LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
January 08/17
Compiled
& Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The
Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletins17/english.january08.17.htm
News Bulletin
Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC
Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006
Bible Quotations For Today
Every
kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on
house/Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me
scatters
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11/14-23:”Now he was
casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had
been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, ‘He casts
out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler
of the demons.’Others, to test him, kept demanding
from him a sign from heaven. But he knew what they were thinking and said to
them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a
desert, and house falls on house.If Satan also is
divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? for
you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. Now
if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do
your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is
by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God
has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his
property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him,
he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his plunder. Whoever
is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
Do everything without grumbling
or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God
Philippians02/12-30/:”Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not
only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and
to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or
arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without
fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like
stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be
able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor
in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the
sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of
you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be
cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will
show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out
for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that
Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with
me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see
how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come
soon. But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus,
my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you
sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you
and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on
him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the
more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I
may have less anxiety. So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, because he almost died for the work
of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not
give me
Titles For Latest
LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on
January 07-08/17
An Iranian Map Drawn In Lebanese Blood/Ahmad El-Assaad
January 07/17
Aoun visit aims to mend ties with Saudi Arabia/Joseph
A. Kechichian/Gulf News/ January 07/2017
Iran planned terror attacks against Israel advocates in Germany/By Benjamin Weinthal, The Jerusalem Post Published January 07, 2017
Russian ground to ground missiles discovered by Israel in Syria/Ron Ben Yishai and Yoav Zitun/Ynetnews/January 07/17
Iran Regime Is the Source of Crisis in the Region and Killings in Syria/ NCRI
Iran News/Saturday, 07 January 2017
The supreme leader: the war in Syria aims to protect Iran/Abdulrahman
al-Rashed/Al Arabiya//January
07/17/
The complicated process of breaking down the Syria talks/Maria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya//January
07/17/
Conspiratorial thinking in the public debate/Fawaz Turki/Al Arabiya//January 07/17/
Has Adnan and Lina’s
prophecy come true/Mshari Al Thaydi/Al
Arabiya//January 07/17/
UnCorked: Ireland's Pseudo-Academic Anti-Israel
Hate-Fest/Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/January
07/2017
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on January
07-08/17
An Iranian Map Drawn In Lebanese Blood
Aoun visit aims to mend ties with Saudi Arabia
Geagea Says Aoun's Travel
to Iran, a 'Normal' Procedure
Mashnouq: Vigilance of Security Forces Succeeded in
Uncovering Terror Cells
Deryan: High Hopes from President's Visit to Saudi
Arabia
Man Killed in Personal Dispute in Tripoli
Hariri Receives Chinese Vice Foreign Minister
Boroujerdi windsup his
visit to Beirut, returns to Tehran
Berri receives Boroujerdi
and Chinese delegation
Boroujerdi visits Hariri: Agreement on the importance
of a political solution in Syria
Nadim Gemayel: What unites
us is much more than what divides us
Sarraf: Standing by the army a priority
Army arrests 'Abu Baraa' in Wadi
Atta
Kanaan from Mehrab: We
discussed the electoral law, and we hope to reach a common vision with all
sides
Bonne: Culture and education are included in our common history with Lebanon
Mere'bi: We are working on a government plan in
cooperation with international organizations to respond to the displacement
crisis
Army raids Syrian displaced camps in Rachiine,
arrests 17 persons for illegal entry into Lebanon
Israel Frees Lebanese Shepherd after Brief Abduction
Choucair Says Lebanon's Economy Cannot Survive
without Gulf States
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 07-08/17
Five Dead in Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting
Car bomb kills at least 60 in Syria’s Azaz
Agreement on Wadi Barada
between Syrian regime and opposition
Turkey dismisses 6,000 more workers in post-coup crackdown
Repair Teams Poised to Begin Work Restoring Damascus Water
Clashes Kill 9 near Damascus Despite Truce
Syria ex-Qaida Affiliate Member Killed by Drone
Iraqi forces close in on Tigris river in Mosul
Turkey ‘agrees on withdrawal of troops’ from northern Iraq
Turkish PM Visits Iraq Amid Spat over Unauthorized Troops
Kurdish-Arab Forces Seize Strategic Syria Citadel from IS
17 Dead as Yemen Loyalists Attack Rebels on Red Sea Coast
Libyan army: Militant leader Wissam Bin Hamid killed
Sanaa University faculty go on strike over unpaid
salaries
Palestinians Bury Alleged Assailants Killed in Attacks
Egyptian boy hangs himself after writing mysterious note on wall
Israel cuts $6m in UN funding over settlement vote
Putin ordered hacking to help Trump in election’
The Former Political Prisoner Condemned the Abduction of Ali Moezzi
Iran's Foreign Ministry: It's Not Worthy of Us to Pursue Babak
Zanjani's Case
Surgery Not Performed on Patient In Iran Due to Possibility of Her Being Afghan
Yemen Government Protest About Iran's Meddle in the Country
Links From Jihad Watch Site for on January 07-08/17
Fort
Lauderdale shooter’s brother says U.S. government failed him
Fort
Lauderdale shooter was “Aashiq Hammad”
on MySpace, recorded Islamic music
Fort
Lauderdale shooter “came here specifically” to attack, terrorism not ruled out
Austria:
Ministers draft legislation to ban Islamic veils in the workplace
Australia:
Party vowing to “reduce Islam” soaring in popularity
Moderate”
Canadian imam on police radar for “hate speech” for calling publisher a “devil”
and “kaafir”
Pakistan:
Muslims kidnap Christian and Hindu underage girls, force them to convert to
Islam and marry Muslims
Chicago
Review of Books: Milo could inspire jihadist attacks
Video
from Egypt: Muslim slaughters Christian because he was selling alcohol
Michael
Cutler Moment: Trump’s Immigration/Jihad Challenge
UK:
Lawyer for jihad killer says he was “confused by vehicles driving on different
side of road than he was used to”
Raymond
Ibrahim: The Specifics of Sharia’s Savageries
Latest Lebanese Related News
published on January 07-08/17
An Iranian Map Drawn In Lebanese Blood
Ahmad El-Assaad January 07/17
Some people had the illusion that Hezbollah, which does not spare an occasion
to pretend that it is the master of its own decisions, will take the right and
wise – even though late – decision to return to Lebanon, after the declaration
of ceasing all combative activities in Syria following the Aleppo battle, what
with the big price it paid there.
These hopes quickly dissipated when the answer came from Iran, confirming that the Hezb
will not be exiting Syria
after the ceasefire entered into effect there, and that its seduced men are
staying in Syria,
until the Iranian regime builds itself influence with their lives.
The Iranian regime is the one who took care of the clarification, because it is
the one who calls the shots. Hezbollah got involved in the Syrian conflict
following an Iranian decision, and only by an Iranian decision shall it exit.
All of the Shiite blood that was shed on Syrian grounds aimed to please the
Iranian regime, not to defend a land or a just cause.
The Iranian regime’s response in lieu of Hezbollah, exposes that regime’s real
goal in Syria,
and confirms what was certain, i.e. that the Hezb is
merely a tool used by that regime however it pleases, and wherever it pleases.
In any case, the Iranian position is not a first. It was preceded by many
Iranian positions that considered Lebanon
an Iranian front with Israel.
Hezbollah is fighting here and there on the map of conflicts in the Arab world,
and it brags about becoming a regional power that has outgrown Lebanon.
In conclusion, the Iranian regime is drawing the borders of its expansion and
the map of its regional ambitions, with the blood of the Lebanese youth,
unfortunately.
Aoun visit aims to mend ties with Saudi Arabia
Joseph A. Kechichian/Gulf News/ January 07/2017
Lebanese president will likely request Riyadh
reinstate a huge military grant and drop a GCC
Beirut: President Michel Aoun
will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar
next week in his capacity as head-of-state. Aoun will
aim to normalise ties with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and, equally
important, will seek a lift of the current ban on Arab
Gulf citizens from travelling to Lebanon.
According to the Al Jumhuriyyah daily, Hezbollah did
not object to Aoun’s travel to Saudi Arabia for his first presidential trip,
which will also take him to Syria
and Iran.
Aoun will head a high-ranking delegation of eight
ministers — defence, finance, interior, foreign affairs, education, economy,
information and the state minister for presidency affairs — on a two-day trip
to Riyadh, from where he will travel on to Doha for another two-day visit.
These stops will be Aoun’s first international
journeys since he was elected president on October 31, 2016, after a two and a
half years vacancy at the head of the republic.
In Riyadh, Aoun is expected to hold talks with King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz and other senior Saudi officials,
focusing on bilateral ties.
Among various concerns that preoccupy Lebanon,
three specific issues top the agenda, including vital economic ties, the
Kingdom’s rescinded pledge to donate $3 billion to purchase French weapons for
the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), and regional tensions that encompass the wars
in Syria and Iraq.
On Saturday, the Chairman of the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce,
Industry and Agriculture in Lebanon,
Mohammad Choucair, told Al Sharq
Al Awsat that Aoun’s visit
to Saudi Arabia
will restore ties back to normal.
He added: “The former Lebanese government has made mistakes against the
Kingdom,” insisting that Lebanon
cannot survive economically without the GCC States.
Choucair emphasised that remittances from Saudi Arabia earned by Lebanese nationals
constituted as much as half of Lebanon’s
financial annual returns.
There were an estimated 500,000 Lebanese nationals toiling in Saudi Arabia
[with an additional 250,000 elsewhere in GCC member-states] who transferred
between $7 and $8 billion each year to support extensive families.
Aoun, who once served as commander of the Lebanese
army, is also expected to request advanced weapons from Riyadh.
It was unclear whether Saudi officials will reinstate the huge military
grant, which was suspended after Jibran Bassil, the Minister of Foreign Affairs who heads the
Hezbollah-allied Free Patriotic Movement, voted against the unanimous League of
States (LAS) and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) resolutions that
condemned the January 5, 2016 Iranian attacks on Saudi missions in Iran.
Aoun was expected to raise the issue of free movement
for Saudi and Lebanese citizens between the two countries, in an implicit
reference to a Saudi ban on Lebanese Shiites.
In Doha, Aoun will hold talks with the Emir of Qatar, Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and other Qatari
officials, centring on ways of expand bilateral relations too, although the two
leaders were also expected to discuss vitally important Qatari aid to help free
9 kidnapped LAF soldiers alleged held by Daesh.
Ever since his election, Aoun stressed the need to
improve relations with GCC countries, aware that the state’s survival depended
on close ties with societies that welcomed so many Lebanese.
The Saudi Charge d’Affaires Walid
Al Bukhari sounded optimistic as he welcomed the
upcoming visit, declaring: “President Michel Aoun’s
visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will have positive reactions on
Lebanese-Saudi relations,” adding, “The kingdom did not and will not abandon
Lebanon.”
Geagea Says Aoun's Travel
to Iran, a 'Normal' Procedure
Naharnet/January 07/17/Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea said the upcoming
visit of President Michel Aoun to Saudi Arabia will carry important issues
particularly reactivating the military aide program for the Lebanese Army, and
considered Aoun's travel to Iran as a
“normal” procedure. “Aoun's Trip to Tehran
is a normal matter, and if Iran
wants to provide aide to the Lebanese State, why not?” said Geagea
in an interview to the Kuwaiti al-Qabas daily on
Saturday, rejecting the notion about the return of Bashar
Assad's influence on Lebanon
or Syria.
On Aoun's visit to Saudi Arabia which will begin next
week, Geagea described the step as “excellent. It
will carry important issues mainly the military aide to the Lebanese Army and
the return of Gulf tourists to Lebanon.”The President is scheduled to kick start a trip to SA on
Monday that will followed by trips to Qatar
and other Arab countries. On the possibility of running serious dialogue with Hizbullah, Geagea remarked:
“There are no serious signals until now. What shall this dialogue be based on? Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and I
both do not like to play around, our constants are well known and we don't like
to walk along mysterious and traditional politics. “When Hizbullah
decides that its time to make a State in Lebanon and limit the strategic
decision to it, only then will we be able to agree with Hizbullah.
We cannot agree on the trilogy of army-people-resistance. The State's
institutions are known, and we only recognize the Lebanese army and security
forces and apparatuses,” added the LF leader.
