LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 02/17
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://data.eliasbejjaninews.com/newselias/english.august02.17.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today
Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11/42-46/:"‘But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practised, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honour in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the market-places. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.’One of the lawyers answered him, ‘Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.’And he said, ‘Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them."

A number of those who practised magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins
Acts of the Apostles 19/11-22/:"God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.’ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit said to them in reply, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?’ Then the man with the evil spirit leapt on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. When this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, everyone was awestruck; and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. Also many of those who became believers confessed and disclosed their practices. A number of those who practised magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins.So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. Now after these things had been accomplished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go through Macedonia and Achaia, and then to go on to Jerusalem. He said, ‘After I have gone there, I must also see Rome.’So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed for some time longer in Asia."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 01-02/17
Fierce Controversy In Lebanese Press About Hizbullah's Military Activity In Jaroud Arsal In Northeast Lebanon/MEMRI/August 01/17
With an eye on Iran, US welcomes Moqtada Al Sadr visit to Saudi Arabia/Joyce Karam/The National/August 01/17
The Battle over Jerusalem Has Just Begun"/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/August 01/17
Europe: The Censored Film They Do Not Want You to See/Stefan Frank/Gatestone Institute/August 01/17
Germany: Muslim Biker Gang Vows to "Protect" Fellow Muslims/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/August 01/17
Moqtada al-Sadr in Riyadh/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/August 01/17
Artificial Intelligence Is Stuck. Here’s How to Move It Forward./Gary Marcus/New York Times/August 01/17
Why a Referendum Won’t Solve Iraqi Kurdistan’s Problems/Jackson Diehl/The Washington Post/August 01/17

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on August 01-02/17
Lebanon Marks Army Day as Country Gears Up for Battle Against Jihadists
Aoun on Army Day: Lebanon Fully Prepared to Confront Terrorism
Arsal Evacuation Delayed to Wednesday as Last Hurdles Reportedly Resolved
Ibrahim: I'm Backed by All Political Forces and Hizbullah is a Lebanese Party
Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Hesitant to Return despite Opening
UK Embassy: Lebanese Army a Key Component of a Strong, Sovereign State
Gemayel Calls on Govt. to Leave, Slams Its 'Absence' in Arsal Negotiations
Mustaqbal Urges 'Reviving National Dialogue' to 'Discuss Defense Strategy'
Qawouq: Lebanon Capable of Liberating Ras Baalbek and Arsal
George, Amal Clooney to Help 7 Lebanese Public Schools Educate Syrian Refugees
Lebanon’s Mustaqbal Slams ‘Hezbollah’ Involvement in Abdali Cell in Kuwait
Kanaan congratulates army on its day: For endorsement of state budget to ensure financial stability
Nizar Zakka's son addresses open letter to Iran Foreign Minister
Husseini, German Ambassador tackle current situation
Fierce Controversy In Lebanese Press About Hizbullah's Military Activity In Jaroud Arsal In Northeast Lebanon

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 01-02/17
Turkey, Qatar Launch Joint Military Exercises
US-Backed Syria Force Advances in South of IS Bastion Raqa
Pakistan's Parliament Elects ex-Oil Minister Abbasi as New PM
Palestinian Negotiator Criticizes U.S. Silence on Settlements
Saudi Coalition Blocks Fuel for U.N. Aid Planes to Yemen
Turkey Blasts US Envoy over 'Al-Qaida Safe Haven' Jibe
Pence slams Russian 'occupation' on Georgia visit
Eight Migrants Found Dead at Sea Off Libya
Shooting at Moscow courthouse leaves 3 dead, 4 wounded
Pakistan's parliament elects exoil minister Abbasi as new PM

Latest Lebanese Related News published on August 01-02/17
Lebanon Marks Army Day as Country Gears Up for Battle Against Jihadists
Naharnet/August 01/17/Lebanon marks on Tuesday the 72nd anniversary of the founding of its army, as the military institution gears up for a challenging battle in the outskirts of the border towns of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek to eliminate jihadists entrenched in the area. The ceremony, was held in the Fayadieh Military Academy, and took place in the presence of President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Aoun laid a wreath at the memorial statue of the Lebanese Army martyrs. The central Army Day ceremony has also seen the graduation of several cadet officers and their promotion to the rank of lieutenant. Aoun handled out the swords to the graduating officers, after a three-year halt due to a presidential vacuum. Aoun will deliver a speech on the occasion which is expected to shed light on the challenges facing the country and the pivotal role of the army. The Army marks this day as it prepares to launch an offensive against Islamic State militants entrenched in the outskirts of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek.

Aoun on Army Day: Lebanon Fully Prepared to Confront Terrorism
Naharnet/August 01/17/President Michel Aoun assured on Tuesday that Lebanon's military and security institutions are “fully prepared” to confront all forms of terrorism. “We do not retreat in the face of terrorism in all its aspects and organizations. The army and the security institutions are ready to confront it,” said Aoun during a ceremony marking the 72nd anniversary of Army Day. “We look forward to liberate a part of Lebanon that has been occupied by terrorism for years,” added the President. He was referring to the army's battle in the outskirts of the border towns of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek against militants from the Islamic State jihadist organization. “You have succeeded at dismantling so many terror cells. We now look forward to our armed forces preparing to liberate what remains of occupied territory and to reveal the fate of your kidnapped comrades,” he added. “The dangers threatening the homeland are many. Past experience of the 1970s has taught us that the country cannot stay united if its army is paralyzed. Do not let criticism campaigns get into your morale,” the President remarked. “Fulfilling the army's vow costs us a lot of sacrifices but gives us the comfort of free conscience,” he concluded.

Arsal Evacuation Delayed to Wednesday as Last Hurdles Reportedly Resolved
Naharnet/August 01/17/The evacuation of some 9,000 refugees and militants from the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal to a jihadist-dominated corner of Syria under an agreement between Lebanon, Syria, Hizbullah and al-Nusra Front ran into new hurdles on Tuesday and the process was postponed to Wednesday, media reports said. “Negotiations between the Lebanese General Security and al-Nusra Front have been concluded and the buses will move tomorrow from Arsal's outskirts,” MTV reported. It said an agreement was reached Tuesday to allow the exit of Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian fugitives from the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, in addition to five inmates from the Roumieh Prison – four non-convicts and a fifth who has finished his jail term. Hizbullah's al-Manar TV meanwhile said buses were still trickling in to Arsal's outskirts to pick up the 9,000 Syrians seeking to relocate. It said some 200 buses will be in the caravan that transports the Syrians to Idlib. General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who is playing a key role in the negotiations, had told reporters that “things are very delicate.” The National News Agency had also reported that the negotiations were going through a “very critical stage.”Earlier, LBCI reported that “conditions set by al-Nusra Front group related to the release of around 20 Nusra inmates from the Roumieh Prison have reportedly hampered the exchange deal.”The second round of the exchange was supposed to take place on Monday with the evacuation of Nusra's militants and their families from Arsal's outskirts to north Syria. Reports said the process was suspended after al-Nusra "insisted on taking the three (Hizbullah) captives who are in its custody in Arsal's outskirts to areas inside Syria in order to release them there."Hizbullah and Ibrahim "rejected this condition, with Maj. Gen. Ibrahim telling Nusra that it is prohibited for the convoys to head to Syria while Hizbullah's captives are still in its custody," MTV said. The exchange and evacuation deal comes in the wake of a military offensive by Hizbullah fighters and Syrian troops during which they captured border areas between the two countries and left hundreds of Nusra fighters besieged in a small rugged mountainous area. The fighting ended with a ceasefire on Thursday.

Ibrahim: I'm Backed by All Political Forces and Hizbullah is a Lebanese Party
Naharnet/August 01/17/General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim announced Tuesday that he enjoys the support of “all political forces” in the ongoing negotiations to evacuate around 9,000 refugees and militants from the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal in return for the release of eight Hizbullah captives. The negotiations followed a military offensive by Hizbullah and Syrian troops that saw them capture border areas between the two countries and leave hundreds of Nusra fighters besieged in a small rugged mountainous area. The fighting had ended with a ceasefire on Thursday. “Things are very delicate and could be resolved in less than a few hours but might also protract further,” Ibrahim told reporters during a visit to the north Bekaa town of al-Labweh. Asked why he is “negotiating to secure the release of Hizbullah captives,” the major general said: “Those whom I'm negotiating to secure their release are Lebanese citizens regardless of their political affiliation and we will agree to the conditions while preserving our dignity and the sovereignty of our country.” “The aim of the negotiations is a noble humanitarian one. Hizbullah is a Lebanese party and those whom we are negotiating to secure their release are Lebanese,” Ibrahim added. “I negotiated over the Maalula nuns and most of them were Syrian, so how can I not negotiate over Lebanese nationals who have defended our land?” the major general explained. As for the fate of the Lebanese troops who were abducted by the Islamic State group in 2014, Ibrahim said “there are no negotiations at the moment,” while stressing that he has pledged to resolve their case.

Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Hesitant to Return despite Opening
Associated Press/Naharnet/August 01/17/A committee of Syrian refugees in Lebanon's eastern border region says tens of thousands of the group will remain where they are despite an arrangement offered to them to return to Syria. Khaled Raad, a member of the refugees' Coordination Committee with the Lebanese government, says the vast majority of the refugees in Lebanon's Arsal border region will not accept to return to Syria, for fear of war, hardship, and oppressive jihadist rule. He spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday. Lebanon and Syria are waiting for the final arrangements to be completed with al-Nusra Front militants to bus 9,000 fighters, their family members, and other refugees from the Arsal area to Syria's northwest, Nusra-dominated Idlib province. The U.N.'s refugee agency in Lebanon estimates 51,000 Syrian refugees are in the Arsal region.

UK Embassy: Lebanese Army a Key Component of a Strong, Sovereign State
Naharnet/August 01/17/The United Kingdom congratulated on Tuesday the Lebanese army on the occasion of Army Day and stressed the UK's continued support for the country's military institution, a press statement released by the British embassy said.
“The UK has been a steadfast supporter of the Lebanese Army for many years now, as a key component of a strong, sovereign state,” the statement quoted Charge D’Affaires Benjamin Wastnage at the British embassy. “The Lebanese Army can be proud that it is now a strong, professional army capable of controlling Lebanon’s borders and protecting Lebanon from the threats it faces,” it added. “The UK stands ready to continue supporting the Lebanese Army in the framework of UNSCRs 1701 and 1559 and the Lebanese Government’s backing for the army as the sole defender of Lebanon,” concluded Wastnage.

