LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 20/17
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations
I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!
Luke 19/29-40/As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples. He said, "Go into the village opposite you, and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. And if anyone should ask you, 'Why are you untying it?' you will answer, 'The Master has need of it.'" So those who had been sent went off and found everything just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying this colt?" They answered, "The Master has need of it." So they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the colt, and helped Jesus to mount. As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen. They proclaimed: "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. 7 Peace in heaven and glory in the highest." Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples."  He said in reply, "I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!"

Question: "Why is salvation by works the predominantly held viewpoint? Why do so many people believe that we can be saved by works?"
Answer: The simple answer is that salvation by works seems right in the eyes of man. One of man’s basic desires is to be in control of his own destiny, and that includes his eternal destiny. Salvation by works appeals to man’s pride and his desire to be in control. Being saved by works appeals to that desire far more than the idea of being saved by faith alone. Also, man has an inherent sense of justice. Even the most ardent atheist believes in some type of justice and has a sense of right and wrong, even if he has no moral basis for making such judgments. Our inherent sense of right and wrong demands that if we are to be saved, our “good works” must outweigh our “bad works.” Therefore, it is natural that when man creates a religion it would involve some type of salvation by works.
Because salvation by works appeals to man’s sinful nature, it forms the basis of almost every religion except for biblical Christianity. Proverbs 14:12 tells us that “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Salvation by works seems right to men, which is why it is the predominantly held viewpoint. That is exactly why biblical Christianity is so different from all other religions—it is the only religion that teaches salvation is a gift of God and not of works. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
Another reason why salvation by works is the predominantly held viewpoint is that natural or unregenerate man does not fully understand the extent of his own sinfulness or of God’s holiness. Man’s heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9), and God is infinitely holy (Isaiah 6:3). The deceit of our hearts is the very thing that colors our perception of the extent of that deceit and is what prevents us from seeing our true state before a God whose holiness we are also unable to fully comprehend. But the truth remains that our sinfulness and God’s holiness combine to make our best efforts as “filthy rags” before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6; cf. 6:1–5). The thought that man’s good works could ever balance out his bad works is a totally unbiblical concept. Not only that, but the Bible also teaches that God’s standard is nothing less than 100 percent perfection. If we stumble in keeping just one part of God’s righteous law, we are as guilty as if we had broken all of it (James 2:10). Therefore, there is no way we could ever be saved if salvation truly were dependent on works. Another reason that salvation by works can creep into denominations that claim to be Christian or say they believe in the Bible is that they misunderstand passages like James 2:24: “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” Taken in the context of the entire passage (James 2:14–26), it becomes evident that James is not saying our works make us righteous before God; instead, he is making it clear that real saving faith is demonstrated by good works. The person who claims to be a Christian but lives in willful disobedience to Christ has a false or “dead” faith and is not saved. James is making a contrast between two different types of faith—truth faith that saves and false faith that is dead.
There are simply too many verses that teach that one is not saved by works for any Christian to believe otherwise. Titus 3:4–5 is one of many such passages: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Good works do not contribute to salvation, but they will always be characteristic of one who has been born again. Good works are not the cause of salvation; they are the evidence of it.
While salvation by works might be the predominantly held viewpoint, it is not an accurate one biblically. The Bible contains abundant evidence of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8–9).
Recommended Resource: Faith Alone, The Doctrine of Justification: What the Reformers Taught...and Why It Still Matters by Thomas Schreiner
Questions.org?

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 19-20/17
Hezbollah's Weaponry: A Threat To Lebanon & To The Peace and stability in the Middle East/Elias Bejjani/November 19/17
Aoun & Protection/Roger Bejjani/Face Book/November 19/17
Lebanon is also confronting its fate/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/November 19/17/
IDF chief’s Saudi interview: A gesture from Riyadh/Alex Fishman/Ynetnews/November 19/17
Arab League criticizes Iran, offers little action/Associated Press/Ynetnews/November 19/17
Europe: Destroyed by the West's Indifference/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/November 19/17
The Usual Suspects and a New Method/Amir Taheri/Gatestone Institute/November 19/17
Germany, Austria: Imams Warn Muslims Not to Integrate/Stefan Frank/Gatestone Institute/November 19/17
The extreme right: From the margins to the masses/Baria Alamuddin/Arabnews/November 20/2017

Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on November 19-20/17
Hezbollah's Weaponry: A Threat To Lebanon & To The Peace and stability in the Middle East
Aoun & Protection
Arab League Delivers Harsh Criticism of Iran, Little Action
Arab states stand united against ‘unacceptable Iranian aggression’
Lebanon Voices Reservations on Arab League Statement Calling Hizbullah 'Terrorist'
Saudi Slams Hizbullah as Bahrain Says Group is 'Iran's Longest Arm in Region'
Netanyahu to Meet Macron on Lebanon Crisis
Hizbullah Official Hails Aoun, Expects 'a 2nd Round' of Saudi Escalation
France Sees 'Negative' Foreign Sways in Lebanon
Trump, Macron Agree on 'Need to Counter Hizbullah, Iran Activities'
Ain el-Hilweh Tense after Palestinian Official Assassinated
Bassil to Skip Arab League Meeting on Iran
Hariri Confirms Return to Beirut as Paris Vows to Work for 'Lebanon Stability'
Lebanon’s Saad Hariri to visit Egypt on Tuesday
Russia ‘invariably’ supports sovereignty of Lebanon
Lebanon is also confronting its fate
IDF chief’s Saudi interview: A gesture from Riyadh
Arab League criticizes Iran, offers little action/Associated

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 19-20/17
Advisor to Iranian general Qassem Suleimani killed in eastern Syria
Iran, Russia and Turkey diplomats meet ahead of Syria summit
Arab coalition forms committee to manage requests of those affected in Yemen
Mugabe ends TV speech without announcing resignation
Mugabe ends TV speech without announcing resignation
Stampede near Morocco’s Essaouira kills at least 15
Israeli Jews hold rare prayers at West Bank holy site
Spain's Top Prosecutor Dies in Argentina
Saleh’s party slams Houthi-affiliated groups, says they are ‘mercenaries’
Yemeni army moving toward Arhab under air-cover from coalition

Latest Lebanese Related News published on November 19-20/17
Hezbollah's Weaponry: A Threat To Lebanon & To The Peace and stability in the Middle East
Elias Bejjani/November 19/17
Hezbollah's weaponry in Lebanon is an Iranian tool of crime, Mafiosi, terrorism and occupation. Those Lebanese who carry it are mercenaries, and all others who support, advocate and cover its illegitimate status are either opportunists, hypocrites and Dhimmitude, or naive and cowards. This matter is so obvious even to the blind and children..

Aoun & Protection
Roger Bejjani/Face Book/November 19/17
The last one who should worry about Hariri's children is Aoun and his herd of morons.
Aoun left his daughters to an uncertain fate and fled to hide at the French Embassy.
Hariri's children are at their home in Riyadh where they have been schooled for many years now. Furthermore, there is no history of Saudi Arabia taking hostages; whereas Hezbollah and Iran are specialists in kidnapping

 Arab League Delivers Harsh Criticism of Iran, Little Action
Associated Press/Naharnet/November 19/17/ In a resolution long on criticism but short on concrete steps, Arab foreign ministers who met in Cairo Sunday delivered a tirade of criticism against Iran and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah, saying Tehran was destabilizing the region. They said they planned to "brief" the U.N. Security Council on Iran's "destabilizing" policies in the region, particularly its support for Shiite rebels in Yemen, with a view to submit at a later stage an anti-Iran Arab resolution.In what is perhaps the only concrete measure, the ministers said Arab telecommunications satellites would ban Iranian-financed television stations for what they said was their fomenting of sectarian and ethnic tensions and because they posed a threat to Arab security. It gave no details. "We are not declaring war on Iran at this stage," Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said. "We have not taken a decision to ask the Security Council to meet, but we are just briefing the council and maybe the next stage would be for us to meet and call for a Security Council meeting and submit a draft Arab resolution (against Iran)."Lebanon, where Hizbullah is a key member of a coalition government, and Iraq, a majority Shiite nation bound by close political and religious ties to Iran, stated their reservations about the harsher parts of the resolution, including one that branded Hizbullah a "terrorist" organization. The draft also blamed the Shiite group of supporting "terrorist groups" across the region and supplying them with weapons, including "ballistic missiles."
Both Iraq and Lebanon were represented at the meeting by senior diplomats, not their foreign ministers. The Lebanese envoy to the Arab League, Antoine Azzam, made carefully weighed comments at the meeting that reflected Lebanon's delicate political balance.While not mentioning Iran by name, he said Lebanon condemned all attacks against Arab nations, but blamed exploitable inter-Arab divisions that allowed international and regional powers to promote their interests. Saudi Arabia, a Sunni powerhouse, has significantly sharpened its anti-Iran rhetoric since its forces on Nov. 4 intercepted near its capital, Riyadh, a ballistic missile fired by Shiite rebels in Yemen who are allied with the Iranians. The Saudis said the missile was Iranian-made and declared the attack an act of war by the Iranians. Iran denies arming the Yemeni rebels, known as the Huthis, who say they locally produced the missile
Saudi Arabia, through its foreign minister, asked fellow Arab nations to take a "serious and honest" stand against Iranian "aggression" and "meddling" in the internal affairs of Arab countries.
Addressing the Arab foreign ministers' meeting, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said: "Showing leniency toward Iran will not leave any Arab capital safe from those ballistic missiles.""We are obliged today to take a serious and honest stand... to counter these belligerent policies," he added.
He said his country was targeted by a total of 80 ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Shiite rebels since the kingdom in 2015 formed and led a coalition to fight them alongside forces loyal to the internationally recognized government there. Saudi Arabia, added al-Jubeir, will not stand idly by in the face of Iran's "blatant aggression." The ministers, according to the final statement, said they supported any action to be taken by Saudi Arabia to protect its national security, within the boundaries of international legitimacy. Speaking before al-Jubeir at the 20-minute session broadcast live, Abul Gheit, the Arab league chief, was just as critical of Iran as the Saudi minister. Alluding to the Nov. 4 attack, he said it delivered a message to Arab nations that their capitals were within the range of Iranian missiles. "We say it in clear terms that Iranian threats have exceeded all boundaries and are pushing the region toward the abyss ... (Iran's) missile program poses a danger to the region," said Abul Gheit. Bahrain's foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, urged strong action by the Arab League against Iran. In the absence of such support, he said, his country would have no choice but to rely on the protection of its Western allies, citing the U.S. 5th Fleet headquartered in Bahrain and naval ships patrolling the Persian gulf.

