LEBANON PULSE

Censorship highlights role of alternative media outlets in Lebanese revolution

ARTICLE SUMMARY
Twitter has blocked the accounts of several Lebanese activists supporting the popular movement in what some believe is part of a systematic campaign against it.

Hanan Hamdan January 5, 2020

JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images
Women draped in the Lebanese national flag attend a protest in Zouk Mosbeh, north of the capital, Beirut, Oct. 22, 2019.

BEIRUT — Twitter has blocked the accounts of several Lebanese journalists and activists over the past two weeks. The commentators and activists are in favor of the protests that began in Ocbober and have been tweeting about the demonstrations on a daily basis. Most of them believe their accounts were reported by Twitter users who support the authorities and oppose the protests.

Among those whose accounts have been blocked are Salman Andary, Michel HajjiGeorgiou, Sabine Youssef, Nicole Najjar, Jay Rahmeh and Roger Edde.

The protests broke out Oct. 17, as demonstrators took to the streets across Lebanon to protest the deteriorating economic and social conditions and claim basic human rights. Ever since, social media platforms have been used as a source of information in the absence of coverage by traditional media outlets.

A journalist told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “While covering the tense demonstrations on the evening of Dec. 15, I was surprised to see that my account was blocked. Dozens of other accounts supporting the popular protests were also blocked at the same time! This raises questions about Twitter’s policy. An explanation is in order. Is this the website’s policy, or are there campaigns against us? Some people have not been able to recover their accounts yet,” he said.

This journalist criticized Twitter's practices, saying it “only blocks the accounts of people expressing support for the demonstrators and conveying the voice of protesters while it overlooks those who spread hate and incite against others.”

Andary tweeted Dec. 16, “We are back on Twitter after were blocked yesterday evening. … Our voices shall prevail in the face of thugs.”

Abed Qattaya is the head of digital content at SMEX, a Lebanese non-governmental organization that has been working since 2008 to defend digital rights in the Arab region. He told Al-Monitor, “We cannot know exactly how many Twitter accounts have been blocked given the large number of such accounts. A lot of activists are telling us that their accounts are still getting blocked.”

He added, “As an organization, we have contacted the policy team at Twitter to ask about these accounts. We believe the issue is technical and probably due to excessive activity and tweets since the start of the uprising. This is unfair.”

According to several journalists and activists, the blocking is part of a campaign of systematic intimidation by supporters of the ruling parties to thwart the demonstrations, muzzle activists and suppress freedom of opinion and expression in Lebanon.

“There are accounts that are still getting blocked on a daily basis,” said Qattaya.

The repression suggests that alternative media platforms have played an important role since the start of the protests, conveying the rhetoric of the demonstrations directly while the coverage of TV stations and local newspapers is controlled by political agendas that lead them to focus on a specific angle.

Megaphone, established in 2017 by activists and young journalists to review and analyze local news, has emerged as one of these alternative platforms.

Editor Jean Kassir told Al-Monitor that Megaphone “provides daily summaries of the most prominent events and publishes the authorities’ reactions to such events on social media. It also shares videos that cover the events on the ground and convey people’s opinions. In addition, it analyzes the speeches of prominent political figures, including Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Lebanon's Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, and posts videos analyzing certain concepts related to the economy such as that of capital control, which has been recently raised in Lebanon."

Kassir added, “Megaphone started as a platform that published weekly or monthly content but it was not long before it started publishing daily posts that include a wide range of critical topics within the framework of a very clear analytical and political line. We try to convey the opinions of various groups and demonstrators on the ground and we offer opinion articles, analysis and videos.”

He went on, “What mainly distinguishes us from traditional media outlets is that we emerged on social media right from the start and were suitable for the age groups looking for such content. We are independent and do not belong to any political party, unlike the traditional media outlets that mostly belong to ruling parties and are thus influenced by political money. The editorial line of the platform is opposed to that of the ruling authorities. We work as volunteers to provide material that tackles complex matters in an accessible way so that people can develop their opinions and be able to later hold officials accountable.”

Legal Agenda, a non-governmental organization that covers legal developments in Lebanon from a critical point of view, has played an important role in covering the events of the protests and has held seminars and conferences bringing together experts and researchers.

Joelle Boutros, a researcher for Legal Agenda, told Al-Monitor, “Our work as a specialized research center has marked a quantum leap in the production of knowledge. Before the uprising, we would only publish articles on our website, but when the uprising started, in addition to publishing articles, we started making videos that explain laws such as the general amnesty law and the rights of protesters upon their arrest by the security forces. We comment on issues related to mental health due to the increasing cases of suicide in Lebanon and we conduct interviews with economists to understand the financial crisis the country is going through.”

She explained, “There is a huge difference between our modest capabilities and those of traditional media. But what makes Legal Agenda special is its clear line that has not changed since the beginning of the uprising." Legal Agenda "only works to protect and assist society by covering the events on the ground, studying laws and discussing and clarifying many issues.”

Layal Bahnam, the program director at Maharat Foundation, a non-governmental organization concerned with media issues and freedom of opinion and expression, told Al-Monitor, “Social media websites have played a fundamental and positive role since the start of the uprising on Oct. 17. We have been able to watch events on social media websites as they happened on the ground through the lens of journalists and activists. It is thanks to these websites and their posts that traditional media learns about certain events and goes to cover them.”

However, Behnam stressed the need to identify credible social media sources. “At a time when some activists and journalists proved to be really credible, some pages published falsities such as accusing activists of receiving foreign funding in exchange for participating in the protests.”

Hanan Hamdan, a Beirut-based journalist, reports on social and economic issues for local and international media outlets, among them Al Modon, Raseef22 and Legal Agenda. She holds master's degrees in finance and political science.

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/twitter-lebanese-revolution-accounts-blocked-protest-media.html#ixzz6AGiYLUWP

The US killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was meant to cripple Tehran's clout in the Middle East, but analysts see the allies of the Islamic Republic closing rank instead.

