LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 30/15

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletins05/english.november30.15.htm 

Bible Quotations For Today
Mary Visits Elizabeth
Jesus Chooses the two bothers Simon and Andrew as well as James son of Zebedee and his brother John
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 04/18-23: "As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people."

Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’
First Letter to the Corinthians 01/26-31: 'Consider your own call, not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 29-30/15
5000-year-old Assyrian Culture Facing DevastationéUzay Bulut/Gatestone InstituteéNovember 29, 2015
Palestinians: The Real Goal of the IntifadaéBassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/November 29/15
Why is ISIS so resilientéDr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/November 29/15
Defeating ISIS requires a shift in international policyéLina Khatib/Al Arabiya/November 29/15
Keep saying no to violence against womenéSamar Fatany/Al Arabiya/November 29/15
'Muslims need to decide where they stand'éEldad Beck /Ynetnews/November 29/15

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin for Lebanese Related News published on November 29-30/15
More on the noise/Walid Phares
Swedish-Lebanese Hezbollah spy gets 18 month sentence for involvement in espionage against Israel
Al-Qaeda ‘frees’ Lebanese soldiers in prisoner swap
Prisoner Swap Negotiations Suffer Setback as al-Nusra Makes 'New Demands'
Salam Cancels Paris Trip to Follow Up on Prisoner Deal Developments
Yazbek Son Dies in Car Crash, 'Hizbullah Investigators Inspect Scene'
Mustaqbal-Hizbullah Dialogue Resumes on Monday
Qahwaji: Case of Kidnapped Soldiers a Top Priority
Assailants Torch Parts of School in Baalbek
Report: Jumblat Will Not Withdraw Helou's Nomination, Nor Will Stand against 'Settlement'

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 29-30/15
Turkey to Hand over Body of Dead Russian Pilot to Moscow
EU, Turkey Agree 3 Billion Euro Aid Deal to Stem Migrant Crisis
Israel Suspends EU Peace Role over Settlement Goods
Russians in Syria don’t prevent Israel attacks,' expert says
Two U.S. Senators Urge 100,000 Foreign Troops to Fight IS in Syria
Israeli Police Kill Palestinian in Jerusalem
Assad Says His Enemies Boosting Support for 'Terrorists'
IS Executes 3,500 in Syria since Declaring 'Caliphate'
UK Govt Lobbies Opposition to Force Syria Airstrikes Vote
Defiant Trump Refuses to Take Back 9/11 Muslim Cheering Claim
Kuwait Oil Minister Removed in Reshuffle
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/Kuwait Oil Minis
Fresh Jerusalem Stabbings as Israel Considers Next Moves
Iran demands closure of U.N. nuclear probe

Links From Jihad Watch Site for November 29-30/15
Muslim from Australia “linked to Charlie Hebdo attacks”
Italy: Headmaster scraps Christmas carol concert to avoid offending Muslims
Al-Aqsa Mosque imam: “Message of Islam is one of peace”
Mizzou prof arrested for violently grabbing girl for not wearing hijab
Caliphate Accompli
New Jamie Glazov Moment: Huma Abedin’s Longing for Syrian Refugees
Sweden: Community torn apart as arrival of migrants prompts running battles in streets
Muslim Brotherhood-linked Congressman Keith Ellison falsely claims “not one” refugee engaged in jihad terror

More on the noise
Walid Phares/November 29/15
Sources in Washington revealed that the "axis" is contemplating a possible forcing to "produce" a de facto "ally" President in Lebanon, by holding back on Hezbollah's votes till a last minute surprise and fait accompli. Tehran has been touting Washington's reaction to such a push. We haven't heard the reaction of the Administration yet, as this is Thanksgiving long week end. But in our assessment if the "Iran Deal" lobby convinces the White House that a "friendly" President in Lebanon to Iran can stabilize the situation and gear up efforts to concentrate on ISIS, there coud be a possibility that the Administration doesn't interfere in the process and a President, closer to Damascus, is elected by a "new majority" in Parliament. The real battle seems to be happening inside the beltway (Washington); an effort to convince the Administration to "allow" a forcing to take place. We aren't sure of the calculations of the White House at this point, for Lebanon. The other files are getting so heavy, as with Turkey and Russia, ISIS, Yemen, Libya.

Swedish-Lebanese Hezbollah spy gets 18 month sentence for involvement in espionage against Israel
By YAAKOV LAPPIN, YONAH JEREMY BOB/11/29/2015 /J.Post/The Lod District Court on Sunday sentenced a Swedish-Lebanese national in a plea bargain deal to 18 months in prison for involvement in espionage against Israel on behalf of Hezbollah. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said Hassan Hizran, born in 1969 and arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport in July, had admitted to being recruited by Hezbollah, and also provided an account of how he was recruited and cooperated with the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization. Hizran had arrived in Israel to gather intelligence on sensitive targets for Hezbollah, security officials said. He received a light sentence for cooperating with the authorities, and due to the state’s concerns about revealing aspects of the country’s intelligence apparatus if the case had gone to trial. The state attorney said Hizran would have otherwise faced a maximum 30 month prison term.
The court said Hizran had not aggressively sought to be a spy, and that he had met his Hezbollah handler under threat. Hizran also avoided procuring information Hezbollah had asked him for which “reduced the security damage that he caused,” the court wrote in its ruling. He also had no prior record.
Hizran’s lawyer said his client’s involvement with Hezbollah was “very low and with reservations” about spying and that “he did not yet understand what he had agreed to.”Officials said that Hizran had traveled to Lebanon with his wife and children in 2009, where he accepted an offer to meet with Hezbollah operatives who told him they wished to recruit Palestinians in Europe who have foreign passports to gather intelligence in Israel for Hezbollah. Hizran returned to Lebanon in 2011 and 2013, also meeting with Hezbollah and accepting missions to try and recruit Israeli citizens with ties to Jews or Israeli military personnel, or with Israeli government officials. “Additionally, he was asked to gather information on locations in Israel where there are concentrations of military forces, weapons, tanks and military bases,” the Shin Bet said. Hizran was ordered to investigate how Israeli security at Ben-Gurion Airport operates, including the reception of passengers, security arrangements and passport control procedures. In 2009, he received $2,300 for his meetings with Hezbollah and an additional $800 in 2011. “Hizran’s activities prove the attractiveness to Hezbollah of activating foreign citizens who have access to Lebanon and Israel, out of an assumption that they can travel in Israel freely,” the Shin Bet said. Apparently during questioning, Hizran gave the Shin Bet information about an association in the Swedish city of Malmö called the Lebanese House, whose Shi’ite members carry out social and cultural work within their communities.
“They hold Hezbollah-related days, watch speeches by Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah and more,” the Shin Bet said. Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.

Al-Qaeda ‘frees’ Lebanese soldiers in prisoner swap
By Staff writer, Al Arabiya News Sunday, 29 November 2015/A prisoner exchange has gone underway for the release of Lebanese soldiers held by Al-Nusra Front, Al Arabiya News Channel reported on Sunday. It is not yet clear which prisoners have been exchanged for the troops. Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, has held 16 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage for more than a year. In July, the group offered to release three Lebanese soldiers in exchange for an ex-wife of the leader of the militant Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group and four other female prisoners. “If five of our sisters leave prison... we will hand over three soldiers in exchange,” said Abu Malek al-Shami, Al-Nusra’s “emir” in the Syrian region of Qalamun bordering Lebanon. ISIS is believed to have nine other Lebanese troops held as hostages. Since their capture, Al-Nusra has repeatedly made demands for the soldiers’ release, seeking the release of Islamist prisoners or the withdrawal of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement from the Syrian conflict. The powerful Shiite militia, which is backed by Iran, is fighting alongside forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war that has claimed more than 230,000 lives since it erupted in 2011.

Prisoner Swap Negotiations Suffer Setback as al-Nusra Makes 'New Demands'
Naharnet/November 29/15/Negotiations to free the Lebanese servicemen who were abducted by al-Nusra Front suffered a setback on Sunday afternoon, after steps on the ground and media reports gave the impression earlier in the day that the exchange was imminent. “Some obstacles emerged in the final moments but the negotiations have not stopped,” Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera television said. “New developments have prevented the completion of the prisoner swap deal today,” it added. The TV network had reported that “the Qatari-sponsored swap deal” would take place “within hours.”The pan-Arab, Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen television said al-Nusra “increased its demands” in the past few hours and that “the fate of the swap deal is not clear anymore.”Al-Jadeed TV also said that al-Nusra, which is al-Qaida's Syria franchise, “has started making crippling demands.”The developments prompted Lebanese security forces to ask an aid convoy that had entered the northeastern border town of Arsal as part of the swap deal negotiations to return to Beirut. A General Security delegation and a Qatari mediator also returned to Beirut, according to media reports. "Lebanese officials said they cannot fulfill al-Nusra's demand of sending aid trucks to areas controlled by al-Nusra," MTV said. It quoted a Nusra source as saying that "the Lebanese state has not honored its promise on supplying food aid to refugees in Arsal's outskirts.""The other condition hindering the swap deal is failure to secure the evacuation of a number of wounded people to Turkey," MTV said. General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim meanwhile reassured from a hotel in the Bekaa town of Chtaura that "negotiations are still ongoing" and that "the swap deal has not failed." OTV had reported that efforts have “intensified” to overcome the obstacles that are hindering the deal. For its part al-Jadeed said negotiations between Ibrahim and al-Nusra “have entered the final moments which will decide the fate of the deal.”The General Directorate of General Security had earlier issued a statement saying all media reports that were circulated Sunday were “baseless, especially regarding the swap deal's conditions.”It also reiterated its call for media outlets to “deal with this humanitarian and national issue professionally and responsibly in order to complete the process and make it reach a happy ending.”Earlier in the day, media reports said that the swap deal would take place between the al-Masyada and Wadi Hmeid areas on the outskirts of Arsal. Sky News said that the 16 Lebanese soldiers would “arrive at any moment at the outskirts of Wadi Hmeid.”On Friday, media reports said that the servicemen would be released soon in a prisoner swap with Islamist inmates in Lebanese jails.
Ibrahim stressed on Saturday that the ongoing negotiations are serious but the efforts “have not yet reached their happy ending.”
He stressed the necessity to keep the issue away from media speculation. The families of the abducted servicemen urged media outlets on Sunday not to disclose any information on the deal to help it reach to fruition.Earlier on Sunday, reports said that security measures were taken between the areas of Baalbek and al-Labweh, paving way for an imminent release of the servicemen. Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said that the army had closed Arsal's Wadi Hmeid and al-Masyada border crossings, a probable location where the swap could take place. Twenty military vehicles and General Security ambulances headed to Arsal during the day, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said. Al-Nusra sources had told al-Akhbar daily that the swap includes freeing inmates from Lebanese and Syrian prisons, and transporting some wounded people from al-Zabadani in Syria to Beirut's airport and then to Turkey.
The troops were abducted during deadly clashes in August 2014 between the army and militants from al-Nusra and the Islamic State group in and around Arsal. Nineteen troops were killed in the fighting as 35 soldiers and policemen were taken hostage. Al-Nusra later released seven security personnel who were in its custody. The two groups later executed four servicemen and were threatening to kill more if Lebanese authorities do not fulfill their demands.