Mashnouq: Vigilance of Security Forces Succeeded in Uncovering
Terror Cells
Naharnet/January 07/17/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said on
Saturday, the latest accomplishments of the security forces in uncovering
terror cells that had plans to carry attacks during the holiday season, called
for utmost vigilance which in turn led to uncovering the terror-cell in Tripoli
and other groups. The Minister hailed, in an interview to VDL (93.3), “the serious
endeavors and big work of the security forces and
army troops in confronting terror attacks,” giving the larger “credit to the
Intelligence Directorate.”He added: “Preemptive security measures succeeded in obstructing
terror assaults that aimed to shake the security situation in Lebanon similar to what happened in Brussels and France.”Recently, a terrorist cell loyal to fugitive militant Shadi al-Mawlawi and the jihadist
al-Nusra Front group was arrested after planning to
stage terrorist acts on New Year's Eve. Mawlawi, who
is believed to be hiding in the Ain el-Hilweh
Palestinian refugee camp, had ordered the cell to “send bomb-laden cars to Beirut's suburbs and
assassinate civilians and incumbent and retired army officers,” according to an
army a statement Tuesday. State Commissioner to Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged 15 people loyal
to Mawlawi and Nusra --
including 11 detainees – with “plotting to stage terrorist acts on New Year's
Eve; blow up booby-trapped cars in Beirut, Tripoli and Dahiyeh; assassinating incumbent and retired officers; and
targeting civilian gatherings,” NNA said. Separately, Mashnouq
said President Michel Aoun's first trip abroad that
will begin in Saudi Arabia carries “positive signals” because “openness to
Saudi Arabia is bound to lead to positive outcome including the Saudi grant to
the Lebanese army,” that was halted in 2015. “The reasons for the relations
detachment with Saudi Arabia
are over now,” said the Minister, and added that “assaults against SA after the
Yemen war began from Lebanon through Hizbullah
and its allies, and continued in Iran.”Aoun is scheduled to visit Saudi
Arabia and Qatar
next week in his first foreign trip abroad to discuss bilateral relations
between the countries, in addition to the situation in the region.He
will visit Saudi Arabia on
Monday and Tuesday, Qatar
on Wednesday and Thursday.
Deryan: High Hopes from President's Visit to Saudi Arabia
Naharnet/January 07/17/Grand Mufti of the Lebanese
Republic Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan
has high expectations on the planned visit of President Michel Aoun to Saudi
Arabia, and said it improves ties between
the two countries, the state-run National News Agency reported Saturday. Aoun's first visit abroad as President “strengthens
relations between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries,” said Deryan before he took a flight to Saudi Arabia at the Rafic Hariri International Airport, where he kick starts a
10-day official visit. Aoun will visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar next week in his first
foreign trip abroad to discuss bilateral relations between the countries, in
addition to the situation in the region. He is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday, Qatar on
Wednesday and Thursday.
Man Killed in Personal Dispute in Tripoli
Naharnet/January 07/17/A Lebanese man, who sustained
gunfire wounds during a personal dispute that erupted in Tripoli on Friday, has succumbed to his
wounds, the National News Agency reported on Saturday. A personal dispute
erupted between the victim, Omar Kanju, and the
assailant who was identified with his initials as A.R., in the northern neighborhood of Bab el-Tabbaneh in Tripoli,
NNA said. The assailant opened gunfire at Kanju
shooting him three times. Kanju was transferred to
the nearest hospital for treatment but could not survive. A Lebanese Army
Intelligence unit arrested the perpetrator and opened an investigation into the
incident.
Hariri Receives Chinese Vice
Foreign Minister
Naharnet/January 07/17/Prime Minister Saad Hariri received Friday evening at the Center House the
Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Ming, in the presence of the
Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon Wang Kejian. After the
meeting, Ming said: “I met with Prime Minister Hariri and we exchanged views on
ways to reinforce cooperation between China
and Lebanon.
We also discussed regional and international issues of common interest.”
“Bilateral relations between our two countries go back to the traditional Silk Road. The Chinese President Xi Jinping
launched the “One Belt, One Road”
initiative and I explained it to Premier Hariri and told him we are happy that Lebanon is
participating in building it,” added Ming. He concluded: “I also expressed China’s satisfaction to see the strong
inclination towards agreement between the various sects in Lebanon, which
signals further economic and social development, and social stability in this
country.”
Boroujerdi windsup his visit to
Beirut, returns to Tehran
Sat 07 Jan 2017/NNA - Airport - Head of the Committee on National Security and
Foreign Policy in the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, left Beirut on Saturday evening, returning to Tehran
after an official visit to Lebanon.
During his visit, Boroujerdi held talks with
President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, House
Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime
Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah Secretary General,
Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah.
Berri receives Boroujerdi and
Chinese delegation
Sat 07 Jan 2017/NNA - House Speaker Nabih Berri held talks in Ain El-Tineh
on Saturday with Alaeddine Boroujerdi,
chairman of the parliamentary committee for national security and foreign
policy in Iran,
in the presence of Iranian ambassador Mohammad Fateh
Ali. "Discussions focused on bilateral relations on all levels, including
parliamentary relations, as well as developments in the region ... we also
reiterated the need to close ranks to fight terrorism ,"
stressed the Iranian official at the end of the meeting. He also noted that a
political solution was essential to the crisis in Syria. Separately, Berri received Chinese Vice
Foreign Minister Zhang Ming in the presence of Chinese Ambassador Wang Kejian. Bilateral cooperation was on the agenda.
Boroujerdi visits Hariri: Agreement on the importance of a
political solution in Syria
Sat 07 Jan 2017/NNA - Prime Minister Saad Hariri
received this evening at the "House of Center" the Chairman of the
Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, in the
presence of the Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammed Fathali, and the accompanying delegation. After the
meeting, Boroujerdi said: "We had a constructive
and positive meeting with Prime Minister Hariri. We congratulated him on
assuming the presidency of the Lebanese government and congratulated Lebanon and the
Lebanese people on the great achievement of the presidential election. We
congratulated him on the New Year, and conveyed the cordial greetings of the
first Vice President Mr. Jahangiri." He added:
"As for the bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries, we
announced the permanent and firm readiness of Iran
to build on the bright, positive and constructive political circumstances that
have arisen in Lebanon
during this stage to promote the bilateral relations in various fields. We
believe that there is a lot of potential, in both Iran
and Lebanon,
that we can rely on to enhance relations in various fields, especially in
economy and trade. Prime Minister Hariri focused during the meeting on the
valuable and constructive role that the private sector could play in both
countries to achieve this goal. We discussed the regional developments, the
return of security in the region and the latest developments in Syria." Boroujerdi went on to indicate that, "We felt during
the meeting that there is a common position in Iran
and Lebanon on the
importance of choosing the political road to solve the crisis in Syria. There is
no doubt that stability and security in Syria
reflect positively on security and stability in Lebanon,
in Iran
and the region in general. We agreed that the shameful and heinous acts carried
out by terrorist takfiri extremist groups are not
related to the Islamic religion in any way. As everyone knows, Islam is a
religion of love, peace, convergence and solidarity among all. So all of these heinous acts done by terrorists distort the image
of Islam. We feel that we are facing difficult problems in many Islamic
countries and we believe that the best way to address these problems is if the
leaders of these countries show rationality, logic, and wisdom in their
approach." "We hope to see more positive and constructive steps in
the near future by both countries' officials, in the way that leads to
enhancing bilateral cooperation between Iran
and Lebanon
in various fields," Boroujerdi concluded.
Nadim Gemayel: What unites us is
much more than what divides us
Sat 07 Jan 2017/NNA - In a statement released by his press office, MP Nadim Gemayel urged supporters of
the "Kataeb Party" and "Lebanese
Forces" to stop their ongoing debate on social media, considering that
such debate between comrades of the same school is "unwarranted".
"What unites us is much more than what divides us," said Gemayel. Accordingly, he called on both sides to "stop
this debate immediately, in line with the values, principles and the sanctity
of our cause, for which comrade martyrs have fallen." "Lebanon, today,
is exposed to the worst conspiracies, attempts of control and change of
identity, and thus, we should maintain our unity as a basis for a new
resistance in the face of such threats," Gemayel
concluded.
Sarraf: Standing by the army a priority
Sat 07 Jan 2017/The Minister's words came during receiving political and social
figures at his residence in Miniara. He added that
"strengthening the Lebanese Armed Forces' capacity at various levels is
important in order to maintain the country's security and stability."
Army arrests 'Abu Baraa'
in Wadi Atta
Sat 07 Jan 2017/NNA - Army units arrested one of "Daesh"
organization members by the name of Jihad Nouh,
nicknamed as "Abu Baraa," in Wadi Atta - Arsal district on
Saturday, NNA correspondent in Hermel reported.
Kanaan from Mehrab: We discussed
the electoral law, and we hope to reach a common vision with all sides
Sat 07 Jan 2017/NNA - Lebanese Forces Party Head, Samir
Geagea, met on Saturday with Information Minister Melhem Riachi and Change and
Reform Parliamentary Bloc Secretary, MP Ibrahim Kanaan,
with talks centering on the general political situation, particularly the
electoral law. On emerging, Kanaan said: "We
focused our discussions on the parliamentary elections law, especially with the
approaching pressing deadlines, and we seem to share serious common
perspectives in this regards." "We hope to reach a mutual
understanding and perspective with all sides at the nearest possible," Kanaan added. "We also tackled the corruption issue,
particularly since the desired reform starts with combating corruption," Kanaan went on. "What is needed at this stage is to
value the positive steps which serve to boost the Lebanese economy," he undersocred.
Bonne: Culture and education are included
in our common history with Lebanon
Sat 07 Jan 2017/NNA - Ambassador of France, Emmanuel Bonne, assured this
Saturday that culture and education are included in the common history of
Lebanon and France.
Bonne visited the Rawdat-Al-Fayhaa
Secondary School in Tripoli to extend his congratulations for
having obtained the CELF and LABEL certificates in honor
of the high level of French language skills of its professors and students. He
praised the efforts of those involved in the school, affirming the cooperation
between the school and the Cultural Attaché at the French Embassy.
Mere'bi: We are working on a government plan in cooperation
with international organizations to respond to the displacement crisis
Sat 07 Jan 2017/NNA - Akkar - State Minister for
Displaced Syrians' Affairs, Moueen el-Mere'bi, disclosed on Saturday that "the development
workshop in the province of Akkar has begun, under
the guidance of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri,"
adding that "we are working on a government plan in cooperation with
international organizations to deal with the displacement crisis."Mere'bi's
words came during his visit to the Municipality
of Halba,
where he held a meeting with a number of heads of municipality unions in Akkar. Mere'bi stressed that he
will work on the basis of partial administrative decentralization with areas
distant from the capital, so as to fulfill part of these areas' rights and
allow them to feel the close support and attention of their government. He
pointed to the "Lebanese government's plan to respond to the crisis of
displacement, which includes a series of vital projects, in cooperation with
international organizations," adding that "one of the goals is
creating job opportunities for the Lebanese, as well as the Syrian refugees,
since unemployment is the scourge of society."
Army raids Syrian displaced camps in Rachiine,
arrests 17 persons for illegal entry into Lebanon
Sat 07 Jan 2017/NNA - Army patrol units raided, on Saturday, camps of displaced
Syrians in the town of Rachiine in the Casa of Zgharta, arresting 17 persons for entering the country
illegally and wandering without legal papers, NNA field correspondent reported.
Israel Frees Lebanese Shepherd after Brief Abduction
Naharnet/January 07/17/A Lebanese shepherd, Abdullah Rahmeh, who was abducted on Friday by the Israeli army was
released at dawn on Saturday, the National News Agency reported. The Israeli
army handed Rahmeh to the UNIFIL troops at the Ras al-Naqoura border area.
UNIFIL in turn handed him to the Lebanese Army Intelligence units, added NNA. Rahmeh was kidnapped by Israeli troops when he took his
flock out to graze in a pasture near his hometown of Aita
el-Shaab, close to the Israeli border.
Later on Saturday, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti
told NNA that the Israeli army has freed the shepherd Friday evening handing
him to the UNIFIL troops. A statement issued by the UNIFIL on Friday, indicated
that “around eight o'clock, the UNIFIL was notified by the Israeli army that it
has captured a shepherd who had crossed over the Blue Line in the vicinity of Aita el-Shaab in the South,”
adding that the UNIFIL immediately informed the Lebanese army, according to
NNA. The statement also indicated that “the head of the UNIFIL mission and its
General Commander, Major General Michael Perry, as well as the UNIFIL
correlation team are in touch with the parties concerned in this regard,
focusing their efforts on securing the shepherd's release.”
