LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 22/16
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Linl on the lccc Site
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.june22.16.htm
News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006
Bible Quotations For Today
What comes out
of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 15/10-20/:"Then he called
the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: it is not what goes
into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that
defiles.’ Then the disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the
Pharisees took offence when they heard what you said?’He answered, ‘Every plant
that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they
are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will
fall into a pit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’Then he
said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever
goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what
comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For
out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft,
false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed
hands does not defile.’
Because he had not given the
glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms
and died.
Acts of the Apostles 12/12-24/:"As soon as he realized this, he went to the
house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had
gathered and were praying. When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda
came to answer. On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead
of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the
gate. They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she insisted that it was
so. They said, ‘It is his angel.’ Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking; and when
they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. He motioned to them with his
hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of
the prison. And he added, ‘Tell this to James and to the believers.’ Then he
left and went to another place. When morning came, there was no small commotion
among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. When Herod had searched for
him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to
death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. Now Herod was
angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him in a body; and
after winning over Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for a
reconciliation, because their country depended on the king’s country for food.
On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat on the platform,
and delivered a public address to them. The people kept shouting, ‘The voice of
a god, and not of a mortal!’ And immediately, because he had not given the glory
to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and
died. But the word of God continued to advance and gain adherents."
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 21-22/16
Sins & Sinners/Rogers Bejjani/Face Book/June 21/16
Beyond Amin Maalouf and the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions movement)/Hanin Ghaddar/Now Lebanon/June 21/16
Hezbollah’s hot summer between Aleppo’s battle and banking wars
Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/June 21/16
Lettre ouverte a Samir Geagea et Saad Hariri/Roger Bejjani/Face Book/June 21/16
The most important war in the Middle East may be online/Tom
Fletcher//Al Arabiya/June 21/16
Extremism before and after 9/11/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/June 21/16
What do the Saudis want from America/Faisal J. Abbas/Al Arabiya/June 21/16
How Much of our Culture Are We Surrendering to Islam/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone
Institute/June 21/16
Turkish Professor: "Those Who Do Not Do Islamic Daily Prayers Are
Animals"/Robert Jones/Gatestone Institute/June 21/16
Tehran drags Moscow deeper into Syria/Ali Hashem/Al-Monitor/June 21/16
Can Saudis ease Egypt-Qatar tension after Al Jazeera death sentences/Giorgio
Cafiero/Al-Monitor/June 21/16
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on
June 21-22/16
Sins & Sinners
Upcoming dialogue sessions on
August 2, 3, 4
Berri Warns National Dialogue Parties against Return to 1960 Law as Gemayel
Calls for One-Man, One-Vote System
Hezbollah official tackles recent Aleppo battle
Qazzi Did not See Expulsion Coming, Says He Represents Christians at Cabinet
Report: Lebanon in Washington's Circle of Attention
Ain Saadeh Gas Station Attacked after Brawl between Sons of ex-MP, Saudi Prince
Hariri Slams Hizbullah, Iran over Anti-Bahrain Stances
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi receives Bonne
Change and Reform Urges Proportional Representation, Warns over 'State Security'
Row
New U.S. Ambassador Says Lebanon Stability Important for Region Stability
Mashnouq: Lebanon Succeeded in Forestalling Terror Attacks
Harb: Parliamentary elections before Presidential one will be adventure
Italian House Speaker, Laura Boldrini checks blue line in Shebaa, Kfarshouba
Future bloc after weekly meeting: Priority for election of president followed by
new electoral law
Kahwaji receives his Nepalese counterpart
Beyond Amin Maalouf and the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement)
Hezbollah’s hot summer between Aleppo’s battle and banking wars
Lettre ouverte a Samir Geagea et Saad Hariri,
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
June 21-22/16
U.N.: More than 700 Doctors Killed in Syria War
Reports: Iran's Suleimani Warns Bahrain, Leaves Fallujah for Aleppo
Man with 'Suicide Belt' of Biscuits and Salt Triggers Brussels Alert
Iranian General Qassim Sulaimani threatens Bahrain
UN aid reaches five Syria areas under siege
Powers must push for political solution in Syria: UN
Gun control bid fails in US Senate after Orlando massacre
Jordan king vows to hit back against border attackers
Three arrested over links to killer of French police couple
Man held near Brussels mall, no explosives found
Israeli troops shoot, kill 14-year Palestinian boy
Ballistic missile intercepted in Yemen
Taliban kidnap 60 in Afghanistan bus attacks
Saudi Arabia: 27 new coronavirus cases in five days
Uranium particles discovered at Iran military site - report
Another Baha’i woman arrested in Iran, her business shut down
Iran: Christian prisoner refused extension of sick leave
Mother of murdered Iranian dissident supports political prisoner Jafar Azimzadeh
Egypt Court Quashes Cession of Red Sea Islands to Saudi
Links From Jihad Watch Site for
June 21-22/16
D.C. circuit court: Hamas-linked CAIR must stand trial for
massive fraud
Cops, media hide Idaho girl’s sex assault by Muslim migrants
John Kerry says refugees pose no greater risk than “other groups”
According to the Muslim faith, if someone tries to apostate, he or she could be
killed”
Islamic State expels Syria regime forces from Raqqa province
Video: Robert Spencer on why the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization
Reading the Qur’an during Ramadan 17: Juz Aqtaraba
Philadelphia Muslims assault restaurant patrons: “We belong to ISIS”
In wake of Orlando massacre, Hamas-linked CAIR issues new “Islamophobia” report
June 20-21/16
Sins & Sinners
Rogers Bejjani/Face Book/June 21/16
The most irrelevant public figure award goes to Raii,
The most irresponsible and black-mailer public figure award goes to Aoun,
The most criminal public figure award goes to Nasrallah,
The most unconvincing public figure award goes to Sami,
The less creative public figure award goes to Salam,
The blindest public figure award goes to Saad,
The most ridiculously opportunistic and power abuser public figure award goes to
Jumblat,
The biggest mistake done by a public figure award goes to Geagea.
Upcoming dialogue sessions on
August 2, 3, 4
Tue 21 Jun 2016/NNA - House Speaker Nabih Berri chaired on Tuesday a national
dialogue meeting session in Ain Al Tineh whereby interlocutors discussed Berri's
initiative and ideas vis-à-vis the ongoing Lebanese crises, and decided to hold
three consecutive dialogue sessions on August 2, 3 and 4. Social Affairs
Minister Rashid Derbas had left the ongoing dialogue session due to his
commitment to an appointment, indicating that no progress has thus far been
registered regarding the elections law issue, according to NNA correspondent.
Minister Derbas disclosed that House Speaker Nabih Berri asked his Deputy Farid
Makari about the outcome of the meeting of the joint committees tasked to look
into the electoral law, with Makari answering that not any progress was
registered. Derbas announced that he sensed from all attendees an exceptional
appreciation to Fouad Boutros law, yet the matters were still not making any
forward move as each side was still adhering to its stance without flexibility.
MP Sami Gemayel, for his part, said that he proposed a "positive initiative"
which was adopting an electoral law based on individual circle away from the
confessional restriction in parliamentary elections.Foreign Affairs Minister,
Gibran Bassil, said that the oil file should be discussed as it was a vital
subject, hoping that success would be achieved in this file. He concluded,
"Israel cannot breach our oil wealth."
Berri Warns National Dialogue
Parties against Return to 1960 Law as Gemayel Calls for One-Man, One-Vote System
Naharnet/June 21/16/Speaker Nabih Berri warned the national dialogue parties on
Tuesday against even “thinking” of holding the next parliamentary elections
under the 1960 electoral law, cautioning that citizens would “take to the
streets” to reject such a move, as Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel called for
a non-sectarian electoral law based on the one-man, one-vote system. “Let no one
think of extending the parliament's term or the 1960 electoral law, because
returning to any of them might lead to a revolution,” Berri urged. After the
meeting, Kataeb leader MP Sami Gemayel said: "I suggested the one-man, one-vote
system in non-sectarian electoral districts in order to get out of the stalemate
on the electoral law." He also called for establishing a Senate that would
represent the country's sects. Hizbullah's MP Ali Fayyad meanwhile said a lot of
ideas were raised around the dialogue table, “including the call for abolishing
political sectarianism,” and noted that “all pending issues will be addressed in
the August 2, 3 and 4 sessions.”“Should we fail to agree on a consensual
electoral law, we must move to discussing a package deal,” he suggested. Former
Minister Ghazi al-Aridi, who represented MP Walid Jumblat, said: “We have not
agreed on a new president, nor on a new electoral system.”"The proposal of
holding a 'Lebanese Doha conference' is one of the ideas that were raised by
Speaker Berri but it has not materialized until the moment," Aridi added. As for
the issue of oil and gas exploration, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said "the
oil decrees have been delayed but better late than never." The dialogue
conference will resume for three consecutive days scheduled on August 2, 3 and 4
in a bid to reach an agreement over a new electoral law. Al-Akhbar daily had
reported that “Tuesday's session is one of the most important meetings in the
current rounds of talks, given the issues that will be discussed and the
Speaker's stance on the positions of the interlocutors.” In May, Berri launched
an initiative aimed at ending the political impasse. He called for shortening
the term of parliament and that the elections be held based on the 1960 law
should political forces fail to agree on a new electoral system. He also called
for staging the presidential elections after the parliamentary ones and forming
a national unity government. The parliament extended its own term twice, the
first time in 2013 and a second time in 2014. They were prompted by the
political forces' failure to agree on a new electoral law. The move sparked
outrage in Lebanon.
Hezbollah official tackles
recent Aleppo battle
Now Lebanon/June 21/16/Nabil
Qaouk said "resistance heroes inflicted historic losses" on rebels.
BEIRUT – A Hezbollah official has discussed the recent battles southwest of
Aleppo, where the party in recent days reportedly suffered its worst losses
since entering the conflict. “The takfiri groups have been trying every day
since three months ago to win the battle in Aleppo with US, Saudi and Turkish
support and planning, but they failed to achieve their goals,” Sheikh Nabil
Qaouk said Monday at a funeral for a Hezbollah fighter. He also boasted that
Hezbollah managed to “inflict a historic loss” against insurgents active in the
flashpoint front, even though rebels seized the villages of Khalsah and Zitan
southwest of Aleppo over the weekend amid fierce battles that left a number of
Hezbollah fighters dead. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights tracking
developments in the war-torn country reported that Hezbollah suffered 25
casualties in the fighting; the latest clashes in the region where the Army of
Conquest led by the Al-Nusra Front has pushed back the regime’s front-lines
since early May. “It's the highest toll for Hezbollah fighters in a single
battle,” the NGO’s chief told AFP. For its part, the pro-Hezbollah website
SouthLebanon.org, which publicizes funerals of the militia's fighters killed in
Syria, has publicized an unusually high number of death notices in recent days.
However, Qaouk did not directly bring up the startling casualty count, and
instead said that “the heroes of the resistance” killed 167 rebels, referring to
a report circulated in pro-Hezbollah media purporting to cite a death toll
provided by the Army of Conquest. Rebels denied that they suffered such heavy
losses in the heavy Aleppo fighting. Qaouk also said that his party has not yet
dispatched its full fighting force to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“The participation of Hezbollah in the Syrian battlefield is still a small
fraction of its overall forces,” the deputy chief of the party’s executive
council claimed. “If the need arises to increase the scope our engagement there,
we will not hesitate do so with full courage and will.”Hezbollah’s chief Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah is expected to speak on developments in Syria during a Friday
night address.
Qazzi Did not See Expulsion
Coming, Says He Represents Christians at Cabinet
Naharnet/June 21/16/Resigned Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi expressed surprise on
Tuesday at the Kataeb party's decision that expelled him despite his commitment
to the party's decision to resign from the cabinet. “I asserted to (Maronite
Patriarch Beshara) al-Rahi that I have committed to the Kataeb decision to
resign from the cabinet and I was surprised to know that the party decided to
expel me despite of that,” said the Kataeb Minister after he met Rahi in Bkirki.
“I asserted to al-Rahi that I respect the Kataeb and that my presence in the
government is a representation of the Christian's role, mainly the Maronite
role,” he remarked. Qazzi was expelled Monday from the Party after he rejected
to abide by the party's decision on resigning from Prime Minister Tammam Salam's
government. Kataeb decided to resign from the government citing the
acknowledgments made by Prime Minister Tammam Salam that the “government is
ruled by corruption,” and that it is incapable of addressing pressing issues
similar to the “Syrian refugee crisis, the dire economic situation, the security
deterioration and the threats against the banking sector.”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.
Report: Lebanon in
Washington's Circle of Attention
Naharnet/June 21/16/Foreign powers have not lost hope in Lebanon and Washington
is still interested in helping the Mediterranean country maintain its peace as
it continues to arm the Lebanese army and assist it in its fight against
terrorism, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday. “Lebanon did not come out of
the circle of Washington's attention, it is in the heart of this attention,”
well-informed sources quoted a U.S. diplomat on condition of anonymity. “We look
with satisfaction at the security situation in Lebanon and we do not believe
that there is a reason to fear for its safety and stability. We are certain that
the Lebanese want to preserve their country, because they can see the
destruction in the neighboring countries and they do not want to move this war
to their own,” added the diplomat. According to the daily, the U.S. has asserted
the necessity to protect Lebanon and prevent its collapse in light of what is
happening in the region mainly the war in Syria. A deterioration in the security
situation will have dangerous repercussions at the regional and international
levels. “Lebanon's stability is a priority for us,” added the diplomat
“Washington has expressed this position to accelerate the program of arming the
Lebanese army so that it could maintain this stability and confront and win over
in the war being waged against terrorism.”
Ain Saadeh Gas Station
Attacked after Brawl between Sons of ex-MP, Saudi Prince
Naharnet/June 21/16/Gunmen attacked a gas station in the Northern Metn town of
Ain Saadeh on Tuesday following a brawl between the son of a former Lebanese MP
and the son of a Saudi prince, state-run National News Agency reported.
