LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 31/17

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For Today
Believe in the light, so that you may become children of light
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 12/31-36/:"Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’ After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.

Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil
Letter to the Ephesians 04/25-32/:"So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbours, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labour and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 30-31/17
Lebanese paper pans government for scrapping Palestinian issue from curriculum/Roi Kais/Ynetnews/May 30/17
Report: Iran to resume financial aid to Hamas/Elior Levy/Ynetnews/May 30/17
Is it time for an alternative Syrian army/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/May 30/17
Dear Qatar, do not stray away from our unified pathظSawsan Al Shaer/Al Arabiya/May 30/17
Visit that charmed the leader of a superpower/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/May 30/17
Is the time up for Iran’s forays in the Middle East/Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/May 30/17
A masterstroke from the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince/Hussein Shobokshi/Al Arabiya/May 30/17
Germany: Wave of Muslim Honor Killings/Soeren Kern/ Gatestone Institute/May 30/17
UK Government to Hold Pro-Terrorism Expo in London/Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/May 30/17
Ramadan: "A Month of Great Conquests"/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/May 30/17
Syria’s Kurds Work All the Angles for Autonomy/Noah Feldman/Bloomberg/May 30/17

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on May 30-31/17
Lebanese paper pans government for scrapping Palestinian issue from curriculum
Hariri: Meddling in Affairs of Arab Countries Does Not Reflect Lebanese State
Rapprochement Meetings in Lebanon between Hamas, Revolutionary Guard
Speaker Berri says Parliament can hold regular sessions
Opposition mounts against seat-shifting vote law
Report: Hizbullah Targets Nusra Posts in Flita, Kills and Wounds Several
Report: Constitution Grants President Powers to Open Extraordinary Session, Others Calls 'Invalid'
Geagea: No Return to 1960 Law despite Dangerous Aoun-Berri Clash
Change and Reform Rejects 'Encroachment on President Powers', Urges Abolition of 20 Parliamentary Seats
Jihadist Drug' from Lebanon Seized for First Time in France
Kanaan: Opening Extraordinary Session is President's Authority
Rahi meets MPs Aridi, Helou
Aoun meets Maalouf, Tarabey
Siniora, Australian Ambassador discuss current situation
Raad: To surpass current stage with minimal losses
Captagon seized for first time in France
Army dismantles two explosive belts
ISF arrests Ethiopian domestic worker suspected of murdering Selmane Khiami

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 30-31/17
Senator McCain says Putin bigger threat than ISIS
At least 27 dead in Baghdad bombings
ISIS attack on Syria's Deir el-Zour kills 13 civilians
Powerful Saudi Prince Talks Syria, Oil with Putin
Saudi deputy crown prince to discuss Syrian conflict with Putin in Moscow visit
Turkish Security Forces Kill 46 Terrorists in 438 Operations in One Week
EU Extends Sanctions against Syrian Regime
Greenblatt Asks ‘Deep Questions’ in Attempt to End Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
Israeli Interior Minister Embroiled in New Corruption Scandal
Gargash Says Gulf States Going Through Crisis, Calls for Standing with Saudi Arabia
Mattis: Iranian plot to kill Saudi ambassador was approved at ‘highest level’
Venezuela Opposition Figures Wounded as Anti-Govt Demos Intensify
New Ecuador president says Assange a 'hacker,' but can stay at embassy
BA passengers hit by second day of global fallout from IT failure
Kim Jong Nam murder case moves to Malaysian high court

Latest Lebanese Related News published on May 30-31/17
Lebanese paper pans government for scrapping Palestinian issue from curriculum
Roi Kais/Ynetnews/May 30/17
An article by Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar slams Lebanon's Education Ministry over 'normalization with Israel,' accusing the ministry of removing the subject of the Palestinian struggle for monetary gain.
The Lebanese Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar published an article Monday attacking the Lebanese Ministry of Education for not being anti-Israeli enough.
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"The Ministry of Education scandal—History book without Palestine," was the newspaper's main headline in an article which identified—and not for the first time—signs that the Education Ministry's treatment of Israel is in a process of "normalization."
The article claimed that "these are not isolated incidents, but rather an ongoing process to conceal the efforts of normalization with Israel," adding that this can be "deduced from the views and comments of a number of educators on the deletion of the Palestinian cause from the curriculum" in the years 2016-2017 following a decision made by former Minister of Education Elias Bou Saab.
The article noted that subjects teaching about the emergence of Zionism, Palestine under the British Mandate, the 1948 Palestinian exodus, the 1956 Sinai Campaign (Operation Kadesh) and the Six-Day War in 1967 have all been stricken from the curriculum, leaving only the subject of Jordan and the Palestinian cause up until 1967. This, the paper points out, constitutes only half a page worth of material taught to ninth grade students.
It is also suggested in the article that this policy began "in 2014, when the British government granted the Ministry of Education a donation to cover the cost of textbooks for students," with the exception of geography textbooks, apparently because they included the word "occupied Palestine" on the map, rather than the word Israel.
No mention was made of what came of the conditional donation, but the article did claim that Britain started working via another channel, funding education in Lebanon through an institute called "religions," which it says promoted "religious diversity" and "a culture of peace," alleging that the former education minister's change in policy is the result of these events.
This is not the newspaper's first article panning the Education Ministry's apparent lenience with Israel.
In April 2016, the newspaper published an article reporting that the ministry is deliberating whether or not not to define Israel as an enemy of the state as part of the official curriculum. According to the report, some officials in the government insisted that education shouldn't be mixed with politics, and that children shouldn't be taught to hate.
Al-Akhbar, though, claims that this is merely part of the efforts to remove the issue of Palestine from the curriculum, writing that "the deletion of the Palestinian cause from the history books was done in complete silence," adding that it was "dropped earlier from exam questions," and saying that, due to this, students are not incentivized to learn about the subject. (Translated & edited by Lior Mor)

Hariri: Meddling in Affairs of Arab Countries Does Not Reflect Lebanese State
Asharq Al-Awsat/Asharq Al Awsat/May 30/17/Beirut – Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri stressed on Monday his country’s commitment to the Arab League charter, adding that dialogue is the only solution to end regional wars. He said during a Ramadan iftar held in honor of religious and political figures: “Meddling in the internal affairs of Arab countries does not reflect the Lebanese state, government and legitimate institutions.” He noted that the challenges resulting from the Israeli occupation of Arab lands “requires us to commit to Arab solidarity and reject the declared Israeli intention to ‘Judaize’ Jerusalem, which will pose a new real threat for peace projects.”The premier therefore underscored the need for dialogue, stressing: “When the language of dialogue ceases, then other languages make their move and we pay for their price in blood and destruction.”“During this critical national and regional time, what use are some of the Lebanese battle gains in foreign wars when they lose their right to a dignified life on the inside?” wondered Hariri from the Grand Serail in Beirut. “The war for economy and development is the battle I have chosen to wage in my government,” he announced. He highlighted some of his cabinet’s accomplishments in regards to resolving internet, garbage and electrical issues in a short period of time. He added that solutions have been prepared for a number of files, “but they need bold political decisions away from sectarianism and corruption.”“The problem in Lebanon lies in that we seek quick solutions that end up only patching up problems. The people have grown used to this, but they are fed up with temporary and fake solutions. They are instead calling out for real change,” he stressed “Lebanon needs radical change similar to the ones seen in 1990s. They start with preparing necessary studies that are accompanied by planning and legislation workshops. They should be completed with phases of execution and operation,” Hariri stated.

Rapprochement Meetings in Lebanon between Hamas, Revolutionary Guard
Kifah Ziboun/Asharq Al Awsat/May 30/17/
Ramallah – Iran is holding meetings with Hamas and will allegedly resume its financial support for the organization, Palestinian sources said on Tuesday. Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and senior Hezbollah figures were among those at the talks in Lebanon.The move came after representatives from the Islamic Republic and the Palestinian terror group conducted intensive discussions in Lebanon over the last two weeks. According to the sources, Iran and Hamas agreed to resume diplomatic relations to the level at which they were, before the Syrian civil war, when the sides broke off their close ties. It was also reported that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is expected to visit Tehran in the near future. The agreement was supported by commander of IRGC’s al-Quds Brigades Kassam Soleimani, Ismail Haniyeh, and Hamas’ Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. Hamas reduced its staff and members by 30 percent including the Qassam Brigades because of difficult situations. Iran took advantage of Haniyeh’s elections as head of the organization to reinstate the relationship. Iran supported Haniyeh reaching the leadership and didn’t support senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk because of disagreements after Tehran accused Marzouk of falsifying truths when said that Iran was not transferring financial aid to Hamas or the Gaza Strip, and that relations between Hamas and Tehran were frozen. Since the beginning, Iran was relying on Haniyeh’s diplomacy who leans towards reconciliation with Tehran unlike former leader Khalid Mashaal.
Based on the agreement, Iran relinquished it’s demand that Hamas take Iran’s side in its long battle with Saudi Arabia.Sources believe that Iran sees this as an opportunity to win over powerful Sunni movements in its struggle with the Gulf states, including the Palestinian authority.It is still unclear the price Hamas is going to pay in this agreement, but sources reported that the movement promised a strategic relationship for the best interest of the resistance. The new relationship is beginning to reveal after Iranian leaders sent congratulatory messages to Hamas leaders.
Iranian Foreign Minister Java Zarif congratulated Haniyeh for wining Hamas elections and emphasized in a letter to Haniyeh the continued support of Iran for struggle of the “Palestinian people” until “the Israeli occupation is removed.”Soleimani also sent a letter to Haniyeh congratulating him on his appointment as the new leader of Hamas. In a letter published by Iranian news agency, Soleimani said that he expects a strengthening of ties with Hamas on the basis of jihad against “the arrogance of the world” and its satellite, “Zionism,” which are “working to divert the jihad of the nation from its Islamic compass.”He emphasized that, within this context, all efforts need to be devoted to the service of “Palestine.”Shura council leader Ali Larijani also congratulated Haniyeh on his elections and said during the phone call that the salvation of Palestine is the primary cause of the Islamic nation, adding that supporting Palestinian people is among Iran’s top priorities since the Islamic revolution. Hamas issued a statement about the phone call which showed the improvement in the relations. On April 06, Haniyeh was elected head of the organization few days after it announced the new controversial Hamas agreement. The agreement dissociated the organization from its wing the Muslim Brotherhood.
Iran wants to take advantage of the new situation dissociated with Brotherhood which was targeted by Trump administration. Certain members of Hamas refuse the rapprochement with Iran fearing that this could be interpreted as a direct interference in the region’s struggle which could become sectarian. Earlier, several Hamas activists and authors criticized the organization and even Qassam leadership for sending letters to Hezbollah mourning the death of several leaders in Syria. Relations between the two sides have been tense since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in 2011. Hamas’s refusal to support the regime of President Bashar Assad, Iran’s major ally in the region, has angered Tehran, prompting it to cut off its financial and military aid to the Gaza-based movement.

Speaker Berri says Parliament can hold regular sessions
The Daily Star/May 29/17
BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri Monday said that Parliament could extend its regular sessions beyond May 31 after President Michel Aoun suspended sessions for one month. By using his prerogative under Article 59 of the Constitution, Aoun in April had defused a major political crisis and averted a much-feared confrontation between supporters of the three major Christian parties – the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party – opposing extension of Parliament’s mandate and security forces. The speaker said in a rare news conference at his residence in Ain al-Tineh that he was optimistic on endeavors over the weekend to reach a new vote law. However, after contacting Aoun and meeting with Lebanese Forces deputy chief MP George Adwan, "agreement began looming on the 15 constituencies vote law, despite knowing that I rejected it first." "I called Prime Minister Saad Hariri and informed him, and the PM later phone called me and said he had sent Aoun a decree to open an extraordinary parliamentary cycle," Berri added. "But I never received it," Berri said.
The Lebanese Parliament normally convenes in two ordinary cycles from mid-March till the end of May and from mid-October through the end of December. The speaker said that if the delay is to press the Parliament "as rumored," then he is "glad to inform them that no one can pressure it but the Lebanese people.""President Aoun used his prerogatives to delay a parliamentary session. It was the first time since independence," Berri said.The speaker added that "Parliament has the right to continue its cycle after its suspension as normal."Article 59 stipulates that the “president may postpone the Parliament’s meeting for a period not exceeding one month, but he may not do so twice during the same [parliamentary] session.”"The executive authority has no right to marginalize the Parliament. The Parliament will continue its month after it was adjourned."Berri, however, said that he would seek to agree with Aoun on the timing of the session, stressing that there was no rift with the president. Parliament's term expires on June 20. A key parliamentary session to discuss the vote law is scheduled for June 5, the session has been already postponed twice. The speaker added that he was "keen to drift away from the 1960 [majoritarian vote law], extension, vacuum and any other form of sectarian vote laws." Berri said Adwan's proposal for the adoption of the proportional system in the upcoming elections, based on 15 constituencies, was "acceptable."
"It's known as the Bkirki law, and was proposed at the beginning by [former Interior Minister] Marwan Charbel. I rejected it back then," he said. Berri told reporters that after he had accepted Adwan's proposal, "conditions began" surfacing.
Adwan included in his proposal the moving of three Maronite seats from areas that have Muslim majority as follows: from Tripoli to Batroun, western Bekaa to Jbeil and Baalbeck to Bsharri. The speaker expressed total rejection for redistributing the seats. "If we want an agreement, this (article) should be scrapped," Berri said, adding that he was waiting for a final stance from the Free Patriotic Movement over the matter. Berri also added that a "technical extension" is expected, but not for longer than "three to four months."Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Kataeb Party MP Nadim Gemayel and Marada Movement head Sleiman Frangieh have so far explicitly rejected Adwan's proposal. Parliamentary elections were originally scheduled to take place between May 21 and June 21, yet political deadlock is expected to delay elections beyond June.
The last parliamentary elections were held in 2009. Terms were extended twice in 2013 and 2014.

