LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 18/16
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.june18.16.htm
News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
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Bible Quotations For Today
Do not think
that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace,
but a sword.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10/34-39:"‘Do not think
that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace,
but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter
against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s
foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is
not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not
worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their
life for my sake will find it."
The Holy Spirit fell upon all
who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were
astounded
Acts of the Apostles 10/44-48:"While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit
fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with
Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even
on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then
Peter said, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have
received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ So he ordered them to be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days." "
Pope Francis's Tweet For Today
In prayer let us experience the compassion of God, full of merciful love.
Na oração, experimentamos a compaixão de Deus Pai, cheio de amor misericordioso.
في الصلاة، نختبر رأفة الله الآب المملوء من المحبة الرحيمة.
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials
from miscellaneous sources published on June 17-18/16
Henry Kissinger and the catastrophic chain of events that we have witnessed in
Lebanon and in the region/Rogers Bejjani/Fave Book/June 17/16
In solidarity with Lebanese banks/Nayla Tueni/Al Arabiya/June 17/16
Assad’s defeat spells the end of Hezbollah/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/June
17/16
Hizballah set to fight ISIS for Euphrates Valley/DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June
17/16
Former Israeli Army chief, Benny Gantz: Israel not under existential threat/Ron
Ben-Yishai/ Ynetnews/06.17.16/ Israel News
Analysis: ISIS leader al-Baghdadi is living on borrowed time/Yossi Melman/Jerusalem
Post/June 17/17
Washington’s War on the Islamic State Is Only Making It Stronger/Hassan
Hassan/Foreign Policy/June 17/16
Are Kurds really treated equally in Iran/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/June
17/16
What Does It Mean to Be French/by Yves Mamou/Gatestone Institute/June 17/16
US diplomats demand military action in Syria/Associated Press/Ynetnews/June
17/16
The Islamic State's Views on Homosexuality/Aaron Y. Zelin and Jacob Olidort/The
Washington Institute/June 17/16
Arab Government and Media Reactions to the Orlando Attack/David Pollock and
Mohamed AbdelazizThe Washington Institute/June 17/16
The Islamic State's Views on Homosexuality/Aaron Y. Zelin and Jacob Olidort/The
Washington Institute/June 17/16
Arab Government and Media Reactions to the Orlando Attack/David Pollock and
Mohamed AbdelazizThe Washington Institute/June 17/16
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on
June 17-18/16
Reports: 'Fierce Clashes' between Hizbullah, Regime Forces in Aleppo
Report: Suspicious Transactions behind Attack on BLOM Bank
ISF First Adjutant Killed in Akkar Shooting
Sami Gemayel Tells Salam Kataeb Ministers' Resignation is 'Final'
Riyadh Reportedly Ups Scrutiny of Saudi-Lebanon Bank Transfers
Nusra-Linked Syrian Held in Beirut as Suspect Arrested for Plotting Attack on
Army
Mashnouq: Security under Control, Embassies Warnings Based on Old Info
Aoun holds key to Hariri's premiership: Wahhab from Rabieh
In solidarity with Lebanese banks
Assad’s defeat spells the end of Hezbollah
Hizballah set to fight ISIS for Euphrates Valley
Hariri: Banks apply international laws unanimously approved by Lebanese
ParliamentAsseri hosts Iftar banquet for panel of politicians
Bonne launching partnership between French Institute and Telepherique Company:
Project helps young people acquire better understanding of historic heritage
Rahi arrives at Antonine Institute after stop over at Baabda Square
Dispute over real estate leads to death of ISF adjutant
Sami Gemayel heads to London
Bilal Mikati sentenced for 15 years of hard labor for belonging to ISIS
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 17-18/16
Vatican Takes In More Syrian
Refugees, Following Pope Francis' Lead
Iraq Forces Retake Fallujah Government HQ
Murdered British MP Complained of Threats, Says Police
Bahrain jails eight people for funding Hezbollah-linked group
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince meets with Obama
Jubeir: Saudi Arabia to have strong ties with future US president
2nd black box on crashed EgyptAir flight retrieved
Putin: I agree with US proposals for Syrian opposition
Palestinians begin sea border talks with Egypt
Statement by Chairman of the legal committee of Syrian National Coalition
IRAN: Suppressive forces beat bakery owner for selling food during Ramadan,
protests ensue
IRAN: Victims of a housing cooperative scam protested in front of regime’s
Parliament
IRAN: Workers of East Alborz Coal Mines protest for 3 consecutive days
Rally outside office of Iran regime’s governor in Parsian
Former Israeli Army chief, Benny Gantz: Israel not under existential threat
Barak: Netanyahu in a panic, knows the end of his reign is near
Links From Jihad Watch Site for
June 17-18/16
NY Times’ David Brooks: Find out how much jihad has to do with
Islam by reading…The Varieties of Religious
Experience
Paul Ryan threatens to sue Donald Trump if he tries to enact temporary ban on
Muslim immigration
New York Times: Only “fringe interpretations of Islam” justify violence,
“mainstream majority view is peaceful”
Is the Islamic State’s caliph al-Baghdadi dead (again)?
Video: Robert Spencer on the global outbreak of mental illness
We need more Orlando’s”: Craigslist ad praises 9/11, tells San Diego gays
“You’re next”
Iran files lawsuit against US at International Court of Justice in the Hague
Robert Spencer, FrontPage: New Mexico: Muslim ‘Refugee’ with Gas Pipeline Plans
Arrested in Border County
Obama vs. Sun Tzu: The Deadly Price of Not Making a Threat Assessment
Daniel Greenfield Moment: Facebook’s War on Free Speech
Reading the Qur’an during Ramadan 13: Juz Wa ma ubarri’u
June 17-18/16
Henry Kissinger and the catastrophic chain of events that we have witnessed in
Lebanon and in the region
Rogers Bejjani/Fave Book/June 17/16
A specific chronic aspect of the stupidity of Lebanese and Arabs is when from
time to time and for the past 45 years they accuse Henry Kissinger to be behind
the catastrophic chain of events that we have witnessed in Lebanon and in the
region. In the opinion of those morons, Henry Kissinger has hypnotized the
people of the region and has guided them to do whatever he wants.
As for the indigenes, they have no responsibility whatsoever! They were
hypnotized when they signed the Cairo Accord, hypnotized when they allowed the
breach of the armistice agreement, hypnotized when they decided to burn Lebanon
for Palestine, hypnotized when they refused to ratify the May 17 accord etc....Kissinger is a hell of a hypnotiser!
Bunch of Morons! start by taking responsibilities for your failing instead of
always transferring the responsibility to others.
Reports: 'Fierce Clashes'
between Hizbullah, Regime Forces in Aleppo
Naharnet/June 17/16/Verbal disputes between Hizbullah and its ally the Syrian
army escalated into unprecedented “fierce clashes” in the past two days in the
northern Syrian province of Aleppo, a media report said on Friday. “Several
fighters from both sides were killed, amid reports that groups of Hizbullah
fighters were bombed by regime warplanes,” the Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat
reported. And as Syrian opposition source noted that “it is not the first time
that the two allies engage in clashes,” the Syrian opposition's National
Coalition official Samir Nashar told the newspaper that “the fighting resulted
from an exchange of sectarian insults and mutual accusations of betrayal on the
battlefield.”The clashes led to “the death of an officer and seven members of
the regime forces, who responded by shelling the Nubol and al-Zahraa area in the
northern countryside,” Nashar said, adding that the fighting also “spread to
Aleppo's southern countryside, especially the al-Hader region and the areas
around Khan Touman.”Another National Coalition source told Asharq al-Awsat that
“the disputes between the two sides are not new.”“They are the result of
Hizbullah's acting as an occupation force in addition to its prevention of
regime troops – who have a habit of trashing and robbing houses – from
approaching or entering the areas that fall under the control” of the regime and
its allies, the source said. Separately, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
reported Friday that at least 14 Hizbullah fighters have been killed and 20
others wounded in 72 hours of clashes with the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front,
Islamist fighters and rebels in Aleppo's southern countryside.Hizbullah's
intervention in the conflict alongside regime forces has helped Damascus achieve
several military victories and allowed the party to clear most of the
Lebanese-Syrian border region from rebels and jihadists. Since 2013, the
Lebanese, Iran-backed party has sent thousands of combatants -- between 5,000
and 6,000, according to the expert on Hizbullah Waddah Sharara -- to help the
regime fight both rebels and jihadists.They send 2,000 fighters at a time in
rotation, Sharara says.Experts say Hizbullah has lost 1,000 to 2,000 fighters in
the conflict, including senior commanders.
Report: Suspicious
Transactions behind Attack on BLOM Bank
Naharnet/June 17/16/“Delicate transactions” were behind the bomb attack which
targeted the headquarters of BLOM Bank in Beirut on June 12, the Saudi daily
Asharq al-Awsat reported on Friday. Well-informed sources told Asharq al-Awsat
that the explosion was linked to “information obtained by BLOM regarding
sensitive transactions that were made through the bank.”The sources added that
the bank facilitated a number of delicate transactions and was in possession of
“dangerous information on some names, addresses and dates that would give a
clear image on the activities of Hizbullah.”They noted that “two Lebanese
brothers, who are prominent officials in Hizbullah and doing business in
Nigeria, have been using the bank to launder money, trade with arms and finance
Hizbullah’s foreign activities through at least one account that bears the name
of one of their companies.”“One of the main messages behind Sunday’s explosion
was to warn those who have information on Hizbullah against revealing 'what
might represent a threat to the group',” the sources suggested. Hizbullah has
maintained silence over the incident and its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is
expected to address the issue in a June 24 speech. Meanwhile, State Prosecutor
Judge Samir Hammoud told Asharq al-Awsat that so far no concrete evidence has
been reached in the investigations into Sunday’s blast. He added that work was
still focused on analyzing the content of surveillance cameras.
ISF First Adjutant Killed in
Akkar Shooting
Naharnet/June 17/16/An Internal Security Forces first adjutant was killed and
another person was injured Friday in a shooting in the northern Akkar district,
state-run National News Agency reported. “The body of ISF first adjutant B. H.
was transferred to the al-Kheir Hospital in the town of Minieh after he was shot
dead by a man called A. S. in the outskirts of the town of Jdeidet al-Qaytaa,”
NNA said. Another person, Abdullah A., was wounded in the hand and also
transferred to the al-Kheir Hospital, the agency added. Security forces have
since launched an investigation to unveil the circumstance of the incident, NNA
said.Earlier in the day, LBCI television said the shooter opened fire in
connection with “old personal disputes.
Sami Gemayel Tells Salam
Kataeb Ministers' Resignation is 'Final'
Naharnet/June 17/16/Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel visited Prime Minister
Tammam Salam on Friday and informed him that the resignation of Kataeb's two
ministers from the government is “final.”“I officially informed him that the
resignation is final and I expressed our appreciation for him as a person,” said
Gemayel after the one-hour talks at the Grand Serail. “In the absence of a
president, the resignations cannot be submitted in written form,” Gemayel
clarified. Kataeb's chief had first announced the resignation of Labor Minister
Sejaan Qazzi and Finance Minister Alain Hakim on Tuesday, accusing the
government of failing to address the country's problems."This government has
become uncontrollable and detrimental" to the interests of the country, Gemayel
said on Tuesday. "Its existence is worse than its inexistence. Nothing justifies
our participation," he told a news conference.
"The government does not care about finding a solution to the problem of Syrian
refugees, nor does it care about the economic plan presented by the economy
minister" or the garbage crisis, Gemayel said.
Riyadh Reportedly Ups
Scrutiny of Saudi-Lebanon Bank Transfers
Naharnet/June 17/16/Saudi Arabia has taken new measures concerning bank
transfers conducted by Lebanese citizens from Saudi Arabia to their home
country, according to the chairman of the Lebanese Chamber of Commerce. Mohammed
Shuqair told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that currently each bank transfer “takes
around three to four days before reaching Beirut, the time Saudi authorities
spend to detect the identity of the sender and the party to whom money is sent.”
Shuqair said the new Saudi step was not political, but described it as “a
security and economic step that abides by the international banking law.”Last
April, Saudi Arabia and the United States added a number of organizations on
their lists of “terrorist groups.”There are currently 17 individuals and six
entities from Hizbullah on the Saudi “terror” list. Last week, Lebanon’s Central
Bank closed 100 bank accounts linked to Hizbullah in line with a U.S. sanctions
law targeting the party’s financing. The Saudi measures come in the wake of a
bombing on Sunday evening that targeted the Beirut headquarters of BLOM Bank,
the second largest bank in the country. The powerful blast that shook the
western part of the capital injured only one person but caused extensive
material damage. BLOM Bank has been criticized by some pro-Hizbullah politicians
for taking a hard-line position after Lebanese banks began abiding by the U.S.
law which sanctions doing business with the Iran-backed Lebanese group.