Salam Cancels Paris Trip to Follow Up on Prisoner Deal Developments
Naharnet/November 29/15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Sunday called off a trip to Paris in order to follow up on the ongoing negotiations to secure the release of the Lebanese servicemen who are being held hostage by al-Nusra Front, his office said. “In light of the latest developments accompanying the efforts that are being exerted to secure the release of the al-Nusra Front-held servicemen, PM Tammam Salam has decided to cancel his Monday trip to Paris, where he was supposed to take part in the global climate summit,” the office said. Salam's move is aimed at “following up on the developments in the case of the servicemen in order to make it reach a happy ending,” it added. The premier's decision followed a setback in the negotiations on Sunday, after steps on the ground and media reports gave the impression earlier in the day that the exchange was imminent. “Some obstacles emerged in the final moments but the negotiations have not stopped,” Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera television said. “New developments have prevented the completion of the prisoner swap deal today,” it added. The troops were abducted during deadly clashes in August 2014 between the army and militants from al-Nusra and the Islamic State group in and around Arsal. Nineteen troops were killed in the fighting as 35 soldiers and policemen were taken hostage. Al-Nusra later released seven security personnel who were in its custody. The two groups later executed four servicemen and were threatening to kill more if Lebanese authorities do not fulfill their demands.

Yazbek Son Dies in Car Crash, 'Hizbullah Investigators Inspect Scene'
Naharnet/November 29/15/A son of senior Hizbullah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek died Sunday in a car crash in the South and Hizbullah “investigators” inspected the scene to determine if it was an accident or an act of sabotage, media reports said. The son, Mohammed Baqer Yazbek, was killed as his wife and two daughters were admitted into intensive care after “a tragic traffic accident in the southern region of al-Zahrani,” state-run National News Agency reported. Pictures posted online showed the car, badly damaged, in what appears to be a trench on the side of the road. An electricity pole appears next to the car in the photos. Meanwhile, MTV said “a team of Hizbullah investigators arrived on the scene and inspected the car to determine if the incident was accidental or an organized act of terror.”Sheikh Mohammed Yazbek is the head of Hizbullah's so-called Juristic Council.

Mustaqbal-Hizbullah Dialogue Resumes on Monday
Naharnet/November 29/15/The next round of talks between al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah party are expected to resume on Monday, al-Mustaqbal daily reported Sunday. Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal officials have been meeting in Ain el-Tineh under the auspices of Berri since December to defuse sectarian hostility linked to the war in Syria.

Qahwaji: Case of Kidnapped Soldiers a Top Priority
Naharnet/November 29/15/Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji stated that hopes are high on the release of the abducted servicemen and soldiers, an Nahar daily said on Sunday. “The issue of the kidnapped soldiers is a top priority. I am following up closely on the latest developments related to their release,” Qahwaji told the daily. He stated that his “hopes are high that the latest developments could succeed in releasing all the military personnel and they return safe to their homeland and families.”On Friday, media reports said that the servicemen will be released soon in a prisoner swap with inmates in Lebanese jails. General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim said on Saturday that the ongoing negotiations to release the servicemen who were kidnapped by extremists in 2014 are serious. He added however that these efforts “have not yet reached their happy ending.”The servicemen were abducted in August 2014 in the wake of clashes between the army and Islamic State and al-Nusra Front militants in the northeastern border town of Arsal.

Assailants Torch Parts of School in Baalbek
Naharnet/November 29/15/Unidentified attackers on Sunday set fire to parts of a school in the Baalbek district, state-run National News Agency reported. “The assailants set the first and second floors ablaze after breaking their way into the Modern School in Baalbek's Ras al-Ain,” NNA said. It did not elaborate on the attackers' motives. According to al-Jadeed TV, the first floor contains administration offices and an auditorium while the second floor also contains an administration bureau. “Residents managed to bring the blaze under control on the second floor,” the TV network said. “Security forces and investigators arrived on the scene and launched a probe,” it added.

Report: Jumblat Will Not Withdraw Helou's Nomination, Nor Will Stand against 'Settlement'
Naharnet/November 29/15/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat will not withdraw the candidacy of his nominee MP Henri Helou for the post of president but at the same time prefers to wait until the picture clears up on the possible nomination of Marada leader MP Suleiman Franjieh for the post, al-Mustaqbal daily said on Sunday. Sources of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc said that the bloc's chief Jumblat "prefers to wait up until the picture crystallizes,” they told the daily on condition of anonymity. “Jumblat has briefed the bloc's members (during their meeting on Saturday) of the recent developments related to the proposed settlement, but he preferred to wait until the stances become clear at the political level in general and at the Christian level in particular,” they added. However, they added that Jumblat's stance is positive as per the recent statement he issued following his meeting last week with al-Mustaqbal leader Saad Hariri in Paris. The two men agreed in their Paris talks last Sunday on the need to “find a comprehensive national settlement," according to Hariri's media office. However parliamentary sources close to Jumblat said that although the latter may not seek to freeze the settlement or stand against it, but that does not mean that he would withdraw the candidacy of his nominee MP Henri Helou. Media reports said that a meeting between Franjieh and Hariri had sought to strike a deal with Franjieh over the presidential election.

Turkey to Hand over Body of Dead Russian Pilot to Moscow
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/The body of a Russian pilot killed when his plane was shot down by Turkey last week will be handed over to a Russian representative after being retrieved from Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Sunday. "The pilot who lost his life during the air violation was received by us on the (Syrian) border last night," Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul before leaving for a meeting with EU leaders in Brussels. Davutoglu added that a Russian official would travel "soon" to the southern Hatay region with a Turkish military official to take possession of the body. The Russian embassy in Turkey told the RIA Novosti news agency that Oleg Peskov's body would be flown on Sunday from Hatay in the presence of Russia's military attache to an aerodrome in Ankara where it would be met by the ambassador. The date and time when the body would be returned to Russia was still to be confirmed, embassy spokesman Igor Mityakov was quoted as saying. One of the two pilots aboard the plane which was downed on Tuesday was shot dead in Syria after parachuting from the burning aircraft, while the second was found safe and sound. "In accordance with their (Russian) religious tradition, funeral arrangements were carried out by Orthodox priests in Hatay," Davutoglu said. Turkey's military said the Su-24 bomber was shot down by two of its F-16s after it violated Turkish airspace 10 times within a five-minute period on Tuesday. Russia however said no warning had been given and that the aircraft did not violate Turkish airspace, and demanded an apology. The incident has led to a sharp deterioration of relations, with Moscow, a major trade partner and Turkey's largest energy supplier, on Saturday announcing a package of economic sanctions against Turkey. "Turkey's relations with Russia is based on mutual benefit and common interests. Therefore I urge the Russian authorities to take this into consideration and act in a cool-headed way," he said when asked about the sanctions.

EU, Turkey Agree 3 Billion Euro Aid Deal to Stem Migrant Crisis
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/Turkey and the European Union agreed at a summit on Sunday on a "historic" three-billion-euro ($3.2 billion) aid deal to stem the flow of Syrian refugees and other migrants to Europe. Ankara's bid for membership of the EU will be kickstarted in return for its cooperation in preventing the 2.2 million Syrian refugees it hosts from coming to Europe, EU president Donald Tusk said. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was a "historic day" and vowed that his country would keep its promises, in the face of skepticism from some countries in the 28-member EU. "We expect a major step towards changing the rules of the game when it comes to stemming the migration flow that is coming to the EU via Turkey," Tusk told a press conference with Davutoglu and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. "We will also step up our assistance to Syrian refugees in Turkey through a new Refugee Facility of three billion euros," the former Polish premier added. Turkey's progress in meeting the terms on the deal would be reviewed at least once a month, Tusk said. A long history of wariness between Brussels and Ankara, coupled with European concerns over human rights and Turkey's role in the Syrian conflict, including the shooting down of a Russian warplane in the last week, made the negotiations difficult.
Rights issues 'not forgotten'
Juncker insisted that the three billion euros "are not being given with no strings attached."He also added that despite the deal "we have not forgotten the differences that still remain with Turkey over human rights and freedom of the press, and we will return to them."Two Turkish journalists charged with "spying" over their reports about Ankara's alleged arms supplies to Syrian rebels had urged the EU on Saturday not to compromise on rights at the summit. Davutoglu, who was standing in for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the deal would "re-energize" Turkey's EU accession process, which has made little headway since it started in 2005. "This is a historic day and a historic meeting, the first meeting of this kind since 11 years," the Turkish premier added. "Turkey will be fulfilling all the promises of the joint plan," he said, adding that "this three billion euros is to be spent for refugees in Turkey, it's not for Turkey." Fueled by the Syrian war, some 850,000 people have entered the EU this year and more than 3,500 have died or gone missing in what has become Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. Turkey is the main gateway for migrants and refugees to reach Europe, and Germany has pushed for the summit as it is the main destination for most of the people arriving in the bloc.
Turkey's EU bid boosted
Under the agreement, Turkey will take steps including cracking down on people smugglers and cooperating with the EU on the return of people who do not qualify as refugees. Turkey will meanwhile get its wish for the acceleration of its bid for membership of the EU, with only one of 35 so-called "chapters" in the accession process completed in a decade of stop-start talks. The EU agreed to open Chapter 17 of Turkey's accession process -- covering economic and monetary policy -- by mid-December. It also agreed to have two summits with Turkey each year. But the summit conclusions deliberately left future steps vague, saying that preparations for the opening of further chapters would start in the first three months of 2016, but dropping a mention of five chapters that had appeared in an earlier draft. Brussels also committed to easing the rules for visas to visit the EU's Schengen passport-free area by October 2016, a major demand by Ankara. The talks were complicated by resistance in particular by Cyprus, due to decades of tensions with Turkey on the divided east Mediterranean island. The case for cooperation with Turkey comes against a backdrop of growing security concerns over the migrant crisis, especially after the November 13 attacks in Paris, claimed by the Islamic State group (IS), which left 130 people dead.

