LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
June 09/17
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The
Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
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Bible Quotations For Today
The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but
the Father who dwells in me does his works
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 14/08-14/:"Philip said to
him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’Jesus said to him,
‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words
that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does
his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if
you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell
you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact,
will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do
whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If
in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the
dead. To this we are witnesses
Acts of the Apostles 03/11-21/:"While he clung to Peter and John, all the people
ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly
astonished. When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do
you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or
piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed
over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release
him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer
given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead.
To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made
this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has
given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. ‘And now, friends,
I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God
fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would
suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so
that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may
send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven
until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his
holy prophets."
Titles For Latest LCCC
Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June
08-09/17
Aounists In Diaspora: Denial, confusion and Grandiose Delusions/Elias Bejjani/June
07/17
Is Harriri`s Visit to Saudi Arabia actually for Umra Rituals/François Bainy/Face
Book/June 08/17
Lebanese Diplomatic and Special Passports are under investigation/François Bainy/Face
Book/June 07/17
A Measured Response to Bishop George Browning and Others Interested in the
Palestinians/
Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/June 08/17
History, Precedent and Comey Statement Show that Trump Did Not Obstruct
Justice/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/June 08/17
Qatar Isn’t Castro’s Cuba/Ghassan Charbel/ASharq Al Awsat/June 08/17
Palestinians: Crocodile Tears and Terrorism/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone
Institute/June 08/17
How the UK media helps promote terrorism/Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/June 08/17
Qatar, when the bliss becomes a curse/Radwan al-Sayed/Al Arabiya/June 08/17
Titles For Latest
Lebanese Related News published on
June 08-09/17
Aounists In Diaspora: Denial, confusion and
Grandiose Delusions
Is Harriri`s Visit to Saudi Arabia actually for Umra Rituals
Lebanese Diplomatic and Special Passports are under investigation
Associates of Hamoush's Suspected Killer Held as Young Man Laid to Rest
Qaouq: New Electoral Law Only Way to Rescue Lebanon, Hizbullah Seeking to
Resolve Obstacles
New Ideas to 'Rescue 15-District Law' as Four-Party Meetings Resumed
Army Arrests Abdullah Azzam Brigades Member Wanted on Multiple Charges
U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Sees 'Sustained Solidarity' with Lebanon but Urges
More Funds
Lassen Inaugurates EU-Funded Premises in Tripoli's Prison and Palace of Justice
Arsal Man Arrested over Ties to Terrorist Groups
Two Killed and Two Wounded in Akkar Town Clash
Aoun to Tackle Security, Electoral Law, Regional Crises in Key Speech
Mashnouq Expects Agreement on Electoral Law before June 12 Session
Titles For Latest
LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
June 08-09/17
Comey Testifies about Trump's Possible 'Obstruction
of Justice' in Dramatic Hearing
Qatar Rejects 'Interference' in Its Foreign Policy, Sees No 'Military Solution'
Egypt calls for UN probe on Qatar giving terrorists in Iraq $1 billion
US shoots down pro-Syrian regime drone firing on coalition forces: official
Tripoli counter-terrorism force: Manchester bomber radicalized in Britain
UN: ISIS killed over 200 civilians fleeing Mosul
Syrian government warplanes strike ISIS near Raqqa city
Israel advances plans for further 1,500 settler homes
Trump to Iran: States backing terror risk ‘falling victim’ themselves
US Senate advances Iran sanctions bill, eyes new Russia sanctions
Syrian regime replicates the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces
Hamas Leader Killed In Accidental Gaza Explosion
Israel Advances Settlement Plans despite Trump Plea
Latest Lebanese
Related News published on
June 08-09/17
Aounists In Diaspora: Denial, confusion and Grandiose
Delusions
العونيون في بلاد الإنتشار: انكار وضياع وأوهام عظمة
Elias Bejjani/June 07/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=56048
It is very sad and extremely disappointing that certain top notch Aounists in
Diaspora in general, and in the USA in particular, are currently entirely
detached from reality, overwhelmed in denial, and still according to their
derailed and frozen minds living in the pre 2005 era.
During the pre 2005 era, the Aounists were loudly, courageously and openly
against Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy terrorist organization, and extremely
active in opposing the Syrian Stalinist regime, as well as in exposing its
bloody, criminal and oppressive conduct in both Lebanon and Syria.
In fact, the Diaspora Aounist activists were among the most influential and
prominent groups that lobbied successfully for the passing of the USA, “Syria
accountability and Lebanese sovereignty restoration act of 2003.”
The patriotic history and achievement record of these Diaspora Aounists seems to
be 100% contradicting their current political affiliations, lobbying and agenda.
The FPM Lebanese Party, that they are officially or unofficially affiliated to,
and since 2006 has boldly joined forces on all levels, and in all domains with
both the Syrian and Iranian terrorists regimes.
At the same, the FPM Lebanese Party has adopted all the Iranian-Hezbollah anti
Lebanese, anti Arab and anti Western doctrines.
Accordingly, The Diaspora Aounists at the present time are not mentally,
intellectually or politically oriented to time, place and person, because
falsely believe that they are still serving the independence and sovereignty of
their homeland, Lebanon, and its people.
In the time disorientation domain, they are still living in the pre 2005 era,
and unconsciously denying the fact that it is now the 2017 year.
In the person category of mental confusion, they are unable to see or grasp the
actual shocking reality that their Lebanese FPM party’s leadership are not any
more serving or representing the Lebanese Sovereignty, independence, Freedom,
history, people or the common-coexistence living role of Lebanon.
They intentional blinded themselves in a bid not to recognize and not to admit
that the FPM leadership has turned to be mere puppets and Trojans in the hands
of the Iranian regime, and its terrorist Hezbollah armed proxy.
Their sickening denial and detachment from reality is making them politically
confused and living in an Alzheimer mental like status, to the extent of total
blindness.
In actuality and reality they are suffering from a chronic and ongoing sickening
ailment of severe and devastating denial.
They are unconsciously denying the fact that their party, the FPM, and its
leadership, that they are affiliated to, support, and lobby for are not serving
Lebanon any more, but turned to be mere pro Iranian – Hezbollah tools and
robots.
In conclusion, the Aounists in Diaspora did blemish and destroy all their pro
Lebanese hard and genuine work record that took place in the pre 2005 era.
At the present time these Aounists are serving consciously or unconsciously (no
difference) the Iranian-Hezbollah terrorist and expansionism agenda that aims to
destroy any thing and every thing that is Lebanese, to keep Lebanon under
occupation, and at the same time use Lebanon as a military and a propaganda base
for their global terrorism, and their evil Anti Lebanese-Anti Arab schemes.
May Almighty God Bless Lebanon and its loving peace people
Is Harriri`s Visit to Saudi Arabia actually for Umra Rituals
هل زيارة الحريري للسعودية هي لإداء العمرة، أم انه استدعاء على خلفية تسلبط باسيل
على قراراته والمواقف
François Bainy/Face Book/June 08/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=56076
It's so easy, and so comfortable, for Lebanon's Sunni PM, Saad Hariri, to say
"My visit to Saudi Arabia aims to execute the Religious ``Umra Rituals in the
holy city of Mecca".
But in reality the visit, as we and other analysts believe came in response to
an urgent official Saudi summoning call.
We strongly believe that he was summoned in the realm of the solid and loud
Saudi stance in regards to the current and very serious Qatari-GCC (Gulf
Co-operation Council) crisis.
It is worth mentioning that the GCC is loudly and officially accusing Qatar of
sponsoring, financing and using several Islamic extremist groups and
organization among which is Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
In a recent political analysis we expected that PM, Hariri will be urgently
summoned by the Saudis in a bid for him to explain and justify his official
stance as PM of Lebanon in regards to the last Arab-Islamic Summit. His stance
was blurred and very hesitant
As a reminder, a follow up committee for the Arab-Islamic Summit was established
to observe the implementation of all the recommendations which the Saudis
strongly insist that they crucial, final, decisive and extremely binding to all
the countries that participated in the summit and adopted them, including the
Lebanese government.
Apparently the Saudis expect Mr. Hariri to fully execute his `constitutional
duties as PM in putting an end to Hezbollah's on going hegemony all over the
Lebanese institutions, or otherwise Lebanon with no doubt shall face the
same dire consequences that Qatar is currently encountering .
In this context, the Arab-Islamic Summit follow up committee clearly
realised that after the Summit, President Aoun and FM. Gobran Bassil have
totally marginalized the importance of the Summit recommendations and decided to
bow and kneel for the terrorist Hezbollah and give him the final say in the
appointment of more than 40 new Lebanese Ambassadors, among which are the
ambassadors in Paris and Washington.
In this realm, the Saudi Newspaper, Al watan, published two days ago a lengthy
editorial addressing and exposing the Iranian criminal schemes targeting the
Arabic Peninsula, as well as Lebanon and other Arab countries. The editorial
strongly condemned Aoun`s-Bassil`s and Hezbollah's decision to appoint , Mr.
Gabi Issa, an American Lebanese citizen as Lebanon's ambassador in the USA. Mr.
Issa is well known with his ongoing strong ties with Hezbollah, Aoun and the
Syrian regime.
The follow up committee, as well as the Saudi officials are not happy at all
that Mr. Hariri is not playing his role as PM, and letting Aoun`s son in-law the
FM, Gobran bassil to control and run his decision making process.
The Lebanese constitution gives the Prime Minister and his government full
powers of governing, Meanwhile, Mr. Hariri is abandoning his responsibilities
and letting Bassil to prevail and confiscate his authorities and role.
Hariri's twisting and submissive rhetoric and rationale are not tolerated any
more by the Saudis. Hariri's rhetoric states that there are major differences
with Hezbollah inside and outside Lebanon, but cooperation with him is a must
for stability and governing.
Observers believe that the Saudis are going to reject Hariri's submissive
rhetoric and rational and will give the last chance to play completely and
effectively his PM leadership role.
Meanwhile, President Aoun is taking advantage of his alliance with Dr. Samir,
Leader of the Lebanese Forces Party and providing Hezbollah with a Christian
protective Umbrella. Aoun is not fulfilling any of his promises and commitments
to gradually get rid of his alliance with Hezbollah.
Therefore Mr. Hariri has to call upon Dr. Geagea to help Lebanon and contain
Hezbollah's hegemony before it is too late.
Mr. Hariri and Dr. Geagea have a patriotic obligation to join forces again with
all 14th of March parties and politicians in bid to end Hezbollah's hegemony and
reclaim Lebanon independence and sovereignty before it is too late, and before
the Qatari crisis is replicated with Lebanon.
Lebanese
Diplomatic and Special Passports are under investigation
جوازات السفر اللبنانية الدبلوماسية والخاصة تحت مجهر منظمات مكافحة الإرهاب
François Bainy/Face Book/June 07/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=56066
Several Western and Arabic Anti-Terrorist Agencies are thoroughly and seriously
investigating reports claiming that a number of Diplomatic and Special Lebanese
Passports have been issued by the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to
Hezbollah members and affiliates.
The anti terror Agencies are looking into antecedents of Hezbollah and other
Iranian backed Terrorist Groups with Venezuela .
In Venezuela more than 15 Thousands passports had been issued (by Vice President
Tarek El Aissami) to pro Iranian groups in order to promote their criminal
activities against several Western and Arab countries.
The issuing of these passports required the approval of President Chaves and
President Maduro..
The investigators are direly concerned because:
Hezbollah controls the political Lebanese scene,
President Aoun and his son in-law, FM, Gibran Bassil are Hezbollah's closest
Allies and have no choice but to approve the issuing of these passports when and
if Hezbollah's General Secretary, Sayyed, Hassan Nasrallah requests them
More questionable and suspicions points are being discussed in these
investigations:
The Diplomatic cover that Hezbollah and The Iranian Regime have been resorting
to in most of their international subversive activities, via their own Embassies
and friendly Embassies as well ....
In the present time, Lebanon needs to appoint over 40 new Ambassadors in order
to fulfill the vacant posts.