Hizbullah has fiercely criticized the law and accused Central Bank Governor Riad
Salameh of "yielding" to Washington's demands and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah is expected to address both the BLOM Bank blast and the U.S. sanctions
in a June 24 speech.
Nusra-Linked Syrian Held in
Beirut as Suspect Arrested for Plotting Attack on Army
Naharnet/June 17/16/The State Security agency arrested Thursday a Syrian man in
Beirut on charges of “entering Lebanon illegally” and “having ties and contacts
with al-Nusra Front,” al-Qaida's Syria branch, media reports said. Later on
Thursday, the General Security agency announced that another Syrian has been
arrested for “belonging to a terrorist group.” “During interrogation, he
confessed to belonging to a terrorist group, recruiting and inciting young men
to join the Syrian conflict alongside the aforementioned group, and plotting,
along with others, for an attack on a Lebanese army checkpoint with the aim of
killing soldiers,” the General Security said in a statement. “He was referred to
the relevant judicial authorities at the end of the investigation and efforts
are underway to arrest the rest of the culprits,” it added. The announcements
come in the wake of a blast the targeted the headquarters of BLOM Bank in Verdun
on Sunday and injured one person. They also come amid security concerns in
Lebanon about possible attacks by the extremist Islamic State and al-Nusra Front
groups during the holy month of Ramadan. A recently-leaked army intelligence
memo has revealed that security agencies were asked to up their security
measures after information was obtained about a Nusra Front plot to launch
terrorist attacks in Beirut's Hamra area.
According to the document, army patrols and “political and security figures
moving without security convoys” are likely targets.
Mashnouq: Security under
Control, Embassies Warnings Based on Old Info
Naharnet/June 17/16/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq reassured Thursday that
the security situation in the country is “under control,” dismissing recent
security warnings by some foreign embassies. “I repeat: the security situations
are under control and nothing justifies the new warnings, which are inaccurate,”
Mashnouq announced on Twitter. He had earlier in the day said that “the
circulated information is old and dates back to two months ago.”“It seems that
the embassies have only learned of this information now and they are acting
accordingly, but we already took all the precautions at the time,” Mashnouq told
reporters after a cabinet session. “There is nothing new that justifies the
warnings that have been issued by the embassies and the Lebanese State does not
usually issue such warnings. We repel the threats through the work of the
security agencies,” he added. “The information is based on arrests and intel and
is not a viewpoint. The details are clear and specific but there is no need to
announce them,” Mashnouq said. He also repeated that Sunday's bombing in
Beirut's Verdun area “has nothing to do with the previous investigations or the
recent warnings.” The powerful blast that targeted the headquarters of BLOM Bank
and shook the western part of the capital injured only one person but caused
extensive material damage. BLOM Bank has been criticized by some pro-Hizbullah
politicians for taking a hard-line position after Lebanese banks began abiding
by a U.S. law that sanctions doing business with the Iran-backed Lebanese group.
Media outlets and social networking websites have in recent weeks been abuzz
with reports attributed to security agencies and foreign embassies about
possible terrorist attacks during the holy month of Ramadan against touristic
sites such as restaurants, pubs and malls. Mashnouq himself had announced that
three Islamic State-linked cells had been busted in three months that preceded
Ramadan.
Aoun holds key to Hariri's premiership: Wahhab from Rabieh
The Daily Star/June 17/16/BEIRUT: Tawhid Party chief Wiam Wahhab Friday blamed former Prime Minister Saad
Hariri for the delay in the election of a president, calling on him to endorse
MP Michel Aoun if he wanted a ticket to return to the premiership.
"Any rejection of a near-Christian consensus for the presidency is a delay,
because a delay is not a matter of a quorum, but a delay is in the politics, and
not in the number of votes in Parliament,” Wahhab said after a meeting with the
Free Patriotic Movement founder at his residency in Rabieh, according to remarks
posted to the National News Agency.
The previous 40 presidential election sessions have failed to secure the needed
quorum to activate a vote. Hezbollah and its allies, the Change and Reform bloc
led by Aoun, have been boycotting the sessions. Wahhab called on Hariri to stop
wasting time and endorse Aoun, as it could lead to an agreement, whereby he will
be prime minister again.“I assure Hariri from Rabieh today that Gen. Aoun possesses two keys: the first
is the key to the presidency, and the second is the key to the premiership. Gen.
Michel Aoun has a mandate from the political factions he is aligned with,
specifically from Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah to negotiate with Hariri to return to
the premiership, and he is the only one that has this authority,” Wahhab said.
“When Hariri says that he has agreed to elect Gen. Aoun as president, within
hours, the March 8 MPs will be in Parliament to elect Michel Aoun... We all know
where the decision comes from, but I am betting on internal players, and this is
what will help Lebanon to breath amid the regional situation,” he added.
The presidential race is pitting Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh against
Aoun, who is backed by Hezbollah, some of its March 8 allies and the Lebanese
Forces. Hariri, Speaker Nabih Berri and MP Walid Jumblatt also back Frangieh’s
presidential bid, along with some independent lawmakers
In solidarity with Lebanese
banks
Nayla Tueni/Al Arabiya/June 17/16
Someone wants to tamper with Lebanon’s security, especially as the summer season
begins. It is as if the aim is to always harm the country’s economy by
intimidating Lebanese expats from visiting their homeland, and intimidating Arab
and foreign tourists from coming here. Some parties want Lebanon to remain in
chains, and seek to keep the situation complicated in order to prevent the
country’s progress. Those who benefit from this are many, and they include
enemies and even ‘brothers.’ There are attempts to harm the banking sector,
which has remained steadfast during difficult circumstances, developing,
expanding worldwide and hiring many people.
Resistance
Following Sunday’s bomb blast outside BLOM Bank in Beirut, we call for thwarting
attempts to tamper with Lebanon’s security and weaken the banking sector, which
has contributed to the country’s strength and is perhaps the only sector that is
still profitable. Standing in solidarity with Lebanese banks is a national duty,
and a form of financial resistance to prevent the roof from collapsing on
everyone’s heads, including Hezbollah’s . Although US sanctions are negative
regarding domestic relations with banks, exaggerations when criticizing the
banking sector mainly benefit Israel, because it wants to harm the sector and
banking secrecy, which still attracts many to it. Thus standing in solidarity
with Lebanese banks is a national duty, and a form of financial resistance to
prevent the roof from collapsing on everyone’s heads, including Hezbollah’s.
This article was first published in an-Nahar on Jun. 13, 2016.
Assad’s defeat spells the end
of Hezbollah
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/June 17/16
Since its foundation in the early 1980s, Hezbollah has not suffered as major
losses as it is suffering in Syria. The party has lost more than it did in all
the wars with Israel combined. It is estimated to have lost 1,000 - 3,000
fighters, including important military leaders. Among them, according to writers
Matthew Levitt and Nadav Pollak, are Fawzi Ayoub, a Lebanese-Canadian who was
killed in Daraa in southern Syria and was one of the figures most wanted by the
FBI; Hassan Hussein al-Hajj, killed in battles around Idlib; Khalil Mohammed
Hamid Khalil, killed in Homs; Ali Fayyad, killed in Aleppo; Khalil Ali Hassan, a
veteran leader killed in Aleppo this month; and the party’s highest-ranked
leader in Syria, Mustafa Badr al-Din, who was killed in May. All of them were
killed in battles with Syrian rebels or other armed groups. Unlike Iran,
Hezbollah cannot impose conscription on the young men in its community in
Lebanon. It can only convince them to engage in its ranks through religious and
political propaganda and financial temptations. Hezbollah leader Hassan
Nasrallah vowed to eliminate “extremist groups” in just a few months. However,
after five years of war in Syria and four years of the party’s involvement, can
it keep on fighting no matter how long the war lasts? Even worse, Hezbollah’s
involvement has increased and expanded beyond Syria, its men fighting on behalf
of Iran in Iraq too. It lives in a continuous and exhausting state of alert
inside Lebanon. Apart from the loss of blood and money, the party has almost
completely lost the reputation and support it earned during its confrontations
with Israel
Repercussions
Apart from the loss of blood and money, the party has almost completely lost the
reputation and support it earned during its confrontations with Israel. Iranian
failure in Syria, which is most probable, will have serious repercussions on
Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon. The party used to justify its defeats against
Israel, as in the 2006 war, by saying it won by not letting Israel achieve its
goals. However, if it is defeated or continues to suffer losses in Syria, it
will not be able to ensure the support of Lebanon’s Shiites. Hezbollah used to
tell them that it was fighting in Syria for their safety and very existence, but
now it is a war on behalf of Iran’s interests that has turned Hezbollah fighters
into mercenaries. The party’s involvement in Syria has cost the Shiite community
dearly, and has not given it promised security. Hezbollah’s raison d'être as an
armed militia against Israel is no longer valid, especially after
Iranian-Western rapprochement following the nuclear deal. Also, due to the
party’s military losses, it will have difficulty persisting without challenges
in Lebanon. Hezbollah and Iran reject any solution that does not maintain Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad’s full powers, because they know that his defeat will
most likely end Hezbollah in Lebanon. The price of its involvement in the Syrian
quagmire is too high, a price it tried to avoid in its confrontations with
Israel by hiding among civilians or underground. Syria’s dirty war has tarnished
Hezbollah’s reputation, history, popularity, legitimacy, youth and leaders. This
article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Jun. 17, 2016.
Hizballah set to fight ISIS
for Euphrates Valley
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 17, 2016
Hizballah this week ordered a general military call-up for their biggest combat
mission in the Syrian war since their forces began fighting in support of the
Assad regime in 2013, debkafile military forces report. Iran’s Lebanese proxy
has been assigned the task of expelling the Islamic State from broad areas it
occupied in the Deir ez-Zor region of eastern Syria and, in particular, the
Euphrates River valley which connects eastern Syria and western Iraq. This
Hizballah offensive is designed to open the way for the pro-Iranian Shiite
Popular Mobilization Forces and the Badar Forces militias which entered the
ISIS-held Iraqi town of Fallujah Friday June 17 to move west and up the Iraqi
side of the valley. The two militias spearheaded the Fallujah operation under
the command of Iran’s Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani of the Revolutionary Guards and
Ground Corps Brig. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour. The plan is for Hizballah forces to
meet these pro-Iranian militia forces on the Syria-Iraq border and so gain
control over the most important strategic land pass between Iraq and Syria.
Whereas the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq are fighting under US air cover,
Hizballah is assured of Russian air support in Syria. And so, for the first time
in the Syria conflict and its own history, Hizballah will receive air cover from
both the US and Russia, the two superpowers now coordinating their military
moves in Syria and Iraq. This strategy, which essentially connects the Syrian
and Iraqi campaigns against ISIS, was charted on June 9, at a secret meeting in
Tehran of the Russian, Iranian and Syrian defense chiefs. debkafile military
sources in Washington say that the operation’s plan was put before President
Barack Obama and he sanctioned it as part of the war on ISIS. In the run-up to
the Syrian segment of the plan, Hizballah is transferring substantial combat
strength from Lebanon into Syria, and emptying its other Syrian fronts,
especially around Aleppo, for the large-scale concentration around Palmyra. The
Hizballah force will start out by targeting the Syrian town of Al-Sukhna, 63km
south of Palmyra and 136km north of Deir ez-Zor, thus gaining command of M20,
the main highway link between northern to eastern Syria. debkafile military
sources say that this military offensive by Hizballah against ISIS, with
combined US-Russian support, threatens to transform a terrorist organization
dedicated to fighting Israel in the service of Iran into one of the most
powerful armies in the Middle East. Israel cannot stop this happening. The
former Israel defense ministers who harangued this week against the Netanyahu
government’s alleged “scaremongering” willfully ignored this dangerous
development. They must also be held at least partly accountable for the failure
of Israel’s air raids over Syria to diminish Hizballah’s military capabilities.
Hariri: Banks apply
international laws unanimously approved by Lebanese Parliament
Fri 17 Jun 2016/NNA - Former Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, denounced on Friday
Hezbollah's attacks against the banking sector that is the cornerstone of the
Lebanese economy and against Central Bank Governor, saying that banks are simply
applying international laws approved anonymously by the Lebanese Parliament.His
words came during an Iftar banquet held in Sama Chtaura in Bekaa, in honor of
families of Zahle, Central Bekaa, and Baalbeck. He said that Lebanon suffers
from the implication of Hezbollah in wars, not from Shiites in Lebanon.
Asseri hosts Iftar banquet for panel of politicians
Fri 17 Jun 2016/NNA - Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Awadh Asseri, hosted, at
the embassy on Friday, an Iftar banquet, attended by Minister Ghazi Zeaiter
representing House Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, former
Speaker Hussein Husseini, former MPs Fouad Siniora and Najib Mikati, as well as
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdullatif Darian, and others.
