LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 01/17

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias/english.april01.17.htm

 News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2016

Bible Quotations For Today
They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 07/31-37/:"Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’"

Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward
Letter to the Colossians 03,23-25/04,01-07/:'Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong has been done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, for you know that you also have a Master in heaven. Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should. Conduct yourselves wisely towards outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Tychicus will tell you all the news about me; he is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow-servant in the Lord."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published On April 01/17
This is what life taught me/Elias Bejjani/March 31/17
Iran and Turkey: Two-Bit Players in a Deadly Game/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/March 31/17
Kuwaiti Liberal Activist Nasser Dashti Criticizes Islamic Movement/MEMRI//March 31/17
Russia: Rubber Ducks and Green Paint/Shoshana Bryen/Gatestone Institute/March 31/17
Last ‘WhatsApp’ Message/Abdulrahman Al-RashedAsharq Al-Awsat English/March 31/17
Fate likely to be unraveled by grudges of post-revolution generations/Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran/Al Arabiya/March 31/17
UN and the question of Quran’s interpretation/Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/March 31/17

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published On April 01/17
This is what life taught me
Aoun urges coordination among security forces
Lebanon Targets Curbing Deficit to 8.7% Next Year
Hariri chairs meeting on Brussels conference
Jumblat Says Won't Accept an Electoral Law that 'Divides Lebanese, Terminates Partnership'
Report: Hariri to Start European Tour Next Week
Kedenian Anticipates Flourishing Tourism Season in Summer
Aoun Chairs Security Meeting: Security, Military Coordination Necessary for Stability
Parliament to Stream its Session Live Next Week
Hizbullah Bloc Urges Agreement on Electoral Law within 'Few Days'
Bou Assi seeks enhanced cooperation between state, economic sectors
PSP, NLP students block electricity company road in Gemmayze
Bassil touts citizenship law before Lebanese Diaspora in Melbourne
Othman meets British Ambassador, State Prosecutor
ISF: Top wanted arrested in Bekaa
Bou Assi meets Kaag over Brussels conference
General Aoun meets with US Special Operations Commander, Dutch Chargé d'Affaires
French Ambassador visits Bcharre, vows support for district's development
Merehbi: Lebanon is a temporary displacement country

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published On April 01/17
US Cautions Israel on ‘Unrestrained’ Settlement Building
Jordanian Cleric In Montreal Friday Sermon: On Judgment Day, The Trees And The Stones Will Call On Muslims To Kill The Jews
Tillerson Tells NATO Allies to Make Spending Boost Plans by Year-End
UN Chief at Iraq Camp Urges 'More Solidarity' with Mosul People
Hamas Mulls Revenge after Commander Killed
Syrian Army Regains Territory Lost in Central Syria
Civilian Casualties in Iraq, Syria Undercut US Victories
Palestinian, UN Alarm after Israel Backs New Settlement
Ghosts of Mosul Stalk Iraq's Fleeing Children
U.S. Envoy to U.N.: Removing Assad 'Not Our Priority'

Links From Jihad Watch Site for April 01/17
Pakistan: Muslims murder Christian in the street because he refused to work on Sunday
Pakistan: Prosecutor tells jailed Christians he’ll acquit them if they embrace Islam
China bans burqas and “abnormal beards” in predominantly Muslim province
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Did the FBI Want Me and Pamela Geller Dead?
Detroit: Convert to Islam plotted jihad massacre in US for the Islamic State, had AK-47s and other weapons
Islamic State in Sinai beheads 2 for “sorcery,” boasts of imposing Sharia
Hugh Fitzgerald: “Should We Blame Islam For Terrorism?”
Germany: Muslim parents on ‘warpath’ over gay teacher
UK cops actively sought out “Islamophobia” reports after Westminster jihad attack
North Chicago: Muslim cop who claims “Islamophobic” harassment made anti-Semitic remarks

Links From Christian Today Site For  April 01/17
Jailed in Turkey, American pastor begs Trump: 'Please help me'
Sacked Christian nurse 'imposed religious belief' on patients, tribunal told
Lord Carey: Donald Trump is a 'Good Samaritan' president who speaks for the 'left behind'
Amal Clooney: ISIS murders, gang rapes and sex slavery must not go unpunished
Church of England implementing new rules to prevent clergy sexual abuse
Jailed Christian pastor in China is 'rapidly deteriorating'

Latest Lebanese Related News published On April 01/17
This is what life taught me/هذا ما تعلمته من الحياة
Elias Bejjani/March 31/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=53860
Self-respect, as well as respect of all others is a weapon of pride and dignity.
Honesty is sacred and holy.
Unity is strength.
Honouring of parents pleases Almighty God who Himself is a Father. Meanwhile it is a divine commandment and a worshiping ritual and a holy obligation.
God is Love. Love safeguards from temptations and prevents hardness of hearts
Tolerance and forgiveness keep the conscience alive and in peace
Gratitude is a human obligation, that reveals manhood and loyalty to all what is righteous.
Modesty is a priceless treasure.
Wisdom necessities all calculations be based on personal capabilities and potentials and not on imagined positive expectations from all others, including family members and close friends in a bid to avoid possible disappointments and frustrations. In this realm what comes all others will be a bonus.
Helping the needy honestly and without any personal gains keeps away ailments of arrogance, immodesty and bragging.
Worshiping money is an act of slavery.
Rejoicing at the misfortune, pain, losses or grief of others is a sinful horrible sin. No one is immune against such setbacks and stumbling encounters.
Life is a holy gift from Almighty God, Who God may recover it at any time .. A fact must not be overshadowed or forgotten no matter what.
All the earthly wealth and riches remains on earth. No one does not carry anything from it on the day God recovers from him/her the gift of life.

Aoun urges coordination among security forces
The Daily Star/March 31, 2017 /BEIRUT: President Michel Aoun Friday stressed the importance of having well-coordinated security forces and maintaining Lebanon’s stability. “It is very important that Lebanon’s security be stable and have coordination among security forces,” Aoun said in a brief speech as he headed a meeting at Baabda Palace for the Higher Defense Council.
The meeting was held to discuss border activity and crossings by land, sea and air, as well as safety precautions that should be implemented.
Speaking at a news briefing after the meeting, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said that Aoun had recommended that "they reconsider the terrestrial crossing over the Lebanese borders [and form] a committee headed by Hariri that includes the ministers of defense and interior."
This decision was made due to international requests that land border security be enhanced, the minister added.
High-ranking security officials attended the meeting, including Defense Minister Yaacoub Sarraf, Machnouk, Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, Internal Security Forces chief Brig. Gen. Imad Othman, Head of State Security Brig. Gen. Tony Saliba, Secretary-General of Higher Defense Council Maj. Gen. Saadallah Mohieddine Hamad.
The president had held talks with Prime Minister Saad Hariri ahead of the meeting.
Machnouk said that Lebanon is under pressure internationally to tighten its security after a U.K. ban on electronics in carry-on bags on flights from the country.
"This calls for new equipment and devices."
Sunday was the first day of implementation of the controversial electronics ban in the U.K., which applies to direct flights from several countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Internal Security Forces have been cracking down on sleeper cells and extremist militants which travel between Lebanon, Turkey and Syria. These moves are made possible by forged documents and physical alterations.
Several of their sinister plans have been foiled, and many have confessed to their crimes upon capture.

Lebanon Targets Curbing Deficit to 8.7% Next Year
Asharq Al-AwsatظBeirut – Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said on Thursday that the government aims to curb the 2017 budget deficit from 9.3 percent in 2016 down to 8.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Khalil projected government expenditures at LL23.67 trillion ($15.7 billion) in 2017 and revenues at LL16.384 trillion ($10.9 billion). The projected growth rate will stand at 2 percent, which is still low and needs further measures to improve it, said Khalil during his news conference on Thursday. Approving the state budget was a major goal to the government, headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, as a part of a political deal that led Michel Aoun to the presidency. For 12 years, the government failed to agree over a budget due to political disputes after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. A report issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in January that Lebanon needs “a balanced and sustainable financial amendment”, otherwise the burden of public debts will aggravate. “We will allocate LL337 billion for infrastructure projects and equipment for the Army. We will also allocate additional LL100 billion for the Energy Ministry and LL100 billion for the Public Works Ministry,” Lebanese Finance Minister added. Khalil noted that the Finance Ministry has also prepared a draft law to develop and expand the landline network by allocating LL225 billion for this purpose. He added that the ministry has tried to curb in the new budget the squandering taking place in public departments and ministries. “We have reduced our spending on consumables in these places by 20 percent,” he said.The Lebanese Parliament, earlier this month, approved a hike in taxes and imposed new taxes which lead to protests.

