LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

July 28/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For Today

If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12/35-40/:'‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. ‘But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’".

Paul said, ‘I am appealing to the emperor’s tribunal; this is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know.
Acts of the Apostles 24,27/25,01-12/:"After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and since he wanted to grant the Jews a favour, Felix left Paul in prison. Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem where the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews gave him a report against Paul. They appealed to him and requested, as a favour to them against Paul, to have him transferred to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, planning an ambush to kill him along the way. Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ‘So’, he said, ‘let those of you who have the authority come down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them accuse him.’After he had stayed among them for not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. When he arrived, the Jews who had gone down from Jerusalem surrounded him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove. Paul said in his defence, ‘I have in no way committed an offence against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against the emperor.’But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favour, asked Paul, ‘Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?’Paul said, ‘I am appealing to the emperor’s tribunal; this is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know. Now if I am in the wrong and have committed something for which I deserve to die, I am not trying to escape death; but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor.’Then Festus, after he had conferred with his council, replied, ‘You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go.’"
 

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 27-28/16
Slaughtering the Catholic Priest in France: Barbaric and SavageElias Bejjani/July 27/16
Jihadis: Who Are Their Targets/Douglas Murray/Gatestone Institute/July 27/16
Iranian Basij Commander Naqdi Visits Quneitra, Syria/MEMRI/July 27/16
Will Turkey be expelled from NATO/Semih Idiz/Al-Monitor/July 27/16
'Mere Islam' and the Munich Massacre/Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/July 27/2016
Eject Western Traitors, Beat Islamic Terrorists/Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/July 27/16
Not Just "An Absurd Murder," Pope Francis/Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/July 27/16
The disgruntled over Gulf stability/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/July 27/16
Peace in Syria? It takes more than regime ceasefires/Peter Harrison/Al Arabiya/July 27/16
Russia’s Trump card/Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/July 27/16
Will Turkey’s leadership seize fresh opportunities/Eyad Abu Shakra/Al Arabiya/July 27/16
Hillary’s Syria policy/Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon/July 17/16
 

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on July 27-28/16

Slaughtering the Catholic Priest in France: Barbaric and Savage
Cabinet Postpones Telecoms File Discussions
Office of Al-Jadeed TV Owner Attacked Overnight
Report: Army Ups Security Precautions to Counter Terror Plots
Residents of Ain Dara Protest Establishment of Cement Factory
Telecommunications dossier to be followed up next week
Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi contacts Bonne to denounce slaughter of priest, pay condolences on Nice massacre martyrs
MP Simon Abi Ramia: Proportionality provides fair representation
Hezbollah's MP, Nawwaf Moussawi: Aoun will be president, Hezbollah will not retreat in Syria
Ex Lebanese PM, Siniora contacts Bonne over France church attack
Resigned Justice Minister, Ashraf Rifi receives Richard, calls upon government to resign
Lebanese parliamentary delegation meets Head of Pakistan Senate
Hamoud commissions Information Branch to investigate Khayyat's complaint
Hajj Hassan, Nazarian inaugurate symposium on management of Energy

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 27-28/16

Saudi Arabia condemns deadly attack on France church
EU vows to help France fight ISIS ‘barbarity’
French church attacker reportedly tried to reach Syria
Deadly bomb attack kills 44 in Syria’s Qamishli
Kuwaiti PM sentenced 14 years jail for insulting Saudi and Bahrain
Iran announces official date for 2017 presidential election
Jordan foils bid to enter Israel with petrol bombs
UN warns South Sudan president over replacement of rival
Obama: It is possible Russia would try to sway US election
Palestinian killed in gun fire with Israeli army
Turkish PM Warns Crackdown 'Not Completed'
Palestinians Seek to Sue Britain over 1917 Vow to Jews
Iran’s Basij chief, General Mohammad Reza Naqdi inspects Syria-Israel border
Iranian Christian political prisoner in critical condition after 23 days on hunger strike
Iran hangs seven prisoners in one day
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait file complaint at UN over Iranian regime's maritime assaults
Women arrested in Iran for riding bicycles in public
Narges Mohammadi,Political prisoner reveals restrictions and pressures in Iranian prison
White House warns of cyber-attack threat from Iran regime

Links From Jihad Watch Site for July 27-28/16
Erdogan tightens iron grip on power: Turkey shuts down over 130 media outlets, dismisses 2,400 military personnel
Homeland Security chief promoting past wrongs over jihadism and homeland security
‘Violent explosion’ outside German office for migration — ‘Arab men’ fled scene
“Islamophobia” horror! Episode of UK’s “Fireman Sam” withdrawn, apology issued after character steps on Qur’an page
Somalia: Muslims murder at least 13 people with jihad car bomb attack near Mogadishu airport
Robert Spencer in PJ Media: Few Muslims Show Up at ‘Muslims Against ISIS’ Rally, as Usual
How do news outlets from around the world identify jihad murder in their headlines?
Coptic bishop: Egypt’s Christians attacked ‘every two or three days’
Why Jihadists Beheaded Fr. Jacques Hamel — on The Glazov Gang
Raymond Ibrahim: Eject Western Traitors, Beat Islamic Terrorists
Germany: Sharia patrol threatens nude bathers with “extermination”

Latest Lebanese Related News published on July 27-28/16

Slaughtering the Catholic Priest in France: Barbaric and Savage
Elias Bejjani/July 27/16
Slaughtering the Catholic Priest in France yesterday is a savage and highly condemned act that even wild animals does not commit. Those committing such horrible, barbaric and savage acts are not human nor animals. They are creature with no mind, no heart no feelings. These creature must be totally wiped off from the whole world and all those who hail or support their crimes must be put on trial on charges of crimes against humanity no matter who are they.

Cabinet Postpones Telecoms File Discussions
Naharnet/July 27/16/The cabinet met on Wednesday with plans to address the extension of the contracts of the mobile service providers but adjourned discussions to a later session that was scheduled for the week after. Prime Minister Tammam Salam chaired the meeting at the Grand Serail to address the telecommunications sector, amid statements made by Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb before joining the ministers at the cabinet that the issue will be postponed to another session. Ahead of the meeting Harb said: “Extending the contracts of the two mobile services providers will not be discussed during the meeting because I have not finished preparing the report yet.”Replying to Harb's failure to submit a detailed report, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said: “If you are unable to convince someone (of your role) you might as well confuse them,” in reference to a 700-page report that was distributed on the ministers. Conflicts linger between Harb on one hand and Bassil and Education Minister Elias Bou Saab on the other over what reports said is linked to personal gains over the telecoms file. Information Minister Ramzi Jreij said that the cabinet has approved of the state's contribution to the cost of medical procedures oversees for patients who need it. Jreij made a sarcastic comment before the meeting and said that the meeting will carry “surprises” like it always does. “We will engage in disputes and controversy. I do not expect that we come out with a result with regard to the telecommunications file,” said Minister of Culture Rony Araiji. Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnuq commented on the security situation in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, he said: “The situation in under control in the camp.” For his part, Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan stated: “The file is thorny, discussing it will not end today.”

Office of Al-Jadeed TV Owner Attacked Overnight
Naharnet/July 27/16/Unknown assailants opened gunfire overnight at the office of owner of al-Jadeed TV Tahsin Khayyat in Beirut's Bir Hassan neighborhood, the National News Agency reported on Wednesday. The agency said that the shooting inflicted material damages on the building where the office is located. Investigations into the incident were opened, NNA added without giving further details. Later during the day, former Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi issued a statement denouncing the attack, he said: “We denounce the shooting attack against the office of al-Jadeed owner,” and urged “judicial action on the incident to track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.” A war or words erupted lately between al-Jadeed and a TV station owned by Speaker Nabih Berri. Al-Jadeed accused Berri of striking what it described as a “suspicious” deal with the Kuwaiti al-Kharafi group where Berri is involved in “corrupt” acts.

Report: Army Ups Security Precautions to Counter Terror Plots
Naharnet/July 27/16/The Lebanese army has upped its security measures recently to counter any acts of sabotage that could be carried out by terror groups, a senior security source told al-Joumhouria daily on Wednesday. The daily added that Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji will issue his Order of the Day marking Army Day on the first of August. Qahwaji will pinpoint the elements of danger that could be threatening Lebanon and will also issue guidance to the military force to maintain high alert to counter any potential menace. In that regard, al-Mustaqbal daily said that a senior army delegation visited the southern city of Sidon on Tuesday and surveyed the military units in the city and its suburbs. The visit comes in the context of a confirmation on the army's readiness in maintaining stability and confronting any dangers threatening the country, said that daily. The visit, which was surrounded by tight security procedures, included inspection of the army units and checkpoints at the entrance of the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh and its surrounding, mainly the neighborhood of al-Taamir and around the State Hospital. The army was able to arrest 357 Islamic State members during two and a half months period. The accomplishment was described as a major quality operation that triggered an influx of Arab and international intelligence agencies to Lebanon, An Nahar daily reported. On Tuesday, reports said that the army had obtained information that Imad Yassine, a dangerous emir of the IS in Ain el-Hilweh, has received orders from IS foreign operations chief Abu Khaled al-Iraqi to stage major Iraq-like bombings across Lebanon. Reports added that terrorist groups are also seeking to “create major chaos, destruction and terror in the various Lebanese regions, especially in Beirut and its southern suburbs, through targeting gatherings and densely-populated areas.”By long-standing convention, the army does not enter the twelve Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, leaving the Palestinian factions themselves to handle security. That has created lawless areas in many camps, and Ain el-Hilweh has gained notoriety as a refuge for extremists and fugitives. But the camp is also home to more than 54,000 registered Palestinian refugees who have been joined in recent years by thousands of Palestinians fleeing the fighting in Syria. More than 450,000 Palestinians are registered in Lebanon with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA. Most live in squalid conditions in 12 official refugee camps and face a variety of legal restrictions, including on their employment.

Residents of Ain Dara Protest Establishment of Cement Factory
Naharnet/July 27/16/Residents of the Mount Lebanon town of Ain Dara gathered on Wednesday in the area of Dahr al-Baydar at the request of the town’s municipal chief to protest against the establishment of a cement plant in the town, the National News Agency reported. The people banned cement mixer vehicles from entering the village, NNA added. Fouad Haidamous, municipal chief of Ain Dara said: “The municipal council respects the law and will be closing down all illegal quarries. It will work on banning the establishment of a cement factory.”Pierre Fattoush, a brother of MP Nicolas Fattoush, wants to establish a huge project and cement factory in the outskirts of Ain Dara that lies in the geographic scope of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve. Residents of Ain Dara in addition to its municipal council have organized environmental, social and political campaigns to counter this step.

