LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 26/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias
Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the
lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias18/english.june26.18.htm
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Bible
Quotations
Pray for us; we are
sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honourably in all
things
Letter to the Hebrews 13/18-25: "Pray for us; we are sure that we have a
clear conscience, desiring to act honourably in all things.I urge you all
the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you very soon. Now may the
God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great
shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you
complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us
that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the
glory for ever and ever. Amen. I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, bear
with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. I want you
to know that our brother Timothy has been set free; and if he comes in time,
he will be with me when I see you. Greet all your leaders and all the
saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. Grace be with all of you."
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published on June 25-26/18
Titles For The
Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on
June 25-26/18
Titles For Latest LCCC
Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on June 25-26/18
Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on
June 25-26/18
No One can Help a
Person Who Does Not Want To Help Himself
Elias Bejjani/June 25/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/65564/elias-bejjani-no-one-can-help-a-person-who-does-not-want-to-help-himself/
At times we might find ourselves crippled, frustrated and
helpless while witnessing serious but trivial problems taking place between
people whom we love and care much about them. We know we can give them a
hand and help in solving their problems or at least preventing their
altercations from becoming more deep and more complicated, But sadly they
(those who are having the problem) block all our efforts and abort them
stupidly while making their difficulties worse and worse. By the end no one
can help any person no matter what if this person does not wish to help
himself. In summary, life in general is a set of choices and when we take
any choice no matter big or small we have to carry the consequences. All
what we can do in such a situation is to pray for those who are not helping
themselves and at the same time not allowing any body else to help them
Saudi-led Coalition
Says It Killed Eight Hezbollah Militants in Yemen
ثمانية قتلى لحزب الله في اليمن
DPA/June 25/18
Coalition says Saudi air defenses intercepted two ballistic missiles fired
by Houthi rebels from Yemen
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen said on Monday that
it has killed eight members of Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah group in the
northern Yemeni province of Saada. "Forty-one terrorists were killed in
Saada and their vehicles and equipment were destroyed," the coalition said
in a statement.
"Among the dead are a Hezbollah leader and seven other members," it added.
Late on Sunday, the coalition said that Saudi air defenses intercepted and
destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by the Iranian-allied Houthis from
Yemen over the capital Riyadh. The Houthis have recently stepped up missile
attacks on Saudi Arabia, which has been leading an air campaign against them
in Yemen's war. Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries, has been
embroiled in a devastating power struggle between the Saudi-backed
government and the Houthis since late 2014. The conflict has intensified
since March 2015, when the Houthis advanced on the government's temporary
capital of Aden, prompting Saudi Arabia and Sunni allies to start an air
campaign against the Shi'ite group. Saudi Arabia fears that the rebels will
give its regional rival, Shi'ite Iran, a strategic foothold on the Arabian
Peninsula.
Cabinet formation hits
standstill
Georgi Azar/Annahar/June 25/18
Despite last week's meeting at Baabda Presidential Palace, Hariri's effort
to form a new government failed to come to fruition.
BEIRUT: The optimism surrounding the formation of a new Cabinet in the wake
of last week's meeting between President Michel Aoun and Prime
Minister-designate Saad Hariri fizzled out, as it became evident that the
parties involved in the widescale negotiation process have yet to see eye to
eye on the distribution of ministerial portfolios. At the heart of the
conflict are the Lebanese Forces and Progressive Socialist Party's demand
for a sizeable chunk of ministerial posts, which have continuously been
rebuked by Aoun and his son-in-law an current Free Patriotic Movement leader
Gebran Bassil.
The LF, who saw their bloc expand to 15 MPs during the recent parliamentary
elections, has been pushing for a significant share of ministries including
one of four key portfolios (Interior, Defense, Foreign and Finance
Ministries) to rival the FPM. The FPM, with its 29 MPs however, remains the
biggest Christian coalition in Parliament. Aoun has been adamant in his
refusal to grant the LF's wishes and limit their representation despite
Hariri's commitment to an all-inclusive Cabinet. The President has also been
trying to secure at least three other ministries to go alongside the FPM's
seven, including that of the deputy premier position which is currently
occupied by the LF.
Lebanese Army Arrests Wanted Men in Bekaa following
Clan Clashes
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 June, 2018/The Lebanese army arrested
two people involved in shooting incidents between families in the eastern
Bekaa region last week as part of a security plan to end chaos and restore
stability along the border with Syria. The Army Command announced in a
statement Sunday that the intelligence unit arrested in the city of Hermel
Nidal Hamadeh, who was wanted for shooting and injuring one person, and for
recently inciting disputes between two families in the city. The Army
Intelligence also arrested Marwan Shamel Jaafar for taking part in
shootouts, while an unspecified amount of various types of drugs were found
in his possession, according to the statement. Lebanon’s National News
Agency (NNA) said that Jaafar was arrested at an army checkpoint in the area
and had not been carrying identity documents. The arrests coincided with
agreements reached by the reconciliation committees of clans in the
northeastern most point of Lebanon, which resulted in the hand over of two
wanted persons to the army intelligence. Violent clashes sparked by
inter-clan disputes had broken out between the Jaafar and Al-Jamal clans in
the Bekaa region on the Lebanese-Syrian border on June 20. The army
intervened and implemented a security plan to arrest the perpetrators and
maintain security in the region. A group called “Together for the Hermel”
had held a sit-in in front of the government Serail in Beirut to protest the
chaos and demand better security.
Aoun Asks Baalbek-Hermel Residents to Cooperate with
Army
Naharnet/June 25/18/President Michel Aoun has called on the
residents of Baalbek-Hermel to cooperate with the army in order to rein in
the security chaos in their region. Aoun also reassured the MPs of Baalbek-Hermel
whom he met Monday at the Baabda Palace that “the security measures that
will be taken in the region to strengthen security and security in it will
be accompanied by integrated developmental work that fits the region's
economic and social needs.”He, however, warned that “there will be no
leniency with those who sow chaos and anxiousness among residents and those
whose practices are detrimental to the region's economic life.”Aoun also
reminded that the Higher Defense Council had taken decisions in its latest
session that are “being gradually implemented.” “The region's political
parties have announced that they do not cover security violators and
offenders,” the president pointed out.
Army Removes Ain el-Hilweh's Electronic Gates
Naharnet/June 25/18/The Lebanese Army has removed the electronic gates it
had installed at the entrances of the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee
camp, replacing them with other security measures. In a statement issued
Monday, the Army Command said the move comes out of its “sympathy with the
suffering of the Palestinian people in Lebanon, especially those who live in
the Ain el-Hilweh and Mieh Mieh camps, and in line with the plan that has
been devised by this Command to preserve security inside camps.” The step
also follows “a series of contacts and meetings with those keen on the
security of the camps' residents, which resulted in positive cooperation,”
the Command added. It noted that the taken measures are “not against the
Palestinian people” but rather aimed at “confronting the threat of a group
of terrorists who pose a burden to the residents of the camps in particular
and the Lebanese in general.”National and Islamist Palestinian leaders in
the Sidon region meanwhile thanked “everyone who contributed to the removal
of the gates.” “From the very first moment of the installation of the
electronic gates on the entrances of the Ain el-Hilweh camp, which were not
befitting of our people from the political, national and humanitarian
aspects, and were also not befitting of Lebanon and its people and army, the
unified political leadership exerted efforts to remove them,” the leadership
said in a statement. It also thanked Speaker Nabih Berri, Sidon's two MPs,
Army Commander General Joseph Aoun and the Palestinian embassy in Lebanon.
Army Chief Begins Official U.S. Visit
Naharnet/June 25/18/Army Commander General Joseph Aoun began an official
visit on Monday to the United States where he is scheduled to hold talks
with military and civilian officials, the National News Agency reported.
Talks are set to focus on strengthening cooperation between the armies of
the two countries, NNA said. It added that the visit which will last a few
days. Media reports meanwhile said that discussions are expected to focus on
“assessing” the U.S. military aid to the Lebanese army, to help it to pursue
its mission in “safeguarding Lebanon’s territory.”
Kataeb Says Talking to Everyone 'regardless of Govt.
Participation'
Naharnet/June 25/18/The Kataeb Party announced Monday that it is
communicating with all political parties, including the Free Patriotic
Movement, regardless of whether or not it will join the new government.
“Some media outlets and websites are circulating a lot of talk and analyses
about negotiations and initiatives between the FPM and Kataeb over the issue
of participating in the government, especially after the latest meeting
between Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel and MP Elias Bou Saab in Saifi,”
Kataeb said in a statement. It added: “Kataeb stresses that communication
with all parties, including the FPM, is normal and ongoing.” “It is
revolving around the means and possibility of working together for the sake
of Lebanon amid these critical circumstances at the political and economic
levels, regardless of the issue of joining or staying out of the
government,” Kataeb clarified. It emphasized that the Gemayel-Bou Saab
meeting is part of this policy. “It falls under the usual communication with
everyone and it did not involve specific initiatives,” Kataeb added.
Katicha Accuses FPM of ‘Monopolizing’ Power, Pushing LF
Out of Govt.
Naharnet/June 25/18/MP Wehbe Katicha of the Strong Republic parliamentary
bloc denied accusations that the Lebanese Forces is hampering the formation
of the Cabinet, as he reversed the blame on parties he said were
“monopolizing" power in the country, Saudi Asharq al-Awsat reported on
Monday. “Those monopolizing everything are trying to embarrass us out (of
the government), but we won’t. We insist on proper representation,” he said
in an apparent reference to the Free Patriotic Movement accusations against
the LF. The LF are seeking an equal Cabinet share to that of the FPM which
includes five ministerial seats including a so-called sovereign portfolio in
addition to the deputy prime minister post. “Shall we waiver any of our
demands, it must be met with a similar step by the other party (FPM). The
Maarab Agreement specifies that, and the public opinion will hold them
accountable because the people have tasked us to represent them,” said
Katicha. The LF insists on getting an equal share to that of the FPM in the
new government, judging their demand as the “right for proper representation
based on the outcome of the parliamentary elections.”Their demands are
reportedly delaying the Cabinet formation process, as Bassil has has made an
outright rejection of such a request.
Geagea Says Bassil Sees Partnership as 'Single-Handed
Act'
Naharnet/June 25/18/Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea lashed out at Free
Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil saying his concept of partnership is
that “he works single-handed” while everyone else follows, the Saudi Asharq
al-Awsat daily reported on Monday. “The concept of partnership for Foreign
Minister and FPM head Jebran Bassil is that he works alone while we are
supposed to back him. He accuses us of obstructing the government whenever
we make a criticism, and considers it an infringement on the (presidential)
term,” criticized Geagea. He said the LF’s stances regarding power
generating vessels must not perceived as obstruction, “obstruction should
only be seen as such when we reject issues we have both agreed on in
advance,” said Geagea. The Maarab Agreement with the FPM “is not a political
alliance,” the LF chief added, “we have an agreement with the FPM that each
party maintains its own political positioning.”On another note, the LF
leader said besides his alliance with the FPM, he welcomes strengthening
alliances with al-Mustaqbal Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and
AMAL Movement “away from limited tactical interests and temporary gains.”The
LF insists on getting an equal share to that of the FPM in the new
government, judging their demand as the “right for proper representation
based on the outcome of the parliamentary elections.”Their demands are
reportedly delaying the Cabinet formation process, as Bassil has has made an
outright rejection of such a request.
Hariri at launch of TVET national framework: Vocational education is
essential for building the country and for its economic development
Mon 25 Jun 2018/NNA - Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri sponsored today
at the Grand Serail the launching ceremony of the "National Strategic
Framework for Technical Vocational Education and Training in Lebanon (TVET)
2108-2022". The framework responds to evolving labour market needs, by
seeking to increase youth access to TVET and improve the quality of
education and training in the sector. The Minister of Education and Higher
Education Marwan Hamade, the Minister of State for Women Affairs Jean
Ogassapian, the Regional Director of the International Labor Organization
Ruba Jaradate, and the Acting Representative of UNICEF Lebanon Violet
Speek-Warnery, attended the ceremony. Hariri said: "Good morning and welcome
to the Grand Serail for the launching of the National Strategic Framework
for Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Lebanon (TVET).
This framework is the result of a joint effort between the Ministry of
Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Labor and the
Ministry of Social Affairs, in collaboration with UNICEF and the
International Labor Organization.
