Israel's defence minister launches annexation drive with cover from Trump
Naftali Bennett aiming to increase the number of settlers in Area C to one million by the end of this decade

Naftali Bennett, Israel's defence minister, speaks at the Kohelet Policy Forum conference in Jerusalem, 8 January (AFP)

By Lubna Masarwa, Mustafa Abu Sneineh Published date: 10 January 2020


Naftali Bennett, Israel's defence minister, is pushing through a series of rapid-fire measures to treble the occupied West Bank's settler population and annex all of the territory's Area C, which Palestinians fear could end any hopes of a Palestinian state.

He is doing this, analysts told Middle East Eye, thanks to the political limbo Israel is caught in after two inconclusive elections, and with the tacit blessing that the Trump administration has given Israel's far right.

This week, Bennett, a hawkish ultranationalist, revealed that he was launching a task force to impose Israeli sovereignty over Area C - 61 percent of the West Bank - and grant settlers an unprecedented right to own land privately.

“Our objective is that within a short amount of time, and we will work for it, we will apply Israeli sovereignty to all of Area C, not just the settlements, not just this bloc or another,” Bennett told the Kohelet Policy Forum, a conservative lobby in Jerusalem, on Wednesday.

According to the 1993 Oslo Accords, the West Bank is divided into three areas: Area A, under Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civil control; Area B, where the PA has civilian rule but security remains controlled by Israel; and Area C, which is under full Israeli civil and security control and includes the highly strategic Jordan Valley.



Israel approves new settlement, orders Hebron market bulldozed 

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Around 25 Palestinian towns and villages and approximately 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C which, like the rest of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war.

Around 325,500 Israeli settlers in 125 settlements and outposts, built in contravention to international law, also live in Area C.

Bennett is aiming to increase the number of settlers in Area C to one million by the end of this decade, through increasing building permits for Israeli settlements.

The defence minister's task force is set to allow Jewish settlers to buy land privately and provide “unauthorised” settlers’ outposts and settlements with water and electricity.

This is an unprecedented move.

Currently, settlers in the West Bank have to buy houses from real estate and construction corporations after the approval of the Israeli Civil Administration, a body run by the Israeli military that is responsible for land registration, infrastructure, transportation, water, archaeology and agriculture in the West Bank.

Currently, only Palestinians can buy land privately in the West Bank.

“We are embarking on a real and immediate battle for the future of the land of Israel and the future of Area C,” Bennett said.
Support from Trump

Jamal Juma, the coordinator of the Palestinian Stop the Wall Campaign and the Land Defence Coalition activist groups, told Middle East Eye that Bennett was using Israel's current political limbo to boost his status.

Bennett became defence minister in November and made several aggressive moves against the Palestinians over the following months, including announcing a new settlement in the flashpoint city of Hebron.

US President Donald Trump's clear support for the Israeli settler movement has also emboldened him, Juma said.

“Since Trump came to power, the settlements project got bolder on the ground, and the racial partition was systemised,” he said.

'Annexation is increasing in the Jordan Valley, where a vast amount of palm trees are being planted and settlers are being giving incentives to move and live'

- Jamal Juma, activist

Juma added that Israel was trying to use the Trump administration to “get an international legitimacy” for its attempts to annex East Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and the Syrian Golan Heights, as well as its settlement and road construction projects in the West Bank.

“Annexation is increasing in the Jordan Valley, where a vast amount of palm trees are being planted and settlers are being giving incentives to move and live,” Juma said.

All of that was being supported by evicting Palestinians from their homes and limiting their ability to build by not granting them building permits, he said.

Tom Mahager, an Israeli political analyst, told MEE that Israel was living in a period where it had no effective opposition or deterrent to force the government to respect international law.

“Instead, we have a desperate prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] who is willing to do everything to run away from his legal case and cling onto authority.”

Mahager said that Bennett’s mentality stems from a Zionist belief, stretching back before the establishment of Israel in 1948, that there must be “maximum land for Jewish Israelis with minimum Palestinians”.

“Bennett is also trying also to use his time as defence minister to satisfy his voters, many of whom are settlers. He is also trying to score as many points as he can to secure his political future,” Mahager said.

In December, Bennett asked the military to stop Palestinians from "taking over" Area C in the West Bank and crack down on construction there.

The move, Bennett reportedly said, would stop what he called the "Palestinian-European control" of Area C.

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Lebanon releases protesters as Amnesty slams 'arbitrary arrests' amid police violence

Beirut protesters gather again at Central Bank and Interior Ministry on Thursday, denouncing outgoing Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan and police violence

Activists say police violence may indicate Lebanon's establishment has lost patience with protesters and is also stung by public wrath against banks (AFP)

By MEE and agenciesPublished date: 16 January 2020

Lebanon's security forces on Thursday released most of the 100-plus anti-government protesters detained over the past 48 hours, lawyers told AFP, after two nights of violent demonstrations in Beirut.

Protesters gathered in Beirut again on Thursday evening in front of the Central Bank and Interior Ministry, where several hundred demonstrators denounced outgoing Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan and the police use of force.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, police wielding batons and firing tear gas wounded and arrested dozens as protesters lit fires and smashed bank facades and ATMs, as witnessed by Reuters journalists.

"These past two nights, they were really barbaric," said Cynthia Sleiman, a charity worker and protester in hospital after Wednesday night's violence. "I had just arrived and was looking for my friends when the policeman grabbed me, hitting me on the head and neck. I fell to the ground and blood was streaming out.”

Dozens injured as anti-bank protests rock Beirut for second night 

Read More »

On Thursday, lawyers, journalists and activists gathered at the Interior Ministry and the justice palace in Beirut to complain about police violence. Interior Minister Hassan told reporters she had not ordered a clampdown and denounced attacks on media, while also urging understanding for police.

