Saudi Arabia is opening a new front against Iran, and wants Israel to do its dirty work - Israel News - Haaretz.com
▻https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.822032
The Sunni kingdom is trying to shift the battlefield from Syria to Lebanon. This may lead to a chain reaction
The success of the Assad regime, the increased Russian presence in Syria and the growing influence of Iran have all created a new and unclear situation. Precisely for this reason, believes the General Staff, there is a need to define rules of the game that will maintain Israel’s freedom of military operation on the northern front. This is apparently the reason for the numerous reports of Israeli aerial attacks in Syria, targeting weapons depots and factories, as well as convoys smuggling ordinance to Hezbollah in Lebanon. These circumstances also dramatically increase the risks of an unplanned deterioration as a result of a local incident gone out of control. If Saudi Arabia is deliberately stoking the flames between the sides, this becomes a tangible danger.
Rania Masri - #Nasrallah's speech on 10-Nov, on the ’day... | Facebook
▻https://www.facebook.com/rania.masri/posts/10159471113935363
▻https://scontent.fbey4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-1/p200x200/22853139_10159429832600363_896177855226342172_n.jpg?oh=d
#Nasrallah's speech on 10-Nov, on the ’day of the martyr’.
Note: I don’t translate religious terminology.
Very quick translation.
–—
[...]
Since last Saturday, Lebanon was entered into a political crisis and a new and important situation. Whether or not the situation is dangerous depends on the Lebanese ability. We hear threats. What is the situation?
In one year, Lebanon entered a political stability - with a President, a Prime Minister, and a national-unity government. A budget was decreed, for the first time in 12 years. A voting law was passed for elections. Dialogue and conversations amongst political spectrum after years of isolation. Security and stability in Lebanon that has no comparison. (We are safer than the US.) We have a calmness among Lebanese, in general.
This does not mean that there are no problems.
Even official polls show this, such as within the Beirut airport the number of travelers in the airport is 9 million. 2 million in just July and August. This is a reflection of security and calm.
This does not mean that there are no problems. there are livelihood problems and corruption and political. These should be resolved, yes, but shoudl not cover the positive side of Lebanon in general. All are responsible for this security. The compromises made by everyone brought us to this stage of security. And the liberation of Lebanon in Arsal and others also brought us here.
Within this situation, and within the positive vibes of all political spectrum to reach elections and to resolve issues - suddenly, and in one blow, Saudi Arabia summons the PM quickly and orders him, without his consultants, to issue his resignation and to read their letter. Before that, and escalating since, we have had Saudi threats ...
So what have the Saudis done until now?
(1) Direct and exceptional intervention to force the PM to resign and to read a letter that they (Saudi) had read, to place the PM under involuntary detention and not allowed to return. It is clear today that all Lebanese know that the PM was forced to resign, and all the world knows, even the US Foreign Office claim they had no knowledge. The PM is held captive in Saudi and is not allowed, until now, to return to Lebanon.
(2) A Saudi attempt to remove Hariri from his leadership of the Future movement, and to impose a new leadership upon the Future movement.
(3) A Saudi attempt to impose a new PM on Lebanon - under threat and with their vision.
(4) Attempts to inflame Lebanese against each other, to drive Lebanese to insult and protest against each other, and to fight each other. ANd when Saudi Arabia doesn’t find a response, then it accuses Lebanese of cowardice.
(5) Pushing Gulf states and other countries to pressure Lebanon
(6) Removing their citizens from Lebanon
(7) More dangerous - although it does not scare us - encouraging Israel to attack Lebanon. This is not analysis, but clear facts and information. Saudi has asked Israel to attack Lebanon and is ready to support it with millions of dollars! Today there is a discussion within the Zionist entity on this issue, and today and yesterday within the Israeli press, there is lots of discussion that the 2006 was upon a Saudi request and that Saudi encouraged Israel to continue with the war until the Resistance was vanquished. Of course, Israel has its own calculations.
Clearly, Saudi leadership has declared war on Lebanon, and not just on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Clearly, they have declared war on all of Lebanon.
I say to all Lebanese, with all love and honesty, to propose to them ... Until the evening of the resignation, we were living a very important stage - of stability and security; we need to realize that this was/is very important. We need to understand the importance and value that we are living in Lebanon and to protect it. On the other hand, Saudi calls upon you to destroy it the stability and security in Lebanon, to destroy your own homes with your own hands. Will you do that?
Is it true that Saudi, through all these actions, want to save Lebanon? We understand that there is a problem between Saudi and Hezbollah, but are these actions by Saudi a war against Hezbollah or a war against Lebanon?
Lebanese need to learn from all that has happened around them in the region. In Syria, the facts - from documents and interviews and clear statements - leaders from Saudi were on the battlefield and what happened? Those Saudi who were running the battlefield from Amman, where are they now?
I call on Lebanese to think very carefully before taking a position: to where are we taking the country?
Lebanese today are facing a critical path..
I assert
(1) In clear language, we condemn this Saudi intervention in Lebanese internal politics. We condemn this insulting behavior against PM Hariri, from the time he arrived at the airport ... The facts are clear. We consider, in Hezbollah, that an insult against Lebanon’s PM is an insult against every Lebanese. He is Lebanon’s PM!
(2) We join our voices with all Lebanese in calling for the return of Saad Hariri to Lebanon! Let him resign from the Presidential Palace, and say and do what he wishes. He may come and declare war on Hezbollah - but let him come, let him return to Lebanon, and declare his own thoughts. But for Lebanon’s PM to remain in involuntary detention is not acceptable. NO Lebanese or Arab or free person should accept this. Yes, we say, in all clarity, Lebanon’s PM is held hostage in Saudi! and we call for his release.
(3) Currently, we consider the declared resignation to be unconstitutional, and illegal, and illegitimate, and of no value - because it was not voluntary. No value to any statement made involuntarily! This applies to individuals, of course it applies to the fate of nations. The current government is still viable and legitimate and constitutional. If Hariri returns to Lebanon and submits his resignation, even if under pressure but if he offered it here in Lebanon, then we would be under a different legal and constitutional situation.