Israel Suspends EU Peace Role over Settlement Goods
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/ Israel said Sunday it is suspending discussion of its conflict with the Palestinians with EU officials, in response to the bloc's decision to label goods imported from Jewish settlements. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "ordered suspension of diplomatic contacts with the institutions of the European Union and its representatives on this issue," the foreign ministry said in a Hebrew-language statement. It said the ban would be in force for the duration of a reassessment of the bloc's role in peace efforts. But it went on to say that Israel would continue business as usual with national officials of European member states. "It is important to make clear that Israel is maintaining diplomatic talks with individual European states -- such as Germany, Britain and France -- but not with the institutions of the European Union," it said. Netanyahu flies to Paris on Monday, where he will meet French President Francois Hollande, among other leaders, on the fringes of the U.N. climate conference. Palestine Liberation Organization official Saeb Erekat said the latest Israeli move was an attempt to coerce the EU into a U-turn on the labeling issue. "Israel already stopped the peace process," he said. "The EU is our partner and we respect them."The statement said Netanyahu, who is also foreign minister, ordered the freeze in answer to the EU's November 11 decision to label settlement produce imported to Europe as such rather than "Made in Israel". The same day, Israel said it was suspending various scheduled EU meetings in response to the labeling move, which it harshly condemned. U.S.-backed peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel collapsed in April 2014 after nine months of fruitless meetings amid bitter recriminations and mutual blame. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday in Jerusalem and Ramallah but he left without a breakthrough and said he would continue to press both leaders on the issue in coming

'Russians in Syria don’t prevent Israel attacks,' expert says
Ariel Ben Solomon.J.Post/November 30/15/A leading Israeli expert on Syria told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday that Russia’s increasing military presence in the country would not prevent Israel from attacking it to defend itself. “The arrival of the Russians does not prevent Israel from carrying out attacks,” said Prof. Eyal Zisser, an expert on Syria from the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University. Previous foreign press reports about Israel attacking Syria took place also after the Russian’s began increasing their military intervention in the country, he noted. “There is more caution and vigilance, but my understanding is that there is no change in Israeli policy. When there are targets, then attack.” Regarding the latest reported attack by Israel against Hezbollah targets in the area around Qalamoun overnight Saturday, Zisser responded that he does not know whether these latest Syrian reports are accurate, but noted that usually when there are attacks, there tends to be intensive media reports in Syria and Lebanon about them.“That didn’t happen in this case,” he said, adding that this adds doubt to the veracity of the reports. The Lebanese media outlet Al-Mustaqbal reported that there were dead and wounded Hezbollah fighters in the attack close to the Lebanese border, Israel Radio reported citing Syrian forces. A source close to commanders of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) told the Post that FSA forces in the Lebanon-Syrian border region confirmed that an Israeli attack likely occurred Saturday night. “They are confident that Israel bombed since they are the only ones attacking Hezbollah targets,” said the source. “FSA commanders welcome any attacks of Israel,” said the source. “I have been in touch with these commanders for more than three years.” Last week, Israel reportedly attacked targets in the same area of Syria. In that attack, the sources claimed that 13 Syrian troops and Hezbollah fighters were killed and dozens were wounded, including four seriously. The source said that his rebel contacts also confirmed that Israel probably carried out that attack as well. Qalamoun has been a major transit point for Hezbollah fighters and other logistical equipment to and from Syria.In October, Syrian media reported Israeli fighter jets attacked numerous Hezbollah targets in the South of Syria including a weapons convoy destined for Hezbollah fighters. Israel has reportedly struck Hezbollah in Syria several times over the past year, although the military regularly declines to comment on foreign media reports.

Two U.S. Senators Urge 100,000 Foreign Troops to Fight IS in Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/U.S. senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham called Sunday for 100,000 foreign soldiers, most from Sunni regional states but also including Americans, to fight the Islamic State group in Syria. Both McCain, the chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and Graham, one of its members, sharply criticised current U.S. strategy as insufficient and unsuccessful in defeating the jihadists. That strategy has consisted of carrying out air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria in support of local ground forces, which have also received weapons and training. "I think 100,000 would be (the) total requirement," McCain told journalists in Baghdad when asked about the size of the anti-IS force he and Graham were advocating for Syria. "That would not be hard for Egypt; it would be hard for Saudis, it would be hard for some of the smaller countries," but Turkey could also provide forces, McCain said. Saudi Arabia is already involved in a war in Yemen, while Egypt is battling an insurgency and Turkey is more concerned with Kurdish rebels than IS. The force would also include some 10,000 American soldiers "providing capability the Arabs don't possess," said Graham, adding: "When's the last time an Arab army's maneuvered?"The two senators also called for the number of American forces in Iraq to be increased to around 10,000. That figure would include special forces to conduct "more of the raids you saw not long ago," Graham said. American special forces accompanied Kurdish troops on an operation in Iraq last month during which one U.S. soldier was killed. "This is different than the last two wars," said Graham, referring to the 14-year war in Afghanistan and the nearly nine-year conflict in Iraq, during which the group that became IS was founded. "This time (it would) be a large regional army with a small Western component. The last two wars have been large Western components with a very small regional force," he said. But even if this force were formed and defeated IS, it would then have to occupy part of Syria, spelling another potentially lengthy deployment of American ground troops in the Middle East. "In my construct, it'd be an international holding force, Sunni Arabs would be holding that part of Syria where they're welcomed," after it was cleared of IS, Graham said.
But "the bottom line is, the whole international community would have to be part of holding," he said.

Israeli Police Kill Palestinian in Jerusalem
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/Israeli border police killed a Palestinian on Sunday during clashes in occupied east Jerusalem, an official at the Palestinian health ministry told AFP, identifying him as Ayman Samih Abassi, 17.
An Israeli police statement said that officers fired at a Palestinian holding a petrol bomb in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood after they came under attack from a volley of the missiles, but they could not confirm hitting him. "About 10 petrol bombs were thrown at border police officers in Ras al-Amud," the statement said. "The force, whose lives were in immediate danger, fired at the lower body of a suspect who was seen with a petrol bomb in his hand," it added. "A hit could not be definitely identified."Violence since October 1 has left 101 dead on the Palestinian side, including an Arab Israeli, as well as 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean. Many of the Palestinians killed have been alleged attackers, while others have been shot dead by Israeli security forces during clashes.A Palestinian prisoners welfare group said that Abassi had been arrested by Israeli police twice in the past for taking part in clashes in east Jerusalem.

Assad Says His Enemies Boosting Support for 'Terrorists'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/Syrian President Bashar Assad said Sunday that his enemies abroad had increased support for the regime's armed opponents since the start of a major offensive to win back lost territory. Meeting with a senior Iranian official in Damascus, Assad highlighted "important gains by the Syrian army in the fight against terrorism, with the support of its friends led by Iran and Russia," state news agency SANA reported. But these gains, he said, have "pushed certain countries hostile to Syria and who pretend to fight terrorism to... increase their financing and arming of terrorist groups." Since the outbreak of Syria's conflict in 2011 Assad has accused Sunni Muslim countries including Turkey and Gulf nations of arming his mainly Sunni opponents. Assad's regime, dominated by the Shiite Alawite sect, launched a key offensive to retake areas seized by opponents after Moscow launched air strikes in support of the government in late September. Iran, the region's main Shiite power, has also backed Assad, including with the reported deployment of hundreds of "military advisers" to bolster regime forces. After his talks with Assad, Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said Tehran was determined to "continue its support for the Syrian government and people, because the war against terrorism is crucial for the region and the world." Velayati also praised Iran for its "exceptional resistance" to "terrorists supported by regional and Western countries".m Assad insisted that talk of a political solution to Syria's civil war could only take place after "eradicating terrorism." "This is the real prelude to the success of any political solution decided by Syrians," he said. Assad routinely denounces all armed opponents of his regime as "terrorists" regardless of their motives or affiliation. Syria's conflict broke out in March 2011 initially as an anti-regime uprising but evolved into a multi-front war that sees the regime, jihadists including the Islamic State group, secular rebel forces and a range of ethnic militias battling for territory. More than 250,000 people have died in the fighting and millions have been forced from their homes.

IS Executes 3,500 in Syria since Declaring 'Caliphate'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/The Islamic State group has executed more than 3,500 people in Syria, including nearly 2,000 civilians, since declaring its "caliphate" in June last year, a monitor said Sunday. In the last month alone IS executed 53 people -- including 35 civilians -- in areas it controls in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The new figures from the Britain-based Observatory bring to 3,591 the number of people executed by IS in Syria since it declared its Islamic "caliphate" after seizing control of large parts of the country. The new toll includes 1,945 civilians, including 103 women and 77 children, with civilians defined as those who are not taking part in the fighting. Some were executed for alleged witchcraft, homosexuality and collaborating with the U.S.-led coalition that has been bombarding IS in Syria since September 2014. Members of Sunni Shaitat tribe account for around half of the civilians killed. IS killed 930 members of the clan in the northeastern Deir Ezzor province last year after they opposed the extremist Sunni Muslim group. The monitor also documented 247 IS executions of rival rebels and Kurdish fighters, as well as the executions of 975 members of regime forces. IS has also executed 415 of its own members it accused of crimes including spying, many of them captured as they were trying to desert the group, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, medical staff and fighters on the ground.IS controls large swathes of Syria and neighboring Iraq. In Syria, it controls areas in the Homs and Hama provinces in the center, Deir Ezzor and Hassakeh in the northeast, as well as Raqa and Aleppo in the north. The jihadist group counts tens of thousands of fighters and carries out abductions, rapes, beheadings and stonings in the areas under its influence. The United Nations has accused it of "crimes against humanity." More than 250,000 people have been killed and more than four million have fled the country since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011.

