LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
July 06/17
Compiled &
Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For Today
What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what
you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10/27-33/:"What I say to
you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from
the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows
sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by
your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be
afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. ‘Everyone therefore who
acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in
heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father
in heaven."
I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who
fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him
Acts of the Apostles 10/23b-27.34-43/:"So Peter invited them in and gave them
lodging. The next day he got up and went with them, and some of the believers
from Joppa accompanied him. The following day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius
was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. On
Peter’s arrival Cornelius met him, and falling at his feet, worshipped him. But
Peter made him get up, saying, ‘Stand up; I am only a mortal.’ And as he talked
with him, he went in and found that many had assembled; Then Peter began to
speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every
nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You
know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus
Christ he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in
Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and
healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are
witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to
death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed
him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as
witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He
commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained
by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him
that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his
name.’"
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis &
editorials from miscellaneous sources published on July 05-06/17
The Lebanese Army sent its cadets to visit a
terrorist organization/Roger Bejjani/Face Book./July 05/17
Hezbollah threatens to bring insurgents to Lebanon/Diana Moukalled/ArabNews/July
04/ 2017
Hezbollah taking Israeli war mongers seriously/Alex Fishman/Ynetnews/July 04/17
Is it Still Possible to Coexist with the Tehran Regime/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al
Awsat/July 05/17
Is Radical Islam Horrifying the West into Paralysis/Giulio Meotti/Gatestone
Institute/July 05/17
FIFA Supporting Terrorism/A. Z. Mohamed/Gatestone Institute/July 05/17
End the False Israeli-Palestinian Parity/Daniel Pipes/Israel Hayom/July 05/17
Government directives not enough when it comes to traffic in Baghdad/Adnan
Hussein/Al Arabiya/July 05/17
Who propagates the Qatari terminology/Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/July 05/17
Titles For Latest
Lebanese Related News published on
July 05-06/17
The Lebanese Army sent its cadets to
visit a terrorist organization
Aoun: Refugees Encampments Could Turn into Safe Haven for Terrorism
100 Cleared of Terror Suspicions, Militants Shelled as Jihadist Escapes Bomb
Key Powers Fail to Nail Down Syria Safe Zones Plan
Calls for Probe after Syrians Die in Lebanese Army Custody
Govt. Throws Support behind Army as Disagreements Prevent Decision on Refugees
Suspects Arrested in Army Raids in Bekaa
Report: LF Has a Plan for Return of Displaced Syrians
Lebanon’s Mustaqbal: Nasrallah’s Attack against Saudi Arabia Paves Way to Strife
Lebanon’s Hariri, Arslan Stress Need to Finalize Issue of Internally Displaced
Hezbollah threatens to bring insurgents to Lebanon
Hezbollah taking Israeli war mongers seriously
Titles For Latest
LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
July 05-06/17
Canada unreservedly condemns North Korea’s missile launch
U.N. Political Chief in Kuwait to Discuss Gulf Crisis
Saudi Arabia Says Qatar Boycott to Remain in Place
Qatar Urges 'Dialogue', Says Rivals Trying to Undermine Its 'Sovereignty'
Saudi-Led Bloc Slams Qatar 'Subversive Role', Regrets 'Negative Response' to
Demands
Macron Seeks to Ease Syria Opposition Fears by Meeting HNC Chief
US-Backed Forces Face Fierce IS Resistance in Raqa Old City
Iraq’s Sadr Asks Barzani to Postpone Kurdish Referendum
Suleimani Responds to Rouhani’s Attack against IRGC
Saudi Interior Ministry: Martyrdom of Security Man in Explosive Projectile
Trump Heads into Stormy G20 Summit as N. Korea Tensions Rise
Hamas Says Egypt Ready to Help Gaza
Israel Slams UNESCO Vote that Calls It 'Occupying Power'
PA Forces Thousands of Gazan Employees into Early Retirement
Greek Orthodox Chyrch Sells Lerusalm Land To Anonymous
Venezuela Loyalists Storm Congress, Beat Lawmakers
Latest Lebanese
Related News published on
July 05-06/17
The Lebanese Army sent its cadets
to visit a terrorist organization
Roger Bejjani/Face Book./July 05/17
The Lebanese Army sent its cadets to visit a terrorist organization (as referred
to by most of the world including Gulf states) in the midst of the Qatari crisis
and in the aftermath of the KSA clear and declared leadership in its fight
against Iran influence/expansion in the region.
This moronic useless visit:
1. May bring KSA to write off Lebanon as they wrote off Qatar. Which would be
synonymous of a silver bullet that will wipe out Lebanon economically and
financially.
2. Will give an excuse for Israel during the next unavoidable war to treat the
army the same way they treat the terrorists.
The person who ordered the visit is either total idiot or a plotter who wants to
destroy Lebanon.
Aoun: Refugees Encampments
Could Turn into Safe Haven for Terrorism
Naharnet/July 05/17/President Michel Aoun warned on Wednesday that the
encampments of displaced Syrians in Lebanon could turn into a safe haven for
terrorism, hailing the military and security forces efforts in fighting
terrorism. Aoun's comments came during a cabinet meeting at the Presidential
Palace in Baabda. He also noted that revenues at the Customs Department had
increased %6.4 within an 80-day period of time compared to last year, knowing
that imports have dwindled by %15. The President also urged political parties to
refrain from useless rhetoric. Turning to the judicial authorities, he urged
them to “assume a key role to end the rampant security chaos and to coordinate
efforts with the security forces to that end.”"The state's image can only be
protected through measures," he stressed.
On a different note, Aoun called for firmer measures to curb the violations of
public maritime properties.
100 Cleared of Terror Suspicions, Militants Shelled as
Jihadist Escapes Bomb
Naharnet/July 05/17/The army on Wednesday cleared 100 detainees held in the
latest Arsal raids of terror suspicions, as it bombed militant posts in the
outskirts of the northeastern border town. “Following interrogations, 15 Syrian
detainees were freed while 85 others were referred to the General Directorate of
General Security for entering Lebanon illegally,” an army statement said. The
100 men were detained in a sweeping security raid last week in refugee
settlements in and around Arsal that netted 355 Syrians. Troops were met with a
string of suicide attacks and grenades during the raid, which resulted in the
wounding of seven soldiers and the death of a Syrian girl.On Tuesday, the army
announced that four of the detainees had died in its custody due to “chronic
health problems aggravated by weather conditions.” The announcement sparked
swift allegations that the four Syrian men were tortured to death, particularly
after images emerged depicting a body with a bruised neck and bloody
face.Separately, a senior official of the jihadist group Fateh al-Sham Front,
Abu Khaled al-Talli, escaped a bomb blast in the vicinity of the al-Malahi area
in Arsal's outskirts, media reports said. Also on Wednesday, the army fired
heavy weapons at militant posts in Arsal's outskirts.Militants from Fateh
al-Sham and the rival Islamic State group are entrenched in the town's outskirts
and other areas on the Lebanese-Syrian border. The army regularly shells their
posts while Hizbullah and the Syrian army have engaged in clashes with them on
the Syrian side of the border. The two groups overran Arsal in 2014 before being
ousted after days of deadly battles. They also abducted more than 30 troops and
policemen of whom four were executed and nine remain in IS captivity.
Key Powers Fail to Nail Down Syria Safe Zones Plan
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 05/17/Powerbrokers Russia, Turkey and Iran
failed Wednesday to iron out the details of four safe zones in war-torn Syria
after two days of peace talks in Kazakhstan. Moscow and Tehran, which back
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and rebel supporter Ankara agreed in May to
establish four "de-escalation" zones in a potential breakthrough after more than
six years of fighting that has claimed more than 320,000 lives. While fighting
dropped off in the weeks after the deal, it has since returned in several areas,
and the international players have yet to agree the exact boundaries of the
zones or determine who will police them. Chief Russian negotiator Alexander
Lavrentiev said seven documents outlining how the zones should work "need
finalizing" despite being "essentially agreed" between the three key
powerbrokers in Astana. "We have not yet managed directly to establish the
de-escalation zones," Lavrentiev said, insisting however that "de-facto" safe
zones already exist on the ground. Lavrentiev said that the borders of two zones
-- covering rebel-held parts of Homs province and Eastern Ghouta near Damascus
-- have been agreed in principle. One major stumbling block appears to be over
who will ensure security in all four areas, with Turkey and Iran in particular
reportedly wrangling to bolster their influence. Lavrentiev said that it had
been agreed that Russian military police carrying light weapons would be
involved in patrolling buffer areas around some of the zones. He also accepted
that a zone meant to cover swathes of southern Syria would likely need to
involve the United States and Jordan in some capacity. A source close to the
Syrian rebel delegation that attended the talks told AFP that they would refuse
a proposal to have Iran monitor the safe zone in central Homs province.
Turkish and Russian forces are likely to be deployed in the northern
de-escalation zone's "buffer territory, separating the opposition and regime" in
parts of Idlib and neighboring Aleppo province, the source suggested. The lack
of progress shows how tough the going has been for Moscow as it pushes the
Astana talks in a bid to turn its game-changing intervention on the side of
Assad into a concerted push to pacify Syria.
More meetings
A working group of experts from Russia, Iran and Turkey is set to meet in Tehran
on August 1-2 to try to thrash out the details, before another round of meetings
in Astana later that month. The talks in Astana have largely seen the West
sidelined, but they are intended to complement broader political negotiations
the United Nations is backing in Geneva, which are due to restart next week.
Talking in Astana, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said there had been
"small progress" in the work on de-escalating the conflict and called for
"progress on the political side."Russia has argued the zones agreement will
provide moderate rebels with security and help focus attacks against jihadist
groups such as former al-Qaida affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front and the Islamic
State group. Moscow on Wednesday flexed its muscles on the ground by firing a
barrage of its latest X-101 cruise missiles at IS targets in Syria from
strategic bombers. Russia's defense ministry said the strikes had destroyed
three jihadist arms depots and a command post on the border between Homs and
Hama provinces.
Calls for Probe after Syrians Die in Lebanese Army Custody
Agence France Presse/Associated Press/Naharnet/July 05/17/A Syrian opposition
group and international and local human rights organizations on Wednesday called
for a quick investigation into the death of four Syrians in Lebanese army
custody. The four were detained in a sweeping security raid last week in refugee
settlements in and around the border town of Arsal that netted 355 Syrians. The
Lebanese military, in a statement issued Tuesday, said four of those detained
were already suffering from "chronic health illnesses" that were eventually
"aggravated by weather conditions." They were transferred to a hospital for
medical treatment immediately after their arrest last Friday, but they passed
away, the army added. The announcement sparked swift allegations that the four
Syrian men were tortured to death, particularly after images emerged depicting a
body with a bruised neck and bloody face. Human Rights Watch and Lebanese NGO
LIFE called for a full investigation to determine the circumstances behind the
four deaths. "We are urging a formal, transparent and independent investigation,
and in the case of wrongdoing, holding those responsible for the deaths to
account," said Lama Fakih, HRW's deputy director of the Middle East and North
Africa. "We have previously documented accounts from individuals tortured or
abused in the custody of army personnel. We are continuing to urge that these
allegations be taken seriously," she told the AFP news agency. Lawyer Nabil
Halabi also called on Lebanese authorities "to conduct a fair, serious
investigation based on autopsies to show the real reason for the deaths."Halabi,
who heads the Lebanese Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (LIFE), said
there were indications as many as 10 refugees had died under torture. The Syrian
National Coalition, a Turkey-based opposition group, also called for an
investigation, claiming that at least 10 detained Syrians had died in Lebanese
custody following last week's raid and alleged that Lebanese authorities were
rushing the funerals without carrying out autopsies to determine the cause of
death.
