Middle East Press On: Economic, Future, Erdogan, Islamist, Resurgence, Technocracy: New Age Islam's Selection, 3 April 2025
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
3 April 2025
Time To Invest In Israel's Economic Future Through Meaningful Social Change
Erdogan's Turkey Is The Nerve Centre Of A Broader Islamist Resurgence
If The US Abandons Israel, An Israeli-Kurdish Alliance Will Enhance Regional Security
Israel's Security Is America's Security. Americans Should Not Ignore That
Mahmoud Khalil’s Detention: A Chilling Signal In The Crackdown On Palestinian Solidarity
Gaza Will Not Be Defeated As Long As There Are People Who Refuse To Stay Silent
Lebanon’s Central Bank Controversy Shows Limits Of Technocracy
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Time To Invest In Israel's Economic Future Through Meaningful Social Change
By JPost Editorial
April 3, 2025
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released an economic report on Wednesday focusing on Israel, pointing at the financial challenges the country has faced in the wake of the Israel-Hamas War.The report highlighted that while Israel’s economy has seen partial recovery during the Israel-Hamas war, overall activity remains weak in 2024.
By the end of the year, investment levels were still 15% lower than before the latest fighting, with labor shortages hindering recovery – particularly in construction due to the suspension of work permits for Palestinian workers. The survey also noted that exports remained sluggish.
Looking ahead, economic growth is expected to accelerate as geopolitical conditions improve, but labor shortages will likely continue to weigh on the construction sector which, as anyone who has looked at the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv skylines in recent years knows, is vital to the development of major cities across the country.
The OECD also projects a GDP growth of 3.4% in 2025 and 5.5% in 2026. However, an escalation of conflict on multiple fronts could further strain public finances and, therein, weaken economic activity.
All in all, the point is clear: While Israel’s economy is resilient, it is not immune to prolonged instability. If this latest round of fighting continues, it will erode investor confidence, strain public finances, and limit economic potential. Stability in the region and an effective end to the conflicts on all fronts are vital to economic growth.
Indeed, Israel’s sovereign risk premium has risen by 50 basis points since October 7, 2023, meaning that concerns over Israel’s ability to meet loan and bond obligations have risen. The country’s fiscal balance, which previously showed a surplus, has now shifted into a significant deficit. That is a negative outlook for prospective investors in the Start-Up Nation.
The improvements Israel needs to make
The OECD additionally emphasized the need for structural reforms in education and the labor market to boost employment and productivity. As has been the source of many an internal conflict in recent years, the report noted that many young haredi (ultra-Orthodox) and Arab Israelis receive lower-quality education, limiting their job opportunities and wages. To address this, the OECD recommends conditioning school funding on teaching core subjects and ensuring equal per-student funding for schools with similar socioeconomic backgrounds.
This, however, has been one of many points of contention between the haredi sector and the secular majority.
Indeed, the Chief Economist’s Office in the Finance Ministry released a study in May 2024 revealing that full-time wages for young ultra-Orthodox men with no secondary education were 16% lower than for their non-haredi Jewish counterparts because their education system was not as effective as the non-ultra-Orthodox system in preparing students for the workforce.
Nevertheless, the haredi community in Israel has been diametrically opposed to any reform in terms of their education system.
Additionally, removing financial benefits that discourage ultra-Orthodox men from working could improve labor force participation, the OECD said. Indeed, financial benefits for the haredi community have been stamped into the economic system as a means of supporting a less workforce-focused, more religious-community-based society at the expense of the rest of the country’s taxes.
The OECD suggests that Israel adopt fiscal measures that minimize harm to growth, including taxing sugary drinks and single-use plastics – a policy that had been put in place by the previous government and reversed under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as a bone to his haredi coalition partners, as well as ending VAT exemptions, and raising carbon tax rates.
The report also highlights Israel’s strong AI sector, which has benefited from the country’s dynamic hi-tech ecosystem. However, to sustain this growth, Israel must expand access to STEM education – another problem which has risen due to the disparities in core curricula – and address gender disparities in the field (where women make up only 23% of AI professionals), while maintaining a flexible approach to AI regulation.
The implications are clear. Israel’s systemic inequalities are harming its economic stability. An evenness in education, equal opportunities across the board, and a flexible, dynamic approach to cultural differences in order to create accessibility across sectors is vital to promoting a healthy, growing economy.