Gemayel Calls on Govt. to Leave, Slams Its 'Absence' in Arsal Negotiations
Naharnet/August 01/17/Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel has called on the government to step down in connection with an agreement to evacuate al-Nusra Front jihadists from the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal. “We have witnessed battles on Lebanon's soil which were fought by armed groups and not the Lebanese army and under a decision that was not made by the Lebanese state, amid a total absence of all institutions,” Gemayel said, referring to the Hizbullah-Nusra clashes and the subsequent evacuation and prisoner swap deal. “We watched the battles on TV... and no one exerted any effort to tell us what was going on in our country and what the Lebanese state was doing,” Gemayel added. “Who has decided that it is permissible to evacuate cowardly criminals who committed crimes against the Lebanese army and executed some of its soldiers? Was it the Lebanese government? Was it the Lebanese judiciary?” he wondered. “Can anyone tell us who has authorized this deal? The Cabinet did not convene and the judiciary did not make any decision, so can we know who is deciding Lebanon's fate nowadays?”General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim is playing a key role in the ongoing negotiations. The first round of the exchange saw Hizbullah and Nusra swap the dead bodies of a number of their fighters while the second round, which has reportedly run into obstacles, involves the exchange of prisoners and the evacuation of around 9,000 refugees, militants and family members to northern and central Syria.
“If this government has resigned from its primary role, which is to defend Lebanon and preserve its sovereignty and independence, let it resign completely seeing as another government could shoulder the responsibility in a better way,” Gemayel urged. The evacuation and exchange deal comes after a military offensive by Hizbullah fighters and Syrian troops during which they captured border areas between the two countries and left hundreds of Nusra fighters besieged in a small rugged mountainous area in Arsal's outskirts.

Mustaqbal Urges 'Reviving National Dialogue' to 'Discuss Defense Strategy'
Naharnet/August 01/17/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday reiterated its call for “reviving national dialogue meetings” in order to “discuss a defense strategy based on the state's exclusive authority and its control of its entire territory.”The stance comes in the wake of a major Hizbullah offensive in the outskirts of the eastern border town of Arsal in which the Lebanese party managed to oust the jihadists of al-Nusra Front from the area. “The defense strategy should be based on respect for the Taef Accord and the Constitution and it should confirm the sole jurisdiction of the Lebanese government in everything related to sovereignty and military decision,” Mustaqbal added in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

Qawouq: Lebanon Capable of Liberating Ras Baalbek and Arsal
Naharnet/August 01/17/Hizbullah senior official Nabil Qawouq on Tuesday said the “battle against takfiri terrorism is not over yet,” assuring that Lebanon is capable of liberating the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa from the jihadist militants. “The battle against takfiri terrorism is not over yet because the Islamic State is still occupying large areas of our homeland and plans to send suicide bombers to al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek. But the Lebanese army is ready and alert protecting people of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek,” said Qawouq in remarks he made at a ceremony held by Hizbullah in South Lebanon. “The time has come to eradicate the presence of takfiris and their positions from our land. Lebanon is capable of liberating the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa. It will prove to the world that it liberated the land with the unconditional will of the Lebanese,” he added. On Hizbullah's battle against al-Nusra Front militants in the outskirts of Arsal, Qawouq stated that Hizbullah has “grown stronger than ever before” after that “on the popular and political levels, despite the incitement and money spent to disfavor it, and the attempts to isolate the Resistance by categorizing it with terrorism.” He said the Resistance has “gained the support of the majority of the Lebanese, ministers, deputies and media after its battle against militants in Arsal which made its “opponents feel disappointed.”“The broad popular embrace for the Resistance has formed a deterrence to Israel in any future war because it was betting on keeping people away from the Resistance."He pointed out that Israel wanted “victory for al-Nusra Front so as to establish a new security belt on Lebanon's eastern borders. By defeating al-Nusra Front in Arsal, we have thwarted the Israeli project which was betting on the Takfiri terrorism to drain and besiege the Resistance.”

George, Amal Clooney to Help 7 Lebanese Public Schools Educate Syrian Refugees
Asharq Al-Awsat/August 01/17/Actor George Clooney and his lawyer wife Amal Clooney will help nearly 3,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon go to school as hundreds of thousands of them are out of an education as a result in the war raging in their country. The Clooney Foundation for Justice is planning to help seven public schools provide education to Syrian refugee children. This is part of a new $2.25 million partnership announced on Monday with Google, HP and UNICEF to help thousands of refugees in Lebanon. More than one million Syrians — including over 500,000 children — are registered as refugees in Lebanon after fleeing the devastating war that has lasted more than six years in neighboring Syria. The United Nations says around 200,000 Syrian refugee children are out of education. Human Rights Watch estimates the number at more than 250,000.“They have been victims of geography and circumstance, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t hope,” the Clooneys wrote in a statement provided to The Associated Press. “Our goal with this initiative is to help provide Syrian refugee children with an education and put them on a path to be the future leaders their generation desperately needs.”“Thousands of young Syrian refugees are at risk — the risk of never being a productive part of society. Formal education can help change that,” the couple added. “We don’t want to lose an entire generation because they had the bad luck of being born in the wrong place at the wrong time,” they stated. George and Amal Clooney, who is British-Lebanese, established the Clooney Foundation for Justice last year to support equity in courtrooms, classrooms and communities around the world.

Lebanon’s Mustaqbal Slams ‘Hezbollah’ Involvement in Abdali Cell in Kuwait
Asharq Al-Awsat/August 01/17/Beirut – Lebanon’s Mustaqbal Movement condemned on Monday “Hezbollah’s” involvement in the terrorist al-Abdali cell that was discovered in Kuwait in 2015. After holding talks with Kuwaiti Ambassador to Lebanon Abdulaal al-Qinai, a Mustaqbal delegation warned that the group’s connection to the cell could harm Beirut’s ties with Kuwait and Gulf countries, The delegation was headed by former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and included MPs Atef Majdalani, Amin Wehbe and Ahmed Fatfat. Saniora urged after the meeting with the ambassador the Lebanese government to “seriously and immediately remedy the situation to avoid a deterioration in ties between Lebanon and Kuwait.”“We are here to express our condemnation of the findings of the three-year trial of the Abdali cell, which proved that some ‘Hezbollah’ members were part of it,” he added. Backed by Iran, the “Hezbollah” members were tasked with training, guiding and funding other members of the cell to destabilize Kuwait. “It appears that some individuals have been prompted, through such disruptive acts, to create a state of instability in the Gulf region, Kuwait in particular,” Saniora warned. “The Mustaqbal Movement is clear in its condemnation and demand that the government look into the matter, which will fix the flaw that this group has caused. The group does not see an interest in Lebanon preserving its ties with the state of Kuwait and other Gulf countries,” he noted. He hoped that Kuwait will not hold all the Lebanese people responsible for the actions of a few. Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq had previously held talks with Qinai to address a complaint filed by the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry to Lebanon over the Abdali cell ruling. The minister expressed his “great respect for the state of Kuwait,” adding that it is credited with financing several development and economic projects in Lebanon over the decades. He voiced the readiness of the Lebanese security agencies to cooperate with the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry to provide any assistance in the Abdali case.

Kanaan congratulates army on its day: For endorsement of state budget to ensure financial stability
Tue 01 Aug 2017/NNA - "Change and Reform" bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan on Tuesday congratulated the Lebanese army on the occasion of Army Day, saying this day is for Lebanon, martyrs and national dignity. MP Kanaan's words came in the wake of the bloc's weekly meeting in Rabieh, which restated President of the Republic, Michel Aoun's keenness on sovereignty and the role of the army, notably its independent initiative free of any restraints, in terms of defending the land and people. MP Kanaan stressed that the army is the capable side authorized to pursue its preemptive operations against Takfiri terrorism, and any threat jeopardizing Lebanon, people and institutions. Kanaan reiterated full support for the security institutions, notably the Lebanese army. On the Syrian refugee issue, the Lawmaker considered that the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland requires an internal Lebanese consensus, which should be at the top of priorities. Kanaan called for the implementation of Lebanese laws related to the Syrian displacement issue, urging the government to respect and enforce these laws. Turning to the salary scale and the 2017 state budget, Kanaan underlined that the approval of the state budget ensures financial stability and reforms. "There is neither financial stability nor reforms without the endorsement of the budget," he said.

Nizar Zakka's son addresses open letter to Iran Foreign Minister
Tue 01 Aug 2017/NNA - Nizar Zakka's Attorney, Antoine Bou Dib, on Tuesday announced in a statement that he has received from Zakka's son the text of his open letter to Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Jawad Zarif, which includes a set of detailed questions that he owes to the international community. The open letter said: "Mr. Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran... My father was officially invited by you, the Islamic Republic of Iran. He did not question security offered by the state as you have made it seem that you would protect your guests. Why officially invite my dad and send him a visa just to kidnap him, put him in detention, and torture him, mentally and physically? This baffles me, as it has never occurred in history, you can even Google it Mr. Zarif. No organization, no party, and definitely no government have ever done anything similar. You have officially invited and later on imprisoned an innocent man, under no grounds, tangible evidence, and without even a chance at a fair trial. You have denied my father the most basic of human rights! You kept him imprisoned for two years now, even though it is known to entire world that he has done nothing but help all types of people around the world, with approval of their respective governments. He had devoted his life for humanitarian, and development work, yet you have kept him in detention. My father has already lost his mother while he has been in Iran, his strength, and his health; there is no reason for anymore suffering. I know that you and your country would not dare do this to any other national than a Lebanese, and no need to explain why. Avoiding answering questions as you and your president have done last year in New York, does not make you innocent of these crimes. I would like to ask you to open your imagination, and tell me how you would feel if you were one day officially invited to any country around the world and taken hostage by your hosts, which is the government that invited you. But I don't think you should worry about this, because no country has ever done any such thing, except... I conclude this letter by urging you to return my father to us before it's too late, enough damage has already been done. My father has just finished a 33 days hunger strike and was hospitalized at (Al Shuhada Tadshim) hospital, after refusing to receive any kind of medical treatment including serum."

Husseini, German Ambassador tackle current situation
Tue 01 Aug 2017/NNA - Former House Speaker Hussein al-Husseini on Tuesday received at his residence in Ain Tineh the German Ambassador to Lebanon, Martin Huth, with talks between the pair reportedly touching on the current situation in Lebanon and the broader region.

