LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

August 03/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.august03.16.htm

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Bible Quotations For Today

For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13/06-09/:"Then Jesus told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, "See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?"He replied, "Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig round it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down." ’

Paul in Malta Healing the sick
Acts of the Apostles 28/01-10/:"After we had reached safety, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The natives showed us unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they kindled a fire and welcomed all of us round it. Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire, when a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ‘This man must be a murderer; though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.’ He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were expecting him to swell up or drop dead, but after they had waited a long time and saw that nothing unusual had happened to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god. Now in the neighbourhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. It so happened that the father of Publius lay sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and cured him by praying and putting his hands on him. After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. They bestowed many honours on us, and when we were about to sail, they put on board all the provisions we needed."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on August 02-03/16
Who are You, Are you yourself?/Elias Bejjani/August 02/16
Syrians establish 'no-fly zone' over Aleppo/Haid Haid/Now Lebanon/August 02/16
U.S. Strikes Islamic State in Libya/Ben Fishman/The Washington Institute/August 02/16
A Guide to the Palestinian Lexicon/Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/August 02/16
Modern Slavery/Josephine Bacon/Gatestone Institute/August 02/16
Turkey Sets Ultimatum for EU Migrant Deal/Erdoğan is openly pursuing the Islamization of Europe/Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/August 02/16
Kashmir: New Islamic State Backed by New York Times, BBC/Vijeta Uniyal//Gatestone Institute/August 02/16
The Iranian foreign ministry’s new maneuvers on Syria/Camelia Entekhabi-Fard/Al Arabiya/August 02/16
Dividing Syria: A difficult mission/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/August 02/16
Can a Muslim immigrant deliver the defeat of Donald Trump?/Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/August 02/16
When the car was considered witchcraft/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/August 02/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on August 02-03/16

Who are You, Are you yourself?
Aoun dismisses 'fabricated' remarks attributed to him
Increasing Divisions inside Aoun’s FPM in wake of Internal Vote
National Dialogue Kicks Off in Ain el-Tineh as Berri Stresses Need for 'Package Deal'
Boroujerdi Voices Support for Dialogue, Says Iran Not Backing Certain Candidate
Change and Reform bloc renews calls to elect president, abide by parity
Report: Communication Broken with Abductors of Servicemen
Lifeguard, Summer Camp Supervisor Ordered Held after Kid Drowns
Nasrallah, Boroujerdi tackle current regional developments
Man Released after Brief Abduction in Bekaa
Salam, Patel tackle current developments
Palestinian killed by own brother in Ain el Hilwe
Tenants Rights Commission, National Proportionality Committee stage sit in at Riad Solh

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on August 02-03/16

Rescuers say gas dropped on Syrian town where Russian copter downed
Russian strikes slow rebel Aleppo assault
Arab coalition removed from child blacklist
Iraqi PM bans travel for MPs accused of defense corruption
Iraq PM orders probe into corruption allegations over weapons deals
Turkey issues arrest warrants for 100 staff at Ankara hospital
Turkey’s Erdogan says to restructure intelligence apparatus after coup bid
US aims to calm strained Turkey ties post-coup bid
Saudi Arabia slams move to form political council in Yemen
US, Israel narrow differences for new defense talks
Israel reverses funding curbs on Jewish schools not teaching math, science
UN prepares proposal on Western Sahara talks
Iran: At least 20 inmates were killed in a mass execution
Maryam Rajavi: Mass execution of Sunni prisoners is a crime against humanity and its perpetrators must be brought to justice
PMOI supporters in Iran prison summoned after secret mass executions

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on August 02-03/16
I had never been known for bigotry, racism, sexism…But within a month, I was all of those”
9 Trinidadians nabbed on their way to Syria to join the Islamic State
Panic mode: Khizr Khan deletes Muslim immigration law firm website
Islamic State: If Muslims ran America, black slave trade would have continued
CFR “terrorism theorist” Max Abrahms hits Trump for not distinguishing “law-abiding” Muslims from terrorists
Islamic State: Jesus is a “slave to Allah” who will wage jihad once he returns to earth
Howard Dean: “I don’t consider Iran to be a Muslim country”
Detroit: Muslim built up arsenal, talked of jihad massacre
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Khizr Khan’s Saudi Ties
Khizr Khan specializes in visa programs accused of selling U.S. citizenship
Huge increase in girls victimized by genital mutilation in U.S.
Ohio Muslim pleads guilty to jihad plot to attack US Capitol for the Islamic State
Authorities pay Swedish youngsters to play with Muslim migrants and “asylum seekers”
Police arrest 900 Muslim migrants in England and Wales for “sickening” crimes
India: Enraged Muslim mob storms police station, police seeking those who “hurt” their “religious sentiments”

on August 02-03/16

Who are You, Are you yourself?
Elias Bejjani/August 02/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/08/02/elias-bejjani-who-are-you-are-you-yourself/
Many people do not recognize consciously who they really are, and willingly and viciously hide behind fake faces, or let us say they put on deceiving masks.
Why? because they hate themselves, and mostly burdened with devastating inferiority complexes.
These chameleon like-people do not trust or respect themselves, have no sense of gratitude what so ever, lack faith in God and worship money.
Most of them were initially poor but suddenly became rich.
Instead of investing their riches that are graces from God in helping others and making them happy, especially those of their family members, they alienate themselves from every thing that is related to human feelings, and forget what is actual love, and that love is Almighty God.
They fall into temptation, live in castles of hatred, ruminate on grudges and contemplate revenge.
Not only that, but they start to venomously and destructively envy any one who is happy, respected and descent, but Evilly they use their riches and influence to inflict pain and misery on others.
They become mere sadists and enjoy pain of others, especially pain and suffering of those who are their family members that refuse to succumb and become evil like them
When we look around where ever we are it is very easy to identify many people who are of this evil nature.
The Question is, how they end?
They end paying for all their destructive and vicious acts, if not on this earth, definitely on the Day Of Judgment.
May Almighty God safeguard us from such evil people.

Aoun dismisses 'fabricated' remarks attributed to him
The Daily Star/August 02/16/BEIRUT: The Change and Reform bloc leader on Tuesday dismissed statements attributed to him in the media as inaccurate and fabricated. "Media outlets have been quoting unidentified sources attributing positions to [MP] Michel Aoun regarding developments and people," a statement issued by Aoun's press office said in a statement. Aoun has "remained silent for a while to avoid debates based on incorrect interpretations and explanations during a time where rumors thrive," it said. In the statement Aoun called on media outlets to refrain from publishing false and fabricated information "that harms the political stability in Lebanon and connections between officials."The press office didn’t specify which statements were inaccurate. However, some media reports have been saying that Aoun will imminently become Lebanon’s next president. "Respect our silence," Aoun said.

Increasing Divisions inside Aoun’s FPM in wake of Internal Vote
Paula Astih/Asharq Al Awsat/August 02/16
Beirut – Internal divisions inside Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement – led by General Michel Aoun and presided over by his son-in-law, Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil – have drastically increased in the wake of party elections aimed at choosing candidates for the country’s next parliamentary polls.
The elections saw the victory of several opponents to Bassil in various electoral districts, paving the way for an anti-Aoun movement that would include FPM supporters outside Lebanon. Sources close to Bassil said that such movements would decrease Aoun’s likelihood to become the country’s president.
Hundreds of voters cast ballots on Sunday to choose the party’s candidates for Lebanon’s coming parliamentary elections. The preliminary election, which is the first of its kind in the Middle Eastern country, came few days after the FPM expelled four of its prominent members – a move that caused a big wave of disappointment among a large number of party supporters.
The FPM expelled the prominent members Ziad Abs, Naim Aoun, Antoine Nasrallah and Paul Abi Haidar on charges of “committing repeated public and blatant violations that contradict with the simplest rules of organizational discipline despite repeated warnings.”In a statement, the FPM also warned all members against “tackling the movement’s internal affairs in the media and on social networking websites.”This move prompted many FPM supporters to vote against the Aoun-Bassil group. Ziad Abs received 170 votes against 184 votes received by his main contestant, former Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui, in Beirut’s first electoral district. The dispute had first erupted over Abs’ opposition to the FPM’s alliance in Beirut’s municipal elections. The dispute pitted him against former FPM minister Nicolas Sehnaoui. Naim Aoun, a nephew of the founder, and the other two FPM founding members were called before an FPM disciplinary tribunal because they criticized Bassil during a television interview on July 16. Sources close to Michel Aoun’s internal opposition movement, which is mainly led by Naim Aoun and former FPM officials Antoine Mukheiber, Ramzi Kanj, Nasrallah and Abs, said that the recent elections have confirmed that a large number of FPM voters were not supportive of Bassil and his current leadership. The sources added that the major results achieved by the opposition in most of the electoral districts were a clear proof of this fact.
The opposition sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that such divisions would not threaten Aoun’s chances to become Lebanon’s president, as the issue of presidency was mainly dominated by external factors and could not be affected by internal disagreements.

National Dialogue Kicks Off in Ain el-Tineh as Berri Stresses Need for 'Package Deal'
Naharnet/August 02/16/The national dialogue sessions between heads of the parliamentary blocs kicked off on Tuesday at Speaker Nabih Berri's residence in Ain el-Tineh to address a number of thorny issues that include the election of a president, the formation of a new government and a new voting system. Berri inaugurated the session by “reiterating the need to agree on a package deal that begins with the election of a president.” Progressive Socialist party leader MP Walid Jumbalt said: “There are some obstacles but things need patience. I agree with Berri on the necessity to carry on with the dialogue.”Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan stated after the meeting: “If we fail to reach a serious breakthrough in the election law we will return back to square one.”Berri had voiced expectations that a progress in the talks between the conflicting parties ranges from “zero percent to 100 percent,” although he did not consider the dialogue to be the last chance but more as an important opportunity that the interlocutors must seize to solve their differences, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Tuesday. Sources from Ain el-Tineh told the daily that “the path of the discussions is not clear,” pointing out that “Berri will open the debate in all directions in an attempt to achieve a breakthrough starting from the electoral law which could be a getaway for a solution.” The source added that the first day of the successive talks will determine the fate of the following sessions. Berri has called for the August 2, 3 and 4 dialogue sessions in a bid to resolve several stalled issues in the country. The speaker has proposed a package deal that involves holding parliamentary elections under a new electoral law before electing a new president and forming a new government. Should the parties fail to agree on a new law, the parliament's current extended term would be curtailed and the elections would be held under the 1960 law which is currently in effect, Berri says. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Boroujerdi Voices Support for Dialogue, Says Iran Not Backing Certain Candidate
Naharnet/August 02/16/Chairman of Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi on Tuesday voiced support for the national dialogue sessions that kicked off under the auspices of Speaker Nabih Berri, while noting that Iran does not have a favorite candidate in Lebanon's presidential race. “We hope dialogue among the parties will lead to resolving all the pending issues in Lebanon,” said Boroujerdi after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh. “The issue of the Lebanese presidency is a domestic affair and it only requires inter-Lebanese consensus but we are ready to listen to any initiatives,” he added. Asked whether Tehran was endorsing a certain presidential hopeful, the Iranian official said: “Of course not, of course not.”Earlier in the day, Boroujerdi held talks with Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in the presence of Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Fathali, a Hizbullah statement said. The conferees tackled “the latest political and security developments in the region,” the statement added. Boroujerdi had held talks earlier on Tuesday with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail. “The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly supports internal national unity in Lebanon and anything that can boost security, calm and stability in this brotherly country,” he told reporters after the meeting. “It also strongly supports the national dialogue that has started among the key and influential political movements and figures,” he added.
“We are fully ready to make any step that would lead to enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two brotherly countries,” Boroujerdi went on to say. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Iran-backed Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Change and Reform bloc renews calls to elect president, abide by parity
Tue 02 Aug 2016/NNA - Change and Reform parliamentary bloc renewed, following its weekly meeting on Tuesday, calls to respect the Constitution, in terms of electing a new president of the republic, and approving an election law based upon the proportional voting system, in order to ensure parity and effective partnership."We call to respect the Constitution by electing a president and ensuring partnership," MP Ibrahim Kanaan spoke in the wake of the meeting. "We hope that national dialogue would bear fruit," he added. "We proved that we believed in inter-Lebanese initiatives, throughout our agreement with Hezbollah and the Lebanese Forces," he reminded. Kanaan did not fail to praise the internal election inside the Free Patriotic Movement, calling all parties to follow suit.