As you know, during the Brussels 1 and 2 conferences, the Lebanese
government asked the international community to go beyond providing
humanitarian assistance to displaced Syrians, and to contribute to the
support of the national economy, particularly the host communities. Within
this framework, we put forward several priorities, the first of which is the
Capital investment program that was launched at the CEDRE conference in
Paris, in addition to providing vocational and technical education and
training opportunities for our young men and women. The strategy we are
launching today focuses mainly on providing high quality technical and
vocational education and training to our young men and women, taking into
account market requirements to help the private sector secure specialized
and trained work force. It is no longer acceptable to look negatively at the
vocational and technical education and training, and to turn every pupil who
fails in his studies to vocational or technical education. No. The issue is
not like that at all. Vocational education is essential for building the
country and for its economic development because it will increase the sense
of creativity and the skills of labor. In a quick look at the countries that
are considered superior in their industries and technologies such as
Germany, America, Japan and other major countries, we see that the
percentage of students in vocational schools is very high, sometimes higher
than that of students in general education.
It is time to change the mentality of our society that says that my daughter
or son should be a doctor, an officer or an engineer regardless of whether
there is demand in the market for these professions.
There are many other professions for which there is demand, like nurse,
executive assistant, or skills related to the construction and engineering
sector, and we will soon be asking for technical skills in the oil and gas
sector. The subject surely needs raising awareness from the state,
especially the Ministry of Education, and with the active participation of
the private sector because our concern is to have productive generations and
not generations that have graduation degrees but no work. Yes, we need
doctors, engineers and lawyers, but the country also needs trained young men
and women. It also needs technicians and professionals to open up their own
work, help develop their regions and meet their needs, especially outside
the big cities. In this way, we will also be fighting high poverty rates in
remote areas and contributing, with the national program for targeting the
poorest families, to drag them out of poverty.
Thus, the citizens of Akkar, Tripoli, Baalbek or other regions will not be
forced to go to Beirut to find a job. They will have the choice to remain in
their villages and be productive at the same time. We should not also forget
that the next phase is that of implementation of the Capital investment
program that includes more than 280 projects across all sectors that will
create thousands of jobs.
This is why we need to have the specialized human cadre that will be
prepared to manage and implement these projects. The only possible way for
this to happen is by raising the level and quality of education and
vocational and technical training to be able to respond to the needs of the
market and the requirements of the private and productive sectors. With the
launching of this strategy today, the implementation of the Capital
investment program, and after the completion of the production sector
strategy and the implementation of the reforms that the Lebanese government
has committed to, we would have taken steps towards the activation of
growth, the creation of job opportunities for our young men and women, and
raising the productivity of our economy. I want to ask our partners in the
international community who are present with us today to support the
strategy we are launching and help the Lebanese government implement it.
Many countries expressed their willingness like the United States, Canada
and Australia. There are also countries that are continuously supporting the
sector of education and vocational and technical training in Lebanon,
primarily Germany and we discussed this issue during our meeting with
Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In the end, I want to thank all the ministries and administrations that
participated in preparing this strategy. My special thanks go to UNICEF and
the International Labor Organization for their continuous support for the
efforts of the Lebanese government."For her part, the Acting Representative
of UNICEF Lebanon Violet Speek-Warnery said: "We believe that the investment
is critical to help reform and shift the educational system to new forms of
content and delivery, one that is more relevant, and responsive to job
opportunities, an investment that plays a critical role in equipping youth
with the right skills to meet labor market needs, fueling competitiveness,
reducing unemployment and contributing to breaking the cycle of
inter-generational poverty." The ILO Regional Director for Arab States Ruba
Jaradat said: "The launch of this framework is a key achievement for the
Government of Lebanon and lays the foundations for prioritizing the support
of TVET as a means to grow the economy and better support youth and the
private sector. These reforms outlined in the Strategic Framework will help
ensure youth have the skills, knowledge and linkages to gain employment and
access to work in Lebanon, as well as provide hard data on labor market
needs and improve the connectivity of the TVET system to the private
sector." Minister Hamade said: "This framework will serve as a basis for
improving cooperation between government institutions and establishing
strong partnerships with the private sector. It will also be the main
national reference to the work plans of each ministry, which will include
strong partnerships with the private sector employers. And this plan of
action will integrate the main outputs to be achieved along with clear
indicators for the monitoring and evaluating progress."
Abra detainees' families protest outside Information
Ministry, urge Riachi to intervene
Mon 25 Jun 2018/NNA - Female relatives of Abra detainees on Monday staged a
sit-in outside the Ministry of Information, protesting against MTV program
that discussed Abra's case. After urging media outlets "to deal with the [Abra's]
case objectively", they asked Caretaker Information Minister, Melhem Riachi
"to intervene to this effect". Protesters hoisted banners expressing their
refusal of "conspiratorial media" and attempts to deceive public opinion.
"No hegemonic media, no racist media," they maintained. Minister Riachi
dispatched his advisor, Adham Mansour, who confirmed that "the minister will
follow up on this matter with media outlets and the National Audiovisual
Council."
Berri, interlocutors tackle overall situation
Mon 25 Jun 2018/NNA - House Speaker, Nabih Berri, on Monday met at his Ain
Tineh residence with Norwegian Ambassador to Lebanon, Lene Natasha Lind,
with whom he discussed the general situation in Lebanon and the broad
region, in addition to the bilateral ties.
Speaker Berri also met with Kuwaiti Ambassador to Lebanon, Abdel Aal Al
Qenai, with talks reportedly touching on most recent developments and the
bilateral ties between Lebanon and Kuwait. A delegation of the Board of
Directors of the Lebanese Tobacco and Tunbac Monopoly Department (Regie),
led by its Chairman and General Manager Nassif Seklawi, who briefed him on
the recommendations of the Anti-Illicit Trade Conference held on April 22.
Embassy of Japan funds clearance of lands with
unexploded cluster munitions in Tyre
Mon 25 Jun 2018/ NNA - The Embassy of Japan funds the Lebanese Association
for Mine and Natural Disaster Action (LAMINDA) for their clearance
operations in the Caza of Sour, in order to provide a safer living
environment and improve the livelihood opportunities of the residents.
Marking the completion of the project on June 25, 2018, H.E. Mr. Matahiro
Yamaguchi, Ambassador of Japan to Lebanon, attended a ceremony organized by
LAMINDA, where the cleared lands were handed over to their owners. The
ceremony was also attended by Mr. Anwar Jammal, the CEO of Jammal Trust
Bank, Brigadier General Ziad Nasr, Director of Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC)
and the Mayor of Zebqine. Through the Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human
Security Program (GGP), LAMINDA was able to provide a safer and better
living environment to at least 25,000 residents of the villages of Hinnieh
and Zebqine that suffered from the presence of cluster munitions during the
wars. During the ceremony, H.E. Ambassador Yamaguchi congratulated the land
owners and praised LAMINDA’s efforts in implementing the project and
highlighted Japan’s strong commitments to assist the local communities.
Meanwhile, Ret. Brig. Gen. Badwi El Sakkal, President of LAMINDA, expressed
his deep appreciation for the Japanese support to people in Lebanon over the
years. In addition, Mr. Anwar Jammal, introduced the microfinance scheme
that JTB offers to assist the owners to re-invest in their recently cleared
lands.
In turn, Brigadier Nasr gave a word thanking
Japan for its bounteous contributions in Lebanon, hoping that Japan’s long
standing support for the country will continue until the South is totally
mine-free in 2020 — a set date on which South Lebanon should be declared
free of cluster bombs. Nasr also thanked the other associations which have
been contributing to de-mining activities in Lebanon, stressing the need to
continue joint efforts until Lebanon is totally mine-free.
Mount Lebanon Prosecutor hears Yaacoubian's testimony
over Bourj Hammoud waste dump
Mon 25 Jun 2018/NNA - Mount Lebanon State Prosecutor, Judge Ghada Aoun, on
Monday heard the testimony of MP Paula Yaacoubian in the case related to
Bourj Hammoud garbage dump and the waste crisis, National News Agency
correspondent reported.
Aoun receives invitation to attend Cedars International
Festival 2018
Mon 25 Jun 2018/ NNA - President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, on
Monday received at the Baabda palace MP Sethrida Geagea, who extended to him
an invitation to attend the Cedars International Festival 2018. MP Sethrida
Geagea thanked President Aoun for his patronage of the Cedars' International
Festival "in view of his constant concern to encourage art and culture in
all Lebanese regions." "We extended an invitation to President Aoun to
attend the concert of the great Singer, Magida Roumi, on July 28, 2018, with
the aim of raising Lebanon's name up high and recognizing its universal
status through its five archaeological sites inscribed on the World Heritage
List," MP Sethrida said on emerging. President Aoun, in turn, highlighted
the political and cultural importance of the Cedars International Festival,
which he described as a "tourism pillar in Lebanon".
Lavrov, Bolton to meet in Moscow on June 27
Mon 25 Jun 2018/NNA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US National
Security Adviser John Bolton are due to meet in Moscow on June 27, the
Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday. "The Russian Foreign Ministry
confirms information on a working meeting between Lavrov and Bolton in
Moscow on Wednesday, June 27," the ministry said. On June 25-27, Bolton will
visit London and Rome to discuss national security issues and will later
travel to Moscow to hold consultations on a possible meeting between Russian
President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. ---TASS
Lebanon’s summer in action with another good cause
Ryme Alhussayn/Annahar/June 25/18
This experience transmitted the excitement, happiness and warmth that the
Lebanese people yearn for.
BEIRUT: From golden sunshine to a thousand colors in a parched landscape,
the future looks more promising under the clear blue sky of Beirut striving
for new opportunities.
Under the patronage of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and the presence
of his representative Minister of Tourism Avedis Guidanian, with the support
of Beirut Municipality and Solidere, and along with the representative of
Beirut Mayor, Suleiman Jaber, In Action Events launched “Summer In Action,”
in collaboration with Explore Lebanon Tours and Himaya NGO. The event, which
took place at Beirut Waterfront on Friday, was aimed at supporting a good
cause: raising awareness on child abuse. This experience transmitted the
excitement, happiness and warmth among many Lebanese who showed up to voice
support for a humanitarian cause. “This kind of occasions brings out the
best image out of Lebanon because the rest of the world only sees the
clashes and disagreements; so we are here today to stand against them and to
reassure them that Lebanon is living in peace,” Minister of Tourism, Avedis
Guidanian, told Annahar. From mega-events to seminars and workshops, In
Action Events never seems to fail people’s expectations; as it succeeded in
gathering more than 50 designers to support the cause, along with numerous
restaurants and coffee shops; and not to forget the fun zone for kids to get
the chance to enjoy handcrafts, inflatables, pool tables, exhibitions and
many shows. “We expect that people know more about Himaya, who they are and
what they do; so the main goal behind this event is raising awareness and
funds for Himaya,” said Cynthia Warde, the founder of In Action Events, to
Annahar. Apart from the humanitarian aspect of this event, exhibitors also
get the chance to display their work, whether it’s jewelry, clothing, or any
kind of personal business, for marketing purposes, “we love events, they are
very casual, and the aim of the company is to provide affordable prices with
high quality, and here we get the chance to show our products to as many as
people as we can,” said one of the sales associates of Vestiti store. The
event offered activities for different age ranges. It included shopping for
mothers, extreme sports for fathers, music, and entertainment for the youth,
and amusing games for kids. “We wanted everyone to come, this is why we made
sure to create a happy environment for families and children and get them
sensitized on the topic,” Maria Shaaya, communication coordinator of Himaya,
told Annahar. The role of Summer In Action is to raise money for the
protection of all children in need in Lebanon. It’s the responsibility of
the society to build up a better vision for its people, participants told
Annahar. The exhibitors that come from different regions are all working on
selling their products to participate in the fundraising, “usually up to 50%
of our gain goes to charity; so today, the amount we make is going to Himaya,”
said the owner of Anaka store to Annahar.
Lebanon’s image and
the stamping of Iranian passports
Nadim Koteich/Al Arabiya/June 25/18
There have been several political interpretations of the Lebanese general
security’s measure not to stamp Iranian passports upon arrival in Beirut and
stamp entry cards instead. The Lebanese general security based its decision
on a law issued in 1970, which allows the Director General of the General
Security or the interior minister to take those steps in special
circumstances. However, the surprising part is that this recent measure
expanded the category of these special cases to cover all Iranians entering
the country. This couldn’t have been the purpose of those who passed the
law! Imagine the enormity of this catastrophe! There are Iranians who think
that visiting Lebanon may give them a bad reputation which better be avoided
to ensure that they keep their image unsullied in front of the embassies of
other countries!
Lebanon’s reputation
What further escalated the controversy around this issue is that an Iranian
news agency broke the news. This directly raised doubts and suspicions.
