LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
February 10/17
Compiled
& Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The
Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletins17/english.february10.17.htm
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Bible Quotations For Today
‘The kings of the Gentiles lord
it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not
so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and
the leader like one who serves.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 22/24-30/:"A dispute
also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the
greatest. But he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them;
and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you;
rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader
like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one
who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who
serves.
‘You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as
my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my
table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of
For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but
having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their
own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to
myths
Second Letter to Timothy 04/01-08/:"In the presence of God and of Christ
Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing
and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent
whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and
encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when
people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will
accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn
away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always
be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your
ministry fully. As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the
time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown
of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that
day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his
appearing."
Titles For Latest
LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
February 09-10/17
Saint Maroun and remembering Maronite historical events/Dr Walid
Phares/Face Book/February 09/17
Hezbollah's war in Aleppo: Victory at any cost, even to civilians/Mona
Alami/Middle East Eye/Thursday 9 February 2017
The Islamic Jihad and Peace with Jews/ Bassam Tawil/Gatestone
Institute/February 09/17
Jihadist Groups in the US: What Next/ Benjamin Weingarten/Gatestone
Institute/February 09/17
Is Iona Community Sabotaging Itself by Embracing Kairos/ Denis
MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/February 09/17
Khomeini’s revolution and CIA declassified documents/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al
Arabiya/February 09/7
The wise men of Al-Awamiyah/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/February 09/7
From Atta’s Father to Hamahmy’s Father/Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/February 09/7
Is the right to abortion more important than Iranian terror/Mamdouh
AlMuhaini/Al Arabiya/February 09/7
Of lies and slippery slopes/Trisha de Borchgrave/Al Arabiya/February 09/7
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on
February 09-10/17
Saint Maroun and remembering Maronite historical events
Dr Walid Phares/Face Book/February 09/17
Saint Maroun mass kicks off in presence of head of State and government
Riachi Says Hybrid Electoral Law to be Reached 'within 10 Days'
Marada Slams FPM-LF Alliance as 'Christian Sykes-Picot Agreement'
Hariri Shows Openness to Electoral Law Devised by Miqati's Government
Cautious Calm in al-Laylaki after Armed Clash between Families
Man Plotting Bomb Attack Reportedly Arrested in Choueifat
Waste Incineration 'Serious Choice' as Ministerial Panel Holds 1st Meeting
Mashnouq: President, PM Say New Electoral Law before End of February
French Health Minister visits Hotel Dieu Hospital: Symbol of common
LebaneseFrench humanity cause
Frangieh convenes with Sabhan in Bnachii
Turkish Ambassador meets heads of Lebanese, Turkish associations over bilateral
relations
Clash escalates into shooting in Lailaky
Lebanese, French armies hold military exercises
Salary scale a social and economic necessity
EU Ambassadors meet with the Minister of Interior and Municipalities to discuss
the forthcoming parliamentary elections
Hezbollah's war in Aleppo: Victory at any cost, even to civilians
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 09-10/17
United Nations preparing invitations to Syria peace talks
Russia to give Syrian army high-precision weapons
There’s One Thing Pope Francis Wants Christians To Give Up For Lent And Trump
may want to consider it.
Iraqi Hezbollah leader killed
US may sanction Iran over Yemen, Hezbollah and Iraq
Is Trump Preparing An Anbush
Israel Strikes Syrian Position after 'Stray' Tank Shell
Fierce Fighting 20 Kilometers from IS Bastion in Syria
U.S. Says It Killed Veteran Qaida Leader in Syria
Syria Rebel Fire Kills Three in Red Crescent Center
Two Palestinians Killed in Egypt after Rocket Fire on Israel
Explosion at French Nuclear Plant, No Contamination Risk
Putin, Erdogan Agree to Up Coordination after Russia Raid Kills 3 Turks in
Syria
Israeli Settlers in West Bank Top 421,000
Palestinian Gunman Wounds Six Israelis near Tel Aviv
Mass Graves Found in Western Iraq
Canada's Trudeau to Visit the White House Monday
U.S. General Says NATO Has Shortfall of Troops in Afghanistan
Canada: Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs on adoption of Regulation Law
Canada witnesses population jump due to immigrants
Egypt FM: Relations with Saudi Arabia ‘deeply rooted’
Links From Jihad Watch Site for on February 09-10/17
Two
Muslims arrested in Slovenia on way to join the Islamic State — while under
house arrest in France
Hard-Left
appeals court rules against national security, Trump’s immigration ban
Venezuela
selling passports to Iraqis, may have sold them to jihadis
The
End of Countering Violent Extremism, the Start of Countering Islamic Jihad
“Aren’t
You Tired of Writing Your Stupid Articles?” Georgetown Prof Jonathan Brown
Expels Critic From Lecture
Merkel
to spend billions on foreign aid despite facing $87,000,000,000 Muslim migrant
bill
Europeans
increasingly opposed to Muslim immigration
Hollywood
talent agency UTA cancels Oscar party, will hold refugee rally instead
Bangladesh:
Hindu vendor arrested for “insulting Islam” on Facebook
Paris
spending $22,000,000 to build wall around Eiffel Tower to stop jihad terror
attacks
Arizona:
Muslim gets 30 years for role in jihad terror attack on Garland Muhammad cartoon
contest
Daily
Beast crows that Sean Spicer “makes up Atlanta Islamist terror attack”
Latest Lebanese Related News
published on February 09-10/17
Saint Maroun and remembering Maronite historical events
Dr Walid Phares/Face Book/February 09/17
Today February 9, the Maronite community in
For that purpose some have dedicated time and efforts, that is years and
sacrifices, over decades, to insure that the cultural and historical identity
of the community are preserved and redeveloped. The World Maronite Union (WMU),
founded in
Saint Maroun mass kicks off in presence of
head of State and government
Thu 09 Feb 2017/NNA - The mass celebrating Saint Maroun began on Thursday
morning in
Hezbollah launches donation campaign: 'Arm
the Jihadist'
Roi Kais|/Ynetnews/February 09/17/Hoping to raise funds for their combatants,
particularly in their war efforts in Syria and against Israel, the terrorist
group Hezbollah has launched a campaign appealing to the public to donate
money. The Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah has launched a widespread
campaign in recent days calling on member of the public to help finance its
combatants and military activities. Under the slogan of "Money for Jihad
is a Must", that was hashtagged and publicized on social media, Hezbollah
is leading a campaign that has been dubbed "The Initiative to Arm
Jihadists."In a video circulated on the group's twitter account, one of
its members can be seen equipping himself and attempting to encourage the
public to donate money to the cause . Whoever arms a fighter is considered to
have fought," the group said as per the Islamic tradition and even added
phone numbers to be used for the donations. In a video circulated on the
group's twitter account, one of its members can be seen equipping himself and
attempting to encourage the public to donate money to the cause. Another slogan
from the video says: "You help; resist." The group's website states
that "Jihadists who fight in the resistance need clothes and military
equipment. This initiative allows you to help equip them…"
Readers are then given the option to donate money online, and are even given
the choice of making payments in installments, for those wishing to give
generous sums of money. Religious leaders also feature in the videos as the
appeals are made.
One of the news website based in the city of
This is not the first time Hezbollah has launched a campaign of such sort.
