LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 20/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations
You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men
Matthew 5/11-20: “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.  You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden.  Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished. Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.  For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 19-20/18
Question: "How can I increase my spiritual discernment/GotQuestions.org/January 19/18
Canada: "Islamophobia Day"? Are You Kidding/Tom Quiggin/Gatestone Institute/January 19/2018
Palestinians: Abbas's Big Bluff - Again/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/January 19/18
Protests shatter myth of Iran as an island of stability/Dr. Manuel Almeida /Arab News/January 19/18/
Iranian regime’s political game with the EU/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 19/18
ANALYSIS: Stronger, stable Middle East states the most effective answer to ISIS/Francesca Astorri/Al Arabiya English/January 19/18
Trump: The Media Incinerator/Ahmad al-Farraj/Al Arabiya/January 19/18
Issue of guardianship of the jurist and Iraqi elections/Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/January 19/18
Iran’s costly Syria war mainly behind its manifold crises/Huda al-Husseini/Al Arabiya/January 19/18

Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on January 19-20/18
Daesh leader’s arrest prevented attacks in Lebanon: Interior minister
Lebanon foils ISIS plans to attack places of worship, government buildings
Aoun heads Higher Defense Council meeting
Ten Syrians die of cold trying to flee into Lebanon
Lebanon lacks infrastructure to carry out phone-hacking espionage, tech expert claims
Nasrallah Rejects 'Isolation' of Any Party, Says Hizbullah Backs State in Israel Wall Row
Mashnouq, Ibrahim Dismiss Hacking Report as 'Exaggerated'
Lebanon Prepares for Rome II Aid Conference
Franjieh Slams FPM 'Dictatorial' Approach, Likens Bassil to Ghazi Kanaan
Jreissati Defends Bassil after Franjieh Remarks
Report: General Security Source Says Hack Claims Part of Political Campaign
10 Syrians Die of Cold Trying to Flee into Lebanon
Defense Council Says Lebanon to Take Measures over Israel Wall Plan
Aoun: Israel Construction of Separation Wall Opposes Stability Efforts
Germany Sees Progress toward Deportation Deal with Lebanon

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 19-20/18
NATO denies claims that Qatar has become an ally
Reports suggest youth arrested, tortured to death during recent Iran uprising
Israel apologizes for killing of two Jordanians at embassy: Jordan FM
Turkish troops shell Afrin to oust US-backed Kurdish militia
Turkey Bombs Syria's Afrin as Minister Says 'Operation Will Take Place'
US Lawmakers Aim to Tighten Terms of Iran Nuclear Deal
New footage shows Hamza bin Laden at his wedding in Iran
Report: Pakistan-Iran train services to resume this year
Iraqi parliament fails to agree on new election date
German ISIS rapper reportedly killed in Syria airstrike
Egypt's President El-Sisi says he will stand for reelection

Latest Lebanese Related News published on January 19-20/18
Daesh leader’s arrest prevented attacks in Lebanon: Interior minister
NAJIA HOUSSARI /Arab News/January 19/18/BEIRUT: Lebanon’s interior minister said Internal Security Forces (ISF) in June 2017 arrested Abu Jaafar Al-Iraqi, a Daesh leader, preventing terrorist attacks during the Christmas holidays. Nohad Machnouk visited the ISF directorate on Friday and was accompanied by Gen. Emad Othman, the directorate’s director-general, to congratulate its leadership on the “extraordinary efforts in carrying out that exceptional security operation.”The minister held a press conference, during which a documentary about the operation and its implications was featured. Al-Iraqi, who was living secretly in Lebanon, “was forced to work” for the ISF “for five months without Daesh’s leadership knowing of his arrest,” said Machnouk. “A volunteer source was contacted to call him on a daily basis, and rented a highly monitored house for him in the mountains,” he added. “The result was the disclosure of all terrorist attacks that were to be carried out during the past five months.” Al-Iraqi said Daesh could not carry out any attacks in Lebanon due to the state’s military and security measures. Machnouk said: “The security operation was named Safe Lebanon to assure the Lebanese people as well as Arabs that Lebanon’s security was managed in a highly professional manner.”

Lebanon foils ISIS plans to attack places of worship, government buildings
AFP, Beirut/Arabiya/January 19/2018/Lebanon thwarted extremists’ plans to attack places of worship and government buildings over the holidays after gaining rare access to an ISIS operative, the interior minister said Friday. Nuhad Mashnuq said at a press conference that an elite unit in Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) had arrested an Iraqi ISIS commander in Beirut last June. The commander, known as Abu Jaafar al-Iraqi, had been tasked by the ISIS leadership to establish an ISIS network in Lebanon, according to information presented at the briefing. This network would not only carry out attacks in Lebanon, but could have potentially hosted top ISIS officials fleeing Iraq and Syria. Full details of the operation and the current whereabouts of Abu Jaafar were not revealed. But Mashnuq said that for five months after the Iraqi commander’s arrest the ISF kept tabs on him through a mysterious “volunteer,” who had gained his trust and rented a home for him that was bugged by Lebanese authorities. “This is one of those rare operations where you have someone this important in the terrorist organization, and you’re able to use him for five months to find out about the plans supposed to happen during the holidays, against places of worship and government buildings,” Mashnuq told reporters. “The nature of this operation, as we explained, is unprecedented in the Arab world,” he claimed.

Aoun heads Higher Defense Council meeting
The Daily Star/January 19, 2018/BEIRUT: The Higher Defense Council Friday agreed to take all necessary measures against reported plans by Israel to build a wall along the southern border, including contested areas. The council that met under President Michel Aoun said that the various measures to prevent Israeli violations to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. "President Aoun [also] gave his instructions to the leaders of the security forces and urged them to remain on alert to preserve security stability," said the council's Secretary-General Maj. Gen. Saadallah Hamad. Aoun headed the meeting to discuss various military and security-related matters. Before the meet, Aoun met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri at Baabda Palace. The HDC was expected to touch on the upcoming Rome II donor conference, which will be held next month in the Italian capital in an attempt to garner support for Lebanon's security agencies. The conference’s attendees are set to discuss the security situation in Lebanon, as well as Israel's intentions to build a wall along the border between the two countries.Speaking after the meeting ended, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk downplayed reports that Lebanon was engaged in mass surveillance of individuals in 21 countries, which was described by researchers as the largest state-sponsored surveillance program of its kind ever uncovered. "Reports of Lebanon spying are exaggerated but not necessarily incorrect," Machnouk said. "We discussed the report and it is exaggerated. Even the CIA doesn't have the capacity to spy on 500,000 [phone] lines."

Ten Syrians die of cold trying to flee into Lebanon
AFP, Beirut/Arabiya/January 19/2018/Ten Syrians have died trying to flee their war-torn country into neighbouring Lebanon after they were caught in a fierce snowstorm, the Lebanese army and civil defense said Friday. “They died of the cold. They included two children, six women and two men,” said Georges Abou Moussa, head of operations at the Lebanese civil defense. He told AFP that rescue workers and Lebanese troops had retrieved the bodies together. In a statement, the army said it had received a tip Friday morning that a group of Syrian refugees had got stuck in snow while trying to cross the mountainous frontier between the two countries. “An army patrol found the bodies of nine refugees who died as a result of the snowstorm. It rescued six others, one of whom died in the hospital as a result of frostbite,” it said. According to the statement, troops also arrested two Syrians who were involved in trying to smuggle the refugees across the border near Masnaa. Lebanon, a country of four million, hosts just under a million Syrians who have sought refuge from the war raging in their neighboring homeland since 2011. Many live in informal tented settlements in the country’s east and struggle to stay warm in the winter. Lebanon and Syria share a 330-kilometre border with no official demarcation at several points. For several years after Syria’s uprising began, refugees flowed into Lebanon. But Lebanese authorities introduced new restrictions in 2015 in order to curb the number of Syrians entering the country.

Lebanon lacks infrastructure to carry out phone-hacking espionage, tech expert claims
Najia Houssari/Arab News/January 19/18
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s security and intelligence bodies have not reacted to deny or confirm information published in a joint report by Lookout mobile security and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which claims Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security (GDGS) hacked the smartphones of thousands of targeted users around the world. Dr. Ahmed Maghrabi, a technology and communications expert, told Arab News: “Lebanon has neither the required knowledge nor the technology infrastructure to carry out a worldwide smartphone hacking campaign.”
“EFF, which defends individual freedoms and protects personal online data, is against all forms of online censorship and surveillance, especially generalized ones,” he added. “The foundation is also against the National Security Agency (NSA), which used to carry out mass-surveillance projects that on the people of the United States.”The report claimed a group of state-backed hackers called Dark Caracal had run more than 10 campaigns for the GDGS since 2012, aimed mainly at Android phone users in at least 21 countries, according to Reuters. The hackers used phishing attacks and “other tricks to lure victims into downloading fake versions of encrypted messaging apps, giving the attackers full control of the devices of unwitting users,” Reuters explained. “According to EFF, Dark Caracal was affiliated with the government of Kazakhstan and carried out several attacks that targeted Kazakh personalities who opposed Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev,” said Maghrabi. “The foundation believes Dark Caracal is supported by the Kazakh government and uses Kazakhstan’s electronic infrastructure, including the Kazakh cellular network.”Bruce Schneier, a computer security expert who has a good relationship with EFF, has claimed that the Kazakh government works closely with Russia and has extensive capabilities, a supercomputer, and expertise in artificial intelligence and malicious software programming, which makes the country capable of hacking and spying on smartphones and computers, Maghrabi explained.
“Similar groups act under a North Korean identity or from inside North Korea, but use Chinese electronic tools and specialize in the field of artificial intelligence and supercomputing,” he continued.
“What was described in EFF’s report is an electronic group with hacking and encryption capabilities that can scan computer and smartphone systems and breach their networks, which are owned by very few countries.”Maghrabi said this was not the first time the EFF has reported on Dark Caracal’s activities: “It did so in 2016 as well. The foundation had reasons to believe a group or some individuals in Lebanon were affiliated with Dark Caracal. In 2016, EFF linked Caracal activities targeting Kazakh opposition to Lebanese General Security, while for the current attack, the foundation mentioned four names of people who are most likely residents of Beirut. It also pointed out that those names could be just one person using four different accounts. Their names are Nancy Jabbour and Hassan Ward, who, according to the report, are most likely one person, as well as Rami Jabbour and Hadi Mazeh. The report could not determine whether they were real people, or nicknames used for different accounts managed by one person. “The report admits from the outset that it does not have a real sample of those people’s activities, yet it links the four names to the GDGS based on the fact that one of them, Rami Jabbour, lives in the vicinity of the General Security’s building, which is crowded with telecom companies, travel agencies, and banks.”

