LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 28/17
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For Today
So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18/1-14/:"What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost."

And many others who were paralysed or lame were cured. So there was great joy in that city
Acts of the Apostles 08/01b-08/:"And Saul approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralysed or lame were cured. So there was great joy in that city."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 27-28/17
The story of the 2 grams of cocaine/Roger Bejjani/Face Book/June 26/2017
The main crisis we're living/Roger Bejjani/Face Book/June 26/2017
Looking the Wrong Way on Iran/Shoshana Bryen/Gatestone Institute/June 26/2017
Syrian opposition leader, Salim Hudaifah: ‘The enemy is Iran, not Israel/Itamar Eichner/Ynetnews/June 28/17
A Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Britain: May 2017/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/June 26/2017
Female Genital Mutilation: American Muslim Physician Says Stop Defending the Abuse of Girls and Women/M. Zuhdi Jasser/Gatestone Institute/June 26/2017
Palestinians: Why Abbas Cannot Stop Funding Terrorists/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/June 26/2017
Qataris paying the price for its Emir’s policies/Mohammed Al Shaikh/Al Arabiya/June 27/17
Mohammed bin Salman: A man, a generation and an era/Ghassan Charbel/Al Arabiya/June 27/17
What’s demanded of Qatar/Sawsan Al Shaer/Al Arabiya/June 27/17
Who targeted the Holy Kaaba/Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi/Al Arabiya/June 27/17

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on June 27-28/17
The story of the 2 grams of cocaine
The main crisis we're living
Lebanese Deputy PM: We seek to Hold Parliamentary Polls before their Schedule
Syrian Opposition Figures Concerned about Assala’s Arrest in Beirut
Israel to Construct 7-Meter High Wall along Lebanon Border
No Cabinet Session Wednesday as Political Activity Postponed to July
Aoun Urges Unity among 'Various Sects of Arab Levant'
Prosecutor Clarifies Circumstances of Asala's Brief Detention
Geagea Holds Talks with Jordanian Public Works Minister
Paris Vows 'Full Support' for Libya Role of ex-Lebanese Minister SalamehHasbani Expects Efforts Hasbani Expects Efforts to Hold Polls before Declared May Date
Berri receives congratulatory calls from Gemayel, Sleiman
France hails appointment of Salameh as United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative for Libya
Janjanian reiterates commitment to lowering political discourse
Berri receives congratulatory calls from Gemayel, Sleiman
Jumblatt contacts Mufti Jouzou denouncing Barja crime
One person wounded in a dispute inside Ain alHilweh camp
Brazil's President Counterattacks after Graft Charge

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 27-28/17
U.S. Suspects Chemical Weapons 'Activity' at Syria Base Used in April Attack
Ukraine Serviceman Killed in Kiev Car Blast
North Korea Likens Trump to Hitler
U.S. Wants to Steer Clear of Syrian Civil War, Says Mattis
U.S. Says Assad May be Preparing Chemical Attack, Warns ‘Heavy Price’
Kremlin Slams U.S. 'Threats' against Assad
57 Dead in U.S.-Led Strikes on IS Syria Prison
Former Syrian Defense Minister Tlass Dies in Paris
Brussels Conference Addresses State of Iraq’s Christians Post-ISIS Phase
Russia’s Lavrov: Upcoming Astana Syria Talks will Tackle De-escalation Zones
ISIS Fights its Last Battle in Mosul
Smell of Death Hovers over Mosul’s Old City
Boycott Movement Costs Israel 190 Million Euros
Palestinians Predict Long Talks with US before Launching Peace Negotiations
Iran Calls for Europe’s Intervention to Resolve Qatar Crisis
Israeli Warplanes Strike Hamas Targets in Gaza After Rocket Fire

Latest Lebanese Related News published on June 27-28/17
The story of the 2 grams of cocaine
Roger Bejjani/Face Book/June 27/17
The story of the 2 grams of cocaine allegedly caught on Assala @ Beirut airport, is simply surreal!
In a country where the leader of an assassins' squad responsible of a series of high profile murders and terrorist operations, is simply choking the country; in a country where keptagon is produced at gigantic proportions; in a country where Mafias are proliferating; in a country where a private fundamentalist Army answering to Iran is untouchable, 2 grams of cocaine create the scandal!

The main crisis we're living
Roger Bejjani/Face Book/June 27/17
The main crisis we're living through as humans in general and as Lebanese in particular is the annihilation of the concept of right and wrong.
Series of compromises forced by fear or temptations have incapacitated Lebanese to say:
1. It is totally wrong to have a sectarian private army alongside the state sponsored security forces.
2. It is dead wrong to have this private army answering the dictate of the Islamic Iranian Revolutionary guard.
3. It is very wrong to allow this private sectarian foreign driven fundamentalist Army to have MPs and Ministers.
4. It is more than wrong not to officially finger point this private Army as being a terrorist organization.
5. There is no possible excuse to be held hostage for the rest of our lives by a terrorist organization.
Filthy compromises and adaptation to de facto disastrous and sur-natural state composition have created a moral vacuum in the psyche of many Lebanese.
This national state of mind is responsible of the crime spree. The compromisers, builders of mediocrity, are not only responsible of the death of many Lebanese but are responsible as well of the environmental catastrophe Lebanon and Lebanese are enduring, a deficient social well-being system, a slow economy, a rising unemployment and of course a spiraling public debt that can wash everything and everyone in a second if the terrorist organization we are accommodating our lives with, end up driving the Gulf states to Qatarize us.
Disgusting!

Lebanese Deputy PM: We seek to Hold Parliamentary Polls before their Schedule
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 27/17/Beirut – Government and parliamentary workshops are expected to be held in Lebanon after the Eid al-Fitr holiday in line with the outcome of the consultative meeting, which was held last week at the Baabda Palace, in parallel with the preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections in May 2018. Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani is supervising several files which will be tackled in the coming ministerial meetings, including the activation of infrastructure projects, the electricity and the garbage file, as well as the 2018 budget. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Hasbani underlined the importance of holding cabinet sessions in various governorates, in order to boost cooperation between ministries on important infrastructure projects. “It is the first time in Lebanon that we see a comprehensive plan aimed at dealing with infrastructure issues,” he stated. Hasbani noted in this regard that he has held a series of meetings with 1,100 municipalities across the country, with whom he set out a list of priority projects, adding that ministerial meetings in the different governorates would be held as of end of August or beginning of September. The cabinet, according to Hasbani, would extensively work on drafting an economic plan that would represent the basis of the 2018 budget, after the referral of this year’s budget for parliament’s approval. He added that the garbage crisis would be also be resolved during the upcoming ministerial meetings. A consultative meeting chaired by President Michel Aoun on Thursday gathered heads of the political parties participating in the current government and adopted the plan of action for the cabinet’s economic and reform items. Participants in the meeting stressed the need for administrative decentralization, noting in a statement: “Lebanon, which is economically sound, needs to implement a comprehensive economic plan, which will generate the state budget, secure economic growth, create jobs and promote balanced development.” The statement also called for the revival of the Economic and Social Council as soon as possible. Hasbani told Asharq Al-Awsat that the current government’s top priority was holding the parliamentary elections, stressing in this regard efforts to hold the polls ahead of the scheduled date in May. “The cabinet can do so, however, the issue is closely linked to the readiness of the Interior Ministry on the technical and practical levels,” he said. Other governmental priorities, according to the deputy premier, include the security situation, noting that Lebanon has become one of the most stable countries in the region.

Syrian Opposition Figures Concerned about Assala’s Arrest in Beirut
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 27/17/Beirut, Cairo – The arrest of famous Syrian singer Assala Nasri in Beirut’s Rafik Hariri airport on Sunday night for carrying cocaine prompted a dispute in the entertainment circles and the concern of Syrian opposition figures, who frequently travel to Lebanon to participate in political forums. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Monday that the airport’s Internal Security Forces arrested Assala at the security check for the possession of 2g of cocaine placed in her small plastic make-up bag. Assala returned to Cairo after she was released on bail. Reports said she left Beirut at 2:15am on Monday on board a Turkish Airways plane. Syrian opposition artists told Asharq Al-Awsat that the singer’s arrest was a message for Syrian artists living in Beirut, or those who visit the country to participate in dramatic works. “The subject is ridiculous and it only aims to distort her image. Assala is well known for her good conduct in the artistic circles. The reasonable people will refuse to believe such news,” a source close to the Syrian singer told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday. Assala could not be reached for comment. Her husband, Egyptian director Tarek Al-Eryan denied that Assala was a drug user or was addicted to cocaine. He said that what happened at the airport in Beirut is “fabricated” and that the accusations against her were “far from the truth.” However, he refused to give more details. Assala was welcomed by a number of her friends at Cairo’s airport. Sources in Beirut said high-ranking Lebanese figures had personally intervened to end the singer’s crisis at the airport in Beirut. Meanwhile, Assala posted a photo from the plane on her Facebook account, accompanied by her husband. It is worth noting that in 2013, Lebanon’s security apparatus had confiscated the passport of Assala before returning it five days later.

Israel to Construct 7-Meter High Wall along Lebanon Border
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 27/17/Tel Aviv – After months of delays, the Israeli army decided to launch the project to construct a seven-meter high wall along the border with Lebanon. An electric fence and other barriers will also be set up along with the fortified cement wall. Construction will begin immediately and border guards and the air force have been put on alert in anticipation of a possible “Hezbollah” retaliation against the measure before Israel even completes the wall. The wall will extend from the Ras al-Naqoura in the West until the Galilee area near Jabal al-Sheikh (Mount Hermon) and the Shebaa Farms in the east. Surveillance cameras and towers, command centers, intelligence equipment and various barriers will be part of the concrete wall. The Israeli army predicts that the construction will likely increase tensions along the border with Lebanon. The northern command is preparing itself for a “Hezbollah” operation that would “impede the building progress” under the excuse that the wall does not adhere to the border line that was demarcated by the United Nations after Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. The army is taking precautions against possible rallies to protest the construction and even attempted shootings against the constructors. At a cost of 123 million shekels, the project will be complete in 2018. A similar wall was built five years ago along the Egyptian-Israeli border. It was aimed at preventing the infiltration of gunmen and asylum seekers. Last week, Israel revealed that “Hezbollah” had set up 15 new surveillance points along the border with Israel under the pretext of preserving the environment. Tel Aviv viewed the development as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

No Cabinet Session Wednesday as Political Activity Postponed to July
Naharnet/June 27/17/No Cabinet session is expected to be held this week and Eid al-Fitr's “political” vacation will be extended to the first of July, a media report said on Tuesday. “The Cabinet will not convene tomorrow and political activity and major legislation work have been postponed until the first of July,” Kuwaiti daily al-Anbaa quoted governmental sources as saying. Al-Mustaqbal Movement sources had announced in remarks published Monday that the upcoming period will be “economic and social par excellence, seeing as Prime Minister Saad Hariri is determined to implement the pending clauses of the ministerial Policy Statement.”“He is receiving full support from President Michel Aoun, the Lebanese Forces and the political components that are represented in Cabinet,” the sources added.

Aoun Urges Unity among 'Various Sects of Arab Levant'
Naharnet/June 27/17/President Michel Aoun on Tuesday called for unity among the religious communities of the Middle East. Aoun voiced his remarks during a meeting at the Baabda Palace with the newly-elected Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Youssef I Absi, who visited the president at the head of a delegation. “We call for solidarity and unity among the various sects in the Arab Levant to confront the challenges that are lashing its countries and socities,” Aoun said. These challenges “do not differentiate between the sons and sects of these societies,” the president pointed out.

Prosecutor Clarifies Circumstances of Asala's Brief Detention
Naharnet/June 27/17/State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud stressed Tuesday that prominent Syrian singer Asala Nasri received the “same treatment” as any other person held on drug abuse charges, after she was briefly detained overnight Sunday at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport.
Hammoud noted that he had recently instructed the prosecutors of the districts not to seek the detention of drug abusers but rather to “refer them to institutions that take charge of treating them while subjecting them to periodic tests to determine whether or not they had continued their addiction.”“In line with this order, Asala underwent a drug abuse test at the airport and she will be periodically subjected to this test when she returns to Lebanon,” Hammoud added, noting that “investigations in this case are continuing confidentially.”
State-run National News Agency had reported that Internal Security Forces inspection officers found two grams of cocaine in a small plastic box that Asala was carrying. After she “tested positive for drug abuse,” Judge Claude Karam decided to release her on the condition that she would undergo another drug test, LBCI television said. In her preliminary hearing testimony, Asala had denied that the drugs belonged to her, claiming that she did not know who put them in her suitcase.
The diva was eventually allowed to leave Beirut for Cairo after she “signed a pledge obliging her to undergo a drug test every time she visits Lebanon.”The Syrian diva, which is known for her anti-Assad stances, was in Lebanon for the annual iftar banquet organized by Eagle Films.

Geagea Holds Talks with Jordanian Public Works Minister
Naharnet/June 27/17/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday held talks in Maarab with Jordanian Public Works and Housing Minister Sami Halaseh. An LF statement said talks tackled “the general political situations in Lebanon and the region.”“The Jordanian guest said the visit is part of the cordial communication and the special bilateral ties between Lebanon and Jordan, denying that he was carrying any message from the Jordanian king to the LF leader,” the statement said. Halaseh also noted that he was visiting in “his private capacity.”The meeting was also attended by the LF officer for the Gulf region Fadi Salameh and the businessman Fadi Sfeir.