Report: Communication Broken with Abductors of Servicemen
Naharnet/August 02/16/Security sources said on Tuesday that contacts between the Lebanese state and the abductors of the servicemen to negotiate their release have been cut for a long time, al-Akhbar daily reported. The contacts between the government and the leadership of the Islamic State group have been cut off for a long time after the IS refused to hand the party, mediating a release, any clue of the destiny of the abducted soldiers, said the daily. Lawyer and activist Nabil al-Halabi who has been involved in negotiations to free the abductees said on his Facebook page that he had met an IS mediator three times before the final negotiations to release the servicemen stopped. He pointed out that the data provided then stated that eight servicemen out of nine were still alive, according to the daily. The hostages' families vowed this week to resume their street protests to press authorities to address the case. The fate of the nine servicemen has been shrouded with mystery for several months now and the families are demanding to know whether their sons are alive or dead. The soldiers and policemen were among more than 30 servicemen who were abducted during the deadly 2014 battle between jihadists and the Lebanese army in and around the northeastern border town of Arsal. While al-Nusra Front released 16 captives as part of a swap deal in December 2015, nine hostages remain in the captivity of the IS group and Lebanese officials have vowed to exert efforts to secure their release.

Lifeguard, Summer Camp Supervisor Ordered Held after Kid Drowns
Naharnet/August 02/16/A lifeguard and a summer camp's supervisor were on Tuesday ordered held by the attorney general of the North district in connection with the drowning death of the child Kevin Metlej, media reports said. The toddler, 6, reportedly drowned during his participation in a summer camp at the Sawary Resort in the northern city of Batroun. In remarks to An Nahar newspaper, Kevin's uncle Imad Metlej launched negligence accusations against the summer camp's organizers – the boy's school – and the beach resort. The child's body “remained floating on the surface of the swimming pool for three minutes without anyone noticing,” he said. “Neither the trip's organizers nor the lifeguards paid attention to him as he was drowning, and had it not been for negligence, my nephew would not have died,” Metlej added. The child's parents have also decried perceived negligence.

Nasrallah, Boroujerdi tackle current regional developments
Tue 02 Aug 2016/NNA - Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah met on Tuesday with Head of Security and Foreign Affairs Commission of the Islamic Shura Council, Alaeddine Boroujerdi, and his accompanying delegation in the presence of Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Fateh Ali. Talks reportedly dwelt on most recent political and security developments in the broad region, as per a statement by Party Media Relations Bureau.

Man Released after Brief Abduction in Bekaa
Naharnet/August 02/16/A man who was briefly abducted has been freed early on Tuesday in the outskirts of the eastern town of Barqa in the Bekaa valley, the National News Agency reported. Late on Monday, four armed men in a Mercedes abducted Ibrahim Qozhaya Rabah on a road between the towns of Safra and Deir al-Ahmar, NNA said. The assailants have reportedly stolen 10,000 dollars that Rabah had in his possession, it added.
No further details were reported.

Salam, Patel tackle current developments
Tue 02 Aug 2016/NNA - Prime Minister, Tammam Salam, met on Tuesday at the Grand Serail with the new UK Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel, in the presence of British Ambassador to Lebanon, Hugo Shorter.
Talks reportedly touched on most recent developments.

Palestinian killed by own brother in Ain el Hilwe
Tue 02 Aug 2016/NNA - Palestinian Bilal Saad died of injuries after his brother shot him amid a family dispute, inside Ain-el-Hilwe refugee camp, National News Agency correspondent reported on Tuesday.

Tenants Rights Commission, National Proportionality Committee stage sit in at Riad Solh
Tue 02 Aug 2016/NNA - The Committee for the Defense of Tenants Rights and the National Commission for Proportionality Electoral Law are currently staging simultaneous sit ins at Riad Solh Square, NNA reporter said on Tuesday. The first sit in called for residential plans and a just rent law that would protect tenants, whereas the second sit in called for a just electoral law based on proportionality within one constituency outside confessional registry.

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on August 02-03/16

Rescuers say gas dropped on Syrian town where Russian copter downed
Reuters, Beirut Tuesday, 2 August 2016/A Syrian rescue service operating in rebel-held territory said on Tuesday a helicopter dropped containers of toxic gas overnight on a town close to where a Russian military helicopter was shot down hours earlier.
The opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) accused President Bashar al Assad of being behind the attack. Assad has denied previous accusations of using chemical weapons. A spokesman for the Syria Civil Defense said 33 people, mostly women and children, were affected by the gas, which they suspect was chlorine, in Saraqeb, in rebel-held Idlib province. The group, which describes itself as a neutral band of search and rescue volunteers, posted a video on YouTube apparently showing a number of men struggling to breathe and being given oxygen masks by people in civil defense uniforms. “Medium-sized barrels fell containing toxic gasses. The Syrian Civil Defense was not able to determine the type of the gas,” said the spokesman.The Syrian government and its Russian allies were not immediately available for comment. The SNC said in a statement: “After shelling, besieging and killing civilians and perpetrating war crimes on them, the Assad regime has resorted once again, and in breach of UN resolutions 2118 and 2235, to using chemical substances and toxic gasses. “The daily reality confirms that all the international agreements and previous security council decisions, be they about chemical weapons or otherwise, are meaningless for the Assad regime.” The Civil Defense spokesman said it was the second time Saraqeb had been hit by toxic gas. The group was aware of around nine suspected chlorine gas incidents across Idlib province since the conflict began, he said. Monitors at the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks violence on all sides in the civil war, said barrel bombs fell on Saraqeb late on Monday, wounding a large number of citizens. Russia’s defense ministry said a Russian helicopter was shot down near Saraqeb during the day on Monday, killing all five people on board, in the biggest officially acknowledged loss of life for Russian forces since they started operations in Syria.
Denials
The helicopter came down roughly mid-way between Aleppo and Russia’s main air base at Khmeimim in the western province of Latakia, near the Mediterranean coast. Russian air power began supporting Syrian President Bashar al Assad late last year, an intervention which tipped the balance of the war in Assad’s favor, eroding gains the rebels had made that year. The Russian defense ministry said the Mi-8 military transport helicopter was shot down after delivering humanitarian aid to Aleppo as it made its way back to Khmeimim. No group has claimed responsibility for downing the helicopter. Government and opposition forces have both denied using chemical weapons during the five-year-old civil war. Western powers say the government has been responsible for chlorine and other chemical attacks. The government and Russia have accused rebels of using poison gas. UN investigators established that sarin gas was used in Eastern Ghouta in 2013. The United States accused Damascus of that attack, which it estimates killed 1,429 people, including at least 426 children. Damascus denied responsibility, and blamed rebels. Later that year the United Nations and the Syrian government agreed to destroy the state’s declared stockpile of chemical weapons, a process completed in January 2016. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed in late 2015 that sulfur mustard, commonly known as mustard gas, had been used for the first time in the conflict, without saying which party in the many-sided conflict it thought had used it.

Russian strikes slow rebel Aleppo assault
By AFP Beirut Tuesday, 2 August 2016/Russian warplanes pounded the southern edges of Syria’s Aleppo city overnight, slowing a “last chance” rebel offensive against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, a monitor said Tuesday. Militants and rebel groups launched a major assault Sunday on the southern edges of the divided city in a bid to break a government siege of eastern opposition-held neighborhoods. But government fighters backed by Russia’s air force have put up a fierce defense of the southwestern outskirts. “The Russian raids didn’t stop all night on the front lines” there, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group. “This has slowed the offensive and allowed regime troops to retake five of the eight positions that rebels had taken since Sunday,” he added. Abdel Rahman said opposition fighters from the Fateh al-Sham Front, formerly Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, and allied Islamists were struggling to hold positions they had seized. The primary goal of the rebel assault is to seize the Ramussa district on the city’s southern outskirts, used as the main access route for regime forces and civilians living in government-controlled parts of Aleppo. Capturing Ramussa would simultaneously cut off government forces and give rebels a new access route to their besieged neighborhoods in east Aleppo. The Observatory said 50 rebels and allied jihadists had been killed since the operation began on Sunday, as well as dozens of regime troops. At least 30 civilians have been killed since Sunday in opposition bombardment of government-held southwestern districts of Aleppo, the monitor said. The city was once Syria’s economic powerhouse but has been ravaged by fighting, particularly in recent months as rebels and the regime each try to assert control. According to a Syrian military source, about 5,000 pro-regime fighters, including Iranian forces and the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, are taking part in the battle for the city, including fighting north of Aleppo. Facing off against them are thousands of fighters from the Fateh al-Sham Front and allied Islamists including the powerful Ahrar al-Sham faction. The Observatory called it the largest assault by rebel forces in Aleppo since 2012, when violence first broke out there and opposition fighters seized half the city. “This battle is the last chance for rebels. If they lose, it will be difficult for them to launch a new assault to break the siege,” Abdel Rahman said. More than 280,000 people have been killed and millions have been forced to flee their homes since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011.

Arab coalition removed from child blacklist
By Staff writer Al Arabiya News English Tuesday, 2 August 2016/United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon announced Tuesday the removal of the Saudi-led Arab coalition from a blacklist of those causing the deaths of hundreds of children in Yemen. The announcement came as Ban briefed the UN Security Council on the UN annual report on children and armed conflict. The Saudi-led coalition includes United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Senegal and Sudan. Ban previously removed the coalition from the blacklist temporarily - contained in an annex to the report - on June 6 pending a joint review after Saudi Arabia, a key UN donor, threatened to cut funding to the world body. Riyadh denied using threats. Saudi Arabia reacted then angrily to the preliminary UN decision to add the coalition to a list of children's rights violators after determining that it was responsible for 60% of the 785 children killed in Yemen last year. The UN Secretary-General agreed to a Saudi proposal to review the facts and cases cited in the report jointly with the coalition. Previously Ban met with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. And the United Nations has said that it expects the Saudi-led coalition to take measures in to address the row over the blacklist. During Tuesday's meeting, Ban said he has received information about measures taken by the coalition "to prevent and end grave violations against children" and added that "the forward-looking review continues" which indicates that the coalition will not to be put on the blacklist.

Iraqi PM bans travel for MPs accused of defense corruption
Reuters, Baghdad Tuesday, 2 August 2016/Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday said six lawmakers accused of corruption in the defense sector would not be allowed to travel abroad until a parliamentary committee had completed an investigation. Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi on Monday accused Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri and five other MPs of lobbying for businesses seeking contracts to sell overpriced planes, vehicles and other goods to the armed forces. He said they sought to influence ministry appointments and some tried to blackmail him. All six deny the accusations. The scandal comes at a critical time for Iraq as its armed forces gear up to recapture Mosul, the capital of Islamic State in Iraq, in what is meant to be a final push to defeat the militants.Earlier on Tuesday, parliament appointed a committee to probe the allegations, which will begin its work on Wednesday, the parliament's Integrity Commission head Talal al-Zobaie told Reuters. “This matter caused an earthquake in parliament,” he said. Separately, Abadi announced the six MPs, four men and two women, would not be allowed to travel until the investigations were completed. Obeidi made his announcement while appearing before parliament on Monday to respond to separate corruption allegations at his ministry. He previously called his summons to address MPs a “conspiracy by the corrupt.”The Iraqi defense ministry has been accused by lawmakers of wasting billions of dollars in public funds and weakening the armed forces to the point where they collapsed in 2014 in the face of the Islamic State threat. This allowed Islamic State to seize a third of Iraqi territory, but the group has since been pushed out of many of those areas by Shi'ite Muslim militias and a military that is slowly being rebuilt with the support of a U.S.-led coalition.Abadi's efforts to combat corruption in government have been met with resistance and caused major disruption to Iraqi politics. Iraq, which ranks 161 out of 168 on Transparency International's Corruption Index, but has faced resistance from within the political elite.