Choucair Says Lebanon's Economy Cannot Survive without Gulf
States
Naharnet/January 07/17/Chairman of the Federation of
the Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Lebanon Mohammed Choucair stated that President Michel Aoun's
visit to Saudi Arabia will restore ties back to normal between the two
countries, the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat
daily reported on Saturday. “President Aoun's visit
to Saudi Arabia next week,
will be the key for the return of brethren Gulf nationals back in Lebanon. The
visit will put relations between the two countries back on the right track,” Choucair told the daily in an interview. He went on to say:
“The former Lebanese government has made mistakes against the Kingdom,” he
added, referring to when Lebanon abstained from voting on Arab League and world
Muslim body statements condemning attacks by protesters on Saudi Arabia's
embassy and consulate in Iran in 2015. “Lebanon
cannot economically survive without the Gulf countries,” added Choucair, emphasizing that Saudi
Arabia constitutes as much as half Lebanon's financial
returns as the result of economic relations with Gulf countries. President
Michel Aoun will visit Saudi
Arabia and Qatar next week in his first
foreign trip abroad to discuss bilateral relations between the countries, in
addition to the situation in the region. He is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia on Monday and Tuesday, Qatar on
Wednesday and Thursday.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News
published on January 07-08/17
Five Dead in Fort
Lauderdale Airport Shooting
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
07/17/An Iraq war veteran opened fire Friday at Fort Lauderdale's main airport,
a major tourist hub in Florida, killing five people and injuring eight, as
panicked travelers fled for safety. The suspect, identified by police as 26-year-old
Esteban Santiago, was in custody and being questioned by the FBI over the
shooting that shut down the international airport that is a gateway to the Caribbean. The incident occurred in the baggage claim
area of Terminal 2, as passengers collecting their luggage were interrupted by
the alleged gunman, who withdrew a semi-automatic handgun before mowing down
his victims. Witness John Schlicher told Fox News
that he was picking up his first bag as he "heard the first shot. As I
did, the person right next to me fell to the ground... It was very surreal."The shooter "was holding a handgun. He
was firing into the crowd. Everyone was standing there waiting for the
luggage," he said. Video showed passengers running for safety. There was
no immediate indication of a motive for the assault, in a country where gun
violence is widespread due to the ready availability of firearms. Santiago had traveled from Alaska
to Fort Lauderdale, with a stopover in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
the special agent in charge of Miami's
FBI field office, George Piro, told reporters late
Friday. According to CBS he engaged in an argument on one leg of the trip.
"We're looking at several investigative leads not only in Alaska but other states
that we have determined that he's either traveled to or has connections
there," Piro said. The suspect checked a gun
inside his luggage, after declaring the weapon with airport authorities, then
used it to take down his victims, CNN reported, citing law enforcement sources.
He was detained without law enforcement firing any shots, Broward County
Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters. Piro said
authorities were "looking at every angle, including the terrorism
angle," but that it would take time to determine the nature of the attack.
- 'Lone shooter' -In November, Santiago had walked into the FBI's
Anchorage office exhibiting "erratic behavior"
that led agents to contact local police, who took him to a medical facility for
a mental health evaluation, Piro said. CBS News
reported that Santiago
claimed he was being forced to fight for the Islamic State group and that the
CIA was controlling his mind to make him watch IS videos. Santiago,
a former member of the Puerto Rico and Alaska National Guard, served in Iraq from April
2010 to February 2011. He ended his service in August. ABC News reported that Santiago, who only
reached the rank of private first class, received a general discharge for
unsatisfactory performance. Santiago
was also the subject of a child porn investigation several years ago, but no
charges were brought, CBS said. Mayor Barbara Sharief
told CNN that the gunman "was a lone shooter, and we have no evidence at
this time that he was acting with anyone else." Hours after the shooting,
which occurred shortly before 1:00 pm (1800 GMT), many passengers still huddled
inside the airport awaiting the all-clear. "We've had dozens and dozens of
busses transporting what we anticipate to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 folks," airport director Mark
Gale said. Gale said the airport, which had suspended all activity, aims to be
operational by 5:00 am (1000 GMT) Saturday. - Run and hide -In addition to
those killed and wounded, up to 40 people went to the hospital for various
other injuries such as falling and sprains, Israel said. Cellphone
video footage broadcast by the local Fox television affiliate showed one person
lying bloodied on the floor, and several others on their knees. US President
Barack Obama expressed "how heartbroken we are for the families who've
been affected" during excerpts of an interview with ABC News.
Governor Rick Scott, who rushed to the airport to be briefed, told
reporters that those responsible would be "held accountable to the full
extent of the law."Scott said that he had
contacted President-elect Donald Trump, who said that he was "monitoring
the terrible situation in Florida.""Thoughts and prayers for all.
Stay safe!" Trump tweeted.
Car bomb kills at least 60 in Syria’s Azaz
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Saturday, 7 January
2017/60 people were killed and 50 others wounded in a car bomb explosion in
rebel-held town of Azaz
in northern Syria,
according to medical sources. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights moniter had reported, earlier, the death toll of 43 people.
The Britain-based group said six rebels were among the dead, but most were
believed to be civilians, adding that dozens of people had also been injured in
the blast in the town near the Turkish border. Dozens were also wounded in the
attack which struck in front of an Islamic courthouse where a market is
located, the Observatory said. The group said the toll was likely to rise in
the attack, which was the latest in a string of bombings to hit Azaz. In November, rebels said 25 people -- civilians and
opposition fighters -- were killed in a car bomb attack on a rebel
headquarters. The rebels accused the ISIS
group of being behind that attack. The militant group is present elsewhere in Aleppo province and has
sought to advance on Azaz in the past. In October, at
least 17 people were killed in a car bomb attack on a rebel checkpoint, the
Observatory said. The blast comes as a fragile ceasefire is being observed
across much of Syria.
The truce negotiated by regime ally Russia
and rebel backer Turkey does
not include the ISIS group or former Al-Qaeda
affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front. More than 310,000
people have been killed in Syria
since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.
Agreement on Wadi
Barada between Syrian regime and opposition
Staff writer, Al Arabiya.net Saturday, 7 January 2017/Syrian opposition
factions denied reports of a cease-fire in Wadi Barada in the Damascus
suburbs. An official from the Ahrar al-Sham movement
said the report from Hezbollah about reaching a ceasefire agreement for several
hours between all the factions in the region, is "a pure fabrication. " The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported
that the Syrian regime and the opposition reached an agreement which forbids
attacks on water sources amid clashes. The agreement was mediated by Russia, in
addition to dignitaries from the area, according to the Syrian Observatory. The
Observatory also said the agreement allowed maintenance teams to repair a
spring and water pumps, pumping water to the capital, Damascus, from the spring of Ein Fijeh and Wadi
Barada, in a move to implement the rest of the terms
of the agreement.
Terms of the agreement
According to the observatory, the rest of the terms of the agreement include:
-The dissidents are exiled from serving military service for a period of six
months, with the possibility of returning to military service in their
villages.
-Rebels in Wadi Barada must
hand over weapons, and turn in anyone wanted by security.
Turkey dismisses 6,000 more workers in post-coup crackdown
Reuters, Ankara
Saturday, 7 January 2017/Turkey dismissed more than 6,000 more police, civil
servants and academics under emergency rule on Friday, continuing a purge in
the wake of a failed coup last July, according to decrees issued in the
Official Gazette. The decrees ordered the dismissal of 2,687 police officers,
1,699 officials from the justice ministry, 838 from the health ministry, more
than 630 academics and 135 officials from the religious affairs directorate.
They also stated that individuals overseas who are being sought by the Turkish
authorities might have their citizenship removed if they fail to return within
three months. Some 120,000 people have been suspended or dismissed since the
coup, although thousands of them have since been restored to their posts. More
than 41,000 have been jailed pending trial out of 100,000 who have faced
investigation. Parliament, dominated by the ruling AK Party, voted this week to
extend emergency rule by another three months in a move the government said was
needed to sustain a purge of supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkey accuses Gulen and his network of followers, which it terms the Gulenist Terror Organization (FETO), of being behind the
July 15 coup attempt. Gulen denies the allegations.
Emergency rule enables the government to bypass parliament in enacting new laws
and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms when deemed necessary. It was
imposed after the attempted coup and then extended for a second three-month
period in October. Friday’s decrees also give state-appointed administrators
the right to sell companies they take over. Hundreds of firms, many of them
smaller provincial businesses, have been seized in the post-coup crackdown. One
of the decrees allows private security guards to carry guns under certain
conditions at work, an apparent response to a shooting claimed by ISIS at an Istanbul nightclub on New
Year’s Day in which 39 people were killed.
Repair Teams Poised to Begin Work
Restoring Damascus Water
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
07/17/Repair teams were poised to enter a restive region near Damascus on Saturday to begin work on
restoring the Syrian capital's water supply, state media said. Millions of
people have been without water for weeks after fighting damaged key
infrastructure in the Wadi Barada
region that is the main water source for Damascus.
Clashes continued there overnight and into Saturday morning, killing seven
Syrian government soldiers and two civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said. But by late morning, state media said maintenance teams had
arrived in the area 15 kilometres (10 miles) northwest of Damascus and were
"prepared to enter" to begin repair work. A source close to the
regime said a temporary ceasefire had been agreed to allow the repair crews to
enter, though it could take days before the mains supply is restored. Fighting
has raged in Wadi Barada
for several weeks, despite the December 30 start of a ceasefire brokered by
regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey. The truce has held across much of
the country, though it does not apply to the Islamic State group or former
Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, now known as Fateh al-Sham Front.The
government says Fateh al-Sham is present in Wadi Barada, and blames rebels
there for cutting water to Damascus
since December 22. Rebels deny the jihadist group is in the region and say the
mains supply was severed after government strikes hit pumping facilities in the
area.
- 5.5 million without water: UN -The fighting has left some 5.5 million
people in Damascus
and its suburbs facing water shortages, the United Nations warned earlier this
week. It said sabotaging water supplies was a war crime but made no direct
accusations of blame. Russia
and Turkey have worked
increasingly closely on the Syrian conflict and last month brokered a deal for
civilians and surrendering rebels to leave Aleppo. They want the ceasefire agreement to
pave the way for new peace talks to be held in the Kazakh capital Astana later
this month. But the fighting in Wadi Barada has already prompted rebels to halt talks to prepare
for the Astana meeting, citing regime "violations" of the ceasefire.
Both Moscow and Ankara
have launched military interventions in Syria,
with Turkey
starting its Operation Euphrates Shield in August targeting both IS jihadists
and Kurdish militants. After seizing several towns from IS, Turkish forces and
allied Syrian rebels are now focusing their attentions on Al-Bab, a jihadist bastion in Aleppo province. The Observatory said on
Saturday that Turkey
had sent major reinforcements to the area in apparent preparation for an
operation against the town. - US-backed alliance advances -A US-backed alliance
of Kurdish and Arab fighters has also been advancing into IS-held territory as
they press a drive towards the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital Raqa. Alliance fighters
supported by US special forces moved within striking
distance of the Tabqa dam on the Euphrates River,
the country's largest, the Observatory said. "They have taken the last
village between them and the dam. Now all that remains in front of them is four
kilometres (two and a half miles) of empty land," said Observatory
director Rami Abdel Rahman.
The dam lies just 500 metres (yards) from the town of Tabqa, where many
senior IS commanders have been based. Russia
launched its own military intervention in Syria in September 2015, aimed at
bolstering ally President Bashar al-Assad against the
rebels. But it announced in December it would begin withdrawing forces, and the
Russian military on Friday said the drawdown had started. Russian military
chief Valery Gerasimov said a naval group headed by
the aircraft carrier Admiral Kutnetsov would be the
first to leave. President Vladimir Putin had already announced a partial
withdrawal of Russian forces in March 2016, but Moscow later had to ramp up its presence
again as fighting increased. More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the
conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. Over half the
country's population has been displaced.