Bonne launching partnership
between French Institute and Telepherique Company: Project helps young people
acquire better understanding of historic heritage
Fri 17 Jun 2016/NNA - French Ambassador to Lebanon, Emmanuel Bonne, held on
Friday a press conference at Telefrique Station-Harissa, on the occasion of the
launching of partnership between the French Institute in Jounieh and the
Lebanese Telefrique Company. The press conference took place in the presense of
Tourism Minister Michel Pharoun's Representative, Richard Pharoun, and Culture
Minister Raymond Araiji's Representative Lynn Tahini, Telefrique board members,
share holders and concerned dignitaries. Ambassador Bonne pointed that the
project aims at providing educational and entertaining activities for schools,
students and young visitors, to help them better acquaint and understand Jounieh
Telefrique's historic, artistic and environmental heritage. The French
Ambassador also spoke about the history of the Lebanese telefrique, noting "the
beauty and splendor of the landscape of such a touristic attraction.""Harissa is
a touristic attraction par excellence, and I'm glad I'm here today."Bonne
pointed out that "the French Institute offers help to young people to have a
better understanding of the heritage, history, geography and environmental
aspects of Jounieh Telefrique-Harissa."
Rahi arrives at Antonine
Institute after stop over at Baabda Square
Fri 17 Jun 2016/NNA - Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rahi arrived a
while ago in the town of Baabda in southern Metn, accompanied by a number of
bishops, whereby he was greeted by Municipality head, Antoine Elias Helo,
Antonine Institute Head, Father George Sadaqa, and crowds of locals and
dignitaries. In his delivered word, Patriarch Rahi said that he was glad to be
meeting with the sons of the town, saying his visit coincides with the
conclusion of the meeting by the Holy Synod and the sports week at Bkirki. The
Patriarch stressed the dire need to assist the Lebanese people endure the
current difficult circumstances and to live in happiness and tranquility. Rahi
also drew similarity between Lebanon and a sick patient whom we should not
relinquish and stay by its side till recovering its health. "Lebanon has a role
and message to undertake," Rahi said. The Patriarch and his accompanied
delegation then moved to the Antonine Institute Monastery, whereby he was
welcomed by local political, social, cultural and religious dignitaries, in
addition to a crowd of the devout.
Dispute over real estate leads to death of ISF adjutant
Fri 17 Jun 2016/"On 17/06/2016 at 15:00 in El Qaytea - Akkar a dispute erupted
over the ownership of a real estate between ISF adjutant, Bassam Houri, and A.S.
from Adwa, accompanied by two unknown persons. The dispute evolved into shooting
and caused the injury of the adjutant who got wounded in the chest which led
immediately to his death. The other citizen was also slightly wounded and taken
to a hospital, while shooters fled in a GMC gray car. Investigations are
underway under the supervision the competent court."
Sami Gemayel heads to London
Fri 17 Jun 2016/NNA - Kataeb Party leader, MP Sami Gemayel, left Beirut on
Friday heading to London.
Bilal Mikati sentenced for 15
years of hard labor for belonging to ISIS
Fri 17 Jun 2016/NNA - The permanent military court, headed by General Khalil
Ibrahim, sentenced today Bilal Mikati for 15 years of hard labor, and stripped
him of his civil rights, for belonging to ISIS, National News Agency
correspondent reported on Friday.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 17-18/16
Vatican Takes In More Syrian
Refugees, Following Pope Francis' Lead
Fri 17 Jun 2016/NNA - Following Pope Francis' lead, the Vatican has brought a
second group of Syrian refugees to Rome. The Vatican said Friday that nine
refugees - including three children - were accompanied by Holy See security
personnel on their trip from Athens Thursday. Two of the arrivals are
Christians. They had been living in Kara Tepe refugee camp after arriving on the
Greek island of Lesbos by sea from Turkey. Francis wants Europe to welcome the
hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing war, persecution and poverty who
reached the continent from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, many aboard
smugglers boats. In April, the first group of Syrian refugees flew to Rome
aboard Francis' plane, when he returned from visiting Lesbos. That group and the
latest arrivals are receiving housing from a Catholic charity.------AP
Iraq Forces Retake Fallujah
Government HQ
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 17/16/Iraqi forces raised the national flag
over the main government compound in Fallujah on Friday, top commanders said, a
breakthrough in the nearly four-week-old offensive against the Islamic State
group's bastion. They met limited resistance from IS fighters, who were fleeing
the city, the commanders told AFP, leaving the organization on the brink of
losing one of the most emblematic strongholds in its two-year-old "caliphate."
It is the latest setback for the jihadists who have also lost territory in
neighboring Syria and in Libya in recent weeks, although U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency director John Brennan warned on Thursday that they remain a
formidable force with global reach. "The counter-terrorism service and the rapid
response forces have retaken the government compound in the center of Fallujah,"
the operation's overall commander, Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, told
AFP. Raed Shaker Jawdat, Iraq's federal police chief, confirmed the advance.
"The liberation of the government compound, which is the main landmark in the
city, symbolises the restoration of the state's authority" in Fallujah, he said.
Saadi said the Iraqi flag was raised above government buildings in the compound
and claimed that "Iraqi forces have now liberated 70 percent of the city." In
the deserted, recently reconquered neighborhoods of the insurgent bastion known
in Iraq as the "City of Mosques", elite forces were consolidating positions,
stocking up on food and weapons. Dozens of bodies of dead IS fighters were left
to rot under blankets amid the rubble of homes destroyed by air strikes, rockets
or controlled explosions of the hundreds of bombs the jihadists themselves laid
across the city.
'Little resistance'
The government lost control of Fallujah in 2014, months before IS took second
city Mosul and swept across large parts of the country. Fallujah, which lies
just 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, is one of IS's key historical
bastions and its loss would leave Mosul as the only major Iraqi city under its
control. The U.S.-led coalition, which has carried out air strikes in support of
the Fallujah operation, had initially favored focusing efforts on recapturing
Mosul. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who was facing huge political pressure
over the reform of his own government when he declared the launch of the
Fallujah operation, has vowed to defeat IS nationwide by the end of the year. In
the hours running up to the latest push into the heart of Fallujah, Iraqi forces
retook several neighborhoods in quick succession. "This operation was done with
little resistance from Daesh," Saadi said, using an Arabic acronym for IS. After
months of military operations aimed at completely sealing off the city, IS had
been expected to fight to the death in a protracted suicide holdout but recent
developments suggest the siege was porous. "There is a mass flight of Daesh to
the west that explains this lack of resistance. There are only pockets of them
left and we are hunting them down," Saadi said. Security officials said many IS
members had managed to slip out of the city by blending in with fleeing
civilians in recent days, in some cases paying off security forces. "The top
leaders are mostly gone and those left behind to defend the city are not their
best fighters, which explains their performance," said a security officer
speaking on condition of anonymity. Tens of thousands of civilians have been
forced from their homes since the start of the operation last month.
Aid groups overwhelmed
The first to escape IS rule were those living in rural outlying areas, in the
early phase of the operation which saw a myriad different Iraqi forces seal the
siege of the city. Residents of the city center had been trapped in dire
conditions for days but recent advances have allowed large numbers to escape.
The Norwegian Refugee Council, which runs camps for the displaced near Fallujah,
said the sudden influx meant relief was drying up fast. "Thousands of civilians
from Fallujah are right now heading towards displacement camps in a dramatic
development that is overwhelming emergency aid provision and services," it said.
With IS on the retreat in the city, a window has opened for civilians to leave
but the journey remains dangerous, with several cases of fleeing civilians
killed or wounded by the explosion of roadside bombs. There were an estimated
50,000 people in the city when the operation was launched but it is unclear how
many remain now. Civilians have been used as human shields by IS and those who
managed to flee face the risk of sectarian-motivated abuse by elements of the
pro-government forces. Fallujah is a Sunni Muslim city and the involvement of
Shiite militia groups in the operation had raised fears of sectarian revenge
attacks.
Murdered British MP Complained of
Threats, Says Police
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 17/16/Jo Cox, the British lawmaker murdered
on the streets of northern England, had complained to police earlier this year
about "malicious communications" she received, police said Friday. A man was
arrested in March and was cautioned by police, but he is not the man in custody
for Thursday's attack, a statement from London's Metropolitan Police said.
Witnesses said Cox, a 41-year-old with two children aged three and five, was
repeatedly shot and stabbed in Thursday's assault in the Yorkshire village of
Birstall. Her murder came one week before Britain holds a referendum on whether
to stay in or leave the European Union, a vote which has sparked a divisive and
bitter campaign. "Officers received an allegation of malicious communications
from Jo Cox MP, and in March 2016 arrested a man in connection with the
investigation," the police statement said. "The man subsequently accepted a
police caution. The man who accepted the police caution is not the man in
custody in West Yorkshire." The Times newspaper reported that police were
considering putting in place additional security for Cox when she died. A
52-year-old man, named by British media as Thomas Mair, was arrested shortly
after Cox was attacked. Neighbors told newspapers that he was a loner who had
lived in the area for decades, but there were indications he had extreme
right-wing leanings.
Bahrain jails eight people for
funding Hezbollah-linked group
Al Arabiya English Friday, 17 June 2016/A Bahraini court has sentenced eight
people to 15-year jail terms for forming a "terror" group, a statement to Al
Arabiya News Channel read. The criminal court also stripped the defendants of
their citizenship after convicting them of "establishing and raising donations
to fund a terror organization named Bahraini Hezbollah", the source said, citing
the verdict. The group's name appears to link it to Lebanon's powerful
Iran-backed Shiite movement, though the verdict did not specify any connection.
The eight defendants were accused of forming the group in 2014, possessing
weapons and attempting to kill policemen in Nuwaidrat, a village east of Manama.
They staged an unauthorized demonstration in Nuwaidrat in June 2014 and blocked
the streets while one of the defendants opened fire at a police patrol, the
judicial source said. Two other defendants were jailed three years each for
participating in the demonstration. Bahrain dismantles terror cell linked' to
Iran funded by Nasrallah. Meanwhile, the interior ministry told Al Arabiya
English that police have arrested a man described as the main suspect in the
shooting of a policeman in Sitra last month. “The General Directorate of
Investigation and Forensic Science has arrested the main suspect in the shooting
of a policeman in Sitra on May 23. Another eight individuals previously
convicted in unrelated terror cases were also arrested, including a fugitive who
has been sentenced to life in prison and his citizenship has been revoked,” a
spokesperson said.(With AFP)
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince meets with
Obama
By Staff Writer Al Arabiya English Friday, 17 June 2016/Saudi Arabia’s Deputy
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Friday visited the White House to meet with US
President Barack Obama. The president and crown prince discussed bilateral and
historical ties between the two countries. During the meeting Obama commended
the Deputy Crown Prince’s recently announced Vision 2030 reform plans. Meanwhile
Mohammed bin Salman underscored Saudi Arabia’s “strong support for the Paris
Agreement and welcomed cooperation with the United States on clean energy
issues”. In a statement the White House said that Obama had expressed his
country’s commitment to continue cooperation with Saudi Arabia and for the two
nations to work together to support the security and stability of the Middle
East region, and the challenges the region faced. The two also discussed Saudi
Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic diversification plan. The White House statement
added: “President Obama met this morning in the Oval Office with His Royal
Highness Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, to continue discussions begun in
April at the US-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Riyadh. “The President
expressed appreciation for Saudi Arabia’s contributions to the campaign against
ISIL," the statement added using a different acronym for ISIS. "Reviewing recent
Iraqi gains against ISIL, the President and Deputy Crown Prince discussed steps
to support the Iraqi people, including increased Gulf support to fund urgent
humanitarian and stabilization needs.”On Syria the statement added that the pair
reaffirmed the importance of supporting the cessation of hostilities and a
political transition away from Asad. They also agreed to build support for
Libya’s Government of National Accord. “With regard to Yemen,” the statement
added “the President welcomed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to concluding a
political settlement of the conflict and of GCC support to address urgent
humanitarian needs and rebuild the country.” On Iran, they discussed its
‘destabilizing activities’ and agreed to explore avenues that could lead to a
de-escalation of tensions.“They also discussed the important role Saudi Arabia
can play in addressing extremist ideology,” the press statement added. The two
met following a series of meetings with business representatives and government
officials. The deputy crown prince’s visit to the US Thursday included a meeting
at the Pentagon with US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, during which the
pair discussed the situation in the Middle East.
Jubeir: Saudi Arabia to have strong
ties with future US president
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Friday, 17 June 2016/Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir
said on Friday Saudi Arabia will have strong ties with the future US president
at a news briefing during a Washington visit by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman. The conference followed a meeting betweem Prince Mohammed
bin Salman and US President Barack Obama. On Yemen, Jubeir said the Saudi-led
coalition fighting in the war-torn country is "doing everything we can to
minimize civilian casualties" from air strikes. Also, the Saudi foreign minister
denied media reports that suggested the United Arab Emirates' involvement in the
Yemen war has changed. And on Syria, Jubeir said Saudi Arabia supports a more
aggressive approach against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government,
including imposing a no-fly zone and arming rebels with surface-to-air
missiles."If the Bashar regime feels that it can continue in a stalemate, much
less prevail, there will be no incentive for them to take the necessary steps to
bring about a transition in Syria," Jubeir said.
