitting Hizbullah's financial network with new penalties as part of its efforts to limit Iran's influence throughout the region. Tillerson also said that the U.S. administration is "engaging with the governments of both Lebanon and Israel to ensure Lebanon's southern border remains calm," amid tension with Israel over gas drilling rights. He said: "If an agreement" between Israel and Lebanon can be reached over drilling rights, it will help Lebanon and neighboring countries to prosper for years to come.
Tillerson added that the discussions were positive on how to break the "stalemate" with Israel over the gas drilling rights. "We've asked no one to give up anything. Rather, we're looking for a solution," Tillerson told reporters. The U.S. has been trying to mediate in the dispute, and Tillerson suggested Israel should stop building a border wall until the border between the two countries is agreed on. "Let's get the border agreed first and then people can think about if they need a security wall or not at that point," Tillerson said. Tillerson, during his short visit, also reinforced support for Lebanon's government headed by Hariri and for the Lebanese armed forces, which is a major recipient of U.S. military assistance. "And we remain committed to helping Lebanon and the Lebanese people prosper through the development of their natural resources in agreement with all of their neighbors," he added.
Hariri for his part said: "What is ours is ours and what is Israel's is Israel's. We are trying to find solutions that will be fair to us and fair to everyone.""The U.S. has demonstrated that investing in Lebanon yields quick and fruitful results," the premier said at the beginning of the news conference.
"This support is directly aligned with my priority to build our state institutions. It is the only way to guarantee our stability and our democracy. Our democracy which will be reaffirmed in free and fair elections, 12 weeks from today," he added. "As I pointed to Secretary Tillerson, the commitment by all in Lebanon to the policy of disassociation is today a collective responsibility. It is closely monitored by all State institutions to ensure it is executed to Lebanon’s national interest in keeping the best relations with Arab countries and the International Community at large," he added. Hariri also emphasized that Lebanon is committed to U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1701 and 2373. "We want to move to a state of permanent ceasefire but Israel’s daily violations of our sovereignty hinder that process, as does Israel’s escalating rhetoric. This needs to stop. Lebanon’s southern border is the calmest border in the Middle East and I asked Secretary Tillerson to help keep it that way," the premier added.

U.S. Secretary of State in Lebanon, Meets Senior Officials
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/February 15/18/U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Lebanon Thursday where he held talks with senior Lebanese officials. Tillerson's visit, part of a tour of the Middle East, comes at a time of tension between Lebanon and neighboring Israel, notably over the role of Hizbullah and Israel's encroachment on the country’s land and maritime border. Tillerson first met with President Michel Aoun and has reportedly discussed Lebanon's gas and border dispute with Israel. Tillerson left the meeting with Aoun without making a statement, but he signed the visitors’ guest book at the Baabda Presidential Palace, marking his first official visit to Lebanon. The U.S. embassy said on its Twitter page that Tillerson “discussed with Aoun and Foreign Affairs Minister Jebran Bassil the U.S.-Lebanese bilateral relations, reiterating the U.S. support for Lebanese state institutions, especially the Lebanese army and for a strong, stable and prosperous Lebanon.”He later held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri at Ain el-Tineh. The embassy said Tillerson “reaffirmed to Berri the importance of the close U.S.-Lebanese partnership as the two countries work together to pursue common goals that advance Lebanon’s sovereignty, stability, and prosperity.” The U.S. diplomat then headed to the Grand Serail where he met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Israel has recently escalated its threats over Lebanon's invitation for offshore gas exploration bids along the countries' maritime border.
Israel claims that Lebanon will be drilling in areas owned by Israel. Lebanese officials contest those claims, saying the area where it plans to drill belongs to Lebanon. The long-standing dispute resurfaced recently as Lebanon invited companies to sign exploration deals. U.S. officials have previously tried to mediate the dispute. The Iran-backed group Hizbulah, a member of Hariri's government, is an arch-foe of Israel and branded a "terrorist" organization by the United States. It is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has fighters on the ground in the war-torn country supporting the regime.
Hizbullah's influence was at the heart of a political crisis in Lebanon over Hariri's shock resignation announced from Saudi Arabia in November that was later rescinded.

Tillerson: Growing Hezbollah arsenal a threat to Lebanon
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Thursday, 15 February 2018/
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday Hezbollah’s growing arsenal and its involvement in regional conflicts threatened the security of Lebanon.
He said that Hezbollah "is a terrorist organization" and there is no distinction between its political and military wings." He stressed that "Hezbollah has increased the conflict in Syria and the region" and it must stop its activities abroad. Tillerson, in a Beirut news conference, also urged Lebanese leaders to uphold the country's commitment to staying out of regional conflicts. Tillerson said in a joint press conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri that Washington was engaging with Lebanon and Israel to ensure the border remained calm. "Hezbollah is not just a concern for the United States. The people of Lebanon should also be concerned about how Hezbollah's actions, its growing arsenal, bring unwanted and unhelpful scrutiny on Lebanon," Tillerson said in Beirut. "Hezbollah entanglement in regional conflicts threatens the security of Lebanon and has destabilizing effects on the region," he said of the Iran-backed Shiite movement, which is part of the Lebanese government.
Hezbollah, branded a "terrorist" organization by the United States, is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has fighters on the ground in the war-torn country supporting the regime. "Their presence in Syria has perpetuated the bloodshed, increased the displacement of innocent people and propped up the barbaric Assad regime," Tillerson said at the news conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Tillerson added that he had not asked Lebanon "to give up anything" on its dispute with Israel over their maritime border. "We are looking for a solution," he said.
On Wednesday, speaking in Amman, Tillerson had appearing to soften Washington's tone, conceding that Hezbollah is part of the "political process" in Lebanon. Hezbollah's influence was at the heart of a political crisis in Lebanon over Hariri's shock resignation announced from Saudi Arabia in November that was later rescinded. Tillerson's visit comes at a time of tension between Lebanon and Israel -- which fought a devastating war with Hezbollah in 2006 -- over issues such as offshore energy exploration.
Lebanon is upset about Israel's construction of a dividing wall along the border between the two countries, which are still technically at war. Lebanon says part of the wall follows the UN-demarcated "Blue Line" that was drawn up after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, and insists some sections will cut into its territory. "We are engaging with the governments of both Lebanon and Israel to ensure Lebanon's southern border remains calm," Tillerson said. "And we remain committed to helping Lebanon and the Lebanese people prosper through the development of their natural resources in agreement with all of their neighbors." US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Lebanon on Thursday for a short visit, during which he was expected to announce a firm stance against the militia. Rex Tillerson's six-hour visit, amid tight security, is the first visit by a US official in four years. Tillerson met Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri. With Reuters and AFP

Tillerson urges Lebanon to distance itself from the Hezbollah militia
By Carol Morello/The Washington Post/February 15/18
BEIRUT — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Lebanon on Thursday to distance itself from the Hezbollah militia as he met with senior government officials, including political allies of the group the United States considers a terrorist organization.
After arriving from Jordan for a visit of just a few hours, Tillerson went directly to Baabda Palace to meet with President Michel Aoun, who maintains close relations with the group. The secretary of state said it is in Lebanon’s best interests to “dissociate” itself from Hezbollah, an ally of Iran, and its foreign adventures. “Hezbollah’s presence in Syria has only perpetuated the bloodshed, increased the displacement of innocent people and propped up the barbaric Assad regime,” Tillerson said in a news conference with Prime Minister Saad Hariri, whose coalition government includes the group.
“Their presence in Iraq and Yemen has also fueled violence. And the consequences of Hezbollah’s involvement in these far-off conflicts — which have nothing to do with Lebanon — are felt here.”Tillerson’s stop in Beirut represents an effort to push back against Iran’s influence in the region, a major component of U.S. policy in the Middle East. It is one reason the United States is likely to maintain a military presence in Syria long after Islamic State militants are routed. Hezbollah poses a threat to neighboring Israel, and the militia battled in Syria alongside the Lebanese Army against Islamic State fighters.
[Tillerson says investment in Iraq is critical to avoid Islamic State’s return]
Earlier this month, the Trump administration imposed sanctions against people associated with Hezbollah, which the United States designated as a terrorist group two decades ago. Officials described it as a first step in the administration’s efforts to battle Iran’s support for armed groups throughout the region.
“It is unacceptable for a militia like Hezbollah to operate outside the authority of the Lebanese government,” Tillerson said. “The only legitimate defender of the Lebanese state is the Lebanese Armed Forces. At a news conference in Jordan on Wednesday, Tillerson called Iran’s backing of Hezbollah “unhelpful” to Lebanon, but said the reality is that “they also are part of the political process in Lebanon.” A State Department official later clarified that the United States believes Lebanon would be “better off without Hezbollah’s terrorism and malign influence.” In his talks with Aoun, Hariri, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, Tillerson also waded into a long-simmering maritime border dispute between Israel and Lebanon. In some ways, the talks were in the wheelhouse of the former ExxonMobil chief. They involved offshore oil and natural gas exploration in a patch of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon recently signed a deal with an international consortium to start drilling in an area that Israel claims belongs to it. The consortium involves companies from France, Italy and Russia. Tillerson’s penchant for arriving early caused a minor flap in Lebanon when he showed up a few minutes ahead of schedule for his meeting with Aoun. In footage widely viewed on television, Tillerson was shown sitting alone, just waiting, beside an empty chair. After two or three minutes, the Lebanese foreign minister walked in and they shook hands. The Lebanese media characterized the lapse as a gesture of coolness, although Lebanese officials denied it had any meaning whatsoever. If it did, Tillerson didn’t seem to care. In the prime minister’s visitor book after they talked, Tillerson thanked him for a warm, frank and productive discussion. “The United States stands with the Lebanese people for a free and democratic Lebanon,” he wrote.
**Carol Morello is the diplomatic correspondent for The Washington Post, covering the State Department. Follow @CMorelloWP