Opposition mounts against seat-shifting vote law
The Daily Star/May 29/17/BEIRUT: President Michel Aoun Monday said that progress is being made to reach a new vote law ahead of the June 20 deadline, as rivals warned against the adoption of a recent electoral law proposed by the Lebanese Forces. Aoun told his visitors at the Baabda Palace that talks have been advancing among rivals.  Parliament's term expires on June 20. A key parliamentary session to discuss the vote law is scheduled for June 5. MP George Adwan, the Lebanese Forces’ deputy chief who has been shuttling between Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil in an attempt to narrow differences over the new law, was reported to have made progress in his ongoing talks. Adwan had proposed the adoption of the proportional system in the upcoming elections, based on 15 constituencies. The MP reportedly included in his proposal moving three Maronite seats from areas that have Muslim majority as follows: from Tripoli to Batroun, western Bekaa to Jbeil and Baalbeck to Bsharri. Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati Monday completely rejected the proposal. “This proposal is dangerous because it effectively means legitimizing division between the Lebanese and the beginning of a rejected political federation at a time when everyone is required to cooperate to consolidate unity.”“We completely reject shifting seats or any other partition proposal ... and we hold onto the Maronite seat in Tripoli because the whole city is keen to maintain its unity and coexistence,” the Tripoli MP said. Kataeb Party MP Nadim Gemayel said via Twitter that the shifting of seats from one district to another is a clear "invitation for division and vacating Lebanon from its components and mission."Marada Movement head Sleiman Frangieh Sunday said that the motive behind all current proposed electoral laws was to “exclude” his party. Frangieh described the proposal to shift three Maronite parliamentary seats from districts with a Muslim majority as “dangerous,” continuing to toe the line of his platform of opposition to parties that claim sole Christian representation. “The power of Christians is in their spread across Lebanon,” he said. “Where we have a lot, we are capable of leveraging it.”Speaker Nabih Berri expressed opposition to the redistribution of seats in a rare news conference held in Ain al-Tineh.
"If we want an agreement, this (article) should be scrapped," Berri said.

Report: Hizbullah Targets Nusra Posts in Flita, Kills and Wounds Several
Naharnet/May 30/17/Hizbullah and the Syrian Army have reportedly attacked military vehicles for al-Nusra Front militant group in the outskirts of the town of Flita in the Syrian Qalamoun region killing and wounding several, Hizbullah's al-Manar TV said on Tuesday. The TV said: “Several Nusra militants were killed and others were wounded when Hizbullah and the Syrian army fired guided missiles at posts controlled by al-Nusra in Flita.”It added: “Terrorist groups were also targeted with heavy artillery and machine guns.”Flita is just across the Lebanese border to Arsal, a crossing point 20 kilometers to the northwest which rebels and refugees have used regularly. Hizbullah is a close ally of the Syrian regime and has been fighting alongside its government troops against an uprising there. The Lebanese army has been battling the Syria-based Islamist militants who are entrenched on the porous border between Lebanon and Syria.

Report: Constitution Grants President Powers to Open Extraordinary Session, Others Calls 'Invalid'
Naharnet/May 30/17/The country's constitution gives the President powers to open an extraordinary legislative session, thus rendering calls by other political parties “invalid,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday. Sources close to Baabda presidential palace stressed: “From the first moment, the President (Michel Aoun) announced that if the regular session of the parliament ends without a new vote law at hand, he is ready to sign a decree in agreement with the Prime Minister (Saad Hariri) to open an extraordinary session until June 20, exclusively to approve an election law.” However they stressed that the step must be taken in accordance with the constitution, they said: “The matter is set but it should be carried out in line with Articles 31, 32, and 33 of the constitution that determine how the extraordinary session is opened, when it begins and ends and what items are on its agenda.”Assigning a session “away from these norms is considered invalid and violates the law and constitution,” they added on condition of anonymity. On Monday, Speaker Nabih Berri defended his call for a June 5 parliamentary session although the legislature's regular session ends on May 31. Berri justified saying that although Prime Minister Saad Hariri had sent a draft decree to open an extraordinary session to Aoun, but Berri did not receive any confirmation from the president which compelled him to call for the June 5 session. Berri's move triggered debate over jurisdictions to call for the session, as political parties struggle to agree on a new law to govern the parliamentary polls.

Geagea: No Return to 1960 Law despite Dangerous Aoun-Berri Clash
Naharnet/May 30/17/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed Tuesday that there will be no return to the 1960 electoral law despite what he described as a “dangerous political clash” between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri. “No matter how much things aggravate and no matter how much political disputes intensify , including the dangerous (Aoun-Berri) political clash, there will be no return to the 1960 law,” Geagea said in an interview with the al-Markazia news agency. He reassured that “ninety-five percent” of the latest electoral law proposal – proportional representation in 15 districts – has been finalized and “the remaining 5% will not be an obstacle.”“We will exert all efforts possible” to secure a final agreement on the proposal, Geagea vowed. “We are conducting intensive contacts aimed at alleviating or ending the presidential political clash” between Aoun and Berri, the LF leader went on to say.
Aoun and Berri are wrangling over who between them has the jurisdiction to open an extraordinary legislative session.

Change and Reform Rejects 'Encroachment on President Powers', Urges Abolition of 20 Parliamentary Seats
Naharnet/May 30/17/The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc announced Tuesday that it is against “any encroachment on the president's powers,” amid a row between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri over who between them has the jurisdiction to open an extraordinary legislative session. “We reject any encroachment on the president's powers,” Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil said after the bloc's weekly meeting, adding that “the Constitution's articles are clear in this regard.” He however reassured that “there is no political dispute” over the issue of opening an extraordinary session, noting that Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri are inclined to do so. Turning to the issue of the latest electoral proposal – proportional representation in 15 districts – Bassil said the suggested law needs “several restraints” to ensure proper Christian representation. “The needed restraints are the prevention of any numerical hegemony and respecting regional and sectarian representation,” Bassil said. As for the controversy over the issue of moving some seats from Muslim-majority regions to Christian-majority regions, Bassil said: “Until the moment, we have not spoken of moving seats.”But he called for “the implementation of the Taef Accord and returning the number of parliamentary seats to 108,” noting that the Syrian regime had “added seats to manipulate people's will” during the presence of Syrian forces in Lebanon.

Jihadist Drug' from Lebanon Seized for First Time in France
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 30/17/French customs officials said Tuesday that they had intercepted 135 kilograms (300 pounds) of Captagon, dubbed the "jihadists' drug", at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport this year, a first for France. Captagon, a type of amphetamine, is one of the most commonly used drugs among fighters in the Syrian war. "It is the first time that this drug has been seized in France," the customs agency said in a statement. Customs officials at Charles de Gaulle discovered 350,000 Captagon pills weighing 70 kilograms on January 4 hidden among industrial molds exported from Lebanon and apparently heading for the Czech Republic. An investigation was launched by German and Czech authorities "and it revealed that the real intended destination was Saudi Arabia, by passing through Turkey", the agency said. Another 67 kilograms of the drug were found at the airport in February, hidden in steel molds. Captagon is classified by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime as an "amphetamine-type stimulant" and usually blends amphetamines, caffeine and other substances. Fighters who have taken the drug say it helps them to stay up for days and numbs the senses, allowing them to kill with abandon.

Kanaan: Opening Extraordinary Session is President's Authority
Naharnet/May 30/17/As political parties trade jibes over jurisdictions to open an extraordinary legislative session, Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan stressed that President Michel Aoun has the authority in line with Article 31 of the Constitution. “The decision is up to the President. The jurisdiction is his in agreement with the Prime Minister in line with Article 31 of the Constitution,” Kanaan told VDL (93.3) on Tuesday. “The President has proven ability to take the right decisions. He had thwarted an attempt to extend the parliament's term by using his jurisdictions in line with Article 59 of the constitution which forced everyone to work on producing a new electoral law. We have full confidence in his positions,” added Kanaan. Kanaan's comments came one day after Speaker Nabih Berri made a rare press conference where he defended his call for an extraordinary parliament session. Berri justified saying that although Prime Minister Saad Hariri had sent a draft decree to open an extraordinary session to Aoun, but Berri did not receive any confirmation from the president which compelled him to call for the June 5 session. The legislature's regular session ends on May 31. “According to Article 31 of the constitution which needs no interpretation, the jurisdictions of the president as for opening an extraordinary session are clear and untouchable,” stressed the MP. In April, Aoun invoked his constitutional powers in line with Article 59 of the constitution suspending the parliament for one month in a bid to give conflicting political parties extra time to agree on a new law that will govern Lebanon's parliamentary elections.

Rahi meets MPs Aridi, Helou
Tue 30 May 2017/NNA - Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Mar Beshara Boutros Rahi met, at Bkerki on Tuesday, with MPs Ghazi Aridi and Henri Helou, delegated by MP Walid Jumblatt, with talks featuring high on the current situation on the local scene. Speaking to reporters following the meeting, Aridi indicated that he had briefed the Patriarch over the outcome of Jumblatt's fresh visit to the Vatican and meeting with Pope Francis and other officials. "The outcome of the visit was positive," he said, conveying keenness on reaching agreement over an election law to ensure the continuity of the state institutions' work. "We extend our felicitations in advance on any agreement between the concerned forces," he said. "We will not dwell on further details," he added. Rahi later met with United Nations Resident Coordinator in Lebanon, Philippe Lazzarini. He also welcomed General Security chief, Abbas Ibrahim, with whom he discussed the current security condition in the country. Afterwards, Rahi held talks with a delegation of private schools' teachers' union, headed by Nehme Mahfoud

Aoun meets Maalouf, Tarabey
Tue 30 May 2017/NNA - President of the Republic, Michel Aoun, welcomed on Tuesday Head of the Bankers' Association, Joseph Tarabey. The president later had an audience with Mahmoud Awad and MP Edgar Maalouf.

Siniora, Australian Ambassador discuss current situation
Tue 30 May 2017/NNA - Head of Future parliamentary bloc, MP Fouad Siniora, and Australian Ambassador to Lebanon, Glenn Miles, on Tuesday held talks over the current situation and the bilateral relations between the two countries. The pair met at Siniora's Beirut office.

Raad: To surpass current stage with minimal losses
Tue 30 May 2017/NNA - Loyalty to the Resistance Parliamentary bloc MP, Mohammad Raad, expressed hope on Tuesday that Lebanon would surpass the prevailing stage with minimal losses. "We hope Lebanon witnesses political stability that will eventually kick start its economy," the lawmaker said in the wake of a visit to former Prime Minister, Salim Hoss. Raad also called for a close follow up on the weighty regional developments that might bear positive or negative repercussions on Lebanon's future. Responding to a question on Hezbollah's optimism concerning the birth of a new electoral law in light of the recent developments, Raad said there were many reasons to be optimistic, especially looking at the fact that most discussions revolve around a full-proportionality electoral formula.

Captagon seized for first time in France
Tue 30 May 2017/NNA - French customs officials said Tuesday that they had intercepted 135 kilograms (300 pounds) of Captagon, dubbed the "jihadists' drug", at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport this year, a first for France. Captagon, a type of amphetamine, is one of the most commonly used drugs among fighters in the Syrian war. "It is the first time that this drug has been seized in France," the customs agency said in a statement. Customs officials at Charles de Gaulle discovered 350,000 Captagon pills weighing 70 kilograms on Jan. 4 hidden among industrial moulds exported from Lebanon and apparently heading for the Czech Republic. An investigation was launched by German and Czech authorities "and it revealed that the real intended destination was Saudi Arabia, by passing through Turkey", the agency said. Another 67 kilograms of the drug were found at the airport in February, hidden in steel molds. Captagon is classified by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime as an "amphetamine-type stimulant" and usually blends amphetamines, caffeine and other substances. Fighters who have taken the drug say it helps them to stay up for days and numbs the senses, allowing them to kill with abandon. ---AFP

Army dismantles two explosive belts
Tue 30 May 2017/NNA - A Lebanese Army military expert dismantled on Tuesday two explosive belts in the outskirts of Fnaidik village, NNA field reporter said, adding that this move came after the confession of two arrestees who were apprehended by the Lebanese Army a few days ago.