Iraq PM orders probe into corruption allegations over weapons deals
Reuters Tuesday, 2 August 2016/Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Monday ordered an investigation into allegations of corruption in weapons deals that risks re-igniting a political crisis ahead of planned military moves to retake Mosul from ISIS. Infighting over anti-corruption measures, which stalled government activity for several months and sparked clashes between protesters and security forces in Baghdad earlier this year, threatens to slow momentum to recapture Mosul and capitalize on battlefield gains against the ultra-hardline militants. Iraqi Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri denied charges of corruption made at a closed parliament session by Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi that was broadcast late Monday on state television. Obeidi told the session that Jabouri and other MPs he identified had lobbied on different occasions on behalf of companies or businessmen seeking contracts to sell planes, Hummer all-terrain vehicles, civilian cars or foodstuff to the army, or to appoint soldiers, officers and personnel at the ministry. Abadi said in a statement that he had directed the Integrity Commission, a government body tasked with fighting corruption, to investigate the accusations. Obeidi had been summoned to parliament to respond to allegations of graft in the Ministry of Defense, which has been accused of wasting billions of dollars in public funds and weakening the armed forces to the point where they collapsed in 2014 in the face of ISIS threat. “What happened today was a charade in order for the questioning not to be held”, Jabouri said in a televised news conference following the session. He also said he would refrain from chairing parliament until he can clear his name. ISIS seized a third of Iraqi territory two years ago, but has since been pushed out of many of those areas by Shi’ite Muslim militias and a military that is slowly being rebuilt with the support of a U.S.-led coalition. Former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who was forced to resign following an ISIS surge, was acting defense minister at the time. Abadi has been trying for more than two years to tackle corruption in Iraq, which ranks 161 out of 168 on Transparency International’s Corruption Index, but has faced resistance from much of the country’s political elite. Obeidi told state television in an interview on Saturday that the summons to appear in parliament was “a conspiracy by the corrupt, a political targeting because of tackling corruption”. He said that since taking over the ministry, he had cut down significantly on graft in weapons deals and “ghost soldiers” - members of the military who do not exist but whose salaries are collected.

Turkey issues arrest warrants for 100 staff at Ankara hospital
AFP, Istanbul Tuesday, 2 August 2016/Turkey on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for 100 staff, including doctors, at the main military hospital in Ankara as part of an investigation into last month’s failed coup, a Turkish official and reports said. Police were searching the Gulhane Military Medical Academy (GATA) hospital in the capital, the private NTV television reported. It was not immediately clear if any suspects had been detained. The Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that detention warrants had been issued without giving any number. Turkey blames the coup attempt on the organization of US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of running a group called Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETO), charges he denied. The official said that staff at the hospital were suspected of helping fast-track Gulen supporters into the military by giving them favourable medical reports. “GATA is crucial because this is where fitness and health reports are issued,” the official said. “There is strong evidence suggesting FETO members infiltrated this institution to slow down the career progress of their rivals within the military and fast-track their supporters.”

Turkey’s Erdogan says to restructure intelligence apparatus after coup bid
Reuters, Ankara Tuesday, 2 August 2016/Turkey will restructure its intelligence apparatus following a failed military coup last month because it was under the control of the US-based cleric blamed for staging the putsch, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.
In a televised speech in his palace in Ankara, Erdogan also said the European Union had failed to live up to its promises under a migration deal with Turkey despite his country’s successes in curbing illegal migration.

US aims to calm strained Turkey ties post-coup bid
Reuters, Istanbul Tuesday, 2 August 2016/America’s highest-ranking military officer sought on Monday to soothe strained ties with NATO ally Turkey, which was angered by the West’s response to a failed military coup and an apparent US reluctance to hand over the cleric it says was responsible. The fallout from the abortive coup on July 15, in which more than 230 people died as mutinous soldiers commandeered fighter jets, helicopters and tanks, has deepened a rift between Ankara and its Western allies. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and many Turks have been frustrated by US and European criticism of a government crackdown in the aftermath of the attempted putsch in a country vital to the US-led fight against ISIS and to stopping illegal migration to Europe. They have accused Western leaders of being more concerned about the rights of the plotters than the gravity of the threat to a NATO member.
More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation since the coup, prompting fears that Erdogan is cracking down on all dissent. “It is important that the United States, our friend and ally, display a clear and decisive stance against this terrorist coup attempt against our nation and democracy,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford during their meeting in Ankara. Condemning the failed coup in Turkey, Dunford, the principal military adviser to the American president, said his visit was to show solidarity and added that the United States supports Turkish democracy, a statement from Yildirim’s office said. Earlier on Monday, about 150 protesters marched to the US Embassy in Ankara to protest Dunford’s visit. “Coup plotter Dunford get out of Turkey,” the crowd chanted.
“Dunford go home. Send us Fethullah,” said one banner, in reference to US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose network of followers in the military and state institutions are blamed by Erdogan for orchestrating the coup plot. The 75-year-old cleric, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement in the failed coup. President Barack Obama has said Washington will extradite him only if Turkey provides evidence of wrongdoing. Dunford also met his Turkish counterpart and US personnel stationed at the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, used by the US-led coalition in the fight against ISIS.

Saudi Arabia slams move to form political council in Yemen
Saudi Gazette, Jeddah Tuesday, 2 August 2016/Saudi Arabia’s Council of Ministers on Monday reiterated that the agreement reached between Houthis and followers of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh to form a political council in Yemen is an obstacle to reach a political agreement to end the suffering of the Yemeni people. The Cabinet considered it as a flagrant violation of the resolutions of the Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the United Nations Security Council (Resolution 2216), as well as the Gulf Cooperation Council’s initiative and its executive mechanism and the outcome of the comprehensive national dialogue. Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, chaired the session at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah. Adel Al-Turaifi, minister of culture and information, said the Cabinet rejected unfounded allegations of some NGOs and human rights organizations that the Command of the coalition forces supporting legitimacy in Yemen is blocking delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Yemeni territories. It also emphasized that Saudi Arabia’s as the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to Yemen with spending so far more than $500 million worth of supplies.
**This article first appeared in the Saudi Gazette on Aug. 2, 2016.

US, Israel narrow differences for new defense talks
Reuters, Washington/Jerusalem Tuesday, 2 August 2016/The United States and Israel have narrowed their differences over what could be decisive negotiations this week to seal a multibillion-dollar military aid package for Washington’s top Middle East ally, officials said on Monday. Raising hopes for removal of a key sticking point, Israel has signaled it may accept the Obama administration’s demand that US military funds, until now spent partly on Israeli arms, will eventually be spent entirely on US-made weapons, according to congressional sources. It would mark a major concession by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after months of tense negotiations over the 10-year aid pact. But Netanyahu, who has had a fraught relationship with President Barack Obama, has apparently decided it would be best to forge a deal with him rather than hoping for better terms from the next US president, according to officials on both sides. Obama leaves office in January. Differences on the package have underscored continuing friction over last year’s US-led nuclear deal with Iran, Israel’s regional archfoe. The United States and Israel have also been at odds over the Palestinians. The State Department last week criticized Israel for planned Jewish settlement expansion on occupied land. Netanyahu sent Jacob Nagel, acting head of Israel’s national security council, to Washington on Monday to lead three days of talks. A person briefed by Netanyahu said the prime minister expressed hope that Nagel would be able to “finalize” negotiations on a new memorandum of understanding and that it would mean increased funding. A senior US official reiterated the Obama administration’s pledge to sign a new MOU that would “constitute the largest single pledge of military assistance to any country in US history.” The current pact, signed in 2007 and due to expire in 2018, gave Israel around $30 billion in so-called foreign military financing. US negotiators are believed to have stuck to a previous offer of $3.5 billion to $3.7 billion annually for Israel under the new MOU, substantially less than the $4 billion a year Netanyahu has sought but still a substantial increase.

Israel reverses funding curbs on Jewish schools not teaching math, science
AFP, Jerusalem Tuesday, 2 August 2016/Ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools in Israel will have access to state funds without having to teach core subjects such as math, as parliament on Tuesday reversed proposed reforms. The move was part of an agreement bringing ultra-Orthodox political parties into a coalition which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed in 2015. The law passed on Tuesday reverses reforms led by liberal Yesh Atid party - now part of the opposition - two years earlier. According to a statement issued by the Knesset, or parliament, the education minister - currently Naftali Bennett of the national-religious Jewish Home - will now be able to decide how much secular studies the institutions will be obliged to teach. Under the Yesh Atid reform, which had been set to be implemented in 2018, funds would be withheld from schools that received partial state support if they did not teach at least 55% of the required core curriculum subjects such as math, English and science, seen as crucial for eventually joining the work force. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, who was finance minister when the reforms were passed, said ahead of the vote that the new law “would damage an entire generation of young people and rob them of their right to make a living”. Zehava Galon of the left-wing Meretz party said: "When a group funded by the state rejects its fundamental values - it shouldn't be funded by the state." Around 40,000 pupils are registered with ultra-Orthodox schools in Israel.
The scrapped legislation created unnecessary tensions and would have made it difficult for the state to supervise ultra-Orthodox schools, an education ministry official told AFP. “The (Yesh Atid) law created a conflict with the ultra-Orthodox sector," he said. "Education should be through dialogue, not coercion.” Meir Porush of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, who is also deputy education minister, said the claim his sector did not learn mathematics and other core curriculum subjects was “a lie and incitement.” Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up about 10 percent of Israel's Jewish population, and enjoy political influence beyond their numbers with influential factions in parliament that work to secure a wide range of benefits for their community. Netanyahu's previous coalition in 2013-2015 did not include the ultra-Orthodox parties. It passed legislation on sensitive issues such as the exception of the ultra-Orthodox from military service and the funding of schools, with the current government now having reversed many of the planned changes.

UN prepares proposal on Western Sahara talks
AFP, United Nations Tuesday, 2 August 2016/The United Nations is preparing a formal proposal to jumpstart talks on settling the decades-old conflict over Western Sahara, a spokesman said Monday. UN envoy Christopher Ross is ready to travel to the region to discuss the proposal on “re-invigorating the Western Sahara negotiating process,” said spokesman Farhan Haq. “A formal proposal is being made to the parties and neighbouring states,’ he added. Four rounds of UN-sponsored talks held between Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which is campaigning for a referendum on self-rule, have failed to make progress since 2007. The UN Security Council nevertheless said in a resolution adopted in April that the parties must prepare for a fifth round. No date has been announced for Ross’s trip, which follows months of strained relations between the United Nations and Morocco following Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to the region. After Ban described the status of Western Sahara as an “occupation”, Morocco reacted angrily and expelled dozens of staff from the UN mission in the territory, known as MINURSO.

