LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
November 22/16
Compiled
& Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The
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http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.november22.16.htm
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Bible Quotations For Today
Come to me, all you
that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
light.’
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11/25-30/:"‘I thank
you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things
from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes,
Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me
by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the
Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ‘Come
to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am
gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light.’
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the
law by becoming a curse for us for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs
on a tree’
in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the
Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith
Letter to the Galatians 03/07-14/:'So, you see, those who believe are the
descendants of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All
the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.’For this reason, those who believe are
blessed with Abraham who believed. For all who rely on the works of the law are
under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and
obey all the things written in the book of the law.’Now it is evident that no
one is justified before God by the law; for ‘The one who is righteous will live
by faith.’But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, ‘Whoever does
the works of the law will live by them.’Christ redeemed us from the curse of
the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who
hangs on a tree’in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might
come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith."
Titles For Latest LCCC
Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
November 21-22/16
By God's Will Occupied Lebanon Shall Be Free & Independent/By:
Elias Bejjani/November 22/16
Israeli Druze Intellectual Dr. Salman Masalha On Israeli 'Muezzin
Bill': Mosque Loudspeakers Disturb The Arab And Muslim Public
Too/MEMRI/November 21/16
Turkey: Lies, Cheap Lies and Cheaper Lies/Burak Bekdil/Gatestone
Institute/November 21/16
Isn’t this an opportunity to put our house in order/Khaled Almaeena/Al
Arabiya/November 21/16
Why Trump presidency is radically different for the Middle East/Dr. John C.
Hulsman/Al Arabiya/November 21/16
Will Yemen’s peace initiative succeed/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/November
21/16
Donald Trump and the Return of European Anti-Americanism/Soeren Kern/Gatestone
Institute/November 21/16
Titles For Latest Lebanese
Related News published on on November 21-22/16
By God's Will Occupied Lebanon Shall Be Free & Independent
Saudi delegation in Lebanon to reaffirm ties
Lebanon's President Aoun invited to visit Saudi Arabia
Lebanon’s Aoun looks to revive ties with Saudi Arabia
Aoun Calls for 'Immunizing Independence', Says Army Can Defend Borders
Hariri Says Lebanon Committed to Saudi-Led Causes, al-Faisal Says Lebanon Not a
Discord Arena
Aoun Says Keen on Boosting Ties with Riyadh after Meeting Top Saudi Envoy
Aoun Receives Independence Greetings from UAE
Hariri and Aoun in Agreement on Cabinet Formation
Report: Berri Unveils 'Political Favor' Traded with Aoun
Berri Hits Back at Hariri, Warns of Bid to 'Keep 1960 Electoral Law'
Kataeb Slams Hizbullah, Tawhid Parades, Warns against Return to 1960 Law
Qahwaji: Aoun's Election Turns a New Page for Lebanon
Shorter Sees 'Real Opportunity for Reawakening of Political institutions'
Ayrault Says Forming Cabinet Positive Signal to Activate Saudi Army Grant
Aoun’s Shi’ite Minister Delays Cabinet Birth until after ‘Independence’
Hariri, Aoun in agreement over proposed Cabinet lineup
Lebanon builds wall near Palestinian refugee camp
Khaled Faisal winds up visit to Beirut, heads to Jeddah
Baalback celebrates Feyruz and Independence
Omani Ambassador commemorates Sultanate's National Day
Irish Defense Minister arrives in Beirut
Hashem representing Aoun: We hope to form national unity government
Italy increases funding for UNICEF school rehabilitation program in Lebanon
Titles For Latest LCCC
Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on November 21-22/16
Expel Iran from OIC, Arab states urged
U.N. Says Nearly One Million Syrians Living under Siege
Syrian govt rejects UN proposal on eastern Aleppo
No More Working Hospitals in Eastern Aleppo
US names Syrian generals linked to attacks on civilians
Mother, child killed in east Aleppo bombardment
Iraq lauds progress on Mosul, expects Trump to continue support
Sarkozy Knocked Out of French Presidential Race
Ex-consultant to Iran’s UN mission pleads guilty to US charges
Erdogan demands support against PKK at NATO meeting
Turkey’s Erdogan says he’s been ‘disillusioned’ by Obama
Egyptian officers behind Sisi plot revealed
Yemeni army resumes military operations
Yemeni charged in US with trying to support ISIS
Car bombing in Libyan city of Benghazi kills 3, wounds 26
Suicide blast at Kabul Shiite mosque kills 27
16 Muslims killed in Senegal pilgrimage road accidents
Links From Jihad Watch Site
for on November 21-22/16
Italy: Muslim migrant arrested for sexual assault of eight-year-old boy
playing outside his house
New
York: Muslim charged with “Nice in Times Square” jihad mass murder plot
NBC
News tweets out half-quote from Priebus to give impression Trump administration
open to Muslim registry
Islamic
State publishes a ‘how to’ outfox Twitter guide
Priebus
on Islam: “Clearly there are some aspects of that faith that are problematic”
U.S.
District Judge: “Everyone talks about Brussels or Paris having cells. We have a
cell here in Minneapolis.”
Trump’s
CIA nominee Mike Pompeo promises to roll back Iran deal
Libya:
Monkey pulls off girl’s hijab, violence ensues, 16 dead
France:
7 Muslims arrested in anti-terror raids, jihad attack thwarted
The
‘Hate-Crime’ Victims Of Trump Who Weren’t
Latest Lebanese Related News
published on November 21-22/16
By God's Will Occupied Lebanon
Shall Be Free & Independent
By: Elias Bejjani/November 22/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/11/22/elias-bejjani-by-gods-will-occupied-lebanon-shall-be-free-independent/
Psalm 92:12: "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon".
Today, the Lebanese back home in beloved Lebanon, as well as those living in
Diaspora are all remembering with sadness, anger and frustration their
country's Independence Day.
Although the country is practically not independent and savagely occupied by Hezbollah, Iran's
terrorist proxy army, but every sovereign, faithful and patriotic Lebanese is
hopeful and fully confident that this era of terrorism, evilness, oppression
and hardship is ultimately going to end. By God's will Lebanon's
freedom spring is on the horizon.
Lebanon through its deeply rooted
history of 7000 years have witnessed hard times and all kinds of invaders,
occupiers, dictators, and tyrants, they all were forced to leave Lebanon with humiliation and Lebanon
maintained its freedom and sovereignty. There is no doubt that the fate of the
current occupier is going to be any different.
There are numerous reasons behind the ongoing devastating internal and external
wars that are being waged against Lebanon and his people. These
reasons have varied throughout contemporary history with the changing
instruments of fighting, circumstances, financiers and profiteers. However, the
main reasons and targets were always and still are the privileged Lebanese
distinctive identity, multiculturalism, freedoms and coexistence. Almost every
nation and people in the Middle and Far East look upon Lebanon as a
heaven for freedoms and as an oasis for the persecuted.
At the present time and since 1982, the Iranian armed terrorist militia,
Hezbollah, which was created by the Iranians with its mini-state during Syria's bloody occupation era of Lebanon (1976-2005) imposes an extremely serious and fundamental
threat to all that is Lebanese: culture, identity, history, civilization,
freedoms, coexistence, tolerance, democracy, peace, openness, order and law.
But as our deeply rooted history teaches us, this Stone Age armed terrorist
group shall by God's will be defeated as was the fate of all invaders, tyrants,
dictators and occupiers whose sick minds fooled them that Lebanon could be
tamed and his people could be subdued and enslaved. They all were disappointed
and forced to leave with humiliation and disgrace. The Syrian occupier in 2005
and after almost 30 years of savage occupation had to face the same scornful
fate. Hezbollah will have ultimately the same end sooner or later although its
armed militiamen are Lebanese.
We thank God for the ultimate failure of all savage attacks which the faithful
Lebanese shattered with stubbornness, perseverance, courage and
self-confidence, and remained attached to their identity, and steadfast against
hatred, foreign expansionism schemes and evil conspiracies.
The distinction of Lebanon
is that it is a nation of diverse religious denominational groups and
civilizations living together in agreeable coexistence, without coercion or
oppression or becoming a melting pot, despite transient harsh confrontations at
certain periods of history always instigated and orchestrated by external
forces. Lebanon’s
air of liberty has been made equally available to its extensive mosaic of
communities to help them maintain freedom of their cultural and religious
particularities and distinctions.
All Throughout history these distinctions gave Lebanon his pluralist flavor and
made the majority of the Lebanese people into a homogeneous society attached
heart and spirit to the one Lebanese identity that personifies their roots,
cultures, hopes and civilizations.
The confessional diversity permits each of Lebanon’s 18 ethnic communities to
express its original goodness within its core and the sanctity of its faith.
Even though the communities’ perspective towards God may be different, they do
not disagree on the truth of God’s essence, and He remains the All Mighty
Creator and the source of all good to all people.
Accordingly, all Lebanese have learned that none of them should presume to
monopolize God’s relationship through himself, or seek to acquire all God’s
graces by eliminating others, because these others were also created by God and
are also His children, and that He is the only ultimate judge.
All religions in Lebanon
worship the same God, and He definitely accepts them all each according to
their sincerity and trust. God knows the content of hearts and intents, and He
is not fooled by the various rituals and styles of worship. The majority of the
peace loving Lebanese people strongly believe that no one Lebanese community
should claim that it is the best, or the closest, or the only path to God. They
all trust in the fact that God knows all wants, and uncovers all intents.
Hezbollah is an odd exception among the Lebanese communities.
Despite the ongoing Lebanese success of coexistence and diversity of
civilizations, cultures and religions within the scope of the uniform Lebanese
identify, and despite the good and civilized relationship that the Lebanese
always endeavor to maintain with neighboring countries, Syria still keeps on
trying by force, vicious interferences and terrorism to impose on them an
alternative identity, life style, regime and ideology.
The Syrian Baathist regime has been, and still is, an actual disaster for Lebanon and his
people and an ongoing annoying headache in all levels and domains. Syria has been
ferociously behind all Lebanese problems, wars and sufferings for the last 30
years, including the creation of the Terrorist Hezbollah and its mini-state, as
well as the status quo of havoc and disorder in the 13 Palestinian camps of
which the Lebanese government has zero control.
To know Lebanon well and to
understand his importance in the Middle East,
one needs to review his rooted history. In this context, below are some
historic excerpts that address Lebanon’s
"particularity", the spoken languages of his people and other related
documented historical facts:
Lebanon
has been known since ancient through modern times, as a crossroad of
civilizations and peoples. Since 4000 BC, waves of people settled and fought on
his land, including Kananites, Phoenicians, Aramites, Egyptians, Persians,
Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Europeans, and Syrians. Lebanon's
spoken language varied with the times. Originally, Phoenician was the mother
tongue followed by the Egyptian and Babylonian languages for commerce.
During the Persian rule (539-332 BC), Aramaic was the official language of the
empire, in addition to Phoenician in Lebanon. During Greek rule
(322-63), ancient Greek became the official language equivalent to the Aramaic
mother language. With the Roman rule, Latin became the language of law and
administration, in addition to ancient Greek as the language of culture next to
Aramaic which remained the mother language.
With the Arab conquest (625 AD), Arabic imposed by the Amawites rulers started
to compete with the Aramaic/Syriac variations and replaced them. Then the
Ottoman Turks taught Turkish, while schools of the era taught and continue
today to teach French, English, and Armenian. Lebanon's current official language
is Arabic, although the Lebanese dialect language spoken is a combination of
many languages, especially Aramaic and Syriac.
Union with diversity within the distinct Lebanese identity is Lebanon’s
civilization and the choice of its multi-ethnic-religious people. This
diversity is known as the "Lebanese particularity” and as Lebanon’s humanistic message to its neighbors,
as well as to the whole world, and if it is lost, God forbid, Lebanon would
lose the reason of his existence (his raison d’etre).
Lebanon’s
"particularity" yielded his national covenant and his political
system. The covenant is coexistence amongst Christians and Moslems. The
Christian Lebanese adhere to it by abandoning their tendency for Western style
secularism and by renouncing the protection of any Western nation, and the
Lebanese Moslems, in turn, abandon their tendency to Islamic theocracy and
cease their quest for protection under any Arabic or Islamic nation.
The National Covenant specifies the principles of "coexistence" from Independence and
President Becaharra Khoury on the day of his election on September 20, 1943, as
well as the first Governmental Communiqué issued by Prime Minister Riad Solh on
October 7, 1943. The most important clauses of the Covenant are:
*Lebanon
is an independent republic, with complete independence, and a final homeland
for all his children, sovereign, free and independent in his internationally
recognized borders.
*Lebanon
is a founding active member of the Arab League and is adherent and committed to
its principles. Lebanon
is also a founding and active member of the United Nations and committed to its
principles and to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
*There would be no hegemony requested, no protection sought, and no special
privileges granted to any other nation, and no union nor unification with any
other nation.
*Maximum cooperation with the Arab countries, by maintaining equilibrium with
all of them, and maintaining friendship with all foreign nations that recognize
Lebanon’s total independence and respect it. There will be no legitimacy to any
authority that contradicts the covenant of national coexistence. It was on the
basis of this covenant that the political system in Lebanon was conceived distinctively
from all other political systems in the Arab and Western nations, and it is on
this same basis that all Lebanese ethnicities agreed to unite within the scope
of the Lebanese identity. This political system produced special attributes
that distinguished Lebanon
from its neighbors and they are:
*The democratic parliamentary system;
*the National Concord;
*the public liberties and most significantly the freedom of opinion, religion,
and free enterprise. The system also yielded a dialogue without duress
(conciliatory dialogue) about the affairs and politics of the nation as
specified in the constitution, such as the modification of the constitution,
war and peace and treaties with other nations.