As the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, Soleimani oversaw Tehran's interventions in regional power struggles from Lebanon and Iraq to Syria and Yemen.

Washington had hoped his killing in a Baghdad drone strike Friday would deal a blow to Iran and its network of proxies -- but the plan appears to have backfired by uniting pro-Iran factions under an "axis of resistance".

"The strike unified the resistance forces and made combatting the United States a priority," said Qassem Qassir, a Lebanese expert in Islamic movements.

"The assassination was a strategic mistake, and the response will be across the region -- not just limited to Iraq," said Qassir. Indeed, pro-Iran factions in Iraq have seized on the strike to secure a political and popular revival.

Kataeb Hezbollah, a vehemently anti-American armed faction in Iraq, said the strike was "the beginning of the end of the US presence in the region".

Iraqi populist cleric Moqtada Sadr swiftly reactivated his Mahdi Army, the notorious militia that fought US troops after the American-led invasion of 2003. "Th e Iraqi factions of the resistance must hold an immediate meeting to form the International Resistance Regiments," he tweeted, telling his fighters to "be ready".
'Turn the skies to hell'

Qais al-Khazali, a paramilitary leader and bitter rival of Sadr's, echoed his calls for fighting units to mobilise following the strike on Soleimani.

Khazali also threatened US troops who have been stationed across Iraq since 2014 as part of the global coalition battling the Islamic State group.

On Sunday, Iraq's parliament voted in favour of ousting US troops although the decision rests with the government.

"If you don't leave, or if you procrastinate in leaving, you will find a strong Iraqi response that will shake the ground beneath your feat and turn the skies above you into hell," Khazali warned. Even Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's highest Shiite authority, broke with standard protocol to mourn Soleimani.

In a first, Sistani sent a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to offer his condolences. Further afield in Lebanon, Iran-backed Hezbollah said the strike represented a threat to "all the movements, leaders and countries of the axis of resistance".

The killing of "Qasem Soleimani is not an Iranian issue. It concerns the axis of resistance -- it concerns the Muslim world," said the movement's influential head Hassan Nasrallah.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, meanwhile, called for "direct and swift reprisals" to the strike. Palestinian movement Hamas slammed it as an "American rampage," and its head Ismail Haniya travelled to Tehran for Soleimani's funeral.

And the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also urged "a coordinated, comprehensive and continuous response from resistance forces".
'Closing of rank'

"There could be a closing of rank and a reinforcement of the confessionalism," said Karim Bitar of the Paris-based Institute for International and Strategic Affairs.

He said Iran's allies in the region would set economic or political goals aside to prioritise the "emergency security situation" triggered by Soleimani's death. "Soon enough, this decision by (US President) Donald Trump will be seen as counter-productive," Bitar predicted.

Trump has threatened Iran with "major retaliation" if it responds to the strike, openly warning in a tweet on Sunday that US action may even be "disproportionate".

He had already threatened to bomb 52 unspecified targets in Iran if Tehran attacks US interests in the region.

"Tehran has the sword of Damocles hanging over its head," Bitar told AFP.

"But the threat of foreign intervention will reunite Iranians of all social classes, both opponents and supporters of the regime," he said.

Indeed, unprecedented crowds have turned out in Iran to mourn Soleimani and the four other Revolutionary Guards killed in the US strike. Ultimately, the assassination could end up bolstering the Iranian government, which will benefit from a phenomenon of "rallying around the flag," Bitar said.


Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/2020/01/iraq-iran-us-unrest-shiite.html#ixzz6AGi9VfVE

Mosul joins the protests in Iraq but in a different way

Adam Lucente January 3, 2020


ARTICLE SUMMARY
Although Mosul seems quiet amid ongoing protests in Iraq, residents of the Ninevah capital are expressing solidarity with the anti-government protests in various ways.

ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images
Students take part in a gathering at Mosul University to mourn protesters killed in anti-government rallies, Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 1, 2019.

MOSUL, Iraq — Many in this capital of Ninevah province are supporting the anti-government protests taking place in Iraq, but in their own way.

For example, on Dec. 4, the usually bustling University of Mosul was fairly empty. Many students were not attending classes, adhering to the protesters' slogan and hashtag “No homeland, no work.” Students across the country have been skipping classes in opposition to a state they view as corrupt, authoritarian and controlled by neighboring Iran.

While many students in Mosul have not been going to class like their counterparts in Baghdad and in the south, those in Mosul are not protesting as fiercely as young people are in those other areas. One reason why is that many activists in Mosul are afraid to join Iraqis in the capital and elsewhere in the streets.

“Our hearts are with the protesters in Baghdad, but we can’t join them right now,” Aliya Muzaham, a volunteer with the Peace and Freedom Organization, told Al-Monitor. “We protested before and Daesh came.” Daesh is an Arabic abbreviation for the Sunni-led Islamic State (IS).

Mosul residents fear Iran-backed Shiite militias or IS will attack them or take advantage of the situation should they start protesting. However, some small demonstrations are starting in the largest city that was occupied by IS.

Solidarity with protesters and those who died

Anti-government protests began in Baghdad in October. The protesters are demanding the fall of the political system in place since the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion, a presidential system with direct elections, the prosecution of corrupt politicians and an end to Iran’s perceived dominance in Iraq, among other things. The protests have since spread to other cities in southern Iraq.

As of December, nearly 500 had died in the protests, with 27,000 injured, some of them permanently disabled, according to the quasi-governmental Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights. The figure mainly includes protesters, but security service members have been killed and injured as well.

So far in Mosul, there have only been some small demonstrations at the University of Mosul, according to Ali Imad, a Peace and Freedom Organization activist. The group supports peace-building and nonviolence programs for Mosul residents from different ethnic and religious groups.

Instagram posts show University of Mosul students wearing black in support of protesters in Iraq and holding signs in solidarity with killed protesters in the south.