Paris Vows 'Full Support' for Libya Role of ex-Lebanese Minister Salameh
Naharnet/June 27/17/France on Tuesday lauded a United Nations decision to appoint ex-Lebanese minister Ghassan Salameh as the new U.N. envoy for Libya. "We will offer him our full support for the sake of strengthening dialogue among the Libyan parties and consolidating the U.N.-sponsored political process, in addition to coordinating diplomatic initiatives,” said a statement distributed by the French Embassy in Beirut. Salameh, a Paris-based Lebanese academic and a former U.N. adviser, had been selected for the Libya role by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and approved last Tuesday by the members of the U.N. Security Council. Salame, who would replace Martin Kobler of Germany, served as a senior adviser to then secretary-general Kofi Annan from 2003-2006, and later as Lebanon's culture minister. He is currently dean of the Paris School of International Affairs and a professor of international relations at the Paris Institute of Political Studies.Several previous candidates to be the U.N. special representative for Libya were vetoed by council members, including the United States.

Hasbani Expects Efforts to Hold Polls before Declared May Date
Naharnet/June 27/17/Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani has announced that the upcoming period will witness “vigorous efforts to hold the elections before the declared May date.”“The government's top priority for the upcoming period will be to prepare for the parliamentary elections,” Hasbani told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Tuesday. “The Cabinet is capable of achieving that, although the issue is mainly linked to the technical and logistical readiness of the Interior Ministry,” the deputy PM added. “We are keen on ensuring that the preparations will be conducted in a manner that is both quick and unflawed,” Hasbani went on to say. The parliament has ratified a new electoral law based on proportional representation and 15 districts after months of political wrangling. It has also extended its own term until May 20, 2018 and the elections are expected to be held on May 6, 2018. The May polls will be the first parliamentary elections in nine years. A political stalemate had pushed the country's political forces to extend parliament's term twice since the last elections in 2009.

Berri receives congratulatory calls from Gemayel, Sleiman
Tue 27 Jun 2017/NNA - House Speaker Nabih Berri continued Tuesday to receive congratulatory calls on the holy Fitr Feast, most prominently from former Presidents Amin Gemayel and Michel Sleiman. The Speaker also received Eid well-wishers including a number of current and former cabinet ministers and deputies, members of the diplomatic and consular corps, as well as spiritual, judicial, security and military leaders.

France hails appointment of Salameh as United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative for Libya
Tue 27 Jun 2017 /NNA - "France praises the appointment of Ghassan Salameh as the Special Representative and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya," French Embassy in Lebanon said in a press release on Tuesday. "[France] will give [Ghassan Salameh] full support [on his new mission] in order to promote dialogue between the [conflicting] parties in Lybia, as well as consolidating the political process sponsored by the United Nations and coordinating the diplomatic initiatives," the statement added. France also called on the various political parties in Lybia to recommit to the Lybian Political Agreement to counter the organized crimes and terrorism. In this context, France expressed keenness over the implementation of the Security Council Resolutions which included full compliance of arms embargo and combating exportation of illegal oil.

Janjanian reiterates commitment to lowering political discourse
Tue 27 Jun 2017/NNA - Lebanese Forces Parliamentary Bloc Member, MP Shant Janjanian, affirmed Tuesday that the upcoming days will witness reactivation of government's work, noting that political parties have agreed on lessening political discourse. "There is a political agreement [between counterparts] to stay away from disputes that could stall [vital projects] in the country," MP Janjanian added during an interview to Radio Lebanon. The lawmaker considered that "during the extension of the parliamentary mandate, there will be a fruitful period of work and productivity in all the ministries."Commenting on the optimism of House Speaker Nabih Berri on approving the salary scale issue at the Parliament's first convening session in mid July, Janjanian expected that "amidst the prevailing political consensus in the country, it is easier now to decree the salary scale."
"The best way to ensure revenues for the salary scale dossier is by cutting squandering and fighting corruption," the deputy went on, emphasizing the necessity of resorting to the E-government to reduce bribes and corruption. Asked about parliamentary elections, Janjanian said that the "magnetic cards are the weakest link in the new electoral law in terms of achievement." Commenting on Lebanese Forces and Future Bloc relations, he said that cooperation is ongoing between them.

Berri receives congratulatory calls from Gemayel, Sleiman
Tue 27 Jun 2017/NNA - House Speaker Nabih Berri continued Tuesday to receive congratulatory calls on the holy Fitr Feast, most prominently from former Presidents Amin Gemayel and Michel Sleiman. The Speaker also received Eid well-wishers including a number of current and former cabinet ministers and deputies, members of the diplomatic and consular corps, as well as spiritual, judicial, security and military leaders.

Jumblatt contacts Mufti Jouzou denouncing Barja crime
Tue 27 Jun 2017/NNA - Democratic Gathering Leader, MP Walid Jumblatt, contacted Tuesday Mufti Mohammad Ali al-Jouzou, condemning the crime of Barja that resulted in the killing of Hamed and Ibrahim al-Jouzou, and offering his deepest condolences for their loss.

One person wounded in a dispute inside Ain alHilweh camp
Tue 27 Jun 2017/NNA - One person was injured in an individual clash that broke out in Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp along Fawqani Street, who was immediately rushed to hospital for treatment, NNA correspondent in Sidon reported Tuesday.

Brazil's President Counterattacks after Graft Charge
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/17/Brazilian President Michel Temer prepared to counterattack Tuesday after bribery charges against him sent Latin America's biggest country into its latest bout of political turmoil. The first sitting president of Brazil to face criminal charges, Temer is accused of accepting bribes from a giant meatpacking company. He is also under investigation for obstruction of justice and belonging to a criminal organization. But the center-right president has made clear he does not intend to let the scandal -- part of a huge corruption probe engulfing scores of politicians -- drive him from office. Leading newspapers Folha de S. Paulo and Globo quoted aides saying that Temer's strategy would be to attack Janot's evidence against him as flimsy and politically motivated. "For personal reasons, the prosecutor general is putting the country at risk and mounting a political crusade," Folha quoted a presidential aide as saying. "The president is moving to the phase of total war to save his mandate," the newspaper's columnist Bernardo Mello Franco wrote. Temer himself has not commented since Janot filed the charge with the Supreme Court late Monday. However, hours earlier he'd declared: "Nothing will destroy us -- not me and not our ministers." For Temer to go on trial, the scandal-plagued lower house of Congress must first approve Janot's charge by a two-thirds majority. Temer would then be suspended for six months for the trial. Temer's aides say they are confident he has sufficient support in Congress, where many lawmakers are themselves reeling from bribery and other corruption probes, to get the charges thrown out. The Eurasia Group risk consultancy said there was still a 70 percent chance of Temer lasting to the end of his term through 2018. "For most lawmakers, while there are now fewer incentives to openly support the Temer government, there are even fewer incentives to remove Temer from his seat," Eurasia Group said.
Slow bleed
Temer's latest approval ratings are just seven percent, lower than his deeply unpopular leftist predecessor Dilma Rousseff, whom he replaced last year after she was impeached by his congressional allies for breaking budgetary rules. When he took over Temer promised to restore political stability and steer Brazil out of its deepest recession in history with market reforms. Yet the political capital he needs for those austerity measures, including the hugely unpopular proposal to cut back generous pensions and to free up labor laws, is rapidly slipping away. Currently, the lower house of Congress is lukewarm about bringing him down. There is no clear candidate to take his place on an interim basis before scheduled elections in October 2018, and many of the major figures in Congress are themselves battling corruption allegations. However, Janot appears set to deny Temer an opportunity to clear his name quickly, since the bribery charge is likely to be followed separately by others -- each one going to the lower house of Congress for a vote. That could slowly bleed away the resolve of Temer's allies as they calculate the cost of being associated with him ahead of the elections.
Suitcase full of money
The bribery charge is linked to the arrest of a close former presidential aide caught carrying a suitcase stuffed with cash that prosecutors say was part of payments from JBS meatpacking executives to Temer. Temer acted "in violation of his duties to the state and to society," Janot said, citing "abundant" proof of bribe taking. Temer says that his former aide was acting independently and that there is nothing to link him to the approximately 500,000 reais ($150,000) in the suitcase. The aide is in detention facing corruption charges, but has so far refused to cooperate with prosecutors. Meanwhile, the obstruction of justice investigation accuses Temer of approving a plan with Joesley Batista, owner of JBS parent company J&F, to pay hush money to a politician jailed for corruption. Batista secretly recorded Temer allegedly discussing the hush money and gave the recording to prosecutors in a plea bargain to secure leniency in his own corruption case.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 27-28/17
U.S. Suspects Chemical Weapons 'Activity' at Syria Base Used in April Attack
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/17/The Pentagon said Tuesday the U.S. warning that Syria may be preparing another chemical weapons attack was based on suspect activity at the launch site of April's apparent chemical strike by the regime. "We have seen activity at Shayrat airfield... that indicated preparations for possible use of chemical weapons," said Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis. "This involved a specific aircraft, a specific hangar both of which we know to be associated with chemical weapon use," he added.

Ukraine Serviceman Killed in Kiev Car Blast
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/17/A suspected car bombing in Kiev on Tuesday killed a Ukrainian soldier in an incident classified as a "terrorist act" by police, the interior ministry said. "The deceased was a serviceman in the armed forces," ministry spokesman Artem Shevchenko said at a briefing. Shevchenko said that judging by initial indications it appeared "obvious" that the blast was caused by an explosive device, adding that investigators were probing it as terrorism. "At the present time the picture gathered of the crime suggests it was a planned terrorist act," Shevchenko said. The ministry said the dead man was driving the vehicle. The blast is the latest deadly incident to rock the capital of the crisis-hit country, which is battling a bloody Russian-backed insurgency in its eastern regions. In early June a Ukrainian volunteer commander originally from the Russian region of Chechnya who had once been jailed on suspicion of plotting to kill President Vladimir Putin was shot and seriously wounded by a would-be assassin. In March former Russian lawmaker Denis Voronenkov turned Kremlin critic was shot dead in broad daylight in central Kiev. Last year high-profile independent journalist Pavel Sheremet was also killed in a car bombing in central Kiev.

North Korea Likens Trump to Hitler
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/17/North Korea compared U.S. President Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler on Tuesday in its latest diatribe, amid high tensions over Pyongyang's military ambitions and ahead of a visit to Washington by South Korea's new leader. The latest attack came a week after nuclear-armed Pyongyang called Trump a "lunatic" as tensions rose following the death of U.S. student Otto Warmbier, who was detained for 18 months in the North and then sent home in a coma. An editorial on the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) dialled the hostile rhetoric up higher, slamming Trump's key policies as being akin to "Nazism in the 21st century". Trump declared at his inauguration in January that "From this moment on, it's going to be America first". KCNA said: "The 'American-first principle'... advocates the world domination by recourse to military means just as was the case with Hitler's concept of world occupation." Trump was "following Hitler's dictatorial politics" to divide others into two categories, "friends and foes" to justify "suppression", it added. The North habitually denounces its enemies in colorful terms in its propaganda, but comparisons to the instigator of World War II and architect of the Holocaust are unusual even by its own standards. A notable exception was the hawkish former president George W. Bush, who included the North in his "axis of evil" along with Iran and Iraq and called then-leader Kim Jong-Il a "tyrant."Pyongyang responded by calling Bush a "tyrant that puts Hitler in the shade" and a "political imbecile bereft of even elementary morality."The Trump administration is pushing for stronger sanctions against the North over its nuclear and missile programmes. KCNA accused it of blocking medical supplies in what it said was "an unethical and inhumane act, far exceeding the degree of Hitler's blockade of Leningrad."The nearly 900-day siege of the Russian city during World War II left millions dead.
'Crazy old bitch'
Tackling threats from the isolated North is expected to be at the top of the agenda during this week's Washington summit between Trump and newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-In. A string of atomic and missile tests by Pyongyang -- and threats of military action by Washington -- have heightened tensions on the peninsula. Warmbier's death added further strain, with Trump slamming the "brutal regime" of the North's young leader Kim Jong-Un. "The Trump way of thinking that the whole world may be sacrificed, just for the better living of the U.S., has put even its allies and stooges in a pretty fix," KCNA added. The North has often used bombastic and sometimes racist and sexist rhetoric to slam other world leaders for actions that displeased the regime. Pyongyang compared former U.S. president Barack Obama to a monkey after he supported the 2014 cinematic release of "The Interview", a Hollywood comedy mocking the North Korean leadership. It once called the former South Korean president Park Geun-Hye a "crazy old bitch" and a "female prostitute" who belonged to the "pimp" Obama.

