LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 08/16
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.may08.16.htm
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Bible Quotations For Today
‘I am the way,
and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 14/01-06:"‘Do not let your
hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house
there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I
go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be
also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him,
‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’Jesus said
to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me."
And my God will fully satisfy
every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus
Letter to the Philippians 04/15-23:"You Philippians indeed know that in the
early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the
matter of giving and receiving, except you alone. For even when I was in
Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once. Not that I seek the
gift, but I seek the profit that accumulates to your account. I have been paid
in full and have more than enough; I am fully satisfied, now that I have
received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice
acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will fully satisfy every need of
yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be
glory for ever and ever. Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The friends
who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of the
emperor’s household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. "
Pope Francis's Tweet For Today
Love, by its nature, is communication; it leads to openness and sharing
L’amour, par nature, est communication, il conduit à s’ouvrir et non pas à s’isoler
الحب بطبيعته تواصل يقود للإنفتاح وعدم الإنعزال
Mother’s Day: Love, Sacrifices and Commitment/Elias Bejjani/May 08/16
Lebanese Shiites disrupting the status quo/Hanin Ghaddar/Now Lebanon/May 07/16
Les enfants terribles of Barack
Obama/Hisham Melhem/Al Arabiya/May 07/16
Sadiq Khan elected Mayor of London – are Muslims finally ‘British’ enough/Yara
al-Wazir/Al Arabiya/May 07/16
Advancing Saudi Arabia’s government structures/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/May
07/16
Loss of Syrian cities is gain for European villages/Ehtesham Shahid/Al Arabiya/May
07/16
What happens when Aleppo falls/Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/May 07/16
The Arabs' Real Grievance against the Jews/Fred Maroun/Gatestone Institute/May
07/16
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on May 08/16
Mother’s Day: Love, Sacrifices and
Commitment
Lebanese Shiites disrupting the
status quo
Municipal Polls Held in 1st Vote after Lebanon’s Trash Crisis
Lebanese Army Dismantles Explosive in Saadnayel
Suspect Referred to Judiciary for Links to 2011 Estonian Kidnapping
Geagea Urges Heavy Turnout in Municipal Polls
7 Candidates Running in Jezzine By-Elections
Al-Rahi Heads to Paris on Pastoral Visit
Lebanese Army Bolsters Deployment in Arsal on Eve of Elections
Six Wounded in Riot in Qobbeh Prison
Beirut Madinati' Urges Heavy Turnout, Calls on Voters to Grab 'Historic Chance'
Hariri: Today's chaos is the result of Presidential vacuum, State absence
Beirut Municipal Elections: Four electoral lists, preparations completed,
AshrafiehRmeil area calm awaiting Sunday's battle
Salam visits Hariri: Beirutis should vote tomorrow in a way that serves their
city
Bassil from Batroun: Russia defends via warplanes, we defend through our
Lebanese 'Levantine' intellect
Paqradounian: To vote for 'Beirutis List' to preserve capital's symbolism,
coexistence
Siniora calls on Sidon citizens to widely partake in municipal elections on May
22
Machnouk: One million strong bound for voting tomorrow
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 08/16
13 Iranian Revolutionary Guards
Killed in Syria
Syrian and Iranian opposition united against criminal dictators – George Sabra
Corruption rampant in Iran, regime’s lawmakers acknowledge
Rise in inflation in Iran as excess $15 billion of notes printed
Iran Reiterates Support for Syria’s Assad
Aleppo’s fragile truce extended for 72 hours
Residents Return as Truce Extended in Syria's Aleppo
Syrian Regime Fails to End Prison Mutiny
Obama sets up transition team, signaling long exit
US reveals troops on the ground in Yemen
U.N. Official Spurns Netanyahu History Lesson Offer
Israel raids hit Gaza as violence flares for fourth day
Pakistan hails Sadiq Khan’s London mayor win
Egypt court recommends death for 6 defendants, but not Mursi
Egypt gives Italy union chief phone records in Regeni case
Images show North Korea may be preparing 5th nuclear test
Iraqi forces shut down Baghdad to prevent Green Zone protests
Germany to help Jordan, Tunisia buy armored vehicles
240,000 Poles in Landmark Pro-EU, Pro-Democracy Protests
Links From
Jihad Watch Site for
May 08/16
Prince Turki: Saudis will get nukes if Iranians do.
Kenya: Muslim cleric urges female genital mutilation.
UK allows Muslim cleric who inspired jihad murderer to enter country.
London’s new Muslim mayor calls moderate Muslims “Uncle Toms”.
London’s new Muslim mayor defended al-Qaeda member.
Iraq: Muslims smash priest’s nose and teeth with hammer.
Journalist who infiltrated ISIS cell says he “never saw any Islam,” as they
spoke of virgins of Paradise.
Sanders: I’ll do all I can to stop Trump’s ‘absurd, hateful’ Muslim ban.
Cologne police cover for Muslim migrants: Finger penetration “not rape”.
Austria: Police tell blonde victim of Muslim migrant assault to dye her hair.
UK Muslima spread Islamic State propaganda and execution videos.
Latest Lebanese Related News published on May 08/16
Mother’s Day: Love, Sacrifices and
Commitment
Elias Bejjani/May 08/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/05/07/elias-bejjanimothers-day-love-sacrifices-and-commitment/
The Spirit Of My mother who like every and each loving departed mother is
definitely watching from above and praying for all of us. May Almighty God Bless
her spirit and the Spirits of all departed mothers.
In Christianity Virgin Merry is envisaged by many believers and numerous
cultures as the number one role model for the righteous, devoted, loving ,
caring, giving, and humble mothers.
Today while in Canada we are happily and joyfully celebrating the Mothers’ Day,
let us all pray that Almighty God will keep granting all mothers all over the
world the needed graces of wisdom, meekness and faith to highly remain under all
circumstances honoring this holy role model and to stay as Virgin Merry fully
devoted to their families.
In all religions and cultures all over the world, honoring, respecting and
obeying parents is not a favor that people either chose to practice or not. No
not at all, honoring, respecting and obeying parents is a holy obligation that
each and every faithful individual who believes in God MUST fulfill, no matter
what.
Almighty God in His 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17 ) made the honoring of both
parents (commandment number five) a holy obligation, and not a choice or a
favor.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land
which the Lord your God is giving you”. (Exodus 20:12)
Reading the Bible, both the Old and New Testament shows with no doubt that
honoring parents is a cornerstone and a pillar in faith and righteousness for
all believers. All other religions and cultures share with Christians this holy
concept and obligation.
“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, so that
your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD
your God is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 5:16)
“You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I
am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:3).
Back home in Lebanon we have two popular proverbs that say: “If you do not have
an elderly figure in your family to bless you, go and search for one”. “The
mother is the who either gathers or divides the family”
How true are these two proverbs, because there will be no value, or meaning for
our lives if not blessed and flavored by the wisdom, love and blessings of our
parents and of other elder members.
He who does not honor the elderly, sympathize and empathize with them,
especially his own parents is a person with a hardened heart, and a numbed
conscience, who does not know the meaning of gratitude.
History teaches us that the easiest route for destroying a nation is to destroy,
its cornerstone, the family. Once the family code of respect is belittled and
not honored, the family is divided and loses all its Godly blessings.
“Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against
itself falls” (Luke 11-17)
One very important concept and an extremely wise approach MUST apply and prevail
when reading the Holy Bible in a bid to understand its contents and observe the
Godly instructions and life guidelines that are enlisted. The concept needs to
be a faith one with an open frame of mind free from doubts, questions and
challenges.
Meanwhile the approach and interpretation MUST both be kept within the abstract
manner, thinking and mentality frame, and not in the concrete way of
interpretation.
We read in (Matthew 15/04: “For God said, Respect your father and your mother,
and If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death).
This verse simply dwells on The Fifth Biblical Commandment: “Honor your Father
and Mother”. To grasp its meaning rightfully and put it in its right faith
content one should understand that death in the Bible is not the death of the
body as we experience and see on earth. DEATH in the Bible means the SIN that
leads to eternal anguish in Hell.
The Bible teaches us that through His crucifixion, death and resurrection, Jesus
defeated death in its ancient human, earthly concept. He broke the death thorn
and since than, the actual death became the sin. Those who commit the sin die
and on the judgment day are outcast to the eternal fire. Death for the believers
is a temporary sleep on the hope of resurrection.
Accordingly the verse “If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be
put to death”, means that those who do not honor their parents, help, support
and respect them commit a deadly sin and God on the Judgment Day will make them
accountable if they do not repent and honor their parents.
God is a Father, a loving, passionate and caring One, and in this context He
made the honoring of parents one of the Ten Commandments.
In conclusion: The abstract and faith interpretation of Matthew 15/04 verse must
not be related to children or teenagers who because of an age and maturity
factors might temporarily repel against their parents and disobey them.
Hopefully, each and every one of us, no matter what religion or denomination
he/she is affiliated to will never ever ignore his parents and commit the deadly
SIN of not honoring them through every way and mean especially when they are old
and unable to take care of themselves.
For all those of us whose mothers have passed away, let us mention them in our
daily prayers and ask Almighty God to endow their souls the eternal rest in His
heavenly dwellings.
Happy Mothers’ Day to all mothers
Lebanese Shiites disrupting the
status quo
Hanin Ghaddar/Now Lebanon/May 07/16
Opposition lists in upcoming municipal
elections are sounding the alarm to Hezbollah. During Lebanon’s last municipal
elections in 2010, the two Shiite parties – Amal Movement and Hezbollah –
decided to run together on joint lists. Of course they won the majority of the
council seats across the South and the Bekaa’s Shiite towns. However, there were
signs of discontent. By ignoring the sensitivities of local families and other
political groups, some independent candidates decided to run against the Amal-Hezbollah
coalition, managing to win a few seats here and there. The competition was not
based on political issues, but rather on local and developmental problems and
solutions.
That was a small yet significant message to Hezbollah: The Shiites cannot be
completely tamed and there will always be challenges on the local level. Now
that new municipal elections are around the corner, Hezbollah and Amal are again
running joint lists, knowing that it is not the time to allow for challenges
within the Shiite community. And again, familial sensitivities and political
diversities were not taken into consideration. Again, the Shiites are taken for
granted and expected to vote in their majority to the two parties ruling the
community. Hezbollah and Amal will probably win a majority of the seats again,
but things have changed drastically since 2010, with signs of discontent growing
louder. This time, it is not about council seats or winning elections. This
time, the Shiites are actually saying no to everything.
In the southern suburbs of Beirut (Dahiyeh), slogans against Hezbollah (which
immediately get torn or painted over) are spreading all over the place. People
are pointing out Hezbollah’s failure to address local and developmental
concerns, and support for opposition candidates is discreet no more. Full
electoral lists are being formed against Hezbollah and Amal in Dahiyeh’s
Ghobeiry (Hezbollah’s wealthiest municipality in the southern suburbs) and Bourj
al-Barajneh (where a major bombing claimed by ISIS took place last November).
These two lists are gaining momentum and support, according to activists in
Dahiyeh. Why? “Because Hezbollah has done nothing for us,” they say. “The
party’s special services go to their members, while the municipality is as
corrupt as other municipalities all across the country. Hassan Nasrallah said
after the 2006 July war that they’re going to rebuild Dahiyeh to look better
than it was. This became a slogan that filled the streets for years after the
war. Look at Dahiyeh today. It’s worse than ever,” said one activist, who spoke
on condition of anonymity.
Yes, Hezbollah has proven to its community that that they are as corrupt as the
rest of the political groups in the country. Like the rest of Lebanon, Dahiyeh
suffers from a water crisis, electricity shortages, the chaotic spreading of
illegal shops and stands, and streets filled with trash. But it is certainly
more lawless than any other area, being a refuge for many wanted criminals,
thieves and drug dealers. Also, since the last elections in 2010, Hezbollah has
engaged in a bloody war in Syria. Many Shiite militants fighting in Syria are
coming back in coffins but without any “divine victory.” Shiites are more
isolated than ever from other Lebanese communities and the majority Sunni Arab
Middle East in general. Unemployment levels are on the rise and the only paid
jobs that are available are combat jobs in Syria.