However, when compared with its last efforts, the present crowd-funding round
is far more widespread and intensive. The extent of the campaign raises
questions about the financial difficulties the group may be suffering flowing
from the fighting in
Riachi Says Hybrid Electoral Law to be
Reached 'within 10 Days'
Naharnet/February 09/17/Information Minister Melhem Riachi has announced that a
new electoral law will be reached “in the next ten days.”In an interview with
the German Press Agency (DPA) published Thursday, the minister noted that the
new law will be a hybrid one mixing the winner-takes-all and proportional
representation systems, ruling out a return to the controversial 1960 electoral
law. “There will be a new electoral law in the next ten days... and there is no
need to worry that some parties might try to pass time in order to return to
the 1960 law,” Riachi, who is also a Lebanese Forces official, said. “It is
impossible to return to the 1960 law, not even with some amendments,” he
stressed. Riachi also noted that “the law will correct Christian representation
without harming Muslim representation.” “It will end injustice against all
Lebanese components,” he added. President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad
Hariri told ministers during a Cabinet session on Wednesday that a new
electoral law will be passed “before the end of February.” While Hariri's
al-Mustaqbal Movement has rejected that the electoral law be fully based on
proportional representation, arguing that Hizbullah's arms would prevent
serious competition in the party's strongholds, Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat
has totally rejected proportional representation, even within a hybrid law,
warning that it would “marginalize” the minority Druze community. Hizbullah,
Mustaqbal, AMAL Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement and the LF are meanwhile
discussing several formats of the so-called hybrid law. The country has not
organized parliamentary elections since 2009 and the legislature has instead
twice extended its own mandate. The last polls were held under an amended
version of the 1960 electoral law and the next vote is scheduled for May.
Marada Slams FPM-LF Alliance as 'Christian
Sykes-Picot Agreement'
Naharnet/February 09/17/A senior Marada Movement official has slammed the
rising Free Patriotic Movement-Lebanese Forces alliance as a “Christian
Sykes-Picot Agreement” aimed at eliminating the other Christian political
forces in the country. “Their agreement is a Christian Sykes-Picot aimed at
splitting gains between the FPM and the LF and attempting to impose what
resembles a 'political mandate' on the Christian arena,” the Marada official
told ad-Diyar newspaper in remarks published Thursday. The Sykes-Picot
Agreement was a secret 1916 agreement between
Hariri Shows Openness to Electoral Law
Devised by Miqati's Government
Naharnet/February 09/17/Prime Minister Saad Hariri has shown “openness” to
discussing an electoral law fully based on proportional representation that had
been devised by Najib Miqati's government, a media report said on Thursday.
“President (Michel) Aoun, backed by Hizbullah and AMAL Movement, is insisting
on an electoral law fully based on proportional representation, but in the
worst situation he would accept the proportional representation system that was
proposed by Najib Miqati's government -- which is based on 13 electoral
districts -- after introducing some amendments,” al-Akhbar newspaper quoted
informed political sources as saying. “Hariri's choices are narrowing: he
either accepts proportional representation under the Miqati law or else the
president would carry out his threats that lead to vacuum and an open crisis,”
the sources added. Citing Hariri's “concessions” in the presidential elections
and the formation of the government, and the “latest change” in Interior
Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq's stance after the contacts between Aoun and the
premier, the sources said that Hariri “will likely bow to the president's
vision in order to prevent a total loss of the current political formula” in
the country. Moreover, “high-ranking political sources have revealed that the
latest dialogue session between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal Movement in Ain
el-Tineh had witnessed a major shift in Mustaqbal's stance on proportional
representation,” al-Akhbar said. “For the first time ever, the director of the
premier's office, Nader Hariri, expressed his willingness to discuss the
proposal of Miqati's government,” the daily added. “Nader Hariri asked why the
Minieh-Dinniyeh district was joined with Akkar not
Cautious Calm in al-Laylaki after Armed
Clash between Families
Naharnet/February 09/17/A dispute between the Zoaiter and Rahil families
escalated into an armed clash Thursday in the
Man Plotting Bomb Attack Reportedly
Arrested in Choueifat
Naharnet/February 09/17/General Security agents arrested overnight in the
Choueifat area a Syrian young man suspected of plotting to carry out an act of
terror, a media report said on Thursday. “The detainee was working as a
delivery boy for one of the restaurants and he was plotting to prepare an
explosive device,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported. On Wednesday, General Security
announced the arrest of two Islamic State-linked men suspected of planning a
suicide attack in central
Waste Incineration 'Serious Choice' as
Ministerial Panel Holds 1st Meeting
Naharnet/February 09/17/A ministerial committee tasked with devising a new
waste management plan on Wednesday held its first meeting at the Grand Serail
under Prime Minister Saad Hariri, as a panel member said the incineration waste
treatment approach has surfaced as a “serious” alternative to landfills.
“Another meeting has been scheduled for February 18 to continue the
discussions,” Environment Minister Tareq al-Khatib said after the talks. Industry
Minister Hussein al-Hajj Hassan said “the current inclination is to endorse the
choice of incinerators to resolve the waste problem.”Prior to the meeting Hajj
Hassan had described incineration as “a serious choice,” noting that “it is
implemented by the most important countries in the world.”The panel also
comprises Deputy Premier and Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani, Minister of
Interior and Municipalities Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Finance Minister Ali Hassan
Khalil, Public Works Minister Youssef Fenianos, Energy Minister Cesar Abi
Khalil and State Minister for Administrative Development Enaya Ezzeddine.
The meeting was also attended by Council for Reconstruction and Development
chief Nabil al-Jisr and Cabinet Secretary-General Fouad Fleifel. Activists who
took to the streets in angry protests during the 2015 unprecedented garbage
crisis had rejected both the incineration and land-filling of unsorted and
untreated garbage, calling instead for eco-friendly solutions based on sorting
and recycling. The unprecedented crisis had erupted after the closure of the
central Naameh landfill on July 17, 2015. The crisis saw the country's streets
overflowing with waste and the air filled with the smell of rotting garbage for
several weeks. Experts have urged the government to devise a comprehensive
waste management solution that would include more recycling and composting to
reduce the amount of trash going into landfills. A judge has recently ordered
the permanent closure of the Costa Brava rubbish dump near
Mashnouq: President, PM Say New Electoral
Law before End of February
Naharnet/February 09/17/President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri
told ministers during Wednesday's Cabinet session that “the new electoral law
will be finalized before the end of February,” Interior Minister Nouhad
al-Mashnouq said. “There is no choice but to hold the parliamentary elections
and I don't have any doubt that they might not be held, seeing as one cannot
talk about democracy in
French Health Minister visits Hotel Dieu
Hospital: Symbol of common LebaneseFrench humanity cause
Thu 09 Feb 2017/NNA - French Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Marisol
Touraine, visited on Thursday evening, along with her accompanying delegation and
French Ambassador Emmanuel Bonn, Hotel Dieu Hospital in Ashrafieh where she had
a closer look at the new services provided by the Hospital's various
departments, as well as the educational and academic exchange programs between
Lebanon and France within the medical field.
Frangieh convenes with Sabhan in Bnachii
Thu 09 Feb 2017/NNA - Head of Marada Party, MP Suleiman Frangieh, convened on
Thursday with Saudi Minister of State for Arabian Gulf Affairs, Thamer
Al-Sabhan, at his Bnachii residence.
Turkish Ambassador meets heads of
Lebanese, Turkish associations over bilateral relations
Thu 09 Feb 2017/NNA - Turkish Ambassador to
Clash escalates into shooting in Lailaky
Thu 09 Feb 2017/NNA - A squabble on Thursday between men from Zoayter family
and others from Raheel family in
Lebanese, French armies hold military
exercises
Thu 09 Feb 2017/NNA - Naval units from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and
visiting French frigate Montcalm held training exercise off the
Salary scale a social and economic
necessity
Thu 09 Feb 2017/NNA - Deputy Abdul Majid Saleh said that the salary scale will
be issued within the 2017 budget, adding that all the political components are
in favor of this matter due to its social and economic importance. The Deputy
noted that everybody was onboard developing political life and issuing an
electoral law.
EU Ambassadors meet with the Minister of
Interior and Municipalities to discuss the forthcoming parliamentary elections
Wed 08 Feb 2017/NNA - The Ambassadors of the European Union and EU Member
States were received today by Minister of Interior and Municipalities, H.E.
Nouhad al-Machnouq, to discuss the advancement of preparations for the
forthcoming elections.
