New Page 5

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006

Bible Quotation For Today/‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me
Mark 08/34-38/09,01: "Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.’"

Bible Quotation For Today/Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy,
Book of Revelation 01/01-08: "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 20-21/15
Demonstrations In Lebanon & Hundreds Of questions/Elias Bejjani/September 21/15
The "Petain of Lebanon" will never be the President/Thawrat Al Arz/September 21/15
Rocket fire from Gaza shows Hamas's weakness and Israel's lack of options/By YOSSI MELMAN/J.Post/September 21/15
Amid Syria chaos, broken symbol of hope plays final note/Ynetnews/ Roi Kais/September 20/15
Migration Crisis: Germany Wants to Be "Miss Congeniality"/Vijeta Uniyal/Gatestone Institute/September 20/15
Bahrain’s heart-warming Arab hospitality/Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/September 20/15
Ahmed was arrested, Osama kicked. And good people rallied against it/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/September 20/15
Let Hajj bring hope Middle East societies can reject violence/Samar Fatany/Al Arabiya/September 20/15
The U.S. education system is failing Ahmed/Yara al-Wazir/Al Arabiya/September 20/15
Turkey Needs to Practice in Turkey What It Preaches in Cyprus/by Kyriacos Kyriakides/Gatestone Institute/September 20/15

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin for Lebanese Related News published on September 20-21/15
Demonstrations In Lebanon & Hundreds Of questions
The "Petain of Lebanon" will never be the President
Open the files In Lebanon
Amal Terror thugs" attack demonstrators in Beirut
Salam in UAE, Pays Condolences to Dubai Ruler
Assiri: Saudi King Gave Instructions to Open Pilgrims Flights to Mecca
Bassil Calls Demo at Baabda Palace as Aoun Rejects 'Puppet President'
Protesters March from Bourj Hammoud to Nejmeh Square amid Attack by 'Berri Supporters'
Assailants Torch Cafe in Tyre

Demonstrations In Lebanon & Hundreds Of questions
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2015/09/20/elias-bejjani-demonstrations-in-lebanon-hundreds-of-questionsthawrat-al-arz-the-petain-of-lebanon-aoun-will-never-be-the-president/
Elias Bejjani/September 21/15
The protesters in the streets of downtown Beirut are a strange mixture of every thing and of every body in Lebanon. Some of them and may be the majority, are definitely in our opinion genuine, patriotic and not affiliated to any of the Lebanese corrupted political parties or militias. These protesters, the genuine ones are demanding the Lebanese authorities take care of the garbage that has been pilling for almost a month in the streets and causing serious health problems, but others who are a minority, are militarized Hezbollah and Amal puppets in addition to well organized trouble maker infiltrators from all the disgraced leftists and ideological groups who are as always and all over the world against order, laws and states' stability. Sadly the Lebanese government is helpless, hopeless and crippled because of Hezbollah's hegemony and occupation of the country. Personally, We believe as many other Lebanese that Hezbollah is investing in this chaos to keep on controlling the country on the basis of divide and conquer. In summary, the main problem in Lebanon is the Iranian Hezbollah occupation and every thing else falls under the symptoms. Accordingly not even one difficulty will end before ending the occupation

The "Petain of Lebanon" will never be the President...
Thawrat Al Arz/September 21/15
After he considered his collaboration with the Assad regime and with Terror faction Hezbollah, "historic achievements", General Michel Aoun has confirmed himself as the "Petain of Lebanon," the once commander of an army that fought the invasion of the Assad armies. But the "Petain of Lebanon" let go of his own past and was reborn as a traitor to the Lebanese Army, the Lebanese Republic and the Lebanese people. His followers initially backed him against Christian militias and warlords in 1989 and 1990. But Aoun has abandoned who he was before. He is now an ally of terror, and his fate is linked to them. He does not exist outside the Syrian regime, the Ayatollahs and Hezbollah. The rejection of Aoun by the people of Lebanon is not a partisan endorsement of his political opponents, and of his past enemies, the warlords. Rejecting Aoun and his Khomeinist masters is not caused by partisan support to Gemayel, Geagea, Harb, Frangieh, or any other politician. Rejecting Aoun is a matter of resistance against the Assad-Hezbollah terror. Neither Aoun nor any warlord should be a President of a democratic Lebanon. Arms and money may impose them but they will never be accepted as representing the nation, until real liberation

"Open the files"
Thawrat Al Arz/September 21/15
We support the call of many citizens and demonstrators to expose all the politicians who have looted the country since 1975, who have sold out the country to foreign forces, who have oppressed the Lebanese civil society uprisings, who have sided with foreign military militias against the Lebanese Army, police and civilians. That would include every single political party that had a militia, every political leader, including the leaders of the Communist Party, Socialist Party, Amal, and all other parties including Christian, Sunnis, Shia, Druse. An "open the files event" will expose almost all politicians of Lebanon since 1975. Are you ready?

Amal Terror thugs" attack demonstrators in Beirut
Thawrat Al Arz/September 21/15
We are monitoring members of the pro-Assad Amal militia attacking demonstrators in Beirut protesting social and economic conditions. The Amal thugs targeted demonstrators who held signs with pictures of politicians including pro-Syrian politician Nabih Berri.

Salam in UAE, Pays Condolences to Dubai Ruler
Associated Press/Naharnet/September 20/15/Prime Minister Tammam Salam traveled on Sunday to the United Arab Emirates where he paid condolences to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice President and Ruler of Dubai over the death of his eldest son. Education Minister Elias Bou Saab accompanied Salam in his visit, the National News Agency said. Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a son of Dubai's ruler and elder brother to the emirate's heir, died on Saturday of a heart attack at age 33. In addition to his role as Dubai ruler and Vice president, Sheikh Mohammed is prime minister of the UAE. Sheikh Rashid was an avid sportsman and horse racing enthusiast. His younger brother Sheikh Hamdan is Dubai's crown prince. The ruler's court has declared three days of mourning.

Assiri: Saudi King Gave Instructions to Open Pilgrims Flights to Mecca
Naharnet/September 20/15/Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Assiri stressed on Sunday that the Saudi King has given instructions to receive the flights transporting pilgrims from Lebanon to Mecca to perform the Islamic hajj pilgrimage. “King Salam Bin Abdul Aziz has given instructions to open the skies for Lebanese pilgrims and to receive the flights of the Middle East Airlines (transporting the pilgrims),” the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation quoted the ambassador. The ambassador’s comments came after reports said that Lebanese pilgrims were unable to leave to Saudi Arabia yet to perform the Hajj rituals because of the huge air traffic pressure during the Hajj season this year. Reports said that similar delays happen each year but the issue is usually solved within days unlike this year. They stated that more than 8000 pilgrims are still unable to leave to Mecca and that they have to travel maximum by Monday or else they will not be able to perfom the rituals. Later during the day Mohammed al-Hout, the Middle East Airlines Chairman told the National News Agency that "the MEA will take the measures and launch flights to Mecca starting Sunday up until Tuesday to transport Lebanese pilgrims to perform the rituals of Hajj," on time. Hajj is the greater Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. It is series of rituals meant to cleanse the soul of sins and instill a sense of equality and brotherhood. All able-bodied Muslims are required to perform the hajj once in their lives.

Bassil Calls Demo at Baabda Palace as Aoun Rejects 'Puppet President'
Naharnet/September 20/15/Newly-elected Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Sunday called for a mass rally outside the presidential palace in Baabda on October 11, as Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun reiterated his rejection of the election of what he calls a “puppet president.”“We call for filling the squares of Baabda and rallying outside the presidential palace on October 11,” said Bassil at a ceremony to inaugurate him as the new FPM leader, after he won the movement's elections uncontested in late August.Bassil pledged to respect the FPM's bylaws, saying “the door of admission is open once again for all supporters.”“The FPM is a party that is smaller than Lebanon and bigger than the Levant, and we will endorse the proportional representation law in the movement's elections,” he announced. “Those who want to talk to the Levant's Christians must talk to us first,” Bassil added. Addressing protesters who are “demanding electricity and water,” the FPM chief asked: “Where were you when the projects were obstructed?”“Where were you when the oil and gas tenders were halted?” he added. Bassil also addressed protesters demanding a solution to the garbage crisis, telling them: “Where were you when we lost several votes in cabinet to put an end to the mockery of extending” the contract of Sukleen, the firm in charge of waste management in Beirut and Mount Lebanon.Saluting his Hizbullah allies, Bassil added: “I salute the resistance fighters and may God protect them. We tell the occupiers that we will fight you – army, people and resistance.”Meanwhile, outgoing FPM chief Michel Aoun delivered a speech at the same ceremony. “Let no one try to intimidate us by asking us to choose between chaos and a puppet president. Let there be chaos if you can create it,” said Aoun. “I promise you that a president will emerge out of your plight,” Aoun added, addressing supporters. He said authority must return to the Lebanese people through “parliamentary elections,” calling on citizens to “change the entire policies of the state.”