Consequently, Interior Minister Nohad al-Machnouk requested to put this new
measure on hold until consultations take place with caretaker Prime Minister
Saad Hariri on the matter. Some explanations suggest that this step came in
the context of facilitating the movement of Iranians going to Syria and
protecting their personal information, which appears an exaggerated
explanation. Iranians coming to Lebanon, especially to fight in Syria, will
not be greatly affected if their passports are stamped since entry and exit
data is kept in the general security database and this procedure won’t grant
any confidentiality to their movements. The second explanation, that I have
personally confirmed its accuracy, links the procedure to what is worse for
Lebanon and its reputation. According to one of the narratives explaining
why this measure was adopted, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon sent a letter to
the Lebanese Foreign Ministry conveying the complaints of some Iranians,
including businessmen and tourists, saying that having the Lebanese stamp on
their passports complicates the possibility of obtaining visas to other
countries, which makes them avoid going to Lebanon! Imagine the enormity of
this catastrophe! There are Iranians who think that visiting Lebanon may
give them a bad reputation which better be avoided to ensure that they keep
their image unsullied in front of the embassies of other countries!
According to those familiar with the complaint, the complaining Iranians
said that when Iranians who visited Lebanon travel to other countries or
apply for visas, they are being asked innumerable questions about the
reasons behind the visit to Lebanon and whether this visit has anything to
do with Hezbollah’s activity inside or outside Lebanon. Those who made the
complaints said these questions are due to suspicions that the only reason
an Iranian would visit Lebanon is his supposed security or military activity
within Hezbollah! This is what Lebanon’s reputation has come to, as a
military base for Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guards. Visiting Lebanon,
which was a destination for tourism, has become almost a crime, at least for
the Iranians whom, by the way, 2.5 million of them visit neighboring Turkey.
Under Iran’s shadow
I frankly do not care about Iranians’ visits to Lebanon even if they are
important to open necessary relations between Lebanon and this category of
the Iranian society that refrains from visiting Lebanon because of its
Western priorities and to protect their visas to Britain, the United States
and Europe. This is an interesting Iranian category and its visits to
Lebanon may weaken the stereotypical image about the Iranians and the
Lebanese and which is mainly formed by the visits of the Revolutionary
Guards or the ideological pilgrims. What concerns me the most is the
impression that is being strengthened in the world about Lebanon that it has
become a security and military base for Iran, as conveyed by the Iranians’
complaints communicated by Iran’s envoy in Lebanon to the relevant
authorities – an impression that Tehran does not hesitate to solidify and
affirm. Before this storm pertaining to Iranian visitors, Qassem Soleimani,
the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force was informing the
world that Hezbollah had won at least 70 seats in the parliament and
concluded that Lebanon had grown from a country that embraces the
“Resistance” into a full “Resistance” state. This is another confirmation
for those who wish to equate Lebanon with Hezbollah as per Israel’s analysis
after the conclusion of the elections.
Correcting the image
However, this is not the case. Only a few days ago, the representatives who
were celebrated by Soleimani were publicly insulted and humiliated by the
people of Baalbek-Hermel governorate because they believe that Hezbollah has
not been successful in improving their lives despite all the sacrifices they
made in support of their cause. There is something about this decline that
resembles what’s happening in Iran itself where the Iranians have had enough
of the lies related to the ‘Resistance,’ Hezbollah, Gaza and Jerusalem.
Consequently, they disposed of donation boxes allocated to Jerusalem on Quds
Day and chanted in the street “Not Gaza and not Lebanon.” Khamenei himself
had to directly debate them in his recent speeches. Lebanon is actually in a
moment of serious conflict over its image as there is the image which most
of the Lebanese people want for their country and the image of the state as
an operations room like very few parties want. This is a fateful moment
which nothing expresses best than an Iranian telling us: Visiting Lebanon is
a burden on me!
If this is what some Iranians think then what does the rest of the world
think of us? Thank you ‘Resistance.’
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News
published
on June 25-26/18
Syria launches
comprehensive assault on Daraa. Quneitra under threat next
DEBKAfile/June 25/18
The Syrian army on Monday, June 25, launched an all-out assault on Daraa – a
symbolic operation since it was there that the seven-year anti-Assad war
first erupted. The Syrian army’s 4th Division’s guns and its Tigers Forces’
tanks pounded the town with heavy artillery and Golan 1000 missiles, each of
which carries a 500kg explosive warhead. The mobile Golan 1000 system
mounted on Russian T-72 tanks proved its lethal properties in the recent
battles for eastern Damascus. There is no way the Syrian rebel groups
defending Daraa can withstand the fury of this assault, especially when it
is boosted by carpet bombing inflicted by Syrian and Russian air forces.
According to some sources close to the scene, the rebels tried early Monday
to mount a counter-attack on the Syrian army and were repelled with heavy
casualties. Rebel chiefs in the Daraa region are still putting a brave face
on their predicament and pledging to fight to the end and never surrender
They refuse to be discouraged by the US embassy’s message from its Amman
embassy on Sunday warning the South Syrian rebels not to expect US
intervention on their behalf. The immediate objective of the Syrian assault
appears to be a group of tall buildings in the Al Balad district of Daraa,
from which to gain elevation for commanding the rest of the city and so
cutting short the battle for its conquest. Like the United States, Israel
too appears to have decided to stand aside and let the Syrian army finish
its offensive for the capture of Daraa up to the Jordanian border. However,
DEBKAfile’s military analysts maintain that this is a serious strategic
error. Israel’s strategists must be fully aware that, after Daraa, the
Syrian army will soon go for Quneitra and knock over rebel-held positions
opposite Israel’s Golan border within view of IDF defense lines. Israel’s
policy-makers are also fully apprised of the trick of disguising the
Hizballah and pro-Iranian Shiite militias spearheading the Syrian offensive
in Syrian army uniforms. Therefore, notwithstanding American and Russian
promises to prevent this happening, Israel will soon find itself facing
Hizballah and pro-Iranian forces sitting on its northern border.
Families Flee as
Regime, Russia Pummel Syria's South
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June
25/18/Syria's government ramped up its bombardment of the southern city of
Daraa on Monday, forcing dozens of families to flee an expected assault on
the cradle of a seven-year uprising. After a string of wins elsewhere in the
country, President Bashar al-Assad has set his sights on recapturing the
country's strategic south, which borders Jordan and the Israeli-occupied
Golan Heights. His forces have been battering rebel-held towns in Daraa
province for nearly a week, leaving at least 28 civilians dead, according to
the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. They then turned to the provincial
capital of the same name, launching air strikes and barrel bombs on
opposition-held districts in the early hours of Monday. More than 55
surface-to-surface missiles slammed into those neighborhoods after midnight,
followed by four barrel bombs, the Britain-based Observatory said. "It is
the first time they drop barrel bombs on Daraa city in more than a year,"
said monitor chief Rami Abdel Rahman.The city was struck again around noon,
this time with air strikes by Syria's ally Russia, which has helped Assad's
troops recapture swathes of territory since 2015. The attacks prompted
dozens of terrified families to stream out of Daraa city. Many set out in
the dead of night to seek shelter in olive groves on the city limits, AFP's
correspondent there said. Leaving on foot or by motorbike, they took refuge
in small shacks or tents among the trees. "We don't know what happened. We
were sleeping with the children when all of a sudden, we heard heavy
shelling," said Ahmad al-Musalima, 31. "The kids started shaking in fear,"
he said. He and his family fled overnight, joining an estimated 20,000
people displaced by the past week's escalating violence, according to the
Observatory.
Divide and conquer
"We left the house and didn't know where to go. We headed towards the plain
with the kids crying and heavy shelling overhead," Musalima told AFP. Syrian
rebels hold the western half of Daraa city and most of the surrounding
province, as well most of the adjacent governorate of Quneitra to the west.
That territory roughly forms a horseshoe, whose bottom curve borders Jordan
and includes a military base held by rebels since 2014. Syrian troops
meanwhile hold Daraa city's eastern half and nearly all the adjacent
province of Sweida. Frontlines had been relatively quiet for nearly a year
under a "de-escalation" deal agreed in July 2017 by Russia, the U.S., and
Jordan. But now, the regime and its Russian allies are pursuing a
divide-and-conquer strategy against rebels. On Monday, Russian bombing raids
hit the military base near the border with Jordan, said the Observatory.
Ousting rebels from it would divide the opposition horseshoe into a western
and eastern section. Russian strikes and 20 regime barrel bombs on Monday
also hit the key town of Basr al-Harir in Daraa's eastern countryside,
rocked by clashes for nearly a week. "Capturing the town would allow troops
to divide rebel territory to smaller pockets," Abdel Rahman said. The heavy
strikes on Daraa's eastern countryside forced rescue workers to stop
operations in the town of Al-Laja. "The civil defence teams have not been
able to reach targeted areas because of the intense bombing," the local
civil defense center said in an online statement.
U.S. holds back
The United Nations has warned that the renewed hostilities could put 750,000
lives at risk and urged all sides to respect last year's de-escalation
agreement. "Any humanitarian crisis in south Syria must be averted first by
sparing civilians the pains of fighting, and second, be responded to swiftly
from inside and outside Syria," said Ali al-Zaatari, U.N. humanitarian
coordinator in Syria. Jordan said on Sunday it could not absorb a new wave
of refugees across its border. In an effort to avoid a bloody
onslaught, Russia is leading negotiations with Syria, Jordan, Israel, and
the U.S. in a bid to reach a settlement. The uptick in violence could be
tied to those talks, said Sam Heller of the International Crisis Group. "It
seems the air strikes have two aims: exerting pressure in order to get
negotiations, either international or local, and paving the way for a wider
attack in case the negotiations don't make progress," he told AFP. Although
it had a key role in the original de-escalation deal, Washington has yet to
put its political or military weight behind a solution for the south, he
said. "The Americans haven't gotten seriously involved in the talks over the
south, and they're not expected to intervene militarily," Heller said.
Demonstrators Take to
Tehran Streets to Protest Deteriorating Economy
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 June, 2018/Rallies swept the Iranian capital for
a second day on Monday with demonstrators protesting the deteriorating
economic situation. They swarmed the historic Grand Bazaar, forcing
shopkeepers to close their stalls. On Sunday, protests forced two major
shopping centers for mobile phones and electronics to close in Tehran.
Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency described the protests as erupting
after the Iranian rial dropped to 90,000 to the dollar on the country's
black market, despite government attempts to control the currency rate.
Videos posted to social media showed protesters at the bazaar heckling
shopkeepers who refused to close, shouting in Farsi: "Coward!" Others
chanted “death to the dictator.”Special police forces have since cordoned
off the parliament building at Baharestan Square to impede the protesters’
advance. Videos posted on social media showed demonstrators confronting the
police. The footage showed tear gas in the air and protesters screaming,
"They attacked us with tear gas!" Another man is heard shouting: "Come
back!" Iran's latest economic troubles come against the backdrop of
international firms pulling away from the country after President Donald
Trump's decision to withdraw America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world
powers. At the end of last year, similar economic protests roiled Iran and
spread to some 75 cities and towns, becoming the largest demonstrations in
the country since its 2009 disputed presidential election. The protests in
late December and early January saw at least 25 people killed and nearly
5,000 people arrested by authorities.
Navy: Nearly 1,000 Migrants Rescued off Libya Coast
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 June, 2018/Libyan coastguards have rescued nearly
1,000 migrants who were on inflatable boats in distress in the Mediterranean
on their way to Europe, the navy said on Monday. Three separate operations
took place on Sunday with the coastguard bringing ashore in Libya a total of
948 migrants, navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem said. The migrants were on dinghies
which were facing difficulties in the Mediterranean off the coast of
Garabulli east of the capital Tripoli, navy officer Rami Ghommeidh said. A
first group of 97 migrants were rescued, while a second operation brought
361 migrants -- including 88 women and 44 children -- ashore and late in the
evening a final group of 490 migrants were rescued, said Kacem. In all a
total of 2,000 migrants trying to make the perilous journey to Europe, often
on unseaworthy boats, were either intercepted or assisted by the Libyan navy
since Wednesday. Officials and a witness at a naval base also said that
Libyan coastguards recovered 10 bodies on Sunday. Monday's announcement by
the navy came as Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini was en
route to Libya for talks on the migrant crisis.
Libya is a key departure point for thousands of migrants hoping to reach
Europe, although hundreds drown each year attempting the crossing.
Erdogan Wins Turkey’s Presidential Election
Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 June, 2018/Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has won tightly-contested presidential polls, the election authority said
Monday, overcoming the biggest electoral challenge to his 15-year rule.
Turkish voters had for the first time cast ballots for both president and
parliament in the snap elections, with Erdogan looking for a first round
knockout and an overall majority for his ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP). The stakes were particularly high as the new president will be
the first to enjoy enhanced powers, without even a prime minister, under a
new constitution agreed in an April 2017 referendum strongly backed by
Erdogan but which opponents say grants autocratic powers. Erdogan defeated
his nearest rival Muharrem Ince with an "absolute majority" of more than
half the vote without needing a second round, said the chief of Turkey's
election authority, Sadi Guven.