The nomination of these potential ambassadors is being handled covertly.
In the middle of a triangulation between President Aoun, Minister Bassil and
Hezbollah's, Hassan Nasrallah...Aoun has granted for Himself the two Embassies
in Paris and Washington. The candidates to fill these posts are required to
loyal to both Aoun's FPM party and Nasrallah's Hezbollah...
The rest of the Embassies will be divided on candidates loyal to Hezbollah,
House Speaker Nabih Berri and other pro Syrian-Iranian politicians and parties.
In summary Hezbollah has forcibly stepped in to fully control the Lebanese
Diplomatic Delegations in the both Western and Arabic countries.
(To Be Continued).
Associates of Hamoush's
Suspected Killer Held as Young Man Laid to Rest
Naharnet/June 08/17/Security forces on Thursday arrested two associates of Roy
Hamoush's suspected killer Mohammed al-Ahmar, as the young man who was murdered
in cold blood at dawn Wednesday was laid to rest in Mansourieh. The two men were
arrested in two separate operations, according to media reports. “After a
delicate surveillance operation and following cooperation with the other
security agencies, a patrol from the Directorate General of State Security
managed to arrest H.M. in the Nahr Ibrahim area, and he is one of the
individuals who took part in the killing of the young man Roy Hamoush overnight
Wednesday in the Karantina area,” a State Security statement said. “The
25-year-old detainee hails from the Baalbek district town of Jrabta,” the
statement added. State-run National News Agency later said that security forces
had managed to arrest the third culprit in the case, identifying him as A.Gh.,
“the driver of the BMW that was also carrying his companions H. al-Mawla and M.
al-Ahmar.” Al-Ahmar, who reportedly shot Hamoush in the head, had been arrested
Wednesday evening in the Bourj Hammoud area by the Internal Security Forces
Intelligence Branch. According to reports, Roy and his friend Johnny Nassar were
in the latter's car when it crashed into the vehicle of the three culprits in
the Jal el-Dib area. The accident led to a dispute that soon escalated into a
car pursuit. The three suspects then managed to intercept Roy and his friend in
the Karantina area where Hamoush was shot dead at the hands of al-Ahmar. Nassar
managed to escape and inform authorities of the incident. According to reports,
al-Ahmar has a criminal record. President Michel Aoun has called on security and
judicial agencies to "probe the real causes of the crime and hand the culprits
and instigators the harshest penalties."
Qaouq: New Electoral Law Only Way to Rescue Lebanon, Hizbullah Seeking to
Resolve Obstacles
Naharnet/June 08/17/Hizbullah central council official Sheikh Nabil Qaouq
stressed Thursday that the approval of a new electoral law is “the only solution
and only way to rescue Lebanon and immunize it from the threats to its
political, economic and social stability.”“The Lebanese are still clinging to
the positive atmospheres that followed the meeting of the three presidents in
Baabda and Hizbullah calls on all political forces to benefit from these
atmospheres in order to finalize the new electoral law,” Qaouq said. “Hizbullah
is determinedly working to resolve the few remaining obstacles,” he noted. “This
path should be continued through understanding and positivity in order to spare
Lebanon any threat to its stability at the political, economic and social
levels,” Qaouq went on to say. The country's main political parties have
recently agreed that the new electoral law should be fully based on proportional
representation and 15 electoral districts but they are still wrangling over the
electoral system's mechanisms and technicalities, especially those related to
the representation of sects.Lebanon has not organized parliamentary elections
since 2009 and the legislature has since extended its own term twice. The second
extended term will expire on June 20.
New Ideas to 'Rescue 15-District Law' as Four-Party
Meetings Resumed
Naharnet/June 08/17/“Positive indications” have surfaced regarding the
possibility of reaching a new electoral law soon, topped by the resumption of
the so-called four-party meetings, a media report said on Thursday. The
four-party meeting that was held overnight at the Foreign Ministry gathered Free
Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, Speaker Nabih Berri's aide Ali Hassan
Khalil, Hizbullah secretary-general's assistant Hussein al-Khalil and Prime
Minister Saad Hariri's adviser Nader Hariri, al-Akhbar newspaper said. “The
four-party meeting was revived after negotiations reached a dead end during the
Grand Serail meeting that was held on Tuesday,” the daily noted. It quoted
unnamed sources as saying that the disagreements during that meeting revolved
around the issues of vote counting mechanisms and expat voting. But “the
four-party meeting witnessed the suggestion of new ideas aimed at rescuing the
15-district law, amid keenness from the conferees on rejecting any return to the
1960 law or vacuum,” al-Akhbar added. “The Foreign Ministry meeting pumped some
positivity into the relation between the FPM and AMAL Movement,” the daily said.
It added that “Bassil is still clinging to the issues he has raised in recent
days, specifically his demand that any candidate should get at least 40% of
votes from their own sect to become eligible to win a seat, amid total rejection
from AMAL, Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal Movement.”The country's main political
parties have recently agreed that the new electoral law should be fully based on
proportional representation and 15 electoral districts but they are still
wrangling over the electoral system's mechanisms and technicalities, especially
those related to the representation of sects. Lebanon has not organized
parliamentary elections since 2009 and the legislature has since extended its
own term twice. The second extended term will expire on June 20.
Army Arrests Abdullah Azzam Brigades Member Wanted on
Multiple Charges
Naharnet/June 08/17/The army's Intelligence Directorate has managed to arrest
Faisal Hussein Mamlouk, a member of the jihadist group Abdullah Azzam Brigades,
the army said on Thursday.The militant had taken part in the 2014 deadly assault
on the eastern border town of Arsal, said an Army Command statement. He is
accused of “carrying out acts of terror, encircling army posts, and storming the
Internal Security Forces building in Arsal and clashing with its members, which
resulted in the death of several servicemen and the wounding of others,” the
army statement said. Mamlouk is also accused of “smuggling arms and ammunition
to the terrorist groups” in Arsal's outskirts, the army statement added.
U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator Sees 'Sustained Solidarity'
with Lebanon but Urges More Funds
Naharnet/June 08/17/International funding for Lebanon's 2017 refugee response
plan demonstrates “sustained solidarity by the international partners but the
level of disbursements needs to increase,” U.N. Resident and Humanitarian
Coordinator for Lebanon Philippe Lazzarini has said.
“At the end of May 2017, committed resources to Lebanon amounted to USD 1.41
billion, which includes USD 1.10 billion in donor assistance and USD 309.6
million carried over from 2016 by partners and pooled funds,” as shown by the
latest funding update released by the Lazzarini's office.
“For 2018 and beyond, donors have so far committed USD 350 million in support of
Lebanon. A total of USD 236.3 million has been provided in the first quarter of
2017 to U.N. agencies and NGOs in support of activities under the Lebanon Crisis
Response Plan (LCRP), which is less than half of the assistance reported last
year during the same period,” the statement said. While commending the
solidarity towards Lebanon, Lazzarini stressed that continued support and faster
deliveries are essential. “While the data collected show that the aid to Lebanon
in 2017 will most likely reach a similar volume as last year, it also highlights
a lower level of disbursements in certain sectors at this time of the year,
putting in jeopardy the smooth running of some critical activities as well as a
lack of visibility regarding commitments beyond 2018,” the U.N. official warned.
Commenting on the pledges to Lebanon beyond 2018, Lazzarini added that
“investment in stabilization and job creation programs need to scale up not only
to anticipate the decrease of humanitarian funding, but also to fulfill our
commitment to support Lebanon's social, economic, and environmental stability
throughout the crisis and pave the way towards sustainable development.”
The Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP) 2017-20 was launched in February 2017.
With a US$2.8 billion appeal, the LCRP brings together more than 104 partners to
assist 2.8 million highly vulnerable people living in Lebanon. It aims to
provide protection and immediate assistance to 1.9 million Syrian refugees,
vulnerable Lebanese and Palestine refugees and deliver basic services to 2.2
million people as well as to invest in Lebanese infrastructure, economy and
public institutions. On April 5, the Supporting the Future of Syria and the
Region Brussels conference brought together representatives of over 70
countries, international organizations and civil society to confirm commitments
made last year in London and raise new funding to meet immediate and longer-term
needs of people whose lives are being torn apart by the conflict.
Lassen Inaugurates EU-Funded Premises in Tripoli's Prison
and Palace of Justice
Naharnet/June 08/17/Ambassador Christina Lassen, Head of the Delegation of the
European Union to Lebanon, inaugurated Thursday in Tripoli new premises in the
northern city's prison and a Forensic and Psychological Unit in the Palace of
Justice. Both are direct results of projects funded by the European Union and
implemented by Restart Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and
Torture (RESTART).“These projects show the EU’s support to justice, rule of law
and human rights in Lebanon,” an EU Delegation statement said. The inaugurations
took place in the presence of representatives from several ministries, the
Internal Security Forces, embassies, international organizations,
municipalities, the Tripoli and Beirut Bar Associations and civil society
organizations, as well as judges and doctors.Minister of Justice Salim Jreissati
attended the inauguration of the Forensic and Psychological Unit at the Palace
of Justice. In Tripoli prison, a Medical Center and a Rehabilitation Center were
established, and a bridge was built to serve as an emergency exit and connect
the male prisoners' block to the medical center, within the framework of the
project "Support to a comprehensive prison reform in Lebanon".
The project aims to bring Lebanese prisons' management and detention conditions
closer to international standards and human rights obligations. “The new
premises will significantly improve the detention conditions of the prisoners,”
the EU Delegation statement said.
The inauguration took place under the patronage of Minister of Interior and
Municipalities Nouhad al-Mashnouq, who was represented by General Mounir Shaaban.
Ambassador Lassen said: "The facilities will serve to make a better use of the
space available and that in-house service delivery to prisoners will be carried
out in better conditions.''She added: "We are fully aware that the needs and
challenges in Lebanon are huge. We have to remember though, that infrastructural
works and training for the personnel are important, but will not be enough if
not accompanied by effective legal reforms."
Together with Justice Minister Jreissati, Lassen inaugurated the Forensic and
Psychological Examination Unit in the Palace of Justice in Tripoli. The unit has
been established by the project "Joint Action for an Effective Prosecution of
Torture and enhanced commitment to Prevention of inherent crimes." This project
aims to support the effective prevention and prosecution of torture and
ill-treatment of detainees. Speaking at the inauguration, Lassen highlighted
that this particular project ''delivers the first unit of this type in Lebanon,
and therefore represents a remarkable step forward to address torture and
ill-treatment.”
She stated: "The Committee Against Torture (CAT) highlighted the creation of the
unit as a positive step taken by Lebanon to amend its policies and procedures in
order to ensure greater protection of human rights and to apply the Convention
against Torture. We know that much remains to be done and the CAT's report on
Lebanon is a hard reminder of that fact. This is why we all need to do
more.''Ambassador Lassen also highlighted the importance of the openness and
cooperation of all security agencies, political support and the expertise and
commitment of the civil society for the promotion of human rights in Lebanon.
According to the EU Delegation statement, the European Union is the biggest
donor to Lebanon in the field of human rights. In 2016, a total of 14 EU-funded
projects were implemented to tackle pressing human rights issues relating to
detention conditions, the fight against torture and all forms of ill-treatment,
access to legal aid and a fair trial, countering violent extremism and the right
to vote, amongst others.
Arsal Man Arrested over Ties to Terrorist Groups
Naharnet/June 08/17/Army intelligence agents arrested Thursday Arsal resident
F.H.M. On charges of having ties to the terrorist groups that are entrenched in
the outskirts of the eastern border town, state-run National News Agency said.
He was referred to the relevant authorities for further investigations, the
agency added. Militants from the rival jihadist groups Islamic State and Fateh
al-Sham Front are entrenched in the outskirts of Arsal and other eastern border
towns. They overran in Arsal in 2014 before being ousted by the army after days
of deadly clashes. The retreating militants abducted more than 30 Lebanese
troops and policemen of whom four have been executed and nine remain in IS'
captivity.
