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LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 16/15

http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletins05/english.june15.16.htm

Bible Quotation For Today/If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea
Matthew 18/06-10: "‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling-block comes! ‘If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire. ‘Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven."

Bible Quotation For Today/You are for ever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute?
Acts of the Apostles 07/51-60.08,1a.: "‘You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are for ever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.’When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!’But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died. And Saul approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.

Latest analysis, editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 15-16/15
Lebanon held hostage to Israel-Iran rivalry/Sharif Nashashibi/Al Arabiya/June 15/15
Jihad on Churches/Raymond Ibrahim/Gastone Institute/June 15/15
Never Again? The ISIS Genocide of Yazidis/Stephen Schwartz and Christopher Bilardi/Middle East Forum/June 15/15
Is criticizing extremist Shiites sectarian/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/June 15/15
Is a nuclear Saudi Arabia inevitable if Iran acquires the bomb/Salman Al-Ansari/Al Arabiya/June 15/15

Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 15-16/15
Saudi Arabia beheads 100th person this year
Ban Ki-moon opens Yemen peace talks in Geneva
Ban Calls for Immediate Humanitarian Truce in Yemen
Inside Iran: Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison
Russian official sees Iran nuclear deal being reached on time
'If Iran deal is reached, Israel should multiply intelligence monitoring'
Israel blocks visit of UN human rights envoy
Israel's Netanyahu says boycott efforts recall Nazi Germany
Jewish-Arab Hadash Party: Israel in ‘blood covenant’ with ISIS and US to divide Syria
Syrian Kurds seize main road, encircle ISIS town
French PM: Hate and extremism are ‘not Islam’
Seventeen killed in battles near Iraq's Baiji refinery
U.N. Syria envoy in Damascus for regime talks
Israel blocks visit of U.N. human rights envoy
France's Hollande has 'big hopes' for Rafale fighter jet deals
Survey: Turkey's AK Party would regain majority if early election held
Opening of Tadawul: Australia welcomes Saudi Arabia’s reform
Is criticizing extremist Shiites sectarian?
Lebanon held hostage to Israel-Iran rivalry
Is a nuclear Saudi Arabia inevitable if Iran acquires the bomb?
The U.S. must take initiative to forge Middle East accords
Palestinians reject findings of Israel Gaza report
Top al-Qaeda militant ‘killed’ in U.S. strike
Saudi Stock Market Opens to Foreigners
Sudan's Bashir Flies out of S.Africa, Defying Court Order
Iran launches official matchmaking website
Send more migrants home to make room for refugees: EU official
US Air Force chief confirms Libya raid, awaiting results

Jehad Watch Latest Reports And News
Mother of UK convert to Islam slain in jihad says he had “warped ideas of Islam”
New Islamic State video: Child jihadis vow to kill Obama, defeat “Crusaders”
One UK town linked to over 12 Islamic jihadis
17-year-old boy ran influential Islamic State Twitter account from Virginia
Gaza jihadi: “Our goal is to bring Islam, to bring Sharia all around the world”
The Islamic State has displaced 100,000 Christians from Mosul
Jihadis say 500-pound U.S. bombs missed one-eyed jihad leader
French PM: “We must say all of this is not Islam. The hate speech, anti-Semitism…violence and terrorism.”
Jihadis storm Kenya border village, target military vehicle with IED
UK waterpark bans bikinis, orders visitors to wear ‘Islamically appropriate’ clothes

Cyprus says it foiled Hezbollah bomb plot
Reuters/June. 16, 2015/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Cyprus believes it thwarted a Hezbollah plot to attack Israelis or Jews, its foreign minister said Monday, after bomb-making material was found in a house on Cyprus. A 26-year-old Lebanese-Canadian man is in custody related to the discovery of a massive amount of ammonium nitrate in the basement of a home in Larnaca last month. Earlier this month, Israel said Cyprus had told the Jewish state that the fertilizer was to be used for bombs by Hezbollah, and that Israelis or Jews on Cyprus may have been intended targets.Asked about that account, Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said: “Your information you mentioned is correct.” Asked whether a Hezbollah bomb plot had indeed been foiled, he said: “Most probably.”A senior Israeli official, citing information received from Cyprus, told Reuters that the ammonium nitrate was apparently intended to make a large store of bombs that would be kept “on hand” for possible future attacks. “It does not look like there was an immediate terrorist action planned in connection with this haul,” the official said.

No Cabinet Session this Week as Salam Adopts Wait and See Approach
Naharnet 15/06/15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam is not likely to call for a cabinet session this week to allow the rival parties to agree on ways to manage the state's affairs without clashing on the controversial issue of high-ranking officials. An official close to Salam told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Monday that Salam gave the parties two weeks to continue to hold contacts and avoid a cabinet paralysis. Asked what options the PM had, the official said Salam has a single choice to call for a cabinet session and discuss the agenda that is being prepared by the premiership. The official's remarks came despite a warning by Free Patriotic Movement officials that their party's ministers would not attend a cabinet session if the discussion and approval of high-ranking military and security officials are not on the agenda. Their warning has stopped Salam from calling for a session in the past week and has threatened a cabinet paralysis. FPM chief MP Michel Aoun warned on Saturday that the extension of the terms of the army chief and the heads of military intelligence and Internal Security Forces is illegitimate. He has been lobbying for political consensus on the appointment of Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, his son-in-law, as army chief. Parliamentary sources expected in remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper for the government to convene next week if the consultations carried out by Salam in cooperation with Speaker Nabih Berri led to positive results. Sources told al-Akhbar daily that Berri has called on the ministers representing his Amal Movement in the cabinet to attend any session that Salam invites for even if his allies boycotted it.

Reports: Western Diplomats Support Salam, Warn against Cabinet Paralysis
Naharnet 15/06/15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam has held a meeting with Western ambassadors, who insisted that they would exert all efforts to prevent a cabinet paralysis, diplomatic sources said on Monday. The sources told An Nahar and al-Joumhouria newspapers, that the meeting between Salam and the ambassadors of the United States, France and Britain took place on Saturday night. The sources said that the three diplomats “insisted on stopping the cabinet from entering a vortex of paralysis and encouraged him into exerting more efforts to reactivate the government.”The ambassadors also promised Salam to make the necessary contacts with the different Lebanese parties to revive the cabinet, they said. The diplomats warned that any paralysis would harm international assistance to Lebanon, the sources added. Free Patriotic Movement officials have warned that the party's ministers would block any cabinet decision before the appointment of high-ranking security and military officials are made. Their threat has angered Salam and the March 14 alliance, and stopped the PM short of inviting for a cabinet session. FPM chief MP Michel Aoun has bluntly rejected any attempt to extend the terms of the officials. He has been lobbying for political consensus on the appointment of Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz as army chief as part of a package for the appointment of other top security officers. Roukoz is his son-in-law.

