Bible Quotation For Today/I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father John 15/15-17: “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”
Bible Quotation For Today/look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
Acts of the Apostles 04/23-31: “After they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant: “Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers have gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.” For in this city, in fact, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.”
LF-FPM Declaration Urges Strong President, Says No to ‘Constitution Manipulation, Violence’
Naharnet/02.06.15
The Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement signed a landmark declaration of intent on Tuesday, in a move aimed at ending around 30 years of animosity between the two Christian parties.The stipulations of the document were announced after a meeting in Rabiyeh between LF chief Samir Geagea and FPM leader MP Michel Aoun. The two parties call for “the election of a strong president who is embraced by his (Christian) community and capable of reassuring the other components of the country,” says the declaration, which was recited by MP Ibrahim Kanaan of the FPM and LF media officer Melhem Riachi. Kanaan and Riachi had held a series of meetings in recent months to prepare for the joint declaration. “The two parties agree to strengthen state institutions and resort to the law to resolve any sudden dispute. They agree not to resort to arms or violence and to support the army because it is the institution that can preserve sovereignty and national security,” the declaration of intent says.
The two parties stressed “commitment to the approach of dialogue” and underlined “their faith in Lebanon, the coexistence formula and the Constitution.”“They agree to endorse the principles of sovereignty in tackling the regional issues,” the declaration reads.
The LF and the FPM emphasized their commitment to “the Document of National Accord that was endorsed in (the Saudi city of) Taef,” calling for “avoiding anything that would manipulate the stipulations of the Constitution.”Aoun had recently blamed the political crisis in the country on “the limitation of the presidential powers” after the Taef Accord and “the lack of participation by all the Lebanese factions” in the country’s political life.He called for choosing one of four solutions to end the presidential vacuum: a two-phased election of the president by the people, a popular referendum that is binding for parliament, a parliamentary vote for the “two most representative Maronites”, or holding parliamentary polls based on a new and balanced electoral law before organizing the presidential vote.
In the declaration of intent announced on Tuesday, the two parties called for an electoral law that respects equal power-sharing between Muslims and Christians and “restores balance” in state institutions They also stressed the importance of “the implementation of administrative decentralization.” “We underscore commitment to the founding principles of the Lebanese entity and we will exert joint efforts to approve the laws on the property ownership of foreigners and renaturalization” of Lebanese emigrants, the LF and the FPM say in the document.
On the financial level, the two parties called for “abiding by the stipulations of the general audit law that governs state budgets.”Turning to foreign policy, the LF and the FPM stressed the need to “endorse an independent foreign policy while building honest ties with all countries.”“Israel is an enemy and we reject naturalization (of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon) and call for a two-state solution” to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the declaration of intent says.As for the Syrian crisis and its impact on Lebanon, the two parties said they will not allow “the creation of a buffer zone in Lebanon or the use of the Lebanese border for the smuggling of militants.”“We call for finding a solution to the Syrian refugee crisis, which is a time bomb at all levels and we call for securing their return to safe areas in Syria,” they added.“We respect all the resolutions of international legitimacy and abide by the charters of the U.N. and the Arab League,” the declaration of intent reads. Speaking to reporters in Rabiyeh, Geagea wished the meeting with Aoun “had taken place 30 years ago.”
“I’m here for an essential reason: the coming together of two political forces that have positive influence on Lebanon’s affairs,” he said. “Our meeting today is the beginning of dialogue, because the previous months witnessed preparations that paved the ground for this meeting,” added Geagea. “We are seeking a way to reach a better place and this needs the efforts of all forces,” he said. For his part, Aoun said his meeting with Geagea was “positive,” describing it as a “gift for the Christians who are worried over the situation in Lebanon.”
Salam Meets Saudi Crown Prince, Says Only Govt. Expresses Lebanon’s Official Stance
Naharnet /02.06.15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam arrived Tuesday in Saudi Arabia for an official visit during which he is expected to seek a mending of ties with the kingdom after relations were soured by recent remarks on Yemen. In the evening, Salam met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in Jeddah, in the presence of al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri. The talks followed a dinner banquet that Prince Mohammed threw in honor of the Lebanese delegation. In remarks to the Saudi official news agency SPA, Salam commented on the recent anti-Saudi statements in Lebanon, stressing that “the Lebanese government expresses the official Lebanese stance, not any other party.”