“Right now, there are only strikes at the university in solidarity and wearing black for the martyrs,” Imad told Al-Monitor, saying these are the only regular demonstrations anywhere in Mosul.

Social media pictures show gatherings where students wear black and stand together at the university.

There was also an impromptu protest in November following Iraq’s soccer victory over the United Arab Emirates, where people shouted “With blood and spirit we sacrifice for Tahrir,” referring to the center of the protests in Baghdad, Tahrir Square.

The participants used an event where Iraqis were in the streets for a sports event to get political, Muzaham said.

“It was a soccer celebration, but also supporting the martyrs in Baghdad and Nasiriyah,” she said. “They took this opportunity and wore black for the people who died.”

"Sunni politicians are even more corrupt"

Many in Mosul back the protests, even though the overt support that has taken place has been limited to the soccer celebration and small gatherings at the university. One major reason why Mosul residents favor the protests may be due to the protests’ anti-corruption message; corruption is rife in the city, according to Muzaham.

“When you go get any documents, you need to pay to make it ‘free,’” she said, referring to the acquisition of needed government IDs. “You can’t get anything without 'wasta.'”

Wasta, an Arabic word meaning “connections,” refers to people in government or positions of power who can make obtaining state services easy.

“All of Iraq is corruption,” Peace and Freedom Organization volunteer Younes Abbas told Al-Monitor. “Sunni politicians are even more corrupt.”

Mosul is the most populous Sunni-majority city in Iraq.

Posters targeting Iraqi parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi, the highest-ranking Sunni politician in the country, are common in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square. Some believe the businessman became speaker only due to his wealth.

One reason Mosul residents do not protest more is the fear that IS will take advantage of any chaos in the city, as the militant organization did in 2014. Some also fear the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), which control many checkpoints and yield considerable power in Mosul.

The mostly Shiite PMU militias played a crucial role in liberating Mosul from IS, but are seen as an extension of Iran at a time of rampant anti-Iranian sentiment. Protesters recently torched the Iranian consulate in the Shiite holy city of Najaf. In October, a video surfaced showing Abu Azrael, a PMU social media star, badly beaten by protesters in Baghdad.

Mosul is strategic for the PMU, which does not want to lose the city to protesters, IS or anyone else, Iraqi political analyst Diyari Salih told Al-Monitor.

“The Hashd believes Mosul has symbolic geopolitical importance,” Salih said, using the Arabic-language acronym for the PMU. “It’s a rich city with an active economy...It forms an important bridge between the Kurdistan Region and the rest of Iraq.”

Salih also said the PMU also wants to keep Mosul to prevent Kurdish forces from moving back into the disputed Iraqi-Kurdish territories, which they did following IS’ rise in 2014, before losing them to Iraq in 2017 after the Kurdistan independence referendum.

“The Hashd recognizes that there is a Kurdish desire to annex Sinjar,” he said, referring to the contested city west of Mosul. “The Hashd’s presence prevents the Kurds from widening their territory.”

“The Hashd is also thinking to undercut Turkey’s role there.”

Turkey maintains a military base in Bashiqa, which is also in Ninevah province.

"Baghdad didn’t support Mosul"

Mosul has protested before. The city and other Sunni areas experienced widespread demonstrations in 2012 and 2013 before a crackdown from the government. A year later, IS swiftly took the city. Today, Mosul residents fear they will be called supporters of Saddam Hussein or IS if they take to the streets again.

Mosul students and activists are quietly expressing support for protesters in Baghdad in the south despite this. During IS’ occupation of Mosul there were few shows of solidarity with the city from other Iraqis, though, because most Iraqis felt all of Mosul was IS, Imad said.

“Daesh said they were true Sunni Islam,” he said. “Because Daesh used our religion, we need to speak out to Baghdad and tell them this is not true.”

Imad is speaking openly about the protests to show Baghdad that people in Mosul are not all IS. “Baghdad didn’t support Mosul when Daesh came,” he said. “They thought all of Mosul was Daesh.”

Adam Lucente is a freelance journalist. He has worked in Iraq, Jordan, Tunisia and other countries across the Middle East. On Twitter: @Adam_Lucente

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/01/iraq-protests-mosul-isis.html#ixzz6AGgxj3je

IRAQ PULSE

Iraqi armed factions vow revenge for Shiite commanders’ killings

Shelly Kittleson January 5, 2020

ARTICLE SUMMARY
Iraqi politicians and leaders of Shiite armed groups now incorporated into government forces have vowed to get revenge for the US drone attack that killed IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani
Members of the Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah gather in Baghdad on Jan. 4, 2020, ahead of the funeral procession of militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed in a Jan. 3 airstrike at the Baghdad airport along with Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

BAGHDAD — Iraq's parliament passed a resolution Jan. 5 calling on the government to expel US troops from the country, a day after a funeral procession for Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis took place in the capital and other Iraqi cities.

The resolution seems unlikely to actually end the US troop presence in Iraq, however, US Secretary State Mike Pompeo responded: "We're confident the Iraqi people want the United States to continue to be there."

Several explosions were heard in the capital late that evening, with reports of rockets hitting the Green Zone and another area.

A Jan. 3 US drone attack widely held to be a violation of Iraqi sovereignty killed Muhandis and Soleimani, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force commander, as they were leaving the Baghdad airport.

Thousands attended the funeral procession. Young men in fatigues piled into small dusty white buses yelling religious slogans. The caskets were later paraded through Iraqi cities revered by Shiites, Karbala and Najaf, prior to their planned burial: one in Najaf and one across the border in Iran some days later.

A statement from the political office of Kataib Hezbollah, a US-designated terrorist organization led by Muhandis (who was also known as Jamal Jaafar al-Ibrahimi), had warned that members of parliament who not attending the Jan. 5 parliamentary session would be considered traitors.

Muhandis was also the deputy chief of the government-incorporated Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). Sections of many longstanding Iran-linked Shiite militias became part of the PMU in 2014 during the fight against the Islamic State (IS).