The EU Ambassadors stressed that after the election of a president and the
formation of a national unity government, the timely, transparent and peaceful
holding of parliamentary elections will be another step towards consolidating
the normal functioning of democratic institutions in
The EU remains the largest and most essential donor in
Hezbollah's war in Aleppo: Victory at
any cost, even to civilians
Mona Alami/Middle East Eye/Thursday 9 February 2017
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hezbollahs-aleppo-victory-any-cost-1412427712
DAHIEH,
When the Syrian city finally fell two months ago, the Lebanese guerilla
movement found itself in the role of an occupying army, controlling vast tracts
of a shattered urban landscape, justifying its role in the deaths of thousands
of civilians and holding together fragile alliances surrounding
In interviews with Middle East Eye from the Lebanese stronghold of
Dahieh, Hezbollah commanders recounted their roles and experiences in the
battle, and what it meant for the future of the organisation.
"Before the battle, Hezbollah's general secretary, Hassan Nasrallah,
instructed 200 of his military commanders to capture the city in a swift
battle, even if that meant the loss of 10,000 men," said one of the
commanders, going under the name Abou Ali.
And fighters were willing to respond to the call: "Death is the
greatest gift God could bestow upon me," said Abou Ali. Many Hezbollah
fighters had already lost their lives in
"We increased pressure on the terrorists by slowly diminishing the
territory they held," says Abou Ali. "We worked with the Syrians, the
Iranians and the Russians directly.”
"However by the end of the siege, clashes dwindled and there was no
real battle in
For Hezbollah, no distinction was made between the political opposition,
rebels, Islamic State and al-Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front, now known as
Jabhat Fateh Sham.
"All of the Syrian opposition are terrorists," argues Abou Ali.
"Don’t they visit Tel Aviv or the Gulf capitals?" he asks.
Hezbollah fighters moved through rebel-held areas in three waves, he said
- an offensive team to secure the area, a demining team following in its path
and finally, a "Tathbeet" - or "stabilisation" team - that
could stay in strategic areas of the city anywhere between two months to two
years, says Abou Ali.
"Hezbollah is operating there not only as a guerilla force but as
well as a conventional army," he boasts, adding that his men are trained
on the latest Iranian weapons including the Toophan anti-tank missile, the
Karrar - or "striker" - armed drone, and heat-seeking missiles.
And with the capture of
That figure included 80,000 earmarked for a new fighting force. The
commander was silent on what that new force - the size of the current British
army - was being prepared for.
Abou Ali’s estimation may nonetheless be an exaggeration. A Hezbollah
trainer also interviewed by Middle East Eye put the figure at a conservative
10,000 for the Qussayr area.
"The training takes from three days to several months depending on
capabilities ranging from combat, sniper shooting, handling explosives,
reconnaissance work, special operations or manning tanks among many
others," says the trainer on condition of anonymity.
Hezbollah’s growing presence in
Yet, Abou Ali attributes the mistrust between the two parties to Syrian
soldiers abandoning their positions during battle. "Syrian soldiers are
mistreated by their superiors, which translates into a lack of loyalty to the
army. Things are now looking much better though, with the military institution
being restructured," he adds.
Clashes were not limited however to their Syrian counterparts. Abou Ali's
comrade, who calls himself Abu Hassan, said that there had been battles with
Iranian forces and Hezbollah, although they are rarer.
"There was a recent incident in Tell Eiss, when a disagreement
between Hezbollah fighters and Iranian forces over their insufficient backing
during battle escalated into a bloody confrontation when a Hezbollah fighter
called Zulfikar killed several Iranians," said Abu Hassan.
Abou Ali’s view of
With
And with
"We have deployed experts in
Civilians die in every war. Ask
"Hezbollah experts are also present in the Quneitra region alongside
Iranians who have deployed soldiers there," says Abou Ali.
Quneitra lies on the border of the Golan Heights, a plateau located in
south-western
For
And finally, on the subject of civilian deaths in
"Civilians die in every war. Ask
The last comment is followed by a heavy silence as the small group around
him ponders on the fact that Hezbollah now needs to invoke war crimes committed
by its staunch enemy in
Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 09-10/17
United Nations preparing
invitations to Syria peace talks
AFP, United Nations Thursday, 9 February 2017/UN envoy Staffan de Mistura will
send invitations to Syria peace talks in the coming days, the UN spokesman said
Wednesday – seemingly allowing the opposition to bypass a deadline to agree on
its negotiators.
De Mistura had warned the opposition that he would pick their delegates to the
talks opening in
Also read: Fierce fighting 20km from ISIS bastion in
Russia to give Syrian army
high-precision weapons
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report/February 08/17
Moscow signaled on Wednesday, February 8, that it has started - or is about to
start - supplying precision weapons to the Syrian military in order to boost
its capabilities against the Islamic State organization. It came in an
announcement by Ilyas Umakhanov, deputy chairman of the Russian Federation
Council, who said, "Russia will continue an asymmetrical response (to
terrorism) in Syria, which may include the regrouping of forces and means…and
of course the supply of high-precision weapons to the Syrian government."
He added that “It is impossible to defeat terrorism only by efforts of one
country. Terrorism has assumed a global character and, having achieved obvious
victory in one place, there is no reason to create additional vacuums where
terrorists can resume military operations.”
It is clear that Umakhanov was referring to two main topics:
1. Military cooperation by the
2. Russian estimation of the need to supply the Syrian military with the most
advanced weapons to ramp up its capabilities to the same level as those of the
other militaries taking part in the war against ISIS in
According to Russian media reports on Feb. 8, Russian Defense Minister Sergei
Shoigu said recently that more than 160 types of advanced weapons have been
tested in the course of
debkafile’s military and intelligence sources reveal the types of weapons that
the Russians have decided to send the Syrian army.
They include small drones armed with precision bombs; shoulder-fired,
laser-guided antitank and antiaircraft missiles; “loitering munitions” which
follow their targets after being dropped from planes; small unmanned vehicles
for clearing tunnels; advanced night vision equipment; laser and infrared
sights; intelligence systems for locating targets; and long-range sniper rifles.
Loitering munitions combine the traits of missiles, drones and bombs. They are
dropped from a plane and then controlled by a soldier on the ground or in the
air. They can fly for many hours as long as they have enough fuel and
electricity. The munitions use a GPS system to show their precise location, and
are usually fitted with a video camera which shows targets in real time in high
resolution, even in poor weather conditions or at night, via remote control.
As soon as the target is identified, the bomb is directed to its target, such
as the window of a building, an armored vehicle or a group of fighters. In
addition to the target, all of the bomb’s sensors are destroyed when the bomb
explodes.
But now that the Russians have announced that they will provide those weapons
to the Syrian military, it is obvious that some of the arms are bound to fall
into the hands of the Iranians and Hizballah.
There’s One Thing Pope Francis Wants Christians To Give Up For Lent And Trump
may want to consider it.
Antonia Blumberg/The Huffington Post/February 09/17/
In his Lenten address, Pope Francis urged Christians to give up the “love of
money” and care for their fellow human beings. Many Christians and casual Lent
observers give up things like chocolate and Twitter for the 40-day fast before
Easter. But Pope Francis has something else in mind for this year’s fast.In his
Lenten message, released by the
Even the scourge of global terrorism is fueled by the lust for money and power,
Francis told reporters last year. The pontiff’s statements reminding Christians
to think of the poor and marginalized before their pocketbooks occasionally
seem directed at one singularly wealthy and powerful person: President Donald
Trump. Days after Trump signed a sweeping order dramatically restricting the
number of refugees and foreign nationals allowed to enter the United States,
Francis called on his flock to pray that the “poor, refugees, and marginalized”
would find “welcome and comfort in our communities.” He mentioned “skyscrapers”
and “real estate deals” ― two things the president is intimately
acquainted with ― among the things that lead Christians away from helping
others.
“We live in cities that throw up skyscrapers and shopping centers and strike
big real estate deals but they abandon a part of themselves to marginal
settlements on the periphery,” he said in the video published on February 2.
“The result of this situation is that great sections of the population are
excluded and marginalized: without a job, without options, without a way out.
Don’t abandon them.” This Lent, Francis said, Christians should choose a
different path: “Let us pray for one another so that, by sharing in the victory
of Christ, we may open our doors to the weak and poor.”