“The Lebanese are people of loyalty and gratefulness and they will preserve Arab brotherhood. They will never forget the offerings of the land of the Two Holy Mosques and they won’t abandon the firm and historic ties with the kingdom,” he added.
According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, Salam will meet Wednesday with Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and top kingdom officials.
The premier is accompanied by Defense Minister Samir Moqbel, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Health Minister Wael Abou Faour, Youth and Sport Minister Abdul Mutalleb Hennawi, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Higher Defense Council chief Mohammed Kheir and head of the Council for Reconstruction and Development Nabil al-Jisr.
A Saudi grant to the Lebanese army to purchase French weapons is reportedly frozen over stances by some Lebanese officials regarding Riyadh’s war against Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen. French diplomatic sources said in comments published in As Safir newspaper Tuesday that France’s chief of Staff General Jean-Pierre Bosser expressed belief that Saudi Arabia is delaying the delivery of the second batch of French arms. The chief of staff reportedly informed Lebanese authorities that Saudi Arabia “might have decided to freeze the grant over stances by Lebanese officials regarding its war on Yemen (in particular, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah),” the sources pointed out. Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab coalition that launched an air war on the Huthi rebels and their allies in Yemen on March 26. Nasrallah had slammed Saudi Arabia as the source of the “takfiri ideology” in the world, vowing that it will suffer a “major defeat” in the Yemeni conflict.
In an interview published Tuesday in Saudi-owned daily Asharq al-Awsat, Salam warned that Lebanon’s unity was in danger over differences between the rival parties that threatened to paralyze the parliament and the cabinet in the absence of a president.
The political crisis that is the result of the vacuum at Baabda Palace “led to a semi-paralysis of the legislative branch and created obstacles in the cabinet,” Salam said.
“If the situation remains unchanged, the negative atmosphere will worsen and this could not help us in preserving internal stability to confront dangers,” he told the newspaper.
Asked whether he feared that his government would collapse, the PM said: “I have fears on Lebanon and everything else.”
He urged the rival parties to be wise and to avoid disputes and hold onto the consensus that led to the creation of his government around 18 months ago.
“Such a consensus should also lead to the election of a new president,” the PM told the newspaper. “It is the only means to end the political crisis at this difficult stage.”Lebanon has been without a head of state since Michel Suleiman’s six-year term ended in May 2014.
The failure to elect a new president has had crippling effects on the parliament and the cabinet.“What’s obstructing the work of the government is the behavior and the stances of political parties,” said Salam. “They have resorted to settling scores.”
Asked whether the ministers representing Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun could resign from the cabinet, Salam said: “I have heard about this in the media. But I personally haven’t felt that the issue is serious .”
“We hope the situation would not reach to paralysis … because it would lead to more difficulties in confronting this difficult stage,” he stated.“Everyone will be harmed by it,” Salam warned. Aoun has hinted that his ministers would resign if the government does not make appointments of high-ranking security and military officials. He has rejected outright a plan to extend their terms. He allegedly backs the appointment of his son-in-law, Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, as army commander.
Salam told Asharq al-Awsat that his visit to Saudi Arabia aims at stressing the strong ties with the kingdom, which he said “is fighting a clear war against terrorism.”“We should all stand in solidarity with this situation,” he told the newspaper.
Asked about Nasrallah’s campaign of criticism against Saudi Arabia over its airstrikes on Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen, Salam said: “All political parties have the right to express their viewpoints on local and regional issues.”
He noted however that “such stances would result in an unsatisfactory situation.”
Al-Rahi to Attend Christian Summit in Damascus
Naharnet/02.06.15/The Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus is set to host an inter-Christian summit next week to discuss the situation of Christians in the Orient, An Nahar daily reported on Tuesday.The newspaper said that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will attend the summit on June 8.It will be hosted by Greek Orthodox leader Youhanna X Yazigi, it said.This will not be the first time that al-Rahi travels to Damascus as a patriarch. He visited the Syrian capital around two years ago when he attended Yazigi’s enthronement.The summit is expected to be followed by ceremonies, including the inauguration of several sections at the patriarchate.