Arab states stand united against ‘unacceptable Iranian aggression’
Arabnews/November 20/17
CAIRO: Arab states stood united on Sunday against Iranian aggression in the region, and Saudi Arabia warned that it would not stand idly by in the face of threats to its national security. “We are obliged today to take a serious and honest stand … to counter these belligerent policies so that we can protect our security,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo. The ministers expressed their full solidarity with Saudi Arabia and support for any measures it may take to counter Iranian threats, warned Iran to stop interfering in the internal affairs of their countries and end its support for Hezbollah and Houthi militias, and called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss Iranian aggression. Saudi Arabia asked for Tuesday’s meeting, with the support of the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait, after the launch on Nov. 4 of an Iranian-supplied missile aimed at Riyadh from Houthi militia-held territory in Yemen. Al-Jubeir said Iran continued to threaten the security of Arab states, violating all international principles. Iranian missiles did not respect sacred Muslim sites in Makkah, he said, and the missile that targeted Riyadh reflected Iranian aggression against the Kingdom and illustrated the “grave dangers in the region due to Iranian interference.”
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the missile that targeted Riyadh was “an Iranian message of aggression which is unacceptable in form and substance.” He said: “The Iranian missile program poses a dangerous threat to the region and its security. Iranian threats have crossed a line, and they are pushing the region to the brink. Iran is adopting a sectarian strategy to fuel regional conflicts and is seeking to make Yemen a thorn in the side of Saudi Arabia and the Arab world.”The secretary-general urged Tehran to “review its policies toward the region and stop its interference.”
Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa said Lebanon was under the “total control” of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. “Iran’s biggest arm in the region at the moment is the terrorist Hezbollah arm,” Sheikh Khalid said, and there was dangerous Iranian escalation in the region.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil did not attend Sunday’s meeting. He was replaced by Lebanon’s delegate to the Arab League, Antoine Azzam. Lebanese sources said there was intense pressure on the League to avoid explicit references to Hezbollah in statements after the meeting, but the efforts failed. Bassil is the son-in-law of Lebanese President Michele Aoun, who is an ally of Hezbollah. Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, who is known for his support of Iranian-backed militias such as Hezbollah, was also absent from the meeting; the Undersecretary at Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nizar Khair Allah, attended instead. Diplomatic sources said the General Secretariat of the Arab League has prepared a dossier of violations, interference and provocative statements by Iran and its officials, along with memorandums from member states, mainly Saudi Arabia, detailing Iranian interference targeting regional stability. Arab affairs expert Dr. Moutaz Salama, of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said Sunday’s meeting was part of a long-term Saudi strategy which will develop gradually to contain Iran’s destructive role in the region. Rallying Arab diplomatic efforts against Iranian interference was an essential step to move the issue on to the international stage, he said.Arab diplomatic sources said that there was an agreement between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain to confront Iranian regional aggression decisively. 

Lebanon Voices Reservations on Arab League Statement Calling Hizbullah 'Terrorist'
Naharnet/November 19/17/The closing statement of an emergency Arab League meeting labeled Hizbullah as “terrorist” on Sunday, which prompted Lebanon’s representative to voice reservations over certain clauses. The statement accused Hizbullah of “training terrorist groups” in Bahrain, “supporting terrorist groups” in Saudi Arabia, and “supporting terror and terrorist groups in Arab countries with advanced weapons and ballistic missiles.” And describing Hizbullah as a “partner in the Lebanese government,” the statement also accused the group of “spreading extremism and sectarianism” and “interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.”Iraq also voiced reservations over a clause condemning Iran’s role in the region and another labeling Hizbullah as “terrorist.”LBCI television said Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil -- who skipped the meeting -- held phone talks with more than 10 Arab foreign ministers and managed to omit from the statement a clause holding “the Lebanese republic” responsible for “Hizbullah’s terrorist acts.”The Lebanese envoy to the meeting, Antoine Azzam, made carefully weighed comments at the talks. While not mentioning Iran by name, he said Lebanon condemned all attacks against Arab nations, but blamed exploitable inter-Arab divisions that allowed international and regional powers to promote their interests. Speaking earlier at the meeting, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister warned that the kingdom would not stand idly by in the face of Iranian "aggression", as Bahrain said Iran-backed Hizbullah was "in total control" of Lebanon. The Arab League meeting comes as tensions soar between regional arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, mainly over Yemen and Lebanon.

Saudi Slams Hizbullah as Bahrain Says Group is 'Iran's Longest Arm in Region'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 19/17/Saudi Arabia on Sunday renewed its criticism of Hizbullah as Bahrain described the Lebanese Iran-backed group as Tehran’s “longest arm in the region.”The remarks were voiced during an emergency meeting for Arab foreign ministers in Cairo requested by Riyadh. “Iran created agents in the region, such as the Huthi and Hizbullah militias, in total disregard for all international principles,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told the meeting, stressing that Riyadh “will not stand idly by in the face of Iran’s aggression.”Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa meanwhile said that “Iran has several arms in the region and Hizbullah is its longest arm.”"The Lebanese Republic, in spite of our relations with it as a brotherly Arab nation... is under the total control of this terrorist party," the minister added. The minister said that Hizbullah "does not just carry out operations inside the borders of (Lebanon), it also crosses its borders to all of our nations," making it "a threat to Arab national security." He called on countries such as Lebanon "where Hizbullah is a partner in government to carry their responsibility." The meeting comes amid skyrocketing Saudi-Iranian tensions in the region over Yemen and Lebanon.

Netanyahu to Meet Macron on Lebanon Crisis
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 19/17/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in early December for talks expected to include developments in Lebanon, Netanyahu's office said on Sunday. In a phone call on Sunday, "President Macron updated Prime Minister Netanyahu with the measures he is taking in the crisis in Lebanon," the office said in a Hebrew-language statement."The two leaders decided to speak again in the coming days and to meet in Paris at the beginning of next month." Netanyahu last visited the Elysee in July.
On November 4, Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his shock resignation while in Saudi Arabia, citing what he called Iran's "grip" on Lebanon and threats to his life. In a speech broadcast by the Al-Arabiya news network, he also accused Tehran of "creating a state within the state" and blasted its Lebanese ally Hizbullah. He said Hizbullah was "Iran's arm not just in Lebanon but in other Arab countries too."Iran rejected what it said were "unfounded accusations." On Sunday, Netanyahu and Macron also spoke about the nuclear deal with Iran, its "attempts to set up bases in Syria and its activities in the region," the statement said. It said Macron instigated the 30-minute phone call. The French president has also telephoned his counterparts in the United States and Egypt, Donald Trump and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss "the situation in the Middle East." Hariri flew from Riyadh to Paris on Friday for talks with Macron, who is attempting to help broker a solution to a political crisis that has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy. France, which held mandate power over Lebanon for the first half of the 20th century, plans to bring together international support for Lebanon, depending on how the situation develops. Netanyahu has described Hariri's resignation and his comments on Hizbullah as an "alarm call" to the world about Iran's ambitions. Israel, which shares a border with Lebanon, accuses Hizbullah of having long held the reins of power in Lebanon and of seeking to strengthen its role in neighboring Syria, where it is allied to President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war.

Hizbullah Official Hails Aoun, Expects 'a 2nd Round' of Saudi Escalation
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 19/17/Naharnet/November 19/17/A senior Hizbullah official stressed Sunday that “Saudi Arabia has failed to plunge Lebanon into deterioration, tension, conflicts and strife after Lebanese officials -- topped by the president, the parliament and most political forces -- showed a high level of responsibility towards Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.” “This major patriotic, heroic and brave stance has reversed and thwarted the Saudi plan -- although in its first round,” Hizbullah politburo chief Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed said. “We will face another round with Prime Minister (Saad) Hariri’s departure from Saudi Arabia to France and the developments that will follow,” al-Sayyed added, wondering about “Saudi Arabia’s next plan to re-trigger the crisis.” “Hizbullah has information but it is not obliged to rush things and reveal them,” the Hizbullah official went on to say.
He said his group is “relaxed, unworried and not afraid of anything.”“But if we should worry, we worry for Lebanon and the Lebanese when a foreign state practices these maneuvers against Lebanon and takes it from stability to instability,” al-Sayyed stated. Hailing President Michel Aoun’s stances during the crisis that followed Hariri’s sudden resignation from the Saudi capital, the Hizbullah official said: “Had the president been someone else, Lebanon would have been in another place.” “The world has acknowledged the Lebanese president’s strong, courageous and firm stance and his true keenness on Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence, stability and security. This is a bright hallmark in Lebanon’s political history,” al-Sayyed went on to say.