As much as we rely on the Start-Up Nation’s reputation, beauty doesn’t last forever. A society that works does.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-848575
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Erdogan's Turkey Is The Nerve Centre Of A Broader Islamist Resurgence
By Amine Ayoub
April 3, 2025
Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan is no longer a NATO ally in spirit; it is a rogue state pursuing an expansionist, Islamist agenda that threatens the stability of the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and even Europe.
Under Erdogan, Turkey has transformed into a regional aggressor, seeking to revive Ottoman-era dominance through military incursions, political subversion, and economic blackmail. He has leveraged the chaos of the Arab Spring, the Syrian Civil War, and the geopolitical vacuum left by Western indecision to entrench Turkish influence from North Africa to the Caucasus.
This is not the Turkey of founding father Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. It is an assertive power bent on reshaping borders, weaponizing migration, and undermining its supposed Western allies. Erdogan plays both sides, balancing NATO membership with Russian military purchases, condemning Israel while trading with it, and feigning diplomacy while funding radical Islamists. The world watches, but who is prepared to stop him?
The answer does not lie in a single state but in an emerging coalition of forces converging out of necessity. The unspoken alliance that can challenge Erdogan’s ambitions is taking shape between Israel, Egypt, Greece, France, and the UAE – a bloc driven not by ideology but by survival.
An Islamist resurgence
Erdogan’s Turkey is not an isolated aggressor; it is the nerve center of a broader Islamist resurgence. His support for the Muslim Brotherhood threatens secular governments across the Arab world. His interventions in Libya, Syria, and the Caucasus are not just geopolitical maneuvers; they are statements of intent, demonstrating his willingness to redraw the map through force.
This makes Egypt and the UAE his natural adversaries. Both have declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, and both have moved aggressively to counter Turkish-backed militias in Libya. The UAE has gone further, using its financial and military influence to support anti-Turkish factions across the region. But countering Erdogan requires more than isolated measures; it demands a synchronized strategy.
Enter Israel and Greece. Israel views Turkey as an existential threat not only because of its support for Hamas but because of its growing influence in Palestinian politics. Turkey seeks to replace Iran as the leader of the anti-Israel axis by positioning itself as the champion of the Palestinian cause while maintaining just enough diplomatic ties to avoid full-scale retaliation. Greece, meanwhile, faces a more immediate danger.
Turkish naval aggression in the Eastern Mediterranean is a direct challenge to Greek sovereignty, with Erdogan openly contesting territorial waters and gas reserves. Athens has responded by strengthening military ties with France, which has its own reasons for opposing Turkish expansionism. President Emmanuel Macron’s France has emerged as Erdogan’s most vocal European opponent, clashing with Turkey over Libya, Syria, and even Turkey’s influence in European Muslim communities.
If this coalition solidifies, it has the means to halt Erdogan’s advance. The Abraham Accords nations provide economic leverage, cutting off Turkish financial networks in the Gulf and Africa. France and Greece can turn the Mediterranean into a no-go zone for Turkish naval adventurism. Israel’s intelligence capabilities can counter Turkey’s covert operations. Egypt, with its powerful military and regional influence, can contain Turkish proxies in North Africa and the Levant.
And the wildcard, Russia, could decide that its tactical alliance with Turkey has outlived its usefulness, especially if Erdogan overplays his hand in the Caucasus or Black Sea.
How to address the Turkish threat
Still, countering Erdogan is not just about military pressure; it is about economic and diplomatic warfare. Turkey’s fragile economy is its greatest weakness. Years of reckless spending, currency manipulation, and overreliance on Qatari financial support have left it vulnerable. Sanctions targeted at key Turkish industries – defense, banking, and energy – could accelerate its economic decline, forcing Erdogan into a defensive posture.
Cutting off Turkish influence networks in Europe and the Middle East would limit his ability to use soft power as a weapon, and expelling it from NATO-led initiatives would signal that the West no longer tolerates Erdogan’s double game.
The time for appeasement has passed. The world’s tolerance of Erdogan’s belligerence has only emboldened him. He thrives on Western hesitation, using it to expand his reach while ensuring that the costs of intervention remain high.