Nasrallah Rejects 'Isolation' of Any Party, Says Hizbullah Backs State in Israel Wall Row
Naharnet/January 19/18/Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday warned against any attempt to “isolate” or “defeat” any Lebanese party, as he threw his support behind the Lebanese state and army in the face of an Israeli plan to build a controversial border wall. “It is not right to isolate or defeat anyone in this country and this country cannot be governed through majorities or minorities,” said Nasrallah in a televised address. “This country can only continue through dialogue, integration and coexistence, not through elimination and marginalization,” Nasrallah added. His remarks come amid an unprecedented spat between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri over a disputed decree. Nasrallah also said he does not believe that any of the political forces wants to delay the upcoming parliamentary elections. Turning to Israel's plan to build a border wall which Lebanon says would go through 13 disputed border areas, Nasrallah said: “The resistance stands by the army and the state in the rejection of any Israeli measures on the border. I tell the Israelis to take the Lebanese state's warnings in a very serious manner.”Separately, Nasrallah said U.S. claims accusing Hizbullah of drug trade are “baseless allegations” aimed at “tarnishing Hizbullah's reputation.” “Hizbullah has a very clear religious and moral stance: drug trade is impermissible in Islam and prohibited,” he underlined. “Even selling drugs to enemy societies such as the Israeli society is impermissible in Islam and this is our absolute commitment,” Nasrallah explained.
He added: “Hizbullah does not even have a commercial project or an investment project. Hizbullah has not authorized anyone to run investment projects under its name. The issue of drugs is part of the war on us.”
The U.S. Justice Department had last week announced the creation of a special task force to investigate what it called "narcoterrorism" by Hizbullah. U.S. authorities said the creation of the Hizbullah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team was also a response to allegations that former president Barack Obama held back from cracking down on alleged Hizbullah global networks in order to achieve the nuclear deal with Iran. Separately, Nasrallah said a U.S. pledge to keep American troops in Syria to defeat the Islamic State group was just a "flimsy excuse" to occupy the country. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that U.S. forces would remain in Syria to both fight IS and counter the influence of President Bashar al-Assad.Assad is a key ally of the Iranian-backed Hizbullah, which has deployed its forces to keep the Damascus regime in power. "The Americans are the last people to have anything to do with rolling back Daesh," Nasrallah said, using the Arabic acronym for IS. The U.S., according to Hizbullah's leader, was "creating flimsy excuses to keep their forces and bases in the region. This is the real aim."The United States has deployed around 2,000 ground troops to Syria and its warplanes patrol the skies over the east of the country, hunting IS remnants.

Mashnouq, Ibrahim Dismiss Hacking Report as 'Exaggerated'
Naharnet/January 19/18/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim on Friday dismissed a report accusing General Security of a major hacking operation as “exaggerated.”“We discussed the issue of the report related to General Security, which is an exaggerated report,” Mashnouq said after a Higher Defense Council meeting that also tackled other issues.“CIA does not have the ability to spy on 500,000 phone lines,” the minister added. Ibrahim for his part said: “We are strong, but not to the extent mentioned in the report.” A report published Thursday said the hacking operation blamed on General Security was exposed after careless spies left hundreds of gigabytes of intercepted data exposed to the open internet. Mobile security firm Lookout, Inc. and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said the haul, which includes nearly half a million intercepted text messages, had simply been left online by hackers linked to Lebanon's General Directorate of General Security. "It's almost like thieves robbed the bank and forgot to lock the door where they stashed the money," said Mike Murray, Lookout's head of intelligence. Lookout security researcher Michael Flossman said the trove ran the gamut, from Syrian battlefield photos to private phone conversations, passwords and pictures of children's birthday parties. "It was everything. Literally everything," Flossman said. The report said suspected test devices all seemed to have connected to a WiFi network active at the intersection of Beirut's Pierre Gemayel and Damascus Streets, the location of the bulky, sandstone-colored high-rise that houses Lebanon's General Directorate of General Security. Other data also points to the intelligence agency: the report said the internet protocol addresses of the spyware's control panels mapped to an area just south of the GDGS building. Electronic Frontier Foundation Director of Cybersecurity Eva Galperin said the find was remarkable, explaining that she could think of only one other example where researchers were able to pin state-backed hackers to a specific building. "We were able to take advantage of extraordinarily poor operational security," she said. The 49-page document lays out how spies used a network of bogus websites and malicious smartphone apps — such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Threema and Signal — to steal passwords or pry into communications, eavesdropping on conversations and capturing at least 486,000 text messages. Some victims were tricked into visiting the websites or downloading the rogue apps by booby trapped messages sent over WhatsApp, the report said. Others may have had malicious programs installed physically when they were away from their phones. Still more may have been lured into compromising their devices by a set of apparently fake Facebook profiles set up to look like attractive young Lebanese women.EFF and Lookout said the spying stretched over 21 different countries, including the United States and several European nations.Lebanon has historically been a hub for espionage and Lebanese spies have a documented interest in surveillance software. In 2015, for example, the internet watchdog group Citizen Lab published evidence that GDGS had tapped FinFisher, a spyware merchant whose tools have been used to hack into the computers of several African and Middle Eastern dissidents.

Lebanon Prepares for Rome II Aid Conference
Naharnet/January 19/18/The Higher Defense Council will hold a meeting on Friday at Baabda Palace under the chairmanship of President Michel Aoun, attended by Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun and heads of Lebanon's security agencies to discuss preparations for a major donor conference (Rome II) and to determine Lebanon's security needs from participating countries, media reports said Friday. Heads of security agenceis have reportedly developed plans and a paper including the army and security forces' needs of weapons and military equipment to be presented to the conference, well-informed sources told al-Joumhouria daily. On Thursday, a meeting between Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and Director-General of the Internal Security Forces Major General Imad Othman focused on the preparations for the conference which will witness approval of assistance to the ISF and army. In 2014, an international donor conference was held in Rome to boost support for Lebanon's army and security forces. The 2014 meeting brought together 40 countries and international organizations, but did not offer more than logistical assistance, although some participant countries voiced readiness to “support the Lebanese Armed Forces during the capabilities building and reinforcement process.”

Franjieh Slams FPM 'Dictatorial' Approach, Likens Bassil to Ghazi Kanaan
Naharnet/January 19/18/Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh lashed out Thursday at the Free Patriotic Movement and compared its leader Jebran Bassil to Ghazi Kanaan, the long-time head of Syria's security apparatus in Lebanon. “I reiterate that our project won through President Michel Aoun's election, and in the strategic issues we have triumphed with President Aoun,” Franjieh said in an interview with LBCI television. He however blasted Bassil, who is Aoun's son-in-law and his successor as FPM chief. “Bassil declared a war of elimination against us four days after President Aoun's election and we faced a coordination between the FPM and the Lebanese Forces against us,” Franjieh added. “Bassil has surpassed Ghazi Kanaan in his approach towards state institutions,” the Marada leader decried. Asked about the growing spat between Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri, Franjieh accused the FPM and the president's aides of deliberately seeking a “problem” with Berri ahead of the May parliamentary elections. “They want a problem to rally Christians in the elections,” the Marada chief charged.

Jreissati Defends Bassil after Franjieh Remarks
Naharnet/January 19/18/Free Patriotic Movement Minister of Justice Salim Jreissati replied to Suleiman Franjieh's remarks likening FPM chief Jebran Bassil to long-time head of Syria's security apparatus in Lebanon Ghazi Kanaan saying “we don't master Franjieh's rhetoric.” “We do not master Franjieh's language of communication. Now, everyone knows why we have chosen Bassil as the leader of our march under His Excellency the strong president (Michel Aoun),” said Jreissati. In a televised interview on LBCI TV station on Thursday, Franjieh lashed out at the FPM and compared its leader Bassil to Kanaan saying “Bassil has surpassed Ghazi Kanaan in his approach towards state institutions.”Franjieh also said that “Bassil declared a war of elimination against us four days after President Aoun's election and we faced a coordination between the FPM and the Lebanese Forces against us.”

Report: General Security Source Says Hack Claims Part of Political Campaign
Naharnet/January 19/18/A report tying Lebanon's main intelligence agency to alleged hacking operations is part of a “political campaign” targeting the General Directorate of General Security and its role in protecting the country from Israeli incursions, al-Akhbar daily quoted a senior source in the Directorate on Friday. “The Directorate has spying capabilities similar to the capabilities of any other agency in the world. But we wish we had a small part of the abilities that the report attributes to us,” the source told the daily. He said the accusations are “only part of a political campaign waged against the General Security because of its role in protecting Lebanon's security from Israeli incursions,” he said on condition of anonymity. Other security source affirmed that said report can only be interpreted as an onslaught against the General Security because “the latter does not have the superlative capabilities the report alleges.”
On Thursday, Mobile security firm Lookout, Inc. and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, alleged in a report the exposing of what it said was a major hacking operation tied to Lebanon's main intelligence agency after careless spies left hundreds of gigabytes of intercepted data exposed to the open internet. It said the haul, which includes nearly half a million intercepted text messages, had simply been left online by hackers linked to Lebanon's General Directorate of General Security.

10 Syrians Die of Cold Trying to Flee into Lebanon
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 19/18/Ten Syrians have died trying to flee their war-torn country into neighboring Lebanon after they were caught in a fierce snowstorm, the Lebanese Army and Civil Defense said Friday. "They died of the cold. They included two children, six women and two men," said Georges Abou Moussa, head of operations at the Lebanese Civil Defense. He told the AFP news agency that rescue workers and Lebanese troops had retrieved the bodies together. In a statement, the army said it had received a tip Friday morning that a group of Syrian refugees had got stuck in snow while trying to cross the mountainous frontier between the two countries."An army patrol found the bodies of nine refugees who died as a result of the snowstorm. It rescued six others, one of whom died in the hospital as a result of frostbite," it said. According to the statement, troops also arrested two Syrians who were involved in trying to smuggle the refugees across the border near Masnaa. Lebanon, a country of four million, hosts just under a million Syrians who have sought refuge from the war raging in their neighboring homeland since 2011. Many live in informal tented settlements in the country's east and struggle to stay warm in the winter.Lebanon and Syria share a 330-kilometer border with no official demarcation at several points. For several years after Syria's uprising began, refugees flowed into Lebanon. But Lebanese authorities introduced new restrictions in 2015 in order to curb the number of Syrians entering the country.