تناقضات عنيفة ومبيرة في لبنان بما يعلق بأنشطة حزب الله العسكرية في جرود عرسال
Fierce Controversy In Lebanese Press About Hizbullah's Military Activity In Jaroud Arsal In Northeast Lebanon
MEMRI/August 01/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=57545
The fierce controversy in Lebanon about Hizbullah's involvement in the Syria war alongside Assad's army intensified recently following the organization's involvement in the last two weeks in fighting against Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (formerly Jabhat Al-Nusra) in Jaroud Arsal, a mountainous area on the Lebanon-Syria border. The controversy was reflected in statements by politicians, as well as in press articles that supported the organization's activity and others that opposed it. Hizbullah's opponents, especially from the Al-Mustaqbal faction, headed by Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'd Al-Hariri, wrote that only the Lebanese army was entitled to operate in that region. Al-Hariri said during a visit to Washington: "I disagree with Hizbullah's activity, and would have preferred to see the Lebanese army operating in its place in Jaroud Arsal. We do not like to see [Hizbullah] in Syria. Relations between us are strained [due to our differences] on regional policy..."[1] Another argument, voiced by many but especially by 'Ali Al-Husseini, a columnist for the Al-Mustaqbal daily, was that Hizbullah was serving Iran and the Syrian regime and sending its fighters to die for them.
However, some within the Al-Mustaqbal faction deviated from the faction's official position and supported Hizbullah's fighting in Jaroud Arsal. For example, Muhammad Kabani, an MP from the Al-Mustqbal party, said: "Hizbullah is fighting the terrorist organizations alongside the Lebanese army... [Prime Minister] Al-Hariri must be [more] prudent in choosing his words in the U.S.... The delegation [to Washington] that he heads conveyed the message that Hizbullah is fighting the terror organizations, so we must maintain a positive [attitude] regarding Hizbullah's involvement in this campaign.[2]
Hizbullah's supporters claimed that the organization was fighting the terrorist organizations on Lebanon's behalf. Ibrahim Al-Amin, the board chairman of the pro-Hizbullah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, went so far as to call Hizbullah's opponents "spies" and "traitors" who deserve to die. He leveled direct criticism at Al-Hariri and other senior politicians, saying that they exploit the plight of the Syrian refugees for their own benefit.
The following are excerpts from two articles, by Al-Amin and Al-Husseini.
Al-Husseini: Hizbullah Sends Its Fighters To Die In Jaroud Arsal On Orders From Iran And For Assad's Benefit
Al-Mustaqbal columnist 'Ali Al-Husseini wrote: "Jaroud Arsal [is] a new example of Hizbullah's attrition of its [own] troops": "The young people are again encircled by death there, facing only one choice… The current campaign is not worthy of this mobilization [of forces] nor even of media support, but it seems that the justifications for death are now needed more than ever, and there is no choice but to cover the repeated failures by means of public displays such as those that are being held in Jaroud Arsal, and by [exhibiting] photographic [evidence] of 'achievements' that may help to erase the pain from the memory of a society whose wounds have not healed in six years.
"[Conversely,] photographs and images of members of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization are not coming out of Jaroud. Jabhat al-Nusra is a deviant [group] whose ideology and behavior place it with the 'terror' organizations. Its eradication from Jaroud Arsal… is a national duty belonging exclusively to the army, and not to the parties [i.e. Hizbullah] that promote foreign agendas and act according to [foreign] interests… But this does not cancel out [the fact] that there is terror even worse than that of Al-Nusra and its ilk, terror that chops off heads, mutilates corpses, burns people alive, and sends car bombs to every region of Lebanon. Terror whose name is ISIS. We have seen no pictures of its members in Jaroud Arsal and its name did not come up – not in the context of conflict and not in the context of fleeing of individuals or groups. And here the question arises: Where is the terror of ISIS, where Hizbullah's campaign is concerned?...
"Hizbullah once more stands at the front, spearheading the Syrian regime's campaign… Over the past two days the organization has brought back the images of funerals and death notices, which will apparently continue to accompany the families and to increase their pain in the near future, despite the reassurances of Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who announced the withdrawal of Hizbullah [forces] from the Lebanon-Syria border and then resumed pitching the [families'] sons into the Jaroud Arsal campaign today.
"Last weekend was a good example of the horror and cruelty of Hizbullah's war in Syria, given the many losses [the organization] has suffered since it intervened in this war. This time, the organization transferred its campaign to a contact point with the Lebanese interior, and chose Jaroud Arsal to bear witness to the barbaric war it is waging. [It is a war that] has many names [but] is nothing more than a defense of the Syrian regime and entrenchment of its rule even if this comes at the expense of the blood of the Syrian and Lebanese people – women, children and the elderly. The main [goal] is to finish paving the road for the 'Persian Crescent' and using this road, as well as the duty of jihad in Syria, perhaps even to reach Jerusalem, which is also on the waiting list of places to be 'liberated'…"[3]
Ibrahim Al-Amin: Hizbullah's Opponents Are Spies And Traitors; The Rifle Of The Resistance Will Pursue Them Wherever They Are
The criticism against Hizbullah on Jaroud Arsal and other matters provoked a harsh reaction from Ibrahim Al-Amin, who called the critics "traitors" deserving of death. He wrote: "Is there any point in a new argument with the terror supporters in Lebanon? What's the point of arguing with people who still talk about a 'revolution' and 'rebels' after everything that has happened and after all the terror operations committed by the armed groups in Syria? What's the point of arguing with people who [care] who wins the war, not who is defeated? These people do not want Israel to lose the war with the Arabs if [the victory over it] is achieved by members of the resistance axis. Will they care about defeating the filthiest terror organization in the world [i.e., ISIS]? What's the point in arguing with people who think the resistance in Lebanon [i.e., Hizbullah] is a criminal organization peopled by mercenaries loyal to Iran whose actions have no national purpose? For these people, the ouster of the [Israeli] occupation in 2000 and the prevention of its return in 2006 were a defeat – not because Israel lost but because the resistance axis won.
"What's the point of arguing with people who don't acknowledge [even] one crime committed by the U.S. or Europe in our Arab world? With people and elements that do not want to count how many [Arabs] were killed by the U.S. and the West in the Iraq war, and who still refrain from asking how many people were killed in Syria by the U.S. and the West in the name of the war on terror?
"What's the point of arguing with groups that live by exploiting the Syrian refugees? A close look at the income sources of the heads of the campaign that targets the resistance and the [Lebanese] army on the pretext of combatting racism, and [a look at] where they work, reveals, to anyone who wants to know, why these people are so devoted to the refugees. Most of them have never visited a single refugee in his tent. These people, like the members of Prime Minister [Sa'd Al-Hariri's] official political, security, party and religious staffs, do not want us to know how they got their hands on Arab and international budgets intended for the refugees alone, nor [do they want us to know] the names of the organizations, companies, restaurants, pharmacies, offices and shops that supply the refugees' needs or who buys the barrels of mazut at the beginning of every month.
"These people want to decide for the refugees that the time has not yet come for them to return to their country. Clearly, [Lebanese Forces head] Samir Geagea, [former March 14 Forces secretary] Fares Sa'id, [Prime Minister] Sa'd Al-Hariri, and [State Minister for Refugee Affairs, Al-Mustaqbal MP] Mu'een al-Merhebi know the refugees inside and out and have verified with them directly that they do not wish to return [to Syria], neither to the areas controlled by the regime nor to the areas controlled by the opposition. Yet [the fact is] they do not want to stay in Lebanon, and they are forbidden from asking Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, France or Britain why they are unwilling to host them in their wealthy countries.
"What's the point of debating with a group of people whose profession cannot be more accurately described than [by calling it] espionage? Espionage, which means conspiring against their compatriots and collaborating with Lebanon's enemies for their own ends. The irony is that those who were hostile to the resistance before the liberation [of South Lebanon from Israel in 2000], those who wanted to crush it using [UN] Resolution 1559 and called for its elimination in 2006, and continued calling for [its] disarmament after 2006 and tried to stage a coup against it in 2008, those who are willing to besiege and isolate it in the name of justice, sanctions and the war on terror – these are the very same people who now want the resistance to leave the takfiris alone in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. They are the same people who rejoice when terrorists detonate a bomb in the Dahiya or when there is news of a resistance fighter martyred in Syria. They are the ones who seethe with fury because Abu Malik Al-Tali [head of Jabhat Al-Nusra in the western Qalamoun and Jaroud Arsal areas] is in crisis. They are the ones willing to commit a sin that sends its perpetrator to Hell just to prevent the resistance from winning some battle or other.
"Are not these people spies, even if they belong to parties in the government or parliament? Even if they write in newspapers and on websites day and night and are plastered all over the screens of local or Arab television channels? Even if they are heads of parties, ministers, or senior officials in the state's political, security, military or social institutions? Even if they are the owners of banks or large companies, or university lecturers, schoolteachers, doctors, engineers, attorneys or whatever? Their status, position, sectarian affiliation and place of residence do not matter. They are nothing but spies and traitors, and this should be the only basis for our treatment of them.
" The resistance will pursue any fool, scoundrel, takfiri and traitor, any U.S. or Israeli soldier, and any Arab or Muslim mercenary who collaborates with the occupation. The rifle of the resistance will kill them in any Arab state and wherever they go. Whoever thinks differently can go pave the sea after drinking its water."[4]
https://www.memri.org/reports/fierce-controversy-lebanese-press-about-hizbullahs-military-activity-jaroud-arsal-northeast
[1] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), July 27, 2017.
[2] Elmashra.com, July 22, 2017.
[3] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), July 23, 2017.
[4] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), July 24, 2017.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on August 01-02/17
Turkey, Qatar Launch Joint Military Exercises
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/17/Turkey and its main regional ally Qatar on Tuesday launched military exercises in the emirate that will involve some 250 Turkish troops and 30 armored vehicles, reports said. The exercises come as Ankara presses on with its unequivocal backing of Doha in the crisis triggered by the political and economic isolation of Qatar by Gulf and other Arab states led by Saudi Arabia. Turkish state media said that the Turkish frigate TCG Gokova had docked in Doha earlier this week carrying 214 soldiers who would take part in the exercises. The exercises got underway on Tuesday and would initially involve ground forces with naval forces later on, NTV television said. An observation day involving top commanders would take place on August 7-8, it added. A total of 250 Turkish soldiers and 30 armored vehicles will take part, it added. On June 5, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt cut ties with Qatar accusing it of backing extremism and fostering ties with their Shiite rival Iran. Doha denies the claims and has been strongly backed by Ankara throughout the standoff. The crisis has put Turkey in a delicate position as it seeks to balance its strategic alliance with Qatar with preserving its own relations with regional kingpin Saudi Arabia. Turkey is setting up a military base in Qatar, its only such outpost in the region. It has sped up the process since the crisis began and reportedly now has 150 troops at the base. After a whistlestop tour of the region last month that included visits to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said more time was needed to solve the crisis.