“Lebanese citizen Tony Karam was shot in the leg in the wake of a fistfight at a
gas station he owns in Ain Saadeh,” NNA said, adding that the brawl involved
“the son of a Saudi prince and the son of ex-MP Saud Rofayel, Michel.” “The
fistfight erupted after a verbal dispute over who has the priority to have his
car washed first,” the agency added. “Michel immediately called in three young
men, likely his bodyguards, and they opened fire heavily at the station upon
their arrival, which resulted in the wounding of the station's owner in his
leg,” NNA said. The gunmen then transferred Michel to the Bellevue Medical
Center in Mansourieh “where he was arrested by a unit from the Internal Security
Forces Intelligence Branch,” the agency added.“The ISF agents are also pursuing
the shooters, who have been identified by the station's owners,” NNA said,
adding that “the incident created a state of tension in the area.”
Hariri Slams Hizbullah, Iran
over Anti-Bahrain Stances
Naharnet/June 21/16/Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri lashed out
Tuesday at Iran and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah over their virulent tirades
against Bahrain in the wake of the kingdom's revocation of the citizenship of a
top Shiite cleric. “What do Iran and Hizbullah have to do with Bahrain's
decision to revoke the citizenship of one of its citizens, be him a clergyman or
not?” Hariri asked rhetorically on Twitter. “They have described as a crime the
citizenship revocation of a naturalized Bahraini cleric who calls for sedition
while they are taking part in the killing of thousands of innocents and the
destruction of cities and towns over the heads of their residents in Syria,” he
added. Iran has warned Bahrain that it is fanning armed rebellion and "will pay
the price" after the Gulf kingdom stripped senior Shiite cleric Sheikh Issa
Qassem of his citizenship. Bahrain's rulers "will pay the price and it will have
no result but the destruction of this bloodthirsty regime," Qassem Suleimani,
the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards' overseas operations arm, the Quds
Force, said late on Monday. Iran's foreign ministry also criticized what it
called the "extrajudicial" measures by Bahrain that "dash hopes of reform
through dialogue."Hizbullah for its part slammed Bahrain's decision as
“unprecedented” and “very dangerous,” noting that Sheikh Qassem represented “a
true guarantee for Bahrain's present and future.”It 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.”Bahrain has been shaken by unrest since security forces
crushed Shiite-led protests demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected
prime minister in 2011. Tensions have reached fresh heights in recent days, with
the suspension of the al-Wefaq main Shiite opposition group and, on Monday, the
move against Sheikh Qassem. Bahrain has repeatedly accused Iran of interfering
in its affairs and inciting violence among Shiites, a claim Tehran denies. The
Bahraini interior ministry alluded to the accusations in its statement
announcing the decision against the Shiite spiritual leader. Qassem abused his
position to "serve foreign interests and promote... sectarianism and violence,"
it said.
Maronite Patriarch Bechara
Rahi receives Bonne
Tue 21 Jun 2016/NNA - Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rahi on Tuesday received French
Ambassador Emmanuel Bonne and discussed with him the general situation. Bonne
said that both discussed the political situation in Lebanon and its effect on
upcoming dues.
Change and Reform Urges
Proportional Representation, Warns over 'State Security' Row
Naharnet/June 21/16/The Change and Reform bloc led by MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday
called for passing an electoral law based on proportional representation and
warned the government and Prime Minister Tammam Salam against committing any
“violation” in the issue of the State Security apparatus. “Lebanon is at a
critical juncture and we need to reassure each other rather than fight each
other,” Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil announced after the bloc's weekly meeting
in Rabieh. “We discussed what happened around the (national) dialogue table and
we are optimistic,” he added. “Proportional representation reassures everyone
and all parties would be represented according to their political weights,”
Bassil went on to say. Earlier on Tuesday, Speaker Nabih Berri warned the
national dialogue parties against even “thinking” of holding the next
parliamentary elections under the 1960 electoral law, cautioning that citizens
would “take to the streets” to reject such a move, as Kataeb Party chief MP Sami
Gemayel called for a non-sectarian electoral law based on the one-man, one-vote
system. The dialogue conference will resume for three consecutive days on August
2, 3 and 4 in a bid to reach an agreement over a new electoral law. The
parliament extended its own term twice, the first time in 2013 and a second time
in 2014. The extensions were prompted by the political forces' failure to agree
on a new electoral law. Separately, Bassil warned that the country “cannot
withstand further mistakes related to the State Security file.”“We are betting
that Salam will not commit a violation seeing as we can respect the norms,
hierarchy and law,” the minister added. “We hope they won't push us to be in a
place that we don't want regarding this issue,” he cautioned. The cabinet had
avoided discussing the thorny issue during its session last week. The session
was held a day after media reports said that State Security chief Maj. Gen.
George Qaraa had sent the premiership a decree on sending his deputy Brig. Gen.
Mohammed al-Tufaili to retirement due to the fact that the latter “has reached
the retirement age stipulated by the law.”Sources close to Salam told As Safir
newspaper in remarks published Thursday that it was up to the premier to raise
the issue during any cabinet session. “During a phone call he received from
ex-president Michel Suleiman, Salam noted that he has not signed any decree
extending Brig. Gen. Tufaili's term, as Suleiman stressed that delaying
Tufaili's retirement or extending his term would be illegal,” Voice of Lebanon
radio (93.3) reported.The dispute between Qaraa and Tufaili has effectively
paralyzed the State Security agency and deprived it of funding. Qaraa is backed
by the Christian ministers while Tufaili is reportedly backed by Salam, Finance
Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and the
ministers of the Progressive Socialist Party. Christian political parties and
ministers have described the exclusion of Qaraa from security meetings at the
Grand Serail and the alleged financial “siege” that is imposed on the agency as
an “encroachment on the rights of Christians in state institutions.”
New U.S. Ambassador Says
Lebanon Stability Important for Region Stability
Naharnet/June 21/16/Elizabeth Holzhall Richard is scheduled to be sworn in
today, Tuesday as the new U.S. ambassador to Lebanon. Richard served most
recently as deputy assistant secretary and the coordinator for foreign
assistance to the Near East in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern
Affairs. In that role, Richard oversaw a foreign assistance budget of more than
$7 billion. Richard, 56, said she was thrilled when she was told she would be
named to the post in Lebanon. She called it both a huge honor and a huge
responsibility. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years now, so I’m absolutely
thrilled to have the opportunity to serve with the folks that I’ll be working
with and try to be able to make a little bit of a positive contribution,”
Richard said in remarks to the Northwest Indiana Times newspaper. For three
decades, Richard has served as a foreign service officer in some of the U.S.
government’s most challenging posts, including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.
A graduate of the National War College in Washington, D.C., and the NATO Defense
College in Rome, she has undergraduate and law degrees from Southern Methodist
University. Her father, Vern Holzhall, retired as president of Mercantile
National Bank of Indiana. Her mother, Mary, was a travel agent. Both still live
in the area and Richard visits Northwest Indiana often. Her parents, siblings
and other relatives, including her late husband’s family, were expected to
attend Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremonies. In recalling how she became involved in
foreign service, Richard said she was always interested in international travel
and was lucky to have parents who took the family overseas when she was young.
She also had an uncle who was a Jesuit priest who went to Italy when she was
young and aunts and uncles who were teachers. She said she was constantly
exposed to the fact that “there’s a wider world out there.” When attending law
school, Richard said she took some international law classes and one of her
teachers suggested she take the foreign service officer test. Richard said she
wasn’t really exposed to the fact that there was this line of work out there
prior to that time and now urges young people to consider such a career. Richard
said she is looking forward to the challenge of making something positive happen
when it comes to her new post in Lebanon. She points out the Middle East
countries of Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen are currently in active conflict. “We
don’t need another one to trip into crisis and hot conflict,” she said. “So I’m
really looking forward to the opportunity to continue to try to make sure that
doesn’t happen.” Stability in Lebanon, she said, is going to contribute to
stability in the region.Stability in the Middle East “is really important to our
national security and one more unstable partner in that region, one more country
that trips into active conflict, is not good for anyone in the world,” she
added. In addition, the Northwest Indiana Times quoted the Richard as saying
that the Lebanese people are incredibly productive, educated and sophisticated.
They are extremely good business people, she said, and Lebanon is one of the
real banking centers of the Middle East. “You have a lot of Lebanese Americans
who are incredibly productive members of society so it is important to us to
keep Lebanon stable and keep them in a position to continue to produce people
like that,” she said.
Mashnouq: Lebanon Succeeded
in Forestalling Terror Attacks
Naharnet/June 21/16/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq assured on Tuesday that
the security situation is under control pointing out that Lebanon was able to
make pre-emptive security operations and uncover terror networks before they
implement their attack schemes, As-Sharq daily reported on Tuesday. “The
situation is under control. Lebanon is one of the few countries where the
security and military forces were able to carry out pre-emptive security
operations and uncover terror networks,” said Mashnouq. The Minister pointed out
to several deterrent operations where a number of suspects were arrested after
plotting to carry out terror attacks in Lebanon. Fears have escalated lately
after a bomb exploded, early in June, outside the HQ of BLOM Bank in a western
part of Beirut.Furthermore, reports emerged in May that the Islamic State group
was planning to carry out attacks in areas crowded with cafes and nightclubs in
Beirut, which sent fears spiking high. Mashnouq had disclosed then that the
security apparatuses in Lebanon were able to uncover and thwart schemes by the
IS to carry out terror acts, mainly in crowded areas in Beirut. He said that the
security forces are waging the “fiercest battle” against attempts to shake the
security situation, and that the army intelligence was able to thwart a plan of
a terror act in one of the capital's streets.
Harb: Parliamentary elections
before Presidential one will be adventure
Tue 21 Jun 2016/NNA - Telecommunication Minister, Boutros Harb, warned on
Tuesday during the national dialogue meeting session of the dangers that can
result from organizing the parliamentary election before the presidential one.
"This proposition may cause the falling of the political system, besides there
is no guarantee that all parties will accept the elections results, especially
after witnessing General Michel Aoun and Hezbollah's policy in disrupting
quorum," Harb added. He pointed out that any act that leads to weakness of state
would pose a major threat to Christians, and building a Republic without a
President is a crime against Christians, according to him.
Italian House Speaker, Laura
Boldrini checks blue line in Shebaa, Kfarshouba
Tue 21 Jun 2016/NNA - Italian House Speaker, Laura Boldrini, on Wednesday
inspected the blue line in Shebaa and Kfarshouba regions in the South, where she
was received by Italian Ambassador Massimo Marotti, UNIFIL Chief General Luciano
Portolano and Lebanese Army senior Brigadier Joseph Aoun. Boldrini listened to
details on the security and military situation of the region and the role played
by UNIFIL in this regard.
Future bloc after weekly
meeting: Priority for election of president followed by new electoral law
Tue 21 Jun 2016/NNA - "Future" bloc adopted the entry put forward by former
Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, at the dialogue session this morning, reiterating
emphasis on the priority for the election of a president of the republic prior
to endorsing a new election law by the House of Parliament. "The president has
the prerogative to put his remarks on the new electoral law which will then be
followed by holding parliamentary elections in accordance with this new law,"
Future bloc said on Tuesday in a statement issued in the wake of its periodic
meeting, under the chairmanship of bloc head, Fouad Siniora.
Conferees took up the overall situation on the domestic arena.The bloc beseeched
all deputies to head to the Parliament next Thursday to attend the parliamentary
session to elect a new president of the republic, in order to put terms to the
longstanding vacuum in presidency which is inflicting immense political,
security and economic risks. On the other hand, the bloc called on the security
and judicial services to speed up the completion of investigation into the
recent BLOM Bank explosion to uncover the criminals who stood behind the crime
and bring them to justice, warning against the negative and dangerous
repercussions and impact inflicted on the image of Lebanon's security and
economic situation. Future bloc also pointed out that "it is due time for
Hezbollah after the heavy losses incurred on the youth of Lebanon, to abandon
its adopted through halting its growing involvement in the lethal regional wars,
in order to safeguard the blood of Arabs and the Lebanese youth."Future also
deemed the Lebanese banking system as the main economic pillar which plays a key
role in supporting the steadfastness of the Lebanese economy, growth and
contributes to safeguarding stability and the livelihood of the Lebanese, their
savings and their contact with the wider world. The bloc categorically
underlined that the banking system in Lebanon is binding like other banking
systems in all world countries to respect the rules of the global banking and
financial system.
Kahwaji receives his Nepalese
counterpart
Tue 21 Jun 2016/NNA - Army Commander General Jean Kahwaji met on Tuesdayat his
Yarze office with his Nepalese counterpart General Rajendra Chhetri over
bilateral relations between the army and UNIFIL Nepalese troops.
Beyond Amin Maalouf and the
BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement)
Hanin Ghaddar/Now Lebanon/June 21/16
Freedom of Expression is Freedom of Communication
The recent attack against Lebanese and French author Amin Maalouf by the
Lebanese BDS was not surprising or unexpected. These self-proclaimed
intellectuals/resistance activists do not miss a single opportunity to launch
vicious attacks against anyone who communicates directly or indirectly with an
Israeli entity or individual. For this angry bunch, it doesn’t matter who
committed this “felony” or what the subject of this communication was about.
According to their ruling, any kind of interaction with an Israeli is a sin
beyond all sins—a crime that should be severely punished by law.
But the disturbing outcome of the debate that started in Lebanese and regional
media – and social media – was that the defenders of Amin Maalouf were too
cautious to address the real issue at hand: that freedom of expression also
entails freedom of communication and interaction. Most of the articles and posts
aimed at defending Maalouf and criticizing the BDS initiative failed at their
defense, and did more harm than good to Maalouf and anyone that does not enjoy
certain privileges like Maalouf.
This debate – aimed at defending freedom of speech– gave Maalouf justifications
and blamed him for making a mistake that should be forgiven. Also, it gave
Maalouf an exclusive right to interact with an “enemy,” leaving the main
question on the margins of the debate.