History has shown that unchecked expansionism does not stop on its own. It must be confronted decisively, with a clear strategy and the will to follow through. The forces opposing Erdogan are assembling, but they must act before Turkey’s ambitions become irreversible.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-848549
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If The Us Abandons Israel, An Israeli-Kurdish Alliance Will Enhance Regional Security
By Loqman Radpey
April 3, 2025
In a sermon delivered after Eid al-Fitr prayers, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei dismissed claims that “the zealous youths of the regional nations” are “[Iran’s] proxies,” yet openly labeled Israel as the “only one proxy force in this region”– one that “must be uprooted.”
His rhetoric left no doubt that he sees Israel as an extension of “colonizers” or American and Western influence. But what if the unthinkable happened?
Could the US abandon its support for Israel?
What if the US, whether due to internal turmoil or shifting geopolitical priorities, abandoned its long-standing support for Israel? While Israeli leaders are not ostriches with their heads in the sand, Israeli strategic planners must treat this scenario as a genuine possibility and prepare accordingly.
Israel’s pursuit of nuclear capability in the 1960s was not just a deterrent against its immediate neighbors but a safeguard against existential threats. Today, Israel’s arsenal undoubtedly contains capabilities that remain undisclosed. The imperative to secure its survival has shaped its doctrine for decades, and the prospect of American disengagement would only heighten this need for self-reliance.
The policies of former US president Barack Obama, particularly his approach to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, alarmed Israel. More recently, the pro-Hamas slogans echoing on American university campuses after the October 7 attacks have underscored a disturbing shift in Western sentiment.
Israel’s leaders are no strangers to history, and they recognize the signs of a US trapped in a spiraling decline; the US is grappling with deepening social and political divisions, and an unforeseen crisis could push it into outright chaos. Israel must hedge against such risks.
One strategy is strengthening alliances beyond the framework of traditional state-to-state diplomacy.
New takes on traditional diplomatic strategies
While the Abraham Accords represent a breakthrough in Israeli-Arab relations, they follow a top-down model dictated by political elites. Yet, anti-Israel sentiments remain deeply ingrained among the Arab populace.
A more enduring approach may lie in bottom-up alliances – specifically, forging closer ties with the Kurds, a nation who, like the Israelis, have long fought for self-determination in a hostile region.
Unlike many nationalist movements in the Middle East, the Kurds have never framed their national struggle through an Islamist lens – whether Sunni or Shia – despite enduring oppression from Islamic regimes in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey.
Their battle against terrorism and extremism aligns naturally with Israel’s interests. A strong Kurdish-Israeli alliance could not only enhance regional stability but also serve as a counterweight to Iranian and Turkish expansionism, especially in Syria.
If the US truly seeks to reshape the Middle East’s balance of power, it should break longstanding taboos and facilitate deeper Kurdish-Israeli cooperation between the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
An Israeli-Kurdish alliance would boost regional stability
Such an alliance should evolve into a formal strategic partnership – aligned with the spirit of the Abraham Accords – one that could pave the way to an independent Kurdistan, ultimately enhancing regional stability and long-term security for Israel.
The geopolitical chessboard is shifting, and Israel must ensure it remains several moves ahead. The time to secure alternative alliances and bolster independent deterrence is now.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-848545
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Israel's Security Is America's Security. Americans Should Not Ignore That
By Eric R. Mandel
April 3, 2025
With American newspapers, cable media, and family gatherings full of contentious debate for and against the disruptions of the first months of the Trump administration, Americans can be forgiven for pushing foreign policy and distant wars aside. However, Americans who think foreign affairs are not worth considering are mistaken.
Being engaged and informed strengthens the US’s national security. If we stop caring about what happens on distant shores, we will bear the costs in the future.
Those who understand that having to deal with radical Islamism is not a choice realize the importance of supporting allies like Israel, which is at the frontline opposing jihadism. If there were no Israeli soldiers confronting jihadists, the chance for American boots on the ground would be much higher.
American regional security interests and influence depend on Israel transforming its tactical victories against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran into strategic victories for regional stability.
If Israel is to remain strong against numerically superior enemies and shared adversaries, it needs to maintain not just a qualitative edge but also a unified, resilient, and cohesive society that can overcome difficult odds while fighting on seven fronts.
Israel has been fighting for eighteen months
Israelis are an extended family, literally fighting in their own backyards. The high motivation this generates is part of the Israeli ethos, allowing them to survive 18 months of war. However, the strong facade is being tested by the return of impassioned domestic turmoil. Much of the anger generated results from self-inflicted government choices as the country enters a critical juncture.