Aoun To Tillerson: Lebanon Is Sticking To Its Borders, Rejects Israeli Claims Over Disputed Area
Arab News/February 15/18/Aoun to Tillerson: Lebanon is sticking to its borders, rejects Israeli claims over disputed area/
Lebanon's President Michel Aoun told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Lebanon is sticking to its internationally recognised borders Thursday and rejected Israeli claims over a disputed area in Lebanese waters.
During a brief stopover in Beirut as part of a regional trip, he added that Lebanon was committed to preserving calm on its southern border and urged Washington to play an “effective role” to help resolve Beirut’s land and maritime disputes with Israel.Aoun also urged the United States to “work on preventing Israel from continuing its assaults on Lebanese sovereignty” by land and sea, a statement from the presidency said. Israel has recently escalated its threats over Lebanon's invitation for offshore gas exploration bids along the countries' maritime border claiming that Lebanon will be drilling in areas owned by Israel. Lebanese officials deny the Israeli statements, saying the area where the country plans to drill belongs to Lebanon. The long-standing dispute resurfaced recently as Lebanon signed a deal with an international consortium to start exploratory offshore drilling next year. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman described the exploration tender as " provocative" and suggested that Lebanon had put out invitations for bids from international groups for a gas field "which is by all accounts ours." There are over 800 square kilometers (300 square miles) of waters claimed by the two countries. US officials have previously tried to mediate the dispute, including most recently by David Satterfield, the US acting assistance secretary of state who visited the border area in south Lebanon last week, and was accompanying Tillerson on Thursday.

Tillerson Says Growing Hezbollah Arsenal Threat To Lebanon
Reuters/Jerusalem Post/February 15/18/Shi'ite Hezbollah, which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, is part of Lebanon's government. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday that Lebanon's security was threatened by the growing arsenal of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah and its involvement in regional conflicts. Speaking alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in a Beirut news conference, Tillerson also said the United States was engaging with Lebanon and Israel to ensure the border remained calm. Tensions between the states have spiked recently because of Israeli plans to build a wall at the border, and because of Lebanon's decision to begin exploring for oil and gas in an offshore block in disputed waters. Shi'ite Hezbollah, which is deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, is part of Hariri's government. Its military strength has grown since the last major conflict with Israel in 2006. Tillerson urged Lebanese leaders to uphold the country's commitment to staying out of regional conflicts, a reference to Hezbollah's role in wars around the Middle East including in neighboring Syria where Iran also holds major sway. Israel has accused Iran of seeking to set up weapons factories in Lebanon, and the Israeli military last month said the country had turned into one "large missile factory." Lebanon is a big recipient of US military support. Tillerson said Washington remained committed to supporting the Lebanese army and internal security forces. The United States has been mediating between Lebanon and Israel over their border dispute. In apparent reference to the maritime dispute, Tillerson said: "We've asked no one to give up anything." He added that constructive discussions were underway and he urged the Israelis to be constructive.

Aoun Urges Tillerson to Act over Israeli ‘Assaults’ despite Cold Welcome
Asharq Al-Awsat/February 15/18/US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson thanked on Thursday President Michel Aoun for their “productive talks” although he had been kept waiting ahead of the meeting at Baabda Palace that tackled Israel’s “assaults on Lebanese sovereignty.”Television footage showed Tillerson sitting in a room alongside an empty seat before Lebanese Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, who is Aoun’s son-in-law, walked in and shook his hand. The president's office denied any departure from diplomatic protocol. Rafik Chlela, head of the media office, said Tillerson had arrived a few minutes earlier than expected and the meeting began on time. “Mr. President, thank you for the warm welcome and the open, frank, and productive discussion," Tillerson, the highest-ranking US official to visit the country in four years, wrote in Baabda Palace's visitors book after the talks. "The United States stands with the Lebanese people for a free and democratic Lebanon."Aoun told Tillerson that Lebanon was committed to preserving calm on its southern border and urged Washington to play an "effective role" to help resolve Beirut's land and maritime disputes with Israel. Aoun urged the US to "work on preventing Israel from continuing its assaults on Lebanese sovereignty" by land and sea, a statement from the presidency said. He said Lebanon was holding onto its internationally recognized borders, and rejected Israeli claims over parts of its Exclusive Economic Zone. Lebanon has recently been at loggerheads with Israel over a cement wall it is building on the country’s border. Lebanon has also an unresolved maritime border dispute with its neighbor over a triangular area of sea of around 860 sq km. The zone extends along the edge of three of the five offshore energy blocks that Lebanon put to tender early last year. After his first stop at Baabda Palace, Tillerson held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh. From there he headed to the Grand Serail where he met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri. On Wednesday, speaking in Amman, Tillerson softened Washington’s tone, saying “Hezbollah is part of the "political process" in Lebanon."We support a free, democratic Lebanon free of influence of others, and we know that Lebanese Hezbollah is influenced by Iran. This is influence that we think is unhelpful in Lebanon's long-term future," he said.

Aoun Briefs Cabinet on Tillerson, Satterfield Talks, Says Lebanon to be 'Gas Producing Country'
Naharnet/February 15/18/President Michel Aoun on Thursday briefed the Cabinet on his separate talks with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield, while noting that Lebanon will become a “gas producing country.”“We have informed the U.S. side of Lebanon's stance over the issue of the (Israeli) cement wall and territorial waters, and we focused on continuing discussions and consultations to reach solutions for these issues,” Aoun said, noting that Tillerson was appreciative of the Lebanese stance during his talks earlier in the day with the president. “Several proposals will be discussed,” Aoun revealed. The president also noted that Lebanon will become “a gas producing country” and that the Lebanese should be ready to benefit from the development, especially in the transportation sector. “It costs less and its environmental impact is lighter,” Aoun noted, reminding of a draft law for switching to natural gas vehicles that he had submitted when he was the head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc. Turning to the crisis in the education sector, the president stressed the need to hold a session dedicated to educational affairs, amid a continued boycott of Cabinet sessions by Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh. Prime Minister Saad Hariri meanwhile said he endorses Aoun's remarks on the talks with Tillerson and Satterfield.

Aoun: We Don't Want War with Anyone, U.S. Must Put End to Israel Violations
Associated Press/Naharnet/February 15/18/President Michel Aoun on Thursday called on Washington to press Israel to stop its "continued violations against Lebanon's territorial, maritime and aerial sovereignty," during talks in Baabda with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Aoun also told Tillerson that the U.S. should urge Israel to "commit to the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701." Rejecting Israel's claims about owning parts of Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Lebanese territorial waters, the president emphasized that Lebanon is "committed to calm on the southern border.""We don't want war with anyone, whereas Israel is continuing its attacks on us and the memories of its wars are still vivid in the minds of southerners. That's why we call on the United Nations and the international community to play an active role in this regard," Aoun added. Thanking the U.S. for its continued support for the Lebanese Army, the president said: "The same as we liberated the land from terrorist groups, we will continue to dismantle the remaining cells through preemptive security operations."Turning to the Syrian refugee crisis, Aoun said Lebanon "which hosted more than 1.85 million Syrian refugees on its soil since the beginning of the bloody events in Syria, can no longer bear further repercussions on its security, stability, economy and social, educational and health situations." "The United States stands with the Lebanese people for a free and democratic Lebanon," Tillerson, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the country in four years, wrote in the visitors' book after the talks with Aoun. Tillerson arrived in the Lebanese capital earlier in the day as part of a regional tour. The visit coincides with heightened tensions between Lebanon and Israel over oil and gas reserves and Israel's construction of a border wall that Lebanon says encroaches on its territory. The long-standing maritime dispute resurfaced recently as Lebanon invited companies to sign exploration deals. U.S. officials have previously tried to mediate the dispute.
Lebanon is also protesting Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace, often to bomb targets inside neighboring Syria.

Lebanese presidency denies U.S. Secretary of State kept waiting at palace
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Lebanese presidency denied that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had been kept waiting ahead of a meeting with President Michel Aoun on Thursday at the presidential palace, where he sat for several minutes before his Lebanese counterpart greeted him.
Television footage showed Tillerson sitting in a room alongside an empty seat before Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil walked in and shook his hand. The Lebanese president’s office denied any departure from diplomatic protocol. Rafic Chlela, head of the media office, said Tillerson had arrived a few minutes earlier than expected and the meeting began on time. Tillerson is in Lebanon, a major recipient of U.S. military aid, as part of a regional tour. “Mr President, thank you for the warm welcome and the open, frank, and productive discussion,” Tillerson wrote in the Lebanese palace’s visitors book after the talks. “The United States stands with the Lebanese people for a free and democratic Lebanon.”Chlela said the head of protocol directly greeted Tillerson at the Baabda presidential palace. Aoun, Bassil’s father-in-law, is a political ally of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is deemed a terrorist group by the United States. Tillerson is also due to meet Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri.
*Writing by Tom Perry/Ellen Francis; Editing by Gareth Jones