Two Killed and Two Wounded in Akkar Town Clash
Naharnet/June 08/17/Two young men were killed and two others were wounded
overnight in a clash in the Akkar town of Kfar Melki, media reports said on
Thursday. The armed clash that started with a dispute over “traffic priority”
pitted young men from the Hammoud family and others from the Eid family, the
reports said. The exchange of gunfire resulted in the death of Ali Mohammed Eid
and Ammar Khodor al-Ashqar and the wounding of two other men, LBCI television
said. Eid and al-Ashqar were laid to rest on Thursday amid a state of tension in
the town, reports said. LBCI said the Internal Security Forces Intelligence
Branch has managed to arrest one person and that efforts were underway to arrest
the rest of the culprits.
Aoun to Tackle Security, Electoral Law, Regional Crises in
Key Speech
Naharnet/June 08/17/President Michel Aoun is expected to address the latest
rapid developments in Lebanon and the region in a key speech on Friday, a media
report said. Aoun will deliver the speech at a ceremony marking the 156th
anniversary of the foundation of the Internal Security Forces, which will be
held in the morning at the Martyr Major General Wissam al-Hassan Barracks in
Dbaye. It will be the first such ceremony that Aoun sponsors as president, al-Joumhouria
newspaper said. Informed sources told the daily that the president will
underline his vision for the hot topics of the current period, especially
regarding security. “In addition to the security concerns, he will tackle the
developments in the efforts to reach a new electoral law as well as Lebanon's
stance on the developments in the region, especially the ongoing events in Syria
and the region and the crisis that has erupted in the Arab Gulf,” the sources
added. The country's main political parties have recently agreed that the new
electoral law should be fully based on proportional representation and 15
electoral districts but they are still wrangling over the electoral system's
mechanisms and technicalities, especially those related to the representation of
sects. Lebanon has not organized parliamentary elections since 2009 and the
legislature has since extended its own term twice. The second extended term will
expire on June 20.
Mashnouq Expects Agreement on Electoral Law before June 12
Session
Naharnet/June 08/17/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq has said that he
expects that the political parties will manage to reach an agreement on the new
electoral law before the June 12 parliamentary session. “I expect that there
will be a law before the June 12 session,” Mashnouq told al-Joumhouria newspaper
in remarks published Thursday, although he noted that “the current proposals
require major national agreements that are not available at the moment.”“Anyhow,
there are serious discussions aimed at reaching a law, because vacuum is
prohibited and it has become clear that even one hour of vacuum is
unacceptable,” the minister added. The country's main political parties have
recently agreed that the new electoral law should be fully based on proportional
representation and 15 electoral districts but they are still wrangling over the
electoral system's mechanisms and technicalities, especially those related to
the representation of sects. Lebanon has not organized parliamentary elections
since 2009 and the legislature has since extended its own term twice. The second
extended term will expire on June 20.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
June 08-09/17
Comey Testifies about Trump's Possible
'Obstruction of Justice' in Dramatic Hearing
Associated Press/Naharnet/June 08/17/Former FBI Director James Comey accused the
Trump administration Thursday of spreading "lies, plain and simple" about him
and the FBI in the aftermath of his abrupt firing, in dramatic testimony that
threatened to undermine Donald Trump's presidency.
As he opened his much anticipated first public telling of his relationship with
Trump, Comey disputed the Trump administration's justification for his firing
last month, declaring that the administration "defamed him and more importantly
the FBI" by claiming the bureau was in disorder under his leadership. And in
testimony that exposed deep distrust between the president and the veteran
lawman, Comey described intense discomfort about their one-on-one conversations,
saying he decided he immediately needed to document the discussions in memos. "I
was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, so I
thought it really important to document," Comey said. "I knew there might come a
day when I might need a record of what happened not only to defend myself but to
protect the FBI." Comey made his comments as the packed hearing got underway,
bringing Washington and parts of the country to a halt as all eyes were glued on
televisions showing the hearing. He immediately dove into the heart of the
fraught political controversy around his firing and whether Trump interfered in
the bureau's Russia investigation, as he elaborated on written testimony
delivered Wednesday. In that testimony he had already disclosed that Trump
demanded his "loyalty" and directly pushed him to "lift the cloud" of
investigation by declaring publicly the president was not the target of the FBI
probe into his campaign's Russia ties. Comey also said in his written testimony
that Trump, in a strange private encounter near the grandfather clock in the
Oval Office, pushed him to end his investigation into former National Security
Adviser Michael Flynn.
The Senate intelligence committee chairman, Richard Burr of North Carolina,
asked Comey the key question about that encounter: "Do you sense that the
president was trying to obstruct justice, or just seek a way for Mike Flynn to
save face, given he had already been fired?"
"I don't think it's for me to say whether the conversation I had with the
president was an effort to obstruct," Comey replied. "I took it as a very
disturbing thing, very concerning. But that's a conclusion I'm sure the special
counsel will work towards to try and understand what the intention was there and
whether that's an offense."
Later, in a startling disclosure, Comey revealed that after his firing he had
tried to spur the appointment of a special counsel by giving one of his memos
about Trump to a friend of his to leak to the press. "My judgment was I need to
get that out into the public square, " Comey said.
The Republican National Committee and other White House allies worked feverishly
to lessen any damage from the hearing, trying to undermine Comey's credibility
by issuing press releases and even ads pointing to a past instance where the FBI
had had to clean up the director's testimony to Congress. Republicans and
Trump's own lawyer seized on Comey's confirmation, in his written testimony, of
Trump's claim that Comey had told him three times the president was not directly
under investigation.
Trump himself was expected to dispute Comey's claims that the president demanded
loyalty and asked the FBI director to drop the investigation into Flynn,
according to a person close to the president's legal team who demanded anonymity
because of not being authorized to discuss legal strategy. The president has not
yet publicly denied the specifics of Comey's accounts but has broadly challenged
his credibility, tweeting last month Comey "better hope there are no 'tapes'" of
the conversations. "Lordy, I hope there are tapes," Comey remarked at one point,
suggesting such evidence would back up his account over any claims from the
president.
But it was a Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who asked the
question that many Republicans have raised in the weeks since Comey's firing as
one media leak followed another revealing Comey's claims about Trump's
inappropriate interactions with him.Raising the Oval Office meeting where Comey
says Trump asked him to pull back the Flynn probe, Feinstein asked: "Why didn't
you stop and say, 'Mr. President, this is wrong,'?""That's a great question,"
Comey said. "Maybe if I were stronger I would have. I was so stunned by the
conversation I just took it in."Comey was also asked if he believed he was fired
because of the bureau's investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016
election as well as Russia's ties with Trump's campaign. "Yes," Comey said.
"Because I've seen the president say so." The hearing unfolded amid intense
political interest, and within a remarkable political context as Comey delivered
damaging testimony about the president who fired him, a president who won
election only after Comey damaged his opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the final
days of the campaign. Clinton has blamed Comey's Oct. 28 announcement that he
was re-opening the email investigation for her defeat. She's argued she was on
track to a victory when Comey's move raised fresh doubts about her. "If the
election were on Oct. 27, I would be your president," Clinton said last month.
Many Democrats blame Comey for Clinton's loss, leading Trump to apparently
believe they would applaud him for firing Comey last month. The opposite was the
case as the firing created an enormous political firestorm that has stalled
Trump's legislative agenda on Capitol Hill and taken over Washington. Under
questioning Thursday, Comey strongly asserted the intelligence community's
conclusion that Russia did indeed meddle in the 2016 election. "There should be
no fuzz on this. The Russians interfered," Comey stated firmly. "That happened.
It's about as unfake as you can possibly get." Trump has begrudgingly accepted
the U.S. intelligence assessment that Russia interfered with the election. But
he has also suggested he doesn't believe it, saying Russia is a "ruse" and
calling the investigation into the matter a "witch hunt."
Qatar Rejects 'Interference' in Its Foreign Policy, Sees
No 'Military Solution'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 08/17/Qatar's foreign minister Thursday
rejected interference in his country's foreign policy, ruling out a military
solution to a crisis which has seen Riyadh and its allies cut ties with Doha.
"No one has the right to intervene in our foreign policy," Sheikh Mohammed bin
Abdulrahman al-Thani told the AFP news agency. "We don't see a military solution
as an option" to the crisis, he added. A top United Arab Emirates official on
Wednesday told AFP that the unprecedented measures against Qatar aim to pressure
Doha into making drastic policy changes.
"This is not about regime change -- this is about change of policy, change of
approach," state minister for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said, accusing the
government in Doha of being in "denial." Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and
Bahrain lead a string of countries that this week cut ties with Qatar over what
they say is the emirate's financing of extremist groups and its ties to Iran,
Saudi Arabia's regional arch-rival. Qatar denies having any ties to extremists.
The UAE's Gargash on Wednesday told AFP the measures against Doha were limited
to diplomatic and economic ties, but warned that no one could project the
"dynamic of a crisis." "Like any crisis, you cannot really control the
dynamic... this is one of the dangers of any crisis. There is no intention for
us to seek anything but what we look at as economic spheres of activities," he
said. The four Arab countries have suspended all flights to and from Doha and
closed off sea and air links to Qatar. Saudi Arabia has also closed off Qatar's
only land border, a crucial lifeline for food imports. Sheikh Mohammed said
Qatar could nonetheless survive "forever," adding that it respected
international agreements and would continue supplying liquefied natural gas to
the UAE.
Qatar is the world's largest exporter of natural liquefied gas. The emirate is
also home to leaders of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the Palestinian Hamas and
the Afghan Taliban.Analysts say the crisis is in part an extension of a
pre-existing dispute which saw Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain temporarily
recall their ambassadors from Doha in 2014 over Qatari support for the Muslim
Brotherhood.
Egypt calls for UN probe on Qatar giving terrorists in Iraq $1 billion
By Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Thursday, 8 June 2017/Egypt on Thursday has
urged the UN Security Council to open investigation over Qatar giving a
“terrorist group active in Iraq” $1 billion as ransom, On Monday, the Financial
Times reported that Qatar paid $1 billion to release members of its royal family
who were kidnapped in Iraq during a hunting trip. Commanders of militant groups
and government officials in the region told the Financial Times that “Doha spent
the money in a transaction that secured the release of 26 members of a Qatari
falconry party in southern Iraq and about 50 militants captured by jihadis in
Syria.”The paper said Qatar the money went to two blacklisted forces of the
Middle East “an al-Qaeda affiliate fighting in Syria and Iranian security
officials.” Qatar has denied trying to pay ransom money to secure the release of
26 Qataris, including members of the country's ruling royal family, abducted in
Iraq by unidentified gunmen. The Qataris were released in April, some 18 months
after they were abducted during a hunting trip in southern Iraq. “It is
everywhere in the news that Qatar paid up to $1 billion to a terrorist group
active in Iraq in order to release members of its royal family,” senior Egyptian
UN diplomat Ihab Moustafa Awad Moustafa told the Security Council. “This
violation of the Security Council resolutions, if proved correct, shall
definitely have a negative bearing on counter-terrorism efforts on the ground,”
he said. “We propose that the council launch a comprehensive investigation into
this incident and other similar incidents.” Qatar’s mission to the United
Nations was not immediately available for comment on Egypt’s call for an
inquiry. UN Security Council resolutions call on states “to prevent terrorists
from benefiting directly or indirectly from ransom payments or from political
concessions and to secure the safe release of hostages.”“We also want to know
how the Security Council can address such violations, these flagrant violations
of its resolutions,” Moustafa said. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres is ready to support any diplomatic efforts to resolve tensions between
Qatar and other Gulf Arab states “if desired by all parties,” his spokesman said
on Thursday. “The Secretary-General is following the situation in the Middle
East with deep concern,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “He urges
countries in the region to avoid escalating tensions and work instead to
overcome their differences.”With Reuters)
US shoots down pro-Syrian regime drone firing on coalition forces: official
Reuters, Washington Thursday, 8 June 2017/The United States shot down a
pro-Syrian regime armed drone that was attacking US-led coalition forces in
Syria on Thursday, a US military spokesman said, the first time the regime had
attacked coalition forces. US Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, who is a spokesman for
the US-led coalition fighting ISIS, said the MQ-1 like armed drone was destroyed
after it fired upon coalition forces carrying out a patrol outside a
deconfliction zone in southern Syria. Dillon said there were no coalition
casualties. Dillon said that earlier in the day the United States had also
carried another strike out against pick-up trucks with weapons who had moved
against US-backed fighters near the town of At Tanf.
