LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
December 03/16
Compiled
& Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The
Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
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Bible
Quotations For Today
Those who are well have no need
of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous
but sinners to repentance
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 05/27-32/:"After this
Jesus went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth;
and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’And he got up, left everything, and followed
him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large
crowd of tax-collectors and others sitting at the table with them. The
Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, ‘Why do
you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?’Jesus answered, ‘Those who
are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to
call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.’"
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of
the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness
Letter to the Ephesians 04/01-07/:"I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord,
beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in
love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one
hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of
all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given
grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift."
Titles For Latest
LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
December 02-03/16
No Life for a Regime That Stacks Its People’s Corpses/By Ahmad El-Assaad
December 01, 2016
Lebanon halts work as Palestinians reject wall around refugee camp/Haytham
Mouzahem/Al Monitor/December 02/16
Man of the year: Vladimir Putin/Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/December 02/16
Iran hardliners celebrate forthcoming years/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al
Arabiya/December 02/16
Marine Gen James Mattis is next US Defense Secetary/DEBKAfile Special Report
December 02/16
U.S. professor, Ivan Sascha rejects misinformation against People’s Mojahedin
Organization of Iran/NCRI/Friday, 02 December 2016
George Sabra: The Disaster of Aleppo Is on Russians and Iran and Those Who Were
Silent About Such Crime/NCRI/December 20/16
Sisi's support for Syrian regime threatens to harm Cairo-Riyadh ties/Pascale
el-Khoury/Al Monitor/December 02/16
Why Iraq's Sunnis fear new PMU law/Omar Sattar/Al Monitor/December 02/16
Self-Censorship: Free Society vs. Fear Society/ Giulio Meotti/Gatestone
Institute/December 02/16
Iranian Shabnam Madadzadeh, a former political prisoner reveals Iran regime
atrocities/NCRI/December 02/16
Top Muslim university rejects reform, stands by “terrorist curriculum”/Raymond
Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/December 02/16
Titles For Latest
Lebanese Related News published on December 02-03/16
Turkish FM in Beirut, Holds Talks with Senior Officials
LF Says Aoun Adheres to Approach of Founding a State Based on Constitution
Report: Aoun Defies Difficulties Hampering Cabinet Line-Up
Bassil Says Lebanon, Germany Engaged in Fight against Terrorism
UK Ambassador: International Community Wants a Strong Partner in Lebanon
General Security Arrests Lebanese with Terror Links
No Life for a Regime That Stacks Its People’s Corpses
Turkey supports all Lebanese: Cavusoglu
Canadian Foreign Minister arrives in Beirut
AlShamsi: ties with Lebanon have reached level of strategic partnership in many
areas
Hajj Hassan sponsors opening of International Motor Show in Jbeil
Kanaan: Holding parliamentary polls based on 1960 law unacceptable
Hariri meets delegation of Lebanese businessmen
Siniora, Steinmeier tackle situation in Lebanon
Siniora discusses Ain el Helweh situation with Palestinian Security Committee
Lebanese president extends hand to political rivals
Lebanon halts work as Palestinians reject wall around refugee camp
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 02-03/16
Aleppo army break siege and ready for urban warfare
Civil society groups urge UN General Assembly action on Syria
Syria Rebels Mount Fierce Defence of Key Aleppo District
Congress Passes Iran Sanctions Extension, Bill Goes to Obama
Obama to sign Iran Sanctions Act extension into law
Militias Clash in Libya's Tripoli, Worst Violence in 2 Years
200,000 Muslims Protest In Jakarta To Demand Jail For Christian Governor
Yemen: 172 killed in Taiz from militia fire last month
Saudi king issues royal decrees reshuffling religious and Shoura councils
Iran diplomats face charges in Kenya for filming Israeli embassy
Iran regime’s provocations stem from its weakness
Who Prevents, Prosecution of Public Treasury Looters in Iran?
Iran: Continuous Export of Crisis, to Cover Its Social Explosiveness
Journalist found shot dead in Iraqi
Links From Jihad Watch Site for on December
02-03/16
Keith
Ellison: Israel controls U.S. foreign policy.
UK:
Muslim teacher condones Charlie Hebdo jihad massacre in classroom.
UK: 96%
of Muslims do not believe al Qaeda was behind 9/11 jihad attacks.
Trump:
“People are pouring in from the Middle East. We have no idea who they are…we’re
going to stop that dead”.
Iranians
face terrorism charges after filming Israeli embassy in Kenya.
Top
Muslim university rejects reform, stands by “terrorist curriculum”.
Video:
Christine Williams on the ignoring of the genocide of Christians in the Middle
East.
Aisha
Tubman, Mahmoud Douglass, and the Straight Path Railroad.
Hugh
Fitzgerald: “A President Should Not Say That”.
McCain
and Graham seek to gut 9/11 bill and immunize foreign governments funding
terrorists.
Indonesia:
150,000 Muslims demand arrest of Christian governor for “blasphemy”.
Georgetown
University prof: “Islamophobia” causes jihad terror, white supremacists greater
threat than jihadis.
Toronto
university Muslim groups block passage of motion to hold Holocaust Education
Week.
Links From Christian Today Site for on December 02-03/16
Thousands
Fleeing ISIS At Risk As Temperatures Plummet Near Mosul
Archbishop
Of Canterbury: British Values Are Based On 'Threat And Fear'
Faith
Schools No Better Than Secular Schools Says New Report
200,000
Muslims Protest In Jakarta To Demand Jail For Christian Governor
If
America Was A Village Of 100 People, 89 Of Them Would Believe In God
We
Cannot Ignore The Culture Of Sex Abuse We Have Created
The
World Is In A Mess. The Common Good Offers A Way Out
Religious
Freedom 'Deteriorated Tremendously' In 2016
Bishop:
Church Too Middle Class, Must Listen To Poor Communities
Archbishop
Of Nigeria To Settle Row Between Bishop And His Church After They Locked Him
Out
Is
This The Face Of Jesus Christ Himself? Scientists Believe It Could Be.
Latest
Lebanese Related News published on December 02-03/16
Turkish FM in Beirut, Holds
Talks with Senior Officials
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu kicked off a visit to
Beirut on Friday where he held meetings with senior Lebanese officials.
Cavusoglu first held a meeting with newly elected President Michel Aoun at the
Presidential Palace. He conveyed a message from Turkish President Recep Tayyib
Erdogan congratulating the Lebanese Head of State on his election, and
reiterating the importance of strengthening the Turkish-Lebanese relations. The
Turkish FM emphasized that “stability is an important factor in
LF Says Aoun Adheres to Approach of
Founding a State Based on Constitution
Naharnet/December 02/16/The Lebanese Forces urged the political parties,
without naming them, which it blames for delaying the cabinet formation, to
stop their endeavors because “they will be proven futile,” al-Joumhouria daily
reported Friday. LF sources called on the political parties reportedly hampering
the formation of the cabinet to quit the obstruction since “this method proved
ineffectiveness with President Michel Aoun, and with Prime Minister-designate
Saad al-Hariri.”The sources went on to say “if they expect Aoun to alter his
national approach and practices that rely on the Constitution, they will wait
for long and will bear the responsibility of prolonged disruption.”“The new
approach adopted by Aoun does not target anyone. It is intended to enforce the
Constitution. The actual problem lies in those who are trying to blow this
approach and obstruct it from the beginning. Their efforts will prove useless,”
they concluded. Wrangling over the distribution of ministerial portfolios
lingers among the conflicting political parties, and has delayed the formation
of a cabinet after aspirations that it would be lined before Independence Day
on November 22. In October, the parliament elected Aoun, a former general, as
president ending a two-and-half-year deadlock that left
Report: Aoun Defies Difficulties Hampering
Cabinet Line-Up
Naharnet/December 02/16/The presidential palace resumed in the last hours the
activation of its contact channels in a bid to contribute to the facilitation
of the obstacles that have so far hampered the formation of a new cabinet under
the tenure of President Michel Aoun, al-Mustaqbal daily reported Friday.