Activists say police violence may indicate Lebanon's establishment has lost patience with protesters and is also stung by public wrath against banks, which have curbed access to savings and blocked most transfers abroad.

The protest movement that has rocked Lebanon since October began to surge again on Tuesday, with a committee of lawyers defending demonstrators saying 101 people had been detained, including 56 on Wednesday, with five minors among them.

The lawyers' committee announced on Facebook on Thursday that "all those arrested have been released with the exception of seven foreigners".

The detained foreigners - six Syrians and an Egyptian - will be brought before authorities, the committee added.

Lebanese security forces said 59 people were arrested on suspicion of vandalism and assault on Tuesday, when protesters angered by stringent informal capital controls attacked banks in central Beirut.

"Under popular pressure, the detained have been released two days after a hysterical crackdown," Nizar Saghieh, who heads the Legal Agenda non-governmental organisation, wrote on Twitter.



Lebanon wakes up to trashed banks and UN rebuke of its failing politiciansRead More »



Amnesty International denounced what it said were "arbitrary arrests".

"What we have witnessed in the past couple of days is an alarming attack on freedom of assembly and expression," said the watchdog's Middle East research director Lynn Maalouf.

"Acts by a minority of protesters who vandalised banks or threw stones is never a justification for such excessive use of force and sweeping arrests by law enforcement."

On Thursday, near parliament, hundreds of protesters massed to denounce Lebanon's ruling class and delays in forming a new independent government.

An unprecedented nationwide movement of protests demanding an end to endemic corruption and the wholesale removal of Lebanon's political elite broke out almost three months ago.

With little change in sight, protesters also angered by a financial crisis they blame on Lebanon's oligarchs and the Central Bank resumed their rallies with renewed determination on Tuesday after a holiday lull.

Protesters vandalised several banks on the central Hamra street on Tuesday evening and hurled rocks at anti-riot police, who responded with volleys of tear gas canisters.

Gathered in front of the Central Bank again on Wednesday, the protesters then moved to a police station where some of their comrades had been detained the previous night, leading to clashes that left dozens lightly wounded.

Outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri resigned under pressure from the street less than two weeks into the wave of protests, but a new government has still not been formed despite a stark and growing economic crisis.

On Thursday, Hariri met with Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil to discuss the financial crisis and upcoming debt maturities.
Financial crisis, debt

Lebanon is burdened with debts of almost $90bn, or more than 150 percent of GDP.

Over the past few months, the Lebanese pound - long pegged to the US dollar at 1,507 - has slumped in value on the unofficial market to around 2,500.

After a long search for a suitable candidate, former education minister and university professor Hassan Diab was nominated as premier and tasked with picking a new cabinet.

Protesters have demanded a government of technocrats excluding the household names that have symbolised Lebanon's sectarian-based politics for generations.

Local media reported a new cabinet may be appointed on Friday, after thorny government formation talks prolonged the process despite pressure from Lebanon's foreign partners and donors.

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A FORGOTTEN AMERICAN BECAUSE HIS NAME WAS NOT JOHN SMITH

Senators call on Trump to issue 'immediate' sanctions after US citizen dies in Egyptian jail

Mustafa Kassem, American citizen who had been held in Egyptian prison for past five years, died on Monday after series of hunger strikes

Chris Van Hollen, one of two US senators who penned letter on Thursday, had long advocated release of Mustafa Kassem (AFP/File photo)

By MEE staff Published date: 16 January 2020

Two US Senators called on President Donald Trump to "immediately" sanction Egypt over the recent death of Mustafa Kassem, an American citizen who had been held in an Egyptian prison for five years.

Democratic Senators Chris Van Hollen and Patrick Leahy in a letter to Trump called for immediate visa restrictions against Egyptian government officials involved in the detention of Kassem, who died on Monday after a series of hunger strikes.

"Mustafa Kassem’s death was a needless tragedy, after years of unconscionable mistreatment at the hands of Egyptian authorities," the senators wrote.

Moustafa Kassem's death was due to 'failures by the Trump administration

Van Hollen and Leahy also called on the president to make a statement declaring Egypt's treatment of Kassem "a gross violation of internationally recognized human rights" and to impose Global Magnitsky Act sanctions on those responsible for Kassem's death.

The Global Magnitsky Act is a human rights bill passed by Congress in 2016 that allows the US government to sanction foreign officials implicated in human rights abuses around the world.

Kassem, a dual Egyptian-American citizen, was arrested in Cairo in August 2013 after a military coup that brought Sisi to power.

Kassem said he was wrongfully detained by Egyptian soldiers when he happened to be at a shopping centre near demonstrations at Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya square.

After spending more than five years in pretrial detention, he was sentenced to 15 years in jail in a mass trial involving hundreds of defendants.

"Egyptian officials never presented any evidence implicating Kassem - because there was none," the senators wrote in their letter to Trump on Thursday.

Both senators have long followed Kassem's case, with Van Hollen having met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi over the summer to discuss his release.

When I met with President Sisi last summer, I asked him to release Mustafa Kassem. When he refused, I worked with @SenatorLeahy to hold the regime accountable for unlawfully detaining and torturing Americans. Trump needs to implement our sanctions and stop embracing dictators. pic.twitter.com/hkO36xR6eJ— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) January 16, 2020

At a news conference on Wednesday, Van Hollen called Kassem's death a "killing" enabled by "failures by the Trump administration" to apply the necessary pressure to secure his release and the release of other Americans detained in Egypt.

Before his death, Kassem had written letters to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence asking them to secure his freedom.

