Uprooted Palestinian: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM – سلام القدس عليكم

Wednesday, 1 January 2020

‘Go to Pakistan’, says Indian officer as leader praises crackdown

Officials in India’s Uttar Pradesh state, including its hardline chief minister, have made controversial remarks while rejecting accusations that police are using “deadly force” against mostly Muslim protesters.

The state, India’s most populous with nearly 20 percent of them Muslims, saw 19 of the 27 deaths so far in nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which critics see as anti-Muslim.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), rebuffed accusations from Muslims and rights groups of police abuses, crediting his tough stance with restoring calm to the streets.

‘Every rioter is shocked’

“Every rioter is shocked. Every troublemaker is astonished. Looking at the strictness of the Yogi government, everyone is silent,” one of Adityanath’s verified official accounts on Twitter said late on Friday.

“Do whatever you want to, but the damages will be paid by those who cause damages,” it added, repeating the warning his government had made earlier in the week.

“#TheGreat_CMYogi,” read the hashtag with the tweet, which came hours before a video appeared in which a senior Uttar Pradesh police officer is seen telling a group of Muslims: “Go to Pakistan.”

The video circulating on social media is likely to compound the concerns of those worried about the plight of Muslims, who accuse the police of killing peaceful demonstrators, raiding and ransacking homes, and beating hundreds of people, even children, since protests against the CAA began earlier this month.

The video shows Akhilesh Narayan Singh, a police officer in Meerut district where five Muslims have been killed, telling a group of men in a Muslim neighbourhood to “go to Pakistan if you don’t want to live here”.

“You eat here but sing praises of another place… This lane is now familiar to me. And once I remember, I can even reach your grandmother,” Singh says in the video. “Every man from every house will be arrested.”

Singh told Reuters News Agency that some protesters were shouting pro-Pakistan slogans. “It is in this situation I told them to go to Pakistan,” he said on Saturday.

The “Go to Pakistan” statement is often posted on social media by the supporters of the right-wing BJP in response to posts critical of the ruling party.

Threats of confiscating property

Uttar Pradesh has seen the most violent turmoil over Modi’s citizenship law, which activists say is discriminatory towards Muslims, who make up some 14 percent of India’s 1.3 billion population.

The clashes in the state appear to have eased over the past week, however, although small-scale demonstrations are still taking place.

Indian state warns protesters it will confiscate property

Earlier this week, Adityanath’s government said it was demanding millions of rupees from more than 200 people, threatening to confiscate their property to pay for damage caused during the protests.

Rights groups have decried what they say have been mass detentions and excessive force in the state, where officers have arrested more than 1,000 people.

Activists have pointed out that while protests against the citizenship law have happened across the country, protesters have been killed only in states governed by the BJP.

“There is terror over there [Uttar Pradesh] … people in Muslim colonies are staying up all night to guard their houses. They are terrified of a police raid or a communal attack,” Kavita Krishnan, a member of a fact-finding team that visited the state, told reporters.

The citizenship legislation makes it easier for members of religious minorities from India’s Muslim-majority neighbours – Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan – who settled in India before 2015 to get citizenship but does not offer the same concession to Muslims.

Critics say the law – and plans for a National Register of Citizens (NRC) – discriminate against Muslims and are an attack on the secular constitution by Modi’s government.

Protests continue

While the government says no citizen will be affected and there are no imminent plans for a register, conflicting statements by Modi and his closest aide, Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, have added to confusion and fear.

Officials from the opposition Congress party held a protest in Uttar Pradesh’s main city of Lucknow on Saturday under the slogan, “Save Constitution-Save India”.

“They can punish us, throw us in jail, siphon our property but they will not be able to stop us from continuing our protest,” said Akhilesh Tomar, a student activist who has teamed up with Congress to coordinate protests in four Muslim-majority districts of the state.

Protests were also planned in the northeastern state of Assam, where migration has long been an emotive political issue, with protesters expecting increasing turnout in smaller towns.

Meanwhile, Hindu activists associated with Modi’s party were conducting workshops in slums in an effort to ease public discontent.