Having stressed that Aoun is keen to “stop the waste of time and drain the
Lebanese hopes for the new tenure,” the sources preferred not to dwell on what
is being said about a deadline for the formation of the cabinet, saying “the
President is concerned to have the government formed as fast as possible
without further delay.”They added that the President will spare no effort in
contributing to the process of resolving the government obstacle, revealing
that the “presidential efforts resumed momentum in the last hours and there are
great efforts being made with Hizbullah, the AMAL Movement and Marada in an
attempt to reach an alternative satisfactory option to the issue of Franjieh's
insistence to be given one of three portfolios the telecommunications, energy
or public works in the new line-up. The discussions are ongoing, added the
source and the results are supposed to crystallize in the coming hours.
Bassil Says Lebanon,
Naharnet/December 02/16Caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, said that
Naharnet/December 02/16/British Ambassador Hugo Shorter held a meeting with
Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday where talks focused on the situation in
“I hope that the next election will be a stronger, more transparent, more
representative election. In particular, key measures on pre-printed ballot
papers and secret voting should be implemented. And I hope measures can be
taken to significantly improve the representation of women in Parliament,
whether through law or by the parties themselves,” he concluded.
General Security Arrests Lebanese with
Terror Links
Naharnet/December 02/16/In the framework of tracking sleeping terror cells, the
General Security arrested a Lebanese national on suspicion of having
involvement with a terrorist organization, the General Directorate of the
General Security said in a statement Friday.
During interrogation the detainee, identified as A.A., confessed to having been
active with a terrorist organization at the logistical level, and transporting
arms and ammunition, all in favor of terrorists based in the outskirts of the
northeastern town of
The detainee was transferred after the interrogations to the related judicial
authorities for further investigations. Meanwhile, efforts remain underway to
arrest the rest of the suspects.
No Life for a
Regime That Stacks Its People’s Corpses
By Ahmad El-Assaad December 01, 2016
Some people in
The painful thing is that the sight of corpses thrown aside in the streets of
As usual, these wages are wrong. That regime, that’s been slaughtering its own
people for the past five years, cannot by any logic rule again, not on piles of
dead bodies; it cannot go back in time, not by the force of war, massacres, or
destruction, and not by any form of foreign assistance.
Any goal achieved by this axis in
Waging on Assad to stay in power, despite the massacres he’s done and the
misery he’s inflicted to his people, and despite destroying entire cities and
villages across Syria, is nothing but a losing bet that will not change the
course of history; because history rejects all despotic regimes, sooner or
later.
Turkey supports all Lebanese: Cavusoglu
The Daily Star/December 02, 2016ظBEIRUT:
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Friday expressed support to all
Lebanese factions, highlighting the positive political breakthrough in the
country. Cavusoglu said he believed his visit to
Canadian Foreign Minister arrives in
Beirut
Fri 02 Dec 2016/NNA - Canada's Foreign Minister, Stephane Dion, accompanied by
two Canadian MPs of Lebanese origin, Eva Nassif and Marwan Tabara, arrived on
Friday night in Beirut on a three-day visit. The Canadian Minister is scheduled
to meet with the Lebanese President Michel Aoun to congratulate him on his
election as a president. Later he will meet with Speaker of the House, Nabih
Berri, Caretaker PM, Tammam Salam, Prime Minister-designate, Saad Hariri and
Caretaker Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Gebran Bassil, to tackle the
current situation in Lebanon and the region, as well as bilateral ties between
Lebanon and Canada. On the other hand, German Expatriates Minister,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, left
AlShamsi: ties with Lebanon have reached
level of strategic partnership in many areas
Fri 02 Dec 2016/NNA - The Ambassador of UAE, Mohamad Saed Al Shamsi, held on
Friday a reception in Hilton Hotel on the occasion of UAE's National Day and in
the presence of officials. Al Shamsi praised bilateral ties between UAE and
"Ties between UAE and
Hajj Hassan sponsors opening of
International Motor Show in Jbeil
Fri 02 Dec 2016/NNA - Minister of Industry, Hussein Hajj Hassan,
sponsored on Friday the opening of the International Motor Show in
Mastita-Jbeil, in the presence of the Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammed
Fateh Ali and dignitaries. The minister hoped that political and security
stability will prevail in the new era, wishing a swift cabinet formation and
the approval of new and just electoral law. The minister refused to hold the
parliamentary elections base on the 1960 law."We ask president Michel
Michel Aoun and the new cabinet to pay attention to the economy in all sectors,
especially industry and agriculture, through an economic plan and a clear
program so that we can increase the size of economy," the minister
concluded.
Kanaan: Holding parliamentary polls based on 1960 law unacceptable
Fri 02 Dec 2016/NNA - "Change and Reform" bloc Secretary, Deputy
Ibrahim Kanaan, said on Friday that "we should not use the delay in the
process of forming the government as a pretext for the adoption of the 1960
electoral law".Kanaan said in an interview to "LBC" TV, the
adoption of the 1960 law is "unacceptable", neither on the
constitutional nor the political level. As for the government, he finally
demanded respect for the prerogatives of the President of the Republic and the
Prime Minister-designate on this subject.
Hariri meets delegation of Lebanese businessmen
Fri 02 Dec 2016/NNA - Prime Minister-designate, Saad Hariri, met Friday evening
at the "Center House" a delegation of Lebanese businessmen from the
Siniora, Steinmeier tackle situation in
Lebanon
Fri 02 Dec 2016/NNA - Former Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora met on Friday
afternoon at his Bliss residence the German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter
Steinmeier. Both men discussed the situation in
Siniora discusses Ain el Helweh situation
with Palestinian Security Committee
Fri 02 Dec 2016/NNA - Former Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, met on
Friday at his office in Sidon with a delegation of senior Palestinian Security
Committee supervising the security of the camps in Lebanon. Discussions touched
on the situation of the Palestinians in
Lebanese
president extends hand to political rivals
The Daily Star/December 02/16/BEIRUT: President Michel Aoun extended his hand
to political rivals Friday, saying he was ready to work with all sides for the
benefit of the Lebanese people. Aoun said he would work with all parties to
safeguard the Constitution and achieve equitable representation in government,
according to a statement released by the office of the presidency. The
president and founder of the Free Patriotic Movement said he would welcome any
Lebanese leader, politician or official to the Presidential Palace for talks,
so long as the goal of the discussions was to uphold national interests. Rival
political parties in
Haytham Mouzahem/Al Monitor/December 02/16
US President-elect Donald Trump's plan for a wall along the US-Mexico border
isn't the only one raising controversy these days.
The Lebanese government’s decision to build a wall at the southern Palestinian
refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh sparks angry reactions from Palestinian factions.