In Arsal on Wednesday, Syrian refugees blocked a road to prevent the return of
the bodies of the four for burial, demanding that autopsies take place first.
But the town mayor ordered they be taken to the local cemetery, a refugee from
the Syrian town of Qusayr told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of
anonymity because of his precarious legal status in Lebanon. According to photos
seen by the AP, two of the bodies showed heavy bruising on the face and abdomen
— which human rights lawyer Halabi said was consistent with beatings. Mayor
Bassel al-Hujeiri denied interfering with the ambulances, insisting the army
controls traffic in and out of Arsal. The army over the weekend dismissed
allegations of abuse, saying mass detentions were necessary to combat terrorism.
There was no immediate response from the military to accusations that followed
the deaths. Lebanon is home to more than a million refugees fleeing the conflict
in neighboring Syria, many of whom live in informal tent settlements. On Friday,
Lebanese soldiers stormed two refugee camps near Arsal, but were met with a
string of suicide attacks and grenades. They carried out a wave of arrests in
the wake of the explosions, which killed one girl and wounded seven soldiers.
Govt. Throws Support behind Army as Disagreements Prevent
Decision on Refugees
Naharnet/July 05/17/The Council of Ministers on Wednesday threw
its support behind the army in connection with the latest operation in the
eastern border town of Arsal, as it failed to take any decision regarding the
issue of returning Syrian refugees to their country due to heated debates and
conflicting viewpoints. “The Cabinet stressed its support and appreciation of
the army and its preemptive operation in pursuit of terrorists, underlining that
any voice questioning the army's credibility is rejected,” Information Minister
Melhem Riachi told reporters after the session. The army's treatment of
detainees after the Arsal operation has sparked fierce controversy in Lebanon
and among the ranks of the Syrian opposition, particularly after images emerged
of security forces apparently detaining dozens of refugees and an army
announcement that four detainees had died due to “chronic health problems
aggravated by weather conditions.”Some activists have also claimed that the
number of deaths is higher than that announced by the army, publishing pictures
of dead bodies apparently carrying torture marks. An army statement had said
that seven soldiers were wounded and a Syrian girl was killed Friday when five
militants detonated suicide vests and grenades during an army raid on two Syrian
refugee encampments near Arsal. The raids were aimed at "arresting terrorists
and seizing weapons," the army said. As for the thorny issue of returning Syrian
refugees to so-called safe zones in Syria, Prime Minister Saad Hariri noted
during the Cabinet session that “communication with the Syrian regime is a
controversial issue, stressing the government's desire that the Syrian refugees
be returned home as soon as possible,” Riachi said. “But we consider that the
United Nations' responsibility and we had agreed upon the formation of the
government to keep aside political disputes,” Riachi quoted Hariri as saying.
And as the Cabinet failed to take any decision on the issue, President Michel
Aoun intervened to put an end to a heated debate over the file between the
ministers Michel Pharaon and Ali Qansou.
“We will not talk to a government of criminals and the solution should be
through the U.N.,” Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh had announced prior to the
session.
The session also witnessed another clash between Justice Minister Salim
Jreissati and Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq over the issue of alleged
interference in the work of the judiciary, especially regarding the release of
dozens of detainees held on celebratory gunfire charges. Industry Minister
Hussein al-Hajj Hassan of Hizbullah meanwhile requested a list of the names of
the detainees who were allegedly released due to political pressures and the
Cabinet asked Jreissati to submit a report on the issue within 15 days.
Separately, Masnhouq announced that a date will be set next week for
parliamentary by-elections to fill the Tripoli and Keserwan vacant seats, noting
that such a decree does not require a Cabinet resolution. Deputy Premier and
Health Minister Ghassan Hasbani of the Lebanese Forces meanwhile noted that a
Cabinet resolution on the electricity file was not “forged” and that “one word
was rather added to it.”Prior to the session, Riachi had told reporters that “a
solution for the refugees crisis can only be reached through the United
Nations.”He was referring to suggestions made by other political parties, mainly
Hizbullah, to coordinate the return of the displaced with the Syrian government.
The demand was strongly rejected by other political camps mainly al-Mustaqbal
Movement.
Hasbani said: “We are committed to what has been agreed upon with the
international community and to ensure the safe areas where the displaced can
return.”Qansou for his part said: “Communicating with the Syrian government is
the the shortest way to address the file.”As for the electricity file, Public
Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos lamented the confusion surrounding
it and said: “The Lebanese can sense a kind of deal (behind the electricity file
plan).”He was referring to the electricity plan suggested by Free Patriotic
Movement Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil. Kanaan: Wage Scale Approval is a
National Duty, Refugees Return a Must for Lebanon's Stability. Change and Reform
bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan stressed that the long-awaited wage scale was a right for
the civil servants, and emphasized that the return of displaced Syrians home is
a must for Lebanon's stability, the National News Agency reported on Wednesday.
The MP called for political action to protect the salary scale from “outbids,”
stressing “this is a national cause,” and that it must not be used as a “means
to gain popularity.”"Granting the public sector its right is a duty," stressed
Kanaan. Turning to the file of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, he said: “Our goal is
that they return back to their country, and we must take any route to secure
this return,” pointing out that Lebanon's annual losses as the result amounts to
$7 million. He said that solving the displacement crisis would protect Lebanon's
stability and economy, “demanding a solution must not be considered sectarian
but a national demand requiring everyone's cooperation to achieve.” On the state
budget, he indicated that the endorsement of the budget would pave the way for
the sought reforms, as well as for further fight of corruption.
"Lebanon is the sole country where stability prevails, amid a war-torn
neighborhood. This is why we must preserve our country by building the state of
reforms and partnership," he concluded.
Suspects Arrested in Army Raids in Bekaa
Naharnet/July 05/17/Lebanon's army on Wednesday arrested two suspects and seized
narcotics in the Bekaa town of al-Knaiseh, the National News Agency said. Early
on Wednesday, the army staged raids in al-Knaiseh northwest of Baalbek arresting
two wanted fugitives and a mass of narcotics, NNA said. The army's arrests come
in line with its crackdown on militants and fugitives after it staged a string
of security raids in Baalbek and other Lebanese regions.
Report: LF Has a Plan for Return of Displaced Syrians
Naharnet/July 05/17/A plan for Syrian refugees in Lebanon to return to their
homeland has been prepared by the Lebanese Forces who stressed that coordination
between the Lebanese and Syrian governments to that end must never happen, al-Joumhouria
daily said on Wednesday. Lebanese Forces sources told the daily that raising the
issue of coordination between the two governments must be drawn out from
circulation “the subject is highly controversial. This proposal restores
national divisions. There is no possibility of dialogue on this point. In our
point of view the Syrian government does not exist.”
The sources said the Syrian regime is trying to “legitimize itself through the
Lebanese gate” by raising the issue of refugees “mainly that it has lost its
Arab, International and Syrian legitimacy.” “We can never negotiate with a state
that has been isolated at the Arab, International and Syrian levels, not to
mention that the Syrian government is to blame for their displacement,” they
added. The sources remarked that “Lebanon was very keen to provide shelter,
peace and safety for the refugees, and is keen today for their safe return home.
The Lebanese government must assume its responsibility and ask the United
Nations to implement the decision on the ground in Syria by placing them in safe
zones.”“It is time they return home,” affirmed the sources and added “We are
preparing a plan for their return that will be discussed during the cabinet
meeting.”In June, over 400 Syrian refugees residing in the northeastern Lebanese
border town of Arsal returned to Syria. Nearly half a million displaced Syrians
have returned to their homes since the beginning of the year, mainly to find
family members and check on property, the UN refugee agency had said.Since
January, about 440,000 people who had been displaced within the war-ravaged
country had returned to their homes, mainly in Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus,
Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the agency, known as the UNHCR, told reporters
in Geneva. In addition, around 31,000 refugees in neighboring countries had also
returned, he said, bringing to 260,000 the number of refugees who have returned
to the country since 2015. Lebanon, a country of just four million people, hosts
more than one million refugees who fled the conflict that has ravaged
neighboring Syria since 2011. The influx has put added strain on Lebanon's
already frail water, electricity and school networks. The World Bank says the
Syrian crisis has pushed an estimated 200,000 Lebanese into poverty, adding to
the nation's one million poor.
Lebanon’s Mustaqbal: Nasrallah’s Attack against Saudi
Arabia Paves Way to Strife
Beirut – The Lebanese Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc of Prime Minister Saad Hariri
condemned on Tuesday the latest remarks by “Hezbollah” leader Hassan Nasrallah
against Saudi Arabia, its policy and officials, warning that they may negatively
impact Lebanon. The bloc said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “We
strongly condemn the attack by Nasrallah against Saudi Arabia and a number of
Arab countries, which may pave the way to strife in Lebanon and the
region.”“Nasrallah’s televised appearances have become a bad omen in that they
create tensions and negativity in the country and among the Lebanese people,” it
went on to say after the meeting that was chaired by former PM Fouad Saniora.
“His remarks negatively affect the people’s interests and livelihood, especially
in wake of the difficult economic situation in the country,” it added. On
Nasrallah’s statements that Lebanon will be turned into an arena for foreign
fighters should Israel wage a new war against it, the Mustaqbal bloc said: “Such
stances eliminate the view of the Lebanese people.”“His unilateral and arrogant
stances eliminate the role of the state and its sovereignty,” it stressed in
condemning his declaration. “Nasrallah is continuing to disregard the will of
the Lebanese people, who do not want Lebanon to become embroiled in regional
conflicts,” said the bloc. “He is placing his will and interests and the
interests of Iran above those of the Lebanese people. He is leading the country
towards becoming an open ground where he can bring in whoever he wants or
whoever he is ordered to summon,” it noted. “The invitation of fighters and
mercenaries from across the globe is a flagrant violation of the Lebanese
constitution and laws,” emphasized the Musatqbal bloc.
Lebanon’s Hariri, Arslan Stress Need to Finalize Issue of
Internally Displaced
Asharq Al-Awsat/July 05/17 Beirut – Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri met on
Tuesday with Minister for Displaced Talal Arslan to address the means to
finalize the issue of the internally displaced people in Mount Lebanon and the
formation of a working group to study the pending cases. In remarks following
the meeting, Arslan said: “We discussed the issue of the displaced, especially
since the Mountain is the cornerstone of the stability of the country.”He noted
however that the way the state is dealing with this issue “is unacceptable”. “My
duty and the duty of the state is to give people their rights. I have full
confidence in Hariri, who cares about the rights of the people, because the
subject needs to be treated in all of its details,” he added. Arslan continued:
“We cannot distinguish between the residents of the villages, regardless of
their sects. The file of the displaced should be treated as the file of the
Lebanese state with all of its components. We must pay attention to the issue of
the migration of residents from villages to cities due to the lack of
development at all levels.”“It is embarrassing that 27 years after the end of
the war, we continue to form governments that include a ministry for displaced
affairs,” he remarked. He added that he agreed with Hariri to hold a meeting to
discuss all the details of the file and form a working group for this purpose
“to see what can be done to give people their rights”. Also on Tuesday, the
prime minister received at the Grand Serail Russian Ambassador to Lebanon
Alexander Zasypkin. In remarks following the meeting, the Russian ambassador
said: “I delivered to Hariri an official invitation from Russian Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev to visit Moscow. The date will be set soon. We also discussed
ways to develop bilateral relations, political dialogue as well as economic,
cultural and military cooperation between the two countries.”