“We have to explain the facts to the common people who are being misled against the law by the opposition,” said Ram Naresh Tanwar, a member of a group called the Hindu Jagran Samiti, or Hindu Reawakening Committee, in the capital New Delhi.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

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انفجار يستهدف عرضاً عسكرياً للمجلس الانتقالي و«أنصار الله» تؤكد الجهوزية لمرحلة الوجع الكبير في السعودية والإمارات

المصدر

ديسمبر 30, 2019

علّق المتحدث باسم القوات المسلحة التابعة لجماعة «أنصار الله» على عملية إطلاق الصاروخ الذي استهدف عرضاً عسكرياً أمس، في مدينة الضالع الخاضعة لسيطرة الانفصاليين الجنوبيين، مما أدى لمقتل ما لا يقل عن خمسة أشخاص وإصابة آخرين.

وبحسب موقع «المسيرة» التابع لجماعة «أنصار الله» قال متحدث القوات المسلحة: «نفذت قواتنا بنجاح عمليات نوعية واسعة شاركت فيها وحدات عسكرية مختلفة وأدّت إلى تحرير وتأمين مناطق واسعة».

وأوضح المتحدث: «من أبرز العمليات الواسعة عملية تحرير مناطق في الضالع وعملية نصر من الله بمرحلتيها الأولى والثانية وكذلك عملية عسكرية واسعة لم يُعلن عنها».

وقالت قوات الحزام الأمني اليمنية أمس، إن «صاروخاً أطلقته جماعة الحوثي المتحالفة مع إيران استهدف عرضاً عسكرياً في مدينة الضالع الخاضعة لسيطرة الانفصاليين الجنوبيين، مما أدّى لمقتل ما لا يقل عن خمسة أشخاص وإصابة آخرين».

وقال متحدّث القوات المسلحة: «نحن اليوم أقوى مما كنا عليه وسنكون أكثر قوة مما نحن عليه، وإيماننا بالله وثقتنا بنصره تجعلنا أكثر قدرة على مواجهة مختلف الظروف».

وأضاف متحدّث القوات المسلحة: «جاهزون لتنفيذ مرحلة الوجع الكبير إذا ما أصدرت القيادة توجيهاتها القاضية بتنفيذ العملية».

وتابع متحدث القوات المسلحة: «سنعتبر عمليات نهب الثروة اليمنية من البر أو البحر أعمالاً عسكرية عدائية تستوجب الرد المناسب».

مضيفاً: «ضمن المستوى الأول من بنك الأهداف 9 أهداف بالغة الأهمية منها ستة أهداف في السعودية وثلاثة في الإمارات».

ووقع تفجير بالقرب من منصة للضيوف أثناء العرض العسكري أمس، وأدى لسقوط كثيرين بين قتيل وجريح. وتحدثوا عن رؤية جثث في المكان.

ولاقى ما لا يقل عن خمسة أشخاص حتفهم وأصيب ثمانية بحسب أرقام سلطات الصحة المحلية التي نقلتها قوات الحزام الأمني وبيان صادر عن المركز الإعلامي المحلي للقوات التي تسيطر على الضالع.

وقال البيان إن «صاروخاً أصاب منطقة العروض التي تقام في حفلات تخرّج الدفعات العسكرية فور انتهاء المراسم التي شاركت فيها قوات الحزام الأمني».

وتسيطر قوات الانفصاليين الجنوبيين على مدينة الضالع التي تقع على الطريق الرئيسي بين الجنوب والشمال والذي يربط بين مدينة عدن الساحلية الجنوبية، الخاضعة لسيطرة حكومة هادي، والعاصمة صنعاء، التي يسيطر عليها الحوثيون. وتمر جبهة قتال عبر محافظة الضالع.

وأعلن الحوثيون في آب المسؤولية عن هجوم بصاروخ وطائرة مسيرة استهدف عرضاً عسكرياً في عدن، وهي مقر الحكومة المعترف بها دوليا، مما أدى لمقتل نحو 36 شخصاً على الأقل بينهم قائد بارز.

وأعلن مصدر عسكري يمني إفشال محاولة تسلّل لقوات التحالف السعودي على مواقع القوات المسلحة اليمنية شمال شرق مديرية حيس في الحديدة، مؤكداً «تدمير خمس آليات عسكرية لقوات الرئيس عبدربه منصور هادي في جبهة الظهرة بالجوف».

كما أعطبت ست آليات عسكرية كانت محملة بعناصر تابعة لقوات هادي والتحالف في صحراء الأجاشر قبالة نجران السعودية.

فيما شنّت طائرات التحالف السعودي 3 غارات على منطقة المدافن الحدودية بين جيزان السعودية وصعدة اليمنية.