Clashes Kill 9 near Damascus Despite Truce
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
07/17/At least nine people, among them seven government soldiers, were killed
in fighting near the Syrian capital Damascus overnight, despite a fragile
nationwide truce, a monitor said on Saturday. The Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said fighting was continuing on Saturday in Wadi
Barada, a rebel-held district northwest of Damascus that is home to
the capital's main water source. The Britain-based monitor said the overnight
fighting had killed at least seven Syrian soldiers and wounded around 20
others, some of whom were in serious condition. Two civilians were also killed
in the violence, the group said. Water supplies from Wadi
Barada have been cut since December 22. The regime
and the rebels have traded accusations of responsibility, with the government
saying the rebels deliberately targeted water infrastructure and the opposition
saying army strikes hit pumping facilities. Fighting has continued in the area
despite the start on December 30 of a nationwide truce brokered by regime ally Russia and opposition backer Turkey. The
ceasefire, accepted by both the government and key rebel groups, has brought
quiet to large parts of Syria,
but the violence has continued in Wadi Barada. There have been discussions about the possibility
of an agreement to end the fighting, with experts able to enter the area to fix
the damaged water infrastructure. But so far no deal has been reached, and the
UN warned earlier this week that 5.5 million people were now affected by water
shortages in the capital and its suburbs. More than 310,000 people have been
killed in Syria
since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. Over half
the country's population has been displaced.
Syria ex-Qaida Affiliate Member Killed by Drone
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
07/17/A senior member of former Al-Qaida affiliate Fateh
al-Sham Front was killed by a drone in northern Syria Friday, a monitor said, in
the latest strike against the group's leadership. "A leading member of the
Fateh al-Sham Front, Abu Al-Hassan Taftanaz, died in a drone attack" in the northwestern province
of Idlib,
the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. An Islamic legal scholar
belonging to the group, Taftanaz's son, also died in the
raid, it said. It did not identify the drone that carried out the strike, but
the Pentagon on Thursday said it had killed about 20 militants this week in air
strikes in Idlib province. The Observatory said
Friday at least 35 members of the group had been killed since Sunday, including
fighters and commanders, in international coalition air raids and drone
strikes. The US-led coalition is striking Islamic State group targets in Syria, but has
also targeted leaders from other groups including the Al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, which has renamed itself Fatah al-Sham. The
Pentagon has repeatedly targeted the group's leadership in recent months. In
November it said it had killed Abu Afghan al-Masri, a
senior commander who previously operated in Afghanistan. In October, the
Pentagon said a US
air strike near Idlib had targeted a Nusra senior leader, Ahmed Salama
Mabrouk, an Egyptian also known by his nom de guerre
Abu Faraj.
Iraqi forces close in on Tigris river
in Mosul
Reuters, Bartella Saturday, 7 January 2017/Iraqi
forces closed in on the river that runs through central Mosul on Saturday in
advances against ISIS that have gathered pace thanks to new tactics and better
coordination, a counter-terrorism spokesman said. Advances in recent days,
including Saturday’s push to within several hundred meters of the Tigris, have
included an unprecedented nighttime assault by elite
forces and driven the militants out of several areas east of the river in what
is their last major stronghold in Iraq. Counter-terrorism service (CTS) forces
were the closest they had been to the Tigris inside Mosul and closing in on a strategic bridge,
the spokesman said. The US-backed operation to recapture the city was launched
nearly three months ago. “Counter-terrorism forces have been sent about 500m
(yards) from the fourth bridge,” Sabah al-Numan told
reporters east of Mosul.
CTS seized the Ghufran district, previously known as
al-Baath, and entered neighboring Wahda,
he said. A separate military statement said Iraqi federal police had recaptured
a hospital complex in Wahda in southeastern
Mosul, a
significant turnaround after army units were forced to withdraw from the site
last month. Numan said fresh advances, which have
gathered pace after troops were bogged down for several weeks by ISIS resistance and the presence of large numbers of
civilians, were a consequence of new tactics and better coordination between
different branches of the military. CTS and federal police “are now moving in
parallel on both axes” in southeastern Mosul, he said. “We are
proceeding side by side ... and advancing at the same level. This is a very
important factor, thanks to which Daesh (ISIS) has
not been able to move its fighters. It has to support one axis (front) at the
expense of another. “We have worn down the terrorist organization with this
type of advance.”Friday’s nighttime
operation, launched after a week of planning, had been a particular success, Numan said. CTS forces using night-vision equipment crossed
the Khosr river, a tributary
that runs perpendicular to the Tigris through eastern Mosul,
via makeshift earth bridges after ISIS had
destroyed permanent ones, he said. Air strikes from the US-led coalition sped
that advance into Muthanna district. The CTS and
federal police are part of a 100,000-strong Iraqi force made up of the
military, Kurdish fighters and Shiite militias, backed by US-led air power.
Turkey ‘agrees on withdrawal of troops’ from northern Iraq
Staff writer, Al Arabiya.net Saturday, 7 January 2017/Turkey has agreed
to withdraw its troops from northern Iraq in statements confirmed by
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
The news comes as Turkish Prime Minister Ben Ali Yildirim
arrived in Baghdad
on Saturday to meet with Abadi to discuss regional
issues with Iraqi officials. Turkish prime minister is expected to also meet
President Fuad Masum and
Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri.
Yildirim will also meet with party officials in Baghdad, and a number of
politicians, opinion leaders and representatives of the Iraqi Turkmen. Yildirim will then travel to the Erbil, the capital of the
Kurdish region in Iraq,
to meet with regional President Massoud Barzani and Prime Minister Nechirvan
Barzani. Accompanying Yıldırım
during the official visit is the minister of defense Fikri Isik, Ismet
Yilmaz minister of education, minister of energy and
human resources Berat Albayrak,
the economy minister Nihad Zabka,
customs and trade minister Bulent Tovnkja.
Turkish PM Visits Iraq Amid
Spat over Unauthorized Troops
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
07/17/Iraq's state TV says the Turkish Prime Minister has arrived in Baghdad in his first visit since the two governments quarreled over the presence of unauthorized Turkish troops
in northern Iraq.
The Saturday report didn't give details on the schedule of Binali
Yildirim's two-day visit. On his Twitter account, the
Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad,
Faruk Kaymakci, said that,
"We hope that his visit will open a new chapter in Turkey-Iraq relations."The presence of some 500 Turkish troops in
the Bashiqa region, northeast of Mosul
has stirred tension with Baghdad
since late last year. Iraq
says they are in "blatant violation" of Iraqi sovereignty and had
demanded their withdrawal. Turkey
says the troops were invited by Iraqi forces and has ignored the calls.
Kurdish-Arab Forces Seize Strategic Syria
Citadel from IS
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
07/17/A US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance seized Friday an ancient fortress
overlooking the Islamic State group's biggest prison near the jihadists' Raqa bastion in northern Syria, a monitor and a commander
said. "The Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by American special forces and international coalition aircraft... took
control of the ancient Qalaat Jaabar
fortress," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
It said the Islamic-era fortress was captured after fierce fighting with the jihadists.Observatory director Rami
Abdel Rahman said control of the fortress gave the
SDF a "line of fire on the biggest IS prison" in Syria. A Kurdish
field commander confirmed that SDF forces had seized Qalaat
Jaabar, where the jihadist group "was stationed
and was using to launch attacks on surrounding villages". The Kurdish-led
SDF has been battling since November 5 to oust the jihadists from their
self-declared Syria
capital of Raqa, 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the
citadel. Qalaat Jaabar sits
on the shores of Lake Assad, which was formed by the country's largest dam
at Tabqa on the Euphrates River.
The Observatory said IS had moved dozens of prisoners to Raqa
city and other parts of the province. The fortress was "one of the most
important historic Islamic castles in Syria", dating to the Seljuk and Mamluk
periods, said Maamoun Abdulkarim,
head of Syria's
antiquities department. It has 35 bridges, a mosque and used to have a museum
with dozens of artefacts. The Euphrates dam sits 500 metres (yards) from the
town of Tabqa,
a key IS stronghold where many of its most senior commanders are based. The
next target will be "to seize the city of Tabqa", the
SDF commander said. The SDF and IS also fought pitched battles Friday in Al-Suwaidiya village, near Tabqa,
the last IS holdout before the dam, said Kurdish authorities and the
Observatory. It also reported that coalition aircraft carried out air strikes
on targets in the village that killed at least eight people, including women
and children. Control of Al-Suwaidiya would allow SDF
forces to advance directly on the dam, said Abdel Rahman.
In a two-month offensive, the SDF has taken large areas of northern Raqa province. On December 10 it announced the second phase
of the operation to oust the jihadists from their Syrian stronghold.
17 Dead as Yemen Loyalists
Attack Rebels on Red Sea Coast
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
07/17/Yemeni government forces attacked rebel positions on the Red Sea coast on Saturday sparking clashes in which six
soldiers and 11 rebels were killed, a loyalist commander said. The assault on
the coastal district of Dhubab, just 30 kilometres
(20 miles) north of the Bab al-Madab
strait where the busy shipping lane enters the Arabian Sea, came after the
government sent reinforcements from its headquarters in Aden. The government and its allies in a
Saudi-led coalition recaptured the strait in October 2015. But the rebels still
control nearly all Yemen's Red Sea coast to the north, posing what the coalition
says is a threat to international shipping. In September and October, two US warships and a United Arab Emirates vessel
contracted to the coalition were targeted by missile fire from rebel-held
territory. The loyalist offensive failed to dislodge the rebels from their
positions as they put up fierce resistance, leaving many wounded on both sides,
the commander said. The Yemeni conflict has killed more than 7,000 people since
the coalition's military intervention began in March 2015, according to the
United Nations.
Libyan army: Militant leader Wissam Bin Hamid killed
Staff writer, Al Arabiya.net Saturday, 7 January 2017/The
spokesman for the Libyan army, Ahmed al-Mismari, has
announced the death of Wissam Bin Hamid,
leader of the Shura Council of Benghazi
Revolutionaries. According to Mismari, a militant
named Naizar Atwier said in
an interrogation that Bin Hamid was killed 28 days
ago in an airstrike. Bin Hamid was regarded as one of
the most prominent Islamist leaders of what is known as the Shura
Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries. He emerged in 2011 as one of the rebels
who revolted against Muammar Qaddafi and became the leader of a battalion
affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya. He rallied around him
militants who had returned from Afghanistan.
Last month, local media circulated a video showing Bin Hamid
standing in front of a tank with an ISIS flag
on it.
Sanaa University faculty go on strike over unpaid salaries
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Saturday, 7 January
2017ظStaff and faculty at Sanaa University
in Yemen
have begun a general strike on Saturday after their salaries have been held by Houthi militias for several months now. They said they
would enter a full general strike until all their demands have been met, a
statement released by the union supporting the staff and faculty confirmed. The
staff and faculty are also striking against what they say are corrupt practices
by Houthi militias being enforced within the university.
In November last year, Houthi militias attacked Sanaa
University professors for
protesting against the unpaid salaries. Sanaa
university professors begun protesting in November
over unpaid salaries. (Supplied) Sanaa University's
Vice President Dr. Mohammed Shoukri resigned as a
result of the attack and accused the university’s President Fawzi
al-Sughair, who was appointed to his position by Houthi militias, for also taking part in the clashes on
campus. Houthi militias are facing a cash crisis
since September when the internationally-recognized government relocated its
central bank headquarters to Aden,
depriving them from a vital source of finance.
Palestinians Bury Alleged Assailants
Killed in Attacks
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January
07/17/Around 1,500 mourners attended the funerals Saturday in the West Bank
city of Hebron of two alleged Palestinian assailants killed by Israeli troops
last year. Hatem Shaludi,
25, and 16-year-old Mohammed Rajabi were both shot
dead in September during separate alleged stabbing attacks on Israeli soldiers
in the occupied city. Israeli authorities returned their bodies for burial by
their families on Friday. Since October 2015, 246 Palestinians, 36 Israelis,
two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in a
wave of violence, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians killed
were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli
authorities. Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some died
in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. Since the start of the violence,
Israeli forces have confiscated the bodies of killed Palestinians, often for
several months, as a means of deterrence and to prevent clashes during
funerals. Israel is still
withholding the remains of seven Palestinians, three from Hebron which is a frequent hotspot. Mourners
at Saturday's funerals carried pictures of the deceased, Palestinian national
flags and banners of various Palestinian groups, including the Islamist
militant movement Hamas. It was not known, however, if either Shaludi or Rajabi were directly
linked to Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Israel said last week that it would
not release the bodies of Hamas militants killed during attacks on Israelis but
would instead bury them itself. The decision by the security cabinet followed
the release by Hamas of video footage showing a mock birthday party for Israeli
soldier Oron Shaul,
believed by the army to have been killed in the 2014 Gaza war. The government did not elaborate on
the burial plan, but said that the same meeting discussed ways of getting back
the remains of Shaul and another soldier killed in
the Gaza war and obtaining the release of two
Israeli civilians missing in Gaza
and believed to be held by Hamas. In September, a senior Israeli official said
that Israel had been holding
since the war 18 Palestinians from Gaza
as well as the bodies of 19 others and had "offered to swap them for the
bodies of the two Israeli soldiers". He said that Hamas turned down the offer.