Iraqi Hezbollah leader killed
By Staff writer Al Arabiya News English Thursday, 9 February 2017/The secretary
of Iraqi Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades) has been killed
according to Iraqi security source. Bassem al-Mousawi died of wounds at a
hospital in central
Last Update: Thursday, 9 February 2017 KSA 11:52 - GMT 08:52
US may sanction Iran over Yemen, Hezbollah
and Iraq
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Thursday, 9 February 2017/The new United
States administration, under President Donald Trump, is believed to be exerting
pressure for imposition of new sanctions against Iran in response to their
activities in the Middle East and fueling instability in the region. The
administration is said to be studying several aspects for the sanctions, which
one includes the
Hezbollah, Houthis and
The next step may be to impose sanctions on
Is Trump Preparing An Anbush
Michael Wilner/Jerusalem Post/February 09/17
WASHINGTON – Knesset authorization of a land law in Area C of the West Bank —
which is outside its purview — sparked outrage worldwide this week, but drew
virtual silence from the White House, where the president’s team is preparing
for a critical visit from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday. The
Trump administration had two convenient excuses to defer comment: The prime
minister’s upcoming visit and the likelihood that the bill will die on arrival
at
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Israel Strikes Syrian Position after
'Stray' Tank Shell
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/The Israeli army said it struck a
Syrian army position on the Golan heights late Wednesday to retaliate for a
tank shell that landed on the Israeli side of the zone's demarcation line. The
shell was probably a stray round that came from the fighting in Syria and did
not cause any casualties, Israeli military officials said.The Israeli army
responded by targeting a "government position" on the Syrian side of
the Golan, they said.
Fierce Fighting 20 Kilometers from IS
Bastion in Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/Fierce fighting took place on
Wednesday between jihadist militants and U.S.-backed Syrian rebels just 20
kilometers (12 miles) from the Islamic State's self-proclaimed capital of Raqa,
an AFP reporter saw.
On Saturday, the rebels -- a coalition of Arab and Kurdish fighters known as
the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) -- announced a new phase in a bid to capture
Raqa, and mounted an attack from north and northeast. An AFP reporter at Bir
Fawaz, 20 km north of Raqa, heard machine-gun fire all day Wednesday as SDF
attacked IS positions in the neighboring
U.S. Says It Killed Veteran Qaida Leader
in Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/The U.S. military said Wednesday
that it had killed eleven al-Qaida operatives, including a veteran leader and
suicide bombing pioneer, in a bombing raid in Syria. The Pentagon said Abu Hani
al-Masri, the Qaida veteran, was one of those killed in the precision
airstrikes near Idlib carried out on February 3-4. Al-Masri was an early
official in al-Qaida, overseeing the group's training camps in
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/Rebel fire on an aid distribution
center in
Two Palestinians Killed in
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/An Israeli air strike killed two
Palestinians on the Egyptian side of the border with
Their deaths came just hours after a volley of rockets fired from the Sinai
targeted the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat, a rare assault from
Explosion at French Nuclear Plant, No
Contamination Risk
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/An explosion at a nuclear power
station in northern France on Thursday caused minor injuries but happened
outside the plant's nuclear zone and posed no risk of contamination,
authorities said. "It is a significant technical event but it is not a
nuclear accident," senior local official Olivier Marmion told AFP
following the blast at the Flamanville plant 25 kilometers west of Cherbourg.
Putin, Erdogan Agree to Up Coordination
after Russia Raid Kills 3 Turks in Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/Three Turkish soldiers were
accidentally killed and 11 wounded on Thursday when a Russian war plane struck
a building in Syria where the troops were deployed, the Turkish army said. The
plane had been seeking to hit targets of Islamic State (IS) jihadists but
"by accident three of our heroic soldiers were martyred when a building
was bombed where our units were," it said. Russian President Vladimir
Putin had already reached out to Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to
express his "sadness and condolences." "Russian officials have
said that the incident was an accident and have passed on their sadness and
condolences," the army said, adding an investigation is being carried out
by both sides. It said that of the 11 injured, one was badly wounded.
In
Israeli Settlers in West Bank Top 421,000
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/The number of Israeli settlers
living in the occupied
Palestinian Gunman Wounds Six Israelis near Tel Aviv
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/Six Israelis were wounded Thursday
when a Palestinian man stabbed and shot at market-goers in central
Mass Graves Found in Western Iraq
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/Iraqi soldiers have discovered two
shallow graves containing the bodies of people executed by the Islamic State
group in the western desert town of
Canada's Trudeau to Visit the White House
Monday
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/U.S. President Donald Trump will
host the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Washington Monday, the White
house said, amid stark disagreements between the North American neighbors over
trade and immigration."President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau look
forward to a constructive conversation on strengthening the relationship
between our two nations," press secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement.
U.S. General Says NATO Has Shortfall of
Troops in Afghanistan
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/17/The commander of U.S. and NATO
forces in Afghanistan said Thursday that the coalition had a shortfall of a
"few thousands" of troops in the country. General John Nicholson was
testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the force training
and advising Afghan troops in the fight against the Taliban. NATO now has about
13,300 troops in the country, about half of them from the
Canada: Statement by Minister of Foreign
Affairs on adoption of Regulation Law
February 9, 2017 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued a
statement following the adoption by the Israeli Knesset of the Settlement
Regulation Law:
“As a steadfast friend and ally of Israel, Canada is deeply concerned by the
announced expansion of settlements and the retroactive legalization of
settlers’ outposts, which are illegal under international law.
“The passing of the ‘Settlement Regulation’ Law, which allows for the
legalization of settlements built on privately owned land, is unhelpful to the
advancement of the peace process in the region.
“
AFP,
In the fall, the government set a ceiling on immigration at 300,000
people a year. The birth rate in Canada hit 1.6 children per woman in 2016, as
compared with 2.9 children per woman in the mainly Inuit territory of Nunavut,
which recorded the highest rate of population growth of all Canadian provinces
and territories at 12.7 percent.
Egypt FM: Relations with Saudi Arabia
‘deeply rooted’
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Thursday, 9 February 2017/Egypt's Foreign
Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed that relations with Saudi Arabia are strong and
“deeply rooted”, denying claims of tensed ties between Cairo and Riyadh.
Shoukry said both countries are able to carry on with positive relations, as he
spoke during a press conference in
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis
& editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 09-10/17
The Islamic Jihad and Peace
with Jews
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/February 09/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9891/islamic-jihad-jews
On the face of it, the anti-normalization campaign appears driven by
political motivations. However, it turns out that there is also a powerful
Islamic angle to this campaign of hate, which is aimed at delegitimizing
The Palestinian anti-normalization "enforcers" do their utmost
to conceal the Islamic aspect of their campaign. They are not eager for the
world to know that Islam supplies much of the ideology and justification for
their anti-Israel activities.
Fatwas (Islamic religious decrees) and statements issued by leading
Muslim scholars and clerics have long warned Muslims against normalization with
the "Zionist entity." Such normalization, they have made it clear, is
considered an "unforgivable crime." The authors of these hate
messages are not opposed to normalization with
In 1989, more than 60 eminent Muslim scholars from 18 countries ruled
that it was forbidden for Muslims to give up any part of
The vicious campaigns to boycott
These campaigns are patently not a legitimate protest. They are not even
part of an effort to boycott Israeli products or politicians and academics. The
real goal of the campaigns is revealed in the words of the Muslim leaders: that
Jews have no rights whatsoever to the land, and must be targeted through jihad
as infidels and enemies of all Muslims and Arabs
Settlements, checkpoints and fences are irrelevant; Muslim scholars want
Jews off what they define as sacred Muslim land. Supporters of BDS and the
anti-normalization movement would do well to consider this fact. Failing to do
so is tantamount to aiding and abetting Muslims to destroy
Muslim scholars have feverishly citing chapter and verse from the Quran
and the hadith, the words of the Prophet Mohammed, in their efforts to
encourage Arabs and Muslims to avoid normalization with Jews.