Hariri chairs meeting on Brussels conference
Fri 31 Mar 2017/NNA - Prime Minister Saad Hariri chaired a meeting at the Grand Serail on Friday to discuss the government policy regarding the displaced Syrians' dossier, before its submission to Brussels conference on forthcoming Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by Ministers Ghassan Hasbani, Marwan Hamade, Nohad Mashnouq, Ali Hassan Khalil, Mouein Merehbi, Michel Pharaon, Raed Khoury, and Pierre Bou Assi, as well as Head of the Council for Development and Reconstruction Nabil Jisr, President's Advisor for International Cooperation Affairs Elias Bou Saab, and Hariri's advisors Nadim Molla and Fadi Fawaz. Separately, the Prime Minister met today with MP Wael Abu Faour, over the current general situation and latest developments.

Jumblat Says Won't Accept an Electoral Law that 'Divides Lebanese, Terminates Partnership'
Naharnet/March 31/17/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed Friday that he will not accept any electoral law that "divides the Lebanese.""An electoral system that divides the Lebanese and terminates partnership and diversity cannot be accepted," Jumblat tweeted. The PSP leader has rejected the proportional representation system, warning that it would "marginalize" his minority Druze community, whose presence is concentrated in the Aley and Chouf areas. Hizbullah has repeatedly called for an electoral law fully based on proportional representation and a single or several large electorates. Amid reservations over proportional representation by other parties such as al-Mustaqbal Movement, the political parties are mulling a so-called hybrid electoral law that mixes proportional representation with the winner-takes-all system. Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has recently proposed an electoral law that mixes proportional representation with the controversial law proposed by the Orthodox Gathering. Bassil's format calls for electing 64 MPs according to the proportional representation system and 64 others by their respective sects under a winner-takes-all system.

Report: Hariri to Start European Tour Next Week
Naharnet/March 31/17/After concluding a visit to Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Saad Hariri is preparing for a European tour that will begin next week and includes France, Germany and Brussels, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday. The daily obtained information that French President Francoise Hollande, who will receive Hariri on April 3, will honor him from the rank of Knight to the rank of Commodore at a ceremony at the Elysee Palace. The PM is expected to travel the next day to Germany for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, then moves to Belgium to attend a Brussels conference on helping Syria's neighboring countries cope with the burden of Syrian displacement and to present Lebanon's plan in this regard. Hariri will present during his tour a new Lebanese approach to the file of the Syrian displacement and the needs of Lebanon to shoulder its burdens.
It will be announced that Lebanon hosts a large number of displaced people as a humanitarian and moral duty pending a political solution to the Syrian crisis so they can return safely to their country. Hariri will stress that the humanitarian assistance provided by the international community is appreciated, but it is not sufficient for Lebanon to continue to face the pressure on its economy caused by this displacement. Therefore, it requires assistance to enable Lebanon to cope with this ample amount of displacement through investments in infrastructure, public services and economy. According to reports, the Brussels conference will be the beginning to explain Lebanon's plan and the mobilization of international support in the hope of obtaining funding for these investments.

Report: Elections File Gains Momentum in April, Prospects of Vacuum Null
Naharnet/March 31/17/It has become determined that Lebanon's various political parties believe that a new electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary elections must be devised in April, although the outcome so far shows lack in groundwork to build a new law on, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.
A hybrid electoral law proposal assembled by Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, under which 64 MPS would be elected according to the proportional representation system and 64 others would be elected by their respective sects under a winner-takes-all system, did not meet the consent of all political parties, said the daily.“It has been decided that going to the government is the title of the next phase in April,” a prominent source told the daily, adding “there is no more time for play or gambling.”On the possibility of vacuum at the parliament, the source assured that officials realize the risks it implicates Lebanon in, he said: “Sayings about vacuum are over. There will be no vacuum at all. The entire institutions will continue to function normally. Starting with the President, all officials at all levels fear that matter (vacuum) because once we are indulged in it, it will be very difficult to get out of.”
Ministerial sources working closely on the elections line said Prime Minister Saad Hariri held separate telephone conversations with Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and Bassil -who will return from Australia on Sunday- which will open wide the door for discussions next week, said the daily. The sources added: “The period between the present and the end of the parliament's term on June 20 is a delicate stage,” and stressed that despite the “lack” of progress in the election file “we can prepare a law and we approve a voting system.”The political parties are bickering over amending the current 1960 majoritarian election law which divides seats among the different religious sects. Hizbullah has repeatedly called for an electoral law fully based on proportional representation but al-Mustaqbal Movement and Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat have both rejected the proposal. Mustaqbal argues that Hizbullah's arms would prevent serious competition in the party's strongholds while Jumblat has warned that such an electoral system would “marginalize” the minority Druze community whose presence is concentrated in the Chouf and Aley areas.

Kedenian Anticipates Flourishing Tourism Season in Summer
Naharnet/March 31/17/Tourism Minister Ouadis Kedenian anticipated a promising tourism season with the return of tourists from various Arab Gulf countries to Lebanon in the upcoming summer season, the State-run National News Agency reported on Friday. The Minister noted that a German delegation will be visiting Lebanon on April 15 to discuss the activation of the tourism course between Lebanon and Europe, and another Chinese will pay Lebanon a visit on April 20 to sign a tourism agreement between Lebanon and China, NNA added. “In early April, we have information that many Gulf citizens from several Gulf countries will visit Lebanon to spend their annual holidays during this period. They asked us to be ready to receive them at the office of the Ministry of Tourism at the airport, meaning we are coming on an excellent tourism season,” the Minister said. Kedenian's stance came in the context of a joint press conference with secretary general of World Lebanese Cultural Union Wissam Azzi who clarified the union’s project of prompting 450 young Lebanese emigrants from different foreign countries to visit Lebanon and get to know about the roots of their ancestors.

Aoun Chairs Security Meeting: Security, Military Coordination Necessary for Stability
Naharnet/March 31/17/President Michel Aoun stressed the necessity to safeguard security stability and the need for coordination between the security and military apparatuses, the State-run National News Agency reported on Friday. Aoun's comments came during a security meeting he presided at the Presidential Palace in Baabda to discuss the situation in the country, NNA added. The meeting was be held in the presence of Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Ministers of Interior Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Defense Yaaqoub al-Sarraf, Finance Ali Hassan Khalil, Public Works Youssef Fenianos in addition to leaders of the security and military apparatuses, the chairman of the higher customs council and general director of customs. The meeting was devoted to presenting the security situation in the country and the new directions with the start of tasks of heads of the newly appointed security and military bodies. Discussions focused on the situation at the Rafik Hariri International Airport after the approved measures by the cabinet to supply the terminal with new equipment. After the meeting, Mashnouq said: “The President gave clear instructions as for the number of security personnel (in the airport) and the well handling of passengers in a way securing a decent civilian travel from and to Beirut's airport”The Minister concluded saying there are negotiations to to apply thorough examination at the airport but it requires a lot of training.

Parliament to Stream its Session Live Next Week
Naharnet/March 31/17/Lebanon's parliament is preparing to hold a general debate for the government next week that will be broadcast live on television, as agreed at a parliament bureau meeting chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday, media reports said on Friday. Parliamentary sources told al-Joumhouria daily, there will be no agenda for this meeting but only an open visual and audio debate that will be broadcast live on air. Live streaming may contribute to the encouragement of deputies to make statements about a set of electoral and political titles, and to approach the policy of the government, they added. The government is expected to prepare a statement to be recited by the Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the beginning of the session. It includes a presentation of the government’s policy and the achievements it made since its formation. It will also highlight the files to be addressed in the next phase.

Hizbullah Bloc Urges Agreement on Electoral Law within 'Few Days'
Naharnet/March 31/17/Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc on Thursday urged all political forces to agree on a new electoral law “in the next few days.”“The bloc considers that the political forces have taken enough time to mull the proposed electoral law formats, and it has become obligatory for all parties to agree on a final format in the next few days,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting. It said that the new law should “consolidate and protect coexistence, equal power-sharing between Christians and Muslims, and correct, fair, effective and comprehensive representation.”“In this regard, the bloc stresses that the national interest for all of the country's components requires a national approach that rises above the details of numbers and sizes that have never represented a guarantee for any component,” Loyalty to Resistance added. It also reiterated that a law fully based on proportional representation is the format that conforms to “the stipulations of the constitution and the Document of National Accord and grants equal opportunities to all components while abiding by equal power-sharing.”

