LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 21/16
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.october21.16.htm
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Bible Quotations For Today
For there is nothing hidden, except
to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 04/21-25/:"The Lord Jesus
says: ‘Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed,
and not on the lampstand? For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed;
nor is anything secret, except to come to light. Let anyone with ears to hear
listen!’And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you
give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. For to those
who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they
have will be taken away.’"
Do you not know that you are
God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s
temple, God will destroy that person
First Letter to the Corinthians 03/10-23/:"According to the grace of God given
to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is
building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no
one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that
foundation is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw the work of each builder will become
visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire,
and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built
on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is
burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as
through fire. Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit
dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person.
For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If
you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may
become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is
written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’, and again, ‘The Lord knows
the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’So let no one boast about human
leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the
world or life or death or the present or the future all belong to you, and you
belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God."
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published on October 20-21/16
Geagea & Hariri Sold the Blood Of the 14Th of March Martyrs/Elias Bejjani/October
20/16
Trump: Iran benefits most from Mosul operation/By Tarek Ali Ahmad/Al Arabiya/October
20/16
Turkey's Land-Grab Wish List/Burak Bekdil//Gatestone Institute/October 20/16
Germans Leaving Germany 'In Droves'/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/October
20/16
Erasing the West/Shoshana Bryen/Gatestone Institute/October 20/16
Will ISIS scatter after the battle for Mosul/Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/October
20/16
Can digital farming revive a faltering agriculture sector/Ehtesham Shahid/Al
Arabiya/October 20/16
Battle for Mosul – risks and temptations/Maria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya/October
20/16
Backgrounder: Recognizing Palestinian Statehood/Middle East Forum/October 20/16
Jordanian Regime Tackles Problem Of Extremist Mosque Sermons/By: Z. Harel/MEMRI/October
20/16
Titles
For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on October
20-21/16
Geagea & Hariri Sold the Blood
Of the 14Th of March Martyrs
Saudi Arabia sanctions individuals with Hezbollah links
Hariri endorses Aoun for Lebanon presidency
Salam Chairs Cabinet Meeting, Presidential File Dominates Talks
Hariri Formally Endorses Aoun, Says Decision a 'Major Political Risk' that He's
Willing to Take
Michel Aoun: Former General Dreaming of Presidency
Aoun: There are No Bilateral Agreements and No One Will be Excluded
Saniora, Fatfat, Houri, Makari Say 'Won't Vote for Aoun'
Report: Jumblat Says Hariri Committing Suicide
Hizbullah Bloc Says Agreements Necessary 'Before and After Presidential Vote'
Aoun and Jumblat Agree to 'Meet Soon'
Report: Arab-Gulf Mobility to Dissuade Hariri from Nominating Aoun
Report: Aoun Asked Geagea to Stop Berating Hizbullah
Rifi: We will not let country surrender to Iranian project
Makari: I will not vote for Aoun
Aoun, Berri meeting ends
35th dialogue Session between Hezbollah, Future held in Ain el Tineh
Fathali: Lebanese national unity sharpest weapon in face of Zionist enemy
Aoun: There is an agreement on managing country's affairs
Future Movement’s Hariri backs Aoun for Lebanon presidency
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports
And News published on on
October 20-21/16
Kurds Attack IS-Held Town as Mosul
Battle Rages
Iraqi Forces Moving 'Faster than Expected' on Mosul
Thousands of Iraqis flee Mosul to Syria
Kerry: Russia taking Aleppo won’t end civil war
Turkish in Deadly Raids on US-Backed Syrian Kurd Fighters
U.N. Says Russia Pledged to Extend Aleppo Truce through Saturday
Russia's Aleppo Ceasefire Begins but Clashes Erupt
Recruiting for ISIS: California man gets 30 years in jail
Israeli citizens indicted for joining ISIS in Mosul
Palestinians to UN: Israel must face consequences for settlements
Houthis violate truce targeting Najran, Jazan
U.S. General Suspects Iran Role in Huthi Attacks on U.S. Ships
Kuwaiti Royal to Contest Election, in Rare Move
Canada leads on efforts to mobilize UN on Syria
Fury at Debate as Trump Refuses Pledge to Respect a Clinton Win
Links From Jihad Watch Site for on
October 20-21/16
Germany: 743 Christian refugees and converts attacked by Muslims
Iranian General: “Presence of America in region is cancerous malign tumor that
can only be treated by removing filthy tumor”
Germany: Teen Muslima who stabbed police officer went to mosque every Friday and
had memorized Qur’an
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: The Third Debate: ‘What Kind of Country Are We
Going to Be?’
Aziz Ansari, other Muslim “comedians” spread hysterical lies about Trump
position on Muslims
Pakistan: Muslim mob demands death for Christian teen accused of “insulting
Islam”
Afghanistan: Man in Afghan military uniform murders US soldier and US civilian
Pakistan: Muslims threaten riots if Christian woman accused of “blasphemy” is
released
UK: Muslim cleric calls for burqa ban in Britain
Minneapolis: Muslims riot, throw rocks at police in rage over HBO series on
jihad recruitment
UK: Muslim gang accused of drugging and raping underage teen non-Muslim girls
Indonesia: Muslim smiles and screams “Allahu akbar” as he gets 10-year sentence
for jihad massacre
Indonesia: Muslim stabs two police officers for the Islamic State
Links From Christian Today Site for on
October 20-21/16
Clinton And Trump Clash Over Abortion In Final Presidential
Debate
Chinese Christians On Trial For Spying As Crackdown On Churches Continues
British Churches Slam Failure To End Aleppo Slaughter
Atheists Speak Out For Freedom Of Religious Belief
Judgment Day Announced For Ashers In 'Gay Cake' Row
Palestinian President To Help Fund 'Tomb Of Christ' Restoration
Archbishop Of Canterbury Adviser Condemns Extremists Who 'Hijack' Sacred Texts
The Pain Was So Intense I Was Afraid I Would Die': Chronic Malnutrition Plagues
Children In Niger
Here's Another Reason Millennials Are Leaving The Church
Sikh Mother Healed And Converts To Christianity While Watching Jesus Film
Another U-Turn: Wayne Grudem Will Vote Trump After All
Sorry Secularists, But Yes, The UN Can Be Led By A 'Fervent
Catholic'
Latest Lebanese Related News published on on October
20-21/16
Geagea & Hariri Sold
the Blood Of the 14Th of March Martyrs
Elias Bejjani/October 20/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/10/20/elias-bejjani-geagea-hariri-sold-the-blood-of-the-14th-of-march-martyrs/
All those Lebanese parties, political and clergymen who nominated MP, Michael
Aoun for the Lebanese president’s post, while he is still a dire servant and
cheap Trojan tool for the Iranian anti-Lebanese and anti-Arabs’ scheme,
especially Dr.Samir Geagea, the Lebanese Forces Party leader, and the Ex PM,
Saad Al Hariri, The Future Movement leader have openly and with no shame or self
respect sold Jobran Tuieni’s blood as well as all the sacrifices and martyrdom
of all the 14th of March Martyrs.
Samir Geagea and Saad Al Hariri have totally surrendered to Hezbollah’s
terrorism and betrayed the Lebanese people, the 14th of March Coalition aims and
objectives and with humiliation licked all their promises and vows.
Geagea and Hariri decided to be a replicate of MP, Michael Aoun and House
Speaker, Nabih Berri; mere servants to the terrorist Hezbollah Iranian militia
and its Iranian-Syrian masters.
They gave up on the holy cause of liberating Lebanon from the bloody
Iranian-Syrian occupation, abandoned cowardly their roles as top notch 14th of
March Coalition leaders and with no shame accepted to join the occupier against
their country and its people.
They belittled themselves, and betrayed every and each Lebanese citizen who
trusted them and believed their promises and vows.
Why did these two prominent 14th of March coalition surrender?
Did actually the Iranian occupier win in Lebanon, or the Iranian invaders have
been victorious in their expansionism fights against the Arab….Definitely no,
they are not.
Sadly both of them have lost their faith and hope.
They changed their skins, fell preys to Hezbollah’s power lust and governing
temptations.
Hariri is hoping to become the coming PM, as a price for his surrender, and
Geagea apparently was promised to have for his party two or three influential
ministerial portfolios.
In conclusion, both Geagea and Hariri have betrayed the Lebanese people, licked
all their promises and vows and surrendered with humiliation to the
Iranian-Syrian Occupier, no more no less.
Accordingly they do not any more represent the free and sovereign Lebanese
people or the Cedar’s Revolution
Rifi: We will not let country surrender to Iranian
project
Thu 20 Oct 2016/NNA - Outgoing Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi said via Twitter on
Thursday "We will not accept to let the country surrender to the Iranian
project.""The times of underestimating the people's minds and dignities are long
gone," he tweeted after the announcement made by Former Premier Saad Hariri of
his support to General Michel Aoun's candidature for the presidency.
Makari: I will not vote for Aoun
Thu 20 Oct 2016 /NNA - Deputy House Speaker Farid Makari announced in a
statement on Thursday that he will not vote in favor of General Aoun at the
presidential election session. "I will vote based on my convictions in terms of
the presidency. I will not vote for General Michel Aoun. I will cast a blank
vote," he said.
Aoun, Berri meeting ends
Thu 20 Oct 2016/NNA - The meetings held between House Speaker Nabih Berri and
Change and Reform bloc Head, MP Michel Aoun, ended. In the wake of the meeting,
Aoun said "It is important to inform Speaker Berri of the progress in the
presidential dossier. (...) The atmosphere was positive and we respect his
opinion," he said.
35th dialogue Session between Hezbollah, Future held in Ain
el Tineh
Thu 20 Oct 2016 /NNA - The 35th session of dialogue between Hezbollah and the
Future movement was held on Thursday night in Ain el-Tineh, whereby conferees
discussed the latest political developments.
Fathali: Lebanese national unity sharpest weapon in face of
Zionist enemy
Thu 20 Oct 2016/NNA - The Iranian military attaché held a reception on Thursday
evening under the auspices of Iran's Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Fathali, on
the 36th anniversary of "the Iranian people and armed forces' resistance".
The ceremony held at Phoenicia Hotel in Beirut was attended by representative of
House Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Imam Sayyed Ali
Khamenei, as well as by ambassadors of Syria and Indonesia, MP Yassine Jaber,
and a number of Arab and foreign consuls, in addition to political, social,
religious and cultural figures. The Iranian Ambassador delivered a word on the
occasion whereby he said "On the 36th anniversary of the start of the blessed
resistance of the Iranian people and its armed forces, we pledge that Iran and
its wise leadership (...) will remain a seeker of right, justice, dialogue and
unity as well as a defender of the oppressed." "We will remain the true
strategic supporters of the proud peoples resisting against the Zionist
occupation and the Takfiri terrorism. We are working to establish a world full
of peace and stability, based on human dignity and moderation, away from
extremism," the Ambassador said, renewing his country's support "for the
Palestinian people in its noble and heroic resistance in the face of the Zionist
occupation, as well as for the oppressed Yemeni people.""We also stand against
the international conspiracy targeting Syria's stances and stability, calling to
stop supporting terrorists and work to find a political solution so as to end
the ongoing bloodshed," he said. "We reiterate our support for the brotherly
people of Lebanon, its government, its Army and its Resistance," Fathali said,
stressing that national unity in the sharpest weapon against the Zionist enemy
and all the dangers that beset the country. "We welcome whatever brings together
the citizens of one nation," he concluded.
Aoun:
There is an agreement on managing country's affairs
Thu 20 Oct 2016/NNA - Change and Reform bloc Head, MP Michel Aoun, said upon
leaving the "Center House" where he met with Future Movement leader Saad Hariri,
"There is no double, triple or quadripartite agreement. There is a rather an
accord on ways to manage the country's affairs." "We visited [former] Prime
Minister Saad Hariri to thank him for supporting our candidature to the
presidency. We have both pledged to get the job done and bring Lebanon out of
the crisis. (...) With dialogue, no party loses, and Lebanon eventually wins,"
Aoun said. "We wanted to discuss the pact, since it is not a Christian matter,
but an agreement between all the Muslim and Christian components to adhere to
conviviality, on the basis of equality. It is therefore not in a bilateral
pact," Aoun said. "Trying to eliminate or control a certain sect tampers with
the message of Lebanon which we are tasked to preserve, and this is what we
agreed on," he went on."We affirm that those who are opposing today are basing
their judgment on old beliefs. (...) Lebanon is the jewel of the world. Can you
believe that, with all what is going on in the world, we still have our
independence," Aoun said.
Future Movement’s Hariri backs Aoun for Lebanon presidency
Now Lebanon/October 20/16/BEIRUT – Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri has
backed his long-time rival Michel Aoun for the presidency, a dramatic move that
could herald the end of a nearly 30-month impasse over the election of a new
president. “Based on the points of agreement we reached with Aoun, I announce my
support for [the Free Patriotic Movement leader],” the former Lebanese premier
and top Sunni political figure announced in a widely-anticipated press
conference early Thursday evening. Hariri explained that his political
about-turn, which comes after supporting Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea
before turning to Marada Movement chief Sleiman Franjieh, stemmed from the “need
to protect the Lebanese state and people.”The Future Movement leader warned that
the situation in Lebanon was “more serious than it appears” amid “rhetoric that
could lead to civil war,” which is what prompted him to push for political
settlement in the country that has been beset by gridlock that has seen the
cabinet unable to take major decisions while the parliament rarely meets after
extending its own term twice. “Many do not approve of this move,” Hariri said in
recognition of opponents of his nomination of Aoun within the Future Movement as
well as other political parties, namely the Amal Movement, one of Hezbollah’s
allies alongside Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement. Despite the political risk of
endorsing Aoun, Hariri stressed that he took his decision even if it hurts his
popularity. Lebanon’s parliament is scheduled to vote October 31 on the election
of a new presidency, with Amal Movement leader Speaker Nabih Berri—who is also
speaker of the legislature—vowing that he would not support Aoun, who is backed
by Hezbollah as well as the Lebanese Forces. Berri has reacted with particular
anger to Hariri and Aoun’s rapprochement, with Al-Akhbar earlier in the week
reporting that the important Shiite politician accused Aoun and Hariri of
seeking to impose a Sunni-Christian “duopoly” on the country to marginalize the
Shiites in an aggression that would ultimately “lead to a civil war.”
The Amal Movement leader has made it public that not only will he vote against
Aoun, but he will also move into the opposition against any potential Hariri-led
cabinet that emerges following the presidential election. Meanwhile, some
members of Hariri’s Future Movement have begun to announce that they will go
against their party’s leader endorsement of the FPM leader. Fouad Siniora, one
of the senior-most figures in the party and a former prime minister, said he
would not vote for Aoun, while MPs Farid Makari and Ahmed Fatfat also signaled
their intent to present a blank ballot at the upcoming election.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports
And News published on on
October 20-21/16
Kurds Attack
IS-Held Town as Mosul Battle Rages
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October
20/16/Kurdish forces launched a major assault Thursday on a town held by the
Islamic State group near Mosul, opening a new front in the offensive to wrest
back the jihadists' last Iraqi bastion. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told an
international meeting in Paris that the offensive was "advancing faster than
expected" as it entered its fourth day. France and Iraq were co-chairing the
meeting on the future of Mosul, which observers have warned could raise even
greater challenges than the massive military operation to retake it. In some
areas, the Iraqi advance was met by a trickle of civilians fleeing both the
fighting and the jihadists who ruled them for two years, but the feared mass
exodus from Mosul has yet to materialise. The main target of the latest Kurdish
push was the town of Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul. Iraqi forces also pressed
assaults towards the city from the east and south. "The objectives are to clear
a number of nearby villages and secure control of strategic areas to further
restrict ISIL's movements," the peshmerga command said, using an alternative
acronym for IS.