A Kataib Hezbollah security official made a statement on Twitter the night of Jan. 3 calling for "opening the door to registration for those who love martyrdom, to carry out martyrdom operations against the foreign crusaders."

Dec. 29 US airstrikes on Kataib Hezbollah positions in Iraq and Syria that killed at least 25 had been followed by an attack by militia supporters on the US Embassy on two days later.

Hadi al-Amiri, the longstanding leader of the Badr Brigades and head of a major political party, was seen with his hands placed firmly on Muhandis’ casket, vowing to make the United States pay.

Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia leader Qais al-Khazali, who was officially designated a terrorist by the United States on Jan. 3, did not publicly appear until late Jan. 4, blending in by wearing fatigues in the Najaf procession. His videotaped slapping of his neck was interpreted as a vow to get revenge for Soleimani and Muhandis' deaths even at the cost of his own life.

The two dead commanders were objects of intense hatred by some and lionized by others. They had long been considered key players in regional conflicts that have killed hundreds of thousands of people.

In Jan. 3 WhatsApp conversation, Kataib Hezbollah spokesman Mohamed Mohi told Al-Monitor that the militia should be recognized for its role in fighting terrorism, saying it had been “the first to fight IS, securing strategic areas around Baghdad” and liberating Jurf al-Sakr, a Sunni city in Babil province. The city's original residents are still prevented from returning there.

The streets used for the Baghdad procession have for years been linked with "martyr" photos of men in full military gear, framed by insignia of various Iran-linked PMU militias.

In Tahrir Square, “martyr'' posters instead often show the bloodied corpses of the more than 500 killed, mostly protesters, since anti-government demonstrations began Oct. 1. Many blame these killings on groups linked to the two commanders killed Jan. 3.

A 22-year-old Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba fighter from Nasiriyah taking part in Saturday’s procession told Al-Monitor he had fought alongside "Haji Qasem" on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, from 2012, when IS did not yet exist but local opposition groups were gaining strength.

The fighter, who would have been around 15 years old in 2012, called Soleimani and Muhandis “heroes” and “leaders of the Shiite.” The fighters from his group are now all part of official Iraqi government forces and get a government salary, he said.

In the procession, they wore uniforms with official PMU insignia but also carried large flags of their pre-existing militia organizations.

Though brigade numbers are now officially used for the PMU instead of referring to, say, Kataib Hezbollah or Asaib Ahl al-Haq, this often seems an attempt to disguise longstanding loyalties and links.

Off the main thoroughfare used by the mourners and militiamen is a stately home owned by Shibl al-Zaidi, the Kataib al-Imam Ali commander who was falsely said to have been killed in an alleged strike near Taji late Jan. 3. Later reports suggested he was actually in Lebanon.

This reporter interviewed Kataib al-Imam Ali fighters twice last year in the strategic western Iraq border city of Qaim, where the more recent strikes on Kataib Hezbollah positions killed at least 25. During the interviews, the Kataib al-Imam Ali commander for the area railed against US and Israeli “interference in the country.”

Panic momentarily spread late Jan. 2, shortly before the 1:45 a.m. attack that killed the two leaders, after rumors arose that Kataib Hezbollah supporters were planning to attack the anti-government protesters camping out in Tahrir Square.

Kataib Hezbollah fighters and supporters had earlier that day withdrawn from near the US Embassy and had then set up camp across the river near the Babylon hotel, used by many foreign businesspeople and for international conferences. This was close to bridges occupied by the protesters downriver.

Attacks, posturing, false alarms and false information have made these days a nerve-grinding experience for Iraqis.

During the evening of Jan. 4, mortar shells were fired at the Green Zone and the Balad air base.

On the sidelines of the procession, some older men asked to speak with Al-Monitor and stressed repeatedly that ''Iraqis want peace'' and that ''they do not want to be hurt by a war between the US and Iran."

They said they did not know anyone involved from the armed factions but one noted that “most of the fighters are young impoverished men from the south.”

But Safaa, a gray-haired man who did not want his last name used, said, “The US Embassy is not actually an embassy.” The man, who said he had lived in Germany for years but comes back regularly, said of the US complex, “It is an enormous cove of spies.”

Shelly Kittleson is a journalist specializing in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Her work has been published in several international, US and Italian media outlets.

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/01/soleimani-assassination-iran-iraq-us-pmu.html#ixzz6AGfuGm00

 Joker composer Hildur Guðnadóttir made history by becoming the first woman in 19 years to win best original score at the Golden Globes, and the first ever woman to win the award solo.

In this handout photo provided by NBCUniversal Media, 
Hildur Guðnadóttir accepts the award for 'Best Original Score' onstage during the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 5, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California.
Paul Drinkwater—NBCUniversal/Getty Images
BY MESFIN FEKADU / AP

(NEW YORK) — Joker composer Hildur Guðnadóttir made history by becoming the first woman in 19 years to win best original score at the Golden Globes, and the first ever woman to win the award solo.
“This is truly — I’m speechless,” Guðnadóttir said onstage Sunday.
She was the sole female nominee, besting Randy Newman (Marriage Story), Alexandre Desplat (Little Women), Thomas Newman (1917) and Daniel Pemberton (Motherless Brooklyn) to win the prize. The last woman to win the Globe for best original score was Lisa Gerrard in 2001 for Gladiator, which she shared with Hans Zimmer.

UNDER FIVE HUNDRED WORDS IN THIS MAJOR STEP FORWARD FOR DIVERSITY
WHILE THE SECOND HALF OF THE ARTICLE IS OVER A THOUSAND ABOUT ELTON JOHN 

Hezbollah Vows to End U.S. Military Presence in Middle East

Hezbollah Vows to End U.S. Military Presence in Middle East
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group vowed Sunday to end the U.S. military’s presence in the Middle East, saying U.S. bases, warships and soldiers were all fair targets following the recent U.S. killing of an Iranian general.

