LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 02/17

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias/english.june02.17.htm

 News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2016

Bible Quotations For Today
Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 16/15-20/:"‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.’So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

We speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts
First Letter to the Thessalonians 02/01-08/:"You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully maltreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.
So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 01-02/17
New crisis between Lebanon and GCC/Diana Moukalled/Arabnews/June 02/17
Lebanese Philosopher Ali Harb: We Steal Theories From The West and Attribute Them To Islam; 'We Have Been Resisting The Attempts At Reform' For Over A Century/MEMRI TV/June 01/17
Innovation Won’t Overcome Stagnation/Satyajit Das/Bloomberg/June 01/17
Foreign Intervention and the UK General Elections/Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/June 01/17
Grooming Jihadists: The Ladder of Radicalization and Its Antidote/Saher Fares/Gatestone Institute/June 01/17
The Muslim Brotherhood Connection: ISIS, "Lady al Qaeda," and the Muslim Students Association/Thomas Quiggin/Gatestone Institute/June 01/17 /
Israel disappointed after Trump delays US embassy move/Associated Press/Ynetnews/June 01/17
Reunification Only Way to Defuse Korea Crisis/John R. Bolton/Gatestone Institute/June 01/17

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on June 01-02/17
Hariri, Jumblat Confirm 'Agreement Reached' on Electoral Law as Berri Says 'All Things Positive'
Aoun touts Lebanon as center of dialogue
Lebanese PM: Electoral Law Right Around the Corner
Aoun Signs Decree Opening Extraordinary Legislative Session ahead of Baabda Iftar Banquet
Aoun Opens Extraordinary Legislative Session, Promises 'Balanced' Electoral Law in 'Coming Days'
Meet Me in Court, Defiant Gemayel Tells FPM as He Accuses Jreissati of Bias
Mashnouq: Staging the Elections Within 3 Months is Difficult, Preparations Need More Time
MP Alain Aoun: Presidential Iftar Will Help Ease Tension
Report: 'Silent' Crisis Emerges to Public between Once Allies Hariri-Jumblat
Report: Marada Says FPM Seeking Vacuum at Legislative Authority
Riachi in front of TL delegation: Sectarian accountability unreservedly prohibited during my term
Pharoun visits Geagea, sounds optimistic about imminent new vote law
Loyalty to Resistance: Passing election law step towards saving country
Army apprehends two Syrians in Nabatieh for links to Daash
New crisis between Lebanon and GCC
Lebanese Philosopher Ali Harb: We Steal Theories From The West and Attribute Them To Islam; 'We Have Been Resisting The Attempts At Reform' For Over A Centu
ry

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 01-02/17
Trump Expected to Sign Order Delaying US Embassy Move to Jerusalem
Trump, after House Panel Subpoenas, Backs Inquiry Into Obama Administration
Guterres Calls for Referring Syrian File to ICC
Idlib: An Impending Fierce Battle Risking the Lives of 1 Million Syrians
Russia Participates in Syria’s ‘Desert Battle’ with Missiles, Warplanes
US: We Want to Partner with KSA to Face Threats, Specifically Malign Iranian Influence
ISIS Preparing for Final Showdown in West Mosul
Arab Coalition: Oil Tanker Targeted with RPGs Off Yemen
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Receives King of Jordan
Dissolution of Bahraini ‘Waad’ Association, Liquidation of Its Funds
Car Bomb Reportedly Rocks Saudi Shiite City
Palestinian Woman Stabs Israeli Soldier, is Shot
France moves to ban MPs from hiring family members
Russophobia' in West 'Counterproductive', Won't Last, Putin Says
Manila Casino Complex under IS Attack
Philippine Military Airstrikes Kill 10 Troops

Latest Lebanese Related News published on June 01-02/17
Hariri, Jumblat Confirm 'Agreement Reached' on Electoral Law as Berri Says 'All Things Positive'
Naharnet/June01/17/The political parties have agreed on an electoral law based on full proportional representation and 15 electoral districts and the details “will be finalized before the expiry of parliament's term,” Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced Thursday after a meeting with President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri in Baabda. “We have agreed on the framework of the electoral law and a committee will address the details and the final touches,” Hariri added after the talks, which were held on the sidelines of the annual Ramadan iftar banquet at the Baabda Palace. “The atmosphere between President Aoun and Speaker Berri was positive,” Hariri revealed. Berri for his part told reporters while leaving the palace that “all things are positive.”Aoun later held a meeting with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat.“The atmosphere is positive and we will have a new electoral law. No to extension (of parliament's term) and no to returning to the 1960 law. The atmosphere is positive and thank God this was a blessed evening,” Jumblat said after the meeting. Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea meanwhile told reporters in Baabda that he expects the new electoral law to be finalized “in the coming days.” In his speech at the iftar banquet, Aoun announced that the country will have a new and “balanced” electoral law in the “coming days.”“Finalizing the electoral law in the coming days will restore confidence and reflect a will to improve popular representation and make it more balanced,” Aoun said.

Aoun touts Lebanon as center of dialogue
The Daily Star/June 02/17ظBEIRUT: President Michel Aoun spoke of Lebanon’s central role in being a land of assembly, interaction and dialogue during an iftar dinner at Baabda Palace Thursday evening to mark the month of Ramadan. “At this stage, Lebanon is the most capable of being at the center for interfaith dialogue and of playing a key role in re-establishing ties between faiths,” Aoun said in front of over 250 guests that included key political and religious leaders.Among the guests and lawmakers in attendance were former Lebanese presidents Michel Sleiman and Amine Gemayel, the Vatican Ambassador to Lebanon Gabriele Caccia and other Christian and Muslim leaders, both local and foreign.Aoun said that Lebanon still remained a model for all communities living in collective unilateralism and seeking pluralism. He added that with its pluralistic society bringing together all religions and sects, “Lebanon continues to maintain the balance of the system and its ethics even if, sometimes, political divisions spoil this image when they hide under a religious label whereas it is purely political.” “All of us are quite aware that if the image of Islam is distorted and the East will come to an end if Christians abandon it ... the oriental spirit based on pluralism, openness and religious tolerance will vanish letting the destructive unilateral racism prevail,” Aoun said. Touching on the confidence of the Lebanese people in the government, the president added that the main purpose of his government was to build a strong nation and restore this damaged confidence.However, he added that it would take time to build a nation. “A nation is not built overnight and it cannot be built ... unless wills and pure intentions combine for the national interest,” he said, saying that any step forward would benefit all and any step back would be a failure for all.
Separately, Lebanese Forces MP Georges Adwan told reporters as he arrived, “There is a new electoral law,” despite LF chief Samir Geagea’s comments indicating that there was still work to be done. Meanwhile, Free Patriotic Movement MP Ibrahim Kanaan told reporters as he arrived at the Baabda Palace that discussions on an electoral was close to completion. “We are on the verge of achieving a new electoral law,” Kanaan said. However, talk of a rift between Aoun and Marada chief MP Sleiman Frangieh was stoked with the MP rejecting a reported invite to the iftar. Public Works Minister Youssef Fenianos, who is affiliated with Frangieh, also did not attend the gathering. Ties soured between Frangieh and Aoun, who were both main candidates for the presidency and members of the now-defunct March 8 coalition, after the latter piped the Marada Movement head to the country’s top post last October.
Calling for forces to come together to open a new chapter in rebuilding Lebanon, Aoun said: “It is an open invitation to everyone, to let the national interest take precedence over all other interests, making all solutions easier.”


Lebanese PM: Electoral Law Right Around the Corner
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/Beirut- Lebanon’s electoral law remains at the center of meetings held between different political parties striving to reach an agreement on a structure that is acceptable by all sides. However, discussions on such a draft-law was absent from Wednesday’s cabinet session chaired by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who said he was optimistic about reaching a solution. Hariri stressed the electoral law was right around the corner. “We still have 19 days to agree on a new electoral law. I am optimistic about reaching a solution, and this is what we must work on achieving, and we are working day and night to overcome the remaining difficulties,” Hariri said at the start of the cabinet session. He also urged ministers to abide by what was agreed on to preserve the government’s solidarity, and stressed that the door is open for the discussion of any idea in the council of ministers.
Meanwhile, political observers are waiting for a speech by President Michel Aoun during the Iftar hosted by the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Thursday. The president might announce a “final agreement on the electoral law based on the proportional system and on dividing the country into 15 electoral districts.”Sources close to the electoral file predicted that Aoun’s position would be preceded by a closed meeting between him, Speaker Nabih Berri and Hariri. “As Prime Minister Hariri said, we are working on the final agreement” on the electoral law, Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury told reporters at the end of the cabinet session. For their part, deputies who met with Berri on Wednesday quoted him as saying that he “was awaiting for the outcome of ongoing contacts regarding the vote law based on 15 districts.”According to the MPs, Berri hoped that the different parties would strike a deal on a new vote law as soon as possible. Also Wednesday, Interior Minister Nohad al-Mashnouq told reporters following the cabinet session that if a new electoral law based on 15 districts was approved, then there would not be enough time to hold the elections within three months.On May 21, Lebanon missed the first deadline for conducting the parliamentary elections.

Aoun Signs Decree Opening Extraordinary Legislative Session ahead of Baabda Iftar Banquet
Naharnet/June 01/17/President Michel Aoun on Thursday signed a key decree opening an extraordinary legislative session ahead of an iftar banquet at the Baabda Palace during which he is expected to voice important remarks regarding the electoral law. The decree, which also carried the signature of Prime Minister Saad Hariri, stipulates that the session will begin on June 7 and end on June 20 and that it will be “exclusively limited to the approval of a new electoral law.”The decree signals that the parties have inched closer to an agreement on an electoral law based on full proportional representation and 15 electoral districts. Lebanese Forces deputy leader MP George Adwan played a key role in promoting the aforementioned electoral system among the rival parties. Earlier in the day, Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Alain Aoun stressed that “there is no disagreement between President Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri that needs to be resolved at the Baabda iftar banquet.”"Today's gathering will clear the air and help reach a new electoral law," he said. A disagreement had recently emerged over who between Aoun and Berri has the jurisdiction to call for an extraordinary parliament session. An annual Ramadan iftar banquet hosted by Aoun at the Presidential Palace on Thursday evening is expected to accelerate agreement on a new voting system. Some reports have even said that Aoun could announce the agreement in his speech.