The Quran and hadith have also been leveraged to promote boycotts against
Palestinians have long maintained that their campaign to ban
normalization with
In recent years, Palestinian anti-normalization activists have managed to
foil several meetings between Israelis and Palestinians, under the pretext that
such encounters cause damage to the Palestinians. The activists justify their
disruption by citing what they see as Israeli practices against Palestinians,
and violently object to any meetings with Israelis, including those who
wholeheartedly support the Palestinians and oppose the policies of the Israeli
government.
The most recent incident occurred at the Ambassador Hotel in
"Meeting with Zionists is an act of treason," one of the
protesters shouted. "There are no solutions. Palestinian must be freed,
from the (
The protesters claimed that they were opposed to the meeting because
Palestinian "anti-normalization" activists disrupt an
unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace conference
Hind Khoury, a Christian woman who has previously served as Palestinian
Authority ambassador to
Such scenes have become commonplace at the
The anti-normalization activists have also been vocal in Ramallah and
other Palestinian cities. The Palestinian newspaper Al Quds, which recently
published an interview with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, has
also come under attack. For these Palestinians, conducting an interview with an
Israeli government official is engaging in "media normalization."
"The newspaper must apologize to the Palestinians," the
protesters demanded.
On the face of it, the anti-normalization campaign appears driven by
political motivations. However, it turns out that there is also a powerful
Islamic angle to this campaign of hate, which is aimed at delegitimizing
Fatwas (Islamic religious decrees) and statements issued by leading
Muslim scholars and clerics have long warned Muslims against normalization with
the "Zionist entity." Such normalization, they have made it clear, is
considered an "unforgivable crime."
The authors of these hate messages are not opposed to normalization with
"Normalization with the Zionist enemy means turning the presence of
Jews in
In response to an inquiry from Palestinians about the perspective of
Islam regarding peace and normalization with Jews, a group of leading Muslim
scholars issued a fatwa stating that this was completely haram (forbidden).
They even went farther by ruling that any form of peace with Jews was also
haram, despite the fact that Prophet Mohammed signed a treaty, known as the
Constitution of Medina, with Jews and other non-Muslims shortly after his
arrival at
In their fatwa, the Muslim scholars wrote: "It is true that Prophet
Mohammed signed a treaty with the infidels, including the Quraysh tribe and the
Jews, but he did not make concessions that are contrary to Islam." They
pointed out that Prophet Mohammed did not strike the deal with the infidels in
order to allow them to stay in their homes permanently. Nor did the prophet
promise to abandon jihad (holy war) as a result of this treaty, they added in
their fatwa. "There is no evidence whatsoever that the Prophet or any of
his successors had made peace with infidels controlling Islamic lands,"
the fatwa clarified.
To support their argument, the scholars quote verses from the Quran which
-- they maintain -- prohibit Muslims from making peace or ever placing their
confidence in Jews. One verse which they claim refers to Jews is taken from
Surah Al-Anfal (The Spoils of War): "And if they intend to deceive you,
then verily, Allah is All-Sufficient for you. He it is Who has supported you
with His Help and with the believers." (62) According to the fatwa, this
verse from the Quran refers specifically to Jews.
The scholars continue with another verse from the same Surah Al-Anfal to
explain why Muslims must continue to fight against Jews:
"O Prophet (Mohammed)! Urge the believers to fight. If there are
twenty steadfast persons amongst you, they will overcome a two hundred, and if
there be a hundred steadfast persons they will overcome a thousand of those who
disbelieve, because they (the disbelievers) are people who do not
understand." (65)
Yet a further verse from the Quran is then cited to substantiate their
ideology of war against the Jews -- verse 7 from Surah At-Taubah (The
Repentance):
"How can there be a covenant with Allah and with His Messenger for
the Mushrikin (polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers in the Oneness of
Allah) expect those with whom you made a covenant near Al-Masjid al-Haram (at
Makkah)? So long, as they are true to you, stand you true to them. Verily,
Allah loves Al-Muttaqun (the pious)."
According to the fatwa, the "treacherous" Jews have since
failed to "repent" (presumably, convert to Islam) and that is why it
is forbidden to make peace with them.
The Muslim scholars also point to several fatwas prohibiting peace and
normalization with Jews issued in the past century. The ban dates back to 1935,
when a group of Muslim scholars and clerics ruled during a conference in
Other Muslim scholars have referred to another verse in the Quran to
justify banning normalization with Jews. In Surah Al-Mumtahinah (The Woman to
be examined), verse 1 states: "O you who believe! Take not My enemies and
your enemies as friends, showing affection towards them, while they have
disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth." They also quote the
following hadith (a saying attributed to Prophet Mohammed) to support their
claim against making peace with Jews: "Those who side with the unjust to
assist them in their injustice, while knowing that they are unjust, walk out of
Islam."
The vicious campaigns to boycott
The anti-normalization activists and those promoting boycotts, divestment
and sanctions (BDS) against
Muslim scholars have left no room for doubt about their view of the true
nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Settlements and checkpoints and
fences are irrelevant; Muslim scholars want Jews off what they define as sacred
Muslim land. BDS and anti-normalization movement supporters might do well to
consider this fact. Failing to do so is tantamount to aiding and abetting
Muslims to destroy
**Bassam Tawil is a scholar based in the
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed
here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone
Institute.
Jihadist Groups in the
Benjamin Weingarten/Gatestone Institute/February 09/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9908/jihadist-groups-cair
Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) continues
freely to operate in
The Trump administration has stated its commitment to fighting Islamic
supremacism, including the Muslim Brotherhood itself.
To what lengths would
A bombshell new report from the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT)
reveals the alarming answer.
It involves a man who in his almost 50 years of public life has done more
for
In the most recent case, he did so in secret, apparently well aware of
the political consequences of exposing the potentially catastrophic policy he
was pursuing to the light of day.
As IPT's report details, Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim American Society (MAS) were classified as
terrorist groups by the UAE in 2014, as two of the 83 entities identified as
such for their ties to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
Furious at such a charge, CAIR pushed Secretary of State Kerry to lobby
on its behalf. Kerry's State Department reportedly complied, meeting with UAE
officials regularly to plead CAIR's case.
State signaled such a stance publicly almost from day one. As IPT notes:
At a daily State Department press briefing two days after UAE released
its list, a spokesman said that State does not "consider CAIR or MAS to be
terrorist groups" but that it was seeking more information from UAE about
their decision. He added that "as part of our routine engagement with a
broad spectrum of faith based organizations, a range of
"Controversial" is an interesting way of describing the views
of a group that makes common cause with jihadists and jihadist sympathizers.
There is an irony, as IPT recounts:
Just days before the UAE's 2014 designation of CAIR as a terrorist group
in the organization's
CAIR's jihadi ties are numerous and longstanding, involving not only the
links of its founders and present leaders to Hamas, and as critics say,
apologists for Islamic terrorism, but also for impeding counterterrorism
efforts. Lawyers in a class-action lawsuit representing the family of slain
former FBI counterterrorism official John P. O'Neill -- who perished in the
9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center -- named CAIR part of a criminal
conspiracy to promote "radical Islamic terrorism," and declared that
CAIR has
"actively sought to hamper governmental anti-terrorism efforts by
direct propaganda activities aimed at police, first-responders, and
intelligence agencies through so-called sensitivity training. Their goal is to
create as much self-doubt, hesitation, fear of name-calling, and litigation
within police departments and intelligence agencies as possible so as to render
such authorities ineffective in pursuing international and domestic terrorist
entities."
More directly, as jihad expert Daniel Pipes noted in a 2014 expose,
"At least seven board members or staff at CAIR have been arrested, denied
entry to the U.S., or were indicted on or pled guilty to (or were convicted of)
terrorist charge."
Because of the litany of actions that CAIR has taken on behalf of and in
association with Islamic supremacists -- as was unearthed during the Holy Land
Foundation trial, which represented the largest terror financing case in U.S.
history and in which CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator -- back in
2008 the FBI officially ceased contact with the group.