Residents are obviously fed up. Support for Hezbollah’s war in Syria is starting
to cost more than they can afford, and alternative political movements are being
formed out the discontent. Opposition lists have formed in many major
Hezbollah-controlled areas: In addition to Ghobeiry and Bourj al-Barajneh, the
Party of God is facing electoral opposition from Baalbek Madinati in Baalbek,
and another group Nabatieh. Is this scaring Hezbollah? Well, both Amal and
Hezbollah are right to asume that they’ll secure the majority of the votes, and
that any penetration from independent political groups will not change much.
However, they are worried about the outcry. If anything, these lists are an
expression of people’s discontent, whether they win any seats or not.
That’s why – for the first time during municipal elections – Hezbollah has
ordered its supporters and members to vote. They have employed the card they
usually use during parliamentary elections, when wining is not guaranteed: al-Takleef
al-Shar’ii (commissioning constituents to act based on a religious directive or
fatwa). One Hezbollah’s cabinet ministers, Hussein Hajj Hassan, appeared in a
video saying that Nasrallah is requesting that all loyal Mujahedeen and
Mujahedat to cast their votes in favor of Hezbollah and Amal candidates.
Hezbollah likely saw the writing on the wall and decided to roll out the big
guns.
Nasrallah is expected to appear tonight on television to call on supporters to
vote, and Hezbollah’s electoral and media machines are busy marketing for their
candidates. This is not only about elections. For the Party of God, this is an
opportunity to calm their constituents, and show that they are still present and
in control. Some of the opposing lists are proposing that current municipal
councils be held accountable for incomplete or unaccomplished projects. This
means holding Hezbollah accountable. This is certainly unheard of. But Hezbollah
is not only worried about being held accountable or losing an election. They’re
worried because they know that the Shiites in Lebanon are fed up with
Hezbollah’s governance and actually looking for an alternative. They’re worried
that development issues and everyday struggles will become more significant than
the sacredness of the arms and wars.
Hezbollah wants to keep the voice of the arms louder than the voice of the
people. The problem is that they had more than a decade to care for people’s
needs, but they only used their representation in municipalities for political
power games and to gain further control. The Resistance narrative was enough for
people to sacrifice daily needs, but it seems to be no longer sufficient. Will
these elections change local political power? Likely not significantly, but the
opposing lists, and the accompanying discontent among the Shiites could
eventually lead to a serious political alternative from within the community
itself.
****Hanin Ghaddar is the managing editor of NOW and a nonresident fellow at the
Atlantic Council. She tweets @haningdr
Municipal Polls Held in 1st Vote
after Lebanon’s Trash Crisis
Asharq Al-Awsat English/May 07/16/Beirut on Sunday will hold its first elections
since a months-long trash crisis drowned the Lebanese capital in mountains of
garbage, with an outsider group of candidates challenging the political leaders
who are widely seen as corrupt and incompetent.
Beirut Madinati, Arabic for “Beirut, My City,” has vowed to clean up the city’s
streets — and its politics. “We will go to the polls and throw out the corrupt
politicians,” declared list leader Ibrahim Mneihmneh, a 40-year-old architect,
at a recent rally attended by hundreds of people. “We will no longer whine about
the trash, traffic, or corruption.” Polling stations for the municipal elections
will be open on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (0400 GMT to 1600 GMT). Results are
expected as early as Monday. Polls will also be held on Sunday in the eastern
Bekaa Valley. The elections for the remaining governorates are scheduled for May
15, 22 and 29. Madinati hopes to channel the energy of the “You Stink” protest
movement, which emerged in response to the trash crisis, which erupted in July
last year, and went on to challenge the political class that has governed
Lebanon since the end of its 1975-1990 civil war.
The leaders behind “You Stink” activists, who brought thousands of protesters
into the streets at the height of the trash crisis last summer, have not
formally endorsed Madinati but have attended its rallies. Since the end of the
war, Lebanon has been governed by a power-sharing arrangement among political
blocs — many led by former warlords — that represent its various confessions.
That has led to widespread patronage and corruption, and more recently to the
breakdown of public services, mainly as a result of the presidential vacuum. The
trash crisis began when the government closed in July 2015 the country’s main
landfill without agreeing on a replacement. For eight months trash piled up
across Beirut and the heavily populated Mount Lebanon. An agreement was reached
among the different factions in March to open new disposal facilities near
Beirut, but critics cast it as simply another backroom deal that failed to
address the root of the problem. And the stench grew even worse in April, as
excavators dismantled the piles of garbage to carry it out of the city and the
valleys and makeshift dumps in Mount Lebanon. “When you talk about Beirut, you
say she’s a beautiful woman,” said the well-known Lebanese director Nadine
Labaki, who is a candidate on the Madinati list. “Unfortunately, this is not
what I’m seeing now.”The Madinati list is made up of independent technocrats who
have reached out to voters through town hall-style meetings, rallies and
fundraisers. But many wonder if they can succeed in a system in which
politicians hold their grip on power. “It’s like in the village,” said Mohammad
Hamza, a Beirut barber. “The outsiders win the elections, and for the next six
years nothing gets done, because the political bosses block everything.”
Lebanese Army
Dismantles Explosive in Saadnayel
Naharnet/May 07/16/The army succeeded on Saturday in dismantling an explosive in
the Saadnayel area in the eastern Bekaa region, reported the National News
Agency. It said that an explosive device weighing four kilograms was discovered
at the Saadnayel roundabout. Investigations are underway to determine if the
bomb was going to be detonated remotely or if it was connected to a timer.
Suspect Referred to Judiciary
for Links to 2011 Estonian Kidnapping
Naharnet/May 07/16/A Lebanese national was referred to the judiciary for his
involvement in the 2011 kidnapping of seven Estonians, reported the National
News Agency on Saturday. Ahmed Abdul Rahman Yassine is also suspected of being
linked to a Zahle church bombing in 2011. Yassine was arrested on April 30. He
is also affiliated with terror groups and opening fire at army patrols. Several
arrest warrants had been issued against him in the past. seven Estonian cyclists
were kidnapped in Lebanon in March 2011 as they entered the country from Syria.
They were abducted in the eastern Bekaa and kept in captivity in Lebanon and
Syria until July of that year. A number of suspects in the case have since been
arrested.
Geagea Urges Heavy Turnout in
Municipal Polls
Naharnet/May 07/16/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea underlined on Saturday
the importance of the upcoming municipal polls in wake of the regional unrest.
He said in a statement on the eve of the elections: “I call for a heavy turnout
in Beirut, the Bekaa, and later other districts as the polls are a major victory
for Lebanon.” “Compared to what is happening in the region, Lebanon is
persevering despite all of its political problems,” he noted. “At the moment the
municipal elections are a victory for our system.” “Key to ensuring that this is
a complete victory is all of our participation in it.”On the Beirut elections,
he remarked: “None of us were pleased with the actions of municipal councils,
but at the same time, that does not mean we should jump off the balcony.”“I urge
the people of Beirut, especially those in the first district, for a heavy
turnout in the elections.”The municipal elections kick off on Sunday in Beirut
and the Bekaa region. The Mount Lebanon polls will be held on May 15. Elections
in south Lebanon and Nabatieh are set for May 22 and north Lebanon and Akkar for
May 29.
7 Candidates Running in
Jezzine By-Elections
Naharnet/May 07/16/The deadline to submit candidacies to the fill the vacant
parliamentary seat in the southern area of Jezzine ended on Friday night, said
the National News Agency on Saturday. It said that seven candidates will be
running for the post. They are: Michel Elias al-Helou, Jad Rizk, Patrick
Rizkallah, Amal Abou Zeid, Obrahim Azar, Kamil Serhal, and Salah Jebran. The
by-election is aimed at filling the seat left vacant by the death of Change and
Reform bloc MP Michel Helou, who passed away in 2014. The by-election will be
held simultaneously with municipal elections that kick off on Sunday in Beirut
and the Bekaa-al-Hermel region. The elections in Mount Lebanon will be held on
May 15. Elections in south Lebanon and Nabatieh are set for May 22 and north
Lebanon and Akkar for May 29.
Al-Rahi Heads to Paris on
Pastoral Visit
Naharnet/May 07/16/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi traveled to France on
Saturday as part of a pastoral visit, reported the National News Agency. It said
that the trip to Paris will last about a week. Earlier this week, NNA said that
al-Rahi will meet with French President Francois Hollande during his visit. The
trip will be both pastoral and political and will include meetings with Foreign
Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, parliament speaker Claude Bartolone, senate speaker
Gérard Larcher and UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova. Hollande had paid a
visit to Lebanon in April during which he met with senior officials, including
al-Rahi.
Lebanese Army Bolsters Deployment in Arsal on Eve of Elections
Naharnet/May 07/16/The army has bolstered its deployment in the northeastern
border town of Arsal ahead of Sunday’s municipal polls, reported the National
News Agency on Saturday. It said that the military has spread its forces at
polling stations and the various entrances to the town. Patrols have been
deployed in the region. There have been concerns by local officials in Arsal
over holding the elections in the area given the tensions there caused by Syrian
refugees and the town’s proximity to the neighboring country. There have been
demands to postpone the polls, but Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq assured
earlier this week that the situation is under control. Arsal lies 12 kilometers
from the border with Syria and has been used as a conduit for weapons and rebels
to enter the neighboring country, while also serving as a refuge for people
fleeing the conflict.
Six Wounded in Riot in Qobbeh
Prison
Naharnet/May 07/16/A riot erupted on Friday afternoon in the Qobbeh prison in
the northern city of Tripoli, announced the Internal Security Forces
Intelligence Bureau on Saturday. It said that six inmates were slightly injured
in the unrest. The violence started when two prisoners demanded to be
transferred to another jail. They threatened to hang themselves and later, with
the help of some ten inmates, assaulted other prisoners who refused to join the
riot. They burned two mattresses and blocked entry to a cell by pushing a fridge
against the door, thereby denying entry to the prison guards. A special security
forces team later intervened to contain the violence. The injuries sustained
were linked to smoke inhalation. Investigations in the incident are underway.
'Beirut Madinati' Urges Heavy Turnout, Calls on Voters to Grab 'Historic Chance'
Naharnet/May 07/16/The Beirut Madinati list of candidates on Friday urged a
heavy turnout in the capital's municipal polls that will be held on Sunday,
calling on voters to “seize the historic chance to change the fate of our
city.”“Following eight months of work and hope, we have managed to impose
ourselves as serious contenders through a rhetoric and an approach that have
elevated political action and obliged the rival lists to run according to
electoral platforms,” the head of the list, Ibrahim Mneimneh, said at a press
conference. “Beirut Madinati has proved that it is a list of independents whose
free decision stems from the people's will and who are committed to achieving
the public interest, despite the malicious campaigns, rumors and lies that have
been launched against us,” Mneimneh added. Slamming the rival Beirutis List,
which is backed by al-Mustaqbal movement and several parties that are
represented in the government, Beirut Madinati warned that “such alliances that
bring together the contradictions of the ruling class have proved their total
failure throughout the years.” “These contradictions will explode anew should
this ruling class seize control of the municipal council,” the list cautioned.
“Today, we are before a historic chance to change the fate of our city and we
call on the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections and the relevant
Lebanese judicial authorities to confront any attempt to tamper with the
impartiality of the electoral process,” Beirut Madinati added. Arabic for
"Beirut is my city", Beirut Madinati is a civic campaign of 24 candidates,
equally split between men and women, and Muslims and Christians. The list will
face the formidable challenge of breaking through the country's entrenched
political class in a bid to win all 24 seats in the capital's municipal council.
The campaign was founded in 2015 shortly after the closure of Lebanon's largest
trash dump in Naameh, which sparked protests to demand not only an end to the
growing piles of waste, but an overhaul of paralyzed government institutions.
Beirut Madinati seized on that frustration to put together a 10-point platform
-- the campaign's magnum opus and a rallying call for young voters. It includes
plans to improve public transport in the notoriously traffic-ridden city,
introduce more green spaces, make housing affordable and, of course, implement a
lasting waste management solution. The platform was developed by consulting
residents of Beirut through open-houses and neighborhood visits, and "is
centered around the daily life of the person, the citizen," says candidate Rana
Khoury.