Egyptian boy hangs himself after
writing mysterious note on wall
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Saturday, 7 January
2017/An Egyptian 14-year-old student in a western province committed suicide on
Friday after reportedly writing a mysterious note on the wall. The note read:
“To those who are alive underground, you shall come back... because the people
above ground have died.”His parents said they found
their son dead in his room after he hanged himself with a belt in his bedroom.
Investigations have not yet revealed what led the boy to hang himself but
police have ruled out criminal activity in his death.
Israel
cuts $6m in UN funding over settlement vote
Reuters Saturday, 7 January 2017/Israel said on Friday it would cut $6 million
in funding to the United Nations in 2017 in protest against a UN Security
Council resolution that demanded an end to Israeli settlement building on land
Palestinians want for an independent state.
The United States
abstained from the Dec. 23 vote, allowing the 15-member Security Council to
adopt the resolution with 14 votes in favor. Israel and US President-elect Donald Trump had
called for Washington
to wield its veto. Israel's
mission to the United Nations said funding would be cut to UN bodies it
described as "anti-Israel," including the Committee on the Exercise
of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division for
Palestinian Rights. "It is unreasonable for Israel to fund bodies that operate
against us at the UN," Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon
said in a statement. "The UN must end the absurd reality in which it
supports bodies whose sole intent is to spread incitement and anti-Israel propaganda."The Israeli mission said it would move
ahead with further initiatives aimed at ending anti-Israel activities at the
United Nations after Trump takes office on Jan. 20. The Palestinians want an
independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and
East Jerusalem, areas Israel
captured in a 1967 war. Most countries and the United Nations view Israeli West
Bank settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace. Israel disputes
that settlements are illegal and says their final status should be determined
in any future talks on Palestinian statehood. The last round of US-led peace
talks between the Israelis and Palestinians collapsed in 2014. The Security
Council last adopted a resolution critical of settlements in 1979, with the United States
also abstaining.
Putin ordered hacking to help Trump in
election’
AFP, Washington Saturday, 7 January 2017/Russian President Vladimir Putin
ordered a campaign of hacking and media manipulation aimed at undermining the
presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton and boosting Donald Trump, US
intelligence said in a report Friday.
The campaign first aimed at damaging a potential Clinton presidency, and then turned to
supporting Trump after a victory by the Republican businessman appeared
possible, said the report from the Director of National Intelligence. "We
assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered
an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in
the US
democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and
potential presidency," it said. The report said that Putin acted on
grudges against the United States
after being embarrassed by the Panama Papers on secret offshore banking and the
Olympic doping scandal, and that he also blamed Clinton for ostensibly inciting mass protests
against his regime in 2011-2012. The report warned US
allies that Russia will
likely attempt to influence their elections, making use of its experience with
the US
vote. "We assess Moscow will apply lessons learned from its Putin-ordered
campaign aimed at the US presidential election to future influence efforts
worldwide, including against US allies and their election processes," it
said. The 25 page public report, which was half the length of the classified
version presented to President Barack Obama on Thursday and President-elect
Trump on Friday, provided little in the way of detailed evidence to link Putin
and Russian intelligence to the hacking and release via WikiLeaks
of Democratic Party files that hurt Clinton's
campaign. Russia has denied
interfering in the election, and Trump has repeatedly questioned the US intelligence
community's conclusions on the issue. Speaking after he was briefed on Friday,
Trump acknowledged that cyber-attacks by Russia,
China
and other countries threaten US institutions, political parties, and
businesses. But he declined to single out Russia
over cyber-interference in the US
election, and said the election's outcome was not affected by hacking.
The Former Political Prisoner Condemned
the Abduction of Ali Moezzi
Saturday, 07 January 2017/NCRI - The former political prisoner, Ali Akbar Nikbakht who was also imprisoned and been tortured in the
prison, condemned the abduction of the political prisoner, Ali Moezzi. In his letter, Ali Akbar Nikbakht
mentions tortures and punishments inflicted on the political prisoners and in
part of his letter, he referred to the abduction of
the political prisoner, Ali Moezzi who is the father
of two PMOI members. Nikbakht said:"the
political prisoner Ali Moezzi was abducted in the
visiting room of prison and taken to an unknown place. They may have done something
to him as they did to the 33 thousands of political prisoners in 1988.It is
surprising that the so-called clerics who should be the defenders of the
oppressed and stand up against the oppression have become silent. I praise the
political prisoner Mehdi Farahi
who was crying out "Death to Khamenei"
while being tortured. Our people do not really know who behind all these
pressures and tortures is."
Iran's Foreign Ministry: It's Not Worthy
of Us to Pursue Babak Zanjani's
Case
Saturday, 07 January 2017/NCRI - Following the tension between Iranian regime’s
judiciary and Rouhani’s government regarding the case
of Babak Zanjani, now in
jail on financial corruption charges, Iranian regime’s Foreign Ministry has
issued a statement on Thursday January 5, stating that “
basically, dealing with such an issue (Babak Zanjani’s case) is beyond the conventional duties of any
foreign ministry.”Regime’s Foreign Ministry has
announced that the reason for not pursuing the case is that none of the
measures taken by Babak Zanjani
and his accomplices have been through legal and official routes, but rather all
of them have been carried out in fraudulent, unofficial, underground and secret
ways. Regime’s Foreign Ministry has maintained that pursuing such a case is
“the inherent duty of other agencies particularly intelligence”, whereas “the
Ministry of Information has not yet been allowed to independently enter into
the case.”Iranian regime’s head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani said in his
weekly meeting on Monday that “the track of money belonging to Babak Zanjani is being kept by
the Central Bank and the Foreign Ministry.” He added that “the government can
easily keep track of this money through an active diplomacy.” Regime’s Foreign
Ministry, on the other hand, called Larijani’s
remarks ‘unexpected’, claiming that “never before has such a mission been
assigned to the Foreign Ministry.”“We’ve been
surprised by the innuendo made by head of judiciary on Iran’s
diplomatic efforts regarding the nuclear deal”, continued the Foreign Ministry.
Larijani had said that “the gentlemen in our
diplomacy have apparently focused all their efforts on the nuclear deal, with
the result being what we all see.”Babak Zanjani’s case has caused tension between Rouhani’s government and regime’s judiciary in the past few
days.
Surgery Not Performed on Patient In Iran
Due to Possibility of Her Being Afghan
Saturday, 07 January 2017/NCRI - Doctors at a hospital in Iran refused to
perform an operation on a patient woman, only because of the possibility of her
being an Afghan. According to Jahan-e Eghtesad newspaper, doctors at the so-called ‘Imam
Khomeini’ hospital in Tehran have refused to perform liver transplant on a
patient due to ‘suspicion of the patient being Afghan’.Regarding
the patient’s nationality, Jahan-e Eghtesad has quoted the nephew of the 35-year old woman as
saying that “we are your fellow border residents and tribespeople
from Sistan and Baluchestan
province. It’s now quite a few years that we are residing in the city of Gonbad
in Golestan province. After a long time of our
uncle’s wife suffering from liver problems, we came to Tehran on the advice of doctors to have a
liver transplant in this hospital. All necessary tests and preparations were
carried out, but now that the operation was about to be performed, the surgeon
refused to operate at the last minute and our patient was returned from the
operating room to the ward, with the only reason, according to the doctor
himself, being that the patient had no birth certificate and that they believe
we are Afghans, whereas everyone knows that we are one of Iranian border
residing tribes, and the patient herself has moved from Sistan
and Baluchestan to Gonbad
nearly 35 years ago.”Patient’s husband has presented
documents and forensic confirmation showing that his wife is Iranian, and even
additional documents showing that their ancestors are also Iranian. He said
that in addition to having Iranian driving licenses, they’re following the
procedure to obtain their Iranian birth certificates. According
to a nurse working at the gastroenterology department of ‘Imam Khomeini
Hospital’, “according to
the law, transplanting Iranian organs into non-Iranians is not allowed.”
A law referred to as “sheer racism” by Jahan-e Eghtesad correspondent. According to Iran newspaper,
arguing that the issue of organ transplant “had created an unhealthy market in
the country which severely misrepresented Iran in other countries and had too
many consequences for our country”, regime’s Minister of Health and Medical
Education ‘Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi’
had announced that only in exceptional cases and with the permission of the
Ministry of Health are foreign nationals allowed to receive transplants.
Yemen Government Protest About Iran's
Meddle in the Country
Saturday, 07 January 2017/NCRI - The representative of the legitimate
government of Yemen on Thursday 5th December 2016 announced that he will send a
report about Iran's meddle to the Secretary General of UN, Antonio Guterres. The permanent Ambassador of Yemen in UN, Khaled Alymany in an interview
with Ashargh Al-Awsat said:"this report is produced by the Special Criminal
Committee of Yemen. This Committee has also listed the ousted Yemeni president
Ali Abdullah Saleh and the leader of Houthi militia Abdul Malik Houthi as wanted people. The legitimate government of Yemen in this
report mentioned that a ship that carried arms and military equipment and sent
by the Iranian regime to Houthi militias was
confiscated. Alymany also stressed that these sorts
of reports have earlier been sent to the Security Council and the former
Secretary General of UN but the result was not favorable.
The representative of Yemen
government in UN warned Iran
that if they pursue interventionist projects, Yemen will definitely confront
them.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis
& editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 07-08/17
Iran planned terror attacks
against Israel advocates in Germany
By Benjamin Weinthal, The Jerusalem Post Published
January 07, 2017
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2017/01/07/jerusalem-post-iran-planned-terror-attacks-against-israel-advocates-in-germany/
Iran’s intelligence agency allegedly planned terrorist attacks against
organizations and representatives engaged in pro-Israel work in Germany,
according to German media reports citing the country’s federal prosecutor
released on Friday.
Syed Mustafa H., a 31-year-old Pakistani who worked for
the German Aerospace
Center in Bremen, was indicted on Monday for alleged
espionage.
West German Broadcasting (WDR) reported Iran’s intelligence agency’s goal
was to assassinate the former president of the German-Israel friendship
society, Reinhold Robbe. From 1994 to 2005, Robbe served as a Social Democratic Party deputy in the
Bundestag. He later served as the parliamentary commissioner for the armed
forces in the Bundestag.
Iran’s targeting of a German
politician is the first reported case of an Iranian intelligence operation
working to assassinate a government representative in the Federal Republic.
Journalist Georg Heil, who wrote the WDR article,
reported that Mustafa also spied on a French-Israeli professor at a business
college in Paris.
The professor and the college in Paris
were not identified in the report.
The WDR reported that a second Pakistani suspect was arrested but was later
released due to insufficient evidence. The suspect scrubbed his entire computer
server of possibly incriminating information and departed the Federal Republic
after his detainment.
According to the Berlin-based Tagesspiegel newspaper,
Mustafa was likely working for Iran’s
Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mustafa studied engineering at Bremerhaven
College and provided PowerPoint
presentations to Iran’s
intelligence agency. WDR said Mustafa communicated inaccurate information about
Robbe.
Iran’s
regime paid Mustafa for the information he secured, according to the
indictment. He drafted a “movement profile” of Robbe
and surveyed the society headquarters in Berlin.
According to German authorities, Mustafa’s activity was “a clear indication of
an assassination attempt.”
Mustafa also followed Robbe during his commute on
public transportation from his private residence to his office.
The indictment states Mustafa had been in contact with a person from Iran’s intelligence agency responsible for
espionage in Europe since 2011. German media
said Mustafa’s espionage activity was part of a larger Iranian operation to
target pro-Israel groups in France,
Germany
and other European countries.