At around 6:00 am (0300 GMT), bulldozers flattened a path for forces in armoured
vehicles to carve their way down towards Bashiqa. As tanks and personnel
carriers prepared to advance, a shadow glided above them and one peshmerga
shouted "drone!"
Fighters opened fire at it with every weapon available, causing an almighty din
and lighting up the dim morning sky, until it fell to the ground and the troops
resumed their advance.
- IS drones -An AFP reporter in the village of Nawaran near Bashiqa saw the
downed drone, a Raven RQ-11B model similar to a booby-trapped one that killed
two Kurdish fighters and wounded two French soldiers a week ago. "These drones
belong to IS... So we shot this drone and brought it down. As you can see, the
peshmerga destroyed it," said General Aziz Weysi, commander of the peshmerga's
elite Zaravani task force.
"These drones can do observation and can explode. They sent this one but it did
not explode," he told AFP. Iranian Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Freedom Party
(PAK) were involved in the operation alongside the peshmerga and apparently
taking a frontline role. East of Mosul, where the peshmerga launched the
offensive on Monday, Iraq's elite federal counter-terrorism service was taking
control of Bartalla, a town whose mostly Christian residents fled the IS advance
two years ago. "We started breaching Bartalla early today. There are only 750
metres (yards) to cover to reach the centre," Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi,
who is commanding operations in the area, told AFP by telephone. "There is
resistance, we already blew up three car bombs today," he said.
Bartalla, which lies less than 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the eastern edge of
Mosul, saw fierce resistance from the jihadists earlier this week. Iraqi forces
were also poised to attack nearby Qaraqosh, which was the largest Christian town
in Iraq before IS swept across the Nineveh plain in August 2014, forcing
everyone to flee. - Trickle of civilians -To the south, Iraqi forces were making
steady gains, working their way up the Tigris Valley and meeting small numbers
of fleeing civilians heading the other way.
Dozens of men, women and children who escaped from the village of Mdaraj, south
of Mosul, some on foot and others with vehicles, were waiting as police searched
their belongings. "We snuck out," said a man who gave his name as Abu Hussein.
He said that the huge plumes of black smoke from fires lit by IS to provide
cover from air strikes had helped them slip out unnoticed. "We raised white
flags and went towards them," Abu Hussein said, describing how they approached
Iraqi security forces.
The UN fears up to a million people still trapped inside Mosul could be forced
to flee by the fighting, sparking a humanitarian emergency. But Iraqi forces are
still some distance from the city limits and no major outflows of civilians have
been reported yet. "Reports indicate that military activities remain
concentrated in less populated areas, with no large-scale civilian displacement
recorded at this stage," UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said late Wednesday.
- Post-IS Mosul -The Iraqi prime minister told the Paris meeting on Mosul's
future that the operation to retake it was making progress. "We are advancing
faster than we had expected and planned," he said by video link. French
President Francois Hollande told the meeting that jihadists were already leaving
for Raqa, their stronghold in neighbouring Syria. "We can't afford mistakes in
the pursuit of the terrorists who are already leaving Mosul for Raqa," Hollande
said. "We cannot allow those who were in Mosul to evaporate."Iraq's second city
was seized by IS in June 2014. It touched off an offensive that saw the
jihadists conquer about a third of the country and declare a "caliphate"
straddling Iraq and Syria. IS's rule has seen some of the worst war crimes in
recent history and the task of reconciling all the components of the area's
complex religious and ethnic mosaic is daunting. "Given the sheer size of Mosul
-- and its experience of savage rule at the hands of the Islamic State --
revenge killing will likely be an issue in the days and months ahead," the
Soufan consultancy said in a recent brief. "A massive effort will be required to
begin to heal what is a truly fractured city and society," it said.
Iraqi Forces Moving 'Faster than Expected' on Mosul
Iraqi forces are "advancing
faster than expected" in a major offensive to recapture Mosul from Islamic State
jihadists, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Thursday. "We are advancing
faster than we had expected and planned," Abadi said, speaking on a
videoconference link to an international meeting co-hosted by France and Iraq on
the future of Mosul following the start of the offensive this week. French
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had warned Tuesday that the battle to retake
Iraq's second-biggest city could take "months". French President Francois
Hollande told Thursday's meeting that the jihadists were already fleeing to Raqa,
their stronghold in neighbouring Syria."We can't afford mistakes in the pursuit
of the terrorists who are already leaving Mosul for Raqa," Hollande said,
adding: "We cannot allow those who were in Mosul to evaporate." The French
president added: "Everything must be done to protect civilians who are exposed
in combat zones and used as human shields" by IS fighters. The long-awaited
offensive on Mosul was launched on Monday, with some 30,000 troops involved in
Iraq's largest military operation since the pullout of US troops in 2011. Abadi
told the meeting: "Our war in Mosul is an Iraqi war for the Iraqis, for the
defence of Iraqi territory." Representatives from around 20 countries including
the United States, Turkey, Iran, Gulf states and EU member states are attending
the Paris meeting co-chaired by French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and
his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Thursday's talks come ahead of a
meeting in Paris next Tuesday of the coalition's defence ministers to assess
progress in the Mosul offensive. US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter will be
among 13 ministers at the talks, an aide to Le Drian said. Mosul, held by the
jihadists since June 2014, was where IS supremo Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed
a "caliphate" straddling Iraq and Syria that month. "The battle for Mosul is
decisive because it is hitting Daesh in the heart of its sanctuary where it
wanted to build its caliphate," said Hollande, using an alternative name for
IS.The city's loss is widely predicted to deal a death blow to the group's
ambitions as a land-holding force in Iraq.
Thousands of
Iraqis flee Mosul to Syria
Staff writer, Al Arabiya
English Thursday, 20 October 2016/Iraqi forces are “advancing faster than
expected” in a major offensive to recapture Mosul from ISIS militants, Iraqi
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Thursday. “We are advancing faster than we
had expected and planned,” Abadi said, speaking on a videoconference link to an
international meeting co-hosted by France and Iraq on the future of Iraq's
second city following the start of the offensive this week. A Kurdish official
in northeastern Syria said that thousands of Iraqis fleeing the fighting in the
offensive against ISIS in Mosul and arrived in the region in recent days. The
official added that the displaced people who are Arabs, mostly women, children
and elderly people have crossed the border since October 16 and are currently
staying in a refugee camp in the Hasaka province.
Iraqi special forces join Mosul offensive
Iraqi special forces joined the Mosul offensive on Thursday with a pre-dawn
advance on a nearby town held by ISIS, encountering heavy fire. Gen. Maan al-Saadi
said the elite Counterterrorism Forces advanced on the town of Bartalla with the
aid of US-led coalition airstrikes and heavy artillery on the fourth day of a
massive operation to retake Iraq’s second-largest city. The special forces are
expected to lead the way into Mosul, where they will face fierce resistance in
an urban landscape where ISIS militants are preparing for a climactic battle.
The offensive is the largest operation launched by Iraqi forces since the 2003
US-led invasion. It is expected to take weeks, if not months. The Kurdish forces
known as Peshmerga, who are also taking part in the offensive, announced a
“large-scale operation” to the north and northeast of Mosul on Thursday. “The
operation will be in three fronts,” the Peshmerga said in a statement, and
follows recent gains by the Peshmerga to the east of Mosul and Iraqi security
forces to the south. Amer al-Jabbar, a 30-year-old soldier with the Iraqi
special forces, said he was happy to be taking part in the attack and hoped to
avenge two brothers killed while fighting for the Iraqi security forces. “I had
one brother who became a martyr in 2007 and another who became a martyr in
2014,” he said. “I want to avenge them and I’m ready to die.” An intense gun
battle erupted as the convoy of some 1,000 special forces made its way toward
Bartalla. The troops were around 15 kilometers (nine miles) from Mosul. (With
AP)
Kerry: Russia taking Aleppo won’t end civil war
AFP, Aleppo/Washington
Thursday, 20 October 2016/US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia on
Wednesday that seizing the city of Aleppo will not help end the Syrian civil war
and may further radicalize opposition forces. Speaking as officials from the US,
Russia and Syria’s neighbors met in Geneva to seek ways to restore a ceasefire
in the civil war, Kerry said Russia's bombardment of rebel-held areas was a
mistake. Moscow argues that it is supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad
against al-Qaeda-linked “terrorists” and blames Washington for failing to
separate moderate rebels from the hardliners. But, speaking in Washington after
talks with his South Korean counterpart, Kerry said: “Every bomb that’s dropped
by Russia and the Assad regime is radicalizing more and more people.” “If you
don’t have a political settlement you can’t have peace and so Russia needs to
understand this is not making things better, it’s making things worse. And we
have put on the table an opportunity for Russia to make a different choice, a
simple choice,” he said.
‘Humanitarian pause’
A “humanitarian pause” announced by Russia went into effect on Thursday in the
Syrian army’s devastating Moscow-backed assault on rebel-held areas of Aleppo to
allow civilians and fighters who want to leave. Russia has said the pause will
continue until at least 1600 GMT and could be extended. The Syrian army has said
it will last three days. Syrian and Russian warplanes already halted strikes on
rebel districts from 0700 GMT on Tuesday. The Syrian army has said it is opening
eight corridors to provide safe passage for the more than 250,000 civilians
trapped in rebel areas to leave the city. It has said two of them can also be
used by rebel fighters but called on them to leave behind their weapons. UN
envoy Staffan de Mistura said the truce would be long enough to safely evacuate
just 200 wounded from the devastated east of the city.
‘Strongly condemn’ Russia
EU leaders plan to “strongly condemn” Russia at their summit on Thursday for its
alleged attacks on civilians in Syria’s Aleppo, urge an end to fighting and call
for a revived political process. A draft of their planned statement omits the
threat of sanctions, despite such calls from the United States and Britain, but
it sharpens the tone against Russia. “The European Council strongly condemns the
attacks by the Syrian regime and its allies, notably Russia, on civilians in
Aleppo,” according to the draft. It asks them to urgently allow “unhindered
humanitarian access to Aleppo” and to other parts of Syria while calling “for an
immediate cessation of hostilities and for resumption of a credible political
process under UN auspices.”The draft warns that “those responsible for breaches
of international humanitarian law and human rights law must be held
accountable.” In it the 28 leaders also ask EU foreign policy chief Federica
Mogherini and the European Commission, the EU executive, to continue pursuing
medical evacuations in cooperation with the United Nations.
Turkish in
Deadly Raids on US-Backed Syrian Kurd Fighters
Turkish warplanes have
carried out deadly strikes on US-backed militias in northern Syria, including
Syrian Kurdish fighters, a monitor said Thursday, action that is likely to raise
tensions between the NATO allies. The Turkish military said its jets conducted
26 raids on Wednesday night that killed 160 to 200 militants from the People's
Protection Units (YPG), However the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the
death toll much lower. The army, quoted by the official news agency Anadolu,
said the raids hit 18 targets north of the battered city of Aleppo in areas
recently recaptured by YPG forces from the Islamic State group. The Observatory
told AFP in Beirut that at least 11 fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)--
a US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters -- were killed and 24 wounded.
The UK-based monitor added there were at least 25 Turkish raids targeting many
villages and towns northeast of Aleppo, including Maarrat Umm Hawsh. These areas
were recaptured by the SDF from IS jihadists in the last 48 hours, the
Observatory said. The agency said nine buildings used as YPG headquarters,
meeting points, shelters and weapons depots were destroyed as well as four
vehicles. Ankara considers the YPG and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD)
as terror groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK,
proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European
Union, has waged a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984. In a
statement, the Kurdish Rojava region in Syria condemned Ankara's actions as
"blatant aggression", calling for the United Nations, Moscow and Washington to
"put direct pressure on Turkey to stop its attacks". - 'We will drain the swamp'
-The strikes come on the eve of a visit to Turkey by US Defence Secretary Ashton
Carter to discuss developments in the region and security challenges. Tensions
between the US and its NATO ally Turkey have heightened over Ankara's actions
against the YPG, which Washington views as an effective force against IS in
Syria. Ankara has repeatedly said it will not allow a "terror corridor" on its
southern border and wants to prevent the joining of the Kurdish "cantons" of
Afrin and Kobane. The strikes were part of Turkey's military operation in
northern Syria launched on August 24. Ankara has sent in tanks and has been
striking jihadist targets while supporting Syrian opposition fighters in their
battle to retake IS-controlled territory. The goal of the operation was to
remove IS from the Turkish border -- which last month Ankara said it achieved --
while also aiming to halt the westward advance of the YPG. President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Turkey would not "wait for terrorist
organisations to come and attack us". "These organisations, wherever their
activities are, wherever they are nesting, we will go (there)," he said in a
speech in Ankara. "Instead of dealing with the flies, we will drain the
swamp."Erdogan has previously said he wants to create a 5,000-square-kilometer
(1,900 square-mile) safe zone in Syria by pushing further south in the operation
dubbed "Euphrates Shield".
U.N. Says
Russia Pledged to Extend Aleppo Truce through Saturday
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October
20/16/Russia has promised to pause fighting in Syria's rebel-held east Aleppo
through Saturday, the U.N.'s humanitarian office (OCHA) told AFP, after Damascus
made a similar pledge.
"Russia has told the U.N. that they will implement a daily pause of 11 hours per
day for three days, counting from today Thursday," OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke
said in an email Thursday, as the truce in the devastated city broadly held
through day one. Syria's military, which is backed by Moscow, said late
Wednesday that it would also extend the truce until Saturday, but spoke only of
an eight-hour halt to the fighting.
Russia's Aleppo Ceasefire Begins but Clashes Erupt
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October
20/16/A "humanitarian pause" took effect Thursday in the Syrian army's
Russian-backed assault on rebel-held areas of Aleppo but it was quickly tested
by fighting on a corridor opened for civilians to flee. The army said it was
opening eight corridors to provide safe passage for those leaving but the
unilateral ceasefire suffered an early blow when clashes broke out at one of
them, an AFP correspondent said.Artillery exchanges erupted around the crossing
point on the front line in the city centre, the photographer said. The state
SANA news agency blamed "terrorist groups". More than 250,000 civilians have
been trapped in the rebel-held east of the city under near-continuous siege
since mid-July and under devastating bombardment by Russian and Syrian
government aircraft which only halted on Tuesday. Russia has said the pause in a
Syrian army offensive launched on September 22 will continue until at least 1600
GMT and could be extended. The Syrian army has said it will last three days.