This Lebanese civilization which constitutes the heritage of Lebanon, and which
is the result of existential living and political dialogues among all
successive cultures and civilizations on his land, has continued to allow the
Lebanese to remain steadfast in the face of conspiracies of partition and
settlement and regime change, and to survive his most critical stages during
years of fierce wars.
"Lebanon First"", is the patriotic emblem under which the
"Cedars Revolution" united the majority of the Lebanese people in
2005 against the Syrian occupation and liberated the country. The Lebanese
identity which distinguishes Lebanon
has held steadfast in the past and will prevail and be ultimately victorious.
It will also firmly endure in the protection of our forefather’s inheritance,
God willing. All the forces of hate and evil including Syria, Iran and Hezbollah shall fail to
marginalize it or replace it with another identity.
In conclusion, for Lebanon, the land of the holy cedars to be victorious in the
face of the Axis of Evil powers dirty and evil wars against his existence, Each
and every Lebanese in both Lebanon and Diaspora has a patriotic and ethical
obligation and a holy duty to preserve by all means Lebanon's graceful identity
and solidify its implantation in the conscience, hearts and souls of the new
Lebanese generations and to root it in their awareness, as well as in Lebanon's
blessed soil.
N.B: The Above Piece was originally published in 2014
Saudi delegation in Lebanon to reaffirm ties
The Daily Star/ November 21, 2016/ BEIRUT:
A senior Saudi delegation arrived in Beirut
Monday to congratulate President Michel Aoun on his election and to express
solidarity with Lebanon
after its recent political breakthrough. Saudi Prince Khaled al-Faisal,
accompanied by the kingdom’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar bin
Obaid Madani and a high-ranking delegation, was dispatched by King Salman to
reaffirm Riyadh’s support for Lebanon. The
delegation headed to the Baabda Palace to meet with Aoun, carrying an invitation to
visit Saudi Arabia.
"He (Aoun) pledged to visit Saudi Arabia soon after the new
Cabinet is formed," al-Faisal told reporters after his half-an-hour
meeting with Aoun. The Saudi diplomat hoped that the new political term in Lebanon would
be prosperous. King Salman Sunday sent a cable to Aoun congratulating him on Lebanon’s
Independence Day and wishing the country “more progress and prosperity to the
brotherly Lebanese people.”Caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil welcomed
the delegation at Beirut's Rafik
Hariri International
Airport, in addition to the Saudi
Embassy staff and Saudi Embassy's Charge d'Affaires Walid Al-Bukhari and Gulf
Ambassadors to Lebanon.
The Saudi envoys are also scheduled to meet with Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime
Minister-designate Saad Hariri and caretaker Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
Arab Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer al-Sabhan visited Lebanon on Oct.
27 in what was viewed as a tacit Saudi approval of Aoun, who was elected by
Parliament as president on Oct. 31. Lebanon’s
relations with Saudi Arabia
and other Arab Gulf
countries have been strained since February when Riyadh halted $4 billion in military grants
to the Lebanese Army and police and warned their citizens against traveling to
the country. The move was in protest at perceived hostile stances against the
kingdom linked to Hezbollah and Iran
at Arab League and Islamic meetings. It was not immediately known whether the
delegations’ visit would lead to the release of the military grant. The mandate
of Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri was due to end in
September. But he left Lebanon
in August over security fears.
The kingdom didn't appoint any diplomat to succeed Asiri. The six-nation
Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar,
Oman and Bahrain – and
the Arab League earlier this year branded Hezbollah a “terrorist organization.”
The GCC accused also Hezbollah of creating chaos and discord in member states.
Lebanon's President Aoun invited to visit
Saudi Arabia
Reuters/Monday, 21
November 2016/BEIRUT, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Prince Khaled al-Faisal
on Monday invited Lebanon's recently-elected President Michel Aoun, a close
ally of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, to visit Saudi. Al Faisal,
governor of Mecca and an adviser to the king,
said during an official visit to Lebanon that Aoun had promised to
visit as soon as a new Lebanese government was formed. (Reporting by Lisa
Barrington; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Lebanon’s Aoun looks to revive ties with
Saudi Arabia
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Monday, 21 November 2016/Newly-elected
Lebanese President Michel Aoun has said he looks forward to reviving and
consolidating ties with Saudi Arabia. The news comes shortly after Saudi Arabia’s
Prince Khaled al-Faisal invited Aoun to visit Saudi. Al Faisal, governor of
Makkah and an adviser to the king, said during an official visit to Lebanon that
Aoun had promised to visit as soon as a new Lebanese government was formed. The
Saudi delegation also announced that it will hold meetings with Parliament
Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.
Aoun Calls for 'Immunizing Independence',
Says Army Can Defend Borders
Naharnet/November
21/16/President Michel Aoun on Monday called for “immunizing independence” and
noted that the army has the ability to defend Lebanon's borders should its
capabilities be boosted. “We must immunize independence through refraining from
seeking help from foreign forces... to achieve partisan interests at the
expense of the public interest,” said Aoun in an address to the nation on the
eve of Lebanon's
Independence Day. “Enhancing national unity is a top necessity and priority
because it would immunize Lebanon
and secure its stability,” Aoun added. He noted that “we have brothers who live
in border regions in the North and the South and they represent Lebanon's first
protection shield.” “We must give them special care in order to develop their
towns and villages,” Aoun stressed. And hailing the Lebanese army for “gaining
citizens' confidence and being their source of security and serenity,” the
president underlined that the army “can do on the borders what it is doing
inside the country should its technical and training capabilities be boosted.”
“When dangers threaten the country, the army remains its security valve and the
firm core of its national unity,” Aoun added. He also called for “liberating
civil servants from the culture of corruption.” Aoun's election after two and a
half years of presidential void and Saad Hariri's appointment as
premier-designate have raised hopes that Lebanon can begin tackling
challenges including a stagnant economy, a moribund political class and the
influx of more than a million Syrian refugees. In addition to pledges of
economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must
work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country.
Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to
protect Lebanon
from "the fires burning across the region."
Hariri Says Lebanon
Committed to Saudi-Led Causes, al-Faisal Says Lebanon Not a Discord Arena
Naharnet/November 21/16/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stressed
Monday that “Lebanon is committed to all the Saudi-led causes” as visiting
Saudi envoy Prince Khaled al-Faisal announced that Lebanon should not be “an
arena for Arab discord.”“All the conferees here tonight have come to confirm
that no one can harm Lebanon's
ties with Saudi Arabia,”
said Hariri at a dinner banquet he threw at the Center House in honor of
al-Faisal and the Saudi delegation. The banquet was attended by ex-presidents
Michel Suleiman and Amin Gemayel, a representative of Speaker Nabih Berri,
caretaker PM Tammam Salam, ex-PMs Najib Miqati and Fouad Saniora, caretaker
Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid
Jumblat, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, Kataeb Party head Sami Gemayel, a
number of MPs and ministers, and representatives of the spiritual leaders.
“Your presence here confirms the kingdom's commitment to its brotherly ties
with all Lebanese,” Hariri added, addressing al-Faisal. “The timing of your
visit on the eve of Independence Day highlights the kingdom's keenness on Lebanon's
independence, sovereignty and prosperity,” he said. “Lebanon, which is keen on
its Arab identity, is committed to all the Saudi-led causes, from the issue of
regaining all Arab rights to combating all forms of extremism and terrorism,”
Hariri went on to say. Al-Faisal for his part stressed that the kingdom wants Lebanon to be “a
place for Arab accord, not an arena for Arab discord.”The senior Saudi
delegation had held talks earlier in the day with President Michel Aoun,
Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
Aoun Says Keen on Boosting Ties with Riyadh after Meeting Top Saudi Envoy
Naharnet/November 21/16/A high-ranking Saudi delegation held talks Monday with
President Michel Aoun as part of an official visit to Lebanon. “I
carried two letters to the president from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
(King Salman). The first contains congratulations on his election as president
of the republic and the second contains an invitation to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Mecca Governor Prince
Khaled al-Faisal said after the meeting. “His Excellency promised to make the
visit after the formation of the government,” he added. In a statement issued
after the talks, Aoun stressed Lebanon's
keenness on "strengthening the Lebanese-Saudi ties," hailing
"the stances that Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz has taken to support Lebanon."
He also thanked the Saudi leadership "for the treatment that the Lebanese
are receiving in the kingdom," noting that "they have worked and will
always work for the kingdom's welfare and prosperity." "Lebanon has
always played a positive role in support of the common Arab causes and we are
keen on continuing this role," the president added. The meeting was held
in the presence of caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil and Prince Khaled was accompanied by Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs
Nizar Madani. The Saudi delegation held talks later in the day with Speaker
Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Tammam Salam.
Aoun Receives Independence
Greetings from UAE
Naharnet/November 21/16/President Michel Aoun has received cables greeting him
on the occasion of Lebanon's
Independence Day from the United
Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin
Zayed al-Nahyan, state-run National News Agency reported on Monday. In his
cable, the UAE president offered his sincerest wishes for the Lebanese
President and people. Aoun also received greetings cables from Vice President
and Prime Minister of the of UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rached al-Maktoum, and
Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces
Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Lebanon
marks Independence Day on November 22.
Hariri and Aoun in Agreement on
Cabinet Formation
Naharnet/November 21/16/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stressed on Monday
that there are no disagreements between him and President Michel Aoun on the
process of lining-up the new cabinet. “We are in agreement with the President
on everything. There are only some difficulties,” said Hariri after meeting
Aoun at the Baabda
Palace. Asked about the
parties that are disrupting the formation process, he said: “Those obstructing
the formation are known, go and ask them.”Following the election of Aoun in
October, Hariri was designated to form a cabinet. Although hopes rose that a cabinet could be formed before Independence Day,
but efforts seem to stall in light of the political parties' adamant demands to
be given specific portfolios in the future cabinet.
Report: Berri Unveils 'Political
Favor' Traded with Aoun
Naharnet/November 21/16/Speaker Nabih Berri unveiled an old agreement between
him and President Michel Aoun when the latter vowed to Berri that the finance
ministry will always be given to a Shiite minister as long as Aoun is
president, As Safir daily reported Monday. Berri unveiled the agreement that
goes back to 1988 when Lebanon
was under the Syrian tutelage and President Michel Aoun was Army Commander. He
said that Aoun had vowed that the finance ministry portfolio will always be
given to a Shiite minister as long as he is president, shall Berri convince the
Syrian leadership of helping Aoun reach the presidential post, the daily
reported. Berri was a cabinet minister during that era. Berri's comments come
in light of difficulties facing the formation of the government and amid the
disputes over the distribution of shares and ministerial portfolios, including
the finance ministry which Berri says will not concede to any other party.
Berri stressed to the daily that he does not want to control the cabinet, but
at the same time he refuses to be controlled by anyone. Referring to the latest
tensions that arose between him and Aoun, the Speaker expressed astonishment
that the President has “reopened the file of the parliament term extension.”
The Berri-Aoun tensions have renewed in recent days after the president blamed
the weakness that has hit state institutions on the repeated extensions of the
parliament's term. Berri hit back swiftly, saying the lengthy presidential void
is the main culprit. Berri attributed the weakness in Lebanon's
states institutions to a number of issues and said that the term extension of
the parliament was not the only thing to blame. As for the distribution of
portfolios, Berri emphasized that he is not ready to concede the portfolio of
public works.
Berri Hits Back at Hariri, Warns of
Bid to 'Keep 1960 Electoral Law'
Naharnet/November 21/16/Speaker Nabih Berri announced Monday that the parties
that are obstructing the formation of the new government are “the ones who are
violating the Constitution, norms and the rules of forming cabinets, not those
who are warning against that.” “This is not a response to Prime
Minister-designate Saad Hariri but rather a clarification for him: those
obstructing are the ones violating the Constitution, norms and the rules of
forming cabinets, not those who are warning against that, and the ultimate
objective could be to keep the 1960 (electoral) law,” Berri said. Berri's
remarks came after a meeting at the Baabda
Palace between Hariri and
President Michel Aoun. “We are in agreement with the president on everything.
There are some obstacles and the one obstructing is well-known, you can ask him
about that,” Hariri told reporters after the meeting.
Kataeb Slams Hizbullah, Tawhid Parades, Warns against Return to 1960 Law
Naharnet/November 21/16/The Kataeb Party on Monday warned over the military
parade that Hizbullah has held in Syria's Qusayr and the paramilitary parade
that ex-minister Wiam Wahhab has organized in the Chouf town of Jahliyeh.“On
the occasion of Independence Day, the Kataeb Party believes that the attempts
to regularize the possession of light-caliber and heavy-caliber arms... raise
major questions about the meaning of full and ultimate sovereignty as it is
stipulated in the Constitution,” said the party in a statement issued after its
politburo's weekly meeting. It warned that “these parades inside and outside Lebanon
represent a major challenge for the beginning of the new presidential tenure
and on the eve of Independence Day.” Turning to the issue of the stalled
cabinet formation process, Kataeb cautioned that any delay would postpone
addressing “the pressing and vital issues.” “It would also paralyze legislation
in parliament, especially that related to the electoral law, which would risk a
return to the 1960 law that produces incorrect representation and deforms our democratic
system,” it added.