Hariri: Today's chaos
is the result of Presidential vacuum, State absence
Sat 07 May/2016/NNA - Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri stressed Saturday on the
importance of stabilizing the country as a whole, noting that "the current chaos
is the outcome of the ongoing presidential vacuum and the absence of the
State.""We are all aware of who is actually disrupting the country and hindering
its growth," he said, warning against "further deterioration of the situation
and citizens' conditions, especially at the economic level if status quo
persists."Hariri's words came during his meeting with Future Movement popular
delegations at the "House of Center" this afternoon. "Municipal elections are an
important opportunity for achieving progress in Beirut through development
projects, undertaken by a homogenous municipal council working for the
advancement of the capital," added Hariri.
Beirut Municipal Elections:
Four electoral lists, preparations completed, AshrafiehRmeil area calm awaiting
Sunday's battle
Sat 07 May 2016/NNA - On the eve of the first round of municipal and mayoral
elections in Beirut and the Bekaa region and hours before polls open, allowing
470,000 officially registered voters to elect a 24-member municipal council and
108 mayors for the city of Beirut, the area of Rmeil-Ashrafieh seemed calm
awaiting tomorrow's battle," NNA correspondent reported Saturday evening. As
army and security forces spread out around school vicinities in which elections
shall take place, preparations at polling stations, logistics, administrative
and security measures continued in full swing, with final touches being added.
Citizens are ready and willing, while supporters of a number of candidates are
handing out electoral lists to street pedestrians. It is noteworthy that two
complete electoral lists will be competing in Beirut tomorrow, namely: - "Beirutis"
List: including candidates of a wide coalition of forces and parties,
comprising: Future Movement, Jamaah Islamiyah, Free Patriotic Movement, Lebanese
Forces, Kataeb, Amal Movement, Progressive Socialist Party, Tashnaq and other
Armenian parties, Beirut deputies and families. -"Beirut Madinati" List:
including civil society elites, calling for a radical change.In addition to the
above, two other incomplete lists will be competing, namely "Beiruti List" and
"Citizens in a State."
Salam visits Hariri: Beirutis
should vote tomorrow in a way that serves their city
Sat 07 May 2016/NNA - Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri received this afternoon
at the "House of Center" Prime Minister Tammam Salam, with discussions focusing
on the latest local and regional developments, particularly the municipal
elections in Beirut on Sunday. After the meeting, Prime Minister Salam said: "My
visit to Premier Hariri today comes in the framework of the continuous
discussions concerning the country and the concerns of our people. Premier
Hariri recently took many steps in Lebanon and abroad, concerning the issue of
the presidential election, which is our objective. His efforts are remarkable
and praiseworthy, and we stand together on this issue because we are aware of
its importance."He added: "We are on the eve of municipal and mayoral elections,
this is a great democratic event that confirms that everyone adheres to this
system, this state and this country. It is an opportunity for citizens to say
their word that maintains the unity of our country and its institutions to
enable Lebanon to continue, rise and remain. Our beloved Beirut will face a huge
exam tomorrow, the people of Beirut never let us down and will not let us down
tomorrow. They will accomplish their full national duty in all its dimensions.
We and Premier Hariri agree on carrying our responsibilities in the best way
during the darkest and most difficult circumstances, so that we can protect our
country, our people, especially the Beirutis."Question: What do you say to the
Beiruti voter?Salam: I invite him to do his duty and assume his
responsibilities. He cannot backdown or give up on his role. Tomorrow, the
Beirutis should vote and assume their responsibility in a way that serves their
city and their country, Lebanon. Beirut is the mirror of Lebanon, national unity
is very important, and the patriotism of its sons reflects the patriotism of all
of Lebanon. I invite the Beirutis to do what they believe will achieve their
objectives, and starting Monday we have to see how we can serve our country. We
have to be united and strong, and communicate with all leaders. It is not true
that the municipal elections have nothing to do with political leaders and
forces. In the entire world, the municipal and mayoral elections are part of the
political and public life. It is imperative for everything to be continuous and
integrated so that we can achieve realizations towards the future. The
Constitution and the Law demand that we exercise our right with transparency.
There is a ballot in which we should cast a vote according to what our
conscience dictates."
Bassil from Batroun: Russia
defends via warplanes, we defend through our Lebanese 'Levantine' intellect
Sat 07 May 2016/Zasypkin: We shall not allow disintegration projects and strife
plots to have control.
NNA - "Russia is defending people through its warplanes, and we are doing so
through our Lebanese-Levantine intellect," said Foreign Affairs and Expatriates
Minister, Gebran Bassil, during his joint patronage along with Russian
Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, of the "Lebanese-Russian House" in
the old city of Batroun on Saturday. "Our gratitude to Russia is not only for
contributing to the reconstruction and restoration of this House, but for all
that it is doing to help people to remain steadfast and strong in the face of
terrorism," added Bassil. "We ought to know how to be real sons of this land,
for no one can protect us forever," he added, stressing that "defending our
existence lies in living our true Lebanese identity.""Today, we are inaugurating
the Lebanese-Russian House, following our previous inauguration of the
Lebanese-Australian House, and preparations are underway for the
Lebanese-Emirates House and the Lebanese-American House, as well," Bassil went
on. He thanked herein the "Emirates brethrens for their support in the
restoration works, and the American friends for their valuable contribution."In
addition, Bassil cited the preparatory works underway regarding the
Lebanese-Canadian, Lebanese-Brazilian, Lebanese-African and Lebanese-European
Houses, "following which Lebanon's globalization would be achieved," he noted.
In turn, Ambassador Zasypkin reiterated that his country "will not allow for
projects of disintegration and strife and division plots to take their toll."
"Today, we ought to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in confronting such
plots," he added, stressing on Russia's support to people's unity, ensuring that
their rights are protected without any kind of prejudice. "This House shall be a
place for further strengthening of Lebanese-Russian relations, in addition to
being an example of coexistence between nations and peoples of the world," said
Zasypkin.
Paqradounian: To vote for 'Beirutis
List' to preserve capital's symbolism, coexistence
Sat 07 May 2016/NNA - "Tashnaq Party" Secretary General, MP Hagop Paqradounian,
called Saturday for a "wide participation in tomorrow's municipal elections,"
urging citizens to "vote for the Beirutis List, in an effort to preserve the
city's symbolic nature and mutual living."Speaking in a TV interview,
Paqradounian encouraged all citizens to "exercise their right and national duty
by going to the polls and choosing members of municipal councils and mayors,
selecting those who would work on the implementation of development projects,
defend their rights and preserve their dignity."He stressed his Party's "full
commitment to voting for the Beirutis List," adding that "members of the
Armenian community will prove, once again, their right and duty to participate
and demand the achievement of citizens' hopes and aspirations for a great city."
Siniora calls on Sidon
citizens to widely partake in municipal elections on May 22
Sat 07 May 2016/NNA - Former PM Fuad Siniora encouraged all people of Sidon to
"massively take part in the municipal elections upcoming May 22nd, expressing
their freedom in choosing their municipality representatives."Siniora's words
came during his tour on Saturday of Sidon's downtown trade center, accompanied
by its current Municipality Head Mohamad Saudi. "Voting is not only a right but
rather a duty for each and every Lebanese citizen to participate in the
elections, expressing his clear opinion whether positive or negative," added
Siniora. He praised the efforts undertaken by the current Sidon Municipality and
the projects it has contributed to accomplishing throughout its mandate. "We are
passing through difficult circumstances, but hopefully we shall overcome them
through faith and strong belief in our nation," said Siniora.
Machnouk: One million strong
bound for voting tomorrow
Sat 07 May 2016/NNA - Over than one million women and men deemed eligible for
voting during tomorrow's municipal elections will be casting their ballot,
Interior minister Nohad Mashnouk's information bureau announced today. Around
half a million Beirutis to be followed by over than a quarter of a million will
be casting their ballots in Baalbek - Hermel, Mashnouk's media outlet said. The
minister has been closely monitoring municipal electoral preparations all over
the country via a central operations' room with respective complaints being
addressed on case - by - case bases, his information bureau added. The minister
has meanwhile urged Medias concerned and the press, to assume full
responsibility by generating a positive atmosphere deemed conducive to a sane
municipal electoral process; Machnouk is due to hold a press conference at 8:00
pm to assess a smooth running of electoral preparations, his office concluded.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 08/16
13 Iranian Revolutionary Guards
Killed in Syria
Agence France Presse/May 07/16/Thirteen military advisers with the Iranian
Revolutionary Guards have been killed in Syria in recent days and 21 others
wounded, Iranian media reported on Saturday. All were from Iran's northern
province of Mazandaran, Hossein Ali Rezayi, a Guards spokesman in the region,
told the ISNA and Fars news agencies. The casualties happened in Khan Tuman
village some 10 kilometers (six miles) southwest of the battleground city of
Aleppo, according to a Guards statement, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Pro-regime troops had driven jihadists out of Khan Tuman in December, but
fighting between regime forces and Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists and their
allies killed more than 70 people south of Aleppo, a monitor said on Friday. Al-Nusra
Front and allied Islamists seized Khan Tuman and surrounding villages after less
than 24 hours of clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Around
30 pro-regime troops were killed in the battle, said the Britain-based
Observatory which relies on a network of sources in Syria. Russia said on Friday
that a temporary truce in Aleppo had been extended for 72 hours "in order to
prevent the situation from worsening". More than 300 civilians were killed in
two weeks of fighting in the divided city before the truce took hold on
Thursday, in regime air strikes on its opposition-held east and rebel shelling
of the regime-controlled west. Iran is Syria's main regional ally, sending
financial and military aid, including military advisers and volunteer forces
from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, to prop up President Bashar Assad's
regime. Dozens of Iranian "advisers" have been killed in Syria since late 2015,
including Revolutionary Guards commanders.
Syrian and Iranian opposition
united against criminal dictators – George Sabra
Saturday, 07 May 2016/National Council of Resistance of Iran/NCRI - A senior
negotiator for Syria’s democratic opposition has spoken out against the crimes
of the Syrian and Iranian regimes against the people of the besieged city of
Aleppo in northern Syria. The Syrian revolution’s forces and the Iranian
Resistance stand united in the face of the dictatorships in Damascus and Tehran,
George Sabra of the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) told the
Iranian opposition satellite television channel Simaye Azadi (INTV) on
Wednesday. Mr. Sabra expressed his appreciation to the Iranian Resistance’s
President-elect Maryam Rajavi for her position on the crisis in Aleppo and for
denouncing the criminal dictators Bashar al-Assad and Ali Khamenei. “We believe
that the Iranian Resistance is on our side with all sincerity, and we honor our
joint measures against dictators to help the people of Syria and to end the
crisis that has been created by the mullahs’ regime. In fact, the Tehran regime
supports Assad's dictatorship to pursue their goals. Therefore, our battle is a
joint battle,” he said. "That which is going on in Aleppo is not actually a
military confrontation or a war but a systematic and ongoing slaughter that is
propelled by the Syrian regime and supported by the regimes of Iran and Russia.
Unfortunately, the international community merely looks at these ongoing and
bloody crimes as a bystander and does not take any action.""The ongoing
slaughter, murder and destruction in Aleppo are against one of the historic and
ancient cities of the world which has been established by early civilization.
This city does not only belong to Syria; it belongs to all of human culture.""I
can assure you that the people of Aleppo are resilient and they will not
surrender. By God's will and help, the victory is near. Not only will this
victory bring wellbeing and comfort to the people of Syria but it will also
bring tranquility to the entire region. It will mean that the people will rule
their countries based on their own interests and desires, and they will not be
ruled by the mullahs in Tehran or the security forces of Assad in Syria or the
sectarian militias in Lebanon or Yemen. Unfortunately, all of these criminals
are feeding on the Iranian nation’s wealth to survive and to serve the regime
ruling in Tehran," he added.