Jumblatt: White House should hear our message
The Daily Star/Feb. 15, 2018/BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblatt Thursday said it was important that the White House heard President Michel Aoun’s message, after the U.S.’s top diplomat met with Aoun at Baabda Palace. Without expanding on what that message was, Jumblatt said after he too met with Aoun that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had made “positive remarks” on Lebanon’s potential oil reserves during his meeting with the president. Jumblatt said that Lebanon’s borders and oil and gas exploration were in “safe hands,” adding it was important to hold on to Lebanon’s “rights.” A tweet from Aoun’s official account said Thursday afternoon that the president had told Tillerson that “America must work to prevent Israel from continuing its attacks on Lebanese land, sea and air sovereignty.” It added Aoun had told Tillerson that the U.S. should work to push Israel to “commit itself to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701,” the resolution that ended the 2006 Israel war. Jumblatt also said that the “foggy crisis” has passed, in an apparent reference to the recent conclusion of a months-long dispute between Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri, and that “harmony” prevailed between Lebanon’s three political leaders. Tillerson separately met Aoun, Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri during the first few hours of his one-day visit to Beirut Thursday. The visit comes amid resurging tensions in an old dispute between Lebanon and Israel over the demarcation of a maritime zone bordering the two countries that is thought to contain oil and gas. The Daily Star previously reported that during Tillerson’s visit, Lebanon’s political leaders are set to reject a previously rejected American proposal to resolve the maritime border dispute because it infringes on the country’s oil and land rights, ministerial sources said.
The proposal, which was presented to top Lebanese leaders by Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield last week, was set to be floated by Tillerson in his separate meetings with Aoun, Berri and Hariri, the source told The Daily Star. However, the leaders have reportedly unified their opposition on refusing to relinquish to Israel any Lebanese territory, be it in the maritime sphere or at the 13 points on land which Aoun has said belong to Lebanon. Lebanese leaders have said that Israeli construction of a "separation wall" on the Blue Line threatens to appropriate Lebanese land.
Known as the “Hoff Line,” the U.S. proposal calls for Lebanon to acquire 550 square kilometers of the disputed 860 square kilometers that Lebanon insists is part of its maritime border, and relinquish the remaining part to Israel. If rejected, the United States will end its mediation effort in the oil dispute between the two countries, the source said.

Lebanese Journalists Attend Seminar on STL, Int'l Criminal Proceedings
Naharnet/February 15/18/Twenty-four journalists from Lebanese and Pan-Arab media have attended a two-day seminar at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) in the Netherlands. The seminar was held on 13 and 14 February 2018 and aimed at briefing the journalists on the latest developments in the work of the Tribunal and responding to questions they may have. The Tribunal’s President, Prosecutor, Head of the Defense Office and Registrar as well as senior officials of their respective organs addressed various topics including the current and upcoming stages of the proceedings, the work of the Chambers and STL Judges, the Judicial and Administrative support system, the Victims’ case before the STL and the Defense teams’ work. The journalists participated in two panel discussions on the challenges they face professionally in reporting on international criminal proceedings and received briefings by representatives of the International Criminal Court, the U.N. Mechanism for the International Criminal Tribunals and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers on the latest developments in their respective institutions. Bassam Abou Zeid from LBCI said: “This kind of seminar is very important because it sheds light again on the work of the Tribunal and informs us of the latest developments of the case that is sometimes forgotten by the Lebanese people. The Tribunal is still doing its work; this case is very important to the Lebanese people and light must be shed on it.”Ehab El Okadi from Al-Jazeera added: “The seminar is important for many reasons, but the main reason is that the Tribunal is preparing for a new phase, namely the Defense submitting its case before the Trial Chamber, the judgment that will follow, and the new indictment. This is why it is very important to shed light on the latest developments.”

Qassem Soleimani Assails Israel, Commemorates Mughniyeh
Associated Press/Naharnet/February 15/18/A top Iranian general has lashed out at Israel during a commemoration for a top Hizbullah figure killed in a 2008 Damascus car bombing that the group blamed on Israel. Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's Quds Force, pledged retaliation for Imad Mughniyeh, Hizbullah's ex-military chief who was considered one of the world's most-wanted "terrorists" by Israel and the United States. Soleimani said the appropriate revenge for Mughniyeh's slaying is "not launching one missile or killing one person, but the dismantling and uprooting of the baby-killing Zionist regime." Iranian leaders have long called for destruction of Israel. In 2015, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel would become extinct in 25 years.Iran does not recognize Israel and supports anti-Israeli armed groups such as Lebanon's Hizbullah and the Palestinian Hamas group.

Jumblat: Lebanon Won't Waiver Border Rights, Must Benefit from Upcoming Entitlements
Naharnet/February 15/18/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said on Thursday that President Michel Aoun has “given his remarks” to visiting US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, noting that he sees “positivity” in Tillerson's statements. Jumblat's remarks came after meeting with Aoun at the Presidential Palace, shortly after the President received Tillerson who is in Lebanon for a one-day visit. “Lebanon will not waiver its border rights,” Jumblat told reporters after the meeting referring to disputes with Israel over Block 9 oil field and a controversial separation wall Israel is building between Lebanon and occupied Palestine. “President Aoun has made clear remarks to Tillerson assuring that the parliamentary elections will be staged on time and the competition will be democratic and free,” noted Jumblat. “We hope the message reaches the White House,” he added. On relations between President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the PSP leader said: “Harmony exists between the three presidents. The foggy crisis has passed away.” He concluded saying that Lebanon must take advantage of upcoming aid conferences and of “potentials that may be given to Lebanon to develop its economy.” Lebanon is gearing up for three international conferences in 2018 including the Rome II Conference, the Paris IV conference also known as the Cedar Conference and the Brussels Conference to rally support for its armed forces.

Collapsed Building Kills Mother and Child in Beirut Southern Suburbs
Naharnet/February 15/18/A residential building collapsed in a Palestinian refugee camp in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday killing a woman and her child and wounding a man, the National News Agency reported. NNA said the building, which partially collapsed in Ain el-Sekkeh neighborhood in Bourj al-Barajneh camp, killed a seven-year old child identified as Sali, and her mother Zainab, while the father was injured. Police and firefighters were searching for people who might be trapped under the rubble. Police were unable to say how many people might still be trapped. The cause of the collapse is being investigated.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 15-16/18

US Defense Secretary to Al Arabiya: Iran is behind all regional crises
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Thursday, 15 February 2018/US Defense Secretary James Mattis told Al Arabiya that Iran is behind all the regional crises. In response to a question by Al Arabiya, Mattis said: "Syria should belong to Syrians and Iraq to the Iraqis." Speaking from Brussels on the sidelines of a meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Mattis added that Iran is involved in the crises in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain and Iraq. NATO defense ministers are expected to agree in Brussels, on Thursday, on how to begin the planning phase of training to help Iraqi forces gain more capability.

De Mistura says current Syria situation most dangerous he’s seen in 4 years
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Thursday, 15 February 2018/The UN’s envoy to Syria, Staffan De Mistura, said on Wednesday that the current situation in Syria is the most “violent and worrying and dangerous” that he has seen in four years, urging all parties to de-escalate “immediately and unconditionally”. During a Security Council meeting, De Mistura said that the aid that was allowed into eastern Ghouta on Wednesday represents only a fraction of the aid that need to be delivered to hundreds of thousands of Syrians in various besieged areas. His speech was followed by Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia and US Ambassador Nikki Haley who accused each other of spreading violence in the country, the Washington Post reported. “Russia can change this behavior and push the government to commit to seeking a real peace,” the newspaper reported her as saying. “Now is the time for Russia to use that leverage.”Nebenzia responded saying “Russia will not demand anything.” But he requested that the US “ensure that they, too, cease hostilities and refrain from further provocations and outbreaks of violence.” Delegates to the congress agreed to form a constitutional committee on Syria, with De Mistura stressing the need to go forth with the 2012 Geneva agreement which lays out a roadmap for peace in Syria. Syria’s UN ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, responded by saying that his government will not recognize any other body that is not within the framework of Russia’s Sochi talks.

Monitor: 15 Russian private security workers dead in Syria
AFP, Beirut/Thursday, 15 February 2018/Fifteen Russians employed in Syria by a private security company were killed when an unexplained explosion rocked an arms depot at their base in the war-torn country, a monitor said Wednesday. The incident happened at the company’s weapons storage facility at Tabiya Jazira a few days ago in the northeastern province of Deir Ezzor, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Observatory directory Rami Abdel Rahman said the company in question was in charge of “protecting the oil and gas fields controlled by the Syrian regime”. “Fifteen Russians working for a Russian private security company were killed in an explosion at a weapons depot of the company in Tabiya Jazira in Deir Ezzor province,” he told AFP.
The gas field
Seven other people, mostly pro-regime Syrian fighters, died in the blast, he added. The Russian workers had been at the site when “regime forces were trying to take the Coneco gas field” controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters.
Their reported deaths come after the US-led coalition against jihadists struck the Coneco plant on Thursday in retaliation for an attack on an SDF base near the gas field on the eastern bank of the Euphrates river.The US-led coalition said Thursday it killed at least 100 pro-regime fighters to fend off an attack on its allies in eastern Syria, in one its deadliest confrontations yet with forces backing Damascus. The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground in Syria, said 45 pro-regime fighters were killed. The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denounced the strikes as a “war crime”.

Syria 'repels' Israeli surveillance aircraft
AFP, Beirut/Thursday, 15 February 2018/Syria on Wednesday repelled Israeli surveillance planes that breached its southern border, state media reported, days after an Israeli fighter jet was downed during raids on the war-torn country. "Syrian air defenses have repelled Israeli surveillance planes over Quneitra, forcing them to leave Syrian airspace," the official SANA news agency said. On Saturday, the Syrian government said it fended off an Israeli raid on a military base in the center of the country, hitting more than one warplane. That came after the Israeli military said one of its fighter jets had crashed after it came under heavy fire from Syrian air defenses during strikes against "Iranian targets" in the war-hit country. Israel has carried out dozens of air strikes on the Syrian armed forces and their allies since the civil war broke out in 2011. Iran with Russia is the main military backer of the Damascus government. Israel has largely confined its operations to targeting Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group that is a key ally of Iran.