Some said that Maalouf is entitled to freely communicate with an Israeli entity
because he’s more French than he is Lebanese. According to others, Maalouf has
won enough honors, such as becoming a “an immortal" in 2012 by being the first
Lebanese to join the elite ranks of the French ¬Academy, therefore he is above
the law! Others defended him based on the content of the interview, and that it
was about culture not politics. Some even went to the extent of saying that what
he did was a big mistake, but they are generous enough to forgive him, because
he is the “pride of the Lebanese.”
Seriously?! What about the rest of us? These arguments contain nothing but an
entitlement for both Maalouf and the writers themselves. The pretexts given to
Maalouf highlight nothing but the fact that those who are not privileged with
Maalouf’s French nationality, prestigious status, or the luxury to live in the
West, do not have the same freedom. A true debate cannot be based on exclusive
rights or entitlements. A true debate should revisit the taboo itself, and
challenge the law, because no law is sacred, and no cause is sacred, including
the Palestinian cause. With crimes against humanity committed by regimes and
factions in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the region, the “enemy” is no longer
verifiable or obvious. When Palestine becomes a fig leaf for those who do not
want to acknowledge the killing, siege and rape committed by their friends and
allies in the region, they no longer have the right to judge others. When the
law allows oppression, censorship and killing under Hezbollah’s imposed
“resistance-people-army” formula, one has no choice but to question the law, and
challenge it. If no harm is done to one’s country or people, or to others
anywhere in the world, and if any form or content of interaction aims at
knowledge, understanding, and openness, is it really a crime or offense? If
anything, this is a personal choice, and should not be exclusive to Maalouf. The
defenders of Maalouf – by missing the main issue at hand – turned this debate
against all of us.
Like Maalouf, many of us believe that there is no one fixed, monolithic
identity, but a series of what Maalouf calls ‘allegiances.’ The individual,
therefore, is the sum of all their surroundings, society and acts of free will
and quirks of personality. In his book In the Name of Identity, Maalouf writes:
“In every age there have been people who considered that an individual had one
overriding affiliation so much more important in every circumstance to all
others that it might legitimately be called his “identity.” For some it was the
nation, for others religion or class. But one has only to look at the various
conflicts being fought out all over the world today to realize that no one
allegiance has absolute superiority.”And this resonates today more than ever.
Looking at the various conflicts being fought around us today, can we not see
how senseless it is to stick to one allegiance? To one ideology? To one
affiliation? To one enemy? Or to hold anything sacred? What the Lebanese BDS
movement and their allies want is to keep us all isolated from and incapable of
understanding our surroundings and the nuances beyond the sacredness of the
“cause” and the “resistance.” This keeps them powerful and capable of
controlling our instincts and reactions. However, the defenders of freedom and
of Maalouf’s right to give an interview to an Israeli TV failed at attempting to
break our isolation. They denied themselves and all of us this same right.
But isolation and ignorance are no longer acceptable in a world moving from the
right to knowledge to the right and means of communicating this knowledge. We –
in this part of the world – still deny ourselves the right to knowledge and
understanding, and we only allow communication violence and cheap propaganda.
And this exactly why we will always fail as people, individuals and states.
**Hanin Ghaddar is Managing Editor of NOW. She tweets @haningdr.
Hezbollah’s hot summer between Aleppo’s
battle and banking wars
Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/June 21/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/06/21/joyce-karamal-arabiya-hezbollahs-hot-summer-between-aleppos-battle-and-banking-wars/
The early days of the summer have been scorching for the Lebanese militant
juggernaut Hezbollah. On the battlefront in Syria, casualties for the Iranian
backed group have been mounting around Aleppo, while the home-front in Lebanon
has been showing financial strains as the new US banking sanctions take effect
and target the party’s funding network. Not surprisingly, Hezbollah has not
acknowledged any of these strains, reassuring its supporters that it remains
unfazed by death toll from Syria or the new financial strains in Beirut. The
reality, however, shows Hezbollah entangled in a prolonged war of attrition in
Syria, while the financial situation has become more dire and raising questions
among its supporters.
Russia vs. Iran in Syria?
Three years into Hezbollah's intervention in Syria, the recent weeks have
brought some of the highest casualties for the party in the fighting around
Aleppo. Al-Hayat reported on Sunday that Hezbollah lost in one round of the
fighting 25 members, the highest figure since Al-Qusair battle in 2013. While
the party does not release the total of its losses in Syria, the figure is
estimated by The Economist to have reached 1,400 fighters, exceeding its total
death toll fighting Israel in the last three decades (1361). While Hezbollah is
spinning this narrative to its supporters by portraying Syria as a strategic
battle in “shielding the resistance” and gaining more military and combat
expertise, questions on its involvement have become more public within the Shia
community in Lebanon and among the parents of the youths being dispatched to
Syrian cities and towns to fight on behalf of Assad. Between the military
pressure in Syria and the financial crackdown in Lebanon, Hezbollah is
undergoing one of its most tumultuous phases. In Aleppo particularly, and
according to Al-Hayat, Hezbollah and pro-Iran proxies are growing furious at
Russia for lack of air-cover in that battle. Ever since it announced partial air
withdrawal from Syria, Russia has been noticeably less involved in providing air
cover for the battles that involve Hezbollah, IRGC and Afghani mercenaries.
Assad's own meeting with the Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu gave stern
optics, was a surprise to the regime, and did not appear to produce the help on
Aleppo. The Aleppo battle is exposing Russian-Iranian differences on Syria, and
the collateral damage appears to be mostly inflicted on Hezbollah. Putin
described the US settlement proposal for Syria as “acceptable” on Sunday, while
Iran's IRGC forces and Hezbollah have upped their militarily involvement in the
conflict. The US for its part has vowed a relentless fight for Aleppo, and the
rebel coalition of “Jaish Fateh” which includes al-Qaeda’s Jabhat Nusra has been
advancing against the regime and Hezbollah. The Assad coalition has reportedly
lost the towns of Khalsa and Zeitans, and is now engaged ugly fight in Hader.
This and the fact that Aleppo is 260 Km from Hezbollah’s operational base on the
Lebanese border has made it a logistical nightmare and accentuated its losses.
Banking pressure
Hezbollah's headache in Syria is happening in parallel to a financial strain in
Lebanon. The Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act signed by US
President Barack Obama on December 18th, has put an unprecedented scrutiny into
the Lebanese banking system. Lebanon's Central Bank, against Hezbollah's wishes
has decided to implement and adhere to the sanctions, so as to prevent the
isolation of the whole financial sector. More than 100 accounts affiliated with
Hezbollah have been shut down and Asharq Al-Awsat reported that parliamentarians
with the party have been receiving their salaries in cash due to the new
restrictions. “BLOM”, One of the banks implementing those restrictions was
targeted by a bomb explosion in central Beirut last Sunday. Aside from the cash
flow, the impact of the new sanctions on Hezbollah is being mostly felt in the
anxiety it has created among the business community and families affiliated even
loosely with the party. The small chance of having their businesses affected by
ties to Hezbollah or one of its funders in China or Nigeria or Latin America, is
making many Lebanese business leaders reconsider. These sanctions are unlikely
to be lifted anytime soon, nor it is likely that the Lebanese Central Bank will
budge to Hezbollah’s demands. The heightened monitoring around the party’s
financial network, coupled with new GCC sanctions will increase the isolation of
the party without driving it to bankruptcy.
Between the military pressure in Syria and the financial crackdown in Lebanon,
Hezbollah is undergoing one of its most tumultuous phases. While it may yet
readjust its power play in Lebanon and may choose to redeploy presence in Syria,
its expensive commitments and tightened screws are unlikely to wither away in
the near future.
Lettre ouverte a Samir Geagea et
Saad Hariri,
Roger Bejjani/Face
Book/June 21/16
Il est crucial que vous fassiez preuve de courage politique, colmater les dégâts
causés au navire souverainiste, resserrer les rangs et construire une stratégie
intelligente et non réactionnaire.
En 1932 le sociaux-démocrates et Communistes Allemands s’étaient pris à la
gorge, politiquement, ce qui a ouvert grand la voie au Nazisme. Ce flash-back
historique suggère un déjà vu historique avec Mustaqbal et les FL jouant le rôle
des sociaux-démocrates et Communistes, ouvrant la voie grande ouverte à
Hezbollah.
Ignorer l’histoire est surmontable, mais ignorer l’histoire et la stratégie est
suicidaire.
La seule menace sérieuse qui risque d’effriter et d’anéantir l’idée du Liban a
laquelle vous adherez les 2, est Hezbollah. A tout les niveaux.
Aucune stratégie intelligente, pacifique et efficace ne fut adoptée par le 14
Mars pour contrer Hezbollah (comme par exemple le boycott tout azimut,
économique, politique, financier etc….). Mustaqbal a choisi de plier l’échine et
supplier son tortionnaire d’avoir la main plus légère, tandis que les FL
prenaient une positon de principe tout en essayant d’engager le Hezbollah. Un
Hezbollah qui d’une part a continué a tuer les hommes du Mustaqbal : el Hassan,
Chatah et d’autre part n’a montré que dédain et mépris envers les FL.
L’échéance Présidentielle, maladroitement gérée pas les FL a tout les niveaux et
renvoyée aux calendes Grecques par l’assentiment de Mustaqbal a la formation
d’un gouvernement politique dit « d’union National » a menée les 2 camps a
imploser le conglomérat politique 1er du Liban : le 14 Mars.
Mustqabal a commis des erreurs fondamentales et impardonnables :
1. Accepter sans broncher l’hérésie non-constitutionnelle du tiers de blocage
(par Fatfat interposé) ; validant ainsi une équation ignominieuse qui sacre la
minorité de 1/3 comme sélectionneur unique du Président.
2. Refuser la formation d’un cabinet neutre et non partisan comme plateforme
constitutionnelle intérim, remplaçant le cabinet démissionnaire de Mikati, était
une erreur gravissime. La peur de la réaction de Hezbollah guide la fuite en
avant de Mustaqbal. Un cabinet composé de technocrates non-partisans aurait hâté
la tenue des élections Présidentielles ; toutes les parties étant intéressées de
faire partie d’un nouveau cabinet politique. Ce cabinet, même s’il échoue à se
faire avaliser par le parlement, sera l’autorité politique en charge de la
gestion du pays jusqu'à l’élection d’un Président et la formation d’un nouveau
gouvernement. Il faut dire que Michel Sleiman partage avec Salam/Mustaqbal cette
connerie monumentale.
3. L’auto exil de Saad Hariri.
4. Le dialogue fou et éphémère avec leur preneur en otages : Hezbollah.
5. La candidature du principal allié d’Assad au Liban : Sleiman Frangieh (jamais
officiellement déclarée) contre l’avis de plusieurs au sein de son parti et
principalement contre l’avis de Geagea.
6. Insulter la mémoire collective des Libanais et des Sunnites en s’alliant avec
Mikati, Safadi et Karame (mais aussi Ali Eid) contre…..Ashraf Riffi aux
élections Municipales de Tripoli.
Tandis que les FL de leur coté ont sévit aussi :
1. Accepter sans broncher l’hérésie non-constitutionnelle du tiers de blocage
(par Zahra interposé) ; validant ainsi une équation ignominieuse qui sacre la
minorité de 1/3 comme sélectionneur unique du Président.
2. Rejoindre le club des 4 sous la houlette de Bkerke sous le titre du «
Président Fort » à choisir parmi les 4 exclusivement. Mis à part cette connerie,
puisque le concept du Président Fort ne veut absolument rien dire sous un régime
parlementaire, ce rassemblement des 4 a échoué a garantir la présence
obligatoire de tout les parlementaires relevant de ces mêmes 4, au scrutin
Présidentiel, afin de digérer la couleuvre anticonstitutionnelle que Berri a
réussi a nous faire avaler.
3. La candidature de Samir Geagea qui était définie à l’avance comme un coup
d’épée dans l’eau: Il aurait été préférable de présenter pour le principe la
candidature de Sethrida ou celle de Salah Honein. Samir Geagea correspondrait au
rôle de Président sous un régime Présidentiel mais certainement pas sous le
régime parlementaire actuel. Ses points forts seront tous neutralisés par la
machine parlementaire et la formule Libanaise.
4. Le programme Présidentiel de Samir Geagea Dans un régime parlementaire, le
président peut avoir une vision mais certainement pas un programme. Le programme
est la prérogative du conseil des ministres dans son ensemble.
5. La candidature du principal allié de Hezbollah et du régime Assad au Liban,
Michel Aoun, prétextant une réconciliation Chrétienne (totalement débile puisque
le nombre de Libanais Chrétiens qu’ils ont aliénés dépasse et de loin les
Aounistes qu'ils ont l'illusion de pouvoir recupérer; D’autant plus que cette
logique sectaire ouvre la voie a la réconciliation avec Habib Chartouni ou Emile
Lahoud !).
6. L’alliance avec les alliés de Hezbollah (Aounistes) contre les souverainistes
du 14 Mars aux élections Municipales.
Cette folie généralisée qui a eu raison du 14 Mars fut la plus grande victoire
de Hezbollah.
Samir Geagea qui était, sans aucun doute, en 2015 la personnalité politique la
plus respectée sur l’échelle nationale au Liban, l’homme politique dont la
cohérence de la pensée attirait comme un aimant les jeunes et séduisait une
grande majorité de non-partisans de toutes les religions, décida d’un coup de se
recroqueviller dans un coin sectaire disputant des batailles avec Boutros Harb,
Hadi Hobeich et Dory Chamoun pour le plaisir de Hezbollah. Perdant son panache
et sa cohérence, Il devenait d’un coup un parmi tant d'autres « politiciens »
sectaires.
Tout les arguments présentés par ses partisans jusqu’au-boutistes, sont faibles
et non-convaincants. Les résultats politiques de la doctrine Riachi sont
catastrophiques sur les FL. L’écrasante majorité de Chrétiens non-partisans et
80% des Sunnites ont été profondément déçus par celui en qui ils voyaient une
lueur d’espoir.