Tripoli counter-terrorism force: Manchester bomber radicalized in Britain
Reuters Thursday, 8 June 2017/The suicide bomber who killed 22 people at a
concert in Manchester last month was radicalized in 2015 while living in
Britain, his brother has told Libyan counter-terrorism investigators in Tripoli.
Salman Abedi’s brother Hashem also said he had bought equipment for the attack
in Britain, though he did not know where it would be carried out, Ahmed Bin
Salem, a spokesman for Tripoli’s Special Deterrence Force (Rada), told Reuters.
Rada is a counter-terrorism force aligned with the UN-backed government in
Tripoli. It detained Salman Abedi’s father, Ramadan, and his younger brother,
Hashem, in the days after the attack, and has been questioning them and other
members of the family.
“Hashem said that he and Salman got the ideology of ISIS in Manchester in 2015
from the internet and some friends in the UK,” said Bin Salem. “He added that
they used to watch videos and had sympathy for children in Syria and wanted to
do something for Daesh to help.”
Salman and Hashem flew to Libya on April 18, Bin Salem said. Salman traveled
back to Manchester about a week before the attack, after telling his parents he
was going on pilgrimage to Mecca. “Hashem said that he bought all the necessary
things for Salman for the attack from the UK and added that Salman was planning
to carry out an attack but he did not know where,” Bin Salem said. He said
Salman Abedi also phoned Tripoli on May 15 before carrying out the attack to
“say goodbye to his family before the attack”.
PLEA FOR FORGIVENESS
“Salman phoned Hashem’s phone on the day of the attack to talk with his family.
The mother had refused to talk with him because they were angry with him as he
lied,” Bin Salem said.
“Hashem knew about the attack and convinced his mother to talk to him … he said
‘please, please mum, talk to him’. (The mother) said during the investigation
that he asked for forgiveness from her and she could not understand why.”It was
not possible to access the Abedis or verify under what conditions they had been
questioned and whether they were offered any legal representation. British
consular officials have been granted access by Rada. The suicide bombing killed
22 children and adults attending a concert by US singer Ariana Grande. A total
of 21 people have been arrested so far in the investigation into the attack.
Twelve were released without charge and nine remain in custody. Rada had
previously said that Hashem had been plotting an attack in Tripoli, though Bin
Salem said he could not give details for security reasons. He said Hashem had
told investigators he had spent time in Germany working as a driver between
December last year and his return to Tripoli in April. The mother told Rada that
Salman was “an introvert, an anti-social person”, and that video games had had a
bad influence on both Salman and Hashem when they were young, according to Bin
Salem. She said Ramadan Abedi, who moved to Britain during the rule of late
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and returned to Libya during the country’s 2011
revolution, had taken both sons to the frontline for one day that year. Bin
Salem said the father did not currently face any charges, but Rada were seeking
more information on him, including possible links to the Libyan Islamic Fighting
Group (LIFG), a militant Islamist organization formed by Libyans who traveled to
Afghanistan in the 1980s. Ramadan Abedi told Reuters last month just before his
arrest that he praised the LIFG but did not belong to the group.
UN: ISIS killed over 200 civilians fleeing Mosul
Reuters, Geneva Thursday, 8 June 2017/Children trying to flee western Mosul have
been shot dead by ISIS militants, the UN human rights office said on Thursday,
saying it had reports of a “significant escalation” in civilians’ deaths in the
battle for the Iraqi city. It also said it was investigating reports that 50-80
people had died in an air strike on the Zanjili district of Mosul on May 31. It
did not say who carried out the strike. The killing of fleeing civilians by ISIS
militants occurred in the al-Shifa neighborhood on May 26, June 1 and June 3, it
said. “Credible reports indicate that more than 231 civilians attempting to flee
western Mosul have been killed since 26 May, including at least 204 over three
days last week alone,” the UN human rights office said in a statement. “Shooting
children as they try to run to safety with their families - there are no words
of condemnation strong enough for such despicable acts,” the statement quoted UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein as saying. Iraqi
government forces retook eastern Mosul in January and began a push on May 27 to
capture the remaining ISIS-held enclave in the western side of the city, where
about 200,000 people are trapped in harrowing conditions. Last week Iraqi police
said at least seven civilians had been killed by ISIS mortar shells in the
Zanjili area of western Mosul. But a young man told Reuters he had been wounded
when an air strike hit a group of 200-250 civilians collecting water because an
ISIS fighter was hiding among them.
The UN statement said the deaths in Zanjili were reportedly caused by one of
several recent air strikes that had inflicted civilian casualties and it was
seeking further information about those attacks, without elaborating. “The
murder of civilians, as well as the intentional directing of an attack against
civilians who are not directly taking part in hostilities, are war crimes,” it
said.ISIS’s self-declared “caliphate” is in retreat across Iraq and Syria.
US-backed Syrian forces this week launched an operation to capture Raqqa, ISIS’s
de facto capital in Syria.
Syrian government warplanes strike ISIS near Raqqa city
Reuters Thursday, 8 June 2017/Syrian government warplanes struck ISIS positions
west of Raqqa city on the southern bank of the Euphrates river on Thursday,
state media said. “The air force destroyed positions and armored vehicles” in
the western Raqqa countryside, about 70 km (44 miles) from the city, state-run
news agency SANA said. US-backed militias have separately been pushing into the
edges of Raqqa city in the first days of their attack to seize ISIS’s base of
operations in Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and
Arab fighters, launched an assault this week to take the northern city. The SDF
has been closing in for months with the help of air strikes and special forces
from the US-led coalition. ISIS militants have made enemies of all sides in the
six-year Syrian conflict, losing territory to several separate military
campaigns over the past year. The Syrian army has made gains against ISIS in the
east of Aleppo province, bringing them to the provincial border with Raqqa which
is largely under SDF control. The Russian-backed Syrian army and allied militias
then crossed into Raqqa province this week from neighboring Aleppo. The strikes
on Thursday targeted areas near the provincial border, along a highway linking
Raqqa to Aleppo and close to the Tabqa area the SDF captured from ISIS in May.
The Syrian government described the Kurdish-led war against ISIS as “legitimate”
last month. Damascus also said its military priorities were ISIS-held Deir al-Zor
and the Badia region at the border with Jordan and Iraq, suggesting it does not
intend to challenge the Raqqa campaign underway.
Israel advances plans for further 1,500 settler homes
AFP, Jerusalem Thursday, 8 June 2017/Israel has advanced plans for a further
1,500 homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, Peace Now said on
Thursday, the second such announcement in a week. More than 3,000 units have
been advanced this week, a spokeswoman for the NGO that tracks settlement
building in the Palestinian territory told AFP. On Tuesday, Israel advanced
1,500 units, with the potential to add around another 900, Peace Now said. These
900 were confirmed on Wednesday by an Israeli defense ministry planning
committee, it added. In a separate process, 688 homes were advanced by the
committee late on Wednesday and will now go out for a 60-day public comment
period during which objections can be filed. Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran told AFP a
total of 3,178 units were advanced this week. The plans are at various stages in
the process and the units are located in a number of settlements across the West
Bank. Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
More than 600,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, including
annexed east Jerusalem, which are seen as a major obstacle to peace between
Israel and the Palestinians.
Trump to Iran: States backing terror risk ‘falling victim’ themselves
AFP, Washington Thursday, 8 June 2017/US President Donald Trump on Wednesday
expressed sympathy for the victims of a terror attack in Iran that killed 13
people, but issued a barbed warning that the country was reaping what it sowed.
Gunmen and suicide bombers, acting almost simultaneously, attacked Iran’s
parliament and a shrine to the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini. “We
grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and
for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times,” Trump
said in a brief statement. “We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism
risk falling victim to the evil they promote.”Earlier, US State Department
spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that “the depravity of terrorism has no place in
a peaceful, civilized world.” “We express our condolences to the victims and
their families, and send our thoughts and prayers to the people of Iran,” she
added.
Campaign rhetoric
Trump has long accused Iran of backing terrorism. During last year’s
presidential campaign, he suggested that one of his top priorities was to
dismantle the “disastrous” 2015 deal aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring
nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. As president, he has
maintained his criticism of Iran – during a visit to Israel last month Trump
said Tehran now feels “emboldened” by the nuclear accord – but has not tampered
with the agreement. Even as Washington expressed its condolences over the terror
strike, the US Senate advanced legislation Wednesday that would impose new
sanctions on Iran, partly for what the bill described as the Iranian regime’s
“support for acts of international terrorism.”
Procedural hurdle
Lawmakers voted 92 to 7 to clear a procedural hurdle, setting up a later vote on
final passage. But Republicans and Democrats alike said they are eager to add an
amendment that would slap fresh sanctions on Russia in response to US
intelligence conclusions that the Kremlin conducted or approved cyberattacks on
US targets in an effort to sway the presidential election. “In the last eight
months, what price has Russia paid for attacking American democracy? Hardly any
at all,” Republican Senator John McCain said. “We need a strong Russia sanctions
amendment. We need it now.”Senate Democrat Dianne Feinstein said it was “the
wrong time” to pass fresh sanctions on Iran. “The country has just suffered from
two significant terrorist attacks after electing a moderate government with 57
percent of the vote,” she said. “We need to give Iran the opportunity to recover
and set a new course.”
Zarif calls it repugnant
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday that
US President Donald Trump’s reaction to the deadly group attacks in Tehran was “repugnant”.“Repugnant
WH (White House) statement... as Iranians counter terror backed by US clients,”
Zarif tweeted. He was responding to Trump’s comment that “states that sponsor
terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote”.
US Senate advances Iran sanctions bill, eyes new Russia sanctions
By Reuters, Washington Thursday, 8 June 2017/The US Senate voted overwhelmingly
on Wednesday to advance a bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran, the same
day at least 12 people were killed in attacks in Tehran, as lawmakers planned to
add a package of sanctions on Russia to the measure. The vote was 92-7 on a
procedural motion to end debate on the Iran sanctions bill, clearing the way for
a vote later on passage of the legislation.
Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said most members of his party supported
the Iran bill, but that they would only agree to let it go ahead because they
expected it would be amended to include “a strong package” of new sanctions on
Russia as well. Many lawmakers have been clamoring for new sanctions on Russia
over its alleged meddling in the 2016 US election, annexation of Ukraine’s
Crimea region and support for Syria’s government in that country’s six-year-long
civil war. Schumer said he was negotiating with the Senate’s Republican leaders
on the Russia sanctions.
Syrian regime replicates the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Wednesday, 7 June 2017/The Syrian regime began to form new militias under the name of “Popular
Mobilization Forces,” similar to those in Iraq.The main members are sons of
clans in Al-Hasakah region, Al Arabiya news channel reported on Wednesday. The
Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces have allegedly become a model for the Syrian
regime.News agencies and sites close to the regime spoke in the name of this
militia, which involves mainly the sons of tribes who will form the regime’s
forces within its operations. The “Popular Mobilization Forces” belonging to the
regime consists of volunteers and retired people from both the tribal, the
compulsory and standby services. The leader of the force, Ali Hawass al-Khalif,
is a member of Al-Rashed tribe, and an employee of the regime living in
Damascus. The crowd is formed in coordination with the Military Intelligence
Division. Some suggested to name the militia “Island’s shield” and “Sons of
Tribes” About 500 people are joining the militia, mostly from the villages of
Damkhya, Safiah and Abu Zuwail near Al-Hasakah. The establishment of the
regime's mobilization came at a time when Kurdish forces were advancing towards
the entrances of Raqqa, which had always feared the tribes alliance with the
regime.