Telecommunications dossier to be followed up next week
Wed 27 Jul 2016/NNA - Minister of Information, Ramzi Jreij, said on Wednesday, in the wake of the cabinet session that "discussions over the telecommunications dossier will be followed up next week."The extraordinary cabinet session was held this morning under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Tammam Salam, and it was mainly devoted to study of the telecom issue. Jreij read the session's decisions and stressed that ministers have approved the contribution of the state in the cost of surgery for Lebanese patients abroad. He added that Agriculture Minister, Akram Chehayeb, would be replacing Environment Minister, Mohamad Machnouk, upon the request of the latter, in chairing the Committee assigned to discuss the waste issue. According to Jreij, the Minister of Finance was responsible for setting the country's priorities in development projects, which will be discussed with the World Bank, particularly in the fields of electricity, development of roads, sanitation, public health, pollution and education. Separately, Telecommunications Minister, Boutros Harb, spoke after the session, recalling that he had presented to the Cabinet a detailed report on illegal Internet networks. He opposed to people who pointed fingers of accusation at the Ministry in this context, and hoped ministers would openly discuss this issue.

Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi contacts Bonne to denounce slaughter of priest, pay condolences on Nice massacre martyrs
Wed 27 Jul 2016/NNA - Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi telephoned the French Ambassador, Emmanuel Bonne, expressing disapproval of the "heinous crime that targeted the Church of the French city of Rouen and the slaughter of Priest Jacques Hamel", calling for "prayer for the souls of martyrs."Rahi paid condolences to the French state, President Francois Hollande, and the French people on the martyrdom of priest Jacques Hamel and the martyrs of Nice massacre, wishing a speedy recovery to the wounded and stability in the region as well as in the whole world. On the other hand, the Patriarch received at his Diman summer residence a French delegation headed by French presidential candidate Michele Alliot-Marie. Rahi prayed God to "awaken the conscience of criminals and shake the international community from which we solicit more effective measures vis-a-vis terrorism which is threatening the entire world." Patriarch Rahi also received the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem II and discussed with him the conditions of Christians in Syria and Iraq amid the frequent terrorist attacks. Rahi also met with Cyprus Maronite Archbishop, Youssef Suef, who briefed him on the situation of the Maronite community and the work of the Patriarchate liturgy Commission.

MP Simon Abi Ramia: Proportionality provides fair representation
Wed 27 Jul 2016/NNA - Change and Reform bloc member, MP Simon Abi Ramia, said in an interview with Al-Jadeed TV that the elections law based on proportionality provides true and fair representation of the components of the Lebanese society, adding that "the FPM is waging an election law battle (...) to maintain the Lebanese entity and respect the national pact."Stressing the need to solve the citizens' livelihood issues, Abi Ramia assured that the FPM is deal with pending files on the basis of political realism. He tackled in this regard the dossier of oil and gas, assuring that the latter would provide security and political stability in Lebanon. "The FPM rejects and denies all rumors about quotas and secret agreements with Speaker Berri in the oil dossier," the MP assured. Finally, Abi Ramia denounced terrorism all over the world, stressing the need to "change the policies adopted by Europe and the United States and work on eradicating this scourge."

Hezbollah's MP, Nawwaf Moussawi: Aoun will be president, Hezbollah will not retreat in Syria
Wed 27 Jul 2016/NNA - Loyalty to Resistance Bloc member, Nawwaf Moussawi, said that General Michel Aoun would be the President of the Lebanese Republic as he enjoyed the proper majority in this regard in condition that the Future Bloc would be freed from the control of Saudi regime. MP Moussawi's stance came Wednesday in the context of a religious ceremony held in Jebshit. Moussawi attacked Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as pressing through money upon poor countries to agree that Hezbollah was a terrorist organization, saying that Hezbollah will not retreat in Syria, especially that it is moving forward towards a victory starting to loom in the horizon of confrontation.

Ex Lebanese PM, Siniora contacts Bonne over France church attack
Wed 27 Jul 2016/NNA - "Future" bloc head, former Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, on Wednesday contacted by phone French Ambassador to Lebanon, Emmanuel Bonne, to offer condolences on the victims of the terrorist crime that occurred at a Church in the city of Rouen in Normandy region, northwest France, which claimed the life of Priest Jacques Hamel, and the wounding of two nuns. Siniora expressed in his name and on behalf of Future bloc "indignation and fervent condemnation of such a barbaric criminal act, carried out by a terrorist criminal who was not deterred by any religious or moral value, surpassing in terrorist crime all tolerable limits. "What happened is an attack on Muslims and Christians alike, and tantamount to a crime against all humanity, because the criminal suspect has deliberately attempted to distort the image of Islam and Muslims trying to link it to extremism and terrorism," Siniora remarked, whereas Islam fervently reject such unallowable blemishes. Siniora underlined "the need for action to deal with these criminal acts and criminals," calling for enhancing cooperation among nations in countering these extremists and terrorists. Siniora urged return to the language of openness, tolerance, and all actions that would bring people together rather than splitting them apart. "Attacks on houses of worship is a categorically rejected matter by Islam and Muslims," Siniora said, underscoring the need for unifying efforts by Muslim and Christian moderates in countering these criminals and putting terms to their atrocious attacks.

Resigned Justice Minister, Ashraf Rifi receives Richard, calls upon government to resign
Wed 27 Jul 2016/NNA - Resigned Justice Minister, Ashraf Rifi, called upon the government to resign and go for the caretaking performance instead of basing itself on the transfer of shares among its political members to adopt the saying, "Give me to give you."Rifi on Wednesday received at his office in Ashrafieh US Ambassador, Elizabeth Richard, whom he hailed for her earlier role in providing US support for Internal Security Forces.Rifi stressed that any national stance was much better than any ministerial post and "my resignation is a clear indicator in this regard."

Lebanese parliamentary delegation meets Head of Pakistan Senate
Wed 27 Jul 2016/NNA - The Lebanese parliamentary delegation in Pakistan, including Deputies Hassan Fadlallah and Kassem Hashem, continued its talks on the sidelines of the MPs' participation in the Assembly of Asian Parliaments. Fadlallah and Hashem met with Head of the Pakistani Senate Mian Raza Rabbani, in the presence of ambassador of Lebanon to Islamabad, Mona Tannir. Fadlallah praised in a statement the parliamentary positions in Pakistan, according to which the country refuses to get involved in wars of the region. He also emphasized "the efforts of this country to end the crises in the Arab and Islamic world as well as its action against takifiri terrorist strikes as terrorism affects both Lebanon and Pakistan." For its part, the top Pakistani official called for developing parliamentary relations between the two countries, noting that Pakistan's position on disputes among Islamic countries is based on the need for dialogue, away from military solutions, especially in Syria and Yemen.

Hamoud commissions Information Branch to investigate Khayyat's complaint
Wed 27 Jul 2016/NNA - Prosecutor General Samir Hammoud assigned to the Information Branch the investigations into the complaint filed by al-Jadeed TV's CEO Tahsin Khayyat about the shooting at one of his properties.

Hajj Hassan, Nazarian inaugurate symposium on management of Energy
Wed 27 Jul 2016/NNA - Ministers of Industry, Hussein Hajj Hassan and Energy, Arthur Nazarian, inaugurated the symposium of energy management for the industrial sector in Lebanon, organized by the National Demonstration Project to increase energy efficiency and promote the use of renewable energy in Lebanon "Cedro IV." Head of the EU Delegation in Lebanon, Ambassador, Christina Lassen, spoke on the occasion, stating that the Union will continue its support for the independence of energy in Lebanon. "We work together to make Lebanon a country that is more eco-friendly," she said. The UNDP permanent representative in Lebanon, Philippe Lazzarini, for his part, emphasized the importance of solar PV to reduce production costs. Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan also spoke on the occasion and shed light on the importance of reducing production costs, which has major economic and environmental benefits. "Renewable energy is an alternative, as well as consumption management and reduction of waste" he added. For his part, Energy Minister, Arthur Nazarian, took the opportunity to call on the world organizations to develop projects to support the use of renewable energy. He applauded the efforts exerted by the UNDP and the European Union in Lebanon.
 

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 27-28/16

Saudi Arabia condemns deadly attack on France church
AFP, Riyadh Wednesday, 27 July 2016/Saudi Arabia on Wednesday condemned “in the strongest terms” the attack on a church in France that saw a priest killed by ISIS followers. “This cowardly terrorist act is rejected by Islam which necessitates protecting places of worship and prohibits violating their sacredness,” said the statement published on the official SPA news agency. Two attackers stormed the church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass on Tuesday, slitting the throat of an 86-year-old priest and leaving a worshiper with serious injuries. ISIS said the attack was carried out by its “soldiers.” The United Arab Emirates also condemned the attack in France which it said only aims to “spread sedition and fuel hatred.”“This shocking crime reveals the lowness of its perpetrators and those behind them,” the UAE said, urging world countries to “work decisively and without hesitation to confront terrorism in all its forms.”Neighboring Gulf states Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar have issued similar statements condemning the attack. The assault comes less than two weeks after a man ploughed a truck into a crowd in the Riviera city of Nice, killing 84 people and injuring over 300.

EU vows to help France fight ISIS ‘barbarity’
AFP, Brussels Wednesday, 27 July 2016/The head of the European Commission on Tuesday pledged “Europe’s solidarity and cooperation in the fight against barbarity”, in a letter to French President Francois Hollande after a church attack claimed by ISIS.
“More than ever, all over Europe, solidarity and cooperation will be essential in the fight against barbarity and to ensure that our shared values prevail,” Jean-Claude Juncker wrote. “The European Commission is fully mobilized, along with other European institutions, to provide all the support it can to France in these painful moments,” he added. In a statement, the EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also expressed solidarity and offered her “condolences to the families of the victims, to France and the Catholic Church.”“Targeting a man of faith, of any faith, is always a crime against our common humanity because it means targeting the deeper essence of our lives, believers and non-believers alike,” she said.

French church attacker reportedly tried to reach Syria
Reuters Wednesday, 27 July 2016/One of the two knife-wielding men who attacked a church in France on Tuesday has been named as 19-year-old Adel Kermiche, who was under close surveillance after two failed attempts to reach Syria last year, France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor said. Kermiche and the second attacker, who remains unidentified, were killed by police as they came out of the church in Kermiche’s hometown in Normandy after taking hostages and fatally slitting the throat of an elderly priest. The Amaq news agency, which is affiliated with ISIS, said two of its “soldiers” had carried out the attack. After Kermiche’s last attempt to reach Syria in May 2015, he was detained until March, when he was released despite an appeal by Paris prosecutors that was rejected. However, he was forced to wear an electronic tag so police could track his whereabouts and was allowed to leave his home only for a few hours a day, prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference. A still from a French TV station show the slain priest, named as Jacques Hamel. (Photo courtesy BFM TV) After his detention in France, he turned a deaf ear to acquaintances who tried to “reason with him”, said an 18-year-old former schoolmate named Redwan who knew Kermiche well. “Each time we said something to him he would answer with a verse from the Koran,” Redwan said. “He would tell us that France is a country of unbelievers and we shouldn’t live here. He would try to indoctrinate us, but we didn’t care and wouldn’t take him seriously,” he added. A neighbor described Kermiche as a loner. “His family is clean, they’re nothing like him,” said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. The fact that Kermiche was under tight surveillance and the appeal to keep him in custody was rejected is likely to reignite criticism of the government for not doing enough on security. The outcry over shaky security intensified after the Bastille Day attack in Nice this month that left 84 dead and was also claimed by ISIS. Kermiche’s ex-schoolmate said he had been a normal teenager until last year, when he became increasingly radicalized, asked people to call him Abou Adam and tried to leave for Syria, where extremist militants are fighting in its civil war. The militant attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris in January 2015 captivated Kermiche in particular, his mother told Swiss Newspaper La Tribune de Geneve last year. He first tried to reach Syria in March 2015, travelling on his brother’s identity card, but was stopped in Germany after a family member alerted authorities that he was missing, Molins said. He tried again in May 2015 using a cousin’s identity card, traveling first to Switzerland and then Turkey, but he was stopped and sent back to first to Switzerland and then to France on an arrest warrant, according to Molins.