(4) The wise and rational leadership of President Aoun, with the Speaker of the House Berri, has to be one of consensus and all Lebanese should stand behind this wise leadership. So far, this leadership has managed to keep the country safe and secure
(5) The call for greater wisdom and to reject calls for political escalation. ... This current declared war on Lebanon is one of hate and anger, and the greater the anger, the greater the mistakes. ...
As I stated on Sunday, do not worry and do not fear. Our collective desire to keep our country safe is the insurance.
Today, in the face of this insult and the clear and declared threats, we need to feel responsibility to our nation and to each other, and to stand together and protect each other and defend each other, and to overcome our fears and sensitives of each others.
(6) I need to pause, as I did Sunday, in the face of the Arabiyah’s words about an assassination attempt against Hariri. Different security agencies in Lebanon refuted this - yet Arabiya Channel continues with this claim. This is Saudi news. Also the letter read by Hariri is Saudi statement. Their claim that certain Iranian elements worked for and spoke of an assassination attempt. These words and insistence are dangerous; why this insistence on this accusation? What are they planning?
(7) W/ regards to Israel, we have to be careful and pay attention. If Saudi calls for a war, no one can refute this possibility. We can say, that it is unlikely, based on our readings . furthermore, Israel has an opportunity now to attack Lebanon and Hezbollah without calling for a war since a war has high costs for Israel. .. yes, Israel can join under other headlines. Israeli FM declared to all Israeli embassies to support - diplomatically and media wise - Saudi in its war against Hezbollah! Of course, Israel will work internationally shoulder to shoulder with Saudi. Also, Israel will work to create internal division in Lebanon. A week ago, there was a dangerous event in southern Syria. The armed elements, some of whom were in Nusra Front, entered - via Israeli assistance and from areas occupied by Israel - to a Syrian village (Haddath), that is predominately Druze. Were it not for the popular defense and the Syrian Army and the pressure from occupied Golan Heights - the situation would have become much worse. For who? For Nusra Front? For what - for sectarian division between Sunni and Druze in the region? ... As for a war, we are following the situation carefully, along w/ the Lebanese Army. .. ON this day, of Ahmad Qasser who imposed a 3 day mourning on them in 1982, I say to them - that today we are stronger! Let them not think that we are scared; not at all! We are stronger! ... Israel will not lead a war for others, as their press declares will Saudi fight until the last Israeli soldier?; Israel will have a war based on their own calculations.
(8) What is between us and Saudi? Let no one claim that we are hiding from the problem. Yes, we do not deny that there is a problem. There is large Saudi anger directed against us, though primarily against Iran. I understand their anger, but we cannot understand their reaction and their insult! In Syria they had plans and hopes to change the region’s borders and maps; their hopes are vanquished. ISIS that they created is being vanquished. In Iraq, we know who brought ISIS also. We also know that they were supporting the separation of Iraqi Kurdistan and this plan also failed. In Yemen, the war has gone on for more than 1000 days! Only more massacres and now a blockade! The UN declares that if the blockade continues, then millions in Yemen would face famine! This is the current situation by Saudi. The UN - not Hezbollah - placed Saudi on the blacklist for their killing of children. But when we condemn their actions we are accused of committing a historical crime. We cannot be quiet if others are quiet. They commit these massacres but they get infuriated if their massacres are condemned. Yesterday you heard [the claim] that the missile - from Yemen to the airport in Riyadh - was smuggled from Iran, and Hezbollah was the one who sent the missile from Yemen! There is a problem with this logic. In the Saudi leadership mind they underestimate and insult Yemenis. They cannot believe that Yemenis can build missiles. Yes, Yemenis within these years can build their own missiles! Yemenis build their own drones. It is because the Saudis insult the mind of the Yemenis and underestimate them, that is when they lose. And so the Saudi blame Iran and Hezbollah for their failure in Yemen. This is the Yemeni people! They have fought and sacrificed and surprised the world. the claim that the Saudi plan in Yemen is a failure because of Hezbollah .. then wow, we are something great really! This is an exaggeration. ... What about the failure between Saudi Arabia and Qatar? We have not taken a position on this issue. Saudi wanted Qatar to kneel, and it didn’t. Also a failure. And Bahrain, yes, Saudi prohibited public protests, and threw thousands in the jails, and yet this didn’t break the will of the people but pushed the monarch to near bankruptcy! The Bahraini king regularly gets money from Saudi to pay the salaries in the Army. This is what Saudi has done to Bahrain. Another failure.
In all events, when Saudi sees in all this region failure - they come to Lebanon and think they can do something here. It is not true that Lebanon is totally under either Iranian or Saudi patronage. Big difference between Saudi and Iran in Lebanon: Iran does not interfere in internal Lebanese politics! I say this one my responsibility. Iran does not impose which PM or which leader or which electoral law... Iran does not interfere in any internal Lebanese politics. ...
Let me simplify things to you. Saudi is coming to vent its anger at us in Lebanon. It cannot respond to Iran.
To Saudi: if you think that you can defeat Lebanon or to defeat the Lebanese resistance or to defeat the Lebanese political leadership, then you are wrong and you have nothing but failure as you have failed elsewhere.
More detail... If you think your objective can be the obliteration of Hezbollah, no matter what Saudi does, they cannot defeat Hezbollah. Don’t let that be your objective. Let your objective be realistic.
Punish Hezbollah or pressure Hezbollah so it can change its actions. To leave Syria? Well, the battle is ending in Syria. Okay, pressuring and sanctioning Hezbollah to change its actions... Our position with Yemen will not be changed, because it is right! God will ask us about our position and our position there is outside of any political calculations.
As Saudi Jubair said yesterday, the Lebanese people are innocent and they are under the control of Hezbollah and we need to find a way to help Lebanese to get out of Hezbollah’s control. Great. Is this a way to rescue the Lebanese people? Are your actions in line with that objective? OR do you want to rescue Lebanese as you are trying to rescue the Yemeni people, since isn’t the war on Yemen also under the headline of rescuing the Yemeni people? Millions threatened with famine! Not one place has been left unbombed, the souks, the mosques... Is this how you rescue the Yemeni people? by killing and besieging them?! that is your way. this is how you want to rescue the Lebanese people?