During the Obama years, however, groups like CAIR were embraced under the
jihad-enabling "countering violent extremism" (CVE) paradigm. CVE
outsourced "de-radicalization" efforts to "peaceful
Islamist," Muslim Brotherhood-tied groups. CVE was the antithesis of the
comprehensive counterjihadist program
With respect to John Kerry's efforts on behalf of CAIR in particular, the
story gets worse:
In December 2014, CAIR met with top officials of the State Department,
the Department of Homeland Security, and the Justice Department, asking them to
pressure the UAE to remove them from the list, according to reliable sources
intimately familiar with the communications. On December 22, 2014, CAIR issued
a press release asserting that "the two American Muslim organizations and
the
In response to a letter sent by CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad sent
to Secretary Kerry protesting the UAE designation, Kerry responded on May 5,
2015 in a letter to Awad stating, "Let me reiterate, first, that the
That portion of the letter now appears on CAIR's website. But at the time
that the letter was sent to CAIR, according to knowledgeable sources, there was
an agreement between CAIR and the State Department to keep the letter secret.
An excerpt from it was posted on CAIR's website only in May 2016, a year after
it was received. The IPT has learned that Kerry and CAIR made this agreement to
keep the letter secret...to protect Kerry from public embarrassment. In light
of CAIR's numerous ties to Hamas and other unsavory aspects of its record,
Kerry had good reason to believe that the letter could cause a public relations
disaster for him.
Kerry's efforts proved unsuccessful; the UAE did not budge.
The lifelong leftist enabler of
Meanwhile, CAIR continues freely to operate in
The Trump administration has stated its commitment to
"eradicating" Islamic supremacism, including challenging the Muslim
Brotherhood itself, which represents the tip of the Sunni jihadist spear. This
stance is reflected not only in policy speeches delivered during the presidential
campaign, but in the testimony, past public remarks and actions of the
principal members of President Trump's National Security Council.
The Muslim Brotherhood may very may very well come under scrutiny in the
near-term, as will the efforts of those who oppose the group, as Senator Ted
Cruz has re-upped a bill that calls upon the Secretary of State to submit a
report on its designation as a foreign terrorist organization.
That bill's text provides helpful background on just why it is that the
Muslim Brotherhood deserves such a classification, noting:
The many countries that have declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist
organization or barred it from operating
The explicit calls for violent jihad, with the end goal of imposing
Islamic law over all the world of the group's founder and spiritual leader
Hassan al-Banna, and the consistently violent Islamic supremacist content of
the Brotherhood's core membership texts
The terrorist efforts of numerous jihadist groups explicitly tied to the
Muslim Brotherhood, and the efforts of individual Muslim Brotherhood members
designated as terrorists by the U.S. government themselves
The litany of terrorist financing cases involving the Muslim Brotherhood,
including the aforementioned Holy Land Foundation case, whereby:
Department of Justice officials successfully argued in court that the
international Muslim Brotherhood and its United States affiliates had engaged
in a widespread conspiracy to raise money and materially support the terrorist
group Hamas. HLF officials charged in the case were found guilty on all counts
in November 2008, primarily related to millions of dollars that had been
transferred to Hamas. During the trial and in court documents, Federal
prosecutors implicated a number of prominent United States-Islamic
organizations in this conspiracy, including the Islamic Society of North
America [ISNA], the North American Islamic Trust [NAIT], and the Council on
American-Islamic Relations [CAIR]. These groups and their leaders, among
others, were named as unindicted co-conspirators in the case.
According to a July 2008 Justice Department court filing:
"The mandate of these organizations [ISNA, NAIT and CAIR], per the
International Muslim Brotherhood, was to support HAMAS, and the HLF's
particular role was to raise money to support HAMAS' organizations inside the
Palestinian territories."
Should the Trump administration challenge the Muslim Brotherhood, it is
reasonable to think that it may threaten its offshoots, one of which is the
very Islamic organization in CAIR that the Obama administration specifically
sought to protect.
Should CAIR come under fire, it is a safe bet that the Left will close
ranks, arguing that conservatives are on a witch hunt akin to the Red Scare to
snuff out peaceful Muslims in
Those who wish to triumph over the global jihad must challenge this
narrative fearlessly.
The argument against CAIR and similar groups is simply this: If you aid,
abet or enable to jihadists, you will be prosecuted, and swiftly. You are
standing with those who wish to kill innocent Americans, and the government's
first job is to protect the life and limb of its citizens.
Efforts to rid America of jihadists, shut down their funding networks and
punish those who give them aid and comfort are about defending the homeland
against a subversive ideology of conquest that seeks to undermine our
Constitutional system and supplant it with a totalitarian one based in Islamic
law, Sharia.
"Liberals" or "Progressives" might seek to use CAIR
as a cudgel to argue that "conservatives" wish to trample on the
rights of Muslims. The task of the rest of us will be to expose a supposed
civil liberties group as a cleverly-designed front for a theocratic, political
Islamic supremacist movement that seeks to overtake the civil liberties of all
Americans.
That is all the more reason why it is important to bring it to light.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed
here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone
Institute.
Is
Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/February 09/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9811/iona-community
At the heart of its call for peace and justice, however, lies a profound
imbalance. We might say that Ionians, like Quakers and many other Christian
groups, are naïve innocents let loose in the real world. There is a role for
idealists in limited situations. But problems arise when such do-gooders do not
properly understand what lies behind mutual hatred, enduring antagonism between
people, and conflicts in the name of one cause or another. And here, the Iona
Community falls down spectacularly.
Kairos is built on an Islamic, not a Christian narrative. Under Islamic
law, territory once conquered by Muslim armies becomes sacrosanct and can never
be forfeited to non-believers. If non-Muslims take control of formerly Muslim
land (for example,
Kairos, significantly, does not refer to the fact that Jews lived in and
ruled in the region long before the Arab conquests.
When Christians choose to ignore the rights of Jews, they deny their own
origins in the land. Jesus was a Jew. The first Christian community was made up
of Jews who adhered to Jewish law. All Christian churches recognize the Jewish
Bible as part of their own scriptural, and the New Testament is a clear record
of Jewish existence in the first Christian century.
There never was a "historic
In
Why is the Iona Community seemingly uninterested in the fate of their
fellow Christians in the Palestinian territories yet determined to accuse
Why, then, does the Iona Community join forces, not with the people who
support Christians but with Palestinian Muslims who seek to destroy Israel and
who will, in due course, treat the Christians as badly as they are treated in
other Arab Muslim states?
The Israelis have never stalled in the peace process: they have made
offers and the Palestinians have turned them all down. There has never been
peace because
When will the Iona Community come to terms with its far-left bias, its
anti-Semitism, its own reputation, and the harm it is doing to any real hope in
the
The Iona Community is a famous ecumenical Christian community with three
centers in
Apart from ecumenism and a broad dedication to prayer, meditation, and
commitment to its own liturgical practices and Rule, the Community holds it to
be central to its ethos that members pursue issues relating to peace and
justice. Among other things, its Rule holds:
that the Gospel commands us to seek peace founded on justice and that
costly reconciliation is at the heart of the Gospel;
that work for justice, peace and an equitable society is a matter of
extreme urgency;
that social and political action leading to justice for all people and
encouraged by prayer and discussion is a vital work of the Church at all levels
Members are enjoined, among other activities, to
engage in forms of political witness and action, prayerfully and
thoughtfully, to promote just and peaceful social, political and economic
structures;
celebrate human diversity and actively work to combat discrimination on
grounds of age, colour, disability, mental wellbeing, differing ability,
gender, race, ethnic and cultural background, sexual orientation or religion;
work for the establishment of the United Nations Organisation as the
principal organ of international reconciliation and security, in place of
military alliances;
support and promote research and education into nonviolent ways of
achieving justice, peace and a sustainable global society;
work for reconciliation within and among nations by international sharing
and exchange of experience and people, with particular concern for politically
and economically oppressed nations.
act in solidarity with the victims of environmental injustice throughout
the world, and support political and structural change in our own countries to
reduce our over-consumption of resources.