Hezbollah threatens to bring insurgents to Lebanon
Diana Moukalled/ArabNews/July 04/ 2017
Will we soon see on the streets and borders of Lebanon tens of thousands of
fighters from Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan? This is what
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah promised in his latest speech in the context
of a confrontation with Israel.
Israel does not underestimate his words, but a number of its generals have
rightfully noted that the Lebanese-Israeli border has been calm for 11 years,
which is unprecedented. This does not mean Israel does not take Nasrallah’s
words seriously, but referencing the calm border despite regional chaos suggests
this threat targets Lebanon primarily, not Israel.
Lebanon’s government acted as if Nasrallah had never uttered those words, but
commentators responded angrily on Twitter and Facebook. But in reality, what can
the government’s position be when Hezbollah is part of it? Is the government
able to reject the arrival of thousands of insurgents?
In reality, what can the government’s position be when Hezbollah is part of it?
Is the government able to reject the arrival of thousands of insurgents?
There is a bitter awareness and acknowledgement that the state has been stripped
of its sovereignty. Nasrallah’s words may be purely rhetorical as usual, and may
be in line with the path Hezbollah initiated in Syria, where it prepared
numerous militias. Perhaps his threat to transfer to Lebanon Shiite militias of
various nationalities that are fighting in Syria comes in the context of Iran’s
agenda and its assessment of the post-Daesh period.
• Diana Moukalled is a veteran journalist with extensive experience in both
traditional and new media. She is also a columnist and freelance documentary
producer. Twitter @dianamoukalled
Hezbollah taking Israeli war mongers seriouslyحزب الله يأخذ بجدية الدعوات
الإسرائيلية للحرب
Alex Fishman/Ynetnews/July 04/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=56779
Analysis: Even when Defense Minister Lieberman declares that Israel has no
intention of launching a war in Lebanon, Nasrallah doesn’t believe him. He
prefers to listen to the underground streams in the defense establishment and in
the government, which are pushing for an attack as soon as possible.
In recent weeks, Hezbollah has raised its alert level on the Israel-Lebanon
border and somewhat boosted its forces in the area. There is no change in
interest or policy behind this move. There has been no military provocation
either.
What stirred Hezbollah into action are the reports in Israel about an impending
war in the summer. That’s the reason for the alertness, for the boosted forces
and mainly for the intensive intelligence gathering along the fence. In light of
the comments in Israel, Hezbollah believes that the IDF will take advantage of
the organization’s wide deployment in Syria—which has forced it to reduce its
forces in southern Lebanon—to attack.
Even when Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman declares, as he did Sunday in a
press briefing with military correspondents, that Israel has no intention of
launching a war—neither in Lebanon nor in Gaza—they don’t believe him. Hezbollah
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who considers himself an expert on the state
of mind in Israel, prefers to listen to the underground streams in the defense
establishment and in the government, which are pushing for an attack as soon as
possible rather than waiting for an agreement in Syria.
Nasrallah prefers, for example, to believe the covert feelings of an Israeli
commander on the border line, who has warned that the fence Israel is building
on the border will draw Hezbollah fire in the summer. That commander likely
doesn’t understand that every word that comes out of his mouth is perceived by
the other side as an Israeli government policy rather than as his own evaluation
of the situation. The same applies to the leaks and thoughts of ministers, who
wish to tease the defense minister and explain to him what should be done
against the arming going on in Lebanon. The other side is taking them seriously.
For a war to break out in Lebanon in the foreseeable future, a dramatic change
must take place. If Israel inflicts irreversible damage on the Iranian interest,
the Iranians will instruct Hezbollah to attack. A Hezbollah armament that
violates Israel’s “red lines”—chemical weapons, for example—will be seen as an
invitation for war too. All other parameters, including Hezbollah’s weapon
factories in Lebanon, are not a cause for a war. They can be dealt with covertly
while keeping a low media profile.
The war plans, on both sides of the border, are ready and have been exercised.
There is only one component which lacks a good solution, and which both sides
are afraid of, and which is basically the war mongers’ main obstacle: The
millions of citizens here and there. While Israel’s preparations for handling
the population at a time of war are far more developed than Lebanon’s, Israeli
officials understand that evacuating hundreds of thousands of people is a
complicated logistic operation that will leave many citizens in the north under
fire.
There are some one million residents living in southern Lebanon, who will have
no escape in case of a war. Most of them live in about 270 villages and towns
that serve as military bases for all intents and purposes, and are therefore
seen as legitimate targets for an Israeli strike. Hezbollah members live in
those villages, alongside the organization’s obstacles, antitank missiles,
explosive devices, mines, rockets, intelligence bases and control headquarters.
Each of these villages means dozens of hundreds of targets. Israel has doubled
its arsenal of accurate weapons, mainly from the air, to prevent environmental
damage, but in light of such a large number of targets and the planned intensity
of the Israeli attacks, it won’t be a sterile war. Entire areas will be
destroyed.
In Operation Accountability, in 1993, Israel built an “intimidation plan” aimed
at scaring off the population to Beirut, in a bid to pressure the Lebanese
government. Today, we’re not dealing with leverages but with a fast destruction
of targets. The population won’t have time to flee. Thousands of citizens on the
Lebanese side will be hurt. Not only will Israel have to answer to the
international community and to itself about massive damage to the population,
Hezbollah will have to answer to the population in Lebanon.
Neither side feels like starting a war, but flexing muscles is a different
story. And this is where the danger lies: The loaded gun has been on the table
for 10 years now. There is a very short distance between misreading the map to
uncontrolled unsheathing. Nowhere is this demonstrated more clearly that than
what happened in the Second Lebanon War and Operation Protective Edge.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
July 05-06/17
Canada unreservedly condemns
North Korea’s missile launch
July 4, 2017 - Ottawa, Canada -
Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the
following statement:
“Canada unreservedly condemns North Korea’s ongoing ballistic missile tests,
which are a direct threat to regional and international peace and security, and
continues to underline the need for a unified international response.
“The provocative July 4 launch, which North Korea claims is an intercontinental
ballistic missile, further demonstrates the regime’s flagrant disregard for its
international obligations.
“We call upon North Korea to cease these provocations and immediately and
verifiably abandon its ballistic missile program.
“Canada will continue its steadfast support for South Korea, Japan and other
partners in the region—as well as international efforts to resolve the
proliferation of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. In this
regard, we encourage further efforts to enhance peace and security in the
Asia-Pacific region.”
U.N. Political Chief in
Kuwait to Discuss Gulf Crisis
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 05/17/The U.N.'s political chief, Jeffrey
Feltman, is in Kuwait for talks on ending the diplomatic crisis between Qatar
and its Gulf neighbors, a spokesman said Wednesday. The senior U.N. envoy
stepped in as Arab states vowed to maintain their boycott of the emirate,
jointly criticizing its "negative" response to their list of demands to end the
crisis. Saudi Arabia and its allies the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain
were meeting Wednesday in Cairo one month after they severed ties with Qatar,
accusing Doha of supporting extremism. Their list of 13 demands includes Doha
ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood, closing Al-Jazeera, downgrading
diplomatic ties with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base in the
emirate. Feltman, who is U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs, "is
there currently to discuss with a broad range of interlocutors the ongoing
crisis in the region and other conflicts," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres dispatched Feltman to the Gulf after
meeting with Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani
last week. Feltman arrived in Kuwait from the United Arab Emirates and will
travel to Doha later this week. The United Nations has backed efforts by Kuwait
to mediate an end to the crisis and has also offered to help broker a solution.
Saudi Arabia Says Qatar Boycott to Remain in Place
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 05/17/Arab states that have cut ties with
Qatar vowed Wednesday to maintain their boycott of the emirate, criticizing its
"negative" response to their list of demands to end the diplomatic crisis. Qatar
appealed for "dialogue" to resolve the row while U.S. President Donald Trump
spoke to Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi from aboard Air Force One to
urge all parties "to negotiate constructively." The foreign ministers of Egypt,
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, meeting in Cairo, "regret
the negative response from Qatar," they said in a statement. Egyptian Foreign
Minister Sameh Shoukry said Qatar's response to the bloc's conditions had "no
substance" and "reflects a lack of understanding of the gravity of the
situation." The talks in Cairo came a month after the four countries severed
ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting extremism. "The boycott will
remain," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said at the same news conference
in the Egyptian capital. The four Arab states stopped short of announcing new
sanctions but Jubeir said they would "take steps at the appropriate time." The
demands include Doha ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood and closing
broadcaster Al-Jazeera. Saudi Arabia and its allies have not said what steps
they could take next, but there are fears of a wider embargo that would hurt the
Qatari economy, with credit ratings agency Moody's announcing it was changing
Qatar's outlook to negative over the crisis. The countries issued the 13-point
list of demands on June 22, giving Qatar 10 days to respond. The deadline was
extended by 48 hours on Sunday at the request of Kuwait, which is mediating in
the crisis, and Qatar handed in the response on Monday. The contents of the
response have not been disclosed, but Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed
bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Tuesday that the list of demands "is unrealistic
and is not actionable."Qatar has denied any support for extremism and accused
the countries of seeking to infringe on its sovereignty. The other demands
include Qatar downgrading ties with Iran -- Saudi Arabia's regional arch-rival
-- and shutting down a Turkish military base in the emirate. In his phone
call with Sisi, Trump "reiterated the need for all countries to follow through
on their commitments at the Riyadh summit (in May) to stop terrorist financing
and discredit extremist ideology," the White House said.
Qatar urges dialogue
Qatar has said repeatedly it is ready for talks on the crisis, and Sheikh
Mohammed reiterated that on Wednesday. "We welcome any serious efforts to
resolve our differences with our neighbors," he told the Chatham House
think-tank in London. He accused Saudi Arabia and its regional allies of
"demanding that we must surrender our sovereignty as the price for ending the
siege." Riyadh and its supporters have severed air, sea and ground links with
Qatar, cutting off vital routes for imports including food. They also ordered
Qatari citizens to leave their territories and took various steps against Qatari
firms and financial institutions. The crisis has raised concerns of growing
instability in the region, home to some of the world's largest energy exporters
and key Western allies who host U.S. military bases. Energy-rich Qatar has been
defiant throughout the crisis, insisting it can weather action taken against it.
On Tuesday it even announced a major boost in planned natural gas output, with
Qatar Petroleum saying it would increase production to 100 million tonnes a year
by 2024, up 30 percent from current levels.
'Economic and financial risks' -
Qatar is the world's leading producer of liquefied natural gas. Its energy
riches have transformed Qatar into one of the world's wealthiest countries, a
major international investor and a regional player that will host the 2022
football World Cup. Concern has been growing, however, that a drawn-out crisis
could have an economic impact. Moody's said it was changing its credit rating
outlook for Qatar to negative from stable, citing "the economic and financial
risks arising from the ongoing dispute.""The likelihood of a prolonged period of
uncertainty extending into 2018 has increased and a quick resolution of the
dispute is unlikely over the next few months," the agency said. Some critics of
Qatar have accused it of links to militant organizations including the Islamic
State group, al-Qaida and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hizbullah. But a British
think-tank said Wednesday that foreign funding for Islamist extremism in Britain
mostly originates from Saudi Arabia. "While entities from across the Gulf and
Iran have been guilty of advancing extremism, those in Saudi Arabia are
undoubtedly at the top of the list," Tom Wilson, a fellow at the Henry Jackson
Society, a hawkish London-based foreign policy think-tank, said in a statement.
In a statement to the BBC, the Saudi embassy in London said the claims were
"categorically false."