Protesters March from Bourj Hammoud to Nejmeh Square amid Attack by 'Berri Supporters'
Naharnet/September 20/15/Civil society protesters marched Sunday from Bourj Hammoud to central Beirut's Nejmeh Square, passing by the Sukleen waste management firm and Electricité du Liban's headquarters, in a mass demo that was marred by an assault by young men claiming to be supporters of Speaker Nabih Berri. Demonstrators started gathering in Bourj Hammoud around 4:00 pm, carrying banners condemning the ruling political class and chanting slogans against the government. The banners also reflected the protest movement's demands regarding the crises of waste management, electricity, salaries and other social issues. Riot police later imposed a security cordon around al-Nejmeh Square. Protesters had announced that they intend to enter into the square to rally outside the parliament building. By nightfall, hundreds of protesters were being held back by riot police near the square. After around two hours, they managed to break police lines near An Nahar newspaper's building and enter a street adjacent to Nejmeh Square. "Peaceful, peaceful," shouted the protesters as they held their hands in the air and moved further into the street without any clashes with security forces, which brought in more reinforcements to the area. "The people are the source of authority," protest organizer Ajwad Ayyash told the crowd, which was thinning by evening. "This is the square of the people. And we insist we must enter it so that we can have elections."Lebanon's parliament has extended its term twice in a controversial move amid disputes over a new election law. The last elections were held in 2009. “No one has apologized, no one has resigned … And they devised a new plan that is an extension of the past, promising us rosy dreams within 18 months,” Ayyash added in the name of the protest movement, referring to the country's garbage crisis. “The will of the Naameh residents will not be broken,” he said, in reference to the controversial Naameh landfill, after the government urged residents to accept a 7-day reopening of the facility to dump garbage that has been accumulating in random sites since the July 17 closure of the facility.
The protest movement also slammed the current parliament as “illegitimate” and “non-existent.”Protesters later started leaving the street that is adjacent to al-Nejmeh Square after staying there for around two hours. Earlier in the day, young men claiming to be supporters of Berri – some carrying knives – assaulted some protesters near al-Nejmeh Square prior to the arrival of the main demonstration. The violence first erupted with an altercation outside An Nahar newspaper's building over a protest banner containing the pictures of Berri, Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat and former premier Saad Hariri. TV footage later showed groups of young men arriving in the area and beating up protesters indiscriminately.
At least one attacker was arrested as riot police intervened to contain the situation. Some protesters lamented the security forces' response as “slow.”“We are exerting strenuous efforts to contain the clashes but chaos is making our mission difficult,” the Internal Security Forces meanwhile said in a statement. On Thursday, the so-called follow-up committee of the popular protest movement called for the resignation of the interior and environment ministers over perceived violations. It also urged the release of all detainees held in connection with the August 22, 23 and 29 demos and an end to “arbitrary arrests.”The activists reiterated their call for the resignation of Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq over “his negligence in shouldering his responsibilities regarding the garbage disaster as well as his covering up for corruption that spanned 20 years.”Accordingly, the committee called for devising “an immediate emergency plan to tackle the environmental disaster that would involve declaring a state of alert in line with the Civil Defense Law.”Protesters also demanded “early parliamentary polls that would secure the representation of all social categories without discrimination and away from sectarian polarization.”The trash crisis has ignited the largest Lebanese protests in years and has emerged as a festering symbol of the government's paralysis and failure to provide basic services. It was sparked by popular anger over the heaps of trash accumulating in the streets of Beirut and Mount Lebanon after authorities closed Lebanon's largest landfill in Naameh on July 17 and failed to provide an alternative. Campaigns like "You Stink" have managed to bring tens of thousands of people into the streets in unprecedented non-partisan and non-sectarian demonstrations against the ruling political class.

Assailants Torch Cafe in Tyre
Naharnet/September 20/15/Unknown assailants torched a cafe in Tyre but reports said only material damages were reported, the state-run National News Agency reported on Sunday. Al-Halabi cafe was set on fire at dawn, and residents of the area rushed to extinguish it before the fire expanded further, NNA said. The cafe's owner, Jamal al-Halabi, filed a complaint at Tyre's police station against a man whom he claims was the assailant. He claimed that the aggressor had shot his son in the leg a week earlier after a personal dispute erupted between the two. Investigations were opened in the case.

Pope Meets Fidel after Mass on Iconic Havana Square
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 20/15/Pope Francis met with Fidel Castro Sunday at the Cuban revolutionary leader's home in Havana after an outdoor mass attended by hundreds of thousands of people on the city's iconic Revolution Square. In what is sure to become an emblematic moment of Francis' tour of Cuba and the United States -- the Cold War enemies whose reconciliation he helped to bring about -- the pope chatted with the 89-year-old Castro and his family for about 30 or 40 minutes, said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi. Lombardi said the conversation touched on various topics, including the environment, and was "very informal and friendly." Francis gave the former Cuban leader four books, including two on theology. Castro reciprocated with a dedicated copy of Brazilian priest Frei Betto's book of interviews with him, "Fidel and Religion," which he signed: "With admiration and respect from the Cuban people." After decades of hostility between Castro's communist regime and the Catholic Church, relations began to slowly improve in the 1980s, culminating in a historic visit to Cuba by pope John Paul II in 1998. Francis was also due to meet later with Castro's brother, President Raul Castro, who took power when Fidel stepped down amid a health crisis in 2006. Before meeting the Castros, the pope gave a homily calling on Cubans to serve the downtrodden and warning them that "service is never ideological."His message at the mass did not directly address Cuba's political situation or Havana's nascent rapprochement with the United States. But he warned against both ideology and an every-man-for-himself mentality, at a time when Cuba faces a delicate period of economic and political transition. "Christians are constantly called to set aside their own wishes and desires, their pursuit of power, and to look instead to those who are most vulnerable," he told the crowd, speaking beneath a towering sculpture of his fellow Argentine Che Guevara's iconic silhouette. "We need to be careful not to be tempted by another kind of service, a 'service' which is 'self-serving,'" he said. "Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people."Speaking at the end of the mass, Havana's archbishop, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, called to heal the sometimes deeply personal wounds left by the U.S.-Cuban standoff, appealing for a "long-sought reconciliation among all Cubans, both in Cuba and abroad." The pope's eight-day tour follows the announcement of the U.S.-Cuban thaw, which paved the way for the estranged neighbors to renew diplomatic relations in July.Just ahead of the pope's trip, the United States announced a further loosening of restrictions on business and travel with Cuba -- a move Ortega said he believed was inspired by Francis' visit.
Dissidents arrested
Three Cuban dissidents opposed to the communist regime were arrested as they approached the pope shouting "Freedom!" when he arrived for the mass. An AFP photographer said the activists -- two men and a woman -- yelled anti-government slogans and resisted by falling to the ground as plainclothes agents detained them when they tried to get near the white popemobile. The pope, who was busy grasping the outstretched hands of well-wishers on the other side of his vehicle, did not appear to notice. The protesters were from the Cuban Patriotic Union and "went to the square to condemn repression," said Jose Daniel Ferrer, the leader of the dissident group. Cuba bans opposition groups and routinely arrests dissidents who try to protest -- typically releasing them after a few hours, at least in recent years. Several leading dissidents have criticized the pope for not accepting their requests to meet with him during his visit. The mood was otherwise jubilant on the packed square, where hundreds of excited Cubans and foreign visitors camped out overnight to see the first Latin American pope. Francis' lone explicit political message was aimed at a Latin American audience: the Colombian government and FARC guerrillas, who have been holding peace negotiations in Havana for nearly three years. The pope urged them to achieve "definitive reconciliation" and end a conflict that has burned for more than half a century. Raul Castro and Argentine President Cristina Kirchner were among those in attendance. The pope will later preside over vespers at Havana Cathedral before holding an unscripted exchange with young Cubans -- a demographic feeling the pain of the communist island's difficult economic transition.He will travel Monday and Tuesday to the Cuban cities of Holguin and Santiago, before heading off to give landmark addresses to the U.S. Congress and U.N. General Assembly.

Report: Moqbel Extends Army Intelligence Chief's Term by 6 Months
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 20/15/Military Intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Edmond Fadel will maintain his post after he was called from reserve to active military duty following the end of his extended term, a media report said on Sunday.
“Defense Minister Samir Moqbel has signed a decree summoning Fadel from reserve in line with the army chief's proposal,” LBCI television reported. “He will remain in his post for another six months,” the TV network said. “The decree has been sent to the Army Command and it will be officially announced tomorrow, Monday,” it added. Fadel's tenure expired at midnight and it had been extended several times since 2013, LBCI noted. On March 19, 2014, Moqbel signed a decree to extend the term of Fadel, which ended on March 20, for another six months. The minister stressed back then that the extension of Fadel's tenure was in accordance with his jurisdiction. Moqbel and Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun have been at loggerheads over the defense minister's extension of the terms of several senior military officials. On August 6, Moqbel extended the terms of the army commander, the chief of staff and the head of the Higher Defense Council, a move that angered Aoun. Moqbel took the decision to extend their terms by one year after the cabinet failed to resolve the controversial issue of the appointment of high-ranking military and security officials. Aoun has been calling for making new appointments, deeming extension as illegal. He also wants Commando Regiment chief Chamel Roukoz, his son-in-law, to become the new army chief. The dispute over appointments erupted amid a months-long presidential vacuum and a major disagreement between Aoun's bloc and its rivals over the cabinet's decision-taking mechanism in the absence of a president.

Greek ex-PM Tsipras Returns to Power as Far Left Syriza Wins Elections
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 20/15/Greek conservative leader Vangelis Meimarakis on Sunday conceded defeat in a general election that returned leftwing Alexis Tsipras to power. "I congratulate him," Meimarakis told reporters. "It seems citizens did not change their mind" after January's election, which first brought the radical left to power, he said. With more than a third of the vote counted, Tsipras' Syriza party was on 35.46 percent to New Democracy's 28.07 percent. However, the leftists are likely to end up with 149 seats in the 300-seat parliament -- two short of an absolute majority -- in an exact repeat of their showing in January.The nationalist Independent Greeks, with whom Tsipras had governed, are again likely to end up with 13 lawmakers, according to interior ministry estimates. The party seems set to join to a new coalition government. Neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn is in a narrow race for third place with 7.16 percent, followed by the Pasok socialists with 6.4 percent. Centrist To Potami party is likely to finish with a mere 3.9 percent, while the small anti-corruption Centrist Union party will probably exceed 3.0 percent and enter parliament for the first time.