2nd black box on crashed EgyptAir
flight retrieved
By Staff writer Al Arabiya News Friday, 17 June 2016/A second flight recorder
has been retrieved from the crashed EgyptAir flight MS804, containing data from
aircraft systems which could shed light on what brought the plane down last
month, Egyptian investigators said on Friday. The recorder, which gathers
information about the speed, altitude and direction of the plane, was "retrieved
in several pieces", investigators said in a statement, a day after the
aircraft's cockpit voice recorder was recovered. The Airbus A320 crashed early
on May 19 on its way from Paris to Cairo, killing all 66 people on board. The
two blackbox recorders are crucial to explaining what went wrong. Two specialist
vessels, John Lethbridge and Laplace, had been searching for the flight data
recorders. The Egyptian investigation committee said preparations were under way
to transfer the two flight recorders to Alexandria where they will be received
by an official from the general prosecutor's office and investigators. No group
has claimed responsibility for bringing down the plane, but investigation
sources have said that it was too early to rule out any causes, including
terrorism. If intact, the cockpit recorder should reveal pilot conversations and
any cockpit alarms, as well as other clues such as engine noise. But crash
experts say it may provide only limited insight into what caused the crash,
especially if the crew was confused or unable to diagnose any faults. For that,
the second black box containing data from the aircraft systems is needed. The
crash is the third blow since October to Egypt's travel industry, which is still
suffering from the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. A
Russian plane crashed in the Sinai Peninsula last October, killing all 224
people on board in an attack claimed by ISIS. In March, an EgyptAir plane was
hijacked by a man wearing a fake suicide belt. No one was hurt. (with Agencies)
Putin: I agree with US proposals for
Syrian opposition
Reuters, St petersburg, Russia Friday, 17 June 2016/Russian President Vladimir
Putin said on Friday he agreed with US proposals to incorporate parts of the
opposition into the current Syrian government, saying President Bashar al-Assad
accepted there was a need for a political process. The comments advance Russia’s
position on Syria and follow a statement by UN Envoy Staffan de Mistura, who
warned earlier this month there would not be another round of peace talks until
officials on all sides agreed on the parameters for a political transition deal
ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline. “The US proposal is absolutely acceptable. We must
think about the possibilities of incorporating representatives of the opposition
into the active ruling structure,” Putin told the annual St Petersburg
International Economic Forum. “For example into the government. We must think
what rights that government will have. But here we shouldn’t go too far, we must
act based on today’s realities.”Putin said the most important thing for Syria
was not for Assad to retake every inch of territory as he has pledged (though
Putin said territorial gains were also important) but for overall faith in the
authorities to be restored. Putin said it was inevitable Syria would collapse if
things continued as they were, saying that would be the worst-case scenario.
Palestinians begin sea border talks
with Egypt
AFP, United Nations, United States Friday, 17 June 2016/The Palestinians have
begun talks with Egypt on setting out the maritime borders of their hoped for
future state and the resources they can extract from the sea, their UN
ambassador to the United Nations said Friday. The goal is to establish an
exclusive economic zone off the coast of the Gaza Strip under the UN Convention
on the Law of the Sea, said ambassador Ryad Mansour. The Palestinians became
party to this and other UN treaties and agencies when they gained observer
status at the United Nations in November 2012. The talks with Egypt are at the
preliminary stage, having begun recently with Egypt at the foreign minister
level and then continued at the expert level, the ambassador said. The
Palestinian Authority has consulted “top lawyers in the field” to prepare its
case and train its officials in the workings of maritime law, he added. The
Palestinian strategy is to reach agreements with two of its neighbors in the
Mediterranean -- first Egypt and then Cyprus -- to define exclusive economic
zones with respect to them, and then consult with lawyers as to what its
potential borders with Israel could be. Experts will then take an inventory of
the natural resources claimed by the Palestinians and, and they will file their
EEZ with the UN convention on the law of the sea. It is a way to save time for
future generations, said Mansour. The Palestinians want to move as quickly as
possible but these proceedings could take years, he added. “For us the fact that
we are a state, that our land is under occupation, and that we are joining
conventions and treaties, means that we cannot run away from the
responsibilities that these treaties and conventions require from us,” Mansour
said. “It is our right to declare our exclusive economic zone,” he said. An EZZ
is an area of the sea over which a country has special rights to explore for and
use resources. An EEZ general extends out 200 miles (370 km) from a country’s
coast, while a nation’s territorial waters only extend 12 miles out. But in the
Mediterranean they overlap and need to be negotiated. Neither Israel nor the
United States have ratified the UN convention on the sea. Israel has established
its EEZ with respect to Cyprus through bilateral ties, but has failed to reach
an agreement with Lebanon.
Statement by Chairman of the
legal committee of Syrian National Coalition
Friday, 17 June 2016/
High-ranking Syrian opposition delegation meets Mrs. Maryam Rajavi,
President-elect of the Iranian Resistance
On Saturday, June 11, 2016, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the Iranian
Resistance, welcomed a group of Syrian personalities and opposition officials
and leaders at her residence north of Paris. Ms. Suheir Attassi, member of the
High Negotiations Committee; Ms. Nagham Ghadri, member and former Vice Chairman
of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces; Dr.
Taghrid al-Hagli, former Minister for Culture of the Syrian Interim Government;
Haitham al-Maleh, Chairman of the legal committee of the National Coalition;
Michel Kilo, prominent writer and journalist and Political Committee member of
the National Coalition; Dr. Nasr Al-Hariri, former Secretary-General of the
National Coalition; Ghassan Aboud, a Syrian opposition businessman and founder
of Orient Media; Brigadier General Abdullah Bashir Noeimi, a former chief of
staff of the Free Syrian Army; Brig. General Mesghal Al-Batish Noeimi and Brig.
General Mustafa Sheikh, commanders of the Free Syrian Army; and Mr. Ahmad Kamel,
press advisor of the National Coalition; were present in the meeting. In this
meeting, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi hailed the heroism of the Syrian people, especially
residents of the devastated city of Aleppo, and said that while global powers
have either stood on the side of the murderer or remained passive, the
steadfastness of the Syrian people in the past six years promises the certain
victory of the Syrian people and the Syrian revolution. The Assad regime and its
main supporter, the religious fascism ruling Iran, would not be able to escape
from this defeat. Mrs. Rajavi added that the Iranian people and their resistance
and the Syrian Revolution are waging a historic battle against a common enemy,
the criminal mullahs ruling Iran, who have with their crimes immersed the whole
region in a sea of blood and crisis. But today the Syrian people and revolution
have made the country a quagmire for the Iranian regime that doesn’t have any
way out. The regime officials acknowledge in their internal meetings that they
don’t have the ability to keep Bashar Assad in power. However by continuing
their massacre of the Syrian people they want to postpone as long as they can
the disaster that the Iranian regime awaits. But with every passing day, they
are forced to pay more for such a policy and plan.
Haitham al-Maleh, the most renowned lawyer in Syria and Chairman of the legal
committee of the National Coalition, thanked the Iranian resistance and
President Maryam Rajavi for standing with the Syrian people and revolution and
said: “My relationship with the Iranian opposition goes back fifty years.” Mr.
Maleh said that the mullahs have deployed to the scene 80,000 forces from
different countries, including Lebanese Hezbollah, Pakistani, Iraqi, and Afghan
militias and the Houthis in addition to Iranian nationals. He also spoke about
the financial support that the clerical regime provides to Bashar Assad to
prevent his overthrow adding that despite this, they cannot prevent the
overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and the victory of the revolution. Ms. Suheir
Attassi, member of the High Negotiations Committee, emphasized on the solidarity
between the two peoples and two resistances and said from our point of view and
the Syrian people’s point of view, it is Mrs. Maryam Rajavi and her movement who
represent the Iranian people, not the mullahs’ regime which spares no effort to
massacre our nation’s children. Ms. Suheir Attassi presented a report on the
criminal siege of a number of cities and villages in Syria and called upon the
Iranian people and Iranian mothers to not let the mullahs’ regime dispatch their
children to the war fronts in Syria - a war that without the slightest doubt
Khamenei and Bashar Assad will lose.
Mr. Michel Kilo, a prominent Syrian opposition figure for several decades and a
Political Committee member of the National Coalition, emphasized the Iranian
regime has now brought some 80,000 of its Revolutionary Guards forces and other
mercenaries to the war against the Syrian nation. This is in addition to the
financial, economic, military and political aid that the clerical regime
provides with the aim of keeping Bashar al-Assad in power. However, the Iranian
regime is very fragile, weak and vulnerable and it knows that if it retreats
from Syria, it will be faced with major crises inside the country.
Dr. Nasr Al-Hariri said in the meeting that the Iranian regime strongly fears
that if it is defeated in Syria and driven out from our country and other
countries in the region, the Iranian opposition and in particular the People’s
Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) will have the opportunity to challenge the
Iranian regime inside the country and will act to overthrow the regime. Dr.
Hariri added that the Iranian regime is suffocating from a major crisis due to
its losses in Syria in general and Aleppo in particular, since the Revolutionary
Guards have lost a large number of their officers and cadres totaling more than
1600.
Members of the Syrian delegation emphasized that the mullahs’ regime has meddled
in Syria from the onset and has provided military, security, financial and
personnel assistance to the Syrian regime and directly participated in the
destruction, devastation and demographic change of population, all of which were
done at the Iranian people’s expense and against their interests. Instead of
focusing on Iran’s internal problems and improving people’s lives, the regime
has waged external wars and has attempted to justify this with baseless
religious veneer. Members of the delegation sent a message to the Iranian people
and their noble representatives who stand with the aspirations of the Syrian
people and who share in their sufferings. Members of the delegation praised the
Iranian Resistance's initiative to allocate this year’s Ramadan iftar event to
the Syrian cause which brings to focus the crimes against humanity that have
continued for five years in all regions of Syria in the form of killings,
destruction, blockades and forced starvation.
During the iftar program on Saturday, June 11 at the headquarters of the
National Council of Resistance of Iran held with the presence of Syrian
personalities and activists, hundreds of political personalities and religious
and political activists from various Arab and Islamic countries and France took
part.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi said at the meeting: “We declare on behalf of the Iranian
Resistance that Ramadan is the month of the Iranian Resistance’s solidarity with
the resilient people of Syria. Tonight and in this iftar we should put the
devastated Syria in front of our eyes and appreciate and praise the heroism of
its people.”
Haitham al-Maleh, Chairman of the legal committee
National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces
Issued on June 16, 2016
IRAN: Suppressive forces beat
bakery owner for selling food during Ramadan, protests ensue
Friday, 17 June 2016/NCRI – Agents of the Iranian regime’s suppressive state
security forces (police) beat a bakery owner with batons earlier this week west
of Tehran.
The regime’s agents came to close down the bakery, in Beheshti Street in Heidar-Abad
on Sunday, June 12, for selling food during Ramadan. The owner attempted to show
them his license, which allowed him to sell food during Ramadan but police beat
him and took him to the police station. This action sparked a protest and the
suppressive forces were heckled by witnesses. That same morning, the suppressive
forces closed several fast food restaurants and supermarkets in some vicinities
in Karaj, west of Tehran, including Azimieh, Kuy-E-Ghaem, Heidar-Abad and
Golshahr for selling food during Ramadan.
In some cases, the suppressive forces tried to blackmail supermarket sellers in
order to issue them the necessary work permits. Nevertheless, the repressive
police forces closed the supermarkets and fast food restaurants by force. The
business owners argued with the repressive forces who later arrested two shop
owners under the pretext of so-called religious principles.
IRAN: Victims of a housing cooperative scam protested in front of regime’s
Parliament
Thursday, 16 June 2016/NCRI - The victims of Negin-E-Gharb housing cooperative
scam protested in front of the regime’s parliament building in Tehran on
Tuesday, June 14. They protested against the fraud committed by the company that
have not delivered the apartments of Vardavard in the Iranian capital in the
past 16 years. One of the protesters said: "We purchased these flats in 2000 and
since then, the flats have not yet been delivered and the money has not been
returned to the buyers." Thousands have fallen victim to this scam by a company
closely associated with officials of the mullahs’ regime. More than 1000 victims
of major financial scams by state-affiliated companies in Iran held a protest
last month in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city, demanding their rights,
according to eye-witness accounts. The protesters, including victims of the
Padideh Shandiz investment scam, demanded that their plundered money be
returned, saying that the officials in the companies involved enjoy the support
of the mullahs’ judicial and intelligence apparatus.