Qahwaji: Aoun's Election Turns a New
Page for Lebanon
Naharnet/November 21/16/Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji hailed on Monday
the election of President Michel Aoun and said that it turns a new leaf for Lebanon that
will help to found the basis for national unification that has long been
sought. Qahwaji's comments came during his Order of the Day on the Occasion of
Independence Day, he said: “The election of President General Michel Aoun has
turned a new page and reshaped the broad lines of a political reality that has
witnessed a lot of divisions and alignments. It heralds a promising era in the
regularity of the state institutions and the integration of their roles, and to
improve stability.” Aoun was elected president on October 31 ending a
presidential vacuum that lasted for over two and a half years. Pointing to the
kidnapped Lebanese soldiers who are still held captive by the Islamic State
group, Qahwaji said: “We will spare no effort or opportunity in order to reveal
their fate and free them.”Nine servicemen who were kidnapped in 2014 during
deadly battles with jihadists around the northeastern border town of Arsal are still held
captive by the Islamic State group. The nine troops were among more than 30
servicemen who were abducted during the battle. While al-Nusra Front released
16 captives as part of a swap deal in December 2015, nine hostages remain in
the captivity of the IS group and Lebanese officials have vowed to exert
efforts to secure their release.
Shorter Sees 'Real Opportunity for
Reawakening of Political institutions'
Naharnet/November 21/16/British Ambassador to Lebanon Hugo Shorter on Monday
announced that “there is a real opportunity for the reawakening of political
institutions” in Lebanon, in a blog titled “To 365 Days of Independence”“It is
particularly heartening to see a ‘made in Lebanon’ President, which the
international community has been calling for. It’s clear to me that the
President was elected thanks to local initiatives and without foreign
direction,” Shorter said. “With the election of President Aoun, and the
energetic action of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, there is a real
opportunity for the reawakening of political institutions. Long may that
new-found spirit of compromise continue, on all sides!,”
the ambassador urged. He noted that reactivating the state “will build
confidence that the economy will pick up, as necessary government decisions are
taken on fiscal sustainability, business climate and urgent infrastructure.”“An
active government presents the opportunity for Lebanon to attract further support
from the international community,” Shorter pointed out. He also said that the
international community hopes that "U.N. Security Council Resolutions and
the Baabda declaration will be respected” during the new presidential tenure.
“Only the state can legitimately represent, defend and protect all Lebanese,”
Shorter stressed. Aoun's election after two and a half years of presidential
void and Hariri's appointment as premier-designate have raised hopes that Lebanon can
begin tackling challenges including a stagnant economy, a moribund political
class and the influx of more than a million Syrian refugees. In addition to
pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must
work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country.
Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to
protect Lebanon
from "the fires burning across the region."
Ayrault Says Forming Cabinet Positive
Signal to Activate Saudi Army Grant
Naharnet/November 21/16/French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that
the Saudi grant to provide Lebanon with French weapons has not been reactivated
as yet, and that the Lebanese need to send a positive “political signal”
through the formation of a new cabinet to reactivate it, media reports said on
Monday. “The signal to reactivate the grant will not rise from the Saudi side
but should initially originate from the Lebanese through the formation of their
government,” Ayrault told An Nahar daily in an interview. “The issue will not
be solved until the political aspects related to it are solved. We are
confident that the Lebanese will be able in the end to form a government. For
our part, we will continue in our role and efforts as facilitators to
accomplish all these entitlements,” added the Minister. Stressing France's
continued support for the Lebanese army, Ayrault said: “It constitutes a unity
factor and brings the Lebanese together from all sects and affiliations.”Ayrault
renewed France's continued
support for Lebanon
and hailed its efforts that resulted in the election of a president. He
concluded voicing hopes that PrimeMinister-desigante Saad Hariri succeeds in
lining-up a new cabinet. In February 2016 Saudi
Arabia halted a $3 billion program for military supplies
to Lebanon in protest
against Hizbullah's policies and diplomatic stances by the Lebanese foreign
ministry.The $3 billion program financed military equipment provided by France. Lebanon received
the first tranche of weapons designed to bolster its army against jihadist
threats, including anti-tank guided missiles, in April 2015 but the program
then reportedly ran into obstacles. Alleged leaders of Hizbullah are under
sanctions by Saudi Arabia.
Hizbullah is supported by Saudi Arabia's
regional rival Iran,
with whom relations have worsened this year. Riyadh
cut diplomatic ties with Tehran
in January after demonstrators stormed its embassy and a consulate following
the Saudi execution of a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric and activist.
Aoun’s Shi’ite Minister Delays Cabinet
Birth until after ‘Independence’
Thaer Abbas/Asharq Al Awsat/November 21/16/Beirut-Prime Minister-designate Saad
Hariri barely removes an obstacle before a new one emerges, obstructing his
mission to form a new government before Independence Day, celebrated in Lebanon
on Tuesday. Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Presidential
Palace has surrendered to the idea of postponing the announcement of a cabinet
lineup, saying: “Sooner or later, a government will be formed, but not before
Independence Day due to the lack of time.” The sources said that Hariri
was racing with time to form his government. However, a planned 10-day trip by
Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil starting Wednesday will surely postpone its
birth. Bassil is considered the main negotiator in the team of President Michel
Aoun and his absence would surely slow the consultations. Sources close to
consultations told Asharq Al-Awsat that Hariri had completed 90 percent of the
government line up, asserting that the remaining 10 percent could be solved
within minutes but is stopping the birth of the cabinet. The sources said
that Hariri had already divided portfolios among the political parties wanting
to become part of the government. Hariri would now ask them for the names of
the ministers nominated for the posts. However, the tug of war between Aoun and
Speaker Nabih Berri could be the main obstacle facing the government’s birth.
The so-called Hezbollah, the Marada Movement and other March 8 alliance members
tasked Berri with leading negotiations on the ministerial shares. Berri insists
that Marada chief Suleiman Franjieh gets the Public Works ministry, but despite
not being objected by Hariri, Aoun and the Lebanese Forces reject such a move.
The LF insists on getting the Public Works after it made a “major concession”
by accepting not to be given a key portfolio. The other obstacle lies
with the request of Aoun to get two Muslim ministers, one Sunni and one Shi’ite.
Hariri accepted the president’s demand. Berri did not reject it, but in
exchange, the speaker asked to have one Christian minister, further
complicating matters.And while Hariri is positive in facilitating the formation
of a cabinet, he insists that his Future party gets six ministers in the new
lineup. The biggest loser is the Kataeb Party, which seems to have left the
government lineup, sources said.Sources close to the so-called Hezbollah said
the ministerial obstacles have pushed the formation of the government until
after Independence Day with the possibility of having 30 ministers.
Hariri, Aoun in agreement over proposed
Cabinet lineup
The Daily Star/November 21, 2016/BEIRUT:
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri Monday said he agreed with President Michel
Aoun on all matter regarding the formation of the new Cabinet. "There
remain some hurdles. Those obstructing are known, you should go ask them,"
Hariri told reporters after meeting with Aoun at the Baabda Palace.
Hariri was accompanied by his chief of staff Nader Hariri. The PM-designate had
hoped to form his all-inclusive Cabinet before Independence Day. However,
steadfast demands by rival political factions have been delaying its formation.
A row that flared up last week between Speaker Nabih Berri and Aoun over the
extension of Parliament’s mandate added to Hariri's complications. The spat
took a sectarian turn after top Maronite and Shiite spiritual leaders entered
the fray and sided with their fellow leaders. Berri quickly issued a statement
responding to Hariri’s remarks, where he said that supporters of the 1960s
election law could be hindering government formation. "The one obstructing
[the Cabinet formation] is the one violating the Constitution, norms and
formation principals," he said. Despite recent breakthroughs, political
powers remain at odds over drafting an electoral law to govern parliamentary
elections. The current 1960 winner-take-all law, which was used in the last
elections in 2009, divides Lebanon's
constituencies based on administrative districts.Most Christian parties argue
that the 1960 law devalues Christian votes in some parts of the country, where
they constitute a minority. Lebanese parties are divided between adopting a
proportional vote law, or a hybrid electoral law that includes aspects of the
proportional and winner-take-all systems. Parliamentary elections are scheduled
for May 2017. They were originally supposed to take place in 2013, but
Parliament instead renewed its term twice – in 2013 and 2014 – citing security
concerns.
Lebanon builds wall near Palestinian refugee camp
AFP, Sidon, Lebanon
Tuesday, 22 November 2016/Lebanon is building wall near the country’s largest
Palestinian refugee camp to prevent extremists from infiltrating, a military source said Monday. The overcrowded and
impoverished Ain al-Hilweh camp near the southern coastal city of Sidon has gained notoriety
in recent years as a refuge for Muslim extremists and fugitives. It also saw
deadly fighting last year between the Jund al-Sham Islamist group and members
of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah movement. And in September the
army said security forces had arrested a Palestinian refugee suspected of links
to the Islamic State group who was in the camp. “The construction of the wall
began some time ago and the aim is to stop the infiltration of terrorists
inside Ain al-Hilweh from nearby orchards,” the military source told AFP. “It’s
a security measure” that was taken after the arrest of “fugitive terrorists”
who had taken shelter in the camp, he said. Pictures were posted online showing
cranes lifting huge concrete blocks on the western side of Ain al-Hilweh then
setting them side by side, as well as watchtower. Social media users compared
the wall to a controversial separation barrier which Israel
has been building in the occupied West Bank
since 2002.“Soon, the children of Ain al-Hilweh will
draw pictures depicting Palestine
and freedom on the wall of shame,” one person said online. A camp official,
Fuad Othman, called the wall a “provocation”. Major General Mounir al-Maqdah,
the head of the Palestinian security forces in Lebanon, criticised the
construction of the wall. “The wall, parts of which have been erected, is
causing psychological pressure for the Palestinian refugees,” said Maqdah. “We
wouldn’t have needed a separation barrier and watchtowers if the Lebanese
authorities had, years ago, found a solution to the Palestinian presence in Lebanon,”
he added. The military source said Lebanon “is not building a prison
or a separation wall, but a wall for protection”, adding residents would be
able to go in and out from the camp, except from the western side. By
long-standing convention, the army does not enter Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon
but holds positions outside of it, leaving the factions to handle security
inside. More than 61,000 Palestinian refugees live in Ain al-Hilweh, including
6,000 who recently fled the war in Syria, according to the UN’s agency
for Palestinian refugees,
Khaled Faisal winds up visit to Beirut,
heads to Jeddah
Mon 21 Nov 2016/NNA - The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin
Abdul Aziz's Envoy, Mecca Region Governor, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, left Beirut
on Monday evening along with his accompanying delegation, heading to Jeddah
aboard a private jet. Bidding him farewell at the Airport's VIP lounge have been President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun's
Representative Caretaker National Education Minister, Elias Bou Saab, as well
as Saudi Charge D'Affaire in Lebanon Walid al-Bukhari, and senior Embassy
staff.
Baalback celebrates Feyruz and Independence
Mon 21 Nov 2016/NNA - Upon the 81st birthday of Lebanon's iconic singer Feyruz, and
after 60 years of her first appearance in Baalback festival, the city of the
sun hosted celebrations on Monday, with the participation of a panel of top
social, spiritual, military, and municipal figures. The event, coinciding with
the 73th commemoration of Independence,
was organized by the Governor of Baalback, Bachir Khodr.
Omani Ambassador commemorates Sultanate's
National Day
Mon 21 Nov 2016 /NNA - Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to Lebanon, Badr
Bin Mohammed al-Manthari, hosted, at Phoenicia Hotel on Monday, a reception
ceremony upon the 46th commemoration of the Omani National Day. The event was
attended by Caretaker Minister of Education Elias Bou Saab representing
President Michel Aoun, MP Ali Bazzi representing House Speaker Nabih Berri, MP
Jamal Jarrah representing Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, Caretaker
Minister of Labor Sejaan Azzi representing Caretaker Premier Tammam Salam, and
a panel of representatives of security chiefs and spiritual leaders.
Irish Defense Minister arrives in Beirut
Mon 21 Nov 2016/NNA - Irish Defense Minister, Paul Kehoe, arrived this evening
in Beirut, in the context of a visit to participate in the ceremony which will
take place tomorrow at UNIFIL's headquarters in the South, on the occasion of
the transfer of UNIFIL command from the Finnish Contingent to the Irish one.
Greeting Minister Kehoe at the International
Rafic Hariri
Airport have
been Irish General Consul in Lebanon,
Ambassador George Siam, and Irish Ambassador to Egypt, a delegation of senior
officers of army command and UNIFIL.
Hashem representing Aoun: We hope to form
national unity government
Mon 21 Nov 2016/NNA - MP Qassem Hashem visited Rashaya's Independence castle on
Monday, representing President Michel Aoun, House Speaker Nabih Berri, and
Caretaker Prime Minister Tammam Salam. "We are now in the beginning of a
new tenure with the election of President Michel Aoun; we hope to resume this
tenure with the formation of an all-inclusive national unity government,"
Hashem said in a speech.
"Everybody is concerned with saving the country from what it suffered
previously, and with facing all challenges with a spirit of national unity, in
order to restore confidence between the state and the citizens," he
concluded.