Hamas Leader Killed In Accidental Gaza Explosion
Jerusalem Post /June 08/17/Another "accidental" explosion kills Hamas militant
in the Gaza Strip. A prominent leader of Hamas' Izzadin Kassam brigade was
killed Wednesday in an "accidental" explosion in southern Gaza, according to PA
news outlet Ma'an. The explosion occurred at a Hamas post near Rafah, injuring
three other militants, according to the Palestinian news agency. Hamas described
Ibrahim Hussein Abu al-Naja as a prominent leader and said the source of the
explosion was not clear. This is not the first time militants have been killed
in mysterious Gaza Strip explosions, with Ma'an reporting that numerous Hamas
"resistance posts" have been destroyed over the past few years.On April 26, an
"accidental" explosion killed an Islamic Jihad military member during
preparatory work in the site, the terrorist group announced. The Gaza Ministry
of Health later stated that another Palestinian was wounded in the same
"accident."
Israel Advances Settlement Plans despite Trump Plea
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 08/17/Israel has advanced plans for more than
3,000 homes in West Bank settlements this week, despite U.S. President Donald
Trump's call to hold back on such projects as he seeks ways to restart peace
efforts. Israel pushed forward with the plans as it also marked 50 years since
the Six-Day War, fought from June 5-10, 1967 and which began its continuing
occupation of the West Bank. A total of 3,178 housing units were advanced in a
number of different settlements, the Peace Now NGO that tracks settlement growth
told AFP on Thursday. They are the first new settlement announcements since
Trump's visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories last month, when he
tried to encourage both sides back to the negotiating table. Trump has called on
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold back on settlement building for now,
but the right-wing Israeli leader has been under intense pressure from settler
leaders. The powerful settler movement wields heavy influence in Netanyahu's
right-wing governing coalition. On Tuesday, a defense ministry planning
committee advanced 1,500 units, while more than 900 more were added on
Wednesday, Peace Now said. In a separate process, 688 homes were advanced by the
committee late on Wednesday and will now go out for a 60-day public comment
period during which objections can be filed. The plans are at various stages in
the process and the units are in a number of settlements across the West Bank.
'Ultimate deal'
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the plan for the new housing
units.Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
More than 600,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, including in
annexed east Jerusalem. They live alongside some three million Palestinians.
Settlements are considered illegal under international law and are seen as a
major obstacle to peace and the so-called two state solution -- the creation of
an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Israel blames Palestinian
incitement and intransigence for the ongoing conflict. While the majority of the
planned homes are in pre-existing settlements, some will be built in the first
new official settlement in some 25 years, Peace Now said.Last month, Trump
visited Israel and the Palestinian territories, meeting both Netanyahu and Abbas
as he seeks what he has called the "ultimate deal." However, Trump has given no
details about how he plans to restart talks, and there is deep skepticism over
whether such an effort would have any chance of success. Netanyahu has said he
still supports a two-state solution, but peace advocates say his actions show
otherwise. On Tuesday, the premier told settlers he would keep building across
the West Bank.
Strong pressure'
"Netanyahu has been trying to hold back but he has been under very strong
pressure from the settlement movement," Ofer Zalzberg of the International
Crisis Group think tank said. "In the last two weeks there has been an all-out
war and he caved in." Abbas' spokesman called Netanyahu's statements a
"challenge" to Trump and the international community. "It is a challenge to
(Trump's) efforts to create an appropriate atmosphere for a serious political
process, and a blatant challenge to the international community as a whole," a
statement said. Hugh Lovatt, Israel coordinator at the European Council on
Foreign Relations think tank, said the new settlements would not totally derail
Trump's push. The Palestinians have previously demanded a settlement freeze as a
precondition to returning to negotiations, but there have been suggestions Abbas
has dropped this since Trump came to power. "Prior to Trump's election the
announcement by Israel of new settlement homes would be seen as torpedoing hopes
for negotiations and would see the Palestinians walk away," Lovatt said. "Now
Abbas has indicated he is no longer holding Israel to even a partial freeze --
he will go back into negotiations without preconditions." But Zalzberg said more
settlement announcements could push the two sides further apart. "It is becoming
more difficult to square the circle to get negotiations going," he said.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published
on
June 08-09/17
A Measured Response to Bishop George Browning and Others Interested in the
Palestinians
Denis MacEoin/Gatestone Institute/June 08/17
https://ww.gatestoneinstitute.org/10434/bishop-george-browning-palestinians
Wafa al-Biss is only one among hundreds if not thousands of Palestinians who
have tried to smuggle guns, knives, suicide vests and bombs into Israel. Should
anyone be surprised if Israel uses checkpoints and other security measures to
save Jewish, Christian and Muslim lives?
In the wave of terror that has continued for the past eighteen months,
Palestinians, including children, have used knives, scissors, and machetes to
stab Jews, and cars to ram and kill pedestrians or police. Palestinians also
suffer from the security this demands, by having to wait in queues at
checkpoints or searches. That is regrettable, but hardly a reason to condemn
Israel.
The Palestinian narrative and the wider Arab and Muslim demand that Israel must
be wiped out is not a Christian narrative. It is an Islamic narrative.
A few days ago, some friends in Australia alerted me to a blog post written by
former Bishop George Browning, who had been the 9th Anglican bishop of Canberra
and Goulburn. Entitled, "Capitalism, Anti-Semitism & the Judaeo-Christian Ethic"
(5 May 2017), this was an anti-Israel rant of biased and profoundly inaccurate
misdirection, mixing outright lies with exaggerations. Towards the end, Browning
denies that his article is anti-Semitic ("... rather than this critique being
anti-Semitic, I believe it to be..."). Is he aware of the leading modern
definition of anti-Semitism written by the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance (IHRA) and recognized by some 32 countries? This definition, like
others before it such as the European EUMC and US State Department definitions,
includes several clauses that identify unfair, incorrect and biased criticism of
Israel, the world's only Jewish state, or setting double standards for it, that
are anti-Semitic. Unfortunately, Browning's article, as shall be seen, falls
without reserve into that definition. It is hard to understand how a man of his
intelligence and personal involvement in Israeli-Palestinian matters should not
know of or respect the IHRA definition. In order to make this clear, here are
two clauses from the IHRA definition:
Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming
that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded
of any other democratic nation.
Now, let me turn to several statements made by Browning.
"Universal justice appears to have become an unwelcome stranger in the land of
Israel. Zionism's compulsive identification with land, has replaced justice as
its core value."
What on earth can he mean? People all round the world have high regard for their
land, and over centuries have fought and died for it. Patriotism is a common
position for the Irish, the Scottish, the English, the Americans, the French,
the Italians, the Tibetans, and hundreds more. The Palestinians, to whom
Browning is intensely loyal -- he is, after all, President of the Australia
Palestine Advocacy Network -- talk about little else but their right to the land
and their love for it. But in Browning's mind, Jewish love of their ancestral
land, a place to which Jews prayed to return for more than two millennia,
supposedly overturns the ancient Jewish love for justice in a way other nations'
love for their land does not. That is anti-Semitism.
Just after this he writes:
"The having, holding and conquering of land has seemingly become the arbiter of
nationhood..."
Does Browning know so little about history? Jews did not conquer the modern land
of Israel: they have lived on that land for three thousand years; and were
officially given it first through the League of Nations Mandate system, then the
United Nations Partition resolution, both reinforced by UN resolutions 242
(1967) and 338 (1973), all internationally-recognized and binding agreements.
In 1947, the Palestinian Arabs rejected the offer of a Palestinian state
alongside a Jewish state, and in 1948, five Arab countries launched an offensive
war to drive the Jews out. Although this war failed, the Palestinians lost Gaza
to Egypt and the West Bank to Jordan, but few Palestinian Arabs complained. In
1967, Israel, fighting another defensive war, forced Egypt and Jordan out, but
later made peace treaties with both countries, and in 2005 moved out of Gaza
completely. Settlements within the West Bank, (originally the Jewish territories
of Judea and Samaria) are legal under international law despite claims to the
contrary, and all borders will be negotiated when and if the Palestinian
leadership agrees to a peaceful resolution. Such offers that have been made in
1947, 1967, 2000, 2001, and 2008, but turned down every time by the Palestinians
and their Arab allies.
Browning might do better to talk about the way Muslim Arabs originally seized
not only the Holy Land -- by military conquest -- but also, over the centuries,
Persia, the Byzantine Empire, North Africa and the Middle East, Greece, northern
Cyprus, Spain, and most of eastern Europe. The only reason the Muslims insist on
holding land is because of a ruling in jihad law that refuses to relinquish land
once conquered, in the instance of Israel, by the Ottoman Empire. Is Browning
actually aware of any of this, or is he just making things up as he goes along?
Does he, a Christian, know he is advocating for the application of Islamic law?
Or does he not care?
The bishop next tackles several positive statements made about Israel, but
summarily dismisses them one by one. First is this:
"Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. Hang on, no it is not. First
of all, on who's [sic] definition of democracy? Palestinians in the West Bank
and Gaza are afforded no rights while Arabs in Israel have differing and reduced
rights to their Jewish counter parts."
What guff. First of all, the Palestinians wanted autonomy; Israel gave it to
them; and this is how the Palestinians -- not the Israelis -- rule themselves.
Gaza was completely evacuated by the Jews in 2005; in 2007, Hamas pushed
Palestinian Authority leaders from the top floors of high buildings and threw
all Fatah leadership, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, out of
Gaza.
Moreover, what other democracies does Bishop Browning know of in the Middle
East? Syria? Lebanon, under the control of the Iranian terrorist organization
Hizbullah? Turkey, under the increasingly authoritarian rule of President
Erdogan? Egypt? Iraq? Saudi Arabia? Qatar? Yemen? Iran?
Israel is neither a dictatorship nor a theocracy. It is by all measures a true
democracy in which every adult citizen has the right to vote, to form or join a
political party, and be elected to parliament. Arabs in Israel have exactly the
same rights as citizens as Jews: they have political parties, they serve in the
parliament (the Knesset), some serve as judges in Israeli courts, including the
Supreme Court, some serve as diplomats, they are free to worship (whether
Muslims or Christians), their places of worship are protected under the Law for
the Protection of Holy Places. Unlike all other countries in the Middle East,
women in Israel (Muslims, Christians or Jews) have the same rights as men. Women
in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive cars or go out without male escorts. In
Israel, many women are fighter pilots. Not a true democracy?
Arabs in Israel have exactly the same rights as citizens as Jews: they have
political parties, they serve in the parliament, and some serve as judges in
Israeli courts, including the Supreme Court. Pictured: Israel's supreme court
justices, along with PM Netanyahu and President Rivlin. Salim Joubran, an
Israeli-Arab Supreme Court justice, is in the middle of the second row. (Image
source: Spokesperson unit of the President of Israel)
As for the West Bank, Palestinians certainly have rights. Under the Oslo
Accords, the region is divided in three: Area A (where there are no Jews or
Israeli settlements) is under the full civil and security control of the
Palestinian Authority (whose president, Mahmoud Abbas, is now in the
undemocratic twelfth year of a 4-year term of office). Area B (also without Jews
or Israeli settlements) is under joint Palestinian and Israeli control, and only
Area C is under full Israeli control. The Israeli security presence is there to
defend Israeli civilians from the thousands of terrorist attacks that have been,
and still are, being launched by Palestinians. Since the majority of
Palestinians live in Areas A and B, any ill-treatment they may suffer must
chiefly be the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority, not Israel.
Israel is not a perfect democracy. Nor is Australia. Nor is the UK. Nor is the
US. And so on. So why does Browning both lie about Israel and single it out
above other democracies as not a democracy? 68 percent of Israeli Arabs say they
would rather live in Israel than in most Arab countries, because there they
flourish.
Next comes Browning's most egregious lie:
"Israel is the only country in the Middle East that enables freedom of religion.