Syrian and Russian warplanes already halted strikes on rebel districts from 0700
GMT on Tuesday. The Syrian army has said it is opening eight corridors for
civilians to leave, two of which can also be used by rebel fighters provided
they leave behind their weapons. Residents interviewed by AFP said they were
eager to leave but wanted more reassurance they would be safe."Even though I
need to leave because of the deteriorating living conditions caused by the siege
and the lack of food or work, I don't want to risk my life or my family's by
being among the first to leave," said Mohammed Shayah, an unemployed father of
four. - Tough talks in Berlin -The United Nations has said the duration of the
pause is not long enough to provide any relief supplies. UN envoy Staffan de
Mistura said the truce would be long enough to safely evacuate just 200 wounded.
More than 2,000 people have been wounded since the army launched its offensive,
according to the United Nations. Some 400 have been killed. The civilian
casualty toll has drawn international condemnation with Washington saying the
bombardment could amount to a war crime. Moscow has dismissed the accusation
saying that it is propaganda that ignores the reality of the presence of
jihadist fighters blacklisted by the United Nations in rebel areas. It has
repeatedly demanded that fighters of other rebel groups break ranks with those
of former Al-Qaeda affiliate, the Fateh al-Sham Front. The United Nations has
urged the group's fighters to leave Aleppo and its envoy even offered to
accompany them. But both the jihadists and other rebels have insisted they will
fight on. Russian President Vladimir Putin held tough talks with the French and
German leaders in Berlin on Wednesday about the crisis after which he raised the
possibility of extending the unilateral ceasefire. French President Francois
Hollande condemned the bombing of the city as "a war crime." German Chancellor
Angela Merkel described it as "inhumane and cruel". Syria analyst Thomas Pierret,
of the University of Edinburgh, said the halt in Russian air strikes was about
Moscow "managing international pressure". "Russia is periodically trying to
mitigate tensions with the West on Aleppo through such initiatives. This is the
continuation of war by diplomatic means," he said. Five years of efforts to put
an end to the conflict in Syria have all failed, but over the past week world
powers have made new efforts to broker a lasting truce.
Besides the Berlin summit, talks were held on Wednesday in Geneva between
Russian and US officials and representatives of key rebel backers Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and Turkey on distancing other opposition groups from the jihadists.
Recruiting for ISIS: California man gets 30 years in jail
Reuters, California
Thursday, 20 October 2016/A California man convicted of attempting to help a
friend travel to the Middle East to fight on behalf of ISIS was sentenced to 30
years in prison on Wednesday, federal prosecutors said. Muhanad Badawi, 25, was
found guilty of conspiring to provide material support to the militant group in
the form of his recruit, Nader Elhuzayel, who was convicted of conspiring and
attempting to join a terrorist organization. In September, Elhuzayel was also
sentenced to 30 years in prison. “The lengthy sentence imposed today results
from the defendant’s acceptance of ISIS’s murderous ideology and his
participation in a scheme designed to betray the United States,” United States
Attorney Eileen Decker said on Wednesday. In arguing for the 30-year sentence
plus a lifetime of supervised release, US prosecutors said Badawi was “a
radicalizer, recruiter, and facilitator” for ISIS who aspired to die a martyr.
Prosecutors argued that Badawi deserved the same sentence as Elhuzayel. “Their
crimes are equally serious, their prospects for rehabilitation are equally
bleak, and the need to protect the public from their future crimes and crimes by
others like them is the same,” they wrote in a memorandum to the US district
court in Santa Ana, California, earlier this month. Badawi’s defense attorney,
Kate Corrigan of Corrigan, Welbourn, Stokke, had pushed for a 15-year sentence,
arguing that unlike Elhuzayel, her client did not have a ticket in his hand to
leave the country and join ISIS. She said she plans to appeal the conviction and
the sentence. Badawi was apprehended on May 21, 2015, the same day Elhuzayel was
arrested at Los Angeles International Airport while attempting to travel to Tel
Aviv, Israel, before heading to Istanbul, Turkey. Badawi, who emigrated to the
US from Sudan in 2006, gave Elhuzayel access to a debit card linked to his Pell
grant funds to purchase his one-way plane ticket, in violation of federal
financial aid rules.
Israeli citizens indicted for joining ISIS in Mosul
The Associated Press, Israel Thursday, 20 October 2016/An Israeli court indicted
a couple Thursday for joining the extremist ISIS group with their three young
children. According to the charge sheet, Wissam, 41, and Sabrine Zbeidat, 30, of
the city of Sakhnin traveled to Turkey while on a family vacation in Romania in
2015. From there, they slipped across the border into neighboring Syria. The
indictment detailed that ISIS militants collected the family’s Israeli passports
and brought the new recruits to the Iraqi city of Mosul, an ISIS stronghold. The
indictment says Wissam Zbeidat underwent military and ideological training and
was injured while fighting in the ranks of ISIS against the Iraqi army. ISIS in
Israel does not have widespread support, but the Shin Bet intelligence agency
estimates that 50 citizens of Israel have traveled to Syria or Iraq to join the
group in recent years. The Zbeidat family eventually tried to leave ISIS because
of the dangers of life in Mosul and the lack of schools, according to the
indictment. The Shin Bet said family helped them pay smugglers to extricate
them. They attempted to sneak back into Turkey 10 times, sometimes drugging
their youngest daughter to prevent the child from crying and drawing the
attention of authorities. When they finally succeeded, Turkish police arrested
them. Turkish authorities sent the family to Israel in September, where they
were arrested, according to the indictment. They face charges of contact with a
foreign agent, membership in an outlawed organization, membership in a terrorist
group, aiding an illegal group and undergoing unlawful military training.
Palestinians to
UN: Israel must face consequences for settlements
AFP, United Nations, United States Thursday, 20 October 2016/Israel must face
consequences for its failure to heed international appeals to stop building
Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, the Palestinian envoy to the UN told the
Security Council on Wednesday. Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour accused
Israel of eroding prospects for a future Palestinian state and creating a
“one-state reality” that was tantamount to apartheid. “The global calls for
cessation of Israeli settlement activities and crimes against the Palestinian
people must be backed with serious, practical measures to compel Israeli
compliance with the law,” Mansour told a council debate on the Middle East.
“There must be consequences if Israel continues to violate international
law.”The United Nations maintains that settlements are illegal and has
repeatedly called on Israel to halt them, but UN officials have reported a surge
in construction over the past months. UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the
council that Israel was pressing ahead with new settlements, citing a recent
decision to build an initial 98 out of 300 housing units in Shilo, in the West
Bank. Mladenov said this planned settlement will “drive a wedge between north
and south in the West Bank and jeopardize the contiguity of a future Palestinian
state.”Arab governments are discussing a proposed draft Security Council
resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlements, even though a similar
measure was vetoed by the United States in 2011. Arab ministers are to meet
later this month in Cairo to decide on whether to move forward with such a
measure and present it to the council. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon did not
mention settlements in his remarks, but he took a swipe at “calls for a
one-sided resolution against Israel.” Danon slammed a resolution adopted this
week at the UN cultural agency UNESCO condemning Israel’s actions restricting
access to the Al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem, known as the Temple Mount to
Jews. “These attempts to cut us off from our homeland and our heritage will not
succeed. We will remain in our land and in our capital of Jerusalem, forever,”
Danon said.
Houthis violate truce
targeting Najran, Jazan
Staff writer, Al Arabiya
English Thursday, 20 October 2016/Yemen’s President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi
has confirmed his government is committed to abide by a ceasefire despite
several Houthi violations. Sources told Al Arabiya News Channel that coalition
forces recorded at least 24 violations to the truce since it began on Thursday.
At least 17 of those violations were missile rocket attacks or gun shots that
were fired from inside Yemen into the Saudi border city of Najran while seven
hit Jazan. Meanwhile, Iran has admitted to stepping up weapons transfers to the
Houthi militias, according to US, Western and Iranian officials amid reports
that militants have violated an ongoing truce several times since it came into
effect. A senior Iranian diplomat confirmed there had been a “sharp surge in
Iran’s help to the Houthis in Yemen” since May, referring to weapons, training
and money. “The nuclear deal gave Iran an upper hand in its rivalry with Saudi
Arabia, but it needs to be preserved,” the diplomat said. The Iran-allied
Houthis gained a trove of weapons when whole divisions allied to former Yemen
President Ali Abdullah Saleh sided with them at the start of the war last year.
But Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s exiled government say they also receive substantial
amounts of weapons and ammunition from Iran. Tehran views the Houthis as the
legitimate authority in Yemen, but denies it supplies them with weapons. A
ceasefire took effect in war-ravaged Yemen late on Wednesday under a United
Nations plan. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed,
announced that the cessation of hostilities would take effect “at 23:59 Yemen
time (2059 GMT) on 19 October 2016, for an initial period of 72 hours, subject
to renewal”.(With Reuters)
U.S. General Suspects Iran
Role in Huthi Attacks on U.S. Ships
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 20/16/Iran may have played a role in
recent Huthi missile attacks against U.S. warships in the Red Sea, a top U.S.
general said Wednesday. Iranian-backed Huthi rebels are believed to be behind a
series of incidents this month that saw surface-to-surface missiles fired at the
USS Mason on at least two occasions. In response, U.S. cruise missiles on
October 13 struck Huthi radar sites believed to have been used to target the
weapons. "I do think Iran is playing a role in some of this. They have a
relationship with the Houtis, so I do suspect there is a role in there," General
Joseph Votel told a Washington think tank.Votel heads the U.S. military's
Central Command, which oversees operations across the Middle East. His statement
was the most forward-leaning so far of a U.S. official in describing Iranian
involvement in the missile attacks. The Huthi missiles either fell short of
their targets or were thwarted by U.S. anti-missile defenses. The Pentagon has
described two attacks so far on the Mason or other U.S. warships. Officials are
still analyzing a third possible attack on Saturday to see whether additional
missiles were fired. We "are trying to ... understand this as much as we can, so
we can properly attribute what is happening, and understand how these attacks
are taking place," Votel told the Center for American Progress. "And more
importantly, how the decisions are being made to launch these attacks, so we can
take action against that." The Pentagon has not disclosed the type of missiles
the Huthis used, but Votel noted that "some of the technology that we've seen
there are things that are associated with" Iran. But "it's not totally exclusive
to them. Certainly there are others that have shore-based missiles and may be
moving that in there," he added. Yemen's conflict has killed more than 6,800
people, wounded more than 35,000 and displaced at least three million since the
coalition launched military operations, according to the United Nations. The
United States has supported a Saudi-led coalition that is bombing the Huthis.
Kuwaiti Royal to Contest Election, in Rare Move
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 20/16/A member of Kuwait's ruling family
announced Wednesday his candidacy for next month's parliamentary election, a
rare move in the oil-rich Gulf state where royals normally stay away from polls.
Sheikh Malek Humoud al-Sabah was among 71 hopefuls who filed to stand for
election on the first day of registration which saw some opposition members
return after a four-year boycott. "The previous assembly let down the Kuwaiti
people and I am contesting the polls to defend the rights of the people," said
Sheikh Malek. Speaking to reporters in Kuwait City, he said he had given up his
special passport "to become an ordinary citizen" and that he does not mind
losing other benefits. Under the Kuwaiti constitution, royals are eligible to
run for public office. Only a few have registered as candidates in the emirate's
54 years of democracy, but all have dropped out before election day. The last
royal to register their candidacy was Sheikh Fahad Salem al-Ali al-Sabah, who
withdrew before the 2006 election. Members of the al-Sabah family, which has
been in power for 250 years, still occupy the main posts in the OPEC member. The
emir, crown prince and prime ministers are senior members of the family, and
royals always occupy the key posts of foreign, defense and interior minister.
The November 26 polls were called after Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah
dissolved parliament on Sunday, following a dispute over petrol price hikes.
Many candidates have criticized the outgoing parliament for failing to defend
the interests of citizens. Political parties are banned under Kuwaiti law but
many Islamist, nationalist and liberal groups operate freely as de facto
parties. Under Kuwait's unique system of democracy, a senior ruling family
member will be mandated to form a government regardless of poll outcome. Many
opposition groups have decided to take part after boycotting the previous two
elections in protest against changes to the voting system. Only two former
opposition lawmakers registered on Wednesday but as independents.
Canada leads on
efforts to mobilize UN on Syria
October 19, 2016 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, made the following
statement announcing he will be participating in a plenary meeting on Syria
initiated by Canada at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on October 20:
“Canada is marshaling the international community at the UN to stand up for
vulnerable Syrians. We are deeply concerned that the UN Security Council has
been unable to address the overwhelming humanitarian needs of Syrians, and to
halt the attacks against civilians in Aleppo and other parts of Syria. The
victims of this tragedy deserve action, starting with a monitored and
enforceable cessation of hostilities; immediate, full and unhindered
humanitarian access; and the resumption of political talks.
“Recognizing this intractable nature of this crisis within the UNSC, Canada took
the lead and is now joined by 70 other countries in responding to the need to
take action. This plenary meeting will mobilize the Member States to press for a
solution to the conflict in Syria and to address humanitarian needs. It is
important for Member States gathered in the General Assembly to exert pressure
on the parties, to broaden the chorus of condemnation and to put an end to the
tragedy afflicting Syrians.”
Quick facts
On October 11, 2016, Canada’s efforts were supported by 70 members who
co-sponsored a letter to the President of the United Nations General Assembly
calling on the international community, through the UN, to fulfill its
responsibility to protect Syrians from mass atrocities and senseless violence.
At the plenary meeting, the United Nations Secretary General, the United Nations
Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura, and representatives of the United
Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and of Canada
will address members.
On February 8, 2016, the Government of Canada announced that it will spend $1.6
billion over the next three years in a comprehensive and integrated regional
response to the crises in Syria and Iraq, with a focus on security,
stabilization, humanitarian and development assistance, and enhanced diplomatic
engagement.
Associated links
Canada and the Middle East and North Africa
Canada’s response to Middle East crises and violent extremism
The Global Coalition Against Daesh
Contacts
Chantal Gagnon
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
343-203-1851
chantal.gagnon@international.gc.ca
Media Relations Office
Global Affairs Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
Follow us on Twitter: @CanadaFP
Fury at Debate as Trump
Refuses Pledge to Respect a Clinton Win
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/October 20/16/Turning his final presidential
debate appearance into an unprecedented assault on US political convention,
Donald Trump refused Wednesday to say that he would respect a Hillary Clinton
victory in November. As the last head-to-head encounter of the toxic 2016
campaign descended into mud-slinging, the Republican mogul doubled down on
claims that his Democratic rival's supporters plan to rig the vote. And when
asked whether he would commit to recognizing the result of the November 8 vote
no matter what, the reality television star said: "I'll tell you at the time.
I'll keep you in suspense, OK?"Clinton declared herself "appalled" by what she
said was an attack on 240 years of US democracy. And, quoting her former rival
Bernie Sanders, she called Trump the "most dangerous person to run for president
in the modern history of America." Trump had come into the third televised
debate of the 2016 campaign in Las Vegas looking to restore hope to his campaign
just 20 days before Election Day. Dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct,
trailing in the polls and losing ground in key swing states, the 70-year-old was
looking to capitalize on his last major chance to woo wavering voters. "The
media is so dishonest and so corrupt and the pile-on is so amazing," Trump said,
referring to reports citing women accusing him of sexual assault, which he said
were "fiction" and drummed up by Team Clinton. He alleged that millions of fake
voters had been registered and that the 68-year-old Clinton should not even have
been allowed to run because she mishandled classified State Department emails.