Apart from a naïve trust in the peace-making powers of the
anti-democratic United Nations, this call for social and political action puts
members of
At the heart of its call for peace and justice, however, lies a profound
imbalance. We might say that Ionians, like Quakers and many other Christian
groups, are naïve innocents let loose in the real world. That may seem harsh.
The work of reconciliation does from time bring people together and is
certainly preferable to careless violent action. There is a role for idealists
in limited situations. But problems arise when such do-gooders do not properly
understand what lies behind mutual hatred, enduring antagonism between people,
and conflicts in the name of one cause or another. And here, the Iona Community
falls down spectacularly.
In December 2016,
By declaring this, the community has wittingly or unwittingly stumbled
into the grasp of one of the most controversial anti-Israel and anti-Semitic
alliances any Christian group could choose to enter. But it will help to
examine the Kairos Palestine document. There is no room here for a detailed
overview of this notorious summons to the Christian world, but readers can turn
to a longer overview. There is also a lengthy document produced by a Protestant
and Catholic body entitled, "Cautions to U.S. Churches Regarding the
Kairos Palestine Document". The Cautions document begins by saying that
"U.S. Churches cannot adopt this narrative without bringing a critical eye
and ear to bear upon it and without similarly listening to an Israeli narrative
which also has its truth."
Kairos is built on an Islamic, not a Christian narrative. Under Islamic
law, territory once conquered by Muslim armies becomes sacrosanct and can never
be forfeited to non-believers. If non-Muslims take control of formerly Muslim
land (for example,
Rifat Odeh Kassis, co-author and general coordinator of the Kairos
Palestine initiative, is pictured above giving an interview to Al-Manar TV, the
official TV channel of
In the Kairos document, the land that was southern
When Christians choose to ignore the rights of Jews, they deny their own
origins in the land. Jesus was a Jew. The first Christian community was made up
of Jews who adhered to Jewish law. All Christian churches recognize the Jewish
Bible as part of their own scriptural canon, and the New Testament is a clear
record of Jewish existence in the first Christian century. It is disconcerting
to find the Iona Community accepting the Kairos document's distorted view of
history and the use of that distortion to rule out a modern Jewish presence in
the
There are other serious concerns with Kairos. Should Christians not be
concerned by the following statement in the Kairos Palestine document?
"The Palestinian people... also engaged in peaceful struggle,
especially during the first intifada."
Peaceful struggle? The first intifada, like the second and third (the
recent "stabbing intifada"), involved massive violence against
Israeli civilians and soldiers as well as large-scale attacks on innocent
Palestinians by their own death squads.
One of the authors of the Kairos Palestine document, Theodosias Atallah
Hanna, was the Archbishop of Sebastia from the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
and a former spokesman of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem and the
Is the Iona Community blind to facts? To claim to be a community
dedicated to peace while upholding a document that praises violence is not what
At this juncture, it is time to look closely at
We believe that a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians is only
possible through ending the 'settler colonial' project of the state of
This is flamboyantly not a Christian statement. The use of the phrase
"settler colonial" project comes straight from the handbook of the
far-left, with distinct echoes of Soviet enmity towards the "imperial and
colonialist powers". It is also ridiculous. First, southern
It is also worth asking what is meant here by "historic
Equally thought-provoking is the second part of that opening statement:
"the establishment throughout historic
And why does Iona Community seem to be ignorant of the fact that
non-Muslims have never had equal rights in any Islamic state in history and
that in Gaza and the West Bank Christian numbers have been shrinking (as
elsewhere in the Middle East) because of the inequalities they face? In 1990,
Christians made up a majority of
By contrast [with elsewhere in the Middle East], the 160,000 Israeli
Christians live as citizens in a democratic First World country with freedom of
religion, rule of law and open elections. Christians can move anywhere, even
building a number of churches recently in Tel Aviv. The government safeguards
the Christian holy places and is lenient on the right of return of Christian
refugees. Since 1967 Christian, Islamic and Jewish holy sites are open to
pilgrims of all religions. The Christian churches own a significant part of
Why, then, does the Iona Community join forces, not with the people who
support Christians but with Palestinian Muslims who seek to destroy Israel and
who will, in due course, treat the Christians as badly as they are treated in
other Arab Muslim states?
Here is another problem in the Position Statement:
We oppose any theology which privileges one religion or belief system and
discriminates against adherents of others, or provides theological
justification for the exclusive right of any group of people to the land. We
condemn Christian Zionism in particular as a distortion of the Christian faith,
in its abuse of scripture to oppress Palestinian people.
Where to begin? Is the Iona Community mentally numb to the fact that, out
of all the major religions and theologies, it is Islam alone that privileges
itself above all others without exception, and it is radical Muslims who call
most other Muslims apostates and behead and crucify them? Islamic supremacism,
which entails a mission to conquer and rule over the rest of mankind may be
found in the Qur'an, the ahadith, relevant sections of Islamic law (shari'a),
and throughout the imperial history of Islam. The current wave of Muslim terrorism
is simply a renewal of jihad activism that has continued for over fourteen
centuries. Non-Muslims are kuffar, infidels who may be killed or enslaved
without guilt. Jews and Christians are merely tolerated as "People of the
Book", subject to all manner of fiscal and other oppression, whose lives
are spared on the payment of a "protection" tax [jizya]. None of this
has ever been a secret, yet Iona chooses to condemn, not Islamic discrimination
but fellow Christians whose only sin is to care for the Jewish people and the
state of
As for the view that Jews claim "the exclusive right of any group of
people to the land", this flatly contradicts reality. The Jewish people
certainly have a right to a homeland in
Since the rejected partition plan of 1947, the Palestinian Arabs have
called for the expulsion and even genocide of the Jews. In 2013, Mahmoud Abbas,
the Palestinian Authority president, declared that there would be no Jews in a
future Palestinian state. In addition, all Palestinian organizations, from
Hamas in
Again, the Position Statement distorts the truth horribly:
Successive, fruitless peace processes have allowed
This deeply irresponsible language covers up an uncomfortable fact:
Several similar rejections of peace have taken place since then. The
Israelis have never stalled in the peace process: they have made offers and the
Palestinians have turned them all down. This is not a matter of conjecture. It
is a matter of recorded fact. There has never been peace because
When will the Iona Community come to terms with its far-left bias, its
anti-Semitism, its own reputation, and the harm it is doing to any real hope in
the
**Dr. Denis MacEoin specializes in the Islamic world, the Middle East and
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here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone
Institute.
Khomeini’s revolution and CIA declassified
documents
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/February 09/7
I read some of the documents which the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
declassified from the period of the Iranian revolution in the end of the 1970s.
Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper published some of these documents. This was a
turbulent phase of history and continues to stir academic controversy. Most of
the political developments we witness today, from the rise of Islamist
extremism, both in the regional and internationally, the sectarian struggle,
failure of peace processes, major regional wars and efforts to possess advanced
weapons such as nuclear and chemical arms, are linked to the Iranian Revolution
and to the year 1979.
The newspaper published few of these documents and I did not find anything in
them that helps understand events from inside this political and security
institution, i.e. the CIA, which is supposed to have had good relations with
the Shah’s government. Unlike some allegations, the CIA’s estimates in terms of
understanding the tactic of the new regime in
On reviewing the eight years of war between
Religious revolution
One of the issues which was not addressed in the recently declassified analyses
and secret correspondences, and which was not even tackled in the media or in
specialized periodicals, is awareness of the threats which the extremist
religious revolution in Iran could pose on the region and the world. This may
be due to the domination of the national and leftist rhetoric back then. Former
National Security Advisor of the United States Zbigniew Brzezinski made a
famous trip to
**This article was first published in Asharq Al-Awsat on February 09
2017.