Bou Assi seeks enhanced cooperation between state, economic sectors
Fri 31 Mar 2017/NNA - Minister of Social Affairs, Pierre Bou Assi, criticized on Friday the lack of participation of the private sector, urging politicians to open the door for economic sectors to help the state achieve the sought development. "When the state is thought to be the sole institution in society, society will deteriorate. The government is not the mere institution in society; it is rather one of many," he said, explaining that citizens, the state, and the private sector should form a triangle. Bou Assi made these remarks during a luncheon hosted by Consul Joseph Habis at Le Maillon Restaurant, Ashrafieh. The event was attended by diplomats representing the European Union, UK, Russia, Italy, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Ukraine, Columbia, Mexico, Czech Republic, Uruguay, Cyprus, Argentina, Greece, Sri Lanka, Armenia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Morocco, Oman, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Yemen; as well as a panel of politicians, journalists, and economic figures.

PSP, NLP students block electricity company road in Gemmayze
Fri 31 Mar 2017/NNA - Students and youngsters belonging to the Progressive Socialist Party and the National Liberal Party blocked the road in front of Lebanon's electricity company (EDL) in Gemmayze, National News Agency correspondent reported on Friday.

Bassil touts citizenship law before Lebanese Diaspora in Melbourne
Fri 31 Mar 2017 /NNA - Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil continued on Friday his state visit to Australia, and met with the Lebanese Diaspora in Melbourne during a reception ceremony hosted by Consul Ghassan Khatib at Lady of Lebanon Church.
"We came here carrying with us the Lebanese citizenship law, to invite you to share with us your patriotic commitment," Bassil told the expats. "You, the Lebanese expats, should not have similar rights to those residing in Lebanon. I frankly say that you should have prerogatives," he added. Therefore, you must be able to cast your vote during polls," he corroborated. On a different note, Bassil tackled the refugee crisis in Lebanon. "We can still work to guarantee the return of the displaced Syrians to their homeland," he said, warning that random camps could turn into subversive areas. "We must have learned from the past. We shall not accept the settlement of any Syrian or Palestinian in Lebanon; we want them to return to their country," he stressed.

Othman meets British Ambassador, State Prosecutor
Fri 31 Mar 2017/NNA - Internal Security Forces' Chief, General Imad Othman, met on Friday with British Ambassador to Lebanon, Hugo Shorter, with talks touching on the memorandum of understanding inked between the Embassy and the agency. Othman later met with State Prosecutor, Judge Samir Hammoud, over an array of security and judicial affairs.

ISF: Top wanted arrested in Bekaa
Fri 31 Mar 2017/NNA - An Internal Security Forces' Information force arrested today a top wanted in the outskirts of the Bekaa town of Nabisheet, a communiqué by the ISF indicated on Friday. The apprehended has 35 arrest warrants issued against him over charges of car theft, robbery, drugs, fraud, and arm trade.

Bou Assi meets Kaag over Brussels conference
Fri 31 Mar 2017/NNA - Minister of Social Affairs, Pierre Bou Assi, met on Friday with United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Sigrid Kaag, with whom he discussed the current general situation in the country and the broader Arab region.
The pair also dwelt on the preparations for imminent Brussels conference. The Minister did not fail to highlight the importance of the international community's support for Lebanon's infrastructure.

General Aoun meets with US Special Operations Commander, Dutch Chargé d'Affaires
Fri 31 Mar 2017/NNA - Lebanese Army Chief, General Joseph Aoun, met, at his Yarze office on Friday, with Head of U.S. Special Operations Command, General Thomas Raymond, with the participation of U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Elizabeth Richard. Talks reportedly touched on the cooperation ties between the two armies. Aoun later met with Chargé d'Affaires of the Netherlands Embassy in Lebanon, and Defence Attaché Lieutenant-Colonel J.W. Mezger.

French Ambassador visits Bcharre, vows support for district's development
Fri 31 Mar 2017/NNA - French Ambassador to Lebanon, Emmanuel Bonne, on Friday visited Bcharre region, accompanied by a delegation of the French Development Agency (AFD), meeting the invitation of MPs Strida Geagea and Elie Keiruz. "We have been friends for a long time and we are endeavoring for the sake of the projects that are useful for this region. We are here today to inspect the irrigation project," Bonne said. The diplomat added that he would engage in the development process of Bcharre and other regions as well. For her part, MP Geagea highlighted the common grounds between Lebanon and France, including holding onto freedom, pluralism, and equality.

Merehbi: Lebanon is a temporary displacement country
Fri 31 Mar 2017/NNA - Minister of State for Displaced, Mouhin Merhebi, told on Friday the Syrian Group on the Resettlement of Refugees that Lebanon was a country of temporary displacement, until the war in their homeland end and they are able to return with safety and dignity. UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, Mireille Girard, was present at the meeting. Minister Merehbi stressed the necessity to protect the national identity of Syrian, Iraqi, and Palestinian refugees present in Lebanon.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published On April 01/17
US Cautions Israel on ‘Unrestrained’ Settlement Building
Asharq Al-Awsat English/March 31/17
The United States administration led by President Donald Trump on Friday warned Israel on large-scale settlement building, refraining from criticism of a major project just approved but warning further expansion could block peace efforts.
“While the existence of settlements is not in itself an impediment to peace, further unrestrained settlement activity does not help advance peace,” a White House official said. The Palestinians and the United Nations earlier condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of the first officially sanctioned new settlement in the occupied West Bank in two decades. The unanimous vote came late on Thursday even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu negotiates with Washington on a possible curb on settlement activity.
Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said the move showed the government was pushing ahead with “their systematic policies of settler colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, showing a total and blatant disregard for Palestinian human rights.”
“Israel is more committed to appeasing its illegal settler population than to abiding by the requirements for stability and a just peace,” she said.
A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, expressed “disappointment and alarm” at the announcement. “The secretary general has consistently stressed that there is no Plan B for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace and security. He condemns all unilateral actions that, like the present one, threaten peace and undermine the two-state solution,” Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
The new settlement will be constructed in an area called Emek Shilo, north of the former wildcat Jewish outpost known as Amona, which was razed in February in accordance with an Israeli High Court order.
The cabinet vote came after Netanyahu earlier told reporters: “I promised to create a new community and we are going to respect that commitment and create it today.”
It will be the first entirely new settlement that an Israeli government has approved since 1991, the anti-settlement NGO Peace Now said. In recent years, construction had focused instead on expanding existing settlements.
Peace Now said its location deep in the West Bank was “strategic for the fragmentation of the West Bank,” which Palestinians see as the bulk of their future state. “Netanyahu is held captive by the settlers, and chooses his political survival over the interest of the state of Israel,” the NGO said.
But Oded Revivi, chief foreign envoy for the umbrella body representing settlers, and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel welcomed the announcement.
The cabinet also invited tenders for nearly 2,000 new homes in existing settlements and discussed retroactively legalizing three outposts, Peace Now said.
The international community regards all Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as illegal and a major obstacle to Middle East peace.
The former US administration of Barack Obama was deeply opposed to Israel’s expansion of the settlements and in December withheld its veto from a UN Security Council resolution condemning the policy.
Trump, who had been widely seen in Israel as sympathetic towards settlements, appeared to surprise Netanyahu during a White House visit last month when he urged him to “hold back on settlements for a little bit”.
But establishing a new settlement may be a way for Netanyahu to appease far-right members of his coalition government who are likely to object to any concessions to US demands for restraints on building.