Berri Issues Warning against Paralysis, Says Dialogue Ongoing
Naharnet 15/06/15/Speaker Nabih Berri has warned that the country can no longer bear the consequences of paralysis, saying the verbal feud between the rival parties would not have an impact on their dialogue. “The situation can no longer tolerate a government or parliamentary paralysis and contacts and efforts are being made to guarantee a cabinet session and an extraordinary legislative session to adopt urgent draft-laws,” Berri told several local dailies published on Monday. “The country cannot tolerate the repercussions of a further delay in adopting them or abolishing them, particularly that some of the draft-laws are linked to agreements made between Lebanon and some international financial institutions,” he said. Lebanon has been witnessing a vacuum at Baabda Palace since the term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May last year. The presidential deadlock has caused a paralysis at the parliament, which is not able to convene over lack of quorum to elect a head of state or legislate, and a cabinet paralysis. Berri revealed that a new round of dialogue between al-Mustaqbal Movement and Hizbullah on Monday will focus on the paralysis of the executive and legislative branches. Asked whether the strong rhetoric adopted by the two parties' officials lately would have severe repercussions on the 13th round of talks, the speaker said: “The two sides are bickering … but the dialogue is ongoing.”“It is true that the talks did not make major achievements in the past two sessions, but they are necessary to protect the security situation,” he told the dailies. Berri stressed that Lebanon is enjoying a “minimal” security stability, which was guaranteed by the dialogue, despite the “violent” verbal feud. The talks between al-Mustaqbal and Hizbullah kicked off in December under Berri's auspices at his residence in Ain el-Tineh to reduce sectarian and political tension.

Al-Rahi Says Vacuum Unacceptable, History Stained with Blood
Naharnet 15/06/15/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed on Monday that it was unacceptable for the presidential vacuum to last more than a year, hoping for a divine “interference” in the country's blood-stained history.“We continue to pray for the election of a president, for stability and for a comprehensive reconciliation,” al-Rahi said at the opening of the synod of Maronite Bishops in Bkirki. “No one accepts for the presidential vacuum to last a year,” he said in his address to the bishops. Al-Rahi warned that the vacuum at Baabda Palace is leading to the disintegration of constitutional institutions. The country's top Christian post has been vacant since President Michel Suleiman's six-year tenure ended in May 2014. The rival MPs have been unable to elect a successor since then. Al-Rahi said the bishops are praying for peace in the Middle East. “Prayer is the best solution for God's interference in our history which is stained by the blood of war and terror,” he added. The synod is scheduled to last till Thursday.

Rifi Compares Aoun to Nero, Says Salam Must Convene Cabinet
Naharnet 15/06/15/Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi has lashed out at Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun, accusing him of seeking to suspend cabinet sessions and “the interests of the Lebanese.” “We will ask Prime Minister Tammam Salam to convene the cabinet, seeing as (the representation of all sects) is guaranteed and the country's circumstances cannot withstand a suspension of cabinet sessions,” said Rifi in an interview with al-Liwaa newspaper to be published Monday. “The Constitution gives the premier the jurisdiction to set the date of cabinet sessions and their agendas, and PM Salam must not give up his powers,” Rifi added. Aoun is reportedly seeking a settlement before easing the government's deadlock.“Michel Aoun's behavior must stop and he must not be given a chance to paralyze the interests of the Lebanese. Just like Nero, Aoun is willing to burn the country for the sake of his interests and the interests of his family,” Rifi charged. Nero was Roman emperor from 54 to 68. In 64 AD, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which many Romans believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. “Let's not forget that he blocked the formation of the cabinet for seven months to appoint his son-in-law Jebran Bassil as minister,” Rifi added.
"Michel Aoun did not paralyze the cabinet and did not threaten to resort to street protests when his (Shiite) allies usurped the post of General Security director. We did not see him lamenting the rights of Christians back then,” the minister went on to say.
On Saturday, Aoun issued another warning against a possible extension of the term of the army chief, accusing some parties of practicing dictatorship. “We will not sit idly by over the manipulation of the law with regards to the military,” Aoun said. “The extension of the terms of the army chief and the heads of military intelligence and Internal Security Forces is illegitimate. This harms the morale of the officers,” he said. Aoun has been lobbying for political consensus on the appointment of Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, his son-in-law, as army chief. His efforts have put the cabinet in paralysis. FPM officials have warned that Change and Reform bloc ministers would block any cabinet decision before security appointments are made.But rival parties are prone to extend the term of Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji, whose term expires in September.

Jumblat not Planning on Hosting Syria's Druze as PSP Delegation Visits Turkey
Naharnet 15/06/15/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat does not intend to host Syria's Druze in areas where the sect is concentrated in Lebanon, sources said, as a PSP delegation visited Turkey to contain the repercussions of the killing of at least 20 Druze in the neighboring country. Sources close to Jumblat denied to the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily published on Monday reports that the PSP chief would host Druze from Syria in Lebanon's Shouf district to guarantee their safety. “The Druze of Idlib (province) and of Syria in general will not leave their land and country which have embraced them for centuries,” said the sources. Al-Nusra Front said on Saturday it would prosecute members involved in the shoot-out in Idlib that killed at least 20 members of the country's Druze minority.
On Thursday, residents of the village of Qalb Lawzah protested after a Tunisian al-Nusra leader tried to seize a Druze man's home, accusing him of being loyal to the Syrian regime, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Tunisian leader gathered his men and accused the Druze residents of the village of blasphemy and opened fire on them killing at least 20 people, among them elderly people and at least one child, said the Observatory. The killings forced Jumblat last week to calm members of Syria's minority sect, saying they were an "individual" incident. Jumblat, a harsh critic of Syrian President Bashar Assad, warned that any incitement "will endanger the Druze of Syria," adding that Assad's forces kill dozens of people every day in Syria. As part of his efforts to contain the repercussions of the attack and seek the protection of the Druze in the neighboring country, Jumblat dispatched a delegation led by Health Minister Wael Abou Faour to Turkey. The PSP delegation is expected to hold talks with the representatives of the Syrian opposition, leaders of the Turkish intelligence and officials at the Turkish foreign ministry, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported Monday. It quoted PSP spokesman Rami al-Rayyes as saying that Jumblat is seeking to guarantee the safety of the Druze villages to avoid a repetition of the Qalb Lawzah attack. “We are convinced that the protection of the Druze at this sensitive stage needs wise stances and not a reckless behavior that leads to more bloodshed and the involvement of the Druze in (Syria's) war,” he said.

Al-Nusra Front Official Says IS Plotting Attack in Northern Lebanon
Naharnet 15/06/15/An al-Nusra Front official has revealed that the Islamic State extremist group is plotting a terrorist attack in northern Lebanon in the coming weeks, As Safir daily reported on Monday.The newspaper said the official claimed on his Twitter account that the IS is planning for “a huge operation against the Lebanese army” in the northern city of Tripoli at the start of the holy month of Ramadan. The militant, who is known by the name of Abou Mohammed Saleh al-Hamwi, used to hold a top post in the Syrian province of Hama, said As Safir. He stressed he had information that the attack would be carried out by the Iraqi Abu Qatada who has entered Lebanon from the Syrian province of Raqqa and has activated some sleepers cells in the North. Abu Qatada is currently residing in Tripoli's al-Ramel neighborhood, claimed the al-Nusra Front official. The IS's threat first came to Lebanon in August last year, two months after the group's summer blitz in which it seized large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria. In a surprise attack, IS and al-Nusra Front militants crossed over from Syria and overran the Lebanese border town of Arsal, hitting Lebanese army positions and taking with them soldiers and policemen captive. The militants and their backers mainly in north Lebanon have carried out several attacks on the army since then.