Egypt army: Militants looking to Sinai for new home base
AFP, Cairo/Thursday, 15 February 2018/After crushing blows in Iraq and Syria, global militants could be eyeing Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as a new home base, the army said Thursday, as it presses an offensive in the region. Cairo last week announced a major operation against militants across swathes of territory, including the volatile region which has been at the heart of a persistent ISIS group insurgency. The security sweeps in the Sinai, Nile Delta and Western Desert near the border with Libya comes as the country prepares for polls next month in which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is seeking re-election. Army spokesman Tamer el-Refai said at a press conference broadcast Thursday that intelligence showed that the militants were planning “to create a new terrorist home base in another area that could potentially be the Sinai Peninsula”. The spokesman told a tightly controlled press conference that 53 militants have been killed since the start of the operation, while more than 600 people have been detained. There was no way to independently verify the figures given. In November, Sisi ordered his armed forces chief of staff to restore security in Sinai within three months after militants killed more than 300 worshippers at a mosque. Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April last year, after two suicide bombings at churches claimed by ISIS killed at least 45 people in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria.

Egypt arrests ex-presidential candidate and government critic Abul Fotouh
AFP, Cairo/Thursday, 15 February 2018/Egyptian police arrested on Wednesday a leading government critic and party leader Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, security officials said, while prosecutors remanded into custody another leading dissident. Security officials suggested Abul Fotouh, a candidate in the 2012 presidential election, had ties with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. He was arrested shortly after arriving from London where he gave interviews in which he was critical of the government. Five aides were also arrested, the officials said. Rights lawyer Gamal Eid told AFP that they were subsequently released, but Abul Fotouh remained in custody to be questioned om Thursday. The arrests came after a statement by Abul Fotouh and several other politicians calling for a boycott of next month’s election. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to easily win the election after most rivals were sidelined or withdrew.
His most credible rival, former military chief of staff Sami Anan, was detained last month shortly after announcing his candidacy. The military said he was still enlisted and had no right to run in the election. He is accused of fraud for registering on the voters’ database, and incitement against the military. Anan’s top campaign aide Hisham Geneina, a former anti-corruption chief sacked by Sisi, was remanded into custody on Wednesday, a day after his arrest, for suggesting Anan possessed and could release documents damning to top state officials.
Medical attention
His lawyer Ali Taha told AFP that he did not know where Geneina was being held, and that he needed medical attention for injuries he sustained when a group of men attacked him in the street days earlier. Sisi was elected in 2014, a year after the former army chief ousted his unpopular Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi. Abul Fotouh, once a leading member of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, had supported the mass protests against the Islamist that prompted the military to topple him. He has since been critical of Sisi who has been accused of clamping down on dissent. Sisi’s only remaining rival is a leader of a small party who had been a leading campaigner for Sisi until he abruptly announced his own candidacy. Critics said he did so to save Sisi the embarrassment of being the only candidate, in a throwback to referendums held by Egyptian autocrats instead of elections.
The government has rejected such criticism and the candidate, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, insists he is a serious contender. Former army general and prime minister Ahmed Shafiq had also announced he would stand in the election.

UN expects 200,000 more Southern Sudanese refugees north
AFP, Khartoum/Friday, 16 February 2018/ About another 200,000 South Sudanese refugees are expected to arrive in Sudan this year, fleeing fighting and food insecurity in their country, the United Nations said Thursday. South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, descended into civil war just two years after it split from the north in 2011. Since the war erupted in late 2013, 417,000 South Sudanese refugees have already crossed into Sudan, according to the UN. About 200,000 more refugees are expected in 2018, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Office, or OCHA, said in its latest bulletin. "Continued fighting, limited humanitarian assistance and extreme levels of food insecurity are forcing citizens of South Sudan to seek refuge, safety and access to food and basic services in neighboring countries," OCHA said. "The government of Sudan maintains an open border policy for the refugees, ensuring unfettered access, immediate protection and safety within Sudan's borders."Most new refugees arriving in Sudan are expected to cross into White Nile, East Darfur and South Darfur states, OCHA said. South Sudan's leaders fought for decades for independence from the north, but an internal civil war erupted in December 2013 out of a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar. The war has caused tens of thousands of deaths, uprooted nearly four million people -- roughly a third of the population -- and triggered sporadic outbreaks of famine.

17 Killed in Florida School Shooting by Former Student
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 15/18/Authorities in Florida could offer no explanation night as to why a former student armed with an AR-15 rifle opened fire at a high school earlier that day, killing at least 17 people.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel identified the gunman as Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland who had been expelled for "disciplinary reasons," but was currently enrolled in Broward County Public Schools. Cruz, whose fellow students described him as "troubled," was arrested without incident in the nearby town of Coral Springs after the Valentine's Day rampage and taken to hospital with minor injuries, the sheriff said. He had mixed in with students fleeing the school before being caught, officials said. "We have already begun to dissect his websites and things on social media that he was on and some of the things... are very, very disturbing," Israel said.
"If a person is predisposed to commit such a horrific event by going to a school and shooting people ... there's not anybody or not a lot law enforcement can do about it."Israel said both students and adults had been killed, 12 of whom have now been identified. Fifteen people were killed at the school itself and 17 were taken to hospital, two of whom died of their wounds, the sheriff's office said. One of those killed was a football coach, and one student injured was a deputy sheriff's son. "This is a terrible day for Parkland," Israel said, speaking of the city of about 30,000 people, located 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Miami. A teacher at the school said Cruz had been identified previously as a potential threat to his classmates. "We were told last year that he wasn't allowed on campus with a backpack on him," math teacher Jim Gard said in a Miami Herald interview. "There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus." Cruz was also said to have been in the Junior ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) program while at school. A law enforcement source told CBS News that the gunman pulled a fire alarm before opening fire, but Israel could not confirm that report. - 'Everyone started running' -The shooting, one of nearly 20 at a school since the start of the year, will once again throw the spotlight on the epidemic of gun violence in the United States, where there are 33,000 gun-related deaths annually.
But when questioned at a press conference late Wednesday, Florida Governor Rick Scott -- who described the massacre as "just pure evil" -- declined to make a statement on gun control in the aftermath of the shooting. "There's a time to continue to have these conversations about how through law enforcement, how through mental illness funding that we make sure people are safe, and we'll continue to do that," said Scott, a Republican. At the same briefing, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said the state will cover the costs of funerals and counseling for survivors. "We will continue to work together as a team, as a family, and love and take care of all of these victims and their family members," she said. Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky told CNN she had spoken to a number of students after the shooting erupted shortly after 2:00 pm (1900 GMT). "They were very scared," she said. "And almost in shock when they came out."
Students, some with their hands in the air, were led out of the school by heavily armed police officers and an armored vehicle filled with a SWAT team on the scene. Student Jeiella Dodoo told CBS News that she and her schoolmates evacuated calmly after hearing what they thought was a routine fire alarm.
"The alarm went off so we had to evacuate from our classes," she said. "Then we heard gunshots. "I heard about six gunshots," she said, "and then some people started running and then everyone started running because we were like 'If it's real, then just run.'" Teacher Melissa Falkowski told US networks that she had helped 19 students squeeze into a closet with her.
"We were in there for probably 40 minutes. We were locked in the closet until SWAT came and got us," she told CNN. Police officers in helmets, bulletproof vests and armed with automatic weapons could be seen stationed at several points around the sprawling school complex, which serves nearly 3,000 students. "Just a horrible day for us," said the superintendent of the county's school district, Robert Runcie. "This is very sad to me and our family too," 61-year-old Joseph Panikulangara, whose 17-year-old niece Dhiya attends the school, told AFP. The FBI said it was assisting local law enforcement with the investigation. When asked about security, Hunschofsky said a police officer is always stationed at the school and there is a "single point of entry." - No child should 'feel unsafe' -President Donald Trump offered his "prayers and condolences to the families of the victims." "No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school," he said on Twitter. But since January 2013, there have been at least 291 school shootings across the country -- an average of about one a week, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-profit group that advocates for gun control. "It is pretty clear that we're failing our kids here," said Falkowski, the teacher who helped shield her students from harm in a closet.