القوات المسلحة اليمنية في حكومة صنعاء، قالت من جهتها إن «أي استهداف لليمنيين في مناطق الاحتلال شرق البلاد وجنوبها جريمة تتطلب ردّاً من قبلنا».

وأكدت «سنتعامل مع كل عملية للمرتزقة من قبل تحالف العدوان على أنها جريمة لكونها تستهدف يمنيين بغض النظر عن موقفهم».

صحيفة «26 سبتمبر» التابعة لوزارة الدفاع في حكومة صنعاء نقلت عن مصادر قولها، إن هذه الخطوة تأتي في إطار «التوجه الصادق للقيادة لتوحيد اليمنيين لمواجهة العدو الذي يجب أن يواجهه كافة اليمنيين وهو تحالف العدوان السعودي الأميركي».

وأشارت المصادر نفسها للصحيفة إلى أن القيادة في القوات المسلحة كانت قد اتخذت قرارات مهمة على هذا الصعيد، منها «صدور توجيهات للقوات المسلحة بإتاحة الفرصة لكافة المرتزقة للفرار باتجاهها حفاظاً على سلامتهم لكون العدو يقوم بتكليف ضباطه وجنوده في الصفوف الخلفية بإطلاق الرصاص على المرتزقة في حال فرارهم وتراجعهم عن القتال؛ ولهذا فعليهم الفرار باتجاه قواتنا التي ستتكفل بحمايتهم».

عضو المجلس السياسي الأعلى في اليمن، محمد علي الحوثي تساءل في تغريدة له على تويتر «في أي مادة من الدستور اليمني جرم الاستعمار والارتزاق؟».

وقال الحوثي في تغريدة أخرى إن «السعودية تعاني اقتصادياً وإن ما تقوم به من حلول لم ولن يجدي وعليها الانصياع للسلام لتقليل فاتورة الحرب المجبرة على تسليمها لحلفائها في العدوان على اليمن».

سريع: العام المقبل سيكون عام الدفاع الجوي والنصر..

قال المتحدث باسم القوات المسلحة اليمنية العميد يحيى سريع، إنه في العام 2019 فرضت القوات اليمنية معادلات عسكرية جديدة تقوم على استراتيجيات الضربات المفاجئة.

وأضاف سريع في مؤتمرٍ صحافي أمس، استعرض من خلاله إنجازات العام 2019، أن القوات اليمنية اعتمدت «الردّ بالمثل على عمليات العدو بما يتناسب مع كل عملية وحجمها وهدفها ونتائجها».

سريع شدّد على أن «القوات اليمنية مستمرة بوقف إطلاق النار تجاه من ينسحب من المعركة ولا سيما إذا كان من المرتزقة»، مشيراً إلى «رفع مستوى الردّ على الجرائم التي تستهدف مواطنين بمن فيهم أهل جنوب البلاد وشرقها».

وأوضح أنه «في العام الحالي تم توسيع بنك الأهداف ليشمل أهدافاً حساسة وحيوية على طول وعرض جغرافيا دول العدوان».

ونفذّت القوات اليمنية خلال العام 2019، وفق سريع، 1686 عملية عسكرية من ضمنها 607 عمليات هجومية و1044 إغارة و35 عملية تسلل، في حين نفذّت وحدة «ضد الدروع» 1180 عملية.

وأضاف تصدّت القوات اليمنية لأكثر من 163 عملية هجومية و656 زحفاً و407 محاولات تسلل، فيما بلغ إجمالي عدد غارات «التحالف» خلال العام أكثر من 6534 غارة من بينها 3615 غارة على صعدة، كما أكد سريع، مشيراً إلى تعرّض 19 محافظة لغارات الطيران.

وفي عام 2019 تم قنص 228 جندياً وضابطاً سعودياً، بالإضافة إلى قنص 16050 مرتزقاً محلياً من بينهم 66 قائداً ميدانياً، وفق سريع.

وشهد عام 2019 حسب المسؤول العسكري اليمني، الإعلان عن منظومات صاروخية بالستية ومجنحة وسلاح جو مسيّر ومنظومات الدفاع الجوي.

وقال «أصبحت قواتنا المسلّحة تمتلك القدرة الكاملة على صناعة منظومات صاروخية متكاملة»، لافتاً إلى أن عام 2019 شهد صناعة أجيال مختلفة من طائرات دون طيار الهجومية والاستطلاعية.