Aoun Opens Extraordinary Legislative Session, Promises 'Balanced' Electoral Law in 'Coming Days'
Naharnet/June01/17/President Michel Aoun on Thursday signed a key decree opening an extraordinary legislative session and announced that the country will have a new and “balanced” electoral law in the “coming days.”The decree also carried the signature of Prime Minister Saad Hariri and was inked a few hours before an annual Ramadan iftar banquet at the Baabda Palace that was attended by Speaker Nabih Berri, MP Walid Jumblat, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and a host of political, religious and social figures. The decree stipulates that the session will begin on June 7 and end on June 20 and that it will be “exclusively limited to the approval of a new electoral law.”“Finalizing the electoral law in the coming days will restore confidence and reflect a will to improve popular representation and make it more balanced,” Aoun said in a televised speech during the banquet.
“The state can only rise through the synergy of good wills in order to achieve the country's interest. Any step on this path is a success for us all and any retreat is a failure for us all,” the president added. “All solutions become easy when you put the country's interest before all other interests,” he noted. “This presidential tenure's main objective is to build a strong state,” Aoun went on to say. “Our national unity is a security valve... We must not allow any event to threaten our national unity,” he added. A closed-door meeting between Aoun, Berri and Hariri preceded the iftar banquet and the president held talks later with Jumblat.Hariri announced later that the parties have agreed on an electoral law based on full proportional representation in 15 districts and that "some details will be finalized in the next two days."

Meet Me in Court, Defiant Gemayel Tells FPM as He Accuses Jreissati of Bias
Naharnet/June 01/17/Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel announced Thursday that he is willing to confront Energy Minister Cesar Abi Khalil of the Free Patriotic Movement in Lebanese courts over the controversial file of leasing power generation ships and the libel lawsuit that ensued.
“This scene in addition to other scenes that we witnessed over the past few months remind us of the era of the (Lebanese-Syrian) security apparatus,” a defiant Gemayel said at a press conference, referring to Abi Khalil's lawsuit against dozens of politicians, journalists and activists who have launched corruption accusations against the minister in connection with the ships file. “I have already expressed my willingness to have my parliamentary immunity lifted and I hope this issue will be addressed as soon as possible so that we can meet in courts,” Gemayel added. “The problem is not that you have a problem with 400 Lebanese citizens but rather that we have a problem with you,” he went on to say. He also reminded that he had recently submitted an official request to form a parliamentary panel of inquiry into suspected corruption in the file of the power ships. “If they want to discuss the case in parliament we are ready and if they want to go to court we are also ready,” Gemayel added. Referring to the meeting Abi Khalil and an FPM delegation held with Justice Minister Salim Jreissati, who is loyal to the FPM, the Kataeb chief slammed the remarks that were voiced by the minister during the meeting. “The justice minister turned himself into a judge and issued a ruling before the case was even referred to the judiciary,” Gemayel lamented. “He said 'none of us' has requested a commission, as if he is part of the issue,” he added. “When citizens see the justice minister siding with the ruling class, this is considered intimidation and an attack on public freedoms, and it is a method used in backward states,” Gemayel went on to say. He also noted that he has documents obtained from one of the firms that had intended to submit a bid that prove that the book of terms is “tailored” to secure the win of a specific firm – the Turkish Karadeniz firm which is the operator of the Fatmagul Sultan and Orhan Bey vessels that Lebanon has been leasing since 2012.

Mashnouq: Staging the Elections Within 3 Months is Difficult, Preparations Need More Time
Naharnet/June 01/17/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said on Thursday it is difficult to stage the parliamentary elections within a period of three months if a new law was agreed, pointing to the need for a technical extension of the parliament's term. “I explained to President Michel Aoun that shall political parties agree on an electoral law, it would be difficult to stage the elections within three months without a technical extension of the parliament's term,” said Mashnouq after a meeting with Aoun at the Baabda Palace. Mashnouq remarked that in order to prepare for the elections more time is needed. “I explained to Aoun in a study performed at the interior ministry that three months are not enough to prepare for the polls,” he added. However, Mashnouq said “positive atmospheres” are prevailing and the chances of agreeing on a new law are progressing. Touching on the security situation in Baalbek he said: “The situation is alarming in spite of the army's pre-emptive operations. The President has recommended that necessary measures be taken.”

MP Alain Aoun: Presidential Iftar Will Help Ease Tension
Naharnet/June 01/17/Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Alain Aoun stressed on Thursday that President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri are not in a dispute and the misunderstanding between the two is a mere “divergence of views.”“There is no disagreement between Aoun and Berri to need to reconcile at the Baabda Iftar. There is a divergence of views,” said Aoun in an interview to VDL (100.5). "Today's gathering will clear the air and help reach a new electoral law," he said. A disagreement emerged lately over who between Berri and Aoun has the jurisdiction to call for an extraordinary parliament session.The Speaker, who called for an extraordinary session on June 5, was criticized by FPM officials under claims that the “issue is one of the President's constitutional jurisdictions.”Berri justified his move saying that although Prime Minister Saad Hariri had sent a draft decree to open an extraordinary session to President Michel Aoun, but Berri did not receive any confirmation from the president which compelled him to call for the June 5 session to avoid vacuum. An annual Ramadan Iftar hosted by President Michel Aoun at the Presidential Palace on Thursday will reportedly accelerate agreement on a new voting system.

Report: 'Silent' Crisis Emerges to Public between Once Allies Hariri-Jumblat
Naharnet/June 01/17/A “silent” crisis lingering since April between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has exploded in public as the two men indirectly traded corruption accusations, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.
The crisis began first in April when Hariri supported the so-called qualification “sectarian” parliamentary electoral law, proposed by Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, which Jumblat criticized as a format that marginalizes his role and the Druze community, said the daily. The two men have been at loggerheads trading thorny comments without any naming each other.Three days ago, Jumblat asked in a tweet reportedly referring to Hariri without naming him: “Why don't all the tenders pass through the (Central Inspection Bureau's) Tender Department so as to prevent newly bankrupts from looting the State?”The tweet was enough to tarnish relations between the men who were once allies, and to “turn Jumblat into a rival that the prime minister would fight till the end,” said the daily. The Prime Minister replied to Jumblat's comments without naming him, he said during a Ramadan Iftar: “Yes I am one of the newly bankrupts but I have and will never take a penny from the country. I will fight those trying to make gains out of the country,” as he indirectly accused the PSP chief of corruption. “A new group has started giving us lessons in corruption as if they have not been corrupt before,” said Hariri.

Report: Marada Says FPM Seeking Vacuum at Legislative Authority
The Marada Movement has raised concerns of vacuum at the legislative authority and accused the Free Patriotic Movement of driving the country into vacuum and having the parliamentary elections staged based on the controversial majoritarian 1960 law, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday. “The FPM is seeking vacuum despite its repeated assertions that it is not. Its deeds indicate so far a desire to turn to the 1960 law,” Marada sources told the daily on condition of anonymity. Pointing to the call for an extraordinary parliament session, they said when a session is not called for despite the fact that the regular legislature session was about to end, “it means that chances for a solution and an agreement on a new electoral law are being held back with intentions to go for the 1960 law.”Speaker Nabih Berri had recently called for an extraordinary parliament session on June 5, which was criticized by FPM officials under claims that the “issue is one of the President's constitutional jurisdictions.”Berri justified his move saying that although Prime Minister Saad Hariri had sent a draft decree to open an extraordinary session to President Michel Aoun, but Berri did not receive any confirmation from the president which compelled him to call for the June 5 session to avoid vacuum. Touching on the Berri-Aoun constitutional debate, Marada sources said raising the issue at a time when political parties are still bickering over a new voting system was a “battle at the wrong time and wrong place.” “It is a mistake to say that the Speaker has trespassed the President's jurisdictions, because an agreement was (eventually) reached and was also signed by the PM”, they added. Marada criticized the FPM's approach, saying “the President must not take sides. He should be the solution to problems, not the hurdle.”“Until this moment, we have seen that the FPM has problems with the entire political parties,” they concluded.

Riachi in front of TL delegation: Sectarian accountability unreservedly prohibited during my term
Thu 01 Jun 2017/NNA - Information Minister, Melhem Riachi, stressed that sectarian accountability is utterly prohibited during his term of office, urging everyone to act responsibly. Minister Riachi's fresh stance on Thursday came during his meeting at his ministerial office with a delegation of state-run Tele Liban Station, including News Director Saab Diab and senior TV employees and mediamen. Minister Riachi pledged an imminent appointment of a new TL Board of Administration, to kickstart heeding special attention to the TV's vital affairs and consecrating up-to-date programs, as a prime objective. "Everyone should act responsibly," Riachy said, pledging that the TV Station's archive shall be soon re-energized.

Pharoun visits Geagea, sounds optimistic about imminent new vote law
Thu 01 Jun 2017/NNA - "Lebanese Forces" leader Samir Geagea met on Thursday at his Meerab residence with State Minister for Planning Affairs, Michel Pharoun, where they discussed most recent developments with regard the long simmering vote law issue. On emerging, Minister Pharoun sounded optimistic about the possibility of realizing a new election law soon, saying "all available information points towards positivity in this regard."The Minister anticipated a new vote law within one week or ten days at the latest, as he said. Pharoun also pointed out that several impediments standing in the way of a new vote law have been eliminated, stressing the paramount importance of achieving the general public welfare instead of narrow or personal calculations. "We are optimistic about realizing a new vote law soon," he said. On the other hand, Geagea met with a delegation of the "Islamic Civil Alliance" Command in Lebanon, with talks reportedly touching on most recent developments on the Lebanese and Arab arena.