Deadly bomb attack kills 44 in Syria’s Qamishli
AFP, Damascus Wednesday, 27 July 2016/A double bomb attack killed a least 44 people in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Wednesday, Syrian state television reported. The official SANA news agency said at least 140 people were also injured when a suicide bomber in a vehicle blew himself up in a western neighborhood of the city. The attack was initially described as a double bombing, but sources in the city and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights subsequently said the initial attack had caused a gas tank to detonate. The area targeted houses several ministries of the local autonomous Kurdish administration. In a statement published by the ISIS-linked Aamaq news agency, the group said it carried out the attack in Qamishli, describing it as a truck bombing that struck a complex of Kurdish offices. The extremist group has carried out several bombings in Kurdish areas in Syria in the past.

Kuwaiti PM sentenced 14 years jail for insulting Saudi and Bahrain
Staff writer, Al Arabiya News English Wednesday, 27 July 2016/Kuwait has handed one of its parliamentarians, Abdul-Hamid Dashti, to 11 years and six months in prison for insulting Saudi Arabia and a seperate sentence for insulting Bahrain.He was tried as well for defaming Kuwait's judiciary. In March, the National Assembly of Kuwait, approved the claim presented for lifting Dashti's parliamentary immunity. The request was based on the case on a homeland security lawsuit issued against Dashti for incitement against Saudi Arabia. Under Kuwaiti law, any individual convicted of a hostile act against a foreign country, which may expose Kuwait to war or the severance of diplomatic relations shall be jailed. Kuwait's foreign ministry received an official memo from the Saudi Embassy after Dashti appeared on Syrian Al-Ekhbariya TV channel on February 24 and attacked Saudi. The Saudi ambassador to Kuwait Abdulaziz al-Fayez already mentioned that he previously petitioned a warrant to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Kuwait objecting the tenacious provocations Dashiti passed against Saudi.

Iran announces official date for 2017 presidential election
AFP, Tehran Wednesday, 27 July 2016/Iran’s Guardian Council announced Wednesday that next year’s presidential election will take place on May 19 with embattled incumbent Hassan Rowhani expected to run for a second term. Rowhani, a moderate who oversaw a deal with world powers to end sanctions in exchange for curbing Iran’s nuclear programme, faces mounting pressure from conservatives who want to limit rapprochement with the West. Hardliners argue the nuclear deal has brought few economic benefits to struggling Iranians, and Rowhani has also been hit by a scandal over exorbitant pay at public sector companies after payslips were leaked to the media. Although the president is the public face of Iran to the world, real power remains with the supreme leader and institutions such as the Revolutionary Guards that are dominated by conservatives. If Rowhani loses, it would be the first time since the Islamic revolution in 1979 that a sitting president has not won a second term. No candidates have yet been formally announced. The conservative-minded Guardian Council oversees elections and has powers to veto candidates.

Jordan foils bid to enter Israel with petrol bombs
AFP, Amman Wednesday, 27 July 2016/Jordanian border guards on Tuesday arrested a man as he tried to enter Israel in a car containing petrol bombs, an official said. He was detained after ignoring orders at a checkpoint and trying to drive through roadblocks leading to the border, the source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source said the car was seized and found to contain petrol bombs which the driver had “intended to use illegally”. A statement from the armed forces also reported the arrest of a man and the seizure of his vehicle for “trying to cross the checkpoints on the road to a neighboring country”. “Materials used to carry out illegal acts were found in the vehicle, and the driver admitted that he intended to use them,” the statement said. Attempts to infiltrate Israel from Jordan are rare because of strict security measures on both sides of the border. The two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994.

UN warns South Sudan president over replacement of rival
Reuters, United Nations Wednesday, 27 July 2016/The United Nations warned South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Tuesday that any political appointments must be consistent with a peace deal that ended nearly two years of civil war after Kiir replaced his vice president and rival Riek Machar. Machar left the South Sudanese capital Juba earlier this month after an eruption of violence in the city when forces loyal to Kiir and Machar battled each other for several days with tanks, helicopters and other heavy weapons. An August peace agreement states that the vice president must be chosen by the South Sudan Armed Opposition. Machar was sworn in as vice president in April. However, Kiir replaced Machar on Monday with General Taban Deng Gai, a former chief opposition negotiator who has broken ranks with Machar and has the support of some other opposition members. “Any political appointments need to be consistent with the provisions outlined in the peace agreement,” UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York on Tuesday. US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said some members of the South Sudanese opposition had met in Juba on Saturday and agreed to appoint Deng Gai as vice president. “In terms of this and whether it’s allowed under the peace agreement is going to be a question for the leadership of South Sudan,” Trudeau told reporters. Kiir’s appointment of Deng Gai - a former minister of mining - came after Kiir issued an ultimatum last week, demanding that Machar contact him within 48 hours and return to Juba to salvage the peace deal, or face replacement. Deng Gai, who was the chief negotiator for Machar’s SPLM-IO group during the peace talks, and some other opposition members backed Kiir’s ultimatum. Machar said on Friday he had fired Deng Gai and accused him of defecting to Kiir’s party. “We call on all parties to ensure that the ceasefire is maintained and that any divisions within the opposition or between the parties be dealt with peacefully through dialogue,” Haq said. Machar has said he would only return to Juba after international troops were deployed as a buffer force to separate his forces from Kiir’s. South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, descended into civil war after Kiir fired Machar as vice president for the first time in 2013. More than 10,000 people were killed and some 2 million displaced, many of whom fled to neighboring countries.

Obama: It is possible Russia would try to sway US election
Reuters, Washington Wednesday, 27 July 2016/US President Barack Obama said it was possible that Russia would try to influence the US presidential election, after a leak of Democratic National Committee emails that experts have attributed to Russian hackers. “Anything is possible,” Obama told NBC News in an interview broadcast on Tuesday when asked if the Russians would try to influence the Nov. 8 election. Obama said the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating the leak on Friday of more than 19,000 DNC emails, which showed the committee had favored Hillary Clinton over Senator Bernie Sanders for the party’s presidential nomination. “I know that experts have attributed this to the Russians,” Obama said. “What we do know is that the Russians hack our systems, not just government systems but private systems,” he said. Trump has often praised Putin, calling him a “strong leader.” (AP) The email leak forced Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida to resign as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Clinton, who received the Democratic nomination on Tuesday at the party’s convention in Philadelphia, will face Republican Donald Trump in the election. “What the motives were in terms of the leaks, all that, I can’t say directly. What I do know is that Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration for Vladimir Putin,” Obama said. Trump has often praised Putin, calling him a “strong leader.” The New York businessman also told the New York Times last week that with him in the White House, NATO might not automatically defend the Baltic states that were once part of the Russian-led Soviet Union. “I think that Trump has gotten pretty favorable coverage back in Russia,” Obama said.

Palestinian killed in gun fire with Israeli army
AFP, Jerusalem Wednesday, 27 July 2016/A Palestinian man accused of killing an Israeli rabbi died on Tuesday in an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, the military said. “A terrorist behind the attack in which Rabbi Michael Mark was assassinated on July 1 was killed on Tuesday night during exchanges of fire with soldiers,” the military statement said.

Turkish PM Warns Crackdown 'Not Completed'
SourceAgence France Presse/Naharnet/July 27/16/Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim warned the crackdown following a failed coup attempt was "not completed yet" and there could be more arrests, he told Sky News on Wednesday. "The investigation is continuing, there are people who are being searched for. There could be new apprehensions, arrests and detentions," Yildirim said, according to the network's translation of his remarks. "The process is not completed yet," he added. Turkey issued arrest warrants Wednesday for 47 former staff of the Zaman newspaper as part of a sweeping crackdown since the attempted power grab on July 15. More than 9,000 people have been placed in custody ahead of trial over the coup, which the authorities blame on reclusive US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. The prime minister also said Turkey was "determined" to secure Gulen's extradition. "We shared all the details with them and, from this point on, the task falls on the shoulders of the US government," the prime minister said. Yildirim also said there were growing calls for a re-introduction of the death pentalty for alleged coup plotters that the government could not ignore. "This is the only voice that we hear in all the squares," he was quoted as saying, adding: "Turkey is a democratic country, we are governed by democracy and there are requests of the nation. "We cannot make this fall on deaf ears," he said. Yildirim also spoke about relations with Russia in the interview, ahead of a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the country next month. "We will see more developed relations and that is what needs to take place," he said, adding: "We have... common interests, a common future".Erdogan on August 9 plans to hold his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin since Moscow and Ankara mended ties damaged by the downing of a Russian jet last year.

Palestinians Seek to Sue Britain over 1917 Vow to Jews
SourceAgence France Presse/Naharnet/July 27/16/Palestinian leaders are seeking Arab League support for a complaint they intend to file against Britain for its 1917 Balfour Declaration backing a Jewish homeland in Palestine. "Almost a century has passed since 1917," Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said in an address to an Arab League meeting in Mauritania, seen by AFP on Tuesday. "On the basis of this promise made by a party which did not possess (the land) to a party undeserving of it, hundreds of thousands of Jews from Europe and elsewhere came to settle in Palestine at the expense of our people, whose ancestors have lived for millennia on the soil of our land," he said in Monday's speech delivered on behalf of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Malki did not say to which body a complaint would be made. Israeli foreign ministry chief Dore Gold called the proposal "a desperate effort to delegitimize Israel", on his Twitter account. In 2012, the Palestinians won the status of an observer state in the United Nations. In 2015 they joined the International Criminal Court and formally asked it to investigate Israel for alleged war crimes during the 2014 Gaza war. The declaration issued on November 2, 1917 by British foreign secretary Arthur Balfour said the British government "view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." It was a major step towards the eventual establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

Iran’s Basij chief, General Mohammad Reza Naqdi inspects Syria-Israel border
Now Lebanon/July 27/17/BEIRUT – The leader of Iran’s paramilitary Basij force has toured Syria’s border with Israel, the first such visit of a top-ranking official from Tehran to be publicized in Iranian media. Iran’s semi-official Fars news reported Wednesday that General Mohammad Reza Naqdi inspected the demarcation line dividing the Golan Heights, but did not specify the exact date of the visit, saying only the trip was made “recently.” The report added that Reza Naqdi’s traveled to Syria’s Quneitra, in the southwest of Syria’s Golan region. The Basij force’s official news agency first publicized the trip earlier Wednesday, releasing two pictures of the top Iranian military official observing the border through binoculars. Reza Naqdi’s visit comes following a series of cross-border incidents along the normally quiet demarcation line. On July 4, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hit two Syrian army targets in the Golan after stray fire damaged the technical fence stretching across the demarcation line between the two countries in the mountainous region. Two weeks later, an unmanned aerial vehicle crossed over the border into Israeli territory in the central Golan, prompting Israel to fire two Patriot missiles in an unsuccessful attempt to shoot down the drone. An air-to-air missile fired by an Israeli jet also failed to bring down the drone, which Tel Aviv suspects is Russian-manufactured. In the latest incident, Israel once again responded to a stray cross-border mortar strike on July 25, hitting a Syrian army target in the Golan, as per Tel Aviv’s standard practice of retaliation to errant fire.A spokesperson in the pro-regime Golan Regiment fighting force told Iran’s Tasnim news that Israeli helicopters launched missiles at two mortar emplacements outside Madinat al-Baath, causing no casualties.
NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Amin Nasr translated Arabic-language material.