Jordanian Cleric In Montreal Friday Sermon: On Judgment Day, The Trees And The Stones Will Call On Muslims To Kill The Jews
The Middle East Media Research Institute/March 31/17/In a Friday sermon delivered at Dar Al-Arkam Mosque in Montreal, Canada, Jordanian cleric Sheikh Muhammad Bin Musa Aal Nasr cited an antisemitic hadith, according to which, on Judgment Day, the Trees and the Stones Will Call on Muslims to Kill the Jews. The sermon was delivered on December 23, 2016, and was posted on the Mosque's YouTube page. Muhammad Bin Musa Aal Nasr: "What is the disease of the Jews? It is that they believed in only part of the Scripture, while rejecting another part. As Allah said, disparaging them: 'Do you believe in part of the Scripture and reject another part? And what is the reward of those among you who do so, except disgrace in this world?' Allah ordained disgrace for them in this world: 'On the Day of Resurrection they will be consigned to the most severe torment. Allah is not ignorant of what you do.' And what is said about the Jews is also said about all those who imitate the Jews. "If you worship Allah, you can rest assured that Allah will fulfill His promise and will support you. On Judgment Day, when the Muslims defeat the most vicious of creatures – the human demons – the stones and the trees will say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him!' – except for the Gharqad tree, for it is the tree of the Jews."

Tillerson Tells NATO Allies to Make Spending Boost Plans by Year-End
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 31/17/US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged NATO allies on Friday to agree at a May summit with President Donald Trump their national plans to increase defense spending by the end of 2017. "Our goal should be to agree at the May leaders' meeting that by the end of the year all allies will have either met the pledge guidelines or will have developed plans that clearly articulate how...the pledge will be fulfilled," Tillerson said.

UN Chief at Iraq Camp Urges 'More Solidarity' with Mosul People
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 31/17/UN chief Antonio Guterres called Friday from Iraq for greater international solidarity with the people of Mosul, who have faced years of jihadist rule and months of deadly fighting. "These people have suffered enormously, and they go on suffering. We need more solidarity from the international community," Guterres told journalists during a visit to the Hasan Sham Camp for Iraqis displaced by the battle for the city.

Hamas Mulls Revenge after Commander Killed
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 31/17/After openly accusing Israel of assassinating a key military commander near his Gaza home, experts agree that Palestinian militant group Hamas will want to retaliate. The question is when and where? Israeli and Palestinian experts both said Hamas would seek to avenge the killing of Mazen Faqha, 38, but from a distance. A commander in Hamas's armed wing, Faqha was shot four times near his home on March 24 in what appears to have been a meticulously planned assassination. Hamas said the shooting, which was allegedly carried out with silencers, with the body found several hours later, bore the hallmark of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. Other possibilities exist -- an inside job by Hamas rivals or Islamist extremists -- but Israel is the obvious suspect. It accused Faqha of being the brain behind several deadly suicide bombings during the second intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s. The Jewish state has remained silent but several Hamas figures have been assassinated by Israel in the past, including founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. By killing him in Hamas-run Gaza, where no Israelis are allowed to enter, Israel would be sending a clear message it can reach its enemy anywhere.
Hamas's potential responses are restricted by its wariness to spark a full confrontation from Gaza, with the impoverished enclave still not recovered from three wars since 2008. The Islamist group could seek to strike inside Israel itself or in the West Bank, occupied by the Israel and separated geographically from Gaza by Israeli territory. Hamas has previously responded by firing rockets into Israel, but has chosen not to immediately this time, noted Mustafa al-Saouaf, former editor-in-chief of the Hamas-linked Palestine newspaper. In the streets of Gaza, giant posters show Faqha with a masked fighter from Hamas's armed wing. Videos on Palestinian social networks show Israeli ministers and officials in the crosshairs of guns. "We harvest what we sow," they read in Arabic and Hebrew. The movement has been careful not to spell out its intentions, with Yahya Sinwar, a military leader recently elected to head Hamas in Gaza, remaining silent. His appointment in February was interpreted by many analysts as indicating that the military wing was in the ascendancy over the political inside Hamas. The Islamist movement may be deliberately remaining quiet to cause "real anxiety in Israel" as they "do not understand what Hamas wants and can do", Saouaf said. - Rules of the game -Hamas can open "direct confrontations, return to suicide attacks or attempt to assassinate a political or military figure," Saouaf added. Hamza Abu Shanab, an expert on Palestinian movements, said the most likely response would come in the West Bank as it was a "possible front" for confrontation. More than 400,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, while Israelis have kept out of the Gaza Strip since 2005. Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a political analyst in Gaza, said Hamas was following the example of Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah, which when attacked by Israel says "they will decide when and how they want to respond". On the Israeli side, experts said they felt the "rules of the game" were changing. Intelligence specialist Yossi Melman said in the Maariv newspaper that if Israel was indeed behind the killing. it would "point to a change in approach". "If it indeed has succeeded in assassinating Hamas commanders or experts without leaving a trace of its fingerprints -- be that in Gaza or abroad -- that means Israel has decided to adopt a more offensive stance."By keeping silent instead of claiming assassinations as it has in the past, Israel is "leaving it to Hamas to exercise restraint", the leftwing Haaretz said. Little information about the investigation has seeped out. Unusually, Hamas temporarily closed the only crossing point for people from Gaza into Israel, in an apparent attempt to prevent the assassins escaping.
Gaza's attorney general has banned reporting about the case, but security sources said around 10 people had been arrested or interrogated in connection with the murder.

Syrian Army Regains Territory Lost in Central Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 31/17/Syria's army and allied fighters have regained most of the territory they lost during an assault launched by rebels and jihadists earlier this month in the country's center, a monitor said Friday. "The regime has recaptured 75 percent of the territory it lost in the north of Hama province," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. An array of factions, including an alliance headed by a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, launched an assault on government positions in Hama province on March 21, seizing several strategic areas.
But after a string of losses, the regime sent significant reinforcements to the region, the Observatory said, and has been able to reverse most of its losses, backed by heavy air strikes from ally Russia. The factions involved in the assault still hold a handful of newly gained areas, including the town of Suran, which has changed hands several times since the Syrian war began in 2011. Hama province is of strategic importance to President Bashar al-Assad, as it separates opposition forces in the northwestern province of Idlib from Damascus to the south and from the regime's coastal heartlands to the west.
The Observatory said the fighting had killed dozens on both sides, but was unable to give a precise toll. Syria's opposition has accused the government of using "toxic substances" in its battle to repel the assault. On Thursday, air strikes on several areas in the north of Hama province left around 50 people suffering respiratory problems, according to the Observatory, which could not confirm the cause of the symptoms. The Syrian opposition National Coalition cited doctors in the area reporting "symptoms that included frothing at the mouth, pinpoint pupils, shortness of breath, burning eyes, and general weakness".Syria's government agreed to turn over its chemical weapons in 2013 and joined the Chemical Weapons Convention. But there have been repeated allegations of ongoing chemical weapons use, and a UN-led investigation has pointed the finger at the government for at least three attacks involving chlorine bombs in 2014 and 2015. More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