US-Backed Syria Force Advances in South of IS Bastion Raqa
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/17/US-backed forces battling to oust the Islamic State group from its Syrian bastion Raqa have advanced in the city's south, seizing a new neighbourhood, a spokesman and monitor said Tuesday. The Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces militia (SDF) began a campaign to capture Raqa from IS last year, slowly encircling the city before breaking into it for the first time in June. Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, the alliance now controls more than 50 percent of the city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor. "Overnight, the SDF advanced in the south of the city, after taking control of the Nazlet Shahada neighbourhood," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman. He said SDF fighters also controlled large parts of the adjacent neighbourhood of Hisham Bin Abdel Malik, after advancing in the south from both the eastern and western fronts. "Daesh (IS) effectively no longer has a presence in the southern neighbourhoods of Raqa, after SDF forces coming from the eastern front met with those advancing from the western front," he added. Nuri Mahmud, a spokesman for the Kurdish YPG militia that dominates the SDF, confirmed to AFP that the SDF was advancing in the south. "Daesh has been almost completely eliminated from the Nazlet Shahada and Hisham Bin Abdel Malik neighbourhoods," he added. Writing on Twitter, the US envoy to the international coalition against IS praised the SDF's advances. "Significant progress in Raqa last 24 hours, with key territory seized by SDF forces & 100s of civilians freed," Brett McGurk wrote. Abdel Rahman said the fighting was now centred around the area south of the city centre and on the outskirts of the district of Hisham Bin Abdel Malik. "The SDF is a few hundred metres (yards) from Daesh's main headquarters in Clock Square, which is where Daesh carried out executions," he said. He added that SDF fighters were also on the outskirts of Al-Thakana neighbourhood, one of the city's most densely-populated. SDF fighters have faced fierce resistance since they entered Raqa in early June, and the fighting has displaced thousands of civilians. Mahmud said IS was "exploiting civilians and using mines, car bombs, drones, tunnels and suicide bombers to prolong its presence inside Raqa". The United Nations estimates between 20,000 to 50,000 civilians may still be in the city, though other estimates put the numbers lower. Aid groups warned Monday that food access had reached a "critical turning point" with markets shuttered and residents dependent on dwindling stockpiles.

Pakistan's Parliament Elects ex-Oil Minister Abbasi as New PM
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/17/Pakistan's parliament elected ex-oil minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as prime minister on Tuesday, days after three-times premier Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court. Abbasi is seen by the ruling party as a placeholder for Sharif's designated successor, his younger brother Shahbaz, who must first secure election to the 342-member National Assembly. Abbasi, nominated by Sharif's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), secured 221 votes, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced on live television. He will be sworn in later Tuesday. "I give the floor to the new prime minister of Pakistan," Sadiq said as Abbasi took his place in the premier's seat. "I am thankful to all those who took part in this democratic process," Abbasi said. "Those who were in favor, those who opposed me. This is the procedure in democracy. And I am also thankful to PML-N who nominated me for this post. Of all these, I am most thankful to Nawaz Sharif."Shabhaz Sharif, currently chief minister of Punjab province, plans to enter parliament by contesting the seat left vacant by his elder sibling before eventually taking over the premiership. The constitution requires a candidate for prime minister to win a majority from the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. Three opposition candidates also submitted nomination papers to take part in the vote. But Abbasi, a long-time Sharif loyalist, won easily as the PML-N commands a majority in parliament. Nawaz Sharif was the 15th prime minister in Pakistan's 70-year history -- roughly half of which was spent under military rule -- to be ousted before completing a full term. The top court sacked him Friday after an investigation into corruption allegations against him and his family, bringing his historic third term in power to an unceremonious end and briefly plunging the nuclear-armed nation into political instability. Abbasi is the former federal minister for petroleum and natural resources, and a businessman who launched the country's most successful private airline, Air Blue.Educated in the U.S. at George Washington University, he worked in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as an electrical engineer before joining politics and being elected to the National Assembly six times. He was arrested after the 1999 military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf which ended Nawaz Sharif's second term as PM, and imprisoned for two years before being released. Shahbaz Sharif went into exile in Saudi Arabia along with Nawaz after Musharraf's coup. He returned to Pakistan in 2007 and was elected chief minister in the family's power base of Punjab in 2008, becoming the longest serving top official in the province. A tough administrator with a reputation for passionate outbursts, he is known for using revolutionary poetry in speeches and public meetings and considered by some to be a workaholic. His scandalous relationships fueled headlines in the past, but his marriage to the author Tehmina Durrani, who is his fifth wife, in 2003 has since dampened the media frenzy. Shahbaz Sharif has been so far largely unscathed by the claims about the lavish lifestyles and luxury London property portfolio of the Sharif dynasty which have played out for months in the raucous news media. It was an investigation into the claims, which first erupted with the Panama Papers leak last year, that eventually saw the Supreme Court oust Nawaz Sharif. He and his family have denied the accusations.

Palestinian Negotiator Criticizes U.S. Silence on Settlements
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/17/A senior Palestinian official on Tuesday said silence in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration over settlement growth and its failure to support the two-state solution encouraged "apartheid" Israeli policies.The criticism by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat came in a statement after the Palestinians had previously been careful not to antagonize the new U.S. leader since his inauguration in January. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen since 2014. "The fact the U.S. administration did not declare the final goal of the peace process is to achieve two states on the basis of the 1967 borders, and its silence regarding the intensification of Israeli colonial settlement activities, are interpreted by the Israeli government as an opportunity to destroy the two-state solution and replace it with one state with two systems," Erekat said. "That is what the Israeli government is doing on the ground through its policies," he said, adding that such a system was tantamount to "apartheid." Trump's administration, that includes his son-in-law Jared Kushner, has sought to build trust for a new round of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Erekat, who is also the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the American administration's perceived silence was an "obstacle" to talks. Settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem are among the most controversial issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel occupied the areas in 1967 in a move never recognized by the international community, and more than 600,000 Israelis now live in settlements. In December, the United Nations Security Council declared all such settlements to be illegal after outgoing president Barack Obama decided not to veto a resolution. Since Trump came to power, however, Washington has remained largely quiet as Israel has announced thousands of new homes in settlements. Trump has also moved away from decades of U.S. support for the two-state solution -- the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel -- saying in February that he was happy with either a one-state or two-state solution if the parties favored it. U.S. negotiators have not publicly backed an independent Palestinian state in statements after meetings with the two sides.

Saudi Coalition Blocks Fuel for U.N. Aid Planes to Yemen
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/17/The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen is obstructing deliveries of jet fuel to U.N. planes bringing desperately-needed humanitarian aid to the rebel-held capital Sanaa, a U.N. official said Tuesday. Auke Lootsma, the country director of the U.N. Development Program, also reported an outbreak of meningitis in Yemen, compounding the cholera epidemic and the risk of famine in the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The United Nations operates two humanitarian flights into Sanaa from Amman and Djibouti, but there is no jet fuel available in the Yemeni capital for the plane to make the return trip. "We have difficulties obtaining permission from the coalition and from the government of Yemen to transport this jet fuel to Sanaa to facilitate these flights," Lootsma, the country director for the UN Development Program, told reporters by video-link from Sanaa. Asked why the jet fuel deliveries were blocked, Lootsma said: "It's a good question. I don't have an answer."The fuel must be delivered to Sanaa from the port of Aden, which is controlled by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government. The Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly been accused of blocking aid to Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries, which has been brought to its knees since the military campaign began in March 2015. Yemen's health system has collapsed during the war pitting coalition forces backing the internationally recognized Yemeni government against Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels. Describing the situation as "very bleak," the UN official said there were "several" new cases of meningitis detected in Yemen but he could not provide details. Aid efforts are also hampered by delays and refusals of visas, by the Yemeni government and by the rebels in control of Sanaa, he added. Lootsma said he saw "no end in sight" for the war that has left thousands dead, seven million people at risk of famine and more than 400,000 ill from cholera.

Turkey Blasts US Envoy over 'Al-Qaida Safe Haven' Jibe
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/17/Turkey on Tuesday lashed out at what it called "unacceptable" remarks by a senior US official suggesting Ankara had encouraged the rise of Al Qaida-linked groups in Syria's Idlib province. Brett McGurk, the senior US envoy to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group, said Idlib province had become "the largest Al-Qaida safe haven". In comments to the Washington-based think tank the Middle East Institute last week, McGurk criticised some US partners for sending in "tens of thousands of tons of weapons" to Syria. He did not name which partners. He added that the way those foreign fighters come in to Syria "may not have been the best approach" because Al-Qaida had taken full advantage of it. "And Idlib now is a huge problem. It is an Al-Qaida safe haven right on the border of Turkey. So that's something, obviously, we will be in very close discussions with the Turks on."But Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said it was not Turkey which controlled Idlib province. "Attempting to associate Turkey with that terror organisation in Idlib, making such an implication is unacceptable," Kalin told the TvNet broadcaster. "Why? Because we are not controlling Idlib."Idlib is the only province in Syria that remains entirely beyond regime control after having been captured in 2015 by an alliance of jihadists and rebels. Kalin said McGurk's comment could not be considered to have been made with a "good intention."Foreign ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu added that Ankara had protested against the "provocative" comments, without elaborating. McGurk has been a frequent target of the ire of the Turkish government for comments supporting Kurdish groups labelled as terror organisations by Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has called for McGurk to be fired, claiming he was backing Kurdish militants in Syria. In June, McGurk had talks with Turkish officials in Ankara. The alliance that captured the Idlib province was dominated by Al-Qaida affiliate Al-Nusra Front and the rebel Ahrar al-Sham, a key Islamist faction backed by neighbouring Turkey and Gulf states. In the years since the capture, Al-Nusra ostensibly split with Al-Qaida, renaming itself Fateh al-Sham Front and becoming the backbone of the so-called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) coalition that last month captured Idlib city. Turkey's NATO allies in the early years of the civil war accused Ankara of turning a blind eye -- or even aiding -- the rise of Islamist groups in Syria including Islamic State jihadists. But Turkey always angrily rejected the charges.