Corruption rampant in Iran,
regime’s lawmakers acknowledge
Saturday, 07 May 2016/National Council of Resistance of Iran/NCRI - An Iranian
state-run news agency has reported that several of the regime’s Members of
Parliament have admitted to rampant corruption and embezzlement in the mullahs’
regime. The Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), affiliated to the
regime’s Majlis, or Parliament, on May 3 quoted a speech by outgoing Majlis
deputy Hamid Rasaee addressing the regime’s President Hassan Rouhani: "Your
ministers have been members of various boards of directors, and we announce that
some of them possess a wealth of 10 trillion Rials (U.S. $329 million)." Prior
to taking office as President in 2013, Rouhani pledged to improve the economy in
a 100-day period. The state-run Jamaran website on May 3 reported that outgoing
MP Hamid Kouchakzadeh, referring to the unemployment and inflation crises in
Iran, said in Parliament: "Dear Mr. Rouhani, after three years of your
presidency, please stop slandering, accusing and insulting everyone who does not
have the right to answer you back. I do not say within 100 days, but within the
remaining 400 days of your presidency, please contemplate about the
unemployment, inflation and other problems of the people." Outgoing MP Ahmad
Tavakkoli in an interview on state television referred to the issue of
corruption in the country. "The term systematic corruption is referred to at a
stage when bodies that are responsible for curbing corruption themselves are
involved in corruption. In the Judiciary, in the time of [its current head Sadeq]
Amoli Larijani, 170 judges have been deposed. The dismissal of this number of
judges indicates the entanglement of the Judiciary with corruption," he said on
May 3. The Fars News Agency, affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC),
reported that Ebrahim Aghamohammadi told the outgoing Parliament: "Today the
main problems facing people are regarding employment and their livelihood.
Unemployment is the worst affliction. Today, the 11th government (the Rouhani
administration) is in charge of running the country and it must solve the
problems of people without any projections." He added: "People have not
benefitted from the JCPOA,” referring to the nuclear deal known as the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action with the major world powers last year.
Rise in inflation in Iran as
excess $15 billion of notes printed
Friday, 06 May 2016/National Council of Resistance of Iran/NCRI - "Does the
government hear the warning signal of rising inflation?" was the headline of an
article published on Monday, May 2, by the Iranian state-run newspaper "Mashregh."The
article makes astounding admissions about the Iranian regime’s economic crisis
including the staggering rate of inflation under Hassan Rouhani’s government.
The article states: "In November last year, the Central Bank published the
statistics of the monetary base with a few months’ time delay. These statistics
show that the level of inflation-riddled note printing soared to more than 460
trillion Rials (U.S. $15.2 billion) since the 11th government (Rouhani’s
administration) came into office. According to statistics revealed by the
Central Bank of Iran, at the beginning of the 11th Government (September 2013)
the monetary base stood at 960 trillion Rials ($32 billion), and in the 26
months that this government has been in office the amount has reached 1430
trillion Rials ($47 billion)." This state-run daily adds, Rouhani has repeatedly
stated that “an increase in the monetary base is like a forbidden fruit. …
However, it seems that genuine statistics and information are not truly
presented to Rouhani and he believes that the monetary base has not grown much
during the 11th government’s time in office. While the government claims to
prohibit any monetary base increase rate, the statistics revealed by the Central
Bank signify that the rate of monetary base has been increased to an amount of
460 trillion Rials (U.S. $15.2 billion) by the government. Thus the economic
authorities must respond to this question: ‘Where did they spend the 460
trillion Rials?’"
Iran Reiterates Support for
Syria’s Assad
Asharq Al-Awsat English/May 07/16/A senior Iranian official has met with the
head of the Syrian Regime, Bashar Assad, and pledged unrelenting support for his
government in the country’s five-year-old civil war. Ali Akbar Velayati, an
adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, met with Assad in
Damascus on Saturday. Velayati asserted Tehran’s willingness to always stand up
for Syria because it “knows that terrorism does not target Syria but the whole
people of the region,” Syria’s state news agency SANA reported. The adviser’s
comments came as Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that a cease-fire in the
northern Syrian city of Aleppo has been extended by three days starting
Saturday. Russia’s defense ministry said a “regime of calm” truce in the
northern Syrian city of Aleppo and parts of Latakia province had been extended
“for 72 hours beginning at 1 a.m. on Saturday” (1700 ET on Friday), Syrian state
news agency SANA reported. A fragile local truce had been in place for Aleppo
city since early on Wednesday. In northern Latakia province, it first took
effect on April 29, after a wider truce deal in western Syria brokered by
Washington and Moscow broke down. The Russian Defense Ministry statement early
Saturday said the extension was made at Moscow’s initiative and would also apply
to the Latakia region. Russia and the U.S. last week reached an agreement to
extend Syria’s cease-fire to Aleppo. The Syrian regime’s forces said it would
last only 48 hours. The Russian military accused the Syrian al-Qaida affiliate,
known as the Nusra Front, of attempting to destroy the cease-fire by carrying
out attacks on Aleppo and trying to impose a blockade on the city from the
south. The Nusra Front and the ISIS terrorist group are not included in the
cease-fire.
Aleppo’s fragile truce extended for
72 hours
Reuters Saturday, 7 May 2016/Russia’s defense ministry said a “regime of calm”
truce in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo and parts of Latakia province had
been extended “for 72 hours beginning at 1 a.m. on Saturday” (1700 ET on
Friday), Syrian state news agency SANA reported. A fragile local truce had been
in place for Aleppo city since early on Wednesday. In northern Latakia province,
it first took effect on April 29, after a wider truce deal in western Syria
brokered by Washington and Moscow broke down.
Residents Return as Truce
Extended in Syria's Aleppo
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 07/16/Displaced families returned home and
schools reopened in rebel-held districts of Syria's Aleppo on Saturday after a
temporary truce was extended for 72 hours in the battleground northern city.
Residents trickled back into eastern areas of Aleppo, encouraged by a halt in
the deadly violence that hit last month, an AFP reporter said. More than 300
civilians were killed in two weeks of fighting in the divided city before the
truce took hold on Thursday, with regime air strikes on its opposition-held east
and rebel shelling on its regime-controlled west. "I decided to come home after
relatives told me it was calm," father-of-six Abu Mohammed said. "We left
because it was carnage here. The air strikes were incredible," said the resident
of the rebel-held Kalasseh neighborhood. The international community hopes that
a drop in fighting can revive faltering peace talks to end a five-year war that
has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions. Schools in Aleppo's
east reopened on Saturday after staying closed for more than two weeks, the AFP
reporter said. "Almost all students have come back, apart from those who fled
their neighborhoods," a primary school teacher in the Shaar district said.
Russia's defense ministry said the truce had been extended "in order to prevent
the situation from worsening" just minutes before the initial 48-hour truce for
the city was due to expire. "The regime of silence in the province of Latakia
and in the city of Aleppo has been extended from 00:01 (local time) on May 7
(2101 GMT Friday) for 72 hours," the ministry said in a statement. The truce
held in Aleppo on Thursday and Friday, after violence in the city last month
severely threatened a nationwide ceasefire between President Bashar Assad's
regime and non-jihadist rebels. The United States -- which has been working with
Moscow to pressure the regime to stop the violence and revive the February 27
cessation of hostilities -- also confirmed the extension. "While we welcome this
recent extension, our goal is to get to a point where we no longer have to count
the hours and that the cessation of hostilities is fully respected across
Syria," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Fighting has resumed in
the rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus and on the outskirts of
Aleppo city. The Islamic State group meanwhile clashed with regime forces near
the divided eastern city of Deir Ezzor on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said. The violence killed five jihadists and around 10 pro-regime
fighters, whose bodies IS displayed on the walls of a public garden in the city,
the Britain-based monitor said. An international outcry has grown over air
strikes Thursday on a camp for the displaced near the Turkish border that left
at least 28 dead including women and children. The Observatory, which relies on
a wide network of sources inside Syria for its information, was not able to say
who was behind the raid. Anti-regime activists have blamed the regime, but the
Syrian military has denied the accusation. Russia's military insisted no
aircraft flew over the camp on Thursday, suggesting Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate
Al-Nusra Front could have shelled it. The United States has said that the
circumstances are unclear. "We're still gathering information right now and are
not in a position to definitively say exactly what happened there," Kirby said.
Regime aircraft have previously targeted rebels other than Al-Nusra and IS,
which are not covered by the February 27 ceasefire. Russia also launched air
raids in support of Damascus in September, and a US-led coalition has conducted
air strikes against IS in Syria since 2014. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
said he was "outraged" by the attack on the camp and those responsible must face
justice. Ban demanded once again that the U.N. Security Council refer Syria to
the International Criminal Court so that the tribunal based in The Hague can
open investigations into possible war crimes.
Syrian Regime Fails to End Prison Mutiny
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 07/16/A raid by Syrian security forces on a
riot-hit prison in the central city of Hama has failed to end a mutiny involving
around 800 inmates, a monitor said Saturday. Ten guards were taken hostage after
the violence broke out on Monday following an attempt to transfer detainees to
another prison near Damascus where numerous executions of inmates have been
reported. Activists say most of the prisoners at the Hama jail are political
detainees linked to the opposition. Inmates "continued their mutiny on Saturday
after the assault failed," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a
British-based monitor. "Tensions remained high," Observatory chief Rami Abdel
Rahman said, "and security forces remained inside the prison but outside the
cells".Security forces had stormed the prison on Friday firing bullets, rubber
bullets and tear gas, according to the Observatory. They also arrested relatives
of prisoners gathered outside the building concerned about their fate, it said.
The raid led to injuries among several inmates and "cases of fainting and
choking" from the tear gas, the monitor reported. Video footage posted on social
networks showed a corridor filled with flames and smoke as a voice is heard
giving the date as May 6 and the location as the central prison in Hama. The
sound of bursting tear gas grenades can be heard as inmates chant "Allahu
Akbar!" (God is greatest) while others are heard coughing. It was not possible
to verify the authenticity of the footage. Syrian activist group the Local
Coordination Committees has said inmates are protesting against death sentences
handed to dozens of prisoners and also against conditions inside the jail. Water
and power supplies remained cut off inside the jail on Saturday, according to
the Observatory, which said the authorities had released 46 prisoners since the
protest began. Syria's main opposition group involved in peace talks on Friday
called on international organizations "to intervene to prevent an imminent
massacre" of prisoners. The High Negotiations Committee urged the international
community to "shoulder its responsibilities" and stop the regime from carrying
out "reprisals against the detainees". France warned of the risk of "deadly
reprisals by the regime" and urged Damascus's allies to exert pressure "to avoid
another massacre in Syria". More than 200,000 people have spent time in regime
prisons since 2011, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of
sources inside Syria for its information. Tens of thousands of political
detainees are reported to have died of torture, of which the Observatory says it
has verified 14,000 cases. More than 270,000 people have died since the Syrian
conflict started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
Obama sets up transition
team, signaling long exit
AFP, Washington Saturday, 7 May 2016/Heralding the beginning of the end of his
presidency, Barack Obama signed an order Friday establishing a transition team
to help ease the next administration into power. “The peaceful transition has
long been the hallmark of American democracy,” Obama wrote in an executive order
that called for the transition to be “well-coordinated and effective, without
regard to party affiliation.” Obama leaves office on January 20 after November’s
general election, which is likely to pit Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump.
The transition from the 44th to 45th president has already been the subject of
questions about the two candidates’ trustworthiness in handling classified
information. Clinton is being investigated for allegations she stored sensitive
and perhaps classified emails on an unsecured server at her home. And Trump’s
loose cannon reputation has prompted questions about what he should be told in
classified briefings. Both are set to start receiving intelligence briefings
after the party conventions in July. “The decisions about how and whether and
when and what to brief to the presidential nominees is something that is a
decision that will be made by our intelligence professionals,” said White House
spokesman Josh Earnest. “They are committed to fulfilling the spirit of this
bipartisan or even nonpartisan cooperation when it comes to sensitive national
security issues.” The larger team tasked with ushering in the new president will
be led by Obama’s chief of staff Denis McDonough and will include top national
security, intelligence and economics aides.