Defense Council Says Lebanon to Take Measures over Israel Wall Plan
Naharnet/January 19/18/Lebanon's Higher Defense Council convened on Friday and announced that the country will take all the possible measures to prevent Israel from violating U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 through its controversial border wall plan. Lebanese authorities say the wall would go through 13 points disputed by Lebanon. Separately, President Michel Aoun instructed the chiefs of military and security agencies during the meeting to “maintain readiness to foil any security breach,” hailing the efforts that are being exerted to “preserve security in the country.”
And as part of preparations for the Rome 2 conference that will be held in February, the Army Command and the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces briefed the Council on their needs in line with the plans they have devised for combating terrorism and preserving security in the country.
The meeting was presided over by President Aoun and attended by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Defense Minister Yaacoub Sarraf, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Justice Minister Salim Jreissati, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Economy Minister Raed Khoury, Army Commander General Joseph Aoun and the heads of security agencies.

Aoun: Israel Construction of Separation Wall Opposes Stability Efforts
Naharnet/January 19/18/President Michel Aoun said Friday that Israel's construction of a separation cement wall along Lebanon's southern border “contradicts endeavors aiming to preserve stability.”During a meeting with visiting UNIFIL Commander Major General Michael Beary, Aoun said: “Israel's construction of the wall along the Blue Line does not coincide with efforts to preserve stableness and security in the South.”He asked Beary to dwell on Lebanon's reservations about the line mainly that Lebanon does not identify the Blue line as its definite border. Israel began constructing concrete walls along several sections of Israel's northern border with Lebanon. The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations on 7 June 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon
Lebanon had expressed its reservation about the line and confirmed that identifying it was solely the responsibility of the United Nations and that they would respect the line as identified.

Germany Sees Progress toward Deportation Deal with Lebanon
Associated Press/Naharnet/January 19/18/Germany said Friday it is making progress in talks with Lebanon on facilitating deportations to the Middle Eastern country. A spokesman for the German Interior Ministry said negotiations between the two countries began last March and had already "led to a greatly increased willingness to cooperate by the other side."Last year Germany deported 27 people to Lebanon, compared with 9 in 2016. The spokesman, Johannes Dimroth, said there were a "whole bunch" of issues still to be resolved, including how countries identify their citizens and whether people are deported with charter or regular flights.The German daily newspaper Bild, which first reported on the talks, said those deported included Palestinian refugees registered in Lebanon and convicted criminals that Germany had struggled to expel.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 19-20/18
NATO denies claims that Qatar has become an ally
Arab News/January 19/18/JEDDAH/LONDON: NATO has denied claims made by some Qatari media outlets which sought to exaggerate a recent agreement which was signed with the tiny Gulf state, some of which have imagined that such an agreement makes Doha a fully-fledged ally.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Qatar had signed a “security agreement” with NATO at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels. It was in fact a regular agreement that NATO signs with a number of countries. This was clear from the press release posted on the alliance’s website, which said: “These agreements are signed by NATO partner countries that wish to engage in cooperation with NATO. All four ICI (Istanbul Cooperation Initiative) partner countries — Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE — have now signed individual security agreements with NATO.”
Some of the Qatari media outlets projected this agreement as if Qatar had become a NATO member, or that it means that it now benefits from the protection of the military alliance. Many social media users were taken in by the propaganda and actually thought that Qatar had joined NATO and become an ally.
However, a NATO official based at its headquarters in Brussels categorically denied all such claims. “Qatar is a very active partner of NATO, but it’s not a NATO ally,” the official told Arab News. “NATO has 29 allies (27 European countries as well as Canada and the US).” Qatar watchers were not surprised by the Doha-inspired propaganda. “Qatar is such a tiny country and it has often punched above its weight. So I am not surprised by the fallacious claim of its media and followers that it has become a NATO member. It is a joke,” said Dr. Hamdan Al-Shehri, a Saudi political analyst and international relations scholar in Riyadh. He expressed surprise, though, that NATO should enter into any agreement with Qatar. Other analysts see this agreement as another step Doha has taken to adhere to the demands of the Anti-Terror Quartet, comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. However, analysts told Arab News that Doha wants to save face by not making terror-combatting agreements with its fellow Arab nations, but with foreign entities such as NATO and the US Department of Justice. Political commentator Oubai Shabandar says the deal should not be blown out of proportion.
“This is a standard agreement between NATO and a non-NATO member country that deals with information-sharing privileges that are shared by other countries in the Arabian Gulf region. It would be a major stretch to consider this development as being anything more than what it really is: A diplomatic agreement along the lines that NATO enjoys with other Arab states, no more, no less,” he added.

Reports suggest youth arrested, tortured to death during recent Iran uprising
Shahin Gobadi/Arabiya/January 19/2018
Two more Iranians have been identified as having been killed under torture by authorities in Arak and Sanandaj during the recent uprising. The body of 20-year-old Seyed Shahab Abtahi was left in front of his father’s house 10 days after he was arrested in Arak. Signs of the baton blows were visible on his body. Earlier, 22-year-old street vendor Vahid Heidari was killed by baton blows while he was detained. The police of Markazi Province falsely alleged that Heidari had been arrested on charges of carrying drugs and committed suicide at the at Arak’s 12th police precinct. The detainees of the uprising in Arak were first transferred to Arak’s central prison and then to the Basij garrison in the Moghavemat square. A number of detainees have been transferred to the Arak Intelligence Building, which is adjacent to the Basij garrison. According to regime senior officials in Arak, 396 people were arrested during the uprising in Arak and other cities of Markazi Province. On Wednesday, January 17, Hossein Qaderi, 30, who was arrested in the Iranian people's uprising in Sanandaj and transferred to the central prison’s quarantine, died under torture.
Drug offender
The torturers were followed by declaration that this young prisoner is a drug offender, and even the prison clinic has not agreed to confirm the claim. Other victim who died following torture in Sanandaj Prison includes Sarou Ghahremani, 24, who was arrested on January 3, and Kianoush Zandi, a 26-year-old graduate from the University of Sanandaj in the field engineering, who disappeared on January 4. Meanwhile, Hassan Torkashvand, a 23-year-old young man who was directly shot repressive forces in Karaj on December 30, died of his injuries in hospital. The regime’s intelligence agents arranged secret burials for this and other martyrs, refusing their families permission to hold funerals. Killing under torture in prison is unquestionably a crime against humanity. The Iranian Resistance calls on the UN Security Council, its member states, and all international human rights advocates to take decisive measures against these crimes. It also calls on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to immediately dispatch a fact-finding mission to investigate the situation of prisons and unconditional release of recent detainees.

Israel apologizes for killing of two Jordanians at embassy: Jordan FM
DAOUD KUTTAB/Arab News/January 19/18/Jordanians say change of Israeli envoy not enough to improve ties
Israel’s PM unveils memorial for Mumbai attack victims
Israel reopens Gaza crossing after Hamas tunnel destroyed
AMMAN: Israel has apologized for the killing of two Jordanians at its embassy in Amman and agreed to investigate their deaths.The two men were shot dead by an Israeli security guard at the embassy compound in July. The embassy has been shut ever since. Jordan’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it had received a letter from the Israeli government offering a “deep apology and regret” for the killings. “Israel has accepted all of the demands of Jordan. It agreed to legally investigate the embassy case, sent an apology and has agreed to pay compensation to the families of those killed,” government spokesman Mohammad Momani said. Momani said the families have accepted the apology and agreed to an offer of compensation for their relatives' deaths. No details were made available of how much. The shooting killed Bashar Hamarneh, the landlord of a house at the embassy complex and a young furniture repair man Mohammad Jawwadeh. Israel said the guard had been defending himself after Jawawdah attacked him with a screwdriver. Jordan denied the claim and was infuriated when Israel refused to allow Jordanian police to interview the shooter, sparking a diplomatic standoff. The killer returned to Israel under diplomatic immunity and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted him with a hug. The Israeli letter also included an offer to compensate the family of Raed Zuieta, a Jordanian judge killed at the King Hussein bridge in March 2014. Israel expressed its desire to renew relations with Jordan, Momani said. The Jordanian government will take the appropriate steps in “the higher interests” of Jordan, he added. Khalil Atiyeh, deputy speaker at the Jordanian Parliament, told Arab News that the Israelis folded under pressure.  “The pressure from the King backed by the popular demands forced the Zionists to accept the need to abide by international law and respect the wishes of the Jordanian people,” he said.  Atiyeh, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, said that this is a “victory for Jordan and for King Abdullah.”

Turkish troops shell Afrin to oust US-backed Kurdish militia
AFP, Istanbul/Arabiya/January 19/2018 Turkey on Friday started shelling the Syrian town of Afrin held by a US-backed Kurdish militia that Ankara considers “terrorists” in a move to oust them, the defense minister said. The Turkish government has repeatedly warned that a full-scale operation against Syrian towns controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, including Afrin, is imminent after the US said it was training a 30,000-strong border force there. “The Afrin operation will take place,” Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli told A Haber television. “The presence of all the terror lines in northern Syria will be removed. There’s no other way out,” he said. Protesters waving giant flags of the YPG and other parties and militias, during a demonstration against Turkish threats, in Afrin, Aleppo province, north Syria. (AP) Turkish troops fired on several YPG targets in Afrin to prevent the formation of a “terror corridor” on the border, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Army howitzers in the frontier Hatay province launched at least 10 rounds of artillery fire, targeting the “terror nests of the terror organization in Afrin,” Anadolu said. A military convoy of 20 buses carrying Syrian opposition rebels backed by Ankara also crossed over into Syria, Turkish media reported. Canikli said with the shelling “in fact, the operation has de facto started.”