The wise men of Al-Awamiyah
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/February 09/7
Generalizing is a mistake which some people commit against a sect or a
town or an entire society. Terrorism, whether Sunni or Shiite, has killed and
harmed people and all forms of terrorism must be condemned. The Saudi
Rejecting crime
“Al-Awamiyah is a peaceful society and rejects any crime, particularly crime
related to violence and the use of arms. This harms civil peace and creates
circumstances of the law of the jungle, which contradicts with the sharia,”
they said.The presence of reasonable voices that advocate peaceful approach and
try to heal wounds through their wisdom and insight makes us more reassured
about our countries.All cities, from Buraydah, Riyadh, Dammam, Abha to
Al-Awamiyah, Qatif and Saihat, must expel the malice of terrorism without
embracing it and without providing any cover for it. This is the honest voice
of the country.**This article was first published in Okaz on February 9, 2017.
From Atta’s Father to Hamahmy’s Father
Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/February 09/7
The statement of the father of the Egyptian suspect in the Louvre attack,
Abdullah Hamahmy, reminded me of that of Mohammed Atta’s father, one of the
executors of the September 11 attacks. The father, a former police officer,
told al-Arabiya.net it is impossible that his son who used to work at a legal
consulting firm in Sharjah would harbor terrorist thoughts. Gen. Ridha Rifai’i
al-Hamahmy said his 29-year-old son is completely innocent and has evidence to
support it. During the interview, Hamahmy said that his son wore casual
clothing and always listened to music. He added that Abdullah never had any
political affiliations and didn’t follow any religious movement. We hope the
Egyptian young man is innocent. Who wouldn’t want that anyway? But it is hard to
imagine that involvement in a shooting incident with
The Louvre attack
Nonetheless, two security sources had already confirmed to Reuters that
the Egyptian Ministry of Interior received a confirmation from the Egyptian
embassy in Paris that the suspect of the Louvre attack is an Egyptian national.
Going back to Mohammed Atta’s father, he was known for his denial of his son’s
relations to al-Qaeda and the September 11 attacks. The father, who is also a
lawyer, said that his son is a gentle sweet educated young man. During an
interview with a German newspaper, Atta said that his son is in a disclosed
location to protect him from being killed by the
Is the right to abortion more important
than Iranian terror?
Mamdouh AlMuhaini/Al Arabiya/February 09/7
The Americans, like other people, have their local bitter struggles which we
don’t know much about. When it comes to economy, the Republicans and Democrats
argue over the size of the government and tax rates. Republicans want smaller
government and lesser taxes while Democrats want bigger government and support
raising taxes on the rich. Republicans believe that a man can build himself and
achieve his dream by depending on himself and they always remind everyone that
this is what made
American exceptionalism
Politically speaking, Republicans are hawks who believe in American
exceptionalism and in America’s role as leader of the free world and as the
country capable of punishing evil parties and maintaining international system
which they established following World War II after the defeat of fascism and
Nazism. Unlike them, the isolationist Democrat doves do not believe in
intervention and hate playing the role of the cop and protector of the global
system and they doubt the rationality and morality of American exceptionalism.
They ended promoting the idea of a multipolar world in order to unburden the
On the religious level, the Republicans maintain conservative Christian values
and include them in their speeches and conversations. They also believe in
teaching religion in schools and including it in the curricula and abhor
The Democrats, however, strongly oppose teaching religion in schools and
reiterate the excuse of what religion is to be taught when students belong to
different religions and sects. They strongly support science and are more
preoccupied with global warming than with terrorism. They think Republicans and
conservatives are merely fools who believe in myths which scientific facts
debunk.
The battle rages more on the social front due to controversial issues
such as abortion and same-sex and transgender marriage. Republicans oppose
abortion and maintain that it’s a crime to kill the fetus as a woman has the
right to kill herself but does not have the right to kill her fetus. They
oppose same-sex marriage because it destroys families which are the basis of
natural communities and because it violates religious values and social norms.
Democrats, on the other hand, support abortion because they believe women
have the right to make decisions about their own bodies. Celebrities and media
personalities who are Democrats are the biggest supporters of LGBT rights and
argue about this when addressing the values of sexuality and individual
freedom. They’ve made movies on these subjects and turned their symbols into
legends, heroes and fighters.
This is an old dispute and increased when George Bush Jr. became
president. The dispute raged during Barack Obama’s term and it has now further
escalated with Donald Trump in power. Journalists, Hollywood celebrities, talk
show commentators are mostly Democrats and liberals with a leftist mentality.
They mock Trump because he defeated them, won the elections and humiliated
their presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The most important reason behind
their cruel campaign is that they oppose him regarding all the local
controversial affairs we mentioned, i.e. the size of the government and its
role, sexual freedoms, abortion, education and others.
Trump angers them because he does not keep silent but responds to them
through his Twitter account. He describes their media as “dishonest,” “piece of
garbage” and “failing” as he repeatedly described the New York Times which has
been hostile to him since day one. They want to destroy him because he opposes
their values, principles and dreams and don’t care about
Iranian terror
Abortion, for example, is more important than halting Iranian terrorism
which destroyed our countries in the
But why do we get carried away in internal battles which we have nothing
to do with and bid on the American themselves when criticizing Trump although
his administration’s vision harmonizes with our interests on the two most
important affairs – fighting the Iranian regime and destroying terrorist
outfits? We can understand why Islamic radicals, Muslim Brotherhood and
supporters of
Their aim is to increase fanaticism because Trump’s administration is
against their political and intellectual plans. The latter was the reason
behind their soft speeches during the Obama administration. But why does the
majority of us, from those who want to get rid of Iranian militias and ISIS
groups which destroyed our countries and destabilized them and committed
massacres against our children, curse him? Why do we throw stones at those who
want to punish our enemies? Do we do so because we don’t like the color of his
hair or because he does not gently hold his wife’s hand, like Obama does? Or is
it because we do not like his Twitter posts or because he does not know how to
talk during press conferences?
It’s confusing and the only interpretation I’ve got is that we do not
distinguish between internal and foreign struggles and we are easily and
emotionally dragged into the battles launched by the media and politicians and
participate in their partisan short-sighted battles that are against our
interests on the long run. According to them, they have their logical reasons
but what are our reasons? My only interpretation is participating in the wrong
battle against the wrong rival at the wrong time. Is there another
interpretation? I don’t know.
**This article is also available in Arabic.
Of lies and slippery slopes
Trisha de Borchgrave/Al Arabiya/February 09/7
Donald Trump’s use of deceit to further his political ambitions is not only
saturating his supporters with an opiate-high sense of righteousness, it is
also permeating America with authoritarian methods of governance. Trump
legitimized his lying accusation that “crooked” Hillary Clinton’s three million
more popular votes were cast by illegal immigrants with the truth that his
voters “feel the same way I do”. He paired his lie that two policemen were shot
and killed in
The bottom line
Trump’s lies have become the price tag that many Republicans as well as big and
small business leaders are willing to accept in order to catch the economic
bones promised in his political platform. Trump has tailored his message to his
bottom-feeder’s perspective of the bottom line; that all alliances are
transactions, that everything has a price and anyone can be bought and sold.
Under authoritarian regimes, it is the grain of resonance with core supporters
that first lets in the dictator. Lies are then fed and watered by taking given
facts – a president’s parentage or the existence of terrorism – and applied to
a made-up scenario – Obama was a Muslim born outside the United States and
therefore unqualified for office, and Muslims cheered at the collapse of the
twin towers on the streets of New Jersey. What follows logically is a ban on
Muslim immigrants in order to put “in place the safety of the American people”.
This is how the lies of the manipulator evolve into the will of the people.
Those who stand up for the rule of law are “so-called” judges who “betray”
their country, and a free press is accused of “delegitimizing” the president
and should “keep its mouth shut”. “Draining the system” is nothing more than an
old-style purge of the democratic institutions that uphold the country’s
constitution.
Trump’s knee-jerk lies on Twitter are now being moderated by his chief
strategist Steve Bannon, who is calibrating their dosage to sedate a country
Reckless rhetoric
What is emerging in