Qatar Urges 'Dialogue', Says Rivals Trying to Undermine Its
'Sovereignty'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 05/17/Qatar's foreign minister called for
"dialogue" on Wednesday to resolve the Gulf diplomatic crisis, accusing Arab
states that have cut ties with Qatar of trying to undermine the nation's
sovereignty. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani was speaking at the
Chatham House think tank in London, as the Arab states that have accused Qatar
of supporting extremism met in Egypt to discuss their next move. "As the 48
hours extension is coming to an end, Qatar continues to call for dialogue
despite the violation of the international law... and despite the siege that is
a clear aggression and an insult to all international treaties," he said. "We
welcome any serious efforts to resolve our differences with our neighbors," he
said, adding however that countries imposing a blockade on Qatar should make the
first move towards dialogue. "They should not expect from me a first step, I
should expect from them a first step for engagement," he said, without
disclosing the details of a response that Qatar has given to the Arab states'
demands. He accused Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of leading the
campaign against Qatar and said they were "demanding that we must surrender our
sovereignty as the price for ending the siege." He called them "aggressors."A
group of Arab states including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has
severed air, sea and ground links with Qatar, cutting off vital routes for
imports including food. They have also ordered Qatari citizens to leave their
territories and took various steps against Qatari firms and financial
institutions. The crisis has raised concerns of growing instability in the
region, home to some of the world's largest energy exporters and key Western
allies who host U.S. military bases. Energy-rich Qatar has been defiant
throughout the crisis, insisting it can weather action taken against it. The
foreign minister said Qatar "never compromised collective security of the
region" and said countries taking part in the blockade were guilty of
"extraordinary, unprovoked and hostile actions."
"We sensed an understanding in European capitals that the blockade was illegal,"
he said.
Saudi-Led Bloc Slams Qatar 'Subversive Role', Regrets
'Negative Response' to Demands
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 05/17/Foreign ministers of the Saudi-led bloc
that imposed an embargo on Qatar said Wednesday they regretted the emirate's
"negative" response to a list of demands to end a diplomatic crisis. The
ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates "regret
the negative response from Qatar," they said, in a statement read out by
Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry, after meeting in Cairo. “We can no
longer tolerate Qatar's subversive role,” they warned. Speaking to reporters
after reading the statement, Shoukry said Qatar's response to the bloc's
conditions had "no substance." But the ministers stopped short of announcing an
escalation after the expiry of a deadline they had set for Qatar, with Saudi
Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir saying they would "take steps at the appropriate
time."Earlier on Wednesday, the Saudi foreign ministry said they had received
Qatar's response to their demands -- which include Doha ending support for the
Muslim Brotherhood and closing broadcaster Al-Jazeera. Saudi Arabia and its
allies have not said what steps they could take next, but there are fears of a
wider embargo that would hurt the Qatari economy, with credit ratings agency
Moody's announcing it was changing the emirate's outlook to negative from stable
over the crisis. The countries issued the 13-point list of demands on June 22,
giving Qatar 10 days to respond. The deadline was extended by 48 hours on Sunday
at the request of Kuwait, which is mediating in the crisis, and Qatar handed in
the response on Monday.
Macron Seeks to Ease Syria Opposition Fears by Meeting
HNC Chief
Asharq Al-Awsat/July 05/17 /After his remarks on the fate of Syrian regime
leader Bashar Assad sparked concern about a French shift in policy, President
Emmanuel Macron sought on Wednesday to ease these fears by meeting with Riad
Hijab, head of the Riyadh-based High Negotiations Committee, which represents a
group of military and political opponents at UN-mediated talks between Syria’s
warring parties in Geneva. Macron had said that he saw no legitimate successor
to Assad, provoking concern among the opposition. Macron, a centrist elected in
May, said last month he no longer considered Assad’s departure a pre-condition
for a negotiated settlement to the conflict, which has killed hundreds of
thousands of people and driven more than 11 million from their homes. Former
president Francois Hollande had backed the Syrian opposition, demanding the
six-year conflict be resolved through a political transition that would
eventually see Assad replaced. While he described Assad as an enemy of the
Syrian people, Macron said Paris’ priority was fighting terrorist groups and
ensuring Syria did not become a failed state. He also questioned the
opposition’s credibility. Hailed by some in France as a pragmatic stance to
advance negotiations, the comments also caused unease among the Syrian
opposition, former officials and humanitarian groups. Macron on Wednesday
appeared to try to refine his comments after speaking to Hijab. In a statement
the presidency said Macron had confirmed to Hijab that France supported the HNC
in the Syrian peace talks being held under UN auspices. “The president assured
Mr. Hijab of his will to engage fully and personally to achieve an inclusive
political solution in the Geneva framework,” the French presidency said. Hijab’s
office said that he had, in their conversation on Tuesday, reminded Macron that
Assad had “lost legitimacy after being repeatedly responsible for using chemical
weapons against his own people.”“Assad’s presence in office helps spread chaos,
strengthens the role of terrorist organizations, creates more sectarian
militias, and fuels sectarian discrimination and hatred,” Hijab’s office said in
a statement. Macron’s comments on June 21 echoed Russia’s stance that there is
no viable alternative to Assad. The French leader has sought closer cooperation
with Russia and French diplomats say he wants to develop a “spirit of trust”,
notably on Syria. Russia’s foreign minister will be in Paris on Thursday to
discuss the conflict. Syria will also be the focus of the first face-to-face
meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin
on the sidelines of the G20 summit, hosted by Germany, on Friday. Eager to
bolster his global legitimacy, Putin has been pressing the US to cooperate
militarily with Russia in Syria, where both Moscow and Washington oppose ISIS,
but disagree about Assad. Though defense laws passed in the wake of the Ukraine
crisis bar the US military from cooperating with Russia, the two have maintained
a “deconfliction” hotline to ensure their forces don’t accidentally collide on
the crowded Syrian battlefield. The Pentagon has steadfastly resisted proposals
to work closely with Russia in Syria, out of concern the US cannot trust Moscow
with sensitive intelligence information. But the problems posed by the lack of
coordination in Syria have resurfaced following recent events. The US has
recently shot down several Syrian regime aircraft, leading Russia to threaten to
shoot down any aircraft that flies west of the Euphrates River.
US-Backed Forces Face Fierce IS Resistance in Raqa Old
City
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 05/17/US-backed fighters inched forwards in
Raqa's Old City against fierce resistance Wednesday, after penetrating the heart
of the Islamic State group's Syrian bastion, a spokesman and a monitor said. The
Syrian Democratic Forces -- an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters -- entered
the historical quarter after air strikes by the US-led coalition punched two
holes in its ramparts late on Monday. The jihadists deployed four weaponised
drones and several suicide bombers in vehicles against the advancing fighters,
said a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which makes up
a bulk of the SDF. "The SDF advanced and captured the strategic Saif al-Dawlah
road leading towards the Old Mosque," Nuri Al-Mahmoud told AFP. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the SDF had pushed forwards about 200 metres
(yards) by midday (0900 GMT) on Wednesday. "They are now approximately 300
metres (yards) from the Old Mosque -- within firing range of it," said
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. The US envoy to the coalition, Brett McGurk,
hailed the SDF's entry into the Old City as a "key milestone" in the campaign to
defeat IS in its de facto Syrian capital. Raqa earned notoriety as the scene of
some of the group's worst atrocities, including public beheadings, and is
thought to have been a hub for planning attacks overseas. Tens of thousands of
civilians are believed to be trapped inside the city, with warnings that the
jihadists are using them as human shields. Many who have managed to escape say
IS snipers are targeting those trying to flee. The coalition estimates that
around 2,500 besieged jihadists are defending Raqa.
Iraq’s Sadr Asks Barzani to Postpone Kurdish Referendum
Asharq Al Awsat/July 05/17/Baghdad – Head of Iraq’s Sadrist Movement Moqtada al-Sadr
requested from Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani the postponement of the
autonomous region’s independence referendum that is planned for September. Sadr
added: “I ask my brother Masoud Barzani to postpone the referendum, especially
since we are moments away from the liberation of Mosul.”This marks the first
time that the Iraqi leader has commented on the referendum. He said that the
postponement will be “the first step to the referendum’s eventual
elimination.”“Iraq is one and for all. As long as they love their nation and do
not serve foreign agendas, then we will not discriminate between the people,”
Sadr stressed. His hope for the “eventual elimination” of the referendum is
probably based on the same conviction shared by various Arab politicians and
movements that reject the independence vote and Iraqi Kurdistan’s separation
from Iraq. Given Sadr’s good ties with the majority of the political factions in
the autonomous region, including Barzani, and his general approach to avoid
escalation with Kurds, contrary to his foe Nuri al-Maliki, have led him to
calmly and carefully handle the current disputes between Baghdad and Erbil. This
was demonstrated by his condemnation of calls to drive out Kurds from Baghdad.
Sadr said that such demands were made by people seeking to “deepen the national
divide.” They believe that they will win votes from the people by making such
prejudiced remarks, he added, while accusing them of violating national
principles. Two weeks ago, a member of the Baghdad district council Saad al-Matlabi
had stated: “If a referendum is carried out in Kurdistan, then not a single Kurd
will remain in Baghdad or in any government post.”
“His Iraqi citizenship will be revoked and he will be expelled from the
country,” he vowed.
Suleimani Responds to Rouhani’s Attack against IRGC
Asharq Al Awsat/July 05/17/London- Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani has
revealed hidden dimensions in the dispute between the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Iranian government, when he lashed out at President
Hassan Rouhani for criticizing the role of the IRGC in the country’s economic,
political and media affairs. In remarks on Tuesday, Suleimani warned against
weakening the Islamic forces by “exposing them to various attacks”, adding that
the IRGC has fought an “international war defending its allies in Syria and
Iraq.”In parallel comments, IRGC Commander General Mohammad Ali Jafari said in
response to Rouhani: “Some believe that we are against dealing with the world
and that we seek war, but I announce that the Revolutionary Guard wants peace,
which will not be achieved unless our enemies stop launching wars against
us.”Meanwhile, well-informed sources suggested that the real reason behind the
ongoing bickering was competition over three key ministries, namely the oil,
intelligence and defense, ahead of the announcement of the new Iranian
government next month. Suleimani implicitly warned Iranian officials of standing
against Religious Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, adding that the IRGC should be
kept away from political disputes and should not be politicized, Mehr news
agency reported. Last month, the Iranian president strongly criticized the IRGC,
which he described as a “government with a rifle”. Rouhani also criticized the
Revolutionary Guard intervening in the Iranian economy. “A part of the national
economy in the hands of a government that does not have military might and has
been handed over authority by a government that does,” he stated. Suleimani’s
Tuesday remarks were made in his first appearance to the public following Iran’s
presidential elections.
Speaking during a conference for IRGC leaders and fighters who participated in
the first Gulf war, the Quds Force Commander said: “Had it not been for the
Revolutionary Guard, the country would not have existed.”