Civilian Casualties in Iraq, Syria Undercut US Victories
Associated Press/Naharnet/March 31/17/Islamic State group and al-Qaida-linked militants are quickly moving to drum up outrage over a sharp spike in civilian casualties said to have been caused by U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, posting photos online of a destroyed medical center and homes reduced to rubble. "This is how Trump liberates Mosul, by killing its inhabitants," the caption reads. The propaganda points to the risk that rising death tolls and destruction could undermine the American-led campaign against the militants.
During the past two years of fighting to push back the Islamic State group, the U.S.-led coalition has faced little backlash over casualties, in part because civilian deaths have been seen as relatively low and there have been few cases of single strikes killing large numbers of people. In Iraq — even though sensitivities run deep over past American abuses of civilians — the country's prime minister and many Iraqis support the U.S. role in fighting the militants. But for the first time anger over lives lost is becoming a significant issue as Iraqi troops backed by U.S. special forces and coalition airstrikes wade into more densely populated districts of Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, and U.S. -backed Syrian fighters battle closer to the Islamic State group's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa. That has the potential to undercut victories against the militants and stoke resentments that play into their hands.
At least 300 civilians have been killed in the offensive against IS in the western half of Mosul since mid-February, according to the U.N. human rights office — including 140 killed in a single March 17 airstrike on a building. Dozens more are claimed to have been killed in another strike last weekend, according to Amnesty International, and by similar airstrikes in neighboring Syria in the past month. In Syria, as fighting around Raqqa intensified, civilian fatalities from coalition airstrikes rose to 198 in March — including 32 children and 31 women — compared to 56 in February, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which documents Syria's war. Over the course of the air campaign, from September 2014 through February, an average of 30 civilians were killed a month, according to the Observatory.
The U.S. military is investigating what role the U.S. played in the March 17 airstrike in Mosul, and American and Iraqi officials have said militants may have deliberately gathered civilians there and planted explosives in the building. The blast left an entire residential block flattened, reducing buildings to mangled concrete. Among those who lost loved ones, resentment appears to be building toward the U.S.-led coalition and the ground forces it supports. "How could they have used this much artillery on civilian locations?" asked Bashar Abdullah, a resident of the neighborhood known as New Mosul, who lost more than a dozen family members in the March 17 attack. "Iraqi and American forces both assured us that it will be an easy battle, that's why people didn't leave their houses. They felt safe."
U.S. officials have said they are investigating other claims of casualties in Syria and Iraq. Islamic State group fighters have overtly used civilians as human shields, including firing from homes where people are sheltering or forcing people to move alongside them as they withdraw. Now, the group is using the deaths in its propaganda machine.
Photos recently posted online on militant websites showed the destruction at the Mosul Medical College with a caption describing the Americans as the "Mongols of the modern era" who kill and destroy under the pretext of liberation. A series of pictures showing destroyed homes carried the comment: "This is how Trump liberates Mosul, by killing its inhabitants under the rubble of houses bombed by American warplanes to claim victory. Who would dare say this is a war crime?"
In Syria, IS and other extremist factions have pushed the line that the U.S. and Russia, which is backing President Bashar Assad's regime, are equal in their disregard for civilian lives. U.S. "crimes are clear evidence of the 'murderous friendship' that America claims to have with the Syrian people, along with its claimed concern for their future and interests," said the Levant Liberation Committee, an al-Qaida-led insurgent alliance. Some Syrian opposition factions allied with the U.S. have also criticized the strikes, describing them as potential war crimes.
An analysis by the Soufan Group consultancy warned that rumors and accusations of coalition atrocities "will certainly help shape popular opinion once Mosul and Raqqa are retaken, thus serving a purpose for the next phase of the Islamic State's existence." Criticism has also come from Russian officials, whose military has been accused of killing civilians on a large scale in its air campaign in Syria, particularly during the offensive that recaptured eastern Aleppo from rebels late last year.
"I'm greatly surprised with such action of the U.S. military, which has all the necessary equipment and yet were unable to figure out for several hours that they weren't striking the designated targets," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, speaking at the U.N. Security Council about the March 17 strike.
Joseph Scrocca, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, acknowledged the spike in civilian casualty reports could change the way the coalition is conducting the war. He said it was a "very valid" concern that loss of life and destruction could play into the hands of IS or cause some coalition members to waver. "But the coalition is not going to back down when (the fight) gets hard or there's a lot of pressure," he said. "That's what ISIS wants." In Syria, the deadliest recent strike occurred earlier this month in a rebel-held area in the north. Opposition activists said a mosque was hit during evening prayers, killing around 40 people, mostly civilians, and wounding dozens of others. The U.S. said it struck an al-Qaida gathering across the street from the mosque, killing dozens of militants, adding they found no basis for reports that civilians were killed. In Mosul, the scale of destruction wrought by increased artillery and airstrikes is immense in some areas. Abdullah, the resident of New Mosul, buried 13 members of his family in a single day. Standing in a field now being used as a graveyard, he said: "This was not a liberation. It was destruction."

Palestinian, UN Alarm after Israel Backs New Settlement
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 31/17/The Palestinians and the United Nations on Friday condemned the Israeli cabinet's approval of the first officially sanctioned new settlement in the occupied West Bank in more than 20 years. The security cabinet gave its unanimous backing to the new settlement late on Thursday as what is widely seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history presses ahead with settlement expansion in defiance of international concern. Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said the move showed the government was pushing ahead with "their systematic policies of settler colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, showing a total and blatant disregard for Palestinian human rights.""Israel is more committed to appeasing its illegal settler population than to abiding by the requirements for stability and a just peace," she said. A spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, expressed "disappointment and alarm" at the announcement. "The secretary general has consistently stressed that there is no Plan B for Israelis and Palestinians to live together in peace and security. He condemns all unilateral actions that, like the present one, threaten peace and undermine the two-state solution," Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. The new settlement will be constructed near the former wildcat Jewish outpost known as Amona, which was razed in February in accordance with an Israeli High Court order. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised to build a new settlement for its residents after their eviction. "I promised to create a new community and we are going to respect that commitment and create it today," he said ahead of Thursday's security cabinet meeting. It will be the first entirely new settlement that an Israeli government has approved since 1991, the anti-settlement NGO Peace Now said.
In recent years, construction had focused instead on expanding existing settlements.
- 'Held captive by settlers' -Peace Now said its location deep in the West Bank was "strategic for the fragmentation of the West Bank," which Palestinians see as the bulk of their future state. "Netanyahu is held captive by the settlers, and chooses his political survival over the interest of the state of Israel," the NGO said, adding it was pushing Israelis and Palestinians closer to "apartheid." The international community regards all Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as illegal and a major obstacle to Middle East peace. Israel draws a distinction between those it sanctions and those it does not -- so-called outposts. The cabinet also invited tenders for nearly 2,000 new homes in existing settlements and discussed retroactively legalising three outposts, Peace Now said. The former US administration of Barack Obama was deeply opposed to Israel's expansion of the settlements and in December withheld its veto from a UN Security Council resolution condemning the policy. But since Donald Trump took office in January, settler leaders have been emboldened by his far less critical stance and Israel has since announced more than 5,500 new homes in existing settlements.
Netanyahu has been in discussions with the Trump administration on how to move ahead with further construction. Trump has pledged unstinting support for Israel but has also urged Netanyahu to "hold back on settlements for a little bit" while his administration looks for ways to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks.

Ghosts of Mosul Stalk Iraq's Fleeing Children
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 31/17/The children proudly wield donated plastic water bottles like freshly dug nuggets of treasure, smiling despite the fear and death and destruction they have faced in their ruined city. With the impetuousness that only children can muster, they forget for a moment the hell they've endured in Mosul. "We had a big house, but Daesh bombed and burned it," says 10-year-old Nora, her undersized frame draped in a hand-me-down dress with a black, Peter Pan collar.
"They destroyed us."She is among thousands of children whose young lives have been torn apart by a vast military operation to recapture Iraq's second city of Mosul from the Islamic State group, known locally by the Arabic acronym "Daesh". She sits in a tent with other displaced children at a refugee camp 30 kilometres (20 miles) east of Mosul, quietly scrawling a pencil drawing of a bright pink heart. That's far enough to finally silence the constant thud of shelling and the crack of rifle fire that they've heard for weeks. The facilities are fine but basic: a few linoleum tables, plastic chairs, crayons, pencils and paper. The tent exteriors are daubed with bright murals of fields of flowers, technicolour handprints and SpongeBob SquarePants. A small astroturf volleyball court fades in the clear March sunshine.
- Invisible scars -For Maulid Warfa, a local official with the United Nation's children's fund UNICEF, this "Child Friendly Space" has a crucial function.
"Here is where children feel like children again," she says. Iraqi authorities say more than 200,000 people have fled west Mosul since an operation to oust IS from their former stronghold began last month after security forces had earlier captured eastern neighbourhoods. The battle has taken a deadly toll on civilians, sparking calls for greater efforts to protect them. When in the tent or in the play area, Nora and her friends could almost be mistaken for happy, carefree children anywhere. But those fleeing Mosul have their tells: fatigue darkening the eyes, sallow cheeks, shadows cast a little too thinly. "It's because of Daesh that we are here," says nine-year-old Abdulrahman, sitting next to Nora at the black table strewn with crayon sketches.
"There," he says of Mosul, "there is fear."He talks against a soundtrack of children laughing and singing as they chase each other through the area. But each child here bears hidden scars.
- 'Burning inside' -"When they were in Mosul, they went through very, very difficult experiences," says Warfa. "They have seen things that they should not have, many of them have seen people that have been killed. They have seen dead bodies."
The Child Friendly Space, run in conjunction with French charity Terre des Hommes, can help the children express themselves creatively. But despite the psychological "first aid" they receive when arriving at the camp, many display understandable signs of the trauma they've witnessed. "Some are aggressive and they run away from adults. There are those who hit their friends, others who don't want to share anything," says one social worker, who declined to give his name.
Warfa adds: "Even though they look normal... they are burning inside."
Their drawings depict both innocence and pain. In among the cheery scenes of sunshine, homes and animals, some images speak of more harrowing recent experiences in Mosul. One, starkly traced in black pencil, shows a terrified child, alone in a city consumed by flames.