Iran: At least 20 inmates were killed in a mass execution
You're too late' –families not allowed to say goodbye before mass execution in Iran – The Express
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/08/02/iran-at-least-20-inmates-were-killed-in-a-mass-execution/
Tuesday, 02 August 2016
At least 20 inmates were killed in a mass execution
The following is a report published by Britain's Express about the brutal massacre of Sunni prisoners in Iran today:
The Express
'You're too late' Heartbreak of families who miss final goodbye before mass execution
FAMILIES preparing to say a final farewell ahead of a mass execution were told they were too late and their loved ones were already dead by prison officials.
By KATIE MANSFIELD
PUBLISHED: 20:45, Tue, Aug 2, 2016 | UPDATED: 20:54, Tue, Aug 2, 2016
Relatives of prisoners were told this morning to visit one last time but when they arrived they were told the inmates had already been hanged.Instead of saying goodbye, the families were told to go to the morgue to collect the bodies. The mass execution took place at Gohardasht Prison in Iran this morning, with at least 20 Sunni inmates hanged. Gohardasht Prison has declared a state of emergency and it's believed the execution was brought forward in order to avoid protests. The mass execution has been slammed by the National Council of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), who are fighting for more human rights in the Islamic Republic.Shahin Gobadi, of the NCRI Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "There's a long precedent by the regime in first executing prisoners and then informing their families. "One explanation for this is that the regime is afraid of a public backlash and protests outside the prison by the families to halt the executions.
"It is particularly cruel as none of the mothers and fathers managed to say goodbye to their loved ones." Some of the bodies were hastily buried in the Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery. The prisoners had been moved by security forces hours earlier with reports of inmates hands and feet being chained and their mouths taped shut and heads covered with bags. It's believed they were moved to an undisclosed location ahead of the mass execution. Prison authorities cut off the building's phone lines and put inmates not on death row on lockdown during the killings. Maryam Rajavi the Iranian Resistance's President-elect, said the execution was "an appalling crime against humanity."The hangings come during the 28th anniversary of the 1988 executions which thousands of prisoners executed in a series of state-sanctioned killings over a five month period. Shahram Ahmadi is among the Sunni prisoners executed.

Maryam Rajavi: Mass execution of Sunni prisoners is a crime against humanity and its perpetrators must be brought to justice
NCRI/Tuesday, 02 August 2016
Maryam Rajavi called the execution of a large number of Sunni prisoners in Gohardasht Prison, "an appalling crime against humanity." The Iranian Resistance's President-elect extended her sincere condolences to the families of the victims, the Sunni community and all the people of Iran. She called on Iranian youths to stage protests against such barbaric crimes and to rise up in support of and in solidarity with the families of the victims. She also urged Shiite and Sunni clergies around the world to not remain silent vis-à-vis this major atrocity and denounce Ali Khamenei, the great enemy of the people of Iran and the region, for his anti-human and anti-Islamic crimes. Maryam Rajavi added: The mullahs' anti-human regime carried out the mass execution of our Sunni brothers on the anniversary of the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran. They are trying in vain to contain the volatile social atmosphere and popular protests by terrorizing the public. The NCRI President-elect pointed out: The 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran is the biggest crime of its kind since World War II. The clerical regime's crimes systematically committed over the past 37 years are all examples of crime against humanity, war crimes or genocide. And how the international community reacts to these crimes is its great test. The time has come for the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council to end their silence and bring the record of the Iranian regime's crimes before the International Criminal Court. Ali Khamenei and other leaders of the regime as well as direct perpetrators of these crimes must be brought to justice, Maryam Rajavi reiterated. A large number of Sunni prisoners were hanged this morning, Tuesday, August 2, 2016, at Gohardasht Prison, in Karaj. According to the victims' families, at least 20 have been executed. Prison authorities declared a state of emergency, disconnected all telephone booths and prevented prisoners from referring to the prison's dispensary. The regime's Judiciary had told the families of prisoners that they had time until 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon to go to prison for a final visit with their children. However, before they arrived, the Ministry of Intelligence contacted the families and said they should go to the Coroner's of Kahrizak to receive the bodies of their children. Shahram Ahmadi is among the Sunni prisoners executed. He was wounded in April 2009 at the time of arrest by Intelligence agents and lost one kidney and part of his intestine. He was badly tortured for 43 months in solitary confinement in the Intelligence Department's detention center in Sanandaj, as a result of which he contracted various illnesses and lost his hearing to a large extent. In October 2012, the mullahs' Judiciary sentenced him to death on the alleged charge of Moharebeh, or waging war on God. His younger brother, Bahram Ahmadi who was under 18 years old at the time of arrest, was executed in Ghezel Hessar Prison in January 2012 along with five other Sunni political prisoners.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran/August 2, 2016

PMOI supporters in Iran prison summoned after secret mass executions
Tuesday, 02 August 2016/NCRI – At 17.30 (local time) on Tuesday, August 2, 2016, prison wardens in the notorious Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran, summoned numerous political prisoners who support the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK). This move came just hours after the mullahs’ regime is believed to have mass executed more than 20 Sunni prisoners in the notorious jail.
The political prisoners who were summoned included PMOI (MEK) supporter Afshin Baymani.
Mr. Baymani was subsequently transferred to an unknown location.
Gohardasht Prison is currently on a state of alert with a heavy security presence.
Mohammad Mohaddessin, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), reacted to the news that the Iranian regime on Tuesday mass executed a group of Sunni prisoners in Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran:
The NCRI’s Mohammad Mohaddessin said: “Ali Khamenei's religious dictatorship in Iran in yet another brutal crime this morning hanged 20 Sunni prisoners. This inhuman crime took place simultaneous with the anniversary of the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in Iran. The mullahs' regime is facing absolute social isolation and widespread abhorrence by the people and thus is resorting to increased executions to create a climate of fear and to prevent the possibility of a nationwide uprising. More than 2500 people have been executed in Iran under Hassan Rouhani, who falsely claimed to seek moderation. For as long as the mullahs' regime is in power, there will continue to be further executions, torture and other crimes. If this regime halts torture and execution even for a single day, it would immediately lead to its overthrow.
“The international community's silence in the face of this crime is shameful for modern day humanity. If this regime and its leaders and officials are not prosecuted for crimes against humanity, then what good are the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Court? The UN Security Council has an obligation to bring the regime's criminal record before a competent international court. Ali Khamenei, [former President] Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, Hassan Rouhani and other such criminals who have had a direct role in the execution of 120,000 political prisoners to date, including the 1988 massacre, must be brought to justice.”
UPDATE: Sunni prisoners believed to have been mass executed today in Iran
NCRI – According to information from Iran's notorious Gohardasht (Rajai-Shahr) Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran, the mullahs' regime is believed to have mass executed Sunni prisoners on Tuesday.
Their families had been informed to go to the prison before 15.00 (local time) on Tuesday to visit them for a final time.
One of the families who were on route to the the prison were called in the middle of the road and told that they should instead collect the body of their loved one from the morgue.
Another report from the family of a victim said the families were told to visit their loved ones for a final time in the prison before 15.00. When the family arrived at the prison, they were told to go instead to the coroner's office to collect the body of their loved one who had already been executed.
List of names of 28 Sunni prisoners who had been forcibly moved out of Hall 10 of Ward 4 in Gohardasht Prison in the afternoon of Monday, August 1, 2016:
Kaveh Veysi
Taleb Molki
Behrouz Shah-Nazari
Barzan Nosratollah-Zadeh
Farzad Shah-Nazari
Varya Qaderi-Fard
Keyvan Momeni-Fard
Alam Bamashti
Seyyed Jamal Seyyed-Moussavi
Edris Ne'mati
Ahmad Nasiri
Mokhtar Rahimi
Yavar Rahimi
Pourya Mohammadi
Farzad Honarjou
Shahram Ahmadi
Farshid Nasseri
Amjad Salehi
Omid Peyvand
Arash Sharifi
Kaveh Sharifi
Shahu Ebrahimi
Abdollah Sharifi
Jamal Qaderi
Omid Mahmoudi
Mohammad Gharibi
Fouad Yousefi
Keyvan Karimi
Background:
Iran: Call for urgent action to save lives of Sunni prisoners on death row
The Iranian Resistance makes a call to save the lives of a large number of Sunni prisoners on death row, requesting urgent intervention by the United Nations Security Council and Member States, and international human rights organizations, especially the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and Special Rapporteur to prevent the implementation of these criminal and inhumane rulings.
A large number of special Revolutionary Guards forces raided hall 10 of ward 4 in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj (west of Tehran) in the afternoon of Monday, August 1. These repressive forces apprehended dozens of Sunni prisoners as their hands and feet were chained, mouths shut with tape and heads covered with plastic bags. These prisoners were transferred outside of the ward to an undisclosed location.
Hours prior to this transfer the regime’s forces and IRGC members had closed all wards and open-air areas, imposing special conditions in the jail. Gohardasht Prison is under the complete IRGC control.
Appeasement vis-à-vis the criminal rulers of Iran, with the execution of 120,000 political prisoners in their report card, and sending more youths to the gallows with each passing day, is nothing but collaborating and encouraging the continuation of these crimes. All political and economic relations with this regime must be conditioned to the complete halt of all executions in Iran, and this regime’s officials must be placed before justice for their crimes against humanity.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran/August 1, 2016