Saudi Interior Ministry: Martyrdom of Security Man in
Explosive Projectile
Asharq Al Awsat/July 05/17/Riyadh- The Saudi Interior Ministry announced that a
security officer was killed in a terrorist attack. Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki,
security spokesman at the Ministry of Interior, said that soldiers were part of
a security patrol, which was hit by an explosive projectile at around 7 a.m. in
Al-Musawara, Qatif. “This terrorist attack resulted in the martyrdom of Vice
Sergeant Adel Falih al-Otaibi and injury of three other security men, who were
taken to the hospital,” the spokesman said. The security agencies have launched
an investigation into the terrorist crime, he added. Earlier, Saudi authorities
defied a terrorist group in al-Awamiyah that has attempted to disrupt the
development in Musawara (eastern Saudi Arabia) after opening fire on laborers
and security men. In the meantime, scholars and sheikhs in Qatif called on those
involved to drop their weapons. The statement was signed by eight Shi’ite
scholars who urged the region scholars to make it clear in their sermons that
they denounce violence and incriminate weapon-holders in face of the state or
citizens. In the first of June, two terrorists were killed in Qatif after being
monitored by security authorities riding a stolen vehicle that was used in
committing terrorist crimes. Armed men seek cover in Masoura – an old
neighborhood that includes hundreds of abandoned buildings and has narrow
streets that hinder advancement of security forces to purge the district. They
object over municipal development plans to substitute the neighborhood with a
development project that represents an opportunity for local residents to
replace their old houses with new housing units.
Trump Heads into Stormy G20 Summit as N. Korea Tensions
Rise
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 05/17/U.S. President Donald Trump meets other
world leaders at Germany's G20 summit from Friday, with conflicts looming over
climate, trade and global security both inside and outside the heavily fortified
venue. Fears over nuclear-armed North Korea rose sharply after it successfully
tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), casting another shadow over
the gathering which will bring the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea to
the northern city of Hamburg. Some 20,000 police will guard the leaders of the
Group of 20 big industrialized and emerging economies as well as the U.N., IMF,
World Bank and other bodies, against anti-capitalist protesters who are greeting
them with the combative slogan "G20 -- Welcome to Hell". But trouble is equally
expected at the conference table at a time when the West and Europe are deeply
divided, the post-Cold War order is fraying and China and Russia are asserting
themselves on the global stage. All eyes will be on Trump, who stunned the world
by pulling out of the 2015 Paris climate pact, questioned long-standing NATO
allegiances and dismissed free-trade principles in favor of an "America First"
stance. On North Korea, he has vowed that the regime's goal of developing a
nuclear weapon that can reach the U.S. "won't happen" and on Monday angrily
called on China to "put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once
and for all!"Trump plans to huddle with the leaders of Japan and South Korea to
discuss the issue on Thursday evening. He is also at the center of heated
disputes over global trade, having demanded that Germany and China reduce their
huge surpluses and threatened punitive measures in battles over cars, steel and
natural gas.In the most anticipated moment of the G20, Trump will meet Russian
President Vladimir Putin, the ex-KGB agent accused of having aided, with hackers
and fake news, the surprise ascent of the property tycoon to the White House.
The moment they shake hands is sure to see "an Olympian level of macho posturing
between these two leaders, who both understand the importance of symbolism and
the perception of being tough," said Derek Chollet of the German Marshall Fund
of the United States.
Global power club
The year's biggest diplomatic event outside the U.N. will also provide a stage
for other world leaders muscling for power and regional influence. Meeting in
Berlin on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela
Merkel pledged close cooperation -- the diplomacy sweetened by China's loan of
two panda bears to a Berlin zoo and a huge Airbus sale to China of aircraft
worth $22.8 billion. The leader of China's regional rival Japan, Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe, is meanwhile set to announce Thursday plans for a broad trade deal
with the EU at a Brussels summit, hailed as a victory for free trade that
contrasts with Trump's decision to withdraw from a trans-Pacific regional
agreement. On the same day, Trump will meet leaders from ex-communist eastern
European nations, including Hungary's authoritarian Viktor Orban -- threatening
to deepen a new east-west split in the EU, which is facing Brexit and still
recovering from divisions over the eurozone debt crisis. The U.S. president will
then hold talks later Thursday with G20 host Merkel, the longest-serving leader
and, aside from Britain's Theresa May, the only woman in the club.
Street resistance
Merkel, hailed by some as the "new leader of the free world", advocates an
internationalist approach to global issues -- but her G20 motto, "Shaping an
Interconnected World", contrasts sharply with Trump's go-it-alone approach. The
chancellor, a green energy champion who has allowed more than a million mostly
Muslim refugees into Germany since 2015, said last week that "the differences
are obvious and it would be dishonest to try to cover that up. That I won't do."
Merkel drove the point home in comments to weekly magazine Die Zeit, saying that
Washington now "sees globalization as a process that's not about achieving
win-win outcomes but about winners and losers."In Hamburg, she must walk a fine
line between trying to build a 19-1 front against Trump on key issues and
preventing even further damage to transatlantic ties, while seeking common
ground for at least a watered-down final G20 communique. On the streets, up to
100,000 protesters will march in some 30 rallies, creating a security headache
in Germany's second-largest city. Police expect up to 8,000 leftwing radicals
ready to use violence. In a sign of what may come, police overnight clashed with
hundreds of protesters as they cleared out a protest camp, using pepper spray
and water cannon against activists on the streets.
Hamas Says Egypt Ready to Help Gaza
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 05/17/Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said
Wednesday recent talks in Egypt could lead to improving the humanitarian
suffering in the impoverished Gaza Strip. The head of the Palestinian Islamist
movement said it found Egyptian officials "ready to work to address the crises
in Gaza" during a recent trip in which Hamas leaders, led by its Gaza head Yahya
Sinwar, met with Egyptian officials in Cairo. "The Egyptian authorities issued a
package of measures and policies and fuel began to enter to the power plant, and
work continues at the Rafah crossing to reopen it in the near future."
"The result will have the effect of alleviating the burden of the siege against
our people in the Gaza Strip," Haniya said. He did not give further specific
details. Gaza has been blockaded by Israel for a decade while Egypt, the
only other country the Palestinian enclave shares a border with, has also
largely sealed off its crossing in recent years. Hamas has had strained
relations with Egypt since the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's Muslim
Brotherhood president, in 2013. The current Egyptian government led by former
military leader Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has closed hundreds of smuggling tunnels
along the border and accused Hamas of supporting Islamist radicals inside Egypt,
including near the frontier. In recent months though, relations between Gaza and
Cairo have somewhat thawed. Last month, Egypt began delivering a million liters
(264,200 gallons) of fuel to Gaza, temporarily easing a power crisis that had
left the Palestinian enclave's two million residents with only a few hours of
electricity per day. Last week Hamas began building a security buffer zone along
the Egyptian border to reduce smuggling.
Israel Slams UNESCO Vote that Calls It 'Occupying Power'
Associated Press/Naharnet/July 05/17/Israel has protested a UNESCO vote that
called it the "occupying power" in Jerusalem's Old City which includes sites
sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Participants in a UNESCO World Heritage
Committee's session in Krakow, Poland, called on "Israel, the occupying power"
to stop "persistent excavations, tunneling, works, projects and other illegal
practices" in East Jerusalem and especially in the Old City. They also decided
to keep Jerusalem's Old City and its historic walls on the List of World
Heritage in Danger. The Western Wall is a remnant of the biblical temple and the
holiest site where Jews can pray. Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon
condemned the vote's wording as "disgraceful" and stressed that the Old City
holds sites "the most sacred" for the Jews. "No faux 'heritage committee' can
sever the bonds between our people and Jerusalem," Danon said in a statement
made available to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The wording proposed by
Kuwait, Lebanon and Tunisia was the latest in a string of spats between Israel
and the U.N. cultural agency. Israel captured east Jerusalem, with sites holy to
Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians claim the
territory as part of their future state, and its fate is one of the most
contentious issues in the decades-old conflict.
PA Forces Thousands of Gazan Employees into Early
Retirement
Asharq Al-Awsat/July 05/17 /Ramallah– Palestinian government in Ramallah decided
to force thousands of employees in the Gaza Strip into early retirement, in an
attempt to force Hamas Movement to cede control of the strip. On Tuesday,
Palestinian Authority (PA) announced it had “sent into early retirement” 6,145
employees in the Gaza Strip, which is between 50 and 70 percent of their primary
salaries. PA government spokesman Yusuf al-Mahmoud said this was another step
taken by the Palestinian government regarding the Gaza Strip, adding that they
are temporary depending on whether Hamas gives up its rule in Gaza and allows
the PA to take over. “This measure, previous measures, and any other measures
that may be taken in this framework, are temporary, and are connected to Hamas
abandoning [Palestinian] division,” Mahmoud said in an official statement.
Mahmoud said the firing of the employees was part of the “national strategy to
end the division and implement President Abbas’s vision to dissolve the
so-called Administrative Committee” and allow the Palestinian government to
assume its responsibilities in the Strip and prepare for general elections. The
new measure is added to several previous ones which included: cutting the pay of
PA employees in Gaza by a third, suspending payments to prisoners, reducing
payments for electricity that Israel provides, and restricting funding for
medical treatments for Gazan residents in Israeli and West Bank hospitals.
Several local and international efforts for reconciliation between Hamas and PA
have failed especially that Abbas is insisting that Hamas gives Gaza’s control
first, while Hamas is firm in its position that Abbas should retreat all his
decisions and promise to solve the strip’s problems. Informed sources told
Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that sending thousands to early retirement will be
followed by several escalatory measures if Hamas doesn’t respond and could
include political stances. The government asserted that responding to this plan
is the only solution. Recent governmental measures indicate a growing anger
given that Hamas is not responding to Abbas’ plan. Hamas is currently planning
to expand its administrative committee in Gaza to include officials from Dahlan
Movement and other independent officials. This step is expected to be met with
other measures from the PA. PA officials stated that Hamas should have resorted
to reconciliating with Fatah rather than Dahlan. In a statement Tuesday, Hamas
lashed out at the decision to fire the employees, calling it “immoral, inhuman
and having nothing to do with the division.”The movement asserted that measure
was part of a plan by Abbas to “purge the Palestinian issue in line with the
Zionist-American project.”Hamas’ spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said the decision
“only serves to tighten the ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip.”Barhoum added that
the government has effectively abandoned its responsibilities in Gaza. He went
on to urge the Ramallah government to reverse this decision and assume its
legal, political and moral responsibilities for the embattled Gaza Strip’s dire
political and humanitarian situation. The PA accused Hamas of imposing royalties
on Gazans for its treasury and paying 15 million shekel monthly for fuel from
Egypt rather than Israeli side to maintain control over the strip.
Greek Orthodox Chyrch Sells Lerusalm Land To Anonymous
Jerusalem Post/July 05/17/The Greek Orthodox Church last week
sold 50 hectares of land in central Jerusalem – some 124 acres containing more
than 1,000 housing units in numerous buildings – to an anonymous group of
investors, spurring fears of a hostile takeover. For many years, the land was
leased to the Jewish National Fund in agreements that are about to expire,
leaving the residents’ future rights in limbo. According to Azaria, the
residents were aware the land was leased by JNF but were led to believe it would
remain so for many years to come. “The land was leased by the church to JNF in
the 1950s for 99 years,” she said. “Buildings were constructed on it in which
people have been living for decades. The residents knew that the agreements
would expire within a certain time, but they assumed that the lease to JNF would
be extended for a further period.”
Azaria noted, however, that a few months ago the Jerusalemites Party on the city
council determined that private developers received a 200-year lease on some of
the land in 2011, and that an additional investor group signed a similar
agreement one year ago. “Following this, the city council received a flood of
inquiries from residents of the area who did not know what the future held for
them,” she said. “Last week, a large gathering of the residents was held by the
Jerusalemites Party and addressed by council member Itai Gutler and architect
Yehuda Greenfield. The residents are demanding to know who among them is
affected by the agreement between the church and the developers and who is not,
what the agreements say, and what they mean for them.” Azaria said the tenants
who purchased units in the buildings in the 1950s were made aware that the land
was owned by the church, but they dealt directly with the JNF.