Sami Gemayel Elected Head of Kataeb Party
Naharnet 15/06/15/MP Sami Gemayel won the internal elections of the Kataeb Party on Sunday, becoming the party's seventh chairman and succeeding his father, former Lebanese president Amin Gemayel. Gemayel received 339 votes as his only contender, the journalist Pierre Atallah, garnered only 37. “At this moment, my thoughts go to all the martyrs and all those who fell in order for us to be here today,” the MP said at the party's headquarters in Saifi after his win was declared. The elections were held on the third day of Kataeb's 30th conference.Two deputy chiefs and a new political bureau were also elected on Sunday. “I feel a very heavy burden and I will shoulder a huge responsibility. My daily work will be alongside all Kataeb members, all Lebanese and all decent people,” Gemayel pledged.
“I salute Pierre Atallah and the members of Kataeb and I thank them for the confidence that they placed in me,” he added. The lawmaker also thanked his father, the party's outgoing chief Amin Gemayel, for “giving the chance to all the members of Kataeb to run in this democratic battle.” Kataeb has an economic and social plan for Lebanon that would once again give the people hope, Gemayel had declared after announcing his candidacy on Wednesday. “Kataeb is open to all Lebanese from all over Lebanon, regardless of their sect. It is open to all youths who seek Lebanon's interests,” he stated. In May, Sami's father Amin had announced that he would not be running for a new term at the head of the party. He had been the head of the party since February 2008. The young Sami was born on December 3, 1980. His older brother, Pierre, was a member of parliament and the minister of industry until his assassination on November 21, 2006. His grandfather, Pierre Gemayel, founded the Kataeb party in 1936. Sami is also the nephew of slain president-elect Bashir Gemayel, who was assassinated in 1982. After the 2006 assassination of his brother Pierre, Sami rejoined the Kataeb Party to head the Youth and Student Council and he later became the coordinator of the Central Committee. He had left the party in 2006 to form the Loubnanouna Movement.

'I'm going back to work:' doctor in amputee baby case
The Daily Star/June 15/15/BEIRUT: A doctor who was arrested earlier this month for allegedly misdiagnosing an infant girl leading to a condition that required the amputation of her four limbs was released Monday after he paid nearly $70,000 in bail. Pediatrician Issam Maalouf, who was arrested two weeks ago after being accused of negligence in the case of 9-month-old Ella Tannous, left Al-Hayat Hospital where he was being detained, telling reporters that he was heading "back to work."His lawyer Sakhr al-Hashem told reporters that the judiciary rejected an appeal submitted by the Tannous family lawyer against Maalouf’s release on bail, saying that the doctor would be practicing his profession "normally."Maalouf’s bail was set at LL100 million ($66,335), but investigations into the case will continue and he will still be facing a trial, Hashem explained. The doctor, who was received by his family as he walked out of the hospital, thanked his lawyer, family and supporters in brief comments to reporters. The defense lawyer had previously objected to the decision to grant his client bail, asserting that the physician was wrongfully arrested and should be released immediately without payment. In his testimony before the court last week, Maalouf insisted he had not misdiagnosed the baby, a claim the Tannous family rejects.

Beirut’s only public beach will remain open: minister
Nizar HassanHashem Osseiran/The Daily Star/June 15/15
BEIRUT: Public Works Minister Ghazi Zeaiter vowed Monday to prevent the closure of Beirut's only public beach after a judge earlier this month ordered its entrances shut following petitions by private developers. “I am going to take all necessary measures to ensure that the Ramlet al-Baida beach will remain open to the public,” Zeaiter told The Daily Star in a telephone interview, adding that he has called on the Beirut Municipality and Interior Ministry to intervene. “I have asked the Interior Ministry to take measures to ensure that the entrances to the beach are not closed so that the public will still have access to the area,” he said. When asked about his stance on the private ownership of parts of the beach, Zeaiter said that his ministry “respects" private property, but has a "greater concern and greater respect for public property.” On June 4, Beirut Judge of Urgent Matters Zalfa al-Hasan issued a decision to cordon off three major sections of the beach that cover roughly 28,000 square meters of Ramlet al-Baida, a popular destination for Beirut’s low-income families who cannot afford the exuberant entrance fees charged at private resorts.
Two real estate companies, Mediterranean Real Estate and Bahr Real Estate, both owned by businessman Wissam Ashour, claim ownership of those three sections of the beach, numbered 4026, 4027 and 2369. Irad Investment Holding group also owns some shares in those companies. “We will investigate the claims of private ownership of parts of the beach,” Zeaiter said. “We are not here to revoke people’s ownership rights, but at the end of the day this beach is going to remain public.”
He said he urged the Beirut Municipality to take “quick and necessary measures" regarding the judicial decision. Lebanese laws prevent property owners from erecting buildings on beaches because of the loose terrain. But activists worry that developers could transform sections of Lebanon's only free beach into luxury projects that cater to the wealthy, similar to what occurred last year when the state fenced off a section of Raouche. The first law to regulate coastal properties was Order 144, issued in 1925 by Maurice Sarrail, the then-French High Commissioner in charge of Syria and Lebanon for one year during the French mandate. Article 2 of that decision listed properties that should belong to the public, and included the “sea’s shore until the farthest area reached by waves during winter, as well as sand and rock shores.” Activists point to the decision to argue that investors have no right to build in the public maritime domain.However, Article 3 granted those who owned parts of coastal properties before the decision was issued the right to use them for commercial purposes. If the state was to prevent such use of these properties to safeguard public interest, it ought to pay “fair compensations in advance,” the decision said. In 1966, another decree was issued to allow owners to build on their properties if their plans were approved by the Lebanese government and served touristic or industrial purposes.

Army Arrests Syrians on Terror Charges, Illegal Entry to Lebanon
Naharnet 15/06/15/The army announced on Monday the arrest of three Syrians in the eastern Bekaa region on terrorism charges, it said in a statement. The military detained Mohammed Kamel Roq, Haeb Hussein Haider, and Anas Hassan al-Masri on suspicion of belonging to terrorist groups. They were held in the Hrabta and al-Labweh regions in the Bekaa.In Beirut's Haret Hreik neighborhood, the army detained two wanted Lebanese on shooting charges and another citizen for the possession of equipment used to produce explosives.Earlier on Monday, 28 Syrians were arrested in the border region of al-Masnaa in the east for illegally entering Lebanon, added the military in a separate communique.All detainees have been referred to the concerned authorities for investigation.