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on August 02-03/16

Syrians establish 'no-fly zone' over Aleppo
Haid Haid/Now Lebanon/August 02/16
Tired of waiting for foreign assistance, Syrians unilaterally came up with a creative solution to hamper the regime’s deadly air power
Smoke billows following a reported strike by pro-Syrian government forces in a rebel-held neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo on July 12, 2016. (AFP/Karam al-Masri)
A no-fly zone was reportedly established in Aleppo on Sunday, July 31, according to Syrian activists. However, this no-fly zone is unconventional as it was not set up via a UN Security Council resolution nor enforced by foreign superpowers. Syrians in Aleppo province created the no-fly zone to support a major offensive launched by Jaysh al-Fatah, a coalition of rebel groups, to break the siege imposed by the Syrian regime on the opposition-held parts of the city. This counter attack came days after pro-Syrian government forces were able to cut off the Castello Road, the only route in and out of rebel-held areas of Aleppo. An estimated 300,000 citizens in Aleppo are currently under siege, which has led to a spiralling rise in food prices due to shortages in opposition neighbourhoods. The use of air power has been Assad’s trump card in the Syrian conflict, which only increased in significance after Russia intervened in support of the Syrian regime in September 2015. To combat this advantage, the rebels’ offensive was also coupled with calls for civilians to create their own no-fly zone by burning tires, which created a big cloud of black smoke to obstruct the view of the planes and limit their influence on the battle.
Aleppo is currently the second-largest city in Syria and the country’s former economic powerhouse. Its countryside is a rebel stronghold and one of their main supply lines. The city was divided into government and rebel zones — west and east, respectively — since mid-2012. The front lines remained fairly static since then; however, this recently changed when the regime was able to encircle opposition groups by advancing around the city. No food, medical aid or humanitarian assistance has been able to reach the population of Aleppo’s rebel-held territory for several weeks now, due to the intensity of the fighting in the area. The capture of Aleppo could prove a decisive turning point in the conflict as it would allow Assad to project power beyond his strongholds and destroy whatever diplomatic hopes remain for a negotiated political solution to the conflict.
Pictures and videos of burning tires have been widely circulated on social media by Syrian activists since the beginning of the offensive to break the siege of Aleppo. Civilians were reportedly burning tires to create smoke and obstruct the view of the fighter jets, which are used to support regime ground troops in the area. “The international community has ignored our calls for a no-fly zone to protect civilians from barrel bombs and other types of indiscriminate aerial attacks. Therefore, we Syrians have decided to protect ourselves by establishing our own no-fly zone,” said Maher al-Ahmed, a Syrian activist in Aleppo. Although people on the ground are not sure about how useful the smoke from burning tires has been in limiting planes’ visibility, they continue to do it as an act of resistance. “We do not really know how useful burning tires could be to stop the airstrikes and barrel bombs. We noticed that when there are storms or fog the number of airstrikes reduces significantly, therefore we thought that creating enough smoke could create the same results. But whether it helps or not, this is the only way left to mitigate the risk of the airstrikes,” said Mohammed Rasheed, a local resident in besieged eastern Aleppo.
Local and international activists have been supportive of such acts of resistance, despite its questionable effectiveness in protecting civilians. Some activists expressed astonishment at how creative Syrians have been in continuing their peaceful resistance against the regime. “Despite the war and atrocities, people in Syria did not lose hope in themselves and their ability to change their circumstances. They are collectively working on creating a giant cloud of smoke and creating their own no-fly zone. They keep surprising me by how strong their will is and how brilliant they are,” said Nohad Ryad, a Syrian activist based in Turkey. International activists have also been supportive of such tactics to protect civilians. “These burning tires are saving lives that the billions of dollars spent on the 'war in Syria' refuse to. Residents are now burning tires to create smoke so the fighter jets cannot see the hospitals, schools and homes they like to target. Yet again, Syrians are left to save themselves,” wrote activist Anna Nolan, a member of The Syria Campaign activist group.
This resistance tactic has not only been popular inside the city of Aleppo but also in its countryside, especially in the areas that have recently witnessed an increase in the number of airstrikes against them. It was reported by Syrian activists that burning tires has become popular as a way to either protect civilians or to show solidarity with Aleppo. My city Attarib has recently witnessed a spike in the number of the airstrikes against the city, which killed at least 80 people. On July 24 alone, the city was hit by more than 30 airstrikes in less than one hour and all of the attacks were targeting civilians and civilian facilities. The media center in Attarib published on Sunday, July 31, a picture of the sky above the city filled with smoke after the area was hit with three airstrikes that day. “We know that people elsewhere do not really care about our protection, therefore we have to do everything in our power to survive and to protect our loved ones. We hope that burning tires will stop Assad’s attacks against us,” said Abdulla Brahim, a local activist in Attarib. Tires were also burned in other towns and cities to show solidarity with Aleppo. “We feel hopeless towards what’s happening in Aleppo and towards the besieged people there. Burning tires made us feel that we could contribute to the protection of civilians in Aleppo. Hopefully what we are doing will be able to help them,” said Rami al-Ahmed, a media activist in northern Syria.
Such a no-fly zone is more symbolic in meaning, rather than possessing an actual ability to stop Syrian regime air power, let alone Russian capabilities. However, it shows how resilient and creative Syrians are in changing their own circumstances. It also shows how important such a no-fly zone is for the protection of civilians. Additionally, it highlights the size of the humanitarian catastrophe that will take place in Aleppo if Assad is left free to besiege and starve thousands of civilians to death.
Haid Haid is a Syrian researcher who focuses on foreign and security policy, conflict resolution, and Kurdish and Islamist movements. He tweets @HaidHaid22

U.S. Strikes Islamic State in Libya
Ben Fishman/The Washington Institute/August 02/16
Together with a domestic oil deal, the American airstrikes could mark an important turn for the war-torn nation.
The Department of Defense confirmed yesterday that the United States had conducted airstrikes on the Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Sirte, Libya. This development, together with a long-overdue agreement on oil production, represents a much-needed win for the Government of National Accord (GNA), as Libya's interim government is known. Nevertheless, Libya still confronts deep instability.
ATTACKS A RESPONSE TO LIBYAN REQUEST
According to Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook, the "precision" strikes on IS targets were conducted at the GNA's request, consistent with the overall U.S. approach to countering the jihadist group by supporting "capable and motivated local partners." Following considerable progress in early June by Libyan militias against IS in Sirte, they encountered stiff resistance and suffered significant casualties from snipers and improvised explosive devices when trying to advance on the central part of the city and the Ouagadougou Conference Center, formerly used by Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi to host Arab and African dignitaries. The airstrikes represent an additional U.S. step beyond the previously acknowledged provision of intelligence and tactical advice to GNA-aligned militias in the battle for Sirte. According to U.S. Africa Command, manned and unmanned aircraft conducted the strikes, which will likely continue in the coming days. The U.S. special envoy to Libya, Jonathan Winer, tweeted that "U.S. forces will not engage in ground operations." Cook elaborated, "We do not expect U.S. forces to be part of this specific operation."The Libyan request for U.S. help was meaningful, especially when contrasted with the GNA's public response to a Benghazi helicopter crash that killed three French Special Forces members in July. After the crash, the GNA condemned the French presence in the city and accused them of "foreign interference," an always-sensitive issue in Libya. The reality was more complicated. The French were most likely providing quiet assistance in Gen. Khalifa Haftar's battle against non-IS Islamist forces in the country. For their part, Haftar and his forces remain stubbornly opposed to the GNA, and it is unclear whether the GNA had tacitly agreed to the French presence in Benghazi or whether the Libyan governing body was truly caught by surprise. Yesterday's press statement by GNA prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj emphasized that the United States is coordinating closely with and seeking to strengthen the GNA. Further, Sarraj emphasized that the airstrikes came at the GNA's request, will be time-limited, and will not extend beyond the Sirte area.
A PROMISING OIL DEAL
On the oil front, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) brokered a deal between the GNA and the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) that could boost Libyan exports above current levels of roughly 300,000 barrels per day (b/d). Until now, the PFG has effectively blocked exports from the major terminals in the east -- Ras Lanuf, Zuwaitina, and Sidra. PFG head Ibrahim Jadhran initially seized the terminals in 2013-2014 as a political maneuver to promote eastern federalism, or greater political independence for Libya's eastern region. But as the months wore on and IS emerged in Sirte, threatening the PFG's influence and territory, Jadhran's forces aligned with GNA fighters from Misratah, which likely improved his political ties with the GNA. In July, the head of UNSMIL made a much-publicized visit to Jadhran, paving the way for an agreement to lift the siege on the facilities in exchange for an unknown payment.
The secrecy and money at stake threatened to scuttle the deal. The chairman of Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC), in a scathing letter, charged that the UNSMIL action "sets a terrible precedent and will encourage anybody who can muster a militia to shut down a pipeline, an oil field, or a port to see what they can extort." Once the deal was apparently modified to indicate that the PFG would only receive retroactive salary payments, the NOC endorsed the deal, and projected that production could increase to 900,000 b/d by year's end. That estimate may be overly optimistic given the damage to all components of Libya's production capacity and the potential for additional spoilers, including from Haftar-aligned forces, not just terrorists. Still, in addition to the benefits of increased production, the agreement with the PFG demonstrates a first instance of successful GNA negotiation with a major militia constituency with political influence.
CONCLUSION
In the last several days, the GNA has taken notable steps forward, building some momentum toward establishing its credibility. It has a very long way to go, though, and every day will present significant political, economic, and security struggles. Shortages of medical supplies -- as well as electricity and various staples -- remain a constant challenge, as illustrated by the recent closure of Tripoli Hospital’s emergency department. And as the French Special Forces incident demonstrated, assuaging segments of Libyan society over the U.S. airstrikes will prove politically challenging. Yet if the strikes can weaken IS holdouts to the point that they can be captured by Libyan forces, such an outcome would not only strengthen the GNA but also benefit America's standing in Libya, potentially clearing the way for further U.S. contributions to Libya's stability.
*Ben Fishman, a former research associate at The Washington Institute, is the editor of the 2015 book North Africa in Transition: The Struggle for Democracies and Institutions. He served on the National Security Council staff from 2009 to 2013, including as director for North Africa and Jordan.

A Guide to the Palestinian Lexicon
Khaled Abu Toameh/Gatestone Institute/August 02/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8606/palestinian-lexicon
Many Palestinians refer to cities inside Israel proper as "occupied." Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Tiberias, Ramle and Lod, for example, are often described in the Palestinian media as "Palestinian Cities" or "Occupied Cities." Jews living in these cities, as well as other parts of Israel, are sometimes referred to as "Settlers."
Many Palestinians have still not come to terms with Israel's right to exist. For them, this not only about the "occupation" of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The real "occupation", for them, began with the creation of Israel in 1948.
Non-Arabic speakers may find this assertion baseless, because what they hear and read from Palestinian representatives in English does not reflect the messages being relayed to Palestinians in Arabic.
It is no secret that Palestinian leaders have failed to prepare their people for peace with Israel, and deny its right to exist.
"But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought." — George Orwell, 1984.
What do you do if you do not like Israel, but have only one outlet for that dislike: expressing it in rhetoric and print?
Well, if you are a Palestinian, you can always come up with your own terminology -- one that sheds negative light on Israel and anything that is associated with it. This is precisely the tack Palestinians have taken over the past few decades, inventing their own terms and phrases when talking about Israel.
George Orwell, of course, saw through this behavior. For him, "language can also corrupt thought." The anti-Israel sentiments, delivered for decades by Palestinians, not only corrupt thought, but also incite people against Israel, by creating incendiary situations that are designed to burst into flames.
To be clear: this is not the familiar incitement in the Palestinian media that is discussed in international forums.
This is a different color. This incitement demonizes Israel and Jews. In this narrative, Israel is evil, as well as alien to the Middle East.
Orwell, in his wise remarks on language, did not mention the deceit of multiple tongues. But that deceit is deeply embedded in the Palestinian discourse on Israel.
Political affiliations somewhat determine which terminology is employed by Palestinians with reference to Israel. Yet across affiliations, Palestinians employ extremely negative terms to discuss Israel.
Until the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the "moderate" Fatah faction, currently headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, referred to Israel, as its Palestinian brothers do today, as the "Zionist entity." That was before the PLO officially recognized Israel under the terms of the Oslo Accords. Back then, it was considered disgraceful and unacceptable to call Israel by its name, lest that be interpreted, God forbid, as recognition of Israel.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking in Arabic at a press conference broadcast December 24, 2014, used the word "Israel" in explaining that he refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. (Image source: Palestinian Media Watch)
More than two decades later, Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction and the Palestinian Authority (PA) still find it difficult to mention the name Israel.
Since its creation in 1994, the Palestinian Authority's official policy (in Arabic) has been to refer to Israel as "the Other Side." These were the instructions handed down to PA civil servants and security personnel, and they remain in effect today.
In those days, when the PA security forces were still conducting "joint patrols" with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in many parts of the West Bank, Palestinian policemen were banned from using the name Israel or IDF, especially when they were communicating with their colleagues and commanders through walkie-talkies. The names Israel and IDF were replaced with "the Other Side."
A senior Palestinian security official who was asked about this back then admitted that the orders came directly from the office of Yasser Arafat. "Yes, we signed an agreement that recognizes Israel, but most of our officers and policemen still have a real problem mentioning the name Israel," the officer said.
The instructions remain in effect even as the Palestinian Authority continues to conduct "security coordination" with Israel. Palestinian security and civilian officials who maintain daily contact with their Israeli counterparts regularly refrain from uttering the names Israel or IDF. In a sliver of good news, they no longer refer to Israel as the "Zionist Entity."
Yet the Palestinian media and representatives of the PA, in their statements (in Arabic), continue to use terminology that is degrading and even abusive when it comes to dealing with Israel.
Israel, for example, is often referred to as the "State of Occupation" and the Israeli Government is described as the "Government of Occupation."
Many Palestinians remain opposed to the use of the name Israel because they simply do not recognize its right to exist.
Palestinian writer Muhsen Saleh criticized some Arabs and Palestinians for sometimes using the name Israel in their speeches and writings:
"For many years, the Arabs and regimes and their media outlets refused to use the name 'Israel' when referring to the usurper entity that was established on large parts of the land of 1948 Palestine. They used to refer to it as the enemy, the Zionist entity or the Occupation, or at least they used to put the name Israel in quotes as a sign that they do not recognize it. Today, however, the name 'Israel' is being used without quotes and without embarrassment."
The prime minister of Israel, regardless of his identity or political affiliation, is often called the "Prime Minister of Occupation." Some prefer to use the term "Prime Minister of Tel Aviv."
The Israeli Defense Minister, again regardless of his identity or political affiliation, is often referred to as the "Minister of War." The implication: Israel is at constant war with the Palestinians and Arabs. Needless to say, the IDF is always referred to as the "Occupation Forces," whose only mission is to kill Palestinians, destroy their homes and turn their lives into misery.
Another sign of the difficulty many Palestinians find in using the name Israel can be found in their talk about the Arab citizens of Israel.
Palestinian officials and media outlets regularly refer to these citizens as "the Arabs of the Inside" -- implying that the "inside" is actually an internal part of "Palestine." Others refer to these citizens as "the Arabs of 1948" or the "Palestinians Inside the Green Line" or "the Arabs living inside the 1948 Occupied Territories."
And we still have not talked about the fact that many Palestinians refer to cities inside Israel proper as "occupied" cities and towns. Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, Tiberias, Ramle and Lod, for example, are often described in the Palestinian media as "Palestinian Cities" or "Occupied Cities." Jews living in these cities, as well as other parts of Israel, are sometimes referred to as "Settlers."
Jews visiting the Temple Mount, or Haram Al-Sharif, in Jerusalem are regularly described by Palestinian media outlets and officials as "Herds of Settlers" and "Settler Terrorist Gangs."
These are only a handful of examples of the language of the Palestinian narrative. Such language exposes the truth: that many Palestinians have still not come to terms with Israel's right to exist. For them, this not only about the "occupation" of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The real "occupation," for them, began with the creation of Israel in 1948.
It is no secret that Palestinian leaders have failed to prepare their people for peace with Israel. Even worse, the terminology adopted by these leaders and a growing number of Palestinians is a clear sign that these leaders, through their rhetoric and media outlets, continue to promote a policy that not only delegitimizes Israel and depicts it as an evil state, but also denies its right to exist. Non-Arabic speakers may find this assertion baseless, because what they hear and read from Palestinian representatives in English does not reflect the messages being relayed to Palestinians in Arabic.
The international English-speaking audience would do well to get some accurate translations of what is being said about Israel in Arabic. It is the only way out of Palestinian Newspeak, although it might make Orwell roll over in his grave.
**Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist, is based in Jerusalem.
© 2016 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.

