LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
November 02/16
Compiled
& Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The
Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
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Bible Quotations For Today
The Parable Of The
King Who wanted To Settle With His Slaves
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18/23-35/:"‘For
this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to
settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him
ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord
ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his
possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him,
saying, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything."And
out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the
debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves
who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said,
"Pay what you owe."Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with
him, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you." But he refused;
then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his
fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they
went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord
summoned him and said to him, "You wicked slave!
I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have
had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?"And in anger his
lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. So my
heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your
brother or sister from your heart.’
There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services,
but the same Lord
and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all
of them in everyone.
First Letter to the Corinthians 12/01-11/:"Now
concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be
uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray
to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one
speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can
say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of
gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same
Lord; and there
are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them
in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common
good. To one is
given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance
of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of
miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to
another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All
these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one
individually just as the Spirit chooses.
Titles For
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources
published on November 02/16
Local politicians welcome the election of President Aoun/Joseph Haboush/The
Daily Star/October 01/16
Iran’s Man in Beirut/Lebanon’s new president has been a putschist, a neocon
fellow traveler, and now an ally of Hezbollah/Alex Rowell/The Daily
Beast/November 01/16
Won Lebanon’s Presidency But Lost His Voice/Diana Moukalled/Arab News/November
01/16
Lebanon’s New Head of State /Aoun Gets His Wish/Bilal Y. Saab/Foreign
Affairs/November 01/16
A New President for Lebanon/David Schenker/The Washington
Institute/October 31/16
Jews Die, Turks Celebrate/Palestinians: Back into Bed with Hamas
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/November 01/16
Palestinians: Back into Bed with Hamas/Robert Jones/Gatestone
Institute/November 01/16
Obama: Don't Destroy the Peace Process by Turning it Over to the U.N./Alan M.
Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/November 01/16
German Streets Descend into Lawlessness, "We are losing control of the
streets."/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/November 01/16
India and UNESCO: Historical View vs. Jihad View/Jagdish N. Singh//Gatestone
Institute/November 01/16
Russia has already won in the US presidential election/Joyce Karam/Al
Arabiya/October 01/16/
The challenge of dealing with Houthis in Yemen/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al
Arabiya/October 01/16/
On the missile launched at Makkah and al-Jawhara plot/Turki Aldakhil/Al
Arabiya/October 01/16
Checks and balances are needed to raise government employee productivity/Khaled
Almaeena/Al Arabiya/October 01/16/
Titles For Latest Lebanese
Related News published on on November 02/16
Iran: Aoun’s election a victory for Hezbollah
UN council welcomes election of Lebanon’s president
Qassem Says President Election 'Victory for Lebanon', Hails Aoun's Oath of
Office
Local politicians welcome the election of President Aoun
Aoun receives felicitations from Kerry: Rapid political solution to Syrian
crisis would reflect positively on Lebanon
Issam Fares returns to Lebanon, congratulates Aoun in Baabda
FPM: Sayyed Nasrallah Our Partner in Victory
Bassil announces nominating Saad Hariri to premiership
Report: Hizbullah Won't Name Hariri for Premiership
Beiri Lauds President's Oath of Office, Says Work Must Now Begin
Mustaqbal Nominates Hariri for PM Post, Eyes 'Cooperation' with Aoun
Alain Aoun: Government Formation Will be Quick, Berri Doesn't Want Disruption
Harb Urges for Cooperation with New President for Lebanon's Sake
Algerian Ambassador hosts reception on Algeria's National Day
Aoun receives felicitations from Kerry: Rapid political solution to Syrian
crisis would reflect positively on Lebanon
Aoun receives Bishops delegation dispatched by Rahi to congratulate him on election
ISF: Truck loaded with captagon seized on Chekka highway
Heavy traffic on President Lahoud Highway towards Sayyad
Iran’s Man in Beirut/Lebanon’s new president has been a putschist, a neocon
fellow traveler, and now an ally of Hezbollah.
Won Lebanon’s Presidency But Lost His Voice
Lebanon’s New Head of State /Aoun Gets His Wish
A New President for Lebanon'
Titles For Latest LCCC
Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on November 01/16
Russia: Peace in Syria postponed ‘indefinitely’
Syrian army makes gains in Damascus
UN reports more civilians forced to Mosul, possibly as shields
Turkey military deployment in Silopi related to Iraq developments
Kurdish authorities detain Japanese journalist in Iraq
Iran: 20 ‘undeclared’ sentences on Saudi embassy attackers
Coalition targets Houthi missile launch pads
Interactive: Mapping history of terror attacks in Saudi Arabia
Italian prosecutor in Egypt to discuss probe into student’s killing
Kuwait Bars 47 Candidates from Contesting Polls
Iranian Regime's Economic Expert: Having Seven to Eight Million Unemployed Is a
Major Challenge for the Country
Execution lingers in Iran Prisons
Deceptive maneuver of changing the law and reducing the number of executions by
the mullahs
Morocco Arrests 11 over Fish Seller's Death
Links From Jihad Watch Site
for on November 02/16
Jews die,
Turks celebrate
Germany: Migrant camp built next to jihadi mosque that Muslim migrants
are now frequenting
Sweden: Muslim migrants given preference over Swedish families for
housing
Stunning defeat for BDS activists: Universities Canada adopts “anti-BDS
criterion”
Sharia UK: British Gymnastics suspends Olympic medalist for 2 months
for insulting Islam
Hillary receives thousands from Islamic supremacists AFTER she was
revealed as leading recipient of jihad terror-tied cash
Imam shortage in Kashmir after numerous imams arrested for inciting
violence
U.S. admitted 13,210 Syrian refugees so far in 2016; up 675% from 2015;
99.1% are Muslims
Pakistan: Muslims imprison, torture 9-year-old Christian boy on false
claim that he burned Qur’an
Banned: How Facebook Enables Militant Islamic Jihad — on The Glazov
Gang
Germany: Muslim woman screaming “Allahu akbar” attacks police officers
with box-cutter
Minnesota Muslim says he joined the Islamic State because “if I didn’t
do it, I would be basically a disgrace to God”
Links From Christian Today Site for on November 02/16
Is This The Original Tomb Of Jesus?
Raped,
Tortured And Forced To Convert: One Yazidi Woman's Abuse Under ISI
Pope
In Sweden: Conservatives Are Furious, But Francis Thinks Luther Got A Lot Right
Trump
Raises Spectre Of Crisis If Clinton Wins White House
Give
Unto Caesar...Christian Pastor Refuses To Obey Order To Hand Sermons To The
State
Are
Anglicans Really Protestants? Complex Row Between Christians In Egypt Reignites
Old Argument
How
Much Longer Must These Three Christian Men Suffer In Jail For A Crime They Did
Not Commit?
Latest
Lebanese Related News published on on November 02/16
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 1 November 2016
Aoun, a leader of
"The election of Michel Aoun as president shows new support for the Islamic resistance (against Israel)," Ali Akbar Velayati, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s top foreign policy adviser, was quoted as saying by Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
"This is surely a victory for Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,
the leader of (Hezbollah and) Islamic Resistance in
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also called Aoun to congratulate him, the group’s al-Manar TV station reported.
Regarding the impact of the election on the Syrian crisis,
Khamenei’s advisor said Aoun’s election will affect the Syrian conflict because
of what he called “the positive role of aid in support of the resistance front
in
Velayati stressed that
The top advisor did not mention support to any other Lebanese blocs and parties, including the Future Movement led by Saad al-Hariri, but stressed that support for Hezbollah and its insistence on the nomination of Aoun is what led to his election as President of Lebanon.
UN council welcomes
election of
AFP,
Qassem Says President
Election 'Victory for
Naharnet/November 01/16/Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim
Qassem announced Tuesday that the election of a president after two and a half
years of vacuum is a “victory for Lebanon,” as he hailed President Michel
Aoun's oath of office as “patriotic and pro-independence par excellence.”“We
consider that holding the presidential election is a victory for
He also called on the next government to contribute to devising “an electoral law that achieves correct representation.”Aoun was elected president on Monday after around two and a half years of presidential void. His presidential chances were largely boosted by a key endorsement from al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri in mid-October. Aoun's nomination also received crucial support from Hizbullah and the Lebanese Forces. Binding parliamentary consultations for picking the new premier will be held on Wednesday and Thursday and Hariri is poised to be re-designated as premier. Hizbullah has announced that it is “not opposed” to Hariri's return to the premiership but it is not clear whether or not its parliamentary bloc will nominate Hariri for the post.
Local politicians
welcome the election of President Aoun
Joseph Haboush/The Daily Star/October 01/16
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai: “The election of Gen. Michel Aoun as president gives us great joy and happiness. Let the president and the government live by the word of the Apostle Paul, ‘Forget what is behind me and let what is in front of me unroll.’”
Lebanese Forces leader
Samir Geagea: “I congratulate all the Lebanese people following a 2-1/2-year vacancy, and I also congratulate Gen. Aoun and assure him that our bilateral cooperation is guaranteed for his term.”Future Movement leader and
former Prime Minister Saad Hariri:“We hope there will be a national unity government for all the Lebanese.”
Future Movement parliamentary bloc head and former
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora:
“We now have a president, and we will work together with him
on every issue that will be good for
Marada Movement leader MP
Sleiman Frangieh:“I congratulated
Gen. Aoun. He is the president for all of
Speaker Nabih Berri:“We pledge to you to lead the ship to the shores of safety, as winds and waves surrounding us are threatening more divisions. Your election should be the start and not the end.”