Israel Arrests 39 after Clashes in Jerusalem and West Bank
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 20/15/Israeli police said Sunday they had arrested 39 Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem after days of protest and clashes over the flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound. Palestinians clashed Friday with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and several cities in the occupied West Bank, in a "day of rage" to protest an increase in Jewish visitors to Islam's third-holiest site. Jews visited the site in Jerusalem's Old City for the start of the Jewish New Year last Sunday, sparking days of clashes between Muslims and Israeli police on and near the plaza that houses the famous golden Dome of the Rock shrine and al-Aqsa mosque. The site is also the most sacred in Judaism, as it is believed to be the location of its first and second temples. Police said they had arrested 12 Palestinians in the West Bank and 27 in annexed east Jerusalem over the previous two days for "disturbing the peace," "taking part in riots" and "throwing stones and Molotov cocktails."Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed "war" on stone-throwers with tougher penalties and new rules for security forces on when to open fire. On Sunday, calm had returned to the al-Aqsa compound, with 350 tourists and 150 Jews visiting the site. A controversy has meanwhile been growing over the treatment by Palestinian police of protesters in the 17 percent of the West Bank that they control, after a video was uploaded showing police beating a protester on Friday in Bethlehem. The video shows half a dozen policemen beating and kicking a young man on the ground. The Palestinian government said Friday it would open an investigation into the incident, with prime minister Rami Hamdallah calling it "an unacceptable act" and promising to "hold its perpetrators accountable."A government source who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the video was "very damaging to the Palestinian Authority."The authority is already under fire from the Islamist opposition and some in the Palestinian public for not having taken any measures against Israel in response to the recent increase in Jewish visitors to the al-Aqsa site and Israeli police entering the compound.

Yemen Rebels Free 3 Americans, 2 Saudis, 1 Briton
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 20/15/Shiite rebels in Yemen released three Americans, two Saudis and a Briton on Sunday after detaining them for around six months, a rebel official and a security source said. The six were expected to leave the country on board an Omani plane carrying Huthi rebel officials to Muscat for talks with the U.N. envoy to Yemen, the sources said. Huthi officials provided no information on the identities of the freed foreigners or why they were being held. Speaking to reporters at Sanaa airport, Huthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam did not confirm the release of the foreigners, but said: "We hope and it is possible that they will be handed over today." An American journalist believed to have been held by the rebels was handed over to Oman in early June along with a Singaporean. U.S. journalist Casey Coombs had been freelancing in Yemen since 2012. Washington has provided intelligence and logistical support for the Saudi-led air campaign that was launched in March against the rebels, but has called for a political solution to the conflict. The Washington Post reported earlier this month that three American men were being held by the rebels in Yemen, naming one as Scott Darden, 45, an employee of a Louisiana-based logistics firm. The daily said Darden's supporters had released his name hoping to call attention to his case. Darden was being held along with another American, a 54-year-old man from Michigan, the newspaper said, citing U.S. officials familiar with the case. The third detained American was believed to be a 35-year-old convert to Islam who was teaching English in Yemen, the daily said.
Oman's unique role
Oman has been involved in several cases of hostage release, highlighting its unique role as a discreet Gulf mediator. In addition to the case of Coombs, French hostage Isabelle Prime was freed in August following Omani mediation after spending six months in captivity in Yemen. Western nations have repeatedly called on Muscat to act as a mediator in resolving thorny regional issues -- from the kidnapping of Americans and Europeans to the Iran nuclear deal. Yemen has been riven by violence, mainly since a Saudi-led coalition in March began a campaign of air strikes against the Iran-backed rebels who had seized several provinces and pushed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi into exile. A number of foreigners have been taken hostage in Yemen over the past 15 years, mostly by tribesmen as bargaining chips in negotiations with the government. Almost all have been freed unharmed. But in December, American journalist Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie died during a failed attempt by U.S. commandos to rescue them from an al-Qaida hideout in southeast Yemen. Korkie's supporters complained after the raid that they had been on the verge of negotiating his release. In June, President Barack Obama changed existing procedures to deal with hostage-takings, following criticism of U.S. policy spearheaded by the family of journalist James Foley who was murdered last year by Islamic State group jihadists in Syria. Obama, while not revoking Washington's policy of not making concessions to terrorists, has said families will not be prosecuted for discussing ransom demands with kidnappers.

Canada: Security company apologizes after guard insults Muhammad
September 20, 2015 /By Robert Spencer /“Your Mohammed prophet, I don’t give a damn…I can say whatever I want.” No, you can’t. If he had unleashed a “vulgar rant” against Christ, do you think it would have been a story in the Canadian media? Of course not. But the Muslim cabbies at the Toronto airport got together and began screaming “Allahu akbar,” and ASP Security Services rushed to assure them that it would abide by Sharia blasphemy laws.

“Security company apologizes after guard’s anti-Muslim rant caught on tape,”
by Maryam Shah, Toronto Sun/September 18, 2015/A security company has apologized after one of its guards was filmed insulting the Prophet Mohammed during an argument with a cabbie at Pearson Airport earlier this week. In a shortened version of the video provided to the Toronto Sun, a man dressed in a security uniform speaks to the person behind the camera. “Your Mohammed prophet, I don’t give a damn,” the guard is heard saying, before tossing vulgar insults about the religious figure. “I can say whatever I want.” Syed Jaffary told the Toronto Sun he’s the taxi driver who shot the video. He said he’s a licensed taxi driver, but doesn’t have a permit for picking up fares at the airport. “This kind of racism, we can’t take it,” he said in a phone interview. What race is insulting Muhammad again? I keep forgetting. It’s not their job to find out who’s legal. That’s the police’s job. That’s not the security job.”
ASP Security Services says the dispute occurred around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and “regretfully” resulted in “unacceptable and offensive language being used by one of our guards.”This behaviour was inconsistent with both our code of conduct and values as a company, and the incident continues to be the subject of an internal investigation,” aviation services director Jim Catney said in the company’s statement.“We extend our sincere apologies to those members of the public that have been affected.”…

50 Women, Hundreds Rescued at Sea
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 20/15/The Libyan coastguard said it rescued 215 migrants Sunday from two boats in the Mediterranean, including more than 50 women, a day after Italy said over 4,500 people were saved off Libya. The Tripoli-based government, quoting a coastguard spokesman, said the migrants were of different nationalities. "Among them were more than 50 women and an infant ... on board two rubber dinghies in the Sidi Bannour region," 15 kilometers (nine miles) northeast of Tripoli. A rescue operation on Saturday by Libyan patrol boats rescued 272 migrants, including 60 women and a five-year-old girl, the coastguard said. Those rescued mainly came from North Africa but also included Syrians, it said, adding their boats were intercepted off Sabratah, west of Tripoli. "They have been delivered to authorities who coordinate anti-illegal immigration efforts in the region," a spokesman said. The Italian coastguard announced Saturday that more than 4,500 people had been rescued off Libya's coast in a single day. The operations rescued migrants from nine boats and 12 dinghies. The body of a woman was also recovered.

U.N. Accuses Libya Army of Seeking to Torpedo Peace Deal
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 20/15/The United Nations accused the army of Libya's internationally recognized government on Sunday of deliberately trying to sabotage crunch peace talks with a new offensive in second city Benghazi. The U.N. Support Mission in Libya called for an immediate halt to the offensive announced by controversial army chief Khalifa Haftar on Saturday to give peace talks between the country's rival parliaments a chance. UNSMIL said it "strongly condemns the military escalation in Benghazi." "The air strikes are a clear attempt to undermine and derail the ongoing efforts to end the conflict at a time when the negotiations have entered a final and most critical stage," it said. The announcement of the offensive dubbed Operation Two-Edged Sword came on the eve of a deadline for Libya's rival parliaments to reach agreement on a U.N.-brokered plan for a unified government for the North African nation. The country has had rival administrations since August last year when a militia alliance overran the capital forcing the recognized government to seek refuge in the east. U.N. envoy Bernardino Leon has expressed hope that the rival sides will finally sign a deal in the Morocco seaside resort of Skhirat later on Sunday after months of rejected proposals. UNSMIL called an "immediate cessation of hostilities in Benghazi and across Libya... to give the ongoing dialogue in Skhirat the chance to successfully conclude in the coming hours."

Kerry: U.S. to Take in 85,000 Refugees in 2016, 100,000 in 2017
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 20/15/The United States will take in more refugees worldwide over the next two years, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pledged Sunday, including 10,000 Syrian asylum-seekers in 2016. "We will now go up to 85,000 with at least 10,000 over the next year in Syria specifically. And in the next fiscal year we will target 100,000," he said. In the fiscal year ending September 2015, the world's biggest economy took in 70,000 refugees. With the figures being dwarfed by the up to 1 million Syrian refugees Germany is expecting to take in this year alone, Washington has been criticized for failing to do more. Kerry said the U.S. "would like to take more." However it was hamstrung by security regulations put in place after the September 11 attacks in 2001."Post-9-11 we have new laws, background checks and that takes longer than we like but we can't cut corners," he said.

Syrian Observatory: 75 U.S.-Trained Rebels Enter Syria from Turkey
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 20/15/A batch of 75 rebels newly trained by U.S. and coalition forces in Turkey to fight jihadists have entered northern Syria, a monitoring group said on Sunday. "Seventy-five new fighters trained in a camp near the Turkish capital entered Aleppo province between Friday night and Saturday morning," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Agence France Presse. He said the group had entered in a convoy of a dozen cars with light weapons and ammunition, under air cover from the U.S.-led coalition that has been carrying out strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. According to the Observatory, the rebels crossed through the Bab al-Salama border point, the main gateway for fighters and supplies heading into Aleppo province. That supply route has been increasingly targeted by IS jihadists seeking to cut off support to rival rebels. Abdel Rahman said the newly-trained fighters have deployed to support two U.S.-backed units, with most assigned to Division 30 -- the main unit for U.S.-trained fighters -- and others to a group called Suqur al-Jabal (Falcons of the Mountain).Before the fresh batch of fighters, the U.S.-led train-and-equip program had only managed to vet and train some 60 rebels to fight IS jihadists on the ground. The $500 million programme run out of Turkey has been fraught with problems, with than a dozen of those already deployed with Division 30 either killed or kidnapped by Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate, Al-Nusra Front. On Wednesday, U.S. General Lloyd Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee that only "four or five" U.S.-trained rebels were on the ground fighting in Syria. The program, which had originally aimed to train around 5,400 vetted fighters a year for three years, has come under fire from U.S. lawmakers. Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte said the low number of fighters being trained was a "joke."