Loyalty to Resistance: Passing election law step towards saving country
Thu 01 Jun 2017 /NNA - The "Loyalty to the Resistance" bloc held its periodic meeting at its headquarters in Haret Hreik under the chairmanship of MP Mohammad Raad, and in the presence of bloc members who went over the events that recently took place in the region. The bloc stressed, in its statement, that "the completion of the new electoral law is a step on the path of saving the country, as it prevents falling into vacuum or having to return to the election law in force; a return that can only be described as epic failure."Calling on all political forces in the country to avoid sectarian and provocative discourse and to exercise their full legitimate right to express their political differences, whether in discussing the wording of the electoral law or any other issue, the bloc stressed that "the interest of the country in security and stability is greater than recording points against each other through abhorrent sectarian incitement or despicable class provocation.""The Lebanese people's confidence in the commitment of the new presidential mandate to the strategic national principles set out in the inauguration speech and the ministerial statement will no doubt increase with the concern to implement the laws in force (...) especially in the process of (...) providing vital and developmental services to citizens and their regions," the statement read. "With utmost appreciation for the efforts of the security and military agencies in pursuing the Takfiri and Israeli terror cells, we urge the internal security forces and the information branch, in addition to the Lebanese Army intelligence, to double their concern over the security situation in the region of Baalbek-Hermel, and to chase those who sow chaos and crime," the bloc's statement concluded.

Army apprehends two Syrians in Nabatieh for links to Daash
Thu 01 Jun 2017/NNA - The Lebanese army intelligence arrested in Nabatieh two Syrian young women for links to the terrorist Daash Organization, NNA field reporter said on Thursday.The two young women recently entered Lebanon in an illegal manner.
Following close and thorough monitoring by the Lebanese army intelligence, the two women were arrested after being tasked by Daash to carry out a security mission in said area. The detained women were handed over to the army intelligence in the South.

New crisis between Lebanon and GCCأزمة جديدة بين لبنان ومجلس التعاون الخليجي
Diana Moukalled/Arabnews/June 02/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=55882
Nothing seems to make us optimistic in Lebanon; we climb out of a hole only to stumble into another.
There are signs of a new diplomatic crisis looming on the horizon.
After the return of the Lebanese delegation from the recent Riyadh Summit, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, through his Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, tried to renounce the Riyadh Declaration, which set the highest ceiling of confrontation with Iran and termed Hezbollah a terror group.
Bassil said Lebanon had nothing to do with the declaration, a statement that was agreed upon and confirmed by Aoun. The response came quickly and plainly with the blocking of the website of Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement in Saudi Arabia and through a series of criticisms in Saudi newspapers, which were the harshest since Aoun took power in Lebanon. I would not say relations between Beirut and Riyadh returned to the point of crisis, especially since Riyadh maintains relations with other Lebanese components, notably with Prime Minister Saad Hariri, but Lebanon is prone to deep divisions and sectarian strife that threaten a worst-case scenario. Will the Lebanese authorities be able to face the challenges dictated by the rapid developments around us?
It is true that some GCC reservations about Lebanon are sometimes expressed in harsh language, but that does not mean that Lebanon has reached a major crisis point. It could, however, reach it if the Lebanese leaders do not deal properly with the current events. The Riyadh Declaration referred to Iran and the organizations it supports by name and, automatically, Lebanon finds itself in the direct line of Arab-American confrontation and, therefore, Iranian reactions. No one should underestimate the dangers looming over Lebanon and the whole region. Preparing to face dangers requires not escapism but unity of rank and severing dependence on foreign elements for relief. The current situation will not be less dangerous if Iran exploits the Lebanese arena to respond to those who try to besiege it and force it not to interfere in Arab affairs. Will Iran take a risk by meddling in Lebanon’s affairs in the next stage and taking advantage of Hezbollah’s position and its influence on the president of the republic?The nature of the campaign against Hezbollah and Lebanese president will put a major onus on their shoulder vis-a-vis the Lebanese people. Hezbollah has the potential to drag the country into war, but, at the same time, can take Lebanon’s national interests and the ramifications of a confrontation into account.
It has to be seen how the Lebanese government, represented by President Aoun, will deal with the stormy developments in the region and whether it will be able to stop Lebanon from being dragged into confrontation, particularly if Iran is no longer an external element but, rather, remains at the heart of Lebanon in its Arab and regional policies. It will take some time before we see how the government will deal with the new situation, but pessimism prevails among the Lebanese due to the perceived inability of the current authority to deal with fateful issues. This inability was clear in past experiences and it is still expected in the days and weeks to come. No one should underestimate the dangers looming over Lebanon and the whole region. Preparing to face dangers requires not escapism but unity of rank and severing dependence on foreign elements for relief.
At this stage, the Lebanese have no choice but to remove the thorn with their own hands.
• Diana Moukalled is a veteran journalist with extensive experience in both traditional and new media. She is also a columnist and freelance documentary producer. She can be reached on Twitter @dianamoukalled.

Lebanese Philosopher Ali Harb: We Steal Theories From The West and Attribute Them To Islam; 'We Have Been Resisting The Attempts At Reform' For Over A Century
MEMRI TV/June 01/17
In an Al-Arabiya TV interview, which aired on May 15, Lebanese philosopher Ali Harb said that "we engage in the theft of theories and knowledge, produced by the minds of human beings, and we attribute them to Islam," and that "to this day, we oppose any attempt at reform."
Ali Harb: "I am critical of both camps: the religious and the modern. With regard to the religious camp, I am critical of the sense of exceptionalism. I call this cultural narcissism. We believe ourselves to be the best of all nations. We believe that we, and nobody else, own the truth. "When we say that our (Holy) Book includes science in all its aspects, perhaps in the past, this was a call to engage in science, and to open up our minds to knowledge."
Interviewer: "The Quran also says this: 'Say, are those who know equal to those who do not know?'"
Ali Harb: "But today, this call has the opposite effect. It has turned us into thieves, into robbers. We steal the knowledge and theories produced by the West, and we attribute them to the Quran.
"We engage in the theft of theories and knowledge, produced by the minds of human beings, and we attribute them to Islam. This is the difference between us and (the Islamic scholars of) the past.
"We have been resisting the attempts at reform since the days of Muhammad Abduh in Egypt and Muhammad Iqbal in Pakistan. All these attempts failed... On the contrary..."
Interviewer: "So there are two groups - an enlightened group and a group that thwarts..."
Ali Harb: "Of course. Muhammad Abduh was enlightened, because he said that after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, nobody can claim guardianship over the human mind. This is the principle of enlightenment: to use your brains and to think without any guardianship.
"Today, someone who has learned very little religion comes along, and imposes himself ruler over the Muslims and wages wars. None of the attempts at reform have been successful. To this day, we oppose any attempt at reform."

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on June 01-02/17
Trump Expected to Sign Order Delaying US Embassy Move to Jerusalem
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/President Donald Trump is expected this week to back down from his campaign pledge to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, US officials and a diplomatic source said on Wednesday. With a deadline for a decision looming, Trump is likely to continue his predecessors’ policy of signing a six-month waiver overriding a 1995 law requiring that the embassy be transferred to Jerusalem, an action that would have complicated his efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the sources said. Trump has yet to make his decision official but is required by law to act by Friday, according to one US official who spoke on condition of anonymity.Barring a last-minute surprise, Trump is expected to renew the waiver. His administration intends to make clear, however, that Trump remains committed to the promise he made during the 2016 presidential campaign, though it will not set a specific timetable for doing so, officials said. On Thursday, a Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli soldier outside a Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank before being shot and critically wounded, the army and medics said. The attack came just days before the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War in which Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem. The soldier was taken to hospital with a stab wound to his upper body, medics from Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said. The assailant was in critical condition, the medics added. The attack took place at the entrance to Mevo Dotan, a Jewish settlement southwest of Jenin. The army said the assailant used a knife and was shot by military “forces at the scene”.

Trump, after House Panel Subpoenas, Backs Inquiry Into Obama Administration
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/Delving into a political quarrel over the most recent subpoenas in the US House Intelligence Committee’s Russia test, US President Donald Trump on Thursday backed endeavors to examine activities by US security and different authorities under past president Barack Obama.
“The big story is the ‘unmasking and surveillance’ of people that took place during the Obama Administration,” Trump said in a tweet, one day after the committee’s Republican chairman subpoenaed the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency amid complaints by Democrats that they were not consulted.
Committee Chairman Devin Nunes asked the agencies on Wednesday for subtle elements of any solicitations made by two top Obama administration aides and the previous Central Intelligence Agency chief to “unmask” Trump campaign advisors incidentally grabbed in top-mystery remote interchanges catches, as indicated by congressional sources. Another congressional source, who also requested anonymity, said Democrats were “informed and consulted” ahead of time, but committee aides said they were not told. Nunes, in April, recused himself from driving the board’s examination concerning suspected Russian intruding in the 2016 presidential race taking after a mystery visit he paid to White House authorities, however he holds subpoena control. A senior committee aide said Wednesday’s subpoenas were not part of the Russia test. In a separate statement on Wednesday, Republican Representative Mike Conaway and Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, who are leading the committee’s Russia probe, announced subpoenas for Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as well as their firms. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied leading efforts to interfere in last year’s US election. Trump, a Republican, has denied any collusion between Russia and his campaign and has repeatedly questioned the US intelligence finding that Putin led an operation that included computer hacking, fake news and propaganda intended to swing the election in his favor.
The House Intelligence Committee’s investigation is just one of several congressional probes into Russia, along with one by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Also, the U.S. Department of Justice recently appointed a special counsel. The Guardian newspaper said on Thursday said that Nigel Farage, a Trump supporter and a leading Brexit campaigner, is a “person of interest” in the FBI probe but has not been accused of wrongdoing. Farage, a former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, said he had no Russia connections. Farage said on Twitter it had taken him a long time to read the Guardian article because he was “laughing so much at this fake news”.“This hysterical attempt to associate me with the (Vladimir) Putin regime is a result of the liberal elite being unable to accept Brexit and Trump,” he said. “I consider it extremely doubtful that I could be a person of interest to the FBI as I have no connections to Russia.”Separately, the Washington Post reported that the Trump administration was moving toward returning two Russian compounds in the United States to Moscow. The Maryland and New York compounds were seized under the Obama administration in December as part of a larger action targeting Russian diplomats whom it said were spies. Russian officials said last month that they might retaliate.