Want to rescue the Lebanese people by insulting Lebanon’s PM?! Rescue Lebanese by fear-mongering?
Is Lebanon to be punished because we did not obey Saudi dictates? Even the declaration by the Future Movement calling the return of Hariri was criticized! It is not allowed to even breath.
You can sanction Hezbollah without punishing Lebanese and the government. think about it - and you will think of something. But if only hatred is thinking, then “I am blind and don’t see but i will wave my sword.”
On this day, on this great day of great martyrdom, we are here, together, holding on to our achievements, to our country and our army, to our national unity. We should not worry or be scared from all these threats.
With our unity, we shall be stronger
A propos du du discours de cet après-midi de Nasrallah
▻https://mobile.twitter.com/NoeNicholas/status/928986782376525824
Nicholas Noe
@NoeNicholas:
Nasrallah just claimed that hizb has information “not analysis” that KSA asked Israel to attack Lebanon.
.:Middle East Online:: :.
▻http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=85851
Lebanon’s produce going nowhere
More than two years since the closure of the transit route through Syria in May 2015 made it impossible for Lebanese exporters to reach markets in Jordan, Iraq and the Gulf by land, the government has failed to find a plausible alternative route.
“The ability to maintain and improve access to export markets is most critical for the performance of the agriculture sector,” said Antoine Howayek, president of the Lebanese Farmers’ Association. “The government has been incapable to find a good temporary alternative to the closure of the land route to help farmers and exporters overcome the crisis caused by conflicts and tensions in the region.”
Lebanese agriculture depends heavily on exports to Middle Eastern markets, which dropped at least 35% since the closure of the land route. Exporters now send their merchandise by sea at a much higher cost.
Des chiffres utiles... Mais si la guerre qu’on craint arrive...
Thread Reader
▻https://tttthreads.com/thread/927629611713941505
Barak Ravid
@BarakRavid
1 \ I published on channel 10 a cable sent to Israeli diplomats asking to lobby for Saudis\Hariri &against Hezbollah
האיום האיראני: ישראל מיישרת קו עם סעודיה נגד מעורבות טהראן וחיזבאללה בלבנון
משרד החוץ שיגר מברק הנחיות לכל שגרירויות ישראל בו התבקשו לפעול נגד המעורבות של חיזבאללה ואיראן במערכת הפוליטית בלבנון
►http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=1272790&sid=126
2 \ The cable sent from the MFA in Jerusalem to all Israeli embassies toes the Saudi line regarding the Hariri resignation
3 \ The Israeli diplomats were instructed to Demarch their host governments over the domestic political situation in Lebanon. Very rare move
4 \ The cable said: “You need to stress that the Hariri resignation shows how dangerous Iran and Hezbollah are for Lebanon’s security”
5 \ “Hariri’s resignation proves wrong the argument that Hezbollah participation in the government stabilizes Lebanon”, the Cable added
6 \ The cable instructed Israeli diplomat to support Saudi Arabia over its war with the Houthis in Yemen
7 \ The cable also stressed: “The missile launch by the Houthis towards Riyadh calls for applying more pressure on #Iran & #Hezbollah”. END
Via angryarab
Yalla Bus, The App Making Public Transportation Accessible in Lebanon - Beirut Today
▻http://beirut-today.com/2017/11/02/yalla-bus-app-making-public-transportation-accessible-lebanon
It’s no secret that traffic in Beirut is a nightmare. With very little access to and a lack of innovation and efficiency in public transportation, the Lebanese have increasingly opted to rely on their private vehicles to get around, which led to high congestion and skyrocketing pollution rates. According to a World Bank study published in 2017, 81% of Lebanese prefer using their own cars over vans (11%) and taxicabs (6%).
One group of young student entrepreneurs, however, aims to change these trends. With the imminent launch of Yalla Bus, this app may encourage public transportation use by offering bus times and routes to the average commuter.
Moon of Alabama à propos de la démission de Saad Hariri (en gros : grosse destabilisation du Liban, qui échouera et finira par renforcer intérêts russes et iraniens) :
▻http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/11/lebanon-hariris-resignation-the-opening-shot-of-the-saudi-war-on-hizb
The resignation of Hariri is intended to provoke a constitutional crisis in Lebanon and to prevent new parliament elections. The further Saudi plan is likely to evolve around these elements:
– The Trump administration will announce new sanctions against Hizbullah and against Lebanon in general.
– The Saudi government will slip some of its al-Qaeda/ISIS proxy fighters from Syria and Iraq into Lebanon (possibly via Turkey by sea). It will finance local Lebanese terror operations.
– There will be new assassination attempts, terror attacks and general rioting by Sunni extremist elements against Christians and Shia in Lebanon.
– The U.S. will try to press the Lebanese army into a war against Hizbullah.
– Israel will try to provoke and divert Hizbullah’s attention by new shenanigans at the Lebanese and Syrian border. It will NOT start a war.
The plan is unlikely to succeed:
– The Lebanese people as a whole have no interest in a new civil war.
– The Lebanese army will not get involved on any specific side but will try to keep everyone calm.
– Sanctions against Hizbullah will hit all of Lebanon, including Sunni interests.
– A new Sunni prime minister will be found and installed, replacing the resigned Saudi puppet.
– Russian and Iranian economic interests will find a new market in Lebanon. Russian companies will engage in Lebanese gas and oil extraction in the Mediterranean and replace U.S. involvement.
The miscalculated Saudi/U.S./Israeli plan against Hizbullah can be understood as a helpless tantrum after their defeat in Syria and Iraq.
Je vois qu’il y a déjà une traduction en français :
▻http://arretsurinfo.ch/liban-demission-dhariri-premiere-salve-de-la-guerre-saoudienne-contre-l
Hezbollah is Not a Threat to America | The American Conservative
▻http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/hezbollah-is-not-a-threat-to-america
Western-backed militants are in retreat, Bashar al-Assad remains president, Hezbollah has stretched its wings regionally, Israeli power is in decline, and Iran is on the rise. Not a pretty result for Washington’s multi-billion dollar investment in the Syrian conflict, especially if it was intended to change the map of the region to favor U.S. interests.