U.S. Wants to Steer Clear of Syrian Civil War, Says Mattis
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/17/The United States will not be drawn into Syria's civil war, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said, despite an increasingly complicated battle space that has seen U.S. warplanes down pro-regime aircraft. Speaking to reporters on a military plane late Monday as he headed for meetings in Europe, Mattis said the U.S.-led coalition was determined to keep a strict focus on fighting the Islamic State group. We won't fire "unless they are the enemy, unless they are ISIS," he said, using an acronym for the jihadist organization. We just refuse to get drawn into a fight there in the Syria civil war, we try to end that one through diplomatic engagement."His comments came shortly before White House spokesman Sean Spicer issued a statement saying President Bashar al-Assad's regime may be preparing for a chemical attack against civilians, and warning that the Syrian military would pay a "heavy price" if it took such action. Coalition forces on the ground have accused pro-regime fighters of targeting them in recent weeks, as they shot down two Iran-made attack drones and a Syrian fighter jet. "If somebody comes after us, bombs us or takes a heading on us or fires on us, then under legitimate self-defense we'll do whatever we have to do to stop it," Mattis said. The coalition has been active in Syria since late 2014, bombing IS targets and training local fighters to conduct ground assaults against the group. But gains for Assad, who is being supported by Russia, have allowed regime forces and Iran-backed militias to head towards areas where the coalition is operating. The Pentagon chief underscored the importance of maintaining communication with Russia as it conducts its campaign for Assad. So-called "deconfliction" hotlines are used regularly by the two sides to notify each other where they are operating and avoid accidents. Such hotlines will only grow in importance as the coalition pursues IS fighters into the Euphrates River Valley following their assumed defeat in their stronghold Raqa, as pro-regime forces also move toward the same region. "You've got to really play this thing very carefully," Mattis said. "The closer we get, the more complex it gets."
Weapons to the Kurds
Mattis addressed another aspect of Syria's tangled conflict -- the U.S. supply of weapons to Kurdish fighters battling to recapture the Islamic State stronghold of Raqa in the north. The move has angered NATO ally Turkey, which says the Kurdish militia force YPG is linked to separatists of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who have waged an insurgency since 1984, killing more than 40,000 people inside Turkey. Mattis said the U.S. military would recover some logistical gear after the anti-IS fight, though he did not give details. Asked whether the U.S. would also try to recover weapons, Mattis said, "We'll do what we can.""We'll be recovering them during the battle, repairing them, when they don't need certain things any more they'll replace those with some things they do need, that sort of thing," he said. When asked how well armed the YPG would be after Raqa, Mattis said: "We'll see." "It depends what the next mission is," he said. "It's not like the fight's over when Raqa is over."Mattis is visiting the Marshall Center in Bavaria to commemorate 70 years since the Marshall Plan, which helped rebuild Europe after World War II, before heading to a NATO summit in Brussels.

U.S. Says Assad May be Preparing Chemical Attack, Warns ‘Heavy Price’
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/17/Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may be preparing another chemical weapons attack, one that would result in the "mass murder" of civilians, the White House said Monday, warning the regime would pay a "heavy price" if it went ahead with such an assault. The White House said the preparations were similar to those undertaken by the Assad regime ahead of an apparent chemical attack on a rebel-held town in April. Washington launched a retaliatory cruise missile strike days later against a Syrian airbase from where it said the chemical weapons attack was launched.
That assault with 59 Tomahawk missiles marked the first direct U.S. attack on the Syrian regime and Trump's most dramatic military action since he took power in January. It also led to a quick downward spiral in ties between Washington and Moscow, which accused the U.S. of breaking international law. Russia has supported the Syrian regime since 2015 with air strikes against what it says are Islamist extremists. "The United States has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children," spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement Monday night. The two-paragraph communique did not offer any evidence justifying the sternly worded warning. "The activities are similar to preparations the regime made before its April 4, 2017 chemical weapons attack."The suspected attack in April in the rebel held town of Khan Sheikhun killed at least 87 people, including many children, and images of the dead and of suffering victims provoked global outrage. The U.S. State Department said it amounted to a war crime. State Department officials who would normally be involved in a big announcement such as Monday's warning to Syria said they were caught by surprise, the Los Angeles Times reported. British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC Tuesday morning he would support U.S. military action in case of a Syria chemical attack. "As always in war, the military action you use must be justified, it must be legal, it must proportionate, it must be necessary. In the last case it was," Fallon said. "If the Americans take similar action again, I want to be very clear -- we will support it." In early reaction from Moscow, Franz Klintsevich, deputy chairman of the defense commission of the upper house of the Russian parliament, said the U.S. warning heralded a new attack on Syrian forces under the pretext of the alleged preparations for a chemical attack. "This is clear. A cynical and unprecedented provocation is under way," he said in Moscow.
'No doubt'
Assad, backed by Russia, has strongly denied the allegation that his forces used chemical weapons against the town in April, describing it as a "100 percent fabrication". He has said repeatedly that his forces turned over all chemical weapons stockpiles in 2013, under a deal brokered by Russia to avoid threatened U.S. military action.The agreement was later enshrined in a United Nations Security Council resolution. But U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis previously warned that there was "no doubt" that Syria had in fact retained some chemical weapons. An Israeli military assessment also found that Assad's regime was still in possession of "a few tonnes" of chemical weapons. "As we have previously stated, the United States is in Syria to eliminate the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria," Spicer added in his statement Monday. "If, however, Mr Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price."Syria's war began in March 2011 with anti-government protests that spiralled into a complex and devastating conflict that has killed more than 320,000 people. Russia is flying a bombing campaign in Syria in support of Assad, while the U.S. is heading a coalition mainly targeting IS. Neither Washington nor Moscow have managed to find a solution to the conflict. Rebels are now on the back foot after regime advances with support from allies Russia and Iran. The U.S-led coalition and allied fighters are battling to oust the IS group from its Syrian bastion Raqa. The coalition is also backing a major assault on the last IS-held pockets of Mosul in neighboring Iraq.

Kremlin Slams U.S. 'Threats' against Assad
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/17/Russia on Tuesday denounced U.S. "threats" against the Syrian regime after the White House said leader Bashar al-Assad may be preparing another chemical attack and would face a "heavy price.""We consider such threats against the Syrian leadership to be unacceptable," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. Moscow, which backs Assad militarily, has consistently rejected accusations that Damascus was behind a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria in April. Washington sparked Russian ire by launching a retaliatory cruise missile strike over the alleged attack, in the American's first direct military action against regime forces in Syria. White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Monday said in a statement that the U.S. "has identified potential preparations for another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime that would likely result in the mass murder of civilians.""If... Mr Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price," the statement said. The two-paragraph communique did not offer any evidence justifying the sternly worded warning.

57 Dead in U.S.-Led Strikes on IS Syria Prison
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/17/U.S.-led coalition air strikes on a jail run by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria killed at least 57 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday. "The strikes hit an IS jail in Mayadeen at dawn on Monday, killing 42 prisoners and 15 jihadists," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. Mayadeen lies in the Euphrates Valley some 45 kilometers (28 miles) southeast of the provincial capital of Deir Ezzor. The Britain-based Observatory said that according to its sources IS had paraded the bodies of the dead in the streets of the town. Most of Deir Ezzor province is controlled by the jihadists and it has been the target of air strikes by both the coalition and the Syrian army and its Russian ally. The U.S.-led coalition said last week that it had killed IS' top cleric Turki Binali in a May 31 strike on Mayadeen. Russia said earlier this month that it had killed about 180 IS jihadists, including two field commanders, in June 6 and 8 air strikes on Deir Ezzor.

Former Syrian Defense Minister Tlass Dies in Paris
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 27/17/Syria's former defense minister Mustafa Tlass, a close friend of President Bashar al-Assad's father and predecessor Hafez, died in Paris on Tuesday, his son Firas said. He was 85. Tlass, whose other son Manaf was among the most high-profile regime officials to defect during the early days of Syria's uprising, died in a hospital on the outskirts of the French capital. Tlass "died this morning at the Avicenne hospital and will be buried in Paris in the hope he can one day be buried in Damascus," Firas Tlass told AFP. The former minister, who settled in France five years ago, had been admitted to hospital in mid-June after suffering a hip fracture, his son said. He fell into a coma on Monday evening. The former minister's other son General Manaf Tlass defected from Assad's regime in July 2012, several months into the uprising that was brutally crushed by security forces.
A childhood friend of Bashar al-Assad, Manaf Tlass later said French secret agents had helped him escape the country. The uprising later turned into a devastating multi-sided war that has killed more than 320,000 people. But Mustafa Tlass long refrained from publicly criticizing the regime.
A leading member of Syria's ruling Baath party, he was close to Hafez al-Assad, succeeding his friend as defense minister in 1972 following the coup that brought Assad to the presidency. Assad went on to rule the country with an iron fist until his death in 2000, when he was succeeded by his son Bashar, who was 34 at the time. Tlass remained in his post until he finally quit in 2004. Originally from Rastan in central Syria, under rebel control since 2012, Tlass was one of the most senior Sunni Muslims in the Assad regime's Alawite-dominated security apparatus. "He had a minor role in military strategy, which was decided by Hafez al-Assad and the Alawite officers who controlled the army," said Alain Chouet, a French former intelligence officer who spent many years in the Middle East. In a rare 2005 interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, the former minister defended a 1980s crackdown against a Muslim Brotherhood-led uprising, despite admitting that at its height, 150 people a week were hanged in Damascus alone. "We used weapons to assume power, and we wanted to hold onto it. Anyone who wants power will have to take it from us with weapons," he said. He wrote several books including his 1983 "The Matzah of Zion", a bestseller in the Arab world, in which he claimed that Damascus Jews had killed two Christians in 1840 in order to use their blood in religious rituals. The "blood libel" allegations were commonly used against European Jews in the Middle Ages. Tlass was also known for his crush on Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida. He famously claimed to have ordered pro-Syrian factions in Lebanon's war to avoid targeting Italian troops -- "because I do not want a single tear falling from the eyes of Gina Lollobrigida."

Brussels Conference Addresses State of Iraq’s Christians Post-ISIS Phase
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 27/17/Baghdad – A number of Christian Iraqi figures and forces will attend a European Union-sponsored conference in Belgium to address the situation of Christians in the northern Nineveh field after the elimination of the ISIS terrorists from the area. The two-day conference, scheduled for June 28 in Brussels, is opposed by Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako and the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa) headed by Yonadam Kanna. MP Joseph Sliwa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the conference will address the general situation of Christians in Iraq, but will “give priority to Christians in the Nineveh field area.”The majority of Iraqi Christian factions will attend the conference that will also see the participation of members of the EU and US Congress. The conference will tackle whether the Nineveh area will be autonomous or part of Iraq’s districts after the elimination of ISIS, explained Sliwa. In either case, it remains to be seen whether it will adhere to Baghdad or the Kurdistan Region, he continued. The Christian majority advocates autonomous rule linked to the central government in Baghdad, revealed the MP. On Sako’s opposition to the conference, Sliwa said that this stance will not affect the Brussels talks “because Iraqi Christians have other patriarchal authorities they can turn to, such as Assyrians and Syriacs”. The conference will also address the “confiscation of Christian properties throughout Iraq and the unjust laws that were ratified against them,” added the MP. Christian residents of Nineveh were driven out of their land when ISIS terrorists seized control of the area in 2014. “The establishment of a secure Christian area in the Nineveh field will help these members of society remain in Iraq,” explained Sliwa.

Russia’s Lavrov: Upcoming Astana Syria Talks will Tackle De-escalation Zones
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 27/17/Moscow, Ankara – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the US-led international coalition fighting terrorism in Syria of “sparing” the al-Nusra Front group from strikes in Syria, calling it a true manifestation of double standards that should be abandoned. Speaking at a presser with his Ethiopian counterpart Workneh Gebeyehu, Lavrov said that the anticipated meeting in the Kazakhstan capital, Astana, will be dedicated to drafting the fine print for the de-escalation zones deal for Syria. The meeting is hosted under a Russia-Turkey-Iran tripartite sponsorship and will be attended by a Syrian regime delegation and opposition representatives. “We consider it a very dangerous game that should be stopped, and all the double standards or some ulterior thoughts should be set aside for the sake of uncompromising fight against terrorism,” Lavrov said. The Russian top diplomat also hoped that the forthcoming discussions in Astana would positively impact the efforts for resolving the conflict and moving forward the negotiating process in Geneva. According to Lavrov, work is in progress on de-esclation zones and the experts’ committee tasked with establishing “safe havens” is still discussing “practical, technical and military professional issues whether it is to monitor compliance with the cessation of hostilities, to ensure unhindered access, to deliver humanitarian aid, and to transport civilians.”Lavrov said that “since the announcement of the establishment of de-escalation zones in Syria, there has been a significant decline of military activity and violence” in those areas. Russia, Turkey and Iran have confirmed their participation in the next international meeting on Syria scheduled to be held on July 4-5, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov told reporters on Monday. “We have received participation confirmation from all the guarantor countries, sent by the special representative of the Russian president, the special representative of the Turkish foreign minister, as well as the Turkish and Iranian deputy foreign ministers,” he said. ccording to the Kazakh top diplomat, United Nations special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and the Jordanian delegation have also confirmed their participation. “We expect the United States to send their high-ranking representative to take part in the next Astana meeting as an observer,” the Kazakh foreign minister added. “We also expect the guarantor countries to finally confirm the participation of the Syrian regime delegation, as well as the delegation of the armed opposition,” Abdrakhmanov pointed out. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry said earlier that a high-level meeting on settling the situation in Syria would be held in Astana on July 4-5. The guarantor countries – Russia, Iran and Turkey – are expected to consider documents concerning various aspects of the de-escalation zones, as well as discuss steps which need to be taken to ensure unhindered humanitarian access and restore infrastructure facilities.

ISIS Fights its Last Battle in Mosul
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 27/17/London, Erbil – An Iraqi military commander said on Monday that fighting to recapture the city of Mosul from ISIS will end in days and that the extremists’ attempt to resist have already failed. His comments came as ISIS militants launched Monday a surprise assault on the Tanak neighborhood, west of the city. Iraqi forces however foiled the operation and seized control of another neighborhood, narrowing the dimension of the terrorists’ presence to around only 600 meters of Mosul’s overall size. On Monday, a high-ranking commander in the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The battles nearing their end. There is only a small size of the old city left before we announce the final victory.” The commander said that later that his forces were capable of liberating the Farouq neighborhood, following fierce battles with the terrorist group. “Dozens of ISIS militants were killed in the neighborhoods of old Mosul,” he said. Lieutenant General Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, commander of the CTS in Mosul, said: “From a military perspective, ISIS is finished. We are making calls to them to surrender or die.” Meanwhile, British Major General Rupert Jones, the deputy commander of the US-led coalition working to defeat ISIS remarked “the final liberation of Mosul is drawing ever closer.”He added: “In Iraq and Syria, we have liberated an area about the size of Ireland.”During a briefing from London, Jones explained that Iraqi forces are going block by block to clear the final terrorists from Mosul, which ISIS captured three years ago. At the time when several observers were reporting the return of a normal life to the liberated areas of Mosul, Jones revealed that 320 out of the city’s 400 schools were reopened, allowing 350,000 students to reenroll.