Construction began — and halted — last month on a wall at Ain al-Hilweh
Palestinian refugee camp in southern
Residents of the camp and some Palestinian factions staged a demonstration
last week, rejecting the idea of encircling and isolating the camp from its
surroundings, turning it into “one big prison.” They also deny longstanding
claims that the camp threatens
Informed security sources told Al-Monitor that the security situation has
been deteriorating in the camp since 2013. There have been dozens of clashes
between some radical groups and Palestinian factions, and dozens of killings.
In 2014, Minister of Interior and Municipalities Nouhad al-Machnouk said, “It
is no longer acceptable that the camp remains a hotbed where fugitives flee
from justice.”
Maj. Gen. Munir al-Maqdah, commander of the joint Palestinian security
force in the camp, told Al-Monitor by phone that a meeting was held Nov. 24
between delegates of the camp's Palestinian security committee and Brig. Gen.
Khoder Hammoud, head of the Lebanese army intelligence branch in the south. The
parties agreed to halt work on the wall until the concerned factions come up
with an alternative — within two weeks.
Maqdah added that the Palestinian factions had held another meeting and
issued a statement “squarely rejecting said wall, which would harm historical
relations and the common struggle of the brotherly peoples of
Raafat Morra, a Hamas media officer in
The Lebanese army issued a statement Nov. 25 saying that the “security
wall” is “merely a protective fence in some sectors that doesn't overlook
residential areas” of the camp and that aims to “prevent the infiltration of
terrorists from and into it.” The statement added that the wall will help close
off tunnels that fugitives in the camp use to access nearby agricultural
fields.
The Lebanese army was surprised by Palestinian objections to the wall,
since intelligence officials and senior Palestinian faction officials said they
had "previously agreed on the matter," according to the army
statement.
Critics of the wall say that rather than providing security, the barrier
would promote division and provoke refugees, while harming them
psychologically.
Marwan Abdul Al, an official in the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP) in
He also said comprehensive security can be achieved by promoting “the
sovereignty of the Lebanese state and justice for Palestinians, according to
the equation of rights and duties.”
A Palestinian journalist residing in the camp, who asked not to be named,
told Al-Monitor, “The wall would turn the camp into a cage, and people inside
would be like animals in a zoo.”
Hassan Hoballah, who handles Palestinian issues for Hezbollah, told
Al-Monitor the party "rejects any act involving injustice or persecution,
or a racist act against the Palestinian people in
Hoballah called for finding security alternatives to the wall based on
cooperation between the Lebanese army and the Palestinian factions to prevent
the infiltration of terrorist groups.
Other Lebanese officials, political parties and groups also issued
statements condemning the wall.
Islamic legal scholar Sheikh Selim Sussan, the mufti of
He added, “I do not know who was behind the idea of building this wall”
that separates “the people of
There's no doubt a new approach is needed to address Lebanese-Palestinian
relations, an approach that would lead to more social and economic rights for
Palestinian refugees in terms of work and residence, as well as better living
conditions in the camps scattered in most of the Lebanese provinces. This new
approach could also take into account Lebanese concerns of the resettlement of
Palestinian refugees on one hand, and the perils of any infiltration by
terrorist organizations inside camps and the resulting security threat on the
other.
Ain al-Hilweh camp is the largest camp for Palestinian refugees in
Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 02-03/16
Aleppo army break siege and
ready for urban warfare
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Friday, 2 December 2016/Rebels in Aleppo have
agreed to form a new military alliance headed by “Abu AbdulRahman Nour,” to
protect the city they control from the brutal assaults by the regime and its
allies. The new alliance would be called the Aleppo Army and would be led by
the commander of the Jabha Shamiya rebel faction, one of the major groups
fighting in northern
*This article can be viewed in Arabic on AlArabiya.net
Civil society groups urge UN General
Assembly action on Syria
AFP Friday, 2 December 2016/More than 200 humanitarian and human rights groups
called Thursday for the UN General Assembly to address Syria’s deadly conflict,
citing the Security Council’s paralysis in dealing with the crisis. In a
declaration published in
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/December 02/16/Rebels put up
fierce resistance on Friday in a key district of Syria's battered
The escalation of violence in
- No end to deadlock -Many are transported to temporary shelters outside
the city, where they register with Syrian authorities to receive food,
blankets, and mattresses. For many, the hot meals they receive at these
shelters are their first in months, after a suffocating regime siege since July
on
Congress Passes Iran Sanctions Extension,
Bill Goes to Obama
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/December 02/16/The US Senate on Thursday approved
a 10-year extension of sanctions against Iran, a bipartisan measure that would
have expired at year's end but now goes to President Barack Obama's desk. The
Iran Sanctions Act passed the Senate 99-0, after easily clearing the House of
Representatives in November. Obama is expected to sign the measure, a White
House official said, adding that the administration does not believe the
extension violates the nuclear agreement that was reached last year with
Obama to sign
Iran Sanctions Act extension into law
Reuters Friday, 2 December 2016/US President Barack Obama is expected to sign
US legislation extending sanctions against Iran for 10 years into law, the
White House said on Friday. “We believe the Iran Sanctions Act extension is not
necessary, but we also believe it won’t interfere with the
Militias Clash in Libya's Tripoli, Worst
Violence in 2 Years
Associated Press/Naharnet/December 02/16/Clashes are continuing for the second
day among heavily-armed militias in the Libyan capital Tripoli in what appears
to be the worst outbreak of violence there in two years. Witnesses on Friday
say gun battles are rocking the southeastern Nasr Forest district and adjacent
neighborhoods between militias vying for power and control over the city. The clashes
started on Thursday and reportedly left eight dead. During a lull of violence
late Thursday night, panicked residents lined up in front of area gas stations.
Saudi king
issues royal decrees reshuffling religious and Shoura councils
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Friday, 2 December 2016/Saudi Arabia’s
King Salman al-Saud issued several royal decrees, one of which would be the
reformation of the kingdom’s Shoura Council a reshuffle of the kingdom's top
religious body, the Council of Senior Scholars. The Secretary General of the
Shoura Council Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Aomar was relieved of his duties on
Friday with the announcement that Abdullah Al-Ashiekh as the consultative
council’s next head. In other royal decrees announced on the same day, Ali bin
Iran diplomats face charges in Kenya for
filming Israeli embassy
Reuters Friday, 2 December 2016/Two Iranians and their Kenyan driver, who
worked for the Iranian embassy in Nairobi, were charged on Thursday with
collecting information for a terrorist act after filming the Israeli embassy,
lawyers said. Sayed Nasrollah Ebrahimi, Abdolhosein Ghola Safafe and driver
Moses Keyah Mmboga “were found taking video clips of the Israeli embassy ...
for the use in the commission of a terrorist act”, according to a charge sheet
produced in court. The three men were in a car belonging to the Iranian embassy
when they were arrested on Tuesday, the court papers said. The diplomatic status
of the two Iranians was unclear. The Iranian embassy did not respond to
requests for comment. “My clients pleaded not guilty and have been detained by
the ATPU (
Friday, 02 December 2016/NCRI - The head of the strategic research
center in
Sami Faraj further esxplained:
"The statements of the Iranian leaders is indicative of their
intention. Nevertheless, their intention amounts to no criterion for us. We
have to estimate the real power of the Mullahs' regime. Does the regime have
the ability to dominate this region? I take an example here. During
Ahmadinejad's presidency, a commercial ship of the
Sky News TV: why does the Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces of Iran
state that the Marine bases are more important to them than the nuclear
technology?