وأضاف بلغ عدد إجمالي عمليات القوة الصاروخية 110 عمليات خلال عام 2019، شملت مراكز ومنشآت عسكرية للعدو داخل البلاد وخارجها، وتوزعت على الشكل التالي: 12 عملية بمنظومة قاصم و47 عملية بمنظومة بدر بجميع أجيالها، و3 عمليات بمنظومة بركان الباليستية، واحدة منها استهدفت هدفاً عسكرياً في منطقة الدمام السعودية.

وبلغت عمليات سلاح الجو المسيّر خلال هذا العام 2426 عملية، حسب سريع، منها 5 عمليات هجومية نوعية مشتركة مع القوة الصاروخية، و92 عملية نوعية منها عملية استهداف حقل الشيبة وعملية «العاشر من رمضان»، كما بلغ عدد العمليات المشتركة لسلاح الجو المسير مع سلاح المدفعية 46 عملية.

«عام 2020 سيكون عام الدفاع الجوي وعام النصر إن شاء الله»، وفق المسؤول اليمني، الذي أكّد أن العدوان «لن يستمر في البناء والتطوير على حساب معاناة الشعب اليمني».وتابع: «لا أمن ولا استقرار إلا بتوقف العدوان ورفع الحصار عن اليمن

فيديوات متعلقة

القوات المسلحة اليمنية توسع بنك أهدافها وتعلن الجهوزية التامة لتنفيذ مرحلة الوجع الكبير 29-12 -2019

متحدث القوات المسلحة: سنفرض معادلات عسكرية استراتيجية جديدة لا يتوقعها العدو 29-12 -2019

إحصائية عمليات التنكيل للقوة الصاروخية لعام 2019

إحصائية ضربات طيور الأبابيل… سلاح الجو اليمني المسير لعام 2019

متحدث القوات المسلحة: لا أمن ولا استقرار لدول العدوان إلا بوقف العدوان ورفع الحصار 29-12 -2019

توسيع بنك الأهداف المشروعة، وتحذيرات يمنية جديدة خلال مؤتمر صحفي لمتحدث القوات المسلحة 29-12- 2019

عدسة الاعلام الحربي 29 12 2019

مقالات متعلقة

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

US Ambassador, Staff Flee Baghdad Embassy amid Angry Protests Over Airstrike on PMU

By Staff, Agencies

The American Embassy in Baghdad has been evacuated after thousands of angry Iraqi demonstrators gathered outside the gates of the compound to condemn Washington’s fatal military aggression that targeted Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units [PMU].

Also on Tuesday, Iraqis held a massive funeral procession in the capital Baghdad for the victims of the US air raids, which killed 27 PMU fighters from the Hezbollah Brigades faction and injured over 51 others in Anbar Province.

Meanwhile, thousands of angry protests gathered outside the US diplomatic mission in Baghdad to condemn the assault, with the demonstrators chanting ‘Death to America’ and burning US flags.

The protesters further held up posters calling for the US mission to be shut down and for the parliament to order US occupation forces to leave Iraq.

“Parliament should oust US troops, or else we will,” one poster said.

Reuters cited two Iraqi Foreign Ministry sources as saying that the US ambassador and other staff have been evacuated from the embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad as protests rage outside.

The ambassador and staff left out of security concerns. One official said a few embassy protection staff remained, according to the Reuters.

Iraqi protesters, according to the AFP, breached the outer wall of the high-security compound on Tuesday, prompting the American forces deployed inside to fire tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowds.

The protesters pulled security cameras off the wall as Iraqi security forces tried to keep them back.

Earlier in the day, Iraqi lawmakers chanted anti-US slogans during a parliamentary session.

SYRIAN ARMY PREPARES FOR OPERATION IN ALEPPO, TURKISH PROXIES MOVE TO LIBYA: WAR REPORT

South Front

The Syrian Army is preparing for a ground operation against radical militants in western Aleppo, sources close to the Damascus government claim. According to reports, the Syrian military was preparing for this operation during the past two months.

The operation in western Aleppo will complement the recent advance in southeast Idlib. Both of them are aimed at reopening the M5 highway that passes though western Syria.

Earlier in December, government forces liberated over 40 towns and villages in southeast Aleppo deploying in a striking distance from the militant-held city of Maarat al-Numan. The Syrian Army halted the advance in late December once again giving so-called moderate rebels a chance to separate from al-Qaeda-linked terrorists. Nonetheless, this move found no understanding among Idlib armed groups.