Smell of Death Hovers over Mosul’s Old City
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 27/17/Mosul – In the backdrop of fierce battles Iraqi forces are fighting the last of ISIS fighters lay devastated buildings, piles of rubble and putrid corpses of terrorists: apocalyptic scenes unfold in the Old City of Mosul where. Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed al-Tamim walks past the body of an extremist half buried under the ruins of a building in Farouk district, three times within minutes, without giving it a glance. The body, which has been decomposing for days in scorching heat of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), is bloated and turning black and the remains let off a pungent smell.
The bearded fighter died holding his weapon. Lieutenant Colonel Salam al-Obeidi told AFP that he believes only “a few hundred ISIS” terrorists are left in the Old City. Three years after overrunning Mosul and making it the de facto Iraqi capital of their self-proclaimed “caliphate”, the terrorists now only control about a square kilometer in the city, commanders said. A warren of alleyways, the Old City resonates with the sound of gunfire from automatic rifles, exploding rockets and the thuds of mortar rounds as Iraqi forces battle the terrorists for their last holdouts. “ISIS members don’t turn themselves in,” said Tamim. “And if they don´t get killed, their last option is to blow themselves up and commit suicide.” Carcasses of motorcycles and scooters that had been rigged with explosives and blown up are scattered along the sides of the Old City’s alleyways. ISIS fighters have tried repeatedly to slow down the advance of Iraqi forces with suicide attacks. Rubble from what used to be roofs or facades damaged in the fierce fighting litters the narrow streets, sometimes piled several meters (feet) high. A soldier who took part in the battle to retake Farouk says air strikes were an important factor because armored vehicles were unable to be squeezed into the alleyways. “We advance and determine where enemies are, then we call for air strikes to eliminate them, (and) then we advance, cautiously,” said a soldier who did not wish to be identified. “We see lots of dead bodies. We’re searching for the others” who are still alive, he said of the ISIS fighters. Buildings have been leveled entirely, with electrical cables dangling from them and debris from blown up cars found on the upper floors of those still standing. Once a residential neighborhood, Farouk has been reduced to a wasteland of flattened buildings and streets filled with chunks of concrete and dust. Inside the houses that have withstood the fighting, anarchy reigns. Household items, furniture, clothes and cooking utensils are strewn everywhere, alongside bikes, toys and blankets, but not a soul to be seen. The Iraqi army says it is taking every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians as it presses its offensive against the terrorists. Tens of thousands of people are believed to be still trapped in the Old City, half of them children. The civilians “are our priority and we have helped them,” said Lieutenant-General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) that has spearheaded the assault. Iraqi forces launched an assault on the Old City on June 18, eight months into an offensive to retake Mosul, the country’s biggest military operation in years. Hundreds of ISIS militants have been killed since the operation started on October 17, hundreds of civilians have also died. More than 800,000 people have had to flee their homes and many are still housed in overcrowded camps. Survivors of the battle of Mosul say most families have lost one or several relatives, some killed by terrorists, and others due to the fighting. Civilians who have fled the battleground city say entire families who had sought refuge in the basements of homes occupied by terrorists were killed in the bombardment.

Boycott Movement Costs Israel 190 Million Euros
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 27/17/Tel Aviv – The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) announced that its movement has successfully prevented an Israeli transportation company from reaching a Dutch deal worth millions of euros thanks to a campaign it launched against Israeli occupation.
BDS said on its various social media websites that weeks ago, it managed to deprive Egged from a tender that the Dutch government had proposed to manage a transportation network in northern Netherlands. It attributed the success to a campaign it launched through Dutch media in which it demonstrated how Egged serves the occupation regime and settlement expansion on Palestinian territories. The company also furthers segregation because it discriminates between Jews and Palestinians whereby it offers separate services to each side. Egged is the largest public transportation company in Israel, operating throughout the country and occupied land. It was supposed to sign a contract worth 190 million euros a year with the Netherlands to provide services in the northern part of the country, including Amsterdam, for the next ten years.

Palestinians Predict Long Talks with US before Launching Peace Negotiations
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 27/17/Ramallah – Secretary of the Palestinian Liberation Organization Saeb Erakat revealed that Palestinian and US officials agreed to resume talks “soon.” He said in a written statement that the discussions between the two sides will take a long time before the political process can be launched in the region. The resumption of the talks will allow for more consultations “to achieve a purposeful peace process.”The PLO officials described as “deep and frank” the talks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held with US envoys Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt last week. Erakat confirmed however that there are “large” discrepancies between the stances of either side over the resumption of the peace process. Asharq Al-Awsat had reported that the Palestinian-US talks were tense because the American officials had ignored the two-state solution and instead focused on the salaries dispute and the Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Despite this disappointment, the Palestinians will positively approach the upcoming “five-five” talks with US officials. Five Palestinian officials and five American ones are set to meet in Washington in July to discuss the most important issues that could pave the way for the launch of the peace negotiations. Palestinian official Wassef Abou Youssef said: “We do not want to return to open US-sponsored bilateral negotiations. We want to reach a new approach on the matter.”He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “We had previously tried open US-sponsored negotiations and they failed.”“The US officials are not honest mediators, but they are completely biased to Israel and its interests. They cater to it above all else,” he lamented. He added however that it was too soon to judge whether the US will succeed in launching the negotiations. “They have so far not formed any mechanism,” said Abou Youssef.

Iran Calls for Europe’s Intervention to Resolve Qatar Crisis
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 27/17/Dammam – Iran urged Europe Monday to resolve the diplomatic clash in the Gulf after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, in addition to Egypt, decided to cut ties with Qatar for supporting terrorism.
During a visit to Germany, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif called on Europe to use its influence to promote dialogue in the Gulf. “Our region needs a regional security framework. Europe should work on establishing such a framework,” he said. Meanwhile, in a move with great implications in light of the current Gulf crisis, Qatari media outlets broadcast on Monday a recording of Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani welcoming Youssef Al Qaradawi, a senior Egyptian cleric and the nominal spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. The video shows the warm welcome in which Sheikh Tamim received the Egyptian cleric, who resides in Doha. Hours before this warm welcome, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani voiced support for Qatar in its crisis, saying the so-called ongoing “blockade against Qatar” was “unacceptable.”In Washington, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet on Tuesday with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Kuwait’s Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah. Also on Monday, Republican Senator Bob Corker called for blocking arms sales to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states pending progress in resolving the dispute with Qatar. “All countries in the region need to do more to combat terrorism, but recent disputes among the GCC countries only serve to hurt efforts to fight ISIS and counter Iran,” Corker said. Meanwhile, Bahrain’s foreign minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa accused Qatar on Monday of creating a “military escalation” in the regional diplomatic dispute, in reference to the deployment of Turkish troops in Doha in recent days. “The disagreement with Qatar is a diplomatic and security dispute and has never been military,” Khalid bin Ahmed said on Twitter. Meanwhile, the cost of Qatar’s sovereign debt insurance has soared to its highest levels in one year after the four Arab states imposed sanctions on Doha, which has been given 10 days to comply or face unspecified consequences.

Israeli Warplanes Strike Hamas Targets in Gaza After Rocket Fire
Gili Cohen and DPA Jun 27, 2017/The Israel Air Force struck in the Gaza Strip early morning on Tuesday after a rocket launched from Gaza exploded in Israeli territory the night before. Israeli warplanes targeted two Hamas positions, the Israeli army said in a statement. No injuries were reported and rescue teams were dispatched to the targeted places, said Ashraf al-Qedra, a Gaza Health Ministry spokesman. No damage or casualties were caused by the rocket which struck at the Isareli community of Sha'ar Hanegev earlier in the day. Israel's border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip has been mostly quiet over the last months. Last March a rocket fired from Gaza struck an open area in Israeli territory, causing no injuries. Israel responded with aircraft and artillery fire, targeting Hamas positions in northern Gaza. The Israeli army's policy is to respond "disproportionately" to rocket fire toward Israel's border from Gaza, the IDF chief of staff told a parliamentary panel at the time. "The Israel Defense Force employs a policy of using aggressive, and disproportionate, force in order to prevent situations in which they fire rockets at us and we return shells," Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot  told the State Control Committee. "For us, there is one address in the Strip: Hamas." The chief of staff went to elaborate that Israel does not "attack sand dunes or empty storehouses. Every rocket or shell we fired was toward a target of value. [Such as] manufacturing means," Eisenkot said. "Hundreds of targets have been attacked since Operation Protective Edge (the Israeli campaign against Gaza in the summer of 2014).

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 27-28/17
Looking the Wrong Way on Iran
Shoshana Bryen/Gatestone Institute/June 26/2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10571/iran-shiite-crescent
How will Iraq get rid of the Iranians? Or will it? The chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Qassem Soleimani, has been seen several times in Iraq, most recently near the Syrian border, an indication that Iran has bigger plans than the liberation of Mosul.
The Sunni part of Iraq actually is an essential part of the land bridge being built from Iran to the Mediterranean Sea. There is a second and equally compelling issue for Iran to the southwest: encircling Saudi Arabia in the water.
If Iran is allowed to solidify its Shiite Crescent and its naval obstructionism, American allies across the Middle East and North Africa will pay a heavy price.
We have been looking in the wrong direction. While the West was hoping temporarily to check Iran's nuclear aspirations, Iran was making plans to advance on the ground and in the water -- and the plans are unfolding nicely. For Iran.
After the U.S. withdrew from Iraq in 2011, large swaths of Iraqi territory were easily brought under Islamic State (ISIS) control, culminating in the proclamation in 2014 of "The Caliphate" with its seat in Mosul. Having denigrated its capabilities as "the JV team," the Obama administration was desperate to get rid of ISIS, but the Iraqi army (trained and armed at a cost of $26 billion between 2006 and 2015 with another $1.6 billion spent in 2016) was unable to handle the job, even with American air power and Kurdish fighters as allies.
The Iraqi army has since been improved, but in the Sunni heartland of Iraq, Shiite "militias" have become America's ally in the battle for Mosul. Some militias are Iraqi Arab Shiites and some are sponsored and commanded by Persian Shiite Iran. There is no love between the two, and certainly no love between any of the Shiite militias and the U.S.-sponsored Iraqi military. But the battle has largely gone against ISIS. Militias on one side and Iraqi forces on the other are recapturing territory amid evidence of outrageous human rights abuses against Iraqi civilians by all sides. At some point soon, Iraqis (army and militias), Iranians, Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and Americans will be eyeball-to-eyeball in Mosul. This run-in raises two questions:
Could Sunni Iraqi civilians prefer ISIS to Shiite militias, whether Iraqi or Iranian? If they do, Mosul may be liberated, but ISIS may still find havens from which to conduct a grinding guerrilla war.
How will Iraq get rid of the Iranians? Or will it? Some Iraqi Shiite militias have been loosely but legally incorporated into the Iraqi military; the Iranian ones have not. The chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Qassem Soleimani, has been seen several times in Iraq, most recently near the Syrian border, an indication that Iran has bigger plans than the liberation of Mosul.
The chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Qassem Soleimani, has been seen several times in Iraq, most recently near the Syrian border, an indication that Iran has bigger plans than the liberation of Mosul. (Image source: Mahmoud Hosseini/Wikimedia Commons)
The Sunni part of Iraq actually is an essential part of the land bridge being built from Iran to the Mediterranean Sea. The "Shiite Crescent" was understood decades ago, but ignored by the West -- particularly by the Obama administration in its haste to leave Iraq, which sits just to the north of Sunni Saudi Arabia. The next piece of the Crescent to the west is Syria, sitting just above Sunni Jordan.
Iran brought its forces to fight in Syria when it became clear that President Bashar Assad could not control his country with his own army and that the Russians were not interested in contributing ground troops. The Iranians, plus forces made up of Afghan and Pakistani Shiites under Iranian command, plus Hezbollah units, had been moving through the Sunni center of Syria toward the Iraq-Syria border -- which they have now reached -- pushing tens of thousands of Syrian civilians out of the way and encouraging others to join ISIS for revenge. Iran is so determined to wipe out Sunni resistance, however, that it was willing to fire medium-range missiles from Iran into Syria at Deir Ezor this week. That only one missile out of seven appears to have hit the target should not obscure the depth of Iran's determination to hold onto Syria.
With Syrian airfields open to it, Iran's Mahan Air has been flying in weapons for both its Syrian and Hezbollah allies, according to analyst Emanuele Ottolenghi who has tracked the flights for years. Without Mahan Air, Iran has to ship weapons by sea, subject to seizure by international navies -- including the U.S. and Israel -- enforcing the UN ban on Iranian weapons exports.
Iranian adjunct Hezbollah, now the governing power in Lebanon, represents the westernmost bit of the Crescent, just above Israel.
The Shiite Crescent covers the northwest route for Iran to the Mediterranean, but there is a second and equally compelling issue for Iran to the southwest: encircling Saudi Arabia in the water. Iran has threatened ships in the Persian Gulf and worked to destabilize Bahrain to the east of Saudi Arabia. In the heel of the Saudi boot, Iran supports the Houthi rebellion in Yemen -- and with that support have come Iranian warships in the Red Sea. Iran has been deployed in the Red Sea since 2011 near the Bab el-Mandeb Straits. Both Saudi and American warships have been attacked in the Red Sea by Houthis firing Iranian-supplied missiles. The Iranian presence is enough to disrupt oil traffic -- and the exit of Israel and Jordan through the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea.
Iranian weapons brought in through Sudan and Eritrea threaten the stability of Sunni Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, lining the Mediterranean Sea opposite NATO's Southern Command.
To the extent that the West -- specifically the United States -- thought that legitimizing the Islamic Republic in the region would mitigate its aggressiveness, the West was wrong. To the extent that the West thought a temporary halt to nuclear progress would make Iran a responsible player, the West was wrong. To the extent that the West thought $150 billion would jump-start Iran's civilian economy, the West may have misunderstood who profits in the Iranian economy and how the money is spent.
Iran's interests go far beyond centrifuges and heavy water. And, as it turns out, Iran's aggressiveness had nothing to do with its pariah status -- the mullahs do not seem to see Iran as a pariah, but rather as the guardian of Shiite Islam and the director of Shiite armies to defeat first Sunnis in the Middle East and then the rest of the world.
For now, they are on their way, and the United States appears to have been caught entirely off guard. If Iran is allowed to solidify its Shiite Crescent and its naval obstructionism, American allies across the Middle East and North Africa will pay a heavy price.
*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.