‘Domination Seeking’ is a major issue. It stems from a hostile policy.
If you want to protect your country from non-conventional powers, you must have
non-conventional armaments like the nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons.
Who Prevents, Prosecution of Public
Treasury Looters in
Friday, 02 December 2016/NCRI - On Tuesday 29th November 2016, the state-run
newspaper, Resalat published an article entitled "who is protecting public
treasury?" disclosing another part of the systematic corruption of
Today is November21st. No report has been issued regarding that and no question
has been answered concerning such aristocratic approach that threatens the
country's bureaucracy."Resalat Newspaper then frames a question regarding
those who obstruct the implementation of justice. The article reads: “the
spokesman of the Judiciary said that the government and
Iran: Continuous Export of Crisis, to
Cover Its Social Explosiveness
NCRI Iran News/ Friday, 02 December 2016 /Recently intercepted
weapons shipments in the Arabian Sea appear to prove that
Journalist found shot dead in Iraqi
Kurdistan
Fri 02 Dec 2016/NNA - A journalist has been found shot dead in
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis
& editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 02-03/16
Man of the year:
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/December 02/16
2016 has been a rotten year. At least it has been so for anyone who likes
Western liberal values. It has been the year when the core of the Anglo-Saxon
sphere, the
But on the other side of this culture war, reactionary populists, wherever they
are found, have much to celebrate. Just as the conference halls of
No one has had more cause to celebrate this year than
Hostile to Nato
But no one has had more cause to celebrate this year than Russia’s Vladimir
Putin. As the countries of the NATO sphere of influence are ripping themselves
apart in this culture war, just about everything is going Mr Putin’s way. He
has, throughout the year, managed to outmanoeuvre the outgoing liberal
president of the
He has helped along the election of a man in his own image for the incoming
President of the
But he has not tripped up. He has successfully balanced the tightrope, and has
come out as the biggest winner of 2016. He has much to celebrate this holiday
season, and yet more to look forward to in the new year. And we largely have
ourselves to blame for it.
Iran hardliners celebrate forthcoming
years
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/December 02/16
Iran’s Hardline newspapers and officials write and speak of good and
advantageous years in the near future for the Islamic Republic due to
fundamental and permanent changes in the regional and global order.
The final decision makers in
The fate of the Alawite state and Bashar Al Assad is a matter of national
security for Iranian leaders. Any change in the political system of
In addition, although Iran is ranked the top sponsor of international
terrorism, Iran’s hardliners believe that they have effectively sold the
international community on the idea that Tehran is the single most important
partner to fight ISIS, and that the West needs Iran to fight terrorism. Any
change in the political system of
The Nuclear Deal
For hardliners, they have achieved their major objectives from the nuclear
agreement. They argue that the four rounds of the UN Security Council
Resolutions have been lifted and that the likelihood of snapping those
sanctions back is zero because of
For
Marine Gen James Mattis is next US
Defense Secetary
DEBKAfile Special Report December 2, 2016
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/12/02/marine-gen-james-mattis-is-next-us-defense-secretary/
Retired Marine General James Mattis, 66, whom President-elect Donald Trump has
picked as his secretary of defense, is famous for his rough-and-tough stance
toward
He earned the “Mad Dog Mattis” handle as a battlefield commander in
So no one expects the incoming defense secretary to be a desk warrior. Reputed
to be the most brilliant and influential military strategic thinker
No yes-man, he has been described by a former Pentagon official as “a warrior,
scholar and straight shooter who would certainly speak the truth to the new
commander in chief.”It will be interesting to see how they get along. .Mattis
is only the second former general to step into a cabinet post in the 68 years
since President Truman appointed Gen. George C. Marshall as secretary of state.
He is seen as reaching the pinnacle of a career that covered more than four
decades in the Marine Corps. Sometimes criticized as overly aggressive, Mattis
is also reputed for encouraging his subordinate officers to stretch their minds
and think outside the box. A voracious book-reader himself, stories are told
about him handing out book lists to his officers in
The Marine stamp on the new administration is further accentuated by the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford hailing from the
same celebrated unit.
Mattis left a strong impression on the
Mattis was sometimes at odds with Israeli leaders when he criticized their
settlement policy and conduct in the region. But since his name came up as the
leading nominee for defense, some of his friends have made an effort to present
Mattis as essentially a friend of
Most recently, Mattis commented that responding to “political Islam” is the
main security issue facing
U.S. professor, Ivan Sascha rejects
misinformation against People’s Mojahedin Organization of
NCRI/Friday, 02 December 2016
Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan highlights in an op-ed for Foreign Policy Association
his assessment of the discredited nature of the misinformation being touted in
the media against the main Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin
Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK). The following is the text of his article
which was published by the FPA on December 2, 2016:
The MEK advocates for a non-nuclear
As an academic and author of three empirical, peer-reviewed journal articles
that examine the MEK—in addition to writing the foreword for an independent
2013 study undertaken by Ambassador Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr. that addressed
the misinformation campaign directed at Western government policies toward the
Iranian opposition group—I feel that it is critical to set the record straight.
The US Department of State did not add the MEK to its list of Foreign Terrorist
Organizations (FTO) until 1997. The purported basis was the killings of six
American military personnel and defense contractors in
Two years later, in 1999, the United States went a step further by alleging
that the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a political
organization made up of several Iranian opposition groups that reject clerical
rule, was a front for the MEK and designated it too as a terrorist group.
Martin Indyk, then Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs,
indicated that the State Department added the National Council of Resistance
(NCR) as an alias for the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) because “The Iranian
government had brought this to our attention. We looked into it and saw that
there were good reasons for designating the NCR as an alias for the MEK.” The
United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU) followed suit, pinning the MEK
(though not the NCRI) to their terror lists.
The evidence, however, demonstrates that the US military officers and
contractor killings that formed the basis of the original designation were
carried out by a secular hard-left splinter group, with no ties to MEK
leadership; that there was no proof that the MEK played a role in the 1979
embassy takeover; and that the armed resistance carried out by the MEK from
Iraq was an insurgency directed at official regime targets, not innocent
civilians, at a time that their relatives and sympathizers were being jailed,
tortured and executed en masse.
There is also overwhelming evidence that Iran lobbied hard to get the United
States and other Western governments to designate the MEK as terrorists, even
though the allegations were baseless. Only a day after the US added the MEK to
its FTO list in October 1997, one senior Clinton administration official said
inclusion of the MEK was intended as a ‘goodwill gesture’ to Tehran and its
newly elected moderate president Mohammad Khatami. Five years later, the same
official told Newsweek: “[There] was White House interest in opening up a
dialogue with the Iranian government. At the time, President Khatami had
recently been elected and was seen as a moderate. Top administration officials
saw cracking down on the [MEK]—which the Iranians had made clear they saw as a
menace, as one way to do so.”
Across the
Supporters of removing the terrorist designation took their case to courts.
These efforts met with strong resistance, not only from spokespersons for
In the United States, where the courts similarly ruled repeatedly in favor of
the MEK, and as many as 200 members of Congress signed statements endorsing its
cause, the process was stalled until America’s second highest court granted the
writ of mandamus filed by the MEK, and ordered the Secretary of State to take
action or it would delist the group. Secretary Hillary Clinton, having been
provided no credible basis for re-listing by the intelligence community, revoked
the designation in September 2012.