BY NASSER KARIMI, JON GAMBRELL AND ZEINA KARAM / AP
JANUARY 5, 2020


(TEHRAN, Iran) — The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group vowed Sunday to end the U.S. military’s presence in the Middle East, saying U.S. bases, warships and soldiers were all fair targets following the recent U.S. killing of an Iranian general.

Hassan Nasrallah said the U.S. military “will pay the price” for the U.S. drone strike that killed Gen Qasem Soleimani in Iraq Friday. His comments further heightened tensions in a region already on high alert and bracing for Iranian retaliation.

President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb 52 sites in Iran if it retaliates by attacking Americans. Iran vowed to take an even-greater step away from its unraveling nuclear deal with world powers as a response to Soleimani’s slaying.

“The suicide attackers who forced the Americans to leave from our region in the past are still here and their numbers have increased,” Nasrallah said.

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Huge Crowds Attend Soleimani's Funeral in Tehran

It was not clear which suicide bombings Nasrallah was referring to. A 1983 attack on a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon killed 241 U.S. servicemen. President Ronald Reagan eventually withdrew all American forces from the country. Suicide bombings in Iraq in the 2000s also put pressure on the Americans to withdraw.

Nasrallah spoke from an undisclosed location, and his speech was played on large screens for thousands of Shiite followers in southern Beirut, interrupted occasionally by chants of “Death to America.” The comments were Nasrallah’s first since Soleimani’s killing.

Nasrallah spoke shortly before the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of a bill to expel the U.S. military from Iraq by canceling the military agreement between the two countries. More than 5,000 U.S. soldiers are in Iraq, based on an invitation by the Iraqi government in 2014 to help fight the Islamic State group.

Earlier Sunday, tens of thousands of mourners accompanied a casket carrying the remains of the slain Soleimani through two major Iranian cities as part of a grand funeral procession across the Islamic Republic for the commander killed by an American drone.

Nasrallah said Soleimani was not only Iran’s concern but the entire so-called “axis of resistance,” a term used to refer to anti-Israel militant groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and the Palestinian territories. He said it was up to those groups to decide if and how they would retaliate.

He praised Soleimani and said “the shoe of Qasem Soleimani is worth the head of Trump and all American leaders.”

Soleimani’s killing escalated the crisis between Tehran and Washington after months of trading attacks and threats that have put the wider Middle East on edge. The conflict is rooted in Trump pulling out of Iran’s atomic accord and imposing crippling sanctions.

Iran has promised “harsh revenge” for the U.S. attack, which shocked Iranians across all political lines. Many saw Soleimani as a pillar of the Islamic Republic at a moment when it is beset by U.S. sanctions and recent anti-government protests.

Retaliation for Soleimani could potentially come through the proxy forces which he oversaw as the head of an elite unit within the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Soleimani’s longtime deputy Esmail Ghaani already has taken over as the Quds Force’s commander.

The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia separately warned Americans “of the heightened risk of missile and drone attacks.”

Late Saturday, a series of rockets launched in Baghdad fell inside or near the Green Zone, which houses government offices and foreign embassies, including the U.S. Embassy.

Trump wrote on Twitter afterward that the U.S. had already “targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture.”

Trump did not identify the targets but added that they would be “HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD.”

The 1954 Hague Convention, of which the U.S. is a party, bars any military from “direct hostilities against cultural property.” However, such sites can be targeted if they have been re-purposed and turned into a legitimate “military objective,” according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Iran, home to 24 UNESCO World Heritage sites, has in the past reportedly guarded the sprawling tomb complex of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, with surface-to-air missiles.

After thousands in Baghdad on Saturday mourned Soleimani and others killed in the strike, authorities flew the general’s body to the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz. An honor guard stood by early Sunday as mourners carried the flag-draped coffins of Soleimani and other Guard members off the tarmac.

SPOTLIGHT STORY
Why the Assassination of Iran's Qasem Soleimani Has the U.S. Bracing for Retaliation
The Quds Force commander was the face of Iran's regional ambitions

The caskets then moved slowly through streets choked with mourners wearing black, beating their chests and carrying posters with Soleimani’s portrait. Demonstrators also carried red Shiite flags, which traditionally both symbolize the spilled blood of someone unjustly killed and call for their deaths to be avenged.

Officials brought Soleimani’s body to Ahvaz, a city that was a focus of fighting during the bloody, 1980-88 war between Iraq and Iran in which the general slowly grew to prominence. After that war, Soleimani joined the Guard’s newly formed Quds, or Jersualem, Force, an expeditionary force that works with Iranian proxy forces in countries like Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.

Authorities then took Soleimani’s body to Mashhad later Sunday. His remains will go to Tehran and Qom on Monday for public mourning processions, followed by his hometown of Kerman for burial Tuesday.


This marks the first time Iran honored a single man with a multi-city ceremony. Not even Khomeini received such a processional with his death in 1989. Soleimani on Monday will lie in state at Tehran’s famed Musalla mosque as the revolutionary leader did before him.

Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s regional policy of mobilizing militias across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, including in the war against the Islamic State group. He was also blamed for attacks on U.S. troops and American allies going back decades.

Though it’s unclear how or when Iran may respond, any retaliation was likely to come after three days of mourning declared in both Iran and Iraq.

Iranian officials planned to meet Sunday night to discuss taking a fifth step away from its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, one that could be even greater than planned, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told journalists.

“In the world of politics, all developments are interconnected,” Mousavi said.

Iraqi Parliament Pushes for U.S. Withdrawal

Iran previously has broken limits of its enrichment, its stockpiles and its centrifuges, as well as restarted enrichment at an underground facility.

After the airstrike early Friday, the U.S.-led coalition has scaled back operations and boosted “security and defensive measures” at bases hosting coalition forces in Iraq, a coalition official said on condition of anonymity according to regulations.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has dispatched another 3,000 troops to neighboring Kuwait, the latest in a series of deployments in recent months as the standoff with Iran has worsened. Protesters held demonstrations in dozens of U.S. cities Saturday over Trump’s decisions to kill Soleimani and deploy more troops to the Mideast.