Italy increases funding for UNICEF school
rehabilitation program in Lebanon
Mon 21 Nov 2016/NNA - The Embassy of Italy announced today the funding, through
the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation,of €2.4millionto support the
programmefor the rehabilitation of public schools in Lebanon implemented by
UNICEF.The program, part of UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Higher
Education RACE II initiative, seeks to improve the physical learning
environment of a number of public schools throughout Lebanon, with a particular
focus on the most vulnerable communities. 18 schools will receive vital funds
from the Italian Government to ensure better learning environments for more
than 5.000 children. The grant will also allow UNICEF, in collaboration with
the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, to improve standards of
hygiene, health and safety in these schools while implementing accessibility standards
for children with special needs, where applicable."Helping children
getting back to learning is a top priority for UNICEF," said Ms. Tanya
Chapuisat, UNICEF's representative in Lebanon. "While every effort
needs to me made to increase the enrolment rate, our Education Program aims at
improving the quality of education in the public sector and we are grateful
that the Italian government and its people support the Ministry of Education
and Higher Education in its efforts for quality of education". Earlier
this year, UNICEF had developed a comprehensive plan for schools selection
based on an criteria approved by the Ministry of
Education and Higher Education. The Embassy of Italy and the Italian Agency for
Development Cooperation is working very closely with the Ministry of Education
and Higher Education and UNICEF to apply the principle of equity during school
selection to prioritize the most socially and geographically marginalized
areas. "Italy
is a long-standing partner of UNICEF and of the Ministry of Education and
Higher Education especially through the RACE Program", said Italian
Ambassador Mr. Massimo Marotti. "In the last three years, the Italian
Government has contributed with €12 million to fund initiatives in Lebanon in
support of education".Since 2013, the Italian Government's funding to
UNICEF Lebanon was directly supporting Lebanese schools rehabilitation and the
implementation of a vocational training for vulnerable youth, Lebanese and
Syrian refugees through investing in physical infrastructure and capacity
building to improve children and youth learning.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 21-22/16
Expel Iran from OIC, Arab states urged
Saudi Gazette, Jeddah Monday, 21 November 2016/The Council of Gulf
International Relations (COGIR) has urged Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as
well as Arab and Islamic states to expel Iran from the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) because of its harmful acts against Islamic unity and
solidarity and its sponsoring of terrorism and promoting sectarianism. The
Council also stressed that Tehran’s instigation
of its agents in Yemen
to target Makkah showed the Muslim world the hatred of this country for Islam’s
holiest sites. This was announced by the President of COGIR and Chairman of its
Arab Society for Press and Freedom of Information Dr. Tariq Al-Sheikhan. Last
Month, 11 countries wrote a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
cautioning that Iran
was continuing a negative role in causing tension and instability in the
region. The letter cited Tehran’s
expansionist regional policies, flagrant violations of the principle of
sovereignty and constant interference in the internal affairs of Arab states.
The letter was signed by the UN ambassadors of Bahrain,
Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait,
Morocco, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab
Emirates and Yemen. UN Watch, a Geneva-based
monitoring group, welcomed the letter, saying it was “important” that Muslim
countries were speaking out against Iranian policies. “Iran likes to dismiss
all criticism of its human rights violations and brutality at home and abroad
as part of a Western plot, but that’s hard to sustain when the accusers are all
Muslim governments, including recent allies of Iran like Sudan,” said UN Watch
director Hillel Neuer in a statement. *This article was first published in the
Saudi Gazette.
U.N. Says Nearly
One Million Syrians Living under Siege
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 21/16/Nearly one million
people are living under siege in Syria, the U.N. aid chief said
Monday, announcing revised figures. The new figure of 974,080 people marks a
dramatic increase from 486,700 Syrians living in besieged areas just six months
ago, Stephen O'Brien told the Security Council. "Nearly one million
Syrians are living tonight under siege," O'Brien said. "Civilians are
being isolated, starved, bombed, denied medical attention and humanitarian
assistance in order to force them to submit or flee." Some of the areas
added to the U.N.'s siege list are located in the Eastern Ghouta region of
rural Damascus.
Condemning this "deliberate tactic of cruelty," O'Brien said the
sieges were mostly perpetrated by Syrian government forces against civilians.
O'Brien, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, renewed his call
for an end to besiegement. The council was meeting to discuss the crisis in Syria as Syrian and Russian warplanes pounded
rebel-held parts of northern Syria
including Aleppo,
where food rations were running out. "The situation is horrific,
catastrophic," said French Ambassador Francois Delattre who accused the Damascus government of waging a "total-war strategy
to take back Aleppo,
no matter the price."Delattre said the strategy would fail, pushing more
Syrians to join the Islamic State group and fueling the terrorism that the Damascus government maintains it is combating.British
Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said the Russian-backed Syrian bombing of Aleppo was "barbaric" and called on Moscow and Damascus
to stop.
Syrian govt rejects UN proposal on eastern Aleppo
Associated Press, Beirut Monday, 21
November 2016/The Syrian government refused the UN envoy’s latest proposal for
a truce in Aleppo
on Sunday, calling on insurgents to withdraw and saying it would not grant
autonomy to the rebel-held east in exchange for calm. UN envoy Staffan de Mistura
has proposed that the Syrian government grant eastern Aleppo autonomy in exchange for peace, and
called on the estimated 900 al-Qaeda-linked militants in the east to depart to
other rebel-held territory. But Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said restoring
government rule was a matter of “national sovereignty,” and that Damascus would
not allow the people of eastern Aleppo to be “hostages to 6,000 gunmen.”“We
agreed on the need that terrorists should get out of east Aleppo to end the suffering of the civilians
in the city,” he said. He spoke after meeting with de Mistura, who acknowledged
a “major disagreement” with al-Moallem and said a “creative” if interim
solution was required to halt the violence. “We are only proposing that there
should not be a radical dramatic change in the administration of Aleppo until there is a
political solution,” he said. The envoy warned in a recent interview with the UK newspaper The Guardian that the government
was chasing a “pyrrhic victory” in Aleppo
if it does not reach a political settlement with the opposition. He warned the
military’s approach would drive more moderate rebels into the ranks of ISIS. At least 172 civilians have been killed since the
government renewed its assault on the besieged enclave six days ago, according
to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UN estimates
275,000 people are trapped inside. By Saturday, the government had damaged or
destroyed every hospital in the east, according to the Syrian American Medical
Society, which supports hospitals in Syria. The government denies
striking hospitals, and de Mistura said there was a “difference of opinion”
about the attacks. He said he had proposed sending an observer team to inspect
all the hospitals in Aleppo,
but that the idea was not discussed further.
No More Working Hospitals in Eastern
Aleppo
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 21/16/There are no more
functioning hospitals in the rebel-held eastern part of Syria's Aleppo,
where more than 250,000 people are living under siege and many need urgent
medical care, the UN has said. Health facilities have repeatedly been targeted
during the country's brutal civil war, a pattern that has continued in a
ferocious government assault launched last Tuesday to recapture eastern Aleppo. "There are
currently no hospitals functioning in the besieged area of the city," the
World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on Sunday, citing reports
from its partners in the area. "More than 250,000 men, women and children living
in eastern Aleppo
are now without access to hospital care," the United Nations agency added.
WHO noted that some health services in the devastated area "are still
available through small clinics", but that trauma care, major surgeries
and other responses to serious conditions have stopped.
UN agencies, including WHO, have been barred from entering eastern Aleppo since July when
regime troops seized the last access route, leaving the area cut off from food
and medical aid for more than four months. UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura,
whose efforts to negotiate aid access to eastern Aleppo have repeatedly fallen
flat, warned Sunday that time was running out to avoid a humanitarian
catastrophe. Civilians in the city's
government-controlled west have also been hit in deadly rebel attacks, but the
area has continued to receive humanitarian supplies.
US names Syrian generals linked to
attacks on civilians
AFP, United Nations, United States Monday, 21 November 2016/The United
States on Monday named a dozen Syrian generals and officers accused of leading
attacks on civilian targets in the five-year war and warned they would one day
face justice. US Ambassador Samantha Power said the military commanders were
involved in “killing and injuring civilians” with assaults on schools,
hospitals and homes since the outbreak of the war in 2011. “The United States
will not let those who have commanded units involved in these actions hide
anonymously behind the facade of the Assad regime,” Power told the Security
Council. Among those named were five major generals -- Adib Salameh, Jawdat
Salbi Mawas, Tahir Hamid Khalil, Jamil Hassan and Rafiq Shihadeh -- along with
five brigadier generals and two colonels. The council met as Syrian and Russian
warplanes pounded rebel-held parts of northern Syria
including Aleppo,
where food rations were running out in the besieged eastern part of the city.
“Those behind such attacks must know that we in the international community are
watching their actions, documenting their abuses and one day they will be held
accountable,” said Power. “These individuals feel impunity,” she said, warning
that so did former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic and Liberian warlord
Charles Taylor who faced trial for war crimes. “Today’s atrocities are
well-documented and the civilized world’s memories are long,” she said. UN aid
chief Stephen O’Brien told the council that nearly one million people were
living under siege in Syria, revising figures from six months ago that showed
nearly half a million Syrians were cut off. More than 300,000 people have died
in the war that began with anti-government protests, and millions have been
driven from their homes.
Mother, child killed in east Aleppo bombardment
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Monday, 21 November 2016/One mother and
her child have died after an aerial bomb targeted their home near Masaken
Hanano neighbourhood in eastern Aleppo,
according to human rights group. At least 19 people were killed overnight
according to the Syrian Obervatorty for Human Rights due to heavy shelling and
regime forces advance to entrances of Masaken Hanano. Clashes on Monday
continued between regime forces and rebels backed by Fateh al-Sham around
eastern Aleppo
amid mutual bombardment from both sides. Aerial bombardments were focused on
Ferdous and areas of Der Hafir, according to Syrian activists. The situation
has been dire for civilians as news confirmed that there were no more
functioning hospitals in eastern Aleppo,
where more than 250,000 people are currently living under siege and in need of
urgent medical care according to the UN has said. United States President
Barack Obama confessed the crisis could persist for “quite some time”. “I am
not optimistic about the short-term prospects in Syria,”
Obama said at a news conference in Lima at the
conclusion of a summit with leaders of Pacific Rim
countries. UN agencies, including WHO, have been barred from entering eastern
Aleppo since July when regime troops seized the last access route, leaving the
area cut off from food and medical aid for more than four months.(With Reuters)
Iraq lauds progress on Mosul, expects
Trump to continue support
Reuters, Berlin Tuesday, 22 November 2016/Iraq’s foreign minister said on
Monday that the fight to wrest back control of Mosul from ISIS was making
progress, citing what he called better-than-expected cohesion within Iraqi
security forces and the US-led coalition. Ibrahim Al-Jaafari said it was
difficult to predict how long the battle would take, but more than 1,000 ISIS fighters had been killed, 650 had been taken
prisoner, and about one-third of the area had been freed. “Those are very good
signs for the positive results of the operations. It’s going better than we
expected,” al-Jaafari told reporters after a meeting with German Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “Of course the fight must continue. But it’s
clear that the cohesion of the forces and the coalition played a significant
role up to now,” he said. Al-Jaafari told reporters that he expected US
President-elect Donald Trump to continue to support Iraq
in its battle against ISIS, as well as urgently needed reconstruction efforts
once Mosul was
liberated. He said Iraq
would need a program much like the Marshall Plan under which the United States helped Germany rebuild its infrastructure
and economy after World War Two. “We don’t have agreements with individual
administrations. We have agreements with countries,” he said. Strategic support
for Iraq
had continued despite the transition in power from former President George W.
Bush to Barack Obama, and he expected the same during the coming change at the
White House. “These strategies don’t change with the presidents. Agreements are
signed and then they are binding for all involved,” he said. Al-Jaafari said Iraq would not accept any intervention by Turkey in the
border region. Turkey is
worried that Shi’ite militias who are supporting Iraqi forces could seek
revenge against Sunni Turkmen in the city of Tal Afar,
which sits on the main road between Mosul and Syria and has been a center for insurgents in Iraq since
2003. Al-Jaafari said Germany
could potentially mediate with Turkey,
but he had not asked for any specific help yet. Steinmeier said it was
important to stick to the agreement that the core areas of Mosul would be liberated by Iraqi Sunni forces,
not Shi’ite militias. He said he and al-Jaafari also discussed the resumed
bombardment of eastern Aleppo in Syria, and said it was important to get
humanitarian supplies to civilians there and in other parts of Syria. “That is
all the more important since we know that there will not be any big steps
toward a political solution until the new administration takes power,” he said.
Sarkozy Knocked Out of French
Presidential Race
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 21/16/Former French president
Nicolas Sarkozy crashed out of the presidential election on Sunday, suffering a
humiliating defeat in the first round of the rightwing primary. Sarkozy was
beaten into third place after a stunning upset by Francois Fillon, who served
as his prime minister, with the veteran Alain Juppe finishing second. The
surprise result puts Fillon in a commanding position for next Sunday's second
round of a contest that is widely expected to decide France's next leader. With the
French leftwing in disarray, the rightwing candidate is tipped to face -- and
beat -- far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the presidential run-off next May.
But after a wave of populism saw British voters choose to leave the European
Union and swept Donald Trump to the White House, no-one is writing off Le Pen's
chances. In a major upset, Fillon, a pro-business conservative, took more than
44 percent of the vote compared to around 28 percent for Juppe, a former prime
minister and foreign minister. Sarkozy's hopes of winning back the presidency
were crushed as he scored just 21 percent, according to near-complete results.
Sarkozy immediately endorsed Fillon and said he would now withdraw from
political life. "I fought for my beliefs with passion... I did not manage
to convince the voters," he told supporters. "I have great respect
for Alain Juppe, but Francois Fillon's political choices are closer to
mine," Sarkozy added. Fillon, 62, pulled off a remarkable come-from-behind
victory in the first round after trailing Sarkozy and Juppe in all but the
final days of the two-month campaign. Voters appear to have warmed to Fillon's
understated style over the brashness of 61-year-old Sarkozy, who still deeply
divides the country four years after being turfed out of office by the
Socialist Francois Hollande. Juppe, 71, was the early frontrunner but Fillon
made stunning progress thanks largely to strong performances in three televised
debates. - Fillon way out ahead -Fillon told his ecstatic camp that his
programme was one of "hope". He said he had a "special
thought" for Sarkozy, whom he served as prime minister from 2007 to 2012.
It appears that the participation of leftwing voters in the first ever US-style
rightwing primary to be held in France
could have been a factor in dragging down Sarkozy.