Lebanon held hostage to Israel-Iran rivalry
Monday, 15 June 2015
Sharif Nashashibi/Al Arabiya
Last month, General Yahya Rahim Safavi, military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement was ready to fire more than 80,000 rockets at Israel if the latter attacked his country. It was not the first time Safavi had made such a threat, which has been echoed by other Iranian officials. Tehran is putting its ally - indeed the whole of Lebanon - in a very dangerous predicament. It would be highly irresponsible for Hezbollah to oblige, particularly in light of current regional developments - doing so would be against the national interest as well as its own. Iran is itself capable of retaliating - its Sajjil 1, Sajjil 2, Shahab 3 and Ghadr 1 missiles are all capable of reaching Israel. Lebanese lives are not worth less that Hezbollah should fight on Tehran’s behalf. That sounds less like a genuinely mutual alliance, and more like one party using the other as a proxy force (a description both vehemently reject). After all, Iran has never attacked Israel in defense of Hezbollah or Lebanon, and has not threatened to do so.
Israeli threats
Israel has made it brutally clear how it would respond to a Hezbollah attack. “We will raze Lebanon to the ground. We will return it to the Stone Age,” Yisrael Katz, minister for transport, and for intelligence and atomic energy, said in Nov. 2014. Lebanese lives are not worth less that Hezbollah should fight on Tehran’s behalf. Earlier last year, Benny Gantz, then-chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), said his country would knock Lebanon back “70 or 80 years, in all areas... It could also turn out that we’ll need to capture Lebanese territory.”Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon last month said: “We are going to hurt Lebanese civilians to include kids of the family.” In January, he said: “Israel will view governments, regimes and organizations that lie beyond its northern border as being responsible for what happens in their territory.” In other words, the Lebanese state and its people would be collectively punished, as has always been the case with Israel’s aggressions against its northern neighbor.
In April, Brigadier-General Moni Katz, commander of the Israeli army’s Galilee Formation, said Lebanese border villages would be razed. The next war will “look entirely different” from Lebanon’s perspective, he added. “Hezbollah will receive an even harsher blow” than it did during Israel’s last invasion in 2006.
2006 invasion
As such, it is worth reflecting on what Israel inflicted on Lebanon during that 34-day war. Israel launched more than 7,000 airstrikes, and its naval vessels launched 2,500 shells. Almost 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, were killed, of whom a third were children (117 Israeli soldiers and 40 civilians were killed). More than 4,000 Lebanese were injured and almost 1 million displaced. Some 30,000 houses were destroyed, as were other civilian targets and infrastructure such as hospitals, airports, ports, water and sewage treatment plants, electrical facilities, businesses, places of worship, bridges and roads. The overall cost of the damage was $3.5 billion.
Amnesty International said Israel “deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure and committed war crimes.” Human Rights Watch accused Israel of “reckless indifference” toward the fate of civilians, and of “disregarding” its “legal duty to distinguish between military targets sand civilians.”
Lebanon struggling
It is obvious, then, that Israel would have no qualms acting on its recent threats, and has the capability to do so. As such, while Hezbollah would be perfectly entitled to defend itself and Lebanon against Israeli aggression (as was its founding raison d’etre), it has no place inviting widespread death and destruction to avenge an ally that can defend itself. Lebanon is struggling with a gargantuan refugee crisis, with Syrian refugees comprising a quarter of the country’s population. “The impact of the Syrian crisis - including on the economy, demographics, political instability, and security - continues to deepen across Lebanon,” said the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in its 2015 overview. The last thing the country needs is another devastating war, at the behest of a state that claims to have Lebanon’s best interests at heart. This would further damage Hezbollah’s domestic and regional popularity, which according to opinion polls has nose-dived due to its direct intervention in Syria. Its involvement there, which is deepening amid recent battlefield losses by the Syrian regime, has left Hezbollah dangerously over-exposed in the event of a conflict with Israel. Last month, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his forces were fighting across all of Syria, not in certain areas as before. As such, the movement - already bogged down in one conflict - cannot afford a full-scale war with the most powerful military in the region. Neither should the Lebanese people be held hostage to the rivalry between Israel and Iran. It is they who risk enduring the brunt of that rivalry, and it is their wellbeing that should be Hezbollah’s priority.

The key moments in Sami Gemayel’s life and career
The Daily Star/June. 15, 2015
Following is a breakdown of the milestones that shaped MP Sami Gemayel’s political career.
Family: Born on Dec. 3, 1980, Sami hails from the Metn town of Bikfaya, from a family with deep roots in Lebanese politics. His father, Amine, and uncle, Bashir, were both elected to the Lebanese presidency. His grandfather, Pierre Gemayel, founded the Kataeb Party.
Education: Sami graduated with a BA in law from Universite Saint-Joseph in 2003, and finished his masters in constitutional law there as well, graduating in 2005. He later received diplomas in leadership and negotiation from Harvard University, in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Pierre Gemayel’s assassination: Sami’s elder brother Pierre was assassinated in broad daylight by a group of masked gunmen in Jdeideh in November 2006. Pierre was an important figure in the “Cedar Revolution,” a movement that called for the departure of the Syrian army from Lebanon. At a 2011 memorial event, Sami stated, “To whoever killed Pierre I say this: You can assassinate the person but you cannot kill his dream.” Political rise: Sami’s political involvement began in 1999, when he played a significant role in establishing the Kataeb Base, a group of students focused on ending Syrian occupation. In 2003, he headed the Youth Department of the Kataeb’s Reform Movement. Following the withdrawal of Syrian troops in 2005, Sami participated in founding “Our Lebanon,” a workgroup advocating scholarly research and informed debate on an alternative federal, decentralized government, along with several political and independent activists. In 2007 he took over the leadership of the Kataeb’s Youth and Student Council. He was assigned as a general coordinator for the party’s Central Committee in 2008. Parliament: Sami is currently a member of the Lebanese Parliament, after his election to the Maronite seat representing the North Metn constituency in June of 2009. He is a member of three Parliamentary committees: Human Rights, Education, and Defense and Municipalities. Sami has put forward a number of draft laws tackling issues such as women’s rights, local governance and decentralization. Chief of the Kataeb Party: Sami announced earlier this month that he would run for the Kataeb Party’s presidency, shortly after his father announced that he would not seek another term. Sami was elected as the party’s chief on June 15, winning 339 of 400 votes. “At this moment my mind goes to all of the Kataeb’s martyrs, and to the heroes that were martyred for us to be here today,” Sami said as his victory was announced. “I feel a very great burden and responsibility,” he added, promising all Lebanese that he would continue to work for a better future.

A riddle to ponder
The Daily Star/June. 15, 2015
On the one hand, Lebanon is reeling from turmoil and violence inside and outside its borders, and on the other ... well, it’s difficult to explain. Thousands of people Sunday trekked to the Maronite patriarchate in Bkirki to welcome the remains of a saint that have been taken on tour throughout the country. A relatively short distance away in Beirut’s Ashrafieh, a street music festival has been in full swing – with dancers wearing the phrase “Holy Shit” on their T-shirts, in an atmosphere of sharp contrast to the holiness of the religious occasion.
A main road in Beirut was closed down Sunday because the Kataeb Party was electing a new leader, while down in the south, Hezbollah’s Sheikh Naim Qassem was busy delivering his party’s latest broadside against its rivals.Despite the wars raging outside Lebanon and the tension inside the country, Lebanon’s summer festival season has already started and local televisions are promoting more than a dozen events. For now, it seems that current residents will form the bulk of the audiences, and these events might be the only places in Lebanon where a quorum of MPs might result, after this became impossible in Parliament. And although some might complain that Lebanon won’t benefit from tourism this summer, hotel reservations are picking up so briskly that a leading hotel in Downtown Beirut has zero vacancy – and zero chance of booking Saturday events well into next year. In short, Lebanon continues to survive without a president, with a lame-duck Cabinet and a paralyzed Parliament, while shouldering the burden of around 1.5 Syrian refugees. Before this riddle of Lebanon’s survival is solved, perhaps it’s enough to remember what its people are capable of as they make their own efforts to sustain the country and keep it on the map.