Reports: Israeli jets strike targets in Syrian border area Roi Kais/Ynetnews/Latest Update: 06.02.15/ Israel News
Lebanese media says attacks took place in area where Hezbollah is fighting rebels aiming to oust Assad; Hezbollah denies attacks. Israel Air Force jets struck targets in the are of the Lebanon-Syrian border in the Bekaa valley, Lebanese media reported Tuesday afternoon. The reports said that there were wounded in the strikes. The intended target was initially unclear in the reports. According to the reports, the two attacks occurred in the mountain region where Hezbollah has been fighting rebels aiming to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. Hezbollah officials, in an interview with Al-Manar television and the Lebanese news website Al-Ahad, both affiliated with the organization, denied reports of the attacks in the Bekaa Valley. According to the same sources the sound heard in the border region between Syria and Lebanon was due to the penetration of airplanes into Lebanese airspace. If the reports are proven to be correct, Tuesday would not be the first time that Israel has struck targets in lebanon deemed to be a threat to national security. Such strikes have included the destruction of missile shipments to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah denies reports that Israeli jets struck its positions in Lebanon By JPOST.COM STAFF/06/02/2015/Lebanese media reported on Tuesday that Israeli warplanes launched air strikes on targets in the country, a claim that Hezbollah later denied . Local media reported that the Israeli air raids targeted areas near Brital in the country’s eastern border region. It was not known if there were any casualties in the alleged Israeli raids. The IDF would not confirm the strikes, stating that it does not respond to foreign reports. Hezbollah-affiliated website al-Manar denied the reports, stating that there had been no attack against Hezbollah positions in the Bekaa Valley region or the Qalamoun mountains on the border with Syria.Foreign media reports have attributed a number of airstrikes on the Syria-Lebanon border region to Israel over the past three years. The IDF’s policy is not to respond to the reports, but senior Israeli officials have said repeatedly that they would not allow the Assad regime in Syria to deliver “game-changing” weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Military court approves Samaha retrial
The Daily Star/Jun. 02, 2015 |
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Military Court of Cassation Tuesday approved a request to appeal the verdict issued against former Minister Michel Samaha, who was convicted of attempting to carry out terrorist attacks, a judicial source said.
The court scheduled Samaha’s hearing for July 16 after nullifying his sentence, the source added. The appeal, which was filed by Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr last month, challenged the military tribunal’s four-and-a-half-year jail sentence issued against Samaha.
Saqr urged the appeals court to nullify the sentence and retry the suspect on all charges brought against him in the initial indictment, some which demanded the death penalty if convicted. The court also rejected an appeal filed by Samaha’s attorney Sakhr al-Hashem last month, calling for a sentence reduction for the pro-Damascus former Lebanese official. Hashem filed the request with the Military Court of Cassation on the basis that the tribunal revoked Samaha’s civil rights, a judicial source told The Daily Star.
The drawn-out trial of Samaha drew harsh criticism from politicians, especially members of the Future Movement, who considered the sentence for transporting explosives from Syria to Lebanon with the intention of assassinating political and religious figures too lenient. The Future Movement was brusque, calling the verdict a “joke,” with Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, who is a member of the group, going so far as to suggest reforming the court.
Nusra Front attacks Hezbollah outposts near Arsal
The Daily Star/Jun. 02, 2015/BEIRUT: The Nusra Front claimed Tuesday that it had killed several Hezbollah militants and confiscated their weapons in an attack on two of the party’s outposts near Arsal’s outskirts. The jihadi group announced on its Twitter account that its militants attacked two Hezbollah positions between the outskirts of the Lebanese villages of Nahleh and Arsal and posted several photos of weapons it had seized in the raid. It did not specify the number of Hezbollah fighters killed, but said that all stationed at the two outposts were dead. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV also reported that Nusra’s militants attacked two party positions in the area of Harf Mohsen, but said the attack was foiled and several jihadis we killed. It did not mention any deaths among Hezbollah’s fighters.
Hezbollah and the Syrian army launched an offensive in the Qalamoun region on May 4, capturing dozens of militant bases and driving Syria-based jihadis north toward the outskirts of the northeastern Lebanese border town of Arsal. The joint offensive has resulted in the capture of more than 310 square kilometers out of the 780 square kilometers of Lebanese and Syrian lands that the jihadis had controlled last month. Nusra Front is the most prominent jihadi faction operating in Qalamoun, while ISIS is also present in some areas but in smaller numbers. Tensions between the two jihadi groups have also risen dramatically recently, prompting the Nusra Front to promise the “eradication” of ISIS from the area. Together, the two jihadi groups hold a total of 25 Lebanese servicemen hostage in hideouts in Arsal’s outskirts that they kidnapped during deadly clashes with the Army in Arsal.