U.S. Envoy to U.N.: Removing Assad 'Not Our Priority'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/March 31/17/The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday that Washington is no longer focused on ousting President Bashar Assad as it seeks ways to end Syria's civil war."You pick and choose your battles," Nikki Haley told reporters. "And when we're looking at this it's about changing up priorities and our priority is no longer to sit and focus on getting Assad out."Haley was speaking after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had signalled a change in the U.S. stance by admitting that Assad's eventual fate was up to the Syrian people. Speaking at the U.S. mission to the United Nations, which is about to assume the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council, Haley said Washington will focus on the push for a political solution. "Our priority is to really look at how do we get things done? Who do we need to work with to really make a difference for the people in Syria," she said. "We can't necessarily focus on Assad the way the previous administration maybe did. Do we think he's a hindrance? Yes," she said. "Are we going to sit there and focus on getting him out? No."Haley said she would focus on ways to remove the influence of Assad's ally Iran, which has supported him in his civil war against rebel forces. And she said Washington would work with other players in the conflict, including Turkey, to seek a long term solution.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published On April 01/17
Iran and Turkey: Two-Bit Players in a Deadly Game
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/March 31/17
After a brief diplomatic honeymoon mostly sustained by propaganda and wishful thinking, relations between Iran and Turkey appear to have hit a new low with Tehran and Ankara trading accusations and threats. Tehran claims that Ankara harbors neo-Ottoman imperial ambitions with dreams of dominating Iraq and Syria. For its part, Ankara accuses Tehran of harping on sectarian themes to create a mini-empire in the Levant with access to the Mediterranean.
It is too early to tell where this new tension might lead.
But one thing is certain: in opting for confrontation both sides are acting against a tradition of good neighborliness that dates back to the early 20th century.
In the checkered history of Iran’s relations with neighbors in the past century, ties with Turkey always stood out as an exception. By the end of the 19th century the two nations, exhausted by endless wars against each other over the previous 200 years, were geriatric empires further wounded by decades of struggle against European colonialism and Russian imperialism – to which both had lost vast chunks of territory.
In the 1920s new Turkey under Ataturk and new Iran under Reza Shah Pahlavi decided to transform the enmity of the past into a friendship for the future by forging the Saadabad Pact for non-aggression and mutual defense against outside enemies.
The two nations later forged the Baghdad Pact which also included the newly independent Iraq, and after Iraq fell under a pro-Soviet military regime, CENTO was formed, another military pact which included Pakistan and Great Britain with the US as an associate member.
By the end of 1950s Irano-Turkish relations were all plain sailing. A Turkish ambassador in Tehran could easily feel he was on a prolonged holiday while his Iranian counterparty in Ankara was often a senior figure sent there for a comfortable retirement.
Even the seizure of power by the mullahs in 1979 didn’t shake the solid foundations of decades’ old relations. While almost all nations quickly imposed or re-imposed visas for Iranians, Turkey kept its doors open to visitors and refugees from Iran.
Over the past four decades at least half of the estimated eight million Iranians who have fled the country since the mullahs came to power.
More importantly, perhaps, Turkey has helped Iran beat the many sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic by Western powers because of Iranian involvement in terrorism and the alleged development of nuclear weapons.
Iran has reciprocated by helping Turkey keep its turbulent Kurds in check and prevent Iraqi Kurds from full secession that could cause ripples in the rest of the region with Kurdish minorities.
Only a few a months ago some Western observers were talking about a new Tehran-Ankara-Moscow axis to reshape an alliance which could fall apart even before it is fully put in place. This has now happened. It seems that, with Obama gone, Turkey has decided to re-tie the knot with its old American ally.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration has announced a set of new sanctions against Russia, including a ban on ships from Russian ports in the Sea of Azov, in effect turning Russia into a landlocked nation.
At the same time, with Obama gone, the prospect of the US forging a new alliance with Tehran under the “moderate” faction of the mullahs is no longer taken seriously. The new Trump administration may be all at sea regarding its foreign policy but is unlikely to pin any hope on Tehran changing behavior under a “moderate” faction which was largely a figment of Obama’s imagination.
With the US likely to make a comeback as a nation-state pursuing its global interests rather than a vehicle for Obama’s ideological illusions, American power might, once again, become a major factor in stabilizing a turbulent region.
Trump’s behavior notwithstanding, Ankara seems to believe that the US is posed to return as a serous power played in the Middle East on which case Turkey would have no need of dubious alliances with an old enemy like Russia or a fickle friends like Iran.
The current Turkish thinking is that once Erdogan has achieved his goal of imposing a new Constitution through a referendum he would have a free hand to seek an important place for Turkey in a new regional grouping that would include the US and its Middle Eastern allies.
With Pakistan also starting to come off the fence, prospects of a broad alliance spanning the “arc of crisis” from the Subcontinent to the Atlantic Ocean becomes more serious.
That could leave Iran more isolated than ever and more dependent on Russians goodwill. However, Iranian policymakers know that Russia would never accept Iran as an equal partner.
By assuming exclusive control of the Syrian dossier in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s faction, Russia hopes to deprive Iran of the cards it had to play with in the war-torn Arab nation.
If, as Ankara now seems to think, the US returns to the Middle East in a leading position, the most that Turkey could aspire after, would be the position of a second or third fiddle. This means saying goodbye to any neo-Ottoman dreams that Erdogan might have nurtured.
And if Russia manages to secure a side-chair at the putative banquet for reshaping the Middle East, the last thing that President Vladimir Putin might want is to have a devious Iranian mullah tagged at his tailcoat.
In other words Turkey and Iran might end up ruining their old relations in exchange for meagre rewards including playing Man Friday to either America or Russia. Dreams of empire can have tragic consequences, especially for two-bit players in a deadly game.

Kuwaiti Liberal Activist Nasser Dashti Criticizes Islamic Movement: Germany Went From Nazism To Democracy In 30 Years — But This Movement Has 'Been Harping On The Same Issues' For 13 Centuries
The Middle East Media Research Institute/March 31/17
In a recent Kuwaiti TV debate on Islam and secularism, activist Nasser Dashti criticized the Islamic movement, which, he said, "has always wanted to kill the apostates... and to ban nightclubs, parties, and singing, so that people would not get excited," and called to restrict Islam to affairs of the individual. Making a plea for freedom of belief, Dashti drew a comparison to Germany, which, he said, swiftly turned from Nazism into a democratic and secular state that accepts refugees. The Islamic movement, in contrast, "has been unable to come up with a religious enterprise, and has been harping on the same issues" for 13 centuries, said Dashti. The debate aired on Alshahed TV on March 11.
Saeed Tawfiqi: "In Europe, the clergy - the Pope or the priest - would issue indulgences that said: 'You are going to Heaven.'"
Muhammed Al-Mulla: "That is the religious movement."
Saeed Tawfiqi: "This is wrong."
Muhammed Al-Mulla: "That is the work of the political religious movement. We had the same thing."
Saeed Tawfiqi: "If we had religious scholars who tried to hand out tickets to Paradise, I would call it a mistake..."
Nasser Dashti: "They distribute black-eyed virgins.
"Don't they use the (black eyed virgins) as a motivating factor? Someone who goes to blow himself up, to kill, to make accusations of heresy, to commit acts of terror, and to discriminate - doesn't he rely upon religious teachings?
"The Protestants and the Catholics waged a sectarian war for 30 years. 13 centuries have passed since the Battle of the Camel, the battle of Siffin, and the Caliphates, and to this day, people are arguing about this.
"I say today that the religion of Islam must be restricted to affairs of the individual. People are free to embrace whatever religion they want. We must make do with the cultural aspects of religion, such as Friday sermons and the mosques. All these are guaranteed. They exist. It should be a social platform, a means to express views and preach faith, and I don't mean just Islam..."
Saeed Tawfiqi: "You want people to forget everything once they step out of the mosque."
Nasser Dashti: "I'm talking about Islam, Christianity, and the other religions - the Buddhists, the Bohras, the Bahais - and even the non-religious. Everybody has freedom of belief. In this I rely on the constitution.
"To this day, the religious movement believes that it tis the role of the state to get people into Paradise and prevent them from going to Hell. This is not the job of the state."
Saeed Tawfiqi: "Right. I agree with you."
Nasser Dashti: "The Islamic movement in the Arab world, in general, and in Kuwait, in particular, has always wanted to kill the apostates, so that they would not influence people, and to ban nightclubs, parties, and singing, so that people would not get excited. The Christmas tree shocks them to the core. If someone eats in public during Ramadhan, it hurts their feelings.
Saeed Tawfiqi: "But this is not permitted?"
Nasser Dashti: "I'm not talking about what's allowed or not. I'm talking about human rights. What kind of religion, what kind of ideology, is shocked by such things?
"Even the woman... Instead of protecting her, they have a problem with all women. Instead of protecting her, they want to cover her up with the hijab, so that she won't arouse their urges. To every creature who thinks that the woman's body is shameful, I say: Remember where your head emerged from.
"They constantly resort to this naïve example: Hitler, the World War, look what he did in Germany... First of all, Hitler wasn't secular. He was a Catholic, who believed in God. His ideology was based on worldly mechanism and not on secular philosophy. Secondly, even if we accept this for the sake of argument, within 30 years, the German people has managed to replace Nazi racism with Merkel's Germany, which accepts refugees. Today, Germany is a democratic and secular state. Only 30 years! And here, we have an (Islamic) movement that in 13 centuries has been unable to come up with a religious enterprise, and has been harping on the same issues."

