LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

June 21/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.june21.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today

This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 15/01-09/:"Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.’He answered them, ‘And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, "Honour your father and your mother," and, "Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die." But you say that whoever tells father or mother, "Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God", then that person need not honour the father. So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said: "This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines." ’

The angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the Prison cell and freed Peter
Acts of the Apostles 12/01-11/:"About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened Bread.) When he had seized him, he put him in prison and handed him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him. The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And the chains fell off his wrists. The angel said to him, ‘Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.’ He did so. Then he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."’

Pope Francis's Tweet For Today
We are all on a journey to the common house of heaven, where we will be able to admire with joyful wonder the mystery of the universe.
Nous sommes tous en voyage vers la maison commune du ciel, où nous pourrons lire avec une joyeuse admiration le mystère de l’univers.
جميعنا في سفر نحو بيت السماء المشترك، حيث سنتمكّن من قراءة سرّ الكون بإعجاب ملؤه الفرح.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 20-21/16

The Cancerous Lebanese Political Parties/Elias Bejjani/June 20/16

Hezbollah forms new Deir Ezzor militia: activists/Now Lebanon/ June 20./16/
Was the Second Lebanon War a Success or Failure/Moshe Arens/Haaretz/June 20/16
Strategic Outlook for Saudi Arabia and Iran/Shmuel Bar/Gatestone Institute/June 20/16
"Selling a House to a Jew is a Betrayal of Allah"/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/June 20/16
Palestinian 'Al-Hayat' Columnist On Tel Aviv Attack: The Armed Struggle Harms The Palestinians More Than It Helps Them/MEMRI/June 20/16
The Syrians are waiting for November/Eyad Abu Shakra/Al Arabiya/20 June/16
Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s timely visit to America/Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya/20 June/16
Iraqis’ humanity lives on despite conflict/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/20 June/16
Global Entrepreneurship Summit to boost social business agenda/Patrick Ryan/Al Arabiya/20 June/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on June 20-21/16

The Cancerous Lebanese Political Parties
Hezbollah forms new Deir Ezzor militia: activists
Was the Second Lebanon War a Success or Failure?
Reports: Iran's Suleimani Warns Bahrain, Leaves Fallujah for Aleppo
Minister Qazzi Officially Expelled from Kataeb Party
Raad Calls for Balancing between 'Financial Stability, Sovereignty'
2 Hurt in Wadi Khaled as Families Clash over Municipal Polls
Outgoing UNIFIL Chief Meets with Envoys of Troop Contributing Countries, Major Powers and EU
RSF Says Syrian Journalists Still at Risk in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey
Hizbullah Slams Bahrain Revocation of Shiite Cleric Citizenship as 'Very Dangerous Step'
Abducted Jordanian 'Escapes from Captors' in Bekaa
Report: Oil File Back to Spotlight as Berri Raises Issue with Salam
One Man Killed, Two Wounded in Tyre Conflict
A Fugitive Killed in Police Raids in Akkar
 

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 20-21/16
UN reveals 65 million people displaced globally
Syrian forces advance on ISIS-held air base
Pro-Assad Druze fighters leave Palmyra front over mistreatment
Bahrain Revokes Citizenship of Top Shiite Cleric
No Deal with Comoros to Take Kuwait Stateless
Putin Meets Azeri, Armenia Leaders over Karabakh Violence
Iran TV Says Authorities Disrupted 'Biggest Terrorist Plot'
New Zealand to Keep Troops in Iraq for an Extra 18 Months
Iran regime suspends 7 university students for dancing
IRAN: Young man killed under torture in Abadan
Open letter by imprisoned labor activist on hunger strike in Iran
Turkish riot police disperse ‘Trans Pride’ Istanbul march
Yemen talks in Kuwait enter 60th day
Palestinian wounded in clash with Israelis dies
Taliban suicide bombing kills 14 Nepalese guards in Kabul

Links From Jihad Watch Site for June 20-21/16
In wake of Orlando massacre, Hamas-linked CAIR issues new “Islamophobia” report
Why do jihadists terrorize?
DOJ releases unredacted Orlando jihad transcript after criticism
NPR whitewashes Mateen’s jihadist motive, calling his pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State a publicity stunt
Idaho residents call for justice for 5-year-old girl raped by Muslim migrants: perps remain unpunished
Video: Robert Spencer on Sharia
Transcript: Orlando jihad mass murderer Mateen praised Allah and Muhammad, identified as “Islamic soldier”
Islamic State seizes Syria villages from US-backed forces
Islamic State crucifying Ramadan violators “every day”
Robert Spencer in PJ Media: Loretta Lynch: Islam’s Finest PR Agent
Islamic State jihadi: “Do you think you’re at war with a small group of Mujahedeen in Iraq, Syria, Libya and other places?”
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Arrest the Widow, Investigate the Family
Reading the Qur’an during Ramadan 16: Juz Qala alum
Report: “A Peaceful Muslim Majority in the U.S. Tarred by Acts of a Few.” Huh?
Orlando jihadi’s 911 call transcripts to be edited to remove references to Islam

Latest Lebanese Related News published on June 20-21/16

The Cancerous Lebanese Political Parties
Elias Bejjani/June 20/16

http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/06/19/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3-%D8%A8%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%82%D9%8F%D8%B1%D9%91%D8%B7-%D9%86%D8%B5%D8%A8-%D9%88%D8%A3%D8%AD/
Quite frankly and with a peaceful conscience, we can say loudly that all the political parties in occupied Lebanon are mere thugs, Trojans and puppets. They serve their owners’ hunger and greed for power and riches. The sole focus of these parties is on securing ways and means to their owners’ individual ambitions and agendas. Their hypocrite owners know nothing about honesty, patriotism, hope or faith. They are extremely cancerous and actually accountable for all the disasters and hardships that Lebanon and the Lebanese are facing and going through from A to Z. The first step in Lebanon’s recovery and salvation must start with abandoning all these parties and by stoning their mercenary and malevolent owners.

Hezbollah forms new Deir Ezzor militia: activists
The Zayn al-Abidin Brigade reportedly consists of 150 fighters.
Now Lebanon/ June 20./16/BEIRUT – Hezbollah reportedly formed a new militia force based in the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor, according to an activist group. The local Deir Ezzor Is Being Slaughtered Silently organization reported on June 18 that the Lebanese militant organization had established a new military faction called the Zayn al-Abidin Brigade, named after the fourth Shiite Imam, who survived the Battle of Karbala in 680. In a subsequent interview, the head of the activist group explained that Hezbollah’s new militia force is based in the city’s Al-Jura neighborhood and is comprised of approximately 150 fighters. “Hezbollah members began appearing in the city four months ago,” Ahmad Ramadan told Zaman al-Wasl, adding that regime helicopters have been transporting fighters of the newly-formed Zayn al-Abidin Brigade to Deir Ezzor in the past week. Hezbollah’s alleged military moves in Deir Ezzor comes after a leading Lebanese daily close to the party printed a column on Friday saying that Hezbollah would soon take part in a major regime operation in eastern Syria. Al-Akhbar’s editor-in-chief Ibrahim al-Amin wrote Friday that Iran, Russia and Syria have agreed on a “large action plan” for a “very big battle in the Deir Ezzor” province in which Hezbollah will play a “central role.” “Perhaps the forces of [Hezbollah] will face a test largely resembling what happened in Qalamoun, Zabadani and Qusayr,” he said, in reference to the lead role Hezbollah took in the 2013-2015 operations to clear rebels from regions along Syria’s border with Lebanon.
Amin, an influential commentator known for his close relations with Hezbollah, noted that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government has expressed its “strong desire” to support the regime troops holed up in the city of Deir Ezzor, which have been repeatedly attacked by ISIS since the jihadist group swept rebels out of the rest of the province in mid-2014.
“A loss [in Deir Ezzor] means a real massacre of thousands of civilians and soldiers, and the loss of a key area in eastern Syria,” the Al-Akhbar column cautioned. According to Amin, the plans for a wide-scale Deir Ezzor offensive moved forward after the June 9 meeting of Iran, Russia and Syria’s defense ministers in Tehran. He wrote that mobilization efforts for the upcoming campaign “have just started,” but clarified that the battle will start in the “not-too-distant future.” Syrian army troops backed by Hezbollah, Russia and Iran seized Palmyra—an ancient archaeological city approximately 185 kilometers west of Deir Ezzor—from ISIS on March 27. In the days following the Palmyra victory, the pro-regime forces set their sights eastward on Al-Sukhna, a town on the M20 highway leading to Deir Ezzor, however no major desert drive materialized. “Linking Palmyra to Deir Ezzor will contribute to [splitting lines between] ISIS’s main areas of in Syria and Iraq, and disperse their forces fighting in the Raqqa and Aleppo provinces,” Amin postulated in his report. He further claimed that the planned east Syria offensive “will not be part of a deal” reached with the US, which is currently backing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces battling ISIS in northern Syria. The US has also reportedly supported two smaller Free Syrian Army-factions, the New Syrian Army and Ahmad al-Abdo Martyrs Brigades, conducting small-scale campaigns against ISIS in the vast Syrian semi-desert stretching to the Iraqi and Jordanian borders.
NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Amin Nasr translated the Arabic-language source material.

Was the Second Lebanon War a Success or Failure?
Haaretz/Moshe Arens Jun 20/2016
*Bereaved families to Israeli government: You haven’t learned the lessons of Second Lebanon War
*Israeli MI chief: Another war would turn Lebanon into 'a country of refugees'
*Defense Ministry, IDF nix Interior Ministry idea of taking on some home-front missions
It’s been 10 years since the Second Lebanon War. Was it a success or a failure? The Winograd Commission has issued its verdict, and military historians will, no doubt, continue to have their say, but the important point for us at this time is not what was, but what may yet be, and what lessons from that war could be applied to possible future encounters with Hezbollah.Those who led that war are countering criticism by pointing to the years of quiet on the northern border that followed the UN-brokered cease-fire. A 33-day war, with 164 Israeli fatalities (43 civilians and 121 military personnel) that was to be followed by 10 or more years of quiet — is that an equation that signals success, or failure? In the event of a future encounter with Hezbollah, would such a result be considered to be satisfactory, or even a success? How much should we be willing to pay for intermittent periods of calm after each encounter? This question has also faced us in the south, where successive military operations have achieved intermittent periods of quiet, and where our leadership has even declared that the aim of such operations has been to achieve a few years of respite before Hamas resumes its attacks.
Fighting a war to bring about a few years of quiet was seen as a reasonable aim in Israel in its first 25 years of independence. Clearly incapable of completely routing the Arab armies arrayed against it, Israel came to consider that their repeated defeat would lead the Arab leaders to conclude that they could not overcome Israel on the battlefield. The strategy worked. The Yom Kippur War of 1973 was the fourth and last attempt by a coalition of Arab armies to attack Israel. Is this also an effective strategy against terrorist organizations like Hezbollah or Hamas? Are they likely to learn after receiving repeated that there is no point to returning to the war path against Israel? Two factors must be considered when addressing this question. First, the behavior of terrorists and their leaders differs from that of Arab rulers, whose primary concern is their political survival. Terrorists, who think in messianic terms and on a messianic time scale, are prepared to lose many battles, confident that in due time victory will be theirs. Second, the acquisition of ballistic rockets and missiles by terrorist organizations has introduced a new dimension into their conflicts with Israel, providing them, despite being much weaker militarily than Israel, with a deterrent capability that Israel must take into account. Any renewal of hostilities would inevitably result in massive rocket and missile attacks on Israel’s cities and civilian population. This is particularly the case with Hezbollah, which has over 150,000 rockets and missiles in its arsenal, but Hamas also has thousands of rockets at its disposal. Past blows may be deterring them from attacking Israel again, but we must not forget that Israel is also deterred from taking action against them. Any responsible Israeli leader must consider all the consequences of a renewal of the warfare with them.The 10 years after the Second Lebanon War were a period of mutual deterrence, also influenced by Hezbollah’s deep involvement in the fighting in Syria. But they were also years of massive increase of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile arsenal. Hezbollah will come to the next confrontation with Israel far better prepared and more capable of bringing destruction to Israel’s cities. The lesson is clear: Another round of fighting that does not put an end to the terrorists’ military capability means they will come back for more, better prepared than ever.