France Sees 'Negative' Foreign Sways in Lebanon
Associated Press/Naharnet/November 19/17/The French presidency has said that it is essential to protect Lebanon from "negative" foreign influences because the country needs a "strong state."A high official in French President Emmanuel Macron's office said that France aims to see Lebanon "regain its stability."
The official didn't name any specific foreign countries allegedly interfering in Lebanon's internal affairs but said Lebanon should be protected from the "dangers that regional crises can pose to it."The official said France supports Lebanon's policy of "decoupling" itself from regional crises. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with French presidential policy, was speaking after Prime Minister Saad Hariri met Macron at the French presidential palace and said he'll return to Lebanon in the coming days.

Trump, Macron Agree on 'Need to Counter Hizbullah, Iran Activities'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 19/17/French President Emmanuel Macron has telephoned his counterparts in the U.S. and Egypt, Donald Trump and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss "the situation in the Middle East." According to a White House statement issued overnight, Macron and Trump "agreed on the need to work with allies to counter Hizbullah's and Iran's destabilizing activities in the region."Macron had told reporters Friday that France wanted "dialogue" with Iran and aimed to "build peace… not to choose one side over another."

Ain el-Hilweh Tense after Palestinian Official Assassinated
Naharnet/November 19/17/A state of tension was engulfing the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon on Sunday afternoon, after a Palestinian official was gunned down. “A masked individual opened fire at Palestinian Liberation Front member Mahmoud Qassem Hjeir at the vegetable market’s intersection in the Ain el-Hilweh camp,” state-run National News Agency reported. “Hjeir died immediately after receiving a gunshot to the head,” the agency added. It later said that gunfire was behind heard in the camp in the wake of the assassination, sparking panic in the vegetable market area and al-Fawqani street. “A number of shops have meanwhile closed in anticipation of a possible deterioration,” NNA added.

Bassil to Skip Arab League Meeting on Iran
Naharnet/November 19/17/Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil will not attend an extraordinary Arab League meeting on Sunday called by Saudi Arabia to discuss "violations" committed by Iran, a ministry source told the AFP news agency. Arab foreign ministers will gather in Cairo on Sunday at the request of Riyadh, whose simmering regional rivalry with Tehran has escalated in recent weeks. But Lebanon's top diplomat Bassil will not be among them, a foreign ministry source said. "This morning, a decision was taken that Lebanon would be presented by Antoine Azzam, the permanent representative to the Arab League," the source said. "Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil will not be present."For more than a decade, Lebanon's political class has been largely split between Iran-backed Hizbullah and its allies, and a Saudi-supported coalition led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri.Hariri stepped down from his post on November 4 in a televised address from Riyadh, sparking fears Lebanon would be caught up in the spiralling tensions between Riyadh and Tehran. Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Iran, the predominant Shiite power, are long-standing rivals based as much in geostrategic interests as religious differences. According to a memo seen last week by AFP, the Saudi request for an Arab League meeting was based on a missile it says its air defenses intercepted near Riyadh after being fired from Yemen on November 4. A Saudi-led coalition has been battling Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen, and it has accused the Iran-backed rebels of firing the missile. Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later accused Iran of "direct military aggression" against the kingdom by supplying the rebels with ballistic missiles.

Hariri Confirms Return to Beirut as Paris Vows to Work for 'Lebanon Stability'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 19/17/Prime Minister Saad Hariri said he will return to Lebanon for Wednesday's Independence Day celebrations and explain his situation, after his shock resignation announcement in Saudi Arabia sparked political turmoil. Speaking after talks in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is seeking to broker a way out of the crisis, Hariri said he would "make known my position" once back in Beirut. "As you know I have resigned, and we will discuss that in Lebanon," he told reporters, saying he needed to meet with President Michel Aoun before taking further steps. The news follows two weeks of deep uncertainty after Hariri's surprise announcement to step down on November 4.His failure to return to Lebanon since sparked rumoulrs that he was being held in Riyadh against his will, which both he and Saudi officials denied. "To say that I am held up in Saudi Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie," he said in a Twitter post just before flying to Paris on Friday night. Hariri's wife and eldest son Houssam joined him for lunch with Macron at the Elysee Palace, but their two younger children, who live in Saudi Arabia, have remained there "for their school exams," a source close to the premier said. After the meeting, Macron's office said the president will "continue to take all necessary initiatives for Lebanon's stability." "We are helping to ease tensions in the region," the Elysee Palace added. Hariri's mysterious decision to step down -- which president Aoun has refused to accept while Hariri remains abroad -- has raised fears over Lebanon's fragile democracy. Hariri's camp has sought to allay the concerns, with a source saying the premier had a "fruitful and constructive" meeting with the powerful Saudi crown prince.
Hariri's resignation was widely seen as an escalation of the battle for influence between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, which back opposing sides in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
His attempt to step down also coincides with a purge of more than 200 Saudi princes, ministers and businessmen.
Start of a solution'
France's intervention was the latest in a string of European efforts to defuse tensions over Lebanon, where divisions between Hariri's Sunni bloc and Shiite Hizbullah have long been a focal point in a broader struggle between Riyadh and Tehran. Paris, which held mandate power over Lebanon for the first half of the 20th century, plans to bring together international support for Lebanon, depending on how the situation develops. The French president has also telephoned his counterparts in the U.S. and Egypt, Donald Trump and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss "the situation in the Middle East." He and Trump "agreed on the need to work with allies to counter Hizbullah's and Iran's destabilizing activities in the region," according to a White House statement Saturday. However, Macron told reporters Friday that France wanted "dialogue" with Iran and aimed to "build peace… not to choose one side over another." Ahead of Hariri's departure, Aoun welcomed the trip to Paris, expressing hope that it was the "start of a solution.""If Mr Hariri speaks from France, I would consider that he speaks freely," Aoun said. "But his resignation must be presented in Lebanon, and he will have to remain there until the formation of the new government."

Lebanon’s Saad Hariri to visit Egypt on Tuesday
Reuters/November 19/17/Saad al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as Lebanese prime minister from Saudi Arabia on Nov. 4, will visit Egypt on Tuesday, Hariri's office said on Sunday. Hariri has since Saturday been in Paris, where he met French President Emmanuel Macron, and has said he will return to Lebanon by Wednesday for its Independence Day celebrations. Lebanese President Michel Aoun has said he will not accept Hariri’s resignation until it is delivered in person and all sides in Beirut have called for his speedy return. Hariri criticized Iran and its ally Hezbollah, a heavily armed grouping that is part of the Lebanese government, in his resignation statement, and said he feared assassination. Apart from a brief trip to Abu Dhabi, he remained in Saudi Arabia until he flew to France. On Friday, Hariri tweeted that his presence there was for “consultations on the future of the situation in Lebanon and its relations with the surrounding Arab region”. On Sunday, Arab League foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Cairo, requested by Saudi Arabia, to discuss ways to confront Iran and Hezbollah over their role in the region.

Russia ‘invariably’ supports sovereignty of Lebanon
Middle East Monitor/Moscow has “invariably” supported the sovereignty of Lebanon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday. “Russia invariably supports the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Lebanon. We are interested in ensuring that Lebanon is safe, effectively functioning with the participation of all branches of government and with all state structures,” Lavrov said. Lavrov’s remarks came during a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Gebran Bassil in Moscow, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement. He said the Lebanese people can solve all their problems without external interference.“I have no doubt that even at this stage the Lebanese will be able to agree on a solution that would meet the highest interests of maintaining stability, civil peace and security in Lebanon and the region as a whole,” Lavrov added. On Nov. 4, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri abruptly announced his resignation from the Lebanese premiership in a televised address delivered from Saudi Arabia. Almost two weeks later, he has yet to return to Lebanon from Riyadh, which had long been considered his chief political patron. French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday announced that he will receive Hariri in Paris on Saturday. Meanwhile, Lebanese President Michel Aoun claims Hariri was being held against his will in Riyadh and has refused to accept his resignation until he returns to Beirut. On Wednesday, Hariri — facing mounting pressure in Lebanon due to his prolonged absence — said he was “fine”, stressing that he would soon return home.