'If Iran deal is reached, Israel should multiply intelligence monitoring'
By YAAKOV LAPPIN/06/14/2015/J.Post
Should Iran and the US overcome last-minute disagreements and reach a final deal over Tehran's nuclear program, Israel should "multiply its intelligence attempts to monitor developments in Iran, so that it can sound the alarm if necessary," a former senior Israeli defense official has said. In a paper published recently at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Brig. -Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, former chief of the research division in IDF Military Intelligence, and until recently, director general of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, offered scathing criticism of the Obama Administration's handling of the Iranian nuclear issue. "The main reason for the reluctance of the administration to consider the strategy proposed by Israel, and by like-minded Arab states and members of Congress, is its optimistic and guilt-driven worldview. As long as the negotiations continue, Israel should keep doing everything it can to prevent a bad deal with Iran," Kuperwasser said. "But if in spite of its efforts a bad deal is signed," Israel should boost intelligence gathering, accelerate efforts to develop the military capability to defend itself if necessary, and build a regional alliance determined to block Iranian attempts to translate its achievements in the nuclear realm into greater regional influence, even without developing a weapon.
"Put succinctly," Kuperwasser said, "Washington seeks to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, while Jerusalem seeks to prevent it from having the capability to produce nuclear weapons," he wrote, as the June 30 deadline for a final deal approaches.
Israel continues to believe that with enough pressure, Iran can be convinced that it has no chance of becoming a nuclear weapon state, he argued. "On the other hand, Israel believes that the deal proposed now will justifiably be presented by Iran as a victory of the Islamic Republic, one that can be translated into further achievements in Iran’s quest for regional hegemony," Kuperwasser stated. From an Israeli point of view, he continued, the US administration "seems to have convinced itself that the deal it is trying to reach is the best possible deal and is a reasonable one, while it remains blind to the deal’s many shortcomings, and indulges in wishful thinking and distortion of facts in order to justify it." Elsewhere in his paper, Kuperwasser wrote, "To be specific about the perceived threat, Israel’s view is that Iran under the current regime seeks, through a variety of ways, to bring about the destruction of the national state of the Jewish people. This is a central component of Iran’s broader efforts to form a new Middle East, controlled by extremist forces aligned with it and under its influence, from which basis it can advance toward changing the entire world order."

Never Again? The ISIS Genocide of Yazidis
Stephen Schwartz and Christopher Bilardi
The Huffington Post/Middle East Forum
June 15, 2015
http://www.meforum.org/5313/yezidi-genocide
Originally published under the title, "The Yezidi Sect: ISIS Targets for Death."
Until the tragedy that came early in August 2014, the people who call themselves the Dâseni were little known to Westerners. These are the Yezidis, who mainly live in Iraq. Reviled as "devil worshippers" for centuries by their Muslim and Christian neighbors, they have endured 72 attempted genocides since 630 CE. After the predations of the "Islamic State" that number has increased to 74. A Kurdish people in ethnicity, the Yezidis practice a distinctive religion that is neither Christian nor Muslim. Tradition states that it is one of the oldest in the world, and that they have been a presence in Mesopotamia "for more than 6,700 years." During that long span of time Yezidism has incorporated elements of other faiths: Christian, Jewish, Muslim (Sufism), Zoroastrian, and Mandaean Gnostic. Like Hindus, the Yezidis have a caste system. Their tradition is hereditary and does not allow converts. Most Muslims do not regard them as "People of the Book" since their traditions are oral, although some Iranians describe them as such based on their link to Zoroastrianism. Their apparent non-scriptural status is changing, however, as their core oral 'texts' (hymns or qawls) are written down "effectively transforming Yezidism into a scriptural religion," according to a Yezidi source.
The archangel Tawuse Melek
The Yezidis describe themselves as monotheists believing in one true God. Their theology is based on the emanations of God in the form of seven archangels or the heft sirr (the Seven Mysteries). Chief of these is the archangel Tawuse Melek, the Peacock Angel often conflated by Christians and Muslims with Satan or Iblis. Yezidis pray three to five times a day in the direction of the sun, which is symbolic of God's energy and truth. Unlike conventional Muslims, who prohibit any belief in incarnation (hulul), Yezidis believe all the heft sirr, with the exception of Tawuse Melek, have been incarnated on earth as various holy people or saints. The main Yezidi saint is Sheikh 'Adî ibn Mustafa, said to be of Umayyad descent, from the Beka'a Valley of Lebanon. He settled in Lalish in the Kurdish area of Iraq early in the 12th century CE, and died circa 1162 CE. He is said to have learned from the outstanding Sufis Ahmad al-Ghazali and 'Abd al-Qadir Gilani. At his death two groups formed: one went to Egypt and Syria and continued his Sufi body of disciples or tariqa (path). The other (mostly from his family) stayed in the Kurdish multireligious area and formed the basis of the Yezidi Sheikh caste.
Prior to recent events it was estimated that the Yezidi population ranged from 750,000 to 1,000,000.
An August 7, 2014 satellite photo shows over 5,500 vehicles in and around Mt. Sinjar.
Ten thousand Yezidis have died at the hands of the so-called "Islamic State" or ISIS since August 3, 2014. On that day ISIS attacked and seized the region where they lived after Kurdish fighters (Peshmerga) withdrew for unknown reasons. The fall of Sinjar (Shingal) led to the flight of Yezidis from the Sinjar District; 150,000 went to the territory of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq and 250,000 were trapped on Mt. Sinjar. ISIS murdered approximately 3,000 Yezidis, abducted 6,500, and sold 4,500 women and girls into sexual slavery. 186,000 children have been displaced.Donatella Rivera, Amnesty International Senior Crisis Response Advisor, says "Many of those held as sexual slaves are children - girls 14, 15 or even younger. ISIS fighters are using rape as a weapon in attacks amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity." Yezidi women and girls have been forcibly married, sold, or given as "gifts" to ISIS fighters and supporters, and are often forced to convert to ISIS doctrine. Many girls have committed suicide.
Yezidi boys are held at military training camps in Raqqa, Syria, the "capital" of the spurious ISIS "caliphate," and at Tal Afar, in Iraq's Mosul province. It is estimated that 600-700 children are still missing. Boys between the ages of eight and 15 are given military training and forced to watch decapitations: "This is your initiation into jihad," one boy was told. "You are an Islamic State boy now."
According to Francesca Pizzutelli, also writing for Amnesty International, more than two million Iraqis were displaced during 2014. 950,000 are now in the KRG. Most are Yezidis from the Sinjar region.
The KRG built camps, hosting 430,000 displaced people. The camps are in poor condition, lacking weatherized tents, and including washing and toilet facilities that "do not meet minimum standards for humanitarian response," according to Amnesty International.
Despite the mounting horrors, the Yezidis are not without their supporters. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, writing in The Huffington Post under the title " 'Never Again' Should Include Endangered Yazidis," made a powerful case for common ground with Yezidi suffering. On April 15-16, 2015 -- Yom Ha-Shoah, the Day of Holocaust Remembrance -- his declaration appeared: "But more than any other group," Rabbi Cooper wrote, "it is the plight of the Yazidis that evokes the memory of Nazi brutality: That of a victim stripped of everything: rights, possessions, clothing, relatives, food, liberty, and the ultimate indignity of the loss of voice."
Mirza Ismail
A new organization, Canadian Jews and Friends of Yezidis, was formed in August 2014. A key member is a Yezidi representative, Mirza Ismail, who lives in the Toronto area. Rananah Goldhar, one of the founding members, said, "I struggled with getting involved, but finally God answered my question: How can I ... be involved with the Yezidi effort? And God answered that you cannot be a Jew without weeping and running to help the Yezidis." CJFY is petitioning the Canadian Parliament to provide military assistance and bring refugees to Canada. A Yezidi artist, Ammar Salim, evokes the tragedies and outrages suffered by his people. He lives in a small apartment after fleeing his home in Bashiqa for sanctuary in the KRG. He draws inspiration from the atrocities committed by IS. His work has attracted attention and has led to death threats: "I receive threats via Facebook. They sent me a message: 'If you do not burn the painting, we will kill you. We know where to find you.'"Another Yezidi artist, film maker Nawzad Shekhany, created "The Black Massacre," a short documentary highlighting the suffering of the Yezidi people. In the West we live comfortable lives, and we give lip service to humanitarian sentiments. Yet, the world is getting smaller and genocidal campaigns are happening now - and not only to Yezidis. Groups such as the ISIS must no longer be allowed to use God as a cover for their evil.
**Stephen Schwartz, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism in Washington, DC. Christopher Bilardi is an expert on the Yezidi faith and an associate member of the Center for Islamic Pluralism.