The most consequential and needless act dividing the Israeli people is the attempted sacking of the attorney-general and the head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), most analogous to our FBI.
This would be less controversial if the prime minister’s associates were not under investigation for allegedly accepting Qatari money from an American Qatari lobbyist during the war, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not standing trial for improprieties.
The hypocrisy is that while Netanyahu refuses an inquiry into his government’s role in the October 7, 2023, surprise Hamas attack because the war is still ongoing, he is proceeding with judicial reform, bringing a contentious bill to the Knesset “to take political control of appointing judges.”
The prime minister’s weak hand in keeping his coalition together has given outsized leverage to smaller parties. The ultra-Orthodox, non-Zionist parties have not only extorted additional funding but have demanded that the price of remaining in the coalition be the continuation of an exemption for their draft-age young men from serving in any way in the army.
It’s not surprising that there are protests about the fate of the hostages, a subject that tears at the fabric of society. Should a deal with the devil allowing Hamas to stay in power to save as many hostages as possible be prioritized, or should the primacy be the destruction of Hamas, pressuring the terrorists to release the hostages sooner? The hostage protests are unavoidable, but the other ones prioritize partisan politics over unity, an essential security imperative.
So why should Americans care?
America needs a strong Israel, and a divided Israeli citizenry weakens it, harms American negotiating efforts, and emboldens shared adversaries like Iran. It is up to the Israeli people to sort out their domestic problems. Still, when the nation of Israel was divided as it was before October 7 over contentious judicial reform, Israel’s enemies interpreted it as weakness.
As Israel and America are reaching a crucial point in dealing with an unrepentant Hamas, a weakened Hezbollah, and a vulnerable Iran, the last thing Israel needs is internal strife that contributes to regional destabilization.
During a recent “Call Me Back” podcast with American pundit Dan Senor discussing the return of domestic strife on the streets of Israel, his guest, Jerusalem Post columunist Seth J. Frantzman, was asked about the domestic turmoil. He said, “The coalition government is quite divisive while the country is divided.
Even during the war, Bibi is playing politics as he himself is on trial. It is hard to keep Israeli unity cohesive for so long… You have to save the state internally to save the state externally… A strong internal democracy will survive the war.”
Polls show public confidence is low
As an indication of the vulnerability of the coalition and the division of Israeli society, a Reichman University poll showed the current Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, whom Netanyahu wants to fire, has the confidence of 43% of the people vs just 17% confidence for the Netanyahu government.
An N12 poll revealed that two out of three Israelis fear for their democracy because of internal strife and government actions – a troubling barometer, whether justified or not. One in three of the supporters of the current coalition support Israel’s democracy.
According to Mosaic magazine, “A significant number of Israelis believe the prime minister does not have the prerogative to remove the head of the Shin Bet (considered a “professional” rather than “political” position). Complicating matters is the role of the attorney-general, who does not act as the government’s lawyer but as a representative of the judicial branch within the executive.
“Amit Segal, an Israeli pundit known as a supporter of Netanyahu, argues that the prime minister has played his hand poorly… Instead of firing Bar at a more logical time, such as during the ceasefire… Netanyahu waited until the ceasefire itself was on the brink of collapse.”
This is trouble not only for Israel but for America. Perhaps President Donald Trump can lean on Netanyahu and say, “Bibi, I really can really empathize with your political problems, but you are undermining our negotiations with Hamas, and soon with Tehran over their nuclear program.
“So, take a break, prioritize your country’s cohesion for both of our benefits, and when Gaza and a nuclear Iran are dealt with, you can return to domestic housecleaning.”
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-848547
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Mahmoud Khalil’s Detention: A Chilling Signal In The Crackdown On Palestinian Solidarity
By Andrew S. Maier
April 2, 2025
The largest case in public discourse today revolves around Columbia University, where 22 students — including Mahmoud Khalil — have faced suspensions, diploma revocations, or even deportation. The crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism has escalated sharply since US President Donald Trump came to power in January, but Khalil’s case signals a premeditated attempt by the US government to deter global Palestinian solidarity.
Khalil’s detention, orchestrated through opaque legal manoeuvres, reflects a broader strategy to suppress dissent. His sudden disappearance, the secrecy around his whereabouts, and the swift transfers across multiple states all raise serious concerns about violations of due process.