Guterres Calls for Referring Syrian File to ICC
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/New York– UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated his call for the need to refer the crisis in Syria to the International Criminal Court, accusing the Syrian regime of hampering the access of civilians to humanitarian aid. In his report on Syria submitted to the Security Council on Tuesday, Guterres urged member states to support a neutral and independent international mechanism to investigate persons who are responsible for most dangerous crimes in Syria, in accordance with the international law. “In light of the chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun on April 4 and the continuation of attacks against educational institutions, markets, religious sites (…), I am still calling for referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court”, the UN secretary general said. The report assessed the commitment of warring parties in Syria to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions during the month of April. It added that the UN was able to deliver assistance to 350,000 civilians per week through joint aid convoys, while decrying constraints imposed by the Syrian regime on aid delivery. For his part, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien noted that while there were significantly fewer reports of violence in some parts of Syria, “the consequences of the conflict continue to devastate lives.”He also called for ending attacks and obstacles that prevent humanitarian workers from reaching the hundreds of thousands of civilians still trapped in the war-torn country. “We must not lose sight of the fact that – all over Syria – millions of people, in locations inside and outside the four de-escalation areas, continue to suffer because they lack the most basic elements to sustain their lives,” he told the Security Council. He added that last week, 30 children and women were injured in an attack by ISIS on besieged neighborhoods in Deir ez-Zor as they were lining up to collect water. According to estimates, nearly seven million children are living in poverty and some 1.75 million are out of schools with another 1.35 million at risk of dropping out, he said. Almost one in three schools have been damaged, destroyed, or otherwise made inaccessible. “And even if the schools were intact, many would be unable to open, with almost one quarter of the country’s teaching personnel no longer at their posts,” O’Brien added.

Idlib: An Impending Fierce Battle Risking the Lives of 1 Million Syrians
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/London- Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib increasingly became a refuge for militants who refused to surrender to regime forces anywhere else in the country in the ongoing civil war. The population of the province became highly concentrated following deals brokered by the regime of Bashar al-Assad, where civilian buses and fighters have been moved north to areas controlled by opposition forces throughout Syria. Syria’s regime had inhumanly packed an approximate million Syrians to a single slice of their homeland, who remain hopeful of a true ceasefire being implemented.
A report published by the Washington Post said that this vast and often hilly expanse along Turkey’s southern border has become the rebels’ final redoubt. In the coming months, it could become the sternest — and the bloodiest — challenge for Assad’s forces as they battle to control areas they lost to rebel fighters after the country’s 2011 uprising. Residents say new arrivals are packed into every last space. Apartment buildings are full and rents sky-high. Many families live in tents, mud houses or even caves. A deal brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran this month has stopped much of the violence in Idlib province and three other regions of Syria. But if the truces break down and fighting resumes, the stakes will be highest in the northwest: The Turkish border is tightly controlled, and pro-Assad forces have been closing in for months. Across the province, a coalition of al-Qaeda-linked rebels would be firmly in Assad’s crosshairs, with hundreds of thousands of civilians stuck in the middle. The seven-year war has scattered more than 5 million refugees around the world. Inside Syria, even more people who want to leave are trapped. Already struggling to accommodate earlier refugees, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have mostly closed their borders. Crossing east into Iraq risks a perilous journey through ISIS territory. So the displaced live in permanent flux, doing what they can to outrun the violence and to make ends meet when they arrive at their next destination. If pro-regime forces tried to retake Idlib, they would face a grinding fight that would probably result in heavy casualties, especially among civilians.

Russia Participates in Syria’s ‘Desert Battle’ with Missiles, Warplanes
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/London, Beirut, Ankara- Russia on Wednesday got strongly involved in the “desert battle” by firing cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea towards areas in central Syria. Free Syrian Army (FSA) officials said on Wednesday that six Russian jets bombed their positions to prevent their advancement in the desert between Palmyra and the triangle where the borders of Jordan, Syria and Iraq meet. Saad al Haj, a spokesman for Jaish Usud al-Sharqiya, one of the main groups in the area told Reuters: “A sortie of Russian jets bombed us to repel our advance after we broke the first lines of defense of the Iranian militia and took over advanced positions near the Zaza checkpoint.”The Russian military had announced that “Russia carried out four strikes against ISIS targets near the city of Palmyra.”Moscow said that the militaries of the US, Turkey and Israel “were informed in a timely manner of the missile launches through existing communication channels.” On May 18, the US pounded Syrian regime forces and Iranian-backed militias advancing towards the crossing of al-Tanf where the borders of Jordan, Syria and Iraq meet, and had warned those militias from getting near al-Tanf military camp affiliated to the international coalition forces near the Iraqi borders. Meanwhile, as opposition sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that factions fighting at the desert front have received new arms as a support for their combat, Southern Front spokesman Issam al-Rayes said that the Syrian regime and Iran “want to guarantee an Iranian corridor throughout the Syrian Desert to help them reach the Mediterranean Sea.” He said the FSA would not permit Tehran’s forces from achieving their target. Nevertheless, he did not deny that the battle was difficult. Meanwhile, Syria’s main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) leader Nasr al-Hariri told Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that the opposition does not bet on the regime’s approval of a political transition in Syria, but it is rather testing Russia’s intentions to accept a political solution in the country. Al-Hariri added that the opposition forces could not accept Iran as a guarantor or a monitor of the “de-escalation” memorandum. The HNC chief also heavily criticized the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are backed by the US-led International Coalition. “We consider the SDF as terrorist forces that do not at all differ from ISIS,” he said, adding that the Free Syrian Army should be supported to fight ISIS. Also on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu issued a warning following Washington’s decision to transfer weapons to Kurdish fighters that Ankara considers as terrorists. Turkey’s National Security Council also warned against supporting the Kurdish People’s Protection Units. In a statement issued following a closed-door meeting in Ankara under the chairmanship of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Council said: “It has been stressed that a policy of supporting the PKK/PYD/YPG terror organization — which is acting under the guise of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — does not suit [the principles of] friendship and alliance.”

US: We Want to Partner with KSA to Face Threats, Specifically Malign Iranian Influence
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/The United States affirmed the strategic partnership for the 21st century with Saudi Arabia in the security realm to face threats in the region, specifically the malign Iranian influence, Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones said. In a special briefing on the US President Donald Trump trip to the Kingdom, Jones highlighted the “US commitment to expand our decades-long security relationship with the Saudis”, saying that the military and commercial agreements with Saudi Arabia aimed at supporting the long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, thus bolstering the kingdom’s ability in facing terrorism operations across the region, and reducing the already heavy burden on the US. “We want our security partner, the Saudis, to have the – what they need to secure their borders and to secure their region, and also to send a strong message that we will stand by our security partners,” Jones added. Speaking on the ETIDAL center, which is the Global Center for Countering Extremist Ideology, Jones said the United States is still elaborating on how exactly it is going to participate in this Saudi project. Jones said the US should respond to the Saudi invitation to participate in this center and decide on a way to contribute, adding that the US would “certainly benefit from the Saudi expertise in this area”. Moreover, the Assistant Secretary underscored the importance of the statement that followed the GCC-US summit, describing it as “a very strong message” to deter Iran’s malevolent interventions in the region, especially in Bahrain, Yemen, and Syria. Jones also praised the Arab-Islamic-US summit during which the entire Islamic world came together and the United States expressed respect for Islam. 55 states came together with the United States and jointly condemned extremism, he added.
Jones said he was also taken by the “tremendous spirit” that day and the very positive statements against extremism by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, prime minister of Indonesia, and King Abdullah of Jordan.

ISIS Preparing for Final Showdown in West Mosul
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/Mosul- ISIS jihadists have closed the streets around Grand al-Nuri Mosque, residents of western Mosul have said, apparently in preparation for a final showdown in the battle over their last major stronghold in Iraq. Dozens of militants were seen by residents taking up positions in the past 48 hours around the medieval mosque, the site where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a so-called “caliphate” in July 2014, Reuters reported on Wednesday. ISIS’ black flag has been flying from the mosque since the militants captured Mosul and seized swathes of Iraq and Syria three years ago.
The Grand al-Nuri Mosque has become a symbolic focus of the campaign launched by Iraqi forces to recapture West Mosul. Iraqi commanders are privately saying they hope to capture it during the month of Ramadan. Jihadists “know that the mosque is the most important target and they are preparing for a major battle there,” said Hisham al-Hashemi, who advises several Middle East government including Iraq’s on ISIS affairs. But a battle in or near the mosque would put the building and its famed leaning minaret at risk, experts have said. The minaret, several feet off the perpendicular and standing on humid soil, is particularly vulnerable as it has not been renovated since 1970. Its tilt gave the landmark its popular name – al-Hadba, or the hunchback. Over the past few days, the militants ordered dozens of families living in the Zanjili district to move into the Old City to prevent them from escaping toward the Iraqi forces trying to advance from the northern side, a resident said. Government forces have been dropping leaflets over the districts telling families to flee but the intensity of the fighting has prevented people from escaping. The militants have been countering the offensive with suicide car and motorbike bombs, snipers, booby-traps and mortar fire.