Imaginons si Geagea n’avait pas franchi le Rubicond de la honte ! Il aurait
tissé une alliance intra-nationale irrésistible avec Ashraf Riffi et les
Madinati émergents !
Quant à Saad, sa situation est très délicate. Son bateau prend de l’eau de
partout : Oger, Mustaqbal, son leadership Sunnite, ses relations avec les
Saoudiens….
L’objectif de ce papier n’est pas seulement la critique acerbe mais aussi une
humble contribution a un changement de cap stratégique et tactique des 2
formations : Mustaqbal et FL.
Plan de réhabilitation de Mustaqbal :
1. Eloigner les 3 conseillers principaux, responsables de la déconfiture du
parti : Machnouk, Khoury, Hammoud et Sabe3.
2. Nommer une personne en charge de l’assainissement de « Saudi Oger » avec
plein pouvoir (y inclus la vente).
3. Geler le dialogue avec Hezbollah.
4. Nommer un comite intérim de 5 personnes en charge de l’organisation du
congres partisan, de la tenue d’élections convaincantes au sein du parti :
Siniora, Fatfat, Rifai, Asma Andraos, Mazen Hanna.
5. Silence total de Saad durant la période intérim précèdent le congres
partisan.
6. Le nouveau directoire élu sera appelé à redéfinir le message et stratégie
politique de Mustaqbal dans un souci unificateur (Riffi, Daher, Mer3abi) ; se
dessaisir de la candidature poison de Frangieh, renouer les liens avec les FL et
autres composantes du 14 Mars et définir une stratégie efficace d’opposition de
Hezbollah.
De leur cote les FL ont le devoir de faire leur mea culpa et de prendre les
dispositions suivantes :
1. Eloigner Riachi immédiatement.
2. Demander à Aoun de se mettre d’accord sur un autre candidat (Sal ah Honein)
et lui demander aussi de participer a la prochaine séance Présidentielle. Dans
le cas de son refus retirer immédiatement le support des FL.
3. Nommer un médiateur entre les FL et les diverses composantes du 14 Mars (Mustaqbal
et tout les autres).
4. Demander la tenue d’un Congres urgent 14 Mars.
Les 2 plans de réhabilitation devraient être entamés simultanément et en
parfaite coordination.
Continuer dans la voie suicidaire, hautaine et arrogante des 2 formations
principales du 14 Mars mènera à la fin de l’idée du Liban dans laquelle ces 2
formations croient.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 21-22/16
U.N.: More than 700 Doctors Killed
in Syria War
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June
21/16/Attacks on hospitals since Syria's war broke out five years ago have left
more than 700 doctors and medical workers dead, many of them in air strikes, UN
investigators said Tuesday. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria also condemned
horrific violations by jihadists and voiced concern that Al-Qaeda-affiliated
militants may have recruited hundreds of children into their ranks. Commission
chief Paulo Pinheiro told the UN Human Rights Council that widespread, targeted
aerial attacks on hospitals and clinics across Syria "have resulted in scores of
civilian deaths, including much-needed medical workers.""More than 700 doctors
and medical personnel have been killed in attacks on hospitals since the
beginning of the conflict," he said. Pinheiro, who was presenting the
commission's latest report to the council, said attacks on medical facilities
and the deaths of so many medical professionals had made access to health care
in the violence-wracked country extremely difficult -- and in some areas
completely impossible. "As civilian casualties mount, the number of medical
facilities and staff decreases, limiting even further access to medical care,"
he said. Pinheiro also denounced frequent attacks on other infrastructure
essential to civilian life, such as markets, schools and bakeries. "With each
attack, terrorised survivors are left more vulnerable," he said, adding that
"schools, hospitals, mosques, water stations ... are all being turned into
rubble."Since March 2011, Syria's brutal conflict has left more than 280,000
people dead and forced half the population to flee their homes. War broke out
after President Bashar al-Assad's regime unleashed a brutal crackdown against
protesters demanding political change in Arab Spring-inspired protests. It has
since become a multi-front war between regime forces, jihadists and other groups
with the civilian population caught in the crossfire. The UN and rights groups
have repeatedly called on all sides in the war to stop attacking civilian
infrastructure including hospitals. Pinheiro also said the commission was
investigating allegations that the Al-Nusra Front "and other al-Qaida-affiliated
groups have recruited hundreds of children under 15 in Idlib" in northwestern
Syria. The brutality of Syria's conflict is preventing millions of children from
attending school, and activists have warned this is helping fuel jihadist
recruitment drives. Pinheiro also condemned the violations committed by the
Islamic State group. In a report published last week, the commission warned that
IS jihadists were continuing to commit genocide against the Yazidi minority in
Iraq and Syria. - 'Stop the genocide' -In 2014, IS jihadists massacred members
of the Kurdish-speaking minority mainly based around Sinjar mountain in northern
Iraq, forcing tens of thousands to flee. They also captured thousands of girls
and women, subjecting them to horrific abuse as sex slaves. "As we speak, Yazidi
women and girls are still sexually enslaved, subjected to brutal rapes and
beatings. They are bought and sold in markets, passed from fighter to fighter
like chattel, their dignity being ripped from them with each passing day,"
Pinheiro told the council Tuesday. "Boys are taken from their mother's care and
forced into ISIS training camps once they reach the age of seven," he said,
using another acronym for IS as he called on the international community to act
"to stop the genocide."
Reports: Iran's Suleimani
Warns Bahrain, Leaves Fallujah for Aleppo
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 21/16/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.
Man with 'Suicide
Belt' of Biscuits and Salt Triggers Brussels Alert
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 21/16/A man with psychiatric problems who was
carrying a fake suicide belt full of salt and biscuits was arrested Tuesday
after he triggered a major anti-terror operation at a Brussels shopping mall,
prosecutors said. Belgium remains on a high state of alert after Islamic
State-claimed bomb attacks in March left 32 people dead at the airport and at a
metro station near European Union headquarters buildings. Prosecutors said they
were still investigating whether the man -- who had once claimed he had been
urged to join the Islamic State group in Syria -- had any genuine links to
terrorism or not. The 26-year-old man, identified only as J.B., called police to
say he had been abducted in a car and dropped at the City 2 mall in central
Brussels with an explosives belt that was to have been detonated remotely.
"After an initial inspection it was confirmed that it contained salt and
biscuits. Any threat of an explosion has been initially ruled out," prosecutor's
spokesman Rym Kechiche said in a statement. "J.B. is known to the authorities
for various incidents, including some linked to psychiatric problems," Kechiche
said.
Police later located the car identified by the suspect in the Schaerbeek
district of the capital and planned to question its owner. - 'Situation under
control' -The apparent threat had triggered a massive security operation. Only
one exit remained open at the nearby Rogier metro station, where soldiers
checked passengers bags and belongings. Police and soldiers sealed off the
immediate area, an Agence France Presse reporter at the scene said. Prime
Minister Charles Michel called an emergency meeting of his security cabinet when
the shopping mall alert was ongoing, reflecting the tensions in the country.
"The situation is for now under control. We remain vigilant," Michel said after
the meeting. The terror alert level in Brussels remained at level three out of
four, Belga news agency reported. The City 2 mall had been mentioned in Belgian
media in recent days as a possible target for attacks. The incident comes only
days after Belgian authorities charged three men with "attempted terrorist
murder" after raiding dozens of homes linked to a reported threat to fans
watching during a Euro 2016 football game. Authorities said at the time they
were responding to a need for "an immediate intervention". The areas searched
included neighbourhoods in Brussels where November's jihadist attackers in Paris
and the Brussels suicide bombings had planned their assaults. In proportion to
its population, Belgium has the highest number of so-called foreign fighters in
the EU who have travelled to wage jihad in Syria and Iraq, an estimated 500.
After Saturday's swoop, Michel said the country would be taking "additional and
updated security measures." On Saturday, a source close to Belgian authorities
confirmed to AFP that several leading political figures have recently had their
security increased.
Iranian General Qassim Sulaimani
threatens Bahrain
By Staff Writer Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 21 June 2016/Bahrain’s decision to
strip a Shiite preacher of his citizenship will create “a flame of fire” in the
Kingdom and the region, a top Iranian general said late Monday according to
state media. The statement equated preacher Isa Qassim a “red line” and said
that its crossing “will create a flame of fire in Bahrain and throughout the
region that will leave no option for the people but to resort to armed
resistance,” said General Qassem Suleimani, head of Iran’s Quds Force, the
Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations arm.General Suleimani is infamous for
overseeing and plotting a large number of terrorist groups and activities in
Syria and Iraq. (With AFP)
UN aid reaches five Syria
areas under siege
AFP, United Nations, United States Tuesday, 21 June 2016/The United Nations said
Monday it delivered food and medical aid to besieged Syrians on the rural
outskirts of Damascus over the weekend. The relief shipments went to Ein Terma
and Hamouria - areas surrounded by regime forces - as well as the difficult to
reach Hazeh, Beit Sawa and Eftreis areas. The communities are in the Kafr Batna
region, which hasn't received aid since mid-April. UN deputy spokesman Farhan
Haq welcomed the news, but said “much more progress is required.” “The UN
continues to call for unconditional, unimpeded and sustained access to the
millions of people in besieged and hard to reach locations across Syria,” he
added. Since the beginning of the year, 86 land convoys have entered areas that
are under siege or difficult to reach, delivering crucial supplies to 850,000
civilians.Last year, the UN sent only 34 aid deliveries, down from 50 in 2014.
Erbin and Zamalka, two of 18 besieged areas identified by the UN, have gone
without potentially life-saving assistance since November 2012. The rural
Damascus suburbs in East Ghouta are controlled by rebel forces and encircled by
Syrian regime troops. Watch: Why are dozens of countries slamming the UN over
Syria? The UN plans on sending humanitarian assistance via airdrops, using
planes in rural areas and helicopters in densely populated regions. Some 592,700
Syrian residents are currently living under siege, according to the United
Nations. It says 452,700 of them are besieged by government troops, particularly
in rural Damascus, 110,000 by ISIS in the eastern city Deir Ezzor, 20,000 by the
Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front and rebel groups in northeastern Idlib
province, and 10,000 by pro-regime fighters and armed groups in the Yarmouk Camp
district of Damascus, home to Palestinian refugees.
Powers must push for political solution in Syria: UN
By Reuters Geneva Tuesday, 21 June 2016/United Nations war crimes investigators
called on world powers on Tuesday to pressure the warring sides in Syria to
return to the negotiating table to hold the conflict and civilian suffering.
Paulo Pinheiro, chair of the UN independent commission of inquiry on Syria, said
that the Syrian government was conducting daily airstrikes, while militant
groups including ISIS also carried out indiscriminate attacks. “We need all
States to insist time and time again that influential States and the (UN)
Security Council unconditionally support the political process,” Pinheiro told
the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Gun control bid fails in US
Senate after Orlando massacre
AFP, Washington Tuesday, 21 June 2016/The Republican-controlled US Senate
rejected four competing gun control measures Monday just days after the Orlando
club massacre, highlighting the partisan feuding over an issue set to resonate
during a heated presidential election year. With a month to go before
Republicans and Democrats formally nominate their White House hopefuls,
lawmakers failed to compromise on one of the most sensitive hot-button issues in
America.Even as they sought to appear keen to take action following the
deadliest mass shooting in US history that left 49 dead at a gay nightclub in
Orlando a week ago, Republicans and Democrats voted down four amendments - two
from each party - that would have limited some gun purchases, including those by
suspected terrorists. The two Democratic texts sought to bar those on FBI
watchlists or no-fly lists from buying firearms, and to strengthen criminal and
mental health background checks for those seeking to purchase firearms at gun
shows and on the Internet. Republicans are opposed to those measures - in
general, they oppose any effort to limit gun rights, saying they are protected
by the US Constitution's Second Amendment. They proposed a 72-hour waiting
period for those on FBI watchlists seeking to buy weapons, so that the
government has time to seek a court order to block the sale if need be. The
second Republican proposal aimed to improve the background check system.
Democrats rejected both GOP measures. Such efforts often struggle to pass the
Senate, where 60 of 100 votes are needed for legislation to advance. The Senate
voted on similar measures in the wake of the December 2012 Connecticut school
massacre and the San Bernardino attacks last year, but to no avail. “Every
single senator wants to deny terrorists access to guns they use to harm innocent
civilians, but there's a right way to do things and a wrong way,” said
Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas. Number two Senate Democrat Dick Durbin
was livid at the failure of lawmakers to come together on such a pressing issue
after yet another shooting. “Tonight, the Senate turned its back on victims of
gun violence from Orlando to San Bernardino, from Newtown to the streets of
Chicago,” Durbin said in a statement.There are 46 senators who are Democrats or
generally vote with Democrats, and 54 Republicans. Susan Collins, a moderate
Republican senator from Maine, was expected to unveil some kind of compromise
legislation, but it also seemed unlikely to pass.
Guns in bars?
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has spoken out at
length about the need to curb gun violence in the week since the Orlando
tragedy, but she had a shorter message Monday. “Enough,” she said in a one-word
statement, followed by the names and ages of the 49 Orlando victims.Democrats
know they have only a slim chance of succeeding with gun reform ahead of the
November elections. Their goal for now is to push the debate on guns - and turn
it into a true campaign issue. “Ultimately, the only way that you win this issue
is by building a political infrastructure around the country that rivals that of
the gun lobby,” Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told ABC's “This Week” show on
Sunday. Last week, Murphy mounted a 15-hour filibuster on the Senate floor that
prompted Republican leaders to schedule Monday's cloture votes. “Our filibuster
helped galvanize an entire country around this issue,” he said. Republican
presidential hopeful Donald Trump made waves last week when he suggested he
would meet with the National Rifle Association -- which has endorsed him -- to
push a ban on weapons sales to those on watchlists. On Sunday, Trump said the
NRA was seeking to defend “the best interests of our country,” adding: “They
want to make the right decision.”Since the attack on the Pulse nightclub in
Orlando, Trump controversially said he only wished more of the people in the
club had guns to defend themselves. But the NRA's executive vice president and
chief executive Wayne LaPierre contradicted Trump, saying: “I don't think you
should have firearms where people are drinking.” Trump has since walked back his
comments, tweeting that he was “obviously talking about additional guards or
employees.”