Overwhelming evidence demonstrates that the MEK is a natural ally of the
/Dr. Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Associate Professor of Public and International
Affairs, is director of the graduate program in Global Affairs and Human
Security at the
George Sabra: The Disaster of Aleppo Is
on Russians and Iran and Those Who Were Silent About Such Crime
NCRI/December 20/16
NCRI - Al-Arabiya TV, November 29, 2016:
In addition to the bombings and the Russian's urge, Assad's regime is also
affiliated with the Iranian regime to attack the east of Aleppo. Considering
these incidents, what opportunity does the Opposition get?
The member of supreme negotiators of the Syrian Opposition, George Sabra said:
There is only one chance to avail. Although the war of
Note that the revolutionary forces are present in all regions in
It has been 3 months since no loaf of bread could be found in the city. Even a
syringe, medication and not even a drop of oil have been found in
Many UN experts admit that such happenings in
Al-Arabia TV:
The world witnesses the massacre in
The food supplies could not be sent by airplane and thrown over
George Sabra:
The resistance still exists in
The Russians, the Iranian regime, and Assad are not the only ones who cause war
crimes against humanity, including the use of chemical weapons, missiles, and
cluster bombs. All of those who cannot do anything to stop the killing and are
ignoring the issue are also responsible for such crimes. The international
community does not only hold moral responsibilities but also legal duties as
well.
Sisi's support for Syrian regime
threatens to harm Cairo-Riyadh ties
Pascale el-Khoury/Al Monitor/December 02/16
Saudi ambassador to the UN Abdullah al-Mouallimi described the Egyptian
stance in favor of the Russian resolution as painful. Saudi media also bashed
Egyptian Oil Minister Tariq al-Mulla told the media Nov. 8 that the Saudi
Arabian Oil Co. has suspended its oil shipments to
On Nov. 15, King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud received Ahmed Aboul
Gheit, former Egyptian foreign minister and current secretary general of the
Arab League, in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, where they discussed the general
Arab situation and the role of the Arab League in promoting Arab unity. The
visit seemed to be an attempt by the Arab League to reconcile the views of
Ayman Samir, expert on international relations and former editor of
Egyptian newspaper As-Siyassa, believes Aboul Gheit’s visit to
“
Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, adviser to
Samir said that
“Relations between
Crown Prince of
After the visit, bin Zayed headed directly to
Two days after Moallem's comments, Sisi told Portugese TV, “It is better
to support national armies to impose their control over their territories and
preserve stability. This applies to the national armies of
As-Safir reported Nov. 24 that 18 Egyptian pilots have started operating
at
Why Iraq's Sunnis fear new PMU law
Omar Sattar/Al Monitor/December 02/16
BAGHDAD — After the Iraqi parliament passed a law Nov. 26 establishing a new
security force independent of the Iraqi army — consisting of the predominately
Shiite militias of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) under the leadership of
the General Commander of the armed forces — the Sunni bloc walked out of the
legislature as a show of its opposition. The predominantly Shiite National
The aim is to turn the PMU into a national institution that includes all
components and sects, rather than being confined to one component of the Iraqi
people,” Deputy Security and Defense Committee Chairman Iskandar Watout told
Al-Monitor. “The law provides for the preservation of the moral and material
rights of PMU members, much like the members of the Iraqi army, as well as for
the rights of the families of the martyrs.”
Watout emphasized, “This is the least [the government] can do for the PMU
factions that have sacrificed a lot to liberate
The Shiites in the PMU consist primarily of three groups: professional
factions, most of which formed during the US military presence in Iraq, notably
Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades), Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organization;
unaffiliated volunteers who joined after the fatwa issued by Grand Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani on June 13, 2014; and the Abbasi and Husseini Shiite factions,
which are indirectly supported by Sistani and include the Abbas Battle Group,
Liwa’ Ali al-Akbar and the Imam Ali Troop, to name a few. The Sunni PMU
militias can be divided into two factions: the tribes of Anbar and Salahuddin as
well as the National Mobilization, established by former Gov. of Ninevah
province Atheel al-Nujaifi and consisting of fighters from Ninevah.
The important question is how will all these sections, with their
different ideologies, be integrated under a single institution and leadership,
especially in light of the Sunnis’ unsatisfied demand to pass a law to turn
organized fighters in Sunni provinces into National Guard forces to protect
those provinces. In addition, the majority of Sunni parties opposed the PMU law
in part because they feel the government is being selective in not including
Sunni tribal factions under the new PMU institution, while accepting most
Shiite groups.
PMU spokesman Ahmed al-Asadi told Al-Monitor, “All PMU factions will be
completely separated from their current political and religious affiliations as
well as group names in order to become a new security institution with an
official leadership and single authority under the General Command of the armed
forces.”
He added, “The mobilization institution will not be confined to a single
component. This is why the word “popular” was not mentioned in the law, in
order not to have any future discrimination between the fighters of the popular
mobilization, the tribal mobilization and others.”
Asadi claimed that there is no conflict between the PMU and the National
Guard, noting that in regard to the latter, it “can have a law of its own to
protect [Sunni] provinces, but the PMU will turn into a centralized, federal
institution.” Sunni politicians, however, are afraid a sectarian army will
emerge from the transformed PMU, given that Shiite fighters greatly outnumber
Sunni fighters in the organization.
In this regard, Ninevah representative Ahmed Madloul told Al-Monitor
about the Sunni-Shiite parliamentary divided over the PMU law, saying, “Some
blocs want a law that preserves the rights of the PMU and appreciates the
sacrifices it made in the fight against the Islamic State, while others believe
it would be wrong to have a third institution in addition to the army and
police, especially since they think it will be hard to integrate all PMU
factions under one institution.”
Madloul added, “The [Sunni] tribal mobilization has a small number of
fighters and does not have enough equipment and weapons like the [Shiite] PMU,
which is split into several factions that cannot be easily unified.” He
concluded, “The best possible solution is to integrate PMU members into the
army and police forces.”
The PMU law will remain a controversial subject as long as the Sunni
blocs oppose it. The post-IS period will be the true test of the Shiite and
Sunni factions’ ability to integrate and transition into official and
institutional operations.
Self-Censorship: Free Society vs.
Fear Society
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/December 02/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9459/self-censorship
"The drama and the tragedy is that the only ones to win are the
jihadists." — Flemming Rose, who published the Mohammed cartoons in 2005,
as cultural editor of Jyllands-Posten newspaper.
"Why the f*ck did you say yes to appear on stage with this terrorist
target, are you stupid? Do you have a secret death wish? You have grandchildren
now. Are you completely out of your mind? It's okay if you want to die
yourself, but why are you taking the company though all this?" — The
managers of Jyllands-Posten, to Flemming Rose.
"We are also aware that we therefore bow to violence and
intimidation." — Editorial, Jyllands-Posten.
"I do not blame them that they care about the safety of employees. I
have bodyguards 24 hours a day. However, I believe that we must stand firm. If
Flemming shuts his mouth, democracy will be lost." — Naser Khader, a
liberal Muslim of Syrian origin who lives in
In the summer of 2005, the Danish artist Kåre Bluitgen, when he met a
journalist from the Ritzaus Bureau news agency, said he was unable to find
anyone willing to illustrate his book on Mohammed, the prophet of Islam. Three
illustrators he contacted, Bluitgen said, were too scared. A few months later,
Bluitgen reported that he had found someone willing to illustrate his book, but
only on the condition of anonymity.