In a thinly veiled threat, one of the Iran-backed militias, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, called on Iraqi security forces to stay at least a kilometer (0.6 miles) away from U.S. bases starting Sunday night. However, U.S. troops are invariably based in Iraqi military posts alongside local forces.


The Iranian parliament on Sunday opened with lawmakers in unison chanting: “Death to America!” Parliament speaker Ali Larijani compared Soleimani’s killing to the 1953 CIA-backed coup that cemented the shah’s power and to the U.S. Navy’s shootdown of an Iranian passenger plane in 1988 that killed 290 people. He also described American officials as following “the law of the jungle.”

“Mr. Trump! This is the voice of Iranian nation. Listen!” Larijani said as lawmakers chanted.

A spokesman for Iran’s armed forces, Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, likewise threatened the U.S. by saying Iran and the “resistance front will decide the time, place and way” revenge will be carried out.

Iraq’s parliament is meeting for an emergency session Sunday. Its government has come under mounting pressure to expel the 5,200 American troops who are based in the country to help prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group.

Iran Abandons Nuclear Deal Over U.S. Killing General

The U.S. has ordered all citizens to leave Iraq and temporarily closed its embassy in Baghdad, where Iran-backed militiamen and their supporters had recently staged two days of violent protests in which they breached the compound. Britain and France have warned their citizens to avoid or strictly limit travel in Iraq, as London said it would begin escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Oman, long an interlocutor between Iran and the West, urged Tehran and Washington on Sunday to pursue dialogue.

No one was hurt in the embassy protests, which came in response to U.S. airstrikes that killed 25 Iran-backed militiamen in Iraq and Syria. The U.S. blamed the militia for a rocket attack that killed a U.S. contractor in northern Iraq.

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Karam reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Aya Batrawy in Dubai, Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad, Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.

Building the revolution’s memory: Coders archive Lebanon’s protests

Zoe Dutton January 2, 2020

ARTICLE SUMMARY
A collective of activists in Lebanon and abroad are archiving the Lebanese protests that broke out more than two months ago as a way to preserve the materials for future analysis.

REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares
Protesters take pictures as the image of a fist is erected to replace a previous one that was burned at Martyrs' Square, Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 22, 2019.

Late on a smoggy Friday afternoon Dec. 13, three friends sat huddled around a laptop at Raseef coffeeshop in the Hamra neighborhood of Beirut. On Twitter, many Lebanese users urged people to head down to Martyrs’ Square to protest over the weekend. Thousands did, with state security forces tear gassing and shooting rubber bullets at demonstrators, who posted videos of the confrontations online.

With each day of the mass anti-government demonstrations that have swept Lebanon for the past 12 weeks, protesters are adding a new page to the country’s history books. To ensure their activism is not lost or distorted by the passage of time, a handful of tech-savvy citizens are working to preserve and archive materials associated with the demonstrations through open-source online projects.

“Collaborating on the archive was a way for me to use my skill set — which is not really normally applicable to political revolutions — to help out and to show up for people,” Ramsey Nasser, a Lebanese coder who works in New York, told Al-Monitor. “Plus, you know, the reality is I have power in New York. So I could actually connect to activists on the ground,” he added, alluding to the daily electricity outages that are a common complaint among protesters fed up with politicians’ corruption and mismanagement.

Along with Nasser, friends Marc Farra and Majd al-Shihabi are creating “Lebanon 2019,” a series of interactive maps about the demonstrations, while the Beirut-based media advocacy group Maharat has partnered with analytics company Data Aurora to launch the interactive platform Lebanon Protests, breaking down Twitter engagement. The American University in Beirut has also published an online research guide, Lebanon Protests 2019, to accompany the thousands of documents it has preserved for in-person viewing at its campus library.
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CIVIL SOCIETY Censorship highlights role of alternative media outlets in Lebanese revolution
These projects follow an explosion of social media accounts and blogs displaying in-depth photo galleries and analysis about the protests.

But while demonstrators in Lebanon are already plenty active online, many of the uprising’s most ambitious digital efforts are helmed by millennial technologists and their peers in the sizable Lebanese diaspora, whose deep engagement in online activism has bridged their geographical distance from the protests. Particularly impressive is Daleel Thawra (Arabic for the Revolution’s Directory) run by volunteers scattered across Beirut, London and New York. With few opportunities in Lebanon, many young Lebanese say they feel forced to leave their families for work abroad, and remittances are essential to the country’s economy.

Now, preserving the protests’ sizable digital presence in open-source archives is the logical next step in these ongoing online efforts.

The trio of Lebanon 2019 creators said they had seen numerous uprising-related posts and images vanish.

“If we don’t download and save this stuff, it’s gone forever,” Nasser told Al-Monitor, noting that people are sometimes pressured to delete posts, while tech companies also remove material. “The story we are trying to capture is ephemeral.”

Nasser is now in Beirut, and Farra has been in there for a couple months. Although Nasser and Farra work as coders in the United States, both are in Beirut over the holidays, their days split between attending protests and working on the archive. They'd previously collaborated with Shihabi, a systems engineer and AUB graduate student, to map the wildfires that devastated Lebanon a week before the protests began Oct. 17, following the announcement of a tax on WhatsApp calls. During the uprising’s initial days, they created a heat map to show its spread, which at the peak of the protests received over 20,000 views a day.

The project is well-suited to the demonstrations’ diffuse, popular character.

“Our question has been: How can we make sure that what happens in Lebanon, in all its depth, gets remembered so we can understand it better in the future?” Shihabi told Al-Monitor. “Archives allow us to study and learn from the past.”

The creation of the archive comes during a renewed discussion in Lebanon about the country's history. The protests have been hailed for their non-sectarian character, and many in the streets have expressed a sense that the poisoned legacies from the country’s 1975-1990 civil war have at last been truly transcended.