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt: “Finally we are out of the crisis after [more than two] years ... it is important that we all turn a new page to face national challenges.”
Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon:“This event is a triumph of the Christian political legitimacy required by all parties ... We have started a phase of political stability and fortification of unity and reconciliation in the country.”
Former Prime Minister and MP Najib Mikati:“I congratulate the Lebanese people ... We respect the will of the Parliament to elect Aoun and we will be a constructive opposition.”
Education Minister Elias Bou Saab:“We
are keen on our partnership with all factions including Speaker Berri.”MP
Mohammad Safadi:“I congratulate President Michel Aoun
and I wish him success ... for a strong
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil:“It
is resurrection day ... We will remain with Aoun from now until the end of time
and he represents all of
Independence Movement leader Michel Mouawad:“I congratulate the election of President Michel Aoun ... We hope the election of a president will restore an equal balance of power.”
Former Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz: “The election of Michel
Aoun as president is a victory for all Lebanese, and the most important thing
is that the Lebanese are the victorious ... The road has opened to a strong
Former MP Faisal Karami:“I hope that [Aoun’s] national duty is a success ... I hope that this presidential term is a term defined by success, consensus, stability and the rebuilding of the government and its institutions.”
MP Nidal Tohme:“Congratulations to
Hamas representative in Lebanon Ali Barakeh:
“We hope that the new president will be able to lead
Armenian Catholic Patriarchate: “On the occasion of the election of Gen. Michel Aoun as president, the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate would like to congratulate the new president, [and] especially the Lebanese people ... We wish for health, success, stability and peace in our beloved Lebanon.”
Nazek Hariri, wife of assassinated late PM Rafik Hariri, on the
occasion of Hariri’s birthday: “We will be hand in hand in a unified nation.”
World Lebanese Cultural
University head Elias Kassab: “Aoun’s election offers a
glimmer of hope for local residents and for the diaspora [who wish to] return
to
Model-turned-singer Myriam Klink commented on a popular talk show: “I endorse Michel Aoun for president.” She received one vote Monday. But, after some debate, Berri declared the vote null due to her not being Maronite Christian. “I was the target of sarcasm today because I am Orthodox. Why?” Klink asked. “What happened today was the marginalization of the Lebanese woman and I reject this.”
Aoun receives felicitations from Kerry: Rapid
political solution to Syrian crisis would reflect positively on
Tue 01 Nov 2016 /NNA - President Michel Aoun received on
Tuesday evening a telephone call from US Secretary of State, John Kerry,
congratulating him on his election as President of the Republic. Kerry stressed
the
Issam Fares returns to
Lebanon, congratulates Aoun in Baabda
The Daily Star/November 01/16/BEIRUT: Former Lebanese deputy
Prime Minister and business tycoon Issam Fares visited the newly-elected
President Michel Aoun at the
FPM: Sayyed Nasrallah
Our Partner in Victory
Al-Manar/November 1, 2016/The Head of the Free Patriotic
Movement (FPM) in
Bassil announces
nominating Saad Hariri to premiership
Tue 01 Nov 2016/NNA - Caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister,
Gibran Bassil, said, "After nominating head of Future Movement Saad Hariri
to premiership by the Future Bloc, we agree on such nomination which is a
normal stance. All our votes will be in favor of Hariri and we will remain by
his side across all the difficulties he faces. We will accept the one who
accepts us and reject the one who rejects."Bassil's stance came Tuesday in
the context of the regular weekly meeting of the Bloc of Reform and Change in
Rabieh. "We want a national unity government in accordance with clear
standards based on proper representation," said Bassil, who added that
General Michel Aoun is a president for
Report: Hizbullah Won't
Name Hariri for Premiership
Naharnet/November 01/16/Hizbullah will not name al-Mustaqbal
Movement leader MP Saad Hariri for the post of premiership, al-Akhbar daily
reported on Tuesday. The daily pointed out to expectations and agreements that
were reached before the presidential election that suggested assigning MP
Hariri at the head of the government. But all eyes are on the leadership of two
main parliamentary blocs, Hizbullah and AMAL Movement bloc, which have not made
any decision as yet with regard to assigning Hariri.The daily said that all
indicators so far show that Hizbullah will not name the Mustaqbal head. On
Monday Lebanon's parliamentarians elected founder of the Free Patriotic
Movement MP Michel Aoun president of the republic after a longtime vacuum that
has been plaguing Lebanon since May 2014 when the term of the president ended.
Aoun was tipped to become president after ex-PM Hariri formally endorsed his
nomination earlier this month. Reports say that Aoun is expected to nominate
Hariri to return as prime minister, leading some to describe his support for
the ex-general as a tit-for-tat. Binding parliamentary consultations for the
designation of a new premier have been scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday,
hours after Michel Aoun was elected as
Beiri Lauds President's
Oath of Office, Says Work Must Now Begin
Naharnet/November 01/16/Speaker Nabih Berri lauded the oath
of office taken by President Michel Aoun, as he stressed the necessity to
restore the State's activity now that a president has been elected,
al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday. “What I and the Lebanese have wished
for has become true. Now we have a president which means that the phase of
action must start,” visitors to Berri quoted him as saying. On the speech he
made at the beginning of the parliament session that saw Aoun become president,
and whether it sends a message that he extends his hand to all parties, Berri
said: “Of course it is, it is much more than that. It
is a stimulus for all political parties without exception, particularly for the
president so that we are able to cooperate and save
Analysts have warned his election will not be a "magic
wand" for
The 81-year-old former army chief had long eyed the presidency, and his candidacy was backed from the beginning by Iran-backed Hizbullah, his ally since a surprise rapprochement in 2006.
Mustaqbal Nominates
Hariri for PM Post, Eyes 'Cooperation' with Aoun
Naharnet/November 01/16/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on
Tuesday formally nominated al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri for
the premier post, saying it is looking forward to “cooperation” between Hariri
and newly-elected President Michel Aoun. “The bloc lauds the positive content
of the oath of office, especially in terms of underlining commitment to the
constitution and the laws and adherence to the implementation of the Document
of National Accord without selectivity,” said the bloc in a statement issued
after its weekly meeting. Mustaqbal also lauded Aoun for stressing “the need to
enhance national unity and favor a unifying national rhetoric over a sectarian
one while committing to dissociating
Alain Aoun: Government
Formation Will be Quick, Berri Doesn't Want Disruption
Naharnet/November 01/16/Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun
assured that the government formation is going to be a speedy process as he
stressed that Speaker Nabih Berri does not have plans for obstruction. The MP
voiced hopes that the “election of President Michel Aoun paves way for new
opportunities for
Harb Urges for
Cooperation with New President for
Naharnet/November 01/16/Caretaker Minister of
Telecommunications, Butros Harb said on Tuesday that everybody must cooperate
with the newly elected president General Michel Aoun for the sake of
Algerian Ambassador hosts reception on
Tue 01 Nov 2016/NNA - Ambassador of Algeria to
Aoun receives felicitations from Kerry: Rapid
political solution to Syrian crisis would reflect positively on
Tue 01 Nov 2016/NNA - President Michel Aoun received on
Tuesday evening a telephone call from
Aoun receives Bishops delegation dispatched by
Rahi to congratulate him on election
Tue 01 Nov 2016 /NNA - President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, received on Tuesday afternoon at Baabda Palace a delegation of Maronite Bishops, dispatched by Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rahi to offer congratulations to General Aoun on his election.
On emerging, speaking in the name of the delegation, Patriarch Boulos Matar said that they relayed to President Aoun the well-wishes of Patriarch Rahi to succeed in leading the nation towards the safety shores. "This nation is in need of a new start, in addition to a balanced work and consensus amongst all the Lebanese," Matar said, noting that they stand by the President in every act that would be in the welfare of the nation. In reply to a question, Matar said that the longstanding demand by all the Lebanese would be a nation of freedom for all, equality and genuine partnership.
On the other hand, President Aoun received this evening a
phone call from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon congratulating him on his
election. The phone call was a chance to dwell on the current situation in the
region. Aoun hoped that all organizations affiliated to the UN would continue
in supporting
The President also received a phone call from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to congratulate him on his election.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Yohanna tenth Yazigi, also contacted Aoun to congratulate him on presidency post.
Moreover, Aoun received a cable of congratulations from
Brazilian President Michel Tamer, who invited him to visit
President Tamer stressed the importance of the Lebanese
community in
German President, Joachim Gauck, also congratulated in a
cable President Aoun on his election, saying that Aoun's election renews
President Gauck underlined that
ISF: Truck loaded with
captagon seized on Chekka highway
Tue 01 Nov 2016/NNA - Internal Security Forces Directorate General on Tuesday issued a statement saying that a unit from the Information Branch managed to seize a truck on Chekka highway loaded with a big quantity of captagon whereupon the driver (49 years) was arrested along with another one (56 years) accompanying him in a Mercedes car. The arrestees and the seized material were accordingly referred to the anti-drug office in the North for investigations after a judicial notice.
Heavy traffic on
President Lahoud Highway towards Sayyad
Tue 01 Nov 2016/NNA - Heavy traffic is registered on
Aoun declares Lebanon’s
alignment with Iran, Hezbollah and Assad
Hussain Abdul-Hussain/Now Lebanon/November 01/16
During the inaugural address, the new Lebanese president gave some indication about his vision for the nation going forward
For the untrained ear, President Michel Aoun’s inaugural speech sounded like a mishmash of old chewed slogans about Lebanese “national unity”, harmony and patriotism. But between the lines, Aoun loaded his speech with code words that gave away the nation’s policy under his tenure.