According to WDR, the motive for the attack – based on one security theory – is
Iran’s desire to retaliate
against Israeli advocates in Europe in the event that Israel launched air strikes to knock out Tehran’s nuclear
facilities.
Mustufa is suspected of intelligence activity from
July 2015 to July 2016 on behalf of Iran’s regime. In July, a Berlin court convicted an Iranian man of espionage on
behalf of Iran’s
regime. The 32-year-old man was sentenced to nearly two-and-a-half years in
prison for spying on Iranian dissidents in Germany. The Jerusalem Post’s
review of German intelligence reports showed Iran
ratcheted up its spy network in the Federal
Republic in 2015. Iran has a vast espionage infrastructure in the
country which coordinates with its embassy in Berlin.
**Benjamin Weinthal reports on human rights in the Middle East and is a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on Twitter @BenWeinthal
Russian ground to ground missiles
discovered by Israel in Syria
Ron Ben Yishai and Yoav Zitun/Ynetnews/January 07/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2017/01/07/ron-ben-yishai-and-yoav-zitunynetnews-russian-ground-to-ground-missiles-discovered-by-israel-in-syria/
Several Russian SS-26 Iskandar ground to ground
missiles discovered by Israeli satellite; stationed at the Latakia
airbase in Syria, they are thought to be in use by the Russians, missiles are
able to hit Tel Aviv, J'lem; can carry half ton
warhead.
The Eros B satellite operated by the Israel based ImageSat
International (ISI) has located two long range Russian ground to ground SS-26 Iskandar missile launchers in the Syrian Latakia air base. The base is also used by the Russian Air
Force.
Experts from ISI say that the launchers are hidden under camouflage nets the
majority of the time, but the heavy rains seen across the region over the past
several weeks forced the Russians to move the launchers out from underneath the
nets, thus exposing them to the satellite.
Two other vehicles were seen in the area, and it seems as if they are also part
of the SS-26 Iskander system.
The Iskander ground to ground missiles are able to be
shot 400-500 kilometers. They are accurate to within
5 meters, and can carry a warhead weighing half a ton. Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa
are all within range of these missiles.
The Russians used the SS-26 during their conflict with Georgia in
2008, and their effectiveness was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.
The missile have also seen action in Syria on several occasions.
The Assad regime and the Iranians have both asked the Russians to sell them the
missile systems, but have thus far refused their requests at Israel’s
insistence. However, this request hasn’t kept the Russians from using the
missiles themselves against ISIS and Fatah Jabhat al-Sham (formerly known as Jabhat
al-Nusra).
Israel is worried that some of
the missiles might be stolen from the Russians in Syria and given to Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, the West is worried about the missiles’ presence in Syria in
general, mainly due to the heavy warhead they carry.
It seems as if the Russians have put the missiles in western Syria as a deterrence
to the West, especially in light of European nations increasing spending on
anti-ballistic missile systems, along with Western nations carrying out war
games in Baltic countries bordering Russia.
Interestingly, Russia announced
on Friday its intention to bring back its aircraft carrier, and to draw down
its troop presence in Syria.
The aircraft carrier and the various advanced missiles the Russians brought
with them to Syria
were believed to be used as deterrence against Western intervention. A high ranking IDF
official said that Syria
has the best non-Western air defense in the world,
including S-400, SA-3, and SA-17 surface to air missiles. Foreign sources have
reported that these advanced surface to air systems have made their way to
Hezbollah, and that some were allegedly blown up by Israel while the missile
were en route to the Lebanese terror group.
The Russians are still worried that the US will try to attack their Syrian ally, specifically because of US President Barack Obama’s
repeated claims that the Syrian regime fights using chemical weapons.
However, with the election of Donald Trump to the Whitehouse, the Russians may
believe that there is less of a chance of US military intervention, and are
therefore more willing to draw down their troop presence.
Iran Regime Is the Source
of Crisis in the Region and Killings in Syria
NCRI Iran News/Saturday, 07 January 2017
How Iran Got Stuck in the Syria Quagmire
The latest state of affairs and balance of power in Syria especially in regard
to Iran regime is the Subject of an article published in ‘American Thinker’ on
January 7, by Heshmat Alavi,
the following is the full text of this article:
Iran, known for its unbridled sectarian meddling in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon,
is currently facing an unwanted quagmire and dead-end in the Levant. We cannot
limit Iran’s role and its
meddling across the Middle East to 2016 alone.
There is an ongoing war in the region, resulting from Iran’s
escalating interventions.
Iran’s
ultimate objective is to completely restructure the region’s entire fabric,
pursuing a truly destructive and very dangerous policy in this regard. The war
in Syria is one of the
pillars of this initiative, also continuing in Iraq
and Lebanon.
Former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, known for his close relations with Tehran,
was the byproduct of Iran’s policies in that country. Iraq under Maliki back
in 2010 was oppressing the Sunni community, leading to a major revolt by this
vital sector of Mesopotamia. Iraq continues
to suffer from such atrocities.
Iran sustained its
warmongering and expansionist ambitions in lands far away, such as Yemen. This
initiative is also facing major difficulties, with Oman
-- known for its warm relations with Iran
-- recently joining the Saudi-led coalition against the Iran-backed Shiite Houthis in Yemen.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei sought to deliver
serious blows to Saudi Arabia,
using the war in Yemen
as the necessary medium. However, Yemen
cannot and will not remain the Houthis’ hostage, and
this country will not witness a repeat of the Hizb'allah
scenario in Lebanon.
The Syria Swamp
Syria, despite the heavy
Iranian influence, is now becoming a colossal challenge for Tehran. As U.S. President Barack Obama failed
to live up to expectations, Russia
and Turkey have taken the
helm, sidelining Iran
as a result.
While Syria comprises the
backbone of Iran’s
expansionist adventure in the region, one cannot truly claim Tehran has made significant advances. The Aleppo war made it clear Iran’s
aim is to occupy Syria.
There is no Assad army in Syria
and Iran-backed Shiite militia groups are rampant across the country.
By falling to Russia’s
knees to intervene in Syria,
Iran
accepted the harsh reality of Assad no longer governing what is left of the
country.
Currently Iran is no
longer considered Russia’s
partner in Syria.
Moscow has its own interests, not necessarily in
line with those of Tehran.
The Free Syrian Army, a major wing of the Syrian opposition, suspended
its participation in the Astana negotiations in response to continuous military
attacks by Iran and Assad
against the Wadi Barda
region near Damascus.
This has prompted Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu to demand that Iran rein in the Shiite militias
and Assad from violating the so-called ceasefire.
“Turkey is working
with Russia on the question
of sanctions for those who violate the ceasefire deal, which was brokered by Ankara and Moscow,”
Reuters reported citing Cavusoglu.
This is a vivid show of how Iran
has been sidelined in Syria.
It is quite obvious that Iran
has no intention of allowing a political solution evolve and reach tangible
results in Syria.
Iran thrives on lasting
crises and this is the mullahs’ very policy to maintain Assad as their puppet
in Damascus.
Tehran is furious over the fact that Russia and Turkey signed an agreement with a
variety of armed Syrian opposition groups, inviting them to the Astana talks.
To add insult to injury, Ankara has made demands
“requiring all foreign forces to withdraw from Syria, before a diplomatic solution
is reached or even discussed.”
Of course, Iran
giving in to such demands is highly unlikely after feeling shelved in the wake
of the recent Ankara/Moscow initiative. It has, is and always will be in Iran’s nature a
continued desire and need to inflame the entire region in turmoil. This is a
vital lifeline for Iran.
Following close to six years of disastrous warfare, nearly half a million
innocent Syrians killed and more than 11 million displaced, it is high time to
reach a final and lasting solution.
“The regime in Tehran is the source of
crisis in the region and killings in Syria;
it has played the greatest role in the expansion and continuation of ISIS. Peace and tranquility in the region can only be
achieved by evicting this regime from the region,” said Iranian opposition
leader Maryam Rajavi,
President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the main NCRI
member, has played a pivotal role in alerting the global community of Iran’s human
rights violations, terrorism, and meddling across the region, and the mullahs’
clandestine nuclear weapons drive. These revelations have further plunged Iran into its
current crises.
After decades of appeasement by the West have proven a dismal failure, Tehran must be approached
by a determined and firm international community.
The supreme leader: the war in Syria aims to protect Iran
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya//January 07/17/
Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader believes
that if it was not for the Iranian soldiers who were killed in the war in
Syria, they would have had to fight American and Zionist agents in Tehran,
Persia, Khorasan and Isfahan. We can consider that
what Khamenei said in front of his people and the
families of those who were killed, was just to justify the losses of Iran in the war in Syria that is on the borders of his
country. His statement might have deep and straightforward importance, such as
the threat inside Iran
against the regime and that moving the war to outside the borders is for the
sake of the regime. Iran’s
leadership has been reiterating lately the statements justifying the wars
outside its borders to silence the critics that are against sending their
troops to unnecessary wars, which would only satisfy the ego of religious and
military leaders in Tehran
seeking expansion and domination. The longer the war, the bigger the losses,
stimulating more condemnation and questioning. The logic of fighting America and the
Zionist would become senseless after 30 years - this was a slogan that aimed to
retain power.
During the post-revolutionary decades, Iran’s leadership was justifying
its support for terrorism, feeding regional and global violence, threatening
its neighbors, building its nuclear program and
preparing itself for wars. The sole state project and its ideology were all
based on self-defense justifications and being
threatened by the global Western Zionist regime invasion. After negotiating and
signing the nuclear deal, and after establishing the reconciliation with the
West, the pretext of fear was no longer valid; instead of becoming more open
and turning towards more peaceful approached, Iran increased its foreign military
adventures. During the post-revolutionary decades, Iran’s leadership was
justifying its support for terrorism, feeding regional and global violence,
threatening its neighbors, building its nuclear
program and preparing itself for wars
War served Iran’s needs
The regime adopted the concept of the militarization of society since Tehran’s
war with Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein in the eighties. The late
leader Ayatollah Khomeini, did not start working on
stopping the war that lasted for 8 years, until five years later after calls
from international mediators. The war served the need of the Iranian regime in
eradicating all figures who were supporting the Shah
and later on, rival powers inside Iran.
Why does today’s regime need to get involved in further wars to set up its
pillars in Iran, especially when it has already eradicated most of its enemies?
Iran
is a big country that includes multiple forces that are not necessarily against
each other, but are against the regime on the intellectual on the social levels
and are against each other on the religious and security levels, which leads to
besieging and conflicts. Foreign wars are an old way that helps restoring
internal control, undertaken by regimes that do not find a way to control their
own internal situation. Although Iran is a poor country on the
national level, most of the military and security institutions, such as the
Revolutionary Guard, the Basij, intelligence services
and the army, are rich and massive. Iran is characterized by advanced
industries and has its own national giant companies, including oil companies,
refineries, import and export companies, hotels and others.
The problem of Iran
- and its leaders are now fully aware of this problem - is that it is waging
external wars that are not guaranteed. In Iraq for instance, whenever they
stop a war, another one emerges. In Syria,
even if Iran has succeeded
in achieving a winning streak for the Assad regime, the regime is not strong
and will definitely fall once Iran
withdraws its troops and militias. As a result of this expansion, Iran has a military presence in Yemen, Afghanistan
and Lebanon, therefore, the leadership of Tehran is facing a dilemma because it refuses
to accept political solutions in conflict zones, which is trapping it there,
leading to ongoing wars that would last for years. The question here is: How
long will the Iranians keep mum on their losses and external adventures? It is
up to the effectiveness and power of the security services and their ability to
tighten control over the situation on the streets; as for the speeches and
media propaganda, they will expire soon. Iran has initially exploited
sectarian and religious justifications stating that it is defending shrines,
but most of the battles did not take place in sacred shrines surroundings. Now,
they are saying that the battles in faraway Aleppo
are to protect Iran’s
internal security. **This article was first published in Asharq
al-Awsat on Jan. 7, 2017.