On December 28, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its Turkish-backed allies launched a large attack on Syrian Army positions in the recently-liberated towns of Al-Teh and Jarjanaz. However, they failed to break the army defense. At least two suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices launched by militants were destroyed before they were able to reach army positions.

Turkey is redeploying large groups of members of its proxy groups in Syria to Libya in order to support the pro-Turkish Government of National Accord (GNA) that is involved in the battle for Tripoli against the Libyan National Army (LNA). Videos from the ground show that Turkish-backed Syrian militants are already involved in the fighting on the ground. One of the groups involved in this operation is the al-Mu’tasim Division based in Syria’s northern Aleppo.

The deployment of Turkish-backed Syrian groups in Libya is another confirmation that the so-called Syrian opposition is just a batch of mercenaries and radicals that do not link their future with the territory of Syria and the Syrian state.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Tuesday, 31 December 2019

المواجهة الأميركية مع المقاومة تنتقل إلى الميدان؟

الحلقة 95 # من برنامج ستون دقيقة مع ناصر قنديل 29 12 2019

ديسمبر 30, 2019

عام 2019 كان عام صناعة التوازنات.. وعام 2020 عام قطافها

ناصر قنديل

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خلال المرحلة التي بلغ فيها التصعيد الميداني ذروته، مع إسقاط إيران لطائرة التجسس الأميركية العملاقة وفق مضيق هرمز، واستهداف مجمع أرامكو على يد أنصار الله، وعملية أفيفيم للمقاومة بوجه جيش الاحتلال، أعلن القادة الأميركيون السياسيون والعسكريون، وتقدَّمهم في ذلك الرئيس دونالد ترامب، أنهم لن ينجرفوا نحو مواجهة عسكرية تريد إيران وحلفاؤها جرّهم إليها، فيما هم يحتاجون للوقت أن يمر دون مواجهات ريثما تثمر العقوبات التي يفرضونها على إيران وقوى المقاومة، لكن الزمن الافتراضي لمفعول العقوبات بدا طويلاً، فهو وفقاً للتقديرات الأميركية قرابة السنتين، لكن بعد مضي أسابيع قليلة بدا أن الأميركي قد رمى بكل أوراقه في المواجهة عبر الضغط على الأوضاع المالية لدولتين له فيهما نفوذ وحلفاء هما لبنان والعراق، يتقاسمهما منذ زمن مع قوى المقاومة، ويحصر عقوباته عليهما بقوى المقاومة، وظهرت الخطة الأميركية بالسعي لتفجير الشارع بتأثير الغضب من خطر الانهيار في الدولتين، ومحاولة توظيفه في تغيير التوازنات السياسية، بوجه قوى المقاومة.

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الغارة التي شنتها طائرات أميركية مساء أمس، على مواقع للحشد الشعبي العراقي على الحدود السورية العراقية ليست مجرد ردّ على سقوط قتيل من العاملين مع الجيش الأميركي في إحدى القواعد التي استهدفت بصواريخ يتهم الأميركيون فصائل الحشد الشعبي بالوقوف وراءها. فالغارة أكبر بكثير من حجم ردّ كان ممكناً بحجم سقوط قتيل من غير الجنود، وقد بلغ عدد الشهداء والجرحى جراء الغارة 24 شهيداً، و50 جريحاً وبينهم أحد القادة، ما يعني تخلي واشنطن عن سياسة عدم الرد، وارتضاءها مجدداً دخول مواجهات الميدان، والخلاصة التي يسجلها هذا التحوّل هي قبل كل شيء أن الأميركي يرمي رهانه على التغيير بواسطة الشارع جانباً، ويسلّم بالفشل في هذا الرهان، وهو يعلم أن ارتفاع صوت قعقعة السلاح وانفجارات الصواريخ سيعطل كل رهان على عمل سياسي، ويعلم أن الخطاب اليوم في العراق وغداً في سورية، هو إعلان ساعة الرحيل لقوات الاحتلال الأميركي.