Turkey Bombs Syria's Afrin as Minister Says 'Operation Will Take Place'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 19/18/Turkey on Friday started fresh shelling of the Syrian town of Afrin in a move to oust a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia that Ankara considers "terrorists" and vowed to press on with a full-scale operation against them. The Turkish government has repeatedly warned it will strike Syrian towns controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, including Afrin, after the U.S. said it was training a 30,000-strong border force there. "The Afrin operation will take place," Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli told A Haber television. "The presence of all the terror lines in northern Syria will be removed. There's no other way out," he said. Turkish troops fired on several YPG targets in Afrin to prevent the formation of a "terror corridor" on the border, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Army howitzers in the frontier Hatay province launched at least 10 rounds of artillery fire, targeting the "terror nests of the terror organization in Afrin," Anadolu said. A military convoy of 20 buses carrying Syrian opposition rebels backed by Ankara also crossed over into Syria through the Oncupinar border crossing in the Kilis province, Turkish media reported. Separately, around 30 buses full of Syrian fighters headed towards the Cilvegozu border crossing in the town of Reyhanli, an AFP photographer said.
'De facto start'
Canikli said with the shelling "in fact, the operation has de facto started."Asked about the timing of a ground incursion, Canikli said: "It could be tomorrow, it could be in the evening. What we say is that this operation will take place."Syria's deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad warned on Thursday that the Syrian air force could destroy any Turkish warplanes used in a threatened assault on the war-torn country. The YPG is a major bone of contention in ties between Turkey and the U.S. which considers it a key ally in fighting IS. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had reacted with fury to the announcement of the U.S.-backed border force, denouncing it as an "army of terror."The Pentagon said it does not plan to create an "army" and that the force is aimed at fighters from the Islamic State group and maintaining stability in areas recaptured from the jihadists. Ankara however said it was not satisfied with the U.S. assurances. Turkey accuses the YPG of being a branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that has waged an insurgency in its southeast since 1984. Meanwhile, mortar fire on the Syrian town of Azaz just across the border from Turkey and held by Turkish-backed rebels wounded at least 14 people in a psychiatric hospital, a monitor said on Friday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said the mortar rounds on Thursday were fired by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed alliance dominated by the YPG. The Turkish army condemned the mortar fire and said wounded civilians were also taken across the border into Turkey for treatment. Analysts say Turkey needs the green light from Russia for a full cross-border operation because of Moscow's military presence in the area. In a surprise development, Turkey's army chief General Hulusi Akar and spy chief Hakan Fidan were in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian counterparts on security issues and Syria.

US Lawmakers Aim to Tighten Terms of Iran Nuclear Deal
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 19/18/A bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives on Thursday aimed at tightening the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, despite Tehran's rejection of changes to the accord. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the agreement aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear program, which was agreed under his predecessor Barack Obama's administration. The "Iran Freedom Policy and Sanctions Act" was introduced by Peter Roskam and backed by Liz Cheney, two Republicans in the US House of Representatives. The proposed legislation "makes clear what any effective agreement would have to contain," Cheney said in a statement. A deal with Iran would need to "at a minimum, authorize anywhere, anytime inspections including inspections of military facilities; disclosure of all past and present, military and civilian nuclear activity; a ban on weapons-grade enrichment; and a restriction on ballistic missile development," said Cheney. The legislation "will ensure that sanctions on Iran will only be relaxed if Iran meets these crucial requirements," said Cheney, criticizing the current agreement for allegedly delivering "sanctions relief and cash payments to the Iranian regime in exchange for unverifiable promises."A parallel bill aimed at toughening the nuclear deal is under consideration in the Senate. Trump again waived nuclear-related sanctions last week -- as required every few months to stay in the agreement -- but demanded European partners work with Washington to "fix the deal's disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw."Iran's foreign ministry has said it "will not accept any amendments in this agreement" -- and the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed Tehran's compliance with the current agreement.The other parties to the deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union -- have all said it is working and that Iran is complying fully with its commitments.

New footage shows Hamza bin Laden at his wedding in Iran
Al Arabiya English/January 19/18/Al Arabiya has received new footage and details surrounding the wedding of Hamza bin Laden, the son of al-Qaeda extremist group’s mastermind Osama, when he was 17 years old in Iran. The younger bin Laden is said to have married the daughter of al-Qaeda's second-in-command and deputy to current leader Ayman al-Zawahri, Abdullah Ahmad Abdullah, nicknamed "Abu Mohammed al-Masri". The clip, which Al Arabiya was briefed on its details, was among the latest documents released by the CIA in regards to the Abbottabad files. Hamza bin Laden’s wedding is estimated to have been held in 2005, four years after September 11 attacks and around the same time when al-Qaeda leaders had sought refuge in Iran.
Wedding guests
The video showed a group of al-Qaeda leaders who are listed on the international terrorism list, including Mohamed Shawki al-Islambouli, the brother of the assassin of the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, along with Kuwaiti Suleiman Abu al-Ghaith, son-in-law of Osama bin Laden and the former al-Qaeda spokesman, along with Saif al-Adl, who was most probably responsible for documenting the wedding with his cameras. Al-Ghaith is the husband of Fatimah bin Laden, who seemed to show no interest in appearing in the wedding video but was shown at one point telling one his stories with Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri during their presence in Kandahar. Hamza also had a number of his brothers beside him, including Saad bin Laden, who was killed by a drone strike in Waziristan after he left Iran. He tells his brother Hamza in the video: “Hamza, the ninth brother to get married”. The video has also shown the wedding being held in two places, the first being inside a mosque and then the continuing at their residence in the compound which was chosen by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Report: Pakistan-Iran train services to resume this year
Al Arabiya English/January 19/18/Pakistan and Iran have decided to resume a fortnightly passenger train service between the countries beginning September, a news report has revealed. According to the report, the decision has been taken in the wake of improvement in the security situation.
The decision was taken at a meeting of railway officials from the two countries on Thursday in which Zahedan Railways director general Majid Arjouni led the Iranian delegation and Railways Board secretary Zubair Shafi Ghauri chaired the meeting. The passenger train service will run between Quetta and Mashhad or Qom, and will largely cater to the needs of pilgrims during Muharram, the Dawn report said. Earlier, an international mixed passenger and freight service used to be operated twice a month by the Pakistan Railways (PR) between Quetta and Zahedan. The train used to take 33 hours to cover a distance of 732km along the entire stretch of the Quetta-Taftan railway line. Sources quoted in the report said that revision of the 1959 agreement between Pakistan Railways and Iranian Railways was under consideration. The railways ministry has decided to start running 15 freight trains between Quetta and Zahedan as per the demands of the business community, said the report. Representatives were informed that a proposal for upgrading the existing feasibility study of the route was in progress and would be finished this year. The two sides also discussed ECO container train on the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul (ITI) route. The Iranian delegation expressed desire to import mechanical and civil material from the Pakistan Railways, the report said.

Iraqi parliament fails to agree on new election date
Al Arabiya English/January 19/18/The Iraqi parliament has failed to set a new date for elections and has also postponed its session until Saturday. The session was attended by 200 out of 269 Members of Parliament (MP). As many as 149 MPs agreed to hold a secret vote to specify the election date. However, members belonging to the Iraqi Alliance rejected the result and demanded to recast the vote and to count the votes again. Other MPs said Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri refused to cast the secret vote again and put the session on hold for 10 minutes to discuss the matter with bloc leaders. Jabouri, however, could not manage consensus on the resumption of the session and the Iraqi Alliance MPs withdrew from the session resulting in lack of quorum.
Washington support
Meanwhile, news coming from Washington said it strongly supports holding of elections in Iraq on the scheduled date on May 12 and warned that postponing them will be a dangerous precedence that undermines the constitution and harms democratic development in Iraq in the long run.
A statement by the American embassy said to achieve this aim, the US will help to guarantee counting the votes of the Iraqis, including refugees. It added that the United States Agency for International Development will train local observers for the elections and supply the Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq with six international advisors that specialize in elections.

German ISIS rapper reportedly killed in Syria airstrike
AFP, Hong Kong/January 19/18/A German rapper turned ISIS fighter who reportedly married the FBI translator hired to spy on him has been killed in an airstrike in Syria, a US-based monitoring group has said. Denis Cuspert, who performed under the stage name Deso Dogg, became one of the extremist group’s most famous Western fighters, appearing in numerous propaganda videos including one that apparently pictured him with a man’s severed head. The German-Ghanaian was killed on Wednesday during an airstrike in the town of Gharanij in Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, said a statement from the pro-ISIS Wafa' Media Foundation translated into English by the SITE monitoring group. The group also posted eight graphic photographs on the Telegram messaging app that it said were of his bloody corpse, SITE said. Cuspert’s death has been reported before, including by the Pentagon which announced he had been killed in an airstrike in Syria in October 2015. It later acknowledged he appeared to have survived the attack. Militant sources in April 2014 also said Cuspert had been killed in Syria but they later retracted the claim.
Marrying Cuspert
Daniela Greene, an FBI translator with “top secret” security clearance, allegedly sneaked off to Syria in June 2014 to marry Cuspert after she grew attracted to the extremist while spying on him, according to US court documents. Greene, who was arrested on her return to the US less than two months after travelling to Syria, pleaded guilty to “making false statements involving international terrorism” and served a two-year prison sentence. Cuspert had pledged an oath of loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and was a chief recruiter of German fighters. US officials have said Cuspert had made threats against former US president Barack Obama and US and German citizens, and had also encouraged Western Muslims to carry out ISIS-inspired attacks.