Modern Slavery
Josephine Bacon/Gatestone Institute/August 02/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8592/modern-slavery-britain

It is worth investigating the labour practices of the host country, Qatar, which are certainly in breach of even previous European legislation, let alone the UK's Modern Slavery Act and European equivalents.
Qatar offered bribes to FIFA to be able to get the right to host the event, according to Greg Dyke, former Chairman of the British Football Association, and other BFA officials.
The Guardian reported that Nepalese migrant workers in Qatar are dying at the rate of one every two days. Recent visitors to Qatar have taken photographs of the appalling squalor in which foreign construction workers live -- forced to sleep in tiny cell-like rooms in which they barely have room to lie down. There are no proper sanitary or kitchen facilities.
In Qatar, the new law will only apply -- if applied at all -- to foreigners who took up employment after the law was passed,
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph on July 31, Britain's new prime minister, Theresa May, stated, "Last year I introduced the world-leading Modern Slavery Act to send the strongest possible signal that victims were not alone and that those responsible for this vile exploitation would face justice". Yet these campaigns to tackle modern slavery carefully overlook the countries in the Arab world in which slave-ownership is permitted by the legislation.
In 2015, the Modern Slavery Act came into British law to address heightened levels of human trafficking (now considered by criminals to be more lucrative than drug-smuggling) and the treatment of many of the servants of wealthy foreigners.
Like their wealthy employers, these indentured servants are shepherded straight from an incoming flight to a car waiting on the tarmac, and do not pass through immigration or customs. They are not treated like the rest of us -- the supremely wealthy and their employees live under different laws. As such, cases of servant mistreatment rarely get to be heard in court. The few cases that go to trial are the result of these servants escaping the clutches of their "employers," and the stories they tell are horrific (albeit largely unpunished and unreported for political reasons).
One example was documented in the Daily Mail on March 15, 2011. An African servant was forced to sleep on the floor, a situation she endured at first for £10 a month "wages" until her employer, a female doctor of Asian origin, decided not to pay her anything at all.
A court interpreter in the UK, who works in Arabic and asked to remain anonymous, has told me even worse stories about escaping "servants" who managed to report to a police station, where she got to meet them and interpreted for them. The employers, mostly from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, are rarely prosecuted.
Bribery by Qatar
As the 2022 FIFA World Cup approaches, it is worth investigating the labour practices of the host country, Qatar, which are certainly in breach of even previous European legislation, let alone the Modern Slavery Act. According to Greg Dyke, former Chairman of the British Football Association (BFA), and other BFA officials, Qatar offered bribes to FIFA to be able to host the event.
Qatar, like Lebanon, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (the Gulf States) operates under the kafala (or kefala) system (Arabic: نظام الكفالة niẓām al-kafāla). This translates from Arabic as "sponsorship system," but is in fact a brutal way of controlling the foreign workforce that provides virtually all of the labour in the wealthiest countries of the Arab world.
The Evils of Kafala
Under the kafala system, any foreigner seeking or being offered employment in Saudi Arabia or the Gulf States, including Bahrain, the Emirates and Qatar, has to have a "sponsor" (an employer, agency, or middleman through whom they were offered the job) who arranges their visa. In return, each foreign worker's passport is confiscated by the employer or agency. This means that the employee has no right to change jobs or leave the country without the permission of the person holding his/her passport. Needless to say, employers and agents rarely give such permission.
This exploitation of foreign labour has been criticized by many human rights organizations. According to The Economist, "The system [also] blocks domestic competition for overseas workers..."
Exploitation in Qatar
In November, 2013, Amnesty International published a report about construction workers in Qatar. According to Salil Shetty, then Secretary-General of Amnesty International,
"The world's spotlight will continue to shine on Qatar in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup, offering the [British] government a unique chance to demonstrate on a global stage that they are serious about their commitment to human rights and can act as a role model to the rest of the region."
Recent visitors to Qatar have taken photographs of the appalling squalor in which foreign construction workers live. They are forced to sleep in tiny cell-like rooms in which they barely have room to lie down. There are no proper sanitary or kitchen facilities.
According to an article published in the British Guardian newspaper on December 23, 2014 -- a newspaper normally supportive of the Arabs -- Nepalese migrant workers are dying at the rate of one every two days, from work accidents or from sheer exhaustion, as they labour to build the infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The family of a Nepalese worker, who died in Qatar while working on a football stadium site, prepares to bury him in Nepal. Foreign labourers in Qatar work in dangerous conditions, and Nepalese labourers alone die at the rate of one every two days. (Image source: Guardian video screenshot)
Kafala Applied to Employees of Every Grade
It is often assumed that the kafala system is only applied to workers from third-world countries employed in blue-collar jobs, such as domestic service and the construction sector. This perception is false -- kafala applies to all foreign workers, even those hired for top jobs.
For instance, on November 14, 2013, The Guardian published the story of Zahir Belounis, a French footballer held against his will in Qatar. He had been hired on a five-year contract by a local football club because the club wanted to use him to get into a higher division. Once the club had been promoted, it stopped paying Belounis' wages but would not let him leave the country, continuing to hold on to his passport. He was trapped in his apartment with no income and a family to feed. In desperation, Belounis appealed to the president of France and to footballing personalities throughout the world. Finally, after 19 months, he was allowed to leave.
On September 30, 2009, the English-language daily "Flanders Today" reported:
"Philippe Bogaert, the Flemish businessman held hostage in Qatar for more than a year, is back home after escaping by boat under cover of darkness. Bogaert went to Qatar in October 2008 to work for the local subsidiary of a Belgian company. When the Qatari partners pulled out of the contract, the company became bankrupt, and Bogaert resigned. Under Qatari law, he was only allowed to leave the country if a release form was signed by his sponsor, a former business partner. The partner refused, leaving Bogaert without a job, without an income, and with no way to leave."
The French newspaper L'Express published a similar report on August 2, 2013:
"Nasr Al-Awartany, a Frenchman of Jordanian origin, is stuck in his hotel in Doha. He is unable to leave Qatar and return to his family in France because his Qatari associate, who is also his sponsor, is denying him an exit visa. This is not an unusual occurrence [author's emphasis]... An incredible 80% of the population [of Qatar] are foreigners... The case has gone to court, but it could last for years and in the meantime, Nasr's exit visa has been denied."
According to Doha News in an article published on December 25, 2014, changes to the kafala law in Qatar are due to be implemented on December 14, 2016. They will include the ability to appeal refusal of exit permits, and expatriates whose employment has ended will no longer need approval to take up other work. Whether it will be applied or not in practice is another matter.
Bahrain allegedly abolished the kafala system in 2012, but according to experts, including Andrew Gardner, Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Puget Sound, this was merely for the sake of appearances and the system continues in practice. In Qatar, the new law will only apply -- if applied at all -- to foreigners who took up employment after the law was passed.
**Josephine Bacon is a journalist, author, and translator based in London. She is an active member of the British Labour Party and the Cooperative Party.
© 2016 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.

Turkey Sets Ultimatum for EU Migrant Deal

Turkey Sets Ultimatum for EU Migrant Deal/Erdoğan is openly pursuing the Islamization of Europe
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/August 02/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8613/turkey-eu-migrant-deal