“We are talking about people who have lived in these neighborhoods for decades
and knew that they were dealing with JNF,” she said. “It’s not a matter of one
building or a few families, but very large and prestigious neighborhoods in the
heart of Jerusalem. Hundreds of residents who assumed that the lease from the
church would be extended never imagined that they would find themselves having
to deal with private developers who will suddenly hold the land when the lease
agreements expire.”Azaria added: “In such a situation, they are liable to find
themselves with nothing.”To avert a full-blown housing crisis, Azaria said she
requested an early debate in the Knesset in conjunction with a petition that the
residents brought against the Jerusalem Municipality to obtain information that
is currently being withheld. “The second demand is that someone should take the
matter in hand and conduct negotiations with the developers on behalf of the
residents, rather than each apartment owner having to deal with the developers
themselves,” Azaria said. “This is a major event concerning a substantial part
of Jerusalem and one that will affect its character.”Noting that the unknown
developers, in exchange for extending the lease, could ask for additional
building rights and build on open areas, Azaria said the government must oversee
all elements of the transfer to ensure the residents’ rights. “It is important
that the state should intervene on the matter,” she said. “The value of the
residents’ apartments is constantly falling, even in neighborhoods like Rehavia.
Anyone who buys an apartment in these areas now is taking a risk, and that
affects the value of the properties.”The Jerusalem Municipality said in a
statement that it was actively working with all parties involved in the matter.
“In a meeting with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Mayor Nir Barkat described
dealing with this matter and [prioritizing] it at the highest level of
importance,” the statement said. “Later, a meeting took place in the office of
the director-general of the municipality, attended by representatives of JNF,
the Justice Ministry and others, and it was decided that there should be further
joint action by all the bodies involved in order to put an end to the residents’
uncertainty and to ensure continuation of the lease.”The municipality statement
continued: “All state bodies are taking coordinated action via several channels,
and the officials of the church are also expected to cooperate on the matter.”
Venezuela Loyalists Storm Congress, Beat Lawmakers
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/July 05/17/ Pro-government
activists stormed into the grounds of Venezuela's state legislature Wednesday
and beat lawmakers, leaving at least five hurt and three with blood streaming
from their heads, their colleagues said. It was the latest eruption of political
violence in three months of chaos in the oil-rich, poverty-stricken South
American country. The attackers were supporting President Nicolas Maduro against
opposition demands for elections to remove him from office. Military police
guarding the site stood by as about 100 intruders brandishing sticks and pipes
broke through the front gate of the National Assembly and into the interior
gardens. The mob reached as far as the corridors of the congressional building,
striking and injuring lawmakers. The attackers, one of them holding a gun,
ordered journalists to leave the premises. The speaker of the assembly, Julio
Borges, in a Twitter message named five lawmakers who were hurt in the violence.
Some were taken away for medical treatment. "This does not hurt as much as
seeing every day how we are losing our country," one of them, Armando Armas,
told reporters as he got into an ambulance with his head wrapped in bloody
bandages. Deputies also said that two employees of the assembly were hurt.
'Savages'
Tension is high in Venezuela after three months of anti-government protests that
have seen 91 people killed in clashes with police. Protesters blame President
Nicolas Maduro for a desperate economic crisis. He says the chaos is the result
of a US-backed capitalist conspiracy by the opposition. "The government always
resorts to violence," said opposition lawmaker Stalin Gonzalez after Wednesday's
attack. Another deputy, Simon Calzadilla, vowed: "We will continue to face up to
these savages." The opposition-controlled legislature was holding a special
session to mark independence day when the government supporters burst in.
Earlier Maduro's vice-president Tareck El Aissami had made an impromptu
appearance in the congress along with the head of the armed forces, Vladimir
Padrino Lopez and ministers. El Aissami made an address in which he called on
supporters of Maduro to come to the legislature to show support for the
president.A crowd of Maduro supporters held a rally outside the building for
several hours before breaking into the grounds during a recess.
Trojan horse'
Government and opposition have accused each other of using armed groups to sow
violence. The opposition has accused plainclothes armed pro-government groups of
attacking protesters. While the chaos erupted in the grounds of the assembly,
Maduro was watching a military parade in another part of Caracas, with troops
marching and armored vehicles rumbling by. In a speech at the parade, he
demanded that the military be "ever loyal, never traitors." "Let no one become a
Trojan horse," he said. "Let no one become a servant of the oligarchy." Maduro
retains the public backing of the military high command -- a key factor in
keeping him in power, according to analysts. But the president last month said
he was replacing four other senior commanders of the armed forces. Maduro has
infuriated his opponents by launching a plan to form an assembly to rewrite the
constitution. Opponents say he will pack the "constituent assembly" with allies
to cling to power. Voting for members of the assembly is scheduled for July 30.
"However, the political crisis is so fluid that the country could reach a
tipping point before then," wrote analysts from the Eurasia Group consultancy
last week in a note. The opposition on Monday said it would hold a popular vote
on July 16 against the constitutional plan.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on
July 05-06/17
Is it Still Possible to Coexist with the Tehran Regime?
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/July 05/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=56796
Over the weekend, the French capital Paris played host to a massive rally
organized by the Iranian opposition and attended by many international political
figures. The timing of this rally was particularly significant, given the
historical and exceptional current state of affairs in the Middle East and the
unprecedented tense relations between its countries.
As expected on an occasion like this, the main stress in most positions
expressed by Iranian, Middle Eastern and Western speakers was that it was
impossible for a regime with a “chemistry” like that of the Tehran regime to
change, and that all attempts to make it moderate its stances are doomed to
failure.
Indeed, gambling on the “rationality” of the Iranian leaders, and regarding them
as “not suicidal” – to quote former President Barack Obama in his marketing
pitch for the JCPOA – are proving meaningless every day. And despite the
atrocities committed by ISIS and its systematic destruction wherever it moves
“achieved” by the tacit cooperation of players benefiting from it, there are two
clear realities:
First is that Iran’s sectarian militias, as well as those supported by Tehran
through its “Revolutionary Guards” (IRGC) do not differ much from ISIS in terms
of brutal exterminatory practices justified by alleged religious legitimacy.
Second is that there is not much difference either between diplomatically-clad
extremism, as reflected in Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and his Foreign
Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the brazenly-militaristic and sectarian
extremism, as expressed in the gung-ho speeches of IRGC leaders like Mohammad
Ali Jaafari and Qasem Soleimani as well as their militia henchmen in Iraq,
Lebanon, Yemen and Syria. In fact, all traces of “difference” disappear when
positions being explained pertain to the Gulf region, the Fertile Crescent and
Yemen.
Sure enough, Iran’s ambition of achieving regional supremacy did not start with
Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution of 1979 when it launched its campaign of
“Exporting the Islamic Revolution,” followed soon by it diligent outbidding on
the path of “Liberating Palestine.” As many remember under Shah Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi, Iran was in 1955 a founder member of the Baghdad Pact – along with the
UK, Turkey, Pakistan and Iraq under the auspices of the US, before Iraq withdrew
resulting in re-naming CENTO (Central Treaty Organization). Later, the Shah made
no secret of his ambition that Iran become “The Policeman of the Gulf” since it
was the most populous country sharing its coast.
However, there is a big difference between the ambition of a regional leader to
enhance the influence of his nation based on his belief in its civilization and
capabilities, and the aggressive insistence of a theocratic regime on
“exporting” its political and religious “legitimacy” to its neighboring
countries by force and conspiring to overthrow their governments throw intrigue
and sectarian incitement.
Since 1979, “exporting” the revolution, along with the notion of “Vali e Faqih”
has been one of the two cornerstones of the Khomeini regime, and now still
followed by his successor Ali Khamenei. This “project” suffered a setback during
the Iran – Iraq War, which was ended by the international community. Checking
Iran’s ambitions at that time was temporary, and they were never really
eradicated because Tehran continued to build subservient sectarian military
organizations throughout the Middle East. The first has been Lebanon’s
“Hezbollah” – initially, under under the cloak of “Islamic Amal.” It was soon to
be followed by Iraqi Shi’ite militias that had fought with the Iranian armed
forces against the Iraqi army during the Iran – Iraq War. Many leaders of the
latter today are the de facto leaders of Iraq.
Noteworthy here is the fact that the Hafez Al-Assad regime in Syria also sided
with Iran during that war against Iraq. Actually, then Iranian ambassador to
Damascus Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur (who later became Interior Minister in Iran)
was the authority entrusted with founding “Hezbollah” in Lebanon. In fact,
Tehran’s efforts were not limited to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, but were later
expanded to include Yemen through the Houthis, and Bahrain through “mullahs”,
who had no qualms about Iranian historical claims over their country.
On the other hand, Iran did not concentrate its efforts solely on Shi’ite
organizations, but achieved a breakthrough with the Sunnis, namely in the
Palestinian occupied territories. This far-sighted strategy had two aims: The
first, was that backing Sunni organization in Palestine would give credibility
to its slogans about “liberating Palestine”. The second, it would allow to
freely found, arm and support Shi’ite militias without being accused of
practicing sectarian discrimination. Indeed, this is exactly what has happened
and under the banners of “Islamic Unity,” Tehran has been bankrolling Shi’ite –
Sunni groups that are acting as effective vehicles to its propaganda and
defenders of its policies and adventures.
Last week Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of “Hezbollah”, said in a
televised speech that “a war Israel launches against Lebanon and Syria will
never be limited to these two arenas, but will open the door before thousands of
fighters (Shi’ite of course) from Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and
other countries in the world to join Syria (i.e., Bashar al-Assad regime) and
the Resistance (i.e.. ‘Hezbollah’)…”
What these words mean could not be clearer. The man is prepared to invite – if
an invitation is ever needed – Iran’s IRGC to fight on Lebanese soil, without
even bothering to consult with a government in which his pro-Tehran party is
represented. Nasrallah’s declaration came after the “reassurances” made by
Iranian Defense Minister Hussein Dehghan that “Iraq is now a part of Iran!”, and
the infamous proclamation by Iran’s ex-Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi that
“Iran now controls four Arab capital cities (Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and
Sana’a)…”
In the meantime, Iran has been busy, both, directly or through its militia
henchmen, in justifying its war of sectarian “cleansing” and displacement that
it has been fighting in Syria since the 2011 uprising, as well as in Iraq.
Tehran and its henchmen’s justifications have been fighting against “Takfir” and
“Takfiris”, including al-Qaeda, al-Nusra Front and ISIS. However, the fact that
there were old understandings and dealings between Iran and al-Qaeda is well
known, which is why the terrorist group never attacked Iranian targets. More
recently, ISIS rarely fought against Assad’s forces, choosing instead to attack
its opponents, namely the “Free Syrian Army”. Moreover, Assad regime’s smuggling
of extremist terrorists across the Iraqi border in order to hassle and harrass
American troops in Iraq is well documented by Iraqi authorities, as is the
extremist fighters’ “escape” from Iraqi prisons to join ISIS in Syria.
Today, now that the Iranian leadership has exploited and benefited from ISIS’
destruction of several (Sunni) Syrian and Iraqi cities, one needs to ask a
serious question: Is it possible to coexist with the Tehran regime?
In Paris, thousands of Iranians exiled by the regime answered the question loud
and clear, and so did millions of Iranians before at home: No. No coexistence
with this regime.
If this is what Iranians themselves believe, how can we the Arabs disagree?
Is Radical Islam Horrifying the West into Paralysis?
Giulio Meotti/Gatestone Institute/July 05/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10603/radical-islam-west
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy was not a masterpiece of
humanitarian politics; it was dictated by the fear of television images spread
all over the world.