ISF arrests Ethiopian domestic worker suspected of murdering Selmane Khiami
Tue 30 May 2017/NNA - An Ethiopian national, Tigest Cheli Balego, suspected of murdering her employer, Selmane Khiami (Lebanese, 1931), in Jibal al-Botm of Tyre, was arrested on Tuesday. "After the publication of a search notice on 29/05/2017 and the circulation of the photograph of the Ethiopian domestic worker, Tigest Cheli Balego, (born in 1991), the ISF were able to stop the suspect at 10:30 pm in an olive garden in the outskirts of the village of Seddikine in South Lebanon," the statement said.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 30-31/17
Senator McCain says Putin bigger threat than ISIS
Ynetnews/Reuters/May 30/17/Senator John McCain verbally attacks the Russian president for trying to influence the elections in the United States and other countries, stating: 'the Russians (are) the far greatest challenge that we have.' US Senator John McCain said Russian President Vladimir Putin is a bigger threat to global security than ISIS, and warned that the Senate would push for sanctions against Moscow for its alleged interference in the US election. McCain, a leading foreign policy voice in the US Congress, was speaking in an interview in Australia, where he has held security talks on his way to a defense summit in Singapore. "I think he (Putin) is the premier and most important threat, more so than ISIS," McCain said in an interview on Australian Broadcasting Corp television. He said while there was no evidence the Russians succeeded in changing the US election outcome, they were still trying to change elections, including the recent French vote. "I view the Russians as the far greatest challenge that we have," said McCain, who is chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee. "So we need to have increased sanctions and hopefully when we come back from our recess, the Senate will move forward with sanctions on Russia and enact other penalties for Russian behavior." McCain, who has been a critic of President Donald Trump, said he believes the national security team around Trump is developing a strategy that will lead to "victory" in Afghanistan, and Trump has great confidence in that team. "I do believe that most of the time that he accepts their advice and counsel. Can I tell you that he does all the time? No. And yes, does it bothers me? Yes, it bothers me," he said.

At least 27 dead in Baghdad bombings
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 30 May 2017/At least 27 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in two bombings in Baghdad, security and medical officials said on Tuesday. In the first attack, a suicide bomber struck near a popular ice cream shop overnight. In the second, a car bomb exploded near one of the capital's main bridges on Tuesday morning, the officials said. Al Arabiya sources reported that security forces closed the roads leading to Karrada and surrounded the scene of the incident. The ISIS militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, which Iraqi officials said involved apparently remotely detonated explosives inside a parked car. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Last year, Baghdad was rocked by a huge truck bomb attack that targeted a popular retail district in the city center where young people and families were shopping for new clothes ahead of the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. The blast killed hundreds in the single deadliest event in Baghdad since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. The IS group also claimed responsibility for that bombing, which ultimately led to the resignation of Iraq's interior minister. Monday's attack comes as Iraqi troops are slowing pushing ISIS fighters out of their last strongholds in the northern city of Mosul. Iraqi commanders say the offensive, which recently entered its eight month, will mark the end of the ISIS caliphate in Iraq, but concede the group will likely increase insurgent attacks in the wake of military defeats. (With AP)

ISIS attack on Syria's Deir el-Zour kills 13 civilians
The Associated Press, Beirut Tuesday, 30 May 2017/Syria’s state media and a war monitoring group say that at least 13 civilians were killed when the ISIS shelled government-held neighborhoods in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour. The official state news agency SANA says the shelling hit the neighborhoods of al-Joura and Qussour late on Monday. The report says a woman was among those killed. ISIS has controlled other parts of the city since 2015, leaving more than 90,000 people under siege in the government-held areas. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the shelling took place shortly before sundown as residents were preparing to break their daytime fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. The Observatory put the death toll at 14. Deir Ezzor24 says ISIS lobbed mortar shells at a neighborhood with government troops.

Powerful Saudi Prince Talks Syria, Oil with Putin
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 30/17/Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday discussed cooperation on oil and the conflict in Syria with powerful Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a meeting in the Kremlin. Oil producers within and outside the OPEC cartel last week agreed to extend a November accord to cut crude production by nine months in a move spearheaded by Moscow and Riyadh. "We are grateful to you for your ideas and joint work on the combined steps by OPEC members and non-members," Putin told 31-year-old Prince Mohammed, who is also the country's defense minister, the Interfax news agency reported. "The actions we agreed are helping to stabilize the situation on the world hydrocarbon markets."The world's two biggest producers have worked together to bolster faltering oil prices despite deep differences over the conflict in Syria and Moscow's warm ties with Saudi Arabia's regional foe Iran. Putin told Prince Mohammed that Moscow and Riyadh "together were working on the issues of resolving difficult situations, including in Syria." Prince Mohammed's meeting with Putin comes shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump visited Riyadh as part of his first overseas trip. Putin again reiterated an invitation for Saudi monarch King Salman to visit Russia and insisted it would be a "good sign and a good signal."

Saudi deputy crown prince to discuss Syrian conflict with Putin in Moscow visit
Mazen Abbas, Al Arabiya - Moscow Tuesday, 30 May 2017/Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will discuss the Syrian conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. During the visit, four cooperation agreements are expected to be inked between Saudi Arabia and Russia amid discussions on bilateral ties. Prince Mohammed’s trip to Moscow comes just over a week after Saudi Arabia hosted US President Donald Trump in Riyadh. After Tuesday’s meeting with Putin, Prince Mohammed is due to head to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.

Turkish Security Forces Kill 46 Terrorists in 438 Operations in One Week
Asharq Al Awsat/May 30/17/Ankara – More than 45 PKK militia men were killed and over 1,100 Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) suspects were held during security operations over the last week across Turkey, according to the Interior Ministry on Monday. In a statement, the ministry said 46 PKK terrorists were killed and eight others were captured during counter-terrorism operations between May 22 and May 29; 170 suspects were also arrested for aiding and abetting the PKK terror group. Turkish forces also destroyed 11 PKK shelters and 11 improvised explosives and mines planted by the group. Around 2,500 kilograms (5,512 pounds) of explosives material, 32 hand grenades and 3,200 ammunition rounds were also seized; 6,054 kilograms (13,347 pounds) of hashish, 377,273 package of smuggled cigarettes, over 103 tons of smuggled fuel and large quantity of opiate drugs were also recovered, it added. On the other hand, Turkish airlines announced on Monday that it has signed an agreement with the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that provides enhanced security screening program for transit passengers departing from the United States with smarter overall security and a better air travel experience. According to the Turkish company, “TSA Pre✓®” allows travelers to save time and stress by going through security faster without having the need to remove many of their personal accessories.

EU Extends Sanctions against Syrian Regime
Abdullah Mustafa/Asharq Al Awsat/May 30/17/Brussels – European Union announced the extension of sanctions against Syrian authorities until June 1, 2018. This decision is in line with the EU strategy on Syria, which states that the EU will maintain its restrictive measures against the Syrian regime and its supporters as long as the repression of civilians continues.“On 29 May 2017, the Council extended EU restrictive measures against the Syrian regime until 1 June 2018,” EU Council said in a statement Monday. Three Syrian ministers were also added to the list of those under EU restrictions, according to the Council. The list now includes 240 persons and 67 entities targeted by a travel ban and an asset freeze over the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria. “At the same time the Council added to the list of those under restrictive measures 3 ministers of the Syrian government, and updated the information related to certain persons and entities on the list. It now includes 240 persons and 67 entities targeted by a travel ban and an asset freeze over the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria,” it said. The new sanctions’ list will be published in the council’s official gazette on Tuesday and will be effective as of the date of publication. The current sanctions in place against Syria include oil embargo, an asset freeze of the Syrian central bank, restrictions on certain investments, and export restrictions on technology and equipment. The statement said that EU’s unified decision still commits to finding a political solution for the struggle in the country. EU’s strategy includes a political solution and supports an envoy as well as holding talks between warring Syrian parties.Since the beginning of the crisis, EU allocated over nine million euros in donations for humanitarian aid in Syria. The statement concluded that the EU is fully prepared to help rebuild Syria if a comprehensive political transition based on UN Resolution 2254 and the 2012 Geneva statement was put into action.

Greenblatt Asks ‘Deep Questions’ in Attempt to End Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
Abdullah Mustafa/Asharq Al Awsat/May 30/17/Tel Aviv – US President Donald Trump’s assistant and special representative for international negotiations has started to tackle the “deep questions” aimed at reaching a final settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, said prominent political sources on Monday. These are part of Jason Greenblatt’s efforts to make progress with Israelis to “rid the Palestinians of economic restrictions.”The sources said that Greenblatt had asked the two sides to make specific stances over fundamental and central issues related to the permanent solution. They include positions on the border, security, Jerusalem and refugees. The sources quoted him as saying that Trump is serious in launching negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis. The envoy had returned to the region on Thursday, two days after Trump’s departure from an official visit he made to Israel where he held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Greenblatt kicked off a round of talks in Jerusalem in the West Bank and in Ramallah. He met with Netanyahu and later Abbas, as well as senior Israeli figures.The sources said that regional economic initiatives in partnership with Israel and the Palestinian Authority took up a large part of the discussions. Meanwhile, it appears that the Israeli government is attempting to lift the legitimacy off Abbas, claiming that he is leading an incitement campaign against Israelis and the Jews. The government handed Trump’s aides a thick file showing the alleged incitement in the Palestinian media.It also included the Palestinian leader’s statements of support to the Palestinian prisoners, whom Israel considers as terrorists and murderers. Israel’s Channel 2 reported on Monday night an American source as saying that Trump had accused Abbas last week of “deceiving him”. The source, who was deemed as informed on last week’s Trump-Abbas meeting, added that the US president told his Palestinian counterpart that the Israelis have proven to him that he was personally involved in incitement against them. Palestinian sources said that Abbas replied to Trump by saying that the Palestinian people do not need to be incited because the “occupation is the greatest inciter.”At this point, Trump told Abbas that his administration will act differently than its predecessor. He said that he wants to push for new ideas, starting with a regional plan based on the Arab peace initiative. For his part, Abbas warned Trump against being deceived by Netanyahu, who wants to “shy away from peace process demands by bringing up incitement and others issues.”

Israeli Interior Minister Embroiled in New Corruption Scandal
Asharq Al Awsat/May 30/17/Tel Aviv – Israeli Minister of Interior Aryeh Deri sat for questioning for six consecutive hours for his connection to one of the greatest corruption scandals the state has seen in recent years. The court has imposed a complete media blackout on the issue, but the police confirmed an investigation was ongoing involving a “public official and his wife.” It did not provide further details. Public radio tweeted that Deri entered the offices of the police serious crimes and fraud unit with his wife Yaffa on Monday morning. The couple were being interviewed in separate rooms.
Police were questioning another 14 suspects, including the director general of a government ministry. The minister and his wife were prevented from seeing a lawyer. The Deris were expected to be asked, among other things, to explain how he financed real estate he bought in recent years, such as his house in Safsufa, a village in northern Israel. A police statement confirmed the investigation, without identifying the suspects. “This morning police detained 14 suspects from all over the country as part of an investigation conducted by the national unit for investigations and in cooperation with the Tax Authority,” it said. “This investigation began in April 2016 based on suspicions of tax offenses mainly in the field of assets and was expanded to additional suspicions that expanded to other suspects, including a public official and his wife.”Aryeh Deri founded the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas party. He is considered close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He was previously sentenced to three years in prison for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in 2000 during his previous stint as interior minister in the 1990s. He served 22 months in prison, but made a political comeback and retook the reins of the Shas party in 2013.

Gargash Says Gulf States Going Through Crisis, Calls for Standing with Saudi Arabia
Asharq Al Awsat/May 30/17/Dubai – UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Gargash warned that the alliance of Gulf Arab states was facing a major crisis and said there was an urgent need to rebuild trust. “The Gulf Cooperation Council countries are passing through a new sharp crisis that carries massive danger within it,” Gargash said. “Fending off sedition lies in changing behavior, building trust and regaining credibility,” he added on his Twitter account. Gargash said that the road to resolving any crisis “between someone and his brothers is by having true intentions, abiding by commitments, changing the behavior that had caused damage and turning to a new page” to ensure solving the crisis between Qatar and the other five GCC members on the issue of Iran. The Minister added that “stability lies in unity” and, at a time of so many regional crises and threats, “patience and tolerance have their limits.”
“In a turbulent region, there is no alternative to Gulf unity, and Saudi Arabia is the cornerstone,” he tweeted. “We stand with our brother, friend and neighbor, Saudi Arabia, because our destiny is connected,” he added. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have expressed displeasure with Doha after its state media published purported remarks by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani criticizing the US-Muslim world stand against Iran at the recent Riyadh summit. The Emir was quoted as saying: “Iran represents a regional and Islamic power that cannot be ignored and it is unwise to face up against it,” the ticker read at one point. “It is a big power in the stabilization of the region.” Shaikh Tamim said Qatar’s relations with the US were good despite the problematic new administration. “However, we believe the situation will change because of the judicial investigations into the president’s abuses.”Qatar has succeeded in building strong relations with the US and Iran at the same time “because it is unwise to escalate the situation with Iran”, Shaikh Tamim said.