IRAN: Workers of East Alborz
Coal Mines protest for 3 consecutive days
Thursday, 16 June 2016/NCRI - Coal miners from the East Alborz (Alborz-E-Sharghi)
Company, in northern Iran, have been protesting for three consecutive days in
front of the company office. Their protest against the transfer of ownership
into corporate-leased mining complex lots began on Sunday and by Tuesday was
continuing, according to local reports. During the protest, the workers raised
the issues of their unpaid and delayed salary payments. The repressive police
officers fearing the workers' fury released the three protesters they had
detained on the first day of the rally. East Alborz Coal Mines company has close
to 1,400 workers, who are still awaiting two months’ salary plus bonuses. In May
the state-run ILNA news agency reported that workers of the East Alborz Coal
Mines protested against two months non-payment of their salaries as well as
bonuses and said: “Although two months of the new year have passed, the bonuses
of 400 miners working in East Alborz Coal Mines as well as two months delayed
and unpaid salaries are not paid yet.”Seventeen Iranian miners who took part in
a protest after being made redundant were lashed between 30 and 100 times last
month as punishment by the mullahs' regime in Iran. The men previously worked at
the Aq-Dareh Gold Mine in Western Azerbaijan Province, north-west Iran.
Rally outside office of Iran
regime’s governor in Parsian
Thursday, 16 June 2016/NCRI - A group of people in Parsian, in Iran’s southern
province of Hormozgan, rallied this week in front of the office of the regime’s
local governor to protest against the entry of certain security assembly members
of Lamerd to Kooshkenar County.
As soon as the members of Lamard security assembly came to Akbari village,
located in Kooshkenar County, local people started to gather to block their
entry to these areas. Finally, the staff were expelled from the village. The
protesters on Monday chanted slogans like "from Jask to Parsian, all are honors
of Hormozgan" and "You the zealous port people! Support us!" in order to show
their objection to the presence of the regime’s agents from Lamard. Protesters
demanded that the interior minister of Hassan Rouhani’s government prevent such
incidents in the future. The head of political and security affairs in the
office of the regime’s Governor General had previously told the official state
news agency IRNA that the cabinet decree on the assimilation of Fars Province to
the Persian Gulf is in the execution phase. Based on the resolution, the
villages such as North Tembo, South Tembo, Akbari, Farsi, and Sarvbash will
secede from Behdasht Village situated in Kooshkar County, Parsian town in
Hormozgan Province and they will be joined to the rural district of central
Lamerd in Fars Province.
Former Israeli Army chief, Benny
Gantz: Israel not under existential threat
Ron Ben-Yishai/ Ynetnews/06.17.16/ Israel News
Benny Gantz, speaking at an academic conference on Friday, stated that, while
current threats may develop into existential ones, they are not so currently; he
stated that ISIS must not obtain chemical weapons and that Israel's national
cohesion is the secret of its strength. Former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz
said on Friday at an academic conference that the State of Israel is not
currently under an existential threat. However, he did say that he presumes that
threats do exist that have the potential to become existential, such as the
Iranian nuclear program or if ISIS were to get its hands on chemical or
biological weapons. Gantz was speaking at a conference of the Open University in
Haifa, and he refused to address the statements of former IDF chiefs of staff
and defense ministers Moshe Ya'alon and Ehud Barak on Thursday at the Herzliya
Conference. However, Gantz intimated that he would prefer activity with social,
rather than political, components. On Thursday, Gantz announced that he would be
joining former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi in a new educational movement,
Pnima ("inside"), that former minister of education Shai Piron intends to
establish. Piron himself denied that Ashkenazi and Gantz are joining and said
that the details have not yet been fixed. Gantz added that if ISIS obtains
chemical weapons, they will assuredly use them. Therefore, it is important to
focus on developing the IDF's intelligence and offensive capabilities, not just
in relation to ISIS, but also in regards to other threats to the country. "We
need to completely overcome ISIS until the phenomenon disappears," said the
former chief of staff. "This is a kind of idea and kind of organization whose
existence the free world cannot accept. We need to conduct a ground war,
including international forces, but making sure that local coalitions in the
Middle East will ensure that the phenomenon does not recur."The lieutenant
general in reserves stated that it was his opinion that there will be no end
anytime soon to the wars currently tearing apart the region and that we can
expect "a generation of chaos" that will last more than a decade. Against Iran,
said Gantz, we need intelligence, the ability to negotiate and cooperate with
international bodies, to develop military defensive and offensive capabilities,
and that the West needs to get closer to the Iranian people. Regarding the
current situation in Israel, Gantz said, "We must not forfeit our values and our
way of life during this war on terrorism. Changing the values and way of life in
Israel and the western world in general, would be a triumph for terrorism. We
must also strive to offer the Islamic world an alternative to the jihadist idea.
And most of all, Israeli society needs to maintain internal cohesion and unity.
This is the secret of our national strength, and we must not allow factors to
divide us and tear apart our society from within. Unity and solidarity are the
sources of national strength, and, without them, we will not be able to handle
the security challenges.
Barak: Netanyahu in a panic, knows
the end of his reign is near
Jerusalem Post/June 17/17/Barak, who served under Netanyahu as the government's
top defense official, also rejected rumors that Netanyahu had recently offered
him to head the Foreign Ministry. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is
"panicked" because he knows that his leading of the government is soon coming to
an end, former premier Ehud Barak said Friday evening. “I’ve known Netanyahu
since he was 20 years old, I can see the edges of panic. Netanyahu understands
clearly that his days as prime minister are numbered, even if it takes months or
years, they are numbered,” Barak posited during an interview with Channel 2,
which aired right after the start of Shabbat. “He recognizes that the countdown
to the end of his reign has begun, whether it now takes a year or a year and a
half.” Barak continued by lamenting the current government's continuing wayward
drift to the extreme Right of the political spectrum, which Netanyahu has failed
to stem. “This government is made up only of right-wing parties; there is no
balancing element. It is operating in devious ways, ways that endanger the State
of Israel," Barack said. “[Netanyahu] needs to be replaced and thanked for
everything he has done for the state ...but it’s time to go."
"Netanyahu is not a magician, he's gone off the rails," Barack added, mocking a
common refrain among the premier's supporters who referred to him as "magic" or
a magician after his success in last year's elections. Barak, who served under
Netanyahu as the government's top defense official, also rejected rumors that
Netanyahu had recently offered him to head the Foreign Ministry within the
government. "I was not offered to be the foreign minister and if I had been
offered the position, I would not have taken it," he said. Barak's scathing
interview with Channel 2 comes right after he blasted Netanyahu at the Herzylia
Conference the previous evening, attacking the premier for his lack of vision
and said that he alone is responsible for his government’s failures. “Leaders
around the world do not believe a word said by Netanyahu and his government,”
Barak said. “Who in the name of God gave Netanyahu the authority to lead us to
the edge of an abyss? He warned of Israel becoming Belfast, Bosnia, old
Johannesburg, or Europe ahead of World War II. “If it looks like the sparks of
fascism, walks like the sparks of fascism, and barks like the sparks of fascism,
it is the sparks of fascism,” said Barak, mocking Netanyahu’s 2012 “nuclear
duck” speech at the United Nations. Barak again hinted at his possible return to
politics, which he had done the previous night, saying that he was the only one
to "have beaten Netanyahu in an election.""To run for the premiership or stay
silent, these are not the only two options... I want to act in order to change
the situation and I will help shoulder the effort to change the situation," he
said. In response to Barak's comments, the Likud party released a scathing
statement which blasted the former IDF chief as a failed politician and
leader."Barak wishes for the umpteenth time to return to the position of the
Left's savior... and even as a politicians and former prime minister he still
has failed to find a way back into politics.""Barak still simply cannot accept
that both the Israeli public and his party have showed him the way out," the
statement said. Taking his swings at the former prime minister, Netanyahu said
in closed conversations before Thursday's Herziliya Conference that “Barak is
desperate to stay in the public’s consciousness, so he makes a point of
attacking me once a month.” *Gil Hoffman contributed to this article.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on
June 17-18/16
Analysis: ISIS
leader al-Baghdadi is living on borrowed time
Yossi Melman/Jerusalem Post/June 17/17
Information released Wednesday on the demise of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the
founder of ISIS, was premature, and not for the first time. In the past year,
there have been at least three false reports that al-Baghdadi was killed during
US airstrikes. Every hour that al-Baghdadi continues to live, he is essentially
part of "the walking dead." Sooner or later intelligence will lead to a
successful attack by an American drone or plane and the operational cycle will
be closed. Al-Baghdadi is living on borrowed time. He knows it, as do his senior
commanders, who in the past weeks have been on the defensive, losing outposts,
villages, cities and territories. The Caliphate understands that its territorial
control is ending. The Iraqi army, along with Shi'a militias under the guidance
of Iranian al-Quds force commander, General Qassam Sulimani, are besieging the
city of Fallujah in Iraq and it's just a matter of time until it falls. The
Syrian army from the West is closing in on the city of Raqqa, capital of the
Caliphate, and Kurdish forces are advancing from the North. As ISIS control
lessens, the despair and urge to commit terror attacks is strengthened: to
explode car bombs in Damascus and Baghdad, to enhance their influence and
induction of young radical Muslims in the West. Sooner or later ISIS will go
back to being what it was when it began: a terror organization that is an
off-shoot of al-Qaida that operates as a murder machine more dangerous than the
original ever was. With all the differences between them, the two attacks this
past week - Orlando and Paris - indicate such a direction. The terror attacks of
the past few months in Brussels and Paris, along with dozens of other such
attacks that defense forces in Western Europe were successful in preventing, all
carry the fingerprint of ISIS. It is difficult to pinpoint a common denominator
between them all.
In some of the cases, networks of Syrian and Iraqi war 'veterans' were organized
and directed from Raqqa. In other cases, individuals or couples declared their
allegiance to ISIS and al-Baghdadi, as in Orlando, but the real motives were
from family/personal distress or religious radicalization and hate for the West.
Most of the Western terror attacks in the past few years, especially those in
Orlando and Paris, exposed the weak points and loopholes of the intelligence and
law enforcement communities. At least some of the terrorists were 'checked and
vetted,' in other words, known to local police and authorities. Some appeared on
lists of known dangerous Islamists, some were even arrested and questioned, yet
eventually fell through the cracks in the system. This comes from negligence and
from an absence of awareness. Even the world's best security forces cannot
always cover all potential suspects, certainly not without harming important
democratic western values, such as human rights, privacy, and due process of the
law. Slowly, the West is learning through a difficult path of sacrifices how to
fight against murderous Islamic terrorism. Maybe it would be possible to take
short cuts if there was a higher awareness and decisiveness, however just as the
West succeeded in reducing the danger of al-Qaida and its leader Osama Bin
Laden, it will succeed, eventually, in the struggle against ISIS and
al-Baghdadi.
However, no one should deceive themselves that the idea itself - Holy Jihad
against the Christian West and all infidels - will disappear from the world.
Washington’s War on the Islamic State Is Only
Making It Stronger
By Hassan Hassan/Foreign
Policy/June 17/16
The caliphate is losing territory in Iraq and Syria, but the U.S.-backed
military campaign is stoking sectarian tensions that could spread global jihad.
The Islamic State’s international appeal has become untethered from its military
performance on the ground. Sunday’s terror attack at a nightclub in Orlando,
Florida, which left 49 people dead, could be an example of this growing
disconnect.
The rampage, committed by a man who pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before opening fire, came amid near-consensus that the
Islamic State is in sharp decline.
For the first time since U.S.-led coalition operations began two years ago,
almost all of the group’s vital strongholds in Syria, Iraq, and Libya have come
under serious pressure.
For the first time since U.S.-led coalition operations began two years ago,
almost all of the group’s vital strongholds in Syria, Iraq, and Libya have come
under serious pressure. In a recent statement, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the
group’s spokesman, even alluded to the fact that followers should be prepared
for losses, from Sirte to Mosul.
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Erdogan?
Slowly, but inexorably, Turkey is headed off a cliff.
But while the group’s performance has hit an all-time low, its appeal does not
seem to have diminished. CIA Director John Brennan recognizes this fact:
“Despite all our progress against ISIL on the battlefield … our efforts have not
reduced the group’s terrorism capability and global reach,” he told the Senate
Intelligence Committee on June 16, using another term for the Islamic State.
“[A]s the pressure mounts on ISIL, we judge that it will intensify its global
terror campaign to maintain its dominance of the global terrorism agenda.”
Brennan also confirmed that the CIA had found no “direct link” between Omar
Mateen, the gunman in Orlando, and the Islamic State. This is no surprise, as
Mateen does not seem to fit familiar patterns of dogmatic support for the group.
In the space of three years, he had supported Hezbollah, al Qaeda, and the
Islamic State. His profile suggests that he belongs in the category of
sympathizers who are only superficially influenced by the organization’s
ideology, but who nonetheless can be inspired to carry out attacks in its name.
Such sympathizers are not driven by the Islamic State’s military successes, such
as the takeover of Mosul in the summer of 2014. The group built its narrative
around Sunni victimization, an idea that both predates its establishment of a
caliphate and continues to exert a strong pull on many in the Middle East. The
Islamic State has also tapped into the rampant political stagnation and popular
grievances to gain popular support beyond the number of people who actually
joined its ranks.