Well, no. Israel claims to be a Jewish State. By definition the statement
excludes those who are not Jews. The idea of Jerusalem as an historical centre
for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike is being constantly eroded."
The fact that Israel is a Jewish state (or the Jewish state) no more impinges on
freedom of religion there than being a Christian nation deters freedom of
religion in the UK, US, Australia or elsewhere. Meanwhile, all the countries
around Israel and beyond define themselves as Muslim, and there is no religious
freedom in any of them. In fact, minorities are routinely persecuted or worse:
Baha'is in Iran, Coptic Christians in Egypt, Hindus in Pakistan, Christians in
the West Bank and Gaza all suffer fierce discrimination and often murder.
Take the Baha'is as an example. They are the largest religious minority in Iran,
yet they are persecuted, executed, imprisoned and more by the state. All their
holy places -- once visited by the author -- have been demolished. In Israel,
they have their two holiest shrines, the seat of their international governing
body, and their international archives and other bodies. These and their
world-famous gardens have won them status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Israel allows them complete freedom. They are as much loved by the Jewish state
for their peaceful and tolerant values as they are hated in their homeland.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, Christian populations are being slaughtered and
expelled in the hundreds of thousands. Israel is the only country in the region
where the Christian population has increased year on year since the state's
foundation in 1948. One wonders why Bishop Browning doesn't take this into
account and prefers the Palestinian territories where hundreds of Christians
have been killed or expelled.
Peace-loving Ahmadi Muslims, persecuted in Pakistan and other Islamic countries,
live and worship freely in Israel: "Israel is the only country in the Middle
East, where Ahmadi Muslims can openly practice their Islamic faith". All the
mosques and holy places of Israel's Muslim communities are kept safe and secure,
again by the country's Law for the Protection of Holy Places. The Palestinians,
to whom Bishop Browning is so partial, kill and persecute Christians, murder
apostates from Islam, and teach their children in schools to hate Jews and kill
them. The evidence for this is overwhelming. Has Bishop Browning ever set eyes
on it?
Finally says Browning:
"Israel is the only country in the Middle East that lives by the rule of law.
Well, no, it does not."
Actually, it does. Certainly, it imprisons many Palestinians, but only
Palestinians who have gone out to stab, shoot, ram, or bomb Israeli citizens
(whether Jews or Arabs). Back in Northern Ireland, we used to imprison people
for crimes like that, too. No one was ever imprisoned or interned without due
process. Israel never executes its prisoners, even mass-murderers, and its jails
are of a higher standard than most in other countries (the only capital crime is
genocide, for which the Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann, was put to death).
No-one is imprisoned without an open and fair trial requiring Western standards
of proof. In 1999, Israel's supreme court banned even the use of moderate
physical pressure on terrorist suspects. In other words, there is no torture in
Israeli prisons.
Israeli law is based on a series of Basic Laws that act as a constitution, as is
England, and Israeli justice is open, transparent, and witnessed by
international observers, journalists and countless human rights groups. In 2010,
for instance, Moshe Katsav, who was president of Israel from 2000-2007, was
sentenced to seven years in prison on rape and sexual harassment charges. The
presiding judge at the Supreme Court was one George Karra, a Christian Arab. But
I forgot, George Browning insists that Israeli Arabs have few rights.
Problems can indeed arise within the Israeli legal system. But the same applies
to all other democracies with equal force. Why does Browning single Israel out
and deny its basic lawfulness? Israeli law has remedies for miscarriages of
justice, and the country's parliament is empowered to reform specific pieces of
legislation should they prove in need of it. In countries such as Saudi Arabia,
that are ruled under Islamic law, shari'a, heads are lopped off, limbs
amputated, adulterers and homosexuals stoned to death. In Saudi Arabia, women
have few rights at all and must suffer greatly in their daily lives. Yet Saudi
Arabia now chairs the UN Women's Rights Commission. Why does Bishop Browning not
focus on genuine cases of the abuse of law that harm innocent people? Why does
he not take his Arab friends to task for their blatant disregard for human
rights?
That mention of homosexuals reminds me that there are no laws in Israel against
the rights of LGBT persons. In fact, Tel Aviv has a reputation as the most
friendly city for gay men and women. Not a single Arab or Muslim country --
including the Palestinian Authority territory and Gaza under Hamas -- affords
such rights even to the most limited degree. Come out as gay in Israel and you
may be shown the way to the nearest gay bar. Do that in any Muslim state and you
will be taken to the nearest high building and thrown from the roof.
In the last section, Browning also writes:
"The occupying force protects the illegal settlers and not the Palestinian civil
population. Essential services are provided to the illegal settlers and
restricted or denied the Palestinians."
Here again, this is without context or explanation. Browning only knows one side
of the story. Israel has handed a large swathe of the West Bank to Palestinian
control. As for denial of essential services to the Palestinians, how does
Browning explain the fact that Gaza, under viciously anti-Israel rule by
terrorist group Hamas, currently receives a thousand truckloads of essential
goods daily through the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel: humanitarian aid
continued to be sent even while Hamas was firing thousands of rockets into
Israel civilian centres. The amount of water sent to Palestinian territories has
increased from 5 million cubic meters per year to 10 million. The Israel
Electric Corporation has for years been supplying electricity to Gaza and the
West Bank. The Palestinians often avoid paying for it, and currently owe the
corporation about NIS 2 billion (about $555 million, nearly 500 million in
euros) in debt.
Every year, thousands of Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank are treated in
Israeli hospitals. Palestinian children are given heart surgery through an
Israeli organization called Save a Child's Heart, along with children from
around the world. Currently, hundreds of injured Syrians are treated in Israeli
hospitals. Internationally, the World Health Organization has named Israel the
leading country in the world for the field hospitals it builds in disaster
zones, where Israel is a major player in providing aid. Special treatment for
Jews alone? Really?
And here is something Bishop Browning might like to think hard about. In 2005, a
young woman from Gaza, Wafa al-Biss, was taken to Israel's Soroka Hospital,
where she received over several months treatment for severe burns suffered in a
domestic fire. When released, she was given permission to return regularly for
out-patient treatment. Not long after, she arrived at the Erez Crossing carrying
a bomb strapped to her leg, which had been given to her by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigade. She had been told to explode it in the hospital in the same unit that
had saved her life, and to kill as many children as possible.
Al-Biss is only one among hundreds if not thousands of Palestinians who have
tried to smuggle guns, knives, suicide vests and bombs into Israel. Should
anyone be surprised if Israel uses checkpoints and other security measures to
save Jewish, Christian and Muslim lives? In the wave of terror that has
continued for the past 18 months, Palestinians, including children, have used
knives, scissors, and machetes to stab Jews, and cars to ram and kill
pedestrians or police. Palestinians also suffer from the security this demands,
by having to wait in queues at checkpoints or searches. That is regrettable, but
hardly a reason to condemn Israel. Or would the good bishop prefer to see all
this security abandoned, so that murderers could come onto Israeli streets, as
they have done so often before, and take an ever-growing toll of innocent
Israeli lives?
Browning is an outright anti-Semite who promotes the Palestinian narrative. He
is far from being the only Christian clergyman who does so. What he and they may
not realize is that the Palestinian narrative and the wider Arab and Muslim
demand that Israel must be wiped out is not a Christian narrative. It is an
Islamic narrative.
That demand is also what drives the Palestinian and wider Islamic demands for
the creation of a vast Palestinian state that will replace Israel (even though
there is already one unofficial Palestinian state: Jordan). Why does a Christian
cleric prefer a Muslim understanding of affairs to an understanding of why, from
Old Testament times on, Jews have linked their worship of God to the land they
believe God gave them? For a Christian, Islamic law should have no standing
whatever. But Jesus was a Jew who worshipped in the Temple in Jerusalem and
would be, if he returned, dismayed to learn that the Temple Mount is occupied by
two Islamic buildings and that Jews are forbidden to go there or to pray there.
I do not take George Browning at his word. He is interested neither in justice
nor in peace. He wants to deny the Jewish people the right to live on the only
land that historically has been their sanctuary, their sole refuge from another
Holocaust (a Holocaust that Browning's Palestinian friends daily threaten to
repeat), the sole haven of democracy and Judaeo-Christian values in a troubled,
disintegrating and often despotic Middle East. As Christianity declines across
the globe and the forces of Islam gain strength, the day may yet come when
Browning and his followers turn their eyes to Israel as a model of human
achievement and promise for the future. And even perhaps as a refuge for his
co-religionists in a region of death and destruction.
*Dr. Denis MacEoin (PhD Cambridge 1979) is a former lecturer in Arabic an
Islamic Studies at a UK university and currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow
at New York's Gatestone Institute. He is chairman of North-East Friends of
Israel in the UK.
© 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.
History, Precedent and Comey Statement Show that Trump
Did Not Obstruct Justice
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/June 08/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=56091
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10497/trump-comey-obstruction-justice
The statement may provide political ammunition to Trump opponents, but unless
they are willing to stretch James Comey's words and take Trump's out of context,
and unless they are prepared to abandon important constitutional principles and
civil liberties that protect us all, they should not be searching for ways to
expand already elastic criminal statutes and shrink enduring constitutional
safeguards in a dangerous and futile effort to criminalize political
disagreements.
The first casualty of partisan efforts to "get" a political opponent — whether
Republicans going after Clinton or Democrats going after Trump — is often civil
liberties. All Americans who care about the Constitution and civil liberties
must join together to protest efforts to expand existing criminal law to get
political opponents.
Today it is Trump. Yesterday it was Clinton. Tomorrow it could be you.
In 1992, then President George Walker Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger and five
other individuals who had been indicted or convicted in connection with the
Iran-Contra arms deal. The special prosecutor, Lawrence Walsh, was furious,
accusing Bush of stifling his ongoing investigation and suggesting that he may
have done it to prevent Weinberger or the others from pointing the finger of
blame at Bush himself. The New York Times also reported that the investigation
might have pointed to Bush himself.
This is what Walsh said: "The Iran-contra cover-up, which has continued for more
than six years, has now been completed with the pardon of Caspar Weinberger. We
will make a full report on our findings to Congress and the public describing
the details and extent of this cover-up."
Yet President Bush was neither charged with obstruction of justice nor
impeached. Nor have other presidents who interfered with ongoing investigations
or prosecutions been charged with obstruction.
It is true that among the impeachment charges levelled against President Nixon
was one for obstructing justice, but Nixon committed the independent crime of
instructing his aides to lie to the FBI, which is a violation of section 1001 of
the federal criminal code.
It is against the background of this history and precedent that the statement of
former FBI Director James must be considered. Comey himself acknowledged that,
"throughout history, some presidents have decided that because 'problems' come
from Justice, they should try to hold the Department close. But blurring those
boundaries ultimately makes the problems worse by undermining public trust in
the institutions and their work."
Comey has also acknowledged that the president had the constitutional authority
to fire him for any or no cause. President Donald Trump also had the
constitutional authority to order Comey to end the investigation of Flynn. He
could have pardoned Flynn, as Bush pardoned Weinberger, thus ending the Flynn
investigation, as Bush ended the Iran-Contra investigation. What Trump could not
do is what Nixon did: direct his aides to lie to the FBI, or commit other
independent crimes. There is no evidence that Trump did that.
With these factors in mind, let's turn to the Comey statement.
Former FBI Director James Comey's written statement, which was released in
advance of his Thursday testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, does
not provide evidence that President Trump committed obstruction of justice or
any other crime. Indeed it strongly suggests that even under the broadest
reasonable definition of obstruction, no such crime was committed.
The crucial conversation occurred in the Oval Office on February 14 between the
President and the then director. According to Comey's contemporaneous memo, the
president expressed his opinion that General Flynn "is a good guy." Comey
replied: "He is a good guy."
The President said the following: "I hope you can see your way clear to letting
this thing go."
Comey understood that to be a reference only to the Flynn investigation and not
"the broader investigation into Russia or possible links to the campaign."