Anyone who paid two euros ($2.1) and signed a statement saying they adhered to
"the values of the centre and the right" could take part. Many
Socialist supporters who turned out are thought to have done so to block the
former president. Turnout was high with around four million people casting
ballots, according to a preliminary count. One Socialist voter, a sports
teacher in his fifties who identified himself only as Eric, told AFP he had
taken part to vote "against Sarkozy". "I'm fed up of that guy,
he thinks he is all-powerful and he has been involved in too many scandals.
Juppe, despite everything else, is the opposite," he said as he cast his
vote in the Paris
suburb of Pantin. - Sarkozy scandals -In a final TV debate among the seven
candidates on Thursday, Sarkozy angrily ducked a question about fresh claims
that he received millions in funding from the late Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi
towards his 2007 campaign. The case is one of several investigations to dog
Sarkozy since he left office after what was dubbed a "bling-bling" presidency
because of his flashy lifestyle. Juppe and Fillon have broadly similar
programmes, underpinned by pledges to reinforce domestic security in a country
still under a state of emergency following jihadist attacks that killed more
than 230 people. They also share a desire to reinforce European borders and
reduce immigration, while tax cuts are promised. Fillon has promised to slash
600,000 jobs from France's
bloated civil service. The nomination of the right-wing candidate on November
27 is expected to trigger an announcement from Hollande on whether he intends
to bid for re-election despite the lowest popularity ratings of any post-war
president. Hollande's former economy minister Emmanuel Macron, 38, has
announced he will stand as an independent, further confusing the picture on the
left.
Ex-consultant to Iran’s UN
mission pleads guilty to US charges
Reuters, New York Monday, 21 November 2016/A former consultant to Iran’s
mission to the United Nations pleaded guilty on Monday to charges that he filed
a false tax return substantially understating how much he was paid and
conspired to violating a US
sanctions law. Ahmad Sheikhzadeh, 60, entered his plea in federal court in Brooklyn to charges that he conspired to violate the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act and aided in the preparation of
false individual income tax returns. As part of a plea deal, Sheikhzadeh agreed
to not appeal any sentence of 5-1/4 years in prison or less, said Steve Zissou,
his attorney. Sheikhzadeh, who has also agreed to pay over $147,000, is
scheduled to be sentenced on March 30. Sheikhzadeh was arrested in March, two
months after when world powers led by the United
States and the European Union lifted crippling sanctions
against Iran in return for
curbs on Tehran’s
nuclear ambitions. Prosecutors said Sheikhzadeh had been a long-term consultant
to Iran’s
UN mission since 2008 and had been paid a regular cash salary, often through a someone employed there, which he deposited into a Citibank
checking account. Prosecutors said from 2008 to 2012, Sheikhzadeh
under-reported his UN income on his person tax returns. The indictment said he
also used his Citibank account for side transactions with two US-based
co-conspirators who wished to invest in Iran, and at their request directed an
Iran-based co-conspirator to funnel money to people in that country.
Prosecutors said Sheikhzadeh did not obtain any license from the US
Treasury Department authorizing these and other activities.
Erdogan demands support against PKK
at NATO meeting
AFP, Istanbul Monday, 21 November 2016/Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan on Monday urged the European Union and other Western nations to step up
support for Ankara’s fight against Kurdish militants, as he addressed a meeting
of NATO lawmakers. Erdogan said he expected the backing of NATO countries in Turkey’s fight against “all terror groups”
including the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), ISIS militants and the group
blamed by Ankara
for the failed July 15 coup. He called on the European Union to tighten its
approach to the PKK, which Brussels
designates as a terror group but whose members, according to Erdogan, are
allowed to roam freely within the bloc. “Those who have a hesitant attitude
against terrorist organizations will be hit themselves sooner or later,” he
said in a speech to deputies at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Turkey has been
a member of NATO since 1952 but its bid to join the European Union has been
further set back by disputes over the extent of its crackdown in the wake of
the coup. Erdogan had at the weekend mooted that Turkey
could join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a loose security and
economic bloc led by Russia
and China
sometimes seen as an eastern counterpart to NATO. But he did not refer to this
in his speech in Istanbul
to the NATO meeting. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meanwhile
emphasized the alliance’s “solidarity” with Turkey in the wake of the coup and
said Ankara “has the right” to prosecute those responsible. Pressed by a Dutch
lawmaker to condemn the crackdown that has seen over 35,000 arrested,
Stoltenberg said he had told Turkish leaders all measures had to be taken
within the rule of law. He said he welcomed cooperation between Turkey and the
Council of Europe over the legal measures after the coup, saying this should be
an “important tool” to ensure the rule of law and human rights are applied. He
added he wanted to see “more assurance measures” from NATO states to help Turkey on its
unstable borders, in addition to the current surveillance flights and
deployment of missile batteries on the Syrian frontier. Stoltenberg said last
week Turkish officers serving in NATO command posts had asked for asylum
following the failed putsch. Later Monday in a statement Stoltenberg said he
had spoken with the Turkish president about the filling of Turkish posts in the
alliance’s command structure, which he described “as a national decision for Turkey - as it
is for any other NATO ally”. He added that “NATO’s commitment to the security
of Turkey
is absolute.”
Turkey’s Erdogan says he’s been ‘disillusioned’ by Obama
The Associated Press, Washington Monday, 21 November 2016/Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he's "disillusioned" with the Obama
administration for failing to address Middle Eastern refugees and extradite one
of Erdogan's political rivals. "They failed to rise to the occasion and
handle these issues seriously," Erdogan said of the refugee problem during
an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes." Turkey
has taken in roughly 3 million refugees from Syria
and elsewhere, twice the number that have fled to Europe.
Erdogan says the U.S. should
hand over Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999. Erdogan says Gulen
was behind a failed July coup against his government. Gulen denies supporting
the effort, which led to the purge of his supporters from Turkish governmental
posts.
Erdogan says the purges were legal and appropriate. He also says the
Turkish public will believe that the United States backed the coup so long
as Gulen avoids extradition. "This man is the leader of a terrorist
organization that has bombed my parliament," Erdogan said, adding that Turkey has extradited terrorism suspects to the U.S. in the
past and expects the same from its American ally. Erdogan also spoke of the
coup, which sent the president scrambling before popular support and loyal
military units restored him to power. He denied that he'd been afraid during
the attempt to topple his government. "If you're the leader you have to
communicate the message of immortality to your people," he said.
Egyptian officers behind Sisi plot
revealed
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Monday, 21 November 2016/Cairo’s
prosecutor general said in a statement on Sunday that the country’s President
Abdulfatah al-Sisi had faced two previous assassination attempts: one in Saudi
Arabia and the second in Egypt. The prosecutor said two cells, one based in Saudi Arabia, were coordinating to target Sisi
during his trip to perform the minor pilgrimage known as umrah in the holy city
of Makkah. The
prosecutor said the plot in Saudi
Arabia was planned by two workers in the
76-story famous Clock Tower in Makkah. However, the prosecutor did not disclose
when the two cells were arrested, but Sisi had already performed umrah in
August 2014. The second assassination attempt was through a seven-member cell
made up of six police officers, who were sacked over their Islamist
allegiances, along with a dentist. The leader of the terrorist cell, former
police officer Mohammed al-Bakoutchi, reportedly confessed that he had provided
information to Sinai Province, ISIS's
Egyptian affiliate, over the dispersal of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Rabaa
sit-in. He also leaked information regarding Sisi’s itinerary as part of a plot
to kill the president by targeting his motorcades. The statement also did not
detail when the second attempt to kill Sisi was foiled. But the officers, known
as the “bearded officers,” were arrested last year. On July 3, 2013, Sisi, who
was an army general, replaced the elected Islamist President Mohamed Mursi
through a popularly-backed coup. However, Islamists began protests which were
put down by the security forces. Meanwhile, this is the first time that Egypt
officially acknowledged assassination attempts against Sisi. However, in June
Sisi reportedly canceled his participation at the Arab League summit in
Maurtiania due to “credible information” of a plot to kill him. Egypt will try 292 militant suspects over plots
to assassinate Sisi and attacks in the Sinai Peninsula,
a prosecution official said Sunday. The suspects, including 151
currently in custody, were referred to a military court for alleged
membership of the “Sinai State”, the local affiliate of the ISIS
group, which is leading an insurrection in the Sinai. The suspects were
questioned about the accusations against them and 66 confessed during an
investigation that lasted more than a year, the official said. All of the
suspects were involved in 17 operations, including two plots to kill Sisi, one
while he was on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia
and one in Cairo,
the official said. The official gave no further details, but said those who
planned the assassination attempts were dismissed police officers who adhere to
militant ideology. No further details about the plots were given. (With AFP)
Yemeni army resumes military
operations
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Monday, 21 November 2016/The Yemeni army
on Monday announced the resumption of military operations against the
Iran-backed Houthi militias in the country, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.
The army and resistance forces also said they had evicted the Houthi militias
from an air base in northern Taiz. Meanwhile, the Arab coalition supporting Yemen’s
government against the Houthis said a 48-hour ceasefire ended at midday (0900
GMT) Monday due to repeated violations by Houthi militias and their allies.
“There is no respect (for the truce), only violations,” the coalition spokesman
Major General Ahmed Assiri said, adding that there were “no orders to extend the
ceasefire.” Assiri stated that the number of breaches committed by the militia
since the beginning of the truce exceeded 500 breaches, 80 percent of them in Yemen, Al
Arabiya news channel reported. The coalition spokesperson explained that
violations were made within the first hours of the truce, which took place in
Yemen and the Saudi Arabian southern provinces of Najran and Jizan.*This
article is also available in Arabic at AlArabiya.Net.
Yemeni charged in US with trying to
support ISIS
Reuters, New York Tuesday, 22 November
2016/A Yemeni man living in New York City was
arrested on Monday and charged by US prosecutors with attempting to provide
support to ISIS, including by expressing support for an attack in Times Square. Mohammed Rafik Naji, who authorities say
last year travelled to Turkey
and Yemen in an effort to
join the militant group, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in Brooklyn, where he lives. He was arrested earlier Monday,
according to a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is
expected to appear in court later in the afternoon. A lawyer could not be
immediately identified. Naji, 37, is one of more than 100 people to face US
charges since 2014 in cases related to ISIS, which has seized control of parts
of Iraq and Syria.
According to the complaint, in March 2015, Naji flew to Turkey to join ISIS in Yemen, where it
operated in certain parts. He returned to New York
in September 2015, flying from Djibouti,
the complaint said. While abroad, he frequently emailed with his girlfriend,
who he later called his wife, asking her for money and sending her a “selfie”
of himself in black clothing in which a tactical vest and large knife could be
seen, the complaint said. Beginning in August 2015, a paid law enforcement
informant made contact via Facebook with Naji, who the complaint said described
ISIS as “spreading like a virus” that
non-believers “can’t stop it no matter what they do.”Naji remained in contact
with the informant once back in the United States, meeting on numerous
occasions in which their conversations were recorded, the complaint said.
Those conversations included one on July 19, 2016, five days after an
attack in Nice, France,
that ISIS had claimed responsibility for that
killed 84 and hurt hundreds, the complaint said. In that conversation, Naji
expressed his support for staging a similar attack in New
York’s Times Square, according to
court papers. “They want an operation in Times Square, reconnaissance group
already put out a scene, ISIS already put up scenes of Times
Square, you understand,” Naji said, according to court papers. “I
said that was an indication for whoever is smart to know.”
Car bombing in Libyan city of Benghazi kills 3, wounds 26
The Associated Press, Benghazi Monday, 21
November 2016/A car bombing outside a hospital in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi killed three people and wounded 26
on Monday, the hospital said, the third attack on the medical facility this
year. The car detonated in the parking lot of Jalaa Hospital,
which is located in the heart of the city, at a time when streets around the
facility were full of children who had finished school for the day. No group
immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. ohammed
Zwai, a hospital official, said the death toll is expected to rise as several
of the wounded remain in critical condition. A police spokesman, Walid al-Urfi,
said the car bomb was detonated by remote control. Benghazi,
Libya’s second-largest city, has been the scene of more than two years of fighting
between forces loyal to renegade military commander Khalifa Hifter and Islamic
militants, including an ISIS affiliate. Last
week, Hifter’s forces expelled Islamic militants from their key stronghold in
the city but deadly fighting continues in other areas. Libya has been
mired in conflict since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime
dictator Moammar Gadhafi, with rival parliaments and governments emerging in
the east and west, each backed by an array of militias and tribes. Hifter
answers to the internationally-recognized parliament based in the country’s
east. That parliament does not recognize the Western-backed government in the
capital of Tripoli,
in the country’s west. Further adding to Libya’s
chaos has been the emergence of the ISIS
affiliate in the North African country. Forces loyal to the Tripoli
government are battling ISIS militants in the central coastal city of Sirte.
Suicide blast at Kabul
Shiite mosque kills 27
AFP, Kabul Monday, 21 November 2016/A massive suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Kabul killed at least 27
people Monday and wounded 35 as worshippers gathered for a religious ceremony,
officials said. “It was a suicide bomber who blew himself up among worshippers
inside the mosque, killing 27 and wounding 35,” senior police official Fridon
Obaidi said. Police cordoned off the area around the Baqirul Olum mosque in the
west of the Afghan capital. “I was in the mosque, the people were offering
prayers. Suddenly I heard a bang and windows broke. I had no idea what had
happened. I rushed out screaming,” Ali Jan told AFP. Worshippers were gathering
to mark the Shiite ceremony of Arbaeen, which comes 40 days after the major
festival of Ashura. Ashura commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of
the Prophet Muhammad who was assassinated in the year 680. His fate laid the
foundation for the faith practised by the Shiite community, a minority in
mainly Sunni Muslim Afghanistan. Arbaeen marks the end of the mourning period
over his death. Earlier this year a powerful blast targeting Shiites during
Ashura killed 14 people in northern Afghanistan. It came days after
twin attacks claimed by Islamic State, which also targeted Shiites and killed
18 in Kabul. No
group has yet claimed responsibility for Monday’s blast.