Like most Danish newspapers, Jyllands-Posten decided to publish an
article about Bluitgen's case. To test the state of freedom of expression,
Flemming Rose, Jyllands-Posten's cultural editor at the time, called twelve
cartoonists, and offered them $160 each to draw a caricature of Mohammed. What
then happened is a well-known, chilling story.
In the wave of Islamist violence against the cartoons, at least two
hundred people were killed. Danish products vanished from shelves in
An Islamic fatwa also forever changed Flemming Rose's life. In an Islamic
caricature, his head was put on a pike. The Taliban offered a bounty to anyone
who would kill him. Rose's office at the newspaper was repeatedly evacuated for
bomb threats. And Rose's name and face entered
Less known is the "white fatwa" that the journalistic class
imposed on Rose. This brave Danish journalist reveals it in a recently published
book, "De Besatte" ("The Obsessed"). "It is the story
of how fear devours souls, friendships and the professional community,"
says Rose. The book reveals how his own newspaper forced Rose to surrender.
"The drama and the tragedy is that the only ones to win are the
jihadists," Flemming Rose told the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen.
The CEO of Jyllands-Posten, Jørgen Ejbøl, summoned Rose to his office,
and asked, "You have grandchildren, do not you think about them?"
The company that publishes his newspaper, JP/Politikens Hus, said:
"It's not about Rose, but the safety of two thousand employees."
Jorn Mikkelsen, Rose's former director, and the newspaper's business
heads, obliged him to sign a nine-point diktat, in which the Danish journalist
accepted, among other demands, "not participating in radio and television
programs", "not attending conferences", "not commenting on
religious issues", "not writing about the Organization of the Islamic
Conference" and "not commenting on the cartoons".
Rose signed this letter of surrender during the harshest time for the
newspaper, when, in 2010-2011, there were countless attempts on his life by
terrorists, and also attempts on the life of Kurt Westergaard, illustrator of a
cartoon (Mohammed with a bomb in his turban) that was burned in public squares
across the Arab world. Westergaard was then placed on "indefinite
leave" by Jyllands-Posten "for security reasons."
Is democracy lost? Eleven years after Jyllands-Posten published the
Mohammed cartoons, the newspaper has a barbed-wire fence two meters high and
one kilometer long. Kurt Westergaard, the illustrator who drew one of the
cartoons (left), lives in hiding in a fortress, and Flemming Rose (right), the
editor who commissioned the cartoons, has fled to the United States.
In his book, Rose also reveals that two articles were censored by his
newspaper, along with an outburst from the CEO of the company, Lars Munch:
"You have to stop, you're obsessed, on the fourth floor there are people
who ask 'can't he stop?'".
Rose then drew more wrath from his managers when he agreed to participate
in a conference with the equally targeted Dutch parliamentarian, Geert Wilders,
who at this moment is on trial in the
He starts yelling at me, "Why the f*ck did you say yes to appear on
stage with this terrorist target, are you stupid? Do you have a secret death
wish? You have grandchildren now. Are you completely out of your mind? It's
okay if you want to die yourself, but why are you taking the company though all
this?"
Jyllands-Posten also pressured Rose when he decided to write a book about
the cartoons, "Hymne til Friheden" ("Hymn to Freedom"). His
editor told him that the newspaper would "curb the harmful effects"
of the book by keeping its publication as low-key as possible. Rose was then
threatened with dismissal if he did not cancel two debates for the tenth
anniversary of the Mohammed cartoons (Rose, in fact, did not show up that day
at a conference in
After the 2015 massacre at Charlie Hebdo, Rose, no longer willing to
abide by the "diktat" he was ordered to sign, resigned as the head of
the foreign desk of Jyllands-Posten, and now works in the U.S. for the Cato
Institute think-tank. The former editor of Jyllands-Posten, Carsten Juste, who
was also blacklisted by
Rose writes in the conclusion of his book: "I'm not obsessed with
anything. The fanatics are those who want to attack us, and the possessed are
my former bosses at Jyllands-Posten."
Rose's revelations confirm another familiar story: Jyllands-Posten's
surrender to fear. Since 2006, each time its editors and publishers were asked
if they still would have published the drawings of Mohammed, the answer has
always been "no." This response means that the editors had
effectively tasked Rose with writing the newspaper for fanatics and terrorists
thousands of kilometers away. Even after the January 7, 2015 massacre at the
weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris, targeted precisely because it had republished
the Danish cartoons, Jyllands-Posten announced that, out of fear, it would not
republish the cartoons:
"We have lived with the fear of a terrorist attack for nine years,
and yes, that is the explanation why we do not reprint the cartoons, whether it
be our own or Charlie Hebdo's. We are also aware that we therefore bow to
violence and intimidation."
A Danish comedian, Anders Matthesen, said that the newspaper and the
cartoons were to blame for the Islamist violence -- the same official position
as the entire European political and journalistic mainstream.
A year ago, for the 10th anniversary of the affair, instead of the
cartoons, Jyllands-Posten came out with twelve white spaces. These white spaces
represent what Rose, in his previous book, called "Tavshedens
tiranni" ("The Tyranny of Silence"). Naser Khader, a liberal
Muslim of Syrian origin who lives in
"I do not blame them that they care about the safety of employees. I
have bodyguards 24 hours a day. However, I believe that we must stand firm. If
Flemming shuts his mouth, democracy will be lost."
Is democracy lost? The headquarters of Jyllands-Posten today has a
barbed-wire fence two meters high and one kilometer long, a door with double
lock (as in banks), and employees can only enter one at a time by typing in a
personal code (a measure that did not protect Charlie Hebdo). Meanwhile, the
former editor, Carsten Juste, has withdrawn from journalism; Kurt Westergaard
lives in hiding in a fortress, and Flemming Rose, like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, fled to
the
Much, certainly, looks lost. "We are not living in a 'free society'
anymore, but in a 'fear society'", Rose has said.
**Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist
and author.
© 2016 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.
Iranian Shabnam Madadzadeh, a former
political prisoner reveals Iran regime atrocities
NCRI/December 02/16
NCRI – Shabnam Madadzadeh, a former political prisoner who secretly left Iran
few months ago revealed atrocities of the Iranian regime inside prisons. She
was 21 when arrested for her activities in a university in
Madadzadeh spoke at a conference held in
Below is the text of her speech at the conference:
My name is Shabnam Madadzadeh. I left
I was a 21-year-old student and in my third year of studying computer science
at
I spent three months in solitary confinement, undergoing some of the most
brutal forms of psychological and physical torture in Evin’s Ward 209. The
worst of it all was when they tortured my brother Farzad in front of me.
Later, I was sentenced to five years in prison by the regime and exiled to the
dreadful Gohardasht Prison in
I spent time in Evin, Gohardasht, and the horrid Qarchack Varamin prisons. On
several occasions that lasted a total of eight months, I was not permitted any
visits or phone calls.
But, we found solace in the proud resistance of the residents of
The entire story began with two words.
These words were initially written in my high school and university books: We
“can” and we “must.”
Every year, the words “we can and we must” were written more eligibly and more
beautifully in my books.