Lebanon is also confronting its fate
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/November 19/17/
Lebanon’s influence exceeds population and geography standards although it is a very small country (Kuwait’s area is almost two times more than Lebanon’s). Due to its many crises and problems, its leaders and political groups as well as regional and international powers could not get it out of the path of crises in the region.An example is the escalation we’ve seen by some government officials, like the foreign minister and the president himself, when dealing with Saad Hariri’s recent resignation as prime minister. It seems quite strange that those defending him are his enemies and political rivals. However, they are probably pushed to do so by a party that has disagreements with Saudi Arabia, like the Qatari or Iranian government. Iran intends to fully control Lebanon after it imposed its presence by force in Syria.
Lebanon has always been a regional arena where powers fought. Arab powers have previously confronted one another in Lebanon. Late Egyptian President Gamal Abdelnasser had to use Lebanon after he realized that it was the center that will defy his project against his rivals in Syria and the Gulf. Iran’s Khomeini used Lebanon against the US by resorting to explosions and assassinations. Syria was the country that exploited Lebanon the most for its activities. Late President Hafez al-Assad and current President Bashar al-Assad justified their interference in Lebanon and domination despite the political cost they endured and said they believed that their small neighbor, i.e. Lebanon, is the source of threat on Syria where international conspiracies are planned and secret operations are launched against them.
A vital role in Yemen
The biggest example of Lebanon as an arena for conflicts is that it’s playing a vital role in Yemen’s wars. The Iranians are using it to manage their security, military and propaganda operations. I’ve mentioned some details on the matter in my previous article. Beirut is the headquarters of international media outlets, and it’s where news and propaganda is marketed. Since Lebanon is under Hezbollah’s control, almost all of the Houthis’ non-military activities are managed from Lebanon and not from Yemen. These activities include political, legal and media campaigns against Saudi Arabia and the coalition and accusations that they’ve caused famine and cholera and targeted civilians. Beirut was also a hideout for politicians who rebelled against Maliki and a center of activities opposing his government. It also turned out that hundreds of millions of dollars went to Hezbollah amid circumstances that remain unclear. Lebanon was an important arena for the Syrian war and for intelligence, recruitment and propaganda-related activities. Most conflicts look for a suitable environment and proper circumstances that are available in Lebanon which is an open country with a weak central authority and whose people have different affiliations.
Regional countries must thus defend their presence and deal with the Lebanese reality. There are allies and rivals and there are no permanent alliances regardless of the sectarian, ideological or familial ties. Saudi Arabia’s major and chronic problem in Lebanon is that Iran as represented by Hezbollah and this is a problem for most of the region’s countries and the world. Riyadh has focused on an important message which is that Lebanon cannot be left as a prey for Hezbollah. The Lebanese people and Arabs who underestimate Hezbollah’s project may not realize that Hezbollah is capable is completely seizing the Lebanese state’s capabilities and authorities and cancelling all its peculiar characteristics in terms of freedoms, plurality and flexibility. Hezbollah will cancel these independent groups, whether Christian or Sunni, if it resumes with its project to transform Lebanon into an annexation of Iran. These new challenges are the responsibility of the Lebanese people themselves who will find regional and international support if they unite against Hezbollah or against foreign domination plans, in general – however, if they don’t, they will be the first to lose in the new formula of Iran’s domination over Iraq and Syria.

IDF chief’s Saudi interview: A gesture from Riyadh
Alex Fishman/Ynetnews/November 19/17
Eisenkot interview featured in Saudi newspaper
Analysis: The rare and unusual interview Gadi Eisenkot gave a Saudi news website was part of an ongoing process to prepare the Saudi public opinion for bringing the secret relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia out into the open by stressing the interests shared by the two countries, including security cooperation.
The rare and unusual interview the Israeli chief of staff gave a Saudi media outlet is not an Israeli gesture. It’s a Saudi gesture as part of an ongoing process to prepare the Saudi public opinion for bringing the secret relations between the two countries out in the open.
Israel has had an old dream to hold a public dialogue with the Saudis as part of a pro-American regional coalition against the Shiites’ growing strength. The Saudis weren’t interested in making this public, but now they have taken a small step with major repercussions: IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, who isn’t a politician but is a figure of national stature in Israel, is speaking directly to the Saudi public about the interests shared by the two countries, including security cooperation. This text can’t be random. It was coordinated between Israel and Saudi Arabia, word for word. Hosting an Israeli chief of staff in a Saudi media outlet isn’t just sticking a finger in the Palestinians' eyes, it’s mainly giving the Iranians, the Syrians and Hezbollah the finger. It’s another step in the Saudi royal family’s political activism, just like the affair which led to Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri’s resignation on Saudi soil.
What’s hiding behind this interview is likely certain movement in the American Mideast peace plan, which has been concocted for months by US President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoys, Jason Greenblatt and Jared Kushner. In March, Trump will have to decide whether to adopt the plan and got for it with all his might, or to give up after realizing there is no chance of implementing it. Several months ago, Israel and Saudi Arabia reached a certain agreement—brokered by the United States—on trust-building measures between the two countries. The Saudis asked the Israelis for two declarative moves and two practical moves: On the declarative level, they asked the Israeli government to declare that it accepts the two-states-for-two-people idea. As far as the Saudis are concerned, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's old declaration on this issue is insufficient. They further demanded that the Israeli government would declare its acceptance of the Saudi peace plan, with the required amendments. That didn’t happen.
On the practical level, Israel was asked to make a gesture towards the Palestinians and hand over a tiny part of Areas B and C. That didn’t happen either. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman couldn’t even get the government to approve the whitewashing of illegal buildings around Qalqilya. The Saudis’ second practical request—building only within the settlement blocs—is actually being maintained by Israel. At the same time, the Saudis were supposed to carry out three practical moves: Open their airspace to Israeli civil flights, open communication lines between Israel and Saudi Arabia and allow a few Israeli businesspeople to work with Saudi Arabia. That hasn’t happened yet either. Nevertheless, there are signs that the countries are moving closer together: Quite a few commentaries published in the Saudi press recently reflect the government’s stance that “even if we don’t like Israel, it doesn’t mean we don’t have shared interests.” This is the way to prepare the public opinion, just like the Israeli chief of staff’s interview to a Saudi news website. Now we must wait and see whether these signs are indeed the harbingers of progress, of a breakthrough. The Americans are expecting a dramatic Israeli move, which Israel is unable to perform at this time due to the current coalition structure. The American president’s decision whether to put any effort into a Saudi-Israeli agreement depends, therefore, on Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision to change the composition of his coalition—or to call elections.

Arab League criticizes Iran, offers little action
Saudi Arabia and other Arab foreign ministers criticize Iran and its Lebanese Shi‘ite ally Hezbollah at an emergency meeting in Cairo, but fall short of taking any meaningful action against them.
Associated Press/Ynetnews/November 19/17
In a resolution long on criticism but short on concrete steps, Arab foreign ministers who met in Cairo Sunday delivered a tirade of criticism against Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, saying Tehran was destabilizing the region.  They said they planned to "brief" the UN Security Council on Iran's destabilizing policies in the region, particularly its support for Shiite rebels in Yemen, with a view to submit at a later stage an anti-Iran Arab resolution. In what is perhaps the only concrete measure, the ministers said Arab telecommunications satellites would ban Iranian-financed television stations for what they said was their fomenting of sectarian and ethnic tensions and because they posed a threat to Arab security. It gave no details. "We are not declaring war on Iran at this stage," Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul-Gheit said. "We have not taken a decision to ask the Security Council to meet, but we are just briefing the council and maybe the next stage would be for us to meet and call for a Security Council meeting and submit a draft Arab resolution (against Iran)." Lebanon, where Hezbollah is a key member of a coalition government, and Iraq, a majority Shiite nation bound by close political and religious ties to Iran, stated their reservations about the harsher parts of the resolution, including one that branded Hezbollah a "terrorist" organization. The draft also blamed the Shiite group of supporting "terrorist groups" across the region and supplying them with weapons, including ballistic missiles.
Both Iraq and Lebanon were represented at the meeting by senior diplomats, not their foreign ministers.
The Lebanese envoy to the Arab League, Antoine Azzam, made carefully weighed comments at the meeting that reflected his country's delicate religious and ethnic balance. While not mentioning Iran by name, he said Lebanon condemned all attacks against Arab nations, but blamed exploitable inter-Arab divisions that allowed international and regional powers to promote their interests. Saudi Arabia, a Sunni powerhouse, has significantly sharpened its anti-Iran rhetoric since its forces on Nov. 4 intercepted near its capital, Riyadh, a ballistic missile fired by Shiite rebels in Yemen who are allied with the Iranians. The Saudis said the missile was Iranian-made and declared the attack an act of war by the Iranians.
Iran denies arming the Yemeni rebels, known as the Houthis, who say they locally produced the missile. Saudi Arabia, through its foreign minister, asked fellow Arab nations to take a "serious and honest" stand against Iranian "aggression" and "meddling" in the internal affairs of Arab countries.
Addressing the Arab foreign ministers' meeting, Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said: "Showing leniency toward Iran will not leave any Arab capital safe from those ballistic missiles."  "We are obliged today to take a serious and honest stand... to counter these belligerent policies," he added.
He said his country was targeted by a total of 80 ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Shiite rebels since the kingdom in 2015 formed and led a coalition to fight them alongside forces loyal to the internationally recognized government there. Saudi Arabia, added Al-Jubeir, will not stand idly by in the face of Iran's "blatant aggression."  The ministers, according to the final statement, said they supported any action to be taken by Saudi Arabia to protect its national security, within the boundaries of international legitimacy. Speaking before Al-Jubeir at the 20-minute session broadcast live, Aboul-Gheit, the Arab league chief, was just as critical of Iran as the Saudi minister. Alluding to the Nov. 4 attack, he said it delivered a message to Arab nations that their capitals were within the range of Iranian missiles. "We say it in clear terms that Iranian threats have exceeded all boundaries and are pushing the region toward the abyss ... (Iran's) missile program poses a danger to the region," said Aboul-Gheit. Bahrain's foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, urged strong action by the Arab League against Iran. In the absence of such support, he said, his country would have no choice but to rely on the protection of its Western allies, citing the US 5th Fleet headquartered in Bahrain and naval ships patrolling the Persian gulf.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 19-20/17
Arab League: Iran’s regional threats have crossed all limits
Al Arabiya English/November 19/ 2017/The Secretary-General of the Arab League has said that Iran seeks to be a “dangerous dagger” in the region, especially toward Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries. Ahmed Aboul Gheit also confirmed a recent missile launched by Houthi militias targeting Saudi Arabia was Iranian-made. “Ballistic missiles fired at Saudi Arabia have amounted to 76 rockets, all Iranian-made, and therefore we affirm our full solidarity with Saudi Arabia in everything it takes to protect its national security,” he said during the emergency meeting held on Sunday. The Arab League is currently holding an extraordinary meeting at the request of Saudi Arabia to discuss “violations” committed by Iran in the region, according to a memorandum. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates supported the Saudi request, which was also approved by Djibouti, the current chair of the pan-Arab bloc.
Tensions have been rising between Saudi Arabia and Iran, including over League members Qatar and Lebanon. According to a memo, the Saudi request was based on a missile the kingdom says its air defenses intercepted near Riyadh after being fired from Yemen on November 4. In its request for the meeting of Arab foreign ministers, Saudi Arabia referred to those two incidents “in addition to the violations committed by Iran in the Arab region, which undermines security and peace, not only in the Arab region, but around the globe,” according to the memo.