Reports: Iran's Suleimani Warns Bahrain, Leaves Fallujah for Aleppo
Naharnet/June 20/16/Iran's senior general Qassem Suleimani, the head of the elite Quds Force, has warned Bahrain of “dire repercussions, including armed struggle by the people and the overthrow of the al-Khalifa dynasty,” in the wake of Manama's decision to revoke the citizenship of top Shiite cleric Sheikh Issa Qassem, Iran's semi-official news agency Fars reported on Monday. “In a rare statement issued on Monday, General Suleimani warned the Manama regime that in case of any insult or disrespect for Sheikh Qassem, the toppling of the regime will only be a small part of the repercussions that will also include armed resistance," the news agency said. “The General blasted the Manama regime for its unacceptable and inhuman oppression, discrimination, injustice and humiliation against the Muslim Bahraini nation, and said people on the tiny Persian Gulf island have so far tolerated the al-Khalifa regime's apartheid and heavy pressures and continued their uprising peacefully despite the fact that a number of their political and religious leaders have been arrested, their women and children have been imprisoned and tortured, and some others have been stripped of their citizenship and undergone intensifying pressures with their rights trampled upon,” Fars added. "The al-Khalifa rulers seem to be taking advantage of the peaceful movement of the people and are miscalculating the extent of public fury," Suleimani reportedly said. “They certainly know that trespassing the sanctuary of Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassem is a red line whose crossing will set fire to Bahrain and the entire region and leave people with no other option but armed resistance," Fars quoted the general as saying. "The al-Khalifa rulers will pay the price of such an action whose endpoint will be nothing but the annihilation of this tyrannical regime," the Iranian Quds Force Commander reportedly warned. Sheikh Issa Qassem, considered the spiritual leader of Bahrain's Shiite community, abused his position to "serve foreign interests and promote... sectarianism and violence," Bahrain's interior ministry said earlier on Monday. He had been a strong proponent of "absolute allegiance to the clergy," while maintaining continuous contact with "organizations and parties that are enemies of the kingdom," it charged. There was no immediate indication of Qassem's fate but, in theory, he would be left stateless and could face deportation through a legal process. In 2015, authorities stripped 208 Bahrainis of their citizenship, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch. It says at least five people whose nationality had been revoked were deported in February and March. The decision against Qassem follows the suspension of Bahrain's main Shiite opposition group, al-Wefaq, whose political chief Sheikh Ali Salman is serving a nine-year jail term on charge of inciting violence. The latest move in the escalating crackdown on opposition triggered fresh tensions and street protests in Qassem's home village of Diraz, west of the capital Manama, witnesses said. General Suleimani is the leader of the Quds Force – a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations. Earlier in the day, Fars said Suleimani was in Syria in preparation for “a large-scale operation by the Syrian army and popular forces in southern Aleppo,” quoting the media center of Hezbollah al-Nujaba, a major Iraqi Shiite militant movement. “Suleimani has traveled to Syria after intensified clashes between the government forces and terrorists in southern Aleppo province,” Fars added. It said Suleimeni was in Syria on Sunday to be briefed on “events and operations of Nujaba forces in southern Aleppo.”“The Quds Force commander was in Iraq in recent days to render advisory services to the Iraqi forces in operations to liberate Fallujah” from the hands of the jihadist Islamic State group, the news agency added.

Minister Qazzi Officially Expelled from Kataeb Party
Naharnet/June 20/16/Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi was expelled on Monday from the Kataeb Party after he rejected to abide by the party's decision on resigning from Prime Minister Tammam Salam's government. “Based on the report of the party's general secretariat, which highlighted Minister Qazzi's clear violation of the party's bylaws, Kataeb's political bureau has decided to permanently expel Minister Sejaan Qazzi from the Kataeb Party,” the politburo said in a statement. Citing Salam's “acknowledgment yesterday that corruption is the rule in this government” and “the government's inaction towards the Syrian refugee crisis, the security deterioration, the dire economic situation and the threats against the banking sector,” Kataeb said “all of this highlights the correctness of Kataeb's decisive and final decision on full resignation from the government.”Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel had first announced the resignation of Kataeb's ministers last Tuesday. Shortly after the announcement, Information Minister Ramzi Jreij declared that he will not resign from the government, noting that he is not a member of the Kataeb Party although he was nominated by it. The two ministers' rebellion means that Kataeb's decision will only apply to Economy Minister Alain Hakim. Speaking to LBCI television about his expulsion on Monday, Qazzi said: “The decision was probably taken prior to the decision on resigning from the government because some in the 'new Kataeb party' find me annoying.” Reminding of the many roles he played in the party's history in the past 45 years, Qazzi regretted the party's decision but noted that he has “no grudge” towards Gemayel or Kataeb's members. “I'm not an ordinary minister but one who has a long national history although some do not like to acknowledge that. I was with (slain president-elect) Bashir (Gemayel) at the age of 20 and I was a partner in decision-making, so I will not implement a decision without having a say in it at the age of 60,” Qazzi had told al-Mustaqbal newspaper in remarks published Sunday. “This is not the right time for abandoning responsibility but rather the time for confrontation and resilience. As for my constitutional point of view, I believe that resigning from this government has no practical meaning,” he said.

Raad Calls for Balancing between 'Financial Stability, Sovereignty'
Naharnet/June 20/16/Hizbullah's top lawmaker called Monday for “balancing” between “financial and banking stability” and the requirements of national “sovereignty,” amid a row over the implementation in Lebanon of a U.S. anti-Hizbullah sanctions law. “It is a bizarre paradox that some have been demanding sovereignty and rejecting hegemony for the past ten years while now they consider sovereignty to be the implementation of the U.S. laws, even if these laws are imposing sanctions on our people,” head of the Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad said. He added: “We want financial and banking stability for our country but we also want the government and the institutions that are in charge of the national monetary system to preserve national sovereignty.”“The equation that must be implemented should be balancing and harmonizing between the protection of Lebanon's financial sovereignty and the requirements of preserving the institutions' general stability,” Raad urged. The lawmaker's remarks are the first public comments by Hizbullah on the U.S. sanctions since a bomb blast targeted the headquarters of BLOM Bank in Verdun on June 12. Several parties were quick to point the finger at Hizbullah over the bombing due to the fact that the attack coincided with the row with the banking sector. BLOM bank had 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. Authorities say dozens of bank accounts related to Hizbullah's organizations have been closed in recent weeks. Hizbullah has fiercely criticized the law and accused Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh of "yielding" to Washington's demands. The crisis between Hizbullah and Salameh has however eased in recent days, according to media reports, after the governor ordered the reopening of several closed bank accounts. Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to address the issue in a June 24 speech.

2 Hurt in Wadi Khaled as Families Clash over Municipal Polls
Naharnet/June 20/16/Two people were injured Monday in the northern border region of Wadi Khaled in a clash linked to the municipal polls that were held last month, state-run National News Agency reported.“Nasser al-Youssef, 22, and the Syrian boy Khaled Rahil, 12, were wounded when a dispute between the al-Youssef and Hammoud families erupted into gunfire in the Wadi Khaled area of al-Mahatta,” NNA said. “The clash is linked to the municipal elections,” the agency added.An army force intervened to restore calm and cracked down on the houses of several residents suspected of being involved in firing weapons in the town of al-Knaisseh and its surroundings, NNA said.

Outgoing UNIFIL Chief Meets with Envoys of Troop Contributing Countries, Major Powers and EU
Naharnet/June 20/UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major-General Luciano Portolano on Monday held his last meeting before leaving his post next month with ambassadors of UNIFIL Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs), five Permanent Members of the U.N. Security Council, and the European Union Delegation to Lebanon. In the Beirut meeting with the ambassadors and the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, Christina Markus Lassen, Portolano expressed his “sincere gratitude to all troop contributors and other international partners for their support to UNIFIL and him personally during his two years at the helm of the U.N. peacekeeping mission,” a UNIFIL statement said.Among other things, he outlined UNIFIL's efforts towards “enhancing the capacity of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) through the strategic dialogue process as a vital necessity to strengthen their capacity as well as reiterating the critical importance of continued international support to LAF.”“In this process, we are working closely with the Office of the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon, the U.N. agencies in the country and international partners including UNIFIL’s troop contributing countries in exploring the possibility to equip, train and provide assistance to LAF in order to enable it to fulfill its mandated tasks under the U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 (2006),” he said. The U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Sigrid Kaag, also addressed the meeting. Portolano also briefed the participants on the situation in the UNIFIL area of operations, noting the “continued calm and stability in the area in the face of an increasingly complex regional security scenario.”“The success of the Mission is a combination of several important elements working in close coordination: UNIFIL's close partnership with the Lebanese Armed Forces and security agencies, as well as the strong support to the Mission from the Government and local authorities, religious leaders, the people of South Lebanon, the international community and the strong support of the TCCs,” he added. UNIFIL has more than 10,000 military personnel from 40 countries, including the Maritime Task Force -- the only naval force in peacekeeping operations -- and around 1,000 civilian national and international staff. The force was created in 1978 to help Lebanon restore government control over southern Lebanon after the Israeli invasion, and it was beefed up in 2006 after the devastating war between Israel and Hizbullah.

RSF Says Syrian Journalists Still at Risk in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 20/16/Syrian journalists who have sought refuge in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey remain in danger despite having fled war and hostility in their homeland, a media rights watchdog said Monday. Both local and foreign journalists are considered legitimate targets in Syria, where regime forces, rebels, jihadists and Kurds are fighting over a country ripped apart by five years of conflict. Those who have escaped Syria face oppression from the authorities in their host countries as well as other types of "predator," said Reporters Without Borders. "Hundreds of professional and non-professional journalists have fled the country because they were exposed to both targeted persecution and the conflict's extreme violence," said the watchdog known by its French acronym RSF."Many of them face constant difficulties and continue to fear for their safety in the countries in which they seek refuge," it said. The RSF report was based on interviews with 24 Syrian journalists living in exile in neighboring countries."They found themselves in different sets of circumstances than they had experienced at home, especially in terms of regulations and living and working conditions, and they faced threats coming both from inside and outside their host country," it said. As well as those threats and occasionally fatal attacks, RSF said authorities had restricted journalists' rights to move freely, choose their place of residence or leave the country and return. "Their rights to protection are compromised, and they don't have equal access to legal protection. They are subject to work exploitation and servitude. They can be arbitrarily arrested, detained or sent back to Syria," it said. "An official and legal recognition of Syrian journalists and their journalistic work in these countries could spare them many of these violations and threats, as well as provide legal and administrative framework for their activity."The Islamic State group has killed at least 27 journalists since 2013, with at least 11 others missing and feared dead, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. RSF says at least 51 professional and 144 non-professional journalists have been killed since the start of the conflict in 2011. A further 50 are currently detained in government jails, held hostage by IS or other extremist armed groups, or have simply disappeared.

Hizbullah Slams Bahrain Revocation of Shiite Cleric Citizenship as 'Very Dangerous Step'
Naharnet/June 20/16/Hizbullah on Monday slammed a decision by Bahraini authorities to revoke the citizenship of the Sunni-ruled kingdom's top Shiite cleric Sheikh Issa Qassem , calling the move “unprecedented” and “very dangerous.”“The Bahraini regime's step is very dangerous seeing as His Eminence is a senior religious leader who has an important position in his country and at the level of the Ummah, and because he represents a true guarantee for Bahrain's present and future,” Hizbullah's media department said in a statement. “This move indicates that Bahrain's authorities have reached the end of the road in dealing with the peaceful popular protest movement. They have sent a very wrongful message that there will be no reform, rights, dialogue or political approach,” the party added. It warned that “the regime's foolishness and recklessness will push the Bahraini people to tough choices whose repercussions will be severe for this corrupt, dictatorial regime.”Hizbullah also called on “all Bahraini, Arab and international religious and political authorities and rights groups” to “press the Bahrain regime to reverse its decision immediately” and to convince it to “reach an understanding with the people in order to overcome the complicated political crisis.”The Lebanese, Iran-backed party also urged Bahrain's people to “decisively express their anger and dismay over the attack on their great icon.”Qassem, considered the Shiite community's spiritual leader, abused his position to "serve foreign interests and promote... sectarianism and violence," Bahrain's interior ministry said earlier on Monday. He had been a strong proponent of "absolute allegiance to the clergy," while maintaining continuous contact with "organizations and parties that are enemies of the kingdom," it charged. There was no immediate indication of Qassem's fate but, in theory, he would be left stateless and could face deportation through a legal process. In 2015, authorities stripped 208 Bahrainis of their citizenship, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch. It says at least five people whose nationality had been revoked were deported in February and March.
The decision against Qassem follows the suspension of Bahrain's main Shiite opposition group, al-Wefaq, whose political chief Sheikh Ali Salman is serving a nine-year jail term on charge of inciting violence. The latest move in the escalating crackdown on opposition triggered fresh tensions and street protests in Qassem's home village of Diraz, west of the capital Manama, witnesses said.

Abducted Jordanian 'Escapes from Captors' in Bekaa
Naharnet/June 20/16/Jordanian abductee Mohammed Shehadeh Abou Kadri has managed to escape from his captors who were holding him in a house in the Baalbek neighborhood of al-Sharawneh, state-run National News Agency reported on Monday. “He was able to escape through the bathroom window and he then sought refuge at a house in the area,” NNA said. The man was eventually “handed over to the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch before being transferred to the al-Hekmeh Hospital in Baalbek and consequently the Riyaq General Hospital for treatment from a hand fracture and multiple bruises.”Abou Kadri told investigators during interrogation that he had arrived at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport on June 16 before heading to the Phoenicia Hotel in central Beirut in a cab.“But he was kidnapped and taken to the Bekaa,” NNA added.