The Trump administration is therefore moving to hit its regional adversaries on alternative, non-military fronts—mainly, employing the sanctions tool that can cripple economies, besiege communities, and stir up public discontent.
The first step was to decertify the nuclear agreement struck between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1), which would open up a pathway to further U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The second step is to resuscitate the Hezbollah “threat” and isolate the organization using legal maneuvers and financial sanctions—what one pro-U.S. Lebanese Central Bank official calls “the new tools of imperialism.”
The U.S. listed Hezbollah as a “terrorist organization” 20 years ago this month. Most other states, as well as the United Nations Security Council, have not.
Two weeks ago, at a State Department briefing on the Hezbollah “threat,” National Counterterrorism Center Director Nicholas J. Rasmussen tried to paint a picture of an organization that was directing “terrorism acts worldwide” and posing a threat “to U.S. interests” including “here in the homeland.”
“Prior to September 11,” Rasmussen claimed, “I think everybody knows Hezbollah was responsible for the terrorism-related deaths of more U.S. citizens than any other foreign terrorist organization.”
NYU faculty ends ties with UAE over sectarianism claims | News | Al Jazeera
▻http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/nyu-faculty-ends-ties-uae-sectarianism-claims-171104135400063.html
New York University’s journalism department has voted to end its relationship with its campus in the United Arab Emirates following allegations two professors were denied visas because of their religious affiliation.
NYU’s Arthur L Carter Journalism Institute said it would discontinue its relationship with NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) amid claims journalism professor Mohamad Bazzi, a Lebanese-born Shia, and Arang Keshavarzian, an Iranian-born politics professor, were denied visas because of their “Shia origins”.
Le premier ministre libanais, Saad Hariri, annonce sa démission
▻http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2017/11/04/le-premier-ministre-libanais-saad-hariri-annonce-sa-demission_5210238_3218.h
Le premier ministre libanais, Saad Hariri, a annoncé sa démission, samedi 4 novembre, à la surprise générale. Il a accusé le Hezbollah chiite et son allié iranien de « mainmise » sur le Liban et a affirmé avoir peur d’être assassiné.
« J’annonce ma démission du poste de premier ministre », a ainsi déclaré M. Hariri, qui se trouve actuellement en Arabie saoudite, dans un discours retransmis par la chaîne satellitaire Al-Arabiya. Selon les informations du Monde, un des conseillers de M. Hariri lui avait déjà suggéré de démissionner il y a quelques semaines, mais l’idée avait alors été écartée.
« L’Iran a une mainmise sur le destin des pays de la région (…). Le Hezbollah est le bras de l’Iran non seulement au Liban mais également dans les autres pays arabes », a dénoncé le premier ministre démissionnaire. Et « ces dernières décennies, le Hezbollah a imposé une situation de fait accompli par la force de ses armes », a-t-il ajouté.
Bien entendu, le Monde-avec-AFP (ainsi que l’ensemble des médias francophones) qualifie la démission de Hariri de « totalement inattendue »… Si ces gens faisaient un tout petit peu leurs devoirs, ils sauraient que le renversement du gouvernement et la mise en accusation du Hezbollah ont été très clairement annoncés lundi par les Séoudiens :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/641376
que Hariri s’était déjà rendu en Arabie séoudite ce même lundi, et y et retourné hier :
▻https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1081985/hariri-se-rend-a-nouveau-en-arabie-saoudite.html
Le chef du gouvernement libanais se rend à Riyad pour une visite de travail. Lors de son dernier déplacement, il avait été reçu par le prince héritier saoudien, Mohammad Ben Salmane. M. Hariri avait affirmé être totalement en phase avec Riyad pour ce qui a trait à la stabilité du Liban.
Hum… les employés de Saudi Oger vont-ils (comme promis encore en septembre) être enfin payés ? (Oui, parce que si ça t’a échappé : Hariri n’a plus de sous et est proprement tenu en laisse.)
▻http://www.france24.com/fr/20170914-liban-france-groupe-btp-saudi-oger-saad-hariri-va-payer-arrieres-
L’aspect évidemment ridicule de l’événement, c’est que Saad se rend deux fois en Arabie séoudite en quelques jours, applique ce qui a été annoncé par un ministre séoudien en début de semaine, rencontre le nouveau Séoud-en-chef ben Salmane et dans la foulée annonce sa démission depuis l’Arabie séoudite, tout ça paraît-il pour dénoncer la « mainmise » de l’Iran sur le Liban.
Malgré cet aspect ridicule, on peut être particulièrement inquiet. Que l’Arabie séoudite décide de porter (à nouveau) son affrontement régional sur la scène libanaise ne présage d’absolument rien de bon pour le pays (tu as vu l’état des pays où l’Arabie a prétendu « contrer » l’influence iranienne ?).
▻http://www.raialyoum.com/?p=772730
Commentaire des Iraniens : "La démission de Hariri a été arrangée par Trump et Muhammad ben Salmane, en fionction d’une décision manifeste des Saoudiens de s’en prendre au Hezbollah."
طهران : استقالة الحريري جاءت بترتيب من ترامب ومحمد بن سلمان وبقرار سعودي واضح لمواجهة “حزب الله”
November 2, 2017
Targeting Lebanon Again
Edito d’ABA. Cela date du 2 novembre mais, comme c’est en anglais, je suppose que cela a dû être publié un peu avant.
▻http://www.raialyoum.com/?p=771836
We do not know what instructions Hariri was given when he met Saudi strongman Crown Prince Muhammad bin-Salman. But it would not come as a surprise to learn that he was told either to withdraw from the government or sack its Hezbollah ministers in order to create another government crisis in Lebanon. Hariri would have no option but to comply. That would mean the collapse of the hard-won political accommodation that enabled him to return to office and Gen. Michel Aoun to be elected president.