US reveals troops on the
ground in Yemen
AFP Saturday, 7 May 2016/The Pentagon acknowledged for the first time Friday it
has deployed US troops to Yemen since the country’s collapse last year, in a
push to bolster Arab and local government forces battling al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the US military
has also stepped up air strikes against AQAP fighters in the war-torn country. A
“very small number” of American military personnel has been working from a
“fixed location” with Yemeni and Arab coalition forces -- especially the
Emiratis -- in recent weeks around Mukalla, a port city seized by AQAP a year
ago, Davis said. “This is of great interest to us. It does not serve our
interests to have a terrorist organization in charge of a port city, and so we
are assisting in that,” the spokesman added. He said the troops were helping the
Emiratis with “intelligence support,” but declined to say if they are special
operations forces. AQAP fighters have now fled Mukalla and other coastal areas,
due to the government offensive. While the number of US personnel on the ground
is limited, the United States is also offering an array of assistance to
partners in Yemen, including air-to-air refueling capabilities, surveillance,
planning, maritime security and medical help. The Pentagon previously had more
than 100 special operations forces advising the army in Yemen, but pulled them
out early last year as the country collapsed. The US Navy also has several ships
nearby, including an amphibious assault ship called the USS Boxer and two
destroyers. AQAP took advantage of the chaos of fighting between pro-government
forces and Iran-backed rebels to expand its control in southern Yemen, including
the seizure of Mukalla. The Pentagon announced it has carried out a recent
string of strikes on AQAP in recent weeks, outside of Mukalla. “We have
conducted four counterterrorism strikes against AQAP since April 23, killing 10
Al-Qaeda operatives and injuring another,” Davis said. The United States
periodically targets AQAP in Yemen, including a strike in March on a training
camp that killed more than 70 fighters. AQAP, which has long been entrenched in
Yemen, is regarded by Washington as the network’s most dangerous branch. The
group claimed responsibility for last year’s deadly attack in Paris on the staff
of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, and has been linked to more than one attempt
to blow up aircraft bound for the United States.The Yemen conflict has killed
more than 6,400 people and displaced 2.8 million since March last year.
U.N. Official Spurns Netanyahu
History Lesson Offer
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 07/16/A senior United Nations official
Saturday brushed aside an invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to a lecture on Jewish history, amid a row over a flashpoint Jerusalem
holy site. Netanyahu said Friday he would host the lecture in response to a
recent resolution of the U.N.'s cultural body condemning Israeli "aggressions"
against Muslims at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, while failing to mention
the site's Jewish name Temple Mount. The UNESCO executive board resolution,
submitted by several Arab countries, was described by Netanyahu as "denying any
Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, our holiest site". He said the lecture,
to be delivered by a scholar in the coming weeks, would educate UN staff and
diplomats about the site's history. The U.N.'s special coordinator for the
Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, bristled at the suggestion that
U.N. staff in Jerusalem were insufficiently educated. "If someone wants to issue
invitations they should be for Paris and addressed to the ambassadors of the
member-states of UNESCO there," he said in a statement. "U.N. staff in Jerusalem
know the history of the region, its people and religions all too well."
Netanyahu last month slammed the "absurd" resolution for ignoring Judaism's
connection to the Temple Mount, "where the two temples stood for a thousand
years and to which every Jew in the world has prayed for thousands of years".
After Israel's reaction, UNESCO chief Irina Bokova issued a statement stressing
that "Jerusalem is a Holy Land of the three monotheistic religions, a place of
dialogue for all Jewish, Christian and Muslim people". The compound in east
Jerusalem, which was taken by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed
in a move not recognized internationally, has long been a focal point of
tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It has seen frequent clashes over
fears that Israel is planning to change the rules that allow Muslims to pray
there but Jews only to visit. Netanyahu denies seeking to change the status quo.
According to Biblical tradition, the first and second Jewish temples were
located at the site before being destroyed by the Babylonians and Romans.
Israel raids hit Gaza as
violence flares for fourth day
AFP, Gaza City Saturday, 7 May 2016/Israeli aircraft hit two Hamas targets in
Gaza early on Saturday in response to rocket fire as the worst flare-up of
violence since a 2014 war entered a fourth day. There was no immediate claim of
responsibility for the rocket launch and most such fire since 2014 has been
carried out by fringe Islamist groups but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all
such attacks. "Earlier today (Saturday)... a rocket was fired from the Gaza
Strip at southern Israel," the army said in a statement. "In response...
aircraft targeted two Hamas terror infrastructures in the southern Gaza Strip."
Hamas security sources said the retaliatory raid hit two brickworks in the
southern city of Khan Yunis, causing damage but no casualties. But witnesses
said two missiles hit a base of Hamas's military wing east of the city, causing
significant damage. It was the fourth day of the worst cross-border violence
since the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas which left 2,251 Palestinians and
73 Israelis dead in 2014. Mortar fire by Palestinian fighters and Israeli air
strikes and shelling have raised concerns for the future of an informal truce
that has held since the conflict ended. An Israeli tank round killed a
Palestinian woman when it hit her home east of Khan Yunis on Thursday. Since
Wednesday, Hamas and other groups have fired at least 12 mortar rounds at
Israeli forces searching along the border, and short distances inside Gaza, for
infiltration tunnels leading into Israel. Such tunnels were among the most
feared weapons of Hamas fighters during the 2014 conflict and one was uncovered
by the army on Thursday. The Israeli army said it had "no interest whatsoever"
in a military escalation, but would continue to act against Hamas as "it
continues to breach Israeli sovereignty and build tunnels." Hamas's Gaza leader,
Ismail Haniya, said on Friday that the group was "not calling for a new war",
but would not accept Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory. A former
head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency, Yaakov Perry, said that
Hamas was fearful of losing the tunnel network, which was one of its proudest
military achievements. Hamas "is using mortar fire to communicate that fear to
Israel," he said. Perry, who is now a member of parliament for the centrist
opposition Yesh Atid party, urged the government to avoid adopting a purely
military response and to take steps to improve the lives of Gaza's residents.
"It would be good if in addition to the determined operational activities
against the tunnels, Israel would take measures to improve the economic
situation and provide options that would show Gazans the possibility of an
easier and better future," he said.
Pakistan hails Sadiq Khan’s
London mayor win
AFP, Islamabad Saturday, 7 May 2016/The election of a Pakistani bus driver's son
as the mayor of London was greeted with celebration on Saturday in Pakistan,
from where Sadiq Khan's parents immigrated to Britain in the 1960s. News of
Khan's win in the British capital featured on the front pages of all major
Pakistani newspapers Saturday, while also causing a stir on social media.
"Congratulations @SadiqKhan 4 being elected mayor of London," tweeted Bilawal
Bhutto, leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party and son of former prime
minister Benazir Bhutto. "British Pakistanis need +ve rolemodel," he added. Read
also: #YesWeKhan: Muslim London mayor candidate rejects ‘extremism’ barb. Rival
opposition leader and former cricketer Imran Khan -- whose ex-wife Jemima is the
sister of Sadiq Khan's principal opponent Zac Goldsmith -- also tweeted his
congratulations to the new mayor. Elsewhere on social media most Pakistanis
appeared to greet Khan's win with pride, with messages marking the recent
successes of other high-profile British Muslims -- including former One
Direction member Zayn Malik, who also has Pakistani heritage -- going viral
Saturday. Some could not resist pointing out the irony of the jubilant reaction
in the deeply conservative country. "Pakistani: Sadiq Khan won! Reporter: So
you'd vote for a minority immigrant son of a bus driver as Mayor of Karachi?
Pakistani: Are you mad?" tweeted newspaper columnist Bina Shah. Khan has told
media that he has relatives in the port megacity of Karachi, where his
grandparents reportedly migrated after the partition of India and the creation
of Pakistan in 1947, as well as Faisalabad in Punjab and the capital, Islamabad.
Sadiq Khan, Britain's Labour Party candidate for Mayor of London and his wife
Saadiya leave after casting their votes for the London mayoral elections at a
polling station in south London Britain May 5, 2016. (Reuters)
Egypt court recommends death
for 6 defendants, but not Mursi
AFP, Cairo Saturday, 7 May 2016/An Egyptian court recommended death sentences on
Saturday for six codefendants of Mohammad Mursi but not for the ousted Islamist
president in their trial on espionage charges. The presiding judge in the trial
asked the mufti -- the country's official interpreter of Islamic law -- to
consider death sentences for the six codefendants, saying the court would
convene again on June 18 after the mufti's response. It will then pronounce its
verdict and sentence for the remaining five defendants, including Mursi, on
charges of having supplied Qatar with classified documents. Egyptian law
requires the mufti to sign off on death sentences. His opinion is not binding
but is usually respected by courts. Qatar was a main backer of Mursi and his
Muslim Brotherhood movement while he was in power between 2012 and July 2013,
when the military overthrew and detained him. He has since been sentenced to
death, life in prison and 20 years in three separate trials.
Egypt gives Italy union chief
phone records in Regeni case
Reuters, Rome Saturday, 7 May 2016/Egypt has handed over the mobile phone
records of the head of a street vendors union to Italian investigators who are
looking into the killing in Cairo of student Giulio Regeni, a legal source said
on Friday. Regeni, who was doing postgraduate research into the union, was last
seen by his friends on Jan. 25. His body, which showed extensive signs of
torture, was found in a roadside ditch on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital
on Feb. 3. Italy, which has repeatedly complained that it has not received full
cooperation from Egypt over the killing, has asked for the phone records of 13
individuals as well as a mass of other information, including video from
surveillance cameras. Earlier this week, the Egyptian authorities sent to Rome
the records of five people, including Mohammed Abdullah, the head of the street
vendors union, said the legal source, who has direct knowledge of the probe but
declined to be named. The identities of the other four people whose phone data
was handed over were not revealed. Italy has not said why it was seeking
information about Abdullah. In the aftermath of the 2011 uprising, vendors were
often used by police to attack protesters or acted as informers. Some vendors
were also targeted by the police for blocking roads. Reuters was not able to
contact Abdullah or the Interior Ministry on Friday, a weekend day in Egypt. A
Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to comment. The legal source said Italy was
also requesting help from Google about Regeni's email account. An email was sent
from the account on March 23 and investigators are trying to find out who hacked
into it, and why. Italy last month recalled its ambassador to Egypt for
consultations to protest what it said was the slow pace of the investigation and
the perceived lack of cooperation. Italian investigators are due to fly to Cairo
on Sunday for talks with their Egyptian counterparts. Human rights groups have
said the torture indicated Regeni, 28, died at the hands of the security forces,
an allegation Cairo denies. Three Egyptian intelligence officials and three
police sources told Reuters that Regeni was detained by police and then
transferred to a compound run by Homeland Security on the day his friends say he
disappeared. The Interior Ministry and Homeland Security department denied this,
saying Regeni was not held by police or Homeland Security. Following the report,
local media reported that two individuals filed criminal complaints asking
police to investigate Reuters and its Cairo bureau chief. Egypt ‘fully
cooperating’ with Italy over student case - FM
Images show North Korea may
be preparing 5th nuclear test
Reuters Saturday, 7 May 2016/North Korea may be preparing to carry out a fifth
nuclear test in the near future judging by commercial satellite images of the
country’s nuclear test site taken on May 5, a US think tank said on Friday. The
38 North website, run by Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced
International Studies, said the images showed vehicle movement at the site “not
often seen there except during preparations for a test.”There has been intense
speculation that communist North Korea may conduct its fifth test of a nuclear
device during a congress of the ruling Workers’ Party now underway.
The analysis from 38 North said the imagery of the Punggye-ri test site
“suggests that Pyongyang may be preparing for a nuclear test in the near
future.”It said that while the images continued to show low levels of activity,
the vehicles had been spotted at what was believed to be the Command Center,
some 6 km (almost four miles) south of the main site. A senior US official,
asked about the 38 North report, repeated a call for North Korea “to refrain
from actions and rhetoric that further destabilize the region” and stick to past
commitments to denuclearize. “Our commitment to the defense of our allies,
including the Republic of Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, remains
ironclad,” he added. “We are prepared to defend ourselves and our allies from
any attack or provocation.”The 38 North website reported last month that
satellite images showed North Korea may have resumed tunneling at Punggye-ri,
activity similar to that seen before the country’s most recent nuclear test in
January. The website reported in early December that satellite photographs from
the two previous months indicated North Korea was digging a new tunnel for
nuclear testing. North Korea has vowed to conduct more nuclear testing in spite
of stepped-up international sanctions after its previous test and a subsequent
space rocket launch seen as a cover for development of its intercontinental
ballistic missile program. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday hailed the
recent nuclear test and launch of a satellite as he opened the first congress of
the country’s ruling Workers’ Party in 36 years.