Consider, for example, the ongoing offensives against the Islamic State in
Fallujah, Raqqa, and Manbij. While Washington insists the onslaughts include
forces that represent the Sunni Arab communities that dominate the three cities,
the prominence of Iranian-backed sectarian militias and Kurdish groups has
triggered outrage in groups that are otherwise hostile to the Islamic State.
Two examples stand out. As the People’s Protection Units advanced on Raqqa, the
activist group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently warned that civilians in the
city were drifting toward the Islamic State due to their hatred for the Kurdish
group. Meanwhile, Arabic media like al-Arabiya and al-Hayat — which last year
described the offensive on the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit as a
“liberation” — called the war on Fallujah a sectarian conflict, led by Iranian
spymaster Qassem Suleimani.
Many observers throughout the region see Washington turning its back on Sunni
civilians in order to cozy up to Tehran and Moscow. Reports in Arabic media have
accused the United States of deliberately backing a sectarian war against
Sunnis. This narrative invokes old patterns that could again help the Islamic
State convert territorial losses into legitimacy among certain segments of the
Sunni world. Even ideologically confused people like Mateen, who supported the
Shiite militant group Hezbollah in 2013, might be led to support the Islamic
State even as they do not follow its strict religious ideology.
U.S. officials, however, are publicly making the case that the war against the
Islamic State is an unqualified success. In a news briefing two days before the
attack in Orlando, Brett McGurk, the presidential special envoy to the
anti-Islamic State coalition, pointed to eight indicators to argue that the
group was suffering on almost every front, from its fighters’ morale to its
sharply reduced finances. He credited the Iraqi government with making
impressive strides in dealing with the humanitarian situation in the country,
and asserted that the forces leading the attacks in Fallujah and northern Syria
are Sunni locals and the Iraqi Army. There had been isolated atrocities
committed by militias, he said, but “everybody is saying and doing the right
thing to make sure that anyone who commits a human rights violation is held to
account.”
This assessment, however, understates the political and social issues that led
to the rise of the Islamic State in the first place and overstates factors that
played little role in that rise. The Iraqi government today appears even more
dominated by sectarian forces than the period before the Islamic State’s capture
of Mosul in 2014. The narrative prevalent throughout the region that the
continuing battle in Fallujah is a nakedly sectarian war belies McGurk’s hopeful
— if not misleading — assessment.
Political grievances are the beating heart of the Islamic State. The way the
Fallujah battle has been conducted, regardless of how American officials present
it, has caused some Sunnis who would otherwise oppose the Islamic State to see
it as the enemy of their enemies. More people, not fewer, might start to see the
group as their champion if it is defeated by the wrong forces. Such grievances
could not only fuel insurgencies in Syria and Iraq, but also inspire future lone
wolves in the United States.
The appeal of the caliphate might similarly survive territorial losses. In his
briefing, McGurk pointed to the idea of a caliphate as the key driver of foreign
fighter recruitment. “I’ve traveled now all around the world, and the common
denominator when I asked leaders in various capitals what is it that’s driving
your young people to this movement — the common denominator is this notion of a
historic caliphate,” he said. “So we have to shrink the core, and we’re doing
that.”
But “shrinking the core” works only if the war effort simultaneously addresses
the underlying grievances of communities from which the Islamic State draws
support.
But “shrinking the core” works only if the war effort simultaneously addresses
the underlying grievances of communities from which the Islamic State draws
support. It is imperative to enable Sunni forces to fight and defeat the Islamic
State, and thus portray the fight to Muslims across the world as an extremist
group slaughtering its fellow Sunnis, and not a sectarian war. However, the bulk
of the effort against the Islamic State so far seems to be focused on defeating
the organization militarily, while the political, sectarian, and social mess
created in the process is left for another day — a classic example of putting
the cart before the horse.
The war against the Islamic State is heading in two directions. The group is
clearly weakened on the ground, but the nature of the losses it is suffering has
strengthened its legitimacy among certain segments of the Sunni world. This is a
trend that should be of grave concern to U.S. officials, as the group’s
continuing support could lay the groundwork for its eventual resurgence — and
more lone wolf attacks like the one in Orlando.
More focus should be given to allowing the political track to catch up to
military advances. But as the situation stands today, the military campaign
might be creating the circumstances that will enable the group’s appeal to
survive its territorial demise.
Are Kurds
really treated equally in Iran?
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Al Arabiya/June 17/16
While the West mainly views Iran through the prism of the nuclear deal – reached
between P5+1 and the Islamic Republic – as well as the resulting trade deals,
the rights of Iran’s Kurds have been neglected by the international community
and mainstream media. Typically Iranian presidents run their campaign on a
platform with the slogan that they will not discriminate against the Kurds and
Iran’s Kurdistan. Iran’s President, Hassan Rowhani, said last year that choosing
Kurdistan province as the first place to visit right after the nuclear deal with
the West shows the importance of Kurdistan and its people during the Islamic
Revolution and their role in protecting Iran. “Iran protects Erbil and Baghdad
just as it protects Iranian Kurdistan. Without Iran’s help Erbil and Baghdad
would be in the hands of terrorist groups right now. Just as we protect Sanandaj
we also protect Sulaimani and Duhok,” Rowhani said, adding that “Sunni and
Shiite are all brothers, we are all equal…Kurdistan is the eye of Iran.”But, are
the Kurds really treated equally? Are Sunnis and Shiites equal in the Islamic
Republic? And have Iranian presidents, including the conservative moderate,
Hassan Rowhani, fulfilled and kept their promises?
The nuclear agreement and Western appeasement policies toward it have enhanced
Iran’s legitimacy which is helping its leaders to more forcefully suppress the
aspirations of Kurds
Heightened tensions
Iran has roughly twelve million Kurds making up approximately 15 percent of the
population. Majority of Kurds live in Kurdistan, located in the northwestern
area of Iran near the border of Iraq. The Iranian leaders’ treatment and view of
Kurds in Iraq and Turkey might be slightly different from that of Kurds in Iran.
Tehran has attempted to increase its influence in Iraq and Turkey – as well as
increasing its leverage against Ankara in order to force it to reshape its
policies opposing the Islamic Republic- by economically, politically, and
militarily building an alliance with some Kurdish groups, such as the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which is located mainly in the south and east of the
Kurdistan region of Iraq. Iran remains opposed to independent Kurdish states in
Turkey and Iraq fearing it might inspire Iranian Kurds to do the
same.Nevertheless, the story is different when it comes to Kurds in Iran.
Recently, Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) killed five members
of a Kurdish separatist group in western Iran, according to Iran’s state media.
Few weeks ago, the Iranian government executed five Kurdish rights activists in
the northwestern city of Urmia. The five Kurds – Naji Kiwan, Ali Kurdian, Haidar
Ramini, Nadir Muhamadi and Ruhman Rashidi – were reportedly hung publicly on
charges of “conspiring against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.“The victims were
human rights activists who used to document violations by Iranian security
forces against civilians in the Kurdish city of Urmia,” Dara Natiq, a member of
the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Iran, told ARA News. According to reports, the
Iranian government executes approximately seven Kurdish civilians and activists
every week.No robust condemnation or criticism has been issued by the US or
European nations and the issue has been largely neglected.
After the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iranian authorities
have been very effective in suppressing the Kurds and silencing any dissent or
opposition. First of all, due to their military capabilities, hard power
superiority and harsh punishments such as executions, Iranian leaders have been
successful in cracking down on Kurdish democratic aspirations, human rights
activists, political activists, and opposition groups. Around 10,000 Kurds have
been reportedly killed or executed and roughly 20,000 displaced following the
Islamic revolution of Iran. Through the use of military force, some of the
powerful opposition groups – such as the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI)
– have been pushed out of Iran to Iraq. Secondly, the Iranian government has
neglected the Kurdistan region thus preventing the majority of the Kurdish
population from prospering financially. Third, from a cultural, religious, and
ethnic point of view, the Kurdish minority has long suffered discrimination-
being viewed with suspicion, and considered outsiders or foreign
conspirators.The 2015-16 Amnesty International report says that “Iran’s
disadvantaged ethnic groups, including Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks, Baluchis,
Kurds and Turkmen, continued to report that the state authorities systematically
discriminated against them, particularly in employment, housing, access to
political office, and the exercise of cultural, civil and political
rights.”“They remained unable to use their own language as a medium of
instruction for primary education. Those who called for greater cultural and
linguistic rights faced arrest, imprisonment, and in some cases the death
penalty. Security forces disproportionately repressed protests by ethnic
minorities including Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks and Kurds,” the report
says. The international community, and particularly the West, has ignored Iran’s
use of brute force against the Kurds. The nuclear agreement and the Western
appeasement policies toward Iran have enhanced Iran’s legitimacy which is
consequently assisting Iranian leaders to more forcefully and effectively
suppress the aspirations of Kurds and permits cracking down on domestic Kurdish
opposition with brutal force.
What Does It Mean to Be French?
by Yves Mamou/Gatestone Institute/June 17/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8229/meaning-of-french
Criticism of Islam, usually brought by white, "far right" French people, is
certainly taboo. But hate speech against "kuffars" is also a public issue,
brought by many French Muslims who often, it seems, introduce themselves as
permanent "victims."
Because many regard their ethnic groups as permanent victims, they may well see
themselves as belonging to a community of victims, to be exonerated from
individual responsibility for whatever they say or do.
A large part of the youths from the suburbs, most of whom are from Arab or
African descent, seem to be divorced from the traditional perception of what it
means to be French in France.
Like Black M or Benzema, many, it seems, do not want to be part of France as
individuals, but as members of a group that, they claim, is always discriminated
against: Arabs or Muslims. In a certain way, a silent secession is taking place
in France -- an ethnic and religious secession.
There is a "French Question" question today about identity that the French have
in common with the Germans and British: What does it mean to be French?
Two recent controversies illustrate the way the question of French identity has
become a topic of public interest.
The first is connected to the commemoration of the centenary of the Battle of
Verdun (in the First World War); the second is connected to France's national
soccer team.
Verdun, in 2016, remains the symbol of a bygone era, when European countries
were fighting one another. In Verdun, more than 700,000 French and German
soldiers were killed. Today, for the Germans and the French, Verdun has become
the symbol of reconciliation between two nations and a justification for
constructing a new political area, the European Union.
The basic reason for setting up the EU was to have no more wars among Europeans.
This special 2016 commemoration of the Battle of Verdun was also a political
message to Great Britain: Europe needs you, stay with us, do not "Brexit"
(Britain exiting the EU).
But the French government, less than one year away from a presidential election,
added a third message to this commemoration: The socialist president, François
Hollande, dreamed of closing this day of silence, remembrance and speeches for
peace with a huge party for the young. At the end of the centenary, the rap
singer Black M (M for "Mesrine", a famous outlaw of the eighties) was supposed
to brighten the podium at Verdun.
As soon as the presence of Black M was known, disturbing information surfaced in
the social media networks: especially "right wing" ones. Black M is certainly a
"people's artist," popular among the young, especially in the suburbs -- but he
sings with a French rap group, Sexion d'Assaut, whose name is almost exactly the
same as the French translation ("Section d'Assaut") of Sturmabteilung, Hitler's
pre-1934 Nazi militia (better known as "the SA").
In one song, Sorry, Black M calls France a nation of "kuffars," a pejorative
Arabic term for "unbelievers and infidels." In another song, It Humbled, Black M
sings: "I think it's high time the fags died. Cut off their d**ks." In yet
another song, Black M tells the young people to "get a Smith and Wesson" and
"shoot the school." And in a very recent song, Black M sings about "the Yids who
have a lot of fun going shopping."
The choice of Black M to perform at the Verdun commemoration sparked a
controversy. Marine Le Pen, Leader of the Front National (FN), the populist
anti-mass-migration party, declared that Black M "has no place in an official
commemoration of a battle in which so many French families have been wounded."
Florian Philippot, a vice president on the FN and an advisor to Le Pen, said the
choice of the rap singer was like "spitting on a war memorial."
Many people from the "left" were also uneasy with the choice of Black M.
Elisabeth Levy, the editor of the news magazine, Causeur, said, "This idea of
inviting Black M to Verdun was shocking far beyond the right and the extreme
right: all my friends from the left are against it. They think the idea is
totally insane."
In a classic scenario, the political "left" has counterattacked by denouncing
the "racism" of the "far right" party. The association SOS Racisme wrote: "In
this controversy, yesterday the danger was in black. Tomorrow it will be Arabic.
The day after tomorrow it will be a Muslim, and in one of the following days, a
Roma."
The mayor of Verdun defended himself by saying that the choice of Black M had
been imposed by "the state" and that everybody understood that it had been the
choice of the president himself.