First, according to
In his “presidential foreign policy,” Aoun said
Right after giving
Interestingly, Aoun made an exclusive connection between
terrorism and
So while Aoun’s inauguration speech sounded rosy and benign, it was in fact dedicated to paying back his backers, and promising to go after his detractors. Needless to say, the Lebanese state is in such a dire situation that it does not matter who the president is or what he promises. The Lebanese state is weak, its president irrelevant, its agencies corrupt and its debt overwhelming. No matter what Aoun says in his inaugural speech, or any other speech, Hezbollah is the force that has the final word on every Lebanese issue, domestic or foreign. Aoun only gives Hezbollah’s de facto policies an official state blessing. The presidency will be a nice retirement plan for the aging Aoun. He will use it to leverage his share in the state and promote his guys. But he will have little influence, whether in regional conflicts, the Syrian crisis or local issues.
Iran’s
Man in Beirut/Lebanon’s new president has been a putschist, a neocon fellow
traveler, and now an ally of Hezbollah.
Alex Rowell/The Daily Beast/November 01/16
On the morning of 13 October, 1990, the Syrian Air Force
launched fighter jet strikes on the Lebanese presidential palace in Baabda,
southeast of
His reign, such as it was, saw thousands killed in quixotic
military campaigns against rival warlords and the Syrian army then occupying
Today, the same Michel Aoun—now 81 years old—was elected to return as president to the same Baabda Palace, ending Lebanon’s thirty-month leadership vacuum after spending over a quarter of a century between exile in France and Lebanon, tirelessly plotting his eventual comeback with near-Shakespearean ambition. “I can add colours to the chameleon,” boasts the rapacious Richard III in Henry VI; “Change shapes with Proteus for advantages/ And set the murd’rous Machiavel to school.” Aoun’s long life has seen him morph from a Fort Hill-trained commander in a US-backed army (once even photographed in Israeli company) to an anti-American proxy of the Iraqi Baath regime to a Bush-supporting neoconservative fellow traveler (speaking at the Hudson Institute in favor of the Iraq War on a 2003 tour of Washington, during which he also testified to Congress in support of the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act) to, most recently, a stalwart comrade of the Iranian-Syrian “Axis of Resistance.” His election today came after he and his Hezbollah ally boycotted all electoral sessions for more than two years, bluntly refusing to attend unless and until his victory was guaranteed in advance. Earlier in the month, the last of his major remaining opponents—Saad al-Hariri of the Saudi Arabia-backed Future Movement—caved in, endorsing Aoun in what he called a “sacrifice […] for the nation, the state, and stability.”
Such bullheaded singleness of mind is a great part of what makes “The General,” as Aoun is known, so strongly adored—and detested. To fans, he’s a plucky, steel-willed Knight Templar who’ll restore the diminished Christian community—around a third of Lebanon’s population—to the preeminence it lost after the civil war. To foes, he’s a foul-tempered, megalomaniacal narcissist; an opportunist and bigot with a Napoleon complex and, possibly, the beginnings of dementia. Memes likening him to Donald Trump are already ubiquitous on Lebanese social media. The two certainly share an aversion to refugees; a soft spot for dictators; an inclination to the personality cult; and a pronounced contempt for the journalistic profession. “You’re not a journalist, you’re a provocateur,” is the sort of thing he says to journalists whose questions he doesn’t like. Others get banned from his press conferences. In one of those jokes-but-not-really of the sort to which Trump watchers have now become accustomed, he laughed in 2006 that if his party wanted to get back at one of their rivals “we’d have burned their television station down ages ago.”
Yet aside from a new ability to jail anyone who “disparages”
him or “violates his dignity” —thanks to Draconian lèse-majesté laws courtesy
of French colonialism—it’s unclear how much power President Aoun will really
have to implement any sort of political platform. The presidency is a largely ceremonial
post, watered down considerably (to the advantage of the prime minister and
parliament speaker) in the constitutional amendments that followed the civil
war. Aoun differs, however, from other postwar presidents in having a sizable
popular base, reflected in the second-largest bloc in parliament, which he
“will use to advance and intervene in politics,” according to
“President Aoun will have a solid parliamentary bloc, strong support coming from Hezbollah and Iran, and quite a lot of leverage over the military situation in the country,” Salamey told The Daily Beast. “He won’t be a bystander or a weak figure.”
Certainly, those in the Aounist camp are unperturbed about
the constitutional limits on his powers. “Even if he doesn’t have many
prerogatives, the personality of the president – with his wisdom, his
conviction, and his persuasive projects—means no one will be able to tell him
no,” The Daily Beast was told by Habib Younes, spokesperson for Aoun’s
political movement. By Younes’ account, Aoun has a plethora of ideas for
improving the country – set out in his 2007 book, My Vision for Lebanon –
touching on everything from education to the oil and gas sector to military reforms
to man’s relationship with God. “We have an opportunity now,” said Younes, “to
save
Well, even critics of Aoun concede there will be some upside to his election, as there would be no matter who put an end to thirty months of sovereign vacuum. The mere fact of having a president will begin to resuscitate vital state institutions such as parliament, which is constitutionally forbidden from passing any laws in the absence of a head of state (and has consequently been effectively shut down since May 2014). This in turn ought to breathe a modicum of life back into the stagnant economy (the Beirut Stock Exchange is up 7% on last month at the time of writing) and restore at least a minimum of state functionality on such fronts as garbage collection, which, staggeringly, is still in crisis more than a year on from last summer’s mass protests.
Beyond that, however,
Small wonder, then, that the general consensus is
Also interesting has been the apparent lack of any
meaningful Syrian role in Aoun’s election—a conspicuous
lacuna considering it wasn’t long ago Lebanese presidents were appointed
by phone from
How curious that the man who lost Baabda Palace in 1990 fighting to rid Lebanon of a foreign power should finally return to his coveted throne straddling the saddle of that same foreign power’s successor.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/31/iran-s-man-in-beirut.html?via=desktop&source=email
Won
Diana Moukalled/Arab News/November 01/16
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1005016/columns
For a while, the main hall of the Lebanese parliament was
overwhelmed by worry and suspicion wrapped by smiles and jokes. All seem to be
repeatedly switching from laughs triggered by sarcastic comments to fears from
any last-minute surprises. Everyone was questioning what was behind these
ballots cast in the box. MPs mostly suspected that there was a problem at hand
when they were requested to write the name of their presidential candidate four
times after the number of votes did not match the number of envelopes for three
consecutive times. But all suspicions soon diminished when loud claps were
heard as Gen. Michel Aoun was declared the president of
It was previously expected that the political settlement
reached prior to yesterday’s session was going to make the session quick and
predictable. Now while one could argue that it was indeed quick and
predictable, however it seemed that the Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the
most prominent member of those who opposed Aoun’s presidency, still wanted to
show his ability to manuever and “play with nerves” as we say in
Of course, the envelope “joke” ended, and Aoun took the oath
which made him the 13th president of
Today, Aounism has reconciled with the Syrian regime and reached compromises with its arch foe Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese Forces, as well as a settlement with the leader of the Future Movement Saad Al-Hariri. Today Aoun is the president, yet without his usual voice and without his nerve.
This was obvious in Aoun’s monotonous speech in which the new president seemed keen to begin a new and quiet era without any kind of clashes. What has caused Aounism to change? Is it the presidential post alone?
That’s what seemed to be clear since the initiative of the presidential settlement. It was even more obvious in the inaugural address, which came as a repetition of general headings. Of course, no one expects Aoun to practice politics in a way that is unusual to the established Lebanese traditions. But it is impossible to overlook the fact that Aoun only came to the presidency after the post had been weakened and divided among allies and opponents.
What kind of authority will President Aoun have in his next
six years in office? How will he react to the fact that Hezbollah’s fighting in
Aounism has always been a loud voice in Lebanese politics. Michal Aoun has always been termed “the strong president” as his supporters would like to call him. However, the question now if he is still strong today, or does the strength belongs to his allies in Hezbollah. The answer is probably obvious!
**Diana Moukalled is a veteran journalist with extensive experience in both traditional and new media. She is also a columnist and freelance documentary producer. She can be reached on Twitter: @dianamoukalled.
By Bilal Y. Saab/Foreign Affairs/November 01/16
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/lebanon/2016-10-31/lebanon-s-new-head-state
The longest presidential void in
Yet, although Lebanon’s long journey to chart a more hopeful future has received a much needed boost with the election of a new head of state, the far more challenging work—including the nomination of a new prime minister, the formation of future cabinets, the promulgation of a new electoral law, and political reconciliation among the country’s key factions—starts immediately. If history is any indication, the road ahead will be rocky.
But first, some optimism. The return of Aoun to the presidential palace in Baabda, 26 years after he was ousted by the Syrian army, is a direct result of political pragmatism by the leaders of the Lebanese Sunni and Shiite communities, the Future Movement’s Saad Hariri and Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, respectively.