Since 2013, Sisi's government has overseen a broad crackdown on dissent, with as many as 60,000 people jailed.

Still, Trump has repeatedly heaped praise on the Egyptian leader, even calling him "my favourite dictator".

"This killing should serve as a wake-up call," Van Hollen said on Wednesday.

On Monday, when asked if the Trump administration planned "to do anything to penalise the Sisi government" over Kassem's death, a senior State Department official told reporters it was "still premature to talk about that".

"We are really concerned about this and we're going to talk about it, about what we're going to do. We haven't decided yet," the official said.

There are said to be at least six US citizens currently held in Egyptian prisons.

Egypt is the second-biggest recipient of US military aid after Israel, receiving $1.4bn every year.

While the US has cut aid to Egypt in the past, citing human rights concerns, the Trump administration has waived human rights conditions that have applied to some $300m in aid.

US confirms 'avoidable' death of American held in Egyptian prison

Moustafa Kassem, who was arrested in 2013 after the overthrow of Egypt's first democratically elected president, had protested his innocence

Egyptian security forces are deployed near Cairo's Tora prison (File: AFP)

By MEE staff
Published date: 14 January 2020

An American imprisoned in Egypt for more than six years on what he insisted were false charges, died on Monday after a long hunger strike, the State Department has said.

Moustafa Kassem, 64, a dual Egyptian-American citizen, was arrested in Cairo in August 2013 following a military coup that brought Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to power.

Kassem had insisted he had no links to opposition politics and had been wrongfully detained by Egyptian soldiers when he happened to be at a shopping centre near Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya square.

The dispersal of a sit-in at Cairo's Rabaa square on 14 August 2013 saw soldiers and police shoot dead more than 800 protesters in a matter of hours, and arrest thousands.

The bloody crackdown came weeks after the overthrow of Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

Human Rights Watch concluded that the killings "likely amounted to crimes against humanity" and "were part of a policy to attack unarmed persons on political grounds."

'His death in custody was needless, tragic and avoidable,'
- David Schenker, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs

After spending more than five years in pretrial detention, where he said his diabetes and a heart ailment went largely untreated, Kassem was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in jail in a mass trial involving hundreds of defendants.

Soon after that, Kassem went on the first of several hunger strikes, refusing solid food for months on end to protest what he called his unjust imprisonment.

He wrote letters to both US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, asking them to secure his freedom and not make his wife a "widow".

"I am deeply saddened to learn today the death of US citizen Moustafa Kassem who'd been imprisoned in Egypt," Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker told a State Department briefing on Monday.

"His death in custody was needless, tragic and avoidable," he added.

Kassem's brother-in-law Mustafa Ahmed, had previously described conditions at the maximum security Tora prison, where he was kept, as dire.

"The cells are filthy, infested with insects, rodents and snakes," he wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times last year.

"They have no ventilation, sun or light. Kassem and the other prisoners have no access to clean water, a bed, a chair or any books."
Trump's 'favourite dictator'

Since 2013, Sisi's government has overseen a broad crackdown against dissent, with as many as 60,000 people jailed.

While members of the Muslim Brotherhood - to which President Morsi belonged - were the main target, secular and left-wing activists have also been imprisoned.

Morsi died in jail last June, after enduring almost six years in solitary confinement.



How the death of a president shed light on Egypt's brutal dictatorship 

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A 2018 report by members of the UK Parliament had warned that the "cruel, inhuman and degrading" conditions of Morsi's detention, including lack of medical care, may lead to his death.

Sisi won a second term in March 2018, in what critics called a "sham" election. He secured more than 97 percent of the vote.

The presidential elections featured only one other candidate - Moussa Mustafa Moussa - an ardent Sisi supporter who once formed a campaign group called: "Supporters of President Sisi's nomination for a second term."

Egypt is the second-biggest recipient of US military aid after Israel, receiving $1.3 billion every year.

Trump has repeatedly heaped praise on the Egyptian leader, even calling him "my favourite dictator".

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Iraq: Assassinating the press and the game of recycling politicians

January 15, 2020

Iraqis continue to take part in anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq on 10 January 2020 [Murtadha Sudani/Anadolu Agency]


Haifa Zangana
January 15, 2020 at 2:25 pm


Journalist Ahmed Abdel Samad and his colleague, photographer Ghali Al-Tamimi, were added to the list of Iraqi women and men martyrs after being assassinated three days ago by what has become officially known in Iraq as “gunfire of unknown gunmen” who fled to “unknown destinations.”

This cliché, ready-made term confirms the disregard for the most important human right, the right to life and the right to the freedom of opinion. What journalist dares, in the atmosphere of intimidation and threats, to report the truth of what is happening? How can independent journalists preserve their lives if they report something contrary to the ready-made official statements? What happened to the “political process” covered in glossy human rights papers? Or is there a new definition for the journalist and their work that only politicians of the “new Iraq” know?

Government spokespersons’ use of this term signifies the presence of a combination of corrupt politicians, militias and mercenaries targeting those they want with impunity. Perhaps they are one of the few who have freedom of movement and expression to assassinate those who cross the red lines they drew, outside the limits of the law and state.

They are a minority that enjoys immunity from punishment by virtue of being “unknown” and “parties,” the most important of which is the “third party.” This term “third party” has been used since the October uprising to disown responsibility for the increasing “unknown” assassinations, especially among those working in the media. In just two months since the beginning of the uprising the Iraqi Journalist Rights Defence Association records that roughly 100 were assaulted and beaten, while media organisations were attacked and there were more than 40 kidnappings and assassinations.