Arab Coalition: Oil Tanker Targeted with RPGs Off Yemen
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/A ship passing through Bab al-Mandab. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Command of the Coalition for Supporting the Legitimacy in Yemen announced that a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker came on Wednesday under attack while passing through the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait. The coalition statement said three Rocket Propelled Grenades were fired at the tanker from a naval boat on Wednesday morning near Bab al-Mandab between the islands of Yemeni Mayun and Djiboutian Saba’. “None of the crew was hurt,” said the coalition statement carried by official Saudi Press Agency, adding that the tanker had sailed on into the Red Sea. The coalition said it was investigating who was behind the attack. It renewed its warning that the continuing practices of Houthi militias of arms and ammunition smuggling activities into Yemeni territories affect the security of navigation in this vital part of the world. This is not the first time that a vessel comes under attack by Houthi insurgents in Bab al-Mandab. In January, the rebels attacked a Saudi frigate off the Yemeni coast, killing two sailors in a suicide attack. In October, a United Arab Emirates civilian vessel that was carrying humanitarian assistance and wounded civilians was also targeted by Houthis.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Receives King of Jordan
Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/Riyadh – Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz received at al-Salam palace in Jeddah on Tuesday King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. At the outset of the meeting, King Salman welcomed King Abdullah who, in turn, expressed happiness to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and meet with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.During the visit, both leaders discussed Jordanian-Saudi ties, current developments in the region, and the high level of historic and brotherly relations between the two countries. The two leaders expressed keenness to further boost relations in all fields to serve Arab and Islamic causes. They also reviewed the Middle East crises, efforts to reach political solutions, and means to enable region’s peoples to live in peace and security. Then, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques held a dinner banquet in honor of Jordan’s King and the accompanying delegation, according to Saudi Press Agency. The reception and the banquet were attended by Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah Region Prince Khalid al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz, Prince Mansour bin Saud bin Abdulaziz; Prince Talal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz; minister of state and member of the Cabinet and Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Prince Mansour bin Miteb bin Abdulaziz, Undersecretary of the Ministry of National Guard for the Western Sector Prince Khalid bin Faisal bin Turki, Prince Sattam bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Jeddah Province Prince Mishaal bin Majed bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Prince Abdulaziz bin Sattam bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Counselor at the ministry of foreign affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Advisor to the ministry of interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Prince Nawaf bin Naif bin Abdulaziz; Deputy Governor of Makkah Region Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, and Prince Rakan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.
The events were also attended by King of Jordan’s official accompanying delegation: Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki, head of the Royal Diwan Fayiz al-Tarawna, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Jordanian Armed Forces Lt-Gen Mahmoud A. Fraihat, Director of General Intelligence Department Major General Adnan Issam al-Jundi, National Policies Council Rapporteur Abdullah Wreika, and a number of officials. On Wednesday, King Salman received a phone call from Fahd bin Mahmoud al-Sayid, Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, who congratulated the monarch on the holy month of Ramadan. The King exchanged with him the congratulations on this occasion and expressed appreciation to the Omani senior official for his noble feelings, stated SPA.

Dissolution of Bahraini ‘Waad’ Association, Liquidation of Its Funds

Obaid Al-Suhaymi/Asharq Al-Awsat/June 01/17/Leaders of opposition groups, including Sheik Ali Salman, head of the largest Shiite Muslim opposition society Al Wefaq, front row fourth left, participates with thousands of Bahrainis carrying national flags and posters of jailed political and religious opposition figures in a rally in Muqsha, Bahrain. A court in Bahrain has the ordered the country's last functioning opposition group dissolved and its property confiscated. Manama- Bahrain’s High Civil Court ordered the dissolution of the National Democratic Action Society (Waad) and the liquidation of its assets, the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs said. The court said that Waad used on its official online account the term “Martyrs of the Nations” to refer to criminals sentenced to death after they targeted police officers with explosive devices, resulting in three officers losing their lives. The term is a violation of Article Six of the Political Society Law that stipulates that societies must protect the independence and security of the Kingdom and its national unity and reject all forms of violence. Waad also expressed its solidarity with al-Wefaq National Islamic Society which was dissolved following a court ruling after it was found guilty of questioning the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain and adopting deviant political activities, inciting violence and illegal rallies and sit-ins likely to cause sectarian sedition in the country. This alignment is in breach of the law that bans association or cooperation with any political society that does not respect the principles and articles of the constitution or the premises of the political regime in the Kingdom. Waad also announced in a solidarity statement with other societies that it rejected the 2002 Constitution as illegitimate. Waad is considered the second major association that was dissolved in Bahrain as the government used similarly broad wording to dissolve the country’s largest Shiite opposition group, al-Wefaq on 17 July 2016. The ministry said that the arguments presented by Waad in its defense could not constitute a valid explanation for its attitude and breach of the law, particularly in light of the terror incidents that hit Bahrain.“The society, as a popular national organization, was supposed to help protect the security of the Kingdom within a spirit of national unity and social peace as stipulated in the Constitution and the law, and not to praise criminals who had carried out terror attacks or to support political societies that harmed the state’s public interests as confirmed by a court of law,” the ministry said. “Waad has deviated off the normal course of political activities by issuing statements and declarations that were likely to harm public interests, undermine security and stability. The society also failed to recognize the Constitution and thus violated the articles of the Political Society law.”

Car Bomb Reportedly Rocks Saudi Shiite City
Naharnet/ Agence France Presse/June 01/17/An explosion took place in a Saudi Arabian community dominated by minority Shiites on Thursday and emergency vehicles converged on the scene, a witness told AFP.It was the latest incident in Qatif, where Islamic State group jihadists have carried out deadly attacks in recent years but where Shiite discontent has also raged. "The explosion was very huge," the witness said, asking not to be identified. Armored and other police vehicles sealed off the area after the explosion, the witness said. Saudi television channel Al-Arabiya reported a car bombing was the cause of the explosion. Video and photographs posted on social media showed a vehicle engulfed in flames in the middle of a street, with dense black smoke rising around it. Other images showed what appeared to be at least one charred body lying beside a vehicle, which looked like an SUV, after firefighters extinguished the blaze. The Sunni extremist IS -- which views Shiite Muslims as heretics -- in 2014 began a campaign of bombings and shootings that has killed more than 40 Shiites in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, which includes Qatif. In August, police said they shot dead a would-be suicide bomber targeting a mosque in Qatif district. Two months later, a gunman killed five people at a Shiite meeting hall in Saihat district of Qatif. Most of Saudi Arabia's Shiites live in the oil-rich east, where they have long complained of marginalization. Alongside IS attacks, Shiite discontent and general crime are also behind a wave of violence in the area. In 2011, Shiite protests began in the area and developed into a call for equality in the Sunni-majority Gulf country. Police then issued a list of 23 wanted people, many of whom have since been detained or killed in shootouts. Last month, violence escalated around a redevelopment project in the old section of Awamiya, a Qatif-area town. The interior ministry said criminals engaged in the drug and arms trade were involved in the unrest. A police officer was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade, following the shooting deaths of an infant and a Pakistani man, in Awamiya.

Palestinian Woman Stabs Israeli Soldier, is Shot
Naharnet/ Agence France Presse/June 01/17/A Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli soldier outside a Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank on Thursday before being shot and critically wounded, the army and medics said. The attack came just days before the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War in which Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem. The soldier was taken to hospital with a stab wound to his upper body, medics from Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service said. The assailant was in critical condition, the medics added. The attack took place at the entrance to Mevo Dotan, a Jewish settlement southwest of Jenin. The army said the assailant used a knife and was shot by military "forces at the scene". A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 266 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP tally. Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. The violence has subsided in recent months.

France moves to ban MPs from hiring family members
Thu 01 Jun 2017/NNA - The French government on Thursday (June 1) announced plans to ban lawmakers from hiring family members, one of a raft of measures aimed at cleaning up politics after a slew of scandals. Justice Minister Francois Bayrou said the government aimed to restore confidence in politicians, which was severely rattled by revelations over the alleged fake parliamentary job that conservative MP Francois Fillon gave his wife. -- AFP

'Russophobia' in West 'Counterproductive', Won't Last, Putin Says
Naharnet/ Agence France Presse/June 01/17/Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted Thursday that alleged anti-Russian sentiment in the West would not last indefinitely because it damages both sides. The Kremlin strongman said in televised comments that he hoped "Russophobia" would "not last for too long, not forever, if only because the understanding has to come that it is counterproductive and harms everyone."

Manila Casino Complex under IS Attack
Naharnet/ Agence France Presse/June 01/17/Gunfire was reported at a hotel and a casino resort in the Philippine capital on Friday, the operator of the complex said, and the Islamic State group (IS) quickly claimed responsibility. "Resorts World Manila is currently on lockdown following reports of gunfire from unidentified men," the company said on its Twitter account. "The company is working closely with the Philippine National Police to ensure that all guests and employees are safe."IS said "lonewolf soldiers" from its group carried out the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group that monitors terrorist organizations. Police confirmed there were reports of gunfire at Resorts World, which is across a road from one of the main terminals of the Philippines' international airport. There were no immediate reports of fatalities or injuries. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law last week across the southern region of Mindanao to crush what he said was a rising threat of Islamic State there. He declared martial law shortly after militants went on a rampage through the southern city of Marawi, which is about 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of Manila. Security forces are still battling the militants in Marawi, and the clashes there have left at least 171 people dead. Duterte said last week he may need to declare martial law across the rest of the country if the terrorism threat spread.