Angry Arab: Hariri resignation in Beirut
▻http://angryarab.blogspot.fr/2017/11/hariri-assassination-in-beirut.html
It is funny: people of the Saudi and Israeli lobbies on social media are jubilant about Saad Hariri’s resignation (from Riyadh, no less and through Saudi regime media) and treating the matter as if it was a purely Lebanese matter. The resignation was days in the making. Saudi minister (for Gulf affairs but he also seems to be in charge of Lebanese affairs as well) has been threatening the Lebanese people and government for many days and warning of an impending action. In fact, he threatened hours before Hariri resignation that Saudi Arabia will “cut off” the hands of Iran—which was the same expression used by Hariri in the speech which was prepared for him. Hariri was sitting with Hizbullah ministers and defending the political arrangement in which all parties were represented against critics in his quarters. He also met with a senior Iranian delegation HOURS before his resignation (above) (the delegated was headed by Ali Akbar Welayeti, who said after the meeting that it was “constructive”). Just after the meeting, Hariri was summoned to Riyadh and he took a selfti with Minister Sabhan (the latter posted it on Twitter (above) and said it was after a long meeting), and then the speech of resignation was aired on Saudi media. Its text was counter to all the speeches that Hariri has been giving for many months. The best part is that Saudi regime media announced that there was an assassination attempt on Hariri’s life just before he departed for Saudi Arabia. The pro-Saudi branch of the Lebanese security services promptly told Lebanese media that they never heard of any of that and that they were not sources for this fable.
Au sujet de la prétendue tentative d’assassinat contre Hariri, le démenti des FSI (généralement pro-séoudienne et proches du camp Hariri) :
▻http://nna-leb.gov.lb/fr/show-news/83957/Les-FSI-mentent-les-rumeurs-sur-la-tentative-39-assassinat-jou-contre-Sa
La direction générale des FSI a démenti, ce samedi dans un communiqué, les informations qui circulent dans les médias, réseaux sociaux et sites électroniques, selon lesquelles son service de renseignements aurait déjoué une tentative d’assassinat contre le Premier ministre démissionnaire Saad Hariri.
« La direction des FSI précise que ces informations sont erronées, qu’elle n’a fourni aucun détail et qu’elle ne dispose d’aucune donnée à cet égard », précise le communiqué.
Benjamin Netanyahu @netanyahu
15:27 - 4 nov. 2017
▻https://twitter.com/netanyahu/status/926878529240911872
My remarks on the resignation of Lebanese PM Hariri
Saad Hariri Quits as Lebanon Prime Minister, Blaming Iran - The New York Times
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/world/middleeast/saad-hariri-lebanon-iran.html
On en est là, il faut lire un article du NYT pour se rendre compte combien les articles des MSM français et les reportages de France 24 sur le sujet sont lamentables.
The surprise announcement — which shocked even his own staff — was an ominous sign of the escalating regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, analysts said, indicating the growing dominance of Iran and Hezbollah as well as the Saudis’ increasingly assertive response.
Lebanese and regional analysts, whether supporters or opponents of Hezbollah, said it appeared that Mr. Hariri had been pressured to resign by his patrons, the Saudis , as they and the United States ratchet up efforts to counter Iranian influence. The resignation came after weeks of sharp American and Saudi condemnations of Iran, including from President Trump, and new American sanctions against Hezbollah.
By pushing out Mr. Hariri, analysts said, Saudi Arabia could deny Hezbollah a credible Sunni governing partner — an attempt to isolate it and deny it the fig leaf of a national unity government.
“They concluded that Hariri was serving as more of a cover for Iranian and Hezbollah influence than as a counterweight to them,” said Rob Malley, a former special Middle East adviser to President Barack Obama and the vice president of the International Crisis Group.
Yet the resignation also shows how few options Iran’s opponents have. Without Mr. Hariri in power, the United States and Saudi Arabia lose their main partner in the Lebanese government.
Across the political spectrum, analysts and officials said the resignation ushered in new dangers. If the next government is more pro-Hezbollah, they said, that could lead to devastating sanctions. It could even increase the chances of a new war with Israel, which would see added justification for its argument that there is little distinction between Hezbollah and the Lebanese state.
Mr. Hariri even raised the specter of internal violence. [si jamais des attentats contre le camp du 14 mars reprennent on aura été averti] He compared the atmosphere in Lebanon now to the days before the 2005 assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying he believed his own life was in danger. “I sensed what’s being woven in secret to target my life,” he said.
Mr. Hariri’s father was killed when his motorcade was bombed on Beirut’s seafront. Several Hezbollah members are being tried in absentia in a special United Nations-backed tribunal in The Hague, although the militant group has denied involvement in the assassination.
[...]
Mr. Hariri headed a 30-member national unity cabinet that was crafted to protect the country from any spillover from the multisided war in neighboring Syria, where Iran backed the government and Saudi Arabia backed the insurgents.
That mission has largely been successful , even though Hezbollah has sided with the Syrian government, Lebanese Sunni militants have joined insurgents there, and well over one million refugees flooded this small Mediterranean country.
In Lebanon’s political system, power is divided between a prime minister, who must be Sunni; a president, who must be Maronite Christian; and a speaker of Parliament, who must be Shiite.
The exercise of real power in the country is a more complicated affair of alliances, rivalries and division of spoils between the leaders of sectarian groups, including former warlords from Lebanon’s civil war.
Hezbollah, which rose to prominence fighting the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon, is the strongest because of its powerful militia, which can act independently of the state and in recent years has served as an expeditionary force across Syria.
In recent years Lebanon’s rival blocs have essentially agreed to confine their fight to Syria. But tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have only increased.
In addition to Hezbollah’s decisive role in helping President Bashar al-Assad of Syria hold on to power, Iran has supported several militias in Iraq that have managed to defeat Islamic State forces in that country and remain a fighting force.
Iranian leaders say their interference is needed to stop terrorism, and to create a security zone for their country. The country’s influence started to rise after the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in 2011, leaving behind an incomplete army and a pro-Iranian government.