Even some Republican lawmakers were outraged. Senator Jeff Flake said Trump was
"beyond the pale" and onetime presidential candidate Senator Lindsey Graham said
if Trump loses, it will be "because he failed as a candidate."
Democrats called on Republican leaders to repudiate "Trump's utter contempt for
our democracy," as Nevada Senator Harry Reid put it. "One of our hallmarks has
always been we accept the outcome of our elections," Clinton told reporters as
she flew home to White Plains, New York. "So what he said tonight is part of his
whole effort to blame somebody else for his campaign, and where he stands in
this election." The extraordinary exchange was only one of a series of ferocious
clashes, as the two stony-faced candidates faced off from behind podiums on
everything from immigration to Syria. At one point, Trump broke into one of
Clinton's responses to call her "such a nasty woman." The candidates took and
left the stage without shaking hands. - Ripped from womb -The former secretary
of state scored an early hit against the Republican property mogul, alleging
that Russian President Vladimir Putin was backing his run for office.
Clinton cited reports from US intelligence agencies that Russian cyber attacks
had targeted her party and campaign and demanded that Trump condemn the
interference.
"They have hacked American websites, American accounts of private people, of
institutions," she declared. "Then they have given that information to WikiLeaks
for the purpose of putting it on the internet."The Manhattan billionaire
appeared not to mind giving credence to the charge that he sides with Moscow
rather than Washington's own intelligence agencies, declaring: "Our country has
no idea." Trump argued that he might negotiate better relations with Moscow than
Clinton would, declaring: "Putin, from everything I see, has no respect for this
person."
Clinton's response was sharp: "Well, that's because he would rather have a
puppet as president of the United States."Trump blustered back: "No puppet.
You're the puppet."
In what has been a bitter campaign, the two White House hopefuls got off to a
subdued but oddly substantive start to the debate, compared to previous brawls.
They were asked about their vision for the Supreme Court, prompting Clinton to
argue the election was about "what kind of country are we going to be." She
insisted gay rights and women's rights must not be rolled back. Trump echoed
conservatives who believe "the Supreme Court is what it's all about," vowing to
appoint anti-abortion justices who would also protect gun rights. "If you go
with what Hillary is saying, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the
womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby," he said. "Using that
kind of scare rhetoric is just terribly unfortunate," Clinton responded.
- 'New Brexit' -Pundits have declared the presidential race all but over after
the provocative billionaire attacked leaders of his own party and obliterated
the normal rules of political decorum. His debate stance did nothing to quell
fears that he and his most passionate fans might not recognize the election's
outcome, thereby plunging the country into a political crisis. Trump predicts an
electoral surprise -- what he calls a "new Brexit" -- when Americans vote.
Clinton leads by more than six points in an average of national polls compiled
by RealClearPolitics. Women especially have thrown their support behind the
former secretary of state, senator and first lady, who is poised to become the
first female president in American history. A Quinnipiac University poll showed
she is winning with female voters by 52 percent to Trump's 37 percent
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from
miscellaneous sources published on on
October 20-21/16
Trump: Iran benefits
most from Mosul operation
By Tarek Ali Ahmad/Al Arabiya/October 20/16
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that Syrian refugees are in
many cases “definitely” aligned with ISIS at the third and final United States
presidential debate at the Univeristy of Las Vegas Wednesday night. Among the
topics discussed were the Syria crisis, the Mosul operation, Iran and ISIS.
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton says she won’t allow refugees into the US
who haven’t been “vetted.”
In the case of Mosul, Trump asked “what happened to the element of surprise?”
after the operation being announced and spoken of largely in the media, also
calling the onslaught a consequence of Clinton’s presidential run. Clinton has
ruled out US deployment in Iraq after Mosul operation.
“You know who is big winner in Mosul is going to be after we eventually get it?”
Trump said. “Iran. Boy are they making — I mean, they are outsmarting.”
When asked on Syria and Aleppo, Trump stated that Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad is smarter than Clinton and US President Barack Obama.
Clinton said that establishing a no-fly zone over Syria could save lives and
quicken the end of the conflict. The republican candidate also accused the
United States of making Iran very powerful.
When the topic of Trump’s sexual assault accusations rose, the republican
nominee blamed the Obama and the Clinton campaign of starting these accusations
and inciting violence at his rallies.
Trump accused Clinton of wanting to give amnesty to illegal immigrants, claiming
there are “some bad hombres” in the US, while Clinton retorted stating she
doesn’t want to rip families apart, stating that giving undocumented immigrants
legal status will improve the economy.
The republican candidate said “we are going to stop radical Islamic terrorism in
the US.”
Moderator Chris Wallace, of FOX News, turns towards the audience as he questions
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential
nominee Donald Trump during the third presidential debate at UNLV in Las Vegas,
Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016. (AP)
Trump has been damaged recently by several accusations of groping women – which
he denies – and concerns about his claims that the election will be rigged
against him.
Among the controversies tonight was Trump’s refusal to say whether or not he
will respect the election results, as well as calling his opponent a “nasty
woman.”
The debate at the University of Las Vegas Nevada gives the New York businessman
perhaps his best remaining chance to sway the dwindling number of Americans who
are still undecided about which way to vote in the Nov. 8 election.
Many Arab-Americans have tuned in to the debate, and weighed in on the matter.
“I think that no matter the outcome of the presidential elections, the real
danger of any of the two candidates is that they now provide indirect
justification for bigotry on the one hand, and escape from accountability on the
other, in the day to day lives of average Americans.” Lebanese-American Ramzi
Alieh, a student who lives in New York, told Al Arabiya English.
“Well, Hillary Clinton was definitely more equipped per usual for the debate.
Trump seemed a little calm and collected at the beginning, but eventually lost
his temper as it became clear that Clinton was able to support her case for the
selection of justices, fitness for presidency, as well as border security laws,”
Syrian-American Luna, who resides in New York, told Al Arabiya English.
“She’s hasn’t done a fantastic job answering questions regarding the hacked
emails and I personally think that, alongside her foreign policy and economic
policy are her main flaws,” she continued.
“Trump was right about Iraq when she said they gonna be freeing Mosul from ISIS
but he answered was after liberation of Mosul it will under the Iranian
control,” Michigan based Arab-American Nedal Tamer told Al Arabiya English.
“He was right when he told her Russia & Iran had control of Syria and he’s was
right when he told her you created the vacuum in Iraq when you pulled the troops
and that’s how isis created and now after liberation Iran will be in control
after they release large amount of money to the Iranians,” he continued.
Republican strategist Charlie Black said before the debate that “this one
[debate] is important if Trump is going to have any chance to get back into this
race.”
“He’s going to have to talk about issues effectively and not get down in the
mud, and he needs to talk about jobs.”
Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway acknowledged that her candidate went
into the debate as the underdog.
“It’s a comeback and he’s done it before several times in this campaign,” Conway
said on Fox News, adding a jibe at Clinton: “Hillary Clinton just has not been
able to put him away. What is her problem already?”(With Reuters)
Turkey's
Land-Grab Wish List
Burak Bekdil//Gatestone
Institute/October 20/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9155/turkey-land-grab
Erdogan looks determined to fight any war in the hope that all will end with
Turkish-Sunni dominance in the region. He is wrong.
Turkey's "National Contract," Misak-i Milli, also claimed the former Ottoman
province of Mosul as a Turkish province. There is one complication, though.
Mosul is not Turkish territory, as envisaged in Misak-i Milli, but Iraqi
territory. And the Shiite-controlled Iraqi government does not want Turkish or
Turkey-backed Sunni boots on the ground.
"Certain historians believe that the borders set by the National Contract
include Cyprus, Aleppo, Mosul, Erbil, Kirkuk, Batumi, Thessaloniki, Kardzhali,
Varna and the [Greek] islands of the Aegean." — Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.
Erdogan hopes to build a pro-Ottoman, Sunni region against Iranian dominance.
A few hundred Turkish soldiers in Iraq have been training Sunni militias to help
retake Mosul from ISIS. Baghdad wants the Turkish troops out, but Turkey refuses
to go.
Each time in recent history that Turkey's pro-Sunni neo-Ottomans opted for
assertive foreign policy in this turbulent part of the world, there were more
casualties and no happy ending for any state- or non-state actor, including
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Turkey. As multiple asymmetrical wars in the
triangle of Turkey, Syria and Iraq turn more violent and complex, with the
U.S.-led international campaign fighting jihadists -- while Iran and Russia try
to win proxy wars -- Turkey keeps raising the stakes with the risky nonsensical
wish to revive its imperial past. Erdogan looks determined to fight any war in
the hope that all will end with Turkish-Sunni dominance in the region. He is
wrong.
In his recent speeches Erdogan often revisited a long-forgotten Arabic phrase
that is so dear to every Turk's heart and mind: Misak-i Milli ("National
Contract").
On February 12, 1920, the last Ottoman parliament proclaimed a set of decisions
which Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, adopted as "the main
principle of our independence." Misak-i Milli, among other principles, set
modern Turkey's borders; it was a guideline to determine where the borders of
the Turkish Republic would start and end. It would be used as the basis for the
new Turkish Republic's claims in the Treaty of Lausanne.
According to Misak-i Milli, "the future of the territories inhabited by an Arab
majority at the time of the signing of the Armistice of Mudros shall be
determined by a referendum." On the other hand, the territories which were not
occupied at that time and inhabited by a Turkish majority are the homeland of
the Turkish nation. The status of Kars, Ardahan (Turkish provinces since then)
and Batumi (a province in the Republic of Georgia) may be determined by a
referendum. The status of Western Thrace (in Greece) will be determined by the
votes of its inhabitants. Misak-i Milli also claimed that the former Ottoman
province of Mosul should be a Turkish province. Instead, Mosul was first left to
British control, then became an Iraqi province. Mosul is now Iraq's second
largest city, but tenuously under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS).
At a cabinet meeting this month, Erdogan reportedly told his ministers:
"Turkey can no longer stay the same at this point. The status quo will change
somehow. We will either leap with moves forward or we will be bound to shrink. I
am determined to make forward moves."
In another speech, Erdogan said:
"Turkey is not just Turkey. Apart from its 79 million citizens, it is also
responsible to the hundreds of millions of our brothers in the geographical area
to which we are connected by historical and cultural ties ... Certain historians
believe that the borders set by the National Contract include Cyprus, Aleppo,
Mosul, Erbil, Kirkuk, Batumi, Thessaloniki, Kardzhali, Varna and the [Greek]
islands of the Aegean."
What did all that mean, especially at a time when the Turkish president was
reminding everyone of Misak-i Milli every other day -- and when the allies were
planning to launch an offensive to drive ISIS out of Mosul? It means Sunni
Turkey fears future Shiite (and Kurdish) expansionism along its southern borders
with Syria and Iraq; to counter that, Erdogan hopes to build a pro-Ottoman,
Sunni region against Iranian dominance.
Turkey's borders with its southern neighbor Syria, southeastern neighbor Iraq
and eastern neighbor Iran total around 2,000 kilometers. Erdogan knows very well
that he cannot convert nearly 80 million Shiite Iranians to Sunni Islam. But he
fears that Iran can build a Shiite-controlled hostile belt across Turkey's
Syrian and Iraqi borders (totalling nearly 1,400 kilometers). He also fears that
Iran can logistically support Turkey's Kurdish enemies and spark further
violence and chaos in Turkey. There have already been more than 1,000 casualties
in the Kurds' separatist violence inside Turkish territory since the rebel group
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) ended a two-year-long ceasefire in July 2015.
Tensions between Erdogan's Sunni-ism and the Iranian-backed Shiism reached new a
peak after Ankara insisted that Shiite forces should not take part in the Mosul
offensive; instead, Turkey claims, Ankara-backed Sunni Islamist groups and
friendly Kurdish peshmerga forces in northern Iraq should take part in the
international campaign to take back Mosul from ISIS. There is one complication,
though. Mosul is not Turkish territory, as envisaged in Misak-i Milli, but Iraqi
territory. And the Shiite-controlled Iraqi government does not want Turkish or
Turkey-backed Sunni boots on the ground.
As the allied campaign on Mosul took off, tensions between Ankara and Baghdad
also rose to a new peak. Supporters of Iraq's Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
staged a protest in front of the Turkish Embassy on October 17, after the cleric
called for protests to demand that Turkish troops leave the northern Iraqi
Bashiqa camp, where a few hundred Turkish soldiers have been training Sunni
militias to help retake Mosul from ISIS. Both the presence of the camp and the
protests caused a row between the two countries. "Get out, Get out, occupier!"
and "Yes, yes, for Iraq," chanted the followers of al-Sadr. Baghdad wants the
Turkish troops out, but Turkey refuses to go. The whole adventure is
increasingly becoming a Turkish-Iranian theater of proxy war.
At the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq, a few hundred Turkish soldiers have been
training Sunni militias to help retake Mosul from ISIS. Iraq's government wants
the Turkish troops out, but Turkey refuses to withdraw them. (Image source:
TRTWorld video screenshot)
Erdogan said on October 18:
"If we say we want to be both at the table and in the field, there is a reason
... What you call 'Baghdad' is an administrator of an army composed of Shiites.
Will we talk to them? They say 30,000 Shiite militants are coming. They should
be prepared for what they will face."
As Shiite Iraqis protest the Turkish military presence in their country, the
Turkish Air Force was taking part in air operations backing the Iraqi and
Kurdish offensive to retake Mosul, according to Turkey's prime minister, Binali
Yildirim. "Our air forces took part in the coalition forces' air operations in
Mosul," Yildirim told his parliamentary group in Ankara.
Meanwhile, the Turkish military has been fighting behind an army of "moderate"
Islamist rebels against ISIS strongholds in northern Syria since August 24. This
is another proxy war: Turkey-backed "moderate" jihadists fighting the less
moderate ISIS jihadists, with the "moderates" having seized control of some
1,240 square kilometers of territory from the less moderate jihadists.
In Syria, too, Turkey's strategic war is not against its tactical target, ISIS.
By fighting ISIS and advancing with the army of "moderates" it backs, Ankara
aims to break any future Shiite and/or Kurdish expansion into northern Syria.
Turkey's (non-Islamist) "National Contract," Misak-i Milli syndrome has found
new spirit with the rise of Islamists under a new Ottoman flag. That is not good
news either for the region, for Turkey's western friends or for Turkey itself.
**Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily
and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
© 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.
Germans Leaving
Germany 'In Droves'
Soeren Kern/Gatestone
Institute/October 20/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9154/germans-leaving-germany
More than 1.5 million Germans, many of them highly educated, left Germany during
the past decade. — Die Welt.
Germany is facing a spike in migrant crime, including an epidemic of rapes and
sexual assaults. Mass migration is also accelerating the Islamization of
Germany. Many Germans appear to be losing hope about the future direction of
their country.
"We refugees... do not want to live in the same country with you. You can, and I
think you should, leave Germany. And please take Saxony and the Alternative for
Germany (AfD) with you.... Why do you not go to another country? We are sick of
you!" — Aras Bacho an 18-year-old Syrian migrant, in Der Freitag, October 2016.