Jordan king vows to hit back
against border attackers
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 21 June 2016/Jordan's King Abdullah
vowed to hit back "with an iron fist" against attackers who killed six army
border guards with a car bomb near the frontier with Syria on Tuesday, a palace
statement said. The kingdom’s army chief of staff announced on Tuesday that
Jordan's northern and northeastern borders with Syria were closed military
zones. The order comes into immediate effect, just hours after six Jordanian
border guards were killed in a suicide attack on their military post in a
desolate area in the country's far eastern border area with Syria that also
converges with the Iraqi border. The attack took place at 05:30 AM local
Jordanian time after an explosives-laden vehicle blew up a few hundred meters
from a camp for Syrian refugees in a desolate area where the borders of Iraq,
Syria and Jordan meet, Jordan's army said. Jordan's state TV says called the
incident a "cowardly terrorist attack."[with Reuters]
Three arrested over links to
killer of French police couple
AFP Tuesday, 21 June 2016/Three people have been arrested over their connection
to the killer of a French policeman, police sources said on Tuesday. A man who
claimed allegiance to ISIS stabbed a senior French police officer to death on
June 13 before he was killed in a dramatic police operation, officials have
said. The unidentified attacker killed the officer before taking his partner and
their son hostage in their home in Magnanville, near Paris. He was shot dead by
members of an elite police unit after negotiations failed. The partner was found
dead but the child was rescued.
Man held near Brussels mall,
no explosives found
AFP, Brussels Tuesday, 21 June 2016/An anti-terror operation was underway at a
shopping centre in central Brussels on Tuesday, Belgian prosecutors told the
Belga News agency, adding that one suspect had been arrested. Prime Minister
Charles Michel was holding an emergency meeting with members of his security
cabinet, Belgian media reported. The incident began at about 0430 GMT this
morning after a report of a man acting suspiciously near the City 2 shopping
centre triggered a bomb alert, broadcaster RTL reported. A suspect held in an
anti-terror operation in Brussels was wearing a fake suicide vest, prosecutors
said Tuesday. "No bomb has so far been found. The suicide vest found on a
suspect was fake," the Brussels prosecutor's office said. A closed street near
the City2 mall in Brussels. (Reuters)
Israeli troops shoot, kill
14-year Palestinian boy
The Associated Press, Jerusalem Tuesday, 21 June 2016/ Israeli troops shot and
killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy early Tuesday in the West Bank and wounded
four others, a Palestinian official said. Wajih Ahmad, head of the Beit Ur al-Tahta
local council, said the teen, Mahmoud Badran, was killed when the car he was
traveling in was fired upon by an Israeli military patrol. The hospital in the
West Bank city of Ramallah said another Palestinian was moderately wounded and
three others were lightly wounded. The military said it was responding to
Palestinians throwing rocks and firebombs on vehicles on a busy road in the area
in which that three civilians were hurt. It said Israeli forces tried to protect
other vehicles and fired toward suspects. "From the initial inquiry it appears
that un-involved bystanders were mistakenly hit during the pursuit," the
military said in a statement. Over the past nine months, Palestinians have
carried out dozens of attacks, including stabbings, shootings and car ramming
assaults, which have killed 32 Israelis and two Americans. About 200
Palestinians have been killed during that time. Israel has identified most of
them as attackers while the rest died in clashes with Israeli troops. The
assaults were once near-daily incidents but they have become less frequent in
recent weeks. Also Tuesday, the Israeli military demolished the home of a
Palestinian who stabbed to death an American tourist and war veteran in an
attack earlier this year. The troops entered the West Bank village of Hajjah to
knock down the residence of Bashar Masalha. In March, he killed Taylor Force and
wounded 10 others in a stabbing attack on a Tel Aviv beachfront promenade. Force
was a Vanderbilt University graduate student visiting Israel during a school
trip. He previously graduated from West Point and served tours of duty in Iraq
and Afghanistan. Masalha was killed by police after the attack. Israel says it
carries out housing demolitions to deter future attacks. The Palestinians
consider it a form of collective punishment.
Ballistic missile intercepted
in Yemen
AFP, Riyadh Tuesday, 21 June 2016/A ballistic missile fired early Tuesday
towards the central Yemeni city of Marib has been intercepted, a Saudi-led
military coalition battling rebels in the impoverished nation said. The missile
was “destroyed with no damage” after its launch at around 12:15 am (2115 GMT), a
statement from the alliance said. “Coalition air forces immediately responded by
destroying the missile launching pad.”Marib, controlled by forces loyal to
Yemen’s recognized government, is east of the capital Sanaa, which remains in
the hands of Shiite Houthi rebels. The Houthis overran Sanaa in late 2014 before
moving into other parts of Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene
in March last year. This was at least the third missile launch since United
Nations-brokered peace talks began in Kuwait in April between the Houthis and
the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. The Houthis are allied with
elite troops loyal to Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Negotiations
in Kuwait have failed to achieve a major breakthrough, and fighting has
continued despite a formal ceasefire in conjunction with peace talks. Saudi
Arabia has deployed Patriot missile batteries to counter tactical ballistic
missiles which have been fired occasionally during the war. The UN says more
than 6,400 people have been killed in Yemen since March last year, the majority
of them civilians. Fighting has driven 2.8 million people from their homes and
left more than 80 percent of the population needing humanitarian aid.
Taliban kidnap 60 in
Afghanistan bus attacks
By AP Kandahar, Afghanistan Tuesday, 21 June 2016/The Taliban on Tuesday
ambushed a series of buses and cars in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province,
forcing people out of the vehicles and abducting around 60 passengers, an Afghan
official said. The insurgents later said they released all but 27 of those
abducted. According to Mohammad Ismail, a district police chief in Helmand, the
attack happened in Gareshk district. The Taliban forced the buses and cars to
stop at gunpoint, he said, adding that it’s not known where the Taliban took the
abducted passengers. The abductions come amid stepped-up Taliban attacks as part
of their summer offensive. The insurgents frequently target buses carrying civil
servants, or those perceived to be working for the Kabul government. On Monday,
a Taliban suicide bomber killed 14 Nepalese security guards in an attack on
their minibus in the Afghan capital. And in late May, a suicide bomber struck a
minibus carrying court employees during morning rush hour, also in Kabul,
killing 11 people. The Taliban also claimed that attack. In Tuesday’s attack,
Abdull Ghafoor Tokhi, the Helmand transportation director, said the Taliban
“stopped couple of buses and around 15 other vehicles on the main highway and
searched them all” - suggesting they were looking for someone or something
specific and had enough time to go through all the vehicles. Later Tuesday,
Helmand police chief Gen. Aqa Noor Kentoz said Afghan security forces launched
an operation to find the abducted passengers. He said it was too early to say
how many government employees were among those travelling in the attacked buses
and cars. Taliban spokesman Qari Yusouf Ahmadi later in a message to the media
confirmed the group was behind the assault and said the insurgents still hold 27
of the abducted but freed the others. “We freed all but 27... there will be an
investigation and we will find out if they are government employees and if so,
they will be hand over to the Taliban judicial officials to decide on their
fate,” said Ahmadi.Earlier this month, the Taliban killed 12 people they had
captured, including policemen and soldiers, in eastern Ghazni province. Last
month, Taliban-linked insurgents killed at least nine people after seizing
passengers off buses in northern Kunduz province.
Saudi Arabia: 27 new
coronavirus cases in five days
Mohammed Dawood, Okaz/Saudi Gazette Tuesday, 21 June 2016/With the announcement
by the Health Ministry on Sunday that three new cases of the Middle East
Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) were reported in Riyadh, the number
of the confirmed cases of the infection has risen to 27 in five days. The
ministry said a 32-year-old expatriate woman working in a hospital in Riyadh, a
42-year-old Saudi and his 44-year-old compatriot were the three new cases in the
capital. According to the ministry, the three cases were stable. Since the virus
was first discovered in Saudi Arabia in September 2012, a total of 1,413 people
have been affected. They included Saudi and expatriate men and women in various
age groups. According to the ministry’s figures, 790 people recovered, 593 died
and 30 cases are currently under treatment.
This article first appeared in the Saudi Gazette on June 21, 2016.
Uranium particles discovered at Iran
military site - report
Tuesday, 21 June 2016/National Council of Resistance of Iran
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/06/21/national-council-of-resistance-of-iranuranium-particles-discovered-at-iran-military-site-report/
The Obama administration has concluded that uranium particles discovered last
year at a secretive military base in Iran likely were tied to the regime’s past,
covert nuclear weapons program, current and former U.S. officials have said.
Traces of man-made uranium were found at the Parchin facility, southeast of
Tehran, by investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United
Nations’ nuclear watchdog, as part of an investigation tied to the landmark
nuclear deal reached last July between Iran's regime and global powers, The Wall
Street Journal reported on Monday.
The particles were "physical evidence" to support the charge that the Iranian
regime had been pursuing a bomb there, the report said. The Obama administration
didn’t comment about the uranium in December when the IAEA released its report;
the finding got only one brief mention in the 16 pages. But in recent
interviews, current and former U.S. officials asked about the uranium finding
said the working assumption now is that it is tied to nuclear weapons
development that Tehran is believed to have previously pursued. Critics on
Capitol Hill believe the Obama administration played down the extent of Tehran’s
nuclear work to advance President Barack Obama’s signature foreign policy
initiative. The terms of the deal required Iran's regime to address evidence
amassed by the IAEA that showed Tehran’s military had a centralized program to
build a nuclear weapon until at least 2003. IAEA officials said in interviews
that during its investigation, conducted from July through December, Iran's
regime didn’t allow the agency to interview top nuclear scientists believed to
have overseen nuclear weapons development. The mullahs' regime did allow IAEA
inspectors to collect soil samples from Parchin in October that were tested for
the presence of nuclear materials. The agency found two particles of man-made
uranium, despite what the IAEA said was a yearslong effort by Iran's regime to
sanitize Parchin by removing soil and infrastructure, according to U.N. and U.S.
officials briefed on the investigation.
The man-made uranium found at Parchin, which has only low-levels of fissionable
isotopes, can be used as a substitute for weapons-grade materials in developing
atomic bombs, according to nuclear experts. It can also be used as component in
a neutron initiator, a triggering device for a nuclear weapon.
Critics of the nuclear deal have cited the presence of uranium at Parchin as
evidence the Obama administration didn’t go far enough in demanding Tehran
answer all questions concerning its past nuclear work before lifting
international sanctions in January. They also argue that it is hard to develop a
comprehensive monitoring regime without knowing everything the regime has done.
Normally, the IAEA requires additional samples to be taken when there are
irregularities found in their tests, such as the presence of man-made uranium,
according to former agency officials and other nuclear experts. But under last
year’s nuclear agreement, Tehran was only required to allow the IAEA’s
inspectors to visit the Parchin facility once.
The IAEA declined to comment on any efforts to try to visit Parchin again, the
WSJ report added.
In 2014 a lot of information surfaced about Tehran’s suspicious activities in
Parchin, which was the scene of some high-explosive tests. The apparent
experiments with exploding bridge wire were widely recognized as having
potential applications to the detonation of a nuclear device. Those tests were
carried out in the help of foreign nuclear experts, in a specially designed
explosive chamber that subsequently disappeared. At a press conference In
November 2014 in Washington, DC, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
unveiled intelligence provided by the main Iranian opposition group People's
Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) with details on how the explosive
chamber was built, where it was it built, etc. But the greatest revelation in
that press conference was that the MEK had uncovered details showing that two of
those chambers had been manufactured, not one.
The two explosive chambers were apparently built in the early 2000s by the
Iranian regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). A major theme of the
upcoming "Free Iran" gathering in Paris on July 9, 2016 will be to look back at
the results of last summer's nuclear deal with the mullahs' regime.
Another Baha’i woman arrested
in Iran, her business shut down
Tuesday, 21 June 2016/NCRI
- A Baha’i woman was arrested in Iran after one month of harassment,
intimidation and the shutdown of her business. Ms. Sara Akhlaghi is a Bahaii
residing in Shiraz, southern Iran. She was summoned to the regime’s court on
June 16, 2016 to sign papers in order to have her maison unlocked, according to
a report published Tuesday by the website of the Women’s Committee of the
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Ms. Akhlaghi advertized her
maison's wedding gowns on Instagram. However, internet security agents hacked
and blocked her account for "dissemination of indecent photographs and inciting
and encouraging others to breach public decency."In the next stage, her maison
was sealed without prior notice. They posted a banner on the door, which read,
"This business has been sealed because of disseminating indecent photographs and
is not allowed to do business."Then on June 16, Ms. Akhlaghi was summoned to
court ostensibly to reach an agreement for unlocking her business, but she was
arrested on the spot. There is no information available on her whereabouts, the
report added.
Iran: Christian prisoner refused
extension of sick leave
Tuesday, 21 June 2016/NCRI - The clerical regime’s Prosecutor's Office in Tehran
has refused to extend the sick leave for prisoner of conscience, Maryam Naghash
Zargaran, according to a report published on Tuesday on the website of the
Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. She is
presently in hospital in critical condition. This new Christian convert went on
hunger strike on May 26, 2016 to protest the status of her case, lack of medical
treatment, and being deprived of medical leave. For 11 days, however, prison
officials did not listen to her demands. Ms. Zargaran wrote in a post that she
did not drink even water in the first four days of her hunger strike. When she
fainted and was taken to the prison's dispensary, officials told her: "It is not
important if you break your strike or not, because we have other things to do
and we have to inspect other wards, as well." Then, she was returned to her cell
without being heard. Finally, under domestic and international pressures, they
were forced to grant her a medical leave after 11 days. Ms. Zargaran who suffers
from ASD, underwent heart surgery some nine years ago and needs consistent and
special care. In addition, during the time she has been incarcerated, she has
suffered from earache, continuous dizziness, numbness of limbs, chronic pain in
the joints and backbone, severe anemia and diabetes. The Tehran Prosecutor's
Office has rejected her request for extension of medical leave, while her
medical treatment has not yet been completed.