Strikes Hit Yet Another Hospital in Syria's Idlib
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 15/18/
Air strikes have hit a hospital in Syria's last province beyond government control, in the seventh such raid on a medical facility there by the regime or its ally Russia in two weeks, a monitor said Thursday. The strikes, thought to be Russian, hit the hospital in the northwestern province of Idlib late Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said. The Observatory, which relies on sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used. Inside the hospital in the village of Hass on Thursday, boxes of medicine lay scattered on the floor while part of a wall had collapsed onto a bed and medical equipment, an AFP correspondent said. The strikes come after the regime in December last year launched an offensive on Idlib, which is dominated by an alliance led by al-Qaida's former Syrian affiliate. "The hospital was the last functional one in all of southeast Idlib," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said."In two weeks, seven hospitals and medical clinics have been hit in Idlib in strikes by the regime or its Russian ally," he said, adding that a blood bank was also hit. After another strike on a hospital in Idlib last week, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) expressed alarm at the repeated targeting of healthcare centers. "Civilian areas -– specifically healthcare facilities –- are being hit in northwestern Syria," said Omar Ahmed Abenza, MSF head of mission for northwestern Syria, after the strike on the area of Mishmishan.
"The strikes, despite their regularity during the seven years long conflict, are currently at an intensity that should be a landmark, another wake-up call," he said. The bombardment of medical facilities has a "terrible knock-on effect", he said, with fearful staff at other facilities reducing their services after each strike. "The result is more people in greater need, with fewer health services open and available." Jihadists and rebels overran Idlib in 2015, but since then hardliners have expanded their control and the influence of mainstream rebels has shrunk drastically. Some 2.5 million people, including more than one million displaced Syrians, live in the province. More than 340,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 14-15/18
Western Feminists: Hijab Hypocrisy
Khadija Khan/Gatestone Institute/February 15/18
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11881/feminists-hijab
No one in the Women's March called out the Iranian government for imprisoning, torturing and killing women trying to break free of their shackles. Instead, they chanted "Me Too" and "Time's Up," as they paraded with activists such as Palestinian-American Linda Sarsour, who calls for jihad and apparently also denigrated one of her employees who was a victim of sexual assault in the workplace.
The same day as activists, fighting tyrannical regimes, were burning hijabs in solidarity with Iranian and other suppressed women across the world, the spineless British Foreign Office was handing out hijabs, trying to sell them as a symbol of "Liberation", "Respect" and "Security".
These women -- who are trapped in despotic Middle Eastern dictatorships, who face possible prosecution and having their lives ruined -- were given no attention by the same women marchers in the U.S. Evidently, feminists in the West were too busy wearing hijabs in solidarity with Sarsour and other promoters of Islamic law (sharia), which advises husbands to beat their wives; that in court, a woman's testimony is worth only half a man's testimony; that daughters can receive only half the inheritance of a son, and that if a woman is raped, she will need four male Muslim witnesses, supposedly at the scene, to prove that she was not committing adultery.
February 1 marked World Hijab Day, an annual expression of solidarity with "millions of Muslim women who choose to wear the hijab and live a life of modesty." Less than two weeks earlier, on January 20, a Women's March was held -- with rallies across the United States -- to re-enact the protests of the previous year against the election of President Donald Trump.
Bizarrely, Western feminists devoting their energy to supporting the right of Muslim women to wear the Islamic headscarf and highlighting the "MeToo" and "Time's Up" movements against sexual harassment, have been ignoring the genuine plight of their counterparts in the Islamic Republic of Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East, Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.
Vida Movahed, for instance, age 31, publicly removed her hijab and placed it on a stick in the streets of Tehran. For this act of freedom-seeking defiance, she was arrested and sent to prison.
The courage of women such as Movahed -- who, alongside men, was protesting the ayatollah-led regime -- emboldened other women in Iran to discard their hijabs and demand their rights as women and as individuals.
The same day as activists, fighting tyrannical regimes, were burning hijabs in solidarity with Iranian and other suppressed women across the world, the British Foreign Office was handing out hijabs.
To Muslim women fighting to get rid of shackles in countries such as Saudi Arabia -- where a video of an 11-year-old girl dancing led to an "immorality" investigation and an arrest -- or Iran, the veil represents slavery. At the same time, the supine British Foreign Office was trying to sell the hijab as a symbol of "Liberation", "Respect" and "Security".
One wonders whether the move was aimed to please Saudi Crown Prince on his upcoming UK tour or if the British Foreign Office actually believes that Western women who do not wear a hijab feel insecure or oppressed.
It is jarring that Western feminists have been unable to join in this historic women's-rights struggle, which is taking place in countries with no democratic values, and not in the United States, where everyone is at liberty to protest the government.
No one in the Women's March called out the Iranian government for imprisoning, torturing and murdering women trying to break free of their shackles. Instead, they chanted "Me Too" and "Time's Up," as they paraded with activists such as Palestinian-American Linda Sarsour, who calls for jihad and apparently also denigrated one of her employees who was a victim of sexual assault in the workplace. "She [Sarsour] called me a liar because 'Something like this didn't happen to women who looked like me'... She told me I'd never work in NYC ever again for as long as she lived," according to the victim, Asmi Fathelbab.
Asmi Fathelbab (pictured) was an employee of left-wing "feminist" activist Linda Sarsour at the Arab American Association, when Fathelbab was sexually assaulted in the office. "She [Sarsour] called me a liar because 'Something like this didn't happen to women who looked like me,'" according to Fathelbab.
How can anyone demand an end to the sexual abuse of American women at the hands of powerful men, while holding up Sarsour -- who, by advocating sharia law, promotes the suppression of women -- as a paragon of women's rights?
This is not the first time that Western feminists have ignored the plight of women living under autocratic regimes.
In 2017, a Turkish woman, Asena Melisa Saglam was attacked by a man on a bus for wearing shorts during Ramadan. The incident triggered protests in the streets of Istanbul on behalf of a woman's right to dress as she pleases. Turkish women were waving signs with slogans such as, "Don't Mess with my outfit," "We will not obey, be silenced, be afraid," and "We will win through resistance." They were also displaying shorts on hangers.
These women -- who are trapped in despotic Middle Eastern dictatorships, who face possible prosecution and having their lives ruined -- were given no attention by the same women marchers in the U.S. Evidently, feminists in the West were too busy wearing hijabs in solidarity with Sarsour and other promoters of Islamic law (sharia), which advises husbands to beat their wives and that in court, a woman's testimony is worth half a man's testimony; that daughters can receive only half the inheritance of a son, and that if a woman is raped, she will need four male Muslim witnesses, supposedly at the scene, to prove that she was not committing adultery.
It is not exactly as if any woman in America was ever attacked on a bus for wearing or not wearing a headscarf.
The multiculturalism that leads people in the West to look the other way when women in the Middle East are forced to wear hijabs has gotten so out of hand that it completely overlooks the lack of women's rights in Muslim-majority countries, as well as in many Muslim-majority neighborhoods of Western countries. Occasionally, lip service is paid to the plight of such women, such as when filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy won her second Oscar in 2016 for her documentary, "A Girl in the River - The Price of Forgiveness," about honor killings in Pakistan. As soon as the ceremonies were over, however, the subjugation of women in the Middle East once again gets forgotten by Western feminists.
Today, Iranian women are literally fighting to live free in countrywide protests that the regime in Tehran is trying to quash. It is the oppression of these women that needs to be protested. It is time for everyone in the West to join them in calling out the religious fascism that keeps them in chains.
*Khadija Khan is a Pakistani journalist and commentator, currently based in Germany.
© 2018 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.

