LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 10/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

Bible Quotations For Today
When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 06/01-04: "‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand.
Letter to the Romans 15/14-21: "I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast of my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him shall understand.’"

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 10/16
Hizbullah's International Drug Network Preoccupies Europe/By: E.B. Picali and H. Varulkar/MEMRI/February 09/16
Lebanese army’s policy of containment in Arsal/Nicholas Blanford/Now Lebanon/February 09/16
Captured Hezbollah members "received little training"/Now Lebanon/February 09/16
Hezbollah fears its captives/Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/February 09/16
When Russia received Rifaat al-Assad as an exile/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/February 09/16
Fate of Iran’s next parliament may already be sealed/Camelia Entekhabi-Fard/Al Arabiya/February 09/16
In Egypt, is ignorance a matter of choice or destiny/Mohammed Nosseir/Al Arabiya/February 09/16
Saudi Arabia is bringing Iran to its knees/Mudar Zahran/Jersusalem Post/February 09/16
 America Has No Business Calling ISIS 'Apostates'/Jacob Olidort/Washington Institute/February 09/16
Hizbullah Faces Criticism In Lebanon For Besieging Madaya: Its Starvation Of Syrians Recalls Past Crimes Of Mass Extermination In History/By: Dr. M. Terdiman and E. B. Picali/MEMRI/February 09/16/

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on February 10/16
Hizbullah's International Drug Network Preoccupies Europe
Lebanese army’s policy of containment in Arsal
Captured Hezbollah members "received little training"
UAE tries ‘Hezbollah’, ‘Qaeda’ cell members
Hezbollah fears its captives
Rahi Says Lebanon Needs ‘Real Statesmen’ to End Baabda Vacuum
Beirut Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar: Presidency Should Not Be Linked to Issues beyond Lebanon's Borders
Bkirki Meeting for Christian Ministers over Marginalization
Fuel Tax Faces Growing Opposition
Shaker Says Will Only Turn Himself in to 'Just Judiciary', Slams 'Big Criminal' Samaha
Hizbullah Faces Criticism In Lebanon For Besieging Madaya: Its Starvation Of Syrians Recalls Past Crimes Of Mass Extermination In History

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 10/16
Canada to end air strikes against ISIS
Israeli MPs Take First Step to Pass Contentious NGO Law
More than one million Syrians living under siege: NGOs
Deadly blast hits police club in Damascus
U.N. fears for hundreds of thousands if Syria troops encircle Aleppo
Turkey ‘won’t close borders,’ expects 70,000 refugees
Ramadi linked to army base after Iraqi advance
Iran's reformist ex-president calls on supporters to vote
Kremlin rejects Merkel's criticism of Russia over Syria bombings
ISIS widow charged over U.S. hostage death
Saudi Patriot intercepts Houthi ballistic missile
Knesset suspends Arab-Israeli lawmakers from Balad Party
Germany and Turkey vow to end Aleppo violence
At Least Eight Dead, 100 Injured in German Train Crash
Libyan warplane crashes after attacking ISIS
Israeli conditions for returning bodies condemned

Links From Jihad Watch Site for February 10/16
Iran-backed militia seize Christian neighborhoods in Baghdad
Islamic State commander” found living as refugee in rural German village
Hamas calls for jihad mass murder of civilians on Israeli buses
Saudi Arabia: Islamic morality police arrest a sweet shop’s mascot for “showing skin”
Whistleblower reveals how Obama facilitated San Bernardino jihadist attack — on The Glazov Gang
Even in Italy, Christian converts from Islam live in fear of reprisals
Muslim journalist: “How can you say that Islam is not blood-soaked?”
US Army deserter converts to Islam: “I do really wanna kill agents”
Kansas: Muslim vowed to “bring the Islamic State straight to your doorstep”
Mother of boy raped by Muslim migrant had taught him to welcome migrants