Shihabi previously helped to create The Archive of the Disappeared, a digitized trove of newspaper clippings from Lebanon’s Civil War collected by family members who are still seeking justice for their lost loved ones. He emphasized that because only a small portion of events are ever even recorded, much less preserved, an essential aspect of archival work is developing political methodologies that endeavor to be representative.

In recent years, many online projects documenting political movements have sprung up around the Middle East. In 2018, a group of Egyptian activists created a repository of video footage from the 2011 uprising called 858: An Archive of Resistance. A Syrian-led open-source platform called the Syrian Archive gathers, corroborates and preserves visual evidence of war crimes and human rights violations in the country. More than 10,000 songs, graffiti and other artworks created in Syria have been uploaded to the Creative Memory of the Syrian Revolution platform since 2011. Shihabi has also collaborated on Palestine Open Maps and the Syrian Oral History Project, through his involvement with the Arabic-English tech collective Masrad.

Nasser told Al-Monitor that creating online platforms for Arab audiences involve an extra layer of difficulty, because most algorithms and digital typography are designed for the Latin alphabet and incompatible with Arabic script. He runs a blog, "Nope, Not Arabic," dedicated to the issue.

Researcher Sina Zekavat has observed that the 2011 Arab Spring sparked the dissemination of “a new Western savior discourse” around events in the region, through the media’s use of terms like “Facebook revolutions” or “WhatsApp and Twitter revolutions.” These tropes, he argues, misattributed political movements to technological platforms, forming a discourse that erased the collective agency of activists and inhabitants. In practice, their determination, creativity and labor are what give “meaning to modern digital technologies and transforms them from mere consumerist products into ad-hoc tools of revolt and resistance.”

Mohamad Najem, the executive director of the Beirut-based digital rights group SMEX, told Al-Monitor that archival efforts associated with Lebanon’s uprising will be an invaluable resource for future activists, researchers and journalists. Najem and other Lebanese activists have continually advocated for measures to ensure that protesters are able to engage in free open dialogue, both online and in the streets.

“We can’t pretend we have technological solutions to the revolution’s immensely complex political, social and communal questions,” Farra told Al-Monitor. “Right now, we are just trying to capture a ground truth of what is happening in Lebanon, so we can remember it tomorrow.”

Zoe Dutton is a journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon. She writes about environmental politics in the Middle East as well as many other things for multiple outlets. On Twitter: @zoedutton48

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/lebanon-protests-archives-online-projects.html#ixzz6AGb5Ycbd

INDOOR CLIMATE CHANGE 

Man and woman declared dead after elevator floods in Tel Aviv.

A 35-year-old man drowned Saturday after becoming trapped in a flooded elevator in a residential building in southern Tel Aviv.

Firefighting and Rescue Services evacuated the man from the elevator and transferred him to Tel Hashomer Hospital while attempting to resuscitate him. The man was in critical condition and suffering hypothermia, and doctors were forced to declare his death a short time later.

Searches of the area led to the discovery of a woman of about 30, who was evacuated and transferred to the hospital in critical condition. She was declared dead Saturday night.

Magen David Adom (MDA) said that the woman was evacuated after complex operations by firefighters to locate and evacuate other victims at the scene. She was found unconscious and suffering from severe hypothermia. Medical staff transferred her to Tel Aviv's Sourasky Medical Center while performing CPR.

Yosef Nahon, a paramedic who arrived on an MDA motorcycle, said: "When I arrived at the scene, I joined up with the firefighters in the building's stairwell. The firefighters had used scuba diving equipment to search the building's flooded basement level. A man in his 30s was evacuated to us unconscious, with no heartbeat or breathing and suffering from very severe hypothermia. We provided him with medical treatment and performed CPR, and he was transferred to Tel Hashomer in critical condition, while we continued performing lifesaving actions."

The Tel Aviv municipality responded that "the rains which fell during the morning and continue to fall now in Tel Aviv-Jaffa are unusually strong. Within a few hours, we have received approximately 20% of the city's annual precipitation. So, for instance, within two hours this morning, 74 millimeters (2.9 inches) of rain fell without a break."

"Instances of dramatic rainfall such as this one which the city experienced this morning, have increased in recent years due to climate crises. Hundreds of cities around the world are dealing with similar challenges, and the municipality prepared for such a situation before it happened. Already in the morning, the mayor ordered the city's emergency meeting room to be opened and all representatives of the various municipal units were immediately brought to deal with the dangers and return the city to routine. In addition, several community centers were opened to receive evacuated residents as necessary. Every resident who needs help due to the flooding can call the municipal hotline, 106, which will be reinforced and which will make every effort to answer the calls and provide aid to all the callers.

"It is important to emphasize that the municipality prepares for winter each year and gives precedence to preventing flooding from rainfall during this season. In addition to the regular maintenance of the city's drainage system, the city took various actions in order to prepare the systems for winter, such as cleaning the stacks and drainage system, local improvements in the drainage systems, adding stacks, and adding inclines to aid drainage. In addition to all these, it is important to emphasize that the municipality cannot completely promise that there will not be floods, and all information which is received regarding specific places which are in danger of flooding are dealt with immediately by forces spread out around the area."


Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded: "I am shocked at the tragic death of two residents of Tel Aviv who were killed in the elevator disaster. I spoke with the Public Security Minister, the Transportation Minister, the Israel Police Acting Commissioner and the Fire and Rescue Service Commissioner in order to clarify how this happened and how similar disasters might be prevented in the future."

OUR MERCANTILIST MARINE 

Rising costs drain contingency fund for Canada's new fisheries science ships

SHIP BUILDING IN CANADA IS A MUGS GAME FOR THE SELECT FEW ALWAYS INCLUDE COST OVERRUNS, LOWBALL BIDING, AND THREE MAIN SHIPBUILDERS, IRVINGS IN NB, MONTREAL AND VANCOUVER

CBCJanuary 6, 2020

Escalating costs at the Seaspan Shipyard in Vancouver in 2019 depleted the multi-million dollar contingency fund set aside as part of the budget to build three offshore fisheries science vessels under Canada's National Shipbuilding Strategy.