Report: Oil File Back to Spotlight as Berri Raises Issue with Salam
Naharnet/June 20/16/Speaker Nabih Berri will raise the issue of Lebanon's oil exploration file with PM Tammam Salam at the sidelines of the national dialogue session to be held on Tuesday in Ain al-Tineh, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday. Berri will press the need to list the issue on the cabinet's agenda to be discussed during its coming session, said the daily. The Speaker has highlighted the need to start issuing decrees that allow Lebanon to benefit from its oil wealth. The step compliments discussions that took place lately between Berri, Energy Minister Arthur Nazariam and a delegation from the oil committee where serious intentions arose to put the issue on the front burner. In 2015, Lebanese authorities received information that Israel had started drilling oil and gas wells near Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone by its southern border. In March 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 34.5 trillion cubic meters of recoverable gas in the Levant Basin in the eastern Mediterranean, which includes the territorial waters of Lebanon, Israel, Syria and Cyprus. In August 2014, the government postponed for the fifth time the first round of licensing for gas exploration over a political dispute. The disagreements were over the designation of blocks open for bidding and the terms of a draft exploration agreement. Lebanon and Israel are bickering over a maritime zone that consists of about 854 square kilometers and suspected energy reserves that could generate billions of dollars. Lebanese officials have continuously warned that Israel's exploration of new offshore gas fields near Lebanese territorial waters means the Jewish state is siphoning some of Lebanon's crude oil.The U.S. had offered to mediate between the sides in an attempt to reach a solution. Beirut argues that a maritime map it submitted to the U.N. is in line with an armistice accord drawn up in 1949, an agreement which is not contested by Israel.

Report: Aoun Does Not Oppose Hariri for Premiership
Naharnet/June 20/16/Founder of the Free Patriotic Movement and wanna-be president MP Michel Aoun does not reject that al-Mustaqbal leader MP Saad Hariri holds the post of prime minister, if he himself was elected for the top state post, media reports said on Monday. “The Free Patriotic Movement does not have a problem if Hariri held the premiership post,” sources close to Aoun said, but added that if that is to happen it should be done “within a comprehensive settlement on national balances that are a red line for the FPM and Hizbullah party.”The sources highlighted the latest talks between French President Francois Hollande and Hariri where he said that the situation in Lebanon will not be surpassed unless Aoun is elected as president. Early in June, reports said that Hollande has told Hariri during the latter's trip in France, that the only solution to the presidential impasse is through the election of Aoun. Aoun sources did not deny reports that Aoun received “official French talks” that he be elected as president, and that the base of this suggestion came after the terror attacks in Paris and the migrants crisis in Europe. France has therefore saw it necessary to help end the crisis in Lebanon so it does not aggravate in light of the enormous number of displaced Syrians in Lebanon, and believes that a moderate figure similar to Hariri is best to reduce the extreme situation in the country. Lebanon has been in a state of presidential vacuum since May 2014 when the term of the president ended. Conflicts between the March 8 and March 14 alliance have thwarted attempts aiming at electing a successor. Aoun and Marada Party MP Suleiman Franjieh are candidates for the presidential post in addition to an independent figure MP Henri Helou.

One Man Killed, Two Wounded in Tyre Conflict
Naharnet/June 20/16 /A man was shot dead overnight after an armed dispute erupted between two families in the southern Tyre village of Jwayya, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday. A conflict erupted between the Qassem and Ismail families against the backdrop of hanging a poster advertising for a municipality member, which aggravated to an armed clash and led to the killing of Hussein Dayekh, NNA said. Two people were wounded in the incident.
Army troops arrived at the scene and controlled the situation. Efforts continue to track the culprits down.

A Fugitive Killed in Police Raids in Akkar
Naharnet/June 20/16 /One man was killed and another was wounded during a police raid in the outskirts of the town of Fnaideq in Akkar, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday. Police carried out a raid in Fnaideq to arrest fugitive Mohammed Ali Taleb also known as Abou Ali al-Tarsha. An exchange of fire between the two sides led to the killing of al-Tarsha and wounding First Adjutant Khaled B.He was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 20-21/16

UN reveals 65 million people displaced globally
AFP, Geneva Monday, 20 June 2016/The number of people displaced worldwide has hit a new record, with 65.3 million people forced from their home as of the end of 2015, the UN said Monday. “This is the first time that the threshold of 60 million has been crossed,” the UN refugee agency said. The figures, released on World Refugee Day, underscore twin pressures fuelling an unprecedented global displacement crisis. As conflict and persecution force growing numbers of people to flee, anti-migrant political sentiment has strained the will to resettle refugees, according to UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said. “The willingness of nations to work together not just for refugees but for the collective human interest is what’s being tested today,” he said in a statement.The number of people displaced globally rose by 5.8 million through 2015, according to the UN figures. Counting Earth’s population at 7.349 billion, the UN said that one out of every 113 people on the planet was now either internally displaced or a refugee. That marks “a level of risk for which UNHCR knows no precedent”, the agency said, noting that the number of people displaced is now higher than the populations of Britain or France.
 

Syrian forces advance on ISIS-held air base
The Associated Press, Beirut Monday, 20 June 2016/Syrian government forces advanced to within six miles (10 kilometers) of the ISIS-occupied Tabqa air base in the northern part of the country on Sunday, part of a push to try to unseat the extremist group from its de facto capital, Raqqa. Government forces recaptured the nearby Thawra oil field from ISIS militants, according to a Syrian journalist Eyad al-Hosain, who is embedded with the army. Activists said Sunday’s government assault was accompanied by an aerial campaign on the town of Tabqa, five miles north of the air base. The activist group, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, which smuggles news out of ISIS-held territory, reported that fighter jets struck the town with cluster munitions, killing at least 10 civilians. The Tabqa base, 45 kilometers (28 miles) from Raqqa, holds strategic and symbolic value in the government campaign on the ISIS capital. It was the last position held by government forces in Raqqa province before ISIS militants overran it in August 2014, killing scores of detained soldiers in a massacre they documented on video. Raqqa itself became the militants’ first captive city.
 

Pro-Assad Druze fighters leave Palmyra front over mistreatment
ALBIN SZAKOLA/Now Lebanon/June 20/16
Soldiers in the "Bayrak Suweida" complained they weren't paid their wages as promised.
BEIRUT – Druze soldiers fighting on behalf of the Syrian regime have withdrawn from the Palmyra front following “mistreatment” and returned to their homes in Suweida. “With God’s help 63 fighters that were in Palmyra, including a number of injured, have returned to Suweida,” a local pro-Assad outlet based in the southern province reported on June 13. The Suweida News Network added that the natives of the Druze-populated province were transported home on two buses provided by the command of the National Defense Force militias that serve as an auxiliary to the Syrian army. In a detailed update to the story published the following day, the pro-regime Facebook news page explained that the Druze volunteers “did not receive proper and necessary treatment” despite their sacrifices fighting on behalf of government forces on the flashpoint front against ISIS. “Thanks to everyone who helped bring back our youth; special thanks to the leadership of the National Defense Force in Suwaida,” it said. The young men had all volunteered as a contingent called the “Bayrak Suweida” that fought under the direction of Syrian Military Security’s Branch 217, and took part in the April 2016 battles to seize the Jabal Antar area outside Palmyra during the regime’s campaign to wrest control of the UNESCO World Heritage Site from ISIS. Three Suweida residents—Raed Abou Hamra, Mamdouh al-Barbour and Muthana al-Tawil—were killed in the fighting, while 20 others were injured, according to a description of the “Bayrak Suweida” unit provided by the Suweida News Network. A pro-rebel outlet also covered the withdrawal of “Bayrak Suweida,” saying the fighters returned home due to a “breach of the contracts signed between them and the regime.”Step News explained that the Druze volunteers—who were commanded by a regime officer from the Raqqa province—were promised a salary of 110,000 Syrian pounds (approximately $220) for every month on the front, with 10 days-vacation included. However, the fighters were not paid as promised while complaints rose over lack of care for the wounded, prompting the Suweida residents to leave the unit. According to Step News, the Syrian officer in charge of the unit, Turki Abu Hamad, detained them outside Palmyra, before a National Defense Force leader in Suweida could intervene and secure their release. A popular Facebook news page based in the Druze-populate province provided a similar account of the incident, saying that the National Defense Force in Suweida had to organize an armed force that went to the Palmyra region to access the detainees and “bring them back unharmed to Suweida.”While Suweida is under regime control, residents of the region have generally maintained an autonomous attitude against not only Islamist rebels but also regime efforts to enlist Druze locals to fight in far-off areas of the country. Pro-Assad figures in the province in mid-2015 ramped up efforts to press Druze youth in the province to join the army as rebels operating in the Daraa province to the west at the time notched battlefield victories over forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad. However, Druze youths in southern Syria have protested against the regime’s military conscription efforts, while the Sheikhs of Dignity have opposed young men joining the army to fight outside the province.
NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Amin Nasr translated the Arabic-language source material.

Bahrain Revokes Citizenship of Top Shiite Cleric
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 20/16/Bahraini authorities have revoked the citizenship of the most prominent Shiite cleric in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, accusing him of sowing sectarian divisions, the interior ministry said Monday. Sheikh Isa Qassim, considered the spiritual leader of Bahrain's Shiite majority, was alleged to have used his position to "serve foreign interests and promote... sectarianism and violence," the ministry said in a statement carried by BNA state news agency. Qassim "adopted theocracy and stressed the absolute allegiance to the clergy," the ministry said, adding that he had been in continuous contact with "organisations and parties that are enemies of the kingdom." The decision follows the suspension of Bahrain's main Shiite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, whose political chief Sheikh Ali Salman is serving a nine-year jail term for inciting violence. Home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, Bahrain has been shaken by unrest since security forces crushed the 2011 protests demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister.

No Deal with Comoros to Take Kuwait Stateless
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 20/16/Kuwait's foreign minister said Monday that a deal to grant thousands of stateless people in the Gulf emirate Comoran nationality had not been struck despite recent reports. Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah, in comments published in the Al-Qabas daily newspaper, denied rumours circulating in Kuwaiti media on the agreement. "If we sign an agreement with any country, the foreign ministry is obliged... to complete the necessary legal procedures in accordance with the constitution," the minister said. Comoran External Affairs Minister Abdulkarim Mohamed said in Kuwait last month that his country was ready to consider taking thousands of stateless people denied citizenship there. Local media in Kuwait recently suggested that a deal was in the works and reported scams involving large sums charged for assistance in obtaining Comoran citizenship.
More than 110,000 stateless people, locally known as bidoons, have been living in Kuwait for decades claiming the right to citizenship in the oil-rich emirate and the generous welfare benefits that accompany it. But the government describes them as "illegal residents" and says only 34,000 qualify for consideration for citizenship. Impoverished Comoros consists of three islands in the Indian Ocean with a population of just under 800,000 people, nearly all of them Sunni Muslims. Despite the country's distance from the Middle East and North Africa, it is a member of the Arab League as well as the African Union. Several years ago, Comoros offered thousands of bidoons in the United Arab Emirates citizenship in exchange for generous aid packages in a deal similar to the Kuwait proposal.

Putin Meets Azeri, Armenia Leaders over Karabakh Violence
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 20/16/Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday was to meet with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan Monday in a bid to shore up a shaky truce over disputed Nagorny Karabakh. Putin, the regional power-broker, was to sit down separately with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev in Saint Petersburg. The three would then meet together. In the contested region's worst violence in decades, at least 110 people were killed and scores were wounded in April before a Russia-mediated ceasefire dampened the bloodshed. Nagorny Karabakh -- controlled by ethnic Armenians but internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan -- has been a flarepoint since a brutal war between the two sides erupted as the Soviet Union collapsed. April's violence was the bloodiest since an inconclusive truce halted the conflict in 1994 and sparked fears of a return to an all-out war that could pitch regional titans Russia and Turkey against each other. "The talks will be difficult," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists. "The main task is to insure against a resumption of military hostilities."Moscow has sold weapons to both of the former Soviet nations but has a military alliance with Armenia. Turkey pledged its full support to its traditional ally Azerbaijan after the latest clashes erupted. Sarkisian and Aliyev agreed to respect the Russian-backed ceasefire in a Vienna meeting with international mediators -- including representatives from Russia, the United States and France -- in mid-May. But tensions remain extremely high along the volatile frontline and both sides have accused each other of breaking the truce. Armenian separatists seized the landlocked territory in a war in the early 1990s that claimed some 30,000 lives, and the two sides have never signed a final peace deal. They began rearming heavily in recent years, with energy-rich Azerbaijan spending vast sums on new weaponry. Azerbaijan last week announced five days of major military exercises starting on Sunday near the breakaway region.