A real estate agent in a town near Lake Balaton, a popular tourist destination
in western Hungary, said that 80% of the Germans relocating there cite the
migration crisis as the main reason for their desire to leave Germany.
"I believe that Islam does not belong to Germany. I regard it as a foreign
entity which has brought the West more problems than benefits. In my opinion,
many followers of this religion are rude, demanding and despise Germany." — A
German citizen who emigrated from Germany, in an "Open Letter to the German
Government."
"I believe that immigration is producing major and irreversible changes in
German society. I am angry that this is happening without the direct approval of
German citizens. ... I believe that it is a shame that in Germany Jews must
again be afraid to be Jews." — A German citizen who emigrated from Germany, in
an "Open Letter to the German Government."
"My husband sometimes says he has the feeling that we are now the largest
minority with no lobby. For each group there is an institution, a location, a
public interest, but for us, a heterosexual married couple with two children,
not unemployed, neither handicapped nor Islamic, for people like us there is no
longer any interest." — "Anna," in a letter to the Mayor of Munich about her
decision to move her family out of the city because migrants were making her
life there impossible.
A growing number of Germans are abandoning neighborhoods in which they have
lived all their lives, and others are leaving Germany for good, as mass
immigration transforms parts of the country beyond recognition.
Data from the German statistics agency, Destatis, shows that 138,000 Germans
left Germany in 2015. More are expected to emigrate in 2016. In a story on brain
drain titled, "German talent is leaving the country in droves," Die Welt
reported that more than 1.5 million Germans, many of them highly educated, left
Germany during the past decade.
The statistics do not give a reason why Germans are emigrating, but anecdotal
evidence indicates that many are waking up to the true cost — financial, social
and cultural — of Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow more than one
million mostly Muslim migrants to enter the country in 2015. At least 300,000
more migrants are expected to arrive in Germany in 2016, according to Frank-Jürgen
Weise, the head of the country's migration office, BAMF.
Mass migration has — among many other problems — contributed to a growing sense
of insecurity in Germany, which is facing a spike in migrant crime, including an
epidemic of rapes and sexual assaults. Mass migration is also accelerating the
Islamization of Germany. Many Germans appear to be losing hope about the future
direction of their country.
At the height of the migrant crisis in October 2015, some 800 citizens gathered
at a town hall meeting in Kassel/Lohfelden to protest a unilateral decision by
the local government to set up migrant shelters in the city. The President of
Kassel, Walter Lübcke, responded by telling those who disagree with the
government's open-door immigration policy that they are "free to leave Germany
at any time."
This attitude was echoed in an audacious essay published in October 2016 by the
newspaper Der Freitag, (also published by Huffington Post Deutschland, which
subsequently deleted the post). In the article, an 18-year-old Syrian migrant
named Aras Bacho called on Germans who are angry about the migrant crisis to
leave Germany. He wrote:
"We refugees... are fed up with the angry citizens (Wutbürger). They insult and
agitate like crazy.... There are always these incitements by unemployed racists
(Wutbürgern), who spend all their time on the Internet and wait until an article
about refugees appears on the Internet. Then it starts with shameless
comments....
"Hello, you unemployed angry citizens (Wutbürger) on the Internet. How educated
are you? How long will you continue to distort the truth? Do you not know that
you are spreading lies every day? What would you have done if you were in their
shoes? Well, you would have run away!
"We refugees... do not want to live in the same country with you. You can, and I
think you should, leave Germany. And please take Saxony and the Alternative for
Germany (AfD) with you.
"Germany does not fit you, why do you live here? Why do you not go to another
country? If this is your country, dear angry citizens (Wutbürger), then behave
normal. Otherwise you can simply flee from Germany and look for a new home. Go
to America to Donald Trump, he will love you very much. We are sick of you!"
In May 2016, the newsmagazine, Focus, reported that Germans have been moving to
Hungary. A real estate agent in a town near Lake Balaton, a popular tourist
destination in western Hungary, said that 80% of the Germans relocating there
cite the migration crisis as the main reason for their desire to leave Germany.
An anonymous German citizen who emigrated from Germany recently wrote an "Open
Letter to the German Government." The document, which was published on the
website Politically Incorrect, states:
"A few months ago I emigrated from Germany. My decision was not for economic
gain but primarily because of my dissatisfaction with the current political and
social conditions in my homeland. In other words, I think that I and especially
my offspring may lead a better life somewhere else. 'Better' for me in this
context is primarily a life of freedom, self-determination and decent wages with
respect to taxation.
"I do not, however, want to close the door behind me quietly and just go. I
would hereby like to explain in a constructive way why I decided to leave
Germany.
1. "I believe that Islam does not belong to Germany. I regard it as a foreign
entity which has brought the West more problems than benefits. In my opinion,
many followers of this religion are rude, demanding and despise Germany. Instead
of halting the Islamization of Germany (and the consequent demise of our culture
and freedom), most politicians seem to me to be more concerned about getting
reelected, and therefore they prefer to ignore or downplay the Islam problem.
2. "I believe that German streets are less secure than they should be given our
technological, legal and financial opportunities.
3. "I believe that the EU has a democratic deficit which limits my influence as
a democratic citizen.
4. "I believe that immigration is producing major and irreversible changes in
German society. I am angry that this is happening without the direct approval of
German citizens, but is being dictated by you to German citizens and the next
generation.
5. "I believe that the German media is increasingly giving up its neutrality,
and that freedom of expression in this country is only possible in a limited
way.
6. "I believe that in Germany sluggards are courted but the diligent are
scourged.
7. "I believe that it is a shame that in Germany Jews must again be afraid to be
Jews."
Many Germans have noted the trend toward reverse integration, in which German
families are expected to adapt to the customs and mores of migrants, rather than
the other way around.
On October 14, the Munich-based newspaper Tageszeitung published a heartfelt
letter from "Anna," a mother of two, who wrote about her decision to move her
family out of the city because migrants were making her life there impossible.
In the letter, addressed to Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter, she wrote:
"Today I want to write you a kind of farewell letter (Abschiedsbrief) about why
I and my family are leaving the city, even though probably no one cares.
"I am 35 years old, living here with my two young sons and my husband in an
upscale semi-detached house with parking. So you could say we are very well off
for Munich standards.... We live very well with plenty of space and next to a
green park. So why would a family like us decide to leave the city? ....
"I assume that your children do not use public facilities, that they do not use
public transportation, and that they do not attend public schools in "problem
areas." I also assume that you and other politicians rarely if ever go for walks
here.
"So on a Monday morning I attended a neighborhood women's breakfast that was
sponsored by the City of Munich. Here I met about 6-8 mothers, some with their
children. All of the women wore headscarves and none of them spoke German. The
organizers of the event quickly informed me I will probably find it hard to
integrate myself here (their exact words!!!). I should note that I am German. I
speak fluent German and I do not wear a headscarf. So I smiled a little and said
I would try to integrate myself. Unfortunately, I brought a salami and ham
sandwich to the breakfast, to which everyone was asked to bring something. So of
course I had even less chance of integrating.
"I was not able to speak German to anyone at this women's breakfast, which is
actually supposed to promote integration, nor was anyone interested in doing so.
The organizers did not insist on anyone speaking German, and the women, who
appeared to be part of an established Arab-Turkish group, simply wanted to use
the room.
"I then asked about the family brunch.... I was advised that the brunch would be
held in separate rooms. Men and women separately. At first I thought it was a
bad joke. Unfortunately, it was not. ....
"So my impression of these events to promote integration is miserable. No
interchange takes place at all!!! How can the City of Munich tolerate such a
thing? In my view, the entire concept of these events to promote integration
must be called into question.... I was informed that I am not allowed to include
pork in my child's lunchbox!!! Hello?! We are in Germany here! ....
"In summary, I find conditions here that make me feel that we are not really
wanted here. That our family does not really fit in here. My husband sometimes
says he has the feeling that we are now the largest minority with no lobby. For
each group there is an institution, a location, a public interest, but for us, a
heterosexual married couple with two children, not unemployed, neither
handicapped nor Islamic, for people like us there is no longer any interest.
"When I mentioned at my son's preschool that we are considering moving out of
the city and I told them the reasons why, I was vigorously attacked by the
school's leadership. Because of people like us, they said, integration does not
work, precisely because we remove our children. At least two other mothers have
become wildly abusive. The management has now branded me "xenophobic."
"This is exactly the reason why people like me lose their patience and we choose
to vote for other political parties.... Quite honestly, I have traveled half the
world, have more foreign friends than German and have absolutely no prejudices
or aversions to people because of their origin. I have seen much of the world
and I know that the way integration is done here will cause others to come to
the same conclusion as we have: either we send our children to private schools
and kindergartens, or we move to other communities. Well then, so
long!!!!!!!!!!!"
*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.
Follow Soeren Kern on Twitter and Facebook
© 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.
Erasing the
West
Shoshana Bryen/Gatestone
Institute/October 20/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9150/unesco-jerusalem-vote
The UNESCO vote seems clearly a response to the expansionist, jihadist
aspirations of members of the OIC who sponsored it: Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon,
Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan.
Some analysts consider a vote to abstain to be a victory for Israel, but for
Spain, Greece, France, Sweden, Slovenia, and Italy it was blatant appeasement
and fear of their own often-violent Muslim minorities: "Please, please, don't
blow up our capital cities. We will reject Jewish and Christian history and
pretend Jesus chased the money changers from the steps of Montmartre."
UNESCO's Director General Irina Bokova had already announced her opposition to
the resolution, a position for which she received death threats.
Having demonstrable historical fact, such as Jewish patrimony on the Temple
Mount in Jerusalem, subject to the whims of the UN, in which, as the late Abba
Eban said, Arabs could muster a majority to decide the sun rises in the West, is
not a positive proposition.
The question remains how to convince nations in the West to stand for themselves
in the face of Islamists committed to replacing them.
Last week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) voted Christian and Jewish heritage off of the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem; Tuesday they ratified their perfidy. The vote seems clearly a
response to the expansionist, jihadist aspirations of members of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that sponsored it: Algeria, Egypt,
Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan. The vote, and the behind the scenes
machinations, deserve evaluation.
Upfront:
Group 1: The "in favor" voters are a nasty collection of corrupt, dictatorial,
largely Islamist (traditional Islamic theology gives Jews their place on the
Temple Mount; these Islamists appear intent on removing all traces of Christian
and Jewish presence from the Middle East) or Marxist, and unanimously
frightening places. They are, in the immortal words French diplomat Daniel
Bernard applied to Israel, "shitty little countries." Even the big ones. But see
below for a caveat.
Group 2: The US, UK, the Netherlands, Estonia Germany and Lithuania had nothing
to be ashamed of in the first round; they voted "against." But see below for a
caveat.
Group 3: Some analysts consider a vote to abstain to be a victory for Israel,
but for Spain, Greece, France, Sweden, Slovenia and Italy it was blatant
appeasement of Group 1 and fear of their own often-violent Muslim minorities:
"Please, please, don't blow up our capital cities. We will reject Jewish and
Christian history and pretend Jesus chased the money changers from the steps of
Montmartre."
If the West had stood for its own history, it would have mattered. Democratic
Japan and South Korea should have voted "against" as well. There might be a
narrow exception for India, which had never before failed to vote in favor of an
Arab-led anti-Israel resolution.
Group 4: Israel's friends in Africa were a disappointment -- Cameroon, Cote
d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Togo and Uganda abstained. Can we dump on them? Yes, we
can. Isn't it too much to expect African countries to stand on principle when
Western European countries duck? No, it is not. True, Israel will not make them
pay for their "in favor" vote, but countries that benefit from their relations
with Israel in a profound and concrete way (check especially Uganda and Ghana)
can and should stand with Israel in the face of Arab countries -- heirs to
colonial Muslim slave-traders and still practice slavery today -- who drained
African coffers for oil money and exported radical Islamic jihad to the
continent. In this hemisphere, Haiti, where IsrAID is for the second time
promptly on the ground to help Haitians recover from a natural disaster, is
particularly disappointing.
Mexico deserves special mention -- though whether as a good guy or a bad guy is
debatable. Mexico voted in favor of the resolution, although the Mexican
President had apparently told Israel it would vote against. When the time came,
UN Ambassador Andreas Roemer received a directive from the Foreign Ministry to
vote in favor. Opposing his country's position, Roemer left the room. His deputy
cast the vote; the Ambassador has been relieved of his position.
After a weekend of machinations in Mexico City, including an announcement by the
Foreign Ministry that it was going to "investigate" how the "in favor" vote
actually happened (that should be long and complicated, right?) Mexico announced
its intention to reopen the vote to change its position. This is permitted under
UNESCO rules; Israel had expected it; and UNESCO Executive Board Chairman
Michael Worbs was, apparently, planning to agree. UNESCO's Director General
Irina Bokova had already announced her opposition to the resolution, a position
for which she received death threats.
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova (left) received death threats after
announcing her opposition to a jihadist resolution. (Image source: Wikimedia
Commons/MDS)
But if you think the way was being cleared to erase this jihadist resolution,
you would be mistaken.
According to later reports, the Arab bloc pressured Worbs to recuse himself from
the vote, which he did. After that, Western countries prevailed on Mexico not to
request a reopening of the actual vote for fear, they said, that other UNESCO
resolutions would become subject to new votes. So an ahistorical, anti-Semitic
sop to countries with little redeeming social value was allowed to stand for
fear that some other bit of UNESCO stupidity might be revisited. This tarnishes
other countries that might otherwise have had second thoughts and changed their
votes -- Brazil, in fact, moved from "in favor" to "abstain."
Mexico instead decided also to amend its vote from "in favor" to "abstain,"
accompanied by a statement from the Foreign Ministry that the Mexican government
recognizes "the undeniable connection of the Jewish people to the cultural
heritage in East Jerusalem."
Some Israelis prefer to see the UNESCO glass half-full: 26 countries voted for
the resolution; 34 did not, whether by voting against, abstaining or absenting
themselves from the room.
Not good enough. Having demonstrable historical fact, such as Jewish patrimony
on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, subject to the whims of the United Nations, in
which, as the late Abba Eban said, Arabs could muster a majority to decide the
sun rises in the West, is not a positive proposition. Pakistan, Nicaragua,
Mozambique and Vietnam are not likely ever to vote for historical accuracy on
Jerusalem and Israel, nor are China and Russia. France is a serial appeaser,
more concerned about its back than the truth. But Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Spain,
Ivory Coast, Argentina, Paraguay, Nevis & St. Kitts and others should be loath
to relinquish their Judeo-Christian humanistic culture, roots and values to
jihadi pond scum.
The question remains how to convince nations in the West to stand for themselves
in the face of Islamists committed to replacing them.
**Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of the Jewish Policy Center.
© 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.
Will ISIS scatter after the battle for Mosul?
Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/October 20/16
Now that the battle for Mosul has begun – in the wake of the battles of Sinjar,
Beiji, Ramadi and Fallujah – it is important to know where Islamic State in Iraq
and Syria (ISIS) fighters will go next. With Raqqa already being softened up for
an urban operation that will most likely start after the New Year, ISIS is well
on its way to morphing into a much wider linear movement while staying true to
its perverted vision. There are between 3,000 to 5,000 ISIS fighters in Mosul.