Iraqi forces shut down
Baghdad to prevent Green Zone protests
Reuters, Baghdad Saturday, 7 May 2016/Iraqi security forces ramped up their
presence across Baghdad on Friday, blocking most major roads and bridges to keep
followers of Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr from reaching the government
district they stormed a week earlier. A Sadr representative meanwhile called on
supporters to rally outside local mosques following afternoon prayers, rather
than gathering near the heavily fortified Green Zone, a move which could reduce
the risk of clashes. The demonstrations are aimed at pressuring Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi to follow through on months-old promises to replace
party-affiliated ministers with independent technocrats as part of an
anti-corruption drive. Iraq has endured months of wrangling over the proposal,
with a divided parliament withholding approval amid scuffles and protests. Deep
frustration among Iraqis over the deadlock culminated on Sunday in the
unprecedented breach of the Green Zone, which houses parliament, government
offices and many foreign embassies. United Nations envoy to Iraq Jan Kubis told
the U.N. Security Council on Friday that the situation remains unpredictable and
could unfold in many different directions. "A business-as-usual approach simply
will not be enough for the people. They want genuine change that will improve
their lives," Kubis told the Security Council. In his prepared remarks, seen by
Reuters, Kubis also said that solutions being discussed to end the political
crisis would not meet the demands of the people and therefore demonstrations
were likely to continue. Security officials said on Friday three regiments from
an elite police division that has battled Islamic State militants were deployed
in and around the Green Zone. On one bridge stretching over the Tigris River,
dozens of counter-terrorism forces manned Humvees mounted with machine guns.
They stood behind two consecutive barriers made of 12-foot (3.6 meter) blast
walls spanning the bridge.The head of Sadr's political office said large-scale
demonstrations had been postponed until Tuesday, when tens of thousands of
protesters would be mobilized to rally outside an expected parliament session.
At least four soldiers were killed and seven others wounded on Friday when a
suicide car bomber attacked an army checkpoint in the western part of the
capital, police sources said. Two bombs in nearby Abu Ghraib killed three people
and wounded 13. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts.
Germany to help Jordan,
Tunisia buy armored vehicles
Reuters, Berlin Saturday, 7 May 2016/Germany plans to give Tunisia and Jordan
funds to buy armored vehicles to help defend their frontiers against Islamic
State, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Friday. Berlin will give Amman 25
million euros ($28 million) to buy "Marder" armored personnel carriers, Spiegel
said without giving sources. Tunisia would get a double-digit million sum.
Jordan neighbors Syria where Islamic State has taken large portions of
territory, while the militant group has also doubled its fighters in Libya which
borders Tunisia. Tunisia saw two major attacks by Islamist militants last year.
Thirty-eight tourists were killed in an assault on a hotel, three months after
21 were killed by gunmen attacking the Bardo National Museum in the capital
Tunis. The German money comes from a 100 million euro fund to strengthen partner
states south of the European Union with crisis prevention, Der Spiegel said. A
spokeswoman for the Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report. She
added, however, that a program to help partner states ensure their security had
been in place for years and said countries, including Iraq, Tunisia and Jordan
were currently in focus.
240,000 Poles in Landmark Pro-EU,
Pro-Democracy Protests
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 07/16/Around a quarter of a million Poles
flooded central Warsaw Saturday, marching to defend their country's place in the
European Union and protest against moves by the right-wing government, which
they say undermine democracy. Warsaw city hall said the protest drew some
240,000 people, making it one of the largest demonstrations since the 1989
collapse of communism in Poland. The mammoth protest came as an annual pro-EU
parade merged with a demonstration called by a coalition of pro-democracy groups
and opposition parties. The huge mass of marchers shouted pro-EU and
pro-democracy slogans as they inched through the sun-drenched city center,
brandishing a mix of red-and-white Polish flags along with blue and gold EU
flags. "We're here because we want to fight for Poland's freedom, for
democracy," former president Bronislaw Komorowski, a liberal, told marchers as
the demonstration got under way. The protest comes amid a mounting political
crisis in the central European heavyweight, triggered by changes the
populist-oriented Law and Justice (PiS) government has made to the
constitutional court. In December it pushed through legislation to stack the
court and modify its decision-making rules. The court itself struck down the
changes as unconstitutional in March, pitting it against the PiS majority
government, which wasted no time to dismiss the ruling. The resulting deadlock
means the court is paralyzed, leaving Poland without a fundamental check on
government powers. The PiS moves have drawn sharp criticism from the EU and the
European Parliament, which Warsaw has dismissed as unnecessary interference in
its internal affairs. Markets have also reacted strongly to the controversy,
hitting Poland's zloty currency and the Warsaw stock exchange. Ultra-nationalist
parties and sympathizers organized a counter-demonstration in the capital
Saturday, drawing around 2,500 people insisting that Poland's EU membership
meant it was subject to the "diktat of Brussels".
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on May 08/16
Les enfants terribles of Barack
Obama
Hisham Melhem/Al Arabiya/May 07/16
The world according to President Barack Obama described recently in the Atlantic
Magazine and the portrait of Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor for
strategic communications, in the current issue of the New York Times Magazine
reveal an insular White House suspicious of the foreign policy establishment
entrenched in Washington and New York, including senior members of Obama’s
cabinet, contemptuous of traditional allies and friends in Europe and the Middle
East, and disdainful of what they see as the very gullible American Media they
became very adept at skillfully manipulating and ventriloquizing its narratives.
Some of the president’s relatively young men, particularly Rhodes and Jon
Favreau a former speechwriter, are like him, gifted wordsmiths who see the
skillful use of “messaging” and the way the “narrative” is advanced, as
important as the content of the policy, and at times the “narrative” supersedes
everything else. In Obama’s universe words sometimes are synonymous with policy
and action. In these two lengthy articles, Obama’s universe is cold,
unsentimental, calculating, deceitful, and its inhabitants are willing to live
comfortably with horrendous tragedies like Syria’s “where more than 450,000
people have been slaughtered.” What is so egregious in these two lengthy
articles is that the President and his men did not even come close to
questioning a single decision or position they have taken in the Middle East in
more than seven years. There was no hint of an attempt at introspection or
honest self-criticism; only naked, unbridled arrogance and self-righteousness.
A portrait of the advisor as a young man
The portrait of Ben Rhodes as “the single most influential voice shaping
American foreign policy aside from Potus (Obama) himself “ is stunning. Rhodes
channels and mirrors the President. The two are inseparable. The braggart Rhodes
boasts “I don’t know anymore where I begin and Obama ends.” Rhodes and Denis
McDonough, White House Chief of Staff, and others who constitute Obama’s inner
circle of advisors are more powerful and influential than Secretaries of State
and Defense. Obama insists on controlling national security issues and foreign
policy from the White House. Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel found that
out in a humiliating way when he was asked to step down because he was out of
step with the White House on Syria and ISIS, and because the inner circle never
warmed up to him. One of Obama’s most consequential and most controversial
decision was taken, after he took a walk and consulted Dennis McDonough at the
height of the Syrian crisis in the summer of 2013, when Obama decided to retreat
from his announced decision to punish the Syrian regime after its use of
chemical weapons and killing 1,400 civilians.
It was after the walk, that Obama called his Secretaries of State and Defense,
to inform them of his decision. Obama did not even bother to consult them first.
When Obama began his secret contact with Cuba, via the Vatican, he assigned that
mission to Ben Rhodes, who began his contacts without the knowledge of Secretary
of State John Kerry. Rhodes was tasked with selling the Iran deal to congress
and the American people. When Rhodes joined the Obama campaign in 2007 he was 30
years old, and he brought with him “a healthy contempt for the American
foreign-policy establishment, including editors and reporters at The New York
Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker and elsewhere, who at first applauded
the Iraq war and then sought to pin all the blame on Bush and his merry band of
neocons when it quickly turned sour.” Rhodes derisively refers “to the American
foreign-policy establishment as the Blob. According to Rhodes, the Blob includes
Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates and other Iraq-war promoters from both parties who
now whine incessantly about the collapse of the American security order in
Europe and the Middle East”. One would suspect that Obama shares this sentiment
with his young guru.
Les enfants terribles of Obama are like him; conceited, arrogant, contemptuous
and proud of it
Rhodes, the morally dubious and masterful manipulator concocted a deceptive
“narrative” about the evolution of the negotiations with Iran, and successfully
sold it to the American Media. This tale of the deal alleges that negotiations
became possible in the wake of a new political reality in Iran following the
elections that brought the moderates, including President Hassan Rouhani to
power. But that narrative “was largely manufactured”. When Obama claimed in
2015, that the deal was struck “after two years of negotiations” he was
technically correct, but “actively misleading because the most meaningful part
of the negotiations with Ira had begun in mid-2012, many months before Rouhani
and the “moderate” camp were chosen in an election among candidates handpicked
by Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.” Obama’s advisors always
understood that he was eager for a deal with Iran since the beginning of his
first term; “It’s the center of the arc,” Rhodes explained to the New York Times
Magazine.
In describing how he manipulates the media, Rhodes and one of his aides drip
with derision towards the reporters they spoon feed the narratives and the
messaging they want. Rhodes’ in your-face cynicism screams in the following
passage “ Rhodes singled out a key example to me one day, laced with the brutal
contempt that is a hallmark of his private utterances. “All these newspapers
used to have foreign bureaus,” he said. “Now they don’t. They call us to explain
to them what’s happening in Moscow and Cairo. Most of the outlets are reporting
on world events from Washington. The average reporter we talk to is 27 years
old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political
campaigns. That’s a sea change. They literally know nothing.” This passage is
full of ironies. Rhodes was in his twenties when he was a congressional aide
writing reports, and he expressed his brutal contempt of reporters to a
journalist.
Obama’s bargain
President Obama and his men come across in the two articles as insurgents trying
to disrupt the “Washington playbook” written by the despised “foreign-policy
establishment” with its dangerous “credibility” fetish, which according to Obama
tends, as a default position to prescribe militarized options to settle
international crisis. After all this is the President who was elected to end the
“dumb” war in Iraq, and terminate the longest war in America’s history in
Afghanistan; and who extended a hand to Iran’s clenched fist in his first
inaugural speech. For all of Obama’s declarations and speeches about a “new
Beginning” with the Muslim world, his intentions to settle the Arab-Israeli
conflict in his first term, his supposed sympathy with Arab and Iranian
reformers, his central interest –bordering on obsession- was to strike a
strategic bargain with Iran leading to a historic opening, hence his dogged
determination to reach a nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic. To that end
Obama and his men used subterfuge and misled the American people and their
representatives about the negotiations, and betrayed his promises to the Syrian
people when he refrained from seriously challenging Iran’s predations in Syria
fearing that such posture could undermine the prized nuclear deal.
Now in the twilight of his presidency, with the nuclear deal with Iran behind
him, Obama and his men feel liberated enough, to voice their criticism of and to
express their disdain for their traditional friends and partners in the Middle
East who are seen as “free riders” or entitled to unqualified American support.
With the exception of Iran, and the imperatives of fighting al-Qaeda and the
“Islamic State” (ISIS) Obama did not exhibit serious and sustained intellectual
curiosity in the societies of the Middle East, or the kind of genuine sympathy
with the plight of the numerous victims there that would require effective
support. Reading Obama and his unscrupulous foreign policy guru Ben Rhodes one
could easily sense their disdain for things Middle Eastern, and their eagerness
to abandon the region and never look back. As related by Ben Rhodes to the New
York Times Magazine, the deal with Iran “would create the space for America to
disentangle itself from its established system of alliances with countries like
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and Turkey. With one bold move, the administration
would effectively begin the process of a large-scale disengagement from the
Middle East.”
Betraying Syria
Syria hovered over the negotiations with Iran. Leon Panetta, who served as
Obama’s head of the C.I.A. and later Secretary of Defense said that Obama was
obsessed with avoiding a conflict with Iran, even if it was at the expense of
ignoring Syria’s tragedy, “If you ratchet up sanctions, it could cause a war. If
you start opposing their interest in Syria, well, that could start a war, too.”