Iran TV Says Authorities Disrupted 'Biggest Terrorist Plot'
Associated Press/Naharnet/June 20/16 /Iranian intelligence officials have broken up "the biggest terrorist plot" to ever target Tehran and other provinces in the Islamic Republic, the country's state television reported on Monday.An anchor on state television read off a statement attributing the information to Iran's Intelligence Ministry. Officials could not be immediately reached for comment to elaborate. Several suspects have been arrested and are under interrogation over the plot after agents seized ammunition and bombs, the state TV said. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as saying the attack was timed to hit during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The report didn't identify those arrested, though it called them "takfiris," a derogatory term in both Arabic and Farsi referring to Muslims who accuse others of being "nonbelievers."
Iranian authorities often refer to followers of the Sunni militant Islamic State group as "takfiris," though it isn't clear if this case involved the extremist group that holds territory in Iraq and Syria. Shiite power Iran has been helping both the Syrian and the Iraqi government in their battles against the Islamic State group. It has warned of possible militant attacks targeting the country, which largely hasn't seen such attacks since the immediate aftermath of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.Iran's state-run IRNA news agency also carried a similar report about the disrupted attack citing the Intelligence Ministry, though it called those involved "Wahhabi takfiris." Wahhabism is an ultraconservative school of Islam practiced predominantly in Saudi Arabia. Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have frayed following the kingdom's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in January and subsequent attacks by protesters on Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran. The kingdom cut diplomatic relations with Tehran following those attacks. Iran recently announced it would not be sending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage, as it said the kingdom did not meet Iran's requests for better security for Iranian pilgrims. The hajj pilgrimage is required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their lifetime. In May, Iran's Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi announced that 20 "terrorist groups" that planned to detonate bombs and cause insecurity across the country had been dismantled. It's unclear whether that included the plot announced Monday by state television.

New Zealand to Keep Troops in Iraq for an Extra 18 Months
Associated Press/Naharnet/June 20/16 /New Zealand announced Monday that it plans to keep its small contingent of troops in Iraq for an additional 18 months as it continues to back the U.S.-led coalition's efforts to defeat the Islamic State group. Last year, New Zealand deployed 143 military personnel on a two-year mission to train Iraqi security forces. That mission was due to end next May, but Prime Minister John Key said the troops would now stay until November 2018. Key said the mission would be altered. The New Zealand troops will now be authorized to train Iraqi police as well as the army, as Iraq tries to hold onto recent territory gains over IS. He said the group's brutality had been on display around the world, including in attacks in Paris and Brussels. "And its sick propaganda has radicalized lone-wolf terrorists, who have carried out atrocities elsewhere," Key added. Iraqi forces have recently driven militants from most of the city of Fallujah. That leaves Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, as the only remaining urban stronghold for IS militants in the country. Opposition leader Andrew Little said in a statement that Key had not made a strong case for extending and expanding the mission, and that he was not being open about the demands being made on New Zealand by its coalition allies.
The New Zealand troops are based in the Taji military base north of Baghdad as part of a joint mission with Australia.
 

Iran regime suspends 7 university students for dancing
Sunday, 19 June 2016/NCRI - The disciplinary committee of Sistan and Baluchistan University, south-east Iran, last week suspended seven of its students for several semesters for dancing. Based on the committee's decision, which is its first instance of suspending students over dancing, five students were suspended for two semesters and two others were suspended one semester. All universities in Iran have an on campus watchdog whose members are approved by officials of the mullahs’ regime to ensure that the regime’s reactionary regulations are not violated.The disciplinary committee passed its decision after a video emerged of the seven students dancing during a cultural festival in Sistan and Baluchistan University. One of the students, who has been issued a warrant of suspension for two semesters, stated: “I did not do anything special and I will protest against the committee's decision."He said he hopes that "the University officials do not approve or finalize such an injustice.”He went on to explain, “Many students expressed their feelings through dancing … Victimizing seven people for this is really an act of oppression". The students who are the first to be given such a punishment at the university wonder why they university officials would make such a simple thing into such a big problem. No harm was done and the meeting didn't mix men and women. The student went on to state that a "two semester suspension for five minutes of simple joy is really cruel and unjust.”Alireza Bandani, President of the Sistan and Baluchistan University, has not responded to any comments and Ali Awsat Hashemi, the fundamentalist regime’s Governor of Sistan and Baluchistan Province, has also not responded to any questions or concerns related to this case.

IRAN: Young man killed under torture in Abadan
Sunday, 19 June 2016/NCRI - A young man named Nader Sharifi-Fard was arrested and later killed during his incarceration by the suppressive security forces in Abadan, southwest Iran, according to local reports. Sources say that the young man was tortured to death in the custody of the regime’s security forces. News of the young man's torture and death spread widely on social media and virtual networks among the people of Abadan, and in order defend Abadan's security forces the Iranian regime’s Police Chief in Abadan, Col. Mohsen Taghizadeh, rushed to the scene to justify the brutal killing of the young boy. According to the state-run Axin Press on June 15 the Chief of Police of Abadan stated "a young man named Nader Sharifi-Fard was summoned for questioning, and the police dealt with his case according to their inherent and legal duty." Moreover Taghizadeh said that "if the officers have shortcomings, we will certainly deal with them but so far there is no evidence that the police tortured him.” The local head of the regime’s suppressive police force ordered mass arrests following the disclosure of the young man's death in Abadan and stated that “people who have released this news and claimed that the police have tortured Nader Sharifi-Fard will be prosecuted by the Iranian Cyber Police and the Abadan Police Legal Department for causing public unrest and spreading lies and tarnishing the image of the police."

Open letter by imprisoned labor activist on hunger strike in Iran
Sunday, 19 June 2016/NCRI - Imprisoned union activist Jafar Azimzadeh, who has been on hunger strike for nearly two months in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, has released an open letter addressed to the regime’s deputy minister of labor, exposing the oppressive policies of Hassan Rouhani’s administration towards Iran’s laborers.
In parts of his open letter addressed to Hassan Hefdahtan, the Iranian regime’s Deputy Labor Minister, Mr. Azimzadeh wrote:
“…I saw it necessary as a labor activist and informed human being to reiterate a few issues and place the measures adopted by various governments and the Rouhani government’s approach towards the protests by laborers and teachers before the judgment of public opinion. I am also making these remarks as a coordinator of a protest petition signed by 40,000 workers demanding an increase in pay….
It is not clear how a government whose Minister of Labor is amongst the most senior security officials of the country, and his deputy, Mr. Hassan Hefdahtan, is a member of the security-military entities who also took part in the negotiations with us, as the coordinators of the 40,000-signature petition in early 2014, as deputy minister of labor, and in the same post on Labor Day in 2014 commanded the arrest of workers outside the Ministry of Labor, cannot actually claim of not adopting a full political-security approach towards labor protests?
During the past 15 years when workers and teachers have been staging public protests, all governments have adopted more oppressive approaches on a wide-scale basis. During the past three years, specifically, according to news published in the country’s official media, in most of the significant protests across the country workers were arrested and later faced with bogus security cases. … It is worth noting that to make it clear for public opinion, I have to emphasize that any approach adopted to engage important labor protests across the country parallel to interfering and basic measures by the security forces are decided in governorates and provincial administrations. The Ministry of Intelligence and city and provincial councils are considered entities under the command of the government.
In addition to expanding the oppressive measures with labor protests during the past three years, the Rouhani government in a measure unprecedented in at least the past one or two decades allowed the judiciary to last year ban all labor protests in Khuzestan Province (southwest Iran). In this regard I see it necessary to emphasize that the official ban on labor protests in their workplaces in Khuzestan Province by the judiciary was announced to labor entities. However, as I said in the 2nd article, such decisions regarding labor protests are not a duty of the judiciary. In fact any decision in this regard are measures that must be made in security organs, governor’s offices, provincial administrations, city and provincial councils as the entities under the government’s command. After such a process these decisions become executive orders.
Three years into the Rouhani government, most of the effective activists of independent labor entities and teachers’ union have faced long-term security sentences issued against them. The vast majority of these activists have been arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence, as a government entity, and unprecedentedly all of them have faced the charges of ‘assembly and collusion against national security’ against them. Furthermore, the harshest of all punishments have been requested for them by the judiciary. In this regard the record placed by the Rouhani government during the past three years has been unparalleled and seen only in this government, meaning that all effective independent labor and teacher activists who have been arrested and had cases forged against them have faced heavy sentences based on charges of ‘assembly and collusion against national security’ raised against them, and that these sentences have been raised for even the slightest measures, such as gathering signatures for labor demands, supporting and providing advice for workers, independent labor activists staging meetings with each other, limited labor gatherings outside the Ministry of Labor and other such activities.
Regarding the abovementioned claims, we can allow the public to judge the truth by informing them about the dossiers of independent labor activists and teachers’ unions of the past three years, or hear the truth of these issues from their own words. However, as far as it is concerned to me and the Iran Free Workers Union, I must say my colleagues and I, as the coordinators of the 40,000-signature labor petition, began gathering signatures as the most simple and peaceful measure of protest. Through such a practice we protested the violation of Article 41 of the Labor Law regarding the lack of increase in our wages, and on many occasions we staged rallies involving only 40 or 50 workers, or even less, to protest the lack of attention and follow-ups to the demands mentioned in this petition. These gatherings were held outside the Labor Ministry (mostly during the previous government). The last such measure was in early 2014 when we issued a letter to the Minister of Labor requesting a reevaluation of the insulting wages announced for 2014, and our protest was based on Article 41 of the Labor Law. We announced if such legitimate demands are neglected we will hold gatherings protesting law violations by the Labor Ministry outside its offices on Labor Day. However, the reaction seen from the Rouhani government’s Labor Ministry to our demands was a request issued to the Ministry of Intelligence to take action against us (specifics are available in my dossier) and dispatching a large number of security forces on the midnight of April 30, 2014 to the homes of myself and my colleagues. This led to my arrest and furthermore allegations such as ‘assembly and collusion against national security’ and other security accusations were raised against me, and a kangaroo hearing was held in a ‘revolutionary’ court that had me sentenced to six years behind bars. This is a trend that I have been protesting through a hunger strike lasting for 49 days now in Evin Prison, demanding an end to security measures against labor and teacher protests, and lifting all ‘assembly and collusion against national security’ charges, along with other security allegations, from the cases of labor and teacher activists. …Today’s world is a world of vast information, the expansion of communications technology and increasing knowledge amongst all human beings, from the most advanced to the most primitive of all countries across the globe. Rest assured that despite all this, those governments and countries that neglect the power of knowledge amongst workers and all the people, and continue their measures of lies and deception aimed at relieving themselves of their responsibilities in imposing harsh conditions for the people, will never have even the slightest chance to survive.”
 

Turkish riot police disperse ‘Trans Pride’ Istanbul march
Reuters, Istanbul Monday, 20 June 2016/Istanbul riot police fired tear gas and rubber pellets on Sunday to disperse a march for transgender people banned after ultra-nationalists said that “degenerates” could not demonstrate. Hundreds of riot police cordoned off the city’s main Taksim Square to prevent the “Trans Pride” rally taking place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Authorities have banned transgender and gay pride marches this month, citing security concerns after the ultra-nationalist warnings against any such events on Turkish soil. “Football fans can rally in this country whenever they want. We were going to do a peaceful activity,” said Ebru Kiranci, spokesperson of the Istanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association. “(The) holy month of Ramadan is an excuse. If you are going to respect Ramadan, respect us too. The heterosexuals think it’s too much for us, only 2 hours in 365 days,” she said. The annual gay pride parade, described as the biggest in the Muslim world, was due to take place on June 26. Istanbul has held gay pride parades since 2003, attracting tens of thousands of marchers, but last year’s was broken up by police. Although the Turkish republic is constitutionally secular, the vast majority of the population is Muslim. Tayyip Erdogan, who became president in 2014 after 11 years as prime minister, has steadily boosted the power of the head of state’s office with appeals to conservative nationalist and religious-minded Turks. This has effectively shifted Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system even before Erdogan seeks to amend the constitution through a referendum to make that official. Unlike many other Muslim countries, homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey but hostility toward gays remains widespread. Critics say Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party have shown little interest in expanding rights for minorities, gays and women, and are intolerant of dissent. The assault by the riot police targeted protesters angered by an attack on a record store launching the new Radiohead album on Saturday. A group of men armed with sticks and bottles attacked the store late on Friday, apparently in protest at people drinking beer during Ramadan, video footage on social media showed.

Yemen talks in Kuwait enter 60th day
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Monday, 20 June 2016/Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, is set to brief the UN Security Council on Tuesday on the same day the talks in Yemen enters its third month, an Al Arabiya News Channel correspondent said. This comes after Ould Cheikh Ahmed held separate meetings with the Houthi militias’ delegation. Sources said the meeting took nearly two hours in which the Houthis discussed potential next steps in reconciliation involving a military and security committees that will eventually lead to their surrender of arms. Houthi militia group in Yemen announced on Sunday the release of 276 government loyalists who had been held captive for months, in a gesture of good will. The Houthis’ sabanews.net website said 200 detainees were set free in Rada, a town in the central province of Baida, and another 76 were let go in nearby Dhamar province. Analysis: Why have Yemen talks stalled so many times?