Republican candidate Carson says Muslims unfit to be US president
By REUTERS/09/20/2015 /WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson on Sunday said Muslims were unfit to be president of the United States, arguing their faith was inconsistent with American principles. "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that," Carson told NBC Meet the Press. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who has been near the top of opinion polls for the crowded field of Republican candidates, said he thought a US president's faith should be "consistent with the Constitution."Asked if he thought Islam met this bar, Carson said: "No, I do not."Carson gave up some ground in a CNN/ORC poll released on Sunday, slipping to third place from second with 14 percent of support. Sixteen Republicans are seeking the party's nomination for the US presidential election in November 2016. The CNN/ORC poll showed real estate mogul Donald Trump continues to lead the Republican contest with the support of 24 percent of registered voters, down from 32 percent in a previous poll. Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina surged into second place with 15 percent support. "It's obviously a very important moment because now more people know who I am," Fiorina told "Fox News Sunday." "We know, based on what's happened before this debate, that as people come to know me and they understand who I am and what I've done and most importantly what I will do they tend to support me."Trump, asked on CNN's "State of the Union" about the poll results, replied: "Well, I'm a little surprised, because other polls have come out where I actually picked up after the debate, I actually gained after the debate."On NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday, Trump was asked whether he'd accept a Muslim president, and replied: "Some people have said it already happened."

Israel critic Corbyn claims Jewish ancestry
JPOST.COM STAFF, JTA/09/19/2015 /The new leader of Britain’s Labor party who has been accused of tolerating anti-Semitism said he has some Jewish ancestry. Jeremy Corbyn told The Church Times that while his immediate family is Christian, he has a “Jewish element” in his background, the United Kingdom’s Jewish News reported. In the interview with the Christian publication, he described himself as “not anti-religious at all,” adding, “I go to churches, I go to mosques, I go to temples, I go to synagogues. I find religion very interesting. I find the power of faith very interesting.” Corbyn’s election earlier this month has generated unprecedented concern in British Jewry’s ranks, where many resent his Israel-critical views. Corbyn in the past has called terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah "friends." The far-leftist has also been dogged by allegations of anti-Semitism. The 66-year-old has held a pro-Palestinian stance since entering Parliament, specializing in delivering fierce and often very direct criticism of Israeli policies. One of the popular leaders of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, his contribution to foreign affairs debates include diatribes about the behavior of Israeli troops or abuses of Palestinian human rights. Four years ago, he actively supported the right of Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement’s Northern Branch in Israel, to address meetings in Britain despite clear Home Office opposition. English courts accepted that Salah had previously invoked anti-Semitic blood libel, but arrangements to deport him fell apart.**Reuters contributed to this report.

Rocket fire from Gaza shows Hamas's weakness and Israel's lack of options
By YOSSI MELMAN/J.Post 20 September/15
On the one hand, the rocket fire on Sderot and Ashkelon bares witness to the fact that Hamas's control over the Gaza Strip has weakened. On the other hand, Israel's response shows that Jerusalem's practical options are limited.
Since the end of Operation Protective Edge some 13 months ago, 14 rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Israel by the Islamic Jihad and small Salafi terror groups, some of which identify with Islamic State. Five of the attacks, including those on Friday, occurred in the past month-and-a-half. There were a few other rockets that failed and fell within Gaza territory. This is the smallest number of rockets fired from Gaza at Israel in any of the periods between the three Gaza operations that have been waged since 2008 (Cast Lead, Pillar of Defense and Protective Edge).
In the past, the rocket fire between conflicts was carried out by Hamas or Islamic Jihad, who for the most part could count on Hamas looking the other way. Recently, rockets have been fired despite staunch opposition from Hamas and the group's efforts to thwart the attacks, or after the fact, to arrest and punish the perpetrators.
Two rockets were fired at Israel on Friday night and one of them landed in Sderot. Nobody was hurt, with the exception of a woman who complained of chest pain. The rocket caused light damage to a parked bus and shrapnel hit a storage shed. It was the first time since Operation Protective Edge that a rocket hit Sderot. It was also the first time since last summer's conflict that an Iron Dome battery intercepted a rocket - the second one which was launched Friday toward Ashkelon.
The Iron Dome was deployed to the area last week due to fear that the Islamic Jihad would retaliate for the Shin Bet's (Israel Security Agency) decision to rearrest and put back into administrative detention Muhammad Allan, who was released from Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon where he was hospitalized in the wake of his lengthy hunger strike.
In Israel, the estimate is that Salafi organizations carried out both attacks, despite the fact that no organization claimed responsibility for the rocket fired at Sderot. The Salafi organization, the 'Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigades,' which identifies with Islamic State, claimed responsibility on its Twitter account for the rocket fired at Ashkelon.
The rocket fired at Ashkelon was a Grad (an advanced Katyusha), showing that the small organization has improved its operational capabilities. Another conclusion is that the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigades and similar Salafist organizations, which are multiplying in Gaza, are not afraid to challenge Hamas's rule. And this is despite the harsh response from Hamas, which does not hesitate to arrest operatives of these organizations and in some cases to assassinate them. The boldness of the Salafi groups actions and their increased strength and presence is a bad sign for Hamas - but also a bad sign for Israel.
Israel is not interested in an escalation, and neither is Hamas, which sent messages in this vein to Israel following the rocket fire. This also contributed to Israel's relatively measured response to the rocket fire air raids against various targets in Gaza, mostly belonging to Hamas. In the IDF statement on the retaliatory air raids, it was written that Israel sees Hamas as responsible for all activity in Gaza and the group remains the address for its retaliation.
Israel's problem is a government policy that sanctifies the status quo, pins its hopes on deterrence and produces diplomatic stagnation. The stagnation is double - both with the Palestinian Authority and with Hamas. It may be that, behind the scenes, secret negotiations are being held through mediators (for example, Tony Blair) between Israel and the political leadership of Hamas, led by Khaled Mashaal, who resides abroad. However, the chance for a long-term agreement that will improve the economic situation in Gaza in exchange for quiet is extremely low, because of the tangle of opposing interests.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government cannot allow itself, for fear of the reaction from the Right, to make an agreement with Hamas. It is also impossible because such a move would hurt Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority, which is in a state of desperation and on the verge of collapse. Egypt as well, which continues to destroy tunnels by flooding them with water and thus intensifying the siege and economic stranglehold on Gaza, will not look kindly on an agreement between Israel and Hamas. Within Hamas as well, there is growing disagreement between the military wing and the political leadership.
Thus, the Netanyahu-Ya'a'lon government finds itself facing again and again clashes on the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem and retaliating to rocket fire from Gaza. Reacting and not initiating. The danger is that each rocket fired or stone thrown or vehicular attack could potentially spark the escalation that spirals completely out of control.

Amid Syria chaos, broken symbol of hope plays final note
Ynetnews/ Roi Kais/Published:09.20.15
Palestinian pianist Ayyam Al-Ahmad spent months keeping up moral in the Yarmouk refugee camp before war finally broke his will and sent him on a life-threatening journey to Europe.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrian's have fled war and hardship over the last few months, looking for safety within Europe's borders. The unprecedented mass migration has left the Middle East more broken than ever as shelled-out structures have been abandoned and once bustling streets are seen as danger zones.
Much of Syria has been left hollow, but tiny rays of light have maintained in the difficult reality of brutal civil war, including Palestinian pianist Ayyam Al-Ahmad, who kept music reverberating amongst the rubble of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damscus for months.
Al-Ahmad became infamous online after uploading videos of himself playing in the ruins of a war-torn country. But even the notes from Al-Ahmad's piano could not hold back the darkness in Syria forever.
After months of maintaining morale and some semblance of culture in Yarmouk, Al-Ahmad finally broke like all the others and began making his way to Europe.
"On my birthday in April this year, I decided to leave the camp," Al-Ahmad told the BBC. "The hardest times were when I used to hear Ahmad, my son, crying at two in the morning. He was hungry and there was no milk. I had some money but I couldn't buy anything for him with it.
"Those were the hardest times of my life. I never faced anything worse than that," he said.
Al-Ahmad recounted how the conflict nearly took everything from him - even playing the piano was putting him and his family in danger, but he wasn't willing to let go of his musical instrument even after he'd decided to flee.
"I put the piano on the wagon, covered it with cardboard and tried to leave," he recounted. ""But there was a member of Islamic State at the checkpoint who stopped me and asked: 'Don't you know that the musical instruments are haram (forbidden)?' Then they burnt my piano."
Al-Ahmad spoke to Ynet Saturday evening and said that his journey from Syria began in early August when he paid a smuggler to get him out of the country. From Damascus he reached Homs; from Homs to Hamah; from Hamah to Idlib; and from Idlib to Turkey and the city of Izmir on the coast of the Aegean Sea where he found some respite with an uncle.
In Izmir, Al-Ahmad joined other refugees in boarding a ship for Greece where he said the situation was "very tragic" and refugees didn't have access to food or drinking water. He said however, that the difficulties he faced were not due to any degrading treatment from the governments of Europe.
Now in Belgrade, Al-Ahmad aims to reach Germany like so many others. He hopes his arrival will be the end of his journey and the beginning of his family's who stayed behind in Damascus, waiting for him to find a place to settle.
"Even though I'm in Belgrade and not in the refugee camp, I'll keep singing for it," Al-Ahmad told Ynet. "As far as I'm concerned, nothing has changed. Peace is music and music is preferable to the sounds of gunfire and war.
Hoping to return to Yarmouk
"My message is the same message I promoted in the refugee camp and it will stay with me outside of the camp as well," said Al-Ahmad.
Even after his own personal journey to Europe, Al-Ahmad is still worried for his family in Damascus who he hopes will find a safe route to join him.
"When the extremism leaves the camp and it's safe again, I'll go back," Al-Ahmad said of an uncertain future. "But the best would be going back to Palestine. I want to return to Safed, to Palestine. From Germany I'll go back to Palestine even though it's far.