Journalist Abdul Samad and photographer Ghali died after they finished covering the protests in the city of Basra in southern Iraq. In his latest report, Abdul Samad refuted the “anonymity” of assassinations, kidnappings and arrests of demonstrators, holding the government responsible and proving that the “unknown individuals’” identities were known to the government.

READ: Iran, US conflict shrouded in the fog of war

His coverage of the popular protests and his support for the protesters made him a likely candidate for a quick death at the hands of “unknown gunmen” from a “third party” because he crossed their red lines. The “red lines” for journalists and various media workers are drawn so that no one crosses them and affirms their independence and ability to present the truth.

The terms “red lines,” “unknowns” and “the third party” all deserve to be added to the successive occupation governments’ achievements. In November 2009, for example, “unknown persons” attempted to assassinate journalist Imad Al-Abadi. Al-Abadi recovered after doctors in Munich managed to remove three bullets from his brain. On his return to Nasiriyah, his hometown in southern Iraq, he was welcomed by friends. Among them was another individual from his hometown, the well-known singer Hussein Neama, who stated: “I warned him to speak less, there are red lines.”




Iraqi security forces in Iraq on 20 October 2017 [Ali Mukarrem Garip/Anadolu Agency]

Al-Abadi did not comment on that day, preferring not to speak. Journalist Jawad Saadoun Al-Dami, from Al-Baghdadia satellite channel, was not as lucky as his colleague, as he was assassinated by “unknown armed men” while he was in his car in Al-Qadisiyah neighbourhood, southwest of Baghdad, on September 24, 2007.

Rarely does a year go by without an international report recommending that the government protect journalists and provide an environment conducive to their work. In 2013, a report issued by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) indicated that Iraq tops the list of countries where journalists’ killers escape punishment. The report stressed that terrorist organisations are not the only ones responsible for killing journalists, but that there are government officials and organised gangs who also kill journalists in retaliation for their work, without facing justice.

READ: Hasn’t the US been a greater source of instability in the Middle East than Iran?

In 2016, 13 journalists were killed, most of them while covering the battles with Daesh, according to the Iraqi Journalists Rights Defence Association. Meanwhile, 179 journalists were subjected to various types of assaults, including beatings and death threats from “unknown parties” for publishing press reports on corruption in some state institutions. As for the statistics on Iraqi press martyrs, between 2003 and 2016, they indicated that the total number of victims is 227 journalists and media assistants, including 22 foreign journalists, and that Iraqi journalists are targeted by all the conflicting parties without exception.

The atmosphere of intimidation surrounding the work of journalists and restricting their freedom of movement, expressing their views and the lack of accountability for those committing the crimes, increases resorting to killing as an easy guaranteed tool to silence independent voices. It also determines the information available to the public, burying the truth and instead spreading lies and misleading people.

While this has been the general picture for the past 16 years, the campaign of repression and assassinations has increased since the outbreak of the October Uprising. This comes with an increase in awareness among the protesters that rights cannot be granted to one individual and not the other, or to one group and not the other. If one group is granted these rights, they will not be suitable in the long run to build a nation that can accommodate everyone, regardless of the methods of seduction, blackmail, and populist rhetoric.

The fact that the protesters realised this fact frightens the members of government, parliament and militias, as it threatens their personal interests, which they built at the expense of the country. It also threatens all of the sectarian delusions and the manufacturing of false sub-identities, which they worked hard to spread in order to keep the citizens unaware of their rights, homeland, and future.

READ: Over 50 injured in Iraq protests

The progression of violations and the methodology of silencing voices and depriving the citizen of their rights are what pushes the protesters to refuse that politicians be recycled, even those who submitted their resignations from parliament during the uprising, after participating in the spoils of the occupation and its crimes or keeping peace with it for 16 years. This is out of doubt for their motives like Qusay Al-Suhail (the Shia Dawa Party leader who “resigned” only to be nominated as prime minister as an independent), and Raed Fahmy (general secretary of the Communist Party).

Three days ago, Iyad Allawi, Prime Minister of the first government appointed by the occupation leader Paul Bremer, resigned but did not show any evidence that he was joining the people. The protesters’ rejection of all those who contributed to former and current governments and the “political process” is not a call for revenge, but rather indicates their ambition to achieve real change and build a homeland that the people have and continue to pay a hefty price for.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Al-Quds on 13 January 2020

Egypt’s military exercise is a warning to protesters ahead of the January 25 Revolution anniversary

Last week Egypt launched “Qader 2020”, a military display of ground, naval and air units choreographed to demonstrate the strength of the country’s armed forces
January 14, 2020

Amelia Smith
@amyinthedesert
January 14, 2020 at 3:32 pm

Last week Egypt launched “Qader 2020”, a military display of ground, naval and air units choreographed to demonstrate the strength of the country’s armed forces.

Translated as “ability to face”, the Ministry of Defence says Qader 2020 is a tough message to Turkey: if you intervene in Libya, Egypt is here to protect its own borders and its ally, the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar.

It comes in the context of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement last week that he was sending Turkish troops to Libya to support Fayez Al-Sarraj’s rival UN-recognised government which is based in Tripoli.

Over the weekend, Speaker of Haftar’s Tobruk-based House of Representatives Aguila Saleh told the Egyptian parliament that the country may be forced to call on the Egyptian army to intervene if foreign intervention takes place in Libya.

His comments were met with a standing ovation and followed several weeks of support from pro-regime actors, singers and journalists in favour of the Egyptian army’s stated plans in Libya.

Yet underneath the tough narrative against Turkey, put forward by the Egyptian state, several observers suggest Qader 2020 is actually a show of strength designed for consumption by the people of Egypt, not Libya.