Palestinian wounded in clash with Israelis dies
AFP, Hebron, Palestinian Territories Monday, 20 June 2016/A Palestinian shot by Israeli soldiers during clashes last month died of his wounds Sunday at a hospital in the West Bank, the hospital said. Arif Jaradat, 22, was wounded during clashes with the Israeli armed forces on May 4 in his home village of Sair, in the south of the occupied West Bank. He was transferred to the hospital in Hebron where he succumbed to his wounds. Violence since October has killed at least 208 Palestinians, 32 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese. Most of the Palestinians were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say. Others were killed in clashes with security forces or by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.

Taliban suicide bombing kills 14 Nepalese guards in Kabul
The Associated Press, Kabul, Afghanistan Monday, 20 June 2016/A Taliban suicide bomber killed 14 Nepalese security guards in an attack Monday on their minibus in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the Interior Ministry and an Afghan security official said. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a bomb rigged to a motorbike killed 10 Afghan civilians during morning rush hour in a busy market in a province in the northeast. And later Monday in Kabul, a second Taliban bombing killed an Afghan civilian and wounded five people, including a provincial council member who was the intended target of that attack, authorities said. The Nepalese were on their way to the Canadian Embassy where they work as guards when the explosion took place on Monday morning, according to a Nepalese guard who was wounded in the attack. Officials at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul could not be reached for comment.
The attack was the latest to hit Kabul as the Taliban have stepped up their assaults as part of their summer offensive. The insurgents frequently target government employees and Afghan security forces across the country. In the bombing that killed the Nepalese, the bomber was on foot when he struck the minibus, said Gen. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, the city’s police chief. He did not identify the foreign security company the guards work for. The Interior Ministry confirmed that all 14 killed were Nepalese citizens, describing the attack as the work of a “terrorist suicide bomber.” It said the explosion also wounded nine people, five Nepalese employees and four Afghan civilians. Amrit Rokaya Chhetri, a Nepalese guard wounded in the attack, told The Associated Press they were on their way to the Canadian Embassy when the blast took place. “Many people died,” Chhetri said from his hospital bed, his head covered with bandage. “I say to my family, I am ok and I will come home.” Abdullah Abdullah, the country’s chief executive officer, condemned the attack in a posting on Twitter, saying: “This attack is an act of terror and intimidation.”Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement to media. In Nepal, Bharat Raj Paudyal, spokesman for Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the government is aware of Monday’s incident in Kabul and is trying to verify the names of the victims and details about the bombing. Nepal does not have an embassy in Afghanistan but the embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, is working to get the details, he said. In a conflicting statement, Afghanistan’s ISIS affiliate also claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack, identifying the suicide bomber as Erfanullah Ahmed and saying he carried out the attack by detonating his explosives’ belt. The conflicting claims could not immediately be reconciled. Insurgents frequently target buses with government employees - or those perceived to be working for the Kabul government. In late May, a suicide bomber struck a minibus carrying court employees during morning rush hour in Kabul, killing 11 people - judges and court employees. The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack as well. In the northeastern Badakhshan province, the parked motorbike-bomb that killed at least 10 Afghan civilians on Monday also wounded 40 others, according to Naved Froutan, spokesman for the provincial governor. The explosion took place in the main bazaar in Kashim district, he said, adding that “an investigation is underway to determine the target of the attack, but all victims of the attack are civilians.” He added that women and children were among those killed and wounded of the attack. Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, denied any involvement by the insurgents in the blast in Badakhshan, though Taliban are active in the area and regularly target Afghan security forces there. As for Monday’s second blast in Kabul, it went off near the home of Mawlavi Attaullah Faizani, a member of the Kabul provincial council, said Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Afghan interior minister. Sediqqi said the bomb went off as Faizani was passing by in his vehicle. Mujahid confirmed the Taliban had targeted the provincial council member. Afghan President Asharf Ghani condemned all three of Monday’s attacks, according to a statement from the presidential palace. It quoted Ghani as saying that “terrorists do not hesitate to kill people even during the holy month of Ramadan” and that they are seeking to “create fear among the people.”

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 20-21/16

Strategic Outlook for Saudi Arabia and Iran
Shmuel Bar/Gatestone Institute/June 20/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8289/strategic-outlook-saudi-arabia-iran

In Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman's "Vision 2030" is totally identified with his leadership. If it succeeds, he will harvest the praise; on the other hand, many in the Saudi elite will latch on to any sign of failure of his policies in order to block his ambitions.
Mohammad bin Salman's social-political agenda to broaden the power base of the regime to include the young and educated -- and to a great extent relatively secular or moderate -- will certainly be seen by the Wahhabi clerics and the tribal social conservatives as geared towards reducing their control over the populace and hence their weight in the elite.
Another serious risk is that the economic plan entails reducing the Saudi welfare state. The economic and social fallout of weaning the Saudis away from entitlements will be exploited by domestic opposition elements and by Iran.
In Iran, the electoral process within the Assembly showed what was not evident during the parliamentary elections held in February, namely that even a formal preeminence of moderates does not and cannot influence the decision making of the Iranian regime and that Khamenei succeeds to pull the strings despite seemingly democratic procedures.
After having won the chairmanship of the Assembly, Jannati delivered a speech demanding total loyalty to Khamenei, which can be considered as targeting the moderates.
Following the announcement of Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030" Economic Plan by Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman on April 25, King Salman announced a reshuffling of the government. The reshuffling was clearly orchestrated by the Deputy Crown Prince and reflects his agenda. This shuffle probably is not the last word even in the near term; the changes in the government strengthen the political position of Mohammad bin Salman, because the new ministers owe him their posts, and through them he will strengthen his hold on the levers of government, especially in the economic sphere. His next step may be to move to neutralize Prince Mitab bin Abdullah, the minister in charge of the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) and a close ally of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Nayef. He could do this by absorbing SANG into the Ministry of Defense.
Such a step would probably not sit well with many of the members of the royal family; however, if Mohammad bin Salman takes such a step, it will only be with the consent of his father, King Salman, and none would actively oppose him. Such a step would have significant ripple effects; international influence in Saudi Arabia has focused for decades on acquiring sectorial influence in the various centers of power of the Kingdom – the different factions of the royal family, the business sector, the army, the SANG etc. The continuing concentration of power in the hands of Mohammad bin Salman will reduce the political relevance of many of these assets of international players and they will be obliged to restructure their connections and sources of information on the politics and economic decision making of the Kingdom.
Farther down the road -- in our assessment not in the short term -- King Salman may appoint his son to the position of Prime Minister – a title that he presently holds himself. Such a promotion would pave the way for Mohammad bin Salman to depose the Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Nayef, to be appointed as the next Crown Prince and to succeed his father. A possibility exists -- though in our assessment it is not likely in the near future -- that the King will even abdicate and pass the reins of the Kingdom to his son after he has been duly appointed as Crown Prince. These scenarios will be a disappointment to policy-shapers in Washington who prefer -- or at least feel more comfortable with Mohammad bin Nayef. This too will call for a significant shift in the international disposition towards the Saudi regime; development of channels of influence with Mohammad bin Salman and his confidantes, adapting to a new and unfamiliar paradigm of decision-making in the Kingdom and coping with Mohammad bin Salman's not-typically-Saudi regional policies towards Iran and other threats.
Mohammad bin Salman's "Vision 2030" is totally identified with his leadership. If it succeeds, he will harvest the praise; on the other hand, many in the Saudi elite will latch on to any sign of failure of his policies in order to block his ambitions. However, none of them will actively attempt to disrupt Mohammad bin Salman's plans; such a power struggle could precipitate the end of the rule of the al-Saud family and the very existence of the Saudi state, and they are aware that either they "hang together or they hang separately". The risks to the regime from the economic reform process, however, do not necessarily come from proactive efforts to disrupt it. Mohammad bin Salman's social-political agenda to broaden the power base of the regime to include the young and educated -- and to a great extent relatively secular or moderate -- will certainly be seen by the Wahhabi clerics and the tribal social conservatives as geared towards reducing their control over the populace and hence their weight in the elite. Another serious risk is that the economic plan entails reducing the Saudi welfare state. The economic and social fallout of weaning the Saudis off entitlements will be exploited by domestic opposition elements and by Iran.
Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 7, 2015. (Image source: U.S. State Department)
The changes in the Saudi Oil Ministry reflect Mohammad bin Salman's strategic policy of using Saudi oil to minimize Iran's economic and political profits from the lifting of sanctions, even at the expense of Saudi profit from its oil. This policy has broad support in the Saudi elite, with the possible exception of some of the government oil bureaucracy and the oil-related business community. But the latter do not have the power to derail the regime's priorities in this regard. Therefore, we are likely to see a continuation of the Saudi policy of high production, willingness to offer attractive deals in order to undercut Iranian overtures to existing Saudi markets, and a high level of sensitivity to any threats to the oil industry. The chances of Iranian retaliation for the Saudi economic warfare are high. These could take the shape of cyber-attacks on installations inside Saudi Arabia, or terrorist attacks (including rocket attacks) against pipelines, refineries and other installations, and even attacks - without taking responsibility -- on Saudi oil shipping inside the Persian Gulf or -- more likely further away from the theater. Such attacks may normally be seen as providing Iran plausible deniability from the point of view of international law, but they will be attributed to Iran by the Saudi regime, that will see itself as obliged to react. Therefore, in the current state of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and assuming that the chances of rapprochement are slim, the chances of actual limited military conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia remain.
The Islamic State has come under increasing military pressure in both Iraq and Syria in recent weeks, and it is likely to lose territory. Yet this will not make Iraq more united or stable, nor will it bring the civil war in Syria any closer to an end. Iran's influence in Iraq will grow, while the Sunnis will see the US as Iran's enabler. The Islamic State will try to respond to its losses by launching major terror attacks in the West. The Islamic State lacks the manpower to defend all the Iraqi and Syrian territory it has occupied since 2014. Consequently, its strategy consists first and foremost of defending strategically or symbolically important assets, primarily al-Raqqah, Fallujah and Mosul, as well as key supply routes. In addition, it is compensating for its defeats by carrying out lethal terror attacks in Syria and Iraq in order to demonstrate that while these regimes can, with foreign backing, regain territory, they cannot defend their citizens.
The military successes against the Islamic State will entail a number of long-range problematic political implications: exacerbation of the Sunni-Shiite conflict in Iraq and in the region in general, strengthening Iranian influence on the back of American military power, increased animosity towards the US, and widening the gap between the Baghdad government and the Kurds. The Islamic State will eventually be pushed out of Fallujah, thanks to the American support. Once the Islamic State is pushed out of Fallujah and perhaps out of Mosul, Shiite militias will move in to exact their revenge. Fallujah will again be a fertile ground for Sunni radicalism and a new Sunni insurgency in the area is almost inevitable; the Sunni populace will probably rebel again under some successor of the Islamic State and Fallujah will have to be "liberated" again. Furthermore, the American airstrikes in support of the Shiite ground offensive will strengthen the image of the US as enabler of the Iranian takeover of Iraq and as responsible for Shiite atrocities. Atrocities committed in Fallujah by the Shiite militias under American auspices will give pause to the plans for initiating an offensive on Mosul.
The Iraqi political system which the Americans constructed is on the verge of final collapse. The stalemate over the election of a new cabinet and "popular" demonstrations staged by Muqtada al-Sadr are indicative of the inherent failure of the Iraqi political system. While al-Sadr had proven that he can paralyze the government and the Parliament, he cannot become the solution. He has helped to demolish an already dysfunctional political system, but his sources of political influence draw on the very factors that made that system dysfunctional: sectarianism, a politicized military, use of "popular" violence to challenge democratic procedures, involvement of religious authorities in the democratic process, involvement of external actors (particularly Iran) and the implicit threat of armed militias. Since the current crisis derives from the power struggle within the Shiite community, it will hinge to a great degree on Iran. It may escalate to a Shiite civil war, and such a scenario would probably draw Iran to intervene directly, or to encourage a Shiite military commander to stage a coup and establish military rule, then pledge his allegiance to Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei. We assess that the US, under the current administration, would probably acquiesce to "Pax Iranica" in Iraq, but the more influence any settlement would accord Iran, the more it would be unacceptable to the Gulf States, and they would use their influence with the Sunnis and the Kurds to block it, inter alia, by increasing support of radical Sunni groups in the country.
The cause of Kurdish independence is gaining momentum; all the Kurdish factions seem to be dedicated to holding a referendum on Kurdish independence before the elections in the US in order to create a fait accompli for the next administration. The issue of independence, however, is linked to the demand of the new PUK-Gorran alliance for parliamentary elections and for the inclusion of mixed Arab-Kurdish areas that the Peshmerga seized from the Islamic State in those elections and in the independence referendum. (Foremost of these areas are the oil-rich area of Kirkuk, the provinces of Nineveh, Diyala, and Salah ad-Din and the regional capital of Mosul that is still in the hands of the Islamic State). If the Kurdish Region succeeds in annexing these areas, it will also signify a watershed event in the process of the breakup of Iraq.
Turkey and Iran will both oppose these plans and the current US administration will not lend its support to a move that, in essence, proves the failure of its Iraq policy and signals the breakup of Iraq. Specifically, the prize of Kirkuk for the Kurdish state would be prodigious; the Baghdad government has halted the export of oil produced by its oil company in Kirkuk to Turkey in retaliation for the KRG's independent oil exports. If Kirkuk Province joins the Kurdish Region, the KRG would presumably be able to take control of Kirkuk's oil and resume its export to Turkey or -- if the PUK-Gorran alliance comes to power in the KRG -- to opt for the Iranian offer of export through Iran to the Persian Gulf.
Turkey views the Raqqa offensive in Syria with great concern. The American connection with the Kurdish YPG, which is viewed in Ankara as an extension of the PKK, is seen as yet another indication of the US inching towards support of an independent Kurdistan -- the chronic nightmare of Turkey. Furthermore, if the Islamic State is pushed out of al-Raqqa and surrounding areas by the YPG, these areas will come under the control of Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava). Even before such a scenario emerges, the Islamic State's priority of defending its regional capital, Raqqa will probably bring it to redeploy its forces now deployed in the Jarablus-Azaz Corridor, the stretch of land along the Syrian-Turkish border which separates the eastern Kurdish territory from the western enclave around the town of Afrin, north of Aleppo. The withdrawal of Islamic State forces from this corridor would tempt the YPG to launch an offensive westward from Jarablus in order to link up with the Afrin enclave. Such a prize would be a far greater achievement for the YPG than the capture of the non-Kurdish Raqqa area, and it would probably prefer it. If the YPG indeed takes such a step, it is likely to precipitate Turkish intervention, turning Turkey -- a NATO member -- into an active participant in the Syrian civil war against a party that is allied with both the US and Russia.
In Iran, Despite the hopes of the moderate camp, the hardliner 90-year-old Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati was elected (May 24) as head of the Assembly of Experts, after having gained 55 of 88 votes. This nomination does not bode well for President Rouhani's future, should he insist on implementing deeper liberalizing reforms.
More than anything else, Ayatollah Jannati's election highlights the Supreme leader's grip on power. Ayatollah Khamenei did his best to help Jannati's election by delivering his directives to some members of the Assembly. The electoral process within the Assembly showed what was not evident during the parliamentary elections held in February, namely that even a formal preeminence of moderates does not and cannot influence the decision making of the Iranian regime, and that Khamenei pulls the strings despite seemingly democratic procedures. The Assembly of Experts is rather formal and ceremonial body, unlike the Majles, however its role might become crucial at some circumstances, should the Assembly be summoned to nominate the following leader in the event of Khamenei's death.
Ahmad Jannati, is important by virtue of what he epitomizes as a symbol rather than by his current political capacity, which won't persist long, given his age. He has been serving as secretary of the Guardian Council since 1992, and in this capacity was instrumental in consolidating Khamenei's power and, in all elections, was responsible for weeding out "undesirable" candidates to the Majles and Assembly of Experts. After having won the chairmanship of the Assembly, Jannati delivered a speech demanding total loyalty to Khamenei, which can be considered as targeting the moderates. Jannati is not alone with this mindset: his respective first and second deputies are hardliners: Mohammad Kermani and Mahmoud Shahroudi. The latter served for many years as the head of the judiciary, is close to Khamenei and is mentioned as a potential successor to Khamenei. This casting of the Assembly of Experts highlights that Khamenei is preparing to guarantee his ideological legacy and the ideological continuity of the regime after his death.
The election of Jannati was even more conspicuous in the light of the corresponding withdrawal of the chief candidate of the moderates, who they had hoped would serve as an ally within the regime -- former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. Rafsanjani decided to withdraw from the electoral competition under pressure by the hardliners, including attacks on his children, his daughter, Faezah and his son, Mehdi.
On May 28, Ali Larijani was elected as the speaker of the Majles for the third term. Larijani is considered a hardliner; for over 30 years, he has been a confidant of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. His brother Sadeq Larijani is chief of the judiciary, and his other brothers have played important roles in diplomacy and government affairs. A veteran of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Larijani is also the son of Grand Ayatollah Hashem Amoli and son-in-law to prominent Islamic ideologue Morteza Motahhari. The moderate conservative politician Ali Motahhari is his brother-in-law. Given this multifaceted background, he has been able to establish strong, longstanding ties with both the military and the clergy, and with different factions in the Majles, with the exception of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who became Larijani's nemesis. During Ahmadinejad's second term, Larijani openly confronted him.
By contrast, Larijani is considered close to President Hassan Rouhani. During the nuclear negotiations, Larijani contained anti-Rouhani moves in the legislature and got the Majles to ratify the agreement. However, it must be clear that he did this not because he is Rouhani's ally, but because he was ordered to carry out this mission by the Supreme Leader. Hence, Larijani will remain supportive of Rouhani, but only on the condition that the latter complies with the wishes of the Supreme Leader. If Larijani decides to stand for office, he may leverage his position in the Majles and his status with the Supreme Leader to whittle away at Rouhani's popularity.
In the meantime, the Majles will be more supportive of Rouhani. Out of the 80 Majles members who opposed the nuclear agreement, fewer than a dozen remain. None of them is high profile, and their low numbers prevent them from establishing a bloc of their own, as they did in the previous parliament. Instead, they will have to operate within a "Principlists" bloc that is dominated by more moderate "Principlist" figures. This means that the remaining hardliners will be less likely to stage the theatrics that were so successful in challenging the government during the last Majles, particularly through their repeated summoning of various ministers to answer questions; and the impeachment of the minister of science, technology and higher education. Their absence will lead to a calmer parliamentary environment, more focused on addressing the serious economic issues Iran faces such as unemployment, reform of the banking sector, and the steep economic slowdown. This notwithstanding, one should bear in mind that the above scenario is confined to the functioning of the Majles vis-à-vis Rouhani, whereas the real chances of success of his program depend on other foci of power.
*Dr. Shmuel Bar is a senior research fellow at the Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy Studies at the Technion in Haifa, Israel, and a veteran of Israel's intelligence community.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