Migration Crisis: Germany Wants to Be "Miss Congeniality"
And Have Europe Pick Up the Tab
Vijeta Uniyal/Gatestone Institute/September 20/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6501/migration-crisis-germany
*Chancellor Merkel today seems to be promising nothing less than absolution for Germany's sins of the Holocaust. The problem is, of course, that Muslims are quite different from Jews.
*German media outlets have suppressed the stories of rampant rape and child abuse among the migrants housed in government-run accommodations.
*The editor-in-chief defended her decision to suppress the rape story on public TV broadcaster ZDF: "We don't want to inflame the situation and spread the bad mood. [The migrants] don't deserve it." That the poor rape victim deserved justice was apparently of no concern to the broadcaster.
*Germany under Chancellor Merkel wants to play "Miss Congeniality" at the global scale, and wants Europe to pick up the tab.
Overwhelmed by the unprecedented influx of migrants, Germany has imposed temporary border controls. This temporary halt in new arrivals is "intended to give Germany a chance to catch its breath while at the same time ratcheting up the pressure on other European Union member states to accept a quota system for the distribution of asylum recipients across the bloc," according to Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann of the German state of Bavaria on public radio. Germany's move to tighten its border controls, however, is not going to halt millions of migrants already mobilized by Berlin's suspension of existing asylum rules and its open border policy in the first place.
Horst Seehofer, the leader of Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavaria-based sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), painted a grim picture, saying that Merkel's open border policy "was a mistake that will occupy us for a long time yet. I see no possibility of putting the stopper back into the bottle."
German media is in lockstep with the government, giving happy-talk and a positive spin on migrant crisis of gigantic proportions hitting Europe.
German newspapers and media outlets have suppressed the stories of rampant rape and child abuse among the migrants housed in government-run accommodations. In a recent letter addressed to the Minister of Integration and Social Affairs in the state of Hesse, prominent women's organizations have described the culture of rape and violence perpetuated by male migrants -- right under the nose of German authorities. The letter states:
"It is a fact that women and children [at HEAE accommodation facility, under the supervision of Administrative District of Giessen] are unprotected. This situation is opportune to those men who already regard women as their inferior and treat unaccompanied women as 'fair game.' As a consequence, there are reports of numerous rapes, sexual assaults and increasingly of forced prostitution. ... These are not isolated incidents."
According to the letter, women were terrified to walk in the camp even during the day. The letter, signed by leading officials organizing the settlement of the migrants in the state of Hesse, went virtually unreported in the German media. For now, the German media can afford to ignore these crimes, committed in makeshift transit centers -- away from the public eye. How do the media plan to suppress this reality once some of these criminals are released into communities? Here is a foretaste of the things to come:
Recently the Germany's top public broadcaster ZDF refused to run a segment about a rape case on its prime time crime show, "Aktenzeichen XY," which helps law enforcement to gather leads from the general public, on the grounds that the alleged fugitive was of a "darker skin" and might fit the profile of a migrant. The editor-in-chief, Ina-Maria Reize-Wildemann, defended her decision: "We don't want to inflame the situation and spread the bad mood. [The migrants] don't deserve it." That the poor rape victim deserved justice was apparently of no concern to the broadcaster.
Mainstream media in Germany are not merely willing executioners of Merkel's open border policy, they are ideological players committed to breaking any opposition to the plan. Commenting on Germany's acceptance of hundreds of thousands of migrants, the popular mainstream newsmagazine Der Spiegel last week portrayed Chancellor Merkel as a Mother Theresa-like figure (left). Pictured at right, a German policeman leads a group of newly arrived migrants.
Germany wants to dictate its stand on migration to other EU member states. First Germany wrecked the existing legal framework by unilaterally suspending the Dublin Protocol, and now it wants Europe to shoulder a "fair share" of migrants who are stampeding into Europe -- encouraged by Berlin's irresponsible stance to begin with.
Chancellor Merkel today seems to be promising nothing less than absolution for Germany's sins of the Holocaust. "The world sees Germany as a land of hope and opportunities," she says. "That hasn't always been the case." The problem is, of course, that Muslims are quite different from Jews. German politicians and EU Commissars, however, seem hell bent on imposing quotas on member states – harkening back to the heyday of Soviets jackboots running the Eastern bloc. It may only be a matter of time until some of the reluctant East European states start complying, possibly forced by economic threats and sanctions from Brussels and Berlin. Germany under Chancellor Merkel wants to play "Miss Congeniality" at the global scale and wants Europe to pick up the tab.
*Vijeta Uniyal is a current affairs analyst based in Germany.

Bahrain’s heart-warming Arab hospitality
Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor/Al Arabiya/September 20/15
I was honored to be awarded with the ‘HH Sheikh Isa bin Ali Al-Khalifa Award for Volunteer Work’ in recognition of my philanthropic endeavors. While being recognized for one’s efforts to make a difference is always encouraging and appreciated, I believe it is the duty of everyone to help those less fortunate, which, most importantly, is one of the pillars of the Islamic faith. Last week I flew to Manama in Bahrain for a presentation ceremony held at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, where I and other recipients from all over the Arab World were presented with our highly coveted awards. My mistake was I should have planned a longer stay rather than a day’s hop, but I intend to right that error by returning very soon. Just one day there experiencing their Royal Highnesses’ warm welcome, and a wealth of good feeling from my Bahraini brothers and sisters, impacted me more than I can say. From the moment the award patron HH Sheikh Isa bin Ali greeted me at the airport until I left for Dubai my team and I were overwhelmed with exceptional kindness. The relaxed ambience took me back to the old days when everyone knew one another and lived according to the beliefs of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.
Some of the day’s highlights included the opportunity to meet and discuss a variety of topics with the Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa following the event and I must add that I was very impressed with Sheikh Isa bin Ali, the award’s patron and his brother HH Khalifa bin Ali, whose love of country, dignified manner and sense of duty is a testament to the royal family’s strong roots. I also very much appreciated the opportunity to get to know Bahrain’s Deputy Prime Minister HH Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa over lunch.
Modernity blended with history
Many years have passed since my last visit to Bahrain and I could not help marveling at the way modernity has been blended seamlessly with historic attractions and perhaps this is one of the reasons the Arab League selected the city as “The Arab Capital of Culture” in 2012.
Yet, as I strolled around the ancient well-kept streets of Muharraq’s oldest district, I was gripped by a sensation of peace in a place where our pure Arab traditions have been preserved. This is where the past meets the present, a place where our beautiful Gulf Arab culture, rooted in hospitality, dignity, generosity and care for others, still exists, uninterrupted by the distractions of the 21st century. The relaxed ambience took me back to the old days when everyone knew one another and lived according to the beliefs of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers. A time when no one’s front door was locked and there was no necessity to make an appointment to visit friends. Passers-by smiled or stopped to chat. I even came across a few of my regular readers, who said they appreciated my frank and forthright views on regional issues. Simply, my royal hosts and the Bahraini people I met treated me as one of their own. I have rarely felt so much at home anywhere in the world; it was almost as though I was visiting family. When I looked into their eyes I could feel genuine warmth of the kind that comes naturally, rather than out of mere politeness.
Gulf’s unbreakable ties
I was reminded once again of the unbreakable ties the peoples of Arab Gulf States share; ties of history, religious beliefs, traditions, cultural heritage and, very often, blood. Whether we are Emiratis or Saudis, Bahrainis or Kuwaitis, Qataris or Omanis, we are honorable, fiercely proud people bound by our tribal ancestors and our readiness to stand by each other when the chips are down. This is what makes us special. Our Gulf Cooperation Council is much more than a loose political or economic union such as the EU. It is the bank that guards the future of all of us in its vault because no matter what passport we hold, how we choose to wear our Ghutras or the number of skyscrapers dotting our skylines, we are one. Yes, we are one and it is thanks to the people of Bahrain that fact I have always been aware of unconsciously has hit home. Like any family, we will have our disagreements but we must never forget that hand-to-hand, heart-to-heart we can never be defeated by those of our enemies plotting to split us apart. God in His wisdom has blessed us with lives of plenty but let us not forget, or allow our children, to forget our past struggles when we possessed little other than each other, a time when there were so many helping hands stretched out; when people would go hungry to offer their last meal to a stranger. Those values remain the backbone of Bahrain just as they were when as a young boy travelling with my father en route to performing the Hajj, I fell seriously ill cutting our journey short. Unable to find a vessel sailing to Dubai, we took a boat to Bahrain where we were received by the Ruler’s Chief of Protocol and taken to a simple hotel that we could ill afford. The owner must have understood our plight because he sent us a meal of curry and rice on the house. The following day, we were astonished to be invited to meet with the then ruler Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, whose generosity enabled us to embark on a safe journey home. As I have discovered once again his compassionate spirit is engrained in the DNA of the Bahraini royal family today and still lives in the hearts of Bahraini people. God bless you all!