UK Govt Lobbies Opposition to Force Syria Airstrikes Vote
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/Britain's defence minister on Sunday said the government was intensively lobbying opposition Labour lawmakers to support airstrikes in Syria as efforts mount to force a vote next week. Michael Fallon told BBC's Andrew Marr Show that "we've been talking to Labour MPs all week" but that the government had "not yet" secured enough support to be sure of winning a vote to extend airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria. Prime Minister David Cameron suffered a humiliating defeat in 2013 when opposition from Labour MPs blocked military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and is expected to call a vote only when he is sure of winning. Another defeat would be "hugely damaging to Britain's reputation across the world" and would "leave us less safe", said Fallon. The defence secretary said fears that airstrikes would lead to civilian deaths were unfounded. "The RAF have been striking with the permission of parliament in Iraq for over a year now and our estimate is there hasn't yet been a single civilian casualty because of the precision of their strikes," he said. "They have been carefully targeted at Isil command posts, Isil supplies, Isil supply routes," he said, using one of the acronyms for Islamic State. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is opposed to the strikes and could whip his MPs into voting against them, despite many in the shadow cabinet expressing support for the government's plans.Corbyn told the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that he would ultimately decide whether MPs were allowed a free vote, putting him on a collision course with senior parliamentarians and potentially throwing the government's plans into disarray. Prime Minister David Cameron is reported to be ready to drop the vote if Corbyn imposes his line on Labour lawmakers. Labour leaders are set to meet on Monday, where they are set to decide whether it will be a free vote. "No decision has been made on that yet, I am going to find out what MPs think," Corbyn said. "I ask them to look very, very carefully at the whole issue, look at what will happen if we bomb Raqqa."It is the leader who decides. I will make up my mind in due course."Corbyn on Sunday highlighted the support he had from grassroot members, who helped propel him to a shock victory in September's race for the party leadership, insisting that their "voice" must be heard. He also dismissed intelligence advice that IS was using safe space in Syria to hatch terror attacks against Britain, saying that "those attacks could be planned anywhere".

Defiant Trump Refuses to Take Back 9/11 Muslim Cheering Claim
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/Republican U.S. presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Sunday refused to take back claims he saw Muslims cheering in New Jersey after the September 11, 2001 attacks, despite a lack of proof. The brash real-estate tycoon has drawn sweeping condemnation after saying earlier this month that Arab and Muslim Americans had publicly rejoiced the unprecedented terror attacks on the United States. "It was 14 years ago but I saw it on television, I saw clips and so did many other people," Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press" talk show. "I've had hundreds of phone calls to the Trump organization saying, 'We saw it. It was dancing in the streets.'" Within days of 9/11, police, fact-checkers and US media debunked the rumors that people were cheering from rooftops of Jersey City, across the river from Manhattan. Still, Trump stood by his comments Sunday: "I saw it. So many people saw it... And so why would I take it back? I'm not going to take it back." Trump has cited an article written by The Washington Post at the time saying authorities detained "a number" of people supposedly seen cheering in New Jersey. But there was no indication in the article of thousands or even hundreds of Muslims cheering. Trump told "Meet the Press" that "we're looking for other articles and we're looking for other clips and I wouldn't be surprised if we found them," he said. "But for some reason they're not that easy to come by."

Kuwait Oil Minister Removed in Reshuffle
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/Kuwait Oil Minister Ali al-Omair was moved to the public works ministry in a limited cabinet reshuffle following a row with top oil executives, the emir decreed on Sunday. Finance Minister Anas al-Saleh was appointed as acting oil minister, in decrees cited by the official KUNA news agency. The decrees also announced accepting the resignation of Ahmad al-Jassar, who held the portfolios of electricity and water and public works. Jassar resigned in September after being sentenced to four years in jail for wrongly approving a $215 million contract that inflicted heavy losses on the state. State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Sabah was appointed as acting minister of electricity and water. Omair, who is also state minister for national assembly affairs and an elected MP, was appointed oil minister in January 2014 and has been locked in a number of disputes with top executives of state-owned oil companies. At the start of November, the CEO of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp, Nezar al-Adasani, refused to carry out the oil minister's decision to swap the CEOs of two subsidiaries. Adasani said in a letter that the minister had no power to make the decision and the two officials also rejected the minister's order. Kuwait is pumping around 2.8 million barrels per day and sits on around 7.0 percent of world reserves, according to latest data. The sector generates more than 90 percent of public revenues.The 16-member Kuwaiti cabinet was formed after a July 2013 general election.

Fresh Jerusalem Stabbings as Israel Considers Next Moves
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 29/15/A stabbing at an entrance to Jerusalem's Old City and another near a bus stop Sunday left two people wounded and an attacker killed, while Israel closed a third Palestinian radio station it accused of inciting violence. The attacks and closure of the station came with Israeli security forces struggling to halt two months of knife, gun and car-ramming assaults. Several weeks ago, an Israeli security crackdown in Jerusalem, including roadblocks in Palestinian neighborhoods, was followed by a lull in attacks in the city, but violence has recently returned. Early on Sunday, a 38-year-old Palestinian stabbed and lightly wounded an Israeli border police officer at Damascus Gate, a main entrance point for Palestinians to east Jerusalem's Old City and the site of several previous attacks. The attacker was identified as Bassem Salah from the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Later in the morning, a foreign woman of around 30 was lightly wounded in a stabbing near a bus station in west Jerusalem and the attacker fled. Police said a Palestinian suspect was later arrested near the scene. Further details on the victim were not immediately provided. Violence since October 1 has left 100 dead on the Palestinian side, including an Arab Israeli, as well as 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean. Many of the Palestinians killed have been alleged attackers, while others have been shot dead by Israeli security forces during clashes. A visit last week by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry failed to produce any breakthrough, and debate has intensified within Israel on whether to take conciliatory steps to ease tensions or to respond more forcefully. Palestinian leaders blame Israel for the wave of violence, saying its continued occupation and settlement building along with a lack of progress in peace efforts have led to hopelessness among young people. Many of the attackers have been young Palestinians, including teenagers, who appear to have acted on their own. - Radio incitement? -In the flashpoint southern West Bank city of Hebron, the army shut down the Dream radio station, the third private broadcaster it has closed there, accusing it of stoking the violence. An Israeli minister raised the threat last week of shutting down Palestinian public broadcasters as well, charging that they were guilty of fanning the flames. Hebron, considered a West Bank stronghold of Islamist movement Hamas, has been the focus of much of the recent violence. Talab Jaabari, owner of the station closed on Sunday, said soldiers arrived and seized "all the material and caused signficant damage to the station." He said he received a written order to close for six months, which accused his station of "broadcasting programs with the aim of promoting and encouraging terrorism against civilians and Israeli security forces." The Al-Khalil and Al-Hurriya radio stations in Hebron were also closed earlier this month on similar grounds. Two other Palestinian radio stations -- one in Hebron and one in Jenin -- said they have received letters threatening closure.
Such closures have been among a raft of security measures taken by Israel in bid to halt the attacks. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced tighter controls on Palestinian vehicles and an increase in the number of so-called "bypass roads" which create separate routes for Palestinians and Jewish settlers. He said work permits would be withdrawn from the families of alleged attackers and there would be "no limits" on the powers of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, where some 400,000 Jewish settlers live among 2.8 million Palestinians. Israel has also controversially demolished the homes of alleged attackers in a bid to deter further violence. Human rights groups say such demolitions amount to collective punishment, with family members being forced to suffer for the acts of others. In addition, Netanyahu's government has banned the radical wing of the country's main Islamist organisation, accusing it of instigating violence. The move has been questioned by those who say the ban could further stoke tensions and harm legitimate political debate.

Iran demands closure of U.N. nuclear probe
AFP, Tehran Sunday, 29 November 2015/Iran said Sunday there would be no final implementation of a nuclear deal with world powers unless a probe into allegations of past weapons research is closed. The declaration, by a top security official, comes after the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said a report into the possible military dimensions of Iran’s activities would not be “black and white.” Iran has always denied seeking to develop an atomic weapons capability, insisting its nuclear program is for peaceful energy production and medical purposes only. Referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the July 14 agreement’s official name, Admiral Ali Shamkhani, said anything short of the watchdog’s probe being closed was unacceptable to Iran. “Without the closure of the file regarding past issues, there is no possibility of implementing the JCPOA,” the official IRNA news agency reported him as saying. Shamkhani is secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), the country’s highest security body, which was tasked with supervising the nuclear deal. The committee reports to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on all policy decisions. Under the July 14 accord, Iran agreed to major curbs on its atomic program, particularly its enrichment of uranium to high purities, in return for the lifting of all nuclear-related sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. Shamkhani said the six countries which struck the deal with Iran (Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany) must drop the possible military dimensions issue. “The P5+1 must choose between the JCPOA and leaving open the so-called PMD file,” he said. The probe concerns allegations, rejected by Iran, that at least until 2003 it conducted research into how to make a nuclear weapon. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, said on Thursday that the watchdog now has a "better understanding" of Iran's past activities, but his report, due no later than December 15, will not be a “black and white assessment.” “This is not an issue which can be answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’,” he said. Shamkhani's comments were similar to those of Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said Wednesday that the nuclear deal would not be implemented if the PMD file is left open. Resolving the IAEA’s investigation into what Iran may have done in the past is essential for regaining trust between Tehran and the international community, the six world powers say. The final PMD report may reach the IAEA’s board of governors as early as Tuesday or Wednesday, diplomats say. It would allow “implementation day” for the nuclear deal, when sanctions begin to be lifted, as long as its conclusions are deemed as having closed the allegations.