European Officials: Apologists for Arab-Islamic Repression, Terrorism
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/February 15/18
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11778/european-officials-repression-terrorism
European officials have been not only mute about the Iranian regime's attacks on its own people. They have also been missing "a robust defense of Western values", now under attack in Iran: freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, separation of religion and state, judicial due process.
The European Union these days is alarmed about political reforms in Poland, but totally quiet about Erdogan's "coup against civilians" in Turkey.
How is it possible that Pope Francis, the world's highest Catholic authority, does not feel any urgency to denounce the avalanche of anti-Semitism and hate coming from the Islamic authorities, but pleased them by sending a letter of support?
As these last few years of terror attacks should have proven to them, they delude themselves if they think that this deadly ideology will be kept confined to Tehran, Ramallah or Ankara.
Federica Mogherini has been busy in recent weeks, appeasing one repressive regime after another. Mogherini, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, began with Iran. "Mogherini was mute on the popular uprising in Iran," wrote Eli Lake at Bloomberg.
"She waited six days to say anything about the demonstrations there. When she finally did, it was a mix of ingratiation and neutrality. 'In the spirit of openness and respect that is at the root of our relationship,' she said, 'we expect all concerned to refrain from violence and to guarantee freedom of expression'".
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who was proud to lead "the first feminist government in the world", merely tweeted that she was "following" the demonstrations in Iran. UN Watch condemned her for being silent. A year ago, Swedish Trade Minister Ann Linde and ten other female members of the Swedish government marched in front of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wearing hijabs. While real Iranian girls were marching to protest the mandatory hijab, Ann Linde was retweeting about laws against climate change during the severest days of Iranian repression in the streets.
All the European officials have been not only mute about the Iranian attacks on their own people. They have also been missing "a robust defense of Western values", now under attack in Iran: freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of the individual, separation of religion and state, judicial process -- all principles Iran's mullahs have battered in their fight against their own people.
Europe's officials, who in the last two years have intensified their collaboration with Turkey, have also been silent about Ankara's having officially joined of the global club of dictatorships. For the first time, Freedom House downgraded Turkey's rating to "not free" in its annual report. Freedom House blasted "the mass dismissals of state employees, the mass replacement of elected mayors with government appointees, arbitrary prosecutions of rights activists and other perceived enemies of the state".
The European Union these days is alarmed about political reforms in Poland, but totally quiet about Erdogan's "coup against civilians" in Turkey.
A day after Trump administration suspended $65 million in aid to UNRWA, the UN Agency assisting Palestinian refugees, a European country, Belgium, stepped in with an immediate disbursement of $23 million. Brussels felt the moral and political urgency generously to fund an organization that has allowed its schools to be used by Palestinian terrorists to fire rockets at Israel and its textbooks to demonize Jews; that gave jobs to Palestinian terrorists and that is accused of creating and perpetuating the Israel-Palestinian conflict?
Most of Europe's countries recently voted with the Arab and Islamic regimes at the UN to disavow Israel's and Jewish ancient ties to Jerusalem. Europe is said to be alarmed about the US and Israeli threats to retain the "status quo" in the holy city. But the same European countries had no time to condemn Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's speech in which he called Israel "a colonial project that has nothing to do with Jews" and in which he again trafficked with Holocaust denial. Abbas, in fact, incredibly said that six million Jews preferred to be killed by the Nazis in Europe rather than leave for Israel – disregarding the comprehensive searches of houses for Jews to keep, torture and kill that was pandemic during World War II. Europe also stood silent after Iran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei called for "Death to Israel" and Israel's "defeat". European officials dismiss the Islamists' threats to throw the Jews into the sea. Recently in Cairo, Ahmed el-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar -- considered by many to be the highest Sunni Islamic authority -- organized a conference on Jerusalem, in which he attacked "Zionism". Abbas also improbably claimed there that Palestinians have been in Jerusalem "before the Jews", despite the fact that Muslims did not even exist until the seventh century, hundreds of centuries after the Jews.
Pope Francis, instead of condemning this incitement to hatred against the Jewish people, sent a letter to Imam al Tayeb thanking him for the invitation. How is it possible that the world's highest Catholic authority does not feel any urgency to denounce the avalanche of anti-Semitism and hate coming from the Islamic authorities, but pleased them by sending a letter of support? He is evidently hoping, in the words of Winston Churchill, that "the crocodile will eat him last."
How is it possible that Pope Francis, the world's highest Catholic authority, does not feel any urgency to denounce the avalanche of anti-Semitism and hate coming from the Islamic authorities, but pleased them by sending a letter of support? Pictured: Pope Francis with Ahmed el-Tayyib, Grand Imam of Cairo's Al Azhar, at the Vatican on May 23, 2016.
The Nobel Prize for Literature, Mario Vargas Llosa, wrote:
"Postmodern civilization has politically and morally dismantled the culture of our time and this explains in great part why some of the 'monsters' that we thought we had destroyed for ever after the Second World War, such as the most extreme forms of nationalism and racism, have revived and are at large once again within the heart of the West, threatening once again its values and democratic principles".
In Europe's squares and streets, Vargas Llosa's "monsters" now are back disguised as slogans and bombs hurled mostly at Jews. Take what happened in just the last month. In Milan, Italy, people shouted "Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning" -- the Islamists' battle cry to enslave and massacre the Jews. Meanwhile firebombs were hurled at Swedish synagogues and a Jewish store in Paris was destroyed. These are the "monsters" now filling Europe's public space.
Eli Lake was right saying that Europe's officials have become the face of "appeasement". In their obsequious submission to political Islam and Islamic terrorism -- presumably in the hope of being able to prevent them -- they have become even more than that. As their bromides on the Iranian repression and their funding the Palestinian rejectionists show, Europe's officials are now the certified apologists for the Arab-Islamic culture of repression, concealment and terrorism.
As these last few years of terror attacks should have proven to them, they delude themselves if they think that this deadly ideology will be kept confined to Tehran, Ramallah or Ankara.
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and author.
© 2018 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's "Peace Operations"
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute/February 15/18
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11870/turkey-peace-operations
"You can live a normal life here [Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus] if you keep quiet, if you don't tell the truth that we live under Turkish occupation, that much of our territory is a military zone where we can't go." — Şener Levent, owner and editor of the daily newspaper Afrika, in Turkish-occupied Cyprus.
In 1974, the Turkish army brutalized and terrorized at least 170,000 indigenous Greek Cypriots into fleeing to the free, southern part of the island, seized their properties, and replaced them with illegal settlers from Turkey.
"40,000 Turkish troops remain in Cyprus as a presence that prevents securing the human rights of Greek Cypriots. Turkey has been found guilty of mass violations of human rights by the European Commission and the Court of Human Rights, including the right to life, the right to property, liberty, and security of person, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and the prohibition of discrimination." — Artemis Pippinelli and Ani Kalayjian.
On January 20, Turkey launched a military offensive against the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in the Afrin district of northern Syria. Ironically code-named "Operation Olive Branch," the offensive was proudly described by Turkish Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman as "jihad," a holy war, without which "there can be no progress."
Parroting this sentiment, both pro- and anti-government mainstream media outlets in Turkey endorsed the Afrin invasion, using similar jihadist slogans. One newspaper that did not do so was the Turkish Cypriot daily newspaper Afrika, which headlined its coverage of the offensive by comparing it to Turkey's 1974 invasion of Cyprus, which it called a "peace operation."
In a column criticizing Turkey's invasions in the region, the owner and editor of Afrika, Şener Levent, wrote:
"Turkey comes up with such egregious names for its war operations. The one on Cyprus was called a 'peace operation.' The one in Syria is now 'the olive branch operation.' We did see the peace operation. It was bombs and not flowers of peace that rained from jets. Your heroic pilot even bombed a mental hospital in Nicosia. I saw a dead body trapped between the two floors of a hotel bombed in Maraş [the Cypriot town of Varosha]. Was that the symbol of the peace operation? Captives who were executed by firing squads... Women who were raped... And a soldier who cut the ears off his victims... Those were the symbols of peace, right?
"Now it is the 'olive branch operation.' But from the skies, seeds of death and not olive beans are raining on Afrin."
Outraged by these words, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attacked Afrika as "a shabby newspaper in northern Cyprus," and called on his "brothers from northern Cyprus... to give the required response."
The following day, on January 22, Afrika reported that a social media campaign was launched to spur protests outside of the building where the newspaper is located.
"The mayor of Büyükkonuk [the Cypriot village of Komi Kebir] came with the entire municipal staff. The Black Sea Cultural Association made an announcement, saying 'The chieftain [Erdogan] has responded... our brothers... should give them the required response.'"
The journalists of Afrika held their ground, however, writing:
"You call [the Afrin offensive] conquest; we call it invasion. You call for war and we call for peace. Do you expect us to applaud the bloodshed? Do not wait in vain. Your culture of lynching cannot surpass our Cypriot culture."
Nevertheless, the protests quickly turned violent. Some attacked the building, while others cheered them on, and removed and destroyed the newspaper's sign and replaced it with a Turkish flag. They then raided and plundered the offices inside. In a video of the incident, one employee is heard saying:
"We are trying to protect ourselves, since the police are not intervening. All the windows are being broken and the police just waits and watches idly. Our newspaper is being surrounded by a group of fascists."
The Turkish Cypriot daily newspaper Afrika criticized Turkey's military offensive in Syria. Turkish President Erdoğan then attacked Afrika and called on his "brothers from northern Cyprus... to give the required response" -- which was a violent attack by a mob who raided and plundered Afrika's offices. (Image source: Kibris Gerçek Facebook video screenshot)
With a headline that read, "They Came to Kill − the Order Came from a High Position [Erdoğan]," Afrika described the incident as follows:
"Under the eyes of the police, they attacked us with stones like pieces of rocks. They did not leave any window or door unbroken. They climbed a flagpole in front of the building and barged in through the balcony. A massacre was stopped at the last minute through the intervention of a few self-sacrificing policemen."
Neither Afrika nor its publisher, Levent, are strangers to pressure and harassment at the hands of the Turkish regime. According to a 2003 New York Times report:
"Levent has lost count of the fusillade of lawsuits pending against him. 'I think there are more than 100 cases now, in civilian and in military courts,' he said.
"He has been jailed twice and received death threats. His equipment has been confiscated, and his printing plant has been bombed. All of this has failed to silence Afrika. If anything, it has steeled Mr. Levent and his two brothers, who help him run the independent newspaper with a staff of 20."
Levent told the Times: "You can live a normal life here if you keep quiet, if you don't tell the truth that we live under Turkish occupation, that much of our territory is a military zone where we can't go."
Turkey became a member of NATO in 1952. Twenty-two years later, in 1974, the Turkish military launched a brutal invasion of Cyprus, a virtually defenseless country that had no air force, no navy and no army, other than a small national guard.
Ignoring all calls from the United Nations, including a UN ceasefire, the Turkish army proceeded to kill at least 5,000 Greek Cypriots, arrested and placed thousands in concentration camps, and raped Greek Cypriot women of all ages from 12 to 71 according to the European Commission of Human Rights. They also destroyed many churches and turned others into mosques, stables and military depots, among other things, in an attempt to wipe out the island's historic Hellenic and Christian identity through the destruction of its cultural heritage.
The Turkish army brutalized and terrorized at least 170,000 indigenous Greek Cypriots into fleeing to the free, southern part of the island, seized their properties, and replaced them with illegal settlers from Turkey. That is how Ankara forcibly created a Turkish majority in the northern part of the island, backed by the soldiers it continues to deploy there.
Turkey still occupies 38% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, after it ethnically cleansed the Greek Cypriot population. The occupied territory has thus been transformed into a Turkish province in all but name.
In their 2009 article, "Gender and Genocide: Armenian and Greek Women Finding Positive Meaning in the Horror," scholars Artemis Pippinelli and Ani Kalayjian write:
"40,000 Turkish troops remain in Cyprus as a presence that prevents securing the human rights of Greek Cypriots. Turkey has been found guilty of mass violations of human rights by the European Commission and the Court of Human Rights, including the right to life, the right to property, liberty, and security of person, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and the prohibition of discrimination."
Turkey nevertheless continues to refer to the events of 1974 -- which included mass murder, torture, abduction and rape, and which turned tens of thousands of Cypriots into refugees in their own homeland -- as a "peace operation." It also continues to try to silence anyone who dares to criticize the invasion and its crimes. Even George Orwell might be shocked at the level of Turkey's "doublethink" and "newspeak."
Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist born and raised in Turkey. She is presently based in Washington D.C.
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Time To Act On ‘Suicides’ Of Iran’s Political Prisoners
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/February 15/2018
Time to act on ‘suicides’ of Iran’s political prisoners
The number of “suicides” in Iran’s prisons is rising, based on the latest reports. This should ring alarm bells within the international community and human rights groups.
A few weeks ago, according to Iranian state-owned media outlets, a 22-year-old man who was arrested during the recent anti-regime protests died in police custody. His death stirred anger among many Iranians, who expressed their feelings on social media.
Later, the authorities announced that Vahid Heydari, a street peddler, killed himself in prison. The next young prisoner to die was Sina Ghanbari, a 23-year-old student. According to the Iranian regime, Ghanbari hanged himself in a bathroom in Evin Prison, which is known as the most notorious jail in Iran. Saru Ghahremani, a 24-year-old Iranian-Kurd, was also found dead in the city of Sanandaj. Generally speaking, Iranian people express skepticism about so-called “suicides” and the “natural deaths” of people in police custody or in prison. For example, Iranian celebrity actress Bahareh Rahnama wrote on Twitter: “This kid (Ghahremani) was neither political nor a protester, nor a rebel, nor an outlaw, he had simple but big wishes for himself: Like making his mother happy! Why should he be killed?”
Most recently, Iran’s judiciary announced that Iranian-Canadian environmentalist Kavous Seyed-Emami committed suicide in prison due to the evidence of spying against him.
It is worth noting that these are only the cases of deaths and suicides reported by the Iranian regime. The unofficial number is believed to be much higher.
The regime has generally brushed off the deaths of detainees as suicides without providing any credible evidence. These so-called suicides ought to be viewed with grave suspicion. First of all, when the Iranian authorities arrest people, the regime’s constitution does not allow detainees to have access to a lawyer during the initial phase of questioning. This provides the perfect cover for the regime’s forces to commit human rights violations, such as obtaining forced confessions or torturing detainees; actions that have been documented by Amnesty International.
The United Nations Human Rights Council must fulfill its duty by preventing atrocities in Iran’s prisons and holding the regime accountable for its human rights abuses.
Secondly, family members of the dead detainees strongly believe that their relatives would not commit suicide, and some have reported that the regime forces the victims to take pills, which make them sick. For example, Seyed-Emami’s son wrote on Instagram: “The news of my father’s passing is impossible to fathom. Kavous Seyed-Emami was arrested on Wednesday 24 January 2018, and the news of his death was released to my mom, Maryam, on Friday the 9th of February. They say he committed suicide. I still can’t believe this.”
Even if the authorities do not directly kill the prisoners, the torture inflicted on them may ultimately lead to their death or cause severe, life-long health issues. For example, the treatment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian mother who is approaching 700 days in prison, amounts to torture, her family has said while making an appeal for the United Nations to intervene in her case.
The Iranian regime can achieve several objectives with the deaths of some prisoners. First of all, it sends a strong message to society that any opposition may be answered with the ultimate penalty. Secondly, widely reporting the shocking news of so-called suicides on state TV and newspapers is aimed at imposing fear. Dual nationals are mostly being arrested to be used as bargaining chips with other governments. If the Iranian regime does not achieve its political or economic goals, the prisoners will most likely languish and die in prison. One prominent example was Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer, who was arrested in Iran and, according to a medical examiner, was raped, tortured and beaten to death by Iranian officials.
This is most likely done to prevent prisoners from disclosing the torture they endured in detention, as well as to force other governments to submit to Tehran’s demands the next time one of their citizens is arrested in Iran.
Iranian authorities often point out that they will establish an independent committee to investigate the deaths of detainees, but such “independent” investigators lack credibility and legitimacy because they are selected by the regime’s judiciary system.
The Iranian regime is committing egregious human rights violations with impunity. It is the responsibility of the international community and specifically the United Nations Human Rights Council to fulfill its duty by preventing such atrocities in Iran’s prisons and holding the regime accountable for its human rights abuses and the so-called “suicides” happening regularly in its prisons.
• 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