Conflicting reports over Israeli airstrike on east Lebanon border area
The Daily Star/Jun. 02, 2015/BEIRUT: Lebanese media reported that Israeli jets carried out an airstrike in an eastern Lebanese border area Tuesday, which was later denied by Hezbollah’s TV channel and security sources. Local media channels reported that an Israeli raid targeted a Hezbollah outpost on the outskirts of the Bekaa Valley town of Brital. However, a security source denied that any raid occured, saying Israeli jets only hovered over the area without bombing any targets. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV also denied that an Israeli raid targeted any of its positions in the Bekaa or Syria’s Qalamoun region. Another source had told The Daily Star that the raid occurred on the high-altitude hills between the Lebanese villages of Ham and Maaraboun. The source added that it was not yet clear what the target of the raid was and whether it resulted in any casualties. Israel has performed many airstrikes against Hezbollah interests along the Syrian-Lebanese border in the past. The raids often target alleged shipments of weapons and military equipment. The most notable of Israel’s airstrikes was on a Hezbollah convoy in the Syrian Golan Heights town of Quneitra in January that killed six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general. Among Hezbollah’s casualties was Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of Hezbollah’s senior commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a 2008 Mossad-led operation in Syria.
General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim : Nusra swap deal finalized
The Daily Star/Jun. 02, 2015/BEIRUT: General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim Monday struck an upbeat note about an imminent swap deal to secure the release of Lebanese soldiers and policemen held hostage by Islamist militants since August last year.
“The issue is over. We are waiting for a date to be set by the envoy of Qatar [to implement the deal],” Ibrahim said, referring to a Qatar-appointed envoy who has been negotiating with both the Lebanese government and the Nusra Front over the hostage crisis.
Ibrahim, who has been tasked by the Lebanese government to follow up talks on the hostage ordeal, spoke to reporters at the opening of a regional General Security center in the Kesrouan district of Ghazir to help reduce pressure on other branches caused by the influx of refugees. He did not give further details. A General Security official said details related to the place and date of the swap deal still need to be determined. “The deal with the Nusra Front is over and I assure you that the swap deal will be in line with Lebanese laws,” the official told The Daily Star, speaking on condition of anonymity. The planned deal involves only the Nusra Front, Syria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, which is holding 16 captives, while ISIS still has nine soldiers and policemen. The two militant groups have demanded the release of Islamist prisoners held in Lebanon and Syria in exchange for setting free their captives. Ibrahim has maintained an optimistic note over the hostage crisis in the past few weeks, predicting a happy ending to negotiations with the Nusra Front.
“I am confident, if things remain going the way they did one hour before I got here, that we will see success soon,” Ibrahim said during a visit to Notre Dame University in Louaizeh last Friday. Although there are no negotiations with ISIS on the Lebanese hostages, Ibrahim said there are contacts with the militant group “on which we can build.” The 25 servicemen were kidnapped during fierce clashes between the Lebanese Army and the Nusra Front and ISIS, which briefly overran the northeastern town of Arsal last August. The two militant groups originally kidnapped 37 servicemen, but eight were freed and four executed, two by each group. The hostages are believed to be held on the outskirts of Arsal. Speaking at the new General Security center in Ghazir, Ibrahim said: “This center will allow citizens to remain in their area and complete their paperwork without the burden of moving all the way to Jounieh’s branch.” He added that the construction of the new facility was part of a development plan that General Security had launched, aimed at opening new centers in Lebanese areas and distributing bureaucratic traffic in light of the increase in refugee inflow. General Security is responsible for all legal matters related to foreigners in Lebanon, including the estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees who have arrived in the country since 2011.
“General Security is in the service of citizens and is keeping vigilant,” Ibrahim said. “It is the right of Lebanon and its citizens to live in peace, security and prosperity away from the threats knocking on its door and the strong storms constantly threatening it.”
US accuses Assad of backing Islamic State’s Aleppo advance
Reuters/Ynetnews/Published: 06.02.15/ Israel News
US Embassy in Damascus says Syrian military ‘not only avoiding ISIS lines, but actively seeking to bolster their position.