The terror outfit prepared Mosul well for this urban battle and has left behind
a force to conduct hit and run tactics including suicide attacks and bombings.
It is important to note that retaking Mosul is not going to crush the dreams of
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and end the myth of the so-called caliphate. There are more
battles to come that fits their revolting discourse.The Battle for Mosul will
affect ISIS fighters in key ways. First, after an aggressive and deadly defense
of Mosul, ISIS supporters are likely to melt away into the background and await
to see what happens next with Iraqi stabilization operations. ISIS is likely to
launch an assertive suicide campaign in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities and
perhaps attacking infrastructure. Shiites will be targeted out of sectarian
hatred. In Mosul’s future, it is likely that ISIS will strike constabulary
forces and police training sites once the city is brought fully under control.
Second, ISIS fighters are going to migrate. ISIS fighters are now heading to
Syria and eventually are going to protect Raqqa. An influx of fighters from
Mosul in to Hasaka is a signal of the ISIS flow westward. This migration into
Syria is going to swell Raqqa with fighters that will make that urban battle
long and deadly.
After an aggressive and deadly defense of Mosul, ISIS supporters are likely to
melt away into the background and await to see what happens next with Iraqi
stabilization operations. ISIS’s ability to provide for these fighters may be in
question given the degrading capabilities of ISIS’s social services. ISIS
fighters are going to end up returning to their homelands with the blessing of
the so-called Caliphate leadership. Third, ISIS authorities are distributing
fighters to specific locations to boost ISIS breeding grounds. According to a
GCC official, ISIS’s enabler networks are now focusing on building its nimble
organization by tapping into trans-regional and local criminal networks across a
number of continents in order to spread out across a number of continents with
Levantine-based, hardened fighters. ISIS, like seeds, is to scatter from Africa
to East Asia to boost embryonic “states” even if only a cyber-presence.
Terror incubators
To be sure, ungovernable areas in major urban areas – where we have already seen
terrorist incubators grow across continents – are a major drawl for ISIS
fighters to launch and build new networks to keep their movement active.
ISIS adherents are spreading out across several continents notably Southeast
Asia specifically Malaysia. Shoved out of their own areas of governance in the
Levant, they will flee to many other countries in order to create more chaos.
With ISIS adherents able to move about, it seems, with relative ease, there has
yet to be a fix to this illicit transit system outwards from the emerging battle
zones. ISIS’s ideology still matters despite setbacks. Although ISIS’s discourse
surrounding Dabiq as the final battle proved false, there are other aspects of
ISIS ideology that remain, notably intact.
ISIS attacks across the world are likely to occur with frequency with the fall
of Dabiq and the battle for Mosul and mounting pressure on Raaqa. To boot, these
ISIS fighters may target countries that are moving against this sect such as
Kazakhstan. Attacks against the West and Russia are not to be discounted as
these fighters either return home or spread their violent tradecraft.
AQAP resurgence
It is important to note that the spread of ISIS across continents is likely to
collide with the resurgence of al-Qaeda beyond the Levant. Al-Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and al-Shabaab
are all making themselves heard through violent attacks and challenging ISIS’s
ability to hold on to territory such as in Libya. Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS)
is just getting started with small scale assassinations in countries for example
in Bangladesh where ISIS also reportedly has a presence. Countries where the two
groups are competing may become incubators of new, more dangerous multi-polar
militants who are beholden to building their so-called Caliphate. Overall, the
battle for Mosul is a small part of the ongoing, ugly but necessary process to
rid Iraq of ISIS. This event is not going to end the Levant’s suffering. ISIS’s
control, though shrinking, is transporting itself across half the globe. Its
spirit is difficult if not impossible to crush among its fighters and closest
followers. The battle of Mosul will not break the ISIS urge to kill.
Can digital farming revive a faltering agriculture sector?
Ehtesham Shahid/Al Arabiya/October 20/16
As I settled down to interview top executive of a global professional services
company earlier this week, the temptation was to talk all things digital. After
all, the company claims to provide “a broad range of services and solutions in
strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations” and claims that 25
percent of the world economy will be digital by 2020. However, the conversation
with Mike R. Stucliff, group chief executive—Accenture Digital, went beyond
digital economy, digital divide, digital security and the environment to, guess
what, agriculture. Of course there was the small matter of technology trends,
how they are transforming our lives, and how we use “digital tools and
techniques to create new experiences for people” and to make the world a better
place. For me, this was an opportunity to explore my subject of interest. Is
digital economy helping farmers? If yes, in what ways? Are poorest of the poor
reaping the benefits of this “revolution”? Is research and development being
done to benefit the needy i.e. especially those down the value chain? Stucliff
was up for it. He addressed all of them and backed his arguments with data,
analysis and anecdotes. Stucliff explained how a farmer today can use a simple
text phone to access soil sample kit and GPS-tag where that soil came from. This
enables seed and chemical providers to treat a particular plot of land, evaluate
its chemical composition and suggest seeds, fertilizers and pesticides to
improve the yield. Imagine being in a flood or a drought-like situation in a
third world country, with little to no network connectivity, and then being
asked to check the suitability of soil for a particular crop via a digital
application. It may seem easier said than done but Stucliff vouches for its
utility. According to him, the SMS phone is only used to move the soil sample
back and forth and leads to 30 percent increase in crop yield for small plot
farmer. Similarly, digital technology can help farmers know “when to sell their
actual produce” and “eliminate middle men who weren’t adding any value”.
In the words of Stucliff: “digital is enabling people to participate in
economies and take advantage of assets that they’ve never had access to before.”
The downside of automation
But that’s about where the good news ends simply because far too many farmers
all over the world are still lagging too far behind in this race for digital
footprint. Imagine being in a flood or a drought-like situation in a third world
country, with little to no network connectivity, and then being asked to check
the suitability of soil for a particular crop via a digital application. Try
getting into the shoes of a sugarcane grower who is struggling to find buyers
for its crop owing to the closure of the nearest sugar mill. There are reasons
to believe that the explosion of digital technologies is yet to translate into
tangible benefits on the ground in areas that need them badly. There have of
course been examples of smart farming and unique examples in different parts of
the world but they have definitely not reached an industrial scale. In fact, it
is this intermediary industrial wheel that has faltered in recent decades. World
Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, admits that “the traditional economic path from
productive agriculture to light manufacturing and then to large scale
industrialization may not be possible for all developing countries”. Kim even
suggests that, in large parts of Africa, it is likely that technology could
fundamentally disrupt this pattern. “Research based on World Bank data has
predicted that the proportion of jobs threatened by automation in India is 69
percent, 77 percent in China and as high as 85 percent in Ethiopia,” Kim said
earlier this month. When simple automation – in other words reducing human
intervention to a minimum – can cause such huge job losses, how much can a soil
testing equipment salvage the situation? No matter how many innovative
techniques are introduced in farming, they wouldn’t make a major difference
unless they are applied on an industrial scale.
Battle for Mosul – risks and
temptations
Maria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya/October 20/16
The battle for Mosul is attracting global attention and has given some breathing
space to the international community from the conflict in Syria. It has also
eased off the tension in the media and in diplomatic circles between Russia and
the US and its allies over Aleppo. ISIS is a legacy of the war in Iraq, which
was led by the US. A successful operation will mean Obama leaves on a high and
may even boost the chances of Hillary Clinton’s victory. Mosul is not only about
fight against terrorism, it is also about public relations and the media will do
its best to keep it in the headlines until the elections. Earlier this spring an
Iraqi field commander shared with me his prognosis. He said that by the end of
2016, ISIS will be kicked out from Mosul and hopefully even from Iraq. According
to him, in 2017, it will be finished even in Syria. This, I thought, was being
too optimistic. Efforts have been made in the past to conduct an operation in
Mosul. This time the battle has begun but its timing is still unclear, which has
given ISIS the chance to prepare for the assault. The situation in the liberated
areas around Mosul suggests that ISIS fighters have built a well-developed web
of underground tunnels and bunkers. There is a serious risk of a very high death
toll among civilians. In order to minimize casual-ties, there is a need to
minimize the instruments of war and extend the time needed for the complete
liberation. Either way, the liberation of Mosul is bound to take time and human
lives. The number of terrorist attacks that might shake Baghdad and probably
abroad could also rise. There is also a possibility that this assault will
stall, especially when the US will lose in-terest, which predetermined by its
domestic politics. Moreover, the liberation of Mosul does not mean a complete
mop-up of ISIS from Iraq. ISIS can be defeated only if it is seen and dealt with
as a common enemy by all the sides and by putting all geopolitical rivalries
aside
The Syria spillover
The current geopolitical framework suggests that this battle is decisive mostly
for Iraq. As the fight against ISIS remains disintegrated, the liberation of
Mosul opens up the possibility of aggravation of the situation in Syria,
especially when, it seems, that the international coalition is not so eager to
fight ISIS in Syria.
We should also remember that Syria is not Iraq. Syrian government is weak and
the army is in a miserable condition. If Mosul is indeed liberated, predictably
significant ISIS remnants will flee to Syria. This could not only be manpower
but also heavy and light armor. They may not come only from Mosul but also from
other ISIS-held areas in Iraq.
The convoys fleeing Mosul in the direction of Syria have already been detected
and target-ed by the Iraqi air forces. However, it is clear that enough of such
convoys will reach Syria. It should be also admitted that these convoys are also
transporting family members of ISIS fighters in Mosul.
Fall of Mosul strengthening ISIS in Syria is probably the worst possible
scenario. There might be a temptation to use it to weaken Damascus and to put
Russia in an extremely delicate situation. This would leave Russia with only two
options – retreat from Syria or extend its involvement, thereby putting itself
in Afghanistan-II like situation. The possible strengthen-ing of the ISIS
positions in Syria will automatically lead to the relative collapse of the
al-ready devastated Syrian Army. Russia’s support is not enough to fight such an
enemy on huge territories without ground support. Support for ground forces can
also be limited and will hardly be extended. So for Damascus this scenario is
akin to collapse. This could be a problem international community hadn’t
witnessed before. The situation demands a broad ground deployment but it is
unlikely that the international coalition is ready for such a thing. ISIS can be
defeated only if it is seen and dealt with as a common enemy by all the sides
and by putting all geopolitical rivalries aside. Any use of the terror outfit in
geopolitical games could prove to be dangerous with large-scale ramifica-tions..
Backgrounder:
Recognizing Palestinian Statehood
Middle East Forum/October 20/16
http://www.meforum.org/6329/backgrounder-recognizing-palestinian-statehood
MEF backgrounders highlight select news-relevant research and analysis from
Middle East Forum staff, fellows, and publications. Sign up to the MEF mailing
list to stay abreast of our work. Please direct media inquiries to Gregg Roman
at Roman@MEForum.org.
President Obama is reported to be considering a major reversal in the
decades-long U.S. position on recognition of Palestinian statehood during his
final months in office. Previous administrations vocally maintained that the
international community should not recognize or formally acknowledge Palestinian
statehood until a final-status Israel-Palestinian peace settlement has been
reached.
Obama, having failed demonstrably to make advancements toward
Israeli-Palestinian peace during his nearly eight years in office, believes UN
action can get the process back on track.
The Issue
As Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes has shown, the call for recognition
of a Palestinian state push "is hardly a new idea."
In 1948, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, the infamous grand mufti of Jerusalem, declared
the existence of the All-Palestine Government (Hukumat 'Umum Filastin) in
Egyptian-occupied Gaza.
Hajj Amin al-Husseini in Bosnia, 1943.
Though "born to lofty proclamations of Palestine's free, democratic, and
sovereign nature, and with a full complement of ministers," he writes, "the
whole undertaking was a sham ... [and] quickly withered into insignificance."
A second declaration came forty years later, when Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat declared the establishment of the
"State of Palestine" before a November 1988 meeting of the Palestine National
Council in Tunis. Though the PLO controlled no territory inhabited by
Palestinians, afterwards many Third World and communist-bloc countries extended
diplomatic recognition to the new "state." All Western governments refused.
Arafat considered making another declaration of independence in 1999, which
would have been a flagrant violation of the Oslo Accords, but backed down.
In 2009, buoyed by the new Obama administration's pressure on Israel and the
burgeoning Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, the Palestinian
Authority (PA) "dropped all pretenses of seeking a negotiated settlement and
opted for an international imposition of Palestinian statehood without a peace
agreement with Israel," writes Middle East Quarterly Editor Efraim Karsh. PA
President Mahmoud Abbas launched a unilateral drive to win recognition of
Palestinian statehood from foreign governments, the UN, and other multilateral
bodies.
In September 2011, the PA formally submitted an application for member-state
status to the UN, which, as MEF Shillman-Ginsburg Writing Fellow A.J. Caschetta
notes in a recent article, "has been reliably in favor of the Palestinians and
opposed to Israel" for over half a century. However, the application stalled due
to insufficient support in the Security Council, where the U.S. can exercise a
veto. In 2012, the PA won a 138-9 vote in the General Assembly to gain
"non-member observer state" status, a diplomatic setback for Israel.
Meanwhile, pressure on Western European governments to recognize "Palestine"
reached an all-time high, in large part, according to MEF Shillman-Ginsburg
Writing Fellow Michel Gurfinkiel, reflecting left-wing political parties'
growing anti-Zionism and dependence on Muslim immigrant votes. Sweden became the
first Western European government to officially recognize "Palestine" in 2014.
Although no other European governments have followed suit, national assemblies
in the United Kingdom, Spain, and France have passed (largely non-binding)
resolutions doing so.
Policy Implications
In the wake of bruising American-Israeli tensions over the Iran nuclear deal,
settlements, and other issues, last year President Obama directed his advisors
to draw up a set of policy options to bring pressure to bear on newly-reelected
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The most extreme, according to Eli
Lake, "would have the U.S. recognize a Palestinian state or upgrade its
diplomatic presence" in the Palestinian territories.
Previous American administrations have maintained that recognizing Palestinian
statehood before an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement is reached would
greatly damage prospects for a two-state solution to the conflict.
An unreconstructed Holocaust denier, PA president Mahmoud Abbas has voiced
incessant anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incitement.
The root cause of the diplomatic impasse is the Palestinian leadership's
unwillingness to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, which
would mean giving up the so-called "right of return" to pre-1967 Israel of any
Palestinian related to anyone who ever lived there.
Abbas has not only repeatedly vowed never to recognize Israel as a Jewish state,
but in March 2014 lobbied the Arab League to issue a statement expressing its
"absolute and decisive rejection to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state." He
has refused to allow Palestinian refugees living in Syria to take refuge in the
West Bank, saying "it's better they die in Syria than give up their right of
return."
As Daniel Pipes wrote in 2011,
Arab-Israeli diplomacy has dealt with a myriad of subsidiary issues while
tiptoeing around the conflict's central issue: "Should there be a Jewish state?"
Disagreement over this answer – rather than over Israel's boundaries, its
exercise of self-defense, its control of the Temple Mount, its water
consumption, its housing construction in West Bank towns, diplomatic relations
with Egypt, or the existence of a Palestinian state – is the key issue.
In order to break this impasse, American policy must be geared to "disabuse the
Palestinian leadership of its decades-long rejection of Jewish statehood,"
writes Efraim Karsh.