Iran’s filling of the vacuum created by the departure of the United States military has been an extremely worrying development for Saudi Arabia and some other Arab states, who have seen their efforts to fight proxy wars with Iran largely fail.
And now that the Syrian war seems to be entering a new phase, with Mr. Assad still ruling a devastated country, there are fears that tensions that had been pushed to the back burner — inside Lebanon, between Hezbollah and Israel, and elsewhere — could re-emerge.
The United States has stepped up sanctions on Hezbollah in recent weeks after President Trump criticized Iran and the landmark nuclear deal it reached under Mr. Obama.
“It signals a new phase of escalation,” said Ali Rizk, a pro-Hezbollah Lebanese analyst, adding that the imminent defeat of Islamic State by the United States would put new pressure on what it sees as Shiite extremists. “Lebanon is in for a hard time,” Mr. Rizk said.
The resignation brought sharp words from Israel and Iran. Bahram Ghasemi, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said Mr. Hariri’s speech was driven by a Saudi, American and Israeli effort aimed at “creating tension in Lebanon and the region.”
And in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the resignation “a wake-up call for the international community to take action against the Iranian aggression.”
The pressure now is on the Lebanese president, Mr. Aoun, who will hold consultations with Parliament about appointing a caretaker government, said Imad Salamey, an analyst at the American University of Beirut.
“If he indeed is going to bring in a pro-Hezbollah government, then he has to face the consequences,” such as new sanctions, Mr. Salamey said. “It will be a massive U.S. and Saudi response. The economy will collapse for sure.”
In his speech, Mr. Hariri said he wanted to unite Lebanon and free it from outside influence. He pronounced himself “full of optimism and hope that Lebanon will be stronger, free, independent, with no authority over it except that of its own great people.”
But in the streets of Tariq al-Jdeedeh, a mostly Sunni neighborhood of Beirut that is part of Mr. Hariri’s political base, anger and confusion contrasted with the posters of Mr. Hariri that festooned the buildings.
“Hariri didn’t do this for Lebanon, he did this for Saudi against Iran,” said Nabil Idriss, who was tending his son’s fabric shop. “Now with this move, the picture is more transparent than ever. Saad Hariri was never in control.”
Why are so many new and expectant mothers dying in the US? — Quartz
▻https://qz.com/1108193/whats-killing-americas-new-mothers
▻https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/2210808485_6e579919f2_o.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=1600
one of the US’s most shameful statistics. With an estimated 26.4 deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2015, America has the highest maternal mortality rate of all industrialized countries—by several times over. In Canada, the rate is 7.3; in Western Europe, the average is 7.2, with many countries including Italy, Norway, Sweden, and Austria showing rates around 4. More women die of childbirth-related causes in the US than they do in Iran (20.8), Lebanon (15.3), Turkey (15.8), Puerto Rico (15.1), China (17.7), and many more.
When it comes to pregnant women, this manifests itself in a focus on the child, at the cost of a focus on the mother, as highlighted in a recent investigation by NPR and ProPublica into the issue. Health-care professionals spend their time and energy on the baby. This was the experience of the Logelin family—in the end, it was a case of the woman not being fully seen or heard by the US medical system.
Newborn Maddy Logelin.
Newborn Maddy Logelin. (Photo courtesy of Matt Logelin)
Jen Albert, a communications professional from Philadelphia who nearly died after developing polyhydramnios (excess of amniotic fluid) and being induced, says her experience taught her that “no one expects that someone could die in childbirth.” The only potential risks that are taken seriously, she says, are the child’s, while “the mother is only a vehicle to bring the baby.”
France / Syrie / Lafarge : Arrestation de Firas Tlass aux Émirats Arabes Unis
▻http://www.renenaba.com/france-syrie-lafarge-arrestation-de-firas-tlass-aux-emirats-arabes-unis
L’arrestation de Firas Tlass apparaît rétrospectivement comme un dommage collatéral de la guerre médiatique que se livrent 3 pétromonarchies contre le Qatar, en ce que la révélation de son lieu d’arrestation, les Émirats Arabes Unis, viserait à contrario à désigner Abou Dhabi comme un complice du financement du terrorisme international et à dédouaner en conséquence le Qatar de cette accusation.
[…]
Officiellement son interpellation a été présentée comme étant liée à des problèmes concernant son passeport syrien à des questions financières : Lafarge Syrie, dont Firas Tlass était membre de son conseil d’administration, lui versait près de 100.000 dollars par mois en vue d’assurer la protection du site et de ses employés, dont l’homme d’affaires syrien en reversait le quart, soit 20.000 dollars, au groupement terroriste Daech.
Détail savoureux, c’est le même Firas Tlass qui servait à expliquer (oui, encore en janvier dernier) que c’était Bachar Assad qui « sponsorise des jihadistes » : Quand Bachar al-Assad "favorisait l’idée du jihad en Syrie" pour faire revenir l’Occident vers lui
▻http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2017/01/22/quand-bachar-al-assad-favorisait-lidee-du-jihad-en-syrie-pour_a_21659
Dans ce reportage, le réalisateur donne la parole à Firas Tlass, ex-proche du dictateur syrien, et aujourd’hui en exil. Ce dernier rappelle une chose utile : c’est Bachar al-Assad qui a favorisé l’émergence des jihadistes en Syrie pour ensuite, s’ériger en rempart contre le péril islamiste qui tétanise les occidentaux. Mieux, il explique comment le dictateur syrien sponsorise des jihadistes depuis 2003.
(M’enfin avec la Syrie, ça fait bien longtemps qu’on a passé toutes les bornes du n’importe quoi…)
Lebanon Diaries of a garbage bag
►http://www.synaps.network/diaries-of-a-garbage-bag
Our garbage may be taken out of sight, but it never disappears. Whether it is recycled, landfilled, burned or tipped into the sea, it endures in one form or another—a witness to past human activity. Even prehistoric times are known to us primarily through such traces: long before our forebears could write, they left waste behind, offering clues as to their diet, habitat and tool-making. To this day, our garbage bag is profoundly revealing, sometimes bursting at the seams with secrets and social commentary. In other words, it tells our story.