The timeline of Khalil’s detention
On 8 March, plainclothes ICE agents seized Khalil outside his university-owned apartment. For days, his wife and lawyers had no idea where he was; initially held at the Elizabeth Detention Centre in New Jersey, Khalil was quickly transferred the next day to Louisiana. His legal team only confirmed his location through ICE’s detainee locator database on 13 March meaning Khalil was taken off the grid for five days.
Key questions remain unanswered: Why was he moved from New York to New Jersey, and then to Louisiana? Why was his arrest conducted covertly? And why was his legal status — as a Green Card holder — ignored in favour of a deportation push?
A federal immigration case with no grounds
ICE procedures typically apply to undocumented immigrants or visa holders. Yet Khalil, a Green Card holder, had no criminal charges against him — federal or state — that would justify his arrest and deportation. His detention has been driven by political motives rather than legal grounds, a stark example of how federal power can be manipulated to silence political expression.
New York’s sanctuary policies complicate this effort — the state prohibits local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration agencies unless due process is followed. This likely explains why ICE agents conducted Khalil’s arrest in secret.
Why New Jersey? Why Louisiana?
Transferring Khalil across state lines appears to have been a calculated move. Federal law dictates that immigration cases are heard in the state where the person is detained. Holding Khalil in New Jersey, rather than New York, allowed prosecutors to avoid New York’s progressive courts while keeping options open for a potential transfer to a more conservative jurisdiction.
Louisiana, a state with a more conservative judicial climate, was the government’s preferred location for the case. With almost double the national rate of authorised deportations, it is clear why President Trump would attempt to push for Khalil’s immediate deportation without trial. Although that motion failed, the transfer process highlights an alarming trend: the strategic use of federal power to undermine legal protections for pro-Palestinian activists.
A broader crackdown on dissent
Khalil’s case does not exist in a vacuum. His detention is part of a much larger crackdown on pro-Palestinian activism, signalled explicitly by Trump’s promise that Khalil is the “first of many”. This repression is happening particularly on university campuses, where students and faculty members are increasingly being surveilled, harassed and punished for expressing solidarity with Palestine.
The recent case of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish university student, also went viral exposing the terrifying moment plain-clothed ICE agents detained her for her pro-Palestinian views.
At the heart of this repression is the weaponisation of accusations of anti-Semitism to delegitimise any criticism of Israel. Advocacy for Palestinian rights, opposition to US military aid to Israel, and even calls for a ceasefire have been deliberately conflated with hate speech, creating a climate where pro-Palestinian voices are systematically silenced. Universities, long considered bastions of free thought and political debate, have become central battlegrounds in this effort.
Students at elite institutions like Harvard, Columbia, and NYU have faced suspensions, revocation of job offers and outright expulsions for their political activism. Student groups, particularly those affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), have been disbanded, investigated or had their funding revoked.
The suppression is not just limited to campuses. The Trump administration has signalled a willingness to go even further, with the Department of Education opening investigations into multiple universities under the guise of addressing anti-Semitism — investigations that, in practice, are targeting pro-Palestinian speech. State legislatures have also joined the fray, with Florida banning campus chapters of SJP and Texas lawmakers pushing to criminalise pro-Palestinian advocacy altogether.
The Khalil case represents the newest form of this crackdown — where legal mechanisms, normally reserved for serious criminal cases, are being weaponised against activists. His detention suggests that the state is willing to bypass due process entirely to send a clear message: Palestinian solidarity will be punished.
Repression breeds resistance
But if history teaches us anything, it’s that repression often breeds resistance. Instead of silencing the movement, Khalil’s case has only fuelled international outrage and mobilisation. Student encampments, walkouts and demonstrations have surged across the US and beyond, with activists doubling down on their calls for justice. Rather than cowering in fear, students and organisers see Khalil’s case as a rallying cry, exposing the lengths to which the US government will go to protect Israeli impunity.
Khalil’s detention ignited outrage far beyond US borders. Within days of his arrest, students in British universities such as SOAS and UoM launched solidarity encampments, explicitly linking their protests to his case. In Glasgow, activists occupied university buildings demanding their institutions cut ties with Israeli counterparts, while in Melbourne, protesters chanted Khalil’s name during rallies. This wasn’t coincidence — it was proof of a movement learning to weaponise repression against itself. The state wants fear to win. But as Khalil wrote from detention: “They can’t jail a movement.”