The United States has accused the Syrian military loyal to President Bashar Assad of carrying out air strikes to help Islamic State fighters advance around the northern city of Aleppo, messages posted on the US Embassy in Syria’s official Twitter feed said.
Islamic State fighters pushed back rival insurgents north of Aleppo on Sunday near the Turkish border, threatening their supply route to the city, fighters and a group monitoring the war said.
Fighters from Levant Front, a northern alliance which includes Western-backed rebels and Islamist fighters, said they were worried Islamic State was heading for the Bab al-Salam crossing between Aleppo and the Turkish province of Kilis.
“Reports indicate that the regime is making air strikes in support of ISIL’s advance on Aleppo, aiding extremists against Syrian population,” a post on the US Embassy Syria Twitter account said late on Monday, using an acronym for Islamic State.
Syrian officials have previously dismissed as nonsense allegations by Washington and Syrian opposition activists that the Syrian military has helped Islamic State’s fight against rival Syrian insurgent forces. “The Syrian army is fighting Islamic State in all areas where it is present in Syria,” a military source said.
The United States suspended operations in its embassy in Damascus in 2012 but still publishes messages on the embassy Twitter feed. The account said Assad had long lost legitimacy and “will never be an effective counterterrorism partner.” Assad and Syrian officials have frequently called for international cooperation to fight jihadists in Syria. Damascus has described all insurgents fighting against it as foreign-backed “terrorist organizations.”
State news agency SANA said on Tuesday the military had “eliminated” a number of Islamic State fighters in the Aleppo countryside and that air strikes had destroyed some of the group’s vehicles.
But the US Twitter feed said Damascus had a hand in promoting Islamic State, an al-Qaeda offshoot which has seized land in Syria and Iraq. “With these latest reports, (the military) is not only avoiding ISIL lines, but, actively seeking to bolster their position,” it said. Syria has accused its regional enemies of backing hardline insurgent groups.
The Syrian military has carried out recent air bombardments in the province, including inside Aleppo city and on the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab to the northeast, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group. Some rebels have questioned why US-led forces bombing Islamic State in Syria and Iraq have not focused on bombing the jihadists around Aleppo city.
In rebel-held Aleppo, a local council that helps run civilian affairs called on fighters to be ready for battle with Islamic State, the Observatory said on Tuesday, citing a statement. It called on “all mujahideen” to respond to Islamic State fighters which it said were receiving “air cover from the regime.”
Iran threatens, ISIS executes
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Alawsat
Tuesday, 2 Jun, 2015
The two terrorist attacks targeting mosques in Al-Qadeeh and Dammam in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia prove—if proof were ever needed—that the Kingdom is fighting a real war.
Even before Operation Decisive Storm was launched in Yemen, Iran’s leaders were scrambling to issue one threat after another against Saudi Arabia. Tehran’s manic desire to take over large areas of the Arab world means that anyone willing to take a stand against the country’s brash meddling is considered to be “interfering in Iran’s internal affairs!” Well, why not, particularly when some top officials in Tehran already boast that Iran’s borders now reach the Mediterranean, and that it is in full control of four Arab capitals!
Iran’s “new Arab colonies” aside, Tehran firmly believes it is the rightful spokesperson for any Shi’ite, anywhere in the Arab world. It feels it is entitled to issue “diplomas in patriotism” to all those it approves of, and pass the death sentence against those it brands traitors. This is exactly what Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, is doing. He recently described any Shi’ite who does not toe his party’s line, and who expresses reservations toward his blind political allegiance to Iran, as “American Embassy Shi’ites!”
In fact, Iranian threats against Saudi Arabia haven’t relented since 2011, ever since the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries dispatched their Peninsula Shield Force to Bahrain. Bahrain—a GCC member state—needed the Force in order to impose law and order and protect public and private property in the aftermath of sectarian protests and disturbances inspired and orchestrated by Tehran. The threats continued as a reaction against Saudi Arabia and the GCC’s support of Syria’s popular uprising, especially when the uprising was met by wholesale massacres by Bashar Al-Assad’s army and militiamen.
Such threats would never have been issued in the first place had it not been for the old aggressive objectives harbored by the Tehran leadership. No government openly threatens its neighbors if it really believes in “good neighborly relations” and “regional cooperation,” as uttered from time to time by the sweet-talking Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Unfortunately, Western capitals are only too happy to believe such statements.