Egypt's President El-Sisi says he will stand for reelection
AFP /January 19/18/Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced on Friday that he will be a candidate in the presidential election due to take place in March. “I announce my candidacy for the post of president of the republic,” El-Sissi said at a conference in Cairo broadcast live on state television

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 19-20/18
Question: "How can I increase my spiritual discernment?"
GotQuestions.org/January 19/18
Answer: Discernment is defined as “the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure; an act of perceiving something; a power to see what is not evident to the average mind.” The definition also stresses accuracy, as in “the ability to see the truth.” Spiritual discernment is the ability to tell the difference between truth and error. It is basic to having wisdom.
Arguments and debates surround spiritual truth because it is obscure. Jesus, speaking to His disciples about the Pharisees, said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:11). Satan has “blinded the minds of unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 4:4), so God must shed light on the human mind to enable us to understand truth. It is impossible to attain wisdom without God. He gives discernment or takes it away (Job 12:19-21).
Some have mistakenly defined spiritual discernment as a God-given awareness of evil or good spiritual presences—the ability to tell if a demon is in the room. While some people may possess this capability, it is not the biblical meaning of discernment. Spiritual discernment ultimately has to do with wisdom and the ability to distinguish truth from error.
Wisdom is personified in Proverbs 1 and described as someone that we can “get to know” (vv. 20-33). The Bible says that Jesus Christ is “wisdom from God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Therefore, wisdom, or spiritual discernment, is something that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. The world’s way of getting wisdom is different from God’s way. The learned of the world gain knowledge and apply reason to knowledge to solve problems, construct buildings and create philosophies. But God does not make the knowledge of Himself available by those means. First Corinthians 1:18-31 says the “wisdom of the wise” is frustrated by God who delivers wisdom to the “foolish” and the “weak” by way of a relationship with Jesus Christ. That way, “no human being can boast in His presence” (verse 29). We learn to be spiritually discerning by knowing Him.
It is not wrong to possess knowledge or have an education, and it is not wrong to use reason and logic to solve problems. However, spiritual discernment cannot be attained that way. It must be given by the revelation of Jesus Christ to the believer, and then developed by way of training in righteousness (Hebrews 5:14) and prayer (Philippians 1:9). Hebrews 5:11-14 shows how spiritual discernment is developed. The writer speaks to those who had become “dull of hearing,” meaning they had fallen out of practice discerning spiritually. The writer of Hebrews tells them that everyone who lives on “milk” (rather than the “solid food” desired by the mature) is unskilled in the word of righteousness; however, the mature Christian has been “trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” The keys, according to this passage, are becoming skilled in the Word of God (by which we define righteousness) and “constant practice” (through which we gain experience).
So, how does one increase spiritual discernment? First, recognizing that God is the only one who can increase wisdom, pray for it (James 1:5; Philippians 1:9). Then, knowing the wisdom to distinguish good from evil comes by training and practice, go to the Bible to learn the truth and, by meditation on the Word, reinforce the truth.
When a bank hires an employee, he is trained to recognize counterfeit bills. One would think that the best way to recognize a counterfeit would be to study various counterfeits. The problem is that new counterfeits are being created every day. The best way to recognize a counterfeit bill is to have an intimate knowledge of the real thing. Having studied authentic bills, bank cashiers are not fooled when a counterfeit comes along. A knowledge of the true helps them identify the false.
This is what Christians must do to develop spiritual discernment. We must know the authentic so well that, when the false appears, we can recognize it. By knowing and obeying the Word of God, we will be “trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” We will know God’s character and will. This is the heart of spiritual discernment – being able to distinguish the voice of the world from the voice of God, to have a sense that “this is right” or “this is wrong.” Spiritual discernment fends off temptation and allows us to “hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9).
Recommended Resource: The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies

Canada: "Islamophobia Day"? Are You Kidding?كندا: هل الأمر مزحة في تحديد يوم للإسلاموفوبي
Tom Quiggin/Gatestone Institute/January 19/2018
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/61904
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11767/canada-islamophobia-day
In fact, in Canada, "Islamophobia" comes in only fourth behind crimes against Blacks, Gays and Jews. Hate crimes against Muslims actually have dropped, even as the overall number of hate crimes increased, according to the last Statistics Canada reporting.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM, formerly CAIR CAN) was founded with the mission of supporting its American parent organization, CAIR USA, which in turn was formed to support Hamas. According to the Hamas Covenant, the group is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas is listed as terrorist group by the US and Canada. CAIR USA was also listed as a terrorist entity by the United Arab Emirates in 2014.
The current Executive Director of CAIR CAN/NCCM, Ihsaan Gardee, has tried to claim that CAIR USA and its Canadian chapter CAIR CAN/NCCM have no relationship. This view is misleading. Most tellingly, CAIR CAN/NCCM made the following statement on its own website in 2003 referring to CAIR USA: "This Washington-based organization is CAIR CAN's parent organization."
With respect to the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada, newspapers such as the Toronto Star have printed that there is no such thing as the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada or the US. A 2015 piece by Haroon Siddiqui, the Toronto Star's editorial page editor emeritus, stated that: "Muslim Brotherhood is not a registered entity in Canada or the USA, nor does it have any branch in North America." For this assessment, Siddiqui was quoting Jamal Badawi. What Siddiqui did not mention was that Badawi is a member of the North American Muslim Brotherhood's Shura Council, according to the Muslim Brotherhood itself.
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, is being asked by the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM, formerly known as CAIR CAN) to designate January 29 as a "National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia." If he does, it is an indicator that the Islamists in Canada have succeeded in their program of political expansion and influence to the point of now being able publicly to manipulate the Prime Minister's Office. In fact, in Canada, "Islamophobia" comes in only fourth behind crimes against Blacks, Gays and Jews. Hate crimes against Muslims have dropped, even as the overall number of hate crimes increase, according to the last Statistics Canada reporting.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being asked by the National Council of Canadian Muslims to designate January 29 as "National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia." If he does, it is an indicator that the Islamists in Canada have succeeded in their program of political expansion and influence. (Image source: European Parliament)
The event behind this request is the violent attack on the Quebec City mosque of January 29, 2017, in which six people were murdered.
CAIR CAN/NCCM claims in its letter to the Prime Minister that the attack occurred "solely because the victims were Muslim." This statement is doubtful: the mosque has a complicated history, a recent rash of traumatic events, and was initially founded by adherents of the Muslim Brotherhood.
CAIR CAN/NCCM
CAIR CAN/NCCM was founded with the mission of supporting its American parent organization, CAIR USA, which in turn was formed to support Hamas. According to the Hamas Covenant, the group is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas is listed as terrorist group by the United States and Canada. CAIR USA was also listed as a terrorist entity by the United Arab Emirates in 2014. They described the listing of these groups as including Muslim Brotherhood front groups, proxies and fund raisers.
The current Executive Director of CAIR CAN/NCCM, Ihsaan Gardee, has tried to claim that CAIR USA and its Canadian chapter CAIR CAN/NCCM have no relationship. He has made this claim in media interviews to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and while testifying to the Parliament of Canada. This view is misleading. The US State Department has identified CAIR CAN/NCCM as the Canadian chapter of CAIR USA. CAIR USA has repeatedly claimed that CAIR CAN/NCCM is its "Canadian office." Most tellingly, CAIR CAN/NCCM made the following statement on its own website in 2003 referring to CAIR USA: "This Washington-based organization is CAIR CAN's parent organization." That statement was published as part of its "A Journalist's Guide to Islam."
The Senate of Canada also heard from internationally known Muslim Brotherhood expert Dr. Lorenzo Vidino in May of 2015. In his testimony , Vidino stated that the Muslim Brotherhood has a series of eight to ten front organizations in Canada. Among those he noted were CAIR CAN/NCCM.
THE MOSQUE ATTACK(S) IN QUEBEC CITY
The Quebec City Mosque, also referred to as the Centre culturel islamique de Québec or CCIQ, was attacked on 29 January 2017. The alleged attacker, Alexandre Bissonnette, murdered six people and wounded eight when he opened fire with a rifle on a Sunday evening.
Not just one attack occurred. The mosque has suffered a series of five events, which appear connected. In June of 2016 a pig's head was placed at the front door of the mosque. Three weeks later a pamphlet was distributed around the mosque's neighborhood, which claimed that the mosque was run by the Muslim Brotherhood. The pamphlet also said that the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Quebec was the Quebec City Mosque. Following that, a blog also stated that the mosque was a Muslim Brotherhood organization. This blog posting was dated July 8, 2016 and it has similar text to what was in the pamphlet distributed around the mosque. The title of the blog was "What is the most serious: a pig's head or a genocide?" The question suggests that the first three incidents are connected. The blog was still active as of January 19, 2018.
The blog also appears to have made an indirect threat to the mosque. The posting stated that:
"If the Grand Mosque of Quebec does not provide formal and verifiable evidence that it repudiated any organizational, financial and ideological ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and its organizations such as the Muslim Association of Canada or others, and if it does not clearly condemn all that these organizations represent, the informed citizens will have to consider the Great Mosque of Quebec, aka Mosque of the capital, aka the Cultural Centre of Quebec, as a home propagating a radical concepts and political Islam."
While this statement of July 2016 does not make a direct violent threat to the mosque, one could believe, especially with the benefit of hindsight, that this posting identifies a threat to the mosque. It does not, of course, say that a violent action will occur if the mosque did not repudiate its Muslim Brotherhood links. The threat, however, is implied; given the two violent events that followed, it seems prescient.
The statement also suggests that the first thee incidents and the shooting, are connected.
As noted, the mosque was then violently attacked in January of 2017, which resulted in the deaths and injuries. On the August 6, 2017, a fifth event occurred in which a car belonging to Mohamed Labidi, the President of the mosque, was burned in a deliberately arson according to police.
Pictured: The Canadian flag flies at half-mast in front of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria on January 31, 2017, following a deadly shooting attack on a mosque in Quebec City, in which six people were murdered. (Image source: Province of British Columbia)
THE ORIGINS OF THE MOSQUE
The Quebec City mosque was originally formed by Muslim Student Association, according to its own history. The Muslim Student Association was founded by adherents of the Muslim Brotherhood. The mosque donated money on a yearly basis (2001 to 2010) to the Canadian charity known as the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (IRFAN). This funding occurred through IRFAN, which the Canada Revenue Agency has stated was set up deliberately to circumvent Canadian law to fund Hamas. This "charity" has since been listed as a terrorist entity in Canada, as it sent tens of millions of dollars of cash and services to Hamas.
One of the leading figures at the mosque is Abdullah Assafiri. He was listed as the "directeur de la formation et de l'animation religieuse au Centre culturel islamique de Québec" (Director of training and religious activity at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre). He also represented the mosque when it interacted with the provincial government.
Mr. Assafiri is also a major leadership figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Muslim Brotherhood itself. He was listed as the "Masul" or "leader" for Eastern Canada in the North American Muslim Brotherhood's Shura Council organizational list. The list became public as a court document during the Holy Land Relief Foundation terrorism funding trials in the USA.
Mr. Assafiri told the press he normally would have been at the mosque on the Sunday night of the attack, but he did not attend when the shooting occurred because his son had borrowed his car (c'est parce que son fils avait emprunté sa voiture).
With respect to the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada, newspapers such as the Toronto Star, have printed that there is no such thing as the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada or the USA. A 2015 piece by Haroon Siddiqui, the Toronto Star's editorial page editor emeritus, actually reported that:
"Muslim Brotherhood is not a registered entity in Canada or the USA, nor does it have any branch in North America."
For this assessment, Mr. Siddiqui was quoting Dr. Jamal Badawi. What Siddiqui did not mention was that Dr. Badawi is a member of the North American Muslim Brotherhood's Shura Council, according to the Muslim Brotherhood itself. Further, the Muslim Brotherhood has held up Dr. Badawi as a leading and exemplary figure in its education field. Dr. Badawi has also served on the board of directors of both the Muslim Association of Canada and CAIR CAN/NCCM. The Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) was also noted as a Muslim Brotherhood front group in Dr. Vidino's 2015 testimony to the Canadian Senate. The MAC website states that the "Muslim Brotherhood remains the truest reflection of Islamic practice in the modern era."
Dr. Badawi was also listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in American based Holy Land Relief terrorism funding trial that had its roots in Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Convictions for this trial were obtained in 2008.
CONCLUSIONS
In the case of the Quebec City mosque attack, while it is possible that the victims were attacked solely because they were Muslim, the connected incidents – both before the attack and the online implied threat -- suggests that the motivation for the attack might be somewhat more complicated.
If the "Islamophobia Memorial Day" is declared by the prime minster, it is a clear "indicator and warning" on how far an Islamist mentality has been developed within the corridors of government. It also will further confirm how deeply Prime Minster Trudeau has has continued in his support the Islamist cause on every occasion since his election as a Member of Parliament in 2008.
*Tom Quiggin is a former military intelligence officer, a former intelligence contractor for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a court appointed expert on jihadist terrorism in both the Federal and criminal courts of Canada. Much of the material for this article comes from the recently published book, "SUBMISSION: The Danger of Political Islam to Canada – With a Warning to America", written with co-authors Tahir Gora, Saied Shoaaib, Jonathon Cotler, and Rick Gill with a foreword by Raheel Raza.
© 2018 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.