Philippine Military Airstrikes Kill 10 Troops
Philippine military airstrikes aimed at Islamist militants who are battling soldiers in a southern city instead killed 10 troops and injured seven others, the defence secretary said on Thursday. "A group of our military armed men were hit by our own airstrikes. Ten killed," Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters in Manila, adding the incident happened on Wednesday. Security forces have been battling militants flying the black flags of the Islamic State (IS) group in Marawi, a major Muslim city in the predominantly Catholic Philippines, since Tuesday last week. The military has bombed and fired rockets from attack helicopters throughout the conflict at the militants, who have been hiding in residential areas holding hostages. About 2,000 civilians are also trapped in the militant-held areas, according to the local government. Military chiefs had repeatedly said the assaults involved "precision" and "surgical" airstrikes, and assured they were not harming any of the trapped civilians or hostages. "It's sad but sometimes it happens in the fog of war. The coordination was not properly done," Lorenzana said Thursday as he announced the deaths. He told AFP later via text message that seven soldiers had also been wounded. The clashes erupted when security forces raided a house to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as IS's leader in the Philippines. He is on the US government's list of most-wanted terrorists. Authorities said they were taken by surprise when dozens of gunmen emerged to protect Hapilon and then went on a rampage through Marawi, which has a population of 200,000. Most of the residents had fled the city but the International Committee of the Red Cross has repeatedly expressed deep concern for those who remained trapped, and called for a humanitarian ceasefire "I think it's horrific for the civilian people who are in there and we really hope that both sides can agree that the civilians should be given the opportunity to come out," the deputy head of the ICRC's Philippine delegation, Martin Thalmann, told AFP in Marawi on Wednesday. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao in response to the crisis, which he described as the start of a major campaign by IS to establish a foothold in the Philippines. Eighty-nine militants have been killed in the fighting, and the gunmen have murdered 19 civilians, the military said on Wednesday.The announcement of the friendly fire deaths brings the number of security forces killed to 31, and the combined death toll to 139.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 01-02/17
Innovation Won’t Overcome Stagnation
Satyajit Das/Bloomberg/June 01/17
Innovation, everybody hopes, will rescue the world from economic stagnation. I’m not so sure. The extent to which an innovation is significant depends on the degree to which it alters existing activity or the performance of a function. It must create related and ancillary activities that in turn lead to employment, wealth and other discoveries in a virtuous cycle. It must have longevity, being capable of exploitation over long periods. These characteristics are why the Second Industrial Revolution (electricity, internal-combustion engines, modern communications, entertainment, hydro-carbons and so on) succeeded in lifting productivity and living standards. Today’s innovations are unlikely to be nearly as powerful. Most new technologies have significant benefits but don’t radically reshape the modes of doing things. A driverless or electric automobile is just a new type of car. It isn’t the quantum leap that motorized transport was over its animal-powered predecessors. Email improves the speed of communication but it isn’t as radical as the advent of telephony. Platforms such as EBay Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and Airbnb Inc. are merely new marketplaces matching buyers and sellers. Big data is just a more sophisticated way to handle information and statistical analysis. Moreover, many of today’s tech companies focus on consumption, improving the marketing and distribution of existing goods and services. Many center on entertainment and communication, with tangential impact on productivity. Most emphasize enhancing speed, capability, power and efficiency, rather than changing the work itself. Word processing software didn’t eliminate the need to type out documents but eliminated secretaries and typing pools, leaving individuals to do the task themselves.
New technologies also tend to cannibalize existing industries, limiting their effect on growth and productivity. Smartphones and tablets cannibalized computers, mobile phones, portable music players such as the Walkman and digital assistants like the once-ubiquitous Palm Pilot. They replaced low-end cameras and watches. They incorporated GPS and other standalone technologies. Alphabet Inc. and Facebook Inc. divert advertising revenue from newspapers and magazines. Amazon.com Inc. and other online sellers have taken market share from existing retailers. Netflix Inc. has cannibalized television, video stores and cinemas. Few of these businesses create completely new streams of income. The revenue gain for smartphones is offset by reduced revenue from all the products it replaces. New products redirect investment capital, and are not necessarily incremental, at least not significantly.
It’s true that many recent innovations have reduced costs. But they’ve often done so by using lower-quality products or untrained workers, or by extracting revenue from personal assets. Airbnb allows people to rent out their own lodging for accommodation. Uber allows people to use their own cars to offer rides for others (or entails arbitraging regulations). Many online media or entertainment services rely on contributors who offer their services for free. Such disruption changes industry economics. New technologies have reduced advertising rates, benefiting advertisers but harming companies that relied on them. Uber and Airbnb have had the same effect on taxis and hotels, reducing the earnings of incumbents. Lower-cost products and services leave more disposable income for consumers to spend elsewhere. But the decreased cost typically comes at the expense of employment or wages. The loss of income offsets the savings. In an economic model that is 60 to 70 percent powered by consumption, this affects total economic activity.
Another reason for skepticism is that many new industries don’t require substantial investment or create well-paying jobs. Many are easily scalable: Electronic platforms mean that expansion of activity doesn’t necessarily require a commensurate expansion in investment and capacity.
Many new tech companies, finally, are based on implausible business models. Rather than displacing competitors through efficiency or creating new markets, they often seek to simply convince investors their future market dominance is inevitable. Although they may have limited long-term growth and productivity potential, such businesses can still appeal to venture capitalists, who hope to extract short-term value by selling out to an incumbent or going public. Typically, competition increases spending through higher expansion and customer-acquisition costs, extending the period before investment is recovered and resulting in poor long-term returns. In short, there’s little reason to think this current round of innovation will overcome stagnation. Its overall effect on economic activity and living standards is lower than believed. The failure of traditional remedies to restore the health of advanced economies has made policy makers, many of whom need assistants to work their digital devices, vulnerable to the siren song of technology, promising a quick and painless fix.

Foreign Intervention and the UK General Elections
Eyad Abu Shakra/Asharq Al Awsat/June 01/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=55868
The UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s comments on the Manchester suicide bombing, suggesting that “Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries and terrorism here at home,” provoked a storm of criticism.
What is worth mentioning is that the terrorist atrocity committed by Libyan-born, British Salman Abedi was linked to the American air force bombardment of Syria. Interesting, indeed, that it is specifically linked to the American – as well as British, under the umbrella of ‘anti-ISIS coalition’ – attacks targeting ISIS-held territories inside Syria.
This may call the attention of serious analysts to several issues, although people like Abedi – who murdered 22 innocent people and injured many others while attending a concert – are nothing but brainwashed ‘killing machines’.
One issue is surely related to the aforementioned ‘justifications’ of the atrocity. The attacks of US-led ‘coalition’ started quite late in the Syrian War. Actually, they started many years after the Assad regime’s attacks on civilians, then direct involvement of Iran’s sectarian militia backing the regime, and later Russia’s joining the war directly against the Syrian people. It is a well-known fact that the Russian air force has played a decisive part during the last three years in turning the tide of the war in Assad’s favor. It has provided it with the much-needed air cover to systematically destroy the cities and carry out ‘sectarian cleansing’ and population exchange. On the contrary, during Barack Obama’s presidency, Washington – so keen to befriend Iran – refused to intervene militarily in Syria; subsequently, encouraging the Damascus regime and Iranian leaders to escalate the war using all kinds of weapons, including chemical weapons!
Another issue regards the concept of ‘intervention’. In general, this term on its own does not reflect a comprehensive political vision. It is impossible to morally justify ‘intervention’ in a stable country governed by broadly-based political, social and institutional consensus; but, it is both morally and politically right to prevent the escalation of a war whereby a dictatorial leadership kills its own people as we have been witnessing in Syria and Yemen.
Moreover, it is wrong to intervene with the intention of ‘regime change’ without having a plan for the day after, and a proper viable and legitimate alternative. When the 2003 Iraq War was met with wide Arab and international opposition, those opposing the War did not do so because they were great admirers of Saddam Hussein and his regime, but because Washington and London had no plan to fill the power vacuum and save the post-Saddam Iraq chaos.
Eventually, as we know now, Iraq was handed to Iran and its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) on a platter.
Still, the most preposterous understanding of ‘intervention’ must be reserved to Obama’s handling of Syria. Here, both the US president and his associates kept on justifying their refusal to defend the Syrian people and deter its murderers by pathetically repeating the claim that the “intervention in Iraq made the situation worse!” It is particularly this shameful and destructive inaction that created ISIS phenomenon as a global problem.
Today, in the UK, the Labour leader Corbyn is following the footsteps of Barack Obama. Last week, Corbyn made the connection between wars UK supported or fought in other countries and terrorism on British soil. The Labour leader, however, does not seem to be interested in the details of these wars, who caused them, are benefitting from them, or the realities they seek to impose. Mr. Corbyn, who rightly opposed the 2003 Iraq War, today ignores the fact that that war brought about an explosive regional reality that all those who opposed the war must realize. They need to understand how Iranian extremism has provoked an opposite, extremist reaction, and that Tehran rulers are now exploiting this reaction in order to cut deals and make international alliances that would nurture it for years and decades to come.
The third issue, linked to the above, is that the current Labour leadership has been too consistently loyal to its opposition to foreign adventures. It is ‘principled’, and like some Labour leadership before it, has been too dogmatic and simplistic in arguing international affairs, as well as being sometimes ‘childishly’ anti-Washington. Something that makes it fall an easy prey to great slogans of ‘progress’ and ‘liberation’ uttered by fake nationalists and their mouthpieces. Indeed, the Labour ‘Left’ has always been idealistic, and quite often naïve.
During the thick of the Cold War, the Labour Left won control of the party’s leadership with clear-cut radical leftist political positions bearing all the fingerprints of the UND (Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament) – of which the new leader Michael Foot was an active member – as well as a radical economic agenda. The Left’s ascendancy led the leaders of centrist Labour Right to break away with their supporters and found the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981. This party merged later with the Liberal Party to form the current Liberal Democratic Party.
In 1983, as the leftist Labour leadership announced its radical electoral manifesto, the late Labour wise man Gerald Kaufman described it as “the longest suicide note in history”. He was absolutely right; as Labour was trounced by Margaret Thatcher’s Conservatives, gaining just above % 27.5 of the votes and paving the way for uninterrupted Conservative rule until 1997.
In the early 80s, Corbyn and some of his associates were young firebrands and ‘spiritual’ sons and daughters of Michael Foot and his fellow Leftist luminary Tony Benn. However, while many of those matured and moderated their outlooks, including Benn’s son Hilary Benn – a former cabinet minister – Mr. Corbyn remained an unrepentant radical.
Today, he practically supports Iran and Assad since he believes they are confronting America’s influence and conspiracies. This is why he promised a change in London’s foreign policy if Labour wins on June 8th.
Finally, the fourth issue regards an anxious period Western societies are going through. Many ‘givens’ and ‘constants’ have fallen; causing astounding electoral surprises. Thus, it would be ironic if the problems of the Middle East and Muslim world would shape the future of cultural co-existence and democracy in the West.