Pence slams Russian 'occupation' on Georgia visit
Tue 01 Aug 2017/NNA - US Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday blasted Russia's "occupation" of Georgian territory, as he pledged Donald Trump will sign off on new sanctions against Moscow "soon".Pence is currently on a tour of Eastern Europe aimed at reassuring US allies rattled over Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and backing for a bloody separatist rebellion in Ukraine.Standing alongside Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Pence pledged firm US support for the tiny Caucasus nation and slammed Russia's military presence of its territory since a brief 2008 war. "We are with you, we stand with you," Pence said, calling the ex-Soviet state a "key strategic partner" for Washington. The vice president reiterated America's firm backing for Georgia's hope of joining military alliance NATO, a goal that has stirred fury in Moscow. Georgia's tilt to the West set it on a collision course with Russia that exploded into a conflict over the breakaway region of South Ossetia in 2008. Moscow officially recognised South Ossetia and another rebel province Abkhazia as independent after routing Georgia's forces and moved thousands of its troops into the regions. In tough language Pence said the "US strongly condemns the occupation" that "sees Russian tanks parked on Georgian soil."While in the country, Pence is set to review joint military drills that are being billed as the largest ever held between the US and Georgia. Pence will then head to newest NATO member Montenegro on the Adriatic Sea for the last leg of his trip, in a show of support after its entrance into the alliance sparked bitter opposition from Moscow. Pence also insisted again that Trump is gearing up to approve new punitive measures against Russia that have already pushed battered ties with Moscow still lower. "President Trump will sign the sanctions bill soon," Pence told a press conference during a visit to the tiny US-ally on Russia's southern flank. The US Senate on Thursday approved a package of tough additional sanctions against Russia over alleged meddling in last year's election and its annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine. The White House has said Trump will now approve the bill binding his hands on lifting the sanctions, but has not set a timeframe. In a visit to Baltic State Estonia on Monday Pence insisted that a retaliatory move taken by the Kremlin in the face of the looming sanctions to cut the US diplomatic mission in Russia would not lessen Washington's commitment to its allies. ---AFP

Eight Migrants Found Dead at Sea Off Libya
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/August 01/17/The bodies of eight migrants have been found at sea off the coast of Libya by rescuers coming to the aid of four rubber dinghies, the Italian coastguard said Tuesday.
Some 500 survivors in total were being pulled to safety, the coastguard told AFP. Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, which was taking part in the rescues, said the bodies had been recovered by the Santa Lucia merchant ship. "We are here to stop more people drowning, today eight dead and four drifting boats" in distress, Proactiva's founder Oscar Champs said on Twitter. The charity said there were 79 women and 39 minors -- including four young children -- among those rescued. Nearly 95,000 people have been brought to safety in Italy this year, a rise of one percent on the same period last year, according to the interior ministry. At least 2,385 migrants have died during the perilous crossing since January, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

Shooting at Moscow courthouse leaves 3 dead, 4 wounded
Tue 01 Aug 2017/NNA - Five defendants at a Moscow courthouse attacked their guards in a bungled escape attempt, leading to a shootout that killed three people and wounded four others, officials said Tuesday. Russia's Investigative Committee said the incident happened when five handcuffed defendants were escorted by two guards in an elevator at the Moscow Regional Court. Russia's chief investigative body said one of the defendants tried to strangle a guard. The defendants somehow managed to escape and seized the guards' weapons. Three of the defendants were killed and two wounded in a shootout with the court's guards. Two guards were injured and taken to hospital, the agency said. Authorities said the incident took place before a hearing for a gang of nine who are suspected of killing more than a dozen motorists.--Associated Press

Pakistan's parliament elects exoil minister Abbasi as new PM
Tue 01 Aug 2017/NNA - Pakistan's parliament elected ex-oil minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as prime minister on Tuesday, days after three-times premier Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court. Abbasi, nominated by Sharif's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), secured 221 votes, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced on live television. He will be sworn in later Tuesday. "I give the floor to the new prime minister of Pakistan," Sadiq said as Abbasi took his place in the premier's seat. "I am thankful to all those who took part in this democratic process," Abbasi said. "Those who were in favour, those who opposed me. This is the procedure in democracy. And I am also thankful to PML-N who nominated me for this post. Of all these, I am most thankful to Nawaz Sharif." Shabhaz Sharif, currently chief minister of Punjab province, plans to enter parliament by contesting the seat left vacant by his elder sibling before eventually taking over the premiership.--AFP

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 01-02/17
With an eye on Iran, US welcomes Moqtada Al Sadr visit to Saudi Arabia
Joyce Karam/The National/August 01/17
The visit to Saudi Arabia by Iraq’s influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr was welcomed by the Trump administration on Monday, and is seen by experts as a significant development for regional stability and countering Iran’s expansionism.
The black-turbaned cleric sent a message to several quarters by meeting Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on Sunday. Mr Al Sadr's last visit to the kingdom in 2006 was centred on the Hajj, but his latest one is very political in nature and comes at a critical time in Saudi-Iraqi relations.
Commenting on the visit, a US state department official told The National that “both Saudi Arabia and Iraq are solid partners of the United States” and “we welcome strong relations between the two countries and continue to support their efforts and outreach in this regard”.
Ever since 2003, successive US administrations have pushed for more Saudi engagement with the new Iraq, and the past two months have seen three high-level Iraqi visits to Saudi Arabia - by prime minister Haider Al Abadi, his interior minister Qasim Al Araji, and now by Mr Al Sadr.
James Jeffrey, a former US ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, attached great significance to Mr Al Sadr’s visit.
“It is very important, and a sign that Saudis realise the most important fact about the Middle East is that Iran is on the march, it has not been stopped,” said Mr Jeffrey, now a fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Iranian influence “will create more Sunni extremist terrorism if it’s not stopped by a regional order that America, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel and others are supporting,” he said.
More broadly, the Shiite cleric's meeting with the Saudi crown prince indicates the realisation by Riyadh “that this is not a Sunni versus Shia struggle and that the problem is not people’s religion but this expansion of state system in Iran using asymmetrical means to build up militias and undercut regimes,” Mr Jeffrey said.
He said this pattern in Iran’s approach was seen in Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and Syria, where Tehran has sought to arm and fund non-state actors.
The Saudi minister of state for Gulf affairs Thamer Al Subhan, a former ambassador to Iraq, greeted Mr Al Sadr at the airport and tweeted on Monday that "Sunni hardline and Shiite hardline doesn't build nations or societies. The language of moderation, forgiveness and dialogue is what should prevail to accomplish our greater interests."
By receiving Mr Al Sadr, countering Iran is once again at the heart of the Saudi strategy, according Mr Jeffrey. “They realise there is a very strong presence of Shia Islamic leaders in Iraq who do not want Iran to dominate ... there is a religious struggle of its own between Qum (Iran) and Najaf (Iraq) embodied by the Sadr family, one of the most respected families of Shia Islam.”
The Saudi crown prince's welcoming of Mr Al Sadr is recognition that the Iraqi cleric “has the most powerful popular movement not identified with Iranians in southern Iraq, and secondly he has a militia”.
“I can confirm that from when I was in Iraq, his group is seen by Sunni Arabs as most reasonable of the Shia militias,” he said.
Meeting the crown prince “enhances Saudi Arabia's role in Iraq, and bolster's Sadr's credibility in the region”.
Still, the counter-Iran push is “very late in the game”, said Mr Jeffrey, “not just by Saudi but also by the US administration who is still trying to figure out its policy on Iran.”
The Trump administration is distracted by “the shiny toy of fighting ISIL”, making it “hard to focus on bigger threat of Iran because that’s more serious”.
Mr Jeffrey said ISIL is a “walking corpse” and “the real threat is Iran”, adding: “The Trump administration understands this but doesn’t know policy yet.”
Saudi openness to Iraq helps US strategy to bring Baghdad into the regional fold and “acknowledge Iraq as a legitimate country” — something that had failed to materialise in the past 14 years, he said.
The visit also underscores regional stability, said Mr Jeffrey.
“Any day that [Iran’s military general] Qassem Suleimani looks at the TV and is unhappy, is a good day for security in region ... and looking at Moqtada Sadr meetings in Saudi will make him very unhappy.”