16 Muslims killed in Senegal pilgrimage road accidents
AFP, Dakar Monday, 21 November 2016/At least 16
people have been killed and hundreds of others injured in accidents in Senegal in
recent days as pilgrims headed to a major Sufi Muslim religious gathering,
firefighters said Sunday. Millions of people were making their journey home
from the town of Touba in central Senegal on Sunday, a day after the so-called
Magal ceremony - the high point
of the annual pilgrimage - was held. Multiple road accidents this week left 16
dead and 572 wounded as people made their way to Touba, said Moussa Niang,
spokesman for the fighters, according to local media. In a separate incident, a
child drowned in Touba, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of the capital Dakar, Niang said. In
2015, 15 people were killed in road accidents as pilgrims gathered for the
Mourides' annual gathering. The Mourides are one of four important Sufi
brotherhoods followed by Senegal's
Muslims, who overwhelmingly practice a moderate version of Islam while
following the teachings of local spiritual guides. The Mourides' holy city of Touba, founded by Ahmadou Bamba Mbacke in 1888, has grown
to be Senegal's
second-largest after Dakar,
with some 1.5 million inhabitants.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis
& editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 21-22/16
Israeli Druze Intellectual Dr. Salman Masalha On Israeli 'Muezzin Bill': Mosque
Loudspeakers Disturb The Arab And Muslim Public Too
MEMRI/November 21/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/11/21/memr-israeli-druze-intellectual-dr-salman-masalha-on-muezzin-bill-mosque-loudspeakers-disturb-the-arab-muslim-public-too/
In an article in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat, Dr. Salman Masalha, a
Druze Israeli-Arab intellectual, discussed an Israeli bill seeking to ban the
use of loudspeakers by houses of worship, which would prevent mosques from using
them to broadcast the call of the muezzin (i.e., the call for prayer). In
contrast to the prevailing response to this bill in the Arab and Muslim world,
that this is a declaration of war against Islam, Masalha noted that the mosque
loudspeakers disturb many people, both Jews and Arabs. Moreover, he said, even
in Arab countries there have been calls to ban the use of loudspeakers, and
fatwas have been issued justifying such a ban. He called not to consider the
bill from the populist perspective of the Arab-Israeli conflict, but to
consider it objectively from the perspective of the public good.
The following are excerpts from the article:[1]
"Since the situation that exists between the Jews and the Arabs, between Israel and Palestine,
is unnatural, any demand by one side [automatically] causes much doubt and
apprehension in the other. This has been evident recently following efforts by
the Israeli government to promote a bill that limits the volume of the
loudspeakers of mosques on the grounds that they disturb people living nearby.
Since the character of this Israeli government – with its right-wing coalition
and the racist behavior [it has exhibited] in many cases – is clear and known
to all, this bill... has caused apprehension in the other side, namely the
Muslim residents. Many of them say it is a racist bill, but none of them
undertake to consider it from an objective perspective and to examine the
[impact] of the loudspeakers not only on the Jewish sector but especially on
Arab cities and villages.
"Arab cities and villages in Israel suffer from the phenomenon of
loudspeakers, not only those of the mosques but also the loudspeakers that
incessantly broadcast loud commercials, from those [used by] grocers to [those
used by] shoe and clog sellers. The truth is that we do not know what cultural
tradition these annoying people, who fill their surroundings with a deafening
racket night and day, are relying on. In doing so they harm the sick and the
elderly, as well as children and other people, who have a need for peace and
quiet in their homes and their neighborhoods.
"Against the background of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, it is very
easy to label as racist every action of the Israeli rival, which is represented
by this hated government. However, the issue of noise in public spaces and the
prevention of noise pollution has nothing to do with
the struggle over this land. The mosque loudspeakers and the [noise] they make
is an issue that all Arab societies struggle with, including those in Arab
countries far away from Israel
and Palestine
and the conflict there.
"As evidence for my claims, let me present several statements about this
issue from Arab countries, whose residents are no doubt loyal to Islam and its
heritage. In fact, this problematic issue has been addressed by many religious
scholars. In the 1970s, renowned [Muslim] preacher Muhammad Metwali Al-Sha'rawi
declared: 'If it were up to me, I would ban mosques from using loudspeakers to
announce the dawn prayer.' The reason for this is obvious: these early morning
hours are the quietest hours, when people are sound asleep and have not yet
woken up to go to work and make a living...
"People in the Arab world suffer greatly from this worrying phenomenon and
are seeking a solution to it, and Muslim clerics are likewise working to
resolve it. That is why there are debates about it and fatwas issued about it.
[The website] Islamweb.net has posted fatwas by [Saudi Arabia'] Standing
Committee [for Scholarly Research and Issuing Fatwas] stating that 'it is forbidden
to use radios and similar devices to broadcast Koran [verses] at high volume in
the mosque on Friday before the arrival of the imam,' and it is likewise
forbidden 'to use loudspeakers that disturb people, especially sick people and
their families.' [The fatwas state further that] loudspeakers and microphones
'must be used only inside the mosque so as not to disturb people outside.
[Moreover,] if the imam's voice is loud enough for worshipers to hear him,
there is no reason to use loudspeakers [at all]'...
"We see, then, that this issue is a matter of controversy in the Arab and
Muslim world [itself], owing to the problems it creates, which have begun
harming people's [quality of] life in this [modern] age. So when the Arab
Knesset members of the Joint List address this matter, they should avoid
chanting populist slogans in favor of the loudspeakers and consider the issue
separately from the sensitivities of the struggle over this homeland. The call
to maintain [quiet in public] places is in the interest of all residents,
regardless of political affiliation and political controversies. It is no
coincidence that, in opposing the bill, the populist Arab Knesset members
gained the support of the ultra-religious Orthodox Jewish parties, since they
too worry that limitations will be placed [on the Jews' right to perform]
Jewish rituals that disturb [the public]. However, as I said earlier, since the
national situation in our region isn't normal, everyone is inclined towards
populism, even in matters where there should have been a consensus for the good
of the public. However, let us stress that the optimal position on these
matters should seek to end [all] disturbances, regardless of their source and
the affiliation of the people responsible for them, be they Jewish, Muslim,
Christian or members of any other group..."
Endnotes:
[1] Al-Hayat (London),
November 19, 2016.
Turkey: Lies, Cheap Lies and Cheaper Lies
Burak Bekdil/Gatestone Institute/November 21/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9370/turkey-lies
In President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's view, Belarus
is decent and peaceful, but Western Europe is
not. Merely because Belarus's
dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, agreed to open a mosque to lure some Turkish
investment.
Back in Turkey,
things look very Belarusian -- even worse -- rather than Western European, a
culture Erdogan despises.
President Erdogan's crackdown on dissent goes at full speed. Asli Erdogan, a
peace activist and novelist, worked for Ozgur Gundem, a pro-Kurdish newspaper.
She has remained in prison since her August arrest. The prosecutors demand an
aggravated life sentence plus 17.5 years in jail for her. How did Asli Erdogan,
the novelist, "support terror"? This is from the indictment:
"... in an understanding of a novelist [the accused] portrayed terrorists
as citizens in her columns."
"In the history of the program, there has never been such an extraordinary
situation where I think we can say that a democracy is threatening to turn
itself into a dictatorship." — Frank Schwabe, German Social Democratic
lawmaker and human rights expert.
Europe's unpleasant game with Turkey
should end at once, with Brussels and Ankara admitting that the
planned marriage was an awfully bad idea from the beginning.
Reading his public speeches, one may think that Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan must be joking; that he is a celebrity stand-up comedian, the best in
his profession. In reality, he is not joking. He believes in what he says. And
he does not want to make people laugh. He is just an Islamist strongman.
Visiting Minsk, the capital of Belarus, in the first week of November for the
opening of a mosque in a dictatorial country where there are 100,000 Muslims,
Erdogan accused Western Europe for
"intolerance that spreads like the plague."
Erdogan described Belarus,
which Western countries describe as a dictatorship, as "a country in which
people with different roots live in peace." In Erdogan's view Belarus is decent and peaceful, but Western Europe is not. Merely because Belarus's
dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, agreed to open a mosque to lure some Turkish
investment.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Belarus
President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk
on November 11, 2016. (Image source: TRT Haber video screenshot)
Back in Turkey,
things look very Belarusian -- even worse -- rather than Western European, a
culture Erdogan despises. In August, an Istanbul
court ordered Asli Erdogan, a prominent author and journalist, arrested on charges
of membership in an armed terror organization. Asli Erdogan, a peace activist
and novelist, worked for Ozgur Gundem, a pro-Kurdish newspaper. She has
remained in prison since her arrest. The prosecutors demand an aggravated life
sentence plus 17.5 years in jail for her.
How did Asli Erdogan the novelist "support terror"? This is from the
indictment: "... in an understanding of a novelist [the accused] portrayed
terrorists as citizens in her columns." The prosecutor's
"evidence" is four columns by Asli Erdogan. Mehmet Yilmaz, a
columnist, suggested that Turkish law faculties, after this indictment, should
be closed down and converted into imam schools. President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan's crackdown on dissent goes at full speed. An opposition, pro-Kurdish party,
the Peoples' Democratic Party, announced that it would suspend its legislative
activity after a dozen of its lawmakers, including its co-chairpersons, were
arrested on terror charges. Meanwhile Erdogan accuses Europe
of abetting terrorism by supporting Kurdish militants as the Turkish government
tries to suppress them. He said: "Europe,
as a whole, is abetting terrorism."
German lawmakers, including leading representatives of the Social Democrats,
the Greens and the Left Party, announced an initiative to "adopt"
their Turkish colleagues after Erdogan's government rescinded the legal
immunity of 53 of 59 Kurdish members of parliament and arrested dozens of
lawmakers, party employees and journalists. "In the history of the
program, there has never been such an extraordinary situation where I think we
can say that a democracy is threatening to turn itself into a
dictatorship," said German Social Democratic lawmaker and human rights
expert Frank Schwabe. "We have a lot of Turkish opposition parliamentarians
under threat, so we had to apply the parliamentary sponsorship program in an
extraordinary way."
In another speech, Erdogan said that Turkey
was ready to abandon its EU candidacy if "Europe
told us they do not want us." He said he would put EU membership to
referendum. It may look amusing if an applicant threatens to withdraw his
application to a club he knows and declares he does not belong to. But the
incompatibility between the democratic cultures of Western Europe and Turkey are now
too visible to ignore or tone down in diplomatic language.
There are signs, albeit weak, in Europe that
Islamist Turkey does not belong to the Old Continent. Austria's defense minister, Hans Peter Doskozil,
told the German daily, Bild, that "Turkey is on its way to becoming a dictatorship."
Past perfect tense instead of present may have described Turkey's case
better, but there is a European "awakening" on Turkish affairs. Austria's foreign minister, Sebastian Kurz,
said: "Over recent years Turkey
has moved farther and farther away from the EU, but our policy has remained the
same. That can't work. What we need are clear consequences." He is right:
"That" cannot work.
A tiny EU state was bolder in calling a cat a cat. Speaking of Erdogan's
increasingly savage crackdown on dissidents, particularly after the failed coup
of July 15, Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, said: "These
are methods, one must say this bluntly, that were used during Nazi rule ... And
there has been a really, really bad evolution in Turkey since July that we as
the European Union cannot simply accept."
Europe's unpleasant game of pretension with Turkey
should end at once, with Brussels and Ankara admitting that the planned marriage was an awfully
bad idea from the beginning; that Turkey
does not belong to Europe, as its leader
proudly says, and that there are better formats to frame diplomatic
relationships than lies, cheap lies and cheaper lies. Let Turkey go on its voyage to become another
peaceful Belarus.
*Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara,
is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily and a Fellow at the Middle East
Forum.
© 2016 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.
Isn’t this an opportunity to put our house
in order?
Khaled Almaeena/Al Arabiya/November 21/16
I am always amazed at Arab reaction to the results of US elections. This year
saw the winner Donald Trump an outsider to the American political scene beat
the Arab favorite Hillary Clinton. This man, who has never served in public
office, nor in the military, defeated Clinton
because America
wanted change. Even in the Gulf many expressed “shock and disappointment”.But
as one American told me last week, you people have to get your act together.
And remember, he added, the presidency is all about domestic issues. And
personally, I am not going to worry or spend sleepless nights over Mr. Trump’s
victory. For to us they all are the same. Hillary Clinton supported the attack
on Iraq, she bombed Libya,
WikiLeaks exposed her dark role in the Syrian conflict and on record she stated
that if she had won, Netanyahu would be the first visitor to the White House!
Mr. Trump also is not a pushover. Forget his comic acts. He has his own plans.
His appointments have alarmed Americans at large. His chief of staff Reince
Priebus and Stephen Bannon his top advisor are the personalities being
discussed in talk shows across America.
While Priebus is viewed as smart and temperate, Bannon is viewed as racist,
Islamophobic and anti-Semitic. Meanwhile, Retired Army Lt.