Nowhere is garbage more expressive than in Lebanon: a tiny country with an ever-expanding and increasingly dangerous supply of trash. Lebanon’s waste tells the story of a dense, consumerist society that has failed, for decades, to set up a functioning waste management system, as authorities dither from temporary fixes to partial solutions, from emergency schemes to unimplemented masterplans.
The present crisis has deep roots. Even before communal violence swept Lebanon from 1975 to 1990, waste management infrastructure was minimal. Municipalities outside the capital dealt with the problem haphazardly, in dumpsites regularly set ablaze. Beirut mostly resorted to crude incineration in the suburb of Amrousieh, at a plant already deemed unsatisfactory, until it established a sorting and composting center in another suburb, Karantina, in 1972. In 1974 the government passed groundbreaking legislation that prohibited tipping waste on the coastline; stockpiling trash anywhere but in dedicated areas; and releasing effluents into the water table, the rivers and the sea. But the 1975 outbreak of civil war upended efforts to establish order; the garbage bag was left to fend for itself, inaugurating a pattern of ad hoc landfills and endemic spillage that lasts to this day.
Nowhere is garbage more expressive than in Lebanon
The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: Bombing of the US Marines barracks in Beirut
▻http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2017/10/bombing-of-us-marines-barracks-in-beirut.html
3) Media never mentions what the US marines were doing in Lebanon and that their mission was the support of the right-wing death squads of the Phalanges who were installed in power by the Israelis.
The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: #Ignorance and falsehoods by #New_York_Times correspondents in the Middle East in one sentence
▻http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2017/10/ignorance-and-falsehoods-by-new-york.html
“In 2014, he wrote a provision incorporating Shiite volunteer fighters into the Iraqi armed forces, the so-called Iraqi Hezbollah, a reference to the Iranian-backed Shiite militia in Lebanon.” 1) they conflate Iraqi Hizbullah with the Hashd forces. 2) they confuse Lebanese Hizbullah with Iraqi Hizbullah. How can anyone rely on New York Times correspondents to learn about the world? Really.
‘A Truly Gordian Knot’ Awaits Trump
▻https://www.thecipherbrief.com/truly-gordian-knot-awaits-trump
The end of the Islamic state puts the United States in an uncomfortable geopolitical situation.
When it comes, the United States will enter a new phase of the conflict. The Syrian regime is back in full force in the east of the country, and the Iranian corridor from Iran and Iraq to Lebanon through Syria is now becoming a reality. The United States therefore faces a cruel dilemma and has the obligation to urgently define a post-IS strategy.
.:Middle East Online:: :.
▻http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=85404
Turning Cannabis into Cabernet in Lebanon
“Growing grapes is more lucrative and leaves you with a clean conscience,” Emad said, explaining that this year’s nine-tonne harvest earned him $10,000 (8,400 euros), twice his erstwhile income from cannabis.
#Liban sans pareil
Rethinking the Lebanese economic miracle: The extreme concentration of income and wealth in Lebanon, 2005-2014 - Lydia Assouad
▻http://wid.world/document/rethinking-lebanese-economic-miracle-extreme-concentration-income-wealth-leba
Income appears to be extremely concentrated in Lebanon, with the top 1 and top 10 percent of the adult population receiving approximately 25 and 55 percent of national income. This places Lebanon among countries with the highest level of income inequality in the world. The paper is the first study using income tax data in order to revise official survey-based inequality estimates in Lebanon and the Middle East.
(via @rumor)
Syrian refugees in Uruguay: an uncomfortable topic
Uruguay was the first Latin American country since the start of the Syrian war to resettle Syrian refugees from Lebanon. However, what was designed in 2014 as a gesture of solidarity by a sympathetic, pioneering country has become an uncomfortable issue for the current government and the institutions that were involved.
▻http://www.fmreview.org/latinamerica-caribbean/rodriguezcamejo.html
#Uruguay #réfugiés_syriens #réinstallation #réfugiés #asile #migrations
Au fait, je te l’avais pas dit, mais l’ami Pierre est désormais une véritable vedette internationale : après le Monde, le New York Times : Expecting a Hero’s Welcome, Lebanese Director Was Accused of Treason (après déjà une série d’articles sur le même sujet en français, dont un dans le Monde) :
▻https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/world/middleeast/lebanon-director-treason.html
“We are in a war with Israel, and when you are in a war, you can’t deal with them like a neighboring country,” said Pierre Abi-Saab, deputy editor in chief of Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper, which has led the criticism of Mr. Doueiri. “So when a filmmaker goes, an intellectual, and says, ‘Brother, we are with peace’ — what peace? Whose peace?”
Pierre, j’espère que tu n’as pas prévu d’aller aux États-Unis prochainement ?
Handmade Dolls Tell Stories of Struggle and Hope from War-Torn Syria
Created by two Syrian sisters in Lebanon, the dolls in the Ana Collection are decorated with images representing the fears and dreams of people living through the conflict raging in Syria.
https://newsdeeply.imgix.net/20170927100955/Ana-collection-1.jpg?w=640&fit=max&q=60&dpr=2#.jpg 
https://newsdeeply.imgix.net/20170927101117/Ana-collection-2.jpg #poupées #art une sorte de #cartographie_sensible (@reka?) #cartographie_narrative #asile #migrations #réfugiés #récit_migratoire #migrations #asile #réfugiés
Ynetnews Opinion - Despite alleged Israeli strikes, Hezbollah will keep building its arsenal...
▻https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5020144,00.html
Article assez extraordinaire du terroriste Giora #Eiland (adepte de la « #doctrine_dahiya ») : une agression de plus d’une semaine contre le Liban aurait des conséquences « intolérables » pour Israël, de ce fait il faudra bombarder le Liban de manière si massive que les grandes puissances nous ... empêcheront de poursuivre....
A long war will cause intolerable damage to Israel’s military and civilian infrastructures.