Advisor to Iranian general Qassem Suleimani killed in eastern Syria
Al Arabiya/November 19/17/Khairallah Samadi, a consultant of Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, was killed after he was injured by a mortar splinter during battles between Syrian regime forces and ISIS in Albu Kamal, east of Syria, Iranian media outlets reported. Samadi was a retired member of Ansar al-Mahdi Brigade in Zanjan, north of Iran, and he participated in the Iranian-Iraqi war between 1980 and 1988, the Iranian reports added.

Iran, Russia and Turkey diplomats meet ahead of Syria summit
AFP, Istanbul/November 19/17/Top diplomats from Iran, Russia and Turkey met on Sunday morning in Antalya to discuss the civil war in Syria ahead of a three-way summit in the Russian city of Sochi on Wednesday. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran and in the southern Turkish city for the closed-door meeting, an official said. He declined to provide further details on the meeting, which comes as violence is diminishing in Syria’s six-year war although a political solution still seems out of reach.
Astana peace talks
Moscow, Tehran and Ankara are sponsoring the so-called Astana peace talks, named for the Kazakh capital where they are regularly held, which calls for the creation of “de-escalation” zones in key areas of Syria. Although Turkey has supported rebels looking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad’s government, it has muted its critiques of the Syrian regime, which is backed by Russia and Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani for the Sochi summit, where talks on reducing violence and ensuring humanitarian aid are on the agenda. According to the Anadolu news agency, Putin and Erdogan have already met five times this year and spoken by telephone 13 times. Erdogan last met Putin for talks in Sochi on November 13, agreeing on the need to boost elements for a lasting settlement.

Arab coalition forms committee to manage requests of those affected in Yemen
Al Arabiya English/November 19/2017/The Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) of the Arab Coalition announced that a committee was formed upon a royal order to manage the requests of those affected in Yemen. JIAT said that the Houthis chose their headquarters to be near the hospitals. The team added in a press conference in Riyadh that the bombing operations are based upon intelligence information, which is aligned with the international and humanitarian laws. The team confirmed that the Arab alliance targeted a camp in Ibb and not a residential building. The team presented pictures refuting allegations that the coalition is bombing residential buildings. JIAT clarified that the coalition raids targeted ballistic missile launchers used by the Houthis. The assessment team also said that the results confirmed the coalition attacks "for legitimate military purposes." The team said the Zaidi security department was bombed after being taken over by the Houthis.The team confirmed that the Houthis had taken control of the Salah Palace museum and used it for military purposes.

Mugabe ends TV speech without announcing resignation
Reuters/November 19/17/Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe defied expectations he would resign on Sunday, pledging to preside over a ZANU-PF congress next month even though the ruling party had removed him as its leader hours earlier. ZANU-PF had given the 93-year-old less than 24 hours to quit as head of state or face impeachment, an attempt to secure a peaceful end to his tenure after a de facto coup. Mugabe said in a address on state television that he acknowledged criticism against him from ZANU-PF, the military and the public, but did not comment on the possibility of standing down.

Stampede near Morocco’s Essaouira kills at least 15
AFP/November 19/17/At least 15 people were killed and five injured Sunday in a crush as food aid was distributed near the coastal tourist town of Essaouira in western Morocco, officials said. The accident happened in the town of Sidi Boulaalam, around 60 kilometres from Essaouira, the interior ministry said in a statement. Local media said a “benefactor” had organized the food distribution at a stall in the rural town, which was rapidly “submerged in the crowd” of 800 people, mostly women. An investigation has begun to “determine the circumstances of the incident” and establish who was responsible, the Moroccan authorities said. The interior ministry said King Mohammed VI had issued orders to “provide the necessary help and support to the families of the victims and the injured”. He also decided to “personally cover the costs of victims’ funerals and burials, and the care of the injured,” it said.

Israeli Jews hold rare prayers at West Bank holy site
AFP, Halhul, Palestinian Territories/November 19/17/Hundreds of Israeli Jews held a rare prayers session by a mosque in a Palestinian village on the occupied West Bank early Sunday, an AFP photographer said.The Israeli army accompanied buses carrying over 300 ultra-Orthodox men, mostly from the Breslov Hassidic sect, to Younis mosque in Halhul, north of Hebron, where according to Jewish tradition biblical prophets Gad and Nathan are buried. One worshipper told AFP it was the first time in 18 years that Jews were allowed to pray at the site, deep in a Palestinian-controlled area. A military spokeswoman said the army and police forces accompanying the worshippers were attacked by Palestinians hurling “rocks and firebombs”, with the forces responding with riot dispersal means to “prevent further escalation”.
No injuries were reported, the spokeswoman said.
Tradition
According to tradition, the graves are located inside the mosque, but the Jewish worshippers did not enter the holy site, rather held an hour of pre-dawn prayers on the road outside before leaving, the photographer said.There are a number of sites holy to Jews in Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank that are the site of pilgrimages. Most popular are Rachel’s tomb near Bethlehem and the tomb of Joseph in Nablus. On Friday, a Palestinian from Halhul rammed his car into Israeli civilians nearby, wounding two before trying to stab soldiers and being shot. The army arrested a number of his family members and imposed a partial closure on the village, which by Sunday had been lifted, the army said.

Spain's Top Prosecutor Dies in Argentina
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 19/17/Spain's top prosecutor Jose Manuel Maza, fresh off the drama of the Catalonian independence bid, has died unexpectedly during a working visit to Argentina. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy confirmed his passing on Twitter. The head of Spain's federal prosecutorial office had been in the position for just under a year. Most recently, he was leading the charge against eight of the 14 members of the now ousted regional government in Catalonia who were charged with sedition for unconstitutionally seeking independence from federal Spain.
Maza was unwell while traveling, headed to an emergency room in Buenos Aires and shortly thereafter he died.

Saleh’s party slams Houthi-affiliated groups, says they are ‘mercenaries’
Al Arabiya /November 19/17/The party of ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the General People's Congress Party, slammed militias affiliated with the Houthis and called them “mercenaries and merchants of war.”Saleh’s party also warned of the threats posed by these militias’ practices. Meanwhile, an official at the General People's Congress Party condemned the state’s media for how it’s dealing with “these mercenaries.” “The way they are dealing with them raises a lot of questions as to whose interest these media outlets are serving and what message they want to convey,” he said.
All state media outlets are controlled by Houthi militias which have exploited them to attack their major partner in the coup. Saleh’s party also voiced the importance of not allowing “merchants of war” to carry out their schemes. “We will not be dragged behind the nonsense proposed by these mercenaries” it said in reference to the parties affiliated with the Houthis. Houthi militias have recently pushed political parties which they recently formed to issue a statement and make serious accusations against their partner in the coup. The statement which also called for declaring a state of emergency was seen by some observers as an introduction to completely end the partnership between the Houthis and Saleh.