Grooming Jihadists: The Ladder of Radicalization and Its Antidote
Saher Fares/Gatestone Institute/June 01/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=55871
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10263/grooming-jihadists
What you find is that behind every jihadist, who usually starts out as a young, often angry, Muslim seeking a purpose, lies a pulpit ideologue promising rewards and threatening punishments both on earth and in the afterlife.
Violent jihad may be postponed not out of concern for its victims, but rather if it might adversely affect a Muslim community. This view is frequently mistaken as "moderate."
Use the press and social media to expose young Muslims to facts other than those they are fed in mosques and the textbooks of their native countries, including the humanistic values of the West, such as freedom of speech and of the press; equal justice under the law -- especially due process and the presumption of innocence; property rights; separation of religion and state; an independent judiciary; an independent educational system and freedom of religion and from religion -- for a start.
On March 22, when Khalid Masood rammed his vehicle into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London before attempting to stab his way to the Parliament building, it was as if the heart and soul of British democracy were under assault.
As horrifying as the terrorist attack was, however -- murdering four innocent people and wounding scores of others -- it belied the magnitude of a much larger problem that has been plaguing Europe and creeping up on the rest of the West. Jihadists committing murder in the name of Islam have left a trail of blood across North America, the Middle East, Australia, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.
Police officers stand guard on London's Westminster Bridge on March 29, 2017, a week after Khalid Masood began his murderous car-ramming and stabbing attack at the site. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
In November 2015, a suicide-bombing and shooting spree in Paris left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded; in March 2016, three coordinated suicide bombings targeting travelers in Brussels killed 32 and wounded hundreds; and last December, a truck-ramming at the Christmas market in Berlin left 12 people dead and another 56 injured.
These were just a few of the successful attacks; those thwarted were more numerous.
France's prime minister said last September that authorities were foiling plots "daily," while some 15,000 people "in the process of radicalization" were being monitored. Last year, British security services prevented no fewer than 12 other assaults.
The average European now knows the names of Masood and those of other publicized terrorists. But few in the West are familiar with the many people who put those terrorists on their path by leading them up the rungs of a ladder of radicalization.
If you spend hours listening to speeches and sermons -- and reading countless articles by "respectable" local imams, community leaders and Islamic scholars -- you can see a pattern emerge. What you find is that behind every jihadist, who usually starts out as a young, often angry, Muslim seeking a purpose, lies a pulpit ideologue promising rewards and threatening punishments both on earth and in the afterlife.
The following is a description of the ladder of radicalization, based on material from 45 detailed case studies, covering the period 2012-2015, compiled by the author from U.K. government sources:
A radical preacher commonly employs theological "carrots and sticks" as a spur to action. He attempts to terrorize audiences with passages from religious literature about the horrors of hell. He shames those he brands complacent or reluctant to engage in jihad, and instills a heightened sense of crisis. He does this while harping on the notion of Muslim superiority and providing an idealized reading of history that emphasizes "glorious Islamic conquests."
The preacher quotes passages from the Quran and hadith [the sayings and deeds of Muhammad], gradually ratcheting up his rhetoric until openly calling for the restoration of the caliphate through global jihad. The preacher determines whether jihad is beneficial at a given time -- or whether it needs to be deferred -- depending on the clout a Muslim community has attained in a host country or culture. In other words, he decides whether to "declare jihad" based on what he deems possible for the Muslim ummah [community] at that time. Violent jihad may be postponed not out of concern for its victims, but rather if it might adversely affect a Muslim community. This view is frequently mistaken as "moderate."
The preacher presents stark, simplistic choices, cornering his audience into accepting his particular reading of Islam, and leaving no option but jihad. He does this by using language that evokes gut emotions. He presents the Quran, hadiths and Islamic history in a way he knows his audience is in no position to challenge. He juxtaposes, for instance, incidents in Muhammad's life to explain modern geopolitics -- such as the Arab-Israeli conflict -- and that point to a particular course of action. Or he uses ancient Islamic conquests as an inspirational model for current jihadist attacks against the West.
At the root of such preaching is a totalitarian worldview. According to it, there is no distinction between private freedoms and the public good. The past and the present are on a continuum. Secular matters are meticulously "guided" by clerical judgements. The nation state, he alleges, will give way to the caliphate. Morality is stressed, but expressed more in outward appearance (such as modest dress) than as an internal spiritual goal. And he emphasizes that the purpose of public worship is to consolidate al-mumeneen (the believers) into a unified bloc in the cause of jihad -- which ultimately entails physical warfare. The underlying theme is that all "infidels" are to be held in perpetual hostility until, as is written in the Quran, "Allah's word reigns supreme."
One reason that this radicalization process has gone undetected in the West has to do with language. Imams and Islamist intellectuals use terms that are seemingly identical to those of Judeo-Christian or secular-liberal discourse, but which have an entirely different connotation in Arabic.
Salaam, "peace," means the peace that will reign only after the whole world has accepted living under the rule of Islam.
Shihada, for example, often translated as "martyrdom," usually refers to the act of those who kill or are killed in battle for a religiously-sanctioned cause. It is not a testimony of faith in laying down one's life instead of recanting under pressure.
Iman, translated as "faith," is proven by total submission to Allah, His Messenger Mohammed and the edicts of sharia as propagated by the leader. It is of great "faith" not to waver in battle against Allah's enemies.
Qassas, wrongly interpreted as "justice", often entails a sense of vindictiveness, and "eye-for-an-eye" revenge. It is also circumscribed by Islamic law, sharia: whatever is inside sharia is just; whatever is outside sharia is not just.
Fight them; Allah will torment [not "punish" as many current translations claim] them by your hands... and will give you victory over them and satisfy the breasts (give a great sense of satisfaction, relief) of a believing people. -- Quran, 9:14, after Sahih International
Power is elevated as an Allah-given right to the believers, whereas humility is scorned as a sign of weakness. The goal toward which you are urged to aspire is not equality but ascendancy.
It is a matter of ihssan, or "benevolence" of Muslims that they tolerate the life and severely limited "liberties" of dhimmis (subjugated non-Muslims) so long as the latter pay a "protection" tax, the jizya, and abide by a covenant of inferiority "while feeling themselves subdued". In a state ruled by sharia, equal citizenship between Muslims and non-Muslims is unthinkable.
To challenge Islam's authority, its prophet's character or received tradition, or to critique the religion, is construed as ihanah, or "insult"; sabb-e-Rasul, "disparaging the Prophet," is a libelous offense worthy of death. Failure to accept Islam is also regarded as an "insult" that justifies attack:
As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help. -- Quran (3:56)
Counteracting the radicalization of vulnerable Muslims requires a multi-pronged effort on the part of governments, academic institutions and community leaders. Here are a few recommendations:
Discourage voluntary segregation in Muslim communities. Establish initiatives that introduce genuine multiculturalism into classrooms, neighborhoods and community centers. This is the only way that insular, extremist thought can be debated and challenged openly by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Prevent fundamentalist Muslim community leaders from hiding behind a "moderate" or "mainstream" façade. Hold preachers accountable for the content of their sermons, and make sure that what they are promoting in Arabic aligns with their public statements in English.
Subject the history of early Islam -- the conquests of Persia, the Byzantine Empire, the Middle East, North Africa, Greece, Spain and most of Eastern Europe -- to the same academic rigors to which Western history has been subjected. Do not allow a romantic view of it as a "superior" model to go unchallenged, and do not shy away from examining similarities between current and centuries-old jihadism. The same goes for religious texts and their modern-day interpretations.
Use the press and social media to expose young Muslims to facts other than those they are fed in mosques and the textbooks of their native countries, including the humanistic values of the West, such as freedom of speech and of the press; equal justice under the law -- especially due process and the presumption of innocence; property rights; separation of religion and state; an independent judiciary; an independent educational system, and freedom of religion and from religion -- for a start.
Those who preach hate simply build on ahistorical, uncontested narratives to spread the messages that inspired the Manchester, London, Paris, Brussels and Berlin terrorists and that groom the terrorists of tomorrow. When will correcting the record and addressing the root causes please start?
**Saher Fares is an Arabic linguist and researcher from 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.

The Muslim Brotherhood Connection: ISIS, "Lady al Qaeda," and the Muslim Students Association

Thomas Quiggin/Gatestone Institute/June 01/17 /
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=55876
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10423/muslim-brotherhood-connection
"It should be the long-term goal of every MSA [Muslim Students Association] to Islamicize the politics of their respective university ... the politicization of the MSA means to make the MSA more of a force on internal campus politics. The MSA needs to be a more 'in-your-face' association." — Hussein Hamdani, a lawyer who served as an adviser on Muslim issues and security for the Canadian government.
Several alumni of the MSA have gone on to become leading figures in Islamist groups. These include infamous al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al Awlaki, Osama bin Laden funder Ahmed Sayed Khadr, ISIS propagandist John "Yahya" Maguire and Canada's first suicide bomber, "Smiling Jihadi" Salma Ashrafi.
What they have in common (whether members of ISIS, al Qaeda, Jamaat e Isami, Boko Haram, Abu Sayyaf or others) is ideology often rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood -- as findings of a 2015 U.K. government review on the organization revealed.
In August 2014, ISIS tried to secure the release from a U.S. federal prison of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui -- a Pakistani neuroscientist educated in the United States -- formerly known as the "most wanted woman alive," but now referred to as "Lady al Qaeda", by exchanging her for American war correspondent James Foley, who was abducted in 2012 in Syria. When the proposed swap failed, Foley was beheaded in a gruesome propaganda video produced and released by his captors, while Siddiqui remained in jail serving an 86-year sentence.
ISIS also offered to exchange Siddiqui for a 26-year-old American woman kidnapped in Syria while working with humanitarian aid groups. Two years earlier, the Taliban had tried to make a similar deal, offering to release U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for Siddiqui. These efforts speak volumes about Siddiqui's profile and importance in Islamist circles.
Her affiliation with Islamist ideology began when she was a student, first at M.I.T. and then at Brandeis University, where she obtained her doctorate in 2001. Her second marriage happened to be to Ammar al-Baluchi (Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali), nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks. During the 1995-6 academic year, Siddiqui wrote three sections of the Muslim Students Association "Starter's Guide" -- "Starting and Continuing a Regular Dawah [Islamic proselytizing] Table", "10 Characteristics of an MSA Table" and "Planning A Lecture" -- providing ideas on how successfully to infiltrate North American campuses.
The MSA of the United States and Canada was established in January 1963 by members of the Muslim Brotherhood at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus. Since its inception, the MSA has emerged as the leading and most influential Islamist student organization in North America -- with nearly 600 MSA chapters in the United States and Canada today. The first edition of the MSA Starter's Guide: A Guide on How to Run a Successful MSA was released in 1996. A subsection on "Islamization of Campus Politics and the Politicization of The MSA," written by Hussein Hamdani, a lawyer who served as an adviser on Muslim issues and security for the Canadian government, states:
"It should be the long-term goal of every MSA to Islamicize the politics of their respective university ... the politicization of the MSA means to make the MSA more of a force on internal campus politics. The MSA needs to be a more 'in-your-face' association."
In early 2015, Canadian Minister of Public Safety Steven Blaney suspended Hamdani from the Cross-Cultural Roundtable on National Security. No reason was given for the suspension, but Hamdani claimed it had been politically motivated -- related to his support for Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party. The French-language Canadian network TVA suggested, however, that the suspension was actually due to activities in which Hamdani had engaged as a university student, and radical organizations with which he was associated. During the 1998-9 academic year, Hamdani was president of the Muslim Students Association at the University of Western Ontario; in 1995, he was treasurer of the McMaster University branch of the MSA.
Several alumni of the MSA have gone on to become leading figures in Islamist groups. These include infamous al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al Awlaki, Osama bin Laden funder Ahmed Sayed Khadr, ISIS propagandist John "Yahya" Maguire and Canada's first suicide bomber, "Smiling Jihadi" Salma Ashrafi.
What they have in common (whether members of ISIS, al Qaeda, Jamaat e Isami, Boko Haram, Abu Sayyaf or others) is ideology often rooted in the Muslim Brotherhood -- as findings of a 2015 U.K. government review on the organization revealed.
Siddiqui's involvement in the MSA, her subsequent literal and figurative marriage to al Qaeda and her attempted release by ISIS, perfectly illustrate this ideological connection and path.
**Thomas Quiggin, a court qualified expert on terrorism and practical intelligence, is based in Canada.
© 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.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10423/muslim-brotherhood-connection