5000-year-old Assyrian Culture Facing Devastation
Uzay Bulut/Gatestone Institute
November 29, 2015
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6976/assyrians-genocide
“After all, killing the ‘kafirs’ [non-believers of Islam] was a ‘good deed’. They were told ‘their place in heaven was guaranteed.’ Just like ISIS gangs… and that they would also take their relatives in hell to heaven.” — Sabri Atman, Assyrian Genocide and Research Center.
When ISIS invaded Mosul in August 2014, Christian families were told by ISIS: “We offer [Christians] three choices: Islam; the dhimma contract — involving payment… if they refuse this, they will have nothing but the sword.”
“There is a great parallel between 1915 and what is going on in the Middle East today. … The most effective way to prevent future slaughter is to condemn past slaughter. Denying such a big crime means its continuation. The wish for genocide still exists in the Middle East.” — Sabri Atman.
“The Turkish authorities let a few Assyrians stay to show Europe and the world how good-hearted and tolerant Turkey and Islam are. … And they say, ‘Assyrians lead their lives so happily thanks to this great tolerance!’” — Sabri Atman.
The recent invasions and massacres committed by the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq and Syria have brought a persecuted but mostly forgotten people to the attention of the world: the Assyrians.
The Assyrians, a native people of Mesopotamia, have been exposed to massacres before — throughout history, in fact.
Due to these campaigns of extermination, the demographic character of the region has been changed greatly.
Before 1915, the population of the territory that is now Turkey was about 15 million, about 4.5 million of which was Christian (nearly a third). Today, one can hardly even talk of a Christian minority. The approximate population of Turkey is 80 million, but there are only around 120,000 Christians, less than 1% of the population.
In 1915, a slaughter of minorities took place, the purpose of which was apparently to “Turkify” and Islamize Anatolia into a country with one language, one flag, one religion and one nation. To achieve this objective, all non-Turkish communities — Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Jews, Yezidis, Kurds and others — were targeted.
But there was a difference between Christians and non-Christians. Non-Christian minorities were to be assimilated; Christians were to be exterminated.
According to the founder and the president of the Assyrian Genocide and Research Center (Seyfo Center)[1], Sabri Atman, there are links between the massacre of the Assyrians and the current massacres of Christians in the Middle East:
“Just like all Assyrians, when I was a child, I heard what had been done in 1915. The people were going through a trauma. Especially the elderly people still with fear in their voices fear about what they had experienced. Now I tell about the grievances of my people to try to get support for them.
“In the Ottoman Empire in 1915, the Ottoman-Turkish Party of Union and Progress slaughtered Christians — Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks. Most of the Assyrians were murdered with swords. Many Kurdish tribes also joined in the killings, using their swords — Seyfos — against their neighbors, the Assyrians.
“It is hard to give an exact number of victims; about 350,000 to 500,000 Assyrians lost their lives. The carnage was not only about murdering people. The lands and property of Christians were also seized. One of the most important outcomes of 1915 for many Turks was the wealth they built on the property of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks. Today there is not a single Assyrian in provinces where once there were so many — so what happened to their lands, goods and property?
“It was the same with the Armenians and Greeks. The Cankaya Palace, the residence of former presidents of Turkey in Ankara, was originally the property of an Armenian, Odian Efendi. If you go to provinces where Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians used to live in Turkey, you would learn that all of the old and magnificent buildings you see used to belong to Armenians, Greeks or Assyrians.
“Some of the wealthy elite ruling Turkey became wealthy from property they forcibly took from the Christians. So one of the reasons they deny what happened in 1915 is that they are afraid one day they might lose the wealth they took cost-free.”
Other slaughters include:
Massacres by Badr Khan Beg, a Kurdish emir, against Assyrian Christians known as Nestorians. They took place in 1843-1846 in the province of Hakkari and throughout the Ottoman Empire.
Massacres against Armenians and Assyrians by the Hamidiye Corps in the Ottoman Empire in 1894 and 1896.
The Simele Massacre of August 7, 1933, by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Iraq. More than 3000 Assyrians were slaughtered, not only in the town of Simele. It also took place in the 68 Assyrian villages of the provinces of Duhok and Nineveh in Iraq.
“A lawyer who was profoundly influenced by the Simele massacre coined the term genocide,” Atman continued. “Raphael Lemkin called it genocide. He used word for the first time in 1944, and applied it to the Armenian massacre, the Holocaust and Simele massacre.”
In 2015, the extermination of Assyrians is still going on, as Assyrians and other Christian communities are being uprooted from countries in Middle Eastern. According to Atman:
“All of the data at hand shows that 1915 was a project of homogenizing Turkey. The Turkish Republic is a state largely established on Christian slaughters. But massacres against Assyrian people are not very much known even in Turkey. They have intentionally been hidden.
“Upon the prompting of Germany, on November 14, 1914, in all mosques of the Ottoman Empire, a call for jihad was made. Their main objective was to have Muslims in the British and French colonies start a riot, which would have empowered Germany and the Ottoman Empire. But things did not turn out the way they had planned.
“After the mosques sent out the call for jihad, many Muslims started massacres against Assyrians and other Christians. After all, killing the ‘kafirs’ [non-believers of Islam] was a ‘good deed’. They were told ‘their place in heaven was guaranteed.’ Just like ISIS gangs, they were also promised – based on the Quranic verses and the hadith – that they would get ’72 virgins’ and that they would also take their relatives in hell to heaven.”
When ISIS invaded Mosul in August 2014, Christian families were told by ISIS terrorists that they would be killed if they did not pay a protection tax (jizya) or convert to Islam. The warning was read out in Mosul’s mosques and broadcast throughout the city on loudspeakers. “We offer [Christians] three choices: Islam; the dhimma contract – involving payment… if they refuse this, they will have nothing but the sword,” the announcement read.
On September 23, in Syria, ISIS executed three more Assyrians by gunshots to the back of their heads, the Assyrian International News Agency reported.
They were part of the group of 253 Assyrians abducted by ISIS on February 23, when it overran 35 Assyrian villages in Hasakah Province in Syria.
In the video recorded by ISIS that shows the execution, ISIS said that if ransom for the remaining Assyrians is not paid, they will be executed as well. ISIS has demanded $50,000 for each hostage, a total of more than $10 million.
On November 25, ISIS released ten more Assyrian Christian hostages in Hasakah Province, but over 150 remain captured and threatened with death.
“There is a great parallel between 1915 and what is going on in the Middle East today — in terms of destruction of non-Muslim civilizations and the continuity of Islamic jihad,” Atman said. The problem, according to Atman, does not stem from people’s belonging to certain ethnic groups; the problem is the denial of the realities of the past.
“Similar calls for jihad against Assyrians and Yezidis were made 100 years ago. Women and girls were raped; the Seyfo (sword) was used to behead people just as it is today.
“When the massacres and human rights violations of the past were not sentenced sufficiently, it paved the way for new massacres. The most effective way to prevent future slaughter is to condemn past slaughter. But the wish for genocide still exists in the Middle East, including Turkey. Turkey is still ruled by a President who says ‘Muslims do not commit genocide.’”
Throughout centuries, Islamic jihad has not changed but, sadly, even in the 21st century Turkish children are still taught a distorted version of history at their schools; as a result, generations are being raised to have a Turkish-Islamic supremacist mindset.
“We all have been exposed to a historical narrative based on lies,” Atman said about Turkish schools. “The official history of Turkey is, ‘Turkish propaganda for Turks.’ Information such as ‘The state of Turkey fought against imperialism’ is incorrect. The Ottoman Empire joined the First World War with imperialistic desires and formed an alliance with Germany. The war, presented as ‘the Turkish war of Liberation,’ was in a way a war to annihilate Christians, Alevis, Yezidis and other non-Muslim groups in Anatolia. So it would not be wrong to say that the Turkish Republic was established on Christian massacres and the denial of Kurds.”
Atman said that during his time in Turkey, he saw non-Turkish and non-Muslim children being exposed to forced assimilation at school.
“I was born in Turkey and went to primary, middle and high schools there. Before our classes got started, we sprang to attention and were made to read at the top of our voice the Turkish Student Oath in which we said, ‘I am a Turk’ and ‘My existence shall be dedicated to the Turkish existence.’ Textbooks claim that in the First World War, Assyrians and other Christians ‘stabbed Turkey in the back in cooperation with the imperialistic states’ and that Assyrians were ‘treacherous’. They brainwash Turkish schoolchildren like that; then the Muslim children look at the Assyrian children with suspicion.”
“When I was at middle school, we had a teacher; the moment he entered the classroom, he asked ‘Are there Christians here? Christians, raise your hands!’ A few children would shyly raise their hands. The look in his eyes spoke volumes. But the attitude of one teacher is never a criterion for assessing a whole society. The problem is not which ethnic group a person belongs to, but the monist ideology of Turkey [one language, one nation, one state, one religion] and its denial or distortion of history.”
Turkifying Anatolia and denying the identities of others is still rife, Atman said. “Turkish authorities still say that ‘Turkey belongs to Turks.’ That is a big lie. Before Turks came to Anatolia, we had been living there. But ‘Turkey belongs to Turks’ is still the slogan in the logo of one of Turkey’s best-selling newspapers.
“In any event, Assyrians are one of the most deeply-rooted indigenous peoples of Mesopotamia. Assyrians have lived on that land for more than 5000 years. The Turks came to Anatolia only in 1071. At least, that is what the Turkish textbooks say. They came later and drove us out.”
Assyrians still live with the consequences of the extermination campaign they were exposed to 100 years ago. The destruction is still going on. But that campaign of extermination is still denied today. Denying such a big crime means its continuation.
“In Turkey, there are still threats such as, ‘We will root them out’ or ‘We will exterminate them.’ To a large extent, they have succeeded. They murdered more than 300,000 Assyrians and forced almost another 300,000 to be exposed to assimilation in many countries across the world.”[2]
Today, in Turkey, there are only about 15,000 Assyrians left, and they are not officially recognized as a people.
“Assyrians are recognized only as a religious congregation, so that state authorities can benefit from them. They let these few stay to show Europe and the world how good-hearted and tolerant Turkey and Islam are. They talk about the ‘great tolerance’ of Turkey and Islam. And they say, ‘Assyrians lead their lives so happily thanks to this great tolerance!’
“What some people in Turkey proudly say is, ‘Elhamdulillah [thank Allah], 99% of Turkey is Muslim.’ They brag and boast about it. It should actually put them to shame; we know very well how they made it happen.
“What is done to Assyrians, Yezidis and others should concern everyone; what is massacred there is the humanity of everyone. If it happens there, it can happen to them. We ask all great powers of the world, everyone, to hear the screams of our people and help.”
Uzay Bulut, born and raised a Muslim, is a Turkish journalist based in Ankara.
[1] The Assyrian Genocide Research Center (Seyfo Center), an international organization headquartered in Sweden, was established in 2005 and has offices in Germany, Holland, Switzerland and the U.S. Sabri Atman, an award-winning human rights activist and researcher, is a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). He has received countless awards and is now based in the U.S.
[2] According to Atman, it is estimated that Assyrians live in the U.S. (300,000), Australia (35,000), Europe (300,000), Canada (30,000), Iraq (500,000), Syria and Lebanon (50,000). There are Assyrian communities in Iran, Jordan, Argentina, Brazil and many other countries as well.