"Selling a House to a Jew is a Betrayal of Allah"
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/June 20/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8300/palestinians-homes-jews
The renewed campaign against Palestinians suspected of selling real estate to Jews is also part of the belief that the entire land is Muslim-owned, and no Muslim is entitled to give up even one inch of it to a non-Muslim. In other words, it is forbidden for a Muslim to sell his home or land to a Jew or Christian. This would be the nail in the coffin of any Palestinian leader who attempts to make any territorial compromise as part of a peace agreement with Israel.
This campaign has raised fears that Palestinians may resume extrajudicial executions of suspected land dealers.
"The land dealers should know that they would not be able to avoid earthly and life punishment. Not only will they not be buried in Islamic cemeteries, but their entire families will also be punished and it would be forbidden to marry or to deal in any way with their family members." — Palestinian National Work Commission in Jerusalem.
This campaign undermines Palestinians' long-standing claim that Jews "illegally seize" Arab-owned houses and land in Jerusalem. It seems that rather than illegal seizure, Jews have been paying willing Arabs cold hard cash for the properties.
A Palestinian Muslim who commits the "crime" of selling property to Jews should not expect to be buried in an Islamic cemetery. Marriage to local Palestinians will no longer be an option for this criminal's family members, and any weddings the family makes will have no guests attending.
Both the living and the dead, then, will pay the price for such "treason."
This is only a sampling of the punitive measures that will now be faced by Palestinian residents of Jerusalem who are involved in real estate transactions with Jews.
The latest measures were recently announced by a group of Palestinian activists in east Jerusalem, as part of a renewed campaign against Palestinians who are found guilty of selling a home or plot of land to a Jewish individual or organization.
The campaign, which has received the blessing of senior Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas officials, comes in the context of Palestinian efforts to thwart Israeli efforts to "Judaize" Jerusalem. It is also part of the belief that the entire land is Muslim-owned and no Muslim is entitled to give up even one inch of it to a non-Muslim. In other words, it is forbidden for a Muslim to sell his home or land to a Jew or Christian.
This campaign has raised fears that Palestinians may resume extrajudicial executions of suspected land dealers.
Although the activists behind the campaign did not openly call for the execution of Palestinians involved in real estate transactions with Jews, past experience shows that "suspects" are often kidnapped and killed by their own people.
Between 1996 and 1998, at least eight Palestinians suspected of selling property to Jews or serving as middlemen in such transactions were abducted and killed by Palestinian activists.
Palestinians consider the selling of homes or land to Jews an act of high treason. Palestinian Authority laws and fatwas (Islamic religious decrees) prohibit Palestinians from selling land to "any man or judicial body corporation of Israeli citizenship, living in Israel or acting on its behalf."
In 2009, a Palestinian Authority court in Hebron sentenced Anwar Breghit, 59, to death for selling land to Israelis. While the sentence was never carried out, it achieved its aim: to deter others from engaging in similar transactions with Jews.
In 2014, PA President Mahmoud Abbas issued an executive order that amended sections of the penal code related to real estate transactions, and increased punishments for selling land to "hostile countries" and their citizens. Abbas's decision came following reports that Palestinians had sold houses in Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood to Jews.
In 2014, following reports that Palestinians had sold houses in Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood (pictured above) to Jews, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued an executive order that amended sections of the penal code related to real estate transactions, and increased punishments for selling land to "hostile countries" and their citizens. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons/Gilabrand)
Yet this sell-to-Jews-get-murdered equation is nothing new. In 1998, Amnesty International documented the pattern: "Torture of those accused of "collaboration" with Israel or selling land to Israelis appeared to be systematic," the report said.
"Unlawful killings, including possible extrajudicial executions, continued to occur. Three land dealers were found dead during May [1998] after [PA] Justice Minister Freih Abu Meddein, announced that the Palestinian Authority would begin applying a Jordanian law which provided for the death penalty for those accused of selling land to Jews."
Last week, a Palestinian group, the National Work Commission in Jerusalem, issued yet another warning to Palestinians suspected of involvement in real estate transactions with Jews. In a leaflet distributed in east Jerusalem, the group called for a religious, economic and social boycott of the suspected real estate dealers and their families.
"We call for additional measures to renounce and besiege the brokers and weak people among Palestinians in Jerusalem. We call for a total boycott of these people on all levels -- social and economic -- and to refrain from dealing with them in trade or purchases or sales or participating in their joys and sorrows and in any religious, national or cultural event. The land dealers should know that they would not be able to avoid earthly and life punishment. Not only will they not be buried in Islamic cemeteries, but their entire families will also be punished and it would be forbidden to marry or to deal in any way with their family members."
The group, which consists of scores of Palestinian political activists and prominent figures from east Jerusalem, also threatened to post photos and personal details of the land dealers on social media. In addition, the group called on Arab countries to ban the entry of any Palestinian found guilty of involvement in real estate transactions with Jews.
This threat came only days after several Palestinian families from the Old City of Jerusalem launched a similar campaign targeting Palestinians suspected of involvement in real estate deeds with Jews. The families signed what they called "The Document of the Jerusalem Pledge and Its Covenant," to prevent real estate transactions with Jews.
The document states that any Palestinian caught selling a house or land to Jews would be considered "out of the national ranks and a traitor to Allah and his Prophet." It too warned that those who defy the ban would be deprived of a prayer at a mosque upon his or her death and would not be buried in an Islamic cemetery. The families called on the Palestinian Authority and other Palestinian factions and institutions to take all measures to "chase out the collaborators and those who cover up for them, and expose them and shame them regardless of their influence and status."
Mustafa Abu Zahra, a prominent Palestinian businessman from Jerusalem and one of the engineers of the document, called on the Palestinian Authority to "deter" anyone who thinks of selling of facilitating the sale of Arab-owned property to Jews.
Another Palestinian official, Najeh Bkeirat, who played a major role in the drafting of the document, claimed that Israel was seeking to "empty the Old City of Jerusalem from its native residents as it is already doing in Haifa, Jaffa and Acre."
The renewed campaign against Palestinians suspected of selling real estate to Jews would be the nail in the coffin of any Palestinian leader who attempts to make any territorial compromise as part of a peace agreement with Israel. The stakes are very, very high: betrayal of Allah and Prophet Mohammed are at issue.
"This document constitutes a message of warning to the Palestinian Authority and its negotiators that they must not give up one grain of the soil of Jerusalem and the land of Palestine," explained Palestinian columnist Ghassan Mustafa Al-Shami. "The document also represents a message to all the Palestinian national factions that they must take all the measures to pursue anyone who dares to think of selling Jerusalem and West Bank lands and houses, and that they should be put on trial for treason."
Finally, this campaign undermines Palestinians' long-standing claim that Jews "illegally seize" Arab-owned houses and land in Jerusalem. It seems that rather than illegal seizure, Jews have been paying willing Arabs cold hard cash for the properties. By endorsing such campaigns, the Palestinian Authority leadership is once again shooting itself not only in the foot, but also in the head.
*Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist, is based in Jerusalem.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Palestinian 'Al-Hayat' Columnist On Tel Aviv Attack: The Armed Struggle Harms The Palestinians More Than It Helps Them
MEMRI/June 20, 2016 Special Dispatch No.6484
In his June 12, 2016 column in the London daily Al-Hayat, Majed Kayali responded to the terror attack at Tel Aviv's Sarona Market complex, criticizing the tactic of armed struggle which he said that over the years has harmed the Palestinians more than helped them. He said that even if the attack had elements of heroism and sacrifice, and even if it could be seen as a natural response to the occupation, it did not help the Palestinians but only gave Israel an opportunity to take countermeasures, and also did damage to the Palestinian struggle's global legitimacy and image. According to him, the current manifestation of the armed struggle, that is, attacks by individuals, reveals a clear lack of Palestinian strategy, and shows the helplessness of the Palestinian leadership as well as the Palestinian resistance factions. Adding that under the current difficult circumstances, on both on the Palestinian and the regional levels, there can be no liberation of Palestinian land, he called on the Palestinians to focus on rebuilding their society and political entities, formulate a political vision that is appropriate for the Palestinian problem, and choose ways of struggle that benefit them, as the First Intifada did.
Following are excerpts from his column: [1]
"The Tel Aviv operation that targeted Israelis at one of the restaurants took us back to the days of the Second Intifada, 2000-2004, which saw an escalation of attacks against restaurant, attractions, buses, and markets.
"It is interesting that our collective mind, which relies on emotions, slogans, and sanctifying the armed struggle, forgets, in those moments of enthusiasm and vengeance, the lessons learned from the past and the heavy toll that we have paid, without obtaining the desired benefits from operations like this and with a disproportion of victims versus achievements...
"By any standard, we can view this operation as a natural response to the occupation, the settlements, and the arrogant and racist Israeli policy. But at the same time it is also a product of a divisive culture and of the factions' inability to create a culture of resistance that is appropriate to the capabilities of the Palestinian people, to the circumstances, and to the time. Therefore, it is possible to differentiate between the spirit of heroism and sacrifice shown by those carrying out the operation and the fact that [this operation] was a spontaneous act by an individual, in isolation from any political context or context of struggle in the strategic sense.
"With regard to the moral aspect, it can be said that the imperialist, racist, and usurping Israel is responsible for everything that happens to the Palestinians – their frustration, and their sense of oppression and rage. But this operation, which targeted civilians, damages the credibility of their struggle. It can be assumed that [the Palestinians] have become more aware of, and sensitive to, this issue [of preserving credibility], in light of the increased sympathy worldwide for [the Palestinian] problem and rights, and the increased calls to isolate Israel and boycott it politically and culturally in Europe, and even in the U.S....
"The idea here is that sacrifice and heroism are not enough, and that they do not prevent the severe or disproportionate consequences that they could bring about, because they are the actions of individuals, disconnected from any agenda or faction. The problem, it seems, is that the [Palestinian] factions welcome these operations [by individuals], in an attempt to cover up their helplessness. [But] such operations expose the lack of a clear strategy for a Palestinian struggle after half a century of the national movement's existence, and reveal that the Palestinians' armed struggle activity is random and depends on mood and on trial and error.
"Aside from the moral aspect, the drawback of this operation and others like it is that they are unrelated to any political solution [while at the same time] do not emanate from any capability to continue this form of struggle – particularly in light of the upheavals in the Arab world and the devastation of state and society in Syria and Iraq. Israel, which launched three devastating wars in Gaza in 2008, 2012, and 2014 without anyone stopping it, may perhaps seize the opportunity in these circumstances to launch a new war on Gaza, and maybe even take steps to uproot thousands or tens of thousands of Palestinians and drive them out of, say, Jerusalem or Hebron. We have already seen the world's lenience towards the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, who killed hundreds of thousands of his own people, destroyed their homes, and drove out millions. How will this world act against Israel, if it only did to the Palestinians a quarter of [what Assad did to his people]?
"Additionally, the Palestinians' problem is that they are not examining their historical experience critically. Where was the armed Palestinian struggle when it began in the mid-1960s, and where is it now? The Second Intifada, 2000-2004, saw the largest conflict between the Palestinians and Israel, with the latter suffering heavy loss of life... but [Israel ultimately] succeeded in neutralizing the resistance while negotiating with the Palestinian national movement, reoccupying the West Bank, and abusing the Palestinians. Furthermore, it prevented the Palestinians from entering Jerusalem without a permit; it erected the separation fence; it built dozens of settlements; and it set up checkpoints between the cities and villages of the West Bank.
"I do not mean to say that the Palestinians should give up the struggle and surrender. But they must know which form of struggle is most effective – like the First Intifada, for example – and must balance cost and benefit, and wear down their enemies, rather than becoming worn down themselves. The resistance must consider the people's steadfastness, endurance, and ability to develop Palestinian society and strengthen its political entities – because otherwise this form of resistance will do Israel no harm, but will make it easier for it to divide Palestinian society and wear down and subjugate the Palestinians.
"Naturally, some will ask what the alternative [to armed struggle] is; this is the opportunity to emphasize that the author of these lines does not see negotiations or the Oslo Accords as the path to Palestinian rights. That is, the Palestinian experiment has failed, in both negotiations and resistance, due to a lack of strategic political vision as well as the weakness, calcification, and lethargy of the Palestinian political infrastructure (PLO, PA, and the organizations). As for the question of the alternative that seems impossible – the answer is simple: There is no use walking on a path that is a proven failure and has caused damage...
"Therefore, under the current difficult circumstances, both within and without, the best thing for the Palestinians is to gather their strength and not to enable Israel to take advantage of what is happening in the region to strike them and to dismantle their society – because under these circumstances it is impossible to liberate even an inch of Palestine and to weaken Israel, in light of the events in the Arab world.
"Under these circumstances, it would be best for the Palestinians to reassess [their course of action], with a critical and responsible approach; to rebuild their society inside [the PA] and out [in the diaspora]; to restore consensus; and to rebuild their political entities on new foundations and in accordance with a political vision that is appropriate for the Palestinian problem, the Palestinian people, and the land of Palestine. It is best for the Palestinians to undertake forms of struggle that are appropriate for the people's capabilities, and not to allow Israel to use its unrestrained force to wear down and dismantle Palestinian society."
Endnotes:
[1] Al-Hayat (London), June 12, 2016.