Iranian Christian political prisoner in critical condition after 23 days on hunger strike
Wednesday, 27 July 2016/NCRI – An Iranian Christian political prisoner is in a critical condition after 23 days on hunger strike in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. Maryam Naghash Zargaran, a newly-converted Christian, has a blood pressure of 70/50 and is numb from her knees down; a doctor had confirmed that she has heart disease. Zargaran’s family demanded that she be released for treatment but the regime’s Intelligence Ministry agents have refused. Zargaran began her hunger strike on July 5, 2016, to protest the inhumane condition of prison and to demand an unconditional release. She continued her hunger strike in support of fellow political prisoner, Narges Mohammadi, who was protesting the Iranian regime’s denial of contact with her children. Zargaran was sentenced by the mullahs’ kangaroo courts to four years in prison on national security charges involving illegal gatherings and collusion, but she has never had these charges addressed in a proper court of law. She has been held in the Women's Ward of Evin Prison since July 15, 2013.

Iran hangs seven prisoners in one day
Wednesday, 27 July 2016/NCRI - Iran's fundamentalist regime hanged on Wednesday a group of six prisoners in a jail in north-western Iran and a seventh prisoner in the north-east of the country. The six men were hanged at 2am on July 27 in the central prison in the city of Orumieh (Urmia), the provincial capital of Iran's Western Azerbaijan Province. They had been transferred to solitary confinement on Tuesday in preparation for their execution. They were identified as: Rahman Fouladi, Abdolmajid Herkuli, Abdollah Qaderi, Changiz Shiri, Mojtaba Shirkhani and Ali Talati. They were accused of drugs-related charges.
A seventh man, identified as Reza Sabzevari, 32, from the town of Nishabur (Nishapur), was executed in the nearby city of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran. He had two children aged two and 10 and had been locked up in Mashhad Prison for some 18 months. The mullahs’ regime hanged a man in public in the town of Songhor, western Iran, on Monday. On Saturday the regime hanged three prisoners in a jail in the Central Prison of Rasht, northern Iran. More than 270 Members of the European Parliament signed a joint statement on Iran last month, calling on the European Union to “condition” its relations with Tehran to an improvement of human rights. The MEPs who were from all the EU Member States and from all political groups in the Parliament said they are concerned about the rising number of executions in Iran after Hassan Rouhani took office as President three years ago. Amnesty International in its April 6 annual Death Penalty report covering the 2015 period wrote: "Iran put at least 977 people to death in 2015, compared to at least 743 the year before." "Iran alone accounted for 82% of all executions recorded" in the Middle East and North Africa, the human rights group said. There have been more than 2,500 executions during Hassan Rouhani’s tenure as President. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran in March announced that the number of executions in Iran in 2015 was greater than any year in the last 25 years. Rouhani has explicitly endorsed the executions as examples of “God’s commandments” and “laws of the parliament that belong to the people.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait file complaint at UN over Iranian regime's maritime assaults
Wednesday, 27 July 2016/NCRI - Saudi Arabia and Kuwait presented a complaint to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday regarding repeated transgressions and assaults committed by the Iranian regime's military boats over the waters of the submerged area adjacent to the split area divided between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The Permanent Missions of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait to the UN, in their complaint, informed Secretary Ban of the Iranian regime's assaults over the waters of the Divided Submerged Area, upon which Saudi Arabia and Kuwait solely have exclusive sovereign rights to explore and benefit from its natural wealth, the Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA reported on Wednesday. According to the document, the last incident of these infringements was committed by one vessel and two armed speedboats displaying the Iranian regime's flag. Each boat had three armed individuals onboard, as this infringement took place at 13:35 on Wednesday, April 20, 2016, while another infringement of an Iranian Hendijan 1401 vessel took place at 07:32 on Thursday, April 21, 2016. These two vessels and two boats approached the Al-Dorra well No. 3 (D3) in the Al-Dorra field (coordinations 63 58 28 North & 16 06 49 East) existing inside the Saudi-Kuwaiti submerged divided zone, which may lead to confrontations that threaten peace and security in this region, noted the joint document.Saudi Arabia and Kuwait express "their deep demurral and dissatisfaction about these repeated assaults and transgressions; and demand from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop these transgressions and assaults in order to preserve their interests," it stressed.

Women arrested in Iran for riding bicycles in public
Wednesday, 27 July 2016/NCRI - Iran's fundamentalist regime on Tuesday arrested a group of women for riding bicycles in public in the north-western city of Marivan, in Iran’s Kurdistan Province. The incident took place on July 26 as a group of women were planning to participate in a sports event to cycle from the city's Stadium Square to the Zaribar Lake. According to eye-witness accounts, suppressive state security forces (police) approached the women and girls and informed them that based on a new government directive cycling by women in public places is barred and considered “unlawful.”The suppressive forces demanded that the women and girls sign written pledges to not repeat their "violation" of cycling in public. Several of the women who protested the regime's new misogynist measure were taken into custody, witnesses said. Commenting on the new suppressive measure, Ms. Farideh Karimi, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and a human rights activist, said: “Suppression of women has been a tenet of the mullahs' regime from its outset. This latest restrictive measure shows that misogyny is being stepped up under Hassan Rouhani’s administration. With each passing day the mullahs’ regime is further infringing on the basic rights of women which they had fought hard to obtain. Such gender discrimination and the overall increase in brutal human rights violations speaks well of the reality that Hassan Rouhani is no different from the other mullahs and the hopes for an improvement of women's rights in Iran which some had advocated at the start of his tenure as President are a mirage. The world is now belatedly taking note of this tragedy, with the UK’s Foreign Office stating in its most recent update on Iran last week that the human rights situation has worsened in the past six months.”

Narges Mohammadi,Political prisoner reveals restrictions and pressures in Iranian prison
Wednesday, 27 July 2016/NCRI - An Iranian political prisoner, who was until recently on hunger-strike in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, has issued a statement in which she detailed the oppressive nature of Iranian prisons. Narges Mohammadi, 44, reinforced the fact that the regime’s kangaroo courts are imposing severe punishment on political prisoners; separating families, enforcing solitary confinement and providing inadequate living conditions. Her message, released on July 23, read: "I protest against oppression and the limitations on the prisoners. These constraints and this unrelenting pressure are implemented as soon as the accused person is imprisoned in solitary confinement. This is the typical instance of psychological torture."She reveals that female political prisoners are not allowed to use the phone in their ward, despite two-thirds of the 27 inmates being mothers and explains how she grieves for her children, who have now fled Iran, and how she wishes she could speak to them again. The letter states: "My dear children, Kiana und Ali left Iran on July 16, 2015.” She added that she began a hunger strike on June 27, 2016 because she was deprived of talking to her children on the phone.
Her hunger strike was also in protest of the human rights violations suffered by political prisoners and its double oppression of women and mothers. Inside the notorious Evin Prison’s political prisoners’ ward, Mohammadi explains that some parents are serving time simultaneously which leaves their children without guardians. She added: "In the meantime, the total strictness exerted to the political-ideological prisoners is blatantly seen all across the country.” She ended her hunger strike after she was finally allowed to make a telephone call to her children but she said she will never stop her protests for human rights in Iran. She said: “The Iranian authorities are well aware that the recognition of human rights in Iran is a serious demand... human rights are not abstract concepts; instead, they have been intertwined with the ideals of the Iranian nation and in the case of violation or negligence, the people express discontent.” In September 2011, Mohammadi, a lawyer by profession, was initially sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment for “acting against national security” and “propaganda against the state” among other charges. In March 2012, her sentenced was reduced to six years, and she was released on bail three months later.
In May 2015, she was again arrested, despite concerns about her deteriorating health, to serve the remainder of her sentence. In May 2016, while in prison, the regime’s so-called ‘revolutionary court’ in Tehran sentenced Mohammadi to a further 16 years behind bars. The mullahs’ kangaroo court found Mohammadi guilty of establishing and running a human rights movement that campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty.

White House warns of cyber-attack threat from Iran regime
Wednesday, 27 July 2016/Hackers from Iran and North Korea have been launching a spate of cyber-attacks on the U.S. to gain top secret intelligence, the White House claims. Both regimes are said to pose an "increasingly diverse and dangerous" threat to global security. Speaking at a conference on cyber-attacks on Tuesday, White House counter-terrorism advisor Lisa Monaco said that North Korea and the regime in Iran have shown they can carry out "destructive attacks" on "critical" infrastructure in the US. Hackers could target nuclear power stations, transport and the U.S.'s defense systems, causing havoc across America. Ms. Monaco said: "To put it bluntly, we are in the midst of a revolution of the cyber threat – one that is growing more persistent, more diverse, more frequent and more dangerous every day." Citing North Korea and the Iranian regime as increasingly dangerous cyber operators, she threatened the use of "targeted" sanctions against "malicious" hackers targeting the US. But stressed that sanctions will only be used against aggressors "when the time is right".The White House on Tuesday issued the U.S. government's first emergency response manual for a major cyber-attack. The Obama administration, which created a federal cyber chief position in February that has not yet been filled, published a "presidential policy directive" that includes a five-level grading system. The directive defines a significant cyber incident as one likely to harm national security or economic interests, foreign relations, public confidence, health safety or civil liberties, according to a White House fact sheet. Earlier this year, Iranian hackers were accused of infiltrating the computerized controls of a small dam 25 miles north of New York City.
Based in part on wire report