When the author of the article asks Rhodes about the ability of White House
officials “to get comfortable with tragedy” in reference to Syria, Rhodes’
answer is startling; “Yeah, I admit very much to that reality,” he says.
“There’s a numbing element to Syria in particular. But I will tell you this,” he
continues. “I profoundly do not believe that the United States could make things
better in Syria by being there. And we have an evidentiary record of what
happens when we’re there — nearly a decade in Iraq.”
When the author asks Rhodes why the Obama administration is “spending so much
time and energy trying to strong-arm Syrian rebels into surrendering to the
dictator who murdered their families, or why it is so important for Iran to
maintain its supply lines to Hezbollah.” Rhodes mumbles something about John
Kerry, and then says something to the effect, “that the world of the Sunni Arabs
that the American establishment built has collapsed. The buck stops with the
establishment, not with Obama, who was left to clean up their mess.” This
cowardly denial and the claim that Obama is absolutely blameless in the slow
death of Syria, is the most jarring in the article.
The Obama administration’s claims that Syrian tyrant Assad and his cohorts
should have no place in the new Syria that emerges after the negotiations rings
hollow. When the author describes Rob Malley, Obama’s senior advisor on ISIS and
Syria as the official “currently running negotiations that could keep the Syrian
dictator Bashar al-Assad in power” the circle of deceit and the betrayal of
Syria is complete. Les enfants terribles of Obama are like him; conceited,
arrogant, contemptuous and proud of it.
Sadiq Khan elected Mayor of
London – are Muslims finally ‘British’ enough?
Yara al-Wazir/Al Arabiya/May 07/16
Muslims make up 4.8 percent of the British population, yet a survey in 2013
showed that 62 percent of the British population agrees that the country will
lose its identity if more Muslims live in Britain. Public attitude toward
Muslims in Britain are sometimes troubling. It seems that no matter how hard
Muslims try at integrating and however successful they become on cultural,
social, and economic levels, the level of public discourse remain the same. Last
night, Sadiq Khan, the son of an immigrant bus driver became the first Muslim
Mayor of London. This follows a series of significant developments over the past
two weeks, including a Muslim woman becoming the first black, Arab Muslim to
become President of the National Union of Students (NUS) in the UK. In the same
week, Nadiya Hussain, a headscarf-wearing Muslim woman, baked the Queen’s 90th
birthday cake. Despite being positive role models to young people of any
minority, and despite shedding a progressive light on what it means to be Muslim
in Britain, public sentiment continues to be worryingly negative. Muslims in
Britain are continuously accused of not trying hard enough to integrate. Sadiq
Khan, Nadiya Hussain and Malia Bouattia are examples of Muslims integrating into
economic, cultural, and political spectrum of Britain. The fact also remains
that people cannot integrate if they are not being accepted. Malala garnered
support, what about Malia? What makes it so difficult for Muslims to integrate
is not the lack of will but the difficulties on the way. Additionally, Muslims
don’t receive sufficient help in the process of integration. The Western world
is quick to jump on the bandwagon and support Muslim woman if they have been
oppressed. Such was the case of Malala Yousafzai, who was attacked by the
Taliban on her way to school. It is important to recognize that integration is
not strictly limited to cultural integration but perhaps more importantly to
economic integration. Yet if a Muslim woman paves her own path and makes her own
way, just as Malia Bouattia did, she is faced with scrutiny and is attacked on
her personal beliefs. The media described her as an ISIS sympathizer because she
stood against vilification of all Muslims. It seems that a Muslim woman is
worthy of support if she needs to be saved, but not if she is strong enough to
save herself. The vilification that Muslim women often face means that for every
two steps they take, the media and society set them one step back. Clearly, when
Muslims make headlines, it is either swept under the rug or is made to backfire,
as it did in Malia’s case. Therefore it is important to recognize that
integration is not strictly limited to cultural integration but perhaps more
importantly to economic integration.
Muslim-fueled economic integration
According to a report by the Muslim Council of Britain, Muslims are trailing in
socio-economic indicators, except when it comes to being students. A total of 21
percent of Muslims in Britain have never worked, compared to the UK average of
4.3 percent. As a statistic, this may seem shocking. Yet numbers indicate that
change is indeed coming and 18.2 percent of the Muslim population in Britain is
in full-time education, compared to the UK average of 8.2 percent. Contextually,
if these students are to be offered equal opportunities in employment once they
graduate, then they can improve the statistics behind the economic participation
of Muslims in Britain. Muslims have been living in places such as London for
decades. They employ 70,000 people and own 33.6 percent of small-to-medium
enterprises in the city. Perhaps the biggest struggle for Malia Bouattia, Nadiya
Hussain and Sadiq Khan wasn’t that they are Muslims but that they are Muslims in
Britain. Nevertheless, Muslims will and should continue to try hard regardless
of the challenges on the way. Now that London, arguably one of the world’s
strongest capital cities, has a Mayor who happens to be Muslim, perhaps their
struggle to integrate in Britain will be acknowledged better.
Advancing Saudi Arabia’s
government structures
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/May 07/16
While examining Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, spearheaded by Deputy Crown Prince
Mohammed Bin Salman, there are several challenging long-term and short-term
commitments that must be assessed. Establishing a huge logistics center linking
three continents by air, sea and land is a strategic and ambitious project that
will require a lot of time, effort and money, as well as plans to attract 30
million pilgrims a year by 2030. When it comes to cutting down government
bureaucracies, in terms of reducing big government and easing the roles in which
administrative systems play at, will inevitably lead to a reduction in wasted
time, helps in mobilizing efforts and spare some costs. If done in the right
way, it would help widen the circle of stakeholders involved. The process of
developing efficient working systems should not take much time and costs but
rather requires good management to follow through. Reorganizing will help
overcome obstacles and introduce the necessary reforms to the systems and
modernize them. I do not imagine any of the Vision 2030 objectives can be
achievable without firstly reforming structures and doing away with lengthy
bureaucracy.
Reorienting the structures
The late Saudi politician, Ghazi El Kasaybi, was one of the foremost critics
stifling bureaucracy and considered it one of the main obstacles in governance.
He even wrote a famous book about it title “Life in management” based on his
deep experience in facing bureaucracy. I once asked him whether bureaucracy was
from the fault of the government employee or vis-à-vis the environment said
government employee was working under. He replied with a smile on his face: “Not
everyone is like Ghazi.” This revealed his own unique character in fighting
impediments, which is something that we don’t always see in others who simply
follow the system and can’t find alternative pathways to get things done.
Through huge economic entities, Saudi Arabia will be able to move to the next
stage that will enable it to rehabilitate the society to a more productive one
that can compete with today’s modern demands. The Saudi government has been
functioning now for more than half of a century. Back then, it started operating
with simple measures; a small piece of paper was enough for past finance
ministers to get things through instantly. Today, the same formality would take
days. The state’s institutions are now preoccupied with adopting procedures and
protocols instead of focusing on specific goals and objectives they were set out
to achieve. So many of these long-drawn administrative structures don’t go
hand-in-hand with the modernizing philosophies of the government. Contrary to
popular beliefs, officials in the public sector spend time more than their
counterparts in the private sector just to achieve one task.
Therefore, it is quite necessary that the mindset has to change as the role of
the state evolves. This has to be done as the state now plays a role in the
daily life of the Saudi citizen – from birth to retirement, from home permits to
his child’s education. Half a century later, modern-day life has placed more
burdens on the citizen’s shoulders and hence, leading to higher expectations
demanded of the government to perform. Before, the population could be counted
in millions. Now, the population accounts for more than 24 million inhabitants.
Because of all this, the old ways don’t cut it anymore.
Enabling the private sector
The government has initiated ways in which the private sector plays its part by
employing citizens and providing them with the basic services. The Vision 2030
is set to create new opportunities for the private sector to invest in more
vital areas like education and health and promises to reform the system and
legislation. But I don’t envision the government solely relying on the
capacities of the private sector, which might not be ready to take on the
burden. I think it will slowly move to establishing huge economic entities to
plug the holes and bridge the gaps and eventually, limit the economic slowdown.
This would be a great opportunity for Saudi Arabia because reorienting its
economy to big institutions, as opposed to heavily populated countries like
Egypt, will need to further break down its sectors on a wider scale. Through
huge economic entities, the country will be able to move to the next stage that
will enable it to rehabilitate the society to a more productive one that can
compete in today’s modern demands. In Saudi Arabia, some sectors have been able
to break away from big governance like the petrochemical and communication
ministries, banking companies and businesses like dairy giant ‘Al Maraai. So no
doubt that small businesses have stayed vulnerable and suffered with the failure
to provide adequate training and nationalization efforts to see it succeed. The
government will lead the change in the markets during the first phase, by the
privatization of some of its services like the health ministry. The path to
privatization will inevitably face doubters to its path to potential success. I
can recall a similar case in the 1990’s when there were demands for full
privatization of the telecommunications sector by the state. The ministry of
communication opposed the idea citing two reasons: the high incomes of the phone
sector that represented a second source of income for the country after oil, and
secondly, the question of security. But after the telecommunication industry was
privatized, the government’s income doubled threefold and did not pose threat
the country’s national security.
Saudi Arabia needs to move from the Rentier state mentality to one embracing the
free economy market. This is where re-structuring the systems to do away with
bureaucracy will help jumpstart the expansion efforts toward developing a freer
and bigger economy.
Loss of Syrian cities is gain
for European villages
Ehtesham Shahid/Al Arabiya/May 07/16
As cities of Syria are bombed into submission some of its refugees have been
finding solace in unlikely faraway places – villages of Europe. In the middle of
anti-immigrant protests, even violence, routinely emerging from an edgy Europe,
we have largely missed the unique instances of serene countryside opening their
doors to hapless immigrants. These circumstances have also developed a unique
relationship in which the once deserted remote villages have become vibrant once
again due to the arrival of refugees. What is more heartening is that this has
been going for months, if not years. Picture the story of a tiny village in
Germany called Sumte. The idyllic hamlet with no cinema, shop or café and no
community center, was home to only 102 original inhabitants. Yet Sumte has
chosen to accommodate more than 750 asylum-seekers. Despite few murmurs of
discontent, the village was set to shelter families from Syria and other
conflict zones. This influx will be part of the three million refugees predicted
to arrive in Europe by the end of 2017. Italy’s village of Riace has an even
more interesting tale. The rural community, in the southern region of Calabria,
had witnessed a decline in its population from 2,500 to 400 since the 1990s as
people moved to northern parts of the country in search of better economic
opportunities. As refugees started to stream in, Riace’s kind-hearted mayor
launched a “refugees welcome” project. Now, people of 20 nationalities have made
the village home.
The refugee crisis is also proving to be a social experiment which can lead to a
positive outcome
Riace’s population has bounced back to 2,500. The happy mayor says the
government has been promoting refugee settlement in other smaller, shrinking
communities. The policy makes more economic sense than accommodating these
people in refugee camps. This is a pleasant change from some Italian cities
where there have been clamp downs on destitute refugee squatters. Satriano is
another example of immigrants repopulating dying Italian villages. Even Indomeni,
the small Greek village at the forefront of European migrant crisis, is another
example of a village responding positively to a challenge. The village, located
on the country’s northern border, was no more than a transit zone for migrants
crossing into Macedonia. Its population of just 140 people has been deluged by
camps housing10,000 refugees. Yet Indomeni hasn’t lost its sanity.