The state miscalculated. By making Khalil a global case, they handed the Palestinian solidarity movement its most powerful narrative tool: visible proof of the crackdown’s cruelty. His case now appears on protest banners from Berlin to Jakarta, with demonstrators drawing direct parallels between his treatment and Israel’s detention of Palestinian journalists.
History offers a clear lesson. When Columbia tried to crush Vietnam War protests in 1968, it radicalised a generation. Today, each heavy-handed response — whether Khalil’s detention, Columbia’s suspensions, or the UK’s proposed protest bans — only fuels the movement’s growth.
The state fears this solidarity precisely because it works. When Louisiana jailers tried to isolate Khalil, they didn’t account for the flood of letters from London, Johannesburg and Sao Paulo that followed. The greatest irony has been the response of university students globally seizing parts of their campuses in solidarity with Khalil, whose case has become inextricably tied with university suppression.
This is the resistance they never planned for — not lawsuits or lobbying, but a tidal wave of collective rage that treats every attack as a recruitment poster. Khalil’s captors thought they were building a wall of fear. Instead, they gave the world a ladder, and people are rising up.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250402-mahmoud-khalils-detention-a-chilling-signal-in-the-crackdown-on-palestinian-solidarity/
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Gaza Will Not Be Defeated As Long As There Are People Who Refuse To Stay Silent
By Adnan Hmidan
April 2, 2025
In a bloody scene that encapsulates what the occupation seeks to entrench in Gaza, a police officer was brutally assassinated by armed assailants, while Israeli forces executed eight paramedics in cold blood as they attended to the wounded. Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue to target journalists, ensuring that no witnesses remain to document the crimes and that the massacre images never reach the outside world. The occupation troops want to erase the truth just as they erase life, ensuring that no voice remains to narrate the unfolding tragedy stretching from Jabalia to Rafah, which has become an “open grave”.
What is happening today is not just a war, nor a passing phase of aggression, but an orchestrated genocide; an act of ethnic cleansing carried out with chilling precision. The occupation is systematically implementing a meticulously crafted plan, facilitated with US approval and support, Arab abandonment and suspicious international complicity.
Gaza is being annihilated. The Zionist enemy spares no effort to uproot life from the enclave. Residential areas are bombed indiscriminately, homes collapse over the heads of their inhabitants, leaving behind only rubble and ash. Hospitals are shelled and starved of supplies, water is cut off, food is scarce, and even the air of Gaza is thick with the stench of gunpowder and corpses decomposing after mass killings.
Under tattered tents, children lie exposed, waiting for the next shell or a fresh massacre to be added to the long list of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the occupation forces in full view of the world, and yet with total impunity.
Beyond direct annihilation, the occupation state is working to dismantle Gaza’s internal fabric by targeting police forces and security institutions, aiming to plunge the territory into lawlessness and organised crime. Where there is no law enforcement, fear prevails, violence spreads and society disintegrates into internal strife, exactly what the occupation desires: to distract people from resisting, pushing them to fight each other instead of confronting the aggressor, Zionist state.
They seek to turn Gaza into a lawless wasteland, allowing the Zionists to feign innocence before the world, while exclaiming: “Look! There is no government, no order, no state, only chaos.”
However, despite their wounds and losses, the people of Gaza understand this conspiracy. They realise that resilience against aggression is not just about withstanding bombardment, but also about preserving internal cohesion and preventing the occupation from achieving its goal of fragmenting Palestinian society.
In any war, hospitals and medical workers are considered red lines, yet in Israel’s genocidal campaign against Gaza, paramedics have become legitimate targets. They are prevented from reaching the wounded, assassinated while carrying out their duty, even as ambulances and medical centres are systematically destroyed.
In Rafah, hospitals are drowning in blood, but there is no medicine. Wounded civilians are dying not necessarily because their injuries were fatal, but because medical resources are deliberately withheld by the rogue state of Israel. In hospital wards and corridors, dozens of injured children lie in agony, awaiting their fate in isolation, while the world looks away.