Palestinians: Abbas's Big Bluff - Again
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/January 19/18
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11764/palestinians-abbas-bluff
In his desperation, Abbas hurls abuse and in all directions. He has resorted to his old-new strategy of warning us that if his demands are not met, World War III will break out. Abbas would like us to believe that the Palestinian issue should remain at the center of the world's attention -- otherwise, there will be bloodshed and violence on the streets of most countries.
Should anyone take Abbas's threats seriously? The answer is simple: No.
The war to destroy Israel is still in full force. The Palestinians have not brought up a new generation that recognizes Israel's right to exist; on the contrary, they have brought up a generation that believes in jihad and death, one that denies any Biblical Jewish history or links to the Holy Land.
PLO leaders who met in Ramallah on January 15 recommended that the Palestinians revoke their recognition of Israel.
The recommendation came in response to US President Donald Trump's announcement recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
The PLO leaders also advised their leadership to suspend security coordination with Israel. They also called for revising all agreements signed with Israel, including the Oslo Accords.
The meeting of the PLO Central Council was chaired by President Mahmoud Abbas, who in the past few weeks has chosen to embark on an open collision course with the US administration, possibly in the hope that US Department of State will back down as it always previously has.
Abbas has been in a belligerent mode since Trump's December 6 announcement on Jerusalem. In a speech before the PLO Central Council session, Abbas mocked Trump and hurled abuses at him. Abbas said he hoped God would "destroy" Trump's house. The Arabic Yakhrab baytu means "May his house be destroyed". According to The Guardian, Abbas "did not literally mean the White House or Trump Tower. But its wider sense is unmissable."
Abbas's speech also contained anti-Semitic remarks in which he claimed that Israel was a colonialist project that had nothing to do with Judaism.
Abbas also directed his hate against the Arab countries and those Palestinians who oppose his policies and autocratic leadership.
His hateful remarks against the US administration and Israel reflect the growing state of isolation in which the Palestinian leader recently finds himself.
Although Abbas did not mention the Arab countries by name, it was obvious that he was referring to Saudi Arabia and Egypt when he demanded that the Arab world stop meddling in the internal affairs of the Palestinians. This was a speech by a leader who feels that he is becoming more irrelevant with every day that passes.
Abbas's anger at the Arab countries stems from his belief that he is being shortchanged by them in his confrontation with the Trump administration and Israel. Abbas, like many Palestinians, feels that the Arab countries have once again turned their backs on their Palestinian brothers and are fed up with the Palestinian leadership's whining and lack of credibility.
Abbas and the Palestinians miss the days of the Obama administration, which they felt was hostile to Israel and constantly sided with them. Abbas must have gotten quite used to sympathetic comments directed toward the Palestinians from the Obama administration. For Abbas and the Palestinians, each time the Obama administration condemned Israel over "settlement construction," those were the good old days – which now seem to have vanished with the arrival of a new president at the White House.
Abbas, in his desperation, hurls abuse -- and in all directions. He has resorted -- again -- to his old strategy of warning us that if his demands are not met, World War III will break out. Abbas would like us to believe that the Palestinian issue should remain at the center of the world's attention – otherwise, there will be bloodshed and violence on the streets of most countries. Should anyone take Abbas's threats seriously? The answer is simple: No.
Abbas's threat to revoke the PLO's recognition of Israel is meaningless. True, the PLO in 1993 recognized the right of Israel "to exist in peace and security," but this recognition was essentially revoked, as it was never given any teeth in the first place
Since 1993, the Palestinian leadership has been preaching precisely the opposite to its people. It has done everything but persuade Palestinians to recognize Israel's right to exist.
In fact, the Palestinian propaganda machine in the past two decades, since the signing of the Oslo Accords, has been working hard to delegitimize Israel and demonize Jews. The thrust of the Palestinian narrative has been: Israel has no right to exist in the Middle East. Period. The Jews were supposedly dumped there after World War II in compensation for the Holocaust; this is not their land – and this, despite Jews having lived on that land continuously for more than 3,000 years.
In a speech earlier this week, Abbas repeated that message when he denied any Jewish attachment to Israel. He then further reinforced this message by asserting that the Palestinians would never recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
As if that were not clear enough, many of Abbas's officials have been even more honest and emphatic on the issue of refusing to recognize Israel. Osama Qawassmeh, a spokesman for Abbas's Fatah faction, was quoted several weeks ago stating that, contrary to claims, Fatah had never recognized Israel's right to exist.
The whole issue of recognizing Israel's right to exist might sound like a joke when one hears and watches the statements of Palestinian leaders and spokesmen over the past two decades; these are statements that indicate anything but recognizing Israel and a desire to live with it in peace and security. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during at the UN General Assembly in New York, September 20, 2017. (Photo by Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)
Israel has reaped no benefit whatsoever from the PLO's purported recognition in 1993 of Israel's right to exist.
The war to destroy Israel is sill in its full force. The Palestinians have not brought up a new generation that recognizes Israel's right to exist; on the contrary, they have brought up a generation that believes in jihad and death, one that denies any Biblical Jewish history or links to the Holy Land.
So when Palestinian leaders threaten to withdraw their recognition of Israel, they are simply lying to themselves and the rest of the world.
They are also lying when they talk about halting or suspending security coordination with Israel. We have become used to hearing this tall tale. Abbas and his officials make this threat whenever they feel that the world is not surrendering to their demands. A few months ago, Abbas pulled the same trick when he announced that he was halting security coordination with Israel. In the end, it turned out he was bluffing once again.
Abbas knows that the day he stops working with Israel is the day Hamas will "eat him for breakfast" and take over the West Bank. Abbas is well aware that he is in power in the West Bank thanks to the presence of the Israel Defense Forces.
Abbas is banking on the world having a short memory. The statement issued by the PLO Central Council is almost 100% percent identical to a similar communiqué issued by the same body in 2015. Then, the PLO Central Council also recommended revoking recognition of Israel and suspending security coordination. That communiqué remained just ink on paper; it was meant for the purpose of extorting more money from the international community.
More than two years later, Abbas is up to his old antics. The difference is that now he is approaching the 13th year of his four-year term in office. When will he learn? Better yet: When will we learn?
**Bassam Tawil is a Muslim based in the Middle East.
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Protests shatter myth of Iran as an island of stability
Dr. Manuel Almeida /Arab News/January 19/18/
Last week, on the seventh anniversary of the uprisings that led to the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia once again witnessed significant anti-government protests, some of which turned violent. This time, the spark that lit the fire was the release of an austerity budget that included a rise in VAT and a price increase for basic goods such as flour and internet access.
The latest protests in Tunisia follow the major demonstrations in Iran earlier this month, which were against an even wider set of issues, from corruption, unemployment and environmental decay to the radicalism of the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy.
These events confirm once again that the Arab uprisings of 2011, while the most dramatic since the struggle for independence from colonial rule, were part of a long-standing sequence of unrest. And the tendency is for them to become more frequent. Among other critical issues, the Middle East has the highest youth unemployment rate of any region in the world; has a youth bulge demographic bomb; is suffering from the decline in oil prices; has seen little progress on institutional reform; and water and environmental problems are becoming ever more pressing.
They also raise questions about the links between demonstrations in Iran, both this month’s and earlier ones, and those in various Arab countries, which experts have tended to view in separation.
Not only Tunisia, but all countries that, post-2011, saw their leaders deposed following major demonstrations or spiralled towards civil war — or both — had experienced significant domestic upheaval over the previous three decades. Stability has mostly been an illusion in many of these police states, strong on coercion but institutionally weak where it really matters for modern, effective states.
In Tunisia, dozens of protesters were killed during the 1983-84 bread riots. Egypt has also had bread riots, with hundreds of thousands protesting against the end of basic subsidies in 1977. And, only three years before the uprisings that resulted in the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, a campaign of civil disobedience mobilized through social media gathered tens of thousands across the country. The issues highlighted by protesters included low salaries, unemployment, poor levels of education and healthcare, corruption and the absence of dignity and freedom.
In Libya, the 1990s were marked by tribal and Islamist revolts against the rule of the eccentric Muammar Gaddafi, who once promised Caribbean countries that he would buy all their bananas at above market value to break what he saw as a stranglehold by Europe and the US.
The genocidal tendencies of Syria’s Assad clan were first witnessed in 1982, when Hafez Assad’s Syrian Arab Army laid siege to the predominantly Sunni city of Hama to quell an anti-government uprising that had begun six years earlier. Between 30,000 and 40,000 people were massacred, according to reliable estimates. Events across the region confirm once again that the uprisings of 2011, while the most dramatic since the struggle for independence from colonial rule, were part of a long-standing sequence of unrest.
Yemen also has a recent history filled with major anti-government demonstrations that often turned violent, internal conflicts and separatist ambitions as a result of government corruption and poor governance. Protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime were constant in the south from 2005 to 2011.
Then, of course, there is the singular case of Iraq, which slid into chaos due to the mismanagement that followed the US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein. It is highly unlikely, however, that Iraq would have been spared from massive upheaval after 2011 had the invasion never happened.
The fear of Syria-like chaos and violence remains a powerful dissuading factor against domestic upheaval across the region. While this could work as an incentive for the pursuit of peaceful and orderly change, it is more likely to be used by regimes to stall painful but urgent reforms. In Algeria, for example, tensions between Islamists and the deep state, or le pouvoir, remain in check largely due to the fresh memories of the brutal civil war that killed more than 200,000 people.
Contrary to what the various widely used, Arab world-related terms — Arab Spring, Arab Uprisings, Arab Awakening — would have it, there is a good case to be made that Iranian protests prior to this latest wave both influenced and were influenced by parallel events in neighbouring Arab countries.
What is often missed is that significant unrest and protests did not subside with the brutal repression of Iran’s Green Movement of 2009. In February 2011, just days after both Mubarak and Ben Ali were deposed, anti-regime demonstrators were back on the streets across Iran.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei painted the uprisings as an “Islamic awakening.” But the large-scale deployment of security forces in the streets of Iran, the total media blackout on the Arab Spring, and the arrest of key opposition leaders was insufficient to prevent months of upheaval.
Time and again, the myth of Iran as an island of stability insulated from an increasingly volatile Arab neighborhood is challenged by events on the ground.
• Dr. Manuel Almeida is a political analyst and consultant focusing on the Middle East. He is the former editor of the English online edition of Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper and holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science
Twitter: @_ManuelAlmeida