Reawakening
The influx of refugees may be an immediate challenge for communities,
authorities and individuals but there is evidence to suggest that they are also
leading to a reawakening in at least some places in Europe. In Germany, for
instance, one Bavarian village is said to be not only grappling with newcomers
but also with the question of what it means to be German. In the village of
Eisenärzt a group of 100 Syrians will soon become the New Europeans, occupying
the dwellings vacated by nuns after 85 years. The refugee crisis is also proving
to be a social experiment which can lead to a positive outcome. This is also
being seen as Germany’s struggle with the challenge to transform itself into a
republic of shared ideals rather than shared blood. Fresh from a crippling
financial crisis, Greece is said to be rediscovering a lost sense of self-worth
as a result of the refugee influx. The country may have run out of financial
resources but can still shelter the far less fortunate. It can be easily argued
that the original inhabitants of these lands are just expressing their humanity
or fulfilling their obligation to the international community. Yet, the world as
a whole must commend these communities in remote areas for holding some light at
the end of a long, dark tunnel. They have shown emancipation not seen commonly
in big cities. From Asian traders fleeing Uganda to make it big in London and
small entrepreneurs becoming billionaires in the United States, modern history
is replete with examples of penniless refugees doing wonders for themselves and
their host countries. It is not without reason that Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau calls Syrian refugees “Canada’s economic future”. The difference
this time is that the voice of reason has come from the roots – villages.
What happens when Aleppo
falls?
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/May 07/16
The most remarkable thing about the current ‘ceasefire’ in Syria, as it is
tetering on the edge of collapse is the fact that the city of Aleppo was only
included in the ceasefire agreement in the last minute. The Russians have not
stopped bombing it for one day in the two months of ‘ceasefire’. Why is that?
Ostensibly, it is because Aleppo is controlled by terrorists: Russian speak for
anyone who is not with their ally, Assad. And since Russia, as a matter of
policy, makes no distinction between ISIS and the non-ISIS opposition, they
present this as the same battle against global jihadism that the US and the West
are waging, even as they are targeting groups who are, or have been in the past,
supported by the Western allies. And groups who themselves are bitterly opposed
not only to president Assad, but also to ISIS. In reality, Aleppo is targeted
because it is Syria’s biggest city and its economic capital – not Damascus. It
is also one of the oldest cities in the world with a history and symbolic
importance that rivals Damascus in every respect. So long as it is held by the
rebels, the opposition can claim a power base every bit as significant as the
Syrian capital in Damascus. So long as it stands, the rebels will keep fighting.
And, the Russians and President Assad believe that if they capture it then that
will be the decisive turning point in the conflict with the non-ISIS opposition.
If the rebellion continues in other parts of the country despite the fall of
Aleppo, Assad and Russia have already demonstrated that they are not above
revenge massacres of civilians. Of course, simply recapturing the city will not
spell automatic victory. But it will strengthen Assad’s position significantly,
both strategically and psychologically. Standing as it does, 50 km (~31 miles)
from the Turkish border and the main rebel supply route, Aleppo is the key hub
of logistics for the rebel operations in the north of the country. Currently, it
is being attacked from the south, the west and the east, with only a narrow
northern corridor still open to supply the rebels. Assad’s forces and the
Russians are also mounting an increasing offensive to capture even this northern
corridor, looking to complete the siege of the city and force the local fighters
(and the local civilian population) into submission, as they have done with
hunger sieges in many of the other rebel-held areas in the country.
Best case scenario
And what will happen when the city finally capitulates? In the past week and a
half, over 250 people have been killed in the city. Will the bloodshed end? Or
at least, will the situation get better? In the best case scenario, the violence
would be slowly brought under control but only if the rest of the rebellion also
folds. If the rebellion continues in other parts of the country despite the fall
of Aleppo, Assad and Russia have already demonstrated that they are not above
revenge massacres of civilians. The problem for Aleppo is that it is not enough
for it to fall. In the strategic calculation of Assad, and especially of the
Russians who are still keen to resolve this quickly and with minimal investment,
it is also necessary that the city should not be capable to re-emerge as a
threat to the authority of the regime. In other words, surrender will not be
enough. The city needs to be dismantled. Whether this will be done through
carpet bombing prior to a takeover, as things stand at the moment, or whether it
will be done by ‘bringing terrorist elements to justice’ after a takeover and
the imposition of government rule, for the people of Aleppo, fighters and
civilians alike, the worst may be yet to come.
The Arabs' Real Grievance against the Jews
Fred Maroun/Gatestone Institute/May 07/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7953/arabs-jews
The Arab world still does not today accept
the concept of a Jewish state of any size or any shape. Even Egypt and Jordan,
who signed peace agreements with Israel, do not accept that Israel is a Jewish
state, and they continue to promote anti-Semitic hatred against Israel.
During Israel's War of Independence, Jews were ethnically cleansed from Gaza,
the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, and in the years that followed, they were
ethnically cleansed from the rest of the Arab world.
Jews demand the right to exist, and to exist as equals, on the land where they
have existed and belonged continuously for more than three thousand years.
We would rather claim that the conflict is about "occupation" and "settlements."
The Jews see what radical Islamists are now doing to Christians and other
minorities, who were also in the Middle East for thousands of years before the
Muslim Prophet Mohammed was even born.
The real Arab grievance against the Jews is that they exist.
As Arabs, we are very adept at demanding that our human rights be respected, at
least when we live in liberal democracies such as in North America, Europe, and
Israel. But what about when it comes to our respecting the human rights of
others, particularly Jews?
When we examine our attitude towards Jews, both historically and at present, we
realize that it is centered on denying Jews the most fundamental human right,
the right without which no other human right is relevant: the right to exist.
The right to exist in the Middle East before 1948
Anti-Zionists often repeat the claim that before modern Israel, Jews were able
to live in peace in the Middle East, and that it is the establishment of the
State of Israel that created Arab hostility towards Jews. That is a lie.
Before modern Israel, as the historian Martin Gilbert wrote, "Jews held the
inferior status of dhimmi, which, despite giving them protection to worship
according to their own faith, subjected them to many vexatious and humiliating
restrictions in their daily lives." As another historian, G.E. von Grunebaum,
wrote, Jews in the Middle East faced "a lengthy list of persecutions, arbitrary
confiscations, attempted forced conversions, or pogroms."
The right to exist as an independent state
Zionism stemmed from the need for Jews to be masters of their own fate; no
longer to be the victims of discrimination or massacres simply for being Jews.
This project was accepted and formally recognized by the British, who had been
granted a mandate over Palestine by the League of Nations. The Arab world,
however, never accepted the recognition formulated by Britain in the Balfour
Declaration of 1917, and it never accepted the partition plan approved by the
United Nations in 1947, which recognized the right of the Jews to their own
state.
The Arab refusal to accept the Jewish state's right to exist, a right that
carries more international legal weight than almost any other country's right to
exist, resulted in several wars, starting with the war of independence in
1948-1949. The Arab world still does not today accept the concept of a Jewish
state of any size or any shape. Even Egypt and Jordan, which signed peace
agreements with Israel, do not accept that Israel is a Jewish state, and they
continue to promote anti-Semitic hatred against Israel.
The right to exist in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem
In 2005, Israel evacuated all its troops and all Jewish inhabitants from Gaza,
in the hope that this would bring peace at least on that front, and to allow the
Gaza Strip, vacated by Jews, to be a flourishing Arab Riviera, or a second
Singapore, and perhaps to serve as a model for the West Bank. The experiment
failed miserably. This is a case where Jews willingly gave up their right to
exist on a piece of land, but sadly the Palestinians of Gaza took it not as
opportunity for peace, but as a sign that if you keep on shooting at Jews, they
leave -- so let's keep on shooting.
There are many opinions among Zionists as to what to do about the West Bank.
These opinions range from a total unilateral withdrawal as in Gaza, to a full
annexation, with many options in between. At the moment, the status quo
prevails, with no specific plans for the future.
Everyone, however, despite the treacherous UNESCO's rewriting of history, knows
that before that piece of land was called the West Bank, it was called Judea and
Samaria for more than two thousand years.
Everyone knows that Hebron contains the traditional burial site of the biblical
Patriarchs and Matriarchs, within the Cave of the Patriarchs, and it is
considered the second-holiest site in Judaism. Every reasonable person knows
that Jews should unquestionably have the right to exist on that land, even if it
is under Arab or Muslim jurisdiction. Yet everyone also knows that no Arab
regime is capable or even willing to protect the safety of Jews living under its
jurisdiction from the anti-Semitic hatred that emanates from the Arab world.
East Jerusalem, which was carved away by the Kingdom of Jordan from the rest of
Jerusalem during the war of independence, is part of Jerusalem, and contains the
Temple Mount, the Jews' holiest site. The Old City in East Jerusalem was
inhabited by Jews up until they were ethnically cleansed by Jordan in the war of
1948-1949.
In May 1948, the Jordanian Arab Legion expelled all of the approximately 2000
Jews who lived in the Old City of Jerusalem, and then turned the Jewish Quarter
into rubble.
Although Israel has twice in the past, first under Prime Minister Ehud Barak
then under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, offered East Jerusalem as part of a
Palestinian state, that offer is not likely to be made again. Jews know that it
would mean a new wave of ethnic cleansing, which would deny the Jewish right to
exist on the piece of land where that right is more important than anywhere
else.
The right to exist in the Middle East now
During Israel's War of Independence, Jews were ethnically cleansed from Gaza,
the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, and in the years that followed, they were
ethnically cleansed from the rest of the Arab world.
Today, Israel's enemies, many of them Arab, are challenging its right to exist,
and therefore the right of Jews to exist, on two fronts: threats of nuclear
annihilation and annihilation through demographic suffocation.
Iran's Islamist regime has repeated several times its intention to destroy
Israel using nuclear weapons. Just in case Iran is not "successful," the
so-called "pro-Palestinian" movement, including the Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS) movement, has a different plan to destroy the Jewish state: a
single state with the "return" of all the descendants of Palestinian refugees.
The refusal of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his predecessor Yasser
Arafat to accept any two-state solution presented to them is part of that plan.
The right to exist elsewhere
Anti-Zionists claim that Jews are imperialists in the Middle East, as were the
British and the French, and like them, they should leave and go back to where
they belong. This analogy is of course not true: Jews have an even longer
history in the Middle East than do Muslims or Arabs.
Do Jews belong in Europe, which tried only a few decades ago to kill every Jew,
man, woman, or child? Do Jews belong in North America where until a few hundred
years ago, there were no Europeans, only Indians?
Saying that Jews "belong" in such places is not reality; it is just a convenient
claim for anti-Zionists to make.
The Jews will not give up
As Arabs, we complain because Palestinians feel humiliated going through Israeli
checkpoints. We complain because Israel is building in the West Bank without
Palestinian permission, and we complain because Israel dares to defend itself
against Palestinian terrorists. But how many of us have stopped to consider how
this situation came to be? How many of us have the courage to admit that waging
war after war against the Jews in order to deny them the right to exist, and
refusing every reasonable solution to the conflict, has led to the current
situation?
Our message to Jews, throughout history and particularly when they had the
temerity to want to govern themselves, has been clear: we cannot tolerate your
very existence.
Yet the Jews demand the right to exist and to exist as equals on the land where
they have existed and belonged continuously for more than three thousand years.
In addition, denying a people the right to exist is a crime of unimaginable
proportions. We Arabs pretend that our lack of respect for the right of Jews to
exist is not the cause of the conflict between the Jews and us. We would rather
claim that the conflict is about "occupation" and "settlements". They see what
radical Islamists are now doing to Christians and other minorities, who were
also in the Middle East for thousands of years before the Muslim Prophet
Mohammed was even born: Yazidis, Kurds, Christians, Copts, Assyrians, Arameans,
and many others. Where are these indigenous people of Iraq, Syria and Egypt now?
Are they living freely or are they being persecuted, run out of their own
historical land, slaughtered by Islamists? Jews know that this is what would
have happened to them if they did not have their own state.
The real Arab grievance against the Jews is that they exist. We want the Jews
either to disappear or be subservient to our whims, but the Jews refuse to bend
to our bigotry, and they refuse to be swayed by our threats and our slander.
Who in his right mind can blame them?
***Fred Maroun is a Canadian of Arab origin who lived in Lebanon until 1984,
including during 10 years of civil war. Fred supports Israel's right to exist as
a Jewish state, and he supports a liberal and democratic Middle East where all
religions and nationalities, including Palestinians, can co-exist in peace with
each other and with Israel, and where human rights are respected. Fred is an
atheist, a social liberal, and an advocate of equal rights for LGBT people
everywhere. More blogs by Fred Maroun can be found at
http://www.jpost.com/Blogger/Fred-Maroun and
http://fredmaroun.blogspot.com/.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute.