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Lebanese leader blasts Arab leaders, evokes Ottoman legacy in Palestine

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Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who is one of the kingmakers in Beirutâs turbulent politics, talks to the media at the Elysee Palace after his meeting with French President Francois Hollande in Paris on Jan. 28, 2013.

by trtworld.com --Walid Jumblatt, the president of the Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon, berated the leaders of the Gulf countries for participating in the Bahrain conference, warning them against "betraying" Palestinians, while reminding them of the unflinching Ottoman position on Palestinian independence. Organised by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, the “Peace to Prosperity” economic workshop in Bahrain was promoted as a peace plan for Palestine and even described as “the deal of the century.” While the conference failed to bring all stakeholders of the Palestine-Israel conflict to the negotiation table, Palestinians rejected Kushner's deal outright. Jumblatt's scathing criticism of the conference and of pro-Israel Arab leaders came as another blow to Kushner's attempts to generate interest toward his deal from the Arab world. “Under Sultan Abdul Hamid (II), (Theodor) Herzl asked him to buy Palestine to transport the Jews (there), and the Sultan refused,” Jumblatt wrote on Twitter. “Today in Bahrain, the grandson of Herzl, Jared Kushner, will ask Arabs to sell Palestine to transport Palestinian families to Jordan to Sinai to Lebanon to Syria to the diaspora,” he continued. “Will the Arabs do what the Ottomans rejected?” the Lebanese leader asked.

Herzl is the founding father of Zionism, the official ideology of Israel, whose picture is hung in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem. In 1896, Herzl wrote "The Jewish State," which is considered one of the most influential Zionist texts, outlining the road map for Israel. He also organised the first Zionist congress in Switzerland’s Basel. Jumblatt reminded his Arab counterparts about the time when Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II refused to accept a Zionist settlement in Palestine, defying various odds during his reign between 1876 and 1909. Herzl had tirelessly worked to implement the Zionist plan, meeting notable political figures across the world, which included Abdul Hamid II.

Lebanon: Beirut Landfill Near Capacity

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A beach where a heavy winds and strong waves washed ashore piles of garbage in Keserwan, north of Beirut, Lebanon, on 23 January 2018.

by hrw.org --(Beirut) – The Borj Hammoud landfill, one of two principal landfills serving Beirut, Lebanon, is set to reach capacity by the end of July 2019, Human Rights Watch said today. The government had initially estimated that the landfill would be in operation until 2020. The government has taken no steps to provide an alternative site for Beirut’s solid waste. Instead, a 13-page solid waste roadmap the Environment Ministry submitted to a ministerial committee on June 3 recommends expanding the Borj Hammoud landfill. Experts say that the landfill is affecting nearby residents’ health. Yet, the Environment Ministry has proposed its expansion without an Environmental Impact Assessment or consultation with affected communities, solid waste management experts have said. “The government has to answer for why Lebanon’s waste management infrastructure has not been improved upon four years after the last waste crisis led to mounds of trash in the streets of Beirut,” said Lama Fakih, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The government may be ready to bury its head in the sand but residents don’t want to end up buried in piles of trash.”

The Borj Hammoud landfill is currently emanating particularly strong odors, which an international consultant hired by the Environment Ministry determined was caused by manure and garbage in various states of decomposition that have been dumped there. Nearby residents and public health experts fear that the odors signal the emission of toxic pollutants. According to air pollution experts, chronic exposure to these strong odors is linked to respiratory diseases, allergies, and the spread of bacteria. Further, experts state that leachate from the Borj Hammoud landfill is being dumped into the sea, polluting the water and making the sea in areas surrounding the landfill dangerous for swimming. Both Lebanese legislation and international standards stipulate that an Environmental Impact Assessment must be conducted before a project can begin and that measures must be taken to mitigate unavoidable adverse impacts.

Trump Mideast plan hits nerve in Lebanon, stirs old fears. “Lebanon is not a real estate firm" Nadim Gemayel

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Tom Perry, Laila Bassam --- BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s vision for Mideast peace has hit a raw nerve in Lebanon, reviving fears of any plan that would permanently settle Palestinian refugees in the country and shift its Christian-Muslim sectarian balance. he first part of the White House plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians focuses on encouraging $50 billion of investment in the Palestinian territories and three neighboring Arab states, one of them Lebanon. Lebanese of all sects are objecting to ideas that have surfaced so far, seeing $6 billion for Lebanon as an inducement to accept the settlement of Palestinians who have lived as refugees in the country since Israel’s creation in 1948. Rejecting the naturalization of Palestinians has been a rare point of agreement among Lebanese through a troubled history including the 1975-90 civil war in which Palestinian groups played a major role.

The first part of the plan is set to be unveiled by White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, at a Bahrain conference on Tuesday. The Lebanese government was invited but is not attending. The prospects of the plan getting anywhere do not look good: the Palestinian Authority is itself staying away from the conference and has refused to deal with the Trump administration for 18 months, accusing it of bias toward Israel. “As a Lebanese and an Arab, I reject the entire American project, and with regards to the Lebanese part, of course I am against Palestinian naturalization, not because we are against Palestinians, but so they return to their country,” said Hussam Mneimneh, a 43-year-old taxi driver. “It doesn’t suit us for there to be naturalization of any nationality because it creates a demographic, geographic imbalance, and this is something we do not accept.”

Blow to Turkey's Erdogan as opposition wins big in Istanbul

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Image: Ekrem Imamoglu speaks to the media at CHP offices in Istanbul on June 23, 2019.