Hezbollah, which was indicted two years ago by an
international tribunal for the 2005 murder of Hariri’s father, Rafik, the most
influential prime minister to ever serve in
However, when earlier this year, Geagea chose to put aside all his reservations about Aoun, with whom he fought bitterly in the past, and did the unthinkable by backing his candidacy, Hariri was in a bind. All of a sudden, the wheels of the Lebanese presidency were turning. Hariri was unhappy with Geagea’s fait accompli because it torpedoed his initial plan to endorse Suleiman Frangieh, an old rival of Geagea, and a candidate perceived by Hariri at the time as a lesser evil than Aoun, despite Frangieh’s close personal relationship with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and strategic alliance with Hezbollah. Hariri was also hoping to create frictions and possibly a rift within Hezbollah’s camp. But Hezbollah kept quiet, showing little interest in Hariri’s tactical move, playing the long game as it always does, and continuing to reassure Aoun that he remained its guy.
Months passed, and still Hezbollah did not budge. With the
tide of war in
And so he did just that a couple of weeks ago, to the
chagrin of many of his own allies including former prime
minister Foad Siniora. Speaking with a solemn voice in a televised press
conference from his home, Hariri lamented the lack of good options, suggesting
that the bitter pill of Aoun was worth swallowing for the wellbeing of
Yet regardless of Hariri’s motivations for endorsing Aoun, the outcome – the termination of the presidential logjam and the beginning of national political rehabilitation – is positive, which is what matters most. Furthermore, it’s not as if Hezbollah was a total winner, either. It too had to make concessions, though they should ultimately work in its favor.
Hezbollah is not obligated to green light Hariri’s
premiership, but the more likely scenario is that it will, because of this
unwritten quid pro quo of Aoun for president and Hariri for prime minister,
which has upset its closest ally Nabih Berri, the leader of the Shiite Amal
party. Why Berri opposes Aoun is the stuff of political mysteries, but a common
explanation is that the aging Parliament speaker felt slighted by Hariri who
did not consult him prior to endorsing Aoun. To Berri, this signaled a
betrayal—that Hariri had deliberately kept him in the dark, regarding Aoun and
Hariri’s political maneuvers, with Hezbollah’s blessing. But Berri also has
concerns about Aoun: Berri is the guardian of the status quo in
To speak of a serious feud between Berri and Hezbollah would
be an exaggeration, but it is certainly worth monitoring how Hezbollah manages
Berri’s likely opposition to Aoun’s reign down the road. That shouldn’t be too
difficult a task for Hezbollah, however, because Berri does not have a ton of
leverage: if Berri plays the role of spoiler, he would have to do it virtually
alone and suffer the consequences of political isolation. (Druze leader Walid
Jumblatt has jumped on the Aoun bandwagon despite his hesitancy earlier while
the rest of
The reason why Hezbollah ultimately benefits from Hariri’s potential return to the premiership is because it would be promoting moderate Sunni politics and advancing Sunni-Shiite rapprochement at a time when sectarian tensions in the region are at an all-time high. The alternative is Lebanese Sunni politicians who are hot-headed or who have even flirted with extremist ideology.
Assuming Hariri comes back to power, the next step would be to form a new cabinet. This is an area where Lebanese politicians have typically fought, causing considerable delays in the process due to a desire to maximize political gains and ensure ministerial representation. Aoun might have high demands this time around because his party is the largest Christian bloc in Parliament. Geagea will want his piece of the pie too for agreeing to postpone his own presidential ambitions early on in the process. But, since a new cabinet might be formed before the country’s parliamentary elections in mid-2017, any appointments now would be short-lived. Therefore, a more likely outcome for the cabinet, in the interest of averting futile political fights, is one whose majority is made of technocrats.
Aoun’s presidency will reshuffle the political deck in
The prevailing wisdom is that
Don’t buy into these analyses. The Lebanese are fond of
telling the world that their troubles are caused by foreigners and that what
happens or doesn’t happen in
A New President for
David Schenker/The
Although filling the long-vacant office could help pull the
country out of its political stagnation, Hezbollah and
After more than two years without a president in
Aoun has long been a controversial figure in
INTO
As LAF chief of staff at the end of
With his path to office blocked, Aoun's party -- the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) -- signed a memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah in February 2006 establishing a political counterweight to March 14. The resultant coalition between Aoun's Christian constituents and Hezbollah is called the March 8 alliance; the general has been reliably aligned with the Shiite group and its Iranian patron ever since.
Once the FPM claimed the most seats among Christian parties
in the 2005 and 2009 parliamentary elections, it consistently backed
HEZBOLLAH'S CALCULUS
While Hezbollah ostensibly backed its political partner Aoun for the post, its behavior toward his candidacy has suggested ambivalence. Indeed, the militia initially balked at supporting him, and it did not change its mind until weeks after Aoun became a viable candidate.
This indecision was not surprising because Hezbollah
benefitted greatly from the political vacuum, which weakened March 14 and gave
the militia a freer hand in its military deployments to
Hezbollah's smaller Shiite rival, Amal, has been more openly opposed to Aoun. The party's leader, Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri, has made his distaste clear -- last week he told Aoun, "I am against you and will vote against you," and he ordered his thirteen-member bloc not to choose the general in today's balloting. Perhaps reflecting differences in Shiite opinion, Amal engaged in violent clashes with Hezbollah in recent weeks as Aoun's candidacy gained steam.
PROSPECTS
To become the president and -- in theory at least --
national symbol of
For his part, Hariri's task of convincing his political
allies to accept an Aoun presidency was not easy. Six members of his 33-seat
Future Movement bloc in
Assuming this scenario comes to pass, Hariri will face other challenges as premier. It will be quite difficult, for example, to accommodate all the competing demands for ministries to be chosen by various players, including Aoun (who will likely insist on naming about a third of the approximately thirty-member cabinet), Hezbollah, the FPM, and Hariri's own ten-party bloc. And even if he becomes prime minister, there is no guarantee Hariri will serve for long; last time he won the post, he was ousted by March 8 after just two years.
More consequential than the politics, however, will be the
new dynamics created by an Aoun presidency. As mentioned previously, he has
been a remarkably divisive figure over the past decade. After waiting nearly
three decades to be president, will he become a unifying national actor, or
will he remain a partisan, sectarian nationalist who is sympathetic to
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Thus far,
For these and other reasons, many in the
Finally, while today's decision may have ended
**David Schenker is the Aufzien Fellow and director of the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on on November 02/16
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English
Tuesday, 1 November 2016/As the United Nations warned on Tuesday that all sides
may be committing war crimes in
Kremlin accuses
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov
also said on Tuesday
“But all that is impossible if the
terrorists continue to fire on neighborhoods, humanitarian aid routes, launch
attacks, and continue to hide behind a (human) shield. That will not permit the
continuation of the humanitarian pause.”
All parties in
UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani
UN on war crimes in
Meanwhile, UN human rights
spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a regular UN briefing in
Last week insurgents launched an
offensive against government-held western
The UN estimates 250,000-275,000 civilians are trapped and 8,000 rebel fighters holed up in the eastern part.
“All parties in
Over the weekend, the UN
documented the deaths of more than 30 civilians, including 10 children, as well
as dozens of injuries, resulting from strikes by mortars, rockets and other
improvised explosive devices on western
“The reported use of ground based missiles, along with the use of armed vehicles loaded with explosives, used in an area containing more than 1 million civilian inhabitants, is completely unacceptable and may constitute a war crime,” Shamdasani said. The high number of civilian casualties suggested the rebels were ignoring the “fundamental prohibition” on indiscriminate attacks and the principles of precaution and proportionality, she added. The UN did not have detailed enough information to attribute the attacks to specific groups, she said. Government forces and their allies were also continuing to shell opposition-held eastern Aleppo, and the UN had documented at least 12 civilian casualties, including two children, on Saturday and Sunday, she said.“Strikes against hospitals, schools, market places, water facilities and bakeries are now commonplace and if proven to be intentional may amount to war crimes.” (With AFP, Reuters)
Syrian
army makes gains in
Reuters,
Securing
Several hundred thousand people
are believed to be trapped in Eastern Ghouta, an action similar in scale to the
250,000 civilians under siege in
Meanwhile, a tank shell hit the
United Nations office in western
UN
reports more civilians forced to Mosul, possibly as shields
By AFP,
Reuters,
Kurdish
authorities detain Japanese journalist in Iraq
The Associated Press,
Salih Hamid, Al Arabiya.net
Tuesday, 1 November 2016/An Iranian judiciary official has announced that there
are 20 “undeclared suspects” accused of storming and attacking
Coalition
targets Houthi missile launch pads
Staff writer, Al Arabiya News
Channel Tuesday, 1 November 2016/Iran-backed Houthi militias have incurred
major loses in their military equipment in both Hajjah and Sanaa provinces
following the Arab Coalition’s airstrikes against the militia group, killing
dozens of its members, Al Arabiya News Channel reported on Tuesday. In the
northwestern
Interactive:
Mapping history of terror attacks in
Al Arabiya Tuesday, 1 November
2016/Since Saudi Arabia signed a treaty pledging to combat international
terrorism during the conference of the Islamic Forum Association in May 2010, the kingdom continues its efforts to eradicate terror
through diverse means. It aims to collaborate with the international community
in all international platforms designed to repel and confront the phenomenon
and incriminate those responsible.
November 20, 1979, an armed attack on the Grand mosque became infamously known as the Juhaiman incident. The attack resulted in the deaths of 28 people and nearly 17 injured.
Italian
prosecutor in
Reuters Tuesday, 1 November
2016/Italy’s deputy chief prosecutor arrived in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss developments
in the investigation into the killing of Italian student Giulio Regeni, sources
at Cairo airport said. Regeni, who was doing postgraduate research into
Egyptian trade unions, was last seen by his friends on Jan. 25. His body,
showing signs of torture, was found in a roadside ditch on the outskirts of
Agence France
Presse/Naharnet/November 01/16/Kuwait's election authorities on Tuesday barred
47 candidates from contesting parliamentary polls later this month for being
convicted in courts or not fulfilling nomination requirements, candidates said.