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لا يوجد أي سبب لتفسير المخاطرة الأميركية بمواجهة معلومة النتائج سلفاً في غير صالحه، كما تقول كل تقارير مخابراته وخبرائه، إلا إدخال وجود قواته التي فقدت التغطية السياسية والشعبية في سورية والعراق، على خطوط التفاوض، من خلال تصعيد يضع المطالبة برحيل هذه القوات في صدارة المشهد السياسي في كل من العراق وسورية، وليس بوسع الأميركي الانسحاب على البارد، ولا ترك الإسرائيلي يواجه وحيداً وقائع وموازين القوة في المنطقة، بلا ذريعة مناسبة للانسحاب. فالتصعيد سيستدرج وساطات، وسيكون الروس أول الوسطاء، وسيكون السعي لوقف النار وإعلان الهدنة مربوطاً بموعد نهائي لانسحاب القوات الأميركية من العراق وسورية. وهذا يستدعي التوصل إلى تفاهم شامل مع إيران، تراهن واشنطن على جعل انسحابها ورقة تفاوض مهمة للحصول على مكاسب في ملفات التفاوض الأخرى، بعدما أعلن المسؤولون الأميركيون ان هذا الوجود فقد كل قيمة استراتيجية او عسكرية.

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حتى ذلك الوقت ستدورمواجهة قاسية لن تنحصرفي العراق، ولن تكون معها تسهيلات للتسويات الصغيرة، كتلك التي ينتظرها اللبنانيون والعراقيون في مصيرحكومتين معلقتين على حبال الانتظارات الدولية والإقليمية، وحيث يعلو صوت المعركة تغيب سائرالأصوات .

فيديوات مشابهة

مناورات بحرية إيرانية صينية روسية لأول مرة في بحر عمان والمحيط الهادي

رسائل بالجملة أطلقتها إيران من خلال مناوراتها المشتركة مع الصين وروسيا

معلومات عن نقل مسلحين سوريين مدعومين من تركيا للقتال في ليبيا

مقاتلي المعارضة السورية إلى ليبيا بفرمان تركي ولصالح الأتراك .. هذا ما تنبّأ به القذافي قبل موته

على إسرائيل أن تخاف بعد مشاهدة هذه الحقائق .. عندما تتحد أقوى دولة مسلمة عسكرياً مع أغنى دولة عربية

الخبير الأمني ماجد القيسي: حادثة قصف القاعدة العسكرية في كركوك تنذر بحوادث أكثر خطورة في المستقبل

بومبيو يزور قاعدة عين الاسد سرا بخطوة تندرج ضمن مخطط امريكي مشبوه – تقرير علاء الموسوي

من العراق | 2019-12-29 | مصدق عادل – علي الزبيدي

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Lebanon: the background to the banking crisis of the century

by Thierry Meyssan

The collapse of the Central Bank of Lebanon following a major state scam plunged the country into an unparalleled economic and financial crisis. The country is now paying for its 76 years of political dependence and 8 years of complete political vacancy. The reality of its situation is very different from the perception of its citizens.

The three presidents. In the centre is General Michel Aoun, Christian President of the Republic, on the left the Shiite Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, on the right the Sunni President of the Interim Government Saad Hariri. Lebanon is not a democracy based on a balance of power between the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary, but a confessional system based on 17 religious communities. The extreme complexity of this system ensures the sustainability of warlords and foreign influence. Thus Michel Aoun was the main Christian leader during the civil war, Nabih Berri that of Amal, and Saad Hariri succeeded his father Rafik Hariri who ruled Lebanon exlusively in the name of Saudi Arabia and France after the civil war.

The Central Bank of Lebanon has again authorized private banks to freely deliver Lebanese pounds, but still no dollars.

This exchange control is illegal in law because it has not been validated by Parliament. Several large companies have already filed an application for interim relief before the courts. The wheat, oil and medicine import sectors are out of business, all the others are in recession.

Public debt stands at 154% of GDP. The Lebanese pound was depreciated by half its value in three months, taking the Syrian pound, already mistreated during the war by the Saudi and Qatari counterfeit currency, into its fall.

Causes of the crisis

This financial crisis led Parliament to adopt a new tax that triggered the demonstrations that have paralysed the country since October 17, 2019. In all likelihood, it originated in a massive scam set up by the country’s political leaders through the Central Bank.

A historical reminder is necessary here:

In fact, Lebanon has never been an independent state since its creation during the Second World War (1943). France set up a confessional system there that allowed it to preserve its influence after decolonization by depriving the Lebanese of any national political life. The attempt by US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to settle the Israeli question by making Lebanon the homeland of Palestinian Arabs provoked a civil war (1975-1989) and ended in failure. The Saudi Peace, imposed by the Taif Agreement (1989), restored the confessional system and extended community quotas to all public service jobs. The Syrian military presence (1989-2005), validated by the international community, made it possible to rebuild the country, but did not solve any problems.