Jihad on Churches
Muslim Persecution of Christians, March 2015
Raymond Ibrahim/Gastone Institute
June 15, 2015
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5912/jihad-on-churches
"Destroying churches is permissible -- as long as the destruction does not bring harm to Muslims, such as false claims that Muslims are persecuting Christians...." — Dr. Yusuf al-Burhami, leading Salafi cleric, Egypt.
"The children were isolated and put in cages. Adults who do not deny their faith will be decapitated, and their children burned alive in the cages." — Sister Monique of the Vincentian Daughters of Charity, Syria.
"[T]he police detained my son Zubair and tortured him in front of me. When Zubair cried with pain, they told him that he would be released only if I confess the theft.... I repeatedly told the police that I had no connection with the said theft, and then they threw me out of the police station... The next day we found Zubair's dead body outside our house." — Aysha Bibi, on the Pakistani police's attempt to extract from her a confession to a theft she did not commit.
On Sunday, March 15, as Christian churches around the world were celebrating morning mass, two churches in Pakistan — one Catholic, one Protestant — were attacked by Islamic suicide bombers. At least 17 people were killed and over 70 wounded.
The Taliban claimed responsibility. It is believed that the group had hoped for much greater death tolls, as there were almost 2,000 people in both churches at the time of the explosions.
According to eyewitnesses, two suicide bombers approached the gates of the two churches and tried to enter them. When they were stopped — in one church by a 15-year-old Christian youth who blocked them with his body — the Islamic jihadis self-detonated. Witnesses saw "body parts flying through the air."
According to an official statement from the Justice and Peace Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Pakistan, despite all the threats received by the churches, authorities only provided "minimal" security.
As in other Muslim-majority nations, churches in Pakistan are under attack. On September 22, 2013, in Peshawar, Islamic suicide bombers entered the All Saints Church right after Sunday mass and blew themselves up in the midst of approximately 550 congregants, killing nearly 90 worshippers. Many were Sunday school children, women, and choir members. At least 120 were injured.
One parishioner recalled how "human remains were strewn all over the church." (For an idea of the aftermath of suicide attacks on churches, see these graphic pictures.)
In 2001, Islamic gunmen stormed St. Dominic's Protestant Church, opening fire on the congregants and killing at least 16 worshippers, mostly women and children.
The rest of March's roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes, but is not limited to, the following accounts, listed by theme and country in alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity.
Muslim Attacks on Christian Churches and Monasteries
Central African Republic: At least eight churches were burned in the northern province of Nana Grebizi, after heavily armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked several villages. Two Christians, including a pastor, were killed in the attack; another Christian was severely tortured. After the carnage, the Islamic herdsmen started fires and looted the local population. The blaze destroyed swathes of farmland, at least eight churches, several other mission centers and an unknown number of Christian homes.
Egypt: During the early morning hours of March 9, the Coptic Catholic Church of Kafr el-Dawar was attacked by armed men who used an explosive device against the place of worship. Two policemen were hospitalized after the attack. Separately, Dr. Yusuf al-Burhami, a leading cleric in Egypt's Salafi movement, appeared in a video that surfaced in March, saying that "Destroying churches is permissible — as long as the destruction does not bring harm to Muslims, such as false claims that Muslims are persecuting Christians, leading to [foreign] occupations." He further added that "the reason we agree to their [churches] being built, via the article in the constitution dealing with worship, and the reason we do not collect the jizya [tribute] from the Christians, is because the condition of Muslims in the current era is well known to the nations of the world — they are weak and deteriorating among the people." Burhami explained that when the Arab Muslims first conquered Egypt in the 7th century, the ancient nation was Christian, and because the Muslims were few in number, Coptic Christian churches were allowed to remain — "just as the prophet allowed the Jews to remain in Khaibar after he opened [conquered] it, but once Muslims grew in strength and number, [second caliph] Omar al-Khattab drove them out according to the prophet's command, 'Drive out the Jews and Christians from the Peninsula.'"
Germany: A potential jihadi attack on the cathedral and synagogue in Bremen was averted following action by police. Police guarded the cathedral and synagogue and searched a local Muslim cultural center.
Heavily armed German police guard the Cathedral in Bremen, after receiving intelligence information that jihadists planned to attack the city's Cathedral and synagogue. (Image source: Tagesschau video screenshot)
Iraq: Islamic State militants blew up a 10th century Chaldean Catholic church north of Mosul and bulldozed a nearby graveyard. According to Nineveh Yakou — an Assyrian Archaeologist and Director of Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Affairs at A Demand for Action — the Saint George monastery was "wiped out" by IS. The building was founded by the Assyrian Church in the 10th century but rebuilt as a seminary by the Chaldean Catholic Church in 1846. "The current monastery was built on an archeological site containing ancient Assyrian ruins. It was an important show of continuity from the Assyrian to our culture," Yakou said. "ISIS is wiping out the cultural heritage of Iraq. The monastery was classified as cultural heritage. It's a cultural and ethnic cleansing."
Kenya: On the afternoon of February 28, in Maramande, Muslims from neighboring Somalia set a Christian church on fire. This same church was set on fire July 5, 2014, but was rebuilt in January 2015. According to its pastor, "These people do not want Christianity in this area.... They want to finish me so that Christianity will not go on here. But I will continue raising up my eyes to God for help." According to Morning Star News, "Violence in Kenya's coastal region has accelerated in the past few years. On Jan. 11 in the Mombasa area, a gunman shot a Christian dead at the gate leading to a church building, apparently after mistaking him for the church pastor. Police reportedly said the assailants could be members of an active Islamic extremist terror cell in Mombasa blamed for past gun and grenade attacks."
Lebanon: Unidentified persons invaded Mar Elias, an ancient Maronite church in the Bekaa Valley. Along with damaging one of the church's windows, they destroyed a portion of the flooring by digging a large hole near the altar. According to Maronite Bishop Joseph Mouwad, much of the church's sacred items were left intact and not stolen. Instead, "they broke the tiles and dug the ground, apparently looking for something, though we do not know what." Fingerprints and cigarette butts were found.
Muslim Slaughter of Christian 'Infidels'
Central African Republic: An argument between a taxi driver and his Muslim passenger led to the slaughter of at least 16 Christians in Bangui, the nation's capital. A Muslim man known as Aladji hailed a motorcycle taxi and asked to be taken to a Muslim-dominated district of Bangui. He was carrying a bag of grenades. When the motorcycle broke down, the driver stopped to fix it, but his agitated passenger pulled out a knife and tried to stab him. The driver overpowered Aladji and killed him instead. After his body was found, Muslims marched to the Christian sector of the city where they slaughtered at least 16 Christians—some decapitated. Authorities arrested 10 members of Seleka — the almost entirely Muslim rebel group — after the killings.
Libya: Two months after the Islamic State in Libya released a video of 21 Coptic Christians having their heads cut off for being "infidels" and "worshippers of the cross," Copts continue to be targeted and killed. Since that video was released in mid-February, at least 35 more Coptic Christians in Libya have disappeared. Further, on March 2, the beheaded body of another Egyptian Coptic Christian was discovered on the outskirts of Mechili in eastern Libya. In related news, an Egyptian professor claimed that IS received its justification to slaughter Christians in Libya from a book entitled (in translation), Christians in the Koran. The author of this book is Mahmoud Lutfi 'Amr — president of Damanhur's Ansar al-Sunna al-Muhammadiya, that is, "The Supporters of Muhammad's Example." The book was being openly sold in Islamic bookstores throughout Egypt.
Nigeria: Upset that watchmen of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Kaduna state dared to set up a roadblock as a security measure against jihadi raids, on March 8, Nigerian soldiers opened fire on and killed five church members during Sunday Mass. According to parish member Christopher Mamman, "A soldier approached our Cadets who had mounted a blockade during Sunday morning Mass on the road leading to our parish and ordered them to dismantle the blockade. The Cadets told the soldier that Mass was going on, and they would remove the blockade as soon as it was over, but the soldier was dissatisfied with the explanation." It should be noted that hundreds of Christian churches have been attacked and Christians slaughtered during Sunday services — hence the reason for the church roadblock. Regardless, the soldier returned 10 minutes later with other soldiers: "They stormed the parish, shooting at worshipers inside the church," Mamman said. "Five of our members were shot and killed, while many others were injured. One other Christian from another church was also killed when the incident escalated and engulfed the town."
Pakistan: A Christian mother accused police of torturing her son to death in an attempt to extract from her a confession to a theft she did not commit. Zubair Masih was buried on March 9 in a Christian cemetery in Lahore, amid a heavy police presence. He was 20. His mutilated body was found on the evening of March 7, outside his house in the Shamsabad area of Lahore. His mother, Aysha Bibi, worked until February 20 as a servant in the home of Abdul Jabbar. She said her wages had been paid in full when she left Jabbar's employment. But on March 4, she received a phone call from Jabbar's wife, asking her to return for some work: "When I went there, Jabbar took me to the Harbanspura Police Station, where I was told that I had stolen things from Jabbar's house," Bibi said. "Jabbar beat me in the police station while other policemen called me names and forced me to confess that I had stolen 35,000 rupees (about US $350) and gold ornaments weighing up to 100 grams." On March 6, she said, "the police detained my son Zubair and tortured him in front of me. When Zubair cried with pain, they told him that he would be released only if I confess the theft.... I repeatedly told the police that I had no connection with the said theft, and then they threw me out of the police station while they still detained Zubair there. The next day we found Zubair's dead body outside our house." Human rights activists say that the allegation made by her former Muslim employer is suspect because he waited a week to register his complaint with police.
Uganda: A 16-year-old girl who fled from a Muslim uncle who beat her and her sister for converting to Christianity, died under mysterious circumstances on March 8, one day after Muslim relatives who had been searching for her found her. Namwase Aisha died at Iganga Hospital where she had been recovering from malaria after being admitted on March 2, as well as receiving further treatment for a head injury suffered on Feb. 1, when her uncle beat her and her sister with a wooden rod and locked them in a room for nearly three days without food. According to a source, "On Saturday [March 7], Muslim relatives discovered her location and visited the hospital after tracing her whereabouts for some weeks.... Aisha then was responding very well to the medication, but on Sunday morning, after receiving morning medication, she became restless, and we wondered what could have happened to her."
Her condition continued to deteriorate until her death, said a pastor caring for her: "We suspect that the death of our sister Aisha could be related to the medication given the morning of Sunday, which has connection with the arrival of the Muslim relatives on Saturday." Church leaders considered filing a case against the hospital but felt it would lead to more friction with Muslims, they said.
Aisha received a Christian burial near the area to which she had fled. "As we took Aisha to the burial site, her body was swollen and smelling of drugs, which is an indication that her body could have been injected with unknown drug," said her pastor. Two years earlier, another convert to Christianity in Uganda was attacked by his Muslim family, including an aunt who poisoned his drink with insecticide.
Dhimmitude: Generic Contempt and Hostility
Egypt: "Unknown persons" set fire to the parked car of Fr. Ayub Yusif, the priest of the Saint George Coptic Catholic Church in the village of Dalga, Minya, Upper Egypt. By the time authorities put out the fire, the car was completely charred. Dalga has been the scene of many attacks on Christians. Back in September 2013, for example, Muslim Brotherhood supporters forced Coptic households to pay jizya -- Islamic "protection money" extorted from Christians and other non-Muslim subjects of the Islamic state. Then, Fr. Ayub, the same priest whose car was recently torched, complained of how the Muslim Brotherhood was abusing the Christians of the village.
Kazakhstan: A drug and alcohol rehabilitation center run by Christians in the village of Sychevka, Pavlodar Region, was fined and closed down for three months after a court order claimed that the center was "conducting illegal activities," including religious worship. This charge, which the center denies, was made after police seized 18 Christian books and other materials in a raid on March 9. The center had housed 14 residents, all of whom had freely chosen to reside there and could leave at any time. Eight of the residents, scared after being questioned several times, decided to leave after police raided the center last year.
Kenya: Muslims from Somalia attacked two Christian siblings, a brother and sister, in their home. According to the brother (name withheld): "The attackers made a knock at the door, and my sister decided to go and open the door, only to be hit with a blunt sharp object near the forehead. My sister fell down screaming, and I decided to rush in to help. Just at the door, I was hit on my right hand, and I fell down." When neighbors rushed to the scene, Somali-speaking assailants fled. While doing so, one of the neighbors heard them saying, "We do not want hard-haired [derogatory for Kenyan] Christians in our region — they should go back to where they came from. We shall soon come back again." Less than a year earlier, the siblings' father had been murdered, also by Somali-speaking Muslims.
Syria: The International Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic organization, reported that some of its members in Syria were kidnapped by the Islamic State and told that if the adults do not deny their Christian faith, they will be decapitated and "their children burned alive in cages." According to Sister Monique, of the Vincentian Daughters of Charity: "Late Sunday afternoon on 1 March 2015, I received a message from M. Francoise, a delegate of the International Society of St. Vincent de Paul [in Rome], and I managed to reach her by telephone. She was leaving for Paris, and collapsed at the news she had just received: members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Syria were kidnapped, along with their wives and children. The children were isolated and put into cages. Adults who do not deny their faith will be decapitated, and their children burned alive in the cages." The fate of most of those kidnapped Christians, well over 200, remains unknown.
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians is expanding. "Muslim Persecution of Christians" was developed to collate some — by no means all — of the instances of persecution that surface each month.
It documents what the mainstream media often fails to report.
It posits that such persecution is not random but systematic, and takes place in all languages, ethnicities and locations.
**Raymond Ibrahim is author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War in Christians (published by Regnery in cooperation with Gatestone Institute, April 2013).