Even the suffering of our enemies disturbs us, in the humanitarian culture of
the West. We are therefore increasingly amenable to policies of appeasement,
censorship and retreat in order not to have to face the possibility of such
horribleness and actually having to fight it. That is why radical Islam has been
able to horrify the West into submission. We have paralyzed ourselves. We censor
the cartoons, the graphic photos of the terrorists' victims and even the faces
and names of the jihadists. The Islamic terrorists, on the other hand, are not
publicity-seekers; they are soldiers ready to kill and die in the name of what
they care about.
Images, as in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, are published only if they amplify the
West's sense of guilt and turn the "war on terror" into something more even more
dangerous than the jihad causing the war. The result is to erase our enemy from
our imagination. This is how the "war on terror" has become synonymous with
lawlessness throughout the West.
September 2015. Thousands of Syrian migrants crossing the Balkan route were
heading toward Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel was on the phone with Interior
Minister Thomas de Maizière, talking about a number of measures to protect the
borders, where thousands of policemen were secretly located along with buses and
helicopters. De Maizière turned for advice to Dieter Romann, then head of the
police. "Can we live with the images that will come out?" de Mazière asked.
"What happens if 500 refugees with children in their arms run toward the border
guards?"
De Maiziére was told that the appropriate use of the measures to be taken would
have be decided by the police on the field. When de Maizière relayed Romann's
response to the Chancellor, Merkel reversed her original commitment. And the
borders were opened for 180 days.
"For historical reasons, the Chancellor feared images of armed German police
confronting civilians on our borders," writes Robin Alexander, Die Welt's
leading journalist, who revealed these details in a new book, Die Getriebenen
("The Driven Ones"). Alexander reveals the real reason that pushed Merkel to
open the door to a million and a half migrants in a few weeks: "In the end,
Merkel refused to take responsibility, governing through the polls." This is how
the famous Merkel's motto "Wir schaffen das" was born: "We can do it."
According to Die Zeit:
"Merkel and her people are convinced that the marchers could only be stopped
with the help of violence: with water cannons, truncheons and pepper spray. It
would be chaotic and the images would be horrific. Merkel is extremely wary of
such images and of their political impact, and she is convinced that Germany
wouldn't tolerate them. Merkel once said that Germany wouldn't be able to stand
the images from the dismal conditions in the refugee camp at Calais for more
than three days. But how much more devastating would images be of refugees being
beaten as they try to get to Austria or Germany?"
Merkel's refugee policy was not a masterpiece of humanitarian politics; it was
dictated by the fear of television images spread all over the world. In so many
key moments, it is the photograph that dictates our behavior: the image that
dishonors us, that makes us cringe in horror.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy was not a masterpiece of
humanitarian politics; it was dictated by the fear of television images spread
all over the world. In so many key moments, it is the photograph that dictates
our behavior: the image that dishonors us, that makes us cringe in horror.
(Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)
Now, the main German sentiment that seems to be driving public opinion and
politics is a dramatic sense of guilt. It is a "secular sin", according to a new
book by German sociologist Rolf Peter Sieferle that is topping the German
bestseller list, "Finis Germania".
The behavior of Germans during the current migrant crisis, however, is symbolic
of a more general Western condition. On April 30, 1975, the fall of Saigon was
part of a war fought and lost by the United States as much on television as in
the Vietnamese forests and rice paddies. It ended with the the escape of
helicopters from the rooftop of the US embassy.
In 1991, the imagery of the "highway of death" of Saddam Hussein's bombed army
of thugs fleeing a plundered Kuwait also shocked the public in the West, and led
to calls for an immediate cessation of the fighting in Iraq and Kuwait. The
result was that Saddam Hussein's air force and Republican Guard divisions were
spared; during the "peace" that followed, it was these troops who butchered
Kurds and Shiites.
The photograph of a dead American soldier dragged through the streets of
Mogadishu after the "Black Hawk Down" incident pushed President Bill Clinton to
order a shameful retreat from Somalia. That photograph also led the US
Administration to rethink and cancel plans to use US troops for United Nations
peace operations in Bosnia, Haiti and other strategic points. General David
Petraeus would describe America's engagement in Afghanistan as a "war of
perception".
Even the suffering of our enemies disturbs us, in the humanitarian culture of
the West. We are therefore increasingly amenable to policies of appeasement,
censorship and retreat, in order not to have to face the possibility of such
horribleness and actually having to fight it.
That is why radical Islam has been able to horrify the West into submission. We
have paralysed ourselves. We censor the cartoons, the graphic photos of the
terrorists' victims and even the faces and names of the jihadists. The Islamic
terrorists, on the other hand, are not publicity-seekers; they are soldiers
ready to die and kill in the name of what they care about.
This week, the German media was shocked by the revelation that the German air
force will probably come under fire during its Syrian mission. "Endangering
German soldiers!" -- with an exclamation point -- wrote Bild, the
largest-selling newspaper in Germany. The statement exposed the anxiety of what
John Vinocur of the Wall Street Journal called a "country where the army and air
force basically do not fight". A pacifist Germany is now a source of trouble
also for its own neighbors, such as Poland. "For centuries, our main worry in
Poland was a very strong German army", said former Polish Defense Minister
Janusz Onyszkiewicz. "Today, we're seriously worried about German armed forces
that are too weak."
The Western establishment censors images of our enemies' crimes while giving
prominence to our "guilt". The French government censored the "gruesome torture"
of the victims at the Bataclan Theater, who were castrated, disemboweled and had
their eyes gouged out by the Islamist terrorists. It was a mistake: it was in
the public interest to know exactly what enemy we are facing.
The FBI and Department of Justice released a transcript of the Orlando
jihadist's 911 call, but omitted all reference to the terror group ISIS and to
Islam. These authorities did not want the public to know that Omar Mateen
identified himself as an "Islamic soldier".
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance then told the British
press it should not report when terrorists are Muslim.
The CEO of Twitter, Dick Costolo, suspended accounts that showed photographs of
the beheading of John Foley, along with other Islamist beheadings and savagery.
But Twitter did not mind being flooded by images of a little dead boy, Alan (Aylan)
Kurdi on a beach.
The mainstream media in the US fought hard to lift the photo ban on military
coffins during the war in Iraq. Its goal, apparently, was to humiliate and
intimidate the public, to lower the support for the war.
Images, as in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, are published only if they amplify the
West's sense of guilt and turn the "war on terror" into something more even more
dangerous than the jihad causing the war.
Amnesty International's Secretary General, Irene Khan -- referring to
concentration camps in the Soviet Union, where millions of people perished --
infamously called Guantanamo "the Gulag of our time". The result is to erase our
enemy from our imagination. This is how the "war on terror" has become
synonymous with lawlessness throughout the West.
Ten years ago, after the brave surge in Iraq, US soldiers discovered Al Qaeda's
torture chambers. No one -- not ABC, not CBS, not the New York Times --
published one photo of them; they just filled our eyes with naked bodies at Abu
Ghraib.
We are utopian technophiles and, contrary to the traditional Western view that
we are flawed human beings in a tragic world. We now believe in Mark
Zuckerberg's brave new world where no one should ever suffer and everyone should
be happy and peaceful all the time. That is an exorbitant dream. For a short
time we can afford it, as with Angela Merkel and Europe's migrant crisis.
Unfortunately, that fantasy will not last. The conflicts at our gates, together
with our aversion to making hard choices, will exact a far higher price.
*Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and
author.
© 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.
FIFA Supporting Terrorism?
A. Z. Mohamed/Gatestone Institute/July 05/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10607/fifa-terrorism
At least five highly regarded non-governmental organizations -- Palestinian
Media Watch, NGO Monitor, the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies, UK Lawyers
for Israel and the New York-based Lawfare Project – have enumerated the many and
varied ways in which [Jibril] Rajoub – the secretary-general of the central
committee of PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, the chairman of the
Palestinian Olympic Committee and the head of the Supreme Council for Sport and
Youth -- has violated FIFA's own Code of Ethics, "by promoting and glorifying
terrorism; inciting hatred and violence; promoting racism; and preventing the
use of the game of football in order to build a bridge for peace."
In July 2012, while addressing the launch of the first Forum for Arab women
sports journalists, Rajoub referred to Jews and Israelis as "Satans" and
"Zionist sons of bitches," adding, "Normalization with the occupation is
impossible, impossible, impossible, with no exceptions..."
Rajoub is a serial violator and must be expelled from the organization. Swift
action needs to be taken to oust Rajoub, and pressure should be put on the PA to
replace him with a chairman whose passion for sports and sportsmanship is
greater than his thirst for blood.
In an ongoing effort to "kick terrorism out of football," various research
organizations have submitted joint and separate complaints to the Fédération
Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) about the behavior of the
Palestinian Football Association (PFA) and its president, Jibril Rajoub.
At least five highly regarded non-governmental organizations -- Palestinian
Media Watch (PMW), NGO Monitor, the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies, UK
Lawyers for Israel and the New York-based Lawfare Project -- have enumerated the
many and varied ways in which Rajoub -- the secretary-general of the central
committee of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction,
the chairman of the Palestinian Olympic Committee and the head of the Supreme
Council for Sport and Youth -- has violated FIFA's own Code of Ethics, "by
promoting and glorifying terrorism; inciting hatred and violence; promoting
racism; and preventing the use of the game of football in order to build a
bridge for peace."
An extensive PMW report highlights Rajoub's exploitation of his various roles in
the world of sports to cultivate a terrorist mind-frame among Palestinian youth
and incite to murder of Jews and Israelis. A stark example -- particularly for
the head of the Palestinian Olympic Committee -- was Rajoub's attendance at, and
stamp of approval for, a boxing tournament honoring the terrorist who planned
the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The official PA
daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, headlined the August 9, 2010 report: In the presence
of [Jibril] Rajoub - successful conclusion to the Second Palestine Boxing
Tournament for youth and men in Hebron." The item itself read:
"The tournament [was] held at the Shari'ah School for Boys in Hebron, and was
named by the Palestinian Boxing Association after Martyr (Shahid) Ali Hassan
Salameh, the 'Red Prince.'"
In July 2012, while addressing the launch of the first Forum for Arab women
sports journalists, Rajoub referred to Jews and Israelis as "Satans" and
"Zionist sons of bitches," adding, "Normalization with the occupation is
impossible, impossible, impossible, with no exceptions..."
In December 2015, Rajoub sponsored a table tennis tournament named after
Muhannad Halabi, the Palestinian who murdered two Israelis -- Rabbi Nehemia
Lavie and Aharon Benita -- while they were walking to the Western Wall in
Jerusalem on Oct. 3, 2015. Halabi also stabbed Bennett's wife, Adele, and their
two-year-old son, before being shot and killed by Israeli police -- immediately
earning him the status of "martyr" by the PA.
These are but three cases of Rajoub's long history of incitement and of lauding
terrorism. However, as PMW pointed out, he has been "very calculating" in his
public stance on the murder of Israelis. On October 17, 2015, about two weeks
after the launch of what has come to be called the "lone-wolf" or "knife"
intifada, Rajoub coached viewers of the PA's official TV station how to avoid
condemnation for the killing of innocent people. The international community, he
said, "does not agree to a bus exploding in Tel Aviv. But the international
community does not ask what happens to a settler or soldier in the occupied
territories at the wrong time and in the wrong place. No one asks about him!
Therefore, we want to fight in a way that the world and the international
community will remain by our side."