Former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri (1992-98 and 2000-04) looted Lebanon by plundering 55,000 families, then confusing the Treasury with his personal fortune. He had raked in $16 billion at the end of his life. Under the Taif Agreement, Rafiq Hariri, as a representative of the Saudi Royal Family, was protected by the Syrian peace force present in the country to end the civil war. During his assassination, it was discovered that he had corrupted the two Syrian officials responsible for overseeing peacekeeping: the head of the intelligence services, Ghazi Kanaan, and Vice-President Abdel Halim Khaddam. The first committed suicide and the second fled to France where he made an alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood and prepared for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

In 2005, the Syrian peacekeeping force abruptly withdrew at the request of the Lebanese population, which saw it as a symbol of its own crimes during the civil war and held it – wrongly – responsible for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. From 2006 to 2014, i.e. during the power vacuum and then the presidency of Michel Sleimane – protected mainly from Qatar and secondarily from France – the Lebanese political leaders did not establish any accounting documents. Lebanon and Saudi Arabia were the only two states in the world without an official budget. It is now materially impossible to determine what taxes have been levied, what international aid Lebanon has received, or what it has spent. During this period, Central Bank Director Riad Salamé set up a Ponzi scheme comparable to that of Bernard Madoff, but for the personal benefit of political leaders. Dollar deposits earned twice as much interest as in other countries.

But the interest on these deposits was paid with the money of the new depositors. With the agreement of the United States, private banks agreed to launder the dirty money of South American drug cartels, while a US bank bought a third of the capital of the main Lebanese banks. When a major depositor withdrew his money, the system faltered. Political leaders had time to transfer their loot abroad before it collapsed. Thus, last October, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora broke all records by secreting away between 6 and 8 billion ill-acquired dollars.

In response to the disaster, the Acting President of the Government, Saad Hariri (the legal son of the former), requested an advance payment of $1 billion from the European Union. He then wrote to China, Egypt, France, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States to ask them to guarantee unpaid amounts for the import of basic necessities, which must be repaid as soon as exchange controls are lifted. In response, the main states involved in the economic rescue of Lebanon met on December 11 in Paris. In the morning, they discussed behind closed doors their political interest in saving Lebanon or letting it sink, then in the afternoon, they received a Lebanese delegation. They made the appointment of a new pro-Western government and the establishment of effective control over the use of any money a condition for any assistance.

Indignant at the idea of new foreign supervision over the country, Lebanese petitions have been sent to foreign donors to dissuade them from paying money to the Central Bank until the origin of the crisis has been established.

Sunni government President Saad Hariri then addressed the IMF and the World Bank, but they immediately questioned the authenticity of the Central Bank’s balance sheet and the probity of its director, Riad Salamé, hitherto considered an exemplary banker.

This historical reminder highlights Hezbollah’s lack of responsibility for the crisis, despite the fact that the Western press claims the opposite. Similarly, it is important to note that while Hezbollah accepts the zakat (Muslim donation) of drug traffickers in the Bekaa Valley and the Shia diaspora in Latin America, it has always opposed drug cultivation. When it came to government, it proposed and implemented social assistance programs so that farmers could evolve and change their crops. Finally, it should also be stressed that most of the Lebanese dirty money does not come from local drugs, but from the laundering of the income of South American cartels; money laundering instituted by the United States and benefiting Lebanese bankers, mainly Christians and Sunnis.

Identically, this reminder highlights the apparent stability of the country since the election of the Christian President of the Republic, Michel Aoun. Lebanon had never been able to simultaneously fill the functions of Christian President of the Republic, Sunni President of the Government, the Unicameral Assembly and the Constitutional Council from 2005 to 2016.

Impact of the crisis

Exchange controls, which aim to stop capital flight, have caused the economy to collapse. At least 10% of the country’s companies have gone bankrupt in the last 3 months. Most of the others have reduced their working hours in order to proportionally reduce the wages paid without having to lay off their employees. The first companies affected are charitable foundations, so the entire sector of aid to the poor is devastated. Foreign workers – especially Asian domestic workers – who are paid in Lebanese pounds, have lost half of what they used to transfer monthly in dollars to their families. Thousands have already left the country.