Iraq: When Countries Build While Others Destroy
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/February 15/18
Iraq has been promised a sum of $30 billion in reconstruction plans. Truth is, not many are excited about the idea for several reasons which include the difficult economic circumstances the region’s countries are going through and the high cost of wars. What’s worse than money shortage is the mismanagement in Iraq itself. Who would want to invest money in a country where militias are deployed and corruption is rampant? There is sectarianism there and the government is weak. Terrorism has not been eliminated even though it was defeated in Mosul and other areas. Obvious foreign interferences, particularly Iran’s, continue to increase. These are all dangerous challenges which we cannot ignore despite American and international pressures to provide support. Iraq’s problems are not due to the lack of financial resources but to the many woes it suffers from. Iraq itself is rich. It’s the world’s fifth largest proven oil reserves, and it lies on a treasure of gas. This is in addition to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. If it had been stable and if its political authority had been capable of managing the entire state, no one would have hesitated to provide funds, loans and investments to reconstruct it. Iraqis must not be fooled by international conferences and commitments to reconstruct the country as similar promises have been made but never been fulfilled, like the case is for Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Gaza and Lebanon.
Financial commitments were not kept because the latter continued to suffer from violence and chaos. The experience in Gaza is a bad model as every time it was supported, it was destroyed due to its authority’s ill management and to its enemy’s violent reactions.
The same applies to Lebanon whom Hezbollah involved in wars several times and led to its destruction. They act as such then expect Gulf and western countries to reconstruct bridges, ports and the army. Iraq paid a high price for its mistakes. It compensated Kuwait for invading it as it paid it $46 billion and $4 billion are left. And today, Iraq has received promises that it will receive 30$ billion for reconstruction plans. Turkey said it will pay $5 billion, the US said it will pay $3 billion, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait said they will pay $1.5 billion each, Qatar committed to pay $0.5 billion and the EU committed to paying less than $0.5. What can we notice when looking at the list of supporters? The only country that’s not helping the Iraqis is Iran which is the most responsible for Iraq’s destruction and for the failure of its central authority as it disintegrated Iraqi state institutions in order to control them and established a parallel army, i.e. the Popular Mobilization which resembles Hezbollah in Lebanon and performs the same task.
Khamenei’s regime has worked on supporting Iraqi religious groups at the expense of the civil state and it sent its general Qassem Soleimani to dictate the Iraqi command how to manage its military institutions and lead its wars. It also used Iraq to fund its operations and exploited it as a passage to Syria and Lebanon. If it hadn’t been for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ interferences, the Iraqis would have been in a better situation under the control of their political state institutions and the international community’s support. Iraq had in the past benefited from making use of its oil, water and human resources to establish a great state. The question is: How can the Iraqis build their country when armed religious militias along with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards control it?

Piketty Thinks the EU Is Bad for Eastern Europe. He's Half Right.
Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/February 15/18
Rockstar economist Thomas Piketty's view of eastern European countries as "owned" by their wealthier Western neighbors has helped nationalist parties in that part of the world make a case for economic decolonization. But Piketty's arguments as he frames them are rather easy to dismiss -- which is a problem: There are stronger ones to be made.
Last month, Piketty used his blog on the center-left French daily Le Monde's web page to argue that European Union membership may not have been net beneficial for countries such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He compared these countries' net outflows of profits and incomes from property with the net transfers they have received from the EU and finds that the outflows have been higher. "Of course, one might reasonably argue that Western investment enabled the productivity of the economies concerned to increase and therefore everyone benefited," Piketty wrote. "But the East European leaders never miss an opportunity to recall that investors take advantage of their position of strength to keep wages low and maintain excessive margins."
This week, Hungarian economist Zsolt Darvas, writing for the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, picked apart these claims, pointing out that EU convergence grants are conceptually different from foreign investment, on which investors are right to expect a return. Besides, the outflows aren't all to the rest of the EU: "What can be learned by comparing, for example, the EU transfers to Hungary with the profits that the Hungarian subsidiaries of the Japanese Suzuki or the South Korean Hankook Tires make?"
Darvas also pointed to the foreign investment's central role in driving growth in the region and cited abundant literature showing that, far from keeping wages low, foreign companies in eastern Europe largely pay more than local employers and enjoy a better record on workers' rights.
Both Piketty and Darvas are dancing around a real problem for the eastern European economies. Darvas points out, for example, that in the Czech Republic between 2000 and 2017, 39 of the 50 state aid receivers were foreign companies; for him, it's evidence that the Czech authorities recognize the value of foreign investment for economic development. But it could just as easily point to a policy blindness: What if dependence on foreign capital inflows is, at this point, hurting more than it's helping?
The large profit outflows mentioned in Piketty's post are in part explained by eastern European countries' tax policy. With just two exceptions -- Slovakia and the Czech Republic -- they rely less on corporate taxes for government revenue than industrialized nations, members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, do on average. And even Slovakia and the Czech Republic show a greater than average reliance on consumption taxes.
It doesn't matter, contrary to what Piketty implies, where corporate profits end up geographically after all the taxes paid. A billionaire owner of a private German company might stash them in an investment account in some offshore area or they could be reinvested in the Polish subsidiary that made them, pretty much from anywhere. What matters for a country is its ability to tax these profits adequately. In their race to be competitive foreign investment destinations, most eastern European countries don't overburden the corporations. And, given the prevalence of foreign companies -- as Piketty points out, they account for more than half of corporate assets in eastern Europe -- the foreigners end up contributing less to the construction of east European social safety nets and infrastructure than they do in their own countries. Instead, the local populations, who already earn less because relatively low wages are what attracts investment to the region, contribute more than people in wealthier countries in the form of consumption taxes.
The economic colonization of eastern European countries is a real problem, though not quite for the reasons Piketty mentions. The gap between the taxes western European companies would have paid at home and those that are levied in eastern Europe is what should be fairly compared with the EU convergence grants. It's harder to calculate than profit outflows, and it's likely to be smaller than the grants. But it's natural for eastern European nations to try to claw back some more foreign company profits, as the Hungarian government has done with special taxes for certain foreign-dominated industries. The Polish government, too, imposed an additional tax on the banking industry, which is mostly in foreign hands, and attempted to do the same with large retail chains (the EU blocked that move).
Eastern European countries can and should be more aggressive in taxing the foreign companies on which they've come to depend. Given the still substantial pay gaps between eastern and western Europe, these firms won't pull out their investment, anyway -- and perhaps they'll be tempted to invest more in higher-margin activities up the value chain from the majority of today's projects. If eastern Europe is to converge faster with the west in terms of pay and social benefits, it needs to stimulate investment, both domestic and foreign, in areas where the upside is higher. That requires gradual policy shifts that western neighbors may not like -- but, as Piketty has noted, they are benefiting from considerable profits flows from the region, and that should sweeten the pill.