Turkey has threatened to back out of an agreement to stem the flow of migrants to the European Union if Turkish nationals are not granted visa-free travel to the bloc by October.
Europe is trapped in a no-win situation. European officials say that although Turkey has fulfilled most of their conditions, it has failed to relax its stringent anti-terrorism laws, which are being used to silence critics of President Erdoğan, especially since Turkey's failed coup on July 15.
The German newspaper Bild recently reported a confidential plan to house all migrants arriving from Turkey on Greek islands. Public transportation between those islands and the Greek mainland would be cut off to prevent migrants from moving into other parts of the EU.
"No matter how uncouth, how merciless, how unscrupulous Western countries act, they have no chance of keeping the migration flows under control." — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, quoted by German journalist Wolfram Weimer.
Turkey has threatened to back out of an agreement to stem the flow of migrants to the European Union if Turkish nationals are not granted visa-free travel to the bloc by October.
Although Turkish officials have repeatedly threatened to renege on the March 18 EU-Turkey deal, this is the first time they have set a deadline.
If the EU approves the visa waiver, tens of millions of Turks will gain immediate and unimpeded access to 26 European countries. If the EU rejects the visa waiver, and Turkey retaliates by reopening the migration floodgates, potentially millions of migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East could begin flowing into Greece this fall. Europe is trapped in a no-win situation.
The migration deal, which entered into force on June 1, was hastily negotiated by European leaders desperate to gain control over a crisis in which more than one million migrants poured into Europe in 2015.
Under the agreement, the EU pledged to pay Turkey €3 billion ($3.4 billion), grant visa-free travel to Europe for Turkey's 78 million citizens, and restart accession talks for Turkey to join the bloc. In exchange, Turkey agreed to take back all migrants and refugees who reach Greece via Turkey.
Turkish officials have repeatedly accused the EU of failing to keep its end of the bargain.
In a July 25 interview with the German television broadcaster ARD, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey had so far received only €2 million of the promised €3 billion: "European leaders are dishonest," he said. "We have stood by our promise. But have the Europeans kept theirs?"
The EU insists that the €3 billion must be transferred through the United Nations and other international aid agencies in accordance with strict rules on how the money can be spent: "Funding under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey supports refugees in the country," the EU said in a statement. "It is funding for refugees and not funding for Turkey."
In a July 31 interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu stressed that the Turkish government wants the EU to set a "specific deadline" for lifting the visa requirements: "It can be early or mid-October but we are waiting for an exact date," he said.
Cavusoglu said that his words are "not a threat," but added that "if there is no lifting of the visa restrictions, we will be forced to abandon the agreement struck on March 18."
Under the agreement, European officials promised to fast-track visa-free access for Turkish nationals to the Schengen (open-bordered) passport-free zone by June 30, and to restart Turkey's stalled EU membership talks by the end of July 2016.
To qualify for the visa waiver, Turkey had until April 30 to meet 72 conditions. These include: bringing the security features of Turkish passports up to EU standards; sharing information on forged and fraudulent documents used to travel to the EU and granting work permits to non-Syrian migrants in Turkey.
European officials say that although Turkey has fulfilled most of their conditions, it has failed to comply with the most important one: relaxing its stringent anti-terrorism laws, which are being used to silence critics of Erdoğan, especially since Turkey's failed coup on July 15.
European Commissioner Günther Oettinger recently said he did not believe the European Union would grant visa-free travel for Turkish citizens this year due to Erdoğan's post-coup crackdown.
Turkish authorities have arrested more than 15,000 people in connection with the coup attempt, and at least 60,000 civil servants, teachers, journalists, police officers and soldiers have been fired or suspended from various state-run institutions.
Turkey's EU accession talks also have run aground after Erdoğan threatened to reinstate the death penalty in Turkey. Oettinger said: "The death penalty is irreconcilable with our order of values and our treaties. No country can become a member state of the EU if it introduces the death penalty."
Erdoğan has indicated he is no longer interested in EU membership: "We'll go our way, you go yours," he said.
Meanwhile, Greek officials report a significant increase in the number of migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey since the coup attempt. Observers say Erdoğan is using the migrant flows to pressure Greece to extradite eight Turkish officers who participated in the coup and fled across the border to Greece. Athens has refused to hand them back.
As the migrant deal unravels, European officials are discussing a "Plan B." The German newspaper Bild recently reported a confidential plan to house all migrants arriving from Turkey on Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. Public transportation between those islands and the Greek mainland would be cut off to prevent migrants from moving into other parts of the European Union.
The plan, which Bild says is being discussed at the highest echelons of European power, would effectively turn parts of Greece into massive refugee camps for many years to come. It remains unclear whether Greek leaders will have any say in the matter.
The European Union now finds itself in a Catch-22 situation. Large numbers of Muslim migrants will flow to Europe regardless of whether or not the EU approves the visa waiver.
Thousands of newly arrived migrants, the vast majority of whom are men, crowd the platforms at Vienna West Railway Station on August 15, 2015 -- a common scene in the summer and fall of 2015. (Image source: Bwag/Wikimedia Commons)
Critics of visa liberalization fear that millions of Turkish nationals may end up migrating to Europe. The Austrian newsmagazine, Wochenblick, recently reported that 11 million Turks are living in poverty and "many of them are dreaming of moving to central Europe."
Other analysts believe Erdoğan views the visa waiver as an opportunity to "export" Turkey's "Kurdish Problem" to Germany. According to Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Söder, millions of Kurds are poised to take advantage of the visa waiver to flee to Germany to escape persecution at the hands of Erdoğan: "We are importing an internal Turkish conflict," he warned. "In the end, fewer migrants may arrive by boat, but more will arrive by airplane."
In a refreshingly perceptive essay, Wolfram Weimer, a well-known German journalist, wrote that Erdoğan is exploiting Europe's strategic weaknesses to advance Turkish imperialism and his goal of Islamizing the continent:
"A few days ago Erdoğan said: 'No matter how uncouth, how merciless, how unscrupulous Western countries act, they have no chance of keeping the migration flows under control.' In short, he sees mass migration as a political weapon to put Europe under pressure. In diplomatic and military circles, the word that has been circulating for months is 'migration weapon' because the Turkish secret service has been deliberately and massively promoting the migration of Muslims to Europe.
"Turkey now earns tremendous amounts of money on all sorts of migration services and has allowed the refugee industry to blossom. At the same time Erdoğan is openly pursuing the Islamization of Europe. With its religious authority Diyanet [a branch of the Turkish government's Directorate for Religious Affairs that runs hundreds of mosques in Europe], Europe (and especially Germany) are being Islamized in a planned manner; the refugees play a key role, as do mosques, to give a 'home' to the faithful in a foreign land.
"Erdoğan's favorite quote comes from a poem by Ziya Gökalp [1876-1924, a father of Turkish nationalism]: 'The mosques are our barracks, the minarets are our bayonets.' Erdoğan sees himself both domestically and internationally as a religious cultural warrior — as the patron saint of Islamist expansion."
**Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter. His first book, Global Fire, will be out in 2016.
© 2016 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.

Kashmir: New Islamic State Backed by New York Times, BBC
Vijeta Uniyal//Gatestone Institute/August 02/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8611/kashmir-islamic-state
Jihadis, trained and armed by Pakistan, are purging Kashmir of its native Hindu and Sikh population, and waging a terrorist campaign to carve out a separate Islamic country in that part of India.
What the New York Times did not say is that these "boys with guns" are members of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, a group designated as a terrorist organisation by both the European Union and the United States.
After being at the forefront of gun control campaigns in the U.S. for decades, the New York Times finally supports "open carry" -- but only for terrorists waging jihad against "infidels."
India is not "occupying" Kashmir, which is already part of India. India is waging a war against Islamic terrorism, which has claimed the lives of more than 4,800 Indian civilians and more than 2,400 Indian security personnel.
Indian security forces are again waging pitched battles with violent Islamists on the streets of the Muslim-majority province of Kashmir. Mobs began congregating in towns on July 9, after the customary Friday prayers, to protest the killing the previous day by Indian security forces of a prominent Islamic terrorist, Burhan Wani. The protestors waved black ISIS flags and pelted stones at riot police. The riots have so far claimed 49 lives, including 2 policemen.
The mainstream media in the West have been quick to point the finger of blame on India for using -- as BBC puts it -- "excessive force." "Allegations that the forces are trigger happy in the region have been a common criticism for years," the BBC said. The mainstream media, however, did not take into account that more than 1,500 members of the Indian police and army were injured by the mobs.
Germany's state-run Deutsche Welle featured a Pakistan-based social media campaign that criticised the use of BB guns by Indian riot police against stone-throwing mobs of Islamists.
The New York Times criticised the Indian Army for "escalating" the situation by confronting the armed Islamic terrorists in the first place:
"A dozen boys with a few guns -- they were no threat to the Indian army, one of the largest in the world. There is no record of Burhan and his crew waging any attack. Their rebellion was symbolic, a war of images against India's continuing occupation of Kashmir, where about half a million of its soldiers, paramilitary and armed police are still stationed."
What New York Times did not say is that these "boys with guns" are members of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, a group designated as a terrorist organisation by both the European Union and the United States.
India is not "occupying" Kashmir, which is already part of India. They are waging a war against Islamic terrorism which has claimed the lives of more than 4,800 Indian civilians and more than 2,400 Indian security personnel.
The New York Times styled the dead terrorist, Burhan Wani, as if he were an affable gun-rights activist with a large Facebook following: "He built up a following on social media, posting pictures of himself and his associates in combat fatigues, often carrying arms." After being at the forefront of gun control campaigns in U.S. for decades, the New York Times finally supports "open carry" -- but only for terrorists waging jihad against "infidels."
With reverence, the New York Times describes Wani, the "internet sensation" who had put "together a small band of Kashmiri militants. Barely out of their teens, they had taken to the forest and social media." Elsewhere they called him a "22-year-old separatist who wanted an independent Kashmir and had built up a following on social media among disaffected Indian Kashmiri youth."
Undoubtedly, Burhan Wani created a "social media sensation" among Muslim youth in Kashmir, as do all those gruesome ISIS beheading videos among Muslim youth in Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
The mainstream media, quick to blame India for the ongoing unrest, will not tell its readers how the province of Kashmir became the Islamist hellhole that it is today.
The minarets of the mosques, reserved in times of peace for prayer calls, proclaimed armed jihad against Hindus in towns and cities across the province. Kashmiri Hindus were given three options: either to convert to Islam, leave their ancestral homes, or face certain death.
"Eviction notices" were handed out to the leader of Hindu and Sikh community. The notices read:
"We order you to leave Kashmir immediately, otherwise your children will be harmed -- we are not scaring you, but this land is only for Muslims, and is the land of Allah. Sikhs and Hindus cannot stay here".
The notice ended with a threat; "If you do not obey, we will start with your children." In an ultimate act of humiliation, Hindu men were told to move out of Kashmir without taking their property or women.
Hamas-style marches took place in towns and cities across Kashmir. Jihadis brandishing Kalashnikov assault rifles marched in military formations, targeting Hindu men, women and children.
Members of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the same terrorist group that the New York Times affectionately calls the "crew" of "boys with guns," have been at the forefront of killing, raping and pillaging Hindus.
The campaign to purge Kashmir of its native Hindu and Sikh population has been one of the most effective ethnic cleansing campaign of recent times. An estimated 95% of Kashmir's Hindus were forced to leave -- a cleansing that made Kashmir more than 90% Muslim. Some 400,000 Kashmiri Hindu Pandits were forced to live as internally displaced refugees inside India. Hindu temples were desecrated and destroyed, wiping out the signs of Hinduism from its ancient land.
Jihadis, trained and armed by Pakistan, after purging Kashmir of its native Hindu and Sikh populations, are now waging a terrorist campaign to carve out a separate Islamic country in that part of India.
Certainly, the Indian state also carries responsibility for the current state of affairs in Kashmir. Successive Indian governments have failed to intervene or provide safety to Hindus and Sikhs during the ethnic cleansing of 1990s. After more than 25 years, no Indian government has made any serious effort to help displaced help Hindus and Sikhs return back to their homes in Kashmir.
Left: Indian soldiers carry the coffin of Indian Army Colonel M N Rai, who was killed in January 2015 by terrorists in Kashmir. Right: Masked Islamist radicals in Kashmir display a version of the black flag of jihad.
If Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs cannot go back to their original homes due to security risks, it would only be fair to allocate them enclosed and fortified housing at other locations in Kashmir. If Indian authorities, in their characteristic incompetence, cannot guarantee security to returning Hindus and Sikhs, they could at least supply them arms to defend themselves. Only reversing the tide of ethnic cleansing can put an end to this Islamist takeover. Arming the police with BB guns -- regardless to how dangerous the BBC or the New York Times editorial staff might consider them -- is not going to put an end to the Islamist aspiration of turning Kashmir into another "Islamic State".
Vijeta Uniyal is an Indian current affairs analyst based in Europe.
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The Iranian foreign ministry’s new maneuvers on Syria
Camelia Entekhabi-Fard/Al Arabiya/August 02/16
“There are no more red lines left for terrorists to cross. Sunnis, Shiites will both remain victims unless we stand united as one. #Medina,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on July 4 following the terrorist attack near the Prophet’s Mosque in Saudi Arabia. The recent widespread acts of terrorism, including during Ramadan, show the new scope of extremism that militants have reached. Although Iranian interests were not attacked, Iran is certainly not immune to the indiscriminate violence of ISIS. The Iranian government recognizes this, as evidenced by the emphasis on action and unity in Zarif’s recent tweets on the subject. At least half of his tweets since June 28 contain anti-terrorism messages and call on the need for unity to counter terrorists. Zarif’s tweets have long been a window into the Rowhani administration’s foreign policy priorities. So these recent posts should be seen as are more than just lip service after a tragedy. They show a real fear on the part of Iran of the growing reach of terrorism. Iran has long touted that its large military and proactive foreign policy—particularly its presence in Iraq and Syria—keeps Iranians safe, but given the rise of ISIS attacks in recent weeks, is this really enough?
Zarif's decision to appoint seasoned diplomat Hussein Sheikholeslam as assistant secretary in Syrian affairs in June may is a signal to the region that Iran is getting serious about combatting ISIS and decreasing the IRGC’s (Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps) obsession with wasting its resources by propping up Assad regime. Political observers are now asking Iran to start supporting their rhetoric with active diplomatic engagement. While sometimes described as a hardliner, Sheikholeslam, a former ambassador to Syria, has previously expressed a willingness to work with the international community on regional security issues and has spoken of the need to diminish the impact of regional rivalries. These are the types of approaches needed to bring a political resolution to the conflict in Syria and focus greater attention on combatting ISIS and Nusra Front if Iran is serious about this.
Diplomacy takes center stage? Finding a resolution to the crisis is key to destroying both militant groups, instead of wasting pro-Assad Iranian capabilities by fighting the moderate opposition. The last deputy FM, long rumored to be a Quds Force officer, Hussain Amir Abdullahian, would not and could not have pursued the diplomatic outreach necessary to combat terrorism in the region and Zarif likely understood this.
But being “serious” about resolving the Syrian crisis should also mean that Zarif finally be authorized to conduct diplomatic engagements on Syria with the international community, including the regional countries. The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura was in Tehran this week and on Sunday he met Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Jaberi Ansari ahead of intense Syria talks supposed to be resuming in late August. If all goes well, Shaikholislam will be able to act as Zarif’s trusted envoy to push for regional cooperation on fighting terrorism. Of course, many Iran observers will note that it’s hard to believe that any significant reform in the foreign ministry has been brought on, but at the same time, this does show Iran’s willingness to shift its policies and focus on countering terrorism. Zarif’s emphasis on unity suggests that the Iranian government is beginning to acknowledge that it must work with others to combat the spread of global terrorism. But given Iran’s unwavering backing of Assad, other states might be reluctant to collaborate with Tehran, particularly if it involves military cooperation. Political observers are now asking Iran to start supporting their rhetoric with active diplomatic engagement.