Ahmed was arrested, Osama kicked. And good people rallied against it
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/September 20/15
The cases of Ahmed Mohamed, the U.S. teen arrested for building a clock mistaken for a bomb, and Osama Abdul Mohsen, the Syrian refugee tripped by a Hungarian camerawoman as he fled border guards in Europe, both began as distressing tales. But the overwhelming public response to each of these cases suggests a far more positive story. After being arrested on suspicion of creating a hoax bomb, Ahmed, whose father is originally from Sudan, is now happily celebrating after many stood by him in support. The U.S. President Barack Obama took to Twitter to voice support for the 14-year-old. “Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great,” he wrote. The moral is not about the teachers who complained about Ahmed - it’s about the thousands of Americans who stood in solidarity with him. Ahmed has received numerous job offers and other invites, as many rushed to show solidarity against the racial stance his school took in accusing him of making some kind of ISIS bomb. Syrian refugee. Osama Abdul Mohsen, the Syrian refugee tripped by a Hungarian camerawoman as he carried one of his sons, has also received a wonderful opportunity for a better life. After all the difficult circumstances he and his family have been through, Real Madrid – one of the most renowned football clubs in the world – sympathized with Osama, and invited him to join its ranks as a coach.Life can be tough. However there are still many good and kind people in this world. The refugees we see today, in search of a tent and a meal, were once ordinary people who lived in houses and had jobs – until their lives were turned upside down by war and chaos. Those we see in boats and on borders include doctors, engineers and teachers. They are people who have done everything they can to provide for their families and their future. However fate has its vicissitudes. And this is where kind people come in – people who are kinder than any words can describe. These good people are complete strangers. They don’t know the refugees, and many neither understand their language nor know their religion. But they open their houses and embrace them, sharing their savings and food with them. This shows great humanity and unconditional love, defying the culture of evil and terrorists who kill in the name of religion, race, history and politics.We don’t know many of these good people have acted, and we cannot thank them all for their respectable acts. But we are grateful to them.
Telling their stories
German journalist Paul Ronzheimer volunteered to accompany refugees fleeing to Europe. He was with them during dangerous moments as they boarded a boat to Europe, and he walked with them across borders, narrating their stories to the newspaper he works for, ‘Bild’.
He used his Twitter account @ronzheimer to publish videos of refugees telling their stories. He did that in order for the world to know that these refugees are not mere numbers, photos and material for news pieces – but that they are real humans. His move was welcomed by thousands of people who voiced their readiness to help refugees and offer them shelter. The moral is not in the negative aspects of these stories – it’s not about the teachers who complained of Ahmed and called in the police to arrest him. It is about the thousands of Americans who stood in solidarity with Ahmed when they didn’t have to, and who collectively expressed their rejection of paranoia and racism. And the moral is not about the Hungarian camerawoman who tripped Osama Abdul Mohsen as he carried his child as they tried to flee the border guards. It’s about the German journalist who accompanied the hundreds of refugees like him, narrated their suffering, and helping them through their ordeal.

Let Hajj bring hope Middle East societies can reject violence
Samar Fatany/Al Arabiya/September 20/15
Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. It is a once-in-a-lifetime requirement for every Muslim. It is a spiritual gathering of Muslims from all over the world seeking forgiveness and the blessings of the Lord. Every ritual of Hajj emphasizes the fact that we are all equal before God. There is no difference between rich and poor, white or black, superior or inferior, weak or strong, man or woman, Eastern or Western. It is an experience that is meant to remind us to be humble and merciful. The spirit of Hajj is meant to cleanse the souls of greed, hate, selfishness, superior and racist attitudes that divide people and make them devoid of compassion and empathy towards one another. Hajj is the spiritual purification of the self. It is a chance for people to reflect upon their past and plan to lead a better life of goodness and righteousness. The pilgrims come for Hajj to start a new beginning and be cleansed of wrong acts that make man turn against man.The Muslim world is afflicted with corrupt and selfish leaders leading a vicious campaign of terror to stay in power and exercise control.
In his last sermon during Hajj Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, reminded the faithful that they will one day appear before God and have to answer for their deeds. He warned them to beware and not to stray from the path of righteousness after he is gone.
Spirit of compassion hijacked
Unfortunately not many Muslims today heed the words of the Prophet (pbuh). Many have gone astray. It is sad how their cruel deeds and greed have made them devoid of any compassion. The spirit of the religion of mercy and compassion has been hijacked by a militant ideology that continues to influence more ignorant and lost souls to kill and destroy. The Muslim world is afflicted with corrupt and selfish leaders leading a vicious campaign of terror to stay in power and exercise control. Meanwhile Muslim scholars of different sects and ideologies remain passive and reluctant to address their differences, fueling a sectarian war that has killed, destroyed and displaced many helpless human beings including Muslims, Christians and others. The genuine message of Islamic tolerance is completely lost between the warring factions. There are no winners in such ugly wars. There is only destruction and ruin. The Muslim world remains divided by intolerant and ultraconservatives. It is really sad how Muslims in the world today remain in conflict and find it difficult to accept the existing diversity. They are out to destroy anyone who does not prescribe to their distorted views.
Time to act is now
There are many strong voices in the Muslim world denouncing the extremist ideology and promoting “moderation”. However, there are still many others who divide the world into Muslim and non-Muslim and reject other sects within Islam.
Many Muslims today don’t feel safe to practice what they believe to be the true principles of their faith. They are threatened by the merciless extremists who call themselves Muslims while they defy God’s commands and forget that only God is the judge of man on earth. No one should be obligated to follow blindly the dictates of their distorted ideology. In Islam no one has the right to doubt a believer’s faith if he declares that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His Prophet (peace be upon him). It is also a great sin to include extremist interpretations of the Holy Quran.
There is no compulsion in Islam. Muslim scholars all over the world should stand united and strongly declare that Muslims are not at war with other religions and sects. Sadly many Muslims have been indoctrinated with distorted views; they need direction and an opportunity to live in a peaceful world.
Let us hope that the spirit of Hajj this year could empower Muslim communities to reject violence and promote tolerance and peace.
Educated and enlightened Muslims should not remain idle and allow the fanatics that have gained influence in many parts of the world to spread their evil and radical ideology. To move Muslim countries forward we need to mobilize all efforts to resolve the ideological crises that have destroyed Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, killing children, displacing families, enslaving women and polluting the minds of the youth. The time to act is now before the terrorists spread further conflicts and destroy the rest of the Arab and Muslim world. Let us hope that the spirit of Hajj this year could empower Muslim communities to reject violence and promote tolerance and peace. Let us pray that Muslim leaders would abide by the true principles of their faith and put an end to the conflicts and wars that have spread misery and pain to thousands of innocent Muslims in this part of the world. Let the spirit of Hajj this year revive the universal brotherhood of man.

The U.S. education system is failing Ahmed
Yara al-Wazir/Al Arabiya/September 20/15
The 14-year old Ahmed Mohamed of Irving, Texas will now have to answer the question on visa applications “have you ever been arrested?” with a “yes”.His only crime was proudly bringing his ingenious-looking clock to school one morning –which saw him led away in handcuffs and taken to a juvenile detention center. As a result, his future is tainted, all because of his bright and curious nature. The American education system has failed Ahmed, and those like him. It has failed to dissociate itself from institutionalised racism. It has failed to do its job to inspire and teach young visionaries to lead the future.
Wasted futures
What happened to Ahmed Mohamed is part of a greater systematic problem when it comes to Americans of colour. Over 70% of school children who have been arrested are from African-American or Latino descent. This creates an environment in which students no longer trust their teachers or adults, which leads to wasted futures. The zero-tolerance policy in the American education system has had children arrested for throwing temper tantrums, or scribbling on desks. As much as the Muslim world would like to blame the American education system for discouraging Ahmed from pursuing his dreams because he is Muslim, the reason is not quite that simple. The zero-tolerance policy in the American education system has had children arrested for throwing temper tantrums, or scribbling on desks. The policy has a history of inherent racism due to ethnicity, and not simply due to religion.
When we’re living in the age of robotics and surviving in a culture that thrives on technological advancements, this is perhaps the biggest slap in the face for thinking outside the box.
Obama steps in
Despite our dependence on science and technology, studies have shown a shortage of students undertaking science, mathematics, engineering and technology related subjects. Yet this young 14-year-old Ahmed was taking the first step into a bright future full of inventions and breakthroughs when he was arrested.
The U.S. President Barack Obama took to Twitter to address the biggest and most disturbing takeaway from this case: the fact Ahmed, and those like him, may be discouraged from pursuing their passions and contributing to the world. The issue of systematic racism needs to be addressed as well. Just as Obama took to Twitter to encourage Ahmed to pursue his passion, he should do the same to motivate teachers and police officers to do what they are paid to do: teach, encourage, motivate – and create a thriving, safe, environment.