Syrian opposition leader, Salim Hudaifah: ‘The enemy is Iran, not Israel'المعارض السوري سليم حديفة: إيران هي العدو ولسيت إسرائيل/
Itamar Eichner/Ynetnews/June 28/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=56611
Salim Hudaifah was an officer in the Syrian regime's army and 27 years ago defected to the West. 'Israel can help us more,' he says. 'The treatment of the wounded has improved its image, but it is limited because the Arab media does not report it.' Assad and ISIS, he is sure, are cooperating behind the scenes.
"We have intelligence information that Assad is behind ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria. Assad deceives everyone on this issue, including the Russians. He's the one who gives them orders. Israel must be very concerned that our assessment is that once Assad is cornered and feels distressed, he will order ISIS to attack Israel. That will be his last-ditch effort, to try to drag Israel into this war, as a desperate measure."
So said Salim Hudaifah, political representative of the Free Syrian Army opposition organization, in the Eurasian Media Forum.
The Forum was held last week for the 15th year in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, with 600 people from 60 countries in participation. It was headed by Dr. Dariga Nazarbayeva, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and daughter of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The following was said in a panel on the subject "The Syrian crisis is the end in sight?" which was attended by Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Kairat Abdrakhmanov, former Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Hudaifah as a representative of the Free Syrian Army, Alaa Ebrahim—a journalist affiliated with the Assad regime and ex-PM Chief of Staff and Chief Negotiator Gilead Sher from Israel.
Kazakhstan hosts the cease-fire talks in Syria under the auspices of Russia, Turkey, Iran, the United States and the United Nations. It will soon host the fifth meeting between the Assad regime and the rebels, which will discuss the implementation of buffer zones and the establishment of a monitoring system.
Hudaifa, a former Druze intelligence officer in the Syrian army who defected to the West, said in the forum that Assad and ISIS are like a man and his shadow.
"The moment you take out the man, his shadow will disappear," said Hudaifa. "We have 57 battalions on the ground and no one has put the spotlight on us. They talk only about ISIS, which is supported by the Assad administration, and was even brought to Syria by him."
The fighting in Syria
"Every time we attacked ISIS, the Syrian army came to attack us from behind," explained Hudaifa. "Assad was the one who freed many of the commanders of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra from prison. The Assad regime is playing with the blood of the citizens of Syria, and to my great sorrow, so are the superpowers. No Syrian citizen will agree to accept Assad as the future leader of Syria. Assad must leave the country."
We want peace with Israel
Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Abdrakhmanov said ahead of the fifth meeting in Astana that he was optimistic that the war could be brought to an end.
"We definitely see light at the end of the tunnel," he said, adding that it was welcomed that the Trump administration had joined the talks in Astana on the end of the war in Syria, and that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had even sent his deputy to the last meeting.
"Kazakhstan as a Muslim country is considered a fair mediator and I think we can succeed where others have failed," the foreign minister summarized.
Hudaifa, though, does not believe Kazakhstan's talks will succeed.
In his opinion, this is a "fixed" game that is only intended to give Assad and the Russians time to continue fighting and achieve accomplishments on the ground.
The opposition leader said that as an intelligence officer in Assad's army, his main enemy was Israel. In 1990 he deserted the Syrian army and fled to the West. He found asylum in Denmark, where he met Israelis for the first time in his life and connected with them.
He was later head of the program for training the Free Syrian Army forces by the Pentagon. After a year of training in Jordan, the Americans decided to stop the program and went to cooperate with the Kurds.
Hudaifa noted that Israel conducts extensive intelligence activities in Syria, especially after ISIS, but does not transfer the information to the opposition. "We do not need the help of Israel, we have people on the ground, and we know very well what ISIS is doing. We want peace with Israel, and today, among the opposition in Syria, most people understand that the enemy is Iran and not Israel, so there is a good chance that there will be peace in the future.
"Israel needs to do more and help the rebels. People here are disappointed (with Israel). There are also quite a few who think that you are helping Assad, because they see that the Israeli-Syrian border is quiet.
"I think you can be more proactive and help us. Regarding the treatment of the wounded in your hospitals, it certainly improved Israel's image in the eyes of Syrians, but only in a limited way. The reason is that the Arab media does not report it."
An Israeli-Syrian confrontation
A sharp confrontation broke out between Sher and Ibrahim during a debate in the forum.
Sher noted that since the outbreak of the Syrian war, Israel has treated some 3,000 Syrians who were wounded in the fighting and that it had refrained from intervening in the war.
He also called for a solution that would ensure the removal of Assad and the Iranians from Syria. Ebrahim accused Israel of blatant intervention in the war in Syria and said that the wounded Israelis dealt with were "terrorists" who were treated and returned to combat.
Both Hudaifa and a British journalist working in Syria named Shahida Tulaganova stood beside Sher, saying that most of the Syrian wounded who were treated in Israel were civilians, some of them women and children.

A Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Britain: May 2017
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/June 26/2017
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=56602
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10586/islam-multiculturalism-britain-may
"The whole system failed and that is what has been happening for the last 30 years. And it is PC. People are just too, too afraid to, you know, just too, too afraid to speak the truth." — Mohan Singh, founder of the Sikh Awareness Society.
MI5, Britain's domestic security agency, revealed that it has identified 23,000 jihadist extremists living in the country.
Manchester bomber Salman Abedi used taxpayer-funded student loans and benefits to bankroll the terror plot, according to the Telegraph. Abedi is believed to have received thousands of pounds in state funding in the run-up to the attack even while he was overseas receiving bomb-making training. It also emerged that the chief imam of Abedi's mosque fought with militants in Libya. The mosque was also reported to have hosted hate preachers who called for British soldiers to be killed and non-believers to be stoned to death.
"It is no secret that Saudi Arabia in particular provides funding to hundreds of mosques in the UK, espousing a very hardline Wahhabist interpretation of Islam. It is often in these institutions that British extremism takes root." — Tom Brake, Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman.
May 1. Army cadets in Scotland were warned not to wear their uniforms in public because they could be targeted by jihadists.
May 1. Three female teenagers were arrested in East London on terrorism charges. The arrests were in connection with an anti-terror operation in London on April 27 in which a woman wearing a burqa was shot by police. Police said that an active terror plot had been foiled.
May 2. Samata Ullah, a 34-year-old jihadist from Cardiff, was sentenced to eight years in prison for five terror offenses, including membership of the Islamic State, as well being involved in training terrorists and preparing for terrorist acts. Ullah, a British national of Bangladeshi origin, was a key member of a group calling itself the "Cyber Caliphate Army" and gave other members of IS advice on how to communicate using sophisticated encryption techniques.
May 3. Damon Smith, a 20-year-old convert to Islam, was found guilty of making a bomb filled with ball bearings and leaving it on a subway train in London. Jurors at the Old Baily court were told that Smith had downloaded an al-Qaeda article entitled, "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom," which contained step-by-step instructions on how to make a homemade bomb. The court also heard that Smith had a keen interest in Islam, guns and explosives, and had collected pictures of extremists, including the alleged mastermind of the 2015 Paris terror attacks. Smith, who suffers from autism, admitted to making the device but claimed he only meant it as a prank.
May 3. The trial began of four Muslim men who gang-raped a 16-year-old girl in Ramsgate, Kent. The girl was attacked when she got lost after a night out and asked for directions at a Kebab shop. Restaurant owner Tamin Rahani, 37, Rafiullah Hamidy, 24, Shershah Muslimyar, 20, and an unnamed teenager are accused of taking turns raping the girl in an apartment above the restaurant.
May 9. Aine Davis, a 33-year-old British convert to Islam, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison by a court in Turkey for being a member of the Islamic State. The BBC reported that Davis was one of a four-man IS cell nicknamed "The Beatles" responsible for beheading more than two dozen hostages in Syria. Davis, the only one of the group to face a trial, had denied the charges against him. Davis left his home in West London in 2013 to join the Islamic State. His wife, Amal El-Wahabi, after a trial at the Old Bailey court, was jailed in November 2014 for funding his terrorism.
May 11. A mother and daughter, along with another woman, appeared at Westminster magistrates' court on charges of plotting a jihadist attack near the British Parliament. Mina Dich, 43, her daughter Rizlaine Boular, 21, and Khawla Barghouthi, 20, are accused of plotting a random knife attack. Dich and Boular appeared in court wearing burkas covering their faces. Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot asked them to lift their veils to reveal their eyes when they were identified in the dock. Barghouthi wore a niqab with her face showing. All three are accused of conspiracy to murder.
May 12. Female drivers in Stockport were warned about a gang of young Muslim males who have been attempting to get into cars stopped at intersections. Several women in the area reported that they had been approached by the men while waiting for traffic lights to change.
May 13. A divorce practice that allows Muslim men instantly to terminate an Islamic marriage simply by repeating the word talaq, meaning divorce, three times to his wife, has been described as "really common" among Muslims in Britain, according to the Times. Women cannot use the method, known as "triple talaq." Under civil law in Britain, Islamic marriages are not acknowledged, leaving women with little power to escape an unhappy or abusive marriage, or to defend their interests in court when a marriage breaks down. Women often face homelessness and a loss of financial support after divorce. Campaigners have called for an update to Marriage Act 1949 to demand the civil registration of all religious marriages. Christian, Jewish or Quaker marriages must be registered under the law, but Muslim, Hindu and Sikh unions do not. Qari Asim, an imam at the Leeds Makkah mosque, suggested that talaq should initially be uttered just once, and only spoken a second and third time after cooling-off periods of at least three months.
May 14. Mohan Singh, founder of the Sikh Awareness Society, said that Muslim grooming gangs have been allowed to prosper in Britain because the authorities are afraid they will be labelled racist if they speak out. In an interview with Katie Hopkins at LCB radio, Singh said that political correctness had allowed the gangs to succeed:
"I think it is due to political correctness, but it is also down to nobody wants to be called a racist.... Nobody really is grabbing the bull by the horns and saying 'No, abuse is abuse.' But they do not want to be labeled that we are after one community, we are targeting one community. We can see all the reports coming out Rotherham, the failings of the police, the failings of the local councilors. The whole system failed and that is what has been happening for the last 30 years. And it is PC. People are just too, too afraid to, you know, just too, too afraid to speak the truth."
May 15. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), which represents more than 18,000 school principals and college leaders, published a 12-page paper providing practical advice for schools during Ramadan:
"Observing Ramadan may bring many benefits to individuals and communities, but also has the potential to cause the individual temporary hardship through hunger and lack of liquids during fasting hours which may impact on physical wellbeing and cognitive performance.
"Young Muslims and families, particularly those sitting exams this summer, will need to balance their obligations as Muslims with their studies and the importance of examinations for their future, noting that the pursuit of education is also a religious and moral duty for Muslims of both genders.
"Islam encourages critical reasoning and while individuals may seek advice from religious leaders, they have the right to make their own decision. It is intended that the information in this paper will be used as a positive opportunity for engagement with students to make these important decisions for themselves."
May 17. The first episode of the BBC's drama on Muslim rape gangs in Rochdale called "Three Girls" was broadcast with widespread approval by the mainstream media. The program did not, however, reveal that the perpetrators were Muslim or that Islamic doctrine sanctions such treatment of non-Muslim women, according to a review published by Breitbart London.
May 17. Muhammad Rabbani, the international director of Cage, a controversial group critical of British anti-terrorism laws, was charged with willfully obstructing or seeking to frustrate a search under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which gives border officials sweeping search powers. Rabbani was detained at Heathrow Airport under counter terrorism stop-and-search powers and refused to give police his computer passwords. Rabbani said he intends to fight the charge, which he regards as a test case of privacy versus surveillance.
May 18. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), an umbrella group with 500 affiliated mosques and Islamic bodies, released a list of key issues affecting Muslims before the election. It also circulated a suggested sermon for imams to deliver during Friday prayers that declared: "Muslims need to be more politically active." An Ipsos MORI poll found that 53% of eligible Muslims did not vote at the 2010 general election.
May 19. Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali, 27, the terror suspect who was arrested with a backpack full of knives on April 27 near the Houses of Parliament, told the Old Bailey court that he does not need a lawyer because he is represented by Allah. Listing Ali's case for trial on November 6, Mr. Justice Holroyd said: "It may be in your interests to have a professional lawyer in this case."
May 21. Mr. Justice Keehan, a senior judge of the High Court in London, warned that girls in Britain are at risk of being forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM). He outlined his thoughts in the forward of a new book entitled, Female Genital Mutilation Law and Practice, written by Zimran Samuel, a specialist in legislation relating to FGM. Keehan wrote:
"The risk to girls and young women living in this jurisdiction is not limited to being taken abroad to be subjected to FGM, but includes the risk of having the mutilation performed in this country. It is vital in order to prevent FGM that health and social care professionals, local authorities and law enforcement agencies have a clear understanding of the socio-cultural reasons for the practice of FGM, the factors which may indicate a girl or young woman is at real risk of being forced to undergo FGM and of the effective legal steps which can and must be taken."
According to Samuel, British law is "ineffective and inadequate" in tackling FGM. He said that despite a criminal law being in existence for more than 30 years, there has been no successful prosecution of an FGM offense.
May 22. Salman Ramadan Abedi, a 22-year-old British-born jihadist of Libyan descent, detonated a suicide bomb at an Ariana Grande music concert in Manchester. Twenty-three people, including Abedi, were killed in the attack and more than 100 others were injured. The attack was the deadliest on British soil since the London bombings on July 7, 2005. The American FBI had warned British authorities in January 2017 that Abedi was planning an attack in the UK, but was not judged by the British to be a threat.
May 23. Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the armed forces would be deployed on British streets to boost security after the Manchester bombing. May said that military personnel would be positioned at key sites to free up police for patrols.
May 23. The Manchester-born singer Morrissey criticized British politicians for their reaction to the bombing in his hometown, saying they were too politically correct to admit that the concert bombing was the work of an Islamist extremist. "In modern Britain everyone seems petrified to officially say what we all say in private," the singer wrote on his Facebook page. "Politicians tell us they are unafraid, but they are never the victims. How easy to be unafraid when one is protected from the line of fire. The people have no such protections." Criticizing the prime minister, he claimed that "her own life is lived in a bullet-proof bubble, and she evidently does not need to identify any young people today in Manchester morgues."
The Manchester-born singer Morrissey criticized British politicians for their reaction to the bombing in his hometown, saying they were too politically correct to admit that the concert bombing was the work of an Islamist extremist. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Firefly)
May 24. Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said that Manchester bomber Salman Abedi was "a terrorist who had nothing to do with Islam":
"The message that I would want to get over — and this is how the vast majority of people feel — this man was a terrorist, not a Muslim. He does not represent the Muslim community. We've got to keep that distinction in mind all the time. This was an unspeakable act. The worst thing that can happen is that people use this to blame an entire community, the Muslim community."
May 25. BBC anchor Katty Kay said that Britons should "get used to" jihadist attacks after the Manchester blast:
"Europe is getting used to attacks like this. We have to because we are never going to totally wipe this out. As ISIS gets squeezed in Syria and Iraq we are going to see more of these attacks in Europe. Europe is starting to get used to that."
May 25. The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) released a manifesto that pledged to tackle radical Islam. Party leader Paul Nuttall said there was no magic formula to "turning back the tide of radical Islam," which he described as a "cancer that needs to be cut out." Nuttall said that other parties had been too cowardly to address the problem. UKIP, he said, would beef up security by hiring 20,000 extra police officers, 20,000 extra troops, 7,000 extra prison officers and 4,000 extra border guards. He added that anybody who left Britain to fight for the Islamic State should forfeit their passport and never be allowed to return:
"It is not good enough to light candles and proclaim that extremists will not beat us. Action is required on multiple fronts and I am proud UKIP is setting out its patriotic agenda for defending our country and our way of life."
May 26. MI5, Britain's domestic security agency, revealed that it has identified 23,000 jihadist extremists living in the country. About 3,000 people from the group are judged to pose an immediate threat and are under investigation or active monitoring in 500 operations being run by police and intelligence services. The 20,000 others have featured in previous inquiries and are categorized as posing a "residual risk." The number was more than seven times higher than previously known.
May 26. A police helicopter swooped in on a garden party in Cherry Hinton when a song mocking the death of terrorist Osama bin Laden was played. The helicopter and ten officers were deployed after a complaint from neighbors that people were allegedly shouting anti-Islamic abuse. Mark Donovan, a father of two who was at the party, said:
"This is music which is well known which was put on YouTube when Bin Laden was killed by the British and American army. In the music there is no reference to color, race, or religion. The police then threatened to arrest everyone if we didn't hand over our karaoke machine and mobile phone.
"It just seems a bit extreme to have ten police officers and helicopter attend over a song which is approved by YouTube which we never actually put on. It came on by the shuffle list, and now being investigated as a racial offense, the only person who took offense was the female police officer and it's not even a racist song."
May 27. Manchester bomber Salman Abedi used taxpayer-funded student loans and benefits to bankroll the terror plot, according to the Telegraph. Abedi is believed to have received thousands of pounds in state funding in the run-up to the attack even while he was overseas receiving bomb-making training. It also emerged that the chief imam of Abedi's mosque fought with militants in Libya. Mustafa Graf appeared in a video describing battle preparations against the forces of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi near Tripoli in 2011.
May 28. A 23-year-old Libyan "trainee pilot" was arrested in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, as part of the investigation into the jihadist network behind Manchester bomber Salman Abedi.
May 29. Didsbury Mosque, the mosque attended by Manchester bomber Salman Abedi and his family, admitted to the BBC that it did not report him to British authorities for being a suspected Islamic extremist. The mosque was also reported to have hosted hate preachers who called for British soldiers to be killed and non-believers to be stoned to death.
May 29. Paul Nuttall, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), said that suspected jihadists should be detained without trial. "I think we've got to look at ways of ensuring that our people are safe, whether that is a return to control orders, whether that is tagging these people, who knows in the future maybe a return to internment," he told the BBC. Given the "vast" costs of monitoring a reported 23,000 extremists, he said: "I'm not saying now is the time to return to this, but I wouldn't rule it out. Nuttall also backed waterboarding for terrorist suspects if there was "going to be an immediate attack and people's lives were on the line" and said he would support the return of the death penalty in some circumstances.
May 30. Five senior school leaders accused of involvement in the Trojan horse controversy in Birmingham were allowed to return to the classroom, after the government's case against them was found to involve an "abuse of justice" by government lawyers. The teachers were accused of allowing undue Islamist influence in the running of three Birmingham state schools, but an independent disciplinary panel discontinued the proceedings against them, citing a repeated failure on the part of government lawyers to share crucial evidence.
May 31. A new book, Talking about Terrorism, urged schoolchildren as young as seven to "write a letter to a terrorist" to help understand their motives. The book describes the indiscriminate mass murder of innocent members of the public as a "type of war." It tells children of primary school age that terrorists kill people because they believe they are being treated "unfairly and not shown respect." Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said the letter task would confuse and potentially upset pupils:
"This a crackpot idea based on the misguided notion that primary school children must engage with, and show 'respect' for, religious fanatics who are seeking to kill them. It is part of the 'British Values' agenda that is being forced on schools by Ofsted and the educational establishment. The primary school classroom is not the place to humanize terrorism by 'pretend dialogue.'"
May 31. The findings of an investigation commissioned by former Prime Minister David Cameron into the foreign funding and support of jihadi groups may never be published, according to the Guardian. The inquiry into revenue streams for extremist groups operating in Britain is thought to focus on Saudi Arabia. The Home Office confirmed that the report had not yet been completed and said it would not necessarily be published because the contents are "very sensitive." In a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May, Tom Brake, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman, wrote:
"As home secretary at the time, your department was one of those leading on the report. Eighteen months later, and following two horrific terrorist attacks by British-born citizens, that report still remains incomplete and unpublished.
"It is no secret that Saudi Arabia in particular provides funding to hundreds of mosques in the UK, espousing a very hardline Wahhabist interpretation of Islam. It is often in these institutions that British extremism takes root."
**Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.
© 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.