These words ignited inspiration in me. They turned into courage, bravery and an
unyielding declaration in the campus as I stared in the eyes of the regime’s
security agents.
They turned into courage when I defended with all my might the last bastions of
freedom, shoulder-to-shoulder with my colleagues. These words gave me the
ability to speak about freedom and the right to live.
They enabled and empowered me during the horrifying attacks by agents against
our university protests and gatherings.
These were the words that inhabited my entire being. They nurtured confidence
and were the key to my perseverance in solitary confinement.
“We can and we must” – these were the source of my strength when I faced the
loud shouts and violence of the regime’s interrogators.
They gave me the conviction and faith as I sat down on the interrogation chair
while five to six guards circled around me, talking about executions and torture.
Each day of my five-year prison term, these were the words that showed me the
promise of light and the coming of liberty.
When the walls seemed to grow taller and when barbed wire surrounded me, these
two words, “can” and “must”, were like wings that allowed me to fly higher.
Yes, Mrs. Rajavi, I found the strength to grow wings and fly thanks to your
empowering words: “we can and we must.”
And, now, I am here still relying on your presence and leadership, which is the
symbol of the words “we can and we must.” Like a dewdrop coming from the ocean
of your piercing eyes, which glow with conviction and certainty, I have now
joined the vigorous sea of the Mujahedin so I can grow even more.
Mrs. Rajavi: I have come to you from the depressed and repressed streets of
I join you carrying a huge weight of suffering of the Iranian people,
especially the women and girls of our homeland;
With flowers and wreaths and greetings and hope offered by the suppressed
people of
I come to you from the ranks of activist and unrelenting university students,
who have sent you messages.
I carry numerous messages to you from the innocent women and girls languishing
in Evin, Gohardasht and Qarchak prisons.
The same innocent Iranian girls, who as you have put it, are like beautiful
flowers that fade without having the chance to blossom first.
I have seen the Reyhanehs, hundreds and hundreds of Reyhanehs. I have come here
to tell you about their stories of suffering and the injustices that they have
faced.
They told me they had no safe refuge; they told me of the times when they were
tortured, when they were held in illegal detention centers, and when they were
raped by torturers.
For years, these women and girls have spent their lives under some of the worst
circumstances, carrying with them their death sentences. They are experiencing
a gradual death in the regime’s torture chambers.
I spoke to a woman who had returned from a world of death; girls that were
arrested on phony or insignificant charges, only to be pulled into a world of
corruption, death and drugs created by the mullahs.
I talked to a 27-year-old woman who was arrested at 17 on the fabricated and
mullah-inspired charge of having “illegitimate relations.” 10 years later, she
was addicted to drugs and had murdered someone.
Dear Mrs. Rajavi,
I have brought all this pain in front of you to see because you are the only
answer to these pains.
Mrs. Rajavi, I have carried all those years, all that hurt, all the tears and
the anguish on my shoulders and as a consequence I always feel the gravity of
my responsibility.
I will continue my efforts and struggle until my last breath, promising to try
to take you to the land of the Lion and the Sun,
Dear friends,
Today, I stand in front of you to echo voices that seek justice and human
rights, the voices of the activist and perseverant political prisoners in
The voice of my dear sister and my hero Maryam Akbari Monfared; an innocent mother
of three who has spent more than 7 years in the regime’s prisons.
When they arrested her, her daughter Sara was only four. But, even in the
darkest and most difficult days, Maryam refused to surrender.
Since the day of her arrest until now, she has consistently stood up to the
regime’s guards and interrogators, seeking justice for the killings of her
sister and brothers.
When she grew restless and her heart was aching to hug her small daughter Sara
or to talk or console her teenage daughters, she used to tell me: now I know
what pain my late sister Roqieh felt in 1988 when they separated her from her
toddler daughter, but she still stood firm and defended her cause.
She used to always tell me that if there is one thing she believes, it is the
innocence, honesty and purity of all the martyrs of the massacre of 1988, and
that the PMOI are the only light shining in a world full of injustice. She used
to say that this is the only reason why I am still persevering and resisting.
I have to tell my friend Maryam from this podium that as I said during our last
conversation, I promise to always be on your side and to echo your voice as you
seek justice. I promise to tell her story for the world. Remembering all the
sweet and bitter moments in prison, I vow to be with the justice seeking
movement led by Mrs. Rajavi, which is now growing and expanding, so that we can
bring the brutal mullahs to justice for massacring thousands of innocent
people.
To all the European countries and international institutions, I say that you
must listen to the voice of the Iranian people, the voice of grieving mothers
of martyrs, the voice of the families of the victims of the 1988 massacre, the
voice of political prisoners in
The Iranian people have had enough suffering and suppression at the hands of
the mullahs. They do not care about any of their factions. They see one regime,
with one color, which is red with the blood of thousands of innocents.
The Iranian people condemn any form of relation or deals with the regime and
they say that by continuing such contacts and remaining quiet about the
regime’s violations, there will be new gallows set up in
The Iranian people are convinced that the Iranian regime, which has vowed to
destroy humans and humanity, will be toppled by the PMOI and the NCRI.
Dear Massoud Rajavi,
When I entered cell #15 in Evin’s Ward 209 and after the steel door was shut
the first day, I recalled you repeating the famous words of Imam Ali, who said
‘even if the mountains tremble, never budge an inch’. I wrote this in large
letters on my cell wall.
Dear Massoud, when I was in solitary confinement, I tried to remember your
teachings so I could stay proud.
We flourish in your presence
We flourish with your books
And in defense of your smile
Now, by relying on Mrs. Rajavi’s teachings, in the fight against the regime, I
hoist the flag once held by Mahdieh and Akbar and I vow to work hard to free
the Iranian people and our homeland. I will remain a PMOI activist until my
last breath.
Top Muslim university
rejects reform, stands by “terrorist curriculum”
Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/December 02/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/12/02/raymond-ibrahimfrontpage-magazine-top-muslim-university-rejects-reform-stands-by-terrorist-curriculum/
There’s nothing like knowing Arabic—that is, being privy to the Muslim world’s
internal conversations on a daily basis—to disabuse oneself of the supposed
differences between so-called “moderate” and “radical” Muslims.
Consider the case of
He is also regularly described by Western media and academia as a “moderate.”
Most recently he was invited to the
Pope Francis referenced his meeting with Tayeb as proof that Muslims are
peaceful: “I had a long conversation with the imam, the Grand Imam of the
How does one reconcile Tayeb’s benevolent image in the West with his reality in
For instance, all throughout the month of Ramadan last June, Tayeb appeared on
Egyptian TV explaining all things Islamic—often in ways that do not suggest
that Islam seeks “peace, encounter.”
During one episode, he reaffirmed a phrase that is almost exclusively
associated with radicals: in Arabic, al-din wa’l-dawla, meaning “the religion
and the polity”—a phrase that holds Islam to be both a religion and a body of
rules governing society and state.
He did so in the context of discussing the efforts of Dr. Ali Abdel Raziq, a
true reformer and former professor at Al Azhar who wrote a popular but
controversial book in 1925, one year after the abolition of the Ottoman
caliphate. Titled, in translation, Islam and the Roots of Governance, Raziq
argued against the idea of resurrecting the caliphate, saying that Islam is a personal
religion that should no longer be mixed with politics or governance.