Turkey Needs to Practice in Turkey What It Preaches in Cyprus
by Kyriacos Kyriakides/Gatestone Institute/September 20/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6499/turkey-cyprus
Turkey has claimed all along that it stays in Cyprus to “protect” the Turkish Cypriot minority. Since Turkey has “protected” them, almost half of Turkish Cypriots have abandoned Cyprus. They have been conveniently replaced by Anatolian Turks whose Islamic orientation and ethos could not be more foreign to Cyprus.
If Turks are so keen on “saving” minorities, why have they not applied the same principles in Turkey to save their own Kurds?
With these circumstances in mind, it might be helpful to summarize the demands of the Turkish Cypriot minority and their patron, Turkey.
The Turkish Cypriots are sort of like the “Kurds” of Cyprus — with the emphasis on the sort of. Like the Kurds in Turkey, the Turkish Cypriots are a sizeable minority in Cyprus — and that may be just about where the similarity ends.
The Greek Cypriots, the original Cypriots, like the Kurds in Turkey, have a provenance that is deeply rooted in history.
They happen to have, in fact, an uninterrupted, well-documented Greek and Christian cultural footprint that dates back over three millennia. Modern Cyprus was born in 1960 out of geostrategic concerns after an anti-colonial struggle, the aim of which was union with Greece.
In Turkey, similarly to the Greeks in Cyprus, the Kurds who have lived mostly in north Kurdistan, the eastern part of the country, have a history as its indigenous people of over a thousand years.
The Turkish minority in Cyprus emerged only during the Ottoman occupation of Cyprus, between the late 16th and late 19th centuries. Since that time, the Turkish Cypriots lived scattered around the island. At present, the Turkish Cypriots form an 18% minority in Cyprus[1], roughly the same percentage as the Kurds’ population in Turkey, estimated at 20%.
The democratic right of self-determination for Greek Cypriots was denied by the United Kingdom, the colonial power in Cyprus since the late 19th century. The UK, by pursuing a policy of “divide and conquer,” brought Turkey into the picture as the “patron” of the minority. Then, in 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus. Since that invasion, the Turkish Cypriots live in the illegally occupied north of Cyprus, often in the homes left behind by the Greek Cypriots who fled to safety.
In 1960, two powerful NATO allies, the UK and Turkey, presented the Greek Cypriot majority with a charter on ‘take-it-or-else’ basis.
This crippled independence “offer” provided for three foreign guarantors of Cyprus’s territorial integrity: the UK, Greece and Turkey. There would also be two sovereign military bases for the UK, as well as a constitution laden with innumerable, apartheid-like, bi-communal characteristics. These consisted of extraordinary privileges for the Turkish Cypriot minority, such as, for example, ethnically-based separate elections and a Turkish Cypriot legislative veto system that would enable a lock-down in communal and state politics by either a simple veto from the Turkish Cypriot vice-president or simple majority of the Turkish Cypriot representatives. In other words, a mere eight MPs out of a parliament of 50, with a 70%-30% Greek Cypriot -Turkish Cypriot makeup[2] could block any legislation.
And they did.
Although the Turkish Cypriots used to be called Muslim Cypriots, they are mostly secular and would identify themselves as Cypriot first. Many of them are Christian converts to Islam, due to the Ottoman era’s tax system that favored Muslims. Most of them also spoke Greek, but that changed with the 1960 constitution, which separated the Greek and the Turkish communities by offering education exclusively in Greek and Turkish for each community.
The problem is that in Turkey, the Turks apparently want to prevent the minority of Kurds from having any rights at all, but in Cyprus, the Turks want the Greek majority to submit to be ruled by the Turkish minority. While Turkey continues to demand full political and cultural rights and privileges for the Turkish Cypriot minority on Cyprus, when it comes to its own Kurdish population inside Turkey, the Turks continue to bomb, gag, imprison, and culturally suppress the Kurds in every way for asking for even a fraction of those rights.
“Turkey is loudly championing the rights of Turkish Cypriots in the EU,” Kirsty Hughes wrote in the New York Times back in 2006[3]. “But anyone who champions Kurdish rights in Turkey risks being accused of separatism and even terrorism.”
Nothing has changed.
In Cyprus, according to a recent article[4] in the Turkish daily, Hürriyet, before 1974, over 80% of the land occupied by Turkey in northern Cyprus was Greek property. Greek Cypriot refugees, with their 19th century land registry property titles in hand, are still waiting to return to their literally within-sight, but inaccessible, ancestral towns and tracts of land. Despite Turkey’s efforts to encourage the Greek Cypriots to sell, so far very few have done so. According to the Republic of Cyprus’s land registry, only around 15% of all private property in Cyprus belongs to Turkish Cypriots.
In Turkey, there are no official records of property ownership or other statistics by ethnicity, so there is no way of knowing what percentage belongs to Kurds.
When the Republic of Turkey came into existence in 1923, after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks and Kurds, both Sunni Muslims, had fought side-by-side, shedding blood for independence. The Kurds had evidently expected a joint state to be formed and equally shared. The Turks, however, took control of the entire state and began to pursue policies that would force assimilation. These included, among other things, a ban of the Kurdish language, the forced relocation of Kurds to non-Kurdish areas of Turkey, the banning of any opposing organizations, and the violent repression of any Kurdish resistance. The Kurds aptly refer to these practices as “cultural genocide”.
During the past 90 years, tens of thousands of Kurds have died struggling for more rights, to no avail. In the Turkish school system, for instance, even the teaching of Kurdish is forbidden.
The Turkish researcher Fuat Dündar details the tactics of the Ankara governments to achieve the Kemalist goal of “one nation, one language, one country” in his 2000 book “Minorities in the Turkish Census“[5].
In Cyprus, many would agree that the historic, 82% Christian majority population should have had the right to chart its own future. The goals of the compromise solution, the Cyprus constitution, should have been two-fold: first, to secure Western geostrategic interests in the eastern Mediterranean; and second, to strike the right balance between majority and minority.
Sadly, it achieved only the former, with the British military bases being the only part of the 1960 deal that to this day maintain both their sovereignty and territorial integrity. In the words of constitutional law expert, Alexander Stanley de Smith[6][7], the Cyprus charter was “unique in its tortuous complexity, and in the multiplicity of the safeguards that it provides for the principal minority … [it] stands alone among the constitutions of the world.”
Unsurprisingly it did not take long for the new constitution to prove unworkable.
Unable to approve state budgets three years in a row, and faced with a plethora of religion-based segregationist demands, the Cypriot president — with British encouragement , albeit duplicitous — presented proposals for a constitutional overhaul. Sir Arthur Clark, the British High Commissioner in Cyprus in 1963, was directly involved with the modifications. He was ordered by London to overlook those amendments, in order that they “would affect as little as possible the Turkish interests.”
In different reports and discussions in London, Sir Arthur Clark regarded the most unworkable points of the constitution as totally logical and justified. London’s deepest worry was, and still is, the status of the British bases in Cyprus. Clark and the British Government were fully aware of the Turkish plans and intentions, long before the December 1963. Turkish attacks. He had calculated accurately, however, that the Turkish Cypriots would use the Cypriot president’s proposal as a pretext to proceed with their long-organized plan for partition.[8] Nevertheless, London never gave official approval to the final version of the “13 amendments”[9].
Indeed, the proposals did spark island-wide violence, which prompted the United Nations to send peacekeeping forces in 1964[10] . It also produced a policy of self-segregation[11], as UN Secretary General U Thant described it. The Turkish Cypriot community leaders committed themselves to physical and geographical separation of their community, and abstention from all political offices in an apparent attempt to undermine the new state.
The uneasy peace this produced was ended in 1974 by a brief failed coup instigated by Greece. Greece at the time was run by a military junta, since 1967. The Greek generals attempted to overthrow the elected Cypriot government and some Greek Cypriots in the paramilitary sided with the Greek military. Dozens of Greek Cypriots died in defending the president and the Republic, almost 100 in total. No Turkish Cypriots were involved or harmed. The junta fell a day after the Turkish invasion of July 20, 1974 (five days after the coup) and democracy was restored in Greece as a result. This attempted coup offered Turkey the perfect pretext to execute a plan of “taksim”, geographic division based on ethnic and religious lines. The sole legal premise for the invasion was to restore the constitutional order and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus. Although not a single Turkish Cypriot was harmed as a consequence of the coup, Turkey launched a massive military invasion, the repercussions of which were, to say the least, devastating. More than 1% of the population, or 6000 people, lost their lives, and for the first time in Cypriot history a purely ethnic-based geographic division was established.
The northern part of the island was ethnically cleansed of almost its entire population; all surviving Greek Christians fled south. In the subsequent months, the Turkish Cypriots living in the free southern part were encouraged to abandon their homes for a new life in the north. This organized “temporary” transfer was facilitated by the British and completed by 1975.
Despite the Turkish Cypriot policy of self-segregation in the 1960s and the 1974 invasion by Turkey, the Republic of Cyprus survived as the sole legitimate state, sovereign over the entire island, today a member not just of the United Nations but the European Union and the eurozone as well.
The status quo in the north of Cyprus is a self-declared state called the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (or “TRNC”), recognized only by Turkey, which maintains 40,000 troops there.
The European Union considers the entire island as part of its own territory. However, as the Republic of Cyprus authorities have no control over the Turkish-occupied northern part, the “acquis communautaire,” or EU law, cannot be enforced pending a final resolution to the problem.
The UK, in violation of its own legal obligations, remained on the sidelines, enabling the Turkish invasion and throwing its full diplomatic support behind the legitimization of the “facts on the ground” ever since. From its perspective, any solution that preserves the vital military bases and entrenches the status quo is an acceptable solution.
Turkey remains involved in its ostensibly noble “protective” pursuits in Cyprus. Turkey has claimed all along that it is there to protect and save the Turkish Cypriot minority. This claim has been refuted by facts and experts alike. Since Turkey “saved” them, almost half of Turkish Cypriots have abandoned Cyprus and have been conveniently replaced by Anatolian Turks, whose Islamic orientation and ethos could not be more foreign to Cyprus.
Since the Turkish invasion of 1974, Turkey has implemented a systematic policy of colonization, in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions. It has been condemned by various international bodies, including twice by the Council of Europe. In 2003, the Council of Europe revisited the issue of settlers. The report produced by Jaakko Laakso was approved by an overwhelming majority. It stated that “it is a well-established fact that the demographic structure of the island has been continuously modified since the de facto partition of the island in 1974 as a result of the deliberate policies of the Turkish Cypriot administration and Turkey.”[12] As a matter of fact, colonists today constitute more than half of the population in the occupied north.[13]