The complicated process of breaking down
the Syria talks
Maria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya//January
07/17/
The best New Year present put under the fir-tree was the unanimously voted
resolution of the UN Security Council in support of the efforts made by Turkey
and Russia to end violence and finally launch long awaited and vitally needed
political process. Before the remarkable December 31 vote the long awaited
ceasefire agreement was reached as a result of Russia-Turkey talks with the
belligerent sides of the Syrian conflict including major fighter groups. The
sides agreed to meet in Kazakh capital, Astana and discuss further steps of the
crisis settlement. The talks are scheduled on January 23. That initiative and
efforts were supported by the resolution 2336 UN mentioned earlier. The talks
to be held on a neutral territory, in Kazakhstan, in case ceasefire stay
in force, have enough chances to be a success. At least more
fruitful than Geneva
format. In case of success Syrians will finally get a chance for a
peaceful life and possibility to unite forces in the fight with the common
threat - terrorism. But such a positive perspective remains unlikely. Even the
way to the conference remains thorny. Ongoing serious violations in the north
and east of Damascus threaten the talks, if the
rebels withdraw from the agreement because the violations of the official Damascus and Shiite-backed
militias side continue. Russia
and Turkey
are working on sanctions to impose on those who violate the ceasefire,
undermining the efforts of the two countries to bring the bloodshed to its
long-awaited end. The two countries' governments do not appear to be under the
illusion of a predetermined success of the Astana meeting. First, until now
there are no guarantees that the talks will be held, considering the
violations. Second, there is no guarantees that it
will be a success.
It is clear that the Gulf states will use their influence on
the rebel groups with which they have contacts to project their will through
them. From a geopolitical perspective, there are very few parties interested in
the success of the meeting in Kazakhstan.
Firstly, because the success of the talks will cement success
of Russian and Turkish diplomacy, and thus their geopolitics positions, as well
as Iranian ones. Secondly, successful outcome of the talks will leave
behind the West, and primarily Washington. Such an outcome of the situation
would be convenient to the newly elected president who is set to make America great
again. However, his personality and his agenda remain under question.
Furthermore Trump has an absolute anti-Iranian agenda and a significant role of
Tehran in the
ongoing process most likely will not please him. But what is worse is that
these negotiations leave behind the Gulf
states. Iran has already rejected including of Saudi Arabia in
the Astana talks - this rejection is risky and destructive.
Iran's agenda
The meeting's potential success will strengthen Iran's
position that reference is harmful for the regional geopolitical balance and
can lead to the strengthening of sectarian conflicts inflaming the regional
societies. It is dangerous and geopolitically undesirable for Saudi Arabia
and the Gulf. Rejecting the participation of Saudi Arabia, the negotiations
undermine the result of the talks and their chances for success. It is clear
that the Gulf states
will use their influence on the rebel groups with which they have contacts to
project their will through them. In case anything goes in an undesirable
direction it is clear that the negotiations will be sabotaged. While in the
presence of Saudi Arabia
and Gulf countries there would be far more space for negotiations,
position-statement and regulation of the arising contradictions during the
negotiation process. But Iran
has its own agenda in the Syrian civil war conflict. And it breaks the Saudi
game.
One of the key problems of the protracted Syrian conflict is that there were
too many players involved with absolutely different agenda. The international
players were playing geopolitical goals using the Syrians as pawns. And all the
players are ready to play this game until the last Syrian. But assuming the
talks in Astana take place and result in success, the true challenges will
remain in front of the mediators and the Syrians themselves. Firstly, there
will be attempts to bring chaos back to the country and there is no guarantees that these won't succeed. Furthermore, not
only the country needs to be rebuilt, but the whole nation. During the
inevitable and long process of political transition and construction of the new
Syrian contours, there should be a long and painful process of national
reconciliation. And to make people who were killing each other for five years
love each other is much more difficult than just to build a political system.
Moreover, none can speak about the end of transitional process until most of
the Syrians who fled the country come back. It will be a long process while
ISIS and Al Qaeda sympathizers and affiliated groups are still on the ground
and it will be even longer one, while people have nowhere to return as their
homes were destroyed. Before the moment when most of the Syrian refugees return
to Syria
no elections and any kind of democratic process can be considered legitimate.
Syrians should build their own country and each voice should be properly
counted. But these are matters of the not so close future.
But the success of Astana - if balanced and satisfactory for the majority of
those involved - then a new future can become that little bit closer. We still
have a very difficult way to go before the 23rd to make these talks start.
Conspiratorial thinking in the public
debate
Fawaz Turki/Al Arabiya//January 07/17/
It’s always been hard in the Middle East to
have a rational discussion about seminal events, especially events that come
with a bitter pill to swallow. The reason? Logic gets
in the way. That is, the convoluted logic of conspiracy theories, which
proliferates in that part of the world. Consider this case in point. Earlier
this week, news reports datelined Istanbul - and it’s about time Turks
abandoned the delusion that their country is part of Europe, not the Middle East
- highlighted the fact that the Turkish press was saying, with a straight face,
that the United States was behind the recent assassination of the Russian
ambassador, as it was behind the massacre that resulted in the slaughter of
dozens of revelers at an Istanbul nightclub, known as
Reina, early on New Year’s Day. A headline in a leading newspaper screamed: “America Chief
Suspect.” And, according to the New York Times last Thursday, a legislator
tweeted that “Whoever the trigger man is, the Reina attack is an act of CIA. Period.”What is it with
conspiratorial thinking and Middle Easterners, who seem to love not only its
smug rhetorical flourishes, but to love according it with welcome in their
public discourse? Arab commentators, for example, have over the years advanced
the most outrageous, not to mention improbable, claims in that regard. Here’s a
sample: the 9/11 attacks were the work of Israeli Mossad,
the death of Princess Diana was the result of some diabolical plot by British
intelligence to end her life rather than see her married to an Arab Muslim,
Monica Lewinsky was an agent in place put there in the White House by the
Jewish lobby - and so with other fantastical whimsies.
Let’s face it, a conspiracy theory is seductive, for at the end of the day its
narrative leaves no question unanswered, no answer in doubt. So what makes that
kind of twisted thinking so compelling to so many people in our part of the
world? Indeed who are these people who feel the need to subvert objective
reality in such a laughable manner? One need not delve into the social sciences
and the scientific effusions of the therapeutic community to learn that
conspiratorial theorists tend to be either spiritually alienated souls or
disadvantaged individuals who feel they live in societies that give them no
promise.
Reinforcing victimhood
So where else to go in order to seek refuge, to find
solace, as it were, but in conspiracy theories? And let’s face it, a conspiracy
theory is seductive, for at the end of the day its narrative leaves no question
unanswered, no answer in doubt. Why then accept the prosaic idea that, say, Yasser Arafat died of natural causes when an alternative
narrative, provided by the peddler of conspiracy theories, tells you that the
man was poisoned? The latter surely reinforces your own sense of victimhood and
sensibility as an outsider. It speaks to you, about you, from you. As to how
and where Yasser Arafat was poisoned, by whom and to whose benefit is
irrelevant. Why insist that reality should remain
real? This issue of alienated or disenfranchised individuals sublimating their
malaise through resort to fantasies would be of no more than marginal
significance were it not for the very real harm that
the diffusion of conspiracy theories causes in the real world. In the end, that
diffusion wreaks havoc on society. To start with, it impoverishes as it is
diffused, for misinformed citizens cannot make informed decisions, and without
informed decisions, there’s chaos in the internal psychic economy of
individuals and societies alike. Then consider, additionally, how messing with
reality like that will create a kind of cognitive dissonance in political
culture and social life. You cannot live sanely, productively, in a polity that
explains, via producers and consumers of tall tales, events as being the result
of a secret plot by exceptionally powerful and cunning plotters out there to
achieve malevolent ends. To be sure, conspiratorial thinking is not, of course,
confined to any one part of the world. Clearly it’s a universal phenomenon,
though the manifestations of that phenomenon could vary in kind and in degree
in each human community. In the United States, for example, conspiracy
theorists abound, simple folks who are convinced that, say, President John F.
Kennedy was assassinated by the CIA (the CIA, again, see), the moon landing in
1969 was a hoax, the federal government is covering up evidence of alien
landings, powerful elites are plotting a new world order, and the rest of it.
Indeed, there are Americans around who believe - hold on to your hat - that
President Roosevelt let the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
happen in order to draw the US
into World War Two. The only difference here is that in the US, when
theories like that are found in the mainstream media, they are not there to be
debated seriously but to be mocked mercilessly. It’s about time we adopted a
similar posture in our part of the world and stopped conspiratorialists
from disseminating their drivel. That way we save Middle Eastern societies from
themselves. And, no, this columnist is not an agent-in-place planted by the CIA
in this publication.
Has Adnan and Lina’s prophecy come true?
Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya//January 07/17/
It’s now 2017. Eight years have passed since 2008, the time when mankind was
threatened with extinction according to the prophecy of the famous Japanese
anime which is known in the Arab world as Adnan and Lina. Who doesn’t remember this famous cartoon that
mesmerized children and even adults in the Arab world, particularly in the
Gulf. During the 1980’s thanks to its interesting events, the supernatural
abilities of Adnan, the mysteriousness of grandpa - Lina’s grandfather - the depiction of earth where there are
no more humans and the sea which is full of the ruins of ships from the
terrible and destructive war? The cartoon’s original name was Future Boy Conan.
It premiered in 1978 and was based on the story The Original Tide by Alexander
Key. Each episode of the cartoon began with the same introduction while playing
music that had a great impact and showing scenes that had us all gaze in
wonder. The introduction stated: “World War III erupted in 2008 after warring
parties used ultra-magnetic weapons that are far more dangerous than
traditional weapons and this brought about destruction in land and sea.”
I think that what happened in reality in 2008 was an event that was as
catastrophic as the war that changed everything that the famous Japanese series
talked about. It resumed with a glimpse of hope, showing the few survivors who
included Adnan and Lina’s
grandpa. “It’s been 20 years since that catastrophe and no one is left on this
island but me. The war destroyed most of earth, and now trees and grass have
begun to grow again, and fish began to fill the sea. The earth has been revived
and is full of life again."
However, this scenario did not happen in 2008 and the writers’ expectations
were not true. But do we hold accountable a creative text that is this good or
should we forgive a little and delve deeper into the meaning of the text?
Did fiction become fact?
I think that what happened in reality in 2008 was an event that was as
catastrophic as the war that changed everything that the famous Japanese series
talked about.
I believe the catastrophic event that happened in 2008 was the arrival of the
strange Barack Obama to lead the US for eight difficult years full
of danger, recklessness and - in my view - sick policies.
Later this month, Obama will hand over the presidency to President Elect Donald
Trump who does not want an easy handover but wants to squeeze the orange of the
American dream till the last drop and until the last second.
I believe it was due to Obama’s policies surrounding the Khomeini republic and Russia, and his support of the Muslim
Brotherhood during the season of Arab chaos, i.e. the Arab Spring,
that many Arab countries were destroyed, including Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon and Yemen, and other countries were gravely harmed
such as Egypt.
So perhaps the expectations of the Japanese sci-fi series meant global
political destruction and the destruction of international standards for
humans’ security on earth.
In my view history will one day note that Obama was the one who facilitated
this blind global destruction. He was not the only one who facilitated it but
he inflicted the most harm.
*This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on January 2, 2017.
UnCorked: Ireland's
Pseudo-Academic Anti-Israel Hate-Fest
Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/January 07/2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9701/ireland-conference-israel
This will not be an academic conference in any real
sense of the word. It is, from the outset, a hate-fest of international
anti-Zionist, anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric and distortion. It is
totally without balance.
Some of those 45 participants will be more vehement in their criticism of Israel,
but none, so far as is known, is wholly without some degree of association with
bias. How do we know this? First, because a significant
majority of the participants have made no secret of their support for the
boycott of Israeli academics.
For more than 3,000 years, the "original 'aboriginal' inhabitants"
were the Jews" – along with Ethiopians, Nubians, Carthaginians, Phoeneicians, and eventually the Romans, Christians and
eventually several Arab Muslim imperialists, culminating in the Ottoman Turks.
The Jews were the people who inhabited Canaan; the Jews are why Judaea is named
Judaea. An Arab "Palestine", bluntly, never existed. If
the Jews do not belong in Israel,
then the Europeans do not belong in New Zealand,
Australia or North and South America.
Prominent at Southampton, and again planning to address the conference, were
some of the leading academic activists working both in the universities and
outside for the destruction of Israel, regardless of whether that means the
expulsion or genocide of the country's Jewish population.