Hizbullah's International Drug Network Preoccupies Europe
By: E.B. Picali and H. Varulkar/MEMRI/February 9, 2016 Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No.1227
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/02/09/e-b-picali-and-h-varulkarmemri-hizbullahs-international-drug-network-preoccupies-europe/
Introduction
On February 1, 2016, four Hizbullah foreign security operatives were arrested in France for running an international network that used millions in drug money to fund the organization's military activity in Syria. According to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) official, the Hizbullah division was "a revenue and weapons stream... responsible for devastating terror attacks around the world" and that additional arrests were likely in the case. Seven countries, including France, Germany, Italy, and Belgium, were involved in the investigation and arrests. It was also reported that the Hizbullah operatives could face extradition to the U.S.
The case is similar to an earlier case, that began with the April 2014 Prague arrest, on similar charges, of three Lebanese nationals, continued with the kidnapping of five Czech nationals in Lebanon in July 2015, and concluded recently with a secret deal between the Czech government and the Lebanese elements behind the kidnapping, under which both the kidnapped Czechs and the Lebanese held in Prague were freed.
This report will shed light on both cases, and examine their similarities and a possible connection between them.
January 2016: Following U.S. Request, France Arrests Hizbullah Operatives For Drug Trafficking, Funding Terrorism
On February 1, 2016, the DEA announced the arrest of a number of Hizbullah foreign security operatives for running an international network trafficking in millions of dollars' worth of drugs, laundering the profits, and using the funds to purchase weapons for Hizbullah's military operations in Syria. The operatives, part of a European Hizbullah cell, are Mohamad Noureddine, a Lebanese money launderer who worked with Hizbullah's financial apparatus and funneled its funds through a Lebanese company that he owns, and who maintained direct ties with Hizbullah commercial and terrorism elements in Lebanon and Iraq. According to the DEA, the network was established by 'Imad Mughniyah, Hizbullah's chief operations officer who was killed in Damascus in 2008, and is now operated by Hizbullah's representative in Tehran, Abdallah Safieddine, and by businessman Adham Tabaja, a Hizbullah official who was recently named as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) by the U.S. Hizbullah worked with South American drug cartels providing cocaine to U.S. and European markets. Also according to the DEA, the investigation, which began last February, uncovered a sophisticated network of money couriers bringing millions of euros in drug profits back to the Middle East, with much of these funds passing through Lebanon. According to the DEA, "this ongoing investigation spans the globe... and once again highlights the dangerous global nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism."[1]
While the DEA announcement did not specify how many people were arrested and where the arrests took place, the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar reported that four Lebanese citizens were arrested in France in late January 2016, one of them Noureddine who was apprehended as he disembarked from a flight into France.[2] The report also stated that this cell had operated in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan, in Belgium, and in Latin America, with Paris as a money transfer point. Al-Nahar's sources said that the detainees could be extradited to the U.S.
Also according to Al-Nahar, several weeks earlier, French authorities had arrested the son of a prominent Lebanese "figure," also for drug trafficking and laundering funds for "a terror organization." According to this report, U.S. authorities requested extradition as part of the customary cooperation among the countries in such cases, but the young man's father was trying very hard to get his son released and cleared of all charges against him even though upon his arrest he was found to be in possession of a large sum of money.[3]
A Similar Case: Hizbullah Associates' Arrest For Drug Trafficking In Czech Republic – Leads To Kidnapping Of Czech Nationals In Lebanon
This recent arrest of Hizbullah operatives in France, and the effort to obtain the release of one of them before he could face extradition to the U.S., are reminiscent of another case that began in the Czech Republic two years ago and concluded only recently in Lebanon.
In April 2014, at the U.S.'s request, Czech authorities arrested three Lebanese nationals, 'Ali Fayad, Faouzi Jaber, and Khaled Marabi, in Prague for suspected drug and arms trafficking with FARC, the Colombian organization named by the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). According to Arab and Lebanese media reports, Fayad is an Hizbullah associate[4] who is also a citizen of Ukraine; at the time of his arrest he was Middle East affairs advisor in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and was involved in arms deals with various Arab countries.[5]
Then, in July 2015, five Czech nationals were abducted in Lebanon's Western Beqaa Valley, along with their Lebanese driver who had picked them up at the Beirut airport. The driver was later revealed to be none other than Saib Fayad, the brother of 'Ali Fayad, one of the Lebanese arrested by the Czechs in Prague. The kidnapped Czechs included two journalists, apparently in Lebanon to cover the 'Ali Fayad story; an interpreter; Fayad's attorney; and a Czech military intelligence officer.