Therefore, when the GCC countries felt obliged to defend the legitimate Yemeni leadership, according to the UN-endorsed GCC initiative, the true magnitude of Iran’s involvement became clear for all to see. Iran has been arming, training, financing and organizing the rebel Houthi machine for years. Their massive arsenal, as well as their organizational infrastructure, could not possibly have been there merely for “local” or “domestic” reasons, but are rather part and parcel of Iran’s massive expansionist project under the slogan of “exporting the [Khomeinist] revolution.”
The Houthi coup d’état is just one front in the regional war Iran is fighting, first to crush Saudi Arabia; second, to destroy Gulf security; and third, to impose its hegemony over the whole Arab Mashreq, in addition to the international waterways from the Arab Gulf to the Suez Canal. This war, however, has not always taken the shape of direct confrontation. Indeed, it has from time to time sought to exploit dubious and misled groups. These groups are the ones adopting the most extreme Takfirist Sunni sectarian discourse to outbid all Sunnis; through committing barbaric murders they are engaged in an all-out war against moderate Sunni Islam. How Al-Qaeda was conceived is common knowledge by now. We all recall how certain global superpowers actively contributed to the war in Afghanistan, alongside Arab and Muslim countries. Yet some in the West are now accusing these Arab and Muslim countries of being solely responsible for the emergence of post-war extremism in Afghanistan as embodied by Al-Qaeda, and now the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Some Western commentators, in their zeal to defend and promote the US-Iran nuclear deal, are working overtime to redefine Islamic extremism as “Sunni” extremism, exclusively placing the blame on particular Arab and Muslim countries. In this they are intentionally denying the fact that it was the West that was so keen to turn Afghanistan into the “USSR’s Vietnam!”
Serving the same end—defending and promoting the US-Iran nuclear deal—many in the Western media are busy erasing the unsavory image of the Iranian part in “Islamic” extremism from the West’s collective memory. This is happening even in the US and UK—which for years suffered the tragedy of having their citizens taken hostage, even murdered, in Lebanon in the 1980s. This phenomenon has recently spread to Japan. The Japan Times recently published a report under the headline “Islamic State builds an ‘air force’ out of truck bombs”. The report painstakingly lays out when and where “truck bombs” were used, including in the Syrian border town of Ayn Al-Arab, also known as Kobani. The author, bless him, tells the readers that this weapon, given the initials SVBIED (suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive device), was not invented by ISIS: in 1800 a rigged horse cart was used in the failed assassination attempt against Napoleon in Paris. He goes on to cite other examples of the use of “truck bombs” throughout the past decades with the help of American experts who somehow remember Tamil Tiger suicide attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, but not the massive 1983 attack on the US Marines headquarters in Beirut!
I doubt this oversight was a result of natural forgetfulness, but rather a genuine attempt—at the highest levels—to exonerate the enemy of yesterday in order to repackage it as the ally of tomorrow.
This is the reason why one needs to deal with the regional Iranian war with full awareness of all its dimensions, avoiding naïve and irresponsible justifications that only serve the arguments of those hell-bent on exonerating Tehran, who are en route to turning Iran’s regional enemies into global pariahs.
With this in mind, any hesitation about condemning the extremist gangs that are perpetrating ISIS’ heinous crimes—including now in Saudi Arabia—will be a priceless gift to the above mentioned dangerous project.
Of course there are grievances, and of course there are social incubators for extremism that are growing and becoming ever-more bitter as a result of maltreatment and abuse. But what we are going through at the moment is a real war which will not be winnable without a truly cohesive, safe and secure society.
As for ISIS, its regional role has now been uncovered for what it really is, at least as far as Syria is concerned. There it is the undercover ally of the Assad regime and its backers.
ISIS has in the last few years uprooted millions of Sunnis, after putting them before an unenviable choice: Either accept Iranian hegemony under the banner of sectarian revenge, or succumb to ISIS’ Dark Age anti-culture of the sword and dagger.
Our countries and minorities do not need foreign protection, be it Iranian or not.
In fact, the future of our religious, sectarian and ethnic minorities must be the responsibility of every patriot who strives for cohesive and solid societies that are based on coexistence, and respect diversity and the right to be different. Those who do not accept the conditions for such coexistence must bear the responsibility for their positions and actions.