Rajoub's efforts to provide his deeds -- and predominantly Arabic words for
internal consumption -- with a mantle of political legitimacy involve accusing
Israeli sports clubs of wrongdoing. Most recently, on June 13, 2017, the PFA
filed an appeal with the Lausanne-headquartered Tribunal Arbitral Du Sport
(Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS), to void a FIFA resolution, passed at its
Congress in May, to delay until March 2018 a decision on whether Israeli
football (soccer) teams have a right to play in the West Bank, which the PA
considers "occupied" Palestinian territory. More significantly, the PFA has
presented its claim that blocking the Israeli teams is justified to five
separate FIFA Congresses.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino nevertheless said that the CAS's final ruling on
the matter will likely be announced five months earlier -- at the next Congress
in India in October 2017. In the meantime, however, it is FIFA that should be
taking action against Rajoub and the PFA. That it has not done so is shocking,
considering that even the most perfunctory review of the FIFA Statutes -- which
names at one of its objectives "to improve the game of football constantly and
promote it globally in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and
humanitarian values, particularly through youth and development programmes" --
makes it clear that Rajoub is a serial violator and must be expelled from the
organization.
According to the statutes, last updated on April 27, 2016:
"Discrimination of any kind against a country, private person or group of people
on account of race, skin colour, ethnic, national or social origin, gender,
disability, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, wealth,
birth or any other status, sexual orientation or any other reason is strictly
prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion."
In addition, FIFA states that member associations must "...be neutral in matters
of politics and religion; ...prohibit all forms of discrimination... and be
independent and avoid any form of political interference."
If FIFA has been disregarding the PFA's many breaches to its bylaws -- either
inadvertently or for political reasons -- the evidence provided by PMW means
that it can no longer ignore the appalling practices of one of its members.
Swift action needs to be taken to oust Rajoub, and pressure should be put on the
Palestinian Authority to replace him with a chairman whose passion for sports
and sportsmanship is greater than his thirst for blood.
In a world rocked by jihadi terrorist attacks -- including at sports arenas --
this is not merely a matter for soccer fans. It is a microcosm of the way in
which young Muslims are being educated by extremist regimes, among them the
Palestinian Authority. FIFA has a duty to prevent the game -- the purity of
which it purports to protect from abuse -- from being corrupted at the hands of
radicals such as Rajoub.
A.Z. Mohamed is a Muslim born and raised in the Middle East.
© 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.
End the False Israeli-Palestinian Parity
Daniel Pipes/Israel Hayom/July 05/17
http://www.danielpipes.org/17764/end-the-false-israeli-palestinian-equality
[The published version is slightly edited.]
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's decision to visit Jerusalem but not
Ramallah has prompted much comment.
The expectation of equal treatment goes back to the Oslo Accords' signing in
Sep. 1993, when the prime minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, represented his
government in the handshake with Yasir Arafat, the much-despised chairman of the
Palestine Liberation Organization. No one found it strange or inappropriate at
the time but things look differently nearly a quarter century later.
It's now clear that Rabin's vanity got the better of him at that supremely
high-profile event on the White House lawn. As the elected head of a democratic
and sovereign government, he never should have consented to Arafat, the henchman
of an unofficial, dictatorial, and murderous organization, enjoying equal status
with himself.
Rather, he should have stayed aloof from. Appearing together as equals created a
dysfunctional illusion of equivalence that over subsequent decades became
assumed, ingrained, and unquestioned. In fact, this false equivalence became
even more inaccurate with time, as Israel went from one success to another and
the Palestinian Authority brought on a reign of ever-deeper anarchy, dependency,
and repression.
It's not just that Israelis stand among world leaders in science, technology,
the humanities, and the arts, in military power and intelligence capabilities,
not just that its economy is 25 times larger than the Palestinian one; in
addition, Israel is ever more a land where the law rules for all (at one point
recently, a disgraced president and a criminal prime minister were
simultaneously sitting in prison) and individual rights are not just promised
but delivered. Meanwhile, the head of the Palestinian Authority, presently in
the 12th year of his 4-year term, has been neither able to prevent creeping
anarchy on the West Bank nor a rogue group from taking over in Gaza, one-half of
his putative domain.
Some would defend Rabin's self-imposed humiliation by arguing that he sought to
strengthen Arafat and the PLO through pomp and pageantry. If this was indeed the
plan, it backfired spectacularly. Rather than use the prestige of the Oslo
signing ceremony to build a constituency that accepted the Jewish state and
thereby end the Palestinians' conflict with it, Arafat exploited his heightened
standing to develop new resources to reject Zionism and attack Israel.
Palestinian "embassies" popped up worldwide to delegitimize Israel, while
Palestinians killed more Israelis in the five years after the Oslo signing than
in the fifteen years before it. In other words, Rabin recklessly put faith in an
historic and barbaric enemy changing not just tactics but goals. Israel has paid
a heavy price for this error.
Instead of the prime minister, the Israeli standing with Arafat on the White
House lawn should have been someone like the second secretary at the Israeli
embassy in Norway. That would have delivered the necessary signal that Arafat's
protocol equivalent registers stoopingly low in the diplomatic hierarchy. To be
sure, that would have meant no Nobel Peace Prize for Yitzhak Rabin. In
retrospect, however, would it not have been better to skip celebrating so
exuberantly a flawed, doomed, and destructive agreement?
Israeli leaders consenting to share a Nobel Peace Prize with Arafat was an even
greater mistake than the original handshake.
For good measure, the signing ceremony should have taken place in the modesty of
Oslo, not the grandeur of Washington, the imperial capital, the home town of the
only hyper-power.
Had a lowly precedent been set in 1993, today's false parity between Binyamin
Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas would not exist; the true imbalance of the
Palestinian-Israeli relationship might be more clearly seen. As low-level
diplomats, not prime ministers, negotiate with Arafat, Abbas, and the assorted
other villains and self-styled Palestinian leaders, the world would be
constantly reminded not of a sham parallel but of the vast moral and power gulf
dividing the two sides.
Well, that did not happen. But is it too late? Can Netanyahu or a future Israeli
prime minister escape the indignity of meeting as equals with the leader of a
gangster enterprise?
No, it's not too late. Netanyahu could eloquently explain that he meets his
legitimate counterparts; he will leave it to functionaries in the Foreign
Ministry to handle whoever the Palestinian Authority throws up.
Imagine the benefits of such a step: Israel would gain in stature while the
fetid nature of the PA would be exposed. American presidents would lose interest
in the "ultimate deal." Other assorted would-be mediators and do-gooders would
have a much harder time trying to revive a quarter century of botched
negotiations.
So, I suggest Israeli prime ministers leave "peace-processing" with Palestinian
hooligans to low-ranking staff.
**Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org, [twitter.com/danielpipes]@DanielPipes) is
president of the Middle East Forum. © 2017 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.
Government directives not enough when it comes to traffic
in Baghdad
Adnan Hussein/Al Arabiya/July 05/17
The cabinet recently responded to the frequent complaints of traffic jams that
have nearly become fatal in Iraq’s capital city of Baghdad. Although it has
issued directives to curb this phenomenon, it still did not completely solve
this problem. The guidelines were limited to “quick fixes and immediate
solutions to this problem,” according to a press briefing by the Cabinet
spokesman Saad al-Hadithi. Baghdad’s traffic problem, as well as its problems
with electricity and municipal services, especially hygiene and sanitation, is
much more serious than a problem that can be resolved with “fast and immediate”
procedures. The persistent traffic jams around the clock, as well as the lack of
electric power supply, have obstructed the economic and social life. It is not
wrong to take quick and immediate actions solutions; however, it is a bigger
mistake to rely on these procedures and disregard thorough solutions.
Baghdad is one of the largest capitals in the world with an area of one thousand
square kilometers and a population of about 3 million people (a quarter of the
Iraqi population). It ranks second among the capitals of the Arab countries and
the 16th among the world capitals in terms of population.
Traffic system is part of the radical solution to the problem of traffic jams,
which is also an indicator of the power and authority of the country
Overcrowded city
Baghdad is an overcrowded city that cannot be treated with rapid and immediate
solutions that have been ongoing since the 1970s, especially that these
solutions have already proven to be disastrous. The suffering of the people has
increased several times since 2003, not only because of the security situation
but also due to the policy of open doors regarding the importation of goods,
mainly cars; senior corrupt figures have been holding to such policies along
with their cheating partners. The streets of Baghdad today are full of cars,
especially the cheap ones coming from China and Iran. These cars suffer from
frequent breakdowns, which contribute to traffic jams and cause deadly
accidents. The government’s first move should be to stop such policies and
prevent the importation of cheap cars.
Nevertheless, the big prize deserved by Baghdad and other big cities like Basra
and Mosul will be when they solve their traffic problem once and for all through
relying on the fast public transportation projects. This can be done through a
network of aboveground and underground railways.
There has been an underground project since the 1970s that has been afflicted by
Saddam Hussein’s futile domestic and external wars, and the government now
should go back and reinforce it with other Tram projects. Moreover, reviving the
railway network linking Baghdad to other provinces will alleviate the traffic
jams in the capital, especially at the entrances and adjacent areas. In addition
to all that, there is a constant need to implement the traffic system and law,
whether in Baghdad or outside it. Traffic system is part of the radical solution
to the problem of traffic jams, which is also an indicator of the power and
authority of the country.
Who propagates the Qatari terminology?
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/July 05/17
With the end of the second deadline for Qatar, another war is erupting: the war
of concepts and terminology, with the visit of the German Foreign Minister
Sigmar Gabriel to the Gulf region.
In Doha, where the crisis had originally emanated from, Qatari Foreign Minister
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani said, in the presence of the German
minister, that the measures taken by Arab countries to boycott Doha are
“illegal”. He claimed that the list of demands presented by the boycotting
countries “is not about terrorism, but rather about the suppression of the
freedom of expression.”On the other hand, in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, Foreign
Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said in the presence of the German
minister: “Any steps taken by the boycotting countries will be within the
framework of the international law.”The Qatari minister suggested the reason
behind the crisis was “freedom of expression” and not Qatari support for
terrorism. On the other hand, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed said: “Our brother
country Qatar allowed, shielded and instigated terrorism; this is why we tell
Qatar, stop supporting terrorism and being a haven for terrorists”. In the
Qatari terminology, it was all about “freedom of expression.” They speak of the
violation of international law, while the opposite side speaks of a sovereign
right guaranteed by international law.
There is also the Khomeinist networks with left-wing tendencies that are fueled
by “traditional” hatred of conservative Arab states, namely Saudi Arabia, that
was opposed to the left-wing camp during the Cold War
Battle of terminology
Those who win this battle of concepts and terminology will have accomplished a
tremendous step. Some may be surprised by the ability of the Qatari authority to
be stubborn and promote its opinion and “terminology” in the presence of
international media.
Qatar has become so obstinate that it is using its membership and legitimacy as
a recognized state for the sake of a multi-faceted entity throughout the world,
namely many networks and not just one, like the Muslim Brotherhood.
It is worth noting that Muslim Brotherhood had dissolved its organization in
Qatar for more than 20 years. There was no need for such an organization in the
wake of the policy of Prince Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. The whole country is
swamped by the Brotherhood and there seems to be three generations of Muslim
Brotherhood networks in the West.
There is also the Khomeinist networks with left-wing tendencies that are fueled
by “traditional” hatred of conservative Arab states, namely Saudi Arabia, that
was opposed to the left-wing camp during the Cold War; I mean this could be a
late revenge.
We have three major problems at hand. The Muslim Brotherhood, Khomeini and
leftists add up to the Qatari terminology that we have already talked about.
This is a confrontation that cannot be ignored because winning it would be a
great takeoff for a bright future. It will be a step to fold this dark phase, no
matter how much time and effort it consumes.