Yemeni army moving toward Arhab under air-cover from coalition
Al Arabiya English/November 29/17/Al Arabiya’s correspondent in Yemen reported that the legitimate forces are moving towards the Directorate of Arhab after taking control of nearly ninety percent of the Directorate of Nahm. The latest progress was accompanied by other progression towards the Directorate of Erb in Sanaa towards Qutbin, Bani Mohammed and Masura amid major engineering effort to the construction of mountain roads and de-mining.The national army advanced towards al-’Arqat, al-Madfoun, Qudah and Da’a in the direction of the Khawlan and Bani Hashish, to join the fronts towards Nqail Ben Ghilan - the most important goals before reaching the heart of Sanaa. The progress came under a heavy air cover of the coalition’s support for the legitimacy and artillery shelling of the coalition and national army. In similar context, Yemeni sources reported that Houthi militias kidnapped about 12 civilians from the Directorate of Arhab, north of Sanaa, and blew up three houses. The sources added that the Houthis attacked several villages in the Directorate, including Beit al-Hafn, Arshan and al-Ghula and launched raids on homes. These developments come in light of the progress of the National Army in Nahm, which became the outskirts of the Directorate of welcome.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 19-20/17
Europe: Destroyed by the West's Indifference?
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/November 19/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10297/christians-persecution-indifference
Our media and intelligentsia are always on alert to defend everything coming from Islam, from women's veils to the "right not be offended" by cartoons. The same establishment, however, lies in a coma when it comes to Christian symbols under attack.
The West today keeps on hiding its deepest secret: that there is an Islamic war going on against our own Judeo-Christian civilization.
"They want Christianity eradicated, and they want to convert all Muslims to their crusade... They want it to be a holy war. And they want Christians gone. And I don't think that narrative is getting the attention it should get..." — Piers Morgan, Daily Mail.
There are pictures one cannot forget -- for instance, of Russian troops hoisting their flag over burning Berlin in 1945. It was the end of Nazism but the rise of Communism. Another photo is of U.S. Marines raising the American flag over the battle-scarred Japanese island of Iwo Jima.
Today the West faces another totalitarianism: radical Islam. One place that witnessed the new horror is Mount Sinjar in the Nineveh province of Iraq, once a home to religious minorities, especially Christians and Yazidis. Thousands of years of history changed when the jihadists of ISIS invaded Sinjar in August of 2014. They slaughtered men and enslaved girls and women. Christian churches were razed to the ground, and houses of worship, looted.
In 2016 alone, 90,000 Christians around the world were murdered for their faith, according to a report from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. Between 2005 and 2015, 900,000 Christians were martyred. According to Open Doors, another Christian advocacy group, one out of every 12 Christians today experiences extreme persecution for their faith; the total comes to 215 million around the world.
"The persecution of Christians is real. It is global in scope, brutal in its nature, daily in its occurrence, and growing worse than ever", said University of Notre Dame Professor Dan Philpott. A recent report by the World Council of Churches put the number of Christians left in Iraq at fewer than 250,000. "Christianity is finished", said Canon Andrew White, the great vicar of Baghdad.
Christians have also been fleeing Sinai: the Egyptian branch of ISIS has been slaughtering them in a campaign of "religious cleansing". ISIS released a video calling on its supporters to target Christians across Egypt, describing them as its "favourite prey". The Islamists then targeted two packed Egyptian churches, where they slaughtered 47 Christians. From Cairo to Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray in northern France, churches now appear Islamists' preferred targets.
There is, in all this bad news, a beam of hope; the valiant Kurdish Peshmerga fighters liberated Sinjar and rescued tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians. On Easter Sunday, an unidentified soldier planted a cross on the soil where a Mount Sinjar church had once stood. It was a declaration of the resurrection of life after the onslaught of the Islamic State. This cross was like the flag raised in Iwo Jima.
Yet, no Western newspaper, which could help the public rally for their Christian brethren, published this extraordinary photograph. Why? Our general unwillingness to address any threat indicates a Western impotence in the face of barbarism. An editor at the Daily Mail, Piers Morgan, has commented that while terror attacks in the Western capitals all got "huge attention," the ones against Christians did not.
"They want Christianity eradicated, and they want to convert all Muslims to their crusade. They want it to be a holy war. And they want Christians gone. And I don't think that narrative is getting the attention it should get in the American media and, I have to say, in other media as well around the world".
"The Western world has long gotten used to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, as if their bad lot is inevitable and simply has to be accepted," noted a Canadian philosopher, Mathieu Bock-Côté, in Le Figaro. "Christianity is destined to die or have no more than a residual existence in what used to be its cradle".
While natural disasters such as tsunamis or earthquakes spur solidarity throughout the West, the disappearance of entire Christian populations and their ancient civilizations never seems to disturb anyone. Perhaps it is a sign of denial by the West. Perhaps it is the result of rejecting Judeo-Christian history and humanistic values -- those that cause the demonization the foremost victim of jihad, Israel, instead of the jihadists trying to destroy it. In 2014, we saw tens of thousands of people marching in the streets of European capitals in favor of the Palestinians, even as they were carpeting Israel with missiles and shouting "death to Israel and the Jews". We have seen how unspeakable Christian agony in Islamic lands has led to only a few hundred people turning out on the streets of London and Paris.
Our media and intelligentsia are always on the alert to defend everything coming from Islam, whether women's veils or the "right not be offended" by cartoons. The same establishment, however, lies in a coma when Christian symbols come under attack. Wilfred McClay, in an essay, "The Strange Persistence of Guilt", notes that while religion is in retreat in the West, guilt seems as powerfully present as ever, and a cult of being or protecting a victim proliferates. People rush to nurture the perfect victim: threadbare, with no identity, who has run away from "war". Christians under Islam are not part of that group. Muslims are.
The West today keeps on hiding its deepest secret: that there is an Islamic war going on against our own Judeo-Christian civilization. Few people in the West see in the media the houses of Christians in Mosul marked with an "N". The Islamic State painted it for "Nasrani" ("Nazarene") -- Arabic for "Christian". A genocide symbolized by one letter. But no one sees it or cares.
American television networks devoted six times more air-time to covering the death of a gorilla, Harambe, than they did to the Islamic State beheading 21 Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya, according to a study by the Media Research Center. How is it possible that the killing of a gorilla moves the Western public more than 19 Yazidi girls burned alive in a cage? Few people saw the photograph of Khaled al Asaad, the brave archaeologist who refused to lead ISIS to the antiquities of Palmyra. The henchmen of ISIS beheaded him and hung him upside down. We turned away in horror
A famous 9/11 picture by Thomas Hoepker, taken at a restaurant in Brooklyn, shows a group of young New Yorkers sunbathing, relaxed and calm, observing the smoke rising from the Twin Towers on the other side of the East River. Since then, the only enemy we ever point to is us. We censor the existential threat Western civilization is facing -- whether on an Iraqi mountain or Paris's Champs-Élysées. If Eastern Christianity can be extinguished so easily, Western Europe will be next.
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and author.
© 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.

The Usual Suspects and a New Method
Amir Taheri/Gatestone Institute/November 19/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11393/saudi-arabia-new-strategy
Last week, two events injected energy and excitement into what was beginning to look like an anemic end of the year in the Middle East as far as political developments are concerned.
The first event was the decision by the Saudi leadership to create a new mechanism to deal with alleged cases of corruption, embezzlement and influence-peddling.
The sheer number of cases referred to a special court on those charges was enough to capture the headlines. The fact that the 208 people under investigation included princes, prominent bureaucrats, and business tycoons intensified the event's headline-grabbing potential.
But what really attracted world attention was the unexpectedness of the Saudi move.
Few, even among genuine or self-styled experts on Saudi Arabia, expected Riyadh to go right to the heart of the matter rather than dance around the issues as had been the norm in the past. Some observers, including many in Western think-tanks, warned of the danger of instability inherent in departure from old patterns of behavior.
However, the latest move is in accordance with the kingdom's new strategy aimed at recruiting the concept of change as an ally rather than a threat.
It is possible to argue that because old methods didn't produce the desired results, stability, which had been a key asset of the kingdom for decades, had morphed into stagnation. Thus, the new strategy is designed to end stagnation and prepare the path for a new form of stability capable of reflecting changed social, economic and political circumstances of the kingdom.
If Saudi Arabia is genuine in its declared desire to become an active member of the global system, the first thing it has to do is to offer the rule of law in the sense understood by most people around the world.
Trying to build an economy beyond oil, Saudi Arabia needs to attract massive foreign investment in both financial and technological domains. And that won't be possible without a strong legal system backed by transparency, competition and equality of opportunities.
And that means putting an end to influence-peddling, fake credit-lines secured by pressuring local banks, the grabbing of public land, "sweetheart" agency deals, kickbacks, baksheesh and, in short, the medieval wasitah culture.
The dramatic round up of "the usual suspects" shows that the new leadership in Riyadh is ready to cut the Gordian Knot with a hard blow.
As for Lebanon, a similar method has been used.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri's resignation ends the "grin-and-bear it" tradition in the face of intolerable situations. Under that method, Middle Eastern leaders brush the dirt under fine carpets, including at times that, as was the case with Hariri, they have responsibility without power.
Regardless of how Hariri's resignation came about, it has dramatically highlighted the fact that the "deal" made over Lebanon in October 2016 has failed.
Under that "deal", the Islamic Republic of Iran, operating through its Hezbollah network in Beirut, secured the presidency for General Michel Aoun in exchange for Hariri returning as Prime Minister.
Soon, however, it became clear that while Aoun and Hariri respectively played the roles of President and Prime Minister, real decisions were taken in Tehran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made that point clear in a speech in Tehran, when he said that "nothing is done" in a number of Arab states, notably Lebanon, without Iran's approval.
Hariri's dramatic departure shows that "this kind of Lebanon" doesn't work.
The current line-up under which a foreign power controls the country through one part of one community among all Lebanese communities is fundamentally flawed and dangerous in the medium and long terms.
Lebanon's raison d'etre, and the principal factor in its survival and partial success as a state, has been its system of power-sharing based on respect for diversity. Whenever one community or a combination of communities tried to exercise exclusive power, the country was plunged into turmoil.
In the 1950s, the Maronite community tried a power-grab, which led to inter-communal conflict and foreign military intervention. In the following decade, a similar bid was made by pan-Arab elements backed by Nasserist Egypt, again producing conflict and foreign meddling.
The 1975-90 Civil War also had its genesis in foreign intervention, through rival local sectarian proxy groups.
In part of that period, Aoun tried to switch Lebanon to the side of Saddam Hussein in Iraq while, backed by Iran, Hafez al-Assad threw Syria's weight behind the rival camp.
Between 1984 and 1990, Aoun wore many hats as Prime Minister, Defense Minister, Foreign Minister, Information Minister and military junta chief, often all at the same time. When we first met him in Paris in October 1990, his main message was "saving Lebanon from Syria and Iran."
Aoun's analysis would have been appreciated if he had talked of "saving Lebanon from domination by any foreign power."
There are some nations whose chief vocation is to be neutral, acting as buffers among rival power blocs. Switzerland was allowed to form and mature as a safe haven for rival European powers often at war against one another.
Afghanistan was created as a buffer between the Tsarist, British and Persian Empires in Asia. In post-colonial Indochina, the kingdom of Laos played that role until the US sucked it into the Vietnam War as collateral damage. In Latin America, that role has been assigned to Uruguay, and in Central America to Costa Rica.
During the Second World War, neutral Sweden provided a channel of communication between the United States and Nazi Germany and a safe haven for people fleeing from the Nazis and the Soviets.
After World War II, by being declared neutral, Austria played a crucial role in the repatriation and/or transfer of millions of refugees across war-shattered Europe.
By turning Lebanon into one of its bunkers, Iran has done a great disservice to the whole region, not to mention the damage done and could still do to Lebanon.
Hariri's resignation could prove useful by posing a crucial question: Should Lebanon re-become Lebanon or should it be a glacis for the Islamic Republic in its quest for an unattainable regional hegemony? Part of the answer, of course, depends on the Lebanese themselves. They should decide whether or not they want to have two governments, one visible the other semi-visible, two armies, and a master puppeteer laughing at them in Tehran.
A Lebanon run from Tehran through Hezbollah gunmen is unlikely to attract the investment, trade, tourism and cultural exchanges that it needs to function as a modern dynamic society.
When Iran itself is denied all those things, how could it provide them for Lebanon? Iranian intervention that contributed to turning Iraq, Syria and Yemen into battlefields could do the same to Lebanon.
**Amir Taheri, formerly editor of Iran's premier newspaper, Kayhan, before the Iranian revolution of 1979, is a prominent author based on Europe. He is the Chairman of Gatestone Europe.
**This article first appeared in Asharq Al Awsat and is reprinted here with the kind permission of the author.
© 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.