Female Genital Mutilation: American Muslim Physician Says Stop Defending the Abuse of Girls and Women
M. Zuhdi Jasser/Gatestone Institute/June 26/2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10585/female-genital-mutilation-american-muslim
Any cutting or prick upon a female's genitalia that is not actually, absolutely medically necessary, but rather demanded by twisted interpretation of religion and misogynistic manifestations of culture, is abuse.
Even if, one were to submit that the medical part of the procedure could possibly be done with no physical trauma (and that is a big fictitious 'if'), the whole intent of the procedure is ceremonially to desexualize women and place their bodies under patriarchal control. No physician or modern culture that respects the equality of men and women should agree to participate in a procedure based in hate or supremacy. There is no compromise for the free world with the misogyny, abuse, and torture of the familial, community and individual oppressive forces involved in the draconian Islamist behaviors around FGM. It was a false compromise and a false moral equivalency with male circumcision.
The AMA Board of Trustees six months later returned an opinion in our favor in June 2017, which basically stood by existing AMA policy that any and all forms of FGM including nicking were prohibited by the AMA and thus deemed to be entirely inappropriate and unethical. Some courtroom reports in the government's case against Dr. Nagarwala in Detroit are that in fact some of the 7–year-old girls suffered significant physical harm and scarring despite the defendant's claim of only a pin-prick.
Some of America's most respected attorneys have been willing to earn the ire of their colleagues and critics for the sake of what is right and good defending the rights of Muslims. Many other Americans have also defended the rights of Muslims to pray and to have access to halal food. These positions, while not always popular in certain circles, are consistent with America's commitment to religious liberty and the first amendment of the Constitution. Many of us Muslims have appreciated and applauded these outspoken heroes for their commitment to religious liberty and principled positions on matters pertaining to free speech and human rights. They have often taken stances representative of the best of America's commitment to freedom.
It therefore came as a shock and a serious disappointment to learn that the great attorney, Mr. Alan M. Dershowitz, America's most vigorous defender of religious liberty, has chosen to participate as a consultant in the defense of a Michigan doctor, Jumana Nagarwala, who has been arrested for mutilating the genitals of girls in her Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community. Our American Islamic Forum for Democracy made this statement in April at the time of her arrest. We also then sent an open letter to Mr. Janel Amil Saheb, the head of her Detroit Dawoodi Bohra community, which very likely created an environment that was complicit in the crimes. Rather than enable them by consulting in their defense as Mr. Dershowitz seems want to do, it is incumbent upon all genuine defenders of women's rights to demand immediate reform.
It has been revealed that Nagarwala and others in the community have essentially been trafficking young girls from out of state to her "practice" so that she can cut and maim their bodies, all the while claiming to uphold the Hippocratic oath – one I also took and hold sacred as a physician – to "do no harm."
Responding to criticism, according to Breitbart, Mr. Dershowitz now says of his consulting agreement with the Dawat-e-Hadiyah:
"This group rejects female genital mutilation. I agreed to consult with them and to work toward an acceptance of merely a symbolic pin prick, not even of the clitoris, but just of the clitoral hood, which is the equivalent of the foreskin... The idea really is the functional equivalent of what Jews do. If a non-Jewish kid were circumcised at birth, as many are but didn't have a bris, didn't have a religious circumcision and he wants to convert to Judaism or his parents want to convert him to Judaism, he has a little symbolic pin prick, it draws one tiny bit of blood and that takes the place of a circumcision and that's what I propose."
Mr. Dershowitz is apparently seeking to divert criticism and justify his choice to defend this doctor and her accomplices – who, from various courtroom testimony accounts – was doing more than "pin pricking" with objective reports of severe scarring and disfigurement upon the victims of this familial and community conspiracy against these 6-8 year old girls.
Despite whatever Mr. Dershowitz may claim, or twisted tales he wishes to weave about adults choosing to press blades to the genitals of little girls, any cutting or prick upon a female's genitalia that is not actually, absolutely medically necessary, but rather demanded by twisted interpretation of religion and misogynistic manifestations of culture, is abuse.
First, as a physician it is important to alert Mr. Dershowitz and anyone potentially sympathetic to his views, that a "nick or cut" to the clitoral hood is not as benign as apologists who falsely wrap themselves in religious freedom would have you believe. The clitoral hood protects the glans of the clitoris, covers its shaft, and forms part of the structure of the labia minora. Basic information as to the clerical, familial and societal intent of the procedure, the structure of the female anatomy, the practice's dangerous link to extremist ideology, and the horrific psychological impact of it all no matter how small the 'prick' seem to be lost by those who wish to placate those communities who wish to control, mutilate, and usurp the bodily autonomy of these girls.
Second, as the attorney, Mr. Dershowitz surely knows, the morality and legality of the procedure follows directly from the familial, societal, and clerical intent of the procedure. Even if, one were to submit the medical part of the procedure could possibly be done with no physical trauma (and that's a big fictitious 'if'), the whole intent of the procedure is ceremonially to desexualize women and place their bodies under patriarchal control. No physician or modern culture that respects the equality of men and women should agree to participate in a procedure based in hate or supremacy. To compare the established non-sexual, non-oppressive intent of male circumcision done in Jewish and Muslim communities to the medieval intent of any procedure done by misogynistic Islamists upon the genitals of young girls is dangerously ignorant.
Rather than taking blindly the deceptive explanations of Islamist religious leaders using the cloak of religious freedom to conceal their subjugation of women, Mr. Dershowitz would do well to research the real theological underpinnings of female genital mutilation and any associated so called "compromise" procedure or "nicking". In any form, whether mutilation or 'cutting' the procedure is inflicted upon women due to a draconian belief that girls need to be physically 'cleansed of their innate hypersexuality,' which will persist if the clitoral organ is left without alteration from birth. This is not only inhumanly ignorant but complicit with a patriarchal culture that seeks from birth to keep girls and women under the psychological subjugation of the men in their family and community. Watch and listen, thanks to MEMRI, to the obvious words of Imam Shaker El Sayed, one of America's leading Sunni imams, only a few weeks ago at Dar Al-Hijra mosque in Northern Virginia who explained the exact reasoning behind this culture of abuse against women:
"On the contrary, you see in societies where circumcision of girls is completely prohibited, hypersexuality takes over the entire society, and a woman is not satisfied with one person, or two, or three. This, God forbid, is now happening even in Muslim societies where they prohibit circumcision. They use a mistake in practice to prohibit the tradition, and they end up causing a lot of damage on the extreme side of the sexual life of the woman."
For hundreds if not a few thousand years, any and all of the physical acts of mutilation, nicking, cutting or any procedure done to the genitals of young girls has been done in order to appease this Neanderthal mentality. There is no other established alternative intent or rational explanation. In this case, the arrested physicians and cases in Detroit which Mr. Dershowitz is seeking to aid and abet, are part of a network of the Dawat-e-Hadiyah, an organization that oversees a small heterodox Shiite Muslim sect called the Dawoodi Bohras. But make no mistake. From Sunni to Shia, the victimization of women and girls through FGM practices is not peculiar to that one sect. Its misogynistic origins are both tribal and also bolstered with a deeply Salafist and Islamist interpretation of Islam across Sunni and Shia sects, and includes leading theologians.
Mr. Dershowitz's position that he now claims to propose is actually not new. The American Islamic Forum for Democracy and I spoke out very publicly in February 2016 condemning a similar proposal of a new so-called "compromise" which the Journal of Medical Ethics bizarrely dubbed "Female genital alteration: A new compromise procedure" by Drs. Kavita Shah Arora and Allan J. Jacobs as if they were speaking about a pair of pants or a dress. AIFD then spoke out nationally in response to all of the mainstream media attention given to Dr. Arora and Jacobs, who were for the most part, sadly lauded by a politically correct media as courageous for posing a utilitarian solution to the trafficking of girls abroad to countries where FGM is permitted. We pleaded that there is no compromise for the free world with the misogyny, abuse, and torture of the familial, community and individual oppressive forces involved in the draconian Islamist behaviors around FGM. It was a false compromise and a false moral equivalency with male circumcision.
We took our protest to the AMA House of Delegates in November 2016 against protests from representatives of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) to the AMA, which also happened to include Dr. Arora, the author. The AMA Board of Trustees six months later returned an opinion in our favor in June 2017, which basically stood by existing AMA policy that any and all forms of FGM including nicking were prohibited by the AMA and thus deemed to be entirely inappropriate and unethical.
It is critical that all people familiarize themselves with the opinion of the AMA and other leading medical professionals and ethicists before carrying the water for the inhuman medical criminals arrested in Detroit or physicians like Dr. Arora and Jacobs who are apologists for this unethical procedure.
As we stated in a statement on this issue last year, the clitoral hood serves protective, immunological, and erogenous purposes. The structure of this hood varies from woman to woman; some women have clitoral hoods that do not retract fully, thus leaving these women vulnerable to even more severe cutting should a practitioner be trying to remove the hood. Cutting of the clitoral hood on infants, children, and many women would necessarily lead to the cutting and damaging of the clitoral shaft and the clitoris itself, as well as the labia. Of course, there is also the risk of infection and excessive bleeding and the certainty of trauma. If such "procedures" were ever permitted, there would be no ability actually to review whether the microscopic area of the clitoral hood of an infant or small girl were not actually scarred, setting aside the lifetime of associated psychological oppression carried with the ritual. Scar tissue from "nicking," particularly on women prone to keloid scarring (as many women of color are) and difficult healing, can inhibit erogenous response and cause discomfort. In fact, some courtroom reports in the government's case against Dr. Nagarwala in Detroit is that in fact some of the 7-year-old girls suffered significant physical harm and scarring despite the defendant's claim of only a pin-prick.
In addition to sacrificing girls and women to physical torture by defending the alleged "compromise" of a "pin prick," supporters of this unenforceable and therefore fake "compromise" are disappointingly and alarmingly ceding to extremist interpretations of Islam and radical tribal culture. As I wrote last year:
"Female genital mutilation is advocated by misogynists, many of whom are radical Islamists; and is carried out in families who seek to forcibly deny girls and women their bodily autonomy and normal healthy sexuality. This procedure serves no purpose other than to diminish the sexuality of women in the name of religion and/or culture.
"Allowing a girl or woman to be forcibly mutilated in any way sets the stage for male-dominant psychological torture, control, and dehumanization of that woman in her family forever. Whether it's a so-called "nick" or a more extensive cut, the [inability to] forcefully reject this practice in its entirety is an act of complacency, and a medically unethical act of criminally negligent proportions."
Survivors of, and advocates against, FGM also reject these "compromises" on genital mutilation. Survivors such as Khadija Gbla, Hibo Wardere, Leyla Hussein (who is also a psychotherapist), and others warn that those who propose or defend "nicking," or in this instance "pin-pricking," are glorifying mutilation and harm against girls and women. One should speak to any survivors or leading women's rights activists who have dedicated their lives to fighting any and all forms of cutting. Sahiyo, for instance, is an entire organization dedicated specifically to countering the ignorance in the Dawoodi Bohra community of those who try to endorse female genital cutting, nicking or any procedure as justifiable alternatives or any different from horrific mutilation.
It is stunning, and frightening, to see champions of liberty and ethics bend on this issue. While freedom of religion is an essential and foundational American value, it cannot mean the "freedom" to deny universal human rights via the mutilation of another human being's body – especially one who cannot consent, such as a 7-year-old girl or a woman doing so under compulsion, or extreme societal pressure. Mr. Dershowitz and others who hold his view have to know this. While they may think they are making the right decision and protecting freedom of religion as a whole by participating in this "torture theater," we hope they realize that Muslim women, and Muslim reformers as a whole, are betrayed by his actions, and can only see that they are no allies or friends to those who seek to end the barbarism of FGM and of radical Islam.
If supposed liberals can defend FGM in the name of freedom of religion, what is next on the list of Islamist requests for religious freedom? Beating your wife "just a little bit" without lifting your elbow from your hip? Marital rape? After all, religious texts have been widely used to justify both. What about breast ironing? Acid attacks – with just a little acid -- as punishment for sin?
You see, women always pay when freedom is sacrificed to "cultural sensitivity." Deep down, liberals are good people, who know better, but sadly many have proceeded anyway – a chilling and tragic fact.
No! It is not just a "prick" or a "cut". At the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, we call it what it is -- mutilation.
There is no compromise against the immorality and barbarism of FGM. To offer any compromise, even a so-called, easily abused, "pin prick," sacrifices girls and women to barbarism and sets back the movement for women's rights in Muslim communities hundreds of years.
**Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser is the President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement and a former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander. He is an internal medicine physician in private practice in Phoenix with an expertise in bioethics serving as an ethics consultant for a large healthcare corporation. He can be found online at www.takebackIslam.com
© 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.