Dividing Syria: A difficult mission
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/August 02/16
Since the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011 against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, some have predicted the country’s division along ethnic and sectarian lines due to fears over the wellbeing of minorities. The uprising turned into a civil war, then into military interference by foreign powers such as Iran, Russia and Hezbollah. Foreign and local jihadist groups - such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham - emerged and resided in Syria. Some 12 million Syrians have been displaced, a third of them seeking refuge abroad. Talk of dividing Syria has resumed because U.S. officials have recently said they are not ruling out such a scenario. Some consider this the beginning of a new division of the Middle East, this time as agreed by the United States and Russia rather than Britain and France. I do not think there is an agreement to divide Syria, mainly because Washington and Moscow lack the power on the ground to impose borders in the Middle East, old or new. Russia and Iran have been trying for a while to implement a less difficult mission, which is enabling Assad to govern areas under his control. However, they have not even succeeded at this yet, let alone at creating new entities that will compete for resources and borders.
Kurds
An example of chaos and war is Iraq, Syria’s neighbor. Since 1990, Iraqi Kurds have lived in a semi-autonomous region following the war to liberate Kuwait. What has prevented the establishment of a Kurdish republic in northern Iraq is not Baghdad, Turkey or Iran - the three parties usually opposed to Kurdish independence - but the international community, specifically the permanent U.N. Security Council members. The council refuses to give the Kurds the right to independence. No one wants to change the map of the region due to the uncontrollable chaos and divisions that may ensue. Regarding Syria, the international community may have become convinced that division is better than a failed state. Executing this may have been possible during the first two years of the revolution, but this has become harder today due to mass displacement of people. I do not think there is an agreement to divide Syria, mainly because Washington and Moscow lack the power on the ground to impose borders in the Middle East, old or new. For example, after ISIS occupied the city of Manbij, many of its residents fled. When militias affiliated with extremist Syrian forces went there to expel ISIS with international support, they expelled many residents for ethnic reasons, and around 200,000 escaped. It is also impossible to ignore the regional factor, and the fears of countries such as Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Syrian ethnic and sectarian components have extensions in these countries, and any acknowledgment of entities based on ethnic considerations will threaten their territorial integrity. Turkey strongly opposes attempts at Kurdish self-rule along its border. Even Iran, which does not border Syria, fears that such attempts may stir separatist sentiment among its own Kurdish population of some 8 million.
Regarding Syria’s Alawites - the sect to which the Assad family belongs - many of their young men have fled the country to escape mandatory military service, and thousands of families have sought refuge elsewhere out of fear of vengeful acts. To divide any country, citizens must be able to return to their areas. This happened in Yugoslavia following the civil war and its subsequent division into four republics upon international sponsorship. The situation in Syria, however, is like a broken vase that has scattered into small pieces. Maintaining the state via a new political system under international sponsorship would also be difficult, especially amid the Iranian and Russian occupation of Syria on Assad’s behalf. **This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Aug. 2, 2016.

Can a Muslim immigrant deliver the defeat of Donald Trump?
Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/August 02/16
For over a year, the Republican nominee Donald Trump has built his political rise on an unhinged rhetoric of fear, hate and slandering of Muslims, Latinos and anyone that comes in his way. While nothing seemed to stick, this week's attacks on the Khan family and a fallen U.S. soldier, is exposing the hollowness and depravity of the real estate mogul. The unlikely hero of the two conventions was not an eloquent Barack Obama or a glamorous Ivanka Trump, it was a Muslim immigrant who captured in seven minutes the story of America and what is at stake in this election. The words of Khizir and Ghazala Khan, immigrants from Pakistan who lost their son Captain Humayun in Iraq in 2004, has hit a nerve in the United States and is promising a turning point in this race. Unlike sophisticated attack ads and focus-group lines, the Khans critique of Trump is unconventional. It comes from the heart, bridges partisan politics, speaks of the ultimate sacrifice to a nation and brings heavy contrast between an arrogant billionaire and a modest family.
Khizir Khan vs. Donald Trump
Unlike Trump's past subjects whom he slandered such as Judge Curiel, Ted Cruz's father and a disabled journalist, Khizir and Ghazala Khan are not bound by legal (Judge Curiel) , political (Cruz’s father) or professional (journalist) and have been able to respond. Since their speech the Khans have been loud and clear in defending their patriotism, repudiating Trump's attacks and highlighting his ego-driven agenda front and center to the national stage. For 5 days now, Trump's insecurities, angry and thin skinned character have determined his response. Instead of taking the high road, paying his respect to a fallen American soldier and reaching out to his grieving parents, Trump chose to go to the gutter (again), slander the mother and erratically attack the father. While his campaign tried to correct the tone by changing the subject to "radical Islamic terror", the Khan-Trump dispute was never about nitty gritty political talking points but rather about the Republican nominee’s own destructive approach to politics. There is a sense of poetic justice if the Khan controversy ends up being the turning point of this election, where a Muslim immigrant family deals irreparable damage to the Republican nominee. In the Khan family , America saw and embraced a modest and inclusive couple that upholds the constitution above all. In contrast, Trump epitomizes an individualistic, ruthless and Machiavellian model for America in glorifying his own success and wealth while condescending everybody else’s. Trump speaks a whole lot about law and order, yet there is nothing legal and constitutional about the Muslim ban he proposed, or the torture tactics he wants to reinstate. There is nothing legal or constitutional either in inciting violence at his rallies or encouraging the Russian intelligence to launch cyber attacks on U.S. targets. Trump's ego driven and divisive agenda has come full circle with the Khans. For Trump, who was born with a silver spoon, to smear a mourning ailing mother for not speaking on stage illustrates how low he can dive in this election. From "little Bloomberg" to "lyin Ted" to "crooked Hillary", name calling is all what the former TV star got in this race. Against a fallen soldier and a patriotic American family that idolizes the constitution, Trump's smear tactics have backfired. Republicans, veterans, Gold Star mothers have all condemned Trump, in a moment that put American values of inclusiveness and sacrifice above all.
Can Trump recover ?
With 98 days left until the US votes on November 8th, Trump is facing a complicated electoral map and record unfavorability numbers with 7 out of 10 Americans having a negative opinion on the candidate. There is a sense of poetic justice if the Khan controversy ends up being the turning point of this election, where a Muslim immigrant family deals irreparable damage to the Republican nominee.Trump's own rhetoric to ban Muslims and disparage the community, cannot be seen in isolation of rising hate crimes against Muslims in the United States. Incidents on Southwest Airlines and with the Emirati who got arrested in Ohio have followed Trump's divisive campaign talk. By alienating minorities, relying strictly on the white vote, Trump will have to create massive turnout and win at least 66% of that vote to prevail on November 8th. Electorally, and where the Khan controversy hurts Trump most is among military families who repudiated his attack. Even if the Hillary Clinton campaign does not win that vote, Trump's inability to grab two thirds of the White majority could lead to his loss. Win or lose on Election Day, the Khan feud has laid bare the true character of Trump as a devoid narcissist who stops at nothing to drive his own interest. This time, Trump has gone too far, and the Muslim immigrants will have the last word.

When the car was considered witchcraft
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/August 02/16
Hadi al-Mansour, who lived through the era of late Saudi King Abdulaziz, narrates how society back then received the invention of the automobile. Mansour says when people saw the king ride one for the first time to tour Riyadh, they were worried about him because they thought the car was some sort of witchcraft that would take him to an unknown place. Such incidents happen in any society, but manifested more so in Saudi Arabia because of its geographic location, and because its society at the time was still new at engaging with technological transformations. The Muslim world’s problems are similar as they relate to the current era. The crisis in religious rhetoric, education, relations with others, and perceptions of reality and modernity are common problems for Muslims from Indonesia to Morocco. The economy influences the transformation of societies, and oil contributed a lot to improving awareness, education and happiness. However, wealth may contribute to slowing down change due to financial breakthroughs that contribute to decreasing people’s competency in managing their resources and revenues. Breakthroughs have caused corruption as much as they have yielded benefits, and have produced good results as much as they have destroyed essential values in Arab and Muslim societies. Oil will not continue to control the economy and society, as “oil addiction” - as Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described it - will be overcome. There will be structural changes to find new resources that bridge the major gaps caused by absolute dependence on oil, which is a depleting resource and a source of dependency.
Social transformation
In his book “The Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles,” Thomas Sowell talks about social transformations. “Social change includes an expanded series of things, from language to wars and from emotional matters to economic systems. Each issue is manifested in several and diverse ways,” he wrote.Saudi society, like other Muslim societies, has experienced transformations, but the nature of societies is that they change without feeling it. “However, general social transformations have single common characteristics, whether we look at them from the perspective of a restricted vision or a free vision. There’s a special nature to these transformations, i.e. they have a specific sequence, whether this sequence is designed on purpose or not. Social transformation operations also take time and they yield several results.” Any society can transform via economic foundations that the political command sets. This is the main point - cultural elites cannot direct societies. For a half century now, movements have failed to direct or influence society. Here comes the leading political role in cultural change, but this is done in more than one way. The economy is the best means to convince society to change some of its convictions. This is where we achieve acceptance of leisure-related affairs, women’s rights, and changes to the structure of education. There is a correlation between what is economic and cultural, but social transformations are not only managed via books and theories. It has been a century since that story about King Abdulaziz and those who feared for him from the witchcraft of the automobile. Saudi society, like other Muslim societies, has experienced transformations, but the nature of societies is that they change without feeling it. This is a sociological nature. The difference is that the forthcoming change will be more serious, solid and interconnected within political, economic and cultural balances.
*This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Aug. 2, 2016.