The Battle over Jerusalem Has Just Begun"
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/August 01/17
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/?p=57549
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10758/battle-over-jerusalem
The Palestinians, feeling triumphant now that Israel has complied with their demand to remove the metal detectors and security cameras, have been clarifying that it is only the first step in their fight to eradicate any Israeli presence in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
They admit that this is a battle over sovereignty on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. For the Palestinians, the real battle is over who controls Jerusalem and its holy sites. The real battle, in their eyes, is over the Jews' right to live in their own state in the Middle East. Many Palestinians have still not come to terms with Israel's right to exist, and that is what this battle is really about.
The Palestinians have added it up just right. In their own words, they aim at an escalation of violence because they believe that what Israel did is the first step toward even more concessions and even further retreat.
The Palestinian "victory" celebrations that took place after Israel removed metal detectors and surveillance cameras from the entrances to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem bode badly for the future of stability and peace in the Middle East.
To the Palestinians and many Arabs and Muslims, the Israeli move is viewed as a sign of weakness. In their eyes, the removal of the security cameras and metal detectors is capitulation, pure and simple.
How do we know this? Easy: look at the Palestinian response. Rather than acknowledging the conciliatory nature of the Israeli government's decision, aimed at easing tensions and preventing bloodshed and violence, the Palestinians are demanding more.
As far as the Palestinians are concerned, the controversy over the Israeli security measures at the Temple Mount, which came after three terrorists murdered two Israeli police officers at the holy site on July 14, is part of a larger battle with Israel.
We have reached a new level in this discourse: Palestinian Authority (PA) officials are now openly admitting that it is not the metal detectors or security cameras that are at issue.
Instead, they admit, this is a battle over sovereignty on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. For the Palestinians, the real battle is over who controls Jerusalem and its holy sites. The real battle, in their eyes, is over the Jews' right to live in their own state in the Middle East. Many Palestinians have still not come to terms with Israel's right to exist, and that is what this battle is really about.
The Palestinians, feeling triumphant now that Israel has complied with their demand to remove the metal detectors and security cameras, have been clarifying that it is only the first step in their fight to eradicate any Israeli presence in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
No one explained this Palestinian position better than the PA foreign minister, Riad Malki, who announced on July 27 that the Palestinians consider the Israeli decision to dismantle the metal detectors and security cameras as surrender. He also confirmed what many Israeli and Palestinian political analysts have been saying for the past few weeks -- that the conflict over Israel's security measures was merely an excuse used by the Palestinians to force Israel to make political and territorial concessions.
In a speech before the Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo, Malki explained: "The issue is not metal detectors or cameras, but who is in charge and who has sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque." Malki went on to explain that the Palestinians do not see the recent conflict as a security issue, but rather as a purely political matter. "The battle over Jerusalem has just begun," he said, adding that the wave of Palestinian protests over the Israeli security measures had succeeded in "thwarting" Israel's "conspiracy" to change the historical and legal status quo at the Temple Mount.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki (pictured above in 2009) said last week in a speech: "The issue is not metal detectors or cameras, but who is in charge and who has sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque... The battle over Jerusalem has just begun." (Image source: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
We are witnessing a rare moment of truth from the PA foreign minister, in which, ironically, he refutes claims by many in the international community and media to the effect that the recent conflict was sparked by metal detectors and surveillance cameras.
The Palestinian protests that came in response to the security measures indicated that it was more about hating Israel and trying to force it to its knees than about the removal of metal detectors and cameras. During these protests, especially at the entrances to the Temple Mount, Palestinians chanted slogans that included threats to destroy Israel and kill Jews.
"We are marching toward Al-Aqsa (Mosque), and we will sacrifice millions of martyrs," was one of the chants at the protests, which were led by top Palestinian religious and political leaders. Another chant: "Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, jaish Mohammed sa yaoud" ("Khaybar Khaybar O' Jews, the army of Mohammed will return") -- a reference to the Battle of Khaybar in the year 628 between Prophet Mohammed and his followers against the Jews living in the oasis of Khaybar. The Jews were forced to surrender after being slaughtered and were thereafter permitted to live in Khaybar on condition that they give half of their produce to Muslims. The protesters also chanted slogans calling on Hamas's military wing, Ezaddin Al-Qassam, to launch terror attacks against Israel.
For the most part, the foreign journalists covering the protests did not perceive these chants as intimidating or anti-Semitic. The protests were largely reported in a positive sense as peaceful "civil disobedience." This is precisely the rhetoric, however, that fuels the Palestinian fire to take to the streets and hurl stones and petrol bombs at Israeli police officers and civilians.
Eighteen-year-old Omar Al-Abed, however, is one Palestinian who paid careful attention to such rhetoric. On July 22, he stormed the home of a Jewish family in Halamish, in the West Bank, and stabbed to death a grandfather and his son and daughter during a dinner to celebrate the birth of a grandchild. Shortly before setting out on his murderous mission, Al-Abed posted a note on his Facebook page in which he echoed many of the slogans from the protests, and went further by describing Jews as "sons of pigs and monkeys."
The carnage in Halamish was perpetrated by a single Palestinian. Perhaps he acted alone, without having been indoctrinated to murder Jews and without communal support for doing so? Well, let us check: how did the Palestinian street react to his murderous rampage? How did Al-Abed's own mother respond? The terrorist's mother was filmed handing out sweets to visitors in celebration of her son's decision to take the lives of the three Jews. "I'm proud of my son because he has raised our heads high," she declared.
Perhaps the pride in the terrorist was simply a local affair? No, even that hope is smashed: as many Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip, took to the streets to celebrate the brutal murder, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh phoned the terrorist's father to tell him, "Your son brought pride to the nation."
The Halamish bloodshed brought intense pride to the terrorist's mother, to those around her, and to the Palestinian world at large.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who never misses an opportunity to paint himself as a peacemaker par excellence, chose to remain quiet about the murder. Make no mistake: his loud silence over the Halamish terror attack is being interpreted by many Palestinians as an act of condoning the murder of three Jews. Whether condoning the atrocity or terrified of his own people, one thing is certain: Abbas and most Palestinian leaders have trained the Palestinians well. When they smell Jewish blood, they attack.
This is precisely what is going on in the Temple Mount mayhem.
Now that Israel has complied with their demands regarding the security measures, Palestinians feel more emboldened than ever. Murder and incitement, in their case, does indeed pay. They got away with the murder of the two police officers at the Temple Mount; they got away with the murder of the three family members in Halamish, and, in their view, they also got away with the recent violent protests and incitement against Israel.
Buoyed by the Israeli "capitulation," the Palestinians are now talking about a "historic victory" over Israel. They are boasting that they have twisted Israel's arm and forced it to "retreat." Palestinian cartoonists and commentators have expressed similar sentiments, arguing that the removal of the metal detectors and security cameras is largely the result of their violence, terrorism and threats.
Once again, an Israeli gesture is being misinterpreted by the Palestinians and other Arabs and Muslims as weakness. This sort of deliberate misreading is far from new. Yet every time it occurs, it sets the stage for another cycle of violence. The result of Israeli conciliation is invariably Palestinian violence.
The Palestinians have added it up just right. In their own words, they aim at an escalation of violence because they believe that what Israel did is the first step toward even more concessions and even further retreat.
*Bassam Tawil is an Arab Muslim based in the Middle East.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Europe: The Censored Film They Do Not Want You to See
Stefan Frank/Gatestone Institute/August 01/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10759/europe-censored-film
Translation of the original text: Europa: Der zensierte Film, den Sie nicht sehen sollen
The way WDR broadcast it, however, was unique: at the beginning of the film and in brief intervals throughout, warning signs were inserted again and again, indirectly urging viewers not to believe what they saw in the film.
The film is not about anti-Semitism among neo-Nazis; it is about its acceptance by the mainstream mass media, politicians, left wingers, Muslim "Palestine" activists, rappers and church organizations.
"France is the Western country with the highest number of Jews murdered in the 21st century. Fourteen people were killed because they were Jews. All of them were killed by Muslims, not by right-wing extremists. ARTE would never want its viewers to find that out. The filmmakers... exposed the lies and thereby ARTE's false narrative." — Jean Patrick Grumberg, a journalist at the French-language news website Dreuz.
A Franco-German film that no one in Europe is legally allowed to see has become the source of a major scandal, and its creators the targets of unprecedented smear and hate campaigns from Germany's public broadcasters.
At the center of the scandal is one of Europe's biggest media companies, the Westdeutsche Rundfunk (WDR) -- with 4,500 employees and an annual budget of 1.4 billion euros -- and the Franco-German culture channel, ARTE.
The television documentary, "Chosen and Excluded – the Hate for Jews in Europe", will be shown in the United States for one night only, on August 9. The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles announced that it would screen the film after the German and French networks tried "to bury the documentary, before it could contaminate the viewing public with the truth," according to the Center's Associate Dean, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, in an interview with Gatestone Institute. "It is a film that needs to be viewed by anyone concerned about anti-Semitism and anyone concerned about the democratic future of Europe. It is a truth-telling, and 'PC'-busting documentary", he said.
The truth is that in today's Europe, it is becoming more and more difficult to tell the truth.
ARTE had commissioned the film with the support of the WDR, but is now seeking to hide it. The film is not about anti-Semitism among neo-Nazis, but about its acceptance by the mainstream mass media, politicians, left wingers, Muslim "Palestine" activists, rappers and church organizations. Initially, it was said that the film was "a provocation", that it "fans the flames", and that "because of the terror situation in France, it cannot be broadcast."
Later, "technical journalistic shortcomings" were cited as the reason why the film could not be released from the hazardous materials closet.
Murderers of Jews as Honorary Citizens
ARTE, as part of its programming, broadcasts films such as "The Little Stone Thrower of Silwan" -- a report sympathizing with sweet Arab children in Jerusalem who just want to make their neighborhood "Jew-free".
Would the station ever show a serious film about anti-Semitism?, Gatestone asked the journalist Jean Patrick Grumberg, of the French-language news site Dreuz. Grumberg replied: "France is a country in which Communist mayors celebrate Palestinian murderers of Jews as honorary citizens. If the directors of ARTE France had even been suspected of harboring pro-Israel or conservative sentiments, they never would never have been hired. Being radical, though, is welcomed."
According to Grumberg, journalists in France are "almost unanimously anti-Israel." Anyone who is pro-Israel must conceal it, or deal with the threat of repercussions.
"In this incredible environment, the TV channels France Television and ARTE are the worst among the Islamo-liberals. Initially, the French program management team refused even to countenance the production of a documentary about anti-Semitism in Europe because they were well aware that Muslim antisemitism would come up -- a subject that is taboo in France, especially among those on the Left and in the media.
"You have to bear in mind that France is the Western country with the highest number of Jews murdered in the 21st century. Fourteen people were killed because they were Jews. All of them were killed by Muslims, not by right-wing extremists. ARTE would never want its viewers to find that out."
ARTE Germany, however, was prepared to implement the project. But, says Grumberg, ARTE then learned that the filmmakers, Joachim Schroeder and Sophie Hafner, "had taken this farther than merely condemning the hatred of Jews among European Muslims."
"The filmmakers had conducted research on the anti-Israel agitation by NGOs financed by the European Union, and exposed the fictitious media narrative by investigating whether there were any grounds for the allegations against Israel in the West Bank and Gaza. There were none. They exposed the lies and thereby ARTE's false narrative."
Censorship and Smear Campaign
As soon as the two broadcasters became aware of the film's contents, they severed all contact with the filmmakers. Since then, they have been publicly maligning the work.
The responsible WDR editor, who had accepted the film as being in accordance with the contract, faced such an amount of hostility, harassment and mobbing by her colleagues that she chose"early retirement". It was only in the face of great opposition that the film was publicly screened twice -- and then only after enormous pressure. Historians and journalists who saw the film published newspaper articles calling for its release. The Central Council of Jews in Germany also backed that call. The premiere of the film, however, on June 13, was actually illegal. Germany's largest and most popular tabloid, BILD, streamed the original version on its website for 24 hours, without the permission of WDR. (The film was posted by someone on YouTube, before being blocked.) Subsequently, the debate on censorship became so heated that the WDR felt it had to broadcast the film.
The way WDR broadcast it, however, was unique: at the beginning of the film and in brief intervals throughout, warning signs were inserted again and again, indirectly urging viewers not to believe what they saw in the film. They were to read the "ostensibly necessary additions and explanations" on the WDR website -- a "fact check" consisting of 30 texts. In one example, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas claimed, falsely, in a speech to the European Parliament: "It was just a week ago that Israeli rabbis issued a clear statement: They demanded that their government poison the water in order to kill Palestinians."From this, according to WDR, one should not "deduce the assertion" that "Abbas's speech was part of a tradition that since the Middle Ages has alleged that Jews were poisoning the wells," since: "after all, Abbas is not talking about 'wells' here."
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas receives a standing ovation at the European Parliament in Brussels, after falsely claiming in his speech that Israeli rabbis were calling to poison Palestinian water. Abbas later recanted and admitted that his claim had been false. (Image source: European Parliament)
The anti-Semitic NGO Business
The film also accurately shows that several church organizations support trying to destroy Israel through economic means, by boycotting people and products. The WDR claims that this assertion is wrong, and as evidence, cites statements put out by these organizations, rejecting any association with a boycott movement. However, it is WDR's claim that is the lie. The organization NGO Monitor, which calls for transparency in the Israeli NGO sector, substantiated the lie in a comprehensive response to the "Fact Check":
"The NGO farce is finally being unmasked," according to Olga Deutsch, director of the Europe desk at NGO Monitor in a telephone interview.
"Civil society is necessary and crucial, but the NGOs are granted such huge sums of money and so much power to work in one of the most fragile and conflict-ridden regions of the world, with absolutely no requirement for transparency and accountability. Among other things, the film also demonstrates this."
There had already been a similar debate in Germany in early 2015, when Tuvia Tenenbom's book, Catch the Jew, was published in German. In this report on his trip to Israel, the author also described the anti-Semitism of many European-funded NGOs in Israel, and exposes, for instance, the chief investigator of the organization B'Tselem, which is financed by the European Union, among others, as a holocaust-denier. In an interview with Gatestone, Tenenbom said:
"The European 'elites' are far more antisemitic than the average Muslim. What the Europeans are doing in Israel is nothing but the continuation of the Nazi theology of the past -- using the NGOs to finish the job that their grandparents did not get to complete in World War II."
"Parisian Intifada"
Towards the end of the film, several Jews are interviewed in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles. A boy of about 13 years old says: "I dream of making aliyah [moving to Israel] and fighting in the Israeli army." In an interview with Gatestone, one of the film's authors, Joachim Schroeder, recounts:
"We asked the boy if he had any experience with the invading mob of hooligans, and how he feels in everyday life here in Sarcelles. If I had to deal with this day in and day out, I would also say: I want to get out of here."
The original soundtrack from the film documents an attack in Sarcelles, complete with images of demolished cars and store windows, by "pro-Palestinian activists" in July 2014: Until the summer of 2014, Sarcelles was considered to be a model of functioning multiculturalism. Jews, Christians and Muslims living side by side and together in city districts with 60,000 inhabitants. Then came Sunday, July 20, 2014. "Palestine: Come armed with mortars, fire extinguishers and clubs, come in large numbers, we're going to gang up on the Jewish district of Sarcelles," is what it says in one of many exhortations. More than 3,000 demonstrators show up. Molotov cocktails fly against the synagogue. Policemen prevent the storming of the area. The crowd screams: "Death to the Jews" and "Hitler was right". The violent mob plunders a pharmacy run by Jews and a kosher supermarket. Both are set on fire. The police talk about a "Parisian Intifada".
For Jewish adolescents who had experienced "anti-Semitism from their very birth", it was a form of "redemption to go to Israel", says François Pupponi, the socialist mayor of Sarcelles in an interview in the film:
French Jews feel that they have no future in France, that they have to leave their country to be able to live safely and in peace. But to tell them that they are wrong is also not the right thing to do. I tell them that they are right. But then I appeal to them to stay. Because if they leave, France is dead. Why? Because if a Jew cannot live by his faith here, then this secular republic, with our world-famous idea of religious freedom, no longer exists.
Anti-Semitism as Mainstream
The scandal surrounding the film shows how things really are in terms of the culture and freedom of expression in Europe. "The WDR ranks among those whom we criticize in this film," says Schroeder. "Up to that point, one could only speculate about this [anti-Semitism], but the way they dealt with this broadcast made it very clear."
Anti-Semitism in Europe does not come from fringe groups. It is primarily left-wing liberals -- "intellectuals" -- who fuel the hatred. At the end of the film, retired Parisian police commissioner Sammy Ghozlan, a Jew who fled to France from Algeria, says:
"I am convinced that the Arabs in France would never have turned to violence against the Jews if they had not been convinced by others that it was their duty to demonstrate their solidarity with their coreligionists in Palestine. Otherwise, they would never have done that. They were persuaded that this was necessary. And since some of those who hold power, mayors or ministers, took the liberty of doing such a thing, for them, it justified the attacks so they supported them."
"That is one of the key messages of our film," Joachim Schroeder said to Gatestone. "Who was it that encouraged them to do this? It was not just their brothers and sisters; it was the French and German mainstream."
*Stefan Frank is a journalist and author based in Germany.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Germany: Muslim Biker Gang Vows to "Protect" Fellow Muslims
Police warn of spiraling vigilantism, parallel Islamic legal system
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/August 01/17
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10755/muslim-biker-gang
Muslim vigilantes enforcing Islamic justice have become increasingly common in Germany. The government's inability or unwillingness to stop them has led to the rise of anti-Muslim counter-vigilantes. Germany's BfV intelligence agency, in its latest annual report, warned that an escalating action-reaction cycle could result in open warfare on German streets.
The self-appointed "Sharia Police" urged both Muslim and non-Muslim passersby to attend mosques and to refrain from alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, gambling, music, pornography and prostitution. In November 2016, the Wuppertal District Court ruled that the Islamists did not break German law and were simply exercising their right to free speech. The ruling, which effectively legitimized Sharia law in Germany, was one of a growing number of instances in which German courts are — wittingly or unwittingly — promoting the establishment of a parallel Islamic legal system in the country.
"Even if we still refuse to believe it: Parts of Germany are ruled by Islamic law! Polygamy, child marriages, Sharia judges — for far too long the German rule of law has not been enforced. Many politicians dreamed of multiculturalism.... This is not a question of folklore or foreign customs and traditions. It is a question of law and order. If the rule of law fails to establish its authority and demand respect for itself, then it can immediately declare its bankruptcy." — Franz Solms-Laubach, parliamentary correspondent, Bild.
German Muslims have established a self-styled biker gang — modelled on the Hells Angels — aimed at protecting fellow Muslims from the "ever-growing hatred of Islam," according to Die Welt.
The emergence of the group, which aspires to open chapters in cities and towns across Germany, has alarmed German authorities, who have warned against the growing threat of vigilantism in the country.
Muslim vigilantes enforcing Islamic justice have become increasingly common in Germany. The government's inability or unwillingness to stop them has led to the rise of anti-Muslim counter-vigilantes. Germany's BfV intelligence agency, in its latest annual report, warned that an escalating action-reaction cycle could result in open warfare on German streets.
The gang, which calls itself "Germanys Muslims" (the possessive apostrophe is not used in German), is based in Mönchengladbach and now has offshoots in Münster and Stuttgart. It was founded by Marcel Kunst, a German convert to Islam who also uses the name Mahmud Salam.
The gang's uniform consists of a black leather jacket with a logo depicting a one-fingered salute, the "Finger of Tawheed," which represents belief in the oneness of Allah. The logo also includes the number 1438, which represents the current year in the Muslim calendar, as well as the number 713, which stands for GM (Germanys Muslims), the seventh and thirteenth letters of the alphabet.
Police say they do not know how many people belong to the gang, which was established in May. The group's Facebook page, which has more than a thousand followers, describes itself as a "citizens' initiative" which advocates for the "peaceful coexistence between Muslims and non-Muslims in Germany." A mission statement dated June 15 reads: "Our organization has been founded for only one purpose: To protect and support our brothers and sisters from the ever-growing hatred of Islam!!! To all non-Muslims who read this post, pay attention. The following could change your perception of us!!! We respect every religion and, as dictated by the Quran, do not force our faith on anyone!!! We do not sympathize with the Islamic State and are against compulsion in faith and in marriage!!! ISLAM DOES NOT RECOGNIZE HONOR KILLINGS AS IS OFTEN SUPPOSED!!! The raised finger in our logo is not from the so-called Islamic State. In our faith it symbolizes that there is only one God!!! We have summarized 40 commandments from the Quran for you....IMPORTANT. Whoever gets into a fight on the road or elsewhere (except for self-defense) will be expelled from our group without further discussion!!!"
Although "Germanys Muslims" claims to disavow violence, police say that several of its senior members are known to be Salafists, whose aim is to replace liberal democracy in Germany with Sharia law. One of its members, for instance, was detained as a security precaution during the Tour de France, which passed through Mönchengladbach on July 2.
German police describe the group's founder, Kunst, as an "Islamist who moves in Salafist circles." In a video that is no longer available, Kunst called on the group's members to protect mosques and Muslim women.
In a July 27 interview with Die Welt, Isabella Hannen, spokeswoman for the Mönchengladbach Police Department, revealed that police met with Kunst on July 5 and warned him that "vigilantism will not be tolerated." They also stressed that the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force (Gewaltmonopol) is the exclusive domain of the state. On July 28, "Germanys Muslims" issued a statement saying that the group respects the authority of the state. "So far, we have no evidence that they are a danger, but we are keeping our eyes on them," Hannen said.
An illustrative photo of an "outlaw" motorcycle gang. (Image source: Roy Lister/Wikimedia Commons)
In its annual report released on July 4, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), said that Salafism is the "fastest-growing Islamic movement in Germany." The report revealed that the number of Salafists in Germany jumped to 9,700 in 2016, up from 8,350 in 2015; 7,000 in 2014; 5,500 in 2013; 4,500 in 2012; and 3,800 in 2011. According to the BfV:
"Salafists are seeking to impose a theocracy based on their interpretation of the Sharia and in which the liberal democratic order no longer applies. Political and jihadist Salafists share the same basic ideology. They differ primarily in the means by which they wish to achieve their objectives.... Nevertheless, it should be noted that political Salafism has an ambivalent relationship to violence... it does not always prohibit religiously-sanctioned violence."
A previous BfV report stated:
"The absolutist nature of Salafism contradicts significant parts of the German constitutional order. Specifically, Salafism rejects the democratic principles of separation of state and religion, popular sovereignty, religious and sexual self-determination, gender equality and the fundamental right to physical integrity."
The BfV also warned of the danger of civil unrest: "The potential threat posed by Salafist violence remains dangerously high. Salafist violence could create an additional dynamic through interactions with extremist groups from other 'hostile' ideological camps, as already occurred in individual cases in the past." The BfV was referring to an alliance between hooligans from rival football clubs who temporarily set aside their mutual hatred for each other in order to unite against a common enemy: radical Salafists. At one point, the grouping, known as Hooligans versus Salafists (HoGeSa), had more than 40,000 followers on its Facebook page before it was shut down by Facebook censors.
According to some commentators, the rise of HoGeSa was fueled in part by a growing sense of frustration that the German government is not doing enough to curb the spread of Islam in the country. Others said the group was incited by the Salafists' increasingly provocative support for replacing Germany's democratic order with Islamic law.
In Wuppertal, for example, seven self-appointed "Sharia Police" sparked public outrage when they distributed yellow leaflets which established a "Sharia-controlled zone" in the Elberfeld district of the city. The vigilantes urged both Muslim and non-Muslim passersby to attend mosques and to refrain from alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, gambling, music, pornography and prostitution.
In November 2016, however, the Wuppertal District Court ruled that the Islamists did not break German law and were simply exercising their right to free speech. The ruling, which effectively legitimized Sharia law in Germany, was one of a growing number of instances in which German courts are — wittingly or unwittingly — promoting the establishment of a parallel Islamic legal system in the country.
In Berlin, a hundred Islamists are now openly enforcing Sharia law on city streets, according to local police who are investigating a recent string of violent assaults in the German capital. The self-appointed morality police involve Salafists from Chechnya, a predominantly Sunni Muslim region in Russia. The vigilantes are using threats of violence to discourage Chechen migrants from integrating into German society; they are also promoting the establishment of a parallel Islamic legal system in Germany. German authorities appear unable to stop them.
Bild, the largest-circulation newspaper in Germany, recently warned that the country was "capitulating to Islamic law." In a special "Sharia Report" it stated:
"The 2013 coalition agreement between the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats promised: 'We want to strengthen the state's legal monopoly. We will not tolerate illegal parallel justice.' But nothing has been done."
In a commentary, Franz Solms-Laubach, Bild's parliamentary correspondent, wrote:
"Even if we still refuse to believe it: Parts of Germany are ruled by Islamic law! Polygamy, child marriages, Sharia judges — for far too long the German rule of law has not been enforced. Many politicians dreamed of multiculturalism.... This is not a question of folklore or foreign customs and traditions. It is a question of law and order. If the rule of law fails to establish its authority and demand respect for itself, then it can immediately declare its bankruptcy."
Meanwhile, German authorities have been fighting an uphill battle against an extremely violent "rocker" gang, the "Osmanen Germania" — "Ottoman Germania" — which consists mostly of Turkish Germans and, like the "Germanys Muslims" gang, is modeled on the Hells Angels.
The "Ottoman Germania" group, which claims to be a boxing club concerned about the welfare of young people, was founded after Hells Angels decided to allow non-Turkish migrants to join. Police say "Ottoman Germania" is an effort by former Turkish German members of the Hells Angels to protect their market share of organized crime.
The "Ottoman Germania" group is one of the fastest-growing gangs in Germany. Within months of its founding in April 2015, the group had established dozens of chapters across the country. Today the group, which profits from prostitution, extortion and the trafficking of weapons and drugs, operates across Europe, despite repeated police raids.
German authorities believe the "Ottoman Germania" is close to the Turkish government, which uses the group to fight Turkey's internal political struggles in Germany. Police say the gang also cooperates with Germany's Salafists.
*Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Moqtada al-Sadr in Riyadh
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al Awsat/August 01/17
The images of the Iranian regime’s hegemony over all aspects of life in Iraq are clear. From trade to construction and raw material to its control of the banks, government, parliament and political parties. A New York Times report said that the Iranians are controlling everything, from the television stations to the drug trade.Iran is trying to justify its presence and control by saying that Iraq needs it and that without it, it will collapse, even claiming that it liberated the city of Mosul from ISIS.
This is not true as the battle was primarily waged by the Iraqi army with US support.
Iran has however been working on building its power and presence in Iraq for 14 years, until it has now become its high ruler. The majority of Iraqi politicians, including Sunni Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds, who are familiar with the road to Tehran, head to it to receive the support and approval of its leadership. This is similar to how Lebanese politicians used to head to Syria to receive the blessing of the president in Damascus.
In light of this Iranian hegemony, we witnessed the brave visit of Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr, one of the most influential figures in Iraq, to Saudi Arabia. The visit confirms claims that he rejects this hegemony and instead insists on the independence of the Iraqi voice. It also comes as a challenge to politicians, such as Nouri al-Maliki, the current Iraqi vice president, who previously served as the worst prime minister in its history.
Sadr’s stance and that of a number of Iraqi leaderships is not based on rejecting good ties with the neighbor, Tehran, but it is against its tutelage. They oppose its control over resources and the authorities. They oppose altering the course of the river on the border and drilling for petrol in nearby areas. They oppose exploiting Iraqi companies and banks for secret and internationally-barred Iranian transactions. They oppose the formation of Iraqi militias outside the control of the state. They oppose the meddling of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Iraqi government and parliament, the appointment of governors and heads of municipalities, the management of state media and crack down on the private media.
Iraq is a great country and not a banana republic for an extremist religious regime in Tehran that is milking it financially in order to fund its military adventures in Syria, Lebanon and other areas.
Iraq today, under the hegemony of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a poor country by all standards, not due to a lack in financial resources, but due to the major corruption in its institutions and Iran’s looting of these resources.
It is in the interest of the countries in the region, such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), to support the independence of Iraq and make its people feel that they are not alone. I reiterate my old position that the GCC policy of disassociation was wrong as it facilitated Iranian meddling and allowed it to expand its influence. Looking at Iraq through a sectarian lense is a wrong interpretation of the political situation on the ground and demonstrates a lack of understanding of the political and social dynamic there.
Sadr’s visit to Saudi Arabia was preceded by one paid by Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi. This opened the doors that had been previously shut towards a positive and significant political shift towards the neighbor in the north.
It is natural to wonder if the Iraqis can confront Iran, which is clamping down fiercely on northern Syria, without caring for the horrible massacres committed by its militias there.
Saving Iraq is a mission tasked to the country’s nationalists regardless of their affiliations. Countries in the region are also responsible for taking a clear stance against the hegemony of the Ayatollah regime’s institutions, such as the Quds Force, on Iraq’s state institutions and political parties.
Iraq is a rich country by itself. It does not lack major resources like Syria and Yemen. It is capable of regaining its authority once the nationalist Iraqi leaders raise their voice loud for everyone, including Iran, to hear.
The Iraqis need to the world to listen that they will combat the Iranian hegemony and kick out the Revolutionary Guards from their land. This is a mission for the Iraqis, not the Gulf, Arabs or anyone else.