Comey had already told the President that "we were not investigating him
personally."
Comey understood "the President to be requesting that we drop any investigation
of Flynn in connection with false statements about his conversations with the
Russian ambassador in December."
Comey did not say he would "let this go," and indeed he did not grant the
president's request to do so. Nor did Comey report this conversation to the
attorney general or any other prosecutor. He was troubled by what he regarded as
a breach of recent traditions of FBI independence from the White House, though
he recognized that "throughout history, some presidents have decided that
because 'problems' come from the Department of Justice, they should try to hold
the Department close."
That is an understatement.
Throughout American history -- from Adams to Jefferson to Lincoln to Roosevelt
to Kennedy to Obama -- presidents have directed (not merely requested) the
Justice Department to investigate, prosecute (or not prosecute) specific
individuals or categories of individuals.
It is only recently that the tradition of an independent Justice Department and
FBI has emerged. But traditions, even salutary ones, cannot form the basis of a
criminal charge. It would be far better if our constitution provided for
prosecutors who were not part of the executive branch, which is under the
direction of the president.
In Great Britain, Israel and other democracies that respect the rule of law, the
Director of Public Prosecution or the Attorney General are law enforcement
officials who, by law, are independent of the Prime Minister.
But our constitution makes the Attorney General both the chief prosecutor and
the chief political adviser to the president on matters of justice and law
enforcement.
The president can, as a matter of constitutional law, direct the Attorney
General, and his subordinate, the Director of the FBI, tell them what to do,
whom to prosecute and whom not to prosecute. Indeed, the president has the
constitutional authority to stop the investigation of any person by simply
pardoning that person.Assume, for argument's sake, that the President had said
the following to Comey: "You are no longer authorized to investigate Flynn
because I have decided to pardon him." Would that exercise of the president's
constitutional power to pardon constitute a criminal obstruction of justice? Of
course not. Presidents do that all the time. The first President Bush pardoned
Caspar Weinberger, his Secretary of Defense, in the middle of an investigation
that could have incriminated Bush. That was not an obstruction and neither would
a pardon of Flynn have been a crime. A president cannot be charged with a crime
for properly exercising his constitutional authority
For the same reason President Trump cannot be charged with obstruction for
firing Comey, which he had the constitutional authority to do.
The Comey statement suggests that one reason the President fired him was because
of his refusal or failure to publicly announce that the FBI was not
investigating Trump personally. Trump "repeatedly" told Comey to "get that fact
out," and he did not.
If that is true, it is certainly not an obstruction of justice.
Nor is it an obstruction of justice to ask for loyalty from the director of the
FBI, who responded "you will get that ('honest loyalty') from me."
Comey understood that he and the President may have understood that vague phrase
— "honest loyalty" — differently. But no reasonable interpretation of those
ambiguous words would give rise to a crime.
Many Trump opponents were hoping
that the Comey statement would provide smoking guns.
It has not.
Instead it has weakened an already weak case for obstruction of justice.
The statement may provide political ammunition to Trump opponents, but unless
they are willing to stretch Comey's words and take Trump's out of context, and
unless they are prepared to abandon important constitutional principles and
civil liberties that protect us all, they should not be searching for ways to
expand already elastic criminal statutes and shrink enduring constitutional
safeguards in a dangerous and futile effort to criminalize political
disagreements.
The first casualty of partisan efforts to "get" a political opponent — whether
Republicans going after Clinton or Democrats going after Trump — is often civil
liberties. All Americans who care about the Constitution and civil liberties
must join together to protest efforts to expand existing criminal law to get
political opponents.
Today it is Trump. Yesterday it was Clinton. Tomorrow it could be you.
Then-Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James Comey, testifies in
front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, May 3, 2017, in Washington, DC. (Photo
by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
**Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law
School and author of "Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law" and "Electile
Dysfunction: A Guide for the Unaroused Voter."
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10497/trump-comey-obstruction-justice
Qatar Isn’t Castro’s Cuba
Ghassan Charbel/ASharq Al Awsat/June 08/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=56089
Countries with modest geographic stretch often are tempted by large-scale
roles—the small country syndrome, whereby investing in rogue policy comes to
compensate for what has been denied by limited territory. Sooner or later, these
countries cave into temptation found in playing dangerous strings affecting
neighboring states, believing that doing so buys them more security or larger
cut in regional politics. Normally, countries are always engaged in enhancing
and polishing the roles they play in larger arenas, but it is conditioned that
engagement is made with transparency and through over-the-table legitimate
interactions. Taking backdoors and mobilizing unwritten policy to reform the
general status quo is an approach fraught with danger and is genuinely frowned
upon.
‘Small’ here is by no means used for derogatory purposes. It merely reflects
facts dictated by geography. I myself happen to be a national from a country,
Lebanon, which is small and fragile at the same time. Over time, massive
role-playing which once was decided based on population densities, army size,
location changed.
Any country which can secure strategic influence or what is known as ‘soft
power,’ a heard media platform and hefty income from rich resources can easily
book itself a starring role in regional politics.Egypt’s second President Gamal
Abdel Nasser led a legacy on defying borders in the name of pan-Arab unity, in
hopes of redrawing regional contours. Such history had opened up the doors for
many rulers to strive for hegemony.
The Nasser experience has inspired the likes of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and
Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. It remains to be said that Libya had paid highly for
Gaddafi’s obsession with biting off more than what his country can chew. But to
weigh in different political playgrounds and countries, you first need to get
involved. Swaying rulers, legal parties or organizations is crucial in outlining
a country’s ability to mediate for or impede change.
Some countries have been pushed to a fragile breaking point so much that foreign
players are an unavoidable touchstone to push for a truce, manage a hostage
situation or even establish an understanding with extremists. In the Cold War, a
small nation dotted with tobacco fields called Cuba filled in as a catalyst for
US-Soviet confrontation, which would had been a devastating military standoff to
say the least.
What came to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis later ended by the US ensuring
that the regime of Fidel Castro will no longer be challenged in exchange for
Cuba uninstalling nuclear-armed Soviet missiles. For years, Uncle Sam did not
get over what happened in Cuba. Supporting anti-US uprisings and revolutions in
Latin America and Africa, Castro was increasingly fixated on doing anything to
trouble the US.
But Castro’s long journey ended as he returned to the ‘small country complex’
after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Same could be said on Libya’s
notorious dictator, Gaddafi—the mad-driven policy of the Libyan leader was so
far committed that he ordered the Lockerbie bombing which killed 243 passengers
and 16 crew members in Scotland.
Nestled on the Arabian Peninsula’s northeastern coast, gas-rich Qatar had fallen
for the bait of political pre-eminence and gone to extremes. Having rebellious
dreams, it began to feed its desire to reshape regional politics.
For years on, we heard rumors of a Syria-Qatar-Turkey axe replacing the
Syria-Saudi-Egypt axe, but such a venture is far too volatile and risky for it
to carry the day — excerpts of historical roles played by each country in the
region can aid in clarifying that ambiguity.
Qatar’s regional role can be understood through the ‘Doha Agreement,’ which
mediated for a political crisis in Lebanon after Hezbollah militants invaded and
took control of western Beirut, weighing in on the Palestinian Authority to
ensure Hamas’ slice of the cake, and its state-funded Al Jazeera media company
broadcasting videotapes for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
The messages for Osama were aired at the wrong time and place, with poverty,
public frustration, unemployment, and ancient hatreds.
Then came Arab Spring uprisings during which Qatari leadership dived deeper into
its attempt at changing the region. Doha’s fingerprints found all over the
conflict map, whether it be in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen.
Qatar had clearly bet on the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) rise to power in the
Egyptian version of the Arab Spring uprisings. Not only that, but it refused to
cut its losses when it was clear that a MB agenda and reality are to different
things.
In its desire to establish communication channels with everyone, Qatar fell
victim to a vicious paradox of hosting a US air base while nurturing ties with
blacklisted terror groups.
The chance of moderate mindsets prevailing was slashed by Qatar’s approach in
Arab Spring countries.
It is safe to say that Qatar’s approach largely targeted Saudi and Egyptian
roles, especially that Doha chose to support anti-gulf opposition whether it be
home-grown or foreign.
Doha’s animosity is evident in its persistent attempts to burn its neighbor’s
fences down.
The method to Qatar’s madness raised many questions. Is it Doha’s right to
exploit strategic influence to punish Egyptians for determining their fate? Is
it right that Doha gets to choose what warring party in Libya retains the
upper-hand over the other? Or for it to give an advantage to one Palestinian
party?
It is also worth considering that grievances of Qatar’s destabilizing
interferences come at a time when Iran –without hesitation- endeavors on ripping
the region apart with unprecedented sectarian strife.
Neighbor states of Qatar have had their fill of its presumptuous policy. This
peninsula state can no longer play an efficient and positive role in the
six-state Gulf Cooperation Council so long that it is chasing Cuba-styled
dreams.
It remains to say that all what Arab states boycotting Qatar demand is that it
falls back in line with its natural role, for it to reflect Cuba which fit its
geographic mold, and not Castro’s rogue Cuba.
Palestinians: Crocodile Tears and Terrorism
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/June 08/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10485/palestinians-terrorism-hypocrisy
This apparent repudiation of terrorism is a startling development for Abbas. The
only catch is that when it comes to Israel, Abbas takes quite the opposite line.
For the past two years, Palestinians have been waging a new type of "intifada"
against Israel -- one that consists of knife and car-ramming attacks, similar to
the ones carried out in Britain, France and Germany. This wave of attacks, which
began in September 2015, has claimed the lives of 49 people and injured more
than 700. Since then, Palestinians have carried out more than 177 stabbings, 144
shootings and 58 vehicular attacks.
Adding to the hypocrisy, Abbas and his PA leadership often point an accusing
finger at Israel for killing the terrorists. Instead of condemning the
perpetrators, Abbas and the Palestinians regularly accuse Israel of carrying out
"extra-judicial killings" of the terrorists. In other words, Palestinian leaders
save their condemnation for Israeli soldiers and policemen for defending
themselves and firing at those who come to stab them with knives and axes or try
to run them over with their cars. How would the British or French governments
react if someone condemned them for killing the terrorists on the streets of
Paris and London?
Who says that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas does not condemn
terror attacks against civilians?
As it turns out, he and his Palestinian Authority (PA) do indeed condemn
terrorism -- when it is directed against anyone but an Israeli. Israeli blood,
it seems, is different.
Abbas led the international outcry after the June 3 London Bridge terror attack
that left seven people dead and 48 injured.
A brief statement issued by Abbas's office read:
"The President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday condemned the
terror attack in the British capital of London. His Excellency (Abbas) offered
his deep condolences to Britain - its queen, government and people, and to the
families of the victims of the terror assault. He affirmed his permanent
rejection of all forms of terrorism."
This statement is in line with others Abbas has made recently. Just two weeks
ago, Abbas, during a joint press conference with visiting U.S. President Donald
Trump in Bethlehem, condemned the May 23 terror attack in the British city of
Manchester, the deadliest attack in the United Kingdom since July 7, 2005, in
which 23 people were killed and 119 were injured, 23 critically.
Abbas described the terror attack as a "heinous crime" and said that the
Palestinians were prepared to work with the U.S. as "partners in the war on
terrorism in our region and the world."
Two days later, Abbas was among the first leaders to condemn a terror attack
that killed 28 Coptic Christians in central Egypt. Once again, Abbas said that
he and the Palestinians stood with Egypt and its president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi,
in the war against terrorism.
This verbal charade has been going on for some time.
Last April, Abbas was quick to condemn the terrorist attack that took place on
the Saint Petersburg Metro, in Russia, in which 15 people were killed and 45
injured. Abbas, in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that he
and the Palestinians support Russia in its war against terrorism.
Abbas also ran to condemn the wave of terrorist attacks that has hit Belgium,
France and Germany in the past two years. This apparent repudiation of terrorism
is a startling development for Abbas. The only catch is that when it comes to
Israel, Abbas takes quite the opposite line.