Those barred include former opposition MPs Bader al-Dahum and Safa al-Hashem,
as well as controversial Shiite ex-MP Abdulhameed Dashti who has been sentenced
in absentia to jail for insulting fellow
Iranian
Regime's Economic Expert: Having Seven to Eight Million Unemployed Is a Major
Challenge for the Country
Tuesday, 01 November 2016/NCRI - Yahya Ale Eshaq, an Iranian regime’s economic expert, has stated that having 7-8 million unemployed is a major challenge for the regime. In an interview with the terrorist Quds Force’s ‘Tasnim’ news agency on Sunday October 30, Ale Eshaq said that “ when the bureau of statistics announces the unemployment rate, it should make it clear according to which criteria the rate has been calculated? Should someone who works for only an hour a week be regarded as a working person? A two-million youth unemployment figure does not reflect the reality. The fact is, that there are currently around seven to eight million jobless in the country.”The economic expert said that at the moment there are five million unemployed graduates and added: “according to the bureau of statistics, we have currently about two and a half million unemployed, but some sources speak of a six and a half million unemployment figure which, Considering the social realities, the latter seems to be the correct one.”Ale Eshaq stated that stagnation, unemployment, inflation and lack of jobs for the youth are the major challenges for the Iranian regime. He added: “one of the major challenges for the country is having 7 to 8 million unemployed people most of whom are educated. Therefore, we should pay special attention to this issue so as to figure out a solution.”
Execution
lingers in Iran Prisons
NCRI /Tuesday, 01 November 2016/NCRI - This morning, Tuesday, November1, two prisoners were hanged in the Salmas prison. Their names is Sami Mamedi and Iraj Hamedi. According to published reports, the Iranian clerical regime intends to execute 9 more prisoners in Salmas prison (North Western Iran) on drug related charges. n October 29, these prisoners have been transferred to solitary confinement for execution. According to same reports on Sunday, October 30th the prisoners had their last meeting with their families. The execution of prisoners is pending.
Today, also three prisoners called, Farhad, Darius and Shoaib have been transferred to solitary confinement in Urmia prison (who are under an imminent risk of execution.
Deceptive
maneuver of changing the law and reducing the number of executions by the
mullahs
NCRI /Tuesday, 01 November 2016/ coincident with the general assembly session on the eve of elections show
In a deceptive maneuver that has been started since several years ago mullah Pour Mohammadi, Rouhani's Minister of Justice, underscoring the fact that death penalty cannot be ignored said, " the number of death penalties and its application should be reviewed.... However, death penalty continues to be in the agenda but not as much as it is being done nowadays" (ILNA, state news agency- 29 October 2016). Coincident with the General Assembly session, he is repeating this crude pledge while the regime sent to the gallows 77 people just in this September.
Pour Mohammadi is one of the
members of Death Committee in
Since two years ago the leaders of the Iranian regime have pledged repeatedly that the number of executions will be reduced by changing the law. Coincident with the sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, or on the eve of the regime's sham elections, such lies, extremely needed more than before by the regime's appeasers to justify their deals with the regime, are being heard more and more. Also, in these days that the Justice Seeking movement for 30,000 martyrs of the 1988 massacre is getting widespread, the mullahs' regime is in more need of such ridiculous maneuvers. In his report to the current session of General Assembly regarding the human rights in Iran, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon worte, "since 2009, there has been a pattern of executions dropping significantly before polling day then dramatically increasing afterwards."
Javad Larijani, in charge of the
so-called human rights in the regime", told
Seventy days ago he said, "we are against full removal of capital punishment because for some very dangerous crimes there should be capital punishment. Furthermore, there are cases such as castigation that is related to divine Law. Even regarding drug-related crimes, we do not advocate full removal of capital punishment, rather we are after reviewing the law…reviewing drug law is not equivalent to removal of death penalty. ...one of the issues for which we execute capital punishment is of course the issue of castigation that... we are very proud of." (state media- 23 August 2016)
The regime's parliament (Majlis) has also participated in this deceptive and ridiculous maneuver for the last 2 years. Mohammad Ali Esfanani, the spokesman of the Majlis judicial committee, talked two years ago about the bill of reduction of capital punishment. He said, "the idea of reducing capital punishment about drug-related crimes will be definitely welcomed by many in Majlis.... At the same time the legal and judicial committee of Majlis in the Code of Criminal Procedure that is going to be enforced from July 2015 has referred to commutation of the punishment for drug-related crimes." (IRNA news agency- 23 December 2014)
Last year and coincident with the session of General Assembly, Mir Hadi Gharaseyyed Roomiani, member of the judicial committee board of directors of Mjlis informed that more than 70 MPs had signed for the plan of removal of capital punishment from the drug law and said, "By ratifying this plan, capital punishment will be implemented only in armed smuggling cases." He added, "Once this plan has been ratified, all prisoners who are currently in prison will be released." (state media- 8 December 2015)
Once again this same disgusting game was repeated this fall when the General Assembly started. Mullah Hassan Nowrouzi, the spokesman of Majlis legal and judicial committee, informed of the plan of commutation of capital punishment signed by 100 MPs. He said, "Today this plan is going to be presented to the parliament's board of directors." He reiterated, "This plan will cover only those individuals who have carried drugs for the first time or a small amount of it." (Tasnim- Quds Force news agency, 4 October 2016)
A month later on 30 October 2016, this same mullah said in his interview with the regime's radio and TV news agency, "We presented a plan with 76 signatures to the Majlis board of directors today which says individuals who have carried drugs or were fallen prey to drug traffickers, provided that they do not have criminal record, should not be executed," however "those who act as a gang and have criminal record are referred to as corrupt on earth and should be eliminated and executed…we are not against destroying corrupt on earth."
These deceptive maneuvers are indicative of weakness and fragile situation of a regime that is deeply scared of frustrated people uprising, and has no way forward and no way back in the deadlock of increasing domestic and international crises.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran/November 1, 2016
Agence France Presse/November 01/16/Morocco has arrested 11
people over the death of a fish seller whose crushing in a rubbish truck
sparked widespread demonstrations, prosecutors said on Tuesday. The suspects
have been brought before an investigating magistrate in connection with
allegations of involuntary manslaughter and forgery of public documents, a
statement said.Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed to death on Friday in the truck
in the northern city of
Latest LCCC
Bulletin analysis& editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on November
02/16
Jews Die, Turks
Celebrate
Robert Jones/Gatestone Institute/November 01/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9237/jews-die-turks-celebrate
"Idiots, since when have non-Muslims been wished to
rest in peace?" — Tweet after the death of a Jewish businessman in
All of this history and narrative makes one ask: What is a radical Muslim and what is a moderate Muslim? Is "being radical" only about being an armed militant? Can Muslims who do not engage in violent action but who have extremely hate-filled and murderous speech be considered "moderate"? Or would their supremacist or even genocidal speech be enough to name them as "radical?"
What then is the difference between armed Islamic State terrorists who threaten Jews with massacres, and unarmed Turkish Twitter users who celebrate Jewish deaths and call for massacring more Jews?
Two important Jew have lost their lives lately: Shimon
Peres, the ninth President of
Upon receiving the news of the deaths of these two men, many Turks rushed to Twitter proudly and openly to show off their hatred of Jews, according to the Turkish news site, Avlaremoz, which covers Jewish affairs.
Some of the Tweets posted after Peres's death on September 28 included:
"Shimon Peres died, there is now one fewer Jew. I wish the same for other Jews and their sperm..."
"Shimon Peres died. One fewer Jew. The world has got rid of one more piece of dirt."
"Shimon Peres, you'll get a nice tan there. May your hellfire be fierce. Jewish dog."
"It would be great if we do salah [Islamic prayer] of thankfulness every time a Jew drops dead."
"Hellfire is calling you, Jewish dog Shimon Peres."
Some people might attempt to normalize these Turks' hatred
of Peres by pointing out that Peres was an Israeli state leader. However, the
reactions many Turks gave on social media after a Turkish businessman of Jewish
origin died shows that these reactions are instead simply raw Jew-hate, which
has little to do with the policies of the state of
Ishak Alaton, a Turkish businessman and investor of Jewish
descent, born in
"Ishak Alaton, the darling of Soros and the Jewish usurer, has croaked. Master Baphomet was not able to protect him. I wish the same for other Jewish vampires."
"Even those whose top expertise is making money eventually bid farewell to life. Ishak Alaton lost his life."
[Responding to a tweet that wished Alaton to rest in peace:] "Idiots, since when have non-Muslims been wished to rest in peace? You do not even know about that. You have nothing to do with religion."
"Even his air conditioners will not be enough to cool him down in the afterlife."
"It is cause for rejoicing that one more Jew falls before the Bayram [Eid al-Adha, the Islamic 'Sacrifice Feast']."
Alaton had contributed immensely to the Turkish economy, and culture, as well as to the efforts of democratization of the country.
Between 1947 and 1948, he performed his military service in
the Turkish army, compulsory for all male Turks. After studying and working in
A prominent businessman and philanthropist, Alaton was
granted the Swedish Order of the North Star and the Spanish Order of Civil
Merit. Yet he preferred to live in
The Turks that spewed Jew-hatred after his death are evidently
sure that no prosecutor in
Turkish police and soldiers are deployed outside the Israeli
Embassy in
This should come as no surprise: 71% of the Turkish adult population harbors anti-Semitic attitudes, according to the 2015 Anti-Defamation League Global 100 Poll.