Russia: Rubber Ducks and Green Paint
Shoshana Bryen/Gatestone Institute/March 31/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10137/russia-corruption
How the United States responds to these protests abroad can determine not only the future of those protesting, but also the future of the governments that find themselves under pressure.
Russia seeks superpower status in the Middle East and Europe, but real superpower status has always required the ability to shoulder burdens abroad without fear of upheaval at home.
Ignoring the Green Movement in Iran was a missed opportunity for the West and a tragedy for the people of Iran. It is not America's job to create or foment unrest in Russia or anywhere else. But it is in the interest of the West to support and hearten those who have the courage to take on a corrupt and aggressive government.
For all the hyperbole in Washington about Russian hacking, Russian disinformation, Russian influence, and Russian espionage, the really remarkable events in Russia over the weekend appear barely to have registered.
One hundred years after the assassination of the last Czar, and two-and-a-half decades after the fall of the communist regime, Russian people have taken to the streets.
In early March, anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny posted a report on YouTube detailing the corruption of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. After more than 13 million views in roughly three weeks, people, including a large number of teenagers, answered Navalny's call for public protest. They flooded the streets of 95 Russian cities, as well as London, Prague, Basel, and Bonn. Many carried rubber ducks -- or real ducks -- referring to reports of a luxury duck farm on one of Medvedev's properties.
Navalny is now in jail.
Police in Moscow arrest an anti-corruption protestor on March 26, 2017. (Image source: CNN video screenshot)
Depending on the source, 7,000-8,000 (Russia's Interior Ministry) or 25,000-30,000 (Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation) people turned out in Moscow, and hundreds -- or thousands -- were arrested. The Anti-Corruption Foundation claims there were more than 150,000 protesters across the country.
Navalny himself was doused with bright green dye by an opponent in an eerie parallel to the poisoning that disfigured the face of Ukrainian politician Victor Yushchenko. Navalny's supporters, in solidarity, have taken to green face paint.
These courageous protests may call to mind the 2015 "Sunflower" movement in Taiwan or the "Umbrella" movement in Hong Kong. The former opposed Taiwanese trade with China, a plan that could have made the island dependent on the mainland for its economic future. The latter demanded the "full autonomy," promised by Britain and agreed to by China, when the British departed in 1999. Both were notable for the number of students in the forefront. The protests also call to mind the Arab Spring demonstrations of 2011, grounded in the belief by Arab citizens that their governments were hopelessly corrupt; also Iran's massive 2009 Green Movement protests, in which citizens believed the government had conducted a fraudulent election.
For the Trump administration, this moment is immensely important.
How the United States responds to these protests abroad can determine not only the future of those protesting, but also the future of the governments that find themselves under pressure.
Taiwan, a fully functioning democracy, saw a change of government in its latest election. Hong Kong's change of government, however, was fully controlled by Beijing. The Arab Spring opened the way for power vacuums that allowed the rise of ISIS and al Qaeda. And Iran's government smashed the nascent rebellion so thoroughly that no large-scale protest has been able to take place there since.
It has been said that Vladimir Putin personally has a high favorability ratings in Russia because he restored predictability and stability after the turbulent Gorbachev-through-Yeltsin period and because he is a nationalist. Corruption, however, is endemic -- and Putin has been ruthless in wiping out politicians and journalists who poke too closely into it.
Putin critic and lawmaker Denis Voronenkov (2017), Boris Nemtsov (2015), human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov (2009), journalists Anastasia Baburova (2009) Natalia Estemirova (2009), Anna Politkovskaya (2005) and Paul Klebnikov (2004), and politician Sergei Yushenkov (2003) were all shot. Boris Berezovsky (2013) died after falling out with Putin; the cause of his death has not yet been established. Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned in 2006. The lawyer Sergei Magnitsky (2009) died in police custody. Last week, his family's lawyer, Nicolai Gorokhov, was said to have fallen out of a fourth floor window "while installing a hot tub."
Vladimir Kara-Murza, leader of the Russian political opposition, directly accused the Kremlin of assassinating political enemies. Earlier this month, Kara-Murza was in a life-threatening coma with elevated levels of heavy metal in his blood; it was the second time he was poisoned. Partially recovered now and not in Russia, Kara-Murza called it retaliation for his work with American lawmakers on the Magnitsky Act, designed to prevent human rights abusers in Russia from keeping their wealth in Western countries.
Perhaps Navalny's call to the public is grounded in the understanding that, one by one, brave people can be eliminated, but thousands at a time in the streets are harder to target. The outpouring of support by young people who have never known any government other than that of Putin or Medvedev is an indication of how deeply they understand.
The usual method of tamping down widespread unhappiness is with money. But the Russian economy has been in a recession for two years, in part due to the decline in oil prices, and its "rainy day" fund has declined from $91.7 billion in September 2014 to $32.2 billion two years later, according to the Russian Finance Ministry. Defense spending is slated to drop by 27% in the draft 2017 budget.
On the nationalist side, the Russian public historically does not like losing soldiers in foreign wars -- think "Afghanistan." Losses in Ukraine, never officially enumerated by the Russian government, were accepted grudgingly as part of the price for restoring Crimea. But casualties in Syria cannot be dealt with so easily. The number remains small -- according official counts just over 100, including both soldiers and military contractors -- but there seems to be widespread unease. More than a few (small) anti-war demonstrations have been seen in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The public is aware of the scale of Russian and Syrian bombing and the resulting casualties of a war that are not understood to be of importance in the homeland. They may be important to us -- and to the Russian government, but the Russian people have never liked wars unrelated to Russian territory. That is probably why they could accept Stalingrad, but balked at Afghanistan.
Russia seeks superpower status in the Middle East and Europe, but real superpower status has always required the ability to shoulder burdens abroad without fear of upheaval at home. World War II is a clear example of American success, but when the domestic situation was turbulent in the late 1960s, the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam and spent decades restoring its international credibility. A shaky domestic situation in Russia may force Putin to consider spending more resources at home than abroad.
Ignoring the Green Movement in Iran was a missed opportunity for the West and a tragedy for the people of Iran. It is not America's job to create or foment unrest in Russia or anywhere else. But it is in the interest of the West to support and hearten those who have the courage to take on a corrupt and aggressive government. President Trump can take a page from Ronald Reagan, who spoke out for the rights of the people, especially Soviet refuseniks, even as he worked to negotiate arms-control with Gorbachev.
If we ignore the rubber ducks and green paint, it will be at our peril.
**Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of the Jewish Policy Center.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Last ‘WhatsApp’ Message
Abdulrahman Al-RashedAsharq Al-Awsat English/March 31/17
Terrorist Khalid Masood who has attacked the Houses of Parliament in London had sent an important message that the British security failed to decode on WhatsApp. The terrorist is a prior suspect and was under surveillance – has the security bodies comprehended the letter they would have foiled the operation.
This is merely a hypothesis. Yet, social media messages and calls remain a battlefield between the security bodies and terrorists who now consider these means as their modern arm.
One of the basic reasons behind the collapse of al-Qaeda is that its leaders abstained from these means of communication — Osama bin Laden, in his last years, relied on sending envoys who would deliver oral or written messages to evade security forces who now are able to listen, record, translate, recognize voices and determine locations easily.
New terrorists believe that the modern technology makes them expand wider, attract more youths and provide a free propaganda that is worth the risk.
WhatsApp is a landmark portal to the world – or what we think is the real world. Those who benefit the most are users who make, market and distribute information to others who in their turn send it to more than one billion people in the world, unaware of the motives.
Can all this information be monitored? If WikiLeaks’ latest disclosures turned out to be true then this means that all phones are prone to surveillance. The document reveals that the US intelligence managed to develop systems capable of hacking into devices.
With the huge technical security development, it has become a daily game to arrest terrorists, shell their shelters or exploit them. This technique is cursed and appreciated at the same time, since on one hand it helps terrorists mobilize and cause damage and on the other hand it assists security bodies to arrest criminals. Apart from the security military war field, countries failed to confront the ideology. They were unsuccessful in halting the brainwash targeting millions day and night, using religions and exploiting instincts and gaps through their messages.
Spying is effective in besieging terrorist groups and individuals but can’t win the first phase of the terrorist act: the intellectual phase. Majority of phase one activities are not coded and actually, happen publicly round the clock.
Peoples’ minds are being washed through messages sent via broadcasts including pieces of advice, information, news, ideas, speeches, discussions, jokes, lessons, pictures, drawings and videos.
Although these messages are open for everyone yet comprehending and confronting them is tougher than decoding the most complicated confidential codes because it is an oriented culture.
The solution lies in the alternative culture, which is not yet wide-spread enough to face extremist messages.