Iranian regime’s political game with the EU
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/January 19/18/
Iran’s state-owned media outlets are heavily covering Europe’s Iran policy. Several major newspapers, including Kayhan, are focusing on the European Union’s strong support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the nuclear agreement. The front pages of several newspapers highlighted statements from EU officials, such as the one from foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who described the 2015 deal between Tehran and the world powers as a “key security priority” for both Europe and the Middle East.
Iranian leaders are attempting to project power and appeal to their hardline domestic social base by pointing out that Tehran enjoys international support and global legitimacy. The regime is also trying to assure its sponsored militias, terrorist groups and proxies that Tehran continues to be on the winning side.
In addition, the Islamic Republic is attempting to send a message to the Trump administration and critics of Iran’s aggressive foreign policy that, despite their opposition, sanctions relief will continue due to the EU’s support.
Why is the EU jumping on the Iranian regime’s side when other global powers criticize Tehran for its destabilizing policies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and for its human rights violations? Mostly because of increasing revenues through imports and exports.
But the EU should be cognizant of the fact it is shooting itself in the foot by prioritizing short-term business deals and the nuclear agreement over long-term strategic and geopolitical interests. The current political establishment of the Iranian regime never has been, and never will be, a natural ally of the West.
The regime is an extremist revolutionary theocracy that was founded on the core revolutionary principle of objecting to the West culturally, geopolitically and strategically. The survival of the regime depends on its anti-Western sentiments and policies.
European powers are shooting themselves in the foot by prioritizing short-term business deals and the nuclear agreement over long-term strategic and geopolitical interests.
To achieve its hegemonic ambitions, the Iranian leaders often make tactical shifts that may mistakenly appear as fundamental strategic shifts. The JCPOA is an example. The nuclear agreement does not mean that Tehran has altered its fundamental policies towards Europe. The regime’s hold on power was in danger before the deal because of the four crippling rounds of international sanctions. The regime’s expenses abroad were rising due to Tehran’s increasing military, financial, intelligence and advisory support to the Syrian regime, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Shiite militias in Iraq. The regime found no option other than to come to an agreement with the West — an agreement that suits the regime’s objectives perfectly: Sanctions relief in exchange for a short period of time partially halting nuclear activities. Then, when the deal expires, the regime can pursue its nuclear ambitions with no restrictions based on the sunset clauses.
Once the Iranian regime achieves its objectives, it will return to its core fundamentalist policies. In fact, a recent incident illustrates this: The generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to increase the range of their ballistic missiles to more than 2,000km so that they can reach Europe. Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami, the deputy head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, added that: “If we have kept the range of our missiles to 2,000km, it’s not due to a lack of technology. We are following a strategic doctrine.”
The EU ought to consider a long-term Iran policy, because Iran’s ruling clerics conduct their policies on a long-term basis.
In addition, when examining what European powers consider as threats to their national security, one can witness the Iranian regime’s footprint behind these threats. Tehran engages in asymmetrical warfare funding, arming, training and supporting terrorist and militia groups that are sworn to damage EU nations’ security and scuttle European countries’ foreign policy in the region.
Furthermore, the Iranian regime’s long-term policy is based on favoring Russia, advancing its interests in the region, and tipping the balance of power in favor of Moscow, not Europe.
European powers should be aware that their appeasement policies toward the Iranian regime are endangering stability in the region. Business deals and support for the nuclear agreement are emboldening and empowering hardline institutions such as the IRGC and the Quds Force, as well as terrorists and violent militia groups across the region, including those in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Hence, these appeasement policies are leading to more radicalization and militarization of the region and are also leading to more human rights violations by the Iranian regime.
It is in the national interests of the EU to favor a long-term Iran policy rather than the short-term benefits of business deals through the nuclear agreement. The EU should step up pressure on the Iranian regime for its aggressive policies in the region and human rights violations, and halt the nuclear deal sanctions relief until Tehran changes the fundamentals of its foreign policy and becomes a constructive player in the region and on the global stage.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. He is a leading expert on Iran and US foreign policy, a businessman and president of the International American Council. He serves on the boards of the Harvard International Review, the Harvard International Relations Council and the US-Middle East Chamber for Commerce and Business.
Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh

ANALYSIS: Stronger, stable Middle East states the most effective answer to ISIS
Francesca Astorri/Al Arabiya English/January 19/18
ISIS weakness is now tangible. The terrorist group used to control an area as big as the United Kingdom. Now it has lost control even over its stronghold Raqqa.
Once ISIS used to be the richest terrorist group, with an estimated $2 billion in 2015, but now its revenues have dwindled, falling from $81 million per month in 2015 to $16 million per month in 2017.
Despite this, in 2016 ISIS managed to increase in terms of both the number of victims and number of countries in which was operating.
According to the 2017 Global Terrorism Index report published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, ISIS was the deadliest terrorist group with over 9,000 victims in 15 countries, four States more than in 2015, showing that it was enlarging its reach.
Are these conflicting data proving that ISIS is not over at all? Maybe not.
Increase in victims
“The increase in number of victims is only given by the increase in military confrontation in 2016. This is proven by the fact that most of ISIS victims were registered in Iraq, where ISIS has been fought on the ground,” said Alessandro Orsini, Professor of Sociology of Terrorism at LUISS University in Rome.
“The increasing number of countries in which ISIS was operating could be an optical illusion: we see more countries, but it’s actually the result of other terrorist groups that were already there and that decided to use the ISIS brand, ” Orsini explained to Al Arabiya.
But even if overall these data might not be as conflicting as they seem, still they do raise questions on the more effective counter terrorism measure that is necessary against ISIS at this point.
“If there is no deep counter-terrorism activity, we risk winning the battle, not the war,” Michele Piras, Deputy of the Italian Parliament and member of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said to Al Arabiya. “We need to rebuild the civil and economic society, we need to rebuild States. Till those areas in the Middle East have no stable sovereign States, ISIS will win,” Piras added.
Counter terror methodology
According to a study on how terrorist groups ended between 1970 and 2007 published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, repressive counter terrorism measures have shown to have more success in taking down left wing terrorist groups (26%), but less with religious terrorist organizations (only 12%).
Political settlement managed to stamp out 48% of right wing terrorist groups, while most nationalist groups have ended because of internal splintering.
Terrorist groups wanting territorial change have been the most resilient with 85 of the 165 groups still active post 2007.
Most of ISIS victims were registered in Iraq, where ISIS has been fought on the ground. (Supplied)
This shows there isn’t one counter-terrorism strategy that works for all terrorist groups.
In some cases, conciliatory actions, which reward the non-terrorist behavior of the population from which terrorist groups originate, are more effective at bringing about an end to terrorist activity than repressive measures.
Recrutiment tool?
In fact, repressive measures may actually be a recruitment tool for terrorists. So, at this point, what counter terrorism strategy is more effective against ISIS?
“Focusing only on ISIS military defeat is reductive, because the challenge posed by terrorism is a challenge that hasn’t been won yet. Military response is not enough, we need to work on security and to reduce the financing of these criminal groups and operate on a cultural basis,” Paolo Messa, director of the Center for American Studies in Rome, said to Al Arabiya English.
It’s hard to compare the life and end of other terrorist groups and try to implement a strategy from there, because each terrorist group has its own history, structure and peculiarities. But Professor Orsini has no doubts on the strategy against ISIS.
“The West should stop doing or backing wars which are dismantling sovereign States in the Middle East. Terrorists always lose against strong States, so we need stronger and more stable States in the Middle East,” said Orsini.