Palestinians: The Real Goal of the Intifada
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/November 29/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6973/palestinian-intifada-goal
Abbas seems intentionally to ignore that he and his Palestinian Authority are responsible for the violence, as a result of their daily incitement against Israel.
A recent poll found that 48% of Palestinians interviewed believe that the real goal of the "intifada" is to "liberate all of Palestine." In other words, approximately half of Palestinians believe that the "intifada" should lead to the destruction of Israel, which would be replaced with a Palestinian state -- one that now would be ruled by Hamas and jihadi organizations such as Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.
It is notable that only 11% of respondents said the goal of the "intifada" should be to "liberate" only those territories captured by Israel in 1967.
The Palestinians do not, according to the poll, have a problem with "settlements" or "poor living conditions." They have a problem with Israel's existence. Palestinians do not see a difference between a West Bank "settlement" and cities inside Israel -- or differentiate between Jews living there. They are all depicted as "settlers" and "colonialists."
This contradicts Abbas's claim that the Palestinians want a "peaceful and popular" uprising. The Palestinians are not, as their leaders claim, seeking a two-state solution.
As the current Palestinian campaign of terrorism against Israel is about to enter its third month, it is still not clear to many what the Palestinians are trying to achieve. The Palestinians cannot even agree on a name for their campaign. Some are referring to it as an "intifada," while others are describing it as a "Habba Jamahiriya" ["popular puff," or "flurry"].
The Palestinians also have not been able to agree on the motives behind the stabbing, shooting, firebombing and car-ramming attacks. Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly claimed during the past few weeks that the terrorists are setting out to kill Jews out of "despair and frustration" and the lack of a "political horizon." But Abbas seems intentionally to be ignoring that it is he and his Palestinian Authority who are responsible -- together with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian factions -- for the violence, as a result of their daily incitement against Israel.
This is yet another instance in which anyone could have predicted what was going to happen. Throughout the past year, Abbas has been telling his people that Israel was planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and "change the Arab and Islamic character and identity" of Jerusalem. He condemned Jews for "defiling the Aqsa Mosque with their filthy feet." Abbas, his spokesmen and PA-controlled media outlets also have also repeatedly been telling Palestinians that Israel is committing "war crimes" and "summary executions" of innocent Palestinians.
This is, as Abbas knows, exactly the type of incitement that prompts Palestinian teenagers to grab a knife, run out into the street and murder the first Jew they see. Those young Palestinians are also tragic victims of the poisonous campaign of the inflammatory anti-Israeli language emanating from Palestinian leaders such as Abbas, mosque preachers, news outlets and social media.
Contrary to Abbas's outrage, no one has yet found even one terrorist who claimed to have attacked a Jew out of "despair and frustration" at the "lack of a political horizon." If you look through the social media accounts of these young terrorists, many have said that they set out to kill Jews to "defend" Al-Aqsa Mosque. They seem to have been influenced by the romantic notion of Abbas's repeated fictitious claims that Jews were plotting to destroy the mosque, followed by high-flown fantasies of themselves as heroes charging forth to rescue it.
A public opinion poll published last week refutes Abbas's claim that Palestinians are committing terrorist attacks out of "despair and frustration." The poll, conducted by the Watan Center for Studies and Research, found that 48% of the Palestinians interviewed believe that the real goal of the "intifada" is to "liberate all of Palestine." In other words, approximately half of Palestinians believe that the goal of the "intifada" should lead to the destruction of Israel.
What is notable, is that only 11% of respondents said that the true goal of the "intifada" should be to "liberate" only those territories captured by Israel in 1967. Another 12% of Palestinians said they believe that the goal of the "intifada" was to release prisoners held by Israel.
The results of the poll, which covered 1,167 Palestinians above the age of 18, show that a majority of Palestinians continue to seek the destruction of Israel. The poll shows that only a few Palestinians see only the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem as the future Palestinian state. They want the "intifada" to replace Israel with a Palestinian state -- preferably, one that now would be ruled by Hamas and jihadi organizations such as Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.
These Palestinians do not see a difference between, say, Ma'aleh Adumim, a "settlement" on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and any city inside Israel. One only needs to look at reports in the Palestinian media to see that Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion, Kiryat Gat and Ra'anana are all considered "settlements." These reports also show that Palestinians do not see a difference between a Jew living in the West Bank and Israel -- instead, they are all depicted as "settlers" and "colonialists."
None of the Palestinians interviewed for the poll complained about "despair and frustration," or the lack of a "political horizon." Obviously, they are driven by hatred for Jews and Israel. They do not, however, have a problem with "settlements" or "poor living conditions." They have a problem with Israel's existence. A majority believes that Israel can -- and should -- be destroyed. They are not, as Palestinian leaders claim, seeking a two-state solution.
According to the poll, more than 75% of Palestinians support the use of violence against Israel. More than 44% of respondents support the use of firearms against Israel; 18% are in favor of using knives to kill Jews, and another 14% would like to see Palestinians use stones. This contradicts Abbas's claim that the Palestinians want a "peaceful and popular" uprising.
Another noteworthy finding of the poll is that 72% of Palestinians want the current "intifada" to continue. In other words, an overwhelming majority of Palestinians would like to see their youths carry out more terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. They want to see more terror attacks because their leaders and journalists are telling them that those who kill Jews are "heroes" and "martyrs" who will have streets, squares, schools and tournaments named after them.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who visited Israel and Ramallah last week in a bid to end the Palestinian terror attacks, was unable to make any progress. Even before he arrived in Ramallah to meet with President Abbas, Kerry was strongly condemned for referring to the Palestinian violence as "terrorism." Palestinians who demonstrated not far from Abbas's office shouted slogans condemning the U.S. Administration for its attempt to stop the terror attacks against Israelis and called for boycotting Kerry. The protesters also declared Kerry persona non grata in Ramallah.
Kerry and the U.S. Administration should know by now that the Palestinians are waging war on Israel not because of "despair and frustration," but because they aspire to destroy Israel, as the results of the recent poll show.
The goal of the Palestinians is the destruction of Israel. This fact is something that other Western parties need to understand -- that the Palestinian "struggle" is mainly aimed at eliminating Israel, and not "the establishment of a Palestinian state that would live in peace and security alongside Israel." The recent poll should be translated into English and distributed among all those "pro-Palestinian" groups that continue to shout about the conflict being the result of Israeli "occupation" of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.
Today, it is clear that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not really about the "occupation" that began with the creation of Israel in 1948. The last three Palestinian "intifadas" and previous Israeli-Arab wars had (and still have) one goal: to see Israel removed off the map.
Bassam Tawil is a scholar based in the Middle East.
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Why is ISIS so resilient?
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/November 29/15/
When I visited Syria in 2013 for a report for the U.S. Army War College on the Resurgence of al-Qaeda in Syria and Iraq, ISIS was one of the new insignificant groups. My main focus was on Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s official group in Syria. I was therefore surprised that within a year ISIS had emerged with such power, ferocity and organisational prowess. If you could say nothing else about ISIS, you’d have to concede that the group has managed to surprise us, and continues to do so. It may be on the back-foot in the Levant now, a fact that has coincided with renewed terror attacks in other countries (in Egypt and France to name just the two we hear most about in the media), but that it should have risen to the power and status it has, and that it manages to hold on to it when it looks like the entire world is at war with it, could seem like a rather impressive achievement. Especially in the eyes of young Muslim alienated from modern society, for example.
In the caliphate, all Muslims are equal before their God, it’s just that some are more equal than others. tern power wants to put boots on the ground. The fact that the Assad regime would rather fight the Free Syrian Army, or indeed any other moderate rebel group, than fight ISIS. And Russia is doing the exact same thing. The fact that Turkey would rather fight the Kurds, so the Kurds now have to fight on two fronts.
‘Useful idiots’
But probably what helps the most is the fact that ISIS is not what we in the West think it is. It is not a rag-tag army of beardy preachers and deluded Western teenagers. The entire ISIS top leadership is made up of former Baathist army and intelligence officers and senior administrators from Saddam Hussain’s regime. These people have largely replicated the organisation and the operation of Saddam’s state. After the Bush’s disastrous de-Baathification policy many former Saddamites realised that the only way they can have any hope of returning to power is through militant Islam which will also give them an air of legitimacy. There was after all little appetitive for a return to Baathism. They know how to govern and know how to terrorise a population into submission when necessary. Indeed, an Israeli General I recently met told me he was convinced that Baghdadi, the ‘Caliph’, was selected by the Baathists rather than the other way around.
Our enterprising aspiring mujahedeen, the young Jihadists that leave the West to join the “glorious Revolution”, on the other hand, have been described as nothing more than ‘useful idiots’ to do their bidding. They have very little value outside the propaganda value. They are not military trained, usually unfit and out of shape, and can’t speak the language. Which is why they spend all day doing social media and propaganda videos, or are sent by the ISIS leadership on suicide missions – primarily missions against other Muslim groups in the region, with whom as outsiders they could have no prior affiliation or sympathy. Their propaganda role is also the reason why they live in relatively plush conditions compared with the local Arab fighters. In the caliphate, all Muslims are equal before their God, it’s just that some are more equal than others. The perverse aspect of all of this is that this rather extraordinary set of circumstances should be a rather unstable state of affairs. If any one of the major power players in the conflict shifted strategy to actually focus on ISIS and engage with it properly, the situation would shift dramatically. Or indeed, if the Western recruits or the seasoned Arab fighters just got fed up with the other group and some kind of open conflict emerged, the propaganda machine of ISIS would be completely decimated, and it would fall soon after. But nobody seems that intent on actually tackling ISIS head on. And nobody seems capable of driving a wedge between the really rather disparate groups that make the ISIS alliance. In this, our leaders in the West have demonstrated a failure of imagination and of competence on the scale of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. And now, all they can come up with is more aerial bombardment of areas with large civilian populations. Because clearly that will make the 10 million or so Sunni Muslims who live in ISIS territory see things our way. What should surprise us is not that ISIS has gotten to where it is today. It is that the rest of us, the West, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Gulf states and everyone else involved have been so seemingly incompetent at engaging with the conflict.