"I do not think that there has ever been a period in
this country in which anti-Semitism and hatred against Jews has
decreased," said Isil Demirel, an anthropologist from
The Jewish community in
On November 15, 2003, Islamist Turks and Al-Qaeda
sympathizers exploded near-simultaneous car bombs outside two
"The attacks against synagogues in particular have made security an even more alarming issue for the Jewish community. That is why, for many years, synagogues and other Jewish institutions have been protected by safety measures.... The government should immediately recognize anti-Semitism as a hate crime and impose penal sanctions on the perpetrators. I think this is the most important step to be taken to help the Jewish community live in peace here."
But given the anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli statements of
state authorities in
For example, on July 18, 2014, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said:
"The state that knows best how to kill children is
"
According to a 2014 Pew Poll,
Although the Jewish people have not been allowed to live
free and safe lives in
"Jews, in fact, had inhabited this land long before the birth of Mohammed and the Islamic conquests of the seventh and eighth centuries, or for that matter, the arrival and conquests of the Turks, beginning in the eleventh century.
"At the beginning of the
Many verbal and physical attacks on Jews have played a
significant role in Jewish emigration from
Meanwhile, militants linked to the Islamic State in the
Sinai Peninsula recently released a new video that contains more threats
against the Jews and
This history and narrative leads one to ask: What is a radical Muslim and what is a moderate Muslim? Is "being radical" only about being an armed militant? Can Muslims who do not engage in violent action but who have extremely hate-filled and murderous speech be considered "moderate"? Or should their supremacist or even genocidal speech be reason enough to think of them as "radical?"
What then is the difference between armed Islamic State terrorists who threaten Jews with massacre and unarmed Turkish Twitter users who celebrate Jewish deaths and call for massacring more Jews?
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Palestinians: Back into
Bed with Hamas
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/November 01/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9228/palestinians-abbas-hamas
If Abbas is unable to make peace inside his own Fatah
faction, how will he ever be able to end the dispute with Hamas? And the more
crucial question: How can Abbas ever be expected to make peace with
This has become predictable. Given two minutes of breath, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas resorts to the old tactic of courting Hamas as a way of hiding from the disaffection of his own Fatah faction. The overtures towards Hamas are a smokescreen for what many Palestinians are beginning to perceive as the beginning of a revolt against Abbas.
Last week, Abbas held a surprise meeting in
Abbas aides said the meeting also dealt with the possibility
of forming a Palestinian "national unity" government and holding
long-overdue presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections in the
The unexpected meeting was held under the auspices of the
rulers of
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas walks with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, during a visit to the Gulf state last week. The Emir hosted a meeting between Abbas and Hamas leaders, with the goal of ending the dispute between Hamas and Abbas's Fatah faction, and achieving "national reconciliation."
The surprising nature of the meeting between Abbas and the Hamas leaders makes sense: for one thing, the two sides had, prior to the encounter, denied that it would take place.
Moreover, the meeting came only weeks after Fatah and Hamas
traded allegations over the cancellation of the Palestinian municipal election,
supposed to be held in the
So what is really behind Abbas's latest decision to throw
himself into the open arms of Hamas? Is the PA president suddenly smitten with
genuine concern for "national reconciliation", or did something else
prompt him to rush to
The timing of the meeting in the Qatari capital of
Abbas's chat with Mashaal and Haniyeh coincided with an
unprecedented wave of violent protests that have erupted against him in a
number of Palestinian refugee camps in the
Palestinians say the confrontations are the worst in many years and pose a serious and open challenge to Abbas. The most recent clashes took place last week in Balata, when hundreds of PA security officers stormed the camp in an attempt to arrest "outlaws" and "criminals." At least four people were wounded during the exchange of gunfire between the gunmen and policemen.
Similar clashes have also occurred in the Al-Amari camp (near Ramallah) and the Jenin camp.
Abbas aides claim that ousted Fatah strongman Mohamed Dahlan is behind the latest unrest in the refugee camps.
They claim that Dahlan and his supporters are seeking to overthrow Abbas as part of a "wider conspiracy" to appoint new leaders for the Palestinians.
They also claim that some Arab countries, particularly
Abbas's paranoia has reached the point that he has begun expelling or arresting any Fatah member whom he suspects of being affiliated with Dahlan. Hardly a day passes without the Palestinian Authority's expulsion of yet another unruly Fatah official.
According to Palestinian sources, at least thirteen Fatah officials have been run out of the faction in the past few months, most of them on suspicion of being linked in one way or another to Dahlan.
The most recent target of Abbas's crackdown is Jihad
Tamliyeh, a top Fatah operative from Al-Amari, who was accused of trying to
convene a meeting of Dahlan loyalists in the camp. After breaking up the
gathering and threatening to arrest participants, Abbas signed an order
expelling Tamliyeh from Fatah. The decision to ban the meeting and the
subsequent expulsion of Tamliyeh from Fatah sparked a wave of violent protests
and widespread condemnations in the
Later, Abbas ordered his security forces to arrest Ra'fat
Elayan, a senior Fatah official from
Dahlan, who has denied any connection to the recent turmoil in Fatah, has accused Abbas of running Fatah and the PA as his private fiefdom.
"Since when was Fatah a company or a fiefdom from which people are expelled in accordance with personal agendas?" Dahlan wondered. He also denied that he has ambitions to replace or succeed Abbas.
Further evidence of the expanding turmoil in Abbas's Fatah faction emerged last week with a report that claimed that the PA security forces had uncovered a plot to assassinate three top Fatah officials: Ghassan Shaka'ah, Jamal Tirawi and Amin Maqboul - all critics of Abbas. According to the report, three of the suspects are PA security officers.
The rising tensions and skyrocketing discontent with Abbas's autocratic rule in Fatah are yet another sign of the failure of the PA president to control his own faction. Fatah is the dominant party in the PA; thus, the way it goes, so goes PA establishment.
Most, if not all, the members of the PA security forces are Fatah loyalists. So are most of the PA's civil servants. Many PA security officers and senior Fatah officials are said to be unhappy with the way Abbas is cracking down on suspected Fatah dissidents.
"The Palestinian Authority has violated the Palestinian
law by raiding Palestinian refugee camps to prevent conferences," said top
Fatah official Sufyan Abu Zaida. "What is happening in the refugee camps
(in the
Some PA officials have privately criticized Abbas for
failing to realize the degree to which his Fatah faction represents a threat to
him. They expressed surprise that he has not yet abandoned his globe-trotting
habit and remained in Ramallah to tackle what they call the "
Meanwhile, the 81-year-old Abbas is busy searching for ways to escape from the most recent fire to have broken out in his back yard. And the best way to do so, he remembers from eruption to eruption, is to appear to be getting his Fatah faction back into bed with the Islamist movement.
The prospect of a Fatah-Hamas unity certainly gets the world
salivating. Only the very naïve, however, could ever imagine such a union, at
least in the foreseeable future. Just as only the foolhardy could imagine Hamas
relinquishing its goal of the destruction of
If Abbas is unable to make peace inside his own Fatah
faction, how will he ever be able to end the dispute with Hamas? And the more
crucial question: How can Abbas ever be expected to make peace with
Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist, is based in
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Obama: Don't Destroy
the Peace Process by Turning it Over to the U.N.
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/November 01/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9238/obama-un-israel
The Obama Administration is sending strong signals that once
the election is over it may make a major push to resolve the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations. Despite repeated
invitations by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Palestinian
Authority President Abbas to meet without preconditions, the stalemate
persists. Some blame it on Palestinian unwillingness to recognize
In particular, Obama should veto an expected French resolution in the Security Council establishing an international peace conference under the auspices of the U.N. The general parameters of the French resolution would likely call for:
"Borders based on the 1967 Lines with agreed equivalent land swaps; security arrangements preserving the sovereignty of the Palestinian State and guaranteeing the security of Israel; a fair, equitable, and negotiated solution to the refugee problem; an arrangement making Jerusalem the capital of both states."
These guidelines may sound reasonable. Indeed, they are
strikingly similar to the offers made to and reject by the Palestinian
leadership in 2000-2001 from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and
former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and in 2008 by former Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert. The U.N., however, has disqualified itself from playing
any constructive role in the peace process. Recent attempts by the U.N. to
intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have produced unmitigated
disasters. The so-called Goldstone Report, which sought to investigate
allegations of war crimes committed during the 2009 Israeli intervention in
Since then, the U.N. has done nothing to reassure
As Netanyahu said in his most recent
speech to the U.N. General Assembly, "The road to peace runs through
It is for these and other reasons that American policy has long been to veto or otherwise derail U.N. attempts to interfere with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process even when it is stalled. As President Obama said in 2013:
"We seek an independent, viable and contiguous Palestinian state as the homeland of the Palestinian people. The only way to achieve that goal is through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians themselves."
Hillary Clinton, too, has stated in the past, that she supports bilateral negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, and her campaign has said that she "believes that a solution to this conflict cannot be imposed from without." So, too, has Donald Trump.
Recently, however, several past and present Obama officials
have apparently advised the president to support, or at least not veto the
French resolution, as well as a one-sided Palestinian push to have the U.N.
declare Israeli settlements illegal. It would be wrong — and undemocratic — for
Obama to unilaterally reverse decades of
The period between the election and the inauguration is the only time a president can act without the checks and balances of American democracy. He should not take action that would tie the hands of his successor.