"I have been entrusted by the nation with the task and duties of the
presidency," Erdogan said in a victory address at his Istanbul residence,
vowing that the new presidential system would be implemented "rapidly".
"Turkey has given a lesson in democracy to the entire world," he added,
pointing to an 88 percent turnout.Erdogan won 52.5 percent in the
presidential poll while Ince, of the secular Republican People's Party
(CHP), was on 31.5 percent, state-run Anadolu news agency said, based on a
99 percent vote count. If confirmed, the figures would show Erdogan polling
on a similar rating or even stronger than his 2014 election victory where he
won his first mandate after over a decade as prime minister. Trailing were
Selahattin Demirtas of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) with
over eight percent in third and Meral Aksener of the nationalist (Iyi) Good
Party with over seven percent. Erdogan also declared victory in the
parliamentary election saying that the alliance led by the AKP and the
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) had won the majority in parliament. A count
of 99 percent of the votes showed that Erdogan's AKP and the MHP would win
293 and 50 seats respectively, enough for an easy majority in the 600-member
chamber.
Egypt Extends State of Emergency for 3 Months
Cairo - Mohammed Abdo Hassanein/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 June,
2018/Egypt’s parliament approved on Sunday the extension of a nationwide
state of emergency for three months, starting from July 14. Egypt imposed
the emergency in 2017 after two church bombings killed at least 45 people.
It was last extended in April. Egypt faces an ISIS insurgency in the remote
North Sinai region that has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen in
recent years and has expanded to include attacks on civilians. The Egyptian
constitution stipulates that the extension of the state of emergency
requires the approval of the parliament by a two-thirds majority. Parliament
Speaker Ali Abdelaal announced on Sunday that President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s
decision on the state of emergency was approved by more than two thirds of
lawmakers, meaning the required conditions were met. “The circumstances that
first led to the imposing of the emergency state still stand and it was
therefore necessary to extend it,” he explained. For years, Egypt witnessed
bombings and violence in various parts of the country, especially in the
border province of North Sinai, which has become a terrorist hotbed since
the overthrow of former President Mohamed Morsi, of Muslim Brotherhood.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis is one of the most active terror groups in Sinai. In
2014, it pledged allegiance to ISIS and renamed itself ISIS-Sinai Province.
Since February, the army and police have been waging a major security
operation in northern and central Sinai to clear the area of militants. The
operation is known as the "Comprehensive Operation - Sinai 2018". During a
parliamentary session Sunday, lawmakers praised the efforts of the army and
police forces in fighting terrorism, stressing that "the extension of the
state of emergency aims to protect the country and its borders, ensure
security and freedoms of citizens and eliminate terrorists and
outlaws."Abdelaal paid tribute to the armed forces and police and saluted
fallen soldiers, stressing that parliament must always support the military.
A state of emergency law greatly extends police powers of arrest and can
allow restrictions on freedom of movement. First deputy chairman of the
Egypt's Support coalition MP Taher Abu Zeid said that it is crucial to take
into consideration current developments in the region. He pointed out that
the armed and security forces are bravely fighting terrorism and outlaws.
Iran: Protests Erupt as Rial Plunges to Record Low
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 June, 2018/As the Iranian rial plunged
to a record low against the US dollar, several merchants at a shopping
center in the capital Tehran took to the streets to protest the gap between
the official and unofficial market rates. “Aladdin Shopping Center”
merchants converged on Jomhuri Street to voice their anger, amid fears over
a return of US sanctions following President Donald Trump’s withdrawal in
May from the 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear program. News agencies and websites
posted videos of merchants as they protested the rapid depreciation of the
rial by shutting down their shops on Sunday. They denounced the rise in the
price of the dollar, calling on the Iranian authorities to end regional
interference, particularly in Syria, and turn their attention to Iran’s
internal affairs. The police intervened to disperse the protesters, reported
the Jamaran news website. Information and Communications Technology Minister
Mohammad Javad Azari-Jahromi said on Twitter that he visited the protesting
merchants after a cabinet session. “I will try to help provide hard currency
for (mobile) equipment (imports),” Azari-Jahromi wrote, adding: “The
merchants’ activity has now gone back to normal.”Reuters quoted Bonbast.com,
which tracks unofficial market, as saying the dollar was being offered for
as much as 87,000 rials, compared to around 75,500 on Thursday, the last
trading day before Iran’s weekend. ISNA news agency said the dollar had
climbed to 87,000 rials on the black market on Sunday from about 74,000
before the weekend. Several Iranian websites carried similar reports,
however, other news agencies said the dollar exceeded 90,000 rials. ISNA
quoted dollar traders and sellers as saying the price hike in informal
markets was caused by the government and the central bank's failure to pump
the dollar in the past few days. Iran’s currency has been sliding for months
because of a weak economy, financial difficulties at local banks and heavy
demand for dollars among Iranians, who fear Washington’s pullout from the
nuclear deal and renewed sanctions that could shrink the country’s exports
of oil and other goods. Some of the US sanctions against Iran take effect
after a 90-day “wind-down” period ending on August 6, and the rest of the
sanctions, mostly targeting the petroleum sector, will begin after a 180-day
“wind-down” period ending on November 4. Before Trump’s announcement of the
US withdrawal in early May, the rial weakened from around 65,000 rials and
from 42,890 at the end of last year. Such a decline threatens to boost
inflation, hurt living standards and reduce the ability of Iranians to
travel abroad. In an effort to halt the slide, Iranian authorities announced
in April that they were unifying the dollar’s official and black market
exchange rates at a single level of 42,000, and banning any trade at other
rates. However, this measure did not deter the unofficial market because
authorities have been supplying much less hard currency through official
channels than consumers are demanding. Free market trade simply went
underground. Traders say all that has happened is that the free market has
become a secret. Government spokesman Mohammad Reza Nobkhat said on Saturday
that the government has since mid-March pumped 9.7 billion dollars to
contain the crisis.
Zarif Warns of Dangers Facing Iran Should Nuclear Deal Collapse
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 June, 2018/Iranian Foreign Minister
Mohammed Javad Zarif warned that Iran would face great risk should the JCPOA
(Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) collapse, but stressed that his country
will still withdraw if it found itself forced to do so.
“Failure of the JCPOA (nuclear deal) would be very dangerous for us,” Zarif
told members of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, quoted by the official IRNA
news agency. “This is certainly not the (Iranian political) system's
choice,” he added. Zarif also attacked internal bodies that are inciting the
market by falsely boosting rumors and promoting pessimism concerning an exit
of all foreign companies from Iran. In an unprecedented attack, Zarif
accused Reuters of spreading 50 “false” reports a day about the Iranian
economy. He criticized the pressure placed on the Rouhani government, saying
that all sits “in one boat,” whether conservative of reformist. He
implicitly responded to recent calls made by political figures for Rouhani's
resignation. The top diplomat went on saying that a Rouhani exit and a
conservative overtake of office will not lead to success. Zarif reiterated
his call for preserving national unity. The Iranian government fears that
problems facing Iranian banks encouraging domestic and foreign investment
will be further exacerbated if financial watchdog organizations hunt them
down in light of returning international sanctions. Zarif also relayed
Iranian government intentions on submitting a draft-law which takes into
consideration Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's recommendations into
consideration regarding financial transparency and the debate on whether
Tehran should join the international Financial Action Task Force on Money
Laundering (FATF) or not.FATF monitors terrorist financing and
money-laundering activities. On the other hand, Zarif warned against the
return of trade stigma to Iranian economic activity, saying that it partly
caused a traders and foreign companies’ exodus from Iran, strongly
advocating the cleric-led country joins FATF.
Iran: Rouhani Govt. Calls for National Solidarity to Confront ‘Economic War’
London - Adil Al-Salmi/Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 25 June, 2018/Iranian Vice
President Eshaq Jahangiri urged parliament to discuss the country’s
worsening economic conditions and defend President Hassan Rouhani’s
government, accusing the US administration of “conspiring” against his
country by launching an “economic war.” Deputy parliament Speaker Masoud
Pezeshkian called for the formation of a crisis cell to tackle the economic
crisis, while prominent cleric Hossein Nouri Hamdani described the situation
as “regrettable.”Jahangiri called on internal parties, officials and people
to unite and support the Iranian government against the “American economic
war.”He said that his country is facing a new situation, attributing the
anger expressed by some officials and public circles against deteriorating
economic conditions to a lack of overall transparency between the
government, parliament and people. Before opening a closed-door session on
price rises, Jahangiri stated that the US is looking to pressure Iran back
to the negotiating table through economic pressure. Moreover, he underlined
to lawmakers the need to reshuffle the cabinet and establish new ministries
capable of confronting the challenges facing the country. The Iranian
currency continued on Sunday its months-long downward trajectory. Lawmaker
and member of the parliament’s budget committee Shahbaz Hassanpour told the
ISNA news agency that Jahangiri gave a detailed explanation of government
measures addressing rises in prices. He noted that the Vice President
assured attendees about economic and living concerns, saying that the
government “has undertaken solutions to meet people's needs.” “The current
situation, particularly on the economic level, requires more coordination
among parties,” state news agencies quoted parliament Speaker Ali Larijani
as saying. He stressed that in addition to the US agenda, “internal problems
have partly caused bad conditions.”Meetings are ongoing to discuss proposals
to reform the economic situation, he said.
Iran opposition urges
youth to join Tehran Bazaar protests
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Monday, 25 June 2018/Iran’s opposition
leader Maryam Rajavi has used the social networking site, Twitter, in
solidarity with the protesters who filled the streets of the capital Tehran
on Monday. The protesters took to the streets objecting the rise of the
dollar to the Iranian currency. Rajavi confirmed via Twitter that the high
prices crises, which left the Iranian people in a problematic situation, is
a result of the Iranian regime’s policy who plundered hundreds of billions
or spent money suppressing its people and engaging in war in Syria and the
rest of the region. A large-scale popular campaign was launched by activists
on social networking sites. The campaign called for a change in the economic
team members, and the search for solutions to rid of the crisis that burdens
the Iranians. Protesters chanted against Iran’s intervention in Syria, which
led to heavy damages to the economy and exhausted citizens. Therefore,
Protesters demanded for an immediate withdrawal. On Monday, traders
protested on the Hafez Bridge in the Iranian capital of Tehran. The dollar
has reached an unprecedented price in Iran’s history in the past 40 years.
Iraq makes arrests in kidnapping of
security men by ISIS
Reuters, BaghdadMonday, 25 June 2018/Iraq’s security forces said on Monday
they had made arrests related to the kidnapping and holding hostage of six
of their members by ISIS militants. The militants had kidnapped six men and
on Saturday threatened to kill them in three days unless the government
released Sunni Muslim female prisoners. In a video released by the group,
the six men identify themselves as members of the police or the Popular
Mobilization Unit militias, an umbrella grouping of mostly Shiite
Iran-backed militias that fought with government forces against ISIS and
nominally report to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. They were kidnapped on
the highway connecting Baghdad to Iraq’s north, a road that has seen an
uptick in attacks by the ISIS in recent weeks. Abadi met security and
intelligence leaders on Sunday and ordered the formation of a special force
to secure roads and protect travelers, the security forces said in a
statement. “This force was able to arrest elements from the terrorism and
crime gangs that are related to the recent kidnapping incident on the road
to Kirkuk province recently,” it said. Abadi declared final victory over the
hardline militants in December but the group still operates from pockets
along the border with Syria and has continued to carry out ambushes,
assassinations and bombings across Iraq.
In election victory speech, Erdogan says Turkey will advance in Syria
Agencies/Monday, 25 June 2018/Turkey will continue to "liberate Syrian
lands" so that refugees can return to Syria safely, President Tayyip Erdogan
said in an election victory speech on Monday. Speaking to supporters from
the balcony of his ruling AK Party's headquarters in Ankara after Sunday's
presidential and parliamentary elections, Erdogan said Turkey would also act
more decisively against terrorist organizations . Erdogan won a new mandate
in presidential elections in the first round of voting by winning more than
half of the votes, the chief of Turkey's election authority said Monday.
"President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received the absolute majority of all valid
votes," the head of the Supreme Election Committee (YSK) Sadi Guven told
reporters in Ankara, without giving further details or numbers after
Sunday's polls. Results released by Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency
based on data from the YSK also gave Erdogan a clear majority of votes.