Mattis: Iranian plot to kill Saudi ambassador was approved at ‘highest level’
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Tuesday, 30 May 2017/US Defense Secretary James Mattis said in a televised interview this week that an Iranian plot to kill the then Saudi ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubeir was an “operation approved at the highest level.”Jubeir, who now serves as the Saudi foreign minister, had been a target of the failed assassination attempt in 2011. “They [the Iranians] are not looking out for the best interests of their people,” Mattis told CBS’s Face the Nation.
“You’ve got this revolutionary cause that then causes them to go around creating mischief everywhere else; including trying to murder an Arab ambassador fewer than two miles away from the White House a couple of years ago. “I’ve seen the intelligence; this was not a rogue agent. This was an operation approved at the highest levels.”Iran is believed to have been involved in several assassination attempts against Saudi diplomats during 1989-1990 including the assassination of four Saudi diplomats in Thailand: Abdullah al-Maliki, Abdullah al-Basri, Fahd al-Bahli and Ahmad al-Saif. In 2011, the Iranian regime was also found reportedly involved in the assassination of Saudi diplomat Hassan al-Qahtani in the Pakistani city of Karachi. In 2016, there was a failed attempt, under Iranian guidance, to assassinate the Secretary of State for Arab Gulf Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thamer al-Asbahan, when he was then ambassador to Iraq at the hands of Iraqi sectarian militias.

Venezuela Opposition Figures Wounded as Anti-Govt Demos Intensify
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/May 30/17/Two leading Venezuelan opposition figures were wounded in anti-government protests Monday, as demonstrators vowed to intensify pressure on President Nicolas Maduro and against his plans to hold a constitutional assembly. Henrique Capriles, a former opposition presidential candidate, said he and his team were beaten by National Guard troops as they left a rally that had been broken up by tear gas. "They cornered us, they beat us... They robbed us all. They took my team's watches, radios, gas masks. When I asked them 'What's wrong with you?' their reaction was to give me a blow to the face. Did they want to kill us?" he told reporters. Separately, lawmaker Carlos Paparoni was wounded when he was struck on the head by a tear gas canister. Protesters wearing masks and helmets hurled stones and fuel bombs at riot police as they tried to march downtown along a major highway in Caracas toward the government ombudsman's office. Police, who were blocking the road, responded by firing tear gas, water cannon and buckshot. According to the opposition 257 people were wounded in Monday's protests, the first since a weekend announcement of stepped-up pressure on Maduro. The MUD opposition alliance has not given details of what such increased pressure will involve. But Capriles has said they are considering strikes or long-term street sitdowns.
Capriles said demonstrators on Tuesday would march to the Ministry of Interior, in the heart of Caracas, to reject government "repression."Supporters of Maduro marched in another part of the capital. - Deadly protests -Anti-government violence has spread beyond Caracas. In San Cristobal in the western state of Tachira, two taxis and a bus were set on fire and used to block a highway. Prosecutors say 60 people have been killed in clashes since the protests erupted on April 1. Maduro's political opponents vowed earlier to step up protests over his plan to rewrite the constitution, which they see as a bid to cling to power. Maduro plans to set up a constitutional assembly, which the opposition says will be stacked with government supporters. "If we allow the fraud that they want to call a constitutional assembly, Venezuela will be lost," said Freddy Guevara, a leading opposition figure at the National Assembly legislature. Guevara called on supporters to "get ready for an escalation" of protests but urged demonstrators to refrain from violence. The opposition claims the leftist president has become a dictator and blames him for shortages of food and medicines. Maduro in turn accuses the opposition of attempting a coup with US backing. Each side accuses the other of sending armed groups to foment violence during the demonstrations.

New Ecuador president says Assange a 'hacker,' but can stay at embassy
Tue 30 May 2017/NNA - Ecuador's new leftist president Lenin Moreno said on Monday Julian Assange is a "hacker," making his strongest comments to date against the WikiLeaks founder while still stressing he could stay on in the country's London embassy. Moreno, who was sworn in earlier this month, has broken with his predecessor and mentor Rafael Correa, who had said Assange was a "journalist" and granted him asylum in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape allegations. Assange, who denies the allegations, feared Sweden would hand him over to the United States to face prosecution over WikiLeaks' publication of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in one of the largest information leaks in U.S. history. During the campaign, Moreno had already taken a tougher stance on Assange, warning him "not to intervene in the politics" of countries friendly to Ecuador. "Mr. Assange is a hacker. That's something we reject, and I personally reject," Moreno told journalists on Monday. "But I respect the situation he is in, which calls for respect of his human rights, but we also ask that he respects the situation he is in."Assange dodged an eviction order in Ecuador's April election, after the right-wing candidate who had vowed to kick him out of the embassy lost to Moreno.--REUTERS

BA passengers hit by second day of global fallout from IT failure
Tue 30 May 2017/NNA - British Airways passengers around the world were struck by a second day of cancellations and delays on Sunday as the airline struggled to regain control after a computer system failure caused chaos during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year in the UK. Nearly a third of BA flights departing from Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, had been cancelled by Sunday afternoon, while inbound fights from destinations such as New York and Austin, Texas, were also scrapped, leaving passengers stranded. Aviation experts predicted the disruption would spill over into the week as BA fought to recover from the major IT crash, which forced it to cancel all flights out of London on Saturday. It was one of the worst IT failures to strike a global airline. Last year when Delta Air Lines suffered a similar outage. 2,300 flights were cancelled and delays took three days to clear. ---Financial Times

Kim Jong Nam murder case moves to Malaysian high court
Tue 30 May 2017/NNA - The case of two women charged in Malaysia with killing the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader was transferred to a higher court on Tuesday, as a defence lawyer complained of not getting all of the documents he had requested. Indonesian Siti Aishah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, face the death penalty if convicted of murdering Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13. The two women are accused of smearing Kim's face with VX nerve agent, a chemical described by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction. Aishah and Huong have told diplomats from their countries that they were unwitting pawns in what U.S. officials and South Korean intelligence have said was an assassination orchestrated by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the isolated, nuclear-armed nation. Aishah and Huong were charged on March 1 but the Sepang district magistrate court had twice deferred prosecutors' requests for the case to be moved to a higher court pending collection of documents. On Tuesday, the district court judge moved the case to the Shah Alam High Court. No date was given for the first High Court hearing but prosecutor Iskandar Ahmad told reporters the court should notify them "within a month".--REUTERS

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 30-31/17
Report: Iran to resume financial aid to Hamas
Elior Levy/Ynetnews/May 30/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=55803
Asharq Al-Awsat reports that the thaw between Tehran and Hamas comes following long period of frosty relations; warming of ties reflected in greeting sent by Iranian commander to new Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Iran has decided to renew financial aid to Hamas after a prolonged period of frosty relations between the two sides that lasted for years, according to a report on Tuesday in the English newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. The report claims that the decision was made after a series of meetings between senior Hamas figures and members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Beirut.
Intensive talks were held between the sides, the report noted, in which senior Hezbollah figures also took part and cluminated in anagreement in principle to renew Iran’s financial support for Hamas. Among other things, it was also agreed to renew and improve relations between the two sides.
Moreover, it was decided at the talks that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would visit Tehran in the near future in an effort to bring about a reconciliation and in order to build new bridges between Tehran and Hamas. The decision was made only a week after another step had been taken to bringing the Islamic Republic closer to the Gaza terrorist organization when Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani sent a letter of congratulations to the new political bureau chief, Haniyeh, for his election. Since his election to head the terror movement, Haniyeh has received warm greetings from Iran’s leaders, and the recent talks attest to Iranian satisfaction with the personnel changes in the Hamas leadership.
Relations between Iran and Hamas have been in a state of stagnation since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, and Hamas has expressed opposition to Bashar Assad’s regime and support for the rebels, contrary to Iran and its proxies in Lebanon—Hezbollah. Relations between the two sides deteriorated further as support from Iran and Hezbollah lent to Hamas was significantly reduced, but not completely halted. The connection between Khaled Mashaal, former head of Hamas’ political bureau, and Iran’s sworn enemy in the region—Saudi Arabia—did not contribute to the restoration of relations. At the end of Hamas’ internal elections, members of the pro-Iranian faction in Hamas won significant positions (Haniyeh, leader of the organization, Yahya Sinwar, Gaza’s Hamas leader, and other senior figures in the Hamas leadership). Iran feared that the election of Musa Abu Marzuq as the leader of the organization would further weaken the already precarious relations since Abu Marzuq was believed to have thought that Iran was not helping Hamas. An anonymous source (apparently a Middle East intelligence agency) broadcast about a year ago an intercepted phone call between Abu Marzuq and another man, in which he strongly attacks Iran, accusing it of talking too much without acting in support of Hamas.
In a letter sent by Soleimani, he also congratulated Yahya Sinwar, one of the released prisoners of the Shalit deal who was appointed Hamas leader in Gaza and supported the renewal of the alliance with Iran. “We expect to strengthen cooperation with members of Hamas, the allies of the axis of resistance, in order to restore the debate on the Palestinian issue,” Soleimani wrote. adding that the Revolutionary Guards expect to see the efforts of the Gazan organization to implement the resistance, following Hamas’s jihadist line, which only recently published its new political document as part of an attempt to open up to the world. Soleimani later expressed his hope for “a wise government that will ensure a better future in which internal crises will be handled wisely.” Soleimani told Haniyeh that he expects their efforts to bring the Palestinian issue back to the forefront of the global struggle of Muslims and free believers.

Is it time for an alternative Syrian army?
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/May 30/17
The idea of establishing an army for the Syrian opposition seems late but I think that proposing this idea today is more appropriate than ever. The concerned parties, including the group of countries in support of the Syrian revolution and which is secretly known as the “military room” in Jordan, had different stances about the presence of an opposition army. However, the situation calls for establishing a new Syrian army for several reasons. First of all, this army will represent the Syrian people and not a sect or a religion or an extremist group, and it will not be affiliated with the region’s countries or mercenaries. Syria needs an army that represents all the Syrians, reestablishes the state, imposes order and operates under international legitimacy. The biggest challenge that threatens the Syrians today is the emergence of an Iranian army on their soil. This army is led by the Revolutionary Guards and it consists of militias from Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and of course troops from the Iranian Quds Force. This is a direct threat to the project of the Syrian state as the Iranians can stay there for a long time. Two US Congressmen sent letters to the American secretaries of state and defense warning them that Iran plans to exploit its presence in Syria to build military bases on the Mediterranean Sea.It is true that there is actually no longer an opposition free Syrian army like we knew it. It disintegrated into smaller groups after the Iranians, Russians, ISIS, al-Nusra Front and other groups targeted it. So why are we talking about establishing a new Syrian army? It is due to the proposed political solution and to help plan safe zones for refugees. It is also due to some countries’ desire to form a power that fights terrorist groups which have infiltrated opposition-held areas. Keep in mind that establishing a military power is a requirement to recognize the opposition’s role in the new project of governance as it cannot live under the shadow of Assad’s army. There is no value in a political solution if it is not preceded by a project that establishes entities, mainly the army, and provides security. The opposition does not trust the regime forces, and it wants a military power that represents it inside this adopted system of a political solution
Ending chaos
A new Syrian army is thus needed to end the chaos, which has resulted as a result of the spread of dozens of militias and to unite the armed opposition under one flag and leadership. Of course, this armed opposition would be united after sorting it to make sure it’s ideologically “appropriate” and that it’s patriotic and not religious. The thousands of defectors from the Syrian Arab Army who refused to kill their people can be the core of the new Syrian army. Everyone, and not just Syrians, needs this army. They need an army that fights terrorist organizations that threaten Syria, the region and the world, that confronts the Iranian army’s militias if they refuse to exit Syria and purges the latter from regional movements, which oppose neighboring countries, like the Kurdish Turkish movement and the Iraqi ISIS. In case a political agreement is reached, the new Syrian army can complement the regime’s Syrian Arab Army, which has become weak as it is now made up of mere remnants. There is no value in a political solution if it is not preceded by a project that establishes entities, mainly the army, and provides security. The opposition does not trust the regime forces, and it wants a military power that represents it inside this adopted system of a political solution. It needs this power to protect the areas affiliated with it. When other countries insist on evacuating Syria of all foreign fighters, the Syrian regime will hold on to Iran’s militias unless a national army that assumes the task emerges.
Considering the divergent views, it may be a long time before there is an agreement over a political solution. This does not prevent establishment of a Syrian army during the negotiations period to fight terrorism and end the excuse that the Assad regime needs Iran’s militias to stay.