Egypt army carries out nationwide military drills

Just yesterday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said he was not planning to go to war with African countries, referring to Ethiopia and Sudan, with whom negotiations have been in gridlock for months over the Renaissance Dam so why would he make an exception for Libya.

Turkey is the second largest G20 importer of Egyptian goods – in 2018 trade exchange between the two countries hit $2 billion –and it’s unlikely Egypt would jeopardise this.

“Turkey is an ideological enemy of the Egyptian government making it a bogeyman to use in ramping up support locally,” Egyptian blogger The Big Pharaoh wrote on Twitter.


Turkey is the 2nd biggest G20 importer of Egyptian goods. Trade between the two countries seems to be going smoothly in parallel with the political animosity. Turkey is an ideological enemy of the Egyptian government making it a good bogyman to use in ramping up support locally

— The Big Pharaoh (@TheBigPharaoh) January 10, 2020



The “current banging of war drums is for local consumption, promoting military rule.”

The regime often uses major political events as an opportunity to remind the country of its security and anti-terror narrative, which it constantly pushes to justify severe repression in the country.

As the anniversary of the January 25 Revolution approaches, we are reminded just how many peaceful protesters have been jailed and charged in Egypt for membership in a terror group and for funding or aiding terrorists, including many from the recent September protests.

Earlier today the Egypt Independent reported an official statement from the Egyptian Armed Forces, that the Air Force reconnaissance exercises Qader 2020 “provided air assistance in drills for targeting terrorist outposts in all directions.”

Military displays of strength are a diversion tactic, a spectacle for Egyptians to look at rather than focus on all the downfalls of the current regime, which has imprisoned 60,000 prisoners, several of whom have died or who are dying from the cold this winter.

This drill is also a warning of the regime’s strength, and what it will do to people who come out onto the street to challenge Al-Sisi’s rule if they are planning to do so on 25 January.

‘Cold cells’ campaign hopes to close Egypt’s notorious Scorpion wing

On the 2015 anniversary of the revolution, at least 17 protesters were killed when security forces fired on them, including the activist Shaimaa Al-Sabbagh who carried flowers to Tahrir before she was shot. Just in case they didn’t get the message, armoured personnel carriers rolled into the streets downtown, a warning to anyone else who wanted to voice their opinion.

There is no more painful reminder of the army’s strength against civilians than the 2013 Rabaa massacre against pro-democracy protesters in the square when army tanks rolled over the sit-in, snipers shot at demonstrators and set fire to tents. Some 1,000 people were killed that day and hundreds more injured.

Two years ago, just one month before the 2018 presidential elections, Operation Sinai was launched “to combat terrorism”.

In the first three months of the operation, 3,000 homes were flattened along the border with Gaza. The army continues to extrajudicially kill civilians, forcibly disappear children and burn and demolish the houses of people who speak out.

At the time the operation began, the president was desperately looking for ways to divert the electorate’s attention away from the dire economic situation in the country and drum up support for his own rule, so he pushed security to the top of the agenda.

But it is not the army’s strength which will secure the nation – that can only happen when it respects the rule of law.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Israel’s fear of prosecution strengthens Palestine narratives

January 16, 2020

A Palestinian holds a Palestinian flag during a protest within the Great March of Return in Gaza on 21 December 2018 [Ramez habboub/Anadolu Agency]


Ramona Wadi
@walzerscent
January 16, 2020 

Israeli media has reported that the International Criminal Court (ICC) could issue secret arrest warrants for Israeli officials involved in war crimes against the Palestinian people. According to a senior Israeli official who spoke to Israel Hayom, “The very fact that an ICC investigation will be launched will make Israel synonymous with the darkest regimes in Africa, where truly horrific war crimes have been committed. It’s unthinkable.”

It is unthinkable to speak of comparisons when Israel was established upon horrific war crimes against the Palestinian people which continue to be perpetrated to the present day. The possible ICC investigation and arrest warrants will merely cast a spotlight upon the plethora of violations which the UN has normalised through its well-practiced defence of Israel’s security narrative.

Israel is now reportedly concerned about its international image and the economic impact an investigation could have. To this effect, Israel is most probably indirectly referring to the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, as ministers expressed concern about “Palestinians and their supporters [using] any such investigation to relentlessly pressure international conglomerates to stop doing business with Israel.”

The Israeli government has also been told that settlements constitute the strongest case at the ICC, increasing the possibility of targeting officials across the political spectrum given the unanimous support for colonial expansion. In this regard, Israel has availed itself of two factors in recent years: international inaction and US support for expansion, recently declared “not inconsistent with international law” by the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

READ: Calls for Palestinian elections are welcome, but under what conditions?

So far, the international community has managed to excuse Israel’s war crimes record by limiting itself to periodical condemnations. Israel’s response to the ICC mirrors the international community’s response to the documented violations; both cast aside the implications of a state and its officials committing war crimes to shift focus on the Israeli narrative and, in turn, normalise the violations Palestinians face daily into a routine dissociated from colonial violence.

An ICC investigation, if it happens, has the potential to alter the status quo which has served Israel for decades and turned Palestinians into a humanitarian catastrophe. The international community’s convenient narrative can be stripped away by the ICC directly targeting the officials responsible for war crimes against the Palestinian people. As a result, the mainstream version of events about Palestinians dying, or losing their homes, will no longer be considered acceptable.

Palestinians have been murdered by Israeli officials working for the colonial state. Likewise, responsibility for ongoing settlement expansion can be traced back to the government officials who remain committed to the original plan of ethnically cleansing Palestine from its indigenous population.

The ICC’s delays remain an impediment to investigations and arrests. Yet the focus on the ICC’s clear admission that war crimes have been committed must not fade from sight. It is imperative not to waste additional years from the Palestinian narrative by falling upon the clichéd use of “alleged war crimes” as a measure to protect Israel.