Erdogan won 52.5 percent in the presidential poll while his main rival
Muharrem Ince, of the secular Republican People's Party (CHP), was on 31.7
percent, Anadolu news agency said, based on a 99 percent vote count. The YSK
is to announce final results on Friday. (With AFP and Reuters)
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous
sources published
on June 25-26/18
Nuclear Deterrence: Adopting the Reagan
Approach
Mark B. Schneider and Peter Huessy/Gatestone Institute/June 25/18
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12571/nuclear-deterrence-reagan
President Reagan's successful policies involved not the elimination of all
nuclear weapons, but the simultaneous modernization of all legs of America's
nuclear Triad, while significantly reducing the size of the strategic
nuclear arsenals of both the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review confirms reports going back to 2004 that,
"Russia is in violation of its... political commitments that directly affect
the security of others, including... the 1991 Presidential Nuclear
Initiatives." These eliminated America's battlefield nuclear weapons and
many other nuclear capabilities, while Russia violated its reciprocal pledge
to do the same.
Today, Russia and China not only have massive nuclear modernization
programs, but also precision nuclear missiles, while the U.S. does not. Let
it be a cautionary tale for the current administration in Washington.
Ronald Reagan, one of the most important presidents in American history,
advanced a defense policy based on "peace through strength," and "reducing
nuclear dangers." In so doing, he dramatically altered the United States'
approach to dealing with the Soviet nuclear threat.
President Reagan's successful policies involved not the elimination of all
nuclear weapons, but the simultaneous modernization of all legs of America's
nuclear Triad in a manner that enhanced national security and strategic
stability, while significantly reducing the size of the strategic nuclear
arsenals of both the U.S. and the Soviet Union. He further enhanced
America's deterrent by deploying nuclear cruise missiles (SLCMs) on naval
ships, and medium-range nuclear missiles and new nuclear artillery in
Europe.
Reagan also fundamentally changed the way in which the U.S. negotiates and
enforces arms-control agreements. In 1988, his Department of Defense (DoD)
submitted a "Report to the Congress on the Analysis of Alternative Nuclear
Force Postures for the United States (Unclassified Version)," which
contained four possible START treaty force postures, all of which involved
having 4,900 ballistic missile warheads and 1,099 accountable bomber
weapons. This number of warheads was roughly half of the amount deployed by
the U.S. at the time, and those stabilizing reductions were at the heart of
the Reagan arms-control revolution. [This report is not available online,
but is available from the authors upon request.]
This arms posture vastly differed from that of the SALT agreement process,
which had begun in 1972 between the U.S. and U.S.S.R., and was scheduled to
allow the number of deployed warheads to reach at least 12,000. Of course,
the START postures were totally antithetical to the Soviets' proposed
nuclear freeze, which would have left a completely modernized Soviet nuclear
force in place while the United States nuclear force was "rusting to
obsolescence."
Reagan's 1983 Strategic Defense Initiative also revived the moribund U.S.
missile defense program of the Carter-era, and began the development of the
technologies that today protect the United States against a North Korean
nuclear missile attack and defend its forward-based forces and allies
against considerable and growing theater missile threats. The U.S. still has
a long way to go before achieving a fully capable defense, but it would have
none at all if it had remained stuck in the ABM Treaty of 1972, which
prohibited a defense of the country – with the exception of a single program
to develop no more than 100 short-range interceptors to defend a military
base of Minuteman ICBMs.
The 1988 DoD reported cited above stated the following with regard to the
Strategic Defense Initiative:
"...if effective defenses prove feasible, the United States intends to alter
the strategic relationship with the Soviet Union with a relationship based
on a greater reliance on defenses and on less reliance on offensive
retaliation.... Furthermore, initial strategic defenses would offer the
United States and its allies some protection should deterrence fail, or in
the event of an accidental launch.... Finally, given the Soviet Union's
record of treaty violations... Defenses will make U.S. security more robust
against possible Soviet Union violations of START."
Remember, the world that President Reagan inherited in 1981 was bipolar and
very dangerous. Many of the new threats America faces today were already
developing then, but they were not considered by most observers at the time
as serious threats. The Soviet Union was an ideologically hostile Communist
dictatorship in the process of spending itself into oblivion in war
preparations made worse by the debilitating effects of socialism.
During the administration of President George W. Bush, then-Russian Defense
Minister Colonel General Sergei Ivanov stated that the Soviet military
budget in the 1980s reached 40% of its GNP. To compare, peak U.S. military
spending in World War II reached 43% of the GNP in one year; it was 10% in
the 1950s and declined to 5% under President Jimmy Carter, who created what
was called the "hollow army."
Reagan reversed this decline. During his presidency, defense spending peaked
at 7% percent of America's GNP. The U.S. used technology to compensate for a
massive disparity in the level of effort underway in the Soviet Union. At a
critical point in human history, Reagan presented the Soviets with a
military challenge that convinced them they could not win, although they
never gave up trying. Reagan did not "end history," but he did create the
circumstances that ended Communism in Russia and the Soviet empire as a
major force in the world.
Faced with a massive Soviet nuclear buildup, Reagan engaged in the most
comprehensive U.S. nuclear modernization program since the 1950s. This
included programs such as the MX ICBM (later called Peacekeeper), the
AGM-86B nuclear ALCM, the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines and the
Trident II missile.
The Reagan administration added the B-2 stealth bomber, SRAM II defense
suppression weapons for bombers and tactical aircraft, and the single
warhead Midgetman ICBM. While limited compared to those of the Soviets,
these programs formed the core of a very effective deterrent.
Reagan's planned U.S. strategic nuclear force was eventually reduced by 85%
in terms of warhead numbers under the Moscow Treaty and the New START Treaty
between the United States and Russia. But while a fully modernized strategic
deterrent could have been built even at these lower warhead numbers, many
systems -- such as the Peacekeeper, the Advanced Cruise Missile, the nuclear
capability of the B-1 bomber, the B-2 bomber (stopped at 20 planes rather
than 120) and the SRAM II program -- were terminated by subsequent
administrations.
We believe that while Reagan would have adjusted our nuclear deterrence
requirements downward at the end of the Cold War, he never would have
allowed a more than 20-year gap in U.S. deterrent modernization or never
would have allowed Russia to get a 10-fold advantage in non-strategic
nuclear weapons.
The current dangerous Russian 10-to-1 advantage in non-strategic nuclear
weapons is largely the result of the unilateral Presidential Nuclear
Initiatives (PNIs) of 1991-1992. According to General (ret.) Colin Powell,
in his autobiography My American Journey, when he proposed the unilateral
elimination of U.S. nuclear artillery, all four service chiefs of staff of
the armed forces opposed it. Powell also said that the Office of the
Secretary of Defense (OSD) policy staff, from "Wolfowitz all the way down,"
as well as then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, "rejected my proposal."
According to Powell, President George H.W. Bush "began pushing us for more
fresh thinking on arms control." The "fresh thinking" involved important but
unilateral nuclear weapons reductions without: (1) legal obligations to
secure complimentary Russian cuts; (2) verification measures; or (3)
Congressional approval of the cut in American nuclear forces. Indeed, most
of the weapons that were pulled out of Europe and dismantled as a result of
the PNIs -- including ship-launched cruise missiles -- had been built and
put there by the Reagan administration. The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review
confirms reports going back to 2004 that, "Russia is in violation of
its...political commitments that directly affect the security of others,
including... the 1991 Presidential Nuclear Initiatives." These eliminated
America's battlefield nuclear weapons and many other nuclear capabilities,
while Russia violated its reciprocal pledge to do the same.
The PNIs have contributed to the current security crisis in Europe, as well.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea 2014,
NATO Deputy Commander Lt. General Sir Adrian Bradshaw stated that the NATO
rapid deployment force must be armed not only with conventional weapons, but
also with the same weapons that Russia has. Thanks to the PNIs, tactical
nuclear weapons exist in the Russian Army but not in that of the U.S.
Perhaps, if the Reagan non-strategic nuclear deterrent existed in Europe
today, even in much smaller numbers, Russian President Vladimir Putin would
not have said in 2014, "If I wanted, Russian troops could not only be in
Kiev in two days, but in Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Warsaw or Bucharest, too."
Reagan took deterrence of nuclear war very seriously. He saw both nuclear
weapons and missile defense as part of America's deterrent strategy and as a
hedge against arms control violations. His nuclear modernization programs
were not created to finance the military industrial complex, as some have
alleged; the modernization effort was undertaken for deterrence purposes.
The Soviet nuclear threat was very real. In fact, it was even worse than we
thought at the time. Since the end of the Cold War, significant portions of
the Warsaw Pact war plan have become available online, and as a result, we
know that the Soviets planned on a large-scale first use of nuclear weapons
against NATO in support of a ground offensive designed to win and conquer
Western Europe. It exercised this capability in its war games. In 2005,
Polish Defense Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said, "The objective of the
exercise on this map is to take over most of western Europe -- all of
Germany, Belgium and Denmark."
In January 1983, in his annual report to the Congress for Fiscal Year 1984,
then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger stated, "If we are to maintain a
responsible nuclear deterrent against attacks on our allies, as well as
against nuclear attacks on the United States, we will need to continue to
exploit our comparative advantage in technology." Since that time, however,
the United States has allowed the deployed technology to regress through
program terminations, the retirement of some of the most of advanced of the
Reagan-era nuclear deterrent systems and the complete lack of modernization.
Due to the underfunding of the Defense Department during the presidency of
Barack Obama, the Pentagon warned that the U.S. was losing its lead in
technology -- and not merely nuclear technology. The Obama administration
left office with a military in a condition of degraded combat readiness. In
contrast, the Reagan administration left office with a military that in 1991
demolished Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's army in four days of
ground-fighting and a subsequent decade of relative peace.
Today, Russia and China not only have massive nuclear modernization
programs, but also precision nuclear missiles, while the U.S. does not.
Russian deployment of low-yield nuclear weapons on its strategic missiles
was reported in the Russian state media as early as 2008. In 2016, the Obama
administration told Congress that the Chinese had announced the existence of
a nuclear version of the DF-26 IRBM, which would give China "...nuclear
precision strike capability against theater targets."
Who would have believed in the 1980s that this was going to happen? Who
would have believed that the U.S. government, in 2010, would list the
deterrence of nuclear attack as the third of five nuclear weapons-related
objectives? The answer is: anyone who understood the significance of
America's foolishly abandoning Reagan's sensible and realistic policies on
nuclear deterrence.
Let it be a cautionary tale for the current administration in Washington.
*Dr. Mark B. Schneider is a Senior Analyst with the National Institute for
Public Policy. Dr. Peter Huessy is President of GeoStrategic Analysis, a
defense consulting firm he founded in 1981, as well as Director of Strategic
Deterrent Studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
© 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.
Palestinians: The Only Acceptable Peace Plan
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/June 25/18
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12586/palestinians-peace-plan
The Palestinians want nothing to do with President Trump's plan: they know
it will never satisfy their demands. The Palestinians are not opposed to the
peace plan because of a dispute over a border or a settlement or a
checkpoint or the status of Jerusalem. They are against Trump's plan -- and
any other peace initiative -- because the Palestinians have something else
in mind.
The two Palestinian parties, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, may
disagree on everything -- except the elimination of Israel. The only peace
plan acceptable to current Palestinian leaders would be one that facilitated
their mission of pursuing jihad against Israel to obliterate it.
If Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt wish to learn more about the true
ambitions of the Palestinians, they would do well to take in a sermon at a
mosque on some Friday or stop into a school in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Perhaps then they would see for themselves that no peace plan in the world
can, at the moment, counter the poison that is injected daily into the
hearts and minds of the Palestinians and their children.
The Palestinians have never laid eyes on US President Donald Trump's plan
for peace in the Middle East. The Palestinians know nothing about the plan,
which still has not been made public.
That fact, however, has not stopped them from categorically rejecting the
yet-to-be-announced plan -- a stance the Palestinians repeated this week as
US Middle East envoys Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt visited Israel and
a number of Arab countries to discuss the plan.
The Trump plan has not even been finalized and, as such, has not officially
been presented to any of the parties to the Israeli-Arab conflict. Kushner
and Greenblatt have been working on the plan for several months; their
current tour of the region comes in the context of Jordan and Egypt.
It is only the Palestinians who are boycotting the US administration. In the
past six months, the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership has refused to
have any dealings with the US administration -- except, of course, when it
comes to receiving financial aid from the US. Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas and his senior associates in Ramallah have not only
refused to meet with any official from the US administration, they have also
been waging a smear campaign of hate and incitement against President Trump
and top US administration representatives and officials.
Most of the Palestinian attacks have thus far been directed against Trump's
"Jewish and Zionist" advisors, including Kushner, Greenblatt and US
Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.