Artificial Intelligence Is Stuck. Here’s How to Move It Forward.
Gary Marcus/New York Times/August 01/17
Artificial Intelligence is colossally hyped these days, but the dirty little secret is that it still has a long, long way to go. Sure, A.I. systems have mastered an array of games, from chess and Go to “Jeopardy” and poker, but the technology continues to struggle in the real world. Robots fall over while opening doors, prototype driverless cars frequently need human intervention, and nobody has yet designed a machine that can read reliably at the level of a sixth grader, let alone a college student. Computers that can educate themselves — a mark of true intelligence — remain a dream.
Even the trendy technique of “deep learning,” which uses artificial neural networks to discern complex statistical correlations in huge amounts of data, often comes up short. Some of the best image-recognition systems, for example, can successfully distinguish dog breeds, yet remain capable of major blunders, like mistaking a simple pattern of yellow and black stripes for a school bus. Such systems can neither comprehend what is going on in complex visual scenes (“Who is chasing whom and why?”) nor follow simple instructions (“Read this story and summarize what it means”).
Although the field of A.I. is exploding with microdiscoveries, progress toward the robustness and flexibility of human cognition remains elusive. Not long ago, for example, while sitting with me in a cafe, my 3-year-old daughter spontaneously realized that she could climb out of her chair in a new way: backward, by sliding through the gap between the back and the seat of the chair. My daughter had never seen anyone else disembark in quite this way; she invented it on her own — and without the benefit of trial and error, or the need for terabytes of labeled data.
Presumably, my daughter relied on an implicit theory of how her body moves, along with an implicit theory of physics — how one complex object travels through the aperture of another. I challenge any robot to do the same. A.I. systems tend to be passive vessels, dredging through data in search of statistical correlations; humans are active engines for discovering how things work.
To get computers to think like humans, we need a new A.I. paradigm, one that places “top down” and “bottom up” knowledge on equal footing. Bottom-up knowledge is the kind of raw information we get directly from our senses, like patterns of light falling on our retina. Top-down knowledge comprises cognitive models of the world and how it works.
Deep learning is very good at bottom-up knowledge, like discerning which patterns of pixels correspond to golden retrievers as opposed to Labradors. But it is no use when it comes to top-down knowledge. If my daughter sees her reflection in a bowl of water, she knows the image is illusory; she knows she is not actually in the bowl. To a deep-learning system, though, there is no difference between the reflection and the real thing, because the system lacks a theory of the world and how it works. Integrating that sort of knowledge of the world may be the next great hurdle in A.I., a prerequisite to grander projects like using A.I. to advance medicine and scientific understanding.
I fear, however, that neither of our two current approaches to funding A.I. research — small research labs in the academy and significantly larger labs in private industry — is poised to succeed. I say this as someone who has experience with both models, having worked on A.I. both as an academic researcher and as the founder of a start-up company, Geometric Intelligence, which was recently acquired by Uber.
Academic labs are too small. Take the development of automated machine reading, which is a key to building any truly intelligent system. Too many separate components are needed for any one lab to tackle the problem. A full solution will incorporate advances in natural language processing (e.g., parsing sentences into words and phrases), knowledge representation (e.g., integrating the content of sentences with other sources of knowledge) and inference (reconstructing what is implied but not written). Each of those problems represents a lifetime of work for any single university lab.
Corporate labs like those of Google and Facebook have the resources to tackle big questions, but in a world of quarterly reports and bottom lines, they tend to concentrate on narrow problems like optimizing advertisement placement or automatically screening videos for offensive content. There is nothing wrong with such research, but it is unlikely to lead to major breakthroughs. Even Google Translate, which pulls off the neat trick of approximating translations by statistically associating sentences across languages, doesn’t understand a word of what it is translating.
I look with envy at my peers in high-energy physics, and in particular at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, a huge, international collaboration, with thousands of scientists and billions of dollars of funding. They pursue ambitious, tightly defined projects (like using the Large Hadron Collider to discover the Higgs boson) and share their results with the world, rather than restricting them to a single country or corporation. Even the largest “open” efforts at A.I., like OpenAI, which has about 50 staff members and is sponsored in part by Elon Musk, is tiny by comparison.
An international A.I. mission focused on teaching machines to read could genuinely change the world for the better — the more so if it made A.I. a public good, rather than the property of a privileged few.