This is easier said than done. The unwillingness of PA leaders to accept Israel
as a Jewish state reflects "the growing appeal of Islamism within Palestinian
society," according to MEF Shillman-Ginsburg Writing Fellow Efraim Inbar. In
addition, as MEF Director Gregg Roman explains in The Hill, Palestinian leaders
don't want to give up the political advantages of having Israel as a declared
enemy:
[O]fficial Palestinian acknowledgement once and for all that Israel is not just
here to stay, but has a right to stay, would deprive Palestinian leaders of
time-honored tools for manipulating their constituents – appealing to and
inflaming their baser anti-Jewish prejudices ... Instead, they will have to do
things like govern well and create jobs to win public support.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas meets with relatives of Palestinian "martyrs" in
March 2016.
Prematurely recognizing a Palestinian state will not only eliminate what
remaining incentive Palestinian leaders have to recognize Israel's right to
exist, but will vindicate the most extreme elements who have maintained all
along that concessions and peace aren't needed to achieve Palestinian national
aims. When Sweden extended official recognition in October 2014, notes Daniel
Pipes, "Hamas ... hailed this move and called on other governments to follow
Stockholm, in order to isolate Israel."
Peace-less statehood will also consecrate the political status quo in
Palestinian areas – Hamas rule in Gaza, PA rule in the West Bank. That the
former is inimical to peace hardly bears mentioning, but the latter may turn out
to be even worse in the long run. In a 2015 Weekly Standard article (see also
this), MEF Shillman-Ginsburg Writing Fellow Daniel Doron aptly summates how
"utterly dysfunctional" the PA is:
[A] clan-based coalition made up of murderous political mafias ... deprives the
Palestinians of even the most elementary rights, robs them of billions in aid
from the U.S. and Europe, keeps most of them in penury and misery, oppresses
women, gays and lesbians, and all who aren't Muslims. It foments rage against
Israel by incessant incitement that calls on even small children to kill Jews
everywhere.
Granting it statehood is not the path to peace.
Solutions
With the New York Times calling on Obama to "lead the Security Council to put
its authority behind a resolution to support a two-state solution" in an October
6 editorial, it is surely too late to persuade the president that peace-less
recognition of Palestinian statehood is intrinsically a bad idea. But there may
yet be time to deter the president from putting his beliefs into action.
MEF Washington Project Director Clifford Smith argues in The American Spectator
that Congress can make clear its intention to sanction any unilaterally-declared
Palestinian state, completely cut hundreds of millions of dollars in annual U.S.
direct aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA), mandate that any newly-created
Palestinian state be designated a state sponsor of terrorism, and update
decades-old federal laws prohibiting U.S. funding of UN agencies that accord the
PLO "the same standing as member states."
This doesn't mean the United States should oppose Palestinian statehood as an
aspirational goal. MEF Shillman-Ginsburg Writing Fellow Alexander H. Joffe and
MEF writing fellow Asaf Romirowsky argue that the international community should
defund UNRWA, which perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem by creating a
cycle of dependence, and instead give aid directly to the PA. While "fully
acknowledging that the PA is corrupt," they suggest that obliging it to "take
responsibility for its own people" is more conducive to the development of a
stable, responsible Palestinian state than continuing to fund UNRWA (see
Clifford Smith's op-ed on his recent visit to an UNRWA camp).
"When Palestinians stop chanting for the death of Jews and Israel, and start
working to secure their own state, they will achieve it," writes MEF Robert J.
and Abby B. Levine Fellow Tarek Fatah. Until then, helping Abbas try to
circumvent this path to statehood will only bring disaster to Israelis and
Palestinians alike.
Jordanian Regime Tackles
Problem Of Extremist Mosque Sermons
By: Z. Harel/MEMRI/October 20/16
Introduction
Jordan has been experiencing a severe shortage of qualified imams and preachers
with a formal shari'a education. In March 2015, then-minister of religious
endowments Hayel Dawood stated that about half of Jordan's 6,300 mosques have
either no imam or an imam who is unqualified for the position.[1] This shortage
has resulted in untrained local imams and preachers delivering Friday sermons in
these mosques that contain extremist messages – including open expressions of
support for terrorist organizations in Iraq and Syria, and even attempts to
recruit fighters to the Islamic State (ISIS).
This issue has been widely covered in Jordanian and Arab media. In February
2016, worshippers in the Al-Mazar Al-Janubi district in Jordan's Al-Karak
Governorate complained that several mosques there had no trained imams and were
staffed by volunteers with no religious education and that their sermons are not
in line with the mosque's religious message.[2] In 2014, the Ministry of
Religious Endowments announced that it had fired 26 imams for various reasons,
including leading prayers for ISIS or Jabhat Al-Nusra and spreading these
groups' ideology.[3] In September 2014, the imam of a mosque in the Al-Russeifa
district of the Al-Zarqa Governorate was arrested for calling on worshippers to
help ISIS if it entered Jordan.[4] After Jordanian pilot Mu'adh Al-Kasasbeh was
burned alive by ISIS in early 2015, several imams refused to lead memorial
prayers for him, demonstrating their opposition to Jordan's participation in the
international coalition to fight ISIS.[5]
In recent years, the Jordanian regime has made efforts to combat extremism in
the mosques. In 2014, it drew up a national anti-extremism plan that set out the
responsibilities of various government offices and public institutions to fight
it. Under this plan, the Ministry of Religious Endowments is tasked with:
reorganizing its Preaching and Religious Guidance Administration and empowering
it to select sermons that are in accordance with events and with the needs of
the public and that convey moderate ideas; solving the shortage of preachers and
imams; increasing oversight of mosques; improving training for mosque officials;
taking steps to prevent extremists from preaching and from guiding worshippers;
and cutting back on the number of mosques where Friday sermons are provided and
transitioning to the model of "Al-Masjid Al-Jami'" ("central mosque"), as will
be discussed further below. Additionally, in March 2015, the government approved
measures ensuring that mosque imams are given proper shari'a training.[6]
The issue of extremism in mosques made headlines again recently, after several
imams ignored orders by Minister of Religious Endowments Wael Arabiyat to
include in Friday prayers a prayer for Jordanian security personnel killed in a
June 2016 ISIS attack on the Jordan-Syria border. Following this incident the
minister of religious endowments launched the Central Mosques Program, as part
of which there will be a mosque in each region that will be the only one
offering a Friday sermon, led by a qualified imam and without the extremist
messages commonly found in smaller mosques.[7]
There has been criticism of the minister's plan to transition to the Central
Mosque model. Opponents of this plan argued that the move is motivated by
foreign interests and is aimed at a government takeover of the mosques and
control of Friday sermons. They said that it will make it difficult for
worshippers to get to mosques that are farther away, and will ensure that all
the Friday sermons are identical and also irrelevant to the people's daily
problems.
This report will review the Jordanian regime's struggle with extremist mosque
sermons, as well as the debate surrounding the implementation of the Ministry of
Religious Endowments program for setting certain mosques across the country as
Central Mosques.
Imams' Refusal To Pray For Security Personnel Killed In ISIS Attack Triggers
Responses
On June 21, 2016, a car bomb targeted a Jordanian army post in the Al-Rukban
area on the Syrian border, killing seven security personnel and wounding 14;[8]
several days later ISIS announced, via its official news agency A'maq, that the
attack had been carried out by one of its fighters.[9] Following the attack,
Minister of Religious Endowments Wael Arabiyat ordered imams and preachers in
Jordan to include prayers for the souls of those killed in Friday prayers.[10]
However, according to reports on social media, a number of imams had refused to
follow orders; this caused a stir on social media[11] and also triggered
criticism in the Jordanian press.
Minister Of Religious Endowments: My Office Will Work To Change The Misguided
Views Of Some Imams
Arabiyat quickly responded to the refusal to follow orders, stating that his
office had received complaints from citizens that there had been no prayers for
the victims at their local mosques. He stressed that the victims of the attack
were martyrs and that everyone must pray for their souls, adding that as part of
his anti-extremism strategy, which was also aimed at presenting the true face of
Islam, the ministry would step up activity promoting? religious and ideological
awareness among imams with the aim of changing any misguided views among
them.[12] Several days later, ministry spokesman Ahmad 'Izzat said that the
ministry had launched an investigation of the errant imams, and that it was
already known that at over 200 mosques, there had been no prayers for the
victims. He stressed that once the investigation is concluded, the ministry will
take disciplinary measures against imams found to have refused to follow the
minister's orders.[13]
Minister of Religious Endowments Wael Al-Arabiyat (Al-Rai, Jordan, August 15,
2016)
Former Jordanian Minister: ISIS Supporters Are Hiding Among Us – What Is Our
Plan To Combat The Danger They Pose?
Former Jordanian minister for political development and parliamentary affairs
Muhammad Dawodieh wrote on Facebook that imams in two mosques in Amman, the
Jordanian capital, had refused to follow the minister's orders to pray for the
souls of the victims, and added that an imam in another mosque in the Marka area
in Amman Governorate said that he would conduct these prayers although he
opposed them. Dawodieh wrote: "This ISISist behavior complements the ISIS
terrorist crime. Those who murdered our sons across the border and those who
refrained from praying for them at home complement each other. There are
criminal ISIS supporters hiding among us. Where is our cultural, political, and
legal plan to combat the danger they pose?! This extremist behavior will quickly
escalate to actual bloody terrorism."[14]
Al-Ghad Writer: Extremists In Society Are A Domestic Threat
In his column in Al-Ghad, Muwafaq Malkawi wrote that those with extremist views
are no longer a minority in Jordanian society, that some of them are staffers at
the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religious Endowments, and that
their infiltration into these state institutions poses a real danger to society.
He wrote:
"They are not a minority; these people are a large group in society... The
danger lies not only in their numbers, but also in the fact that some of them
have infiltrated two sensitive and important institutions: the Ministry of
Education and the Ministry of Religious Endowments... They constitute a hidden
domestic threat... They teach our children in schools, and preach to them and
guide them in the mosques. They openly sympathize with the violence carried out
by terrorist groups that fight the homeland and the citizen, thus setting
themselves against us and against our love of life.
"They have been in our midst for many decades... We must not turn a blind eye to
their massive influence on society, especially in light of the fact that there
is only minimal oversight of what they do and how much contact they have with
our children. We face a real danger, and ignoring it will no longer help. Even
though a battle has been declared against the terrorist groups that we can see,
we must still not forget those who live among us and who are trying with all
their might and all subversive means at their disposal to build a front against
our plan of loving life. Thus, their goals are the same as the goals of anyone
attempting to bring destruction and chaos to Jordan. The fight against them must
be top priority."[15]
Al-Dustour Columnist: The Extremism In Society Endangers Jordan
Al-Dustour columnist Hussein Al-Rawashdeh also wrote about extremism in Jordan,
calling on the government to fight it: "The extremism developing in our society
is not limited to a handful of imams who refused to pray for the souls of our
martyred sons – even though that incident signals strongly that there are ISIS
supporters at home... The results of public opinion polls and statistics also
show that some among us are sympathetic to ISIS and other [terrorist]
organizations. [Bad] enough that some 2,500 Jordanian fighters have joined the
ranks of ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra in Syria and Iraq, and that according to a
recent poll by the Center for Strategic Studies [at University of Jordan],
sympathy [for ISIS and its ilk] is running at a dangerous 1%. Additionally, the
Salafi-jihadi stream has 7,000 members or even more, and some its theoreticians
still live among us.
"If we examine the danger of the terrorist organization that claimed
responsibility for the Al-Rukban attack [in which the Jordanian security
personnel were killed]... and the danger of the extremist ideas that justify
ISIS [ideology]... we will discover that our country is facing an unlimited and
infinitely dangerous war, and that making do... with traditional solutions to
deal with it is no longer sufficient...
"We must demand that the government and other social institutions deal with the
danger of extremism, which is developing and is no longer hesitant to show its
face in public. [This must be done] not only by means of a strategy of
allocating labor and tasks, and standard approaches, but also by means of a true
revolution in religion, culture, politics, and education. We must change the
terminology, and then smash extremism's objects of admiration... using
persuasive answers that reassure [young people] about their identity, their
reality, and their future and that sever their connection to the demons of
extremism, wherever they may be.
"Clearly, this task is difficult. But as part of the war that we are dealing
with, it is a religious duty [to carry it out], and we must do so quickly and
aggressively. Our victory in the war against terrorism will be based on our
success in carrying out this task."[16]
The Central Mosques Program: Ministry Of Religious Endowments Attempts To Combat
Extremist Imams
On July 11, 2016, Minister of Religious Endowments Wael Arabiyat met with the
heads of religious endowment administrations from across Jordan to discuss the
central role played by imams and preachers in the fight against extremist
ideology. Arabiyat announced the implementation of the Central Mosques program,
aimed at bringing worshippers together in large central mosques for Friday
prayers led by a qualified imam. This program, he said, would end the
establishment of improvised mosques led by unqualified preachers without proper
religious training and allow worshippers to hear sermons based on principles,
knowledge, morals, and guidance delivered by qualified clerics. According to
Arabiyat, Jordan has thousands of mosques offering Friday prayers that need many
qualified preachers to give worshippers real substance instead of empty words.
He stressed that no mosques would be shut down, but that worshippers would come
to the central mosques on Fridays for prayers conducted according to set
criteria. He directed the head administrators to provide the ministry with a
list of mosques that could be consolidated under the program.[17]
The program was launched on July 15, 2016, with the head of the endowments
administration in the Ma'an Governorate, Sheikh Bilal Al-Bahri, delivering a
Friday sermon at the Maria Al-Qibtiyya[18] Mosque in the city of Ma'an.