In the past six months, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and
his senior associates have not only refused to meet with any official from
the US administration, they have also been waging a smear campaign of hate
and incitement against President Trump and top US officials. Pictured: US
presidential envoys Jason Greenblatt (left) and Jared Kushner (center) speak
with Abbas (right) on June 22, 2017 in Ramallah. At the meeting, Abbas
rejected their demand that he halt payments to terrorists and their
families. (Photo by Thaer Ghanaim/PPO via Getty Images)
The vicious attacks on Trump and the senior US administration officials have
also been accompanied by statements from Abbas and other Palestinian
officials concerning the US president's Middle East peace plan. In these
statements, the Palestinians have not only voiced their rejection of the
plan that does not yet exist, but have also, on almost a daily basis, been
condemning it, dubbing it a "conspiracy" designed to eliminate Palestinian
rights. In the most recent Palestinian attack on the plan, Palestinian
Authority leaders are now claiming that it is actually aimed at "dividing
the Palestinian people" by establishing two separate Palestinian entities --
one in the West Bank and another in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian position regarding this unseen Trump plan, is largely based
on rumors and media speculation. Palestinian officials have admitted that
they get their information mostly from the media.
So, the Palestinians have rejected something they know nothing about. What,
then, is bothering the Palestinians about the Trump plan or any other peace
initiative? Attempts by the US administration to arrange meetings with PA
leaders in Ramallah to consult with them about the proposed plan have fallen
on deaf ears. The Palestinians express zero interest in even seeing if they
might find something good in the plan.
The Palestinians want nothing to do with Trump's plan: they know it will
never satisfy their demands. The Palestinians are not opposed to the peace
plan because of a dispute over a border or a settlement or a checkpoint or
the status of Jerusalem. They are against Trump's plan -- and any other
peace initiative -- because the Palestinians have something else in mind.
The kind of "peace" that the Palestinians are seeking is one that no peace
initiative would ever provide. The Palestinians want a peace without, not
with, Israel. The reason the Palestinians have a problem with the Trump plan
is that they see it as an obstacle to their plan to eliminate Israel. The
Palestinians know that the Trump plan -- regardless of its details -- will
not facilitate their mission to destroy Israel. The Palestinians, in fact,
see any peace plan presented to them - whether by Trump or anyone else - as
an obstacle hindering their effort and dream to continue the jihad (holy
war) against Israel and Jews. They do not want to have to say "No" to the
Trump Administration; it is safer just to duck the issue, stall and buy time
until a friendlier US administration comes along.
When the Palestinians denounce the Trump plan as a "conspiracy," they mean
that this is a US conspiracy to thwart their efforts to annihilate Israel.
What the Palestinians are saying is: "Who are these Americans to come and
preach to us about peace with the Jews living here when our real goal is to
drive the Jews out of this land?"
In the summer of 2000, Yasser Arafat walked out of the Camp David summit
(with President William Jefferson Clinton and then-Prime Minister Ehud
Barak) after realizing that the proposals on the table did not satisfy the
Palestinian aspirations and dreams – of destroying Israel. What Arafat
wanted was Israel to give him control over the entire West Bank, Gaza Strip
and east Jerusalem. What he wanted was to establish a Palestinian state on
these territories so that the Palestinians could use it as a launching pad
to "liberate the rest of Palestine" – that is, to destroy Israel. When a
furious Arafat realized that he would not get what he wanted, he returned to
Ramallah and incited Palestinians to wage against Israel another wave of
terrorism, called the Second Intifada.
Now Mahmoud Abbas is sitting in Arafat's seat. Abbas does not like the Trump
peace plan, sight unseen: he knows that it will not advance his goal of
fulfilling the "phased solution," in which Palestinians would take land bit
by bit of and use it as launching pads to pursue the jihad against Israel.
The Palestinian position is and has been very clear: Israel must give us as
much land as possible so that we can continue to build our power, force and
energies to continue the struggle to achieve our ultimate goal – eliminating
Israel. The Trump plan, as far as Abbas and his associates are concerned, is
a bad deal because it does not require Israel to surrender completely and
abandon territories that would be later occupied by Hamas, Islamic State,
Iran and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
There is only one peace plan that the Palestinians will accept; it is the
plan that enables them to achieve the "phased solution" of wiping Israel off
the face of the earth.
Abbas is opposed to Trump's plan because Abbas wants a temporary Palestinian
state that would be used in the future as a launching pad for Arab armies
and Palestinian and Islamist terror groups to wage attacks on Israel. The
Trump plan, as far as he is concerned, does not take into consideration the
Palestinian dream of eliminating Israel -- and this omission goes way over
his red lines.
The world already saw what happened the last time Israel gave Abbas land.
That was in 2005, when Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip and handed it
over to Abbas and his security forces.
Within a few months, Abbas and his cronies fled the Gaza Strip after Hamas
and had thrown Palestinian Authority members to their deaths from the top
floors of tall buildings, and handed the entire area over to Hamas. The
rest, as they say, is history. If Israel withdraws from the West Bank, the
same scenario would likely repeat itself there. This time, however, Hamas
would take over the West Bank not within months, but days or weeks.
In addition, no Palestinian leader is in a position to accept any peace
agreement with Israel -- especially not after both Abbas in the West bank
and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have spent an entire lifetime radicalizing their
people against Israel through incitement and indoctrination.
Decades of incitement in mosques and in the media have turned Israel, in the
eyes of most Palestinians, into one large settlement that needs to be
uprooted. Consequently, the Palestinian public is not prepared to hear about
any peace plan, not from Trump and not even from Prophet Mohammed.
The Palestinians have a problem with Israel's presence in the Middle East:
most of them have still not come to terms with the Jews' right to live in a
secure and sovereign state of their own anywhere in the Middle East.
Undoubtedly, Trump and his envoys come with the best intentions about making
peace between Arabs and Jews in our part of the world. However, what they do
not seem to see, however, is that as things stand today, there is no partner
on the Palestinian side for any deal with Israel.
The Palestinians are divided into camps -- one that openly states that it
does not want to make peace with Israel because its goal is to destroy
Israel and replace it with an Islamic state, and a second camp that, even if
it wanted to make peace with Israel – and it does not – could never do it
because it has trained its own people to accept only a mandate for murder.
The first camp is called the "radical camp." This is the camp that is
opposed to Israel's presence in the Middle East.
The second camp is what the Palestinians call the "Abbas camp," which is
corrupt and weak and sends conflicting messages to its people and speaks in
more than one voice.
The two Palestinian parties, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, may
disagree on everything -- except the elimination of Israel. The only peace
plan acceptable to current Palestinian leaders would be one that facilitated
their mission of pursuing jihad against Israel to obliterate it.
If Kushner and Greenblatt wish to learn more about the true ambitions of the
Palestinians, they would do well to take in a sermon at a mosque on some
Friday or stop into a school in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Perhaps then
they would see for themselves that no peace plan in the world can, at the
moment, counter the poison that is injected daily into the hearts and minds
of the Palestinians and their children.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
© 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.
Engines of the Saudi Future
Ghassan Charbel/Asharq Al Awsat/June 25/18
It is not strange for senior journalists from the world’s media to converge
on Saudi Arabia to witness women go behind the wheel for the first time. It
is not odd for this development to draw the world’s attention. The landmark
that was witnessed in Saudi Arabia concerns the Saudis and the whole world
alike. It is an important country due to is role in the Arab, Muslim and
international scenes. Its economic, political and religious weights have
driven many people to follow up on its developments, especially at this
time.
The recent end of the driving ban against women cannot be separated from
what the Kingdom has been experiencing for nearly two years. I believe that
the most important thing that it has witnessed is the revival of hope in
society, especially among the youth, who represent the vast majority of the
population. Without this hope, challenges could not be overcome and policies
could not be implemented and fortified. This state of hope is garnering
potential in order to invest it in the battle for the future.
Those who know Saudi Arabia are aware that this state of hope is the
backbone of the ambitious Vision 2030 program. The worst thing a country can
endure is the despair of its youth and sense that nothing can be changed or
developed.
Those who know Saudi Arabia realize that the youth no longer sit idly by as
the world around them changes. They are completely part of what can be
considered a comprehensive reform and modernization workshop that will
inevitably be felt in all walks of life.
The most dangerous thing a people can endure is a sense of hopelessness or
that safety demands that matters be kept unchanged and that opening new
doors will lead to the unknown. The most dangerous thing they can believe is
that the future will not be much better than the past. Surrendering to such
feelings push some countries towards retirement and old age where they will
be forgotten.
Saudi Arabia chose to go against the current of despair that has taken root
throughout the Middle East. The Saudi leadership realized that the battle
for the future begins now and waiting can no longer be the best option. The
world is fast moving towards the future and booking a seat on this trip
demands decisions, regardless of how difficult they may be. It is clear that
the leadership listened attentively to the messages that were being sent to
it from the future. It also listened to the aspirations of the people and
their yearning for an improvement in their every day lives and fortification
of their country.
The Saudi leadership succeeded over the past two years in setting the future
as the priority for the Saudi people. The future concerns every single one
of them as it touches on education, job opportunities, a better life and the
building of an economy that does not strictly rely on oil. It also means
becoming part of a workshop of progress in the world that is witnessing
unprecedented successive technological and scientific revolutions. Victory
in a battle of this size requires a change in methods, mentalities and
norms.
This led to discussions over Saudi Arabia’s national transformation and
Vision 2030. Achieving the goals requires a different way of thinking and
working and introducing new legislation and conditions that would attract
investors and tourists. It is not enough to change texts, but a change in
deep-rooted norms and convictions is necessary - meaning an entire society
needed to be reformed because its compliance is the first condition for
achieving major programs.
This is a case of reciprocity where the leadership trusts the people and is
good at listening to their concerns. The people in turn trust their
leadership and entrust it with their interests and the fate of the country.
Based on this mutual trust, ambitious programs were proposed and which
quickly began shaping the features of a new Saudi Arabia that does not
hesitate to confront problems, some of which were deemed untouchable in the
past.
Such a major transformation could not succeed without the people being fully
on board with all of their energy. In order to ensure this wide
participation, obstacles needed to be eliminated. It is no secret that norms
and traditions had acted as unyielding barriers before the Saudi woman in
playing a greater role in the family and society. It was necessary to turn
to Saudi women who wanted to play a full role in the workforce and build a
better future for their selves, family and nation. King Salman bin
Abdulaziz’s decision to allow women to drive came as a first step in
empowering women.
The reactions to seeing Saudi women driving their cars in the Kingdom cannot
be separated from the state of hope that was launched by the Saudi
leadership and which has been cemented by the internal and foreign dynamism
of the Crown Prince.
Saudi Arabia has taken a strong vow to look to the future. This explains the
ambitious programs, giant projects and bold decisions. It was no surprise
that the Kingdom has drawn the attention of the world given that this Saudi
push towards a new future is taking place in a region that has been torn
apart by wars or economic failure. Everything that has taken place over the
past two years is part of collecting potential and turning on the engine
towards building the Saudi future. It is only natural for such a move to
garner the attention of the region and the world.
Italy: Where Would Salvini’s Strategy Lead him?
Ferdinando Giugliano/Bloomberg View/June 25/18
If an alien landed in Rome today, he would think Matteo Salvini was running
Italy. The leader of the right-wing League has seized the center stage of
Italian politics, even though he is merely deputy prime minister, interior
minister and head of the junior party in its governing coalition.
Five Star, the League’s senior partner in the new populist administration,
is entirely to blame for this. The movement has been outmaneuvered
comprehensively since Italy’s government was formed three weeks ago. Unless
it finds a way to manage its unruly ally, Italy will keep drifting rightward
and Five Star will keep losing ground. Salvini has adopted the Donald Trump
tactic of making outrageous statements daily. In the past few days, he has
said he wants to hold a census of Roma people, “close” tax arrears for those
owing the government less than 100,000 euros ($116,000), and threatened to
remove police protection from Roberto Saviano, a writer on the mafia who
dared to criticize immigration policy. There’s been action too. Last week,
Salvini turned away a boat carrying 629 migrants from Africa. He followed
this up on Thursday by saying he won’t let rescued migrants disembark from
the foreign NGO ships operating between Sicily and North Africa. This puts
Italy at odds with much of the rest of the EU — to the delight of the
euro-baiting Salvini.
One holdout against his radicalism is the finance ministry. Giovanni Tria,
the technocratic minister, says he intends to keep Italy in the euro and the
budget deficit under control. But Salvini has succeeded in promoting two
opponents of the monetary union, Claudio Borghi and Alberto Bagnai, to run
key economic committees in parliament. That spooked investors, who sent
Italian bond yields higher. Prime minister Giuseppe Conte and Five Star
leader Luigi Di Maio are missing in action. Conte mixed with world leaders
at the G-7 meeting in Canada, but has failed to stamp his authority on
Salvini at home. Di Maio, who is industry and labor minister, has tried some
headline-grabbing ideas of his own, such as a proposal to give greater
protection to gig economy workers. But he has been overshadowed completely
by Salvini in the battle for the airwaves, and has proven incapable of
making any concrete change in government. Five Star’s golden boy looks
leaden. The League’s dominance is already affecting the polls. In the March
general election, Five Star won 33 percent of the votes, and the League 17
percent. Now the two parties are neck-and-neck in opinion surveys, with one
putting the League ahead. This hands Salvini an even greater advantage. If
he were to collapse the government, perhaps by claiming it’s not radical
enough, he would have wind in his sails for a new election.