Germany, Austria: Imams Warn Muslims Not to Integrate
Stefan Frank/Gatestone Institute/November 19/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11371/germany-austria-imams-integration
Translation of the original text: Deutschland und Österreich: Imame warnen Muslime vor Integration
"While outside the mosque there is constant talk of integration, the opposite is preached inside. Only in rare instances are parts of the sermon -- or even more rarely, all of the sermon -- translated into German..." — Constantin Schreiber, author of Inside Islam: What Is Being Preached in Germany's Mosques.
Politicians who repeatedly emphasize their intention of cooperating with the mosques, who invite them to conferences on Islam, have no idea who is preaching what there." — Necla Kelek, human rights activist and critic of Islam, in the Allgemeine Zeitung.
In the debate on migrants in Germany and Austria, no other term is used more often than "integration." But the institution that is most important for many Muslim migrants does not generally contribute much to this effort — and often actively fights it: the mosque. That is the finding of an official Austrian study as well as private research conducted by a German journalist.
In late September, the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF), a department of the foreign ministry published a study, "The role of the mosque in the integration process". For the purposes of the study, employees of the ÖIF visited 16 mosques in Vienna, attended several Friday sermons and spoke with the individual imams — that is, if the imams were willing to have a conversation, which was often not the case. The result of this, according to the ÖIF, is that only two of the mosque associations foster the integration of their members. The report applauds a Bosnian mosque association that also runs a soccer club. During the discussion, its imam said: "Every country, as with Austria, has its rules and laws and -- something I always stress -- it is our religious duty to comply with these standards and to integrate accordingly."
With regard to gender roles, in all of the mosques they visited, the authors were struck by the almost complete absence of women at Friday prayers:
"Only three of the mosques... provide women with their own space, which is reserved for them and actually used by them. If they exist at all, most of the mosques make the women's areas on Fridays available to men, too."
The Islamic Center of Vienna. (Image source: Zairon/Wikimedia Commons)
Separated by Ethnicities
With few exceptions, the Viennese mosques are organized along ethnic lines:
"There are Turkish, Albanian, Bosnian, Arabic, Pakistani and other mosques, in which sermons are generally held exclusively in the respective national language. Only in rare instances are parts of the sermon — or even more rarely, all of the sermon — translated into German."
Thus, the mosque associations are "closed spaces in terms of ethnicity and language." That difference fosters "social integration into an internal ethnic environment, and thus ethnic segmentation." In eight of the 16 mosques surveyed, this trend is further reinforced by "widespread and openly-propagated nationalism."
One mosque, run by the Turkish Milli Görüs movement, stood out as particularly radical. Milli Görüs is one of the largest Islamic organizations in Europe and is closely associated ideologically with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to the report, the imam in the Milli Görüs mosque "openly advocates for the establishment of a politically united Ummah under a caliphate." He attributes unrest in Islam to fitna ("upheaval") brought into the Islamic community from the outside. According to the authors of the study, the imam "sees himself surrounded everywhere by enemies of Islam, who want to prevent the Islamic community from dominating the world as foretold in prophecies." In all three sermons that were heard, the definitive issue was the unity of Muslims: Muslims on one side, the "infidels" on the other. According to the study, some of the imam's statements indicated a "hardened worldview driven by conspiracy theory," such as: "Forces situated outside the Ummah have done everything in their power to undermine Ummah-awareness of the Ummah itself."
The conclusion of the study states:
"In summary, it may be said of the 16 mosque associations surveyed in this study, that with the exception of mosques D01 [one of the few German-speaking mosques] and B02 [the aforementioned Bosnian mosque], they do not actively promote the social integration of their members. At best, they do not prevent it from happening. For the most part, they have an inhibiting effect on the integration process."
According to the study, six of the 16 mosque associations examined (37.5%) pursue "a policy that actively impedes integration into society and to some extent exhibits fundamentalist tendencies." Half of the 16 mosques examined "preach a dichotomous worldview, the pivotal tenet of which is the division of the world into Muslims on one side, and everyone else on the other." Six of the mosques were found to practice "explicit denigration of Western society."
Admonitions against Life in Germany
Similar observations were made by German journalist Constantin Schreiber who, in 2016, spent more than 8 months attending Friday sermons in German mosques. Schreiber, fluent in Arabic, is well-known as a moderator of Arabic television programs, in which he explains life in Germany to immigrants. He published what he experienced in these mosques in a book that has been a bestseller in Germany for months: Inside Islam: What Is Being Preached in Germany's Mosques.
Schreiber introduced himself to the mosque associations as a journalist, disclosing that he intended to write a non-fiction book about mosques in Germany. Only a few imams were willing to agree to an interview. In one instance, he was told that speaking to him was "prohibited". In general, the imams with whom he was allowed to speak, spoke practically no German. "Apparently it is possible to live in Germany for many years with your wife and children, and still not even be capable of buying bread in German," Schreiber writes.
A frequent subject of the sermons Schreiber heard in the mosques consisted of admonitions against life in Germany.
"Time and again, such as in the Al-Furqan mosque [a Sunni Arab mosque in Berlin] Muslims seemed committed to the idea that they are some sort of a community with a shared destiny: 'You are a diaspora! We are a diaspora! ... They [Germans] resembles a torrent that annihilates you, which obliterates you, and takes away your values and replaces them with its own values'."
In the Sunni-Turkish Mehmed Zahid Kotku Tekkesi mosque in Berlin, in his Friday sermon the day before Christmas Eve, the imam warned against the "greatest of all dangers" – the "Christmas peril": "Anyone who emulates another tribe becomes one of them. Is New Year's Eve ours? Are Christmas trees part of us? No, they are not!"
The imam in the Al-Rahman mosque in Magdeburg compared life in Germany to a path through a beguiling forest, Schreiber continues. Its charms had the power to entice Muslims to stray from the righteous path, to lose their way in the "thicket of the forest" until they are "devoured by the wild beasts residing in the forest."
The State Has No Clear Overview
What caught Schreiber's attention even while planning his visits, was the lack of transparency surrounding mosques in Germany. To begin with, there is no official directory of mosques; no one can say with any certainty just how many mosques there are in Germany. The private website Moscheesuche.de is the only such registry. "So German authorities," says Schreiber, "rely on lists compiled by a private individual, who is very obviously characterized by a certain fundamental ideological attitude." In addition, as the registry depends on voluntary reporting for its entries, it is doubtful that mosques that wish to remain undetected would be registered there. Schreiber considers it unlikely that the list is even close to complete or up-to-date:
"I came across mosques that are entered in the list but have not existed for some time. Or newly opened mosques that are not recorded anywhere, and neither the intelligence services nor regional authorities are aware of their existence."
Moreover, Schreiber's request to the city of Hanover revealed that German authorities apparently feel inhibited about providing information concerning mosques in their own city. An employee of the local authority wrote in an email: "Please, give me more precise information as to your intended use of this list. We do not want to have these institutions subjected to general suspicion."
Fear and Silence
One surprise was the defensive reaction Schreiber encountered from people whose professions actually demand candor and cooperation. As Schreiber wanted to make sure that in translating the sermons he would not mistranslate any of the statements, he contacted what he says is one of the most prestigious translation agencies in Germany:
"I was asked to send in one of the transcribed sermons for review, to estimate the effort and costs. My request was subsequently refused. The text was deemed to be outside the 'normal field of work' of the translators, with no one confident enough correctly to translate this 'type of text'."
The search for a translator for the Turkish sermons also proved difficult: "The mere fact that I was interested in this subject resulted in the immediate accusation that all I really wanted to do was instigate 'Islam bashing'."
Schreiber was also confronted with a wall of resistance when he looked around for German scholars of Islam so that he could discuss the contents of the sermons with them. University professors -- whose salaries are paid by German taxpayers -- refused to provide information about something that relates to their own specialty.
"For many months, I directed requests to Islamic studies faculties with whom we had frequently conducted interviews in our role as editors. One university held me off for months with the excuse that they were still searching for the right counterpart. On December 16, three months after my first inquiry, the professor of Islamic studies wrote me that there was now too little time to schedule a conversation. When I responded that if need be, I could still offer an alternative date in early January, I did not receive another answer. Several other university professors told me to send them the sermons, which I proceeded to do. Thereafter, I did not receive any more responses, even to follow-up requests."
According to Schreiber, this effort constituted an "interesting experience", as otherwise, scholars of Islamic studies and Islam experts "are very obliging in offering to be interviewed on current political issues." That openness does not exist, however, when it concerns sermons in German mosques: "Many experts avoid me after receiving my inquiries, while calls and emails consistently remain unanswered." One Islamic scholar indirectly advised him to drop the project, as it could supposedly "widen the gulf." Why? Because, according to this scholar of Islamic studies, "even liberal and tolerant readers could easily find these texts to be extremely incomprehensible and strange, as well as 'crude'."
Unsuspecting Politicians
Schreiber's conclusion about the sermons he heard, is:
"After 8 months of research, I have to say that Mosques are political spaces. The majority of the sermons I attended were aimed at resisting the integration of Muslims into German society. If the issue of life in Germany was raised, then it was primarily in a negative context. Frequently, the imams described everyday life in Germany as a threat and urged their communities to resist. The common feature of almost all the sermons is their appeal to the faithful to shut themselves off and to keep to themselves."
In "virtually every mosque", Schreiber noticed "scores of refugees who had not been living in Germany very long." They too had been warned against adjusting: "While outside the mosque there is constant talk of integration, the opposite is preached inside."
The danger of this approach is demonstrated by the murder of Farima S., an Afghan woman who was murdered in the Bavarian town of Prien. Eight years ago, she renounced Islam, adopted Christianity and, two years after that, fled to Germany. On April 29, she was murdered by an Afghan Muslim in broad daylight. While a number of Muslims living in the town attended the funeral, the mosque associations pretended that the murder did not concern them. Karl-Friedrich Wackerbarth, the pastor of the Evangelical parish of Prien, where Farima S. was a member, asked the associations to condemn the crime. In October, half a year after the murder, he responded to an inquiry from Gatestone Institute: "Unfortunately, to this day," he said, "there has been no reaction."
Wackerbarth suspects that the Islamic associations do not want to make a pronouncement against fatwas by Cairo's Al-Azhar University, and others, according to which "apostates" [those who renounce Islam] are to be killed.
This situation raises the question as to why the German government hopes that mosque associations will help them solve problems. Recently, the well-known human rights activist and critic of Islam, Necla Kelek wrote:
"Politicians who repeatedly emphasize their intention of cooperating with the mosques, who invite them to conferences on Islam, have no idea who is preaching what there."
**Stefan Frank is a journalist and author based in Germany.
© 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.