Why a Referendum Won’t Solve Iraqi Kurdistan’s Problems
Jackson Diehl/The Washington Post/August 01/17
There’s a lingering impression in Washington that Iraqi Kurdistan is what it was five years ago, before the rise of ISIS: a peaceful, prospering, emerging pro-Western democracy whose aspirations for full independence from Iraq are increasingly hard to ignore.
Unfortunately, a great deal has changed since then, thanks to war, the US retreat from the region and the Kurds’ own dysfunctions. As the ISIS slowly crumbles to its south and west, Kurdistan is politically and economically broken. President Masoud Barzani remains in office four years after his term ended, and parliament has not met in almost two years. The government is deeply in debt and can scarcely afford to pay the three-quarters of the workforce who are state employees. The army and security services are divided into rival factions.
Barzani’s reaction to this distress has been to schedule a referendum on Kurdish independence for Sept. 25. The initiative has been rejected not just by the Iraqi federal government, but also by Kurdistan’s powerful neighbors Iran and Turkey, as well as the United States. More significantly, it is being viewed even by staunchly pro-independence Kurds as evidence that the region’s politics have reached a dangerous dead end.
The referendum is “an excuse by Kurdish leaders to remain in power,” says Shaswar Abdulwahid Qadir, the owner of Kurdistan’s independent NRT television network. “The younger generation doesn’t know anything about their fight in the mountains against Saddam Hussein. So the old leaders need another excuse to run the country for another 26 years.”
Those bitter words reflect Qadir’s perspective as one of a rising generation of Kurds — and Iraqis — struggling over how to create stable political institutions and a working economy amid the mess of sectarian conflicts, extremist movements and corrupt establishments littered across the post-ISIS landscape.
An independent television network is, at least, a place to start. While most Iraqi media are controlled by the government or political parties, Qadir is one of Kurdistan’s few self-made magnates: Born in the city of Sulaymaniyah, he started peddling electronic games as a teenager and became one of Kurdistan’s largest real estate developers before founding NRT in 2011, at the age of 32.
Launched under the slogan “courage, balance, truth,” the network saw its first office attacked and burned within a week of opening; Qadir blames militants from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the region’s two historical political forces. Two years later he survived an assassination attempt. Kurdish authorities have closed NRT’s offices and arrested its journalists on multiple occasions. Yet it has persisted and flourished: It now has two Kurdish channels, an Arabic channel covering all of Iraq, and an English-language website.
A referendum, Qadir says, might prompt Turkey to shut down that pipeline, through which Kurdistan exports the relative trickle of petroleum that is its only reliable revenue. It also might cause the Turks and Iran to back opposing factions of the army, which is divided between the PUK and Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party, triggering a resumption of the civil war they fought in the 1990s.
“What kind of Kurdistan would we have?” Qadir asked. “Would we have South Korea or South Sudan?”