Since war crimes have been committed, the Palestinian narrative must be supported by this admission and it must be made incumbent upon the international community to follow suit in its discourse.

READ: For Palestine, international consensus has become a platform for inaction

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

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Iran, US conflict shrouded in the fog of war

January 15, 2020

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the 'Evangelicals for Trump' Coalition event at the King Jesus Church in Miami, Florida, United States on 3 January, 2019 [Stringer/Anadolu Agency]

Omar Ahmed January 15, 2020

The unlawful killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and the Iraqi deputy commander of the Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces – PMF), Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis earlier this month, was based on allegations of “imminent threats.” US President Donald Trump stated that the elite Qud’s Force head, Soleimani, was planning attacks against Americans, in particular, four US embassies.

As it turned out, Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has since admitted that he didn’t know when or where these attacks were to take place, while Secretary of Defence Mark Esper acknowledged that he did not see a shred of evidence from the president of these perceived threats: “The president didn’t cite a specific piece of evidence. What he said was he believed.”

Pompeo says they didn’t know what was gonna get attacked. Trump says four embassies. One of them is lying or both of them are lying. Your choice. https://t.co/jpccBzrcWB
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 11, 2020

Raising new questions about the military intelligence and strategic planning that led to the MQ-9 Reaper drone strike, Trump also downplayed the importance of any alleged threats, saying on Twitter that it didn’t matter “because of his horrible past!”

It has now been revealed that Trump ordered the killing of another Quds Force commander, Abdul Reza Shahlai based in Yemen, however, this assassination attempt failed, with a lower-ranking operative being killed instead. The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Trump confessed to associates he was “under pressure to deal with Gen. Soleimani from GOP senators he views as important supporters in his coming impeachment trial in the Senate.” This has confirmed what has largely been postulated by myself and other observers.

READ: ‘Horrible past’ justifies assassination, Trump insists

In the wake of the assassination, I argued that Trump is unaware of the implications of his decision, a concern that is even shared by several US officials. Speaking of Trump’s actions, one diplomat serving in the region who recently asked to relocate told Vox that it “feels unplanned and made up,” adding that if Iran decides to attack US outposts in earnest and with rockets, “we are probably fucked.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) initial response was the first time a state had stood up to American aggression in a post-Cold War setting. Up until recent years, most attacks against US military facilities or personnel were carried out by non-state actors. Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles at several US bases in Iraq. It is clear Iran sought a “proportionate” response if reports of American requests via the Swiss are credible.

It is also clear that Iran intentionally picked its targets so as to minimalise, if not avoid, US fatalities but also to illustrate the capabilities of Iran’s military force, with impressive accuracy – hangars, storage facilities, and warehouses were specifically struck, the main targets were their localised “war machine”. It was both face-saving and a means to offer a de-escalation, which the US appears to have taken for now. The US also received advanced warnings, with Iraq being informed by Tehran of the impending retaliatory attacks.

The Iranians did *not* miss. These buildings were hit quite precisely. pic.twitter.com/y2MZyT187R
— Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk) January 8, 2020

Contrary to Saudi-led media seeking to implicate Qatar in the US airstrikes, IRGC commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh stated at a press conference, (with the flags of Iran’s Axis of Resistance alliance on full display behind him), that two bases in Iraq (both targeted), one from Jordan and another from Kuwait, were “involved” in the American “terrorist attack” against Soleimani.

Video de l impact de missiles iraniens sur la base d ain Assad airbase.
Footage released by BBC shows last week IRGC missile attack on Ain al Assad airbase in Iraq
pic.twitter.com/NC5KIRywNH
— Harry Boone (@towersight) January 13, 2020

Whilst the Trump administration declared that there were no casualties nor fatalities, some Iranian media outlets reported that at least 80 soldiers died, with witness reports suggesting the wounded were flown to hospitals in Jordan and Israel. These have not been verified independently, however, a CNN reporter who was eventually allowed inside Ain Al-Assad air base in Anbar province which was heavily hit observed that “it’s truly extraordinary how anyone managed to survive, that there were no casualties.” Hajizadeh said whilst the IRGC had the capabilities and intelligence of the locations of the personnel, they were not the primary targets but did claim casualties.

Danish soldier stationed at Ain al-Assad Air Base: "It was terrible. It cannot be described and it should not be experienced. We could do nothing, we could just accept."#عين_الاسد #انتقام_سخت #قاسم_سليمانی pic.twitter.com/CmbT099y16
— iranmilitaryvlog 🇮🇷 (@irmilitaryvlog) January 14, 2020

Tragically, the shooting down of the Ukraine International Airline Flight 752 near Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran reversed any political gains Iran made immediately after the killing of Soleimani – there was an outpouring of popular support among Iranians, some 25 million took part in the funeral processions spread over five cities. International attention on Iran’s missile strikes, part of the “harsh revenge” promised by the Supreme Leader, was soon short-lived as the grim details made its way into the mainstream news. It was not long before international coverage shifted away from the aftermath of the US bases – there was practically a media blackout on it in the coming days.

READ: Iran arrests suspects in plane disaster as protests persist

However, the high civilian death toll justified the focus and scrutiny. Iran initially claimed the plane crashed due to a technical fault, but mounting pressure followed by investigations and leaked footage soon forced an admission of guilt from the government that it was hit unintentionally, partially to control the narrative before the US could. By then, the damage had set into motion hundreds of protesters angry with the cover-up.

On #PS752: NYTimes seems to have concluded (https://t.co/PvWOVSMtuy) that the transponder onboard either stopped transmitting or had its ground station comms jammed, which is why it was identified as a threat in the first place.