A crime is incomplete without the means to cover it up. This is why the occupation state seeks to exterminate truth as well as people. Journalists are targeted just like resistance fighters, because in Gaza, words have become more dangerous than bullets. Hundreds of journalists have been killed by the Israeli forces, while others have been arrested or expelled, ensuring that no one remains to tell the story.
Every man, woman and child in Gaza has become a citizen journalist, bearing witness to the atrocities. Every destroyed home is a testimony, and every grieving mother is a story that tells the world that Gaza is being annihilated while the world watches in silence and, at times, with tacit approval.
The occupation does not rely solely on military force; it also wages a systematic media war aimed at discrediting the Palestinian resistance, blaming it for the catastrophe, and attempting to sever it from its popular support. Pro-Israel media and politicians, along with normalising Arab voices, propagate deceptive narratives, claiming that Gaza is suffering because it refuses to surrender, and that the only solution is to submit to Israeli conditions, as if the killing would stop if Palestinians waved the white flag. When has Israel ever stuck to the terms of ceasefires or any other agreements?
History has shown that surrender has never guaranteed survival. If Gaza were to raise the white flag today, Israel would not cease its crimes, it would continue its expansionist project, pursuing Palestinians relentlessly because their very existence threatens Israel’s colonial ambitions and reminds the Zionists of their original sin of the Nakba, and that their state was founded on lies, terrorism and ethnic cleansing. The occupation, despite its brutality, remains anxious because it knows that Gaza has not been defeated, and will not break, even if reduced to ashes.
We have to expose the conspiracy in all its details, amplifying voices against Israeli crimes across all media and political platforms. We must also reject internal division, encouraging Gaza’s people to remain united and not fall into Israel’s trap of orchestrated chaos.
Legally, steps must be taken to bring the occupation state to account for its crimes. The international courts must be pushed to bring the Zionist criminals to justice.
This process can be helped by escalating global, grassroots mobilisation, organising protests and pressuring complicit governments. In doing so, we can also expose the traitors and propagandists who promote Israeli narratives and attempt to sanitise its image internationally.
Finally, we need to call on intellectuals, academics and journalists to fulfil their duty to reveal the true nature of the occupation state, ensuring that the world recognises Israel’s history of massacres and ethnic cleansing, regardless of short-term political considerations.
Israel is betting on exhausting Gaza’s resilience, hoping that global protests will subside gradually over time. But Gaza will not tire, will not fall and will never surrender. From the rubble, a child emerges, carrying a flag. From the ruins, a cry of defiance rises. In Rafah, where bombs rain down, people do not retreat. In Jabalia, where homes are obliterated, the spirit of resistance remains unbroken.
Gaza will not be erased as long as there are free voices in the world willing to speak up. Gaza will not be defeated as long as there are people who refuse to stay silent. And although the world watches in silence, legitimate resistance endures, and steadfastness remains the only way forward.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250402-gaza-will-not-be-defeated-as-long-as-there-are-people-who-refuse-to-stay-silent/
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Lebanon’s Central Bank Controversy Shows Limits Of Technocracy
Nadim Shehadi
April 02, 2025
The controversy over last week’s appointment of Karim Souaid as the new central bank governor in Lebanon reveals the limits of what a technocratic government can achieve. The process was accompanied by an intensive and sometimes vicious media campaign, including personal attacks and populist conspiracy theories. It divided the country along unexpected lines, creating a rift between newly elected President Joseph Aoun and his prime minister, Nawaf Salam, as well as one within the Cabinet.
One wonders what all the fuss was about. If the most competent people cannot discuss a technical problem, then the problem is not technical and needs a broader perspective to address other ideological and moral dimensions.
There is little doubt that the reformist government of PM Salam, if credentials are to be considered, is probably the most honest and technically competent in the history of humanity. I recall just one British prime minister ever having a doctorate, while ours has a doctorate from France and a Master of Laws from Harvard, in addition to a brilliant academic and diplomatic career, during which he presided over both the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice. French historian Henry Laurens described Salam as “the master of the world.” His Cabinet of 24 ministers includes thirteen doctorates, three Masters of Laws, three Masters of Business Administration, two brigadier generals and one major general.
Due to the country’s economic crisis and the devaluation of the currency, the salary of Cabinet ministers is barely equal to that of their driver. This also implies that ministers largely have to pay staff and cover expenses out of their own pocket, while having left brilliant careers and businesses behind in order to perform their patriotic duty. You could not find a more dedicated bunch.