Raziq was vehemently criticized by many clerics and even fired from Al Azhar.
Concluded Tayeb, with assent:
Al Azhar’s position was to reject his position, saying he forfeited his credentials
and his creed. A great many ulema—in and out of
The problem with the idea that Islam must govern the whole of society should be
obvious: Sharia, or Islamic law, which is what every Muslim including Tayeb
refer to when they say that Islam is a polity, is fundamentally at odds with
modern notions of human rights and, due to its supremacist and “anti-infidel”
aspects, the source of conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims the world over.
That this is the case was made clear during another of Tayeb’s recent episodes.
On the question of apostasy in Islam—whether a Muslim has the right to abandon
Islam for another or no religion—the “radical” position is well known:
unrepentant apostates are to be punished with death.
Yet Tayeb made the same pronouncement. During another Ramadan episode he said
that “Contemporary apostasy presents itself in the guise of crimes, assaults,
and grand treason, so we deal with it now as a crime that must be opposed and
punished.”
While his main point was that those who do not follow Islam are prone to being
criminals, he especially emphasized those who exhibit their apostasy as being a
“great danger to Islamic society. And that’s because his apostasy is a result
of his hatred for Islam and a reflection of his opposition to it. In my
opinion, this is grand treason.”
Tayeb added what all Muslims know: “Those learned in Islamic law [al-fuqaha]
and the imams of the four schools of jurisprudence consider apostasy a crime
and agree that the apostate must either renounce his apostasy or else be
killed.” He even cited a hadith, or tradition, of Islam’s prophet Muhammad
calling for the execution of Muslims who quit Islam.
Meanwhile, when speaking to Western and non-Muslim audiences, as he did during
his recent European tour, Tayeb tells them what they want to hear. Speaking
before an international forum he asserted that “The Quran states that there is
no compulsion in religion,” and that “attempts to force people into a religion
are against the will of God.” Similarly, when meeting with the Italian Senate’s
Foreign Policy Commission Pier Ferdinando Casini and his accompanying
delegation, Tayeb “asserted that Islam is the religion of peace, cooperation
and mercy…. Islam believes in freedom of expression and human rights, and
recognizes the rights of all human beings.”
While such open hypocrisy—also known as taqiyya—may go unnoticed in the West,
in Egypt, human rights groups often call him out. The Cairo Institute for Human
Rights recently issued a statement accusing Al Azhar of having two faces: one
directed at the West and which preaches freedom and tolerance, and one directed
to Muslims and which sounds not unlike ISIS:
In March 2016 before the German parliament, Sheikh al-Tayeb made unequivocally
clear that religious freedom is guaranteed by the Koran, while in Cairo he
makes the exact opposite claims…. Combating terrorism and radical religious
ideologies will not be accomplished by directing at the West and its
international institutions religious dialogues that are open, support
international peace and respect freedoms and rights, while internally promoting
ideas that contribute to the dissemination of violent extremism through the
media and educational curricula of Al Azhar and the mosques.
At any rate, if Tayeb holds such draconian views on apostasy from Islam—that
is, when he’s speaking in Arabic to fellow Muslims—what is his position
concerning the Islamic State? Last December, Tayeb was asked why Al Azhar
refuses to issue a formal statement denouncing the genocidal terrorist
organization as lapsing into a state of kufr, that is, of becoming un-Islamic,
or “infidel.” Tayeb responded:
Al Azhar cannot accuse any [Muslim] of being a kafir [infidel], as long as he
believes in Allah and the Last Day—even if he commits every atrocity…. I cannot
denounce
As critics, such as Egyptian talk show host Ibrahim Eissa pointed out, however,
“It’s amazing. Al Azhar insists
This should not be surprising considering that many insiders accuse Al Azhar of
teaching and legitimizing the atrocities that
It [Al Azhar] can’t [condemn the Islamic State as un-Islamic]. The Islamic
State is a byproduct of Al Azhar’s programs. So can Al Azhar denounce itself as
un-Islamic? Al Azhar says there must be a caliphate and that it is an
obligation for the Muslim world [to establish it]. Al Azhar teaches the law of
apostasy and killing the apostate. Al Azhar is hostile towards religious
minorities, and teaches things like not building churches, etc. Al Azhar
upholds the institution of jizya. Al Azhar teaches stoning people. So can Al
Azhar denounce itself as un-Islamic?
Similarly, while discussing how the Islamic State burns some of its victims
alive—most notoriously, a Jordanian pilot—Egyptian journalist Yusuf al-Husayni
remarked on his satellite program that “The Islamic State is only doing what Al
Azhar teaches.” He went on to quote from textbooks used in Al Azhar that permit
burning people—more specifically, “infidels”—alive.
Meanwhile, Tayeb—the face of and brain behind Al Azhar—holds that
As for the ongoing persecution of
Although he vociferously denounces the displacement of non-Egyptian Muslims in
Buddhist Myanmar, he doesn’t have a single word for the persecution and
displacement of the Copts, that is, his own Egyptian countrymen. Instead he
proclaims that “the Copts have been living in
Indeed, far from speaking up on behalf of
This is consistent with the fact that Al Azhar encourages enmity for
non-Muslims, specifically Coptic Christians, and even incites for their murder.
As Egyptian political commentator Dr. Khalid al-Montaser once marveled:
Is it possible at this sensitive time — when murderous terrorists rest on
[Islamic] texts and understandings of takfir [accusing Muslims of apostasy],
murder, slaughter, and beheading — that Al Azhar magazine is offering free of
charge a book whose latter half and every page — indeed every few lines — ends
with “whoever disbelieves [non-Muslims] strike off his head”?
The prestigious Islamic university—which co-hosted U.S. President Obama’s 2009
“A New Beginning” speech—has even issued a free booklet dedicated to proving
that Christianity is a “failed religion.”
One can go on and on. Tayeb once explained with assent why Islamic law permits
a Muslim man to marry a Christian woman, but forbids a Muslim woman from
marrying a Christian man: since women by nature are subordinate to men, it’s
fine if the woman is an infidel, as her superior Muslim husband will keep her
in check; but if the woman is a Muslim, it is not right that she be under the
authority of an infidel. Similarly, Western liberals may be especially
distraught to learn that Tayeb once boasted, “You will never one day find a
Muslim society that permits sexual freedom, homosexuality, etc., etc., as
rights. Muslim societies see these as sicknesses that need to be resisted and
opposed.”
To recap, while secular Western talking heads that don’t know the first thing
about Islam continue squealing about how it is being “misunderstood,” here is
arguably the Muslim world’s leading authority confirming many of the cardinal
points held by ISIS: he believes that Islam is not just a religion to be
practiced privately but rather is a totalitarian system designed to govern the
whole of society through the implementation of its human rights abusing Sharia;
he supports one of the most inhumane laws, punishment of the Muslim who wishes
to leave Islam; he downplays the plight of Egypt’s persecuted Christians, that
is, when he’s not inciting against them by classifying them as “infidels”—the
worst category in Islam’s lexicon—even as he refuses to denounce the genocidal
Islamic State likewise.
Yet this well credentialed and respected scholar of Islam is considered a
“moderate” by Western universities and media, from
In all fairness of course, Tayeb is neither a “moderate” nor a “radical.” He’s
merely a Muslim trying to be true to Islam. Put differently, he’s merely a
messenger.
Critics would be advised to take it up with the Message itself.