Israel disappointed after Trump delays US embassy move
Associated Press/Ynetnews/June 01/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=55879
President Donald Trump on Thursday has signed a waiver to delay relocating the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv; Prime Minister Netanyahu expresses disappointment, saying, we appreciate 'Trump’s friendship to Israel'; Jordan, on the other hand, welcomes the decision.
President Donald Trump has temporarily waived a law requiring the US to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Trump's move to renew the waiver for six months keeps the US embassy in Tel Aviv for now. Trump has said he's reviewing whether to fulfill his campaign promise to move it to Jerusalem.
Trump was facing a Thursday deadline to renew the waiver or see the State Department lose half its funding for its overseas facilities. Presidents of both parties have renewed the waiver every six months for years.
The US says its policy on Jerusalem hasn't changed and that Jerusalem's status must be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians. In a statement issued by the White House: "While President Donald J. Trump signed the waiver under the Jerusalem Embassy Act and delayed moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, no one should consider this step to be in any way a retreat from the President's strong support for Israel and for the United States-Israel alliance.
"President Trump made this decision to maximize the chances of successfully negotiating a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, fulfilling his solemn obligation to defend America's national security interests. But, as he has repeatedly stated his intention to move the embassy, the question is not if that move happens, but only when."Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by stating, "Israel's consistent position is that the American embassy, like the embassies of all countries with whom we have diplomatic relations, should be in Jerusalem, our eternal capital. "Maintaining embassies outside the capital drives peace further away by helping keep alive the Palestinian fantasy that the Jewish people and the Jewish state have no connection to Jerusalem."Though Israel is disappointed that the embassy will not move at this time, we appreciate today's expression of President Trump’s friendship to Israel and his commitment to moving the embassy in the future."
The Palestinians praised Trump's decision not to move the US Embassy, saying it strengthens the chances of peace. President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said the decision is an "important positive step" that illustrates the US seriousness about promoting peace. The Palestinian ambassador to Washington, Hussam Zomlot, said the move "gives peace a chance."
Zomlot said: "We are ready to start the consultation process with the US administration. We are serious and genuine about achieving a just and lasting peace."
A senior Israeli official expressed disappointment over Trump's decision and is accusing the US of caving in to Arab pressure. Cabinet Minister Yuval Steinitz said the refusal to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes no sense. Steinitz is a confidant of Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Steinitz told Israel's Army Radio station: "I think the time has come to put an end to this farce. Everybody recognizes Israel as the capital of Israel. When Trump comes here, he goes to Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv."
When told that Trump said he will move the embassy later, Steinitz said: "I hope that happens before the Messiah comes."He said leaving foreign embassies in Tel Aviv is "a surrender to unfair Arab and Muslim pressure."Jordan has welcomed President Donald Trump's decision to delay moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem.
The pro-Western kingdom had warned that such a move was a "red line" that it would bolster extremists if crossed. More than half of Jordan's citizens are of Palestinian descent.
Jordanian government spokesman Mohammed Momani said Thursday that "we strongly welcome the decision and highly value the message it is sending."
Momani says the president's decision shows "how much the administration values the advice of its allies" and that the focus must be on relaunching serious Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Reunification Only Way to Defuse Korea Crisis
John R. Bolton/Gatestone Institute/June 01/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=55887
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10463/korea-reunification
Barack Obama's foreign-policy failures, and those of his predecessors, regarding North Korea, are coming back to bedevil Donald Trump's new presidency. Trump administration spokesmen have rightly said that Obama's policy of "strategic patience," a synonym for doing nothing, is over. But they have not yet articulated a replacement strategy.
Analysts across the political spectrum now believe that North Korea is perilously close to fabricating nuclear devices — at least five of which have already been detonated — small enough to mount on intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking targets within the continental United States. Some estimates posit this capability as early as 2018, with targets closer to the Korean Peninsula, including Japan and Hawaii likely at risk earlier.
Time is thus in desperately short supply, one of the fruits of 25 years of wasted efforts negotiating with Pyongyang. The harsh reality is that Kim Jung Un and his predecessors were never going to be chit-chatted out of their nuclear-weapons program, which they have always regarded as essential to regime survival. Neither persuasion nor coercion, nor any mix of the two, has succeeded before, and we have no reason to believe they will start succeeding now.
There are any number of suggestions about how to increase military pressure on North Korea, including scenarios for pre-emptive attacks against its nuclear and ballistic-missile assets. Certainly, no American president should be willing to countenance the risk to innocent U.S. civilians, and those of our vulnerable friends and allies in the region, that Pyongyang's erratic leadership increasingly poses. Moreover, we must be sure China understands President Trump's determination — reportedly explained in person to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the recent Mar-a-Lago summit — not to be held hostage by Pyongyang.
Unfortunately, however, years of savage Obama Administration defense budget cuts have rendered U.S. military options far from optimal. Obama underfunded national missile-defense programs, thereby rendering this last line of defense woefully inadequate compared to how President George W. Bush originally conceived it.
Similarly, our ability to neutralize North Korea's military threats to the South, which have long worried United States and South Korean decision-makers, is severely challenged.
Since an American president's highest obligation is ensuring the safety of our own citizens, pre-emptive or other military action against Pyongyang must always be a live option. And even though the time for peacefully eliminating the North's nuclear threat is rapidly disappearing, there is still a diplomatic strategy worth trying. Indeed, it is now the only option with any prospect for long-term resolution of the ongoing Korean crisis.
Reunification of the two Koreas, effectively ending the North Korean state and merging it into the political and economic structures of the South, is both feasible and desirable. There is simply no point in further negotiations with Pyongyang, nor will anything be achieved by urging Beijing to strong-arm Pyongyang.
For decades, China has played a double game, asserting its opposition to a North Korean nuclear capability, but doing little or nothing to prevent it. Beijing has worried that effectively pressuring Pyongyang, which Beijing has the undeniable capacity to do, will collapse the regime itself, producing massive refugee flows into China and a long-planned U.S.-South Korean armed intervention, leaving China facing American military forces across the Yalu River.
China didn't relish that prospect in 1950, nor does it today. Instead, President Trump should persuade Beijing that its own best interests lie in directing its economic leverage toward swift, orderly reunification of the Peninsula. China and the U.S. could jointly facilitate this process through mutually applied pressure and communication with the North's captive population.
Most significantly, America has no interest in a military presence along China's border, just as it prefers today not to have its troops in fixed positions along the DMZ. Instead, we have long sought to concentrate our forces near Busan, making them available for rapid redeployment as events might require.
There is a modus vivendi here acceptable to China, although negotiations on this and other reunification issues will undoubtedly be difficult.
Korea's post-World War II partition along the 38th Parallel in 1945 was always intended to be temporary.
Three South Korean soldiers watch the border at Panmunjeom, in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. (Image source: Henrik Ishihara Globaljuggler/Wikimedia Commons)
The Cold War intervened, however, followed by the Korean War, and the Peninsula's partition seemed frozen, as did Germany's. But just as communism's European collapse led to German reunification, so too, in time, will the partition of Korea be reversed.
The real question is whether it will end peacefully, with a minimum of turmoil and disruption, or whether it will end catastrophically with considerable loss of human life. China's leaders, scholars, and policy analysts are split over the reunification issue.
Increasingly, however, key Chinese strategists have come to conclude that the Kim family's authoritarian dynasty is an ugly piece of baggage, of little real strategic utility to China, but one that brings with it enormous burdens and risks.
Had we opened quiet negotiations with China over reuniting Korea a decade ago, the problem might already be resolved. Starting talks only now places the diplomacy in a race with North Korea's rapidly advancing nuclear capabilities, with the outcome far from certain.
Nonetheless, since we are clearly and correctly unwilling to accept a nuclear North Korea with global strike capabilities, and since we wish to avoid if possible outright military action against the North, reunification is plainly the most desirable outcome.
*John R. Bolton, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under former President George W. Bush. Reprinted from Newsmax Magazine by permission of the 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.