The final blow for the concert came fast: the French state commission for
centennial commemorations decided not to pay its share of €67,000 out of a total
budget for the concert of €150,000.
The following day, the city announced that the concert had been cancelled. The
mayor blamed "racism" and "hate."
Minister of Culture Audrey Azoulay denounced the move: "An unbridled voice, in
the name of a nauseating and uninhibited moral order, caused the cancellation of
a concert."
Immediately after the Verdun Controversy, the Benzema controversy erupted. At
the end of May, it became official that Karim Benzema, a French soccer star of
Algerian descent, would not be part of the national soccer team in the UEFA Euro
2016 championship. For most of the population in France, the reason for this
exclusion lies in a sex-tape extortion scandal in which Benzema is apparently
involved, targeting his colleague, Mathieu Valbuena. But on May 26, Eric Cantona,
the former star of the Manchester United soccer team, in an interview with The
Guardian, accused the French team's coach, Didier Deschamps, of having "left out
French players on racial grounds."
"Benzema is a great player. Ben Arfa is a great player. But Deschamps, he has a
really French name. Maybe he is the only one in France to have a truly French
name. Nobody in his family mixed with anybody, you know. Like the Mormons in
America.
"So I'm not surprised he [Deschamps] used the situation of Benzema not to take
him. Especially after Valls [France's Prime Minister] said he should not play
for France. And Ben Arfa is maybe the best player in France today. But they have
the same origin. I am allowed to think about that."
The interviewer from The Guardian repeated the question. Was Cantona "really
suggesting that Deschamps had been guilty of discriminating against Benzema?"
Cantona replied:
"Maybe no, but maybe yes. Why not? One thing is for sure -- Benzema and Ben Arfa
are two of the best players in France and will not play in the European
Championship. And for sure Benzema and Ben Arfa are of north African origin. So,
the debate is open."
A lawyer for Deschamps said he would sue Cantona for his comments.
On May 30, Jamel Debbouze, a very popular comedian and humorist, wrote in France
Football,
"Two important guests are missing. How can we not include these two
extraordinary soccer players?... These boys [Benzema and Ben Arfa] represent so
much, especially in the suburbs. It is so disappointing having no
representatives 'of ours' in France's soccer team...."
By "ours," Debbouze means the Arab and Muslim youths of the suburbs.
Benzema himself rushed through the open door. On June 1, he declared, in the
Spanish sports newspaper Marca, that he did not believe Deschamps is a racist,
but that France's coach had "bowed to the pressure of a racist part of France."
Benzema added that the political arena in France, where the anti-immigrant Front
National has been gaining ground during the past five years, played against him.
This controversy targeted French audiences, but reverberated throughout Europe.
British and Spanish newspapers were involved -- both countries that have large
Muslim communities and where soccer is popular.
In France, a poll published on June 6 by Le Parisien revealed that 95% of the
population think that Benzema was not included in France's national team because
of his "personal behavior." Only 4% think his absence was due to "his [ethnic]
origins." The mere 1% expressing "no opinion" signifies the public importance of
soccer in France. When it is question of soccer, everybody is concerned.
Two recent controversies, one involving the French rap singer Black M (left) and
the other involving French soccer star Karim Benzema (right), illustrate the way
the question of French identity has become a topic of public interest.
Much may be inferred from these controversies.
Issues relating to ethnic Arabs and Islam situation are now daily controversies
in France.
Criticism of Islam, usually brought by white, "far right" French people, is
certainly taboo. But hate speech against "kuffars" is also a public issue,
brought by many French Muslims who often, it seems, introduce themselves as
permanent "victims." Black M and Benzema are examples of Arabs or Muslims who do
not want to be judged on their individual acts (anti-French and homophobic
songs, for Black M) or illegal behavior (the sex-tape extortion scandal, for
Benzema), but only on the grounds of the minority group to which they belong.
And because many regard their ethnic groups as permanent victims, they may well
see themselves as belonging to a community of victims, to be exonerated from
individual responsibility for whatever they say or do.
A large part of the "left" apparently thinks the same way.
A large part of the youths from the suburbs, most of whom are from Arab or
African descent, seem to be divorced from the traditional perception of what it
means to be French in France. Like Black M or Benzema, many, it seems, do not
want to be part of France as individuals, but as members of a group that, they
claim, is always discriminated against: Arabs or Muslims. In a certain way, a
silent secession is taking place in France -- an ethnic and religious secession.
The polls reveal a growing fear of Islam in France. And the more the
anti-Islamist sentiment grows among the non-Muslims, the more French Muslims
feel victimized and discriminated against. Black M might possibly not even think
that in his songs he is spreading "hate speech." He appears instead to think
that he has been the victim of native French "hate speech."
There is a new division in French politics: a struggle between so-called racists
and antiracists is replacing the traditional contest between right and left.
What good can come from this situation? We shall find out.
Yves Mamou, based in France, worked for two decades as a journalist for Le
Monde.
US diplomats demand military action
in Syria
Associated Press/Ynetnews/Published: 06.17.16/Israel News
As the Syrian civil war drags on, leaving half a million dead and millions more
as refugees, US state department policy writers are advocating for Obama to use
military force to oust Assad from power.
WASHINGTON- Dozens of
US State Department employees have endorsed an internal document that advocates
for US military action to pressure Syria's government into accepting a
cease-fire and engaging in peace talks, officials said Thursday. The position is
at odds with US policy.
The "dissent channel cable" was signed by about 50 mid-level department
officials who deal with US policy in Syria, according to officials who have seen
the document. It expresses clear frustration with America's inability to halt a
civil war that has killed perhaps a half-million people and contributed to a
worldwide refugee crisis, and goes to the heart of President Barack Obama's
reluctance to enter the fray. Obama called for regime change early on in the
conflict and threatened military strikes against Syrian forces after blaming
President Bashar Assad for using chemical weapons in 2013. But Obama has only
authorized strikes against ISIS and other US-designated terror groups in Syria.
While Washington has provided military assistance to some anti-Assad rebels, it
has favored diplomacy over armed intervention as a means of ushering Syria's
leader out of power. A series of partial cease-fires in recent months have only
made the war slightly less deadly, but offered little hope of a peace
settlement. The dissent document was transmitted internally in a confidential
form and has since been classified, said officials, who weren't authorized to
discuss such material and insisted on anonymity. The Wall Street Journal and The
New York Times both quoted from the document Thursday, saying they had seen or
obtained copies.
The Journal said it called for "targeted air strikes." The Times quoted a
section urging a "judicious use of stand-off and air weapons" to advance the US
diplomatic effort led by Secretary of State John Kerry."The moral rationale for
taking steps to end the deaths and suffering in Syria, after five years of
brutal war, is evident and unquestionable," the Times quoted the document as
saying. "The status quo in Syria will continue to present increasingly dire, if
not disastrous, humanitarian, diplomatic and terrorism-related challenges."
State Department spokesman John Kirby said the department was reviewing the
cable, which arrived via a "vehicle in place to allow State Department employees
to convey alternative views and perspectives on policy issues."Some sentiments
expressed in the cable mirror arguments Kerry has made in internal
administration debates. Kerry, a forceful advocate of Obama's initial plan to
launch airstrikes after Assad's use of chemical weapons, reversed course after
the president opted against them. He has complained privately that White House
resistance to more intervention has hurt efforts to persuade Russia, in
particular, to take a tougher tone with Assad.
While defending the administration's overall approach to Syria, Kerry has on
more than one occasion told associates and colleagues that he doesn't have "a
lot of arrows in his quiver" when he tries to persuade Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov to put more pressure on Assad to comply with the truce, allow more
humanitarian aid deliveries or begin negotiations on a genuine political
transition.
At the same time, Kerry has also hinted that more robust U.S. intervention is a
distinct possibility. In Norway this week, he told a conflict resolution
conference that American patience with Assad and Russia was running out and
suggested a greater American role might be inevitable unless things changed.
"Russia needs to understand that our patience is not infinite," Kerry said
Wednesday at the Oslo Forum. "In fact, it is very limited now with respect to
whether or not Assad is going to be held accountable."Later that day, after
meeting with Norway's prime minister, Kerry said: "The United States is not
going to sit there and be used as an instrument that permits a so-called
cease-fire to be in place while one principal party is trying to take advantage
of it to the detriment of the entire process. We're not going to allow that to
continue."Republican and even some Democratic lawmakers have also been urging
Obama to take greater military action in Syria for years, from air strikes to
the establishment of a no-fly zone over rebel-held areas. As secretary of state,
Hillary Clinton pushed some of these steps, too.
But Obama has resisted, fearful of leading America into another war in the
Muslim world after finding it impossible to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan
and keep forces out of Iraq. Military commanders have been similarly reticent,
given the lack of a clear alternative to Assad that might unify Syria and
advance US national security interests. Nevertheless, Obama has said Assad must
relinquish control if there is to be peace. And Kerry, Clinton's successor as
the chief US diplomat, has repeatedly said that to defeat the ISIS, the US must
be able to assure Syria's many other rebel groups that there will be a
post-Assad future for their country.
The dissent document echoes these sentiments, calling the government's barrel
bomb attacks on civilians "the root cause of the instability that continues to
grip Syria and the broader region." The Syrian president, who is a member of the
Shiite-linked Alawite minority and is backed by Russia and Iran, has vowed to
maintain power. The rebels are led by Syria's Sunni majority, though they also
include representatives of other groups. "Crucially, Syria's Sunni population
continues to view the Assad regime as the primary enemy in the conflict," the
document said, according to the Times. "Failure to stem Assad's flagrant abuses
will only bolster the ideological appeal of groups such as (ISIS), even as they
endure tactical setbacks on the battlefield," the Journal quoted it as saying.
The Islamic State's Views on
Homosexuality
Aaron Y. Zelin and Jacob Olidort/The Washington Institute/June 17/16
The group's public executions of gay men are part of a deliberate moral policing
campaign, one aimed at showing supporters and enemies alike that it means to
enforce its narrow, atavistic view of Islamic law wherever it can.
The tragic events at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando shed light on a lesser-known
facet of the Islamic State (IS): the group's virulently hostile views toward
homosexuality, in particular its targeting of gay men. Thus far, no evidence has
surfaced suggesting that IS directed the perpetrator, Omar Mateen, to conduct
the operation, and jihadis usually have multiple motivations for taking action,
including in this case possible mental health issues. Yet IS has published a
vast corpus of justifications for killing homosexuals, and it has publicly
targeted numerous allegedly gay men in Iraq and Syria in the past
year-and-a-half alone.
To be sure, gay men were being targeted by the Iraqi and Syrian regimes prior to
the announcement of the so-called IS "Caliphate," and the region's legal and
religious climate is often inhospitable to that community. Moreover, other
jihadi groups have executed homosexuals, including the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and
its branches Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). What
stands out with IS, though, is the level of textual justification it has
produced for such executions and the theatrical manner in which it conducts
them, potentially inciting greater anti-LGBT violence.
IN THEORY
Condemnation of homosexuality is ubiquitous in IS propaganda, where it is most
often characterized as "the actions of the people of Lot" -- referring to verses
in the Quran and sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (hadith) that
condemn the ancient figure Lot and his people for acts of sodomy. Yet the group
differs in significant ways from how Islamic law traditionally views homosexual
acts.
The Quran and hadith are clear about the moral ruin of the people of Lot, and
the hadith in particular include many passages calling for harsh punishments of
homosexual activity. Yet these condemnations focus specifically on anal
penetration between men, not romantic feelings or other kinds of sexual acts
between them (e.g., see Khaled El-Rouayheb's 2005 book Before Homosexuality in
the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800). Moreover, the burden of proof for actually
administering the associated punishments (which range from banishment to
lashings) is high. Given the laborious investigation required to prove such
"offenses" and the often-differing opinions of Muslim jurists on the matter, it
is unclear how often this prohibition has been enforced throughout history and
how much various Islamic societies have tacitly accepted homosexuals. Today,
gays remain subject to legal persecution in most parts of the Middle East, with
the exception of Israel, Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon (though the region is
hardly unique in this regard). Where homosexuality is addressed in modern legal
codes, it often appears as a category similar to adultery, for which the
prescribed penalty in some Middle Eastern states is death by stoning.
Even so, the Islamic State has taken such attitudes and precepts to a unique
extreme, treating all aspects of LGBT culture as "actions of the people of Lot"
and, therefore, as forms of sodomy and moral decay. While its rhetoric seems to
target gay men exclusively, this may be due to the relatively ambiguous and less
frequent Islamic legal discussions surrounding lesbianism and other LGBT issues.
The group also bypasses the burden-of-proof requirement, enabling its adepts to
apply the penalty for suspected homosexual acts quite liberally.