U.S. President Barack Obama addresses the UN General Assembly's seventy-first session, September 20, 2016. (Image source: United Nations)
Obama must realize that no lasting peace can be achieved in the remaining months of his presidency: there are a multitude of complex and contentious issues — most notably the status of Jerusalem, the rights of so-called Palestinian refugees, and the situation in Gaza — that must be thoroughly addressed in order to achieve a lasting peace. Our next president will undoubtedly have to wade into the Israeli-Palestinian peace process again. The new administration — with the agreement of the Senate — should have full latitude to do what it deems most appropriate. It should not be stuck with parameters bequeathed to it by a President desperate to secure a short-term foreign policy "victory" that in the long term will make a resolution of the conflict more difficult to achieve.
If Obama feels that he must intrude in an effort to break the logjam before he leaves office, he should suggest that the current Israeli government offer proposals similar to those offered in 2000- 2001 and 2008 and that this time the Palestinian leadership should accept them in face-to face negotiations. But he should take no action (or inaction) that invites U.N. involvement in the peace process — involvement that would guarantee failure for any future president's efforts to encourage a negotiated peace.
We should hear the views of both candidates on whether the
Alan M. Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus and author of Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law and Electile Dysfunction. An earlier and somewhat different version of this article appeared in the Boston Globe.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
German Streets Descend
into Lawlessness, "We are losing control of the streets."
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/November 01/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9229/germany-lawlessness
During the first six months of 2016, migrants committed 142,500 crimes, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office. This is equivalent to 780 crimes committed by migrants every day, an increase of nearly 40% over 2015. The data includes only those crimes in which a suspect has been caught.
Thousands of migrants who entered the country as
"asylum seekers" or "refugees" have gone missing. They are,
presumably, economic migrants who entered
Local police in many parts of the country admit that they are stretched to the limit and are unable to maintain law and order.
"Drug trafficking takes place right before our eyes. If we intervene, we are threatened, spat on, insulted. Sometimes someone whips out a knife. They are always the same people. They are ruthless, fearless and have no problems with robbing even the elderly." — Private security guard.
According to Freddi Lohse of the German Police Union in
"It cannot be that offenders continue to fill the police files, hurt us physically, insult us, whatever, and there are no consequences. Many cases are closed or offenders are released on probation or whatever. Yes, what is happening in the courts today is a joke." — Tania Kambouri, German police officer.
The rape of a ten-year-old girl in Leipzig, the largest city in Saxony, has drawn renewed attention to the spiraling levels of violent crime perpetrated by migrants in cities and towns across Germany — and the lengths to which German officials and the media go to censor information about the perpetrators of those crimes.
The girl was riding her bicycle to school at seven o'clock in the morning on October 27 when a man ambushed her, threw her to the ground and raped her. The suspect is described as being in his mid-thirties with short brown hair and a stubble beard.
"This image is to be published only in print media in
the greater
The effort to censor information about the rape, in which
German officials show themselves to be more concerned about protecting the
identity of the rapist than the welfare of the victim or other girls he might
attack, is almost unprecedented in
To its credit, the Berlin-based newspaper, Bild, responded:
"BILD is ignoring this request. We want to ensure that the suspect is
arrested as quickly as possible." Indeed, Bild has been one of the only
newspapers in
Violent crime — including rapes, sexual and physical
assaults, stabbings, home invasions, robberies, burglaries and drug trafficking
— has skyrocketed in Germany since Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed into the
country more than one million mostly male migrants from Africa, Asia and the
Middle East. Few, if any, of the migrants were vetted before being allowed to
enter
Migrants committed 208,344 crimes in 2015, according to a confidential police report leaked to Bild. This figure represents an 80% increase since 2014 and is equivalent to 570 crimes committed by migrants every day, or 23 crimes each hour, in 2015 alone.
The actual number of migrant crimes is far higher, however:
the report, produced by the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt,
BKA), includes only crimes that have been solved (aufgeklärten Straftaten).
According to police statistics, on average only around half of all crimes
committed in
During the first six months of 2016, migrants committed
142,500 crimes, according to a BKA report released on September 6. This is
equivalent to 780 crimes committed by migrants every day, or 32.5 crimes each
hour, an increase of nearly 40% over 2015. Again, the 2016 data includes only
those crimes in which a migrant suspect has been caught. Crimes similar to the
rape in
Migrant crime statistics for all of 2016, when they become
available, are likely to show a significant increase over the 2015 numbers. One
reason for this is that thousands of migrants who entered the country as
"asylum seekers" or "refugees" have gone missing. They are,
presumably, economic migrants who entered
Most of the crimes committed by migrants are being downplayed by German authorities, apparently to avoid fueling anti-immigration sentiments. For example, the BKA report states that most of the migrant crimes involve fare evasion — using public transportation without a ticket. As for other crimes, almost invariably they are said to be isolated incidents (Einzelfälle), not part of a nationwide problem.
Gatestone Institute has reviewed hundreds of reports of
migrant crime in local police reports and local or regional newspapers. The
evidence points to a nationwide surge in migrant crime: cities and towns in all
16 of
The growing sense of lawlessness is substantiated by an October 24 YouGov poll which found that 68% of Germans believe that security in the country has deteriorated during the past several years. Nearly 70% of respondents said they fear for their lives and property in German train stations and subways, while 63% feel unsafe at large public events.
German police are shown deployed to break up a mass brawl between migrants (Image source: SAT1 video screenshot)
In
City police say they are helpless to confront a spike in
crimes committed by young North African migrants.
More than 20,000 purses are snatched in
Local media report that gangs of migrant youth have
effectively taken over parts of the Jungfernstieg, one of the most prestigious
boulevards in
More than 50 people have been physically assaulted along the Jungfernstieg since the beginning of 2016, and police are being called in almost daily to respond to complaints of aggressive begging, public drunkenness, drug dealing and sexual assault. Restaurant owners are complaining about a spike in robbery and vandalism, and taxi drivers say they are avoiding the area, where Arabic and Farsi are commonplace.
The newspaper, Die Welt, reported that unaccompanied minor migrants at a refugee shelter in the Hammerbrook district are "working" at the Jungfernstieg. Stashes of mobile phones, laptops and other stolen goods were recently found hidden in their rooms. Police also arrested a 20-year-old Egyptian named Hassan who repeatedly attacked passersby with a knife. He was filmed groping a girl's breasts and genitals. When she resisted, he punched her in the face.
Residents of the Alsterdorf district in
Thomas Jungfer, the deputy director of the German Police
Union (DPolG) in
In nearby
Rainer Wendt, head of the German Police Union (DPolG) has
criticized city officials for their lack of resolve. "
In
According to Focus, "During the day the area is full of heroin corpses, and at night pickpockets are on the go." A private security guard said:
"Drug trafficking takes place right before our eyes. If we intervene, we are threatened, spat on, insulted. Sometimes someone whips out his knife. They are always the same people. They are ruthless, fearless and have no problems with robbing even the elderly."
His colleague added: "Of course, we always call the police. The last time, however, they took two hours to get here."
In the Rhine-Ruhr region, the largest metropolitan region in
In North Rhine-Westphalia, a report by the interior ministry revealed that Moroccans committed 6,208 crimes in 2015. Algerians committed 4,995 crimes and Tunisians 1,084. These are significant increases compared to previous years.
According to the NRW Interior Ministry, "Immigrants from North African are increasingly disproportionate as offenders — mainly in large cities. The suspects are most often single young men. Their criminal specialties are robbery and assault."
In Düsseldorf, local politicians have been accused of
ignoring the growing threat posed by violent gangs of migrants from
In
In
In
In
In
In
In a bestselling book, Tania Kambouri, a German police
officer, describes the deteriorating security situation in
"For weeks, months and years I have noticed that Muslims, mostly young men, do not have even a minimum level of respect for the police. When we are out patrolling the streets, we are verbally abused by young Muslims. There is the body language, and insults like 'sh** cop' when passing by. If we make a traffic stop, the aggression increases ever further, this is overwhelmingly the case with migrants.
"I wish these problems were recognized and clearly addressed. If necessary, laws need to be strengthened. It is also very important that the judiciary, that the judges issue effective rulings. It cannot be that offenders continue to fill the police files, hurt us physically, insult us, whatever, and there are no consequences. Many cases are closed or offenders are released on probation or whatever. Yes, what is happening in the courts today is a joke.
"The growing disrespect, the increasing violence against police.... We are losing control of the streets."
According to Freddi Lohse, Vice Chairman of the DPolG German
Police Union in
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.
Appendix
Murders, Sexual Assaults and Rapes by Migrants in
German crime reports use a variety of politically correct euphemisms to describe foreign suspects without using the terms "migrant" or "Muslim migrant."
October 1. Two "southern-looking" (südländische Erscheinung) men raped a 23-year-old woman in Lüneburg. The woman was walking in a park with her young child when the two men approached from behind. The men forced the child to watch while they took turns attacking her mother. A "southerner speaking Arabic" (Südländer, sprach Arabisch) attempted to rape a 34-year-old woman in Volksgarten. The man ran away when the woman pushed her fingers into his eyes. A "southerner" (südländische Erscheinung) pulled a knife on a 12-year-old girl in Kirchdorf. A "southerner" (südländischen Teint) exposed himself to two girls, aged eight and ten, in Legden.