For the past two years, Palestinians have been waging a new type of "intifada"
against Israel -- one that consists of knife and car-ramming attacks, similar to
the ones carried out in Britain, France and Germany. This wave of attacks, which
began in September 2015, has claimed the lives of 49 people and injured more
than 700. Since then, Palestinians have carried out more than 177 stabbings, 144
shootings and 58 vehicular attacks.
This wave of terrorism is the direct result of incitement by various Palestinian
groups and leaders, including Abbas himself.
Days before the violence erupted, Abbas stated:
"Every drop of blood that has been spilled in Jerusalem is holy blood as long as
it is for Allah. Every martyr (Shahid) will reach paradise, and everyone wounded
will be rewarded, Allah willing. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is ours, and they [Jews]
have no right to defile it with their filthy feet. We will not allow them to
[defile it], and we will do everything in our power to protect Jerusalem."
A few days later, Palestinians heeded Abbas's call by launching the newest wave
of terrorist attacks against Israelis. These deadly attacks continue until this
day. Abbas's remarks served as a catalyst for the new "intifada", one that is
precisely parallel to the attacks we are witnessing on the streets of Paris,
London and Berlin.
Yet Abbas, the world's newest renouncer of terror, has chosen to refrain from
rescinding his explicit call for Palestinians to butcher Jews in order to
prevent them from "defiling" the Aqsa Mosque. Needless to say, Jews have neither
desecrated nor caused any harm to the mosque. All they have been doing, as is
permitted, is visiting the outdoor Temple Mount compound as tourists. Never have
any of these Jews set foot inside the Aqsa Mosque.
But Abbas and the Palestinians have been exploiting Jewish visits to the Temple
Mount to incite against Israel, thus triggering the current wave of stabbings
and vehicular attacks.
Not only has Abbas failed to withdraw his deadly appeal to Palestinians to
engage in terrorism, he has also refused to condemn the attacks that have
claimed the lives of scores of Israelis and wounded hundreds of others.
So, here is the take-home: Abbas is against terrorist attacks anywhere in the
world. Except in Israel, perpetrated by his own people and prompted by him.
Adding to the hypocrisy, Abbas and his PA leadership often point an accusing
finger at Israel for killing the terrorists who are carrying out attacks.
Instead of condemning the perpetrators, Abbas and the Palestinians regularly
accuse Israel of carrying out "extra-judicial killings" of the terrorists. In
other words, Palestinian leaders save their condemnation for Israeli soldiers
and policemen, for defending themselves and firing at those who come to stab
them with knives and axes or try to run them over with their cars.
How would the British or French governments react if someone condemned them for
killing the terrorists on the streets of Paris and London?
Has anyone in the West noticed Abbas's double standards in dealing with
terrorism against civilians?
But Abbas not only stays silent when his own people mow down Israelis: he names
streets and squares after such "heroes." Moreover, he rewards them and their
families financially, with the help of American and European taxpayer money.
Perhaps it is time for Westerners to realize that there is no difference between
a terrorist who sets out to kill Jews and a terrorist who kills British, French
and German nationals. In fact, it has become clear that the terrorists in Europe
have copied the tactics of the Palestinians in carrying out stabbings and
vehicular and suicide-bombing attacks.
Abbas's crocodile tears are intended to disguise tears of joy that terrorism is
alive and well -- certainly when it comes to the Israeli blood that his own
people spill in the name of Allah.
Who says that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas does not condemn
terror attacks against civilians? He is against terrorist attacks anywhere in
the world -- except in Israel, perpetrated by his own people and prompted by
him. Abbas's crocodile tears are intended to disguise tears of joy that
terrorism is alive and well. (Image source: Muhammed Muheisen-Pool/Getty Images)
**Bassam Tawil is a Muslim based in the Middle East.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do
not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No
part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied
or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
How the UK media helps promote terrorism
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/June 08/17
One of the terrorists who attacked London last week has been revealed as a
former acolyte of Anjem Choudary. This is hardly surprising. Choudary has been
at the heart of Britain’s radical Islamist scene up until he was imprisoned for
encouraging support for ISIS last yeat. But how did Choudary find himself with
so much power and influence over the minds of so many young Muslims? And how did
any of them get to the point of committing terror attacks?
The tragic fact is that the media has made Choudary what he is today. And in
doing so, they have done more to help promote militancy in Britain than most
other forces that conspire against our safety. Choudary is and never has been an
imam or cleric. He has no Islamic credentials – to be an imam one needs over a
decade of formal study of the Qur’an, and be recognised as an authority by other
scholars. He has never been taken seriously by the mainstream Muslim community
in Britain and has been expelled out of virtually every mosque in the country.
What Choudary did have, however, was a quick tongue and a fiery demeanor. And he
was wearing a traditional Islamic robe. All he needed to qualify him as the
go-to “Muslim preacher” when a sensationalist publication or broadcast were
looking for an “interesting character” to give their news stories or their angle
on the Muslim community in Britain a bit of edginess. The price for that
“journalistic edge” has been to give this opportunistic spiv a veneer of
popularity, which has helped him ensnare a cohort of weak-minded, troubled
individuals to his hateful vision of the world. The tragic fact is that the
media has made Choudary what he is today. And in doing so, they have done more
to help promote militancy in Britain than most other forces that conspire
against our safety
Public consciousness
What is more, the media have not only given him a presence in the public
consciousness, but they also put him there as a punch-bag. Someone towards which
we could vent our disdain and hostility. And both the disdain and hostility were
well deserved.
But we have also allowed, nay encouraged, him to portray himself, at least in
the mind of some, as a representative of the Muslim community. And this has
allowed him to claim that the disdain and hostility was not directed just
towards him: but toward Muslims in general. Another brilliant recruitment tool
for jihadism.
And Anjem Choudary is but one of example of how the media has, with ghoulish
compulsion, elevated a series of gobby self-promoters to national prominence for
no other purpose than to cause intercommunal strife – strife which sells
newspapers and TV advertisment slots, but the price of which is now paid in
blood in Britain’s streets. Omar Bakri Muhammad, Abu Hamza and many others have
graduated from the British media’s inadvertent programme of Islamist propaganda.
Nor is there much evidence that lessons have been learned. Or at least that the
right lessons have been learned. Yes, Islamist propaganda is given less airtime
on our televisions these days. But the tradition of elevating gobby,
unscrupulous self-promoters so that we can all collectively gawp and marvel at
how awful they are while they gleefully go about poisoning our society with bile
and hate and sow deep divisions for the future is alive and well.
Legitimizing bigotry
Nigel Farage, Katie Hopkins and many others of their ilk, are still allowed to
broadcast hate speech and legitimize bigotry with impunity on the national
airwaves. As was Nick Griffin before them.
What exactly is the difference between Katie Hopkins and Anjem Choudary? Hopkins
is not advocating a deadly ideology? The terrorist attack which claimed the life
of Jo Cox MP stands as evidence against that. Just in these last weeks, Hopkins
advocated internment without trial and final solutions. And she continues to be
given air time by broadcasters.
The media keeps piling on politicians for not doing enough to combat terrorism.
But they have it within their power to do more to combat terrorism than any
individual politician: all they would need to do is to stop advertising hate
preachers of all ilks, stop lavishing individual terrorists with hours upon
hours of coverage, and stop stoking on social tensions with that false air of
naivite under the guise of “reporting the facts”.
Yes, social strife sells newspapers. And the more contrived the conflict, the
better. But surely by now we understand how irresponsible that is. And that the
cost is now counted in the lives of innocent people.
Qatar, when the bliss becomes a curse
Radwan al-Sayed/Al Arabiya/June 08/17
I remember I heard this phrase about Qatar when disputes between it and its ally
Bashar al-Assad worsened at the end of 2011. What happened to Qatar also
happened to its ally Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish and Qatari regimes bet on
the “strategic relation” which has linked them to the new Syrian president since
2004. Through this relation based financial generosity, the Qataris and Turks
advised Bashar to make reforms and not use violence against his people. However
when he did not take their advice into consideration, they resorted to the same
methods they had advised Assad against.
They armed extremists who destroyed the Syrian revolution without causing the
least damage to Assad. The entire world thus came to combat terrorism alongside
the peaceful, secular and enlightening regime that cannot harm a fly! What
happened in Syria also happened in Lebanon and Qatar had a hand in it.
Supporting terror
After the 2006 War and Hezbollah’s claims that it achieved “divine victory,”
Qatar’s former emir visited Lebanon and toured Beirut’s Dahiyeh (southern
suburb) in solidarity with the resistance. Meanwhile, the resistance accused the
Lebanese government, which helped reach the UN Security Council Resolution 1701
to protect Lebanon from Israel, of working for the enemy. What was a mere piece
of news became a public behavior clearly seen in the massive transactions and
deals in Syria and Iraq. These deals were against the interest of the Syrian and
Iraqi people
When the Lebanese government began collecting donations to rebuild what the
Israeli aggression had destroyed, Qatar refused to donate funds to the Lebanese
government but directly donated to Hezbollah and to the Amal Movement to rebuild
four towns in South Lebanon.
Qatar was rewarded with banners lifted in Dahiyeh. The banners read: “Thank you
Qatar.” Qatar was thanked again later when Hezbollah invaded Beirut to force the
Lebanese cabinet to quit. Back then Hezbollah rewarded Qatar by holding a
meeting in Doha for rival Lebanese parties and Hezbollah took what it wants from
the defeated parties of the March 14 coalition.
Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood
The third and more important incident related to these Qatari policies is
Qatar’s stance from the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the people’s
election of a president to replace Mohammed Mursi. Qatar viewed what happened as
a coup and harbored Brotherhood fugitives and their leaders. For more than three
years now, Qatar has been launching a massive campaign against Egypt. It also
equipped and funded the Brotherhood’s activity. Qatar claims its interest in the
Brotherhood has humanitarian basis. However Qatar’s actions went way beyond that
when it considered itself launching a military campaign to bring Mursi back to
power through Al-Jazeera television channel. And what’s greater than Al-Jazeera
channel! No one must be fooled into believing that Qatar’s stance from Egypt is
based on concern over legitimacy as it’s claimed. In Libya, for example, Qatar
stands with different armed groups against the elected parliament and the Libyan
national army.
Alliance with Iran
Let’s go back to the major subject which is the Iranian one. More than two years
ago, news about an agreement – that resembled an alliance – between Iran and
Qatar was leaked. Among the agreement’s items is training the Qatari navy in the
Iranian island of Qeshm. This was surprising because between 2011 and 2013, the
two parties publicly clashed due to Qatar’s stance from the Syrian revolution
and Iran and its militias’ interferences in favor of Assad. Back then, someone
told me that Qatar shares a gas field with Iran and does not want to harm
relations with it. This is definitely not an excuse because sharing a gas field
must not push towards allying against Arab and Gulf neighbors! What was a mere
piece of news became a public behavior clearly seen in the massive transactions
and deals in Syria and Iraq. These deals were against the interest of the Syrian
and Iraqi people.
The result of these deals were seen through al-Nusra Front’s release of Lebanese
soldiers and an Iraqi Shiite militias’ release of Qatari “fishermen.” Displacing
people and altering Syria’s demography is happening by Qatari arrangements which
the Iranians and their militias, including Hezbollah, and the Syrian regime
benefit from.
The curse
The Qatari wealth was a bliss to the Qatari people and to all Arab and foreign
workers in the country. However, due to playing smart and the determination to
increase influence, Qatar’s bliss turned into a curse on the Qatari people and
other Arabs. We used to say so about Qaddafi’s regime as Qaddafi used to break
the norm and harm brothers and close ones for no logical reasons. Qatar must
return to its senses and look after its commitments and respect its sense of
belonging. This is what must be done for the bliss to remain a bliss and for
Arabs to remain brothers. We are in no need for further exhaustion by supporting
extremist groups. It’s not right to be biased towards the rival and the enemy,
be it Iran or Israel, to be spared from evil because by doing so, one brings
trouble upon himself.