Moreover, IS has taken pains to characterize America as the root cause of
homosexuality. In a treatise titled "The Lofty Proofs Concerning the
Excommunication of Those Who Aid the Crusader Campaign Against the Islamic
Caliphate" (first published in September 2014 and rereleased in September 2015),
the group supported this accusation with numerous claims and conspiracy
theories. For example, one passage noted that "San Francisco is considered the
capital of sodomy, where [homosexuals] comprise a fourth of the state's
constituency" (p. 10). Another suggested that Bangkok's status as "the world's
capital of sexual depravity" is due to the presence of a U.S. military base
there (p. 13).
Besides using homosexuality as a foil for condemning the United States, IS uses
its "punishment" of such "transgressions" as an expression of its commitment to
reviving the supposedly neglected Islamic penal code. According to the group's
rhetoric, applying anything aside from what it sees as Islamic law is tantamount
to "ascribing partners to God" in legislation -- a contorted logic that allows
it to accuse other Muslims of polytheism, which warrants warfare. For example, a
December 2014 administrative document from the group's Wilayat Halab (Aleppo
Province) explains that those who do not apply hudoud (the corporal and capital
punishments prescribed by Islamic law) are unbelievers even if they keep all
other religious observances. The document goes on to list the acts that should
be punished: blasphemy (against God, the Prophet, or religion), adultery,
homosexuality, theft, alcohol consumption, calumny, "spying on behalf of the
interests of unbelievers," apostasy, and highway robbery. Similarly, an October
2015 Wilayat Halab picture essay showing the execution of gay men, titled "God's
Law Regarding Whoever Committed the 'Act of the People of Lot,'" uses this
argument about the need to apply Islamic law as a means of justifying the
stoning of gay men.
Such arguments about killing homosexuals appear throughout IS propaganda. This
includes articles in the group's English and French-language magazines (Dabiq
and Dar al-Islam) and videos that depict punishing homosexuals as a means of
both exacting retribution against unbelievers and "maintaining virtue and
deterring immorality." The latter concept, more commonly known as "commanding
right and forbidding wrong," is the justification for the "moral policing" (hisba)
often used to maintain a conservative social order in the region -- not only by
IS, but also by authorities ranging from the Taliban to the Saudi state.
In this regard, IS departs from other jihadist groups. At its core, the movement
is a state-building enterprise that seeks to redefine and control social
relations according to its moral code which treats anyone who departs from its
narrow understanding of Islam as an unbeliever subject to swift and often
shocking retribution Like other adherents of Salafism, IS emphasizes a return to
how the Prophet and his earliest Sunni followers allegedly practiced the
religion rather than the subsequent fourteen centuries during which traditional
Islamic law developed. Among other things, this means relying exclusively on the
Quran and hadith for religious guidance. Yet IS has put its own violent spin on
this Salafi methodology by using the harshest precedents within certain hadith
to justify its treatment of gay men, ignoring the various legal minutiae devised
around the topic over the centuries.
IN PRACTICE
Based on a database collected by the authors, since the Islamic State announced
itself as a caliphate in June 2014, its Diwan al-Hisba (Moral Policing
Administration) and online media apparatuses have publicly announced
twenty-seven executions of allegedly gay men. Thus far, these actions have been
limited to eight of the twenty-one "provinces" in the group's core territories
of Iraq and Syria.
The main method used to kill these men has been to throw them off the roofs of
high-rise buildings, based on a hadith in which the Prophet's successor, Abu
Bakr, prescribes throwing a man off a cliff for engaging in homosexual acts. In
other cases, victims were stoned, beheaded, or shot instead. Twenty-two of the
executions took place last year alone, but the group's ability to continue such
punishments has seemingly been curtailed by its military losses in the past few
months.
IS has singled out these victims as part of its deliberate program to root out
"deviancy." According to leaked files from Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi (aka
Haji Bakr) -- head of the group's military council and architect of its plans to
conquer and administer territory until his death in January 2014 -- IS told its
spies to identify homosexuals when infiltrating new territories so that they
could later be blackmailed. Group members have also entrapped gay men by posing
as love interests, either to extract ransom (allegedly up to $11,000 per person)
or to find and execute them. IS often attempts to use the cell phone and
Facebook contacts of these detainees to track down other homosexual "suspects."
And in some alleged cases, gay men have even joined IS to mask their
homosexuality, informing on others to protect themselves.
Once a gay man is caught and sentenced by an Islamic State sharia court, the
group carries out the same tragic bit of theatrical propaganda it reserves for
other capital offenses: the person is taken to a town square or similar area
where a large crowd is present. In the case of an alleged homosexual, the man is
either dragged to the middle of the crowd or taken to the top of a high-rise
building to be read the religious justification for his execution. Then the
sentence is carried out as described previously, with IS taking photos and/or
video of the brutal act to show supporters and recruits that it is implementing
what it views as the rule of God.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
There is not much the United States can do to prevent such atrocities besides
the indirect method of inflicting military losses on the Islamic State and
taking away its territory. But Washington can exploit cases of IS hypocrisy on
the issue in its countermessaging campaign. For example, Syrian activists claim
that some of the group's members have engaged in sexual relations with other
males, most notably senior IS commander Abu Zayd al-Jazrawi, a Saudi fighter
whom they accuse of having a relationship with a fifteen-year-old boy. While the
boy was apparently executed, Jazrawi received a lesser sentence: he was flogged
and forced to fight on the front lines in Iraq. More generally, the U.S.
government should reiterate the importance of LGBT rights in its public and
private diplomacy with Middle Eastern countries, especially given the region's
worrisome pattern of criminalizing homosexuality.
In addition, Washington should be mindful of the risks and effects of this
potential intersection between hudoud and terrorist violence. While there is
still no evidence that IS directly instructed Mateen to attack a well-known gay
nightclub in Orlando, the incident could indicate a new trend of jihadi
vigilantism that blends the type of terrorist acts typically seen in the West
(wanton killing sprees or explosions in civilian centers) with a redefinition of
the scope and application of Islamic law -- in this case, to bypass the more
nuanced traditional legal definitions, processes, and institutions and encourage
targeted violence against LGBT communities and culture by individual lay
Muslims. To those unversed in Islamic history and texts, such violence may be
incorrectly taken as representing the traditional Islamic approach to
homosexuality, so Washington and Muslim communities should be quick to condemn
all such acts.
***Aaron Zelin is the Richard Borow Fellow at The Washington Institute and
maintains the website Jihadology.net. Jacob Olidort is a Soref Fellow at the
Institute.
Arab Government and Media Reactions
to the Orlando Attack
David Pollock and Mohamed AbdelazizThe Washington Institute/June 17/16
This weekend's mass shooting elicited wide official condemnation from Arab
states, but regional media coverage has been limited so far.
The June 12 massacre at an Orlando nightclub, perpetrated by a self-described
adherent of the Islamic State, evoked immediate and unequivocal condemnation
among a wide range of Arab governments, along with expressions of sympathy for
the victims and the United States. But Arab media coverage and commentary has
been relatively limited, especially compared with previous media treatment of
terrorist attacks in Europe over the past eighteen months. By June 14, after
just one day of prominent coverage, the attack had almost disappeared from the
headlines of most Arab mainstream print and broadcast media.
GENERALLY RESTRAINED MEDIA COVERAGE
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, news of the shooting featured
prominently -- though not usually at great length -- in largely factual Arab
press coverage. Much of this coverage avoided detailed description of the venue,
including its well-known status as a gay club, instead referring very generally
to Florida, Orlando, or a generic "nightclub." More specific references tended
to use the neutral terminology "same sex" (jins mithli) rather than the
pejorative descriptors commonly used in the Middle East ("sexually deviant" or
"debauched"). This was true even in the generally conservative media of Saudi
Arabia and Egypt, where homosexual activity is often criminally prosecuted. An
exception was Qatar's generally anti-Western Al Jazeera television, which
persisted in using the label "deviant."
Arab coverage often emphasized the killer's Afghan American origins, accompanied
by unflattering photos of him. At least two major Saudi dailies, al-Watan and
the pan-Arab, London-based al-Hayat, headlined his alleged links to Hezbollah
rather than his self-professed allegiance to the Islamic State.
Most commentary also speculated on the law-enforcement or political and
electoral implications of the massacre. For example, a half-hour Sky News Arabia
program on June 14 featured questions about whether the FBI let the killer slip
through surveillance, and how the gun-control issue would play out in the U.S.
presidential campaign.
There was surprisingly sparse discussion of Islamic angles to the story,
including the potential for increased anti-Muslim prejudice in the United
States. One op-ed in the leading Emirati daily al-Khaleej, took the atypical
step of characterizing both the 9/11 attacks and the Orlando shooting as "the
work of one terrorist, takfiri dogma," referring to the extremist practice of
labeling all outsiders and even many fellow Muslims as "infidels."This
relatively limited media treatment of a potentially sensational story can likely
be attributed to an unusual combination of factors. One is the region's presumed
sensitivity or embarrassment about the incident's homosexual aspect. Another is
the timing: the story broke during Ramadan, when religious coverage takes
precedence, and it followed numerous other mass-casualty attacks involving Arabs
in Damascus, Beirut, Sirte, Sanaa, Paris, and elsewhere.
OFFICIALS CONDEMN TERRORISM BUT LARGELY AVOID RELIGIOUS ISSUES
In general, Arab official responses to the attack were quick to offer
unequivocal condemnation of the violence and condolences for the victims. Most
officials explicitly labeled the incident as "terrorism," and many decried it as
an assault on "human values." Yet only a few used explicitly religious terms in
this context; Kuwait denounced the attack as "offensive to Islam," and the Saudi
king rejected it as "contrary to all divine religions." The following examples
are illustrative of each country's official response.
Egypt
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid severely condemned the attack and
asserted that Egypt will stand by the United States in such difficult times. He
also underscored Cairo's firm support for international cooperation on
confronting all aspects of terrorism, which he described as being contradictory
to human values.Similarly, the foreign affairs committee chairman in Egypt's
parliament, Mohamed al-Oraby, condemned the attack and called for redoubling
international efforts to confront terrorism. He also called for a new approach
targeting the various components of terrorism, including arms, funds, and
personnel. At the same time, he warned against escalating hatred and incitement
against Islam anywhere in the world. (al-Youm al-Sabea)
Saudi Arabia
The Saudi embassy in Washington issued the following statement: "The Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia condemns in the strongest terms the attack on innocent people in
Orlando, Florida, and sends its deepest condolences to the families and friends
of the victims and to the people of the United States...We stand with the
American people at this tragic time. We pray for the recovery and the healing of
all those injured in the attack, and we will continue our work with the United
States and our partners in the international community for an end to these
senseless acts of violence and terror."
In addition, Saudi-owned pan-Arab media outlets reported that King Salman sent a
telegram of condolence to President Obama on June 14. As mentioned above, he
also denounced the attack as "contrary to all divine religions."
Jordan
Government spokesman and media minister Mohammed al-Momani issued a statement
condemning all forms of terrorism and violence. The statement also expressed
Amman's condolences to the American people and the families of the victims. (al-Dustour)
Kuwait
The Foreign Ministry expressed its condolences and condemned the attack,
describing it as offensive to Islam and a deviation from its tolerant
principles. The ministry also noted that continued terrorist attacks have forced
the international community to redouble its efforts to curb these "abhorrent
phenomena" and rid the world of such "evils." In addition, the government
reiterated Kuwait's firm and principled position against all forms of terrorism.
(al-Rai)
United Arab Emirates
The UAE's minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation issued a
statement expressing condolences and condemning the attack, asserting: "Such
criminal acts demand genuine international cooperation and solidarity at all
levels so as to eliminate the forces of evil which seek to sow chaos and
instability all over the world. Moreover, such criminal acts that target
innocent civilians contradict all moral principles and human values." (al-Bayan).
Bahrain
In addition to condemning the attack and conveying condolences, the Bahraini
Foreign Ministry asserted the kingdom's solidarity with the United States and
renewed its rejection of all forms of terrorism and violence, demanding that the
international community coordinate on eradicating terrorism worldwide. (Bahrain
Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Qatar
Much like other countries, the Qatari Foreign Ministry issued a statement
condemning all forms of terrorism and violence while calling for the
international community to cooperatively address such "criminal acts" against
civilians around the world. (Emirates News Agency [WAM])
Palestinian Authority
PA president Mahmoud Abbas sent a telegram of condolences to President Obama,
and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah conveyed his solidarity in a message to the
United States. (Shasha News)
Lebanon
Media reports indicate that the Lebanese government has not offered a formal
response so far. But Saad Hariri, leader of the Future Movement, condemned the
attack and described it as a significant crime against humanity. He also
asserted that the Islamic State is the greatest enemy of Muslims in the world. (Akhbarak)
Arab League
Nabil al-Araby, the league's secretary-general, issued a press release
condemning the "brutal attack." He also noted that the international community
must respond by closely coordinating its efforts to confront both terrorism and
the culture of hatred and violence on which radicals feed. (al-Masry al-Youm)
**David Pollock is the Kaufman Fellow at The Washington Institute and director
of Fikra Forum. Mohamed Abdelaziz is Fikra Forum's Arabic editor.