Palestinians: Why Abbas Cannot Stop Funding Terrorists
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/June 26/2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10583/palestinians-funding-terrorists
This is their way of expressing their gratitude to those who have chosen to "sacrifice" their lives by trying to murder Jews. It is also their way of encouraging young people to join the war of terrorism against Israel. The financial aid sends a specific message: Palestinians who are prepared to die in the service of murdering Jews need not worry about the welfare of their families.
The more years a Fatah terrorist serves in Israeli prison, the higher the salary he or she receives. Some Fatah terrorists held in Israeli prison are said to receive monthly stipends of up to $4,000. Many of them are also rewarded with top jobs in both Fatah and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Why should any Palestinian go to university and search for a job when he can make a "decent living" murdering Jews?
Such a plan to dry up the funds that support terrorists and their families, is doomed from the start unless these leaders reverse their behavior and embark on a process of de-radicalizing their people.
For the record, this is not a defense of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas or of funding terrorists. It is simply an explanation of what is taking place. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that the idea of ending payments to Palestinian terrorists and their families is a challenging one, to say the least. Old habits, especially of hate, are hard to break.
The practice of paying salaries to terrorists and the families of "martyrs" is as old as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was founded in 1964. It did not start after the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1994. Nor did this practice start after Abbas was elected as president of the PA in January 2005.
Prior to the establishment of the PA, the PLO relied solely on Arab and Islamic financial aid to pay salaries to imprisoned terrorists and the families of those killed in terror attacks against Israel.
But after most of the Arab countries turned their backs on the PLO, following its support for Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent establishment of the PA, the Europeans and Americans became the major donors to the Palestinians -- including payments to the terrorists and their families.
The PLO is not the only organization that rewards terrorists and their families. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian groups have also been paying monthly stipends to terrorists and their kin. This is their way of expressing their gratitude to those who have chosen to "sacrifice" their lives by trying to murder Jews. It is also their way of encouraging young people to join the war of terrorism against Israel. The financial aid sends a specific message: Palestinians who are prepared to die in the service of murdering Jews need not worry about the welfare of their families.
In the past few decades, various Palestinian groups have used the payments to buy loyalty and recruit new members. Because Fatah -- the dominant party of the PA -- has always reaped the largest share of Arab, Islamic and Western donations, it was able to recruit the largest number of loyalists and members. Headed by Abbas, Fatah terrorists receive the highest salaries for their "contribution" to the Palestinian cause.
The more years a Fatah terrorist serves in Israeli prison, the higher the salary he or she receives. Some Fatah terrorists held in Israeli prison are said to receive monthly stipends of up to $4,000. Many of them are also rewarded with top jobs in both Fatah and the PA.
Take, for example, the case of Karim Younes, a Fatah terrorist who has been in prison for over three decades for kidnapping and murdering an Israeli soldier. Recently, Younes was appointed as member of the Fatah Central Committee, one of a number of key decision-making bodies dominated by Abbas loyalists. As a member of the Fatah Central Committee, Younes will now be entitled to thousands of dollars each month.
In his recent meeting with US presidential envoys Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt in Ramallah, an enraged Mahmoud Abbas rejected their demand that he halt payments to terrorists and their families.
Some of Abbas's aides have gone as far as describing the demand as "crazy," arguing that it will instigate instability and turn many Palestinians against their leaders. One of Abbas's advisors was quoted as accusing Kushner and Greenblatt of serving as "advisors" to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Abbas is also well aware that his life would be in danger if he stops the payments, because he will be killed by the same terrorists he and other Palestinian leaders have been praising and promoting for many years.
In his recent meeting with US presidential envoys Jason Greenblatt (left) and Jared Kushner (center) in Ramallah, an enraged Mahmoud Abbas (right) rejected their demand that he halt payments to terrorists and their families.
Abbas's argument that halting the payments would turn his people against him is not baseless. In fact, in an attempt to appease Israel and the Trump Administration, Abbas has already cut off payments to scores of terrorists and their families, particularly those who are not necessarily associated with his Fatah faction.
In the past few weeks, dozens of former Palestinian prisoners and their families have staged daily protests against Abbas's decision to cut off their salaries. They are accusing Abbas of bowing to Israeli and American pressure, with some dubbing him a "traitor."
Abbas and other Palestinian leaders can only blame themselves, however, for the backlash on the Palestinian street following the decision to halt the payment of salaries to some terrorists and their families. After all, it was these leaders who in the first place recruited the terrorists and encouraged them to launch terror attacks against Israel, and promised that they would care for their families if they were imprisoned or killed. For decades, Abbas and other Palestinian leaders have heaped praise on Palestinian terrorists, calling them "heroes" and "freedom fighters" who sacrifice for their people. The "sacrifice," to clarify, means murdering and wounding Jews.
Under Abbas and his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, countless institutions have been established to support terrorists and their families. At one point, they even set up a special ministry called the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. Its main goal: "to ensure a decent life for prisoners and care for their children and their families." Why should any Palestinian go to university and search for a job when he can make a "decent living" murdering Jews?
In 2014, after protests from Western donors, Abbas abolished the ministry. However, the decision turned out to be nothing but a cosmetic change intended to dupe the donors. The ministry continues to function, but under a different name: Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. Abbas defended the decision by claiming that the new commission was now part of the PLO, and not the PA government. This is like claiming that the House of Representatives and the Senate are two different bodies that are not linked to the United States government.
Palestinian terrorists have become an integral part of a culture that has long been glorifying and promoting acts of terrorism against Israel. Generation after generation, Palestinians have been taught that prisoners and terrorists killed by Israel are the "esteemed sons of the revolution," the "untouchables." The official Palestinian narrative is that these men were imprisoned or killed for nothing but "resisting Israel." This narrative has successfully concealed the truth concerning the imprisonment or death of Palestinian terrorists.
Faced with a new reality in which many in the international community are no longer willing to have their taxpayer money designated for terrorists and their families, Abbas now finds himself trapped between what for him are two terrible moves.
He is currently scurrying to explain to his people why suddenly it has become hard to pay salaries to the very terrorists he trained and continues to glorify by naming streets, public squares and sports centers after them. His people, of course, do not buy his excuses, and many are accusing him of serving Israeli and American interests by abandoning the "good boys" of the "revolution."
It will take a long time, and a massive shift in attitude, before Abbas or any other Palestinian leader manages to dry up the funds that support terrorists and their families. Such a plan is doomed from the start, unless these leaders reverse their behavior and embark on a process of de-radicalizing their people. This will require a drastic about-face in their existing narrative of violence, as well as a move toward a culture of peace -- precisely the issue about which Abbas recently lied so disrespectfully when meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Judging from Abbas's rage-response to the demand to halt payments to terrorists and their families, it seems that Abbas and his cohorts in Ramallah plan to continue their same old antics.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim based in the Middle East.
© 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.