Fate likely to be unraveled by grudges of post-revolution generations
Fahad Suleiman Shoqiran/Al Arabiya/March 31/17
While sitting at a café recently, I accidently overheard two Syrian girls talk about the war in their country. I can tell from their appearances that they were barely 13 years old when the crisis in Syria erupted. Their entire conversation was about the war and they discussed murderous identities and the sources of sectarian origins. They described horrific scenes which have never been witnessed since the days of Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein. One of the girls narrated dreadful stories to the other as if all these scenes were engraved in her memory. This conversation represents the reality of an entire generation with its boys and girls who are growing up into adulthood through a path full of blood during the past five years.
Erasing these memories and its repercussions will not be easy as this war will at least affect the next three generations. This reminds us of the catastrophic bloody events which happened during major wars where murder, ethnic cleansing and rape produced generations of defeated people who may seek revenge or even think about it or may just settle down with pain and regret.
This slow process of cultural, religious and political setbacks is almost predestined for this generation.
The generations which witnessed the atrocities in Iraq, Libya and Syria will not be shielded from the war’s effects
Europe’s civil wars
The disastrous civil wars in Europe provide a good example. For instance, these wars resulted in helping rulers form regimes that go beyond the “state of nature” as philosopher Thomas Hobbes put it in his book ‘Leviathan’.
lived through the English civil war where everyone was at war with everyone else. This is how everyone ended up being coldly dragged into wars while being fully convinced of it. They adapted with this evil and they got accustomed to bloodshed as part of this social and political activity. Then they found wars acceptable and got addicted to them.
English, French and American civil wars produced other political phases related to governing systems that are based on the concept of the sovereign, which is the supreme ruler above all authorities and which must be obeyed, as Hobbes put it during the 17th century.
In the present time, political theory will take its own time to form a social contract while continuously amending and criticizing it – as the case has been since the days of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and up until John Rawls. Reality is like people, it changes with them. Therefore, people’s humanity increases as institutions get more mature.
In her book ‘The Origins of Totalitarianism’, German Philosopher Hannah Arendt analyzes the Nazi phase and her analysis can be used to understand the generations following these revolutions which were full of bloodshed.
Nazism’s repercussions resemble the repercussions of current wars. In the chapter ‘Classless Society’, she writes: “The attraction of evil and crime for the mob mentality is nothing new. It has always been true that the mob will greet deeds of violence with the admiring remark: ‘it may be mean but it is very clever.’
The disturbing factor in the success of totalitarianism is rather the true selflessness of its adherents. It may be understandable that a Nazi or Bolshevik will not be shaken in his conviction by crimes against people who do not belong to the movement or are even hostile to it.
But the amazing fact is that neither is he likely to waver when the monster begins to devour its own children and not even if he becomes a victim of persecution himself, if he is framed and condemned, if he is purged from the party and sent to a forced-labor or a concentration camp.”
Experience of horror
Arendt then details Hitler’s mobilization of the “front generations” and writes: “Very few of this generation were cured of their war enthusiasm by actual experience of its horrors. The survivors of the trenches did not become pacifists.
They cherished an experience which, they thought, might serve to separate them definitely from the hated surroundings of respectability. They clung to their memories of four years of life in the trenches as though they constituted an objective criterion for the establishment of a new elite.”
The generations which witnessed the atrocities in Iraq, Libya and Syria will not be shielded from the war’s effects. The wars in these countries are not organized and do not aim to serve a specific aim but are parts of uprisings in which religious, sectarian, ethnic and tribal factors have played a major role.
All affiliations and predispositions have been awakened and these are exactly what make it easier for people to take up arms, pull the trigger and kill others who are close to them. This young generation has been destroyed at an early stage. An entire generation has seen everything evil a man can do.
Everyone must prepare for the future in order to confront the threats which this afflicted generation of young people and fighters will pose to the world. Not only that but in the future, it will be difficult to integrate these generations into civil life.
While comparing the American and French revolutions in her book ‘On Revolution’, Arendt laments over humans which the revolutionary machines destroy, and writes: “The masses of the poor, this overwhelming majority of all men, whom the French Revolution called the miserable and whom it transformed into angry people, only to desert them and let them carry the necessity, to which they had been subject to as long as memory reaches, - carry it along with the violence that had always been used to overcome necessity. Both, necessity and violence, made them (the miserable ones) not resist the power of earth.”
History does not repeat itself. However, experiences - like human beings - may look alike.

UN and the question of Quran’s interpretation
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/March 31/17
During the recent Arab summit, that was held in Jordan next to the holy land in Palestine, one of the scenes that caught everybody’s attention was the speech of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Portuguese politician Antonio Guterres, in front of Arab leaders.
Guterres talked about the ugliness of war, the benefits of peace and the tragedy of the refugees due to the wars in our countries. This was expected of him. However, he surprised the audience by quoting the sixth verse of the Surah at-Tawbah (The repentance) in Arabic and then he explained or interpreted the meaning of the verse according to the dictionary of ancient scholars and their Sheikh Ibn Jarir al-Tabari.
The text of the verse: “And if any one of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allah. Then deliver him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know.”
Addressing the divide
The new Secretary-General of the United Nations quoted this verse knowing that the Arab-Muslim region is currently witnessing a major sectarian and social divide.
He said: “here we come to you with the holy book, because you claim to abide by the teachings of the Quran.” Of course he was addressing terrorist groups and perhaps when he talked about Syrian and Iraqi refugees, he addressed those who are reluctant to welcome them.
Portuguese Guterres seems accomplished in this as he also quoted from this verse in February at the Cairo University, thanking Egypt for its efforts in the refugee crisis that is ravaging the region.
“The utmost that can be said about refugees is what we read in the surah on repentance, when God says in the Quran that the protection of refugees should be provided to believers and non-believers. This is the most expressive thing I have read about protecting the refugees,” he said.
It is a good gesture from an international official, who happens to be Christian, to appreciate the Islamic faith, but the mission of the United Nations is not limited to such gestures
UN mission
It is a good gesture from an international official, who happens to be Christian, to appreciate the Islamic faith, but the mission of the United Nations is not limited to such gestures. The UN should rather take serious action to restore peace and justice because wherever there is justice and mercy, the religion of God will prevail, without the need to dive in the sea of interpretation; that is difficult and need skillful handling.
At the level of courtesies, the gesture of the Portuguese statesman and the gesture of the Italian representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy within the European Union, Federica Mogherini who started her speech in Arabic, indicate the extent to which the world and namely the west, got involved in the Islamic intellectual culture.
As it has been said, the issue of cultural resistance from within the Muslim communities to extremism and terrorism is global just like global warming, which is a worldwide concern. We fight with terrorists every day on the “interpretation” of the Quran, as our predecessors did with the Kharijites.