Dear Qatar, do not stray away from our unified path
Sawsan Al Shaer/Al Arabiya/May 30/17
The story with Qatar is not just about the recent statements attributed to Qatari Emir as it’s gone beyond the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Playing the role of the victim whom others are scheming against and attacking may be beneficial to gain some time and distract others. However, this only works for some time since what shocks Arab and Gulf more is evidence that’s based on policies and facts and not on mere statements. Dear people in Qatar, we respect you, therefore we will not underestimate your wit and lie to you or be double-faced while addressing you. Let’s assume that recent statements attributed to the Qatari Emir were fabricated and that those who fabricated them will be punished. Let’s forget about these statements and put them aside. Let’s think about unifying our ranks and in being seriously harmonious, not to serve the interest of the GCC but to serve the interest of the beloved country of Qatar. The attack on Qatar has become international and not just limited to the Gulf. Qatar must comprehend international changes, mainly the changes in the American administration. During a conference held last Wednesday and attended by the former secretary of defense and top officials, Ed Royce, the chairman of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted a thorough proposal to impose sanctions on Qatar. Royce did not base this on the alleged Qatari statements but on evidence and data which American intelligence apparatuses have gathered.
Mounting possibilities of international sanctions
There are also European countries contemplating sanctions against Qatar, and these sanctions also have nothing to do with the Qatari statements but are due to Qatar’s policies and stances. When the Congress committees discuss these suggestions to boycott Qatar, those who submitted the proposals will certainly present their arguments and old affairs will thus be brought up. The Qatari statements were issued after that Wednesday conference was held in the US. The affair with Qatar is therefore no longer within the framework of the GCC. The parties which Qatar is dealing with are on international terrorism lists. The US may have overlooked Qatar’s relations with these groups in the past but there are changes in American policy now.
We’re saying this out of love for the Qataris - although Bahrain is one of the countries that was harmed by this Qatari policy. We have the ability to be selfless and to put the general interest of the GCC first. We can thus put what the Qataris did behind our backs and look forward to unifying the ranks and moving forward with you to serve our Gulf people. Help us help you.
I hope that beloved Qatar understands this new international development. It’s not right to depend on the expectation that Trump may no longer be in power at some point or on the return of the former American policy. This is illogical and it bases a defense strategy on unlikely assumptions.
Double standards in terms of Qatar’s practices are no longer convincing. Even if Qatar convinces us of them, it will not be able to convince the international alliance, i.e. it will not be possible for Qatar to continue to be part of the military alliance against terrorism while maintaining relations with Iran and its terrorist wings like Hezbollah or al-Nusra Front. The international alliance will expand the scope of its war and Iran will be among its considerations. It’s not possible to continue to be part of the Arab and Islamic alliance to restore legitimacy in Yemen while dealing with Iran and viewing it as a friend when it funds Houthi militias. We, the ones who love Qatar, cannot accept or comprehend this contradiction. So how will Qatar explain these double standards to the world? Qatar is in dire need of its brothers; help us so we could help you.
Where are Qatar’s interests?
Qatar’s only fortification is the Gulf people. So what are the brothers in Qatar counting on if they deviate far from their strategic depth? Are singularity and independence a goal? Is it independence just for the sake of independence? Even lack of goals is sometimes a legitimate goal. The decision to be different from Gulf unity can be out of the desire to be more independent and free. Let this be Qatar’s aim, it’s okay. We will understand and accept this and the Qataris will still be our brothers. But why choose to ally with our enemies and the rivals of the international community? This is political suicide!
Where is Qatar’s interest in making this choice? During the peak of our war with Iran and as the latter attacks Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and as the world categorizes it as the spearhead of terrorism, Qatar opens its arms to it via security agreements! It published an article by the Iranian foreign minister in which he attacks the GCC and the Qatari foreign minister met with the criminal Qassem Soleimani! Forget the statement attributed to the Qatari Emir as it’s possible to deny it. Playing the victim could be helpful but it only acts as a sedative. What’s best is to prepare. These preparations must be realistic and they must begin with comprehending international changes and then building a defense plan that’s based on this understanding and not on unrealistic assumptions. The solution begins with resorting to the strategic depth and by realizing that continuing to adopt the former policy will have dangerous repercussions, not on the level of Gulf-Qatari relations, but on the level of international relations with Qatar.
Qatar knows that and it sensed this storm since Trump won the presidential elections. Then it saw this unfold at the American-Islamic Summit but it still postponed addressing the situation and resolving it. I hope Qatar immediately thinks of a radical solution and does not only pursue goals of gaining time through making a fuss. We’re saying this out of love for the Qataris - although Bahrain is one of the countries that was harmed by this Qatari policy. We have the ability to be selfless and to put the general interest of the GCC first. We can thus put what the Qataris did behind our backs and look forward to unifying the ranks and moving forward with you to serve our Gulf people. Help us help you.

Visit that charmed the leader of a superpower
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/May 30/17
After visiting Saudi Arabia, and attending three summits, US President Donald Trump traveled to several other countries. During his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Trump commended King Salman bin Abdulaziz and said: “It was an epic gathering. King Salman is a very wise, wise man.” During his press conference in Brussels where the NATO summit was held, Trump said King Salman is “a wise man who wants to see things get much better rapidly.”It is clear that the visit and its outcome as well as the kindness of the Saudi people demonstrated toward Trump and his administration had touched him. The schedule and events were immaculately planned during his visit and Trump was warmly welcomed by the Saudi government and people who took to social media networks to comment on the visit. Trump said that he sat for a long time with the king and held negotiations with him to discuss several affairs. Trump was thus impressed because what he had heard from anti-Saudi media outlets did not reflect Saudi Arabia’s true nature. Trump visited Saudi Arabia, met its leaders and sat down with them. These leaders only make promises they can keep. This has been Saudi Arabia’s policy since its establishment.
Saudi-US relations have strengthened throughout history between President Franklin Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz, President Dwight Eisenhower and King Saud and presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon and King Faisal
The current Saudi generation was not distorted a lot by leftist and nationalist discourse, which have charmed people since the 1960s. These speeches condemned imperial powers under the pretext of colonization and underestimated, denied and opposed the American role. Arab elites thus had a complex related to the United States and radical generations in the region inherited this hatred and repeated the same national and leftist terms that condemn the US.
This was due to their lack of understanding of the United States of America. Expert Fouad Ajami said this hatred could be because of Palestine adding, however, that America is not alone responsible for this cause. He noted that what those who criticize the US have in common are revolutionary movements, which cannot condemn governments so they condemn America instead. America offered help to the world and except for some mistakes, which are relevant to some wars like to the 2003 Iraqi invasion, it actually contributed to ending wars and saving Islamic countries from tyranny. This is what happened in Afghanistan’s war against the Soviets and it also saved Muslims from ethnic wars in the Balkans.
Allying with the US America is not purely evil like some national thinkers say and it is not purely good. However, what is certain is that ever since Britain exited Gulf countries, the US has been the natural alternative for economic and military investments and for political alliances in the region.
Some think it is too much for Saudi Arabia to ally with America. It is as if Iran did not beg Barack Obama for the past eight years to make it the US’ number one ally instead of Saudi Arabia and hand it the region’s affairs. Obama did that and gave Iran the keys to all capitals. Before the Operation Decisive Storm was launched, the Iranian regime bragged that it controlled four Arab capitals. All countries seek America’s amiability but when Saudi Arabia restored its solid and normal relations with Washington, some were envious and jealous. Saudi Arabia is different from Iran due to its development, civil approach and political realism. Iran is a theocratic country that lives in the past and that devises its policies and strategies on awaiting Imam Mahdi.
Trump administration reflects the depth of the US and the America we know. Saudi-US relations have strengthened throughout history between President Franklin Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz, President Dwight Eisenhower and King Saud and presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon and King Faisal. These relations reached their peak during the terms of Ronald Reagan and George Bush and King Fahad but they became tense during Obama’s term. And now, during Trump and King Salman’s era, they are going back to how they used to be. Arabs know how wise King Salman is as this can be seen through his 50 years of experience. Donald Trump, the president of a superpower, has caught up with this wisdom.

Is the time up for Iran’s forays in the Middle East?
Dr. Theodore Karasik/Al Arabiya/May 30/17
Time is up for Iran’s foray in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and allies are backing their talk with actions by first conducting a “house cleaning” of the GCC of Iranian influence. The Riyadh Triple Summit helped to establish a new baseline in the region for unity against the threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and extremists of various sects. Events in Bahrain rightfully point in this direction. The laser-beam focus on Qatar, Iran’s enabler, is part of a process to get Doha to self-reflect on its actions in support of Tehran in the Levant and in Yemen and for Qatar to halt that course immediately.
The Saudis and their allies want Iran to stop its expansionist activities into Arab lands, halt militaristic behavior with missile production and launches, and cease supporting Shiite extremists groups.
Earlier this month, Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave an extraordinary interview where he argued in theological terms that Tehran’s ultimate aim is to wrest control of Islam’s holiest site in Mecca: “We won’t wait for the battle to be in Saudi Arabia. Instead, we will work so that the battle is for them in Iran, not in Saudi Arabia.”
That is exactly what the Kingdom intends to do since, according to Mohammed Bin Salman, “How do you have a dialogue with a regime built on an extremist ideology … which [says] they must control the land of Muslims and spread their Twelver Jaafari sect in the Muslim world?”
While in Saudi Arabia, US President Donald Trump also drove home the point about Iran’s perfidy. Iran, in turn, slammed Saudi Arabia and its allies including the United States repeatedly for hypocrisy ever since the Triple Summit.
Tehran is upping its game in Arab lands, unleashing its militias, making trouble in maritime sea-lanes, and continuing with missile tests and expansion of its technology program. Tehran, of course, learned this stunt from Pyongyang.
Riyadh is encircling Iran through a variety of soft and hard power networks that are in Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. This is a space to watch as Riyadh puts pressure points on the Islamic Republic from outside especially to Iran’s north and east
Encircling Iran
Consequently, Saudi Arabia is encircling Iran in a much larger scope than Tehran’s so-called Shiite Crescent in a transregional arc in order to choke Iran into behavioral changes to force retreat or a “withdrawal of the tentacles” according to one GCC interlocutor.
First, it is important to recall that a major focus of King Salman’s visit to East Asia sought Asian assurances to reduce and break ties with Iran in order to re-enforce support for Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. King Salman and his delegation may be delivering the same message to Asian hosts that relations with Iran are going to be under Saudi scrutiny.
Iran’s links to East Asia are part of the strategic and tactical competition. Although Saudi Arabia is in a strategic relationship with China, Beijing’s support for Iran is not serving Riyadh’s interest now. This is the outer ring of states Riyadh sees being part of a pincher move against Iran’s ability to transact in East Asia. Second is Saudi Arabia’s outreach to Iraq in order to swing Baghdad away from Tehran. Visits by high-ranking Saudi officials including Saudi foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir earlier this year is an attempt to entice Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi’s government closer to Riyadh’s position, especially on a Sunni security arch. Iraq’s participation in the Eager Lion maneuvers, an annual military exercise, launched earlier this month in Jordan with the participation of more than 7,000 soldiers from over 20 countries, is part of the attempt to bring Iraq into the axis.
Soft and hard power
In addition, Riyadh wants Abadi to reign the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a coalition of mostly Shiite militias in Iraq, after the Battle for Mosul concludes. To be sure, Riyadh is newly charged in fixing the Iraq file: Saudi Arabia’s disgust with Qatar’s negotiations with Al-Nusra and Iran on the “Four Cities” deal and subsequent payment of a huge ransom to Kataib Hezbollah for the release of kidnapped Qatari royals, which ended up in Abadi’s hands, is forcing Riyadh into pro-action on Iran’s western flank in a methodical way using power politics and energy as tools.
Third, Saudi Arabia is upping its prowess around Iran that forms a net around the Islamic Republic. Riyadh is encircling Iran through a variety of soft and hard power networks that are in Pakistan (Baluchistan), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. This is a space to watch as Riyadh puts pressure points on the Islamic Republic from outside especially to Iran’s north and east.
This encirclement idea is not new – it’s from the Cold War days and used repeatedly – but now has an added twist with a more aggressive and muscular Saudi foreign and security policy augmented by social media to expose issues and themes to tear down Iran’s legitimacy to rule.
Tehran, of course, will lash out but through unity of effort, Saudi Arabia and Sunni allies will be able to succeed with a new “will to power” to force Iran away from Arabia’s heart based on a new sense of identity needed to make the Arab transformation successful.
Further away, Saudi Arabia will be working with African allies who attended the US-Arab-Islamic Summit to shut down Iranian activities in their respective states.
Clearly, we are entering a new page in Saudi-Iran relations. With the multi-level civil wars in Libya, Syria, and Yemen, Riyadh and Tehran are likely to battle it out beyond simple rhetoric.
Saudi Arabia and allies are establishing the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT) to be a NATO-like organization based on organizational and tactical lessons learned from Operation Inherent Resolve as well as structure on the Global Alliance to Fight ISIS.
This fact, according to the Riyadh Declaration, is an important step to build up a military and constabulary force of 40,000 troops for deployment. Iran, already heavily vested in the Levant and in Yemen, is unlikely to retreat. For now, Saudi Arabia and allies are going to rely on pressure tactics to force changes in Iran’s behavior by starting with Qatar; down the road is going to be a different story that will make Tehran surprised.