Gen. Michael Flynn, whom President-elect Trump has picked as his national
security adviser, is on record as once having described Islam as “a
cancer.”Nancy Pelosi the House Minority leader has described these appointments
to critical posts as “alarming”. Another name cropping up is Richard Grenell, a
senior US diplomat to the
UN, as the next US
ambassador to the United Nations. He is a strong supporter of Israel and a great critic of Obama’s foreign
policy, especially the Iran
nuclear deal. He is more to the right than John Bolton the hawkish former US ambassador
to the UN. Reports that Mr. Trump is also being advised by Frank Gaffney
another right-wing Islamophobe is a matter of discomfort to the Muslim
minority. We should learn from past mistakes never to put our eggs in one
basket. Our relationship should not be with the occupant of the White House
only, but with Congress, academia, associations and Americans of every group
Eggs in the same basket
Whatever the case may be and whomever Mr. Trump
appoints, that is none of our business. What we need to do is to put our own
house in order. We should learn from past mistakes never to put our eggs in one
basket. Our relationship should not be with the occupant of the White House
only, but with Congress, academia, associations and Americans of every group. We
have always ignored Afro-Americans, Latinos, Hispanics, Asian-Americans and
other minorities in the US.
It is time to build bridges of understanding. And we need to do away with
public relations companies who have been sucking our blood for years. We can initiate
our programs for outreach. The American people in all their diversity are fair
people and need to be made aware of our historical relations and partnership.
We forget that there are new players and actors in American society. We fail to
understand the new nuances in the mode of communication. The message of
subservience and dependability that they get from us should stop. We, too, are
a proud nation and a region that has contributed positively to world order and
will continue to do so. And America
should know that an equal partnership based on common interest and shared
values will be of far greater value than patronization. However, to do that we
should be strong and have a clear message that can be heard without any
misinterpretation.So Donald Trump’s residency in the White House should not be
of any worry nor should it cause us sleepless nights. On our part, we wish Mr.
Trump good luck and hope he does his part to promote peace and order not only
within America,
but across the globe.
**This article was first published in the Saudi Gazette on Nov. 20, 2016.
Why Trump presidency is radically
different for the Middle East
Dr. John C. Hulsman/Al Arabiya/November 21/16
Introduction: The world has actually changed
Far too often, modern political risk analysts cleave to the intellectual shore
in a desperate search for analytical safety, when events have already shaken up
the comfortable world they have grown used to describing. Knowing when a
game-changing event has occurred (for instance the recent, decades-long
economic rise of China),
and how it changes the old rules, is invaluable for any world-class political
risk analyst. With the election of Donald Trump now is such a time. For rather
than playing the old strategic game of favoring either Iran or Saudi
Arabia, a Trump administration will clearly favor
neither, either in terms of Congress’s adoption of the JASTA law or the Iran nuclear
deal. The world has truly turned upside down. But hold on a minute, will bleat
every self-satisfied, mediocre risk analyst, surely Trump’s rhetoric is just
hot air. In the end, the realities of American interests and longstanding
commitments will make a Trump foreign policy in the Middle East much like that
of any other US
President. But such nonsense is lazy, wrongheaded analytical whistling by the
graveyard.
For Trump’s ideology is not an act. Better than pretending the world has not
changed, it would be far more useful to analyze the new president’s worldview,
particularly over the Middle East, rather than
pretending his election did not matter.
Trump’s Jacksonian nationalism
Donald Trump’s overall foreign policy views are not the mystery the
highly-discredited commentariat presently make them out to be. He largely hews
to what Walter Russell Mead calls the Jacksonian nationalist strain of American
foreign policy, long a minority (if important) view in both American political
parties. Espousing a form of realism, the Jacksonians believe that the US should pursue a very limited but overriding
view of the American national interest, seeing that every US foreign
policy initiative furthers American interests to the exclusion of all other
competing imperatives. The idea that America is somehow impelled to “lead” over
any specific issue such as the Middle East as the global ordering power strikes
Jacksonians as dangerous claptrap of the highest order, just another example of
global elites caring about esoteric issues (global warming, pandemics, nuclear
proliferation), all the while ignoring the concrete economic plight of their own
workers, the Springsteen Democratic base which actually elected Trump
president.
As such, Jacksonians are deeply distrustful of alliances, fearing the US too often allows itself to be shackled to the
wishes of others, who may have quite different interests from those of America. While
Jacksonians are not against NATO or any other bi-lateral alliances in the
Middle East per se, they are only for such commitments in transactional terms,
if America
‘gets a good deal’ out of them.
Like it or not, Trump’s Jacksonianism means the Middle East will be
increasingly left to its own devices in a way it has not been for several
generations
Jacksonians are not isolationists; they will do things in the world that they
believe suit them and their interests. To ask them to do anything beyond that –
as America
regularly has as the global ordering power for the past 70 years – is not going
to happen anymore. At its essence this is what Trump means when he talks about
“America First”, a laser-like focus on American national interests to the
exclusion of all else. Jacksonians favor using force, but only when it is clear
that a winning strategy is at hand, and never in the interests of esoteric
goals, such as “upholding the international community”, “humanitarian
intervention”, or to “nation-build” others. Any nation building that occurs
ought to be for the Springsteen Democrats, rather than (rightly in my view)
wasting literally trillions of desperately-needed dollars in swamps like Iraq around the
world. Again, with his focus entirely on American
nationalism, Trump – weirdly echoing the very different Barack Obama – wants
nation-building to begin at home. However, should America decide that
the use of force is in its interests, Jacksonians are for prosecuting war,
regardless of what others—including international institutions like the
irrelevant UN or the smug and hopeless EU—might say. As Jacksonians believe so
fervently in American nationalism, they readily accept that other countries
might also wish to use force, and are not over-worried by that reality, as long
as American interests are not threatened. Hence, Trump’s blithe unconcern for
whatever President Putin gets up to in either eastern Ukraine or Syria. America has no primary interests in
either place so Jacksonians like Trump – to the horror of the international
rules-loving Wilsonian elite – simply don’t care.
To put it mildly, this Jacksonian tilt will force the rest of the world to
think about America
again, in a way few have bothered to do over the past several generations, as
Jacksonian precepts, world view and policy prescriptions are so entirely novel
to foreign eyes.
Jacksonianism in the Middle East
What this means is that after 70 years, American foreign policy will decisively
shift, as we have never had a Jacksonian-inspired presidency in the modern era.
Not seeing primary American interests at play in Syria
– and more determined than even President Obama to stamp out ISIS – Trump will
find tacit common cause with Russia,
Iran
and the puppet Assad regime it supports, tilting the conflict strongly in their
favour. In turn, he will work with Moscow
to decimate what is left of the dwindling would-be caliphate. But this is not a
tilt toward Iran,
either. The Trump White House is determined to hold Tehran’s
feet to the fire over the nuclear deal, either rescinding it outright (which
would cause a firestorm of controversy with America’s
European allies) or just as likely harrying the Iranians endlessly over the
legal details of the accord, hoping hard-liners in Tehran convince Grand Ayatollah Khamenei to
walk away in disgust. In turn, The Trump administration is bad news for Saudi Arabia as
well. Trump strongly supported the JASTA legislation while running for
president, and is unlikely to back-track on that populist pledge. Likewise, in
the pursuit of energy independence, Trump means what he says in cutting back on
Saudi energy imports to America.
Instead, look for a Jacksonian America to position itself in the Middle East as
the off-shore balancer of last resort, not nearly as concerned with the
day-to-day goings-on in the region as American presidents have been in the past
and only roused to action when primary American interests – such as the
destruction of ISIS – are in play.
Like it or not, Trump’s Jacksonianism means the Middle East will be
increasingly left to its own devices in a way it has not been for several
generations.
Will Yemen’s peace initiative succeed?
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/November 21/16
As I expected, the initiative which Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the United
Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, proposed to resolve the Yemeni crisis has
gained the support of various parties and it’s now undergoing its first test
through the recent 48-hour truce.
I still think it’s a good initiative despite the critical statements made
against it by major powers in the legitimate government and others. However, I
doubt it will succeed, not because Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi’s men
criticized it, but because the rebels will thwart it. The initiative confirms
the legitimacy of the regime and its authorities. It calls on the rebels to
hand over their heavy weapons, to exit the capital and major cities and hand
them over to the legitimate government. In exchange, a moderate vice president
with whom everyone agrees on is appointed, and most of the president’s
jurisdictions would be transferred to him.The rebels backed down on most of
their major demands in the initiative. Before that, they wanted a new regime in
which they had the upper hand, and they wanted to eliminate Hadi, keep their
weapons and militias as part of the state and maintain their presence in the
areas they seized. All these demands were rejected. However, what they gained
from the initiative is that their presence continues to be acknowledged and
does not lead to the confiscation of their light weapons, considering most
Yemenis were armed before the war broke out. They were also promised they would
be able to participate in the government – which they were allowed to do before
the coup.
I think President Hadi’s team rejected the peace bid for two reasons. The first
one was because US
Secretary of State John Kerry made a mistake when he did not directly
communicate with him but counted on delivering messages through others. Kerry
has apologized for that. As for the other reason, I think it’s because Hadi
viewed granting the vice president most of his jurisdictions as a move that
bypasses him. Truth be told, Hadi – before anyone else – knows Yemen’s various
parties and the coalition held on to him during very difficult times, and
engaged in a war to protect the state’s entity and the governance formula which
was approved by Yemenis and was directly sponsored by the UN. Hadi’s presidency
is temporary and it was set for two years only until elections were held – but
this election was thwarted by the rebels. Ever since they carried out the coup,
former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Houthi rebels have made compromises to
remove him, but everyone adhered to his presence as a symbol for legitimacy.
According to the new initiative, he remains the president.
If it hadn’t been for military intervention, Yemen would have been put in the
Iranian orbit and the country would have turned into a hotbed for chronic
struggles on the tribal and regional levels
A government in exile
When it comes to jurisdictions, we know they are few because the government is
only partially present in all cases. The government is still in exile and its
return to Aden
remains incomplete as the country remains at war and state institutions’ work
and the provision of services is still disrupted. Jurisdictions will remain few
even after the war ends; that is if the initiative succeeds, bloodshed is put
to an end and peace reigns. There will only be an efficient government after
writing a constitution and holding elections. Therefore, President Hadi will
not lose many of his jurisdictions even after some are transferred to a VP. The
fact that he stays in power actually thwarts the rebels’ first condition of
removing him from power. Civil wars usually end in reconciliations. The other
scenario is that warring parties continue to fight until they tire and tear
their country apart. Take Afghanistan
which resembles Yemen
a lot in its terrains and social fabric as an example. The war there has been on
for more than 15 years. The US,
which has been fighting the Taliban there, has not been able to end the war
despite the efforts it made, and despite the help it received from the expanded
military alliance which is fighting along its side. It did not fail because it
could not annihilate its opponents, but because what’s required is to subjugate
all powers to the central authority. The Americans have not yet succeeded at
that despite the negotiations and the ongoing fighting against the Taliban. The
war in Yemen
has been ongoing for less than two years now and it’s been difficult on
everyone. However, Yemen
was saved from the rebels who seized the entire country. If it hadn’t been for
military intervention, Yemen
would have been put in the Iranian orbit and the country would have turned into
a hotbed for chronic struggles on the tribal and regional levels.
Maintaining legitimacy
The coalition insisted on maintaining legitimacy
although it was no longer present in Yemen
at all as the legitimate government fled to Saudi Arabia which provided global
diplomatic support for it and launched a massive war for its sake. More than
half of Yemeni territories were thus liberated and the legitimate authority was
mended. It’s actually possible that the two parties in Yemen could
continue fighting for the next 15 years, but why? The rebels tried their luck
at governing all by themselves – but failed. Before they staged their attempted
coup, they were part of the government. But now, accepting the initiative means
handing over their heavy weapons, exiting cities and working in the government
under Hadi’s rule. This means that they lost the bet of arms.
Some object to allowing the Houthis and Saleh’s supporters participate in
governance and view this as a betrayal after all that’s been sacrificed but
they are wrong. There’s never been a promise to deprive rivals of political
participation.
This was not the war’s aim. The aim was to restore the legitimate government
and secure its return, and both, the Houthis and Saleh’s supporters, were part
of this government and they’ve paid a high price for staging this coup which
has also impacted the Yemeni people.
The aim of the war is to achieve peace and not eliminate others. Hopefully the
initiative will succeed and halt the bloodshed and restore stability to Yemen.
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Nov. 18, 2016.
Donald Trump and the Return of European
Anti-Americanism
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/November 21/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9372/trump-europe-anti-americanism
European criticism of Trump goes far beyond a simple displeasure with the man
who will be the next president. The condemnation reveals a deep-seated contempt
for the United States,
and for American voters who democratically elected a candidate committed to
restoring American economic and military strength.
The primary cause of the global disorder is the lack of American leadership at
home and abroad. A series of feckless decisions by Obama to reduce American
military influence abroad have created geopolitical power vacuums that are
being filled by countries and ideologies that are innately hostile to Western
interests and values.
For the past seven decades, the U.S.
has spent millions of dollars annually to guarantee German security, although Germany
steadfastly refuses to honor a NATO pledge to spend 2% of GDP on defense
spending. Germans are now offended that Trump is asking them to pay their fair
share for their own defense.
Although President Obama's foreign policy missteps have made Europe much less
safe than it was eight years ago, European elites have overlooked Obama's
mistakes because he is a "globalist" who seems to favor recreating
the U.S.
in the European image. Trump, by contrast, is a nationalist who wants to
rebuild the U.S.
in the American, not the European, image.
European anti-Americanism is certain to escalate in the years ahead, not
because of Trump or his policies, but because "globalists" appear
desperate to save the failing European Union, an untransparent, unaccountable,
anti-democratic, sovereignty-grabbing alternative to the nation state.
European anti-Americanism — which was on the wane during the presidency of
Barack Obama, who steered the United
States on a course of globalism rather than
nationalism — is back with a vengeance.
Europe's media establishment has greeted Donald Trump's election victory with a
vitriol not seen since the George W. Bush presidency, when anti-Americanism in Europe was at fever pitch.