The Syrians are waiting for November
Eyad Abu Shakra/Al Arabiya/20 June/16
Last Saturday, Asharq Al-Awsat mentioned that it had been informed by “Western diplomatic sources” that Staffan de Mistura, the UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, was coming under Russo-American pressure aimed at holding a new round of negotiations in Geneva.
Under normal circumstances there would have been no reasons for pressures, but what the Syrian crisis is going through has exceeded all limits. The mere fact that the UN has to plead with Bashar Al-Assad’s regime and its ‘henchmen on the ground’ just to allow food and medicines into besieged areas – some that have been besieged since 2012 – is enough proof.
Here one may ask why ‘The International Crisis Group for Syria’ exists. Which ‘Syria’ is it dealing with? How cohesive is this Group? And, what is the significance about this group being ‘international’ when one of its pillars, i.e. Russia, is now an ‘intervention and occupation force’, enjoying an American carte blanche to do what it likes, and interpret and execute UN resolutions as it pleased.
Indeed, as time passed by and red lines disappeared, the Friends of Syria Group was also proving to be a lie as it became obvious that there was only a handful of such friends. Today, as Washington and Moscow’s positions vis-à-vis Syria have become almost indistinguishable, Beijing has adopted Moscow’s policies without hesitation, and the clear frustration and inability of the European powers to do anything about Washington’s Syria policy, we are witnessing the collapse of ‘The International Crisis Group for Syria’ which is rapidly following the lip-service ‘friends’ to the scrapheap.
During the last couple of years a lot of blame was levelled at Mr. de Mistura. However, it is obvious now that he was working under tight constraints that render his efforts fruitless. Moscow is clearly unwilling to surrender a political and military ‘advantage’ gained in a strategic region that was for it a “no go” area.
So, thanks to American negativity and international disability, the only hope left for the Syrians now is to wait for early November
Unwilling to jeopardize
As for Washington, it is surely unwilling to jeopardize its agreements with the Iranian leadership during what is left of Barack Obama’s second term in the White House, even at the expense of the Middle East’s stability and the territorial integrity of its countries.
Finally, Tehran, controlled by the hubris of the Mullahs and blood lust of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), and benefitting from its accords with both Washington and Moscow, is not going to miss a historical chance of avenging its old defeats against the Arabs and challenging the Turks for the leadership of the Muslim world.
Given all the above, could a murderous regime – like the Al-Assad regime – be blamed if it did not exploit such a regional and global climate to continue its carnage? In addition to what has been mentioned, there in the background, is the curiously ‘pragmatic’ Israeli position. It is actually based on the following smart considerations.
Firstly, Israel has always been relaxed in its dealings with the Syrian regimes under the two Al-Assads, father and son; noting that the day before yesterday marked the 16th anniversary of the death of the father, Hafez al-Assad, who invented the concept of co-existence with Israel under the mask of rejecting it since 1973. The Israeli leadership, in turn and out of experience, knows only too well how to differentiate between talks and actions, especially, when coming from loud out-bidders who are only happy to co-exist with it.
Secondly, Syria today is virtually a ‘condominium’. The al-Assad regime would not survive without the direct support of Iran and Russia, of course, with Washington’s and even Tel Aviv’s blessings. The recurring visits by the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Moscow against the deafening silence of the Damascus rejectionists and Beirut ‘resistors’ is a clear proof of the lines that are defining the prohibited areas as well as the margins of maneuvers.
Thirdly, Iran was never far from outbidding and bluffing as regard resisting (USA and Israel); and since the 1979 Khomeini Islamic Revolution and then the Iran-Contra scandal, Iran has been much more interested in bringing drown Arab regimes through “exporting the revolution” than fighting Israel. This has been proven time and time again, from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen to the heart of Palestine itself, where Iran has sponsored the tearing apart of the Palestinian social fabric from within in order to undermine any possibility that a viable Palestinian entity could emerge.
Fourthly, a regional Muslim “civil war” between Sunnis and Shiites does not worry the Israeli Right; the reason being is that such a war serves its interest in more than one way. It diverts attention away from its policies of annexation, settlements, and the eventual transfer of Palestinians. It also weakens and fragments a likely enemy that threatens these policies.
Thus, the Israeli Right, led by Netanyahu and his Likud Party, see no benefits in the collapse of a regime it knows well and has never ever feared. In fact, what this Israeli Right desires now is nothing more than having a say in how regional influence is distributed through firmly deciding Iran’s share, or agreeing a ceiling for its ambitions, under the watchful eyes of Washington and Moscow.
Pessimism
Back to De Mistura, the “Western diplomatic sources” quoted by Asharq Al-Awsat sound pessimistic about any effective international move in the light of what they regard as “toothless” Washington policy while Moscow handles most of the cards in Syria. They go as far as saying that the Secretary of State John Kerry has handed over the Syrian portfolio to the Russians and that Kerry, along with President Barack Obama and the CIA, are of the view that ISIS is the only threat there. Subsequently, they believe that all efforts must serve this objective alone even if it meant cooperating with Moscow, and further still, even if it meant keeping Al-Assad regime if it was the price of Moscow’s cooperation. On the other hand, as the diplomatic sources add, the Pentagon represents the opposite argument, as it distrusts both the White House’s approach and the Kremlin’s intentions. Indeed, the Pentagon firmly believes that the ‘Moscow – Tehran – Damascus’ axis is hell-bent on a military solution in Syria and is striving to achieve it.
Thus, the Syrians’ suffering is expected to increase, since any change in Obama’s position seems unlikely during the countdown of his presidency, and the virtual partition of Syria and the intentional rundown of moderation within the “Opposition” are underway.
So, thanks to American negativity and international disability, the only hope left for the Syrians now is to wait for early November.
*This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Jun. 18, 2016.

Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s timely visit to America
Raghida Dergham/Al Arabiya/20 June/16
One of the implications of the visit by a high-level Saudi delegation to Washington, California, and New York this week is that the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz appears intent on investing in the development of Saudi-American relations in all fields and at all levels, while probing what will be needed to repair Saudi Arabia’s image in US and Western perceptions. That mission will not be easy, because there has been almost automatic sympathy with Iran and automatic anger against Saudi Arabia since 9/11 among many thinkers, journalists, decision-makers, and academics, amid propaganda campaigns blaming the government of the kingdom for the actions of some of its citizens. This automatic hostility is not spontaneous, but the result of wilful efforts by American entities that used “Wahhabism” as a rallying call against Saudi Arabia, and the result of well-funded propaganda campaigns meant to highlight Iran’s “moderation” after the nuclear deal and cover up its abuses in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. In Washington, there has been reassurance felt toward the deputy crown prince as the key contributor to Saudi future, the architect of the Vision 2030, and a man with extraordinary executive powers
Saudi Arabia was absent from this public relations battle, which sought to pressure the US into choosing between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the latter as a “loyal friend” to the US, and which also enlisted voices of sectarian incitement who decided that the enemy of the West was the Sunni Muslims. Saudi Arabia decided not to take part believing initially that all investments in friendly relations to improve Saudi Arabia’s image in Washington had proven to be futile.
Riyadh even sometimes pursued a policy of “sulking”, for example when it refused to take its seat at the Security Council in protest at US policy. Today, there are signs of some serious thinking on the part of Riyadh on how to compensate for the Gulf’s absence in the intellectual, emotional, and political scales that favor Iran in the US public relations arena. This requires a multidimensional approach that is not confined to US institutions, and must include Arab experts who are familiar with both Arab and American cultures and can translate this into new understandings and better relations. There is an opportunity for a better approach, now on the verge of transition to a new administration in Washington, but the stakes are high against a formidable foe. Furthermore, America is not yet ready to be forgiving, especially that terrorism has returned to the US homeland, this time at the hands of an American youth born in Queens, New York to Afghan immigrants, a Muslim who decided to kill innocent people in the service of Islamist radicalism and radicalism of all kinds.
The personality of the deputy crown prince has been met with welcome in America, along with his initiatives for change in both form and substance. The young prince has combined modernity and tradition, and appears comfortable with himself, confident and intent to leave an impression that challenges prejudices about his young age. He is the young man, after all, who was behind the Vision 2030 plan and its implementation mechanisms. Aware of the pitfalls but unafraid of digging deeper, he is the prince who dared to seek radical change in the relationship between the citizen and the state, in a quiet revolution with pragmatic goals and approaches. The Vision 2030 plan is nothing short of astonishing, a collective workshop toward a liberal economic and social governance replacing the stale patterns of nationalisation, rent-seeking, and dependency.
This is what Prince Mohammed bin Salman is carrying to Washington, California, and New York, ready for a modern and qualitative leap to keep up with the requirements of the tech age. At the official level, the deputy crown prince was welcomed at the highest levels, sometimes in a climate that resembled a family reception. The general mood indicates the Obama administration has decided to soften the tension and seek warmer relations relative to what has been the norm under Obama, perhaps to spare the next administration having to inherit the burdens of the current administration’s policies. The general decision in Washington is to restore at least in part the old US relationship with Saudi Arabia, which had gone through a difficult phase as a result of the fundamental shift pursued by Obama in the US-Iranian relations without doing what is necessary to get the Gulf countries, the traditional allies of the US, on board, and clarify to them their future position in the new paradigm.
In intellectual circles, they call this turning the clock back. But what some may not understand is that the Saudi leaders that came to Washington this week have something more in mind. They want a new kind of relationship with different rules, which they want to be part of rather than dictated. This will not be easy, especially because those who want to sabotage a bid like this are priming themselves for a war against Saudi reputation to prevent the development of a new American-Saudi relationship that can undermine American-Iranian relations or American-Russian partnership in Syria. Traditionally, Saudi Arabia adopts a reactive policy instead of taking the initiative in propaganda wars, thus appearing on the defensive. Traditionally, there is a kind of elitism and haughtiness in how to deliver the message to its recipients, creating frustration, annoyance, and opposite results than the ones desired. Traditionally, Saudi Arabia has had no comprehensive political-media strategy, and has made a mistake in the past when it bought rather than financed [media arms] as a policy, for example. But many are not ready to accept a liberal Saudi Arabia, especially because of its “Wahhabi-fundamentalist” image.
Now, there are indications the young leadership is undertaking serious self-review regarding the results of traditional strategies and the requirements of modern ones. However, this is still in its early stages, and the effort appears more gradual compared to the national transformation vision. At least this is what appears to us now, but perhaps radical change is in the offing. Either way, a media and intellectual strategy requires a major leap because the strategy of the axis comprising Iran, Russia, the Syrian regime, and Hezbollah is ready to double the amount of harm it has inflicted on Saudi Arabia, as part of a program that started years ago with formidable funding.
According to a report by major media firm, Quantum, several entities are involved in anti-Saudi propaganda. The Russian propaganda machine seems the most effective, spending nearly $450 million annually, employing 600 people, and addressing 30 languages since its inception in 2012, according to Quantum’s report. The Iranian machine is even more formidable, spending $900 million annually.
Both target Saudi Arabia primarily, working continuously to link terrorism to Saudi Arabia, and presenting Bashar al-Assad as a logical alternative to ISIS and terrorism. The two machines work hard to move the limelight away from Syria and the roles of their governments in its tragedies, instead focusing on Saudi Arabia’s role in Yemen to portray it as something worse and deflect from Russian and Iranian actions in Syria.
Quantum’s conclusions boil down to the fact that Saudi Arabia needs to adopt two separate yet complementary strategies: One focusing on challenging and countering the image promoted by the machines of its opponents in the global arena. And one that focuses on promoting the image of the new face carried by the Saudi Vision 2030 and the achievements that have been made and that Riyadh intends to build on to deliver more.
The political openness, economic privatization, and social diversity enshrined in the Saudi vision are together a new, bold, and modern philosophy that challenges insularity, isolation, and the aspirations for regional hegemony adopted by the Iranian regime. But many are not ready to accept a liberal Saudi Arabia, especially because of its “Wahhabi-fundamentalist” image. Therefore, changing impressions will be a daunting task, but not an impossible one if a conscious strategy is adopted. This seems part of what the Saudi delegation is carrying to Washington, California, and New York.
In Washington, there has been reassurance felt toward the deputy crown prince as the key contributor to Saudi future, the architect of the Vision 2030, and a man with extraordinary executive powers. In California, the technology capital was primed to showcase its futuristic plans to the man who decided that his country must join the technological revolution as a partner and contributor.
In New York, businessmen and financial institutions geared up for the historic event when 5 percent of Saudi Aramco’s shares will be offered in the local and international markets for the first time in Saudi history, in what will probably be the largest IPO in the world’s history. Saudi Arabia has decided to move away from its oil addiction to balanced development and investment. There will not be an immediate change in the image Americans have of Saudi Arabia. It will take time and a patient strategy.
However, the image of the visionary, moderate, and open young prince has brought reassurance and challenged the racist tendencies that want to classify all young Muslims as radical extremists, at a time when the visit by the prince coincided with the terrorist attack on Orlando perpetrated by Omar Sadiq Mateen, an Afghan-American, and claimed by ISIS. Indeed, the image of the reformist with visionary aspirations shattered the claims by American hardliners that all young Muslims are nihilistic terrorists.
Both Islamic radicalism and racist radicalism are dangerous, albeit in varying degrees because the terrorism that accompanies Islamist radicalism targets both Muslims and non-Muslims. Omar Mateen helped destroy what Islamic moderation had built, paying service to Islamic radicalism as well as Islamophobia. This will be exploited by hardliners in the US to support fantastical ideas adopted by the presumed Republican candidate Donald Trump, and will further inflame emotions on both sides of the political divide.
Hillary Clinton has launched a campaign focusing on Donald Trump’s lack of qualifications, leadership, and competence to highlight the danger he poses to US national interests. She may succeed if Donald Trump presses ahead with his arrogant approach and incoherent claims. However, inflamed emotions could bring an irrational surprise amid a charged atmosphere of escalation and incitement. All world leaders are closely watching the US elections. Some are readying themselves for the implications on US foreign policy. The Saudi visit came at the right time, and made it clear to those who want to listen that a quiet and pragmatic revolution is currently proceeding in the kingdom, with extremely important regional dimensions.
**This article was first published in Al-Hayat on Jun. 17, 2016 and translated by Karim Traboulsi.

Iraqis’ humanity lives on despite conflict
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/20 June/16
As Iraq goes through its bloodiest days, and as sects fight and people are displaced, the humanity of the country’s men shines through. People’s reaction to a social experiment carried out by the MBC show “The Shock” was very humane. The show’s idea is to act out a certain incident and await people’s reactions. The recent episode from Iraq showed deep humane reactions despite the country’s wounds. In the episode, a man plays the role of a husband who is beating his wife in a restaurant. Both men and women reacted to put an end to his violence, and many cried over this abusive scene.
Compassion
After people learnt that this was only a social experiment, one of the men was asked why he intervened. He said: “He was hitting another human being, and even if I don’t know her, she’s after all an Iraqi.” Another man said: “I was aiding someone in distress. Do you want me to ask him or her what his or her sect is?”Iraq has lived through centuries of harmony among its different ethnic and religious components. Iraq has lived through centuries of harmony among its different ethnic and religious components. “The Shock” showed how politics has corrupted reality but failed to corrupt the humanity in people’s hearts. When Iraq collapses, the region collapses. The US invasion in 2003 damaged the Iraqi fabric, exhausted the country and fuelled sectarian war. “The Shock” shocks us because it discovers whatever is left of our humanity, as we humans are all brothers and sisters. There is a huge difference between the innocent Iraq as seen on the show, and the Iraq that Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani roams.
This article was first published in Okaz on June 20, 2016.

Global Entrepreneurship Summit to boost social business agenda
Patrick Ryan/Al Arabiya/20 June/16
The 7th annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), set to open this week in Silicon Valley, has attracted over 1,000 conferees out of 4,500 applicants from around the world. It will be hosted by President Barack Obama who, starting with the inaugural summit in 2009, has made entrepreneurship promotion an element of his foreign policy. The Summit, to be organized at Stanford University, aims to connect investors and entrepreneurs – 100 from each of six global regions plus 100 from the United States – with opportunities for investment and collaboration. The sponsorship of the GES movement by the US government is more than promotion of “brand USA” around the world, the State Department’s Public Affairs chief, Rick Stengel, said during a summit announcement event earlier this year. He said: “It is a tool for development, for empowering marginalized groups and for combating violent extremism. It’s vital to creating the conditions for global growth and prosperity, particularly in regions where chaos and war have shattered dreams.”The social change agenda is only one element of the Summit, which addresses a host of challenges and opportunities for global entrepreneurs. The attention to basic entrepreneurship endeavors such as creative execution on ideas, branding, startup community building, leveraging technology and managing growth, parallels the needs for social businesses. “If what you want to do is address social problems, no matter what you want to do from an entrepreneur perspective, you still need to have the skill and knowledge that comes from starting and running an enterprise,” said Jose Gonzalez, who teaches social entrepreneurship at the Jack C. Massey School of Business at Belmont University in Nashville, the first American university with a major in social entrepreneurship. “The pieces are the same, whether it’s financing, strategy or marketing,” he said. The GES organizers see social entrepreneurship as filling some of the gap through expansion of social finance and growth of for-benefit businesses
Social business
Social entrepreneurship, also called social business, emerged from the desire to address issues and solve problems through market solutions rather than solely through traditional philanthropic channels said, Gonzalez. “Social entrepreneurship is getting a lot of attention, trending nationally and worldwide,” he added, “It’s a term that resonates with a lot of people who want to address major social problems whether it’s inequality, poverty, environmental problems, gender issues, whatever the social issues are at the moment.”The social business movement is best known for Nobel Laureate Mohammed Yunus who pioneered microcredit to provide opportunities for poverty stricken people. Seven million borrowers had been given loans averaging $100 by Yunus’ Grameen Bank by 2006 when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This week’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Silicon Valley will include high profile panelists from the social business community addressing key challenges and sharing solutions to the hurdles facing the global business community. The question of whether social business efforts are receiving sufficient attention could be answered by a panel on global sustainable development. Its introduction noted it will take $4 trillion a year to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed to by global leaders last year, much more than governments and traditional philanthropy together can afford. The GES organizers see social entrepreneurship as filling some of the gap through expansion of social finance and growth of for-benefit businesses, as they refer to enterprises that aim for positive social and environmental impact, not just financial return. What more can be done to build social entrepreneurship? Boost support to educational efforts and incubators is what Dr. Bernard Turner, head of the Belmont University Center for Social Entrepreneurship, said he would tell President Obama if asked. “This is not a fad, not a flash in the pan,” said Turner. “It’s important to have educational opportunities that produce professionals for this important endeavor.” Belmont’s Gonzalez also commented on the future of social entrepreneurship, an important topic for discussion at the Silicon Valley gathering this week. “It’s well documented that much of social business is being driven by the motivations of the millennial generation.” Gonzalez said. “They are an important component in social entrepreneurship, as this model is going to be increasingly necessary, unfortunately. Our social issues are not getting any easier so social entrepreneurship is here to stay.”