A masterstroke from the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince
Hussein Shobokshi/Al Arabiya/May 30/17
The extraordinary warm reception accorded to US President Donald Trump in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, last week shows a dramatic shift in relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States of America as compared to the previous administration of former US President Barack Obama.
It is a complete 180-degree shift in the Saudi-US relations. The response to the US-Saudi relations was “stronger” and “more significant” than before. The issues of mutual interest are now being discussed in a transparent manner not behind closed doors as was the case before.
The crisis in the Saudi-US relations deepened following the dispute on issues relating to the 9/11 during the Obama administration. The cracks in the ties can mainly be attributed to the Obama’s abandonment of customary US policies and unleashing of extremist forces in the region.
Obama fully supported the regime in Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood and enabled them to govern in their areas of influence, which led to the unprecedented outbreak of violence and extremism.
Since then and before Trump officially won the US presidency, the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman worked tirelessly and communicated with Trump’s team about the plan to build a concrete program to restore relations and strengthen them as they were before.
He worked on an integrated partnership in the true sense of the word, so that the partnership is reflected at all levels of industrial, military, banking, petroleum, security, cultural, health, educational, recreational and services and an incorporated partnership between the two governments and two nations.
Trump not only visited the Kingdom and participated in various summits which were held in Riyadh but also signed an unprecedented number of agreements that will make Saudi Arabia a real partner with strategic dimensions at different levels
A serious plan
It was due to the seriousness of the plan presented by the Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman that prompted Donald Trump, after he became the US President, to invite the Deputy Crown Prince as the fifth international official to visit the White House and then the US President announced his agenda to start his foreign trip with Saudi Arabia being the first country of his foreign tour. Indeed, he not only visited the Kingdom and participated in various summits which were held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, recently but also signed an unprecedented number of agreements that will make Saudi Arabia a real partner with strategic dimensions at different levels.
The Saudis have a great emotional legacy of appreciation on the relations that have resulted from their partnership with the United States of America, which reflects in successes in various sectors; first and foremost being in oil, education, health, military and security that will benefit the Saudis clearly and explicitly.
The Saudis have nothing to be ashamed of in their quest to form a relationship with the world’s most powerful nation. Everyone is trying to win America because the benefits that come from a strong relationship with them are important and it also reflects on politics, economics, health and education.
The credit for the successful and dramatic transformation of the Saudi-American relationship should be given to Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. He was betting on it during my meeting with him when I was part of the delegation on his visit to the United States with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman during the Obama presidency.
All indications from the critics were the contrary but the young prince was confident about the plan that was put forward and demonstrated the influence of Saudi Arabia and its importance and the need of “marketing” with modern soft powers in which Prince Muhammad Bin Salman succeeded.
The restoration of Saudi-American relations is a “masterstroke” from Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and it is a great political achievement.