Turkey’s objectives are obvious. It aims to change the demographic character and to distort the population balance on the island between Turks and Greeks, in the hope of gains at the bargaining table. It also shifts the balance of political power in the occupied part of Cyprus and influences the elections, since colonists are a different “breed” than the Turkish Cypriots and easily controlled. To that effect, the colonists have been given “citizenship”, Greek Cypriot properties, “voting rights” and work permits.
In an interview[14], former Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat admitted the policy of colonization. He said that, “there were times when ‘citizenship of the TRNC’ had been given in restaurants. There are people who never came to Cyprus, yet they were given ‘citizenship’.”
But if Turks are so keen on “saving” minorities, why have they not applied the same principles in Turkey itself to save their own Kurds?
To agree to reunification, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots base their demands on two historical occurrences: the “rights” they legally secured in Cyprus’s imposed charter of 1960, and the geographic division they secured via the unprecedented Turkish military invasion of 1974.
Under the United Nations and with European Union support, negotiations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots are once again in full swing. They aim to produce a plan, by early 2016 preferably, to reintegrate Turkish Cypriots back into the international community under a Cyprus bi-zonal federal structure.
With these circumstances in mind, it might be helpful to summarize the demands of the Turkish Cypriot minority and their patron, Turkey. They demand:
The end of the Republic of Cyprus as a legal entity and its replacement with a brand new federal state based on a 50-50% partnership between the Greek Cypriot majority and Turkish Cypriot minority
An autonomous zone/state on stolen Greek Christian land
A guaranteed Muslim majority in the “Turkish Cypriot state”
Recognition of the “Turkish Cypriot state” under international law, much like in a confederation arrangement, making secession easier if/when warranted
Universal veto rights for all federal decisions, implying that Turkish Cypriots would have to approve every decision the federation makes
50-50% representation in the upper house of the federation
Over-representation in federal state positions up to two and a half times their population numbers
Full exclusive education in Turkish for their community, without learning Greek, the majority’s language
Half of all hydrocarbons and natural resources of Cyprus, the only finds of which have been in the southern waters controlled by the legitimate government of the Republic of Cyprus
The naturalization of all illegal Turkish settlers who have been granted the pseudo-state’s “citizenship”
Automatic accession of the “Turkish Cypriot state” to the EU, which the Republic of Cyprus secured in 2004.
Eternal say by proxy, and presence of “Turkey” in Cypriot affairs, and by extension in those of the European Union
These would seem to be extraordinary demands indeed for any ethnic minority anywhere.
Many would agree that it is one thing to stand for the respect of the human, political and cultural rights of people and communities, but it is totally another to allow a minority to dictate the fate of an entire nation. Since 1960, the majority Greek Cypriots have felt hostage to what they regard a sort of tyranny by an 18% minority.
What if the 20% Kurds of Turkey were to follow the Turkish Cypriot example and demand for themselves “rights” commensurate to those demanded by the Turks in Cyprus? What if Turkey’s Kurds, as preconditions to lay down their arms and drop all talk of an independent Kurdistan, applied the same Turkish logic to Turkey’s majority-minority dispute?
Kurds, after all, fought alongside the Turkish majority for independence, and they have a historic claim as the native people of the entire east of the country. Turkish Cypriots can make no such claims.
This might be a hypothetical list of the Kurds’ demands:
The end of the Republic of Turkey as a legal entity and its replacement with a brand new federal state based on a 50-50% partnership between the Turkish majority and Kurdish minority
An autonomous state in the east on what historically constitutes Kurdish land as well as autonomous zones in every major district in Turkey that has a sizable Kurdish population, with forced relocations of ethnic Turks where necessary
Safeguards that their autonomous state/zones shall have guaranteed Kurdish majority
Recognition of the “Kurdish state” under international law, much like in a confederation arrangement, enabling it to secede if/when warranted
Universal veto rights for all federal decisions, implying that Kurds would have to approve every decision the federation makes
50-50% representation in the upper house of the federation
Over-representation in state apparatus up to two and a half times Kurds’ actual numerical numbers; in other words, that Kurds would have guaranteed representation in state positions well above their population proportion
Full exclusive education in Kurdish, which would become an official language of the new federation, along with Turkish; in other words, Kurds would be educated exclusively in Kurdish and Turks exclusively in Turkish, without either learning the other’s language
The right to half of all hydrocarbons and natural resources of the country
The naturalization of millions of Kurds from other parts of Kurdistan
Eternal say and presence by outsiders, NATO perhaps, in Turkish affairs to ensure that the state would not recede to methods of the past of cultural assimilation and physical extermination
Would Turks regard such demands as logical and acceptable? How would the average Turk feel if the HDP, the Kurdish party that in the recent general elections in Turkey entered parliament by surpassing for the first time the 10% threshold[15], explicitly stated these demands from the Turkish state?
The truth is Turkey has always considered notions of political and cultural equality a threat to its indivisibility as a nation. Throughout Turkey’s existence, even more so perhaps today, most, if not all, ethnic Turkish politicians deny Kurds not just political status and autonomy in Kurdish majority areas but even their human rights, in a manner that bears the hallmarks of systematic persecution intent on destroying the Kurdish identity, all on the basis of the need to preserve the nation’s unity.
The Kurd in Turkey cannot be educated in Kurdish, cannot learn it in public schools, cannot make use of it in an official capacity and cannot even find government websites in Kurdish. The Kurd in Turkey faces torture, repression, denial of freedom of expression and association and discrimination. The Kurd in Turkey cannot even grant her child a Kurdish name if such name entails a letter that does not exist in the Turkish alphabet. As a result, three letters, ‘Q’, ‘W’ and ‘X’ have become a symbol for the uniqueness of Kurdish identity.
The Turks see one people and one nation in Turkey, but they see two in Cyprus; they see one language in Turkey, but they see two in Cyprus; they see one indivisible land in ‘bizonal-by-history’ Turkey, but they see two states in ‘bizonal-by-ethnic-cleansing’ Cyprus; they see a minority in Turkey, but they see two equal communities in Cyprus. Turkey has insisted, since the 1920s, on a policy of forced assimilation for the Kurds and other smaller minorities, but they regard as anathema any proposition for Turkish Cypriot integration. They see majoritarian democracy as the only solution in Turkey, but they cannot contemplate anything different than political equality in Cyprus, which they interpret as a 50-50 share of everything, from power, to property, to political and cultural rights.
Both the Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus and the Kurds in Turkey want, at a minimum, respect for their legitimate rights as large ethnic communities within the borders where they live and share. Finding a fair and reasonable way to balance the rights of a large ethnic minority community with the rights of the majority should be the goal in both countries.
Equally puzzling to Turkish double standards is the Turkish Cypriots’ silence with respect to the Kurdish struggle for political status, autonomy and cultural equality — the very rights they consider “sacred” for themselves.
It is as if there is a sort of Turkish omertà (code of silence) in exchange for the military and financial support they receive. With one Turkish soldier for every two Turkish Cypriots stationed in occupied Cyprus, and at a subsidy of a billion Turkish liras a year[16], that is the way it looks.
It would be sensible if the same universally accepted principles were employed to address what is essentially the same political problem, for the sake of all peoples concerned.
Regrettably, we can be optimistic neither about the future of the Kurds in Turkey nor for a successful conclusion to the latest round of the Cyprus negotiations for a truly just and viable settlement.
It feels as if the largest nation in the region is abusing its only indisputable Western credential, that of NATO membership, to apply a contradictory set of principles to the rights of two large ethnic minorities.
Conversely, the most powerful alliance in the world, NATO, conveniently looks the other way, like a modern Pontius Pilate, while its third most powerful member abuses its military might to enforce an illicit nationalist agenda. Turkey, however, may not manage much longer to keep this split in its values regarding sizable ethnic minorities at home and abroad out of the public debate.
Kyriacos Kyriakides is a political activist, current events expert and blogger based in Limassol, Cyprus. He hopes that by juxtaposing the Cyprus and Kurdish issues, a common understanding can be reached to solve both on the basis of universally accepted principles. He blogs in English and Greek. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
[1] The 82% Greek Cypriot majority also includes three other small Greek-educated minorities that the constitution recognizes: the Armenians, the Latins and the Maronites, which altogether count for close to 4%.
[2] 15 Turkish Cypriot MPs, 35 Greek Cypriots in a 50-member parliament
[3] “The Cypriots and the Kurds,” by Kirsty Hughes, International Herald Tribune, November 14, 2006.
[4] “KKTC’de mülkiyet kaosu,” Ömer BİLGE / LEFKOŞA, 31 Temmuz 2015
[5] Fuat Dündar, “Türkiye Nüfus Sayimlarinda Azinliklar” (Minorities in the Turkish Census), Istanbul: Çivi, 2000. (Translated in Greek in 2003 by Infognomon).
[6] Republic of Cyprus: Core document on Cyprus drawn up in accordance with General Assembly resolution 45/85 and the consolidated guidelines for the initial part of the reports of States parties (document HRI/991/1) – May 2008
[7] Cyprus: Sui Generis, The New Commonwealth and its Constitutions, 1964, Pages: 282-296, Publisher: Stevens & Sons, Authors De Smith, Alexander Stanley
[8] Bloody Truth, C6: “The 13 Points”, page 326
[9] Suggested measures for facilitating the smooth functioning of the state and for the removal of certain causes of inter-communal friction (1963), President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios, 30 November 1963.
[10] These forces are still in place today. UNFICYP, as they are called, is one of the longest-running UN peacekeeping missions.
[11] “Turkish Cypriot leadership is committed to physical and geographical separation of the communities as a political goal, it is not likely to encourage activities by Turkish Cypriots which may be interpreted as demonstrating the merits of an alternative policy. The result has been a seemingly deliberate policy of self-segregation by the Turkish Cypriots (S/6426, Report of 10.6.1965, p. 271)”.
[12] “Colonisation by Turkish settlers of the occupied part of Cyprus,” Doc. 9799, 2 May 2003, Report Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, Rapporteur: Jaakko Laakso, Finland, Group of the Unified Left.
[13] “In 2011, the resident population was reported at 286,257 (excluding the Turkish army), of which ‘TRNC’ citizens amounted to 190,494 (66.5% of the resident population) [with] what might be termed the indigenous Turkish Cypriot population around 136,000 people, or 47.6% of the total resident population.”, in-cyprus.com, ‘Northern Cyprus demographics: who is voting?‘ by Fiona Mullen — 25/04/2015.
[14] Interview to the Turkish Cypriot daily “VATAN” (24/10/05).
[15] HDP scored 13.1% in the 2015 general elections, which made it the 4th party to enter parliament with 80 deputies, the same as MHP nationalist party.
[16] Roughly 350 million US dollars at today’s exchange rate, or 500 million less than a year ago.
© 2015 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006 Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006