Defeating ISIS requires a shift in international policy
Lina Khatib/Al Arabiya/November 29/15/
The Paris attacks were the most audacious act in Europe by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), signaling the dawn of a new era in which nowhere is immune from terrorist threats. However, they have not sparked a significant shift in policy by the international community. On the contrary, the global reaction to the Paris attacks is playing right into ISIS’s hands. The group’s strategy prior to its advance in Mosul in 2014 was offense-based, built on gaining territory. This was used as concrete evidence for ISIS’s slogan “lasting and expanding.” After the Mosul advance, many observers continued to measure the group’s success in terms of territorial gains. The slowing down of its physical expansion was erroneously thought of as a sign of weakness. The reality is that ISIS was simply entering a new phase. Military action alone will not defeat ISIS. It must be coupled with a political plan that addresses the root cause behind its existence.
ISIS strategy
Its beheading of two American hostages, just as it declared the establishment of a caliphate in June 2014, signaled a major shift in strategy as it began engaging in defensive warfare. The beheadings were meant to drive U.S. military intervention. Defensive warfare has been proven to be more favorable than offensive warfare to small groups fighting asymmetrical war. ISIS built its military strategy accordingly. Expansion came to have another meaning, that of global presence, not territorial gain. Opportunistic attacks around the world began, and were aimed at driving support for ISIS as it showed its sympathizers that it had global reach. This was not just about image but also recruitment - now that it had captured enough territory to create a state, it needed fighters and residents to form its population. ISIS’s military calculations have been based on meticulous study of the West’s reaction to, and handling of, similar scenarios in the context of the Middle East since Sept. 11, 2001. It became clear to ISIS leaders that the West could be easily drawn into a war based on retaliation, not on comprehensive strategy. This happened in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, and played out in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, with terrorist acts by Al-Qaida driving military reactions by the United States and its allies that only fueled the conflicts instead of ending them. The scars of the Iraq experience were a main driver behind the policies of the Barack Obama administration in the United States, as the president attempted to avoid repeating the same scenario in other Middle Eastern countries.
Intervention
ISIS leaders understood this, and gambled that the United States and its allies would try to avoid getting involved in the Syrian conflict, only to be dragged into it rather hastily when they were pushed to do so. The gamble was that after what happened in Iraq in the aftermath of the invasion, no Western county would want to commit boots on the ground in the Middle East again, meaning that any military reaction by the West would not be sufficient to defeat ISIS. The U.S.-led international coalition that has been engaged in airstrikes against the group since Sept. 2014 confirmed to ISIS the accuracy of its projection. It had been well prepared for airstrikes, hiding its leaders underground and intermingling its fighters within the civilian populations in Syria and Iraq. The strikes were used by ISIS to prove its narrative that it was defending Muslim lands against the aggression of “crusades, infidels and apostates.” Through the Paris attacks, the group aimed to give the French no choice but to retaliate through similar military intervention. With other Western countries now considering following suit, the ISIS is succeeding in using popular anger and fear in Europe for its own benefit. Countries feel pressured to show their people that they are doing something about the group, either to avenge them or defend them. They turn inward, driving their attention to domestic security, while also feeling the pressure to act externally. This translates into the kind of external military action that is at best symbolic and at worst not thought through.
The U.N. Security Council resolution against ISIS that was unanimously agreed in the aftermath of the Paris attacks is another example of how everyone is feeling the pressure but lacking a viable strategy to implement. It also further affirms to ISIS supporters worldwide that anyone who is not part of the organization is a legitimate enemy. The formula is simple: Attack the enemy to showcase influence. Gain new members. Drive the enemy toward hasty military retaliation. Gain new members. The international community has a real common enemy in the form of ISIS, but it is time to stop being reactionary in how this threat is dealt with. The more countries focus on security, the further away they turn from politics. The further they are from politics, the more ISIS benefits.
Cause and effect
It is tempting to see the group as the problem, but it is in fact the symptom. The underlying problem is the continuation of the Syrian conflict. ISIS leaders know this, and benefit from the lack of strategy on the part of the international community to end the Syrian crisis. They watched in glee as the Vienna talks, which were meant to be about starting a political negotiation process over Syria, turned to matters of security instead. Military action alone will not defeat ISIS. It must be coupled with a political plan that addresses the root cause behind its existence. Otherwise the international community’s well-meaning reactions and interventions will only to serve to feed the beast.

Keep saying no to violence against women
Samar Fatany/Al Arabiya/November 29/15/
Discrimination and violence against women and girls continues to be a topic of global concern. On Nov. 25 the world celebrated the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The U.N. initiated the campaign, “UNITE to End Violence against Women”, calling on governments and mobilizing U.N. agencies, civil society organizations and activists from all over the world to take meaningful action to end violence against women and girls in every community. Our government like many others across the world is called upon to reflect upon its initiatives to end violence against women. Although there are several organizations that have been established to address the problem, Saudi women still remain disappointed with the lack of serious legislation to hold perpetrators of violence accountable in our society. For how long will women continue to struggle to fight the discrimination and the injustice in courts because of biased judges and senior scholars who remain indifferent to the sufferings of women and their grievances? Violence against women requires effective, codified Shariah laws so that women can understand their legal rights and violators can be punished for their acts of violence. It is no longer acceptable to allow child marriages, confinement and absolute male domination over women in this day and age. Laws must be amended and new national gender policies should be applied with more efficient institutions to implement them. Changing attitudes and behavior that tolerate violence against women is also an issue of major concern. Boys at an early age are not taught to show respect for women. Our schools need to foster structural change to help our youth identify inappropriate or violent behavior. Changing the negative attitudes of our youth is critical to preventing violence against women in the future. Reducing economic, social and political inequalities between men and women remains another problem that women find difficult to overcome. Discrimination at work and the lack of equal opportunities have marginalized their role and deprived them of the chance to pursue successful careers and a better status in life.
Basic rights
Meanwhile, the biggest challenge of all is the rigid interpretation of Shariah laws that keeps women subservient to their male guardians who abuse them physically, mentally, socially and economically. Many women have little or no knowledge about their religious rights or about state laws. Others are afraid to report abuse or ask for their basic rights. The definition of what is allowed and what is not remains vague and continues to encourage perpetrators to indulge in physical and mental abuse of women. To this day most men violate religious teachings and are abusive because they are influenced by aberrant customs and traditions and they are encouraged by the guardianship law that gives them the power to control every aspect in the life of women in our society. Decision makers are reluctant to implement laws that enforce fair legal actions reflecting the true teachings of Islam and addressing the ambiguities in the rulings of hardline Shariah scholars. For how long will women continue to struggle to fight the discrimination and the injustice in courts because of biased judges and senior scholars who remain indifferent to the sufferings of women and their grievances? According to research conducted by the National Family Safety Program, one in every six women is abused verbally, physically or emotionally every day, and 90 percent of the abusers are usually husbands or fathers.Shoura Council members have done little to address the negative attitudes that encourage violence against women. The hardliners in the Shoura Council keep blocking the proposals to amend the discriminatory laws. Not many prominent men in society have dared to defy the hardline scholars. There are currently several organizations that have been established to address the problem of domestic violence in the Kingdom. The National Family Safety Program which is headed by Princess Adela Bint Abdullah, is dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect and it offers protection to victims of domestic violence. The King Khaled Charitable Foundation has also played a role in addressing the phenomenon of domestic violence by launching the Protection from Abuse system which prompts reporting, immediate response, rehabilitation and protection against abuse. The Ministry of Social Affairs – General Directorate for Social Protection runs 17 Protection Committees in various provinces to serve victims of domestic abuse; the Human Rights Commission and the National Society for Human Rights also address violence against women and children and the Saudi National Health Council has approved a hospital-based child protection team’s project. However, the adopted systems of the organizations lack adequate implementation and their resources are insufficient to address the needs of the victims of violence. The government should show a more serious commitment with meaningful action and adequate rules and regulations to curb the prevalence of violence against women in our society. Women have had enough of lip-service reforms. The time to act is now.
This article was first published in the Saudi Gazette on Nov. 28, 2015.