Germany: Wave of Muslim Honor Killings
Soeren Kern/ Gatestone Institute/May 30/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=55806
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10441/germany-muslim-honor-killings
The court heard how Amer K. stabbed the mother of his three children in the chest and neck more than twenty times with a large kitchen knife, because he thought she wanted to divorce him.
"Then he takes the knife and plunges it into her chest, [penetrating] the pericardium and heart muscle. A second stab opens the left abdominal cavity. Nurettin B. then pulls out the ax. With the blunt side he hits her head, cracking her skull. Then he grabs the rope. On one end he ties a gibbet knot around her neck, then he ties the other end to the trailer hitch on [his car]... He races through the streets at 80 km/h [until] the rope breaks." — State Prosecutor Ann-Kristin Fröhlich, reconstructing the husband's actions.
In Ahaus, a 27-year-old Nigerian asylum seeker stabbed to death a 22-year-old woman after she seemingly offended his honor by rejecting his romantic advances.
The trial of a Kurdish man who tied one of his three wives to the back of a car and dragged her through the streets of a town in Lower Saxony has drawn attention to an outbreak of Muslim honor violence in Germany.
Honor violence — ranging from emotional abuse to physical and sexual violence to murder — is usually carried out by male family members against female family members who are perceived to have brought shame upon a family or clan.
Offenses include refusing to agree to an arranged marriage, entering into a relationship with a non-Muslim or someone not approved by the family, refusing to stay in an abusive marriage or living an excessively Western lifestyle. In practice, however, the lines between crimes of honor and crimes of passion are often blurred and any challenge to male authority can elicit retribution, which is sometimes staggeringly brutal.
On May 22, a court in Hanover heard how a 39-year-old Turkish-born Kurd named Nurettin B. attempted to murder his second wife, Kader K., 28, after she asked him to provide financial support for their two-year-old son. State Prosecutor Ann-Kristin Fröhlich reconstructed Nurettin B.'s actions:
"At around 6PM on November 20, 2016, Nurettin B. got into his car in Hamelin to meet Kader K. The trunk contained a knife, an ax and a rope. Sitting on the back seat of the car was their two-year-old son, who had spent the weekend with him. On the street, the former couple got into an argument and he begins hitting her. Then he takes the knife and plunges it into her chest. The 12.4 centimeter long blade penetrates the pericardium and heart muscle. A second stab opens the left abdominal cavity. Nurettin B. then pulls out the ax. With the blunt side he hits her head and upper body, cracking her skull.
"Then he grabs the rope. On one end he ties a gibbet knot around her neck, then he ties the other end to the trailer hitch on the back of his black VW Passat. Nurettin B. steps on the gas. He races through the streets at 80 km/h (50 mph). After 208 meters (680 feet) the rope breaks. Kader K. is hurled against the curb. Nurettin B. drives to the police station to turn himself in. The child is still sitting in the back seat."
Presiding Judge Wolfgang Rosenbusch asked Kader K., who was comatose for weeks, to tell her side of the story. She said "the horror" began immediately after their Islamic sharia wedding (the marriage is not valid according to German law) in March 2013, when Nurettin B. prohibited her from having any contact with friends and family. She was allowed to leave the house only for grocery shopping and medical visits. She was not allowed to have a mobile phone. Rosenbusch asked: "Does he have a problem with women?" Kader K. replied: "He believes women are slaves; they must keep silent."
Nurettin B. has confessed to the crime but insists it was not premeditated. He has been charged with attempted murder and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The picturesque town of Hamelin, Germany was the scene of horrific honor violence, when a Turkish-born Kurd named Nurettin B. attempted to murder one of his three wives. (Image source: Martin Möller/Wikimedia Commons)
On May 9, a court in Kiel sentenced 35-year-old Turkish man to two-and-a-half years in prison for shooting his estranged wife in both knees and permanently laming her, in the hope that she would be unattractive to other men. The court heard how the man took his wife to the back of a local mosque after Friday prayers, accused her of offending his honor and shot her, saying: "Now you can no longer walk. You will stay at home."
In court, however, the woman, possibly under pressure from her family or the mosque, told the court that they couple had reconciled and would attend marriage counselling. Some observers surmised that the dispute may have been resolved in a sharia court. In any event, the German court allowed the man to return home with his wife and it remains unclear if and when he will serve his sentence.
In Münster, a court sentenced a 36-year-old Lebanese man named Amer K. to 12 years in prison for stabbing his wife to death. The court heard how Amer K. stabbed 26-year-old Fatima S., the mother of his three children, in the chest and neck more than twenty times with a large kitchen knife because he thought she wanted to divorce him.
Meanwhile, a court in Hanau sentenced a 22-year-old Syrian refugee to twelve years in prison for stabbing to death his 30-year-old sister, Ramia A., with a kitchen knife. She was 23 weeks pregnant and was accused of having brought shame to her family. Her unborn child also died in the attack.
The true scale of Germany's honor crime problem is unknown: many such crimes go unreported and reliable statistics do not exist. Empirical evidence indicates that honor violence — primarily but not exclusively the product of Muslim culture and Islamic law, sharia — has metastasized since Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed in some two million migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
In March 2011, the Max Planck Institute published a landmark study on honor killings. The study analyzed all such crimes known to have occurred in Germany between 1996 and 2005. The report found that there were two honor killings in 1998 and 12 in 2004. By 2016, however, the number had jumped to more than 60, an increase of 400%, according to the website Ehrenmord.
The actual number of honor crimes presumably is much higher. Increased censorship by the police and the media, aimed at stemming anti-immigration sentiments, makes it impossible to know the names and national origins of many victims or perpetrators, or the true circumstances surrounding many murders, which often appear to be honor killings but are downplayed as "domestic disputes" (Familienangelegenheiten).
2017 is nevertheless on track to be a record year for honor violence in Germany; in the first five months of this year, there have been at least 30 honor killings, including the following:
May 18. In Berlin, a 32-year-old Bosnian, Edin A., murdered his former girlfriend, a 35-year-old German woman named Michelle E., after she ended their abusive relationship. He also abducted and tortured her 12-year-old son, who was forced to watch his mother's murder. Neighbors said they had repeatedly alerted the police about Edin A.'s violent behavior, but the police did nothing.
May 17. In Pforzheim, a 53-year-old Tajik man stabbed to death his 50-year-old wife at her place of employment, a Christian daycare center. It remains unclear if the woman was a convert to Christianity.
May 17. In Wardenburg, a 37-year-old Iraqi man stabbed to death his 37-year-old wife while she was asleep in her bed. The couple's five children, between the ages of four and 15, were at home at the time of the murder and are now living with relatives.
May 8. In Neuendettelsau, a 24-year-old Ethiopian asylum seeker, Mohammed G., stabbed his 22-year-old girlfriend in the stomach at a restaurant after she allegedly "provoked" him. The woman was five months pregnant; the unborn baby died in the attack.
May 4. In Freiburg, a 33-year-old Syrian asylum seeker stabbed his 24-year-old wife, a Kurdish Christian who had moved out of the couple's apartment, but had returned to collect some personal belongings. The couple's three children — aged six, three and ten months — are now in protective custody.
April 29. In Prien am Chiemsee, a 29-year-old Afghan man stabbed to death a 38-year-old Afghan woman, Farima S., who had converted to Christianity. The attacker ambushed the woman as she was exiting a grocery store with her two children.
April 23. In Syke, a 32-year-old Iraqi man, Murad B., strangled his 32-year-old wife, Mehe K., in front of the couple's three children, ages one, two and nine.
April 23. In Dresden, a 29-year-old Pakistani refugee, Shahajan Butt, murdered his girlfriend, a 41-year-old Vietnamese woman named Thu T. Police say the man, who arrived in Germany in December 2015, became enraged after he noticed that the woman had not posted any photos of him on her Facebook page, and suspected that she may have had another boyfriend.
April 16. In Mainz-Finthen, a 39-year-old Egyptian asylum seeker stabbed to death his 32-year-old wife. Police said the couple had been arguing at the time of the attack. Their two children are being held in protective custody.
April 5. In Leipzig, a 34-year-old Syrian man stabbed his 28-year-old wife because she wanted a divorce. The couple's two children witnessed the attack; they are being held in protective custody.
March 31. In Gütersloh, a 43-year-old Syrian man burned his 18-year-old daughter with a cigarette and threatened to kill her. When the police intervened, the father refused to allow his daughter to leave the house. After police succeeded in bringing the girl to safety, the father and son attacked the police, who used pepper-spray to fend them off. The girl is being held in protective custody.
March 15. In Kiel, a 40-year-old German-Turkish man stabbed to death his 34-year-old Turkish wife in front of a daycare center. Neighbors said the couple, who were separated, had quarreled about moving their three children to Turkey.
March 4. In Duisburg, a 30-year-old Syrian asylum seeker, Mahmood Mahrusseh, stabbed his 32-year-old ex-girlfriend. The woman survived; her attacker remains at large.
March 3. In Mönchengladbach, a 32-year-old asylum seeker, Ahmed Salim, murdered a 47-year-old German woman, Nicole M., apparently after she ended a relationship with him. The man, who also uses the alias Jamal Amilia, was arrested in Spain. In his asylum application, he had written that he was from Israel. In another asylum application filed in another country, he had written that he was from Morocco. He is believed to be from Iraq.
March 2. In Scheeßel, a 42-year-old Iraqi man stabbed to death his 52-year-old wife, also from Iraq. Police described the murder as an honor killing. The couple's children are now in protective custody.
February 25. In Euskirchen, a 32-year-old German-Turkish man stabbed to death his former girlfriend, a 32-year-old German woman who had begun dating someone else.
February 17. In Offenbach, a 32-year-old Turkish man, Volkan T., shot to death his former girlfriend, a 40-year-old woman, Silvia B. The man said he was angry that the woman, who had two children, had ended her relationship with him.
February 15. In Bielefeld, a 51-year-old Iraqi man tried to murder his 51-year-old wife by attacking her with a hammer while she was attending a German class at a local language academy. The man was apparently angry that his wife was mixing with other language students.
February 10. In Ahaus, a 27-year-old Nigerian asylum seeker stabbed to death a 22-year-old woman after she seemingly offended his honor by rejecting his romantic advances. The woman, a Hindu, was employed at the same asylum shelter where her attacker lived. He was arrested in Basel, Switzerland.
February 7. In Hanover-Mühlenberg, a 21-year-old Serbian man stabbed his ex-girlfriend after she ended their relationship and had begun dating someone else.
February 1. In Hamburg, a 26-year-old Afghan man stabbed his estranged 28-year-old wife during an argument; she survived the attack.
January 15. In Bremen-Vegesack, a 39-year-old Turkish man murdered his 40-year-old Syrian wife, who was nine months pregnant, because she wanted to divorce him. The unborn baby also died during the attack.
January 5. In Waldshut-Tiengen, a 47-year-old Turkish man stabbed his estranged wife as she was walking with a friend. When she tried to run away, he pursued her and plunged a knife in her back.
January 4. In Köln-Buchheim, a 44-year-old Iraqi man murdered his 19-year-old daughter because he did not approve of her boyfriend. Two days later, he called police. "I killed my daughter," he said. The man may never face justice; he is believed to have fled to Iraq.
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.
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UK Government to Hold Pro-Terrorism Expo in London?
Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/May 30/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10428/palestine-expo-london
"'Friends of Al-Aqsa' is one of the more extremist Islamist organizations at work in Britain today. It supports the Muslim Brotherhood-linked charity 'Interpal' (proscribed by the US Treasury) and advertises it on its website. It collaborates with the Khomenist Iranian-funded faux human rights organization known as the Islamic Human Rights Commission in organizing events such as Al Quds day at which public support is expressed for the Iranian proxy militia Hizbollah." — UK Media Watch.
Under these definitions, Hamas is exposed as a terrorist organization both by its repeated use of indiscriminate killing and the contents of its two Charters from 1988 and 2017.
"There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except through jihad..." — Hamas Charters of 1988 and 2017, Articles 18 and 21.
Hamas is not the only extremist organization to which Friends of Al-Aqsa has lent its support.
Mere weeks after the terrorist attacks in Britain -- on May 22 in Manchester and earlier in Westminster -- there is planned in London, on July 8-9, a major event which its organizers describe as:
Palestine Expo: the biggest social, cultural and entertainment event on Palestine to ever take place in Europe. In a year of immense significance for Palestine, we are pleased to announce, Palestine Expo 2017
The "biggest ever in Europe": heady stuff. In a major coup, the exposition will take place, not in a scruffy hall on the outskirts of the city, but in the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster, near the Houses of Parliament, in the shadow of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. The prestigious centre is owned by the UK Government and its operation is conducted by an executive agency of the Department for Communities and Local Government. It has 2,000 square metres of exhibition space, four main auditoria, seven conference rooms and many smaller rooms, and specialises in events for more than 1,000 delegates. Palexpo[1] will occupy five of its six levels.
Events listed include:
Inspirational Speakers
Interactive Zones
Knowledge village
Food Court
Live Entertainment
Academic Workshop ("will be run by a group of academics from leading UK universities")
Student Hub
Gallery
Shopping Quarter
On the surface, it might appear that this is merely a cultural event designed to give the British public a taste of Palestinian cooking, music, art, in particular, history (starting in 1948!). A closer examination, however, reveals something less pleasant. Underneath the surface, this exposition is dedicated to a presentation of Palestinian victimhood and "resistance" (read terrorism), the same "resistance" as in Israel, and on similar false pretexts.
In Israel, the false pretext is that Jews -- who have lived in Canaan and Judea for 3,000 years, as is substantiated by enough documentary and archaeological evidence to sink a supertanker -- are supposedly occupying "Palestinian land". In Europe, the false pretext is "revenge for colonialism", which has historically existed under the Muslims, in their conquests of Iran, the Byzantine Empire, North Africa and the Middle East, northern Cyprus, Spain and most of Eastern Europe. This expansion has continued in the present day to Lebanon, northern Cyprus, Indonesia, the Philippines and is working its way through Europe, Canada and Australia. The Europeans are evidently gullible enough, it seems, to swallow all pretexts without bothering to check any facts.
The Queen Elizabeth II Centre is the venue for the upcoming "Palestine Expo 2017", organized by the anti-Semitic pro-Hamas activist group, "Friends of Al-Aqsa". (Image source: Jdforrester/Wikimedia Commons)
Who has organized this massive upcoming London event? One might have expected it to be the Palestinian Mission of the UK (often treated erroneously as an embassy, as it claims to represent the "State of Palestine", which does not exist). However, although the Mission will probably be a participant in the exposition, a direct link for it cannot be found. The same is true for the West Bank's Palestinian Authority.
The organizers of the event are, in fact, a relatively small British organization, Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), founded in 1997 by a British optician, Ismail Patel, closely involved in several Islamic organizations such as the British Muslim Initiative (BMI). The BMI is a front group for Hamas, and has been for many years "the most active organization in the U.K Muslim Brotherhood". Patel was a spokesman for the BMI. And the BMI was the chief organizer of London's 2008 IslamExpo, which Britain's Minister of Communities and Local Government at the time, Hazel Blears, strongly criticized:
"It was clear that because of the views of some of the organisers, and because of the nature of some of the exhibitors, this was an event that no Minister should attend. Organisers like Anas al-Tikriti, who believes in boycotting Holocaust Memorial Day. Or speakers like Azzam Tamimi, who has sought to justify suicide bombing. Or exhibitors like the Government of Iran."
Friends of Al-Aqsa is, itself, an anti-Semitic pro-Hamas activist group. It helped establish in London the anti-Israel al-Quds Day events, in which extremists march to support the terror group Hizbullah and the theocratic Iranian regime that calls for England, Israel and America to be wiped from the pages of time.
Patel himself is an outspoken upholder of these values. In 2009, he addressed a Stop the Gaza Massacre demonstration in support of Hamas:
"Hamas is no terrorist organization. The reason they hate Hamas is because they refuse to be subjugated, occupied by the Israeli state, and we salute Hamas for standing up to Israel [...] to the state of Israel: you no longer represent the Jewish people."
Hamas has, in fact, been condemned as a terrorist group by the US, the UK, the EU countries, Egypt, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. Terrorism itself has been difficult to define legally, mostly because the countries that use it do not wish to define it; nevertheless, several countries have matching definitions. The British 2006 Terrorism Act provides a basic list of activities that constitute terrorism:
(1) In this Act "terrorism" means the use or threat of action where-
(a) the action falls within subsection (2),
(b) the use or threat is designed to influence the government or an international governmental organisation or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, and
(c) the use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.
(2) Action falls within this subsection if it-
(a) involves serious violence against a person,
(b) involves serious damage to property,
(c) endangers a person's life, other than that of the person committing the action,
(d) creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public, or
(e) is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system.
Section 1(3) to (5) goes on to expand on the effect and extent of this definition.
The Canadian Department of Justice definition reads in similar terms. Another definition also attributed to Canada reads:
"A terrorist is a man who murders indiscriminately, distinguishing neither between civilian and innocent and guilty nor soldier and civilian."
Under these definitions, Hamas is exposed as a terrorist organization both by its repeated use of indiscriminate killing and the contents of its two Charters from 1988: ("la hall li'l-qadiyya al-Filastiniyya illa bi'l-jihad -- There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except through jihad." Article 13) and 2017:
"Hamas confirms that no peace in Palestine should be agreed on, based on injustice to the Palestinians or their land. Any arrangements based on that will not lead to peace, and the resistance and Jihad will remain as a legal right, a project and an honor for all our nation's people." -- Article 21. (Emphasis added.)
Hamas is not the only extremist organization to which Friends of Al-Aqsa has lent its support. The outlawed Northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, which has close Hamas affiliations, is led by Shaykh Raed Salah. Salah has aided organizations that fund Hamas, and claims that Jews were behind the 9/11 attacks (and that 4,000 Jews stayed away from work at the World Trade Center that day). Salah has also called Osama Bin Laden a martyr, and has said that honor killings of young women are acceptable.
According to Tamar Pileggi:
"In late 2015, Israel banned the radical Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, accusing it of maintaining links to terror groups and of stoking a wave of violence that saw dozens of deaths in a spate of stabbing, car-ramming and shooting attacks."
Before that, in 2011, FOA along with other extremist groups brought Salah to the UK, despite a travel ban. When Salah was arrested and to be deported, Patel spoke out in support for him. But Salah had well before that delivered bloodcurdling sermons calling on Palestinians to become martyrs while attacking Israeli soldiers.
According to UK Media Watch:
"Friends of Al Aqsa" is one of the more extremist (sic) Islamist organizations at work in Britain today. It supports the Muslim Brotherhood-linked charity "Interpal" (proscribed by the US Treasury) and advertises it on its website. It collaborates with the Khomenist Iranian-funded faux human rights organization known as the Islamic Human Rights Commission in organizing events such as Al Quds day at which public support is expressed for the Iranian proxy militia Hizbollah.
For the Jewish community of the UK, Friends of Al-Aqsa and Patel represent a real threat. The group has published anti-Semitic authors. One, the journalist Khalid Amayreh, claimed that Jews control America, and that the Iraq war "was conceived in and planned by Israel through the mostly Jewish neocons in Washington". Another was the Jewish British self-declared Holocaust denier Paul Eisen, who runs the anti-Israel organization Deir Yassin Remembered. Friends of Al-Aqsa has also published material by Gilad Atzmon, who has accused the Jews of Germany of waging war against Hitler and has said of the Holocaust:
"The Holocaust became the new Western religion. Unfortunately, it [the Holocaust] is the most sinister religion known to man. It is a license to kill, to flatten, no nuke, to wipe, to rape, to loot and to ethnically cleanse. It made vengeance and revenge into a Western value."
Of the speakers listed for Palexpo, several are well-known for their pro-Hamas, anti-Israel and anti-Semitic views. Ilan Pappé of Exeter University is a highly radical and much-criticized historian who has called for the elimination of Israel and its replacement by a single Arab state.
John Pilger is an Australian journalist and film-maker, one of whose documentaries has been described as "a veritable encyclopedia of every anti-Israel canard in existence today". He has suggested that terrorist group Hezbollah represented "humanity at its noblest"; approvingly cited the arguments of the above-mentioned anti-Semite and Holocaust denier Gilad Atzmon; has suggested that "influential" Jews around the world are culpable in "Israeli crimes" and has likened Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to the Nazi's treatment of the Jews. According to Pilger , "the Zionist state remains the cause of more regional grievance and sheer terror than all the Muslim states combined."
Pilger has also asserted that "killing children seems like sport for the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]". His distortions are breathtaking. He has defended Hamas strenuously. Here, for example, he accuses his most hated countries, American and Israel, of distorting the truth:
"The majority [of Gazans] voted for the 'wrong' party, Hamas, which the U.S. and Israel, with their inimitable penchant for pot-calling-the-kettle-black, describe as terrorist."
He added the astonishing comment that, "Indeed, the vote for Hamas was actually a vote for peace" -- about an organization whose Charter declares that, as mentioned, "The only solution to the Palestinian question is through jihad".
Ben White is one of the UK's most extreme anti-Israel speakers and writers. In his eyes, Israel can do no right; the Palestinians, including Hamas, no wrong. He "writes extensively about what he terms 'Palestine/Israel' to the point of near obsession and was a regular contributor to [the Guardian's] 'Comment is Free' and the virulently anti-Israel 'Electronic Intifada'". Here is a list of quotations from his writings. He is a supporter of the anti-Jewish one-state solution and an ardent promoter of the fiction that Israel is an "apartheid state". He regularly downplays Hamas and Palestinian terrorism, and instead places all blame for violence on Israel.
Among other speakers with reputations for extremist views are Miko Peled, who regards the Israeli army as terrorists (despite international recognition of it as "the most moral army in the world"). His anti-Semitism became clear when, commenting on a US-Israel aid deal, he said:
"Then theyr [sic] surprised Jews have reputation 4being sleazy thieves. #apartheidisrael doesn't need or deserve these $$."
Peled has compared Israel to Nazi Germany and called for a Palestinian state to replace Israel.
Tariq Ramadan is a famous Egyptian-Swiss Muslim scholar, philosopher and writer closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood (he is the grandson of the Brotherhood's founder, Hasan al-Banna'). He is famous for duplicity and use of doublespeak.[2] He has donated money to the terrorist group Hamas, which is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, and he has been denied a visa to the United States for his links to Hamas. He "was barred under a section of the Patriot Act, which bars entry to foreigners who have used a 'position of prominence ... to endorse or espouse terrorist activity.'" He "has often been accused of being an Islamist, anti-Semitic, and sexist. He has drawn severe criticism from numerous Western public figures, ranging from scholars and journalists to political, religious, and community leaders".
The other speakers listed fall into similar categories as supporters of trying to destroy Israel through economic means, Palestinian "resistance" to Israel, and anti-Semitism.
Currently, Friends of Al-Aqsa and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign are planning to sue Jewish Human Rights Watch (JHRW) for libel, forcing the rights group to instruct lawyers to act in their defence. From the evidence presented here, JHRW could scarcely have a better case. Its appeal to the management of the Queen Elizabeth II Centre for the cancellation of a terror-linked event is entirely in line with British concerns about radical and terrorist ideologies, anti-Semitism, and international terrorism. Friends of Al-Aqsa, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, their supporters, and the various organizations to which they are linked, have never changed their beliefs regarding Israel, the Jewish people, or the West.
Dr Denis MacEoin PhD (Cambridge 1979) is a scholar of Islam and Persia, a former lecturer in Arabic and Islamic Studies and currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.
[1] Not to be confused with Geneva's Palexpo: Palais des Expositions et des Congrès
[2] See Caroline Fourest, Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan, New York, London, 2008 and Paul Berman Flight of the Intellectuals, NY and London, 2011, Chapter One. See also Christopher Hitchens here.
© 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.