In "Slouching toward a Palestinian Holocaust," Richard Falk compared
some Israeli policies with regard to the Palestinians to the Nazi record of
collective punishment, warning (unbelievably) that Israel may be planning a Holocaust
in the same way Nazi Germany did. It is arguable that he has done more than any
other figure to inspire loathing for Israel worldwide.
This conference is an outright attack on everything academic work is about.
Many are already protesting in the hope that UCC can be persuaded to recognize
the threat to scholarship that such a conference poses for academic teachers
and researchers everywhere.
The passage of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 on December 23 2016 has
upset more than one apple cart.[1] By declaring that
Israeli settlements have no legal validity and are a "Flagrant Violation
of International Law", the resolution has handed the Palestinians a weapon
as powerful as any they have used against the Jewish state in their many
physical attacks upon it for more than a century. Lawfare
has for many years now replaced warfare (although not terror) as the
Palestinian method of choice for the long-term elimination of Israel; this new
resolution, even if only advisory, is a major step along the way to declare,
not just the settlements but the entirety of Israel itself as illegal.
Almost all countries in the world, along with the UN, the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Arab League and the Socialist "Left"
now consider the Zionist project to create a living space for Jews to be a
colonialist conspiracy against the "aboriginal" inhabitants of a
legendary state of "Palestine".
They are conveniently "forgetting" – with a significant dose of
anti-Semitism – that for more than 3,000 years, the "original 'aboriginal'
inhabitants" were the Jews – along with Ethiopians, Nubians,
Carthaginians, Phoenicians, and eventually the Romans, Christians and
eventually several Arab Muslim imperialists, culminating in the Ottoman Turks.
The Jews were the people who inhabited Canaan; the Jews are why Judaea is named
Judaea.
An Arab "Palestine",
bluntly, never existed. If the Jews do not belong in Israel,
then the Europeans do not belong in New Zealand,
Australia or North and South America.
It seems that US President Barack Obama, along with the UN, the OIC and much of
Europe – especially France – would like to destroy Israel, and in its place
create yet another mangled Syria out of whatever is left, fought over by a
mixture of sects, terrorist organizations and political factions.
The truth is that the resolution is itself a violation of international law as
it has existed since 1920, when a resolution of the League of Nations conferred
on the Jewish people the right to establish a permanent homeland in the
southern portion of the former Ottoman province
of Syria, temporarily re-named "Palestine". Since
then, numerous agreements and UN resolutions have confirmed that Israel has rights to territory in the West Bank and that far from all of its settlements are
illegitimate at all – as this new resolution pretends.
There can be no doubt, however, that this malicious and legally questionable
resolution takes lawfare to a new level and that it
will form the basis of all future attempts to cancel out the very right of
Israel to exist or for the Jewish people to hold on to their ancestral homeland
– a direct and inflammatory contradiction of the right to self-determination
for the world's peoples since the late eighteenth century and enshrined in
international law within the Charter of the United Nations.
Israel's
legality as a sovereign state is now threatened by a deep misapprehension and
distortion of the law as much as it was challenged by the wars and intifadas
waged against it since 1947/1948. This means that the peace process, through
direct negotiations between the chief parties, will be consigned to the dustbin
of history. Resolution 2334 has handed the Palestinians all they want without
their having to lift a finger. Instead of balanced negotiations, they will now
entrust their case to the international lawyers and academics at a biased
United Nations.
A major impetus for this spawning debate within international legal circles, a
debate that will be deeply informed by Resolution 2334, will be given early in
2017 over three days at a conference at University College Cork in the Republic
of Ireland – a country already well known for the strength of its anti-Zionist
and anti-Semitic sentiment.[2]
University College Cork, in Ireland. (Image source: Bjørn
Christian Tørrissen/Wikimedia Commons)
This upcoming conference is not a tiny affair in a minor college in a
little-known university.[3] Titled,
"International Law and the State of Israel: Legitimacy, Responsibility and
Exceptionalism", it is a thoroughly
international gathering of, for the greatest part, academics who are also
anti-Israel activists. Speakers will come from around the world: 18 from the United Kingdom, 8 from the United States, 8 from Israel
and the West Bank, one each from Qatar,
Lebanon, Austria, the Netherlands,
Australia, Singapore, and Canada,
and just two from Ireland
itself.
This will not be an academic conference in any real sense of the word. It is,
from the outset, a hate-fest of international anti-Zionist, anti-Israel and
anti-Semitic rhetoric and distortion. It is totally without balance. Out of a
list of 47 participants, only two (Professors Alan Johnson and Geoffrey Alderman
from the UK) have a record
of support for Israel
and the Jewish people. That makes 45 to two. Some of those 45 will be more
vehement than others in their criticism of Israel, but none, so far as is
known, is wholly without some degree of association with bias. How do we know
this? First, because a significant majority of the
participants have made no secret of their support for the boycott of Israeli
academics. A boycott that in itself strips from the
conference any semblance of academic neutrality.
The three-day conference (March 31 to April 2) is, in fact, an attempt to bring
back to life an earlier conference bearing the same name that was planned to
take in Southampton University in the UK in April 2015. Despite protests from
many academics and Jewish organizations, the Southampton
conference would have gone ahead; but it was argued that Zionists might descend
in large numbers and create havoc (even though no such physical protest had
been planned). This led to concerns about security, leaving the conference
organizers to foot a high bill for private security measures. The conference
was then cancelled by the university on security grounds, and not on concerns
about anti-Semitic prejudice or academic balance.
Here is the purpose of the conference as set out in 2015. Its one-sidedness is
visible in every word:
This conference will be the first of its kind and constitutes a ground-breaking
historical event on the road towards justice and enduring peace in historic Palestine. It is unique
because it concerns the legitimacy in International Law of the Jewish state of Israel.
Rather than focusing on Israeli actions in the 1967 Occupied
Territories, the conference will focus
on exploring themes of Legitimacy, Responsibility and Exceptionalism;
all of which are posed by Israel's
very nature.
Speakers and panels:
The conference aims to explore the relatedness of the suffering and injustice
in Palestine to
the foundation and protection of a state of such nature and asks what role
International Law should play in the situation.
It is clear that speakers intended to question the very right of Israel
to exist, meaning that they would question the very right to self-determination
of the Jewish people. As David Collier, author of the
"Beyond the Great Divide" blog and one of Britain's outstanding researchers
and commentators, put it: "the conference is likely to be a disgusting,
pre-written, anti-Semitic diatribe". Collier himself put in an
inordinate amount of work investigating the conference itself and its proposed
speakers, work that revealed the true nature of the enterprise and the
anti-Israel careers of most of those listed for the panels. Everyone involved
in the response to the conference remains deeply grateful to his endeavours.
Prominent at Southampton, and again planning to address the conference, were
some of the leading academic activists working both in the universities and
outside for the destruction of Israel, regardless of whether that means the
expulsion or genocide of the country's Jewish population. Most readers will
recognize at least a few of the names, each one being notorious internationally
for their role in harrying Israel
and Israelis.
The first name on the program for the Cork
conference is none other than Richard Falk of Princeton and the University of California. Here is David Collier's
assessment: "[Falk] has compared Israel's policies to the Nazis' and
wrote an article called 'Slouching toward a Palestinian Holocaust'. Actively
supports the boycott, calling it a 'civic duty'."
In "Slouching toward a Palestinian Holocaust" (2007), Falk compared
some Israeli policies with regard to the Palestinians to the Nazi record of
collective punishment, warning (unbelievably) that Israel may be planning a Holocaust
in the same way Nazi Germany did.
Collier provides a link to a very detailed and well-sourced article about Falk
on Wikipedia. Here we may find information on Falk's repeated influence on the
UN Human Rights Council (for whom he acted as a Special Rapporteur),
accusing Israel
of apartheid, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing. It is arguable that he has done
more than any other figure to inspire loathing for Israel worldwide.
After Falk on the Cork program comes Ilan Pappé, notorious for his
writings on Palestinian refugees and the wrongdoings of Israel. Based in Britain's University of Exeter,
he has taken serial advantage of the academic freedom he enjoys there to
promulgate his one-sided accounts. According to Collier, Pappé
"Hardly needs an introduction, also described as an activist. He is the
author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (2006). Firmly believes Israel
is racist, apartheid, an ethnically cleansing state and so on. Actively
supports the boycott."
Another participant with extreme views is Dr. Anthony Löwstedt
of Webster University,
Vienna. Collier
describes him thus:
Lowestedt claims that 98% of all gross human rights
violations so far committed in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are sole
responsibilities of the Israeli Jews, and talks of Israeli apartheid. In that
piece Lowestedt claims that "the Israel lobby does not take it well that students
are still to some extent being told and taught the truth about Israel and Palestine".
He references "The Israeli state death squads" and claims that
"In many cases, it is enough for a Palestinian to get killed if s/he even
looks at a military installation or a soldier the wrong way". He claims
"the supreme goal is to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from Palestine" although while in Israel he "did not get to
discuss this matter in detail with Israelis". Riddled with inaccuracies
such as "you must be a Jew to serve in the Israeli army and if you are not
a Jew you cannot serve in the army", distortions and statistical
headstands, these pieces show that Lowstedt's opinion
is driven fiercely by his internal clock rather than through some academic
process of research.
Professor George Bisharat of the Law University of
California is on much the same level. Collier describes him as follows:
Bisharat is a Palestinian-American professor of law
who clearly supports a one state solution. He believes Israel is committing war crimes and
calls for a boycott of Israeli apartheid. Bisharat
continually uses Nazi references, talks of massacres and master plans and
frequently addresses complex historic events with simple sound bites, one sided
propaganda, and outright distortions.
One of the key organizers of the event, Professor Oren Ben-Dror
of Southampton University,
is described by sources cited in Wikipedia as follows:
Ben-Dor is a former Israeli, born in Nahariya in northern Israel. He has supported academic
boycotts of Israel
universities, writing that those on the Israeli "left" who oppose it
are "sophisticated accomplices to the smothering of debate." He has
written about alleged apartheid in Israel,
bias in Israel's education
system, the ethical and legal challenges facing Palestine, and the use of violence by the
Israeli state.
As a contributor to the newsletter CounterPunch, he
has written against Israel's
role in the 2006 Lebanon War and in the Gaza War of December 2008 to January
2009. Criticizing Israel's
tactics against Hamas, Ben-Dor wrote that
"assassinating individual members of Hamas, even toppling the
organisation, destroying its infrastructure and buildings, will not destroy the
legitimate opposition to the arrogant and self-righteous Zionist entity."
In 2007 he joined a number of intellectuals and activists in signing a
"One State Declaration" which calls for one democratic state in the
whole of Israel and Palestine. He has
supported that alternative in public debate. Ben-Dor
has engaged in academic debate with Oren Yiftachel in
the journal Holy Land Studies regarding the one-state solution.
A full list of participants from Southampton, most of whom
will reappear in Cork,
is provided by Collier here, along with comments on their political views and
actions.
The conference that is planned for University College Cork can by no
description be called an academic conference. Its gross imbalance, the presence
of an overwhelming number of outright political activists, its association with
organizations like the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the participation of so
many academics who support the boycott of Israeli academics (itself a direct
rejection of genuine academic values including academic freedom), and its
creation of a highly-charged atmosphere into which many bona fide academics,
the present writer included, would fear to enter – all these are clear
indications of the event's total lack of credentials for academic standing.
This conference is an outright attack on everything academic work is about.
Many are already protesting in the hope that UCC can be persuaded to recognize
the threat to scholarship that such a conference poses for academic teachers
and researchers everywhere. Like its predecessor, the Southampton Conference of
2015, it deserves to be cancelled.
**Dr. Denis MacEoin is an Irish academic specializing
in Middle East and Islamic studies and
pro-Israel advocacy, and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow in the Gatestone Institute. He lives in the North of England.
[1] For a thorough, learned, and precise refutation of the resolution, see UN
Watch's long letter to US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power.
[2] By "anti-Semitic" I mean the setting of double and unfair
standards for the State of Israel as defined in the U.S. State Department's
Definition of Anti-Semitism and the similar Definition by the International
Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, recently adopted by the United Kingdom.
[3] The National University
of Ireland
(Ollscoil na
hÉireann) has four constituent universities and three
constituent colleges. UCC is the five-star constituent university.
© 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.