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 27-28/16

Jihadis: Who Are Their Targets?
Douglas Murray/Gatestone Institute/July 27/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8562/jihadis-france-rouen
What "provocation" had the murdered priest, Father Jacques Hamel, provided?
An enemy willing to slaughter the most rollicking secularists and the most devout priest, both in their places of work, is an enemy with the entirety of French civilisation and culture in its sights. It is an enemy -- extremist Islam -- clearly intent not on some kind of tributary offering or suit for peace, but rather an enemy which seeks its opponent's total and utter destruction.
Should this not be the moment for the entirety of one of the greatest cultures on earth to unite as one, turn on this common enemy and destroy it first, in the name of civilisation?
It is now 18 months since two gunmen forced their way into the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris and set about murdering the staff of that magazine. The gunmen from al-Qaeda in Yemen called for the editor -- "Charb" -- by name before murdering him and most of his colleagues. In an interview shortly before his death, taking into account the threat to his life which entailed constant security protection, Stéphane Charbonnier had said, "I prefer to die standing than live on my knees." Charb did die standing, in the office of the magazine he edited.
In the 18 months since the attack on Charlie Hebdo and the massive demonstrations in solidarity on the streets of Paris, France has suffered a terrible set of further terrorist assaults The ISIS attack (which killed 130 people) last November on the Bataclan Theatre and other sites around Paris and the attack (which killed 84 people) in Nice on July 14 are the deadliest and most prominent. But other acts of terror -- including the murder last month in their home of two members of the police, carried out by a man pledging allegiance to ISIS --have gone on and almost become normal.
Yesterday's murder of an 84-year old priest, Father Jacques Hamel, while he was saying mass is shocking even by the standards of France during this period. Two men claiming allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) entered the church and ritually murdered the priest by slitting his throat. A second victim is currently struggling to stay alive. It is hard to see any end in this sight of this horror, but these two atrocities across an 18-month gap are worth considering alongside each other -- not least because the reaction to them in France and outside may contain the tiniest glimmer of hope in a very dark time.
One of the striking things about the outrage after the murders at Charlie Hebdo was that it very nearly united France. There were those, including people who had been the victims of Charlie Hebdo's satire in the past, who were not able to lionise them. But across mainstream society in France, there was near unanimity around the idea that the magazine and its rude, irreverent and specifically anti-clerical style of satire was uniquely French. No one seemed surprised that so many people around the world had missed the point of the magazine -- people across the Muslim world in particular. The publication was recognised as a particularly French publication which as such stood for more than itself. In the days and weeks after January 7, 2015. the sense of the Republic itself having been attacked was especially strong.
An enemy willing to slaughter the most rollicking secularists and the most devout priest, both in their places of work, is an enemy with the entirety of French civilisation and culture in its sights. Left: Father Jacques Hamel, murdered yesterday in Rouen, France by an Islamic jihadist. Right: Stéphane Charbonnier, the editor and publisher of Charlie Hebdo, who was murdered in Paris on January 7, 2015, along with many of his colleagues, by Islamic jihadists.
The attacks did of course also give rise to a flush of virtual solidarity. The "Je Suis Charlie" ('I am Charlie') tag prevailed not only in demonstrations but also across Twitter and other social media. In the 18 months since then, the hashtag became repetitively and wearily wheeled out: "Je Suis Paris", "Je Suis Bruxelles" and so on after every attack. Perhaps some people learned subsequently that solidarity on social media -- while having the advantage of making people feel slightly better -- has no effect whatsoever on diminishing or ending the terror. Meanwhile, one of the most important acts of actual solidarity was sorely missing.
The Pope's intervention into the debate after the Charlie Hebdo attack was one of the most regrettable of the whole period. Speaking to journalists on his plane in the week after the attack, Pope Francis signalled to a Vatican official beside him and said, "If my good friend Dr Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch in the nose." Pretending to throw a punch, the Pope then said: "It's normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others."
Charb and his colleagues -- living and dead -- would have expected nothing more from the Pope whose church had been such a constant target of their pens. Nevertheless, it was a painful intervention. Not only was the representative of a religion whose founder is known for peace now talking the language of violence, but the remark suggested an irreconcilable divide between the religious and the secular in an age of Islamic violence. Where alliances should have been easy, they looked suddenly fractious and impossible.
The brutal slaughter of Father Jacques Hamel opens up this question from the other end. What "provocation" had Father Hamel provided? If any good can come from an act of such savagery. it would be in the possibility of healing such a rift. Obviously the Pope has condemned the killing of a priest of his own church. But many other anti-clerical figures in France may well pause before the enormity of what the jihadists have once again done. You do not have to be religious to experience revulsion at such an act being done to a man of God in the act of celebrating the Eucharist. The usual debates in French life over the role of the church and its role in the state may be able at least to pause during this period, raising the possibility of a more suitable and lengthy pause in hostilities.
In these two attacks, eighteen months apart -- on a magazine office in Paris and a church in Rouen -- the nature of the enemy we all face stands clearly before us. An enemy willing to slaughter the most rollicking secularists and the most devout priest, both in their places of work, is an enemy with the entirety of French civilisation and culture in its sights. It is an enemy -- extremist Islam -- clearly intent not on some kind of tributary offering or suit for peace, but rather an enemy which seeks its opponent's total and utter destruction. Should this not be the moment for the entirety of one of the greatest cultures on earth to unite as one, turn on this common enemy and destroy it first, in the name of civilisation?
**Douglas Murray is an author, news analyst and commentator based in London, England.
© 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 Basij Commander Naqdi Visits Quneitra, Syria
MEMRI/July 27/16
Senior Iranian officials recently explained that the presence of Iranian forces in Syria and Lebanon is part of Iran's operation on several of its fronts against Israel. The Iranian news agency Fars also revealed that the commander of Iran's Basij militia recently visited Quneitra, Syria, near the Israeli border.
The following are statements by Iranian officials about Iranian forces' presence in Syria:
Basij Commander Visits Quneitra
The Iranian news agency Fars, which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported on July 27, 2016 that the commander of Iran's Basij militia, Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, had "recently" visited Quneitra, in Syria, "during a visit to southeast Syria and the occupied Golan Heights." Fars also noted in its report that in January 2015, "the Iranian general [Mohammad] Allah Dadi, senior Hizbullah official Jihad Mughniya [son of 'Imad Mughniya], and a group of Hizbullah fighters were killed in an aerial attack by the Zionist regime."
Iranian Official: The Palestinians Are Iran's First Front, Lebanon And Syria Are The Second And Third Fronts
The previous day, July 26, 2016, Iranian Expediency Council member Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri, who is an associate of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said that the Palestinians are the first front of Iran and that Lebanon and Syria are its second and third fronts: "Had we remained silent, and had Syria been conquered, a path would have been paved to reach Iran's borders. We say that the Palestinians are our first front, and that if we support [them], Israel will remain in its place [and not expand towards us]. Lebanon and Syria are Iran's second and third fronts. The Leader's [Ali Khamenei's] wisdom and insight have caused us to stand fast courageously."[1]
Advisor To IRGC Commander: In Syria, We Are Fighting The Entire World
On July 9, 2016, Gen. Khosro Arouj, supreme advisor to IRGC commander Ali Jafari, told the Iranian news agency Mehr: "It is a falsehood to say that in Syria we are fighting a single group, because we are fighting the entire world [there]... Some in Iran are trying to cast doubt on the need for our military advisory [role] in Syria; their only aim [in doing this] is to say something different in order to stand out, and there is no other reason [for them to do so]...
"Syria is connected to the entire world, and therefore the enemies are perpetually plotting vis-à-vis the Syria crisis. That is why the Israeli and Christian fighters [explain] their fighting as ideological."[2]
[1] Asr-e Iran (Iran), July 26, 2016.
[2] Mehr (Iran), July 9, 2016.

Will Turkey be expelled from NATO?
Semih Idiz/Al-Monitor/July 27/16
Many analysts believe Turkey and NATO are on a collision course. One end of their argument hinges on the belief — apparently shared to an extent by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish government — that the United States and NATO played a role in the unsuccessful coup attempt July 15.
Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag, who heads for Washington soon to try to negotiate the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the Pennsylvania-based Turkish cleric accused of masterminding the coup, has laid Turkey’s position on the line.
“The US knows Fethullah Gulen carried out this coup. Mr. Obama knows this just as he knows his own name. I am convinced that American intelligence knows it, too. I am convinced the State Department knows it. … Other countries know it, too, because every country has an intelligence agency,” Bozdag insisted during a TV interview.
Bozdag’s remarks, which imply that Washington and NATO knew what was coming and did nothing, are being echoed by the pro-Erdogan Islamist media in Turkey, which is essentially anti-Western and sees NATO as the enemy of Islam.
Remarks such as those by Bozdag are eliciting equally harsh responses from the West. Gregory Copley, a strategic analyst, appears to have no doubt that “Turkey has now formally declared the US (and therefore NATO) as its enemy” and is exhorting the alliance to act accordingly.
The other end of the argument regarding a collision in the making between Turkey and NATO hinges on the belief that Erdogan is using the failed coup attempt to initiate a massive purge against his opponents in order to further strengthen his hold on power. It is being suggested that an undemocratic Turkey has no place in an alliance based on democratic principles.
US Secretary of State John Kerry encouraged this view when he appeared to hint that Turkey could not remain in NATO if it strayed from democracy and the rule of law as it seeks those behind the failed coup attempt.
“NATO also has a requirement with respect to democracy,” Kerry told reporters in response to a question on Turkey during a press conference in Brussels with Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief.
He added that “the level of vigilance and scrutiny” with regard to developments in Turkey would be very significant in the days ahead.
If Kerry’s remarks are meant to sound a warning, they are falling on deaf ears in Turkey where a campaign against Turkey’s NATO membership is also gaining steam. Former senior officers from the military, like retired Rear Adm. Cem Gurdeniz, are among those questioning this membership.
In an interview with daily Hurriyet, Gurdeniz said there had always been a struggle between “Atlanticists” and the “Eurasia camp” in the military. He said if the coup was successful, Turkey would have become part of “Atlanticist” plans to its detriment.
“The losses incurred would have included the declaration of an independent Kurdistan, autonomy [for Kurds] in southeastern Anatolia and the loss of Cyprus,” he said. Gurdeniz said Turkey “should play a balancing role between the Atlantic and Eurasia,” arguing that it was patently clear NATO did not serve Turkey’s interests anymore.
He went on to question whether NATO’s advanced radar systems in Kurecik, in eastern Turkey, deployed under its Ballistic Missile Defense program, was in Turkey’s interests. He also asked why NATO was keen to conduct military exercises in the Black Sea and was pressurizing Turkey for a permanent presence there, pointing out that this was something NATO never did during the Cold War.
Gurdeniz’s remarks point to the kind of confusion reigning in Ankara with regard to NATO, because it was Erdogan, during the recent NATO summit in Warsaw, who called on the alliance to bolster its presence in the Black Sea to prevent this sea from becoming “a Russian lake.”
Turkey being a country of bitter ironies, Gurdeniz — a staunch Kemalist secularist — was among those arrested under the so-called Balyoz (Sledgehammer) case, while still serving in the military, and was convicted to 18 years in prison in 2013 for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government led by Erdogan.
He was released after Erdogan and his onetime Islamist ally Gulen became enemies. Gurdeniz accused Gulen supporters in the judiciary, who are now being rounded up as coup plotters, for his own incarceration as a coup plotter.
Whatever is being written or said on either side of the fence today, the truth is that Ankara’s NATO membership was never threatened following successful coups in Turkey in the past, when the Cold War was raging, and NATO could not endanger the strategic advantages Turkey provided against the Soviet Union.
Turkey’s place on the map remains equally important today for NATO, if not more so. Retired Ambassador Unal Unsal, a former Turkish permanent representative to NATO, believes it would be difficult for the alliance to turn its back on Turkey at a time when the Middle East and the Black Sea region is in turmoil, when there is the possibility of a Trump presidency and when the EU is struggling with its Brexit debacle.
“The going in Turkey may not be good, but a Turkey out of NATO would cause more complications, especially if Ankara slides toward Russia,” Unsal told Al Monitor.
Acknowledging that the NATO charter has conditions regarding democracy in member states, Unsal nevertheless pointed out that this had not prevented Portugal from becoming a founding member of the alliance in 1949, even though it was being ruled by authoritarian Antonio de Oliveira Salazar.
Unsal indicated that what is being said today about NATO membership in conjunction with democracy and rule of law in Turkey has to be said for the sake of appearance. He added that expelling a country from the alliance would require consensus in the Atlantic Council, which would be difficult to secure under current circumstances.
Unsal did not discount the possibility, however, that Erdogan, in one of his many huffs, may decide to pull Turkey out of NATO, and suggested that the consequences of this might not be as dire for Turkey as it appears at first glance.
“Maintaining Turkey’s strategic ties with the US is what will ultimately remain crucial for Ankara, rather than its ties with NATO, and everyone knows that the US means NATO,” Unsal said.
Copley, who claims Ankara has declared the United States and NATO its enemy, nevertheless ended his analysis for Oilprice.com by underlining the alliances dilemma regarding Turkey.
“No one in NATO or the senior member states has actually done the calculation as to how to structure global and regional strategies without Turkey, or how to remove Turkish officers from NATO facilities — how to manage the region without Turkey,” he wrote.
The West does not appear to be well-poised currently to do this “calculation,” which makes the suggestions that Turkey be expelled from NATO ring hollow, given what is transpiring in the world.