Logical question: If it was jammed, who jammed it?
— particles (@hakusaro) January 11, 2020

Although arrests have been made, there are arguments that due to Iran being on high-alert, especially in the uncertainty and fog of war, they may have expected a counter-strike by the US and mistakenly shot it down, especially amidst the unpredictable tweets emanating from the White House threatening to destroy 52 cultural sites, but this doesn’t explain why flights were not grounded.

A similar incident occurred back in August 2010, an Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter mistakenly entered a 20-kilometre no-fly zone around the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, which was being launched at the time and guarded by the Iranian Armed Forces on high alert. Reportedly due to miscommunication, Tor-M1 units misinterpreted the friendly jet as a hostile target and effectively downed it. Iranian pilots managed to eject and survive the incident. It has been said that miscommunications occurred in this case too, reportedly leaving a missile operator 10 seconds to make a decision as Flight 752’s transponder suddenly stopped working not long after take-off and was heading towards a strategic military site, according to Iranian media.

In 2012 The Jerusalem Post, citing WikiLeaks, reported that Russia provided Israel security codes to access Iran’s Russian air-defence systems in exchange for an Israeli handover of codes to “hack” drones sold to Georgia. Ominously, a 2017 article by Aviation Today revealed that a US Department of Homeland Security official admitted that his team of experts successfully demonstrated that a commercial aircraft could be remotely hacked in a non-laboratory setting.

The original video footage used as evidence of Iran shooting down the plane was reported by The New York Times – it had been passed onto them by a London-based Iranian dissident, Nariman Gharib, with the video itself filmed by an anonymous source who was stationed in a derelict industrial area about 6am, calmly filming the night sky as if in anticipation of the strike. It is fair to say there are more reasonable questions than there are answers at this stage.

It is important to note that Iran’s missile strikes were the first responses, a mere “slap in the face” as Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei said. A senior IRGC commander also stated that “harsher” revenge will follow. The conflict is by no means over, rather it is just getting started. Trump has resorted to further sanctions against a nation that has become accustomed to these acts of economic terrorism.

READ: Influential Iraqi cleric Sadr calls for anti-US demonstrations

Several Iraqi factions are calling for a united front against US military presence in the country – more attacks against US forces will be expected now that the Trump administration has predictably chosen to undermine Iraq’s democracy and sovereignty by ignoring parliamentary requests to withdraw from the country, thereby returning to an illegal occupying force. The Iraqi armed forces, which includes the Hashd forces, are justified in responding to US aggression – the strikes on Hashd positions last month near the Syria-Iraq border killed more Iraqi servicemen than it did Hashd fighters. The Iraqi paramilitary group are yet to officially retaliate for the assassination of their second in command, Al-Muhandis, which they have vowed will happen.

As a lawyer I find this letter quite peculiar to put it mildly. Iraq as a sovereign nation has the sole right to decide whether the US military should stay or leave unless the US still regards itself as an occupying power. pic.twitter.com/seUX7Mk5yx
— Mohamed ElBaradei (@ElBaradei) January 11, 2020

In bolstering its image as a bandit state, the US is economically blackmailing Iraq should it go ahead with seeking to expel US forces, even going as far as to threaten to freeze Iraq’s oil revenues held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. Conversely, Saudi Arabia has kept up its protection payments, $1 billion according to Trump in a recent interview, to send over more US troops in order to prop up the Kingdom’s security in an increasingly volatile region.

US-supported civil unrest will also continue to rise, exploiting the peoples’ genuine grievances against the Iraqi government. Caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdel-Mahdi has also disclosed comments made in parliament that were not broadcast, that the US reportedly demanded 50 per cent of Iraqi oil output in exchange for reconstruction in the country. Abel-Mahdi stated that he refused and opted to deal with China instead. Upon his return from China, Trump threatened him with massive demonstrations that would topple his government.

It is easy to overlook the fact that Daesh will seek to capitalise, minimally, on the absence of Soleimani’s military leadership. Undoubtedly Soleimani and the Hashd forces were responsible for the crushing defeat of Daesh. CNN recognised the Iranian general’s contributions against the terrorist group only three years ago.

Three years ago CNN was crediting #Soleimani for the defeat of #ISIS. pic.twitter.com/O21MbZzJ1O
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾🇮🇷 (@Partisangirl) January 7, 2020

For now, though, there have been opportunistic attacks against Hashd positions following the fateful US airstrikes. Israel for one has since bombed Hashd fighters on the Syria-Iraq border who are there to combat Daesh. It’s as if they are fulfilling the role of Daesh’s unofficial air force. It should come as no surprise then when regional leaders start to complain about Daesh’s resurgence.

Trump’s order to eliminate Soleimani may well have been tactically and operationally successful, as for its strategic value that is less forthcoming. The IRGC is not reliant on one person. In fact, it is safe to say Trump really doesn’t have a substantial strategy. Iran’s strategic vision is not for full conventional confrontation with the US, but the US withdrawal from West Asia, Iran’s natural sphere of influence. For this to be truly realised, Iran as a matter of rational state-level security must continue to work on its deterrence capabilities.

OPINION: Trump has no idea what he has done by killing Soleimani

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

WikiLeaks reveals Bin Zayed’s opinion on Saudi royal family

January 11, 2020

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud (L) is welcomed by Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan with an official ceremony at Abu Dhabi Airport in Abu Dhabi, UAE on 22 November 2018 [BANDAR ALGALOUD/Anadolu Agency]

January 11, 2020

A new telegram published on the WikiLeaks website, an international non-profit website specialising in publishing confidential documents, revealed the concerns of the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed Bin Zayed, over the ruling family in Saudi Arabia.