One of the risks of such excessive ministerial talent and decency is that they could propose reforms that would work for a time, but only as long as the people in government are both as gifted and as clean as they are. Whereas what you really want is a system where you know that, whatever happens, incompetent and corrupt people cannot do much harm.
The debate raised many questions about policymaking and the independence of the central bank, as well as analyses of the causes of the crisis, the restructuring of the banking sector and the handling of the government's default on Eurobond debt service payments in March 2020. These are practical and legal issues that our ministers should be able to handle.
It gets complicated with the question of burden-sharing, or who should bear the losses from the financial crisis between three parties: the state, the banks and the depositors. The polarization is also similar to discussions over the “socialization” of financial losses that happened in the US after the 2008 financial crash, when hard-earned taxpayer money was used to bail out financial institutions, while bankers were allowed to keep their bonuses.
The division is interesting because it runs along classic left and right economic views and across sectarian and political lines. The chorus on the PM’s side call themselves the reformers who want to build a state, while using highly emotional language resembling Karl Marx’s text describing France’s “July Monarchy (as) nothing more than a joint stock company for the exploitation of France’s national wealth.”
The other side uses equally dramatic descriptions, with imagery of a global conspiracy backed by George Soros-funded “woke” nongovernmental organizations and expatriate financial executives who want to destroy the Lebanese banking system and replace it with their own banks. There is a Byzantine feel to all this, oblivious to the fact that the country is technically still at war — I could even hear an air raid in Beirut while writing this article.
Ultimately, everybody knows that some sort of agreement, a compromise, will have to be reached between the new governor of the central bank, together with the government, and the banks. This deal will have to satisfy the International Monetary Fund, with the objective of rebuilding confidence in Lebanon’s financial sector and putting the economy and the country back on a positive track.
The Lebanese financial crisis will go down in history as the perfect crime, where the victims are fighting over the losses and the actor that is responsible gets away with it. All three parties — the state, the banks and the depositors — are going to incur major losses and it will be a long time before they can get back to where they would have been had the crisis not occurred. It all boils down to the question: what will you save from the burning house?
In fact, the intense debate is over the financial repercussions, whereas the real cause of the collapse is in a different realm. Throughout the last 20 years, Lebanon has been held hostage by Hezbollah and no country could have survived the constant battering that brought it to its ruin. It became the battleground and the front line of a regional and international confrontation, resulting in a decade of assassinations starting in 2004; a destructive war in 2006; an occupation of the capital, which was then attacked by black-shirted armed men in 2008; a coup in 2011; and paralysis, as Lebanon was without a president and parliament and had no effective government for almost three years.
The country was isolated from its main economic partners in the Gulf. Huge revenue losses were incurred through Hezbollah’s control of Beirut’s port and airport. The constant declarations of war ruined summer tourist seasons and deterred investment. The Syrian war brought close to 2 million refugees to the country.
One way of looking at it is that Hezbollah milked the country dry to subsidize the so-called axis of resistance’s wars, which have resulted in a fiasco. No society could have survived such pressures and the financial aspects we are arguing about represent the mechanisms of the collapse, rather than the cause.
In the meantime, the law is very clear that the state has full responsibility to recapitalize the central bank. If this happens, it would save the banking sector and whatever is left of the depositors’ money, while establishing the rule of law and confidence in the future. Lebanon has the expertise and wizardry to work out the mechanisms and the details. Perhaps a better definition of the central bank’s prerogatives and limitations will result from this, but it was not the main reason for the collapse.
While every skill is present in the Cabinet, ministers may also need to consult a historian, who would explain that, in the mid-1940s, there were barely half a dozen banks in the country. In fact, they could be more accurately described as exchange and trading counters. By the mid-1960s, there were more than 90 sophisticated financial institutions. The Lebanese banking sector is in fact worth saving, as it is the inheritor of centuries of Levantine trading history, with merchant families and their networks from all over the region taking refuge in Beirut to escape nationalist and socialist revolutions.
The banking sector is the cumulative experience gathered through ancient trade routes via Damascus, Aleppo and Mosul and the financial operations to build and manage trade through the Suez Canal. What is really at stake is the future shape of Lebanon’s economy and its role in the region. This could be beyond the concerns of accountants, lawyers and economists, no matter what degrees they hold.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2595675
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