Democracy Now! / December 2, 2024
Guest : Kareem Chehayeb – Beirut-based journalist reporting on Lebanon, Syria and Iraq for The Associated Press
Extended interview with Associated Press reporter Kareem Chehayeb on the latest news from Syria and President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of Lebanese-born billionaire Massad Boulos to serve as his new adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Boulos is the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany.
TRANSCRIPT
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, as we continue our conversation with Kareem Chehayeb, a Beirut-based journalist reporting on Lebanon, Syria and Iraq for the Associated Press.
We just talked about what’s happening in Aleppo and also what’s happening in Lebanon, Israel’s continued attacks in southern Lebanon despite the ceasefire. But, Kareem, I wanted to ask you about the reaction in Lebanon to President-elect Trump naming the Lebanese American billionaire businessman Massad Boulos as his senior Middle East adviser. He is the father-in-law of Tiffany, President Trump’s child, who just married his son. Reuters reports that his father and grandfather were both figures in Lebanese politics, and his father-in-law was a key funder of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party aligned with Hezbollah. Can you talk more about who he is?
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: So, Amy, you pretty much described Massad Boulos pretty comprehensively. But definitely, when he sort of became very public about his involvement in the Trump campaign, it seemed he had some interesting appeals to the Lebanese in terms of trying to end the war and having the Lebanese trust in a Trump presidency. And he has since appeared very often on Lebanese media talking about what Trump has planned for the Middle East and how Trump wants to resolve wars and so on, trying to bring a sense of confidence from the Lebanese people that Trump would not only bring about calm in the region, but would also be good for stability in Lebanon.
Lebanon, for many years, has gone through an economic crisis, political turmoil. The country has been without a president for over two years now. And, of course, there’s a lot of concerns that, you know, this war that Hezbollah and Israel had would not have a lasting ceasefire or that there could not be lasting security in Lebanon. And there was almost a very specific appeal from Massad Boulos to the Lebanese through his ongoing interventions in the Lebanese media. He’s been broadcasted quite frequently, and now it seems it’s going to continue, now that he’s been assigned a specific role. It seems the Lebanese are hoping that there could be some calm in the region by a perception of a president who thinks like a businessman rather than a politician. This is what I hear from different Lebanese people and actual political officials, as well. So, that’s something that we will see.
Lebanon has a very big diaspora, with — Lebanese diaspora actually outnumbers the number of Lebanese people who live in the country. And many of them have become prominent businessmen and politicians and so on. So there’s almost this hope the diaspora could do something to benefit Lebanon, break the political deadlock and bring security and economic stability to the country. But we won’t know how any of this goes until Trump is inaugurated and we see how that presidency goes.
AMY GOODMAN: Kareem Chehayeb, in —
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: Sure.
AMY GOODMAN: — the first part of the interview we did, we talked about the surprise rebel attack and the takeover of Aleppo. If you can talk about the timing of this, with Syria’s allies involved with their conflicts, Russia involved with Ukraine — you have Hezbollah involved with Israel — and what this means for Syria right now?
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: Right, of course. So, the surprise insurgency definitely comes at a very interesting time, particularly for Syria and its key allies. Syria has relied heavily on Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah group, militarily and politically, to push back against opposition in the conflict. But, you know, at this time, Russia has been very busy with its war in Ukraine, and Hezbollah has been busy. You know, it’s just been a few days since the ceasefire took place to end Israel-Hezbollah’s war for 14 months, and the past few months have been devastating in Lebanon and for the group itself. And, of course, the consequences of the wars in Lebanon and in Gaza have put a lot of pressure on Iran. There have been direct confrontations between Iran and Israel, and there has been a massive diplomatic scramble to keep that under control. So, this comes just as, you know, as some analysts say, resources and energy has been drained from Syria’s key allies.
Now, Syria has largely been in a stalemate. There have been very key developments, though, over the years, notably after the 2023 earthquake that rocked Turkey and northern Syria. Syria was brought back into the Arab League and normalized with most countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia and other countries that early on in the Syrian conflict backed groups to overthrow President Assad.
And so, it is certainly an interesting time, because also there has been a push now, since insurgency happened, to restart diplomatic talks, particularly a Russian-led initiative, which includes Turkey and Iran, to help reconcile Damascus with Ankara. So, the coming days will really tell whether there will be a lasting political impact in Syria. But when it comes to the battlefield, it’s very clear that the counteroffensive is going to continue, and it seems there’s now a greater focus on making that work. And the result of all this will be clear in the coming days. It’s definitely an interesting — it could be a turning point, but we won’t know until we see how this counteroffensive takes place and what will actually happen in these talks once they happen.
AMY GOODMAN: And the significance of the Iranian foreign minister in Damascus on Sunday? And then he moved on to Turkey today. Why are Iran and Turkey important in this conflict?
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: So, Iran is a key backer of the Syrian government. It has military advisers there. Hezbollah, which is backed heavily by Iran, also played a key military role in Syria to push back opposition forces. Meanwhile, though, Turkey backs opposition forces, and they have launched military campaigns in northern Syria, particularly against the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. So, there is a Turkish presence in Syria, and there are a Turkish-backed group there. And Assad perceives this as — calls this an occupation of Syria. And so, to have Iran and Turkey meet at this time, at this period, and with an intention to try and restart these gridlocked political endeavors, shows the importance or significance of the timing of this insurgency and the possible diplomatic developments that can take place as a result of them, even though it’s only been a few days.
AMY GOODMAN: And finally, where does the U.S. stand, do you believe, Kareem, in this conflict?
KAREEM CHEHAYEB: So, the United States has called for calm over the situation. It’s unclear how they’re going to maneuver, given the actors. The United States considers Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the group that is leading the insurgency, a terrorist organization. But they have also sanctioned the Syrian government, Hezbollah and their allies. That being said, the U.S., you know, through different government spokespersons’ statements, have made it clear that while they are hoping for Syria to — for this matter to be resolved, they’re not necessarily concerned about the woes of the Syrian government and Iran. But we’re not sure how they’re going to maneuver. And it seems that Russia and Turkey and Iran are trying to resolve this. But we could get more clarity on this in the coming days.
AMY GOODMAN: Kareem Chehayeb, I want to thank you so much for being with us, a Beirut-based journalist reporting on Lebanon, Syria and Iraq for the Associated Press. To see Part 1 of our discussion, go to democracynow.org. Kareem was speaking to us from Beirut. Lebanon. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us