October 2. A 19-year-old migrant from
October 3. A "southerner" (südländisch ausgesehen) attempted to kidnap a 14-year-old girl in Landau. The man ran away when the girl activated an electronic whistle (akustischen Notfallstick).
October 4. A "southerner" (südländisches
Erscheinungsbild) exposed himself to two children, aged 8 and 10, in a playground.
A 15-year-old girl from Goldbeck pulled a knife on a 16-year-old migrant from
October 5. A migrant from
October 6. A man speaking broken German sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in Weingarten. A "black African" (Schwarzafrikaner) assaulted a 27-year-old woman in Braunschweig.
October 7. A migrant from North Africa sexually assaulted a
25-year-old woman in downtown
October 8. A 26-year-old asylum seeker from
October 9. A 22-year-old migrant from
October 10. A 26-year-old asylum seeker from
October 11. A migrant groped and fondled a seven-year-old
girl on a bus in Demen. A "North African" groped four girls on the
subway in
October 12. Two "southern-looking" (südländisches
Aussehen) man sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl at a bus stop in
Weikersheim. A 21-year-old migrant from
October 13. A 19-year-old migrant from
October 14. A "southern-looking" (südländisches
äußeres Erscheinungsbild) man sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl at a
park in Ahaus. A man with an Arabic tattoo groped two 11-year-old girls at a
public swimming pool in Gronau. Two men with "very dark skin" (sehr
dunkle Hautfarbe) sexually assaulted two teenage girls in Bad Hersfeld. A
"southerner" (südländisch) assaulted a 23-year-old woman in
October 15. A "dark-skinned" (dunklen Teint) man
in his twenties sexually assaulted a 77-year-old woman in Bothfeld. Police
believe the same man is responsible for four other assaults in the town that
occurred in July, September and early October. Just days after arriving in
October 16. A 16-year-old boy and his 15-year-old girlfriend
were walking along the banks of the Alster, a lake in the heart of
October 18. A "southerner" (südländischer Typ)
sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman in
October 19. A 29-year-old migrant from
October 22. An 18-year-old migrant from
October 24. Seventeen migrants surrounded two women and
sexually assaulted them near the central train station in
October 27. A ten-year-old girl was raped while she was
riding her bicycle to school in
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Jagdish N. Singh//Gatestone Institute/November 01/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9223/india-israel-unesco
King Solomon built the
UNESCO seeks to erase this history of faiths and replace it
with a jihadi narrative that would deny both Christians and Jews their age-old
access to the symbols of their faiths. If they are not stopped, the Islamist
backers of the UNESCO resolution will be emboldened eventually to back Islamist
elements in
After so many recent votes at UNESCO erasing Judeo-Christian history in favour of Islamist misrepresentation one thing is clear: the sooner democracies leave the UN, the better. Consider the UN's oil-for-food scandal of 2004-2005 and its growing sex-for-food scandal that is still ongoing. Now, with the UN's wholesale erasure of Biblical history, the only intelligent response is to head for the exits. The UN seems nothing more than a bloated, corrupt jobs program of champagne for diplomats. It does far more harm than good. Nothing worth having can come from such a degraded place.
One wonders what
In a 24-6 vote, the Executive Board ratified a resolution
that refers to
The six countries that voted "no" were
Those that abstained included:
"I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our
bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to
The
The second Jewish Temple, completed by King Herod in 19 BC, was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD (depicted at left in a 1626 painting by Nicolas Poussin). The current al-Aqsa Mosque (right) on the Temple Mount was first built in the year 705 AD, seventy-three years after Muhammad's death in 632, and rebuilt several times after earthquakes. (Images source: Wikimedia Commons)
Muslims call the Temple Mount "Haram al-Sharif" ("the Noble Sanctuary"), and the al-Aqsa mosque "the farthest mosque" -- although no one knows how far the farthest mosque actually was; it may well have been in Arabia -- where in a dream the Islamic Prophet Muhammad supposedly ascended to the "Divine Presence" on the back of a winged horse.
In modern times, the antiquity of the complex can easily be determined by archaeological excavations and scientific tools. But this has not been acceptable to the authority of the compound, an Islamic council called the Waqf, which spuriously insists that archaeological excavations would amount to a desecration of their religious sites. In the late 19th century, European adventurers conducted some clandestine surveys. Some minor archaeological work was conducted by the British from 1938 to 1942, when the al-Aqsa Mosque was undergoing renovation.
It is clear from the history of faiths that the holy
scriptures of the Jews are far older than the Islamic ones. The
Regrettably, UNESCO seeks to erase this history of faiths and replace it with a jihadi narrative that would deny both Christians and Jews their age-old access to the symbols of their faiths.
UNESCO is supposed to help preserve the entire world's
heritage, but this cultural agency seems to have been hijacked by the
leadership and allies of the Palestinians and the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC). UNESCO accepted "
It is heartening to note that the resolution has been
criticized by the White House, outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon,
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, and nearly 40 members of the U.S.
Congress. Bokova distanced herself from it, saying in a statement "nowhere
more than in
After so many recent votes at UNESCO erasing Judeo-Christian history in favour of Islamist misrepresentation, and now in this fraudulent representation of Judaism's holiest site (a city more than twice as old as Islam) as primarily Muslim, one thing is clear: the sooner democracies leave the UN, the better. Consider the UN's oil-for-food scandal of 2004-2005:
"bribes, kickbacks, fraud, smuggling; stories of graft involving tens of billions of dollars and countless barrels of oil, and implicating big business and high officials in dozens of countries; allegations that the head of the program himself was on the take..."
Consider also the UN's growing sex-for-food scandal that is still ongoing after more than a decade. Now, with the UN's wholesale erasure of Biblical history, the only intelligent response is to head for the exits. The UN in its present form seems nothing more than a bloated, corrupt jobs program of champagne for diplomats. It does far more harm than good. Nothing worth having can come from such a degraded place.
**Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/October 01/16/
Whoever prevails next Tuesday in the
Trump-Putin ‘bromance’
If you had somewhat just returned from a two and a half
decades’ exile with zero access to the news, and turned on the TV and listened
to Trump, you could fall under the impression that
Not in Putin’s wildest dreams would the former KGB operative
have envisioned a
Even when
A bet on polarization
The slanderous, vicious and polarizing nature of this
Absent of a landslide for one of the candidates on voting
day, however, a limited electorate mandate will only complicate the job of
bringing America together. If Trump wins,
But even if Trump loses, the rumors about the possibility of
launching a “Trump TV”, will mean that
The challenge of
dealing with Houthis in Yemen
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/October 01/16/
Nearly two decades ago, relations between
a small group of Houthis, in north
During the years ahead, whether the war continues or peace prevails, it will not be easy for Houthis to impose themselves as a dominating power
There are reports which confirm that Hezbollah trained
around 3,000 Houthi fighters during the period which followed their war with
A failed project
I think the Houthis are a failed project and, despite
Millions of Yemenis do not have an alternative to their
neighbor and a market, which is
**This article was first published Asharq al-Awsat on Nov. 01, 2016.
On the missile launched
at Makkah and al-Jawhara plot
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/October 01/16
/As children jumped in joy and people cheered out of sheer
passion for football, there were those who lurked in the darkness. Two days
before the World Cup qualifier match between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, a
Syrian, a Sudanese and two Pakistanis, worked together to place a bomb inside a
car. They parked the car in al-Jawhara car park and plotted to blow it up in
the midst of more than 60,000 attending the match. This is what the interior
ministry said on Sunday. The ministry also announced the arrest of a terror
cell made of four Saudis – Ahmed al-Moaayli, Abdullah al-Otaibi, Abdulaziz
al-Otaibi and Mujahed al-Rashid – in the
Security forces also revealed the names of nine terrorists,
eight Saudis and one Bahraini, in a cell in Qatif. These cells show the extent
of the challenge Gulf countries face as extremist organizations renew their
methods and look for security gaps to carry out attacks that are worse than
blowing up of mosques and assassinating security men. The more important point
and the worse tragedy for the Saudis and Emiratis is the terror plot against
al-Jawhara stadium.
Houthi terrorists aim to completely transform
Shiite militias are trying to mobilize to avenge
The Management of Savagery
Terrorism attributed to Sunnis has a clear strategy that is
based on The Management of Savagery, the manifesto written by Abu Bakr Naji. It
is probable that its author is the coordinator of political and intelligence
affairs in al-Qaeda and that his real identity is Mohammed Khalil al-Hakaymah.
It is also claimed that it is written by Abu Musab al-Souri. In other words,
the book stipulates that no targets are prohibited. The book’s dangerous
influence seems to have developed and reached
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Nov. 01, 2016.
Checks and balances are
needed to raise government employee productivity
Khaled Almaeena/Al Arabiya/October 01/16/
There have recently been many discussions about the productivity of Saudi employees, especially those in the public sector.This subject became more intense after the former Minister of Civil Service Khaled Al-Araj claimed that government workers put in barely an hour a day at the office. There was an immediate outcry and tweeters expressed anger at his remark. I do not know from where Al-Araj got his figure since there are no accurate key performance indicators to gauge individual employee performance nor has any accurate poll ever been done.
Others described the minister’s remark as an exaggeration,
but admitted that productivity was low in government departments. Many people
whom I spoke to said that three hours would be a somewhat more accurate figure.
However, let’s be very frank and face the facts. Our productivity is low. No
one can convince me that our work ethics are on a par with other advanced
countries in the world. Our productivity rate is far below
**This article was first published the Saudi Gazette on October 31, 2016.