Mother of murdered Iranian
dissident supports political prisoner Jafar Azimzadeh
Monday, 20 June 2016/NCRI - Support for imprisoned Iranian workers’ rights
activist Jafar Azimzadeh’s hunger strike has come from all sides; allies in the
West, fellow political prisoners and the mother of a murdered Iranian dissident.
Sholeh Pakravan, the mother of Reyhaneh Jabbari, has spoken prominently about
the human rights abuses in Iran since her daughter was executed in 2014, and has
now written an open letter of support to Mr. Azimzadeh. In the letter, she
addressed current critical issues including the negligence to this political
prisoner and flogging the workers of Agh Darreh and Bafgh. These brutal acts are
an attempt to create a society with downtrodden, cheap and silent workforce so
the foreign investors aren’t confronted with the reality of the conditions and
the country can become a global trader. She wrote that the silent execution of
contractor workers and the detainment of their representatives illustrate the
official return of slavery in Iran. She encouraged the Iranian people to stand
up against the regime, warning of a terrible future if the regime is allowed to
prevail. She wrote: “The fate of your children will be nothing but suffering and
pain. Talk about your livelihood demands in the street. Let your wishes and
expectations be clearly met by the authorities. Support the demands of
prisoners' representatives and talk about them in private and public forums.”She
continued with this sad metaphor of Iran. She wrote: “Behind the charming smiles
of the officials, hides the crushed body and soul of the imprisoned children of
Iran, the hunger strikes, the pressure of interrogation and cowardly provisions.
Behind the big wall of lies, there exist the hundred invisible gallows which
silently executes our loved ones.”Mr. Azimzadeh, a political prisoner who is
being held in Evin Prison, has been on hunger strike for 51 days so far. Sholeh
Pakravan’s daughter, Reyhaneh Jabbari, was executed on October 25, 2014 for
killing an intelligence agent of the mullahs’ regime who tried to rape her seven
years earlier when she was just 19 years old.
Egypt Court Quashes Cession of Red
Sea Islands to Saudi
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 21/16/An Egyptian court on Tuesday quashed a
government decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, judicial
sources said, overruling a deal that had sparked public outrage. President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi announced the controversial accord in April during a visit to
Cairo by Saudi King Salman. A judge told Agence France Presse that the decision
by the State Council -- Egypt's highest administrative court -- "cancels the
signing" of the deal, which put two islands in the Straits of Tiran under
Riyadh's control. The handover prompted an outcry from many Egyptians, and
sparked protests against Sisi. A court last month sentenced 51 people to two
years in jail for taking part in protests against the accord, which police
quickly dispersed. In the lead-up to the protests, police already made dozens of
arrests to discourage a repeat of a large rally on April 15 at which
demonstrators chanted for the "fall of the regime". Egypt's appeals court in May
overturned five-year jail terms for 47 people convicted of taking part in
non-authorised protests, but upheld fines of more than $11,000 each. Tuesday's
ruling on the islands deal is not final and may be challenged by the government.
Lawyer Khaled Ali, who brought the case, told AFP the court's verdict "shows
that the two territories are Egyptian... and cannot be given away". Saudi Arabia
is one of Sisi's main regional backers, and the kingdom has provided Egypt with
billions of dollars worth of aid and investment since the former army chief took
power. Although generations of Egyptians have grown up believing the islands
belonged to Egypt, Cairo insists they have always been Saudi territory, which
was leased to it in 1950 following a request by Riyadh. Many Egyptians view
Tiran and Sanafir with patriotic fondness because of the islands' association
with the four wars Egypt fought with Israel between 1948 and 1973. Lying at the
mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, the islands can be used to control access to the
Israeli port of Eilat. They were captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war
before being returned to Egypt under the 1979 Camp David Accords.
Cairo says the transfer agreement was based on a presidential decree issued by
now ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, who in 1990 even informed the United Nations
about the matter.
Critics accuse Sisi of "selling" the islands in return for Saudi investments.
The judge, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said
Tuesday's verdict stressed that the two territories remain "Egyptian".
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on
June 21-22/16
The most important war in the Middle
East may be online
Tom Fletcher//Al Arabiya/June 21/16
We are reminded every day that this is a region racked by conflict and
instability. The Syrian people are battling for an alternative to the barrel
bombs of Assad and the box office barbarism of ISIS. Millions have had to flee
their homes, and face a perilous struggle for survival. Libya and Yemen are in
turmoil.
Those who want a fair and secure outcome between Palestine and Israel are on the
defensive. And the verdict is not yet in on whether Iran’s moderates are able to
seize ground from Iranian hardliners as a result of the nuclear deal, or whether
the IRGC will be given a free hand to disrupt and terrorise.
This is a worrying mix. And so it may sound strange to say that the frontlines
of the battle that matters most are not drawn on a map. The real global dividing
line of the 21st century is between the coexisters – those who believe in
tolerance and understanding across boundaries, race, culture, religion – and the
wall builders. Donald Trump is the most vocal of those on the wrong side of this
argument, who think the answer to the challenges of the 21st century is a bigger
wall. But many others agree, albeit for different reasons. Not least ISIS, who
target what they call the “greyzone” that they detest so much, where ideas and
faiths interact. The Middle East is the epicenter of this argument. And this
battle will be fought online as much as offline. It is a battle of values and
ideology. It is a battle of mindset – for tolerance, open minds and coexistence.
And it is a battle for opportunity – not least for the jobs and growth needed to
help the Middle East succeed in the 21st century. All of that requires us to
mobilise the most powerful weapon yet invented – the internet. Those in the
frontline for tolerance and coexistence now have to reclaim these tools and win
the battle for digital territory
Social media
To win this battle, the coexisters need to marshall their forces. Online as
offline, we need to be louder and more determined in our arguments than the
opponents seeking to divide the region. We need to be using these new tools,
including social media, to establish partnerships with those from other
cultures. Because the sad reality is that digital technology will also allow
those opposed to basic liberties a platform to suppress them, promote their
atrocities, and recruit their footsoldiers. Authoritarian regimes will crack
down on digital freedom, and turn it against activists. Social media campaigns
will also be used to fuel extremism and polarise debate – the modern equivalent
of the use of hate radio during the Rwanda genocide. The technology works for
us. We don’t work for the technology. Too often social media doesn’t just record
conflict, but drives it. Those in the frontline for tolerance and coexistence
now have to reclaim these tools, and win the battle for digital territory. We
also need to make the case for online freedoms of expression - you don’t have to
be pro Twitter to be pro freedom, but you can’t be anti Twitter and pro freedom.
The Arab world missed out on the Enlightenment because the Ottoman Empire banned
the printing press. I hope that it will not make the same mistake with the
internet. We need a genuine global debate about digital rights, tackling the
toughest issues around trust and transparency. We need to find the balance
between freedom of expression and the rights of others, between liberty and
security.
And we need to present a positive alternative to the wall builders. The internet
cannot only be about breaking things, but must be about building together the
solutions we need to the economic, political and demographic challenges we face.
The most practical task facing the coexisters is to get millions across the
Middle East into quality education, and away from poverty and radicalization.
But we also have to equip those arguing for tolerance with the skills and tools
to win – part of our effort at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi.
Nowhere is fleet footed, savvy digital diplomacy needed more than in the online
and offline war with ISIS and its offshoots. For a gang that seeks to return to
the 11th century, they have no qualms about using the technology that embodies
the modernity they claim to despise. They seek to monopolise the horror genre
for the internet age, and they believe they are better at social media than the
rest of us. Their drive by, unstructured approach has displaced the clumsier and
lengthier speeches of al-Qaeda – even terrorists get disrupted. Technological
change is unstoppable. If we understand its potential to unite as well as
divide, the overall effect of the internet is going to be hugely positive. It is
better ultimately to have too much information than too little. But all this
extraordinary change is not painless. We should acknowledge the victims, and
find ensure that connectivity reduces rather than increases inequality.But first
each of us has to decide: are we with the coexisters, or the wall builders? And
are we using our smartphone superpower to win that argument, or are we ceding
ground to those who will consign the Middle East to a lost century?
_________________________
Prof. Tom Fletcher CMG is a former UK Ambassador, who now teaches at the
Emirates Diplomatic Academy and NY University, and campaigns for educational
opportunity and the creative industries. His ‘Naked Diplomacy: Power and
Statecraft in the Digital Age’ launches this week in the Middle East, and is
available on Amazon.
Extremism before and after
9/11
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/June 21/16
Most of what is written and said today about “extremist Islamists,” as
individuals and groups, is very different from what was written in the near
past. Most Western commentators and Arab intellectuals categorized extremist
groups such as al-Qaeda as movements deprived of political rights in their
countries, so they resorted to violence. The two countries accused of cracking
down on Osama bin Laden and his group are Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The violence
that media figures justified as a reaction to authorities’ violence included a
series of explosions in Egypt, and a series of threats and operations against
Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaeda was, and still is, a dangerous and evil group, and Bin
Laden was a terrorist years before the 9/11 attacks, but no one wanted to
believe it back then. Some people think al-Qaeda was born when 9/11 happened.
What changed was its media portrayal. Before 9/11, most analyses in Western
media outlets, particularly US and British ones, insisted that al-Qaeda and its
leader were the product of persecution. The US State Department had asked
Egypt’s government to stop pursuing members of Islamic groups that raised the
slogan of jihad.
Western sympathy
In the 1990s, I worked at Al-Majalla magazine then with Ash-Sharq al-Awsat in
London. I was in contact with numerous journalists and media figures, and I used
to attend think-tank events. Many of those concerned with the region’s affairs
were convinced that Bin Laden’s demands were political, such as the right of
expression and participation, and that al-Qaeda was merely a political
opposition movement against the Saudi government. It will be impossible to
defeat Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) without
understanding their ideologies and the circumstances of their emergence
The same was said about his comrade Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has a long history of
terrorism. They considered him an opposition figure against Egypt’s government,
not a leader of a group with a terrorist ideology. Not many understood the
nature of al-Qaeda and its destructive ideas. This applied to Western
governments, which considered the extremist organization part of the political
opposition, and failed to comprehend its fascist ideology. Al-Qaeda’s activity
was actually known before 1993. The organization and its leader received some
sympathy from Western media, despite the violent remarks made and the military
operations carried out, particularly in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The group’s
terrorism in Egypt was carried out under the name of different groups that share
with it the same ideology. These groups’ threats reached Cairo’s center.
Tackling al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda became pursued beyond Egypt’s borders when the authorities realized
that it was linked to its leadership – which resided in Sudan – particularly Bin
Laden and Zawahiri, who escaped from Egypt to Sudan because he was wanted on
terror charges.
Due to these terrorist attacks in Egypt, Riyadh revoked Bin Laden’s nationality
in the mid-1990s. Since they confronted him, the Egyptian and Saudi governments
became the Western media’s favorite target on the basis of defending the
concepts of democracy and freedom of expression. I do not remember anyone at the
time adopting a different viewpoint. They continued to justify al-Qaeda’s
actions, which were committed in the name of Islam, until 9/11. This was not its
first crime, but it was a turning point that made everyone realize that it was
not a political opposition group, but a dangerous global terrorist organization.
Some want to review 9/11 and blame those who were originally victims, such as
Egypt and Saudi Arabia. For those who want to understand what happened, it is
not enough to only analyze 9/11 or read the Congressional report on the attacks,
including the 28 pages that are said to have been classified because they
include confidential information about Saudi individuals. They must read the
entire history of al-Qaeda. World opinion changed after these events, and almost
everyone now agrees that the organization and its ideology are based on
terrorism and must be fought. However, before 9/11 those who fought al-Qaeda
were severely criticized. It will be impossible to defeat Al-Qaeda and the
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) without understanding their ideologies
and the circumstances of their emergence.
This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on June 21, 2016.
What do the Saudis want from
America?
Faisal J. Abbas/Al Arabiya/June 21/16
Much has been said about Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ongoing
visit to the United States. However, regardless of the intense speculation by
some analysts about the tour’s agenda; I think the trip should be seen as an
insight into the new ‘business as usual’ in Saudi Arabia. Indeed, for anyone who
is well-informed about the kingdom, almost everything about this visit seems
unconventional. To start with, given that the tour - which so far has included
Washington DC, San Francisco and is yet to be concluded in New York - falls
within the holy month of Ramadan, some expected it to have a light agenda.
However, a new scheme of thinking seems to favor the idea that if fasting didn’t
prevent our ancestors from building a great Muslim empire, where religion
encouraged progress and scientific achievement, then why should we allow it to
be exploited by a few to justify their inefficiency?
Then, there is the element of the work ethic and deep personal involvement
displayed by Prince Mohammed himself. Apart from being the Deputy Crown Prince
and the architect of Vision 2030, he is also the kingdom’s defense minister, the
second deputy prime minister and head of the country’s Council of Economic and
Developmental Affairs. On that front, the thirty-something MbS (as he is
referred to among the Saudi youth, who form the majority of the population) is
redefining how Saudi government officials are portrayed. A recent Bloomberg
interview described his work-day as an intense 16-hour routine; something which
was first noted by New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman. “I spent an
evening with Mohammed bin Salman at his office, and he wore me out … Ministers
tell you: Since Mohammed arrived, big decisions that took two years to make now
happen in two weeks." Mr. Friedman wrote in a column titled ‘Letter from Saudi
Arabia’ in November 2015.