Everyone will have noticed that the demonstrations that have been taking place since October 17 are very coordinated. The agitators are permanently connected by telephone to a mysterious HQ. The slogans are exactly the same throughout the country and in all communities, which gives the demonstrators an illusory sense of the end of the confessional system. The designation of the Christian President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, as the main target of the Free Patriotic Movement (CPL) suggests that the movement is organised against him.

The United States’ position is ambiguous. On the one hand, the USAID administration blocked a $115 million grant to the Lebanese army to purchase equipment, while on the other hand, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released the grant. Former US ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman, testified before Congress stating what he had written. That is, according to him, every “American” must fight the Iran-Herbollah-CPL-White House alliance.

The proposal to appoint businessman Samir Khatib as Sunni president of the government was rejected by the Grand Mufti. Indeed, in Lebanon, the Christian President of the Republic is appointed by the Maronite Patriarch, the Sunni President of the Government by the Mufti and the Shiite President of the Parliament by the mullahs, and then they are confirmed by the Single Chamber. It is the only country in the world with such a confusion of religious and political powers. For their part, the Kateb (Maronite phalangists) proposed diplomat and magistrate Nawaf Salam to make a good face. In any case, the mufti is in favour of a renewal of Saad Hariri, but this time at the head of a government of technocrats who, in any case, will be chosen by the three presidents.

Accused of prevarication, the Free Patriotic Movement (CPL) of the Christian President of the Republic Michel Aoun has already indicated that it would not participate in the next government. He does not intend to be held responsible for future problems under the pretext of covering the embezzlement of funds for which it is accused and which it denies.

The clashes, which took place on December 14 in Beirut, illustrate the emptiness of the unrest. In the early afternoon, young Shia members of Hezbollah and Amal attacked groups linked to George Soros who had set up tents in the city centre. In the evening, other young people, from the groups that had been attacked shortly before, tried to invade Parliament and proclaim it “the colourful revolution” as they did in Serbia, Georgia and many other countries. For the Lebanese, haunted by the memory of the civil war, the hundred or so wounded – including the forces of order – cause unbearable anguish. The fact that the press speaks of the wounded Lebanese, but says nothing about the stateless Palestinian or Syrian national deaths speaks volumes about the country’s violence.

We are therefore heading once again towards a wobbly system because the major powers have been playing with Lebanon for 76 years and the Lebanese have been submitting to it.

How to get out of the crisis?

Contrary to the demands of the demonstrators, there is no proper Lebanese politician. And there can’t be any in a system like this. At best, they stole money to serve their community, at worst to enrich themselves personally. Lebanon is one of the few countries in the world where billionaires suddenly appear without anyone knowing where their wealth comes from. Therefore, it is not necessary to drive them all out, but to rely on the former by encouraging them to serve the Nation rather than their only community and to imprison the latter.

Lebanon’s misfortunes are directly attributable to the Lebanese themselves, who for 76 years have accepted an abstruse constitutional system and fought for their community rather than for their country. They have still not resolved the trauma of the civil war and continue to see their religious warlords as the only bulwarks against possible aggression from other communities.

These misfortunes will only end with a change of constitution and the adoption of a truly democratic system; this implies the recognition of the most legitimate personality to lead the country to its destiny. It doesn’t matter what his confession is. And in this case, it is clearly Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah after the victory of his network of Resistance against the Israeli invader who is indisputably the legitimate personality. It will remain for the Lebanese to hope that he will not use their trust to betray them for the benefit of the Iranians.

For the moment, it is impossible to change the Constitution. The parliamentarians who would be massively swept away are too attached to their seats and will not do so. A referendum will not do this either because corruption is everywhere, including among voters: 45% of them admit to having been solicited to sell their vote. In Lebanon, political parties are denominational. They do not have a national ambition, but they defend their community and distribute prebends to it. It is therefore necessary to proceed gradually by creating a strong administration, and therefore by decapitating the main corrupt agents within a short period of time; this is what the Sunni president of the government, Saad Hariri, had proposed and which was refused him by the demonstrators. Then it will be necessary to attack warlords from the civil war who must prove their usefulness today or leave public life.

Thierry Meyssan

Translation
Roger Lagassé

Thierry Meyssan

Political consultant, President-founder of the Réseau Voltaire (Voltaire Network). Latest work in English – Before Our Very Eyes, Fake Wars and Big Lies: From 9/11 to Donald Trump, Progressive Press, 2019.