Ramadan: "A Month of Great Conquests"
by Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/May 30/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10437/ramadan-conquests
"Ramadan has been not only a month of worship and of growing close to Allah the Almighty, but also a month of action and jihad aimed at spreading this great religion... throughout [Muslim] history, Ramadan has been a month of great conquests....". — 'Ali Gum'a, then Grand mufti of Egypt, Al-Ahram in July 2012.
"According to Islamic practice, sacrifice during Ramadan can be considered more valuable than that made at other times, so a call to martyrdom during the month may hold a special allure to some." — Report by the U.S. State Department-led Overseas Security Advisory Council, The Independent, June 9, 2016.
"Jihad in the Arabic language... means: ...striving... where the cause/objective is goodness & justice...Holy war [is] not an expression in the Qur'an: War is NEVER holy." — Anna Cole, 'inclusion specialist' for the UK Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), which represents more than 18,000 head teachers and college leaders.
"Our fight is Jihad and an obligatory worship. And every obligatory act of worship has 70 times more reward in Ramadan," said Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban, rejecting U.N.-led calls for halting hostilities during Ramadan.
ISIS also just released a YouTube message -- quoting the Quran -- urging its supporters to attack the "infidels... in their homes, their markets, their roads and their forums..."
"double your efforts and intensify your operations... Do not despise the work. Your targeting of the so-called innocents and civilians is beloved by us and the most effective, so go forth and may you get a great reward or martyrdom in Ramadan".
An article in the Ramadan issue of ISIS' Rumiyah magazine told readers to use the month of Ramadan to "maximise the benefit you receive on the day of judgement".
ISIS's call for increased jihad during the month of Ramadan is now a yearly occurrence. Last year, after an audio message by the ISIS spokesman at the time, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, calling on jihadists to "get prepared, be ready ... to make it a month of calamity everywhere for nonbelievers...especially for the fighters and supporters of the caliphate in Europe and America", the U.S. government warned citizens at home and abroad of an increased terrorist risk:
"According to Islamic practice, sacrifice during Ramadan can be considered more valuable than that made at other times, so a call to martyrdom during the month may hold a special allure to some."
This year, the day the Ramadan began, Friday, May 26, 2017, jihadists attacked a bus filled with Coptic Christians travelling to a monastery in Egypt, and murdered 29 of them. Ten of the victims were children; one, only two years old. A few days earlier, jihadists in the Philippines warmed up for Ramadan by murdering 14 Christians and wounding more than 50. The Muslim Abu Sayyaf group, linked to Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility. The day after the beginning of Ramadan, May 27, a Taliban suicide bomber murdered 18 people in Afghanistan, two of them children.
Smoke rises from the scene of fighting in Marawi city, southern Philippines, on May 30. The Philippine Army is fighting the Islamic Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the streets of the city. Abu Sayyaf murdered 14 Christians and wounded more than 50 in bombing attacks since Ramadan began on May 26. (Image source: Jes Aznar/Getty Images)
Ramadan in 2016 was one of the bloodiest in recent times. Estimates that at least 421 people were killed and 729 wounded in nearly 15 countries during that month alone. ISIS alone claimed to have killed or wounded more than 5,000 people, including the 49 people killed at a nightclub in Orlando, and 300 murdered in Baghdad.
Ramadan, evidently, is not only about religious spirituality and devotion. It appears to be also a month of jihad. In an article published in the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram in July 2012, then-Grand mufti of Egypt 'Ali Gum'a wrote:
"[Throughout the history of] Islamic civilization, Ramadan has been not only a month of worship and of growing close to Allah the Almighty, but also a month of action and jihad aimed at spreading this great religion... throughout [Muslim] history, Ramadan has been a month of great conquests, which were an important factor in spreading Islam, [with] its righteousness and tolerance, across the world..."
Gum'a then lists a number of battles that occurred during the month of Ramadan from the battle of Badr in 624 up until the 1973 Yom Kippur war, known in the Arab world as the Ramadan War.
In 2001, Egyptian cleric and Al-Azhar lecturer Dr. Fuad Mukheimar wrote, "The nation's fasting is [itself] education for jihad, and as long as the nation fasts it will continue to be a jihad fighter."
In 2012, a Muslim Brotherhood member, Hussein Shehata, a lecturer at Al-Azhar University -- considered the world's leading center for Sunni Islamic learning -- wrote:
"Fasting [during Ramadan] is one of the most powerful means to educate the human spirit for jihad. Fasting involves a spiritual effort to act in a way contrary to what is accepted, and to completely abandon desires... It also schools the Muslim in patience, resilience, endurance, and sacrifice, which are all traits of the jihad fighter... Ramadan is the month of victory for those who wage jihad for Allah. Ramadan has seen the following battles, conquests, and victories: the great Battle of Badr [624 CE],... the conquest of Mecca [630 CE]... We call upon those who fast... to remember their brothers, those who wage jihad for the sake of Allah: in Palestine, against the Jews, the descendants of apes and pigs; in Iraq, against the Americans; in Bosnia-Herzegovina, against the crusader Serbians; in Chechnya, against the Russians; in Kashmir, against the idolatrous Indians... everywhere in [the lands of] the Islamic ummah [community], against those who fight the Muslims".
Muslim Brotherhood General Guide Muhammad Badi' wrote on the movement's website in August 2012:
"Allah the Almighty wanted the [Ramadan] fast to coincide with fighting, so that the Muslims would win and deal their enemies a crushing blow... Allah did not mandate [the fast] of Ramadan so that [we] sit idly and avoid jihad, action, and da'wa for the sake of Allah... it is a month of action and movement, of conquests and victories -- the month in which most of the defeats of the nation's enemies occurred..."
In an unprecedented move, after the attack on Coptic Christians, Egypt cancelled its annual celebrations marking the beginning of Ramadan.
While jihadists wage war on the West during Ramadan, the West pretends that Ramadan is just another religious holiday of purely spiritual significance. Some in the West eagerly seek to accommodate the Ramadan. In the UK, for example, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), which represents more than 18,000 head teachers and college leaders, has recommended that schools accommodate students who observe Ramadan; guidelines were issued in a paper authored by the ASCL's 'inclusion specialist' Anna Cole.
The ASCL urges schools to move revision classes and to consider rescheduling sports days to accommodate the needs of Muslim pupils fasting for Ramadan. It also urges that schools "show sensitivity" when organizing graduation celebrations, and change physical exercise lesson plans to make sure that activities are "less strenuous". Schools are also asked to provide prayer rooms. Last year, efforts to move school exams because of Ramadan were stopped by British education authorities.
It needs to be noted that the ACSL has authored another pamphlet, also written by Anna Cole, 'Safeguarding children from extremism and radicalisation', which posits that, "ISIS is a "political ideology, which falsely portrays itself as being authentic Islam, which can be confusing to pupils whose understanding of Islam may be weak". According to the ACSL, jihad and holy wars are 'myths':
"Jihad in the Arabic language... means: ...striving... where the cause/objective is goodness & justice...Holy war [is] not an expression in the Qur'an: War is NEVER holy. In Islam war is either justified or not".
Accommodating Ramadan is nothing new in certain Swedish schools, where this has been a reality for years. In the Swedish city of Jönköping, an agreement between education officials in the municipality and local Muslim groups, ensuring special treatment for Muslim children, was allegedly in place already in 1994. In 2011, it was revised to include how schools should deal with Ramadan. The municipality was later reported to the national education authorities in Sweden; the charge was that the agreement legitimizes oppression and control over Muslim children.
Swedish diplomats are also eager to accommodate Ramadan. In May, they caused a small Facebook storm among Swedish users when they announced that they had moved the national holiday celebrations at their general consulate in Jerusalem, scheduled for June 6, forward to May in order to avoid a 'clash' with the Ramadan.
How many more people will be murdered in the name of jihad this Ramadan, while the West refuses even to know what it means?
**Judith Bergman is a writer, columnist, lawyer and political analyst.
© 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.

Syria’s Kurds Work All the Angles for Autonomy
Noah Feldman/Bloomberg/May 30/17
It’s an idea that Syria, Russia and the US all might be willing to tolerate. Turkey however … Outside the headlines, something remarkable is going on in Syria. The Kurds, making a long-term play for an autonomous region, seem to have decided that their best bet is to buy it from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. And the US is signaling that it may be on-board — a startling reflection of its pro-Russian, anti-Turkish policy.
The evidence for this reading of events starts with the upcoming fight for Raqqa, the headquarters of ISIS. The so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, an umbrella group of fighters dominated by the Syrian Kurdish force known as the YPG, has reportedly gotten the green light to go ahead not only from the US but also from Assad and Russia.
This is significant because of the apparent plan for Raqqa if the Kurdish-led force succeeds in taking it. The expectation is that the town will be turned over to a local council — which will in turn reconcile with Assad and offer sovereignty back to his regime.
What’s in it for the Syrian Kurds, who began the war by taking part in the anti-Assad uprising?
The most likely answer is that the Syrian Kurds hope to get a quid pro quo from Assad. The only outcome that is desirable to them and also potentially acceptable to Assad is an autonomous or semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Syria.
The idea of Kurdish autonomy was floated back in December 2016 in a Russian draft constitution for post-war Syria. In March, a Kurdish-dominated group made noises about actually declaring an autonomous regional government in territory taken from ISIS.
The precedent for such an arrangement comes from Iraq. There, the autonomous region effectively created by the US with the no-fly zone during Bill Clinton’s administration endured into the construction of the new Iraq after the George W. Bush administration’s invasion. It’s now part of the Iraqi constitution.
Syria’s Kurds must be looking to the Iraqi model — and hoping Assad will, too.
Assad won’t want to give up sovereignty of Syrian territory any more than Iraqi leaders wanted to give autonomy to Iraqi Kurds. But like the Iraqi Arabs, Assad may have no choice. He’s desperate for allies to help him regain territory. And the Syrian Kurds are eager to gain territory themselves.
In a twist that could happen only in the Middle East, the Syrian Kurds are simultaneously useful to the US, which is desperate to show that ISIS can be defeated. The Kurds are just about the only ground force willing and able to take on the militant group in Syria. As a result Donald Trump’s administration, which is arming the YPG, seems to have decided to endorse the Raqqa turnover plan.
That’s a flip from 2016, when Barack Obama’s administration indicated that it didn’t support Syrian Kurdish autonomy.
That puts the Syrian Kurds in the strong position of having the support of Syria and its ally Russia, and also the US. It is noteworthy that the US and Russia are thus in effect cooperating to restore territory to Assad.
The only major regional player who strongly opposes Syrian Kurdish ambitions is Turkey.
Turkey considers Syria’s YPG far too close to the PKK, the Kurdish rebel group (and sometime terrorists) that has for many years fought for Kurdish rights and maybe autonomy within Turkey itself. And it is definitely not in Turkey’s interests for a Kurdish autonomous region to appear in Syria in parallel to the one in Iraq, which the Turks also initially opposed. The strong implication would be that such an area should come into existence in Turkey.
Yet Turkey has no leverage over Assad, whom it has opposed since the uprising against him began.
And Turkey has little pull right now with the US, its traditional NATO ally. That’s not really because of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s slide toward dictatorship, which hasn’t aroused much ire from the Trump administration. It’s more that the US has an ongoing interest in defeating ISIS — and has, it would seem, largely abandoned the goal of removing Assad, whatever the administration has been saying since bombing Syrian targets after Assad’s poison gas attack.
Will the whole Syrian Kurdish initiative to get autonomy from Assad work out? The plan rests on a series of gambles, to be sure. Everyone is using the Kurds, and they surely know it.
In Assad’s ideal world, he would wait until he had regained as much territory as he could on the basis of Kurdish efforts, then renege on the idea of autonomy. The Kurds realize this. Their bet must be that Assad won’t be strong enough on his own to take back whatever autonomy he’s given — or that their autonomy will become part of an end-game deal that is backed by the US and Russia.
The US has no particular reason to support the Syrian Kurds after ISIS is defeated. But perhaps the Kurds reason, plausibly, that the US will want a weakened Assad as part of any final bargain. Kurdish autonomy would contribute to the weakness of the Syrian government. Of course, Russia will want a strong Syria for the same reason the US will want a weak one.
What almost certainly won’t emerge from all this is a unified Kurdistan across the Iraq-Syria frontier. Kurdish unity has always been an elusive goal. The Iraqi Kurds have drawn close to Turkey over the last decade, essentially abandoning the PKK in exchange for a stronger relationship with a neighbor more stable than the Baghdad government. They might not even support a YPG-led autonomous region, much less seek to join with it.
If all this sounds impossibly arcane, that’s because it is. In the Middle East, the line between fantasy and political reality can be dangerously thin, because real people act on the basis of their expectations. Fantasy can become real — albeit not always in a good way.