Inside Iran: Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News
Sunday, 14 June 2015
With a capacity now detaining 15,000 people, the Evin Prison has built a reputation of being Iran’s most notorious prison.
Located in northwestern Tehran, the facility has been nicknamed “Evin University” due to the large number of intellectuals, political prisoners, journalists and academics that have been incarcerated there. This article is based on the following report, part of the Inside Iran series by Al Arabiya News Channel. It was the subject of the 2014 film “Rose Water,” written and directed by U.S. TV personality Jon Stewart, which told the story of an Iranian-Canadian journalist who was detained after covering the protests that broke following the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Maziar Bahari survived 118 days in detention and was released after a confession he said was extracted after days of physical and psychological torture.
Bahari’s account mirrors that of human rights organizations which attribute the prison’s notoriety to the brutality of the guards. The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, a prominent opposition group based in Paris, describes it as “hell on earth.”
The first prisoners entered Evin in 1971 under the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. He used it as a detention center for his opponents, and Evin could only hold 320 prisoners back then. After the 1979 revolution, the Iranian leadership used it to quell its own political opponents. Human rights activists say they have documented systematic abuses there, including torture.
Iranian - Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi died in Evin due to what her family said was an injury sustained during torture. More recently, a wave of assault was reported to have taken place on 2014 April 17, in an incident local activists called “Black Thursday,” according to Amnesty International. Prisoners held in Section 350 of the prison, where political prisoners and intellectuals are usually held, were subjected to assault, beatings, verbal abuse and some of those injured were denied access to medical care.
“Security officials responded with an appalling level of brutality to the protest at Evin prison, beating prisoners, dragging them along the floor and verbally insulting them. Subjecting prisoners to such ill-treatment is a gross abuse of a prison official’s power,” Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program said. Despite its history, the mayor of Tehran plans on converting Evin into a park, a decision that was met with mixed reactions. Moving the 15,000 prisoners out of Tehran may cause more hardship for the detainees and their families, one opinion piece in the Asr-e Iran news website said, according to the BBC. While the Ebtekar newspaper said that “converting the prison into a museum or park has been a long-time wish of many citizens,”“It is good news as Evin is among the few regions in Tehran that has good weather and the city's residents could make good use of the park.