Referring to the program in his sermon, the sheikh linked the concept of a
central mosque to the time of the Prophet Muhammad, and stated that the central
mosques program was aimed at eliminating disagreement, hostility, and hatred by
bringing Muslims together.[19]
Sheikh Bilal Al-Bahri delivers a sermon at Ma'an mosque (alqalahnews.com, July
15, 2016)
On August 5, the program was rolled out in Al-Balqa Governorate, where Arabiyat
himself served as the Friday preacher at the Fatimah Al-Zahraa Mosque in the
city of Al-Salt. In his sermon, Arabiyat said that Friday prayers at a large
central mosque is a good practice aimed at uniting believers instead of dividing
them, and stressed that the goal of the central mosques program was to bring
religious discourse back to a path of moderation and rejection of extremism.[20]
In July and early August, preparatory meetings for launching the program were
held in several governorates.[21]
At the same time, training began for imams and preachers on the topic of
fighting extremist takfiri ideologies. On August 11, 24 imams and preachers from
the endowments administration in the northern governorates of Al-Mafraq and
Irbid completed a course in Al-Mafraq conducted by the center for a healthy
society, which belongs to the Preventative Security Department of the General
Security Directorate. The course was aimed at clarifying the dangers of
extremist ideology, setting out methods to deal with it, and explaining the role
played by imams and preachers in conveying messages to society via the
pulpit.[22]
Ministry Of Religious Endowments Promotes Its Central Mosques Program
After announcing the central mosques program, Arabiyat began promoting it in
meetings with ministry employees across the country. At one such meeting, he
told imams, preachers, and religious guides from mosques in the Al-Karak
Governorate that their role was to lead a moderate religious discourse and to
combat oppression, crime, and takfiri ideas that he said have distorted the
image of Muslims and Islam. The mosque, he added, plays a crucial role in
bringing believers together to worship God, to learn about the dictates of the
religion, and to condemn extremism and fanaticism. He also said that the imam
needs to play a central role in supporting the army and security forces with a
religious discourse that lionizes soldiers defending their homeland and the holy
sites, and that his ministry would be training imams and working to improve the
content and language of the sermons that they deliver so that the citizens can
be faithfully served.[23] At another meeting, with imams, preachers, and
religious guides in the Al-Zarqa Governorate, the minister stressed the crucial
role played by imams in defending mosques, and the role of the mosque pulpit in
instilling in the public an awareness of moderate Islam.[24] He also met with
the secretary-general of the Conference of Endowments and Islamic Affairs
Ministers in Islamic Countries, Zaid Al-Dakan, presenting to him the central
mosques program and stressing the need for creating enlightened discourse in the
Muslim world in order to combat terrorism and counter those trying to harm the
true image of Islam.[25]
Arabiyat also praised his program in a series of interviews with local media. He
told the daily Al-Dustour that he wanted to make central mosques into
ideological and cultural lighthouses for the local population, adding that they,
along with an enlightened Islamic discourse, will protect Islam.[26] In another
interview with a local radio station, he added that the central mosques program
had been under consideration for 15 years, and that his predecessors had decided
to postpone implementing it.[27] In a comprehensive interview with the official
daily Al-Rai, Arabiyat dismissed criticism of the program, stating that the
program is based on ideological and religious foundations and is not aimed at
large mosques but at mosques with only a handful of worshipers, and reiterating
that the preachers at these mosques spread dangerous ideas. The central mosques,
he said, would meet the need to intelligently curb extremism in religious
discourse, and under the program preachers will be trained in topics such as
religious law, Arabic grammar, education, and communication skills, including
body language.[28]
Al-Rai published several articles promoting the program. One, "Implementing the
Central Mosques [Program] – To Avoid Misunderstandings," stressed that the sole
purpose of the program is to actualize the public interest by consolidating
mosques so as to prevent untrained preachers who are not employees of the
Ministry of Religious Endowments from giving sermons. The article emphasized
that the program is not bid'a, that is, innovation forbidden by Islam, and that
similar programs had been implemented in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Saudi
Arabia, the Al-Azhar Mosque in Egypt, the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, and
others. The article also stated that the ministry had no intention of shutting
down mosques or preventing new ones from being built, and that worshippers who
cannot reach the central mosque in their area are free to pray at a mosque of
their choice but that there would be no Friday sermons at the smaller mosques
because the Ministry of Religious Endowments cannot provide a preacher.[29]
Another article stressed that attending a central mosque for Friday prayers was
common in the ancient Islamic world, citing a professor of Islamic law from the
University of Jordan in 'Amman.[30]
Also to promote the program, the ministry's Fatwa Department issued a ruling
stating that it was best to bring all worshippers together at a large central
mosque so that they can pray in peace and security, that attending a central
mosque for Friday prayers adhered most closely to the shari'a, and that there
should not be too many mosques offering Friday prayers except when the central
mosque is too crowded or too far away.[31] The ministry also posted on its
website a suggestion for a Friday sermon on the topic of central mosques in
Muslim society, complete with Islamic sources.[32]
Criticism Of Centralized Mosques Program
Despite the promotional efforts, the program was not overwhelmingly welcomed in
the country, and most of the criticism came from the Muslim Brotherhood
newspaper Al-Sabil and local websites. Several imams argued that the program's
real aim was to tighten state control over the mosques and that it will serve
the government's policy of silencing dissent. Another claim was that
worshippers, particularly the disabled and elderly, would refrain from traveling
to distant mosques.[33] Individuals who had reservations about the program
wondered whether the ministry had considered security aspects, since such a
large concentration of worshippers could become a target for attacks.[34] Majed
Al-'Omari, a former official in the Jordanian union of imams, expressed concern
that the program would result in preachers delivering similar sermons dictated
by the administration and government, and that the sermon topics would be far
removed from the daily reality of Muslims across the country and in the entire
Muslim world.[35] Another concern was that all preachers would only be allowed
to read aloud the sermon issued to them, as was proposed in Egypt.[36] Several
opponents of the program even called on the minister to cancel it
altogether.[37]
The Program's Real Purpose Is To Take Over Friday Sermons
Anis Khasawneh, an academic and Islamist political analyst, published several
posts on Facebook, which also appeared on local websites, attacking Arabiyat and
the central mosques program. In a July 29 post titled "Will the Minister of
Religious Endowments Lose His Job over His Decision for Uniform Friday
Sermons?!" Khasawneh wrote: "The decision by the minister of religious
endowments for uniform Friday sermons and to consolidate Friday prayers in a
limited number of mosques is provocative, burdens the citizens, and makes it
difficult for them to worship. This decision can only be seen as a takeover of
Friday sermons, and as coming between the faithful Muslim and Allah. Its real
aims are clear, even if Minister Arabiyat disguises them as Sunnah [i.e., a
religious custom that is regarded as positive but not mandatory] and claims that
the central mosque is modeled after the activity of the Prophet. Indeed,
worshippers in the north, center, and south of the kingdom already suffer
greatly because many mosques have been shut down in order to force them to
attend specific mosques in accordance with this decision – a decision like those
of dictators and tyrants who fought the religion and did all they could to limit
its spread and the role of mosques in dealing with the matters and problems of
the ummah...
"Minister Arabiyat, who is known for his ties to and bias in favor of the regime
and the security apparatuses, is forcing the faithful to implement his decision
and vision – as if the Jordanians were sheep or cattle that he, a young and
inexperienced [government] minister set on pleasing the powerful in any way
possible, is leading. Minister Arabiyat insists on following in the footsteps of
the regime sheikhs in Egypt, like [former Egyptian mufti and Al-Azhar Council of
Senior Scholars member] Ali Gomaa and Kamal Al-Helbawi [the former spokesman of
the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe who left the movement in 2012]... Minister
Arabiyat has launched an improper practice that is contrary to Allah's words
[Koran 2:114]: 'And who are more unjust than those who prevent the name of Allah
from being mentioned in His mosques and strive toward their destruction. It is
not for them to enter them except in fear. For them in this world is disgrace,
and they will have in the Hereafter a great punishment.'
"This minister, who, maybe even on his own initiative, met in his office with
the U.S. ambassador to Jordan,[38] wants to turn Islam and the good deeds
related to the worship of Allah into modern rituals that take place only inside
mosques... It is strange that the minister wants to marginalize Muslims in a
Muslim country, while Israel does not interfere with Friday prayer locations and
does not impose a uniform Friday sermon. In the U.S., Canada, Australia, and
Germany – countries afflicted by extremism – Muslims and mosque-goers carry out
their rituals and prayers on Fridays and other days with full freedom and no
interference by authorities. We worshippers do not care about Minister [Arabiyat's]
professional ambitions or his connections to the security apparatuses, since
that is his [own] business, but we want to pray and perform our religious duty
of worshipping Allah in our own mosques – most of which were not built by the
Ministry of Religious Endowments, which also doesn't spend much to maintain
them, leaving the citizens to carry most of the burden through donations and
charity.
"Many citizens today have promised to challenge the minister's decision, because
it is illegitimate, against the people's beliefs, and is no way to treat the
elderly, the sick, and anyone without means of transport... Yes, next Friday
many will protest against this decision, by opening [smaller] mosques for Friday
prayers, or even by praying outside [the mosques] in the blazing sun. We must
not obey the words of one of Allah's creatures who calls for defying Allah;
Allah's blessing does not extend to decisions that are difficult for Muslims to
carry out and that hamper them in performing the duty of worshipping Allah.
"Will the leaders hear [us], understand this situation, and remove the minister
before things get worse, protests increase, and the situation ends
bitterly???"[39]
Anis Al-Khasawneh (Facebook.com/Prof.Anis, June 2, 2014)
The Program Will Produce The Opposite Of What It Seeks To Achieve – And Mosques
Will Be Established In Secret
In another Facebook post, on August 9, Khasawneh wrote: "The major efforts by
young Minister of Religious Endowments Dr. Wael Arabiyat to strengthen control
of the mosques and their preacher pulpits, to restrict Friday prayers to central
mosques only, and perhaps even to choose the topics of the sermons from a
website designated for this purpose by the ministry all undoubtedly show that
the government intends to consider mosques to be dangerous centers for fostering
terrorism, violence, and extremism...
"It is interesting what the minister said on TV a few days ago regarding
religious extremism and children's fear of going to mosques. I have closely
examined this dangerous statement, which has shifted Minister Arabiyat closer to
Bashar Al-Assad, who speaks of terrorist incubators and institutions. Oh, young
minister, the mosques are the safest place for our [young] generation and are a
safe haven against deviation [from the straight path]. It is from the mosque
pulpits that teens are educated in good deeds, proper behavior, and reverence
for Allah...
"I fear that these measures by the minister, and what will follow them – such as
installing cameras and overseeing worshippers, imams, and those at Friday
prayers, could lead to considering mosques to be suspicious places, or
[terrorist] sleeper cells... The great danger is that the steps being taken by
the government that Minister Arabiyat represents will lead to what we are
already hearing about – that some worshippers are considering conducting Friday
prayers secretly, in private locations and homes. [If that happens,] conducting
prayers and selecting preachers will be only with the consent of a handful of
worshippers... and prayers will be held in alternating locations to ensure that
security apparatuses will not pester the worshippers.
"Jordan's minister of religious endowments is pushing things in unhealthy
directions, and his effort to take over the mosques could produce the opposite
of what it seeks to achieve, and force people underground."[40]
Shuttering Mosques Will Reduce The Ministry's Income – Which Is Based On
Donations From Worshippers
Jordanian writer Salah Amin Okasha addressed the possible economic damage the
program could cause the Ministry of Religious Endowments if it shutters smaller
mosques that are supported by donations from worshippers: "The central mosque
[program] is being implemented, and [small] mosques are already closing their
gates [and not offering] Friday prayers. I will not address the false claim of
the author of this decision, namely that he is following the path of the Prophet
and reviving it [except to say that]... it is wrong to compare the situation
during the time of the Prophet... to ours, as the circumstances are different
and worlds apart...
"We are not interested in [the minister's] lofty goals, his aspiration to build
bridges of love and trust between him and U.S. administration officials [such
as] the U.S. ambassador, or his attempt to please [his superiors] in order to
keep his position... It is also clear to all that the aim is not to create a
uniform religious discourse, as that would be is a simple matter regulated by
issuing internal memos and guidelines for Friday sermons... Mr. Minister, there
is no doubt that the paucity of skilled and trained imams is not [such] a big
problem, for there are many ways to address this gap, by means of a mechanism
that the Ministry of Religious Endowments and the Ministry of Higher Education
can adopt...
"I am talking about the financial impact this [program] will have on the
Ministry of Religious Endowments, which is not financially dependent on the
Public Funding Law. The [ministry's] economic independence was aimed at
facilitating the receipt and distribution of donations, which are the main
source of income for the ministry. This is because most mosques in the kingdom
are funded by [worshippers'] offerings, and their [ongoing] expenses,
maintenance, and renovations [depend] on these offerings.
"Friday is the day the offerings are collected. So what will happen when the
mosques are closed?!... How will mosques in the kingdom pay their expenses? What
will become of the mosques? Will you [Arabiyat] fund them from your own pocket?
"I am telling you that your decision is a failure, by all the standards
mentioned above. You will ultimately back down from it – not because you want
to, but because you will have no choice once the ministry is unable to fund its
expenses."[41]
* Z. Harel is a research fellow at MEMRI.
Endnotes:
[1] Al-Sabil (Jordan), March 4, 2015.
[2] Al-Rai (Jordan), February 21, 2016.
[3] Arabic.cnn.com, November 14, 2014.
[4] Jordanews.com, January 20, 2015.
[5] Hournews.net, February 15, 2015.
[6] Al-Sabil (Jordan), March 4, 2015.
[7] The full details of the plan were only reported for the first time by the
daily Al-Ghad on June 16, 2016.
[8] Al-Rai (Jordan), June 21, 2016.
[9] See MEMRI JTTM report A'maq Agency: The June 21, 2016 Suicide Attack In
Rukban, Jordan Was Carried Out By An ISIS Fighter, June 27, 2016.
[10] Al-Rai (Jordan), June 23, 2016.
[11] Raialyoum.com, June 25, 2016.
[12] Al-Ghad (Jordan), June 27, 2016.
[13] Alanbatnews.net, June 29, 2016.
[14] Facebook.com/mohammad.dawodieh, June 24, 2016.
[15] Al-Ghad (Jordan), June 30, 2016.
[16] Al-Dustour (Jordan), June 28, 2016.
[17] Al-Rai (Jordan), July 12, 2016.
[18] Maria Al-Qibtiyya was a wife of the Prophet Muhammad, and the daughter of a
dignitary of the Coptic Church in Egypt.
[19] Alqalahnews.com, July 15, 2016.
[20] Al-Ghad (Jordan), August 6, 2016.
[21] For example: Ajloun Governorate, gerasanews.com, July 13; Al-Ramtha
district of Irbid Governorate, Al-Sabil (Jordan), July 19, 2016; Al-Kurah
district of Irbid Governorate, Al-Rai (Jordan), July 24, 2016; Al-Karak
Governorate, Al-Sabil (Jordan), July 27, 2016.
[22] Al-Rai (Jordan), August 11, 2016.
[23] Ammonnews.net, July 12, 2016; Al-Rai (Jordan), July 12, 2016.
[24] Al-Ghad (Jordan), July 27, 2016.
[25] Al-Dustour (Jordan), July 24, 2016.
[26] Al-Dustour (Jordan), July 28, 2016.
[27] Al-Sabil (Jordan), August 10, 2016.
[28] Al-Rai (Jordan), August 17, 2016.
[29] Al-Rai (Jordan), July 24, 2016.
[30] Al-Rai (Jordan), July 25, 2016.
[31] Al-Rai (Jordan), August 3, 2016.
[32] Awqaf.gov.jo, July 14, 2016.
[33] Al-Sabil (Jordan), July 13, 2016.
[34] Ammanalyoum.com, July 26, 2016.
[35] Arabi21, com, August 7, 2016.
[36] The Egyptian government eventually withdrew the notion of uniform sermons
provided by the ministry of religious endowments. For the debate on this topic
in Egypt, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6556, Egypt's Al-Azhar Opposes Ministry
Of Religious Endowments Plan For Uniform Friday Sermon, August 4, 2016.
[37] Jo24.net, July 18, 2016.
[38] A few days after it was reported that several imams refused to pray for the
souls of the victims of the ISIS attack, Arabiyat secretly met with U.S.
Ambassador Alice Wells. Local websites exposed the meeting, and criticized it
due to claims that it dealt with the need to guide the religious discourse and
combat extremism. Alanbatnews.net, June 28, 2016.
[39] Facebook.com/Prof.Anis, July 29, 2016.
[40] Facebook.com/Prof.Anis, August 9, 2016.
[41] Sawaleif.com, August 6, 2016.