By Reuters ISTANBUL — Turkey's main opposition claimed a decisive victory on Sunday in Istanbul's re-run election, dealing one of the biggest blows to President Tayyip Erdogan during his 16 years in power and promising a new beginning in the country's largest city. Ekrem Imamoglu, mayoral candidate of the secularist Republican People's Party, was leading with 54 percent of votes against 45 percent for Erdogan's AK Party candidate, with more than 99% of ballots opened, Turkish broadcasters said. The election was Istanbul's second in three months after results of an initial March vote were scrapped, setting up the do-over as a test of Turks' ability to check what many saw as their president's increasingly authoritarian power. "Today, 16 million Istanbul residents have renewed our faith in democracy and refreshed our trust in justice," Imamoglu told supporters. His AK Party opponent, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, congratulated him and wished him "all the luck" in serving Istanbul, Turkey's commercial hub. Erdogan also tweeted his congratulations to the Republican People's Party candidate. Imamoglu had won the original mayoral election on March 31 by a narrow margin, which prompted the Islamist-rooted AK Party to demand a re-run, citing what it said were voting irregularities.

If the U.S. strikes Iran, what might happen next?

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Image: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks in a ceremony marking 30th death anniversary of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini

By Ken Dilanian nbcnews.com --WASHINGTON — A limited U.S. strike on Iran of the sort President Donald Trump says he canceled Thursday night could prompt a potent Iranian reaction that in turn might spark a much larger military conflict, current and former U.S. officials and experts tell NBC News. Iran could do enormous damage to the global economy by mining the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway off its coast through which flows 40 percent of the crude oil traded internationally. That action, even if quickly countered by the U.S. Navy, would cause oil prices to spike. But that may not be Iran's first move in response to a limited American bomb and missile attack, experts say. Iran would likely turn first to its proxies, who could inflict major damage on American allies, experts say. Houthi rebels in Yemen could step up attacks against Saudi Arabian infrastructure with missiles and drones. Shiite militias could destabilize Iraq. Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist organization, could attack Israel or other American interests anywhere in the world.

And if Iran wanted to kill Americans, any of those groups could do that on its behalf, with some deniability, said the experts. Shiite militias could overrun the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and seize hostages. Hezbollah, which, before 9/11, had killed more Americans than any other terror group, could strike in places as far flung as Latin America, where the group has a strong presence. "Traditionally, when faced with this sort of American action, Iran doesn't tend to respond directly and immediately, but they do so asymmetrically and over a period of time," said Ray Takeyh, a former State Department official and Iran expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump said in a tweet Friday that he stopped a U.S. attack on Iran that would have targeted three sites. He told NBC's Chuck Todd in an exclusive interview Friday that, after being told the attack could cost 150 Iranian lives, he decided it was not proportional to the downing of an unmanned spy drone.

Lebanon's Bonds Enter Danger Zone as Budget Crisis Drags On

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(Bloomberg) -Abeer Abu Omar and Paul Wallace- Lebanon’s Eurobonds have entered distressed territory as a budget delay and rising political tension in the region complicate efforts to tackle the nation’s fiscal crisis. The average extra yield investors demand to hold the Arab nation’s debt over U.S. Treasuries climbed to a 10-year high of 946 basis points this week. Among emerging markets not in default, only Zambia and Argentina have wider spreads, according to a Bloomberg Barclays index. Some of Lebanon’s dollar securities, including those maturing in 2022 and 2023, already have spreads above 1,000 basis points.

Investors are losing patience as political squabbles stall economic reforms. A long-delayed budget aims to lower the deficit to 7.6% of gross domestic product this year, which would help unlock billions of dollars in aid. Prime Minister Saad Hariri said last week that lawmakers objected to some items after previously agreeing to them, and he ridiculed suggestions that Lebanon would seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. “The country is running out of time,” said Raffaele Bertoni, the head of debt-capital markets at Gulf Investment Corp. in Kuwait City. “Unpopular decisions are needed to keep the growing fiscal deficit under control. Until then, Lebanese sovereign bonds will continue to trade in distressed territory.”

Lebanon flyers celebrate end of Beirut airport form filling

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A double-decker Airbus A380 plane lands at the RaficÂ Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon. AP

by thenational.ae ---Beirut airport has introduced new procedures allowing foreign travellers to skip time-consuming arrival and departure cards. The new measure was welcomed by passengers who saw their waiting time reduced. “No more pink cards. No more white cards. And #Beirut airport passport control (though it was relatively empty) was faaaaast,” tweeted one. Before going through passport control, passengers used to have to fill out pink or white cards by hand that detailed, among others, their name, passport number, and place of stay in Lebanon, causing congestion amid a last-minute scramble for pens.

A source at the Interior Ministry told The National that a decree was published on June 7 cancelling the cards to “facilitate flows”. The new procedures are implemented by General Security, an intelligence agency also in charge of border control, under the supervision of Interior Minister Raya Hassan. The elimination of arrival and departure cards is part of a series of reforms launched last February by local authorities to accelerate security procedures and avoid a repeat of incidents that took place during the summer of 2018, when passengers had to wait in line for hours. In parallel to facilitating immigration procedures, the airport authorities will increase the number of General Security passenger control counters.

The European Union is financing these reforms at a cost of €3.5 million (Dh12.8m), local media reported. Rafic Hariri International Airport regularly becomes overcrowded during the holidays when Lebanese living abroad return to their home country to visit their families. Nearly nine million passengers used the airport last year though it was initially built to handle six million. With Saudi Arabia recently lifting its travel warning to Lebanon, and the UAE announcing they will scrap their travel ban soon, Lebanon is hoping for an increase in tourists this summer compared to previous years. Tourism is traditionally one of the main drivers of the economy.