He could reassemble the failed center-right alliance (with Silvio
Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and the Brothers of Italy) and might even dream of
an outright majority. Conversely, the Conte administration may be the best
chance that Di Maio and Five Star has to govern. In a way, they are in a
lose-lose situation. If they attack their ally, they risk a government
collapse and going back to the polls in a position of weakness. If they stay
silent, they risk falling further behind. Salvini’s strategy has risks, of
course. His constant TV presence may backfire. That happened to former prime
minister Matteo Renzi, who was always on the airwaves before Italians
decided they’d had enough of him. In the event of an accident involving a
migrant ship, Salvini would no doubt be blamed. Italians may question
eventually why he spends so much time on Facebook Live rather than
governing.
Still, Five Star can’t just sit and hope that Salvini implodes. Di Maio is
callow, but after his resounding election victory, Five Star must show
voters that it can deliver some of the change it’s always promised.
Video Replay for Refs Is Making the World Cup Better
Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg View/June 25/18
2018 Soccer can be annoying, especially to those who watch only the big
tournaments. There are too many fouls, baffling referee errors and players
without a scratch on them rolling in the grass as if in unbearable pain —
and too few goals. But the 2018 World Cup has been surprisingly different
(with a few exceptions). The improvement probably comes down to a single
rule change: Referees now have access to video replays. A little more than a
week into the monthlong competition, it’s too early to know for sure how
much the technology called Video-Assisted Referees will change the game. But
there are signs it’s making it better. So far, there have been fewer serious
fouls than usual and no referee errors that affected match outcomes. In
addition, compared with previous World Cups, the players appear to be more
singularly focused on scoring or preventing goals, and less on hurting and
intimidating opponents or trying to trick referees into favorable decisions.
The introduction of Video-Assisted Referees, know as VAR, to the World Cup
for the first time this year was hotly contested, though. Soccer is a
defiantly analog, pointedly democratic game that’s played and loved as much
in poor countries as rich ones. VAR is a rich-country addition. It has been
tested, for one season, in some wealthy leagues, including in Germany and
Italy, where it wasn’t an unqualified success. In both countries, fans
complained about long decision times of two minutes or more while referees
stopped play to consult monitors.
By mid-season, delays had been reduced. Still, in one German game, after
reviewing play thanks to VAR, the referee recalled the teams from the
halftime break to take a penalty kick. In a high-stakes game in Australia,
the technology broke down at a crucial moment, and a winning goal that
should have been disallowed was counted. In Italy, a stubborn referee
repeatedly overruled the technology, making outcome-changing errors.
Nonetheless, statistics from the trials show that VAR has achieved some
important results. In the Italian Serie A last season, it reduced the
percentage of mistaken referee decisions to 1 percent from 6 percent. At the
same time, the number of fouls dropped by 8.8 percent, the number of yellow
cards for serious fouls by 14.7 percent and the number of dives, or fake
fouls, by 43 percent.
The technology seems to be paying off in the 2018 World Cup. There is no
talk of the kind of disastrous referee errors that plagued previous
tournaments. VAR doesn’t remove all subjectivity from the decisions of
referees, who assess the situation on the screen as best they can. Bit it
gives them the capacity to have the same vantage point as fans watching TV
at home, ensuring that there are no blatant miscalls or oversights. A Leuven
University paper published just before the World Cup shows that referees who
watch bits of the game in slow motion tend to be stricter when meting out
punishment: They are more likely to see fouls as reckless or intentional
than accidental. If players sense that nothing will escape the referee, they
should be less likely to commit fouls. Anyone who has watched most of the
games so far will have noticed that players spend less time simulating
injuries than at previous World Cups, and that there’s surprisingly little
dirty play (though the Brazilian star Neymar would probably object: In his
team’s first game against Switzerland, he was fouled on 10 times, the most
of any player in World Cup history). Nonetheless, yellow and red card
statistics indicate that this may turn out to be the nicest World Cup in at
least two decades.
Mohammed bin Salman and the End of a 70-year Ban
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/June 25/18
The ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia could have continued for another
ten years, or even 20 years, if it wasn’t or Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman who was tasked by the king with the project of development and
change.
The decision to end the ban on women driving is one of many decisions
pertaining to women, like allowing them to enter sports stadiums, attend
concerts, and work in various different sectors. Since the 1970s, we kept
waiting for the moment when banning women would end, which was an idea that
is not justified by logic or religion, merely a societal tradition. Year
after year, our hopes were crushed, and the calls of local women failed. The
ban continued for long centuries as no one dared to anger the governors or
society. This also included several other unjustified prohibitions, from
cinemas to concerts to women participating in public community events. I say
this to clarify a truth that we learned from these century-long bans: That
this was a brave step taken by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who did not
have to do it. He could have left Saudi Arabia to go forth as it had been
for the past 70 years, by banning women from diving cars. And it is not true
that there were external factors pressuring him, as foreign governments have
tried this and failed. There is also no large local group calling for
change, as some claim, as the number of women who did actually try to break
this barrier and drive their cars in the past years is very little. Saudi
Arabia has witnessed two years of massive changes, and after a year of
becoming crown prince, it must be said that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
is a man with a vision and a brave leader. He challenged expectations that
betted on him going back on his promises, as no other Saudi ruler dared to
do this before. He proved wrong many analysts who believed that his
statements and promises were for propaganda and wouldn’t see the light. All
the promises were executed.
The truth is, he didn’t have to do it if it weren’t for his personal belief
in change. Perhaps his wishes reflect his belonging to the younger
generation, or his conviction that the kingdom could not develop
economically without being developed socially. It is no secret that we are
aware about his thoughts on change since about four years.
Allowing women to drive cars, ending the ban on cinemas, and other
shockwaves that he sent through Saudi Arabia which is the most traditional
society in the world, were all issues that were discussed before King Salman
bin Abdulaziz assumed power, and was entrusted with being crown prince.
Everything we see is drawn out in the promised project of change and
development, by freeing society from obstacles that hinder it from moving
forward. Those who try to portray this change, especially the ending of the
ban on women driving cars, as a consequence of internal pressures are a
minority living in their own world that has nothing to do with Saudi
Arabia’s reality. The truth is completely opposite to this. The pressures
came from governors and traditionalists who refused changing the status quo,
and tried making the government go back on its decision, either directly or
through social media. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this article,
the crown prince could have left things as they are, by continuing to ban
women for ten, maybe 20 more years, but he chose the opposite.
He chose to be responsible for this decision, just as he did with other
socially sensitive decisions in Saudi Arabia. For this, we have to
acknowledge his courage, and salute him for this step and others, while
being aware that he has the trust and guidance of the king.
By ending the ban, Saudi Arabia is ending a lot of the “privacy” that
specialized and isolated it from the world, and it is time for it to be a
normal state. With giving women a lot of their rights, and opening up more
opportunities for them in the last two years, we look forward to more in the
future. All of these decisions are part of the larger Vision 2030, which
aims to transport Saudi Arabia from being one of the only oil-producing
countries, to being an able country economically, politically and
militarily.
Thoughts On Southern Syria
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi/Syria Comment/June 25/18
The remaining rebel-held areas of Deraa and Quneitra are currently
witnessing the beginning of a military campaign by the Syrian government to
retake those areas, with heavy bombardment and displacement in the eastern
Deraa countryside in particular. How did we get to this stage and what is
the likely outcome? Perhaps the foremost issue for discussion is Russia’s
role in this matter. In my view, there has been an analytical failure in
understanding Russia’s goals in the “de-escalation” arrangement for southern
Syria. The first step in the arrangement was a ceasefire for the region that
was agreed between Russia, the U.S. and Jordan in July 2017. The ceasefire
was followed up by a “Memorandum of Principles” between the three powers in
November 2017.
To be sure, there are no copies of the texts of the ceasefire agreement and
“Memorandum of Principles” in the open source realm, but it cannot be
plausibly argued that Russia’s intention in particular was simply to freeze
indefinitely the frontlines and zones of control in the south as part of a
balancing act between different parties. An example of this misconception
can be found in an article in Foreign Policy a month ago. The article argued
that “a frozen conflict” in Syria may have been the goal all along for
Russia. On the southern situation in particular, the article painted a
simple portrait of Iran pushing the government for a military assault on the
south, whereas Russia supposedly had no interest in that outcome.
Such an analysis is superficial on multiple levels. For example, when it
came to the south, the Syrian government did not presume that military
assault was the only option to bring back areas under its control. Instead,
the government has promoted what one might call “soft reconciliation” as a
model for the south, as could be observed in the town of al-Sanamayn in
north Deraa, which never entirely fell out of government control and was
located within a wider zone of government control. The reconciliation
agreement in al-Sanamayn at the end of 2016 did involve application of some
siege pressure in response to the violation of a de facto truce, but there
was no full-on assault, contrasting with (for example) East Ghouta and east
Aleppo city. Under the reconciliation, the factions in al-Sanamayn have
largely been left as they were prior to the reconciliation. Thus, these
factions are mostly responsible for running internal security in the town.
There are some serious problems surrounding the al-Sanamayn reconciliation.
For example, though some people underwent taswiyat al-wad’ (“sorting out
affairs/regularizing status”) as part of the reconciliation, that does not
permanently resolve the problem of being wanted for military service. In
addition, al-Sanamayn continues to witness security problems on account of
clan issues and the presence of multiple armed groups. No unified security
force has been formed by the factions of al-Sanamayn to impose law and order
despite repeated discussions of the matter. Earlier this year, tensions
between the government and the rebels in al-Sanamayn escalated on account of
the disappearance of a non-commissioned military officer. Further, the car
of the commander of the 9th division of the Syrian army was targeted with
gunfire. As a result, the 9th division, whose main base is located in the
al-Sanamayn area, threatened an assault against the rebel factions in the
town. There was also talk of imposing a second, more comprehensive
reconciliation (i.e. requiring more weapons to be handed over and for more
people to undergo taswiyat al-wad’). Yet the 9th division backed down in the
end, and the second reconciliation never happened.
Nevertheless, these details- and the wider debates about the pros and cons
of reconciliation agreements and their final status- do not detract from the
point that the Syrian government saw a way forward in reconciliation
agreements for the south that would have local rebel faction buy-in and not
necessarily require a full-blown military campaign. It is unlikely that
Russia, which also gets involved in reconciliation agreements, has not been
encouraging such initiatives and negotiations as the preferred option for
dealing with the rebel-held areas of the south.
More broadly, it needs to be understood that Russia’s involvement in
de-escalation for the south has been predicated on the idea of advancing the
interests of its ally- the Syrian government- in that area in some form,
even as it is correct to note that the concerns of Jordan and Israel were
also being taken into account.
Indeed, one can see hints of the Russian goals in the limited public
material on the ideas behind the southern de-escalation. For instance,
consider the joint U.S.-Russia announcement on the November 2017 memorandum.
The announcement affirms that de-escalation is an “interim step to reduce
violence in Syria, enforce ceasefire agreements, facilitate unhindered
humanitarian access, and set the conditions for the ultimate political
solution to the conflict.” One can dismiss the last point as a political
trope, and different parties will have differing views of what a “political
solution” means. But the inclusion of that point shows an intention to build
on the southern de-escalation for a final status resolution for that region.
Notable as well is the commitment in the memorandum to Syria’s sovereignty,
unity, independence and territorial integrity. Again, one could dismiss all
that as a political trope, but from Russia’s perspective, it does illustrate
a desire to bring back those rebel-held areas in the south under formal
government control in some way.
Ultimately though, there was no progress for the southern de-escalation
beyond the November 2017 memorandum. Nor did reconciliation agreements along
the al-Sanamayn model make headway beyond Deraa localities in similar
geographic/strategic circumstances to al-Sanamayn (most notably Mahajja and
Ghabaghib) that are not applicable to the wider rebel-held south. One can
discuss in detail the reasons for lack of progress in resolving the south’s
political status and lack of acceptance of reconciliation deals, but the
Russian and Syrian government perspective is that the U.S. and the West are
to blame for the impasse. In April 2018, Maria Zakharova, the Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesperson, claimed that southern rebels were aiming for
the “creation of a territorial entity there [in the south] with the capital
in Deraa, under the auspices of the United States, which will be independent
from Damascus, similar to the areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic
Forces in the northeast of the country.” Bashar al-Assad, in an interview
with the Mail on Sunday earlier this month, commented on the failure of
last-ditch efforts to achieve reconciliation in the south. Assad claimed
that “the West interfered and asked the terrorists not to follow this path
[of reconciliation] in order to prolong the Syrian conflict.” In other
words, the Syrian government and its Russian allies consider the southern
rebellion to be a separatist project undermining Syria’s unity and
territorial integrity: a perception that has not been taken seriously enough
in the analytical picture.