First Hamas-ISIS firefight in Gaza. “Islamic State of Jerusalem” supporters sighted on Israeli border
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 2, 2015
ISIS supporters were shot dead in Gaza Tuesday, June 2, in their first firefight with Hamas forces come to arrest them The Islamists had planted a bomb trap in their hideout. The showdown occurred 48 hours after the Ansar al Dawa al-Islamia, renamed “Supporters of the Islamic State of Jerusalem,” gave Hamas a 48-hour ultimatum to end its crackdown on the group and release dozens of Islamists held for a series of attacks. debkafile: ISIS fighters were spotted for the first time this week on the Gazan-Israeli border. They have threatened to target Eilat Port.
debkafile first reported Monday, June 1, on the appearance of ISIS on the Israeli border with details.
Followers of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant were spotted for the first time in the Gaza Strip this week, debkafile’s military sources report. Their arrival on Israel’s border was confirmed as a division-strength IDF force launched its large-scale “Turning Point 2015” exercise for repelling Islamist cross-border incursions. The Islamist group which has established a substantial anti-Hamas presence in the Gaza Strip is Ansar al Dawa al-Islamia, renamed “Supporters of the Islamic State of Jerusalem.”
Israeli, Egyptian and Hamas’ military sources are all concerned to make light of this development. When asked, they say that the group’s nature and scope have not yet been evaluated. Western and Middle East governments took the same tack two years ago, when ISIS first embarked on its calamitous course in Syria.
debkafile’s military sources point to eight signs of the ISIS presence in the Gaza Strip:
1. In the last 48 hours, Hamas security authorities have suddenly set up scores of roadblocks across the Strip, including Gaza City.
2. They acted after senior Hamas security officer Sabah Siam was murdered Saturday, May 30, by a gang of five gunmen sporting ISIS insignia.
Hamas tried pretending that the officer died in a bomb planted in his vehicle by a local rival faction. But the attack was too public to be concealed. The ISIS gunmen burst into a shop owned by the officer’s family in the center of Gaza City while he was visiting. They cut him down in front of his relatives and dozens of passersby, none of whom made any move to stop them as they made off in two vehicles.
The terrorists later issued a communiqué saying: “Sabah Siam was liquidated because he was a partner in a war declared against religion and against Muslims working for the heretical government in the Gaza Strip.”
In a declaration of war, ISIS warned the Palestinian Hamas to “end its war against religion in Gaza or face the consequences.”
3. Israeli and Egyptian security services, most likely in conjunction with Hamas, set up a tight ring of bodyguards to protect German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier against possible assassins when he visited Gaza Monday, June 1. He insisted on going through with his visit in the face of the internecine Islamist fighting which had erupted in the Palestinian-ruled territory.
4. On the day of the visit, Ansar al Dawa al-Islamia posted a social media notice calling on Gazans to discontinue their cooperation with the “heretical Hamas regime.”
5. The same group also claimed responsibility for a string of bombings outside Hamas headquarters and offices in Gaza during the month of May.
6. On May 8, the ISIS Sinai branch Ansar Bait Maqdis shelled the Hamas facility in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
7. On May 28, ISIS-Sinai threatened to “target Eilat Port in the coming days,” as a joint project with the ISIS wing in the Gaza Strip, which would also attack Hamas’s military arm, Ezz e-din Al-Qassam, and take control of the Gaza Strip.
8. debkafile’s counter-terror sources report that Ansar al Dawa is preparing to declare the Gaza Strip a province of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Syria’s battle between Egypt and Saudi Arabia
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
Newly-assigned Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has said he and his Egyptian counterpart agree that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must be “toppled” to reach a political solution, while maintaining military and civil institutions. If Saudi Arabia and Egypt really agree on Assad’s ouster, this is an important development because Cairo has preferred not to talk about regime-change in Syria, implying that it is against the revolution there.
The Syrian conflict had been a matter of calm disagreement between Riyadh and Cairo until Jubeir’s statement. In addition, Egypt and Saudi Arabia agreed on the importance of convincing Russia to change its stance, since it is a key player in the region and a main reason that Assad remains in power.
Three dangerous developments occurred in the past few weeks that pushed everyone to amend their stances. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) carried out two terrorist attacks inside Saudi Arabia for the first time, ISIS took over the oil-rich Libyan city of Sirte, and it took over the capital of the Iraqi province of Anbar.