The only way to ensure that the next war is short requires us to fight the state of Lebanon, not just Hezbollah. Israel can destroy Lebanon’s infrastructures and army within several days. Since there is no one in the world—neither the Lebanese nor Hezbollah, Syria or Iran, and of course Saudi Arabia, France, Russia and the United States—who wants to see Lebanon destroyed, it will lead to massive international pressure to reach a ceasefire within a week or less, and that’s just what Israel needs.
Et, au cas où il aurait surestimé le degré de compassion des grandes puisssances, le terroriste préconise de leur faire comprendre dès maintenant qu’il faudra stopper Israël au bout d’une semaine maximum, au lieu de leur promettre comme maintenant que l’état sioniste est capable de battre le Hezbollah...
Reaching such a decision in real time, when the conflict erupts, is insufficient. Israel should already start conveying this message, for two reasons: First of all, we will achieve deterrence and possibly prevent the next war since, as mentioned, no one in the world wants to see Lebanon destroyed. Second, if a war does break out in the end, it’s important that the Western states—at least the US—understand in advance that Israel chose this strategy having no other choice. Unfortunately, Israel is conveying the opposite messages.
About a week ago, at the end of the major military exercise in northern Israel, the defense minister and army chiefs conveyed the message that Israel is capable of defeating Hezbollah. That’s a mistake. Even if Israel wins, but the war lasts about five weeks like in 2006, we will all pay a huge price which we will have trouble living with.
En fait en 2015 il avait dit à peu près la même chose, sauf la partie disant qu’il ne fallait pas promettre la victoire aux alliés de son pays.
▻http://fr.timesofisrael.com/giora-eiland-si-le-hezbollah-attaque-faisons-la-guerre-au-liban
The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: In Lebanon, you can get a menicure while a foreign domestic worker holds you hookah pipe
▻http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2017/09/in-lebanon-you-can-get-menicure-while.html
Long Read: Elites, War Profiteers Take Aim at Syria’s Economic — Syria Deeply
▻https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2017/09/18/long-read-elites-war-profiteers-take-aim-at-syrias-economic-future
Despite years of calling for Assad’s removal from power, several European governments are now also looking to gain access to Damascus, diplomatically at least. Two sources close to the Syrian government told Syria Deeply that in the last few months some European states have opened channels with the Syrian government for talks on potentially reopening their embassies. At least one other E.U. state has had channels with Damascus open for roughly two years.
According to one European diplomat in neighboring Beirut, “the Germans, for example, have had a channel for intelligence-sharing and security with Damascus since at least 2015.”
But foreign involvement is not the only factor excluding average Syrians from the push to rebuild the economy. Since 2012, the government has passed legislation that largely favor deals with the ruling class – many of which are unrelated to rebuilding what was destroyed during the war.
In May 2015, Assad issued Presidential Decree 19 allowing all units within the state to form private investment companies. The following year, the government passed the Public Private Partnership (PPP) law, permitting private companies to make deals with the government to manage state assets.
While this legislation has been promoted as part of a reconstruction strategy, wealthy local businessmen – many with ties to the regime – are already cutting deals with the government for billion-dollar real estate projects that are unrelated to rebuilding efforts. Many of these lucrative development projects are planned for land that the government has expropriated under Presidential Decree 66, passed in 2012, which allows the state to “redevelop areas of unauthorized housing and informal settlements [slums].”
For example, the government expropriated land in the East Mezzeh district of Damascus – compensating owners very little – and is now selling it off to private companies to build luxury apartments, modern villas, public services and commercial space. The majority of the East Mezzeh project went to the Damascus Cham Private Joint Stock Company, a private company owned by the Damascus governorate, but wealthy businessmen have also recently been included. In August the Aman Group, led by Syrian businessman Samer Foz, announced that it had established Aman Damascus, with a capital of $18.9 million, to build several towers within the project.
“Reconstruction in Syria is going to breed a thousand Hariris,” said the former Syrian government employee, in reference to former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri. After the Lebanese civil war, Hariri bought much of downtown Beirut though his company Solidere, forcing residents out to redevelop the land into high-rises and luxury apartment buildings.
“The concern is that they may rig the game in their favor, preventing small businesses and hardworking honest merchants and industrialists from also enjoying a share of the cake,” he said.
En bref, les Assad et Cie vont s’en mettre plein les poches. #syrie #reconstruction
Foreign ministry says Africa-Israel Summit postponed due to Palestinian pressure
Sept. 11, 2017 7:59 P.M. (Updated: Sept. 11, 2017 7:59 P.M.)
▻http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=779061
RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday it was instrumental in leading a boycott campaign against the Africa-Israel Summit planned for next month, after organizers of the summit announced the event was “postponed” without providing a future date.
Last month, reports emerged that several African countries were planning to boycott the summit. South African Ambassador to Lebanon and Syria Sean Benfeldt reportedly said that the country would not take part because the summit was viewed as a step by Israel to normalize relations between Africa and an “occupation state.” Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Mauritania also decided to boycott the gathering.
A statement released by the Israeli foreign ministry Monday morning said that the decision to “postpone” the event, set to take place in Lome in October, came “following the request of the President of Togo and after mutual consultations with the Prime Minister.”
Israeli jets break sound barrier in south Lebanon causing damage | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lebanon-israel/israeli-jets-break-sound-barrier-in-south-lebanon-causing-damage-idUSKCN1BL
Comme d’habitude et en toute #impunité #Israël viole l’espace aérien libanais
The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: This is the #Washington_Post correspondent in Beirut
▻http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2017/09/this-is-washington-post-correspondent.html
Imagine. By 2010, the Lebanese government reported more than 7000 Israeli violations of Lebanese Airspace.
Liz SlyVerified account
@LizSly
For the 1st time perhaps since 2006, Israeli warplanes buzz Lebanon. Broke the sound barrier in Sidon, windows crack
The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: When Liz Sly “clarifies” (see below): she is wrong again, of course
▻http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2017/09/when-liz-sly-clarifies-see-below-she-is.html
“To clarify, Israeli warplanes overfly Lebanon every day, in violation of UN resolutions. But it’s rare for them to buzz so low & fast”