'Mere Islam' and the Munich Massacre
Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/July 27/2016
Ali Sonboly was neither a member of ISIS nor an adherent of "extreme" Salafi interpretations of Islam.
A German-born 18-year-old of Iranian descent named Ali Sonboly went on a shooting spree last Friday. He reportedly targeted young children and murdered nine.
This incident is a reminder that the ongoing terrorization of the West is not limited to the Islamic State (ISIS), "extreme" Wahhabi or Salafi interpretations of Islam, or terrorists posing as refugees entering the West.
Ali Sonboly was none of those. He was born and raised in Germany and, based on his name and Iranian heritage, was most likely of Shia background.
But he was a Muslim. According to one witness he screamed Islam's ancient war cry "Allahu Akbar" during his rampage and, less significantly, he launched his attack on the one day of the week that many calculated Islamic attacks on non-Muslims occur: Friday.[1]
And that is the grand lesson of the Munich massacre. Mere Islam—to borrow from C.S. Lewis' famous book about the many commonalities shared by most Christian denominations—is responsible for the ongoing terrorization of the West.
If you doubt this, simply turn to a recent study. It found that Muslims of all sects, races, and sociopolitical circumstances—not just "ISIS"—are responsible for persecuting Christians in 41 of the 50 worst nations to be Christian in: Shia Iran is the ninth worst nation, "Wahhabi" Saudi Arabia is 14th, while "moderate" countries like Malaysia and Indonesia are ranked 30 and 43 respectively.
The common denominator in all these nations is Islam—without qualifier.
Mere Islam promotes hate for and violence against non-Muslims.
Even ISIS' abhorrent treatment of Christians and other non-Muslims is only an extreme reflection of what Muslims in general are doing to non-Muslims all around the world. See "Muslim Persecution of Christians," reports which I've been compiling every month for five years this month, and witness the nonstop discrimination, persecution, and carnage committed against Christians by "everyday" Muslims—from the highest authorities to the basest mobs. Each monthly report (there are currently 58) contains dozens of atrocities, any of which if committed by Christians against Muslims would receive 24/7 blanket coverage.
While the media concoct any number of lies to dispel the Islamic nature of the Munich attack—the usual strategies, especially talk of "grievances," are already being employed —the fact remains: for all the differences and tensions between Europe's native and Muslim populations, the Christians being persecuted by Muslims are often identical to their persecutors in race, ethnicity, national identity, culture, and language. There is no political dispute, no land dispute. Nor do these disempowered and ostracized Christian minorities have any political power—meaning there are no Muslim "grievances" either.
So why are they hated and hounded? Because they are Christians—that is, non-Muslim infidels—and that's the real reason Western people are being terrorized by Muslims, most recently (or at least as of this writing) in Munch.
Ugly or not, this truth, that mere Islam—not "ISIS," "Salafism," "Wahhabism," or "Shiism"—promotes hate for and violence against non-Muslims will never be remedied until those in positions of leadership first acknowledge it. And, with the notable exception of Donald Trump, they are very far from doing so.
*Raymond Ibrahim is a Judith Friedman Rosen fellow at the Middle East Forum and a Shillman fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.
[1] Lamenting how Muslims are often riled against "infidels" during weekly Friday mosque sermons in Egypt, a Coptic Christian once said, "Let me tell you ... we [Christians] know that every Friday is a day of death; that the day after Friday, on Saturday, we'll be carried to the morgue!"

Eject Western Traitors, Beat Islamic Terrorists
Raymond Ibrahim/FrontPage Magazine/July 27/16
Muslims around the world—especially in Europe where their numbers have burgeoned in recent times—are wreaking havoc. Jacques Hamel: Latest martyr of the Western-empowered jihad
The newest atrocity—assuming another one hasn’t already occurred since this writing—is the barbaric slaughter of an 85-year-old Christian priest in France. Yesterday (7/26) morning, “Allahu Akbar” shouting Muslims stormed his church in Rouen while the octogenarian priest, Jacques Hamel, was conducting morning Mass. They forced him on his knees, slit his throat, and “critically injured” a nun, before being killed by police—the same police who had known that church was being targeted and had been monitoring one of the murderers for at least one-and-a-half years.
Days earlier in France and Germany, Muslims, mostly migrants, committed terrorist acts in Nice (84 dead), Munich (9 dead), attacked people in train stations (one dead, several injured), killed a pregnant Polish woman, and attacked a mother and her three adolescent daughters (puncturing the lungs of an 8-year-old).
Those who seek to reverse this situation must begin by embracing a simple fact: Islam is not terrorizing the West because it can but because it is being allowed to.
To be sure, that was not always the case: for over a millennium, Muslims repeatedly invaded and conquered portions of Europe—terrorizing, massacring, raping and enslaving in the name of Allah—and were only repulsed by great force of arms.
Indeed, invading and destroying churches, slaughtering priests, even raping nuns is as old as Islam’s first entry into Christian territory in the seventh century, and has played out countless times since. (Watch this brief video for an idea of how many jihadi campaigns were undertaken against Europe.)
Today, Muslim terrorists, rapists, and criminals are not entering the West against its will but because of it.
Consider it by analogy. What if zoologists began to maintain that it’s false to say that lions naturally prey on zebras? So zoo directors—most of whom come from the ranks of the zoologists—start introducing lions into zebra enclosures. The inevitable happens: although well fed, lions continue doing what they’ve always done—chase and kill zebras. Yet, because it is a slanderous stereotype to say that lions by nature prey on zebras, the zoologists continue insisting on placing the two together.
Surely only a great fool would blame the slaughter of zebras on lions—who, after all, are merely being lions—while ignoring those who place lions with zebras in the first place?
This is the situation we are in. The powers-that-be maintain that it’s false to say that Muslims prey on non-Muslims, or “infidels.” So the policymakers—most of whom come from the ranks of the powers-that-be—introduced Muslims into Europe. The inevitable happened: although given equal rights, Muslims continued doing what they’ve always done—persecute and kill infidels. Yet, because it is a “slanderous stereotype” to say that Muslims by nature prey on infidels, the powers-that-be continue insisting on placing the two together—in the name of “diversity.”[1]
Nor does it matter that not all Muslims harbor animus for “infidels” or are prone to outbursts of violence. Even if only 1% of a beverage is poisoned and you ingest it, will it matter that 99% of it was clean? No, you will still suffer, possibly die. The only sure way to preserve your health is not to put it into your body in the first place.
Whether they are intentional liars with a nefarious agenda, or whether they are incompetent, indoctrinated fools, no longer matters: Western policymakers who insist that Islam is peaceful (despite all evidence otherwise) and that the West is “obligated” to receive Muslim migrants, are 100% responsible for the daily victims of jihad, most recently an octogenarian priest.
The war begins with them. Kick them and their suicidal policies out, and watch Islamic terror on Western soil fizzle out.
Notes:
[1] When Patriarch Ignatius of the Syriac Orthodox Church recently requested that Sweden’s government relocate Christians out of asylum seekers’ housing, because Muslim majority residents are persecuting them there, Anders Danielsson, Director General of the Swedish Migration Board, replied that separate housing for Christians and other vulnerable groups “would go against principles and values that are central to Swedish society and our democracy.” In other words, better that Christians suffer than admit our “principles and values” fail with Islam.
 

Not Just "An Absurd Murder," Pope Francis
Lawrence A. Franklin/Gatestone Institute/July 27/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8561/france-chuch-martyrdom-pope

Jesus warned his Apostles that men of faith would kill them, thinking they had done God a favor.
Pope Francis, in the Vatican, referred to this killing as "an absurd murder." He could not be more wrong. This was a purposeful act of war against Judeo-Christian civilization. The murder of Father Jacques has great meaning. Our would-be replacements are telling us, "it is time for you to leave the stage of history."
This most recent murder is additional evidence that the old France is dying.
Yesterday at a Catholic church in France, there were two quite different types of martyrdoms.
Two young male Muslims, bent on waging personal jihad and thereby securing salvation through martyrdom, burst into the old church of St. Étienne-du-Rouvray in Rouen, Normandy during the morning Mass. There they martyred the 85-year old priest, Father Jacques Hamel. They slit his throat as if he were an animal killed for the recent Eid-al-Adha ("The Feast of Sacrifice"), celebrated by Muslims all over the world on the last day of Ramadan.
The Catholic Mass is re-enactment of the voluntary sacrifice of Christ crucified to redeem us before God.
The murder committed by the two terrorists was in obedience to the Koran-directed will of Allah, to "slay the idolaters wherever you find them" (Quran 9:5).
We Christians believe that Father Hamel's martyrdom ushers his soul before the presence of God.
As the two murders stepped outside the church, they too were martyred, dying just after shouting "Allahu Akbar!" ("Allah is Greatest!").
The church of St. Étienne-du-Rouvray in Rouen, France, pictured yesterday after two Islamist terrorists murdered Father Jacques Hamel. (Image source: AFP video screenshot)
We Christians are familiar with that other concept of martyrdom. Jesus warned his Apostles that men of faith would kill them, thinking they had done God a favor. There have been other, more famous, mid-Mass murders in history. King Henry II of England had the Archbishop of Canterbury killed in his own Cathedral while saying Mass in 1170. The ruling class in El Salvador had Archbishop Oscar Romero murdered as he celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in San Salvador's Cathedral in 1980. But the murder of Father Hamel was a religious ritual, not a political assassination. It was a spiritual sacrifice by practitioners of the "religion of peace."
Pope Francis, in the Vatican, referred to this killing as "an absurd murder." He could not be more wrong. This was a purposeful act of war against Judeo-Christian civilization. The murder of Father Jacques has great meaning. Our would-be replacements are telling us, "it is time for you to leave the stage of history."
How ironic that this murder took place within a two-hour train ride of the Normandy Beaches. How tragic that the spirits of our fallen soldiers beneath the Crosses and Stars of David in the American Cemetery had to witness this act of aggression by still another totalitarian ideology.
For France, this is also a dispiriting moment. This most recent murder is additional evidence that the old France is dying. It must feel doubly disheartening for those French who still revere that it was here in Normandy that France was re-born in the conquests of William (of Normandy). He died in Rouen in 1087. It was also in Normandy that the French allowed their patron Saint Joan of Arc to be sacrificed at the stake in 1431.
It is certain that there are still French men and French women who remember reading the opening lines of Charles de Gaulle's book, Memoires de Guerre, "All of my life I have thought of France in a certain way... like the Princess in the Fairy Tales, like the Madonna in the frescoes."
There is the hope that there are still enough men and women of faith who will take up the cross and sword to defend our civilization.
*Dr. Lawrence A. Franklin was the Iran Desk Officer for Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. He also served on active duty with the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve, where he was a Military Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Israel.
© 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