Crystallize a Syrian hybrid regime
Saudi-Egyptian consultation, along with similar Western statements supporting a middle-ground political solution, may mean that everyone has become ready to make concessions, and that there might be a reasonable solution that most parties may agree to.
If Saudi Arabia and Egypt really agree on Assad’s ouster, this is an important development because Cairo has preferred not to talk about regime-change in Syria
The aim should now be to crystallize a Syrian hybrid regime including opposition and government members but without Assad, while maintaining the state structure. The motivation of different parties is to have an agreement regarding ISIS, which governs most of Syria. The ISIS threat lies in its seized capabilities and expansion toward Iraq.
What will test this choice regarding Syria is the Syrian opposition conference that will be held in Cairo in a few days. Some 200 people will participate, but there are fears that the conference might be another failure. If Cairo succeeds in convincing the opposition to support a middle-ground solution and a hybrid regime without Assad, this will mark a huge success for Egyptian policy.
However, the first lists of invitees comprise opposition figures mandated by the Assad regime, who will work hard to torpedo the conference and are affiliated with the Syrian and Iranian regimes. Despite that, Egypt can still organize a conference that harmonizes with the new international orientation, and it might be able to convince Russia to accept a hybrid regime.
The new Mideast: Will militias replace the state?
Mohamed Chebarro/Al Arabiya
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
Increasingly, one can note a trend in Middle Eastern states of ISIS, secessionist forces or sectarian militia gradually eroding the power of the state, or in some cases replacing it.
This trend is easily detected in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Libya today (could it be Egypt’s turn next?) and the recent case of Ramadi’s fall in Iraq illustrates the trend.
The Baghdad government’s plan for a swift assault on ISIS-held Ramadi is “laughable,” noted Hadi Al-Ameri, Leader of the Poplar Mobilization units
In an interview with the Telegraph, Ameri blamed Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the Americans for the fall of Ramadi. In the interview, he alluded that only the Popular Mobilization Units – which are seen in the Arab world and by the international community as a sectarian dividing force – would be capable of liberating Ramadi from ISIS, and maybe he is right.
Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Libya – in all the state is fading and militias are winning ground
Ameri went on to say:
“It’s a lesson to them, that they should learn they cannot save Ramadi, and the Americans cannot save Ramadi. Now they know that there is no force that can save Ramadi except for the Hashed or the Popular Mobilization Units.”
In the absence of a strong central government and the many calls for decentralization, we see constantly that the militias – or Popular Mobilization units which enjoy Iranian support – operate more effectively and are slowly winning ground as well as the hearts and minds in Iraq.
Suspicious moves
One cannot but suspect a conspiracy as Iraqi Kurds and the Shiite militias, as well as ISIS, seem to be getting ahead while the armed forces of Iraq and the tribal militias are suffering one set back after another.
In Syria, this seems to be the trend too; the state has long ceded ground and authority to Iranian backed and trained militias.
Also, the Lebanese Hezbollah never shy away from keeping afloat a further weakened Assad regime.
This comes in light of ISIS’s increased gains on the ground, both at the expense of the regime forces and the moderate Syrian opposition to Assad regime.
Neither the forces of the state nor the emerging moderate forces searching for a new Syria are managing to confront ISIS and the new status quo.
Spreading trend
Nowhere is this new trend clearer than in Lebanon itself, where Hezbollah has gradually eaten away at the state apparatus since the mid-nineties. It initially did so in duplicitous way, sharing with the state pointers on how to face up to Israel and liberating Lebanese land.
Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya and soon maybe Yemen; the state is fading and the militias are winning ground.
Many talk about the need to reexamine the map of states in the Middle East 100 years after Sykes-Picot carved the land into states under the sphere of British and French influence.
And it seems that in the foreseeable future the nation states of the post-colonial Middle East once again face challenges that could undermine certain states’ unity, identity and territorial integrity. Many consider the emergence of ISIS and its ability to blur the border between Iraq and Syria a precursor that will speed up the fragmentation process of the states.
The U.S. under Obama, intentionally or unintentionally, is sleep walking into supporting this fragmentation and maybe paving the way for re-drawing the map of the region. Leaning on a possible deal with a nuclear Iran, policy makers in Washington are flirting with a new status quo. Sunni Arab Islam is anti-progress, whereas once oppressive yet rehabilitated Iran’s Shiite Islam is progressive and could in the near future spread the torch of democracy in the region.