Map illustrating the locations of al-Sanamayn, Ghabaghib and Mahajja in the
wider south.
The point here is not to justify the Syrian government and Russian views and
narratives. Rather, the discussion here simply illustrates why the idea that
Russia was going to enforce the southern status quo indefinitely and bar
Syrian military action under all circumstances for the sake of “upholding
the ceasefire” and/or in deference to other outside powers like Israel was
folly. From the outset, Russia would not have entered into the southern
de-escalation arrangement if it did not think it could ultimately serve the
interests of the Syrian government.
For the U.S., there are only three policy options for the south:
1. Military intervention to deter an offensive against the
rebels and maintain the previous status quo. At the very minimum, this would
mean airstrikes against Syrian government forces.
2. Pursue negotiations for a diplomatic resolution to the southern
situation.
3. Do nothing.
Whatever course is pursued, the goals and future visions have to be
articulated clearly, honestly and consistently. In the case of option 1, it
does no good to issue vague commitments to “upholding the ceasefire” without
any action to back it up. As far as the long-term future outlook goes in the
option 1 scenario, it would be questionable why indefinite rebel-held zones
in the south should even be considered part of Syria. As for option 2, it
should be frankly acknowledged that the end outcome of it is the return of
Syrian government control to the south. Of course, the government presence
never entirely vanished from the rebel-held areas in the south- note that
school teachers were still receiving salaries from the government, for
example- but the negotiations would inevitably lead to a more extensive
government presence and functioning in the south, displacing the influence
of opposition local councils and the interim government. Option 3 likewise
leads to a return of the Syrian government to the south, though at a much
greater humanitarian cost and under harsher reconciliations than option 2.
I am not so much in the business of policy recommendations. My own
analytical outlook is that option 3 is the scenario that will be realized,
and so the rebel-held south is doomed. The final confrontation in the south
will therefore be between the Syrian government and the Islamic State
affiliate Jaysh Khalid bin al-Waleed (JKBW), whose supporters have long
condemned the rebels at war with JKBW for supposedly holding JKBW back from
fighting the government. Indeed, JKBW appears to be anticipating the end of
the rebel-held south (which has proven incapable of defeating JKBW) and a
forthcoming fight with the government, as a JKBW recruitment form for
fighting the Syrian government recently surfaced. Of course, the persistence
of JKBW adds to a Syrian government/Russian casus belli, in that the
argument can be made that only the Syrian army and its allies can truly
defeat the Islamic State in southern Syria.
As a more general lesson, I would caution against assuming a strict
dichotomy of “Syrian government and Iranian desire for military reconquest
vs. Russian pragmatism.” As outlined above, military campaigns are not
viewed as the sole means for regaining territory. Further, Russian
complaints of violation of Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity
should not be dismissed as mere rhetoric. Nor should it be thought that
Russia enters into negotiations and agreements with other outside powers
like the Astana process and disregards the Syrian government’s desire to
reassert control over all of Syria.
It does not follow from the preceding that the Syrian government and its
allies are all perfectly aligned with each other. Nor is it the case that
there is a brilliant Russian master-plan for the Syrian government to retake
all of Syria’s territory. Indeed, there cannot be such a master-plan, as
there are certain circumstances that have arisen in the Syrian civil war
that are ultimately beyond Russia’s control (e.g. the question of whether
U.S. maintains its presence in the north and northeast of Syria, which the
U.S., if it so desires, can impose unilaterally for an indefinite period).
But at the same time, it is implausible that there was a Russian master-plan
all along to keep Syria stuck in de facto partition and frozen conflict.
The Ultimate Deal’: Crushing the Palestinian People
Grain by Grain
Odeh Bisharat/Haaretz/June 25/18
The mission is not just to smash them, but to grind the Palestinian people up
finely, grain by grain, each individual separated from his brethren.
It’s happening right now. The governor of the empire, Jared Kushner, and his
assistant, Jason Greenblatt, have come to the region to do what the central
Zionist stream has dreamed of doing for many years: Crush the Palestinian people
– and not just its national movement, as Saeb Erekat believes.
The first blow was in 1948, when the Palestinian people were broken into four
parts: those inside Israel, in the West Bank, in Gaza; and in refugee camps
around the world. Now the mission is not just to smash them, but to grind the
Palestinian people up finely, grain by grain, each individual separated from his
brethren – the West Bank separately, Gaza separately, and then within the West
Bank, Ramallah separately and Jenin separately, while abroad the Palestinians in
Jordan will be separated from the Palestinians in Lebanon.
And this whole project is being labeled “the ultimate deal.” I suggest we change
the name to more suitably reflect the reality. How about “the ultimate crime” or
“the ultimate destruction,” or maybe both of them together? There’s no doubt:
the disgrace here is not just limited to those who are working to implement the
“deal,” whatever it’s called, but belongs to the entire world, which remains
silent.
In the past there were those who thought that it was possible to establish two
entities here based on principles of justice, at least partial ones, and others
who believed that it would be impossible not to have at least pinch of fairness
here and a handful of good intentions to mitigate the evil decree. But reality
proved the opposite to be true. For each stone built into a wall of an Israeli
house, a stone was removed from an Arab house; for every Jewish community built,
a Palestinian village was destroyed. Now the village of Khan al-Ahmar is next in
line to be uprooted. Let’s congratulate the leaders of the mainstream Zionist
enterprise for their tremendous achievement.
Forgive me for using the term “Zionism” even though there are Zionists who
believe in a different path, the one of peace and reconciliation between
peoples. But the painful truth is that more than 90 percent of the Zionist
parties, whether in silence or with enthusiastic encouragement, watch the
crushing of the Palestinians sympathetically and applaud everything the empire’s
representatives do.
Indeed, once again the Israeli leadership is choosing the dark side, turning its
back on the peoples of the region. In 1956 David Ben-Gurion hooked up with the
dying empires of France and Britain against the Egyptians, whose leader dared to
announce the nationalization of the Suez Canal. Later Israel upheld the Shah of
Iran’s reign of terror against the Iranian people, a regime that led, because of
its brutality, to an even more brutal regime.
Now Israel is an ally of Saudi Arabia, that vanguard of defense of human rights;
of Egypt’s military dictatorship, and of everything that seems benighted in the
Arab world. Israel is so absorbed in this role that it has adopted the extreme
Wahhabist movement – the ideological basis of fanatic Islamic groups whose only
message is hatred and violence.
In a video, Maj. Gen. Avihai Edrei, head of the Arab media department at the IDF
Spokesperson’s Office, called on the residents of Gaza to adhere to Wahhabism
against the Shi’ite threat embodied by Iran and its supporters. One can only be
dazzled by the gospel of light that the Jewish state brings to the Arab peoples.
In a previous video, Edrei asked Gaza’s women to stay at home.
It seems that the only stumbling blocks on the way to implementing this plan are
the Palestinians, this time headed by the Palestinian leadership, and the
progressive Arab and Jewish public in Israel, which includes many Zionists whose
Zionism is different from that of Yair Lapid and Avi Gabbay. And I promise you
that in a few years’ time, the respected Prof. Shlomo Avineri will write that
this time the Palestinians also missed an opportunity. The opportunity to be
crushed.
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-ultimate-deal-crushing-the-palestinian-people-grain-by-grain-1.6201981
Finally, the Saudi woman drives her car!
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/June 25/18
At midnight on June 24, Saudi women drove their cars in Riyadh, Jeddah and
other Saudi cities bringing an end to one of the strangest controversial
issues which lasted for about three decades consuming the Saudis’ energy.
Ever since a group of female activists drove their cars and held a protest
in November 1990 in support of women’s driving during the tense phase which
accompanied Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and the tension in the
region due to the war and during the phase of the Sahwa’s sedition, i.e. of
politicized fundamental groups which worsened the situation by exploiting
some causes and confronting women and those who support them, the issue of
women’s driving turned into a debatable subject between Sahwa supporters and
those who support women’s “natural” right to drive cars and the decision to
allow them to drive because it has economic and social benefits...etc.
The state’s usual rhetoric, as conveyed by its officials, said this decision
pertaining to women’s driving is the society’s business and not its own.
However, the situation developed thanks to the era of decisiveness as King
Salman finalized the issue and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman promised to
solve the problem and he did. The move thus deprived the kingdom’s rivals of
the excuse they often used to continuously criticize it.
These developments reminded me of some of the articles I wrote in this daily
several years ago.
Preventing women from driving cars represents an important symbolic
significance pertaining to preventing her from participating in leading life
or at least leading her own fate
In my article “She will drive the car” published on May 28, 2010, I wrote
about those who oppose women’s driving and how their intimidations “are
nothing more than snow statues that melted under the snow of reality.”
On May 24, 2005, I wrote the article “Women and driving… the car or
politics?” about the significance of preventing women from enjoying this
right to drive.
“Preventing women from driving cars represents an important symbolic
significance pertaining to preventing her from participating in leading life
or at least leading her own fate.”
I inquired: “Are women worthy of trust or not? Why do some like to bury
their heads in the sand and leave the matter for time, for that time that
does not (really) come except for those (who make things happen)?”
All these statements are now from the past. We are now before a new phase.
There is a group of people who must be thanked at the end of this journey
such as “few” former and current Shoura council members, writers,
journalists and patriotic pioneer women. However the first and final
gratitude is to the country’s leader the king of decisiveness Salman bin
Abdulaziz and his crown prince, the brave leader, Mohammed bin Salman.
With this decision lifting the ban on women driving, we further head towards
a natural situation and close this faucet which seditious people used to
water the trees of sedition which they planted like demons’ heads. Let’s
head further towards the future and the enlightening path.
Iraq: Recounting votes
or waste recycling?
Adnan Hussein//Al Arabiya/June 25/18
The parliament’s approval of the third amendment to the elections law and
the federal court’s ruling that this amendment is valid provide conclusive
evidence that the recent parliamentary elections in Iraq were forged from
the beginning of the process till the very end. It’s no longer possible to
debate this or argue about it. This is not the first or second time that
elections were forged. Forgery has been frequent in all electoral processes
ever since the first elections were held. The components of the influential
political category had some sort of agreement among each other so they
covered up wrongdoings and forgery. They all contributed to forging the
elections, just like they forged degrees and documents. Some bought vote
cards in advance and used them on the elections’ day in favor of certain
candidates and some employees at the electoral center “helped” voters,
specifically the elderly, the sick and the illiterate, and forged their
votes The Parliament formed a new commission to recount and sort votes
manually and the federal court approved this; however neither the parliament
nor the court explained how exposing forgery will be guaranteed and how the
authentic votes will be maintained! Is there evidence that there are forged
results in specific ballot boxes and in specific vote centers in this or
that governorate or area?
Electronic counting
The forgery was not caused by the electronic counting and sorting devices
like they want to imply. The forgery was carried out by humans, in this case
by the employees of the electoral commission in vote centers. Influential
political powers and the electoral commission members that appointed these
employees and their supervisors stand behind them. How can the nine judges
who were tasked with managing the electoral commission find out who is a
forger and who was honest and patriotic and refused to commit this crime of
forgery?
How can the nine judges guarantee that the commission’s employees who were
the tools of forgery in favor of the parties which appointed them will not
go back to their old habit while performing the manual recounting and
sorting? In the previous elections, the recounting and sorting process was
manual and there were forgery and manipulation. In addition to all that,
there is forgery that can never be discovered by just adopting a manual
recount as for example some political parties and militias forced voters in
some areas to vote for certain candidates. Some parties and candidates
bribed voters with money or by making promises that they will provide them
with jobs. Some bought vote cards in advance and used them on the elections’
day in favor of certain candidates and some employees at the electoral
center “helped” voters, specifically the elderly, the sick and the
illiterate, and forged their votes in favor of the candidates which belong
to the parties they (the employees) are affiliated with. The most important
question is: How do nine judges guarantee that forgery won’t happen this
time and that they won’t be clueless? The real problem is not in the
electronic recounting and sorting devices and not in the high electoral
commission and not in the commission’s employees. The problem is in the
political system which has been built on a false basis: quotas. What is
built on illegitimacy is illegitimate. Therefore, this whole “mess” which
began with holding the elections and concluded with amending the electoral
law and the federal court’s approval of this amendment will only yield one
result which is recycling the waste of the political process which has been
corrupt and false from the very beginning.