The disgruntled over Gulf stability
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/July 27/16
The current debate on social networking sites expresses a number of dangerous phenomena. The most prominent is linked to the motherland and citizenship, which are honorable concepts. Citizenship is a combination of rights, duties, freedom, responsibility, discipline and justice.
During the past five years, the discussion has been between two major movements in the Gulf. The first is a combination of liberal patriots and moderate Islamists. This movement expresses its patriotism by standing against the cells that were arrested in Gulf countries following the Arab Spring. Its priority is the security of Gulf countries, because they are the last Arab wall that has not been destroyed. The other movement mostly consists of the Muslim Brotherhood and remnants of nationalists and revolutionary leftists. It doubts everything the state does, and believes it is a duty to question it.
Someone in this movement believed the terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia in 2003 were staged by security forces, using corpses, to eliminate Islamists! This person came to his senses years later, but this cynicism is typical of the movement, which actively uses hashtags on social networking sites.
Who will be glad if the Gulf turns into a region resembling Lebanon, Syria or Iraq? The hashtags are about detainees in Gulf countries, against whom judicial rulings have been issued or will be issued. This movement mocks patriots and considers them government supporters. Both movements are active, but sadly the revolutionary one dominates social media networks and platforms, making mountains out of molehills.
Citizenship
It is impossible to understand good citizenship without deep respect for state institutions. Thus it is no longer a secret that participants in the campaigns to release detainees are fuelling the terrorism striking Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. The Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association’s speeches are dangerous, and do not understand the bases of the state. It incites sabotage and street protests. Some Sahwa Movement (Islamic Awakening) symbols secretly supported the revolutionary movement, but soon realized it was a mirage. The tools they used and the media campaigns they launched against the state and its institutions backfired on them. These symbols and movements cannot understand the meaning of citizenship. They said democracy was more important than security, then they saw what happened in neighbouring countries, which have neither freedom nor democracy. Unfortunately, some still see the Arab Spring as a viable project that will one day be completed. While the patriotic movement unites wise men, opposition and revolutionary parties carry out attacks. Who will be glad if the Gulf turns into a region resembling Lebanon, Syria or Iraq? We feel deep pain at what has happened to these countries and their people, and we share their suffering. There is a huge responsibility - particularly among writers, media figures and opinion-makers - to avoid this happening in the Gulf. This article was first published in al-Bayan on July 27, 2016.

Peace in Syria? It takes more than regime ceasefires
Peter Harrison/Al Arabiya/July 27/16
This week the Syrian regime announced that it was prepared to enter peace talks ‘without conditions’. Almost immediately members of the opposition rejected the claim. It’s not entirely surprising – previous ceasefires that the regime has signed up to have been breached within hours of them starting.
But let’s for one minute assume that this time the peace talks ended the war – let’s pretend that the bombs stopped falling, that the guns fell silent – would it make a difference? I’m not so sure it would – I can’t see how the nation can simply return to any form of normality after the horrors so many of the people have been exposed to over the past half a decade. A few years ago I was chatting to a sales assistant in a Dubai shop – he was clearly shaken – and then he explained why: “Sorry, but I have just found out that my two cousins were killed by a mortar in Syria,” he explained. “My mother had just walked them to the bus stop on their way to school. As the bus drove away the mortar fell – they were killed instantly in front of her.” This man’s mother is not alone. Internally displaced people living in Syria have faced war-related violence for half a decade. There have been hundreds of thousands of people killed and millions displaced. These people cannot be expected to simply forget these things they see. The parents who pull the lifeless bodies of their babies from the rubble of their homes, their children who look on as they do it. If a country is to return to peace and stability, then surely it needs a peaceful and stable population.
The World Health Organization has documented that these people suffer a wide spectrum of emotional problems, from the most basic of anxiety and sadness, to loss of control and hopelessness. They suffer physical complaints, loss of appetite, and social and behavioral problems, such as withdrawal, aggression and interpersonal difficulties are also common. As a result, more than half of those researched have experienced mental illness, including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Researchers also found that 40% of adult refugees experienced nightmares, and 50% had vivid flashbacks reliving traumatic events they had been exposed to.
Fatigue, fear and loss of control
In 2013 research carried out by UNESCO revealed that 8.1 million Syrians were displaced inside their own country - half of these people were children struggling to survive and cope with the crisis. And these children are not going to school – there’s a whole generation of children of school age currently receiving no education. Those living within Syria in areas around places like Damascus, were confirmed as suffering high levels of fatigue, fear and loss of control, as well as family separation due to displacement and shifts in gender roles. These figures were compiled in 2013 – I can only assume things have got much worse with the rise of ISIS and Nusra Front, as well as the intensification of bombing in built up areas. Syria is not alone - in Afghanistan – a once wealthy and aspirational nation – which was exposed to almost two decades of war, a study of 799 adults aged 15 and above revealed 62% suffered traumatic events over the previous 10 years. The researchers also found depression in nearly 70% of respondents, while more than 72% suffered anxiety and 42% showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. If a country is to return to peace and stability, then surely it needs a peaceful and stable population – I cannot see how the people of Syria can hope for that any time soon – irrespective of any peace agreement. There’s an image from Syria that has stuck with me for some time – a picture of a man desperately scrambling through the rubble of a building that has just been hit by a barrel bomb. At one point he stops, the look of desperation on his face is heart breaking. He holds his head, then grabs at the debris beneath him. Another man tries to console him and lead him away, the grief-stricken man resists, he is now sobbing uncontrollably, he sits back down and weeps. What I have watched is a man so utterly desperate and emotionally broken, he’s helpless – his emotional pain is visible. There’s similar imagery of two children and a man sitting in a street, there’s a small boy crying, again uncontrollably. A bomb has fallen where he lives, where he was no doubt playing with friends moments before. Then the camera pans round, the boy continues to sob – a body is carried past him – again, will he ever be able to forget this? I doubt it. I can’t even start to imagine the pain these people are going through, whatever has caused it, whatever they have seen, whatever (or whoever) they have lost, you can’t take that away. They can’t un-see these things. And so when I hear of the Syrian government talking about entering peace talks, I am left wondering if the Syrian people will ever, or indeed can return to any sense of normality.  If I saw stuff like these people are exposed to I could seek help from counsellors. I could take my hour on the couch and pour my heart out – but a nation of war-scared people aren’t going to be able to do this.

Russia’s Trump card?
Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/July 27/16
Amid the flurry of accusations that Russia is conducting an information operation to get US Republican nominee Donald Trump into the White House, it is important to understand the context when multiple information leaks are involved. The ongoing information war between Russia and the United States is now taking a nasty turn.
Russian information operation theory is rooted in Soviet military doctrine. The prime directive in information sciences was, and still is, protecting information. Psychological operations, from where information operations originated, were a key tool from diplomacy to military action.
Today, Russia sees information war as including control of other states’ information resources, deterring the development of information technology in countries that are potential enemies, possibly disrupting or completely shutting down information networks and communication systems, and developing information weapons and systems for safeguarding its own information structure and information flows.
Moscow’s information war in Syria differs from its actions in Ukraine. In Ukraine, Russia possessed a ramified and multi-dimensional local capability that, since at least 2006, traced directly back to the Kremlin. In Syria, the information effort is at the state level, with inputs and analyses shaping the information space.
The peak to date was when the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra held a special concert in Syria’s historic city of Palmyra to symbolize Russia’s successful campaign to oust the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from the UNESCO site.
In the West, Moscow uses deception (maskirovka) to distract, deceive, mislead and confuse opponents regarding migrants, economic sanctions against Russia, and playing a blame game with the tragic shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight 17.
The Russians excel in the study of the impact of the information-psychological aspect of information warfare. Thus this idea that Moscow is plotting to hand the US presidential election to Trump is remarkable. The US Congress is likely to investigate these allegations, which will likely further roil American politics before election day on Nov. 8. Any investigation needs to understand the historical context if Russia, as a state actor, is truly involved.
Perceptions of the US
The Russians see the United States actively engaged in an information confrontation that has been ongoing since the Kosovo conflict. Theorists see that Washington uses disinformation and information warfare in the global information space.
Russia’s geopolitical doctrine treats the United States as a dangerous country that uses information and force to break Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq for strategic gain. This current is popular with some Arab countries that share Moscow’s viewpoint regarding America’s quiet proxy wars in the region. In this vein, the Syrian battlefield serves as the ultimate confrontation to date in the information sphere, where deception and trolls are ubiquitous.
The idea that the Kremlin would carry out an information operation to get Trump to the White House is absurd. Nevertheless, his position on Ukraine and NATO plays into Moscow’s plans.
It is quite possible that the US-Russian information confrontation is reaching a new peak with unknown consequences based on the evolution of information and its use and manipulation. The information hacked by a Romanian national tied to Russia is but one of the leads in who attacked and stole sensitive data from the US Democratic National Convention (DNC) database.
The idea that the Kremlin would carry out an information operation to get Trump to the White House is absurd. Nevertheless, his position on Ukraine and NATO plays into Moscow’s plans. Furthermore, there is room to believe that a Trump presidency will alienate America’s Gulf allies. If Russia is using information to get Trump elected, Gulf states should be very concerned about the potential fallout.
In a world where transparency and compliance demand that information be made public, sensitive information can be used in a number of creative ways, including affecting others’ actions. Russia’s Trump card may be just a fallacy, but in the information age echo chambers seem to rule the day. Whatever the truth, the Kremlin must be laughing very loudly.