Nevertheless, several observers remain skeptical of Vision 2030. Now, to be
realistic, not even the most ambitious among us expects such a massive plan to
be flawlessly – or even fully - implemented. However, some Saudi-skeptics have
brushed it away as a giant publicity stunt. It is far-fetched to assume that the
sweeping reforms being introduced by Riyadh are intended to benefit anyone other
than the Saudi citizen. Such simplistic - and irrational - arguments, disregard
important facts on the grounds, such as the Saudi government setting
self-imposed deliverables, KPIs and deadlines for itself. Furthermore, those who
assume that the Vision or the National Transformation Program is only intended
to create noise, are neglecting a crucial question: for whom the bell tolls?
Yes, the US is an important - if not the most important - of the kingdom’s
global allies. However, it is far-fetched to assume that the sweeping reforms
being introduced by Riyadh are intended to benefit anyone other than the Saudi
citizen.
Creating a win/win situation
To achieve ambitious goals such as raising non-oil revenues to $141 billion and
creating more than 450,000 new jobs by 2020, the Saudi government understands it
needs more than just words, it needs work, it needs reforms, it needs to open
up… and all of this has to happen quickly. Since this is the case, who could be
a better ally than the kingdom’s closest of allies, particularly countries like
the US, that have the know-how and ability to create a win/win situation? As
such, Dow Chemical was granted, during MbS’s visit, the first-ever license for a
foreign company to operate independently in the kingdom (without the requirement
of having a local Saudi partner). Furthermore, Saudi sources say two similar
licenses are to be granted to 3M and Pfizer. Also, allowing a company like Six
Flags to build and operate theme parks will take the kingdom’s entertainment
sector to whole new level, creating jobs and joy at the same time. Given the
intensity of the visit, some announcements may have gone unnoticed, but
nevertheless are equally significant. For instance, the White House’s read-out
of the Deputy Crown Prince’s meeting with President Obama contained an
interesting part relating to a strong Saudi support of the Paris climate deal
and cooperation with the US on clean energy issues. The Saudi energy minister
says the kingdom needs to adapt to modern times and that work is underway not
just to commit to clean energy, but to export and benefit from it financially
too. I had the opportunity to chat about this point with the newly-appointed
energy minister, Khaled al-Faleh, who is part of the visiting Saudi delegation.
Mr. al-Faleh says the Kingdom needs to adapt to modern times and that work is
underway not just to commit to clean energy, but to export and benefit from it
financially too. Could the kingdom eventually become the ‘Saudi Arabia of clean
energy?’ Well, that might be an ambitious goal to achieve. But then again, a few
years ago, nobody would have thought they would see foreign companies being
allowed to independently operate in the kingdom!
How Much of our
Culture Are We Surrendering to Islam?
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/June 21/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8271/culture-surrender-islam
The same hatred as
from Nazis is coming from Islamists and their politically correct allies. We do
not even have a vague idea of how much Western culture we have surrendered to
Islam.
Democracies are, or at least should be, custodians of a perishable treasury:
freedom of expression. This is the biggest difference between Paris and Havana,
London and Riyadh, Berlin and Tehran, Rome and Beirut. Freedom of expression is
what gives us the best of the Western culture.
It is self-defeating to quibble about the beauty of cartoons, poems or
paintings. In the West, we have paid a high price for the freedom to do so. We
should all therefore protest when a German judge bans "offensive" verses of a
poem, when a French publisher fires an "Islamophobic" editor or when a music
festival bans a politically incorrect band.
It all occurred in the same week. A German judge banned a comedian, Jan
Böhmermann, from repeating "obscene" verses of his famous poem about Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A Danish theater apparently cancelled "The
Satanic Verses" from its season, due to fear of "reprisals." Two French music
festivals dropped Eagles of Death Metal -- the U.S. band that was performing at
the Bataclan theater in Paris when the attack by ISIS terrorists (89 people
murdered), took place there -- because of "Islamophobic" comments by Jesse
Hughes, its lead singer. Hughes suggested that Muslims be subjected to greater
scrutiny, saying "It's okay to be discerning when it comes to Muslims in this
day and age," later adding:
"They know there's a whole group of white kids out there who are stupid and
blind. You have these affluent white kids who have grown up in a liberal
curriculum from the time they were in kindergarten, inundated with these lofty
notions that are just hot air."
As Brendan O'Neill wrote, "Western liberals are doing their dirty work for them;
they're silencing the people Isis judged to be blasphemous; they're completing
Isis's act of terror."A few weeks earlier, France's most important publishing
house, Gallimard, fired its most famous editor, Richard Millet, who had penned
an essay in which he wrote: "the decline of literature and the deep changes
wrought in France and Europe by continuous and extensive immigration from
outside Europe, with its intimidating elements of militant Salafism and of the
political correctness at the heart of global capitalism; that is to say, the
risk of the destruction of the Europe and its cultural humanism, or Christian
humanism, in the name of 'humanism' in its 'multicultural' version."
Kenneth Baker just published a new book, On the Burning of Books: How Flames
Fail to Destroy the Written Word. It is a compendium of so called "bibliocaust,"
the burning of books from Caliph Omar to Hitler, and includes the fatwa on
Salman Rushdie. When Nazis incinerated books in Berlin they declared that from
the ashes of these novels would "arise the phoenix of a new spirit." The same
hatred is coming from Islamists and their politically correct allies. We do not
even have a vague idea of how much Western culture we have surrendered to Islam.
Theo Van Gogh's movie, "Submission," for which he was murdered, disappeared from
many film festivals. Charlie Hebdo's drawings of the Islamic prophet Mohammed
are concealed from the public sphere: after the massacre, very few media
reprinted these cartoons. Raif Badawi's blog posts, which cost him 1,000 lashes
and ten years in prison in Saudi Arabia, have been deleted by the Saudi
authorities and now circulate like forbidden Samizdat literature was in the
Soviet Union. After the massacre of Charlie Hebdo's staff, very few media
reprinted their Mohammed cartoons. Pictured above, Stéphane Charbonnier, the
editor and publisher of Charlie Hebdo, who was murdered on January 7, 2015 along
with many of his colleagues, is shown in front of the magazine's former offices,
just after they were firebombed in November 2011.
Molly Norris, the American cartoonist who in 2010 drew Mohammed and proclaimed
"Everyone Draw Muhammad Day," is still in hiding and had to change her name and
life. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York pulled images of Mohammed from
an exhibition, while Yale Press banned images of Mohammed from a book about the
cartoons. The Jewel of Medina, a novel about Mohammed's wife, was also pulled.
In the Netherlands, an opera about Aisha, one of Mohammed's wives, was cancelled
in Rotterdam after the work was boycotted by the theater company's Muslim
actors, after it became evident that they would be a target for Islamists. The
newspaper NRC Handelsblad headlined its coverage "Tehran on the Meuse," the
river that passes through the Dutch city.
In England, the Victoria and Albert Museum took down Mohammed's image. "British
museums and libraries hold dozens of these images, mostly miniatures in
manuscripts several centuries old, but they have been kept largely out of public
view," The Guardian explained. In Germany, the Deutsche Opera cancelled Mozart's
opera Idomeneo in Berlin, because it depicted the severed head of Mohammed.
Christopher Marlowe's "Tamburlaine the Great," which includes a reference to
Mohammed being "not worthy to be worshipped," was rewritten at London's Barbican
theater, while Cologne's Carnival cancelled Charlie Hebdo's float. In the Dutch
town of Huizen, two nude paintings were removed from an exhibition after Muslims
criticized them. The work of a Dutch Iranian artist, Sooreh Hera, was yanked
from several Dutch museums because some of the photographs included the
depictions of Mohammed and his son-in-law, Ali. According to this disposition,
one day London's National Gallery, Florence's Uffizi, Paris' Louvre or Madrid's
Prado might decide to censor Michelangelo, Raffaello, Bosch and Balthus because
they offend the "sensibility" of Muslims.
The English playwright Richard Bean has been forced to censor an adaptation of
Aristophanes's comedy, "Lysistrata", in which the Greek women hold a "sex
strike" to stop their men from going to war (in Bean's script, Muslim virgins go
on strike to stop suicide bombers). Several Spanish villages stopped burning
effigies of Mohammed in the commemoration ceremony celebrating the reconquest of
the country in the Middle Ages. There is a video filmed in 2006, when the death
threats against Charlie Hebdo became worrisome. Journalists and cartoonists are
gathered around a table to decide on the next cover for magazine. They speak
about Islam. Jean Cabu, one of the cartoonists later murdered by Islamists, puts
the issue this way: "No one in the Soviet Union had the right to do satire about
Brezhnev." Then another future victim, Georges Wolinski, says, "Cuba is full of
cartoonists, but they don't make caricatures about Castro. So we are lucky. Yes,
we are lucky, France is a paradise." Cabu and Wolinski were right. Democracies
are, or at least should be, custodians of a perishable treasury: freedom of
expression. This is the biggest difference between Paris and Havana, London and
Riyadh, Berlin and Tehran, Rome and Beirut. Freedom of expression is what gives
us the best of the Western culture.
Thanks to the Islamists' campaign, and the fact that now only some "crazies"
still venture in the exercise of freedom, are we now going to be just fearful? "Islamophobic"
cartoonists, journalists and writers are the first Europeans since 1945 who have
withdrawn from public life to protect their own lives. For the first time in
Europe since Hitler ordered the burning of books in Berlin's Bebelplatz, movies,
paintings, poems, novels, cartoons, articles and plays are literally and
figuratively being burned at stake. The young French mathematician Jean
Cavailles, to explain his fateful involvement in anti-Nazi Resistance, used to
say: "We fight to read 'Paris Soir' rather than 'Völkischer Beobachter'." For
this reason alone, it is self-defeating to quibble about the beauty of cartoons,
poems or paintings. In the West, we have paid a high price for the freedom to do
so. We should all therefore protest when a German judge bans "offensive" verses,
when a French publisher fires an "Islamophobic" editor or when a music festival
bans a politically incorrect band.
Or is it already too late?
**Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and
author.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Turkish Professor: "Those Who
Do Not Do Islamic Daily Prayers Are Animals"
Robert Jones/Gatestone
Institute/June 21/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8306/turkish-professor-prayers
"Salah [prayer] is not done by animals. Those who do not do salah are animals."
— Turkish Professor Mustafa Askar, School of Divinity, Ankara University.
Intimidation by Muslim extremists against those who do not follow a strict
Islamist lifestyle does indeed produce "results." Physical or verbal attacks
against those who do not fast during Ramadan are commonplace all across Turkey.
If you happen to find yourself there during Ramadan, stay indoors if you would
like to eat, drink or smoke.
"If the faith of those who do not do salah is different from that of the
professor, murdering them could even bring sawab [reward for Islamic good
deeds]. Such are the views that feed the perverse faith and doctrinal background
of Muslim terrorists. ... Is this professor aware of the fact that with this
claim of his, he could cause the murder of so many innocent people?" — Yasin
Ceylan, professor of philosophy, Middle East Technical University, Ankara.
Many Muslims claim that the Islamic month of Ramadan is not simply an exercise
in fasting during the day. It is, they say, a chance for "a spiritual boost,"
"mental peace" or "a moral awakening."
During Ramadan, however, it often seems as if hate speech and intolerance are as
rampant as ever, possibly even more -- especially with the "Ramadan TV
programs," which are popular.
With the advent of Ramadan, Turkey has not opened only the season of fasting; it
has also opened the season of "Ramadan Intolerance."
This frequently consists of statements which threaten or dehumanize those who do
not fast. During this season, many national television channels and social media
users in Turkey disgorge hatred against those who do not carry out the strictest
Islamic requirements.
Turkish professor Mustafa Askar, at Ankara University's School of Divinity, said
on the "Joy of Ramadan" program, aired on the state-funded TRT channel: "Those
who do not do Islamic daily prayers are animals."
Askar proclaimed, on June 12, that "no beings other than humans touch the ground
with their foreheads [to do sujud, the position of worship in which the
forehead, nose, both hands, knees and all toes touch the ground together]. Human
beings, he said, were created in a "salah [worship] ergonomic" way, and that is
why "humans do sujud."
"Let me put it straight," the professor said. "Salah is not done by animals.
Those who do not do salah are animals."
Yasin Ceylan, a professor of philosophy at Ankara's Middle East Technical
University, reacted to Askar's statements on his social media account:
"If the claim that 'those who do not do salah are animals' comes from a
professor, that could serve as an excuse for the massacres carried out by a
terrorist organization such as ISIS. If killing an animal is not considered
murder, those who do not do salah may be killed, too.
"Moreover, if the faith of those who fail to do salah is different from that of
the professor, murdering them could even bring sawab [a reward for Islamic good
deeds]. Such are the views that feed the perverse faith and doctrinal background
of Muslim terrorists. The main source of violence is the judgments of minds. Is
this professor aware of the fact that with this claim of his, he could cause the
murder of so many innocent people?"
Askar, after being criticized by many for his remarks, told the pro-government
daily newspaper, Akit:
"My words have been distorted by the enemies of Islam who almost every day hurl
insults at Islam and Muslims. I have not strayed from the views I expressed. I
am not taking a step back from my words. This is a scholarly evaluation. ... I
said what I think is right. But I made a mistake in my choice of words. If there
are those offended by my mistake, we apologize."
When journalists asked Nurettin Canikli, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, during
a press conference in Ankara on June 13, about his views on Askar's statements,
Canikli said, "I shall pass on this topic."
Meanwhile, on the June 13 edition of the "Blessing of Ramadan" television
program, broadcast on the pro-government Star TV, a viewer asked, "Is it vacip
[a religious obligation] to kill those who do not do salah [Islamic daily
prayers]?"
"Decrees about giving certain punishments do not rest with individuals,"
answered Fatih Citlak, the presenter of the program and also a columnist for the
pro-government daily, Haberturk.
Later, on Ahsen TV -- an Islamist internet outlet that usually conducts
interviews about Islamic issues with the public -- broadcast a video clip shows
a child become panic-stricken after seeing his cat eat in the kitchen during
Ramadan. He leaves home and starts frantically looking for his father. "Dad!"
says the child upon finding him, "the cat has broken the fast!"
The father, played by Bulent Yapraklioglu, an Ahsen TV reporter, replies:
"So what is wrong with that? Don't you know, son? Animals do not fast. Animals
do not do salah. Animals do not pay zakat [Islamic religious tax]. Animals do
not go on the Hajj [pilgrimage to Mecca] ... So now you know."
Social media, of course, is also used to spread the spirit of Ramadan -- and the
hatred of non-Muslims and Muslims who may be not-as-observant.
Hakan Arslanbenzer, a Turkish publisher and poet, declared on his Twitter
account in June 2015: "There is no religious inconvenience in beating those who
do not fast."
A Twitter user asked him in response: "Did our Prophet beat anyone? Was there
such a practice during his lifetime?"
"He is asking me," Arslanbenzer repeated, "if they beat people who did not fast
during the time of Mohammed. First show me the courageous munafiq [hypocrite]
who would publicly violate fasting during the time of the Prophet!"
On June 17, Seogu Lee, the Korean owner of an Istanbul record store, Velvet
Indieground, invited people to his store for a worldwide "live-streaming" event
to celebrate of the release of the latest album of the band Radiohead. They were
attacked by a group of men, apparently angry that they had been drinking alcohol
during Ramadan -- a double sin, as Muslims are not supposed to drink alcohol
altogether. It is tantamount to declaring a desire for death. If people learn
you are drinking alcohol during Ramadan, they could well threaten, beat or kill
you. The men, in fact, raided the store, beat those inside and drove them out.
One of the attackers was heard yelling, among other threats, "we will burn you
inside!"
Seogu Lee was also beaten by the assailants. The next morning, he was seen in
tears, locking the door of his store as he left.
On June 17, a group of men attacked the Velvet Indieground record store in
Istanbul, because they were angry that several people in the small shop were
drinking alcohol during Ramadan. At right, Seogu Lee, the shop's Korean owner,
is seen being beaten by some of the attackers.
Record stores all over the world had participated in this event, but Muslim
assailants did not allow young people in Istanbul to enjoy a few hours of music
and drink in the store of a Korean. Apparently it is an attempt to "throw terror
into the hearts of those who disbelieve." (Quran 3:151).
Intimidation by Muslim extremists against those who do not follow a strict
Islamist lifestyle does indeed produce "results" -- so they keep on doing it.
Physical or verbal attacks against those who do not fast during Ramadan are
commonplace all across Turkey. If you happen to find yourself there during
Ramadan, stay indoors if you would like to eat, drink or smoke.
Turkey is -- ironically and unbelievably -- a candidate for European Union
membership and a member of NATO, as well as other Western institutions. But
culturally and sociologically, the impact of religious intolerance seems to have
become so institutionalized that no amount of time, or so-called relations with
the West or with the rest of the world, seems to change the situation
appreciably. Despite all those military, commercial and diplomatic deals Turkey
has made with the West, the country still appears to promote the same historical
Islamic pressures against non-Muslims -- and even secular Muslims -- as it
always did.
Many Muslims nevertheless claim that other religions are just as violent as
theirs, and indeed 600 years ago, during the Inquisition, some were. At present,
however, there would seem no other religion that not only promotes, but carries
out the violence prescribed in it to the extent of extremist Islam. If, however,
one points out a discernible fact such as that, one is accused of Islamophobia,
which many extremist Muslims still insist is the main threat, even though the
frequency and degrees of violence against Muslims are nowhere near comparable.
Little mention is ever made -- dismayingly even in the West -- of the
justifiable rationality of being alarmed by people mass-slaughtering in the name
of religion, and who are promising to continue doing so.
To people who are concerned about protecting freedom, the author Daniel
Greenfield asks: "We are learning to be tolerant of Islam. Perhaps, it's time to
ask that rarely asked of questions, when are Muslims going to finally learn to
be tolerant of others?"
*Robert Jones, an expert on Turkey, is currently based in the UK.
© 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.
Tehran drags
Moscow deeper into Syria
Ali Hashem/Al-Monitor/June 21/16
For Iran, the ongoing war in Syria is no longer a matter of regional security.
The conflict now has direct effects and implications for Iran's national
security. This perspective is clear in the daily statements coming from Tehran,
from the images of slain Iranian soldiers and high-ranking officers laid to rest
in the Iranian capital and most recently the appointment of Rear Adm. Ali
Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, as
military and security coordinator of the joint cooperation group on Syria with
Moscow and Damascus.
Shamkhani's appointment came in the wake of the recent summit that brought
together the defense ministers of Syria, Iran and Russia in Tehran. It was clear
from the meeting that the three countries are keen to boost their cooperation
after having suffered some major setbacks in past weeks. These losses have been
blamed on a lack of coordination and major differences over objectives,
according to a Syrian official who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of
anonymity. The Syrian official said, “Russia, as a major world power, was
looking at the scene from its position … and thought that giving peace a chance
should have saved a lot of lives. The other side — the United States, mainly —
wasn’t serious about its commitments. Therefore, the attacks by militants were
more brutal than before and this caused some losses in the field.”
Once a naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Shamkhani will
report directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “who’s the man
who has the final say on main issues in Syria,” an Iranian official told
Al-Monitor in a telephone interview. The official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, explained that Shamkhani knows Iran’s “red lines” very well and that
he’s in direct contact with Khamenei. He said, “The supreme leader is following
every detail in Syria because he believes that this war is in fact on Iran the
same as it is on Syria. He also supports every kind of coordination with
friendly and allied parties to this war, as it is a world war that needs each
and every effort.”
The official indicated that Tehran supports every effort aimed at ending the
Syrian conflict, saying, “In Geneva, Vienna or anywhere, seeing people sitting
together around the table is the best thing. Yet sitting just to buy time
doesn’t make sense. The Americans are buying time for their new president at the
cost of lives in Syria. We can’t accept such hesitation amid people’s
tragedies.” He added, “Our friends the Russians went to the end [of the road]
with the Americans. We warned on several occasions that this is not right. We
even lost several officers and observers because of Russia’s position, and now
that they discovered that there’s no outcome, we are going to start a new level
of cooperation.”
The Iranian official concluded, “Iran, Russia and Syria agreed on a common goal:
combating terrorism, which today is the main threat to the whole region. Our
cooperation, common vision and commitment will give good results, and this
happened in the past months and years despite some complexities we are facing.
What we are quite sure of is that this cooperation will achieve a lot of hope,
and for sure we will all emerge victorious.”
But how will this be reflected on the ground?
A Syrian field commander told Al-Monitor he expects that the coming weeks will
see an escalation of the situations in north and east Syria, “The Iranians are
sending more troops. … Some have already arrived. And the Russians informed us
that new plans are going to be implemented in Syria and this might involve real
changes in tactics. What we are sure of is that the more our allies are on the
same track, the closer we are to victory.” The commander suggested that even on
the Iranian side, there have been some differences in the way things are done on
the ground, and said, “As time is passing, this is becoming part of the past and
we hope from now on that things will assume a better direction.”
While a major portion of Aleppo is under the control of the Syrian army and its
allies, battles are expected in districts that were lost to opposition groups
and Jabhat al-Nusra. As for Idlib and Raqqa, a major attack by the Syrian
government and its partners will mean the deployment of thousands of forces and
aerial cover by Russia, a move that might sabotage the fragile cease-fire agreed
on with the United States.
On June 6, a Russian official who spoke off the record in Moscow told a group of
journalists, including Al-Monitor’s correspondent, that relations with
Washington are surreal. “One day we agree on something, the second day they do
the opposite. When we ask them, they blame it on others. There’s difficulty in
building confidence with them. Even when they commit themselves to an agreement,
it takes them months to implement it.” While the Russian official stated firmly
that his country is committed to a peaceful solution in Syria, he suggested that
some Persian Gulf countries are becoming more flexible about Syria. “They are
ready to accept a provisional period with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in
office, but in return they want guarantees that Iran will have no role: not in
Syria alone, but in the whole region. This is not possible, for Iran is a main
power in the region along with Saudi Arabia — and both have a role to play.” The
official concluded, “We regard our forces, the Iranian forces and Hezbollah as
the only legitimate foreign forces in Syria, and therefore we are coordinating
together.”
Indeed, one Syrian official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that
visiting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed the Syrian president in
their June 18 meeting that “new Russian troops are to be deployed in Syria next
week.”
Can Saudis ease Egypt-Qatar
tension after Al Jazeera death sentences?
Giorgio Cafiero/Al-Monitor/June 21/16
Animosity continues to define Egyptian-Qatari relations, as demonstrated when
officials in Doha recently condemned a Cairo court for sentencing two Al Jazeera
employees to death on charges of passing Egyptian secret security documents to
Qatar during Mohammed Morsi’s presidency. In response, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry
accused the court of lacking a “proper sense of justice,” denounced the
“unfounded” verdict and called the espionage charges “surprising and
unacceptable.” Egyptian officials fired back, blaming the gas-rich Persian Gulf
emirate for having “devoted resources and efforts over the past years to
mobilize its media mouthpieces to be hostile to the people of Egypt and its
state and institutions.”This diplomatic spat highlights Egypt's and Qatar’s
positions on opposing poles of a divided Sunni Arab world. Qatar largely sided
with the “Arab Spring” movements of 2011, which led to the loss of power for
long-standing rulers in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen, creating political
vacuums and opportunities for Islamist movements to gain greater visibility and
clout across the region. Doha’s critics have argued that the Muslim
Brotherhood’s political wings performed well in elections in Egypt and Tunisia
(and to a lesser extent in Libya) due to Qatari support.
Egyptian officials' distrust of the Qataris dates back to at least the 1990s.
The Hosni Mubarak regime perceived Qatar’s ownership of Al Jazeera, Doha’s
relationship with the pro-Muslim Brotherhood regime in Sudan and the emirate’s
permission for prominent Muslim Brotherhood figures such as Yusuf al-Qaradawi to
freely blast Egypt’s government from Qatari soil as a threat to the stability of
Egypt and the greater region. Officials in Cairo said that as a result of a
“Qatari vendetta” against Mubarak, Doha sponsored Egypt’s 2011 uprising. The
officials also complained about Doha’s meddling in Egypt’s internal affairs
years before the “Arab Spring” erupted.
Morsi’s ouster in July 2013 marked a grave geostrategic and ideological setback
for Qatar, which had gambled on the Sunni Arab world riding a pro-Muslim
Brotherhood current following Morsi’s rise to power. Doha’s resentment of
Egypt’s military for overthrowing a leader whose political capital received much
Qatari investment and Cairo’s view of Qatar as being supportive of “terrorist”
networks (including some in the restive Sinai Peninsula) have defined the poor
state of Cairo-Doha relations for the past three years.
As Qatar stands on one end of this ideological spectrum with pro-Muslim
Brotherhood Turkey while Egypt stands on the other with the United Arab
Emirates, Saudi Arabia seeks to unite these four influential Sunni Muslim states
within the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism, an anti-terrorism
coalition announced by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in December that
has grown to 39 members. The Al Saud rulers envision the military alliance as
establishing a strong pan-Sunni front against Iranian/Shiite influence. In
Riyadh’s quest to establish a new sectarian order in the region, the kingdom’s
leadership has vested interests in seeing its Sunni allies overcome their own
divisions and back Saudi plans for the Middle East.
In November 2014, shortly after the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the
United Arab Emirates returned to Doha following a rift, then-Saudi King Abdullah
bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud sponsored an initiative between Egypt and Qatar. The
former Saudi king’s efforts to reconcile Egypt and Qatar received Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s support and resulted in a meeting in Cairo of
Sisi and a member of Qatar’s ruling Al Thani family accompanied by Khalid al-Tuwaijri,
a former chief of the Saudi Royal Court.
From the Saudi leadership’s viewpoint, the kingdom simply cannot afford to
simultaneously counter both Iran and Sunni Islamist movements whose ideologies
represent challenges to the kingdom’s Islamic legitimacy. With King Salman bin
Abdul-Aziz Al Saud (who is more favorable to conservative Sunni Islamist
movements than his predecessor) at the helm, Riyadh has softened its tone on the
Muslim Brotherhood. By permitting important figures from various branches of the
movement to visit the kingdom and making sincere efforts to reconcile with Qatar
and bury the problems of the past (which climaxed with the diplomatic spat of
March 2014), Salman has reached out to Qatar, which has aligned closely with the
Saudis on a number of regional issues such as Syria and Yemen since Emir Sheikh
Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani inherited the Qatari throne eight days before Morsi’s
ouster.
Tamim's attendance at the Sharm el-Sheikh Arab Summit in March 2015 raised
speculation in the press of an Egyptian-Qatari rapprochement. This was only one
month after Doha officials recalled their ambassador to Egypt after a tense Arab
League meeting in Cairo in which the Egyptian delegation alleged Qatari support
for global terrorism in response to Doha’s expressed reservations on Egypt’s
military campaign against the Islamic State in Libya. Also, one month before
Abdullah died, Doha suspended its Egypt-focused Al Jazeera channel, which many
analysts understood as a diplomatic overture to Sisi on Doha’s part.
Despite these occasional indicators of progress in Egyptian-Qatari relations
mixed with setbacks, the Cairo court’s recent ruling and the angry response from
Doha officials appear to suggest that any reconciliation between these two
countries is far away. The political leadership in Cairo still views Qatar as
Egypt’s enemy because of its perceived role as a major contributor to the growth
of extremism and terrorism across the Arab world.
Saudi Arabia’s plans to unify its Sunni allies within the Islamic Military
Alliance to Fight Terrorism will face many challenges, some of which the Gulf
Arabs are learning from painful lessons in Yemen. Although the kingdom has
managed to bring Egypt and Qatar together in military coalitions since July
2013, officials in Riyadh have thus far failed to ease the political and
ideological tension between post-Morsi Egypt and the Gulf Arab emirate. The
continuation of distrustful and poor relations between Egypt and Qatar will
likely undermine Saudi Arabia’s plans for the region and vision of Sunni Arab
states unifying against the Islamic Republic.