Qataris paying the price for its Emir’s policies
Mohammed Al Shaikh/Al Arabiya/June 27/17
I challenge any analyst to understand and explain what Qatar really wants, what its aims are and what the secret is behind its contradictory statements. Many say there is no agenda and there are no aims, and that this is all about Hamad’s strong feeling that Qatar is a marginal worthless country with a small population that cannot really constitute a state or help achieve what Hamad, who is Qatar’s real ruler, wants. He wants to hear Qatar’s name all over the news, regardless of whether it is praise or condemnation. He thus randomly spends billions without being held accountable. Meanwhile, the Qataris, who are not very large in number, live comfortably as they are financially well-off. Qataris fear opposing or criticizing the contradictory and chaotic practices of the Emir’s father. They do not dare hold him accountable. As long as they live comfortably, there is nothing to object to. Therefore, only few Qataris criticize these unjustified practices. Not to mention that the Emir’s father is a tyrannical figure who will not be merciful if he chooses to avenge. We remember what happened with a poet once when he implicitly criticized some of his actions. He arrested him and the judge who is a staunch Brotherhood supporter sentenced him to life in prison. Hamad later decreased the sentence to 15 years. Native Qataris feel they are second-class citizens in their own country while foreigners who are Brotherhood members, or who are affiliated with Azmi Bishara, are the spoiled ones as their life is more luxurious
Second-class citizens
Native Qataris feel they are second class citizens in their own country while foreigners who are Brotherhood members, or who are affiliated with Azmi Bishara, are the spoiled ones as their life is more luxurious. The latter live comfortably as well but not as comfortably as Brotherhood members and northern Arab nationalists. Al Jazeera television channel, for example, is managed by a northern Arab. Qatar is Al Jazeera channel or Al Jazeera channel is Qatar. Everyone who works there is either affiliated with the Brotherhood or is a nationalist northern Arab. There was only one Saudi who was hired to hoodwink people, and he recently resigned. Although the television channel is more than 20 years old, the only Qatari presenters we have seen were in the weather and sports departments. The only Qatari news presenter is assigned for the graveyard slot because they despise Qatari people and look down upon them. The Qataris hate the Brotherhood as they think this terrorist group is deep rooted and is one of the reasons behind Qatar’s problems with its Gulf countries. I do not think Qatar’s policies and orientations will be rectified as long as it is being led by Hamad bin Khalifa as he caused this hardship and crisis. Meanwhile, the Gulf will not back down on its recent stance and its position will not change. If the current regime continues to control Qatar’s wealth of oil and gas and to spend money without being held accountable, terrorism will not be eliminated and the world will not be able to dry out its funding resources.

Mohammed bin Salman: A man, a generation and an era
Ghassan Charbel/Al Arabiya/June 27/17
The past three decades have been tormenting at some level. The Berlin Wall fell, dragging with it the world that was taking it as a shelter. The Soviet Union became history, representing a defeated model; new international balances were established. On the regional level, Iraq fell, and Iran resumed the “export of revolutions” approach with its heavy attacks. Then came the so-called Arab Spring and left several Arab countries in turmoil. A large number of fighters infiltrated from nearby or even faraway countries. There was a feeling that the Arab world missed the train and that it will go to the margins of history with scarred countries, or countries that are overcrowded with refugees or jobless people. Pessimists said that the Arab world was unable to update itself and is doomed to stick to its old habits and ideas at a time when the accumulation of knowledge and research results led to a series of scientific and technological advancements. It seemed that the future means a lot to others while Arabs fought to read history.
The new generation
In this stormy world, the generation of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz was born. It was normal for this generation to wonder about the future and the position of Saudi Arabia. The world has changed. Waiting is no longer a guarantee of stability. Change is necessary to preserve the stability through changing minds and styles. To be present you have to be strong. To be strong, you have to rely on a dynamic, adaptive economy. Random treatments are no longer enough. A comprehensive vision that turns into a concrete plan is a must. The change must be made through an open workshop that attracts the entire society because the latter is involved in its success. The vision must include plans, programs assessments and accountability. Before all that, the page of despair, frustration and fear must be turned and new windows should open up. With Mohammed bin Salman we have started talking about the future. Vision 2030 is on the citizens’ diary. What is remarkable is that dreams now have numbers and there is full trust in the ability of the young Saudi generation to achieve the desired results
Renewing hope is not easy. It needs a man who knows his community with its constants, concerns and demands. A man who knows how to listen to the pulse of the people and their deep feelings. A man who is also good at reaching the conscience of his compatriots and their preoccupation with the future of their country. A man who can be honest and convincing and who is able to polarize energies. A man who is entrusted with change and who can take a decision and make it happen.
This process also needs a man who understands the world. A man who holds strong cards; a man who has strong international connections and knows the importance of economic weight, the decisive role of technology in the future industry and the importance of partnerships and investments; a man who promotes confidence at home and abroad, whether for the average citizen or the decision makers in big countries and giant companies. All these qualifications were found in a man that has legitimacy. The legitimacy of the founder that has been refined through the years of working with King Salman bin Abdulaziz. The legitimacy of adhering to assets; the legitimacy of his readiness to share citizens’ concerns and work for their interests; the legitimacy of being popular because the new generation has found someone who shares their dreams and hopes.
Vision 2030
With Mohammed bin Salman we have started talking about the future. Vision 2030 is on the citizens’ diary. What is remarkable is that dreams now have numbers and there is full trust in the ability of the young Saudi generation to achieve the desired results, to work for the inclusion in modern institutions and to find solutions to the concerns of development, knowledge, progress and the problem of extremism. The theories of closure and fear fell as well as projects promoting the collision with the world. The features of a confident state have been formed, searching for their place and interests and addressing the world in a state-of-the-art language targeting progress. The country is looking for effective partnerships and mutual interests. The accumulation of knowledge and expertise is a wealth that does not keep the country enslaved to oil prices. Journalists who have toured world capitals in the last 2 years have seen a change in the relations of the countries with Saudi Arabia. The talk about Vision 2030 is now on all meetings’ agendas. This is true in Washington, Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow and elsewhere. The negotiations with these countries have become very serious and precise. The Saudi negotiator knows exactly what he wants and what he can offer. Saudi Arabia had to launch this major challenge without forgetting that it is living in an unstable region. It is targeted for being a safety valve for the Gulf, Arab and Islamic worlds. Saudi Arabia, which recognizes the importance of modernizing its economy, had to develop its strengths at the diplomatic, military and security levels. Prince Mohammed bin Salman played a major role in facing these challenges, gathering capacities, planning alliances and promoting the policy of building bridges, as reflected in the 2 consecutive summits that took place in Riyadh. With Saudis pledging allegiance to Prince Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince and the royal decrees that brought young generations to positions of responsibility, a new phase of opening doors and strengthening bridges begins. People’s trust enhances decision-making, protects the stability and opens the road to prosperity.

What’s demanded of Qatar?
Sawsan Al Shaer/Al Arabiya/June 27/17
Gulf countries’ problem with Qatar began when Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa assumed power, and it can end by actually – and not formally – keeping him away from governance. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa attained power after he staged a coup against his father, exiled him and seized his money. The first phase of his rule was marked with insecurity as he was afraid of the reaction of the small circle surrounding him after he isolated and exiled his father. He was also afraid of the bigger circle surrounding him, i.e. the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in case it did not accept change via this approach which was strange to tribal and new political traditions in the region. Since it is easy to deprive a ruler of power and transfer it to another in Qatar, he always felt these two circles can deprive him of authority. This is why he founded, built and adopted a Qatari project that he thinks will keep him in power, provide him with stability and protect him. Sheikh Hamad thought that his alliance with superpowers and acceptance to fund division projects in the Arab world is the best guarantee to remain a ruler – especially that these projects are about toppling countries surrounding him.
He thought Qatar would be the only power with central command in the new region, which will be formed after other countries are toppled. Doha thought this new region will be governed by groups that owe it for helping them reach power.
The solution is in Sheikh Tamim’s hands as he alone can save Qatar. Our role is to encourage him, open the door for him and help him to seriously take matters into his own hands
A new Middle East
The US, Iran and Israel drew a new Middle East and agreed on the necessity to redraw the map of the Arab region to be ruled by “minorities” and “religious groups,” which will owe Qatar and be grateful to it for its role in helping them attain power, and to be managed by Qatar as most of these groups’ leaders are embraced by Doha. Sheikh Hamad will thus guarantee he stays in power and Qatar will remain standing after surrounding countries collapse. What countries that recently decided to boycott Qatar are demanding is not about details such as closing Al-Jazeera television channel or severing relations with some groups. They are asking it to end its relation with Hamad bin Khalifa’s project, i.e. to end the major project which Hamad bin Khalifa and his minister worked on implementing for 20 years now – ever since Hamad assumed power – and spent billions on.
Cutting ties with the project means cutting ties with all armed organizations, which undermined security in the region. What’s more important is to end relations with these organization’s political wings and stop providing them with financial or logistical support.
It is easy to meet these demands by just suspending the work of institutions that fund terrorist groups and expelling political wings. These can be implemented in one day. The most important point is that these demands do not harm the Qatari people and mean nothing to them as they do not even know that their command is involved in them. Meeting these demands will bring the Qatari people back to their natural Gulf surroundings. However, will Hamad bin Khalifa accept to give up on his project? Will he accept to retire and settle with the role of being the silent father after he’s come this far? Is he one of those who accept to be marginalized and who admit defeat and that his project basically ended since it was exposed?
The more important questions
I do not think so. Let’s raise the more important question. Can Sheikh Tamim, who’s surrounded by his father and brothers, convince them or force them to admit that this project is over and they must abide by the facts which help Qatar restore its realistic and natural size after it punched above its weight? Can he convince them or force them to understand that he deserves to be granted a chance to rearrange Qatar’s positioning in its natural surrounding?
Will he convince them that he deserves to rule the new Qatar that is open to its neighbors and is secure and reassured in its neighbors’ fold and which protects its own stability and security while looking after its neighbors’ security? This is difficult due to his father’s tight grip. His father also insists to proceed with this project although it is impossible to execute it after it has been publicly exposed and confronted.
Hamad bin Khalifa is still maneuvering and denying. He is trying to buy time as he hopes he can divide the front, which is confronting the most dangerous project in the region. He is trying to pressure this front by gaining people’s sympathy and mobilizing businesses’ owners and allies, Turkey, Iran and Israel, and whoever he can from the American administration. His attempts have so far failed as he does not want to admit that the boycotting countries exposed his plans after exhausting all other options. The solution is in Sheikh Tamim’s hands as he alone can save Qatar. Our role is to encourage him, open the door for him and help him to seriously take matters into his own hands. The fact that his father has not publicly made any statements yet and that Hamad bin Jassem has not made statements from Qatar may be an indicator that Tamim is trying to restrain his father and prevent him from complicating matters. Therefore, we must send positive messages to Tamim that the only way to solve this crisis is to back down from his father’s project. This will not close the door on Sheikh Tamim especially that there are young leaders in the boycotting countries and given the recent active mediation efforts. It would rather help him find a way out and it will help Qatar save itself from an unknown fate.

Who targeted the Holy Kaaba?
Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi/Al Arabiya/June 27/17
The question itself is chilling. How could anyone, whatever his religion, target the Holy Kaaba? How could he target the masses of believers in the most peaceful and spiritual moments? The question is magnified and mystified when the doer is carrying the banner of Islam, citing the holy book, and claims to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). How could a state, group, or an individual who embraces the peaceful religion of Islam target Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, on the night of the Holy Qur’an, in the House of God, the Haram Al-Sharif?
The inevitable answer is that they have no relation to Islam or any religion — whatsoever. The executor is merely a tool, a person who has lost his mind, soul and humanity to the point of conviction that he is entering Paradise with Muslims by killing Muslims; that he would drink from Al Kawthar spring with the Prophet (peace be upon him), by killing and frightening his visitors and his mosque worshipers (as they did the same time, last year).
As for those who motivated, guided and supported the terrorists, I have no doubt that they know exactly what they are doing. They sit in their safe houses with their children and families, and pay the fools to carry out their dirty worldly political agendas. They do not care how many innocent victims fall, and how much Islam’s image is distorted, for their goals have nothing to do with religion or humanity. As for those who motivated, guided and supported the terrorists, I have no doubt that they know exactly what they are doing. They sit in their safe houses with their children and families, and pay the fools to carry out their dirty worldly political agendas
Important objective
One of the most important objectives, I believe, is to prove that Saudi Arabia is unable to provide protection for the holy mosques and their visitors. Therefore, the management of Haj and Umrah must be internationalized, as Iran has, forever, been calling for.
They also aim to fail the new Crown Prince, Muhammad Bin Salman, who has declared war on their terrorism and achieved measurable successes. Recent wins against terrorist organizations in Arab and Muslim countries must have provoked their sponsors’ anger and resentment. In response they pursued high-impact strikes against us. What would be more appropriate, in their twisted minds, to carry out the horrendous crime, than the night of “khatma” (the reading of the last chapter of Qur’an), when 4 millions pilgrims and worshipers gather in one place behind one imam, watched live by 1.6 billion Muslims, plus billions more around the globe? What is easier and more effective than a suicide bombing that results in a stampede in the most crowded place on earth, leaving huge losses and uncontrollable chaos? What is a better platform than to do it under the eyes and ears of the Saudi leadership and their guests, the Arab and Muslim leaders, praying in Safa Palace, overlooking the Sacred House? These people forgot that the House is protected by the Lord; that the State of Saudi Arabia has used all its resources to secure the guests of the Beneficent; and that every Saudi citizen is their adversary. We must always remind them that they are the targets, the persuaded. And that the Sword of Firmness will reach them wherever they may be — Iran included.
The Islamic Nation and the international community should intensify their efforts to fight terrorism, abort terrorist schemes, and target all terror sponsors.
Finally, a special tribute must be extended to the security forces who have proved, once again, that they are our watchful eyes and solid shields. Their performance is appreciated in the service of the guests of Allah and the security of the two holy mosques.
They deserved the special tribute of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman during his visit to the group that faced the terrorists and thwarted their malicious plans. God bless them all!