Trump: The Media Incinerator
Ahmad al-Farraj/Al Arabiya/January 19/18
I have discussed earlier about the bias of the American media towards former US President Barack Obama. This fascination was because of Obama’s charisma, the eloquence of his speech and his social intelligence.
As such, the media overlooked all his political blunders. However, the media has dealt with his successor President Trump in a very different manner. It overlooks his achievements and exaggerates his mistakes.
The reality is that Trump also contributed to his poor relations with the media. He is not prepared to understand that the American media can be very malicious and can turn anything against a person. It is a dangerous institution, and no politician – no matter how popular – can stand up to its expectations.
The American media has a longstanding history of creating political stars such as John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, and of politically destroying others, such as Gerald Ford and Gary Hart.
Prior to running for the presidency, Trump was a famous businessman and had a passion for being in the limelight. He was able to captivate the media that liked to interview him and he was very generous with them. In fact, it was that media made a star out of him and made people want to read more about him. Then Trump himself became a television star and the media’s interest in him increased.
Trump faces a real crisis with the media and if he doesn’t pursue a more subtle approach, the problem will only get worse
Serious candidacy
When he ran for the presidency, the media did not take this candidacy very seriously because of his lack of political experience, his flamboyance and love of luxury, and his numerous relationships. However, as soon as it became clear that he was a strong enough candidate to win the Republican nomination, the media took him seriously and started to rummage through his history and started pointing out his mistakes and embarrassed him with uncomfortable questions.
Certainly, Trump did not enjoy his new relationship with the media especially as he was used to giving orders and making sure they were being carried out. This led to a major crisis with the media, which is mostly left-wing in its orientation — like CNN, NBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post.
The media’s bias against Trump is undoubtedly because he is a peculiar candidate who does not always conform with the conventional norms, or even the requirements of his own Republican Party.
Trump also contributed to exacerbating this crisis by openly challenging them and could have been more flexible. However, he stuck to his guns and didn’t listen to his advisors, with the result that Trump today faces a real crisis with the media. If he doesn’t realize that he is fighting a lost cause and starts to pursue a more subtle approach, the problem will only get worse.
After all, it is impossible to defeat the fierce American media, but it remains to be seen whether he is able to realize this fact before it’s too late.

Issue of guardianship of the jurist and Iraqi elections
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/January 19/18
Is there an Iraqi constitutional text which stipulates that the most famous Shiite cleric in Iraq is a ruling reference?
According to Iraqi researcher and author Rasheed al-Khayoun, there is nothing in the 2005 constitution that leads to this conclusion and there are only formulas that highly respect “great references,” just like they respect “national powers.”
Why is there an urgent presence by political Shiite groups for the Shiite reference, who is currently al-Sistani, in Najf and Karbala? Is Iraq a state of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist?
It’s an interesting question especially as elections near and considering the current Iraqi political rhetoric.
In his article “Guardianship of the Jurist: So why are the Iraqis holding elections?” which was published in the Emirati Al-Ittihad newspaper, Khayoun said that Sistani has dissociated himself from the concept of the Guardianship of the Jurist several times.
What’s worrying is that this is not completely the case as the deputy of the Sistani reference, Karbala’s preacher Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai made on June 13, 2014 clear statements about the guardianship of the jurist, according to the Khomeini interpretation. He noted that according to the guardianship of the jurist concept, there is a representative of the absent imam who must be obeyed because he expresses God’s will.
Value of elections
In this case, do parliamentary elections and electoral programs have any real value? Or is it in the hands of the deputy of the absent imam, who according to Karbalai, is alive and sees and hears what’s happening and intervenes through his deputy?
Iraq cannot coexist with such a dangerous idea while the entire world is observing the results of the guardianship of the jurist system in Iran. In addition to that, Iraq is distinguished for its diversity and plurality
Khayoun pointed out that the problem is all due to the identity of the new Iraqi system which is certainly not a guardianship of the jurist system. Some Shiite religious parties frankly reject the concept of the guardian of the jurist, whether based on the Khomeini definition or on the other blurry formula of “Shura al-Fuqaha.”
Iraq cannot coexist with such a dangerous idea while the entire world is observing the results of the guardianship of the jurist system in Iran. In addition to that, Iraq is distinguished for its diversity and plurality.
All this is true but it does not mean that there is someone who wants to deepen religious authority or operate under its protection according to whatever opportunities are available.
The one lesson which Iraq, and all Arabs and Muslims must learn, is that it’s in the favor of religion and the world for clerics not to seize power and run countries.

Iran’s costly Syria war mainly behind its manifold crises
Huda al-Husseini/Al Arabiya/January 19/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/61912
Many have congratulated Iran that its recent crisis has come to an end and some even traveled to Tehran to congratulate officials face to face. However, the crisis has not ended and it’s actually very complicated.
According to some media reports, increased prices of poultry and poultry products sparked the protests. The Iranian authorities claim that egg prices increased by 40% due to bird flu. Egg prices increased by 30% in last November while the price of the Iranian rial in the black market decreased to 42,000 rials per one dollar from 39,000 rial. This led to significant increase in the overall inflation rate - – but not overly high – which is now 11%. The increase in egg prices is inconvenient but it does not make hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets. Before the authorities blocked social media networks, Radio Farda published on January 2 a video that shows protestors burning a police station in Qahderijan which is 24 kilometers away from Isfahan. Qahderijan is very small and no one thinks about it. Its villagers have felt injustice as the river of Zayanderud which irrigates Isfahan dries before it reaches their village. This is due to Iran’s mismanagement of dwindling water resources.
No water
Qahderijan protests began a while ago. Two years ago, Isa Kalantari, the Iranian environment ministry’s advisor, warned that 50 million Iranians will have no water because 70% of underground water has been exhausted and river streams have been misused to compensate for decreased amounts of water. A source told me that agriculture in Iran consumes 92% of water. Not maintaining sources of water pushed farmers to go to cities which already suffer from 30% of unemployment. Former President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad realized that climate change and mismanagement of water resources are destroying farms so he provided financial aid to families who are trying hard to provide food for their children. When current President Hassan Rouhani hinted that he will decrease these benefits, protests erupted.
Although unrest in the past few weeks were due to increased egg prices and decreasing aid, one of the major economic challenges is actually due to the severe drought which began in the late 1990’s.
Iran is subject to climate change and that the entire Gulf region will witness higher temperatures by 2070. This is according to a study published in 2015 by MIT. Last summer, Iran recorded one of the highest temperatures on earth, 53.72 degrees Celsius.In the past years, the Iranian government acknowledged that climate change poses a serious threat.
Imminent economic crisis
Last year, a number of observers warned of an imminent economic crisis.
Meanwhile, the Iranian military expenditure estimates in Syria range between $6 billion to $15 and $20 billion a year. This includes $4 billion of direct expenses in addition to supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon and other armed groups which Iran established. “Let’s assume that the lesser estimates are closer to the real numbers. The cost of the Syrian war on the Iranian regime is almost equal to the total deficit in the country’s budget which reaches $9.3 billion a year,” a source said. Iran suffers from several crises. Managing water is only one thing of many other issues which have accumulated since the 1979 revolution
He added that the Iranian regime is willing to sacrifice what the economy desperately needs in favor of its ambitions in Syria. According to the Central Bank, Iran decreased expenditure on development to one-third while the state’s revenues fell short of expectations during the last three quarters which ended in December. Iran suffers from several crises. Managing water is only one thing of many other issues which have accumulated since the 1979 revolution. For example, pension funds face bankruptcy in the short term. There are also the government’s annual arrears to the social security which suffers from lack of funds. Given the number of Iranians who reached old age, we can tell that Iran is a country that’s getting older before it gets rich, and this will affect pension payments resulting in a crisis that will be much worse than any other crisis.
Pressure on banks
Iran’s banking system, the source said is facing difficulties due to economic pressures and due to internal funds granted to investors who are affiliated with the regime. “The cost of the financial saving plan may reach 50% of the local GDP,” he said. He said that according to a report by Donia Economy daily, the non-productive assets in banks represent 40% to 50% of total bank assets in the country. This is according to official data. Around 15% of these assets are immovable assets like land and buildings, while the rest are debt. There are no official data on the bank’s fixed assets.
According to another daily, the total value of immovable property owned by 31 banks and financial institutions was estimated at $13.8 billion. There are many banks in Iran which provide an interest as high as 30% on deposits. In 2017, the regime decided that the interest must be 15% but few adhered to the decision. The government responded by letting private credit institutions collapse. Deposits worth tens of millions for small depositors thus evaporated, while many unauthorized lending companies, which spread during Ahmedinejad’s term and provided loans when construction boomed, collapsed. A financial source said reorganizing the Iranian banking system which is worth $700 billion will cost between $180 and $200 billion, i.e. 50% of Iran’s GDP. Iran cannot bear this as its GDP is $428 billion.
Youth unemployment high
Iran has many talented people who are not employed. Unemployment among youth is around 20%. This is in addition to the unemployment which 4.7 million students suffer from. Iran has plenty of higher engineering schools but the majority of graduates look forward to immigrate. According to Tehran’s chamber of commerce, there are 3.5 million Iranians preparing to leave the country. If we add the cost of returning banks’ capitals and the cost of saving pension funds and fixing the water resources, the total will exceed the GDP. Although the government’s direct debt is little, the Iranian regime is drowning in unfunded liabilities.
It’s not clear how the current Iranian regime or any future regime will resolve these intertwining crises. Iran needs a tough program to fight corruption like the one which Chinese President Xi Jinping submitted, the source suggested. Iran cannot continue pursuing these foreign military adventures and its ambitious ballistic missiles’ program.
Regime unable to cope
The current regime is not capable of carrying out this costly and complicated transformation and it does not even have a clear vision on how to begin handling these problems which have been accumulating for 39 years. Protests confirmed that the regime has lost its credibility and this will make it harder for the regime to maneuver.
My source added: “To confront such problems, third world countries usually decrease their commitments by decreasing the value of the currency and inflation. Pensions and liabilities are the people’s right but the government makes money in hard currency, and decreasing the value of the currency and inflation means transferring the fortune from people to the regime,” the source said.
“The expected result is a long phase of instability which includes sporadic violent protests and further economic deterioration.”