Will Turkey’s leadership seize fresh opportunities?
Eyad Abu Shakra/Al Arabiya/July 27/16
Let me start by saying that even those who dislike Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and are not fans of his style of government, like me, did not support the coup attempt against a democratically elected government.
Erdogan, in fact, has never enjoyed a ‘carte blanche’ support; something proven by disagreements with his closest allies like former president Abdulla Gul and former premier Ahmet Davutoglu. Moreover, given the fact that his avowed enemy is the Islamist authority and entrepreneur Fethullah Gulen – now living in the USA – one may say that he is not entitled to claim a monopoly of ‘Political Islam’. Last but not least, if one looks at the latest Turkish general elections’ results, one notices that his victorious AKP achieved an absolute parliamentary majority (317 out of 317 seats) by winning 49.5% of the votes; which means that 50.5% voted against him and his party.
These facts are worth keeping in mind as Turkey slowly forgets its shock, and its political establishment begins containing the volatile situation, prosecuting the adventurers and those implicated in the coup attempt against democracy. However, if Erdogan has every right to cleanse the security agencies of elements found guilty of conspiracy against a freely elected government, he has no right of exploiting this conspiracy to amass more personal and partisan powers on Turkey’s security agencies, and pursue political revenge against his opponents.
Actually, Premier Binali Yidirim did well, the other day, when he praised and thanked the leaders of the opposition parties for standing against the coup plot. If president Erdogan follows suit, a proper relationship may develop between the government and the opposition in a healthy democratic environment; which is crucial as one of the most dangerous threats threatening Turkey is that of sliding into civil war that would tear the nation’s fabric apart. Thus there is no alternative other than consensus on democratic processes, including the political accountability, devolution of power, and respect of freedoms and rights.
Some may claim that the Turkish electorate were wrong to trust the AKP’s elections agenda and promises, but this may be argued against British voters who may have been wrong to opt for leaving the European Union, or American voters who twice elected Ronald Reagan the president of the world’s greatest power.
Correcting mistakes
For the electorate, anywhere, to be wrong is not entirely strange, because democracy does not automatically mean one makes the ‘right’ choice; but what it does is that its mechanisms allow for ‘correcting the mistakes’ as it were, if properly exercised. What I mean is that any election result may be turned upside down in the following elections within four or more years, based on the principle of ‘trial and error’ which is the core of science as well as natural human interaction.
Furthermore, there is no guarantee that an individual or the population as a whole will not suffer from a misplaced democratic vote, however, this will be far less damaging, less costly and of a shorter duration than suffering under insatiable dictatorial ‘police states’ that respects no rights, no thought and no privacy. The Middle East has experienced several versions of such ‘police states’, and it is not difficult to see the outcome in the shape of disasters, backwardness, extremism, frustration and terrorism.
Erdogan has never enjoyed a ‘carte blanche’ support; something proven by disagreements with his closest allies.
In some Middle Eastern countries – Arab, in particular, state apparatus and institutions have totally collapsed; ‘imported’ glittering progressive, liberal and nationalist slogans have become illusions, indeed, masks that cover the most parochial tribal, sectarian and local loyalties. The role of the armies has changed from being ‘defenders of the homeland’ to becoming murderous militias using the most lethal prohibited weapons against innocent unarmed civilians, and displacing millions.
On the other hand, in other countries in the Middle East that have chosen the path of ‘revolution’, in the name of the ‘downtrodden’ against the forces of internal corruption and foreign ‘arrogance’, religious mottos have become a cover for financial and militaristic ‘mafias’ expanding everywhere, creating regional militias, and inciting civil wars that are sowing the seeds of hatred and reaping conflicts.
Frightening examples
Turkey is today watching frightening examples throughout the Middle East. It fully understands how tenuous its position is, beginning with Washington’s regional bet on Kurdish ‘nationalism’, including the position of an aggressive and expansionist Iran that claims control of four Arab capitals, three of which – Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut – are close to Turkey, and culminating in Moscow’s political and military pressures, along with uneasy relations with Israel and Egypt.
In fact, despite the fact that Ankara has received many messages expressing support for ‘Turkish democracy and legitimacy’, it would be naïve to believe that these messages reflect the real strategic positions of the senders. I personally reckon that Erdogan does not believe those who were claiming solidarity with him would not have sided with coup plotters had the Turkish streets been lukewarm, and had opposition party sensitivities not declared their strong rejection of the return of military dictatorship.
One thing that must be beyond doubt is that the regional and international justification for the failed coup was ready for marketing in several capitals, which would love to see a different leadership in Turkey, and do not believe that ‘some’ people deserve liberty and democracy.
This is why I say the Turkish regime won its fights a couple of days ago thanks to the backing of the Turkish people who refused to go backwards. However, this difficult experiment is bound to teach valuable lessons; and this is an opportunity for the Turkish leadership to draw the right conclusions, shield itself with its people’s trust, and develop a wise strategy for a cohesive state and effective regional and international power.
This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on July 23, 2016.

Hillary’s Syria policy
Alex Rowell/Now Lebanon/July 17/16
Earlier this year, a small group of Syrian-American political activists affiliated with the opposition to Bashar al-Assad’s regime met privately in Washington, D.C., with Hillary Clinton. The purpose of the meeting was, perhaps unsurprisingly, to discuss the ongoing war in Syria, as well as explore ways a future American administration – such as the one Clinton hopes to lead starting in January 2017 – might act to shape events in the devastated country in ways more agreeable to the opposition than the course taken by the incumbent president.
Though it had by then been three years since Secretary of State Clinton had worked in any official capacity on Syria policy, she’d evidently kept a close eye on developments in the interim. An attendee at the meeting recalls her as deeply knowledgeable of even granular details of the situation on the ground. More significantly, she was also highly receptive to the activists’ view that more palpable, concrete steps to counter the violence meted out by Assad and his allies were required from the United States.
“I was very impressed with how attuned she was to every detail of the situation,” said Kenan Rahmani, a Washington-based law student and member of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, who has traveled extensively through opposition-held territory in Syria since the outbreak of the conflict.
“She knew about Russian attacks on hospitals in Aleppo. She knew about the siege in Madaya (before it had become a major news story). She was familiar with the players in the newer iterations of the Syrian opposition,” Rahmani told NOW in an email.
It was an encounter that would leave a lasting imprint on Rahmani, who is now supporting Clinton’s presidential bid. On the campaign trail, Clinton has notably made a more forceful approach in Syria part of her foreign policy platform, pledging in November 2015 to “retool and ramp up our efforts to support and equip viable Syrian opposition units” and even “impose no-fly zones” over northern Syria “that will stop Assad from slaughtering civilians and the opposition from the air.” Nor were these mere one-off remarks, later to be retracted or forgotten: in April this year, challenged by dovish rival Bernie Sanders in a live debate to defend her no-fly zone suggestion, Clinton stood her ground. “Yes, I do still support a no-fly zone because I think we need to put in safe havens for those poor Syrians who are fleeing both Assad and ISIS and so they have some place they can be safe […] Nobody stood up to Assad and removed him, and we have had a far greater disaster in Syria than we are currently dealing with right now in Libya,” said the candidate confirmed Tuesday as the official Democratic Party nominee.
What gets said on the trail and what ends up happening in the Oval Office are, of course, often different things (see Obama’s pledge to close Guantánamo Bay). Yet Rahmani, for one, doesn’t believe Clinton’s no-fly zone talk is empty posturing.
“Hillary Clinton and her advisers have been very clear--in public, not just in private--that they believe a no-fly zone is a humanitarian imperative,” he told NOW. “The aerial bombardment by the Assad regime is the primary tool of death and destruction in Syria. Hillary Clinton understands that the refugee crisis destabilizing the region and Europe can only be dealt with by addressing the main threat driving the refugees to flee.”
Asked about her proposal to “retool and ramp up” military support to the opposition – which at least one Clinton acquaintance, the journalist and author Mark Landler, suggests may include the provision of MANPADS anti-aircraft missiles – Rahmani said, “It's not clear exactly what measures [she] might take,” but she “would not rule out any options that may help to advance the overall policy.” In general, he told NOW, “I predict that she would be less reluctant than President Obama to explore more coercive measures to end the conflict.”
That’s a sentiment shared by others who have seen Clinton’s thinking on Syria up close. Frederic Hof was Secretary Clinton’s Special Adviser on Syria at the State Department until his resignation in September 2012. While he declines to wager on the specifics of a hypothetical President Clinton’s Syria policy, Hof does believe his former boss – the daughter of a naval officer, who herself applied unsuccessfully to join the Marines in the 1970s – has fewer personal or ideological misgivings than Obama in general about the idea of employing military force when deemed advantageous.
“I think President Obama has convinced himself that what happened in terms of the American invasion and occupation of Iraq beginning in 2003 suggests that any attempt by the United States to push back militarily in Syria, to exact some kind of a price [from] Bashar al-Assad will inevitably result in catastrophe – invasion, occupation, the whole thing,” Hof, now director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, told NOW.
“I don’t think Secretary Clinton as president would be imprisoned by that particular belief.”
Clinton would also differ from Obama, Hof expects, in her perspective vis-à-vis the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran; a milestone of Obama’s legacy that critics argue has made the president wary of opposing Tehran’s regional ambitions, in Syria above all.
“I think the president is concerned that a more resolute pushback against Bashar al-Assad, particularly in the area of civilian protection, could somehow alienate the key leaders in Iran, starting with the Supreme Leader, and inspire Iran to walk away from the nuclear agreement,” said Hof.“I don’t think that Secretary Clinton as president would be constrained in that way. It’s just my sense that she understands the United States can do two things at once, and that there are elements of the nuclear agreement that are obviously very attractive to Iran, and the possibility of Iran just picking up and walking away [are] probably relatively small.”
Moreover, Clinton and Obama are polar opposites in terms of their regard for traditional foreign policy advisers, according to both Hof and Rahmani. While Obama is famously derisive of Washington’s foreign policy coterie (“the Blob” in the phrasing of Ben Rhodes, one of very few aides to have the president’s ear), Clinton’s campaign has already amassed a large team of advisers; “a tremendous foreign policy operation, almost like an actual government,” according to Rahmani. At the top of that operation sit Jake Sullivan and Laura Rosenberger, whom Rahmani describes as “both very involved in tracking developments in Syria.” Others include Center for a New American Security CEO Michèle Flournoy, tipped to be Clinton’s defense secretary, who has advocated using greater military “coercion” against the Assad regime; and Brookings Institution Center for Middle East Policy Director Tamara Cofman Wittes, who derided Obama’s Syria policy in testimony to Congress in May as “a signal failure to learn the lessons of the post-Cold War period.”
Then, of course, there is Tim Kaine, the Virginia senator unveiled Friday as Clinton’s running mate. A member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, Kaine voted in the wake of the August 2013 chemical weapons attacks in Damascus to launch punitive strikes against the Assad regime, and in 2015 wrote to the president urging “the rapid establishment of one or more humanitarian safe zones” in Syria to “provide essential protection for displaced Syrian civilians and a safe transit route for desperately needed humanitarian supplies.”
A relatively low-key character who once described himself as “the most boring man in politics,” Kaine’s nomination as potential vice president was nevertheless met with excitement in Syrian opposition circles. Asked whether it gave him further confidence in Clinton’s resolve to see her Syria pledges through, Rahmani was unequivocal.
“Yes, definitely.”