The telegram, also published by The New York Times, announced in a lengthy report that Bin Zayed had informed the US ambassador, James Jeffrey, that he fears Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia and wants to eliminate it.

The New York Times reported that the crown prince of Abu Dhabi: “Considered the Saudi royal family during the reign of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as helpless; however, he was afraid that the alternative would be an authoritarian and Wahhabi state similar to ISIS.” He further stated: “Anyone who replaces Al Saud will be a nightmare.”

The telegram disclosed that Bin Zayed soon focused on the current crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman: “Who was impatient for introducing reforms in order to reduce Saudi Arabia’s attachment to radical Islam, and marketed his vision to the administration of US President Donald Trump.”

In the same lengthy report, entitled Mohammed Bin Zayed’s Dark Vision of the Middle East’s Future, writer Robert F. Worth combined interviewing, profiling and analysing the crown prince of Abu Dhabi – the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

READ: Recording links UAE crown prince to Malaysia PM corruption cases

The New York Times reported that Bin Zayed: “Put much of his enormous resources into the counter-revolution, and he cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood and built a hyper-modern security-based state, where everyone is monitored in search of the slightest whiff of Islamic inclinations.”

The newspaper pointed out that the departure of the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, was the first great success of the Bin Zayed campaign, adding: “It appears that he was very confident in what could be done without American restrictions, and soon turned his attention to Libya, where he began providing military support to the former general, Khalifa Haftar, a tyrant who shares Bin Zayed’s feelings towards Islamists.”

The author, quoting a US diplomat, stressed that the blockade imposed on Qatar since June 2017 has become a “personal revenge issue” for Bin Zayed.

It is worth also noting that in 2009 Bin Zayed made a decision that would greatly increase his ability to project power beyond the UAE borders, when he asked Mike Hindmarsh, former commander of Australia’s Special Air Service regiment, for help in reorganising the Emirati army, appointing him eventually to lead the army.

He indicated that it is inconceivable to appoint a non-Arab official in such high military post in any other country in the Middle East.

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Trump: Saudi paid $1bn to increase number of US troops in region

January 13, 2020

US President Donald Trump in Florida, US on 3 January 2019 [Stringer/Anadolu Agency]

January 13, 2020 at 9:38 am

US President Donald Trump said that he made Saudi Arabia pay the US for the increased presence of American service personnel in the region as a result of the regional tensions.

In an interview with the American TV channel Fox News, Trump said: “Saudi Arabia is paying us for [our troops]. We have a very good relationship with Saudi Arabia.”

“I said, listen, you’re a very rich country. You want more troops? I’m going to send them to you, but you’ve got to pay us. They’re paying us. They’ve already deposited $1 billion in the bank.”


He sells troops.

“We have a very good relationship with Saudi Arabia—I said, listen, you’re a very rich country. You want more troops? I’m going to send them to you, but you’ve got to pay us. They’re paying us. They’ve already deposited $1B in the bank.” pic.twitter.com/rc1f7heyCP

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) January 11, 2020

Last October the Pentagon said it approved the deployment of 3,000 additional soldiers and military equipment to Saudi Arabia after the country’s state-owned oil giant, Aramco, was subjected in September to a missile attack, for which Yemen’s Houthis claimed responsibility. The new military equipment included Patriot missiles, THAAD system and fighting planes.

Trump has repeatedly said he would force states to pay for US protection, often in reference to Gulf states. The region has seen unprecedented upheaval since Trump’s arrival to the Oval Office, with tensions between Saudi and Iran being at their peak and an ongoing nearly three year Arab boycott of Qatar.

READ: Trump floats expanding NATO to add Middle East


US President Donald Trump: Saudi-US relations ‘strongest ever’ – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

2019 was second-hottest year ever, more extreme weather ahead: WMO

Reuters  Wednesday January 15, 2020

GENEVA (Reuters) - Last year was the Earth’s second-hottest since records began, and the world should brace itself for more extreme weather events like the bushfires ravaging much of Australia, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday.

The Geneva-based WMO combined several datasets, including two from the U.S. space administration NASA and the UK Met Office.

These showed that the average global temperature in 2019 was 1.1 degree Celsius (2.0 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, creeping towards a globally agreed limit after which major changes to life on Earth are expected.

“Unfortunately, we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020 and the coming decades, fuelled by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

Australia had its hottest, driest year ever - a precursor to the bushfires.

Scientists say climate change is likely to have contributed to severe weather in 2019 such as a heatwave in Europe and the hurricane that killed at least 50 people when it barrelled through the Bahamas in September.

Governments agreed at the 2015 Paris Accord to cap fossil fuel emissions enough to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels - after which global warming is expected to be so severe that it will all but wipe out the world’s coral reefs and most Arctic sea ice.

However, the WMO has previously said that much greater temperature rises — of 3-5 Celsius (5.4-9.0 Fahrenheit) — can be expected if nothing is done to stop the rise in harmful emissions, which hit a new record in 2018.

The United States — the world’s top historic greenhouse gas emitter and leading oil and gas producer — began the process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement last year. U.S. President Donald Trump has cast doubt on mainstream climate science.

On a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, however, U.S. scientists said it was clear from the data that greenhouse gas emissions were warming the planet.

“We end up with an attribution of these trends to human activity pretty much at the 100 percent level ... All of the trends are effectively anthropogenic (man-made) at this point,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

The hottest year on record was 2016, when a recurring weather pattern called El Nino pushed the average surface temperature to 1.2 Celsius (2.2 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, the WMO said.

“In the future we easily can expect warmer El Ninos than the previous ones,” said WMO scientist Omar Baddour. “We can raise a red flag now.”

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