The extreme right: From the margins to the masses
Baria Alamuddin/Arabnews/November 20/2017
We witnessed the blood-chilling spectacle last week of 60,000 far-right activists marching in the Polish capital. Their racist slogans included anti-Semitic diatribes and demands for a “Muslim Holocaust.” Marchers were joined by extremists from other European states, mirroring similar such mass provocations elsewhere — a notorious example being the neo-Nazi rally in October in Charlottesville, Virginia.
I recently spent a couple of weeks in the US and was shocked by the polarized and frenetic political atmosphere. People I spoke to expressed horror at the ascendance of a freshly empowered populist right. That the far-right conspiracy theorist Roy Moore still believes he has a path to the Senate in an election in Alabama, despite allegations that he assaulted underage girls, illustrates how these disturbing trends have brought some truly loathsome personalities and ideologies out of the woodwork.
Universities have always been bastions of enlightened attitudes, but they are increasingly on the front line of America’s cultural war. Alt-right activists exploit liberal traditions of freedom of speech to propagate racist incitement, while anti-fascist protesters are often prevented from responding; a new anti-protest policy at the University of Wisconsin bans students from campaigning against controversial speakers or obstructing on-campus activities by right-wing extremists. We should be deeply concerned about extremist ideologies acquiring a veneer of intellectual respectability and gaining currency among the leaders and professionals of tomorrow.
Until recently, the extreme-right seemed (justifiably) rather ridiculous: Tiny numbers of unemployed skinheads fantasizing about racial purity on obscure online forums. Several factors led to a transformation of their fortunes: Trump’s victory demonstrated the poisonous potency of populist rhetoric, exploiting the fears of under-educated white communities who felt culturally and economically under siege. The President’s reluctance to denounce fascist marchers in Charlottesville was a watershed moment — a green light from the world’s most powerful man.
Alt-right elements are finding new ways to repackage their detestable rhetoric, obscuring the violent, fascist undertones that previously repelled audiences. The right-wing media avariciously exploits public fears about immigration, selling newspapers with thinly veiled scare stories demonizing Syrian refugees. Social media is likewise perfectly designed for weaponization by the populist right.
Marine Le Pen in France softened the neo-fascist rhetoric of her Front National to win mainstream acceptance, and Hungary’s Jobbick Party is trying the same trick. In Germany, the far-right AfD Party took third place in federal elections, with likeminded racists performing far better than they deserve in other European states. Because of proportional representation in many European election systems, far-right entities often need only about 15 percent of votes to dictate the composition of new governments. Consequently, extreme-right parties look set to become a feature of governing coalitions, which they will exploit as a step to greater things.
After the Brexit referendum and terrorist incidents in the UK, there has been a surge in racist attacks and far-right activity. There was a 66 percent increase in white supremacist suspects held under counter-terrorism legislation reported in 2017, with a sharp spike in criminal incidents linked to far-right extremists.
When Israel’s right-wing became increasingly radicalized during the 1990s on the back of opposition to the Oslo process, this was seen as a transient phenomenon. Instead, the Zionist right succeeded in hijacking the political system and rewriting public narratives about the peace process. The 1994 massacre of 29 worshippers in a Hebron mosque by Jewish extremist Baruch Goldstein heralded a chronic pattern of attacks on Palestinians by militant settlers. Today, Israel’s political center ground has withered away and elections are a choice between the far right, or the lunatic messianic extreme-right — with the latter guaranteed cabinet seats whatever the outcome! The growth in far-right credibility across the West could likewise have long-term consequences for the political landscape.
Muslim extremists and far-right extremists thrive by demonizing one-another. In reality they enjoy a symbiotic relationship; sharing tactics, rhetoric and objectives. The very existence of one side fuels recruitment, popularity and legitimacy for the other. It has become a cliché that Trump’s crazed anti-Muslim rants are the best possible recruiting agents for the jihadists – and vice-versa.
For liberalism to not be swept away by the forces of intolerance, there must be recognition that the boundaries of political acceptability must be policed. Tolerance of extremist entities makes societies less hospitable towards the rights of vulnerable minorities. The recognition of Hitler as a politician and his enjoyment of freedom of speech led to the definitive eradication of the human rights of millions of innocents. Likewise, the genocide against the Rohingya people should serve as a wake-up call about where such exterminatory logic leads. I grew up with the stereotype of Buddhists as the ultimate pacifists, and for many years saw Aung San Suu Kyi as a supreme authority for human rights – both preconceptions have been shaken by the Rohingya tragedy.
All nations must ban sectarian political parties or prevent clerics from participating in politics, and Western states must remove intolerant entities from the public sphere. Such preachers of hatred who don’t believe in equal rights for all shouldn’t have the same tolerance extended to them. These extremists and their tabloid champions aren’t simply a mirror of existing attitudes; they actively propagate dangerous narratives through fake news, scare stories and conspiracy theories.
Ideas are often more potent than armies and today the most potent and intoxicating ideas are emerging from the political extremes. Daesh may be physically extinguished in Syria, only for its ideology to thrive from remote boltholes and cyberspace. Meanwhile, other extremists and militants (such as Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi in Iraq) are thriving in the vacuum created by the disappearance of Daesh and Al-Qaeda. Far-right ideologies will likewise not be banished by the failure of Marine Le Pen to capture the French presidency, or impeachment measures against Donald Trump. We must address the underlying causes of those social ills which nurture such hateful narratives, rather than simply treating the symptoms.
Make no mistake, we are part of a war of ideas on many fronts — and we are losing. We can no longer hold on to the liberal article of faith that the world will continue to get better through the power of wishful thinking. Liberalism and pluralism must be rescued from their current refuge as complacent ideologies of distant governing elites and remodelled to face the challenges and threats of today’s world.
Young people should be brought up with an appreciation of their integral connection to a wider world; we are part of humanity and we each have a role to play. When we shirk from that role and ignore what’s going on around us, the forces of fascism steal the opportunity to spread their own doctrine of violence and hatred, setting humanity against one another. If we are not part of the solution, we become part of the problem.
When 60,000 fascists take to the streets in a single European city, this is no longer a laughing matter — rather an existential question as to whether mankind in all its diversity is willing and able to coexist. If platitudes about shared values from mainstream politicians provide insufficient motivation to take a stand, real fears about where the politics of the populist right are taking our planet should make us all stand up and say: “Enough!”
• Baria Alamuddin is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster in the Middle East and the UK. She is editor of the Media Services Syndicate and a foreign editor at Al-Hayat, and has interviewed numerous heads of state.