The Canadian Coast Guard Ship John Franklin and CCGS Capt. Jacques Cartier were delivered in 2019, and a third ship is expected this year.

The 63-metre vessels are the first large civilian ships produced under the federal shipbuilding program. They will be used to monitor fish stocks and ecosystems.

The $687-million budget included an escalation contingency fund. The amount was not disclosed.

The full amount was redacted in a federal document authorizing the final dip into the fund. It was released to CBC News under access to information legislation.

Millions already spent by last May

According to a memorandum prepared for Jonathan Wilkinson, the former minister of fisheries and oceans, the project had already used $19 million in contingency funds by May 2019.

But more was needed, the memo said, to cover "escalating project costs such as labour rates and owner's changes, as well as other unexpected increases to project costs including transition into service costs."

"Access to the remainder of the contingency funding [redacted] is now required," the two-page memo said.

Christer Waara/CBC

A decision was needed by July 5, 2019, the note said, "in order to adjust the Shipbuilding Contract with Vancouver Shipyards in a timely fashion and further advance the project in a seamless manner."

Wilkinson signed off on the request.

A small percentage of overall budget

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans would not disclose the amount, but said Wilkinson was not asked to approve new funding.

"The overall contingency fund is a small percentage of the overall budget of $687 million, and is a pre-planned funding amount to cover potential increases to labour rates at the shipyard, economic price and foreign exchange adjustments, and any necessary changes to operational requirements that surface over the 5-year project implementation phase," DFO spokesperson Benoit Mayrand said in a statement to CBC News.

"The total value of available contingency funding cannot be released, as its use will be subject to negotiations with the shipyard," he said.

In an emailed statement, Seaspan spokesperson Amy MacLeod said "requests for contingency funding is a normal, ongoing part of the contracting process on large projects such as the [National Shipbuilding Strategy]."

What we know about the funding deal

When the agreement in principle with Seaspan was announced in 2015, the total project budget was set at $687 million.

Federal officials said at the time the total included $59 million for project management, work up to that date and contingencies, $51 million for engineering costs, and the remainder for construction, contingencies, insurance, warranty, spares and training material.

Seaspan committed to deliver three offshore fisheries science vessels at a total ceiling price of $514 million.

The ceiling included fees and an allowance for contingencies "that may or may not be required to address the risks associated with building a new class of ships in what is essentially a brand new shipyard."

Incentives established to keep costs under budget

The agreement set out three cost bands and established incentives to the yard if the final cost came in below target.

If the final cost came in under a $400-million target, Canada would pay Seaspan a fee and the government and yard would share the savings between the actual and target costs.

Delivery of the first vessel was scheduled for spring 2017, the second vessel five months later and the third three months later.

The delivery date in every case was missed.

Seaspan

Microscopic cracks in the welding were discovered on all three vessels in 2018. The faults were found after two of the ships had passed initial inspections.

The defects were traced to a semi-automated welding system installed as part of the shipyard's multi-million dollar upgrade, CBC reported. The yard bore the cost of repairing the defective welds.

The original budget for the ships of $244 million was developed in 2004.

During the 2015 briefing, federal officials said the first forecast was unrealistic because it did not adequately provide for inflation, management, engineering and design costs and did not properly include contingencies.

Arbitrator upholds decision to fire Calgary Transit bus driver who allegedly sexually harassed colleague

CBCJanuary 5, 2020

An arbitrator has upheld the City of Calgary's decision to fire a Calgary Transit bus driver who allegedly sexually harassed his colleague, after the union grieved the man's dismissal.

The bus driver had been employed with Transit for four-and-a-half years at the time of his dismissal, which happened two months after the incident.

Local 583 Amalgamated Transit Union argued the driver was terminated without just cause, saying the interaction was a "friendly, joking exchange" — but James Casey dismissed that grievance and upheld the termination in a ruling issued Dec. 16.

A female co-worker who presents in a friendly and joking manner does not by doing so imply that her bare legs can be stroked as you wish. - James Casey, arbitrator

Casey wrote that the bus driver and his female colleague only knew each other in passing when on July 11, 2018, the bus driver grabbed his colleague's hand and held it as they were walking toward their respective buses to drive their routes.

The female driver "said she felt extremely uncomfortable and had to shake his hand off" but the male driver said they were having a "friendly conversation."

The next day, the female driver was sitting in the driver's seat of her bus, which was parked at the transit depot before she began her route for the day.

She was wearing shorts as part of her uniform.

The other driver approached her window to chat and noticed she was wearing shorts. 

He said "Wow, legs!" and reached into the window and started stroking her bare leg. She tried to cover her leg and joked about not having shaved that day, and he repeated the action. She tried to cover her leg again, and again he rubbed her leg.

A few minutes later, after walking away, he returned to the window and began touching her leg again. He then pointed to her groin and asked twice "are you shaving down there, too?" 

Colleague was shaken, ultimately resigned

The female driver was shaken by the incident — reporting it to her supervisor, then later going on medical leave and ultimately resigning. She had worked with Calgary Transit for eight years.

Casey said video footage confirms the female driver's testimony of the events.

"A female co-worker who presents in a friendly and joking manner does not by doing so imply that her bare legs can be stroked as you wish," he wrote. "These are coarse, extremely intimate, and sexually charged questions … all the elements of sexual harassment are present."

Casey said the male driver minimized his misconduct by not admitting to the entirety of what he did.

"I also have concerns about whether [the male driver] truly has insight into his actions," Casey wrote. 

Not only did the misconduct have a significant negative impact on the female driver, Casey wrote, it was important to consider other employees' wellbeing.

"The interests of all employees in being able to work in a workplace free of sexual harassment needs to be taken into account," he wrote.