Is criticizing extremist Shiites sectarian?
Monday, 15 June 2015
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya
Some have found it difficult to use terms such as “Shiite”, “Sunni” and “Alawite” when describing events in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. It is unpleasant to categorize and divide people according to their beliefs. Political disagreements used to be over intellectual ideologies and patriotic affiliations, but now religion is politics. Clerics have become politicians, and religious groups have become political parties.
They include Hezbollah, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Ansar Allah, Al-Nusra Front, and League of the Righteous. Many thought political Islam would unite the region’s peoples, but this has not been the case. An example is the hostility between the Shiite Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood. Sunni Islam has itself become divided, with extremist groups such as Al-Nusra Front and ISIS slaughtering each other.
Observers cannot but describe these wars as sectarian. Some have been frightened by this description because of its association with hideous crimes. Some have denounced my description of certain Shiite parties as terrorists, just as others have condemned my description of some Sunni groups as terrorists.
Criticizing Shiite militias does not express Sunni sectarianism as long as we hold both sides to the same moral standards.
Some Shiite and Sunni intellectuals consider Hezbollah a moral and sacred organization that must not be included in the same category as other terrorist groups. However, I have always viewed Hezbollah as a party with an eliminatory, extremist ideology that believes in resorting to violence against people of its own sect should they disagree with it. Hezbollah has also been responsible for assassinations of its Arab rivals inside and outside Lebanon.
A matter of principle
The fact that Hezbollah spent most of its active years confronting Israel does not justify the party imposing its ideology and presence on others. The same applies to violent Sunni groups. We have spent some 15 years confronting Salafist jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda, and we are currently confronting ISIS and Al-Nusra Front.
Therefore, our stance is based on principles, not selectivity between violent Sunni and Shiite groups. The same applies to the organizational Alawite ideology of Bashar al-Assad’s sectarian group in Syria. Criticizing Shiite militias does not express Sunni sectarianism as long as we hold both sides to the same moral standards.
The importance of intellectual figures is that they are society’s leaders. Although they are the least sacrificing or involved in fighting, they guide and influence society’s different parties. The Arab Spring led to people conflating Assad with Alawites, Hezbollah with Shiites, and ISIS with Sunnis.
As such, the need to confront sectarianism in politics has increased. It is impossible to overcome this crisis without intellectuals clearly condemning sectarian murder, violence in the name of religion, Sunni-Shiite divisions, the Syrian regime’s Alawites, and the Houthis in Yemen. No one will emerge victorious from sectarian wars, which could last for decades.

Is a nuclear Saudi Arabia inevitable if Iran acquires the bomb?
Monday, 15 June 2015
Salman Al-Ansari/Al Arabiya
There are many speculations about the nature of the changes that will take place in the Middle East with all its complexities and challenges. In addition to the questions surrounding the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and the self-proclaimed Islamic State, (ISIS) there is one question that should be brought to the forefront as it will undoubtedly change the face of the whole region as we know it: Will Iran develop a nuclear weapon? This of course begs other questions. If Iran does so, would the P5+1 deal truly be able to stop Tehran from mobilization? Would the international community accept the very probable consequence that other regional actors might also acquire such weapons in order to balance power? What positive and negative outcomes should be expected from these changing factors?
It is important to mention that I believe the current U.S. Administration has dangerously misunderstood the psychological nature of the Iranian regime. Obama’s strategy is to bank on Iranian moderates—most of whom do not even come close to equaling the Supreme Leader’s power and influence. It should also be noted that these leaders who have been identified as moderates have demonstrated imperialist aspirations in the past and in the present - by way of Tehran’s military proxies seen in the form of Hezbollah, Houthis, and other Shiite militias present in the region.
It’s not that simple, Obama
Obama appears to believe that once the sanctions are lifted and Tehran is able to reap the benefits of U.S. dollars, the Iranians will change their inherited attitude fueled by regime propaganda and nuclear ambitions. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. I believe the Iranian political fabric is revolutionary-oriented. For the current regime, a healthy economy giving way to national prosperity appears to be of very little interest. I believe it’s safe to say that any income generated is almost always dedicated to the spread of the ideology of the Islamic Revolution.
If Iran is ever close to acquiring nuclear weapons then we should not be shocked to see many countries in the Middle East equipped with such weapons.
The threat of a new nuclear arms race in the Middle East is troubling for the entire world, not to mention countries within the region. As such, it will be difficult to stop Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries from acquiring the same weapons and military power as the Iranian regime.
Some analysts believe that if Iran and Saudi Arabia were to both acquire nuclear weapons, in the long run there would be no serious threat of war in the Middle East because of potential Mutually Assured Destruction pacts coming into effect.
Looking at the examples of India and Pakistan, as well as the United States and Russia, such a viewpoint is both right and wrong. Because both countries in such a situation would only in very unlikely circumstances consider direct invasion or acts of war against each other. They would also most probably opt for taking their battles to remote locations, where smaller or weaker countries will become targets.
Iran is seemingly working day and night to establish, fund, train, and arm any militia in the Arab world just for the sake of gaining imperial powers and regional hegemony. Surprisingly, these wishes have been stated publicly by the Iranian regime on several occasions. The latest being when one Iranian official reportedly said that Iran is proud to have control over four major Arab capitals: Sana’a, Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut. The Iranian president’s consultant Ali Younisi has also said that Baghdad will be the new Persian Empire’s capital, although he later clarified the statement.
I believe that June 30 nuclear talks deadline will go down in history as one of the riskiest times for global security because of conflict over armaments could be set in motion on an official front.
I believe Saudi Arabia is committed to a Middle East free of nuclear weapons, but if Iran is going to acquire the bomb or at least be on the threshold of having it, then Saudi Arabia may perhaps bypass the hassle of enriching uranium by reaching out to its allies that are already armed, even in the event of a failed alliance with the U.S.
If Iran is ever close to acquiring nuclear weapons then we should not be shocked to see many countries in the Middle East equipped with such weapons. To quote Albert Einstein, “intelligent people solve problems, geniuses prevent them,” I’m afraid the Obama administration’s strategy with Iran will neither solve nor prevent problems, but will actually cause more.
But while I am not optimistic about the current direction of U.S. policy in the Middle East, I do hope other factions in America’s political fabric will attempt to combat a deal that can threaten global security.