'Muslims need to decide where they stand'
Eldad Beck /Ynetnews /Published: 11.28.15
Waleed al-Husseini sat in Palestinian jail after daring to criticize radicals – but he says he is also under fire in France for his 'insensitive' ideas about Islam; Hamed Abdel-Samad is seen as radical because of his books; but both are unafraid of criticizing the religion in which they grew up, and they're not the only ones. January 7, 2015, the date of the bloodbath at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, was supposed to be a very special day for Waleed al-Husseini. The young Palestinian blogger, thrown into jail by the Palestinian Authority for "insulting Islam," was released thanks to an international campaign and found asylum in France. He was ready to launch the promotion of his autobiography that day. As radical Islamists coldly murdered journalists and cartoonists for their irreverent humor, al-Husseini was signing the first copies of the book, in which he settles the score with Islam and Palestinian society. "You can imagine how I felt," the 29-year-old told me as he recalled that bitter day. "I left the Middle East because of Islamic radicalism. Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) put me in jail because I'm an atheist, but the sword of Islam followed me to Europe. "When I saw the French response to the terror attack at Charlie Hebdo, it was obvious it wouldn't be the last attack," he added. Al-Husseini said he was not surprised about the coordinated attacks in Paris on November 13. "I was angry," he said. "Many Frenchmen traveled to Syria and returned. "After Charlie, the French were busy blaming everyone but the terrorists. They didn't deal at all with the real root of the problem – Islam. They treated the terror attack only as revenge for the cartoons published in the magazine. But it wasn't only revenge. It was part of an attempt to impose a religious ideology on the West. It was therefore obvious to me that there would be more terror attacks."
'Close the borders'
Al-Husseini was born in Qalqilya to a traditional Muslim family. He was interested in the history of Islam from a young age and couldn't understand why there was such silence surrounding many subjects related to the Prophet Mohammed and the Koran. He began researching the subject on his own, first at libraries and then online. Finding answers to many of his questions, al-Husseini started a blog on which he posted his thoughts on problems in Islam. The blog caused a stir in the Palestinian Authority territories – and outside them. Al-Husseini received frequent threats to his life, while others praised his courage.
Al-Husseini ran the blog from an internet café not far from his home. The café owner, who became suspicious, began monitoring his computer use and reported him to authorities. Al-Husseini's ordeal had begun. He served ten days in PA jail and many friends and relatives cut him out of their lives.
When al-Husseini arrived at the French embassy in Amman five years ago and asked for political asylum, he did not expect what he found in France, which, in his opinion, had become obsequious to Islam. He founded the Council of Ex-Muslims in France, which preaches secularism among Muslims. "Here in France, if you look Arab, they immediately consider you a Muslim," says al-Husseini with a smile. "They don't consider that you might be a Christian or Jewish Arab. We want to show that there are people who left Islam and are atheists. We want to protect the idea of secularism in order to move forward, not backwards like we are now."
The French – especially the political, media, and academic elites – do not care for what al-Husseini has to say, he says. Mainly, they don't want to hear the sharp criticism of Europe's attitude towards Islamic terror. Yet al-Husseini is not a voice in the wilderness. Ever-increasing numbers of Muslim intellectuals, who fled religious persecution in their home countries, have been slamming Europe's treatment of radical Islam. "There are lots of people who support us, including in Arab countries – although they, of course, can't speak freely," he says. "For me, Islam is the connection between the person and his God, not a lifestyle or an education. A change in this direction is possible, but it will take a long time. Why do people think there is only one Islam? This idea comes from Saudi Arabia and is disseminated through TV networks and online. Now we are seeing the results of this approach."
How does it feel to be Arab and Muslim in Paris after the coordinated attacks? Has anything changed?
"So far there's a different feeling from after the Charlie attack. Then, there were more than a few Muslims who secretly expressed happiness about what happened. This time, the attacks were directed at all the French people and Muslims must decide where they stand. The Muslims in France will wait to see how the French themselves react to the attacks and then decide how to proceed. I think that after two weeks, the same thing as what happened that other attack will happen. At first they commiserated, and later blamed the Charlie employees, whom they said invited the attack with their actions. A public campaign began against the magazine, not the terrorists. I'm afraid there will be more attacks and hope security forces can prevent them."Why do these terrible attacks occur repeatedly in France, but not in Germany or Sweden? "France has more Muslims than any other European country. There are entire areas where only Muslims live and can do whatever they want. They don't feel French. They don't care about the French Republic's values, only Islamic values. It feeds terrorism. The Muslims here consider themselves Muslims first and foremost and only then French. It's a very big problem.
"Why are we prevented from talking about the real problem? Why aren't we talking about Wahhabism? About all the incitement in the Koran? Anyone who dares criticize Islam is immediately labeled a fascist and a racist. We must be able to talk about this problem. If we continue being blind and don't talk about the problems in the Koran, there will be more and more attacks. A change will not come through the actions of an imam here and an imam there, but through formulating a general, united stance on the matter."After all the attacks, do you feel people are listening to you more?
"In the Arab Muslim world it is very difficult to talk about these things. But here, there's criticism of Islam that I can express in Arabic but cannot say in French. No one will arrest me here, but they will accuse me of being radical. I get warned that the radical right will use what I say towards its needs and objectives and not the goals I seek to advance, and so it would be better for me to shut up. People think any criticism of Islam is Islamophobic. That's the view that dominates European public opinion and it is funded by the Saudis. Because the wealthy of the Gulf states are involved in the French and European economies, governments and parties here don't permit talking about Islam. Particularly the leftist parties. The French left seriously hurt the secular worldview when it allowed the debate over allowing the wearing of hijab and halal food at secular state schools. Bringing Islam into the schools did not help treat the problem."
So what needs to be done to end the problem? "We need to close the borders and initiate teaching of a different Islam. In the long run, we have to try to work towards reform within Islam. I know the road is long, but we have to do it – especially the Muslims living in banlieues. We need to teach them French values. They need to feel they are French first and foremost. We need to involve them in French society, not let them live in ghettoes. Almost everyone is Muslim in Saint-Denis, and they live like they did in Morocco, Egypt or Palestine. They need to get involved in French society, learn about other cultures. That will make them less aggressive."
Aren't you afraid of saying what you think? "I'm not afraid for myself, but for the values of the Republic, and mainly for freedom of speech. Anyone who tries to talk about Islam encounters the argument: 'We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.' The Muslims are what scares me." Do you see any connection between what's happening in France and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?"In the case of this terror attack, no. The connection was clear in previous attacks. In the past, the perpetrators always claimed their actions were related to the situation in Palestine and that's why they attacked Jewish targets. "This time, they're talking about the situation in Syria and Iraq. But hatred of Jews comes from the Koran. The philosophy of Islam is built on hating Jews. In Palestine, I learned Jew-hatred and jihad in school. What will happen to all the generations that are raised on this education? Will they be for peace?
"Just now, by the way, I wanted to meet up with my family in Israel, not in Palestinian Authority territory. But I decided to give it up because of the situation."
'Mohammed still controls us from the grave'
Hamed Abdel-Samad, son of an Egyptian imam, is conducting a similar struggle in Germany. He has written several books critical of Islam since moving to Germany at the age of 23. Days after its publication, his latest – "Mohammed: the Reckoning" – reached the top of the bestsellers list, even though many stores preferred not to put it on display out of concern of Muslim reactions and despite the disapproval of much of Germany's cultural elite.Abdel-Samad, 45, has 24-hour police protection after a number of fatwas were declared against him. In his books, he dares touch the holiest of holies in Islam – the Prophet Mohammed. "Freud already settled the score with Moses and there was no global revolution against him for it," Abdel-Samad says.
"There were reckonings with Jesus, some satirical, like 'Monty Python's Life of Brian'. Every historical figure has received some kind of criticism, except for Mohammed. I am against a 'do not touch' approach to Mohammed, because he doesn't deserve it. Mohammed serves as an example for many violent Islamists who do today exactly what he did in his time: Wars of conquest, beheadings of prisoners of war, aggressive attitudes towards the adherents of other religions and non-believers, the oppression of women. The score should have been settled a long time ago with this person, who died 1,400 years ago, but continues to control us from the grave and devices what coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims looks like.
How did we get to this situation?
"Because of the strange division of labor that exists within Islam. The extremists murder in the name of Mohammed. The conservatives give this legitimacy through the texts they teach in schools and mosques in the entire Arab world. Even if they don't explicitly call for murder and say they oppose terrorism and ISIS, they spread hate in the name of Mohammed.
"And there are Muslims who don't want to deal with the problem and mystify the prophet, claiming he was a peace-loving, warm person – which is untrue. They repeat the same mantra: ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hamas, Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations are unrelated to Islam. Nothing is related to Islam. Almost the entire Muslim world is unrelated to Islam. It's an escape from reality and from responsibility. And because you cannot touch the prophet, the Islamic theologians and Western experts on Islam come and repeat this game. There are Western experts on Islam who present him as the noble savage, a typical Orientalist view. This unholy alliance between fundamentalists, liberal Muslims, theologians and Orientalists is what has until now prevented serious and thorough criticism of Mohammed that would allow us to understand the danger that lies in this figure.
"What's sad is that it's not just the radical Islamists threatening us, but intellectuals from the liberal left demand that we respect the believers' feelings. Who takes care of my feelings when I read in the Koran that the unbelievers are horrible, terrible people?"
How did the European left become a partner in silencing debate about Islam?
"In Germany, it's reaching the wrong conclusions from German history. People say: because we were so bad to the Jews, we are not allowed to criticize the Muslims, because that's racism or right-wing radicalism. Many Germans who say similar things to what I say are immediately labeled as Nazis. And that's false. Of course there is a radical right and anti-Semitism and xenophobia in Germany. But criticism of Islam is something else. It's related to enlightenment, to teaching, to humanism.
"There are also financial interests: Germany does business with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and the whole Arab world. These are deals worth billions and they don't want to be seen as hostile to Islam in those countries. And there are also a lot of lobbyists in the media, academia and economy who are tightly linked to the Gulf states and are trying to disseminate these views. In general, among European intellectuals criticism towards Islam is attributed to the radical right."
Isn't that a kind of racism?
"It's reverse racism. Muslims are treated as wards that must be protected because they aren't really developed. Don't wake the savages or they'll bark. Anyone who takes Islam seriously needs to criticize Islam."