A world summit for the future of mankind
Mohammed Al-Hammadi/Al Arabiya/February 15/18
The World Government Summit continues to maintain its strength, momentum and its ability to provide surprising information and insights. Every February, thousands of ministers, high ranking government officials, as well as private sector leaders from around the world participate at this global event held in Dubai. This year the summit drew the participation of 158 countries, featuring 28 heads of state, which clearly illustrates the success and prestige the summit has attained internationally. The scale and sophistication for organizing the event, the profundity and significance of the subjects it deliberates upon, as well as the eminence of the experts and distinguished participants in these sessions underlines the cause for the event’s rising international repute and acclaim. About 850 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition, and at least one child dies of hunger every five seconds in the world
One of the highlights of this year’s summit was the talk delivered by internationally renowned theoretical physicist and futurist Professor Michio Kaku. He brilliantly presented the future of technology and its impact on our lives, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence, digital computing and robotics. He gave a wonderful peep into the future and predicted that flights from New York to Dubai may take only two hours in coming decades.
After this inspiring vision of the future, came a more sobering realism in the next session when The Secretary General of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurria brought to light the difficult economic challenges facing the world. He drew the attention of the participants to the fact that only a small proportion of the global population is benefiting from economic development, while the rest remains afflicted with poverty and struggles under severe economic conditions around the world.
Loss of confidence
Gurria said that the grim economic situation is leading to a rising loss of confidence among people in their governments, and there is growing apathy towards elections and political participation even in democratic countries. According to reports released by various international humanitarian organizations, about 850 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition, and at least one child dies of hunger every five seconds in the world. In the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, a ‘Goodwill Letter’ was signed at the summit which vowed to make a serious attempts toward minimizing the gap between developed and developing countries, to provide food to the world, as well as to bring countries of the world closer to each other. The letter states that the world must progress and develop. At the same time, it is unacceptable that any person should die of hunger. Therefore, there is need for creating a balance so that a better way of living is ensured on this beautiful planet. “Let us direct our love for the earth and to the universe.” With this love, humanity can achieve good for all, Lt-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior said in his speech.''

Why Britain needs to forge closer ties with the GCC
Najah Alotaibi/Al Arabiya/February 15/18
The recent capture by US-led Kurdish forces of Alexander Kotey and El Shafee el-Sheikh, the two remaining British members of the so-called ‘Beatles’ group of ISIS militants, is a further welcome sign of the dissipation of the ISIS death cult across Syria and Iraq. Both men stand accused of brutal acts of torture and execution of as many as two dozen hostages. The pair are among the 850 British citizens who are thought to have joined extremist organizations abroad in the past years. While Kotey and el-Sheikh were picked up on the battlefield, many other examples of the UK successfully apprehending suspects and thwarting terror plots have been via a powerful international network of intelligence sharing. It isn’t clear yet precisely what radicalized these two men. But the cradle of the warped ideology that has driven so many to extremism lies enormously in some interpretations. This is something which has been admitted by even high-ranking politicians in the region, such as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who recently promised to return his country to a modern, open Islam. If Britain can show the same imagination – and work alongside her GCC friends – it might in time prevent more sinister reincarnations of alleged ISIS death squads like the ‘Beatles’
Imaginative support
So, as the UK hobbles towards Brexit, where to look to? Who to learn from and who to rely on? It is going to be a mammoth task. But one source of valuable and imaginative support for the British Government is its allies in the Gulf. My report for the Henry Jackson Society, Terror Overseas: Understanding the GCC Counter Terrorism and Counter Extremism Trends, reveals that Britain’s non-military joint effort to combat grassroots extremism in the Gulf is limited. I conclude that the UK needs to go beyond the basic platforms of security and information sharing and focus on more imaginative initiatives and collaborative programs, in order to tackle the fundamental problems that engender core radicalization in the first place. Currently, the UK strategy in combating extremism in the region concentrates on a “hard power” partnership in the spheres of military, defense and intelligence co-operation. For example, 2016 saw the opening of the first UK military base in the Middle East in nearly 50 years. The Naval Support Facility (NSF) in Manama, Bahrain, houses around 600 UK military personnel and will be used as a base to combat terrorism regionally and internationally. The UK also signed an agreement with Qatar to sell 24 Typhoon aircraft (Joint Operational Squadron) for combat air operations, and to ensure security during the 2022 World Cup in Doha.
‘Soft power’
But how about taking the Gulf’s lead on the ‘soft power’ approach?
True, there has been some positive initial work. But it’s been small fry. Britain shelled out just under $1.5 million for the “co-established” Hydayah Countering Violent Extremism Centre in the UAE, focusing on the fight against online extremism and ISIS propaganda. But there is much more that could be done – and it wouldn’t break Britain’s post-Brexit bank. The Gulf states have already made significant civil society innovations. A number of specialized counter-terrorism centers are starting to bear fruit. The program designed, for example, in the Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology, Etidal, in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, use new technology to fight radicalism and extremism in the crucial cyber war with extremists. Bahrain is focused on its own interfaith and intercultural programs aimed at improving tolerance , and promoting co-existence in a bid to eradicate the threat from terrorism. The UAE has created a “Ministry of Happiness and Tolerance”, while Kuwait has used the state’s drama and media industries to highlight the risk of indoctrination among the disenfranchised young.If Britain can show the same imagination – and work alongside her GCC friends – it might in time prevent more sinister reincarnations of alleged ISIS death squads like the ‘Beatles’, and kill extremism at its core.

Rising above hunger and all forms of malnutrition
José Graziano da Silva/Al Arabiya/February 15/18
An African proverb says that “wisdom is like a baobab tree – no one individual can embrace it.” The same can be applied to the fight against hunger in Africa. Collective action is fundamental to achieve the aim of the Malabo Declaration (end hunger by 2025), as well as that of the Sustainable Development Goal number 2 (eradicating hunger and all forms of malnutrition and promote sustainable agriculture). From 19 to 23 February 2018 in Khartoum, Sudan, FAO is convening the 30th Regional Conference for Africa, where African ministers and other stakeholders will meet to review the achievements, challenges and priorities on the sustainable development of agriculture and food systems. It is encouraging that some parts of the continent have made some significant progress, but significant challenges remain for all. The 2017 edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report points out that the number of undernourished people in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2016 was about 224 million, an increase of 24 million compared to 2015. This means that 23 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa, almost one out of four African people, was undernourished. However, compared with the percentage of undernourishment registered in 2000 – 28% – the numbers still show a relative decrease. The increase of hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2016 is directly linked to conflicts and the impacts of climate change, such as the prolonged drought that affected the rural areas of many countries. Low levels of productivity, weak value-chains and high levels of vulnerability to crises have also contributed to negatively affect food and agriculture systems and rural livelihoods, especially in relation to the poorest people. The increase of hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2016 is directly linked to conflicts and the impacts of climate change, such as the prolonged drought that affected the rural areas of many countries
A global epidemic
It is also important to bear in mind that the SDG 2 calls for the eradication of all forms of malnutrition. And this is for a reason. Today we are facing a global epidemic of overweight and obesity. The situation is also worrisome here in Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 30% of adults in Africa are overweight. Obesity rates are nearing 10% in countries such as Sierra Leone and Liberia. Furthermore, about 41 million children in the world under five years old are overweight. A quarter of these children live in Africa. Rapid urbanization and the consumption of highly processed foods are the major drivers behind this increase in overweight and obesity. People are often unaware that certain foods are unhealthy, and they do not see being overweight as a problem. The challenge is how to promote healthy diets when urbanization is stimulating a dietary transition towards more processed food. So countries need to act in two fronts: production and consumption of healthy food. This includes the advertisement and information of food products. People must be aware about the pros and cons of what they are eating, and also be encouraged to eat healthy food.
Bringing Africa’s Youth to the Forefront
Youth employment remains a biting challenge in the region. Estimates foresee that people aged 15 to 24 years in Sub-Saharan Africa will increase by more than 90 million by 2030, and most will be in rural areas. Getting this growing number of young people into decent jobs is not just essential for their personal future, but for the future of the continent. The majority of Africa’s rural youth are in the informal economy as contributing family workers, subsistence farmers, home-based micro-entrepreneurs or unskilled workers. They typically earn low wages, work under casual or seasonal arrangements, and face unsafe, often exploitative working conditions that compel many to migrate to urban areas. Farm and non-farm activities hold enormous potential for unemployed African youth. But more effort is needed to transform rural economies. Successful, inclusive transformations encourage agricultural productivity growth, a shift of people and resources from agriculture towards manufacturing, industry and services, and massive increases in per capita income, as well as steep reductions in poverty and hunger.
Keeping Track of Zero Hunger
We still have good reasons to be optimistic and believe that eradicating hunger by 2030 is still possible. Political will has not evaporated. It has in fact been reinforced. The United Nations, led by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, has increased its focus on the impacts of conflicts through peacekeeping operations. In relation to climate change, there is currently in place the Green Climate Fund. Developing countries will have access to the necessary resources to implement climate-smart practices for adaptation to a changing climate. Furthermore, there are strong signs that the world economy is recovering and this will create favorable conditions for development. On the margins of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa a few weeks ago, I addressed heads of state and government and reaffirmed that achieving Zero Hunger is possible. Stronger commitment by governments, the private sector, civil society, the African Union and the United Nations is needed to promote peace, human rights and sustainable development.