Since the American election on November 9, European television, radio and print
media have produced an avalanche of negative stories, editorials and commentary
that seethe with rage over the outcome of the vote.
European criticism of Trump goes far beyond a simple displeasure with the man
who will be the next president. The condemnation reveals a deep-seated contempt
for the United States,
and for American voters who democratically elected a candidate committed to
restoring American economic and military strength.
If the past is any indication of the future, European anti-Americanism will be
a pervasive feature of transatlantic relations during the Trump presidency.
Although European opinion-shapers have focused much of their indignation on the
threat Trump allegedly poses to global order, the president-elect will inherit
a world that is significantly more chaotic and insecure than it was when Obama
became president in January 2009.
The primary cause of the global disorder is the lack of American leadership —
leading from behind — at home and abroad.
A series of feckless decisions by Obama to reduce American military influence
abroad have created geopolitical power vacuums that are being filled by
countries and ideologies that are innately hostile to Western interests and
values. China, Russia, Iran,
North Korea and radical
Islam — among many others — have all been emboldened to challenge the United States
and its allies with impunity.
European elites have been mostly silent about Obama's foreign policy failures,
but are now lashing out at Trump for pledging to restore order by "making
America great again."
As during the Bush administration, anti-Americanism in Europe is once again
being driven by Germany, a
country that was effectively rebuilt by the United States after the Second
World War. The Marshall Plan granted West Germany some $1.5 billion ($15
billion in 2016 dollars) in reconstruction aid between 1948 and 1951.
For the past seven decades, the United States
has spent millions of dollars annually to guarantee German security, although Germany
steadfastly refuses to honor a NATO pledge to spend a minimum of 2% of GDP on
defense spending. Germany
spent only 1.16% of GDP on its own defense in 2015 and 1.15% in 2016. German officials
are now offended that Trump is asking them to pay their fair share for their
own defense.
Following is a small sampling of recent European commentary on Donald Trump and
the United States:
In Germany, the Hamburg-based newsmagazine Der Spiegel, one of the
largest-circulation publications in Europe,
published a cover with an image of a giant meteor in the shape of Trump's head
hurtling towards the earth. The headline reads: "The End of the World (As
We Know It). The issue includes more than 50 pages of related content,
including an article by Dirk Kurbjuweit entitled, "One-Hundred Years of
Fear: America Has Abdicated Its Leadership of the West." He wrote:
"For 100 years, the United
States was the leader of the free world.
With the election of Donald Trump, America has now abdicated that
role. It is time for Europe, and Angela
Merkel, to step into the void....
"Trump, who wants nothing to do with globalization; Trump, who preaches
American nationalism, isolation, partial withdrawal from world trade and zero
responsibility for a global problem like climate change....
"We now face emptiness — fear of the void. What will happen to the West,
to Europe, to Germany
without the United States
as its leading power?
In Germany, Der Spiegel, one
of the largest-circulation publications in Europe,
published a cover, after Donald Trump's election victory, with an image of a
giant meteor in the shape of Trump's head hurtling towards the earth. The
headline reads: "The End of the World (As We Know It)".
In an article, "Trump's Victory Ushers in Dangerous Instability,"
Spiegel commentator Roland Nelles wrote:
"It really happened. He did it. Donald Trump proved all experts wrong....
A man who... preaches hate and snubs America's most important partners
will run the most powerful country on Earth. It is a political catastrophe.
"Crude populism has triumphed over reason. Trump's success is a shock for
all those who had counted on the political wisdom of American voters....
"The world, and America,
is now threatened by a dangerous phase of instability: Donald Trump wants to
make America
'great' again. If one believes his pronouncements, he will proceed ruthlessly:
He wants to throw 11 million migrants out of the country, renegotiate all major
trade agreements and make important allies such as Germany pay for US military
protection. That will trigger significant conflict, incite new rivalries and
spur new crises."
In an opinion article, "An Absurd and Dangerous President," Spiegel
commentator Klaus Brinkbäumer wrote:
"The United States
has voted for a dangerously inexperienced and racist man — one who was swept
into the White House by an army of disenfranchised white working- and
middle-class Americans. It is a movement that now threatens democracy around
the world....
"In other words, 60 million Americans acted stupidly. They cast their
votes for xenophobia, racism and nationalism, the end of equal rights and
social conscience, for the end of climate treaties and health insurance. Sixty
million people followed a demagogue who will do little for them.
"Those who have lived in New York or
experienced dinner conversations in Georgetown
and debates at Harvard
University's Kennedy
School of Government, know how brilliantly intelligent and worldly Americans
can be.... Once you get outside such circles, such cosmopolitan thinking isn't
nearly as widespread."
The Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung, in an article, "Trump's Foreign
Policy: What This Election Means for the World," stated:
"The man who politicians around the world called 'scary,' 'ignorant' or
'irrational' will move into the White House. The uncertainty around the world
is great. If cartoonists are to be believed, Donald Trump's idea of
the world is very simplistic. Africa
is the birthplace of Barack Obama. Russia is a country that was made
great again. Great Britain
is a no-go area."
The Hamburg-based Die Zeit, in an article, "Trump and How He Sees the
World," wrote:
"Wow. The West crumbles before our eyes. What is going on here can be
explained by two data points: On November 9, 1989, the wall fell in Berlin.... On November
9, 2016, exactly 27 years later, a man has been elected to the White House
whose central election pledge was the construction of a wall.
"The ideas of the new president are neither contradictory nor confused.
His demands can be easily summarized on the cap of a beer bottle: integrate
Putin, keep Mexicans out and treat American allies as the customers of a
security service. There is only protection if one pays cash, even in NATO.
In a commentary, "The End of the Enlightenment," Zeit essayist Adrian
Daub wrote:
"Donald Trump is a remnant of a dying America.... He has turned the
country from a multicultural lighthouse into an isolated island of white people
who are afraid of their own shadow.
"The idea of American exceptionalism, the lighthouse, was already present
at the foundation of the nation.... The idea of American radiance
is one with the ideas of the Enlightenment that came from Europe
to the colonies. Ideas like universal values or the human
striving for truth.
"Trump's election means the end of this project. The United States
is no longer a lighthouse, but a flaming fire of tired shadows armed to the
teeth. No trace remains of its prototypical character, its imitability. It is
defiant, closed to the world. The nationalism of isolationism... the tumultuous
tribalism... are shaking the foundations of the
Enlightenment.
"The US upheld the
values of the Enlightenment — humanism, an optimistic image of
man, human dignity and civil rights — when Europe
deviated from them in the thirties. It used humanism as a weapon in the
struggle against fascism, its universality as a counterpart to nationalism, and with its re-importation after the Second
World War has contributed to the reestablishment of the European project.
Today, these values are once more in trouble in Europe, but the
view across the Atlantic will not be
reassuring as of January."
Other German headlines include: "Trump has the Charisma of a Drunken
Elephant," "Donald Trump: A Horror Clown as a Security Risk,"
"Trump: How Could this Happen?," "Plans of the New US President:
How Trump Wants to Poison the Air," "Donald Trump: A Blow to Open
Society," "America Chooses the Great Divider," "Donald
Trump: A King Without a Plan," "Donald is not Ronald," "Donald
is not Churchill," "Can Trump also Happen in Germany?,"
"How to Prevent a German Trump," "Who Can Stop Trump Now?,"
and "Will Berlin Have to Pay More for Defense?"
In Britain, the Guardian published an editorial, "The Guardian View on
Trump's Foreign Policy: A Threat to Peace," which stated:
"The victory of Donald Trump shatters the notion that the US can be
counted on by its allies not just for defense guarantees and economic
cooperation, but even as a defender of liberal democracy, rather than a threat
to it. It calls into question the traditional US role as a protector of a UN-based global architecture of multilateralism....
"For Donald Trump, politics — like business — is about deal making. He
thinks man-to-man talk with dictators can instantly dissolve problems, and
approaches foreign affairs as zero sum game in which making America great
can mean demeaning its traditional friends. His election makes the world a more
dangerous place and also a more uncertain place, for it is too early to say
precisely how those dangers will materialize — or how the next US president
will face up to them."
The Guardian, in an essay, "A Win for Trump was a Win for Bigotry,"
columnist Owen Jones wrote:
"Hang on a minute: who am I as a Briton to interfere in the internal
affairs of a foreign country? The problem is the entire world is now subject to
the writ of the leader of the last superpower. We are all, to a degree, under
his dominion....
"Trumpism is, by nature, an authoritarian movement that regards democratic
norms as dispensable if they fail to serve political ends. The aspiration —
whether realizable or not — is clear: authoritarian societies such as Putin's Russia, Erdoğan's Turkey and Orbán's Hungary that maintain certain
democratic trappings as a convenient front.
"If the American people simply accept the legitimacy of this president,
and they normalize this would-be tyrant, it will only embolden him.... Civil
disobedience should be employed where necessary. Don't just
do it for yourself, America.
The fate of the rest of the world will be determined by your choices."
Other British headlines include: "Will Donald Trump Destroy
America?," "Why President Donald Trump is an Even Bigger Disaster
than You Thought," "Donald Trump's Victory is a Disaster for Liberal
Values," "Donald Trump's Victory is a Disaster for Modern
Masculinity," "Privacy Experts Fear Donald Trump Running Global
Surveillance Network," "Terrifying Trump Will Turn into Tamed Trump?
It's an Illusion," "The Magnetic Pull of Trump, King
Narcissist," "Will Donald Trump Make School Lunches Unhealthy?
Doctors Warn the President-elect's Penchant for Burgers and Fried Chicken Could
Hit Meal Trays," "In the Age of Trump, Why Bother Teaching Students
to Argue Logically?," and "Donald Trump
Believed to be Direct Descendant of Rurik the Viking who Established Russian
State."
In Spain,
where anti-Americanism has held sway for many decades, the newspaper El País
published an essay, "Declaration of War against Stupidity," which
showcases the contempt many Europeans have for ordinary Americans. The newspaper's
long-time essayist, John Carlin, wrote:
"The victory of Trump represents a rebellion against reason and decency.
It is the triumph of racism, or misogyny, or stupidity — or all three things at
once. It is the expression of the poor judgment and bad taste of 60 million
Americans, the vast majority of them men and women of white skin who own homes,
cars, firearms and eat more than citizens of any other country on earth.
"This is where you see with perfect clarity the stupidity, frivolity and
irresponsibility of those who voted for Trump. For all of Clinton's defects, they are trivial compared
to those of Trump, whose ignorance, zero principles and zero experience in
governance are joined by all forms of personal vices that every person in their
right mind at any latitude of the world considers deplorable.
"I know the kind who voted for Trump. I met them when I made reports in Texas, Montana, Arizona, Oklahoma, Alabama and other
typically Republican states. They tend to be kind, religious and honest people,
decent in their reduced social orbit. But after sitting down to talk with them
for a while I always reacted with the same perplexity: how is it possible that
we speak the same language? Their words are familiar to me but their brain
circuits operate differently. They are people of simple faith, oblivious to the
irony; people who choose their truths not based on facts but on their beliefs
or prejudices; people who live far from the ocean and the rest of planet Earth,
of which they are afraid. I've never experienced a similar sense of
disconnection in Europe, Africa or Latin America.
Just inside the United States."
In Austria,
Kronen Zeitung published a headline entitled, "Nuclear Suitcase: In 72
Days Trump Could Annihilate Civilization." Also in Austria, Kurier
published a story entitled, "Trump Victory: Boon for Suicide
Hotlines." In France,
the newspaper Libération featured a cover with Trump and the words
"American Psycho." Another headline read: "United States:
The Empire of the Worst." L'Obs asked, "With Trump, the Beginning of
De-Globalization?" Le Figaro wrote: "Donald Trump: From Clown to
President," and "Europe Paralyzed by the Trump Shock." Le Monde
wrote, "Donald Trump's Victory: A Brexit for America." In the Netherlands, Telegraaf declared, "Trump is
a Nightmare for Europe."
How is one to interpret the resurgence of anti-American sentiment in Europe?
Although President Obama's foreign policy missteps, especially those in the
Middle East, have made Europe much less safe than it was eight years ago, European
elites have overlooked Obama's mistakes because he is a "globalist"
who seems to favor recreating the United States in the European
image. Trump, by contrast, is a nationalist who wants to rebuild the United States
in the American, not the European, image.
European anti-Americanism is certain to escalate in the years ahead, not
because of Trump or his policies, but because "globalists" appear
desperate to save the failing European Union, an untransparent, unaccountable,
anti-democratic, sovereignty-grabbing alternative to the nation state.
Europeans have time and again overestimated their ability to make a fragmented Europe act like a single unified actor. As it turns out,
anti-Americanism is a powerful ideology that has wide appeal across Europe — not just among the elites.
In the past, European federalists have tried to make anti-Americanism the basis
of a new pan-European identity. This artificial post-modern European
"citizenship," which demands allegiance to a faceless bureaucratic
superstate based in Brussels, has been presented
as a globalist alternative to the nationalism of the United States. In essence, to be
"European" means to not be American.
As the European Union comes apart at the seams, Europe's political
establishment can be expected to try to exploit anti-Americanism in a desperate
attempt to use it as a glue to hold a fractured Europe
together.
Whether or not that succeed depends, ironically, on
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. If he can demonstrate that he is able to
govern the United States and
produce tangible results, especially by growing the economy and curbing illegal
immigration, Trump is certain to energize support for anti-establishment
politicians in Europe, many of whom are
already polling well in a number of upcoming general elections.
Commenting on Trump's victory, Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders,
wrote: "America
has just liberated itself from political correctness. The American people
expressed their desire to remain a free and democratic people. Now it is time
for Europe. We can and will do the same!"
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He
is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de
Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on
Twitter.
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