Was The Abduction Of The Czechs Staged, With The Aim Of Obtaining Fayad's Release?
The Lebanese daily Al-Safir reported that the abduction of the Czechs came just as the Czech Republic was about to extradite 'Ali Fayad and the two other Lebanese nationals to the U.S. According to reports in Lebanese media, Lebanese security forces quickly realized that this was a kidnapping not for ransom, but for a different purpose – to lead to a deal with the Czech Republic under which the Czechs would be released in exchange for 'Ali Fayad.[6] Other Lebanese media reported that the abduction was staged, with Fayad's brother the driver, Fayad's attorney, and the Czech intelligence officer as accomplices, with the aim of opening negotiations with the Czech Republic for Fayad's release. A diplomatic source even told Al-Safir that Fayad's attorney had been well paid for his participation in the events.[7]
A Lebanese security official assessed that "a Lebanese political element" with ties to Fayad had organized the abduction of the Czechs; it appeared that he was attempting to hint that Hizbullah was behind the events.[8]
Secret Negotiations Via Hizbullah Associate Led To Prisoner Exchange Deal
Indeed, following the Czechs' abduction, a Czech intelligence delegation arrived in Lebanon for talks with Lebanese General Directorate of General Security head Abbas Ibrahim, who was in contact with the kidnappers.[9] Ibrahim, it should be noted, is known for his good relations with Hizbullah, and the General Directorate of General Security is considered to be close to it.
According to Lebanese media reports, the talks to release the Czechs in return for Fayad were absolutely secret and involved international elements;[10] they concluded after the Czechs guaranteed that Fayad would not be extradited to the U.S.[11]
The affair wound down earlier this month, when the Czechs were brought to Ibrahim, who transferred them to Beirut so that they could be returned to the Czech Republic. At the same time, Czech authorities released Fayad, and he arrived in Lebanon shortly thereafter. Another Prague detainee, Khaled Marabi, was also released.[12] Several days later, Czech authorities announced that they would release Faouzi Jaber, the third Lebanese national.[13]
As soon as they arrived in Lebanon, on February 4, 2016, Fayad and Marabi were arrested and interrogated by Lebanese security forces.[14] Two days previously, on February 2, 2016, U.S. State Department Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Jim O'Brien arrived in Lebanon, for reasons unspecified.[15]
Left to right: The Czechs after their release, with Czech Ambassador to Lebanon Svatopluk Cumba (center left) and Abbas Ibrahim (center right) (Source: Al-Safir, Lebanon, February 5, 2016)
Conclusions
It was very apparent that the Lebanese state itself had little or nothing to do with the case. No Lebanese official – not Prime Minister Tammam Salam, not Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, nor any other government official – ever mentioned the events, the deal, or the release of either the Czech nationals or the return of Fayad and Marabi. While there were reports in the Lebanese media that Ibrahim had kept PM Salam, Interior Minister Nohad Al-Machnouk, and parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri updated regarding the deal, it appears that the negotiations were conducted by Ibrahim himself.[16]
These events also raise a number of questions: In light of the reports that Fayad is close to Hizbullah, was Hizbullah the Lebanese political element behind the Czechs' abduction? What was the role of Czech intelligence in the affair, in light of reports that one of the men abducted was a Czech intelligence officer?
The similarity between this affair and the arrest this month of Hizbullah operatives in France for drug trafficking and financing terrorism gives rise to the question of whether this same unidentified Lebanese element will use the same modus operandi in this case as well – that is, will French citizens be abducted to secure the release of the Hizbullah activists arrested in France at the request of the U.S.?
*E.B. Picali is a Research Fellow at MEMRI; H. Varulkar is Director of Research at MEMRI.
Endnotes:
[1] Dea.gov/divisions/hq/2016/hq020116.shtml, February 1, 2015. The DEA announcement also noted that several days earlier, the U.S. Treasury Department had announced sanctions targeting Hizbullah's financial support network by designating Hizbullah-affiliated money launderers Noureddine and Hamdi Zaher El Dine, for providing financial services to or in support of Hizbullah, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
[2] The report also states that one of the four was released several days later because he could not be connected to the events.
[3] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), February 2, 2016.
[4] Lebanondebate.com, July 15, 2015; Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (Lebanon), February 3, 2016.
[5] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), February 2, 2016.
[6] Al-Safir (Lebanon), July 18, 2015, August 5, 2015.
[7] Al-Safir (Lebanon), August 5, 2015; Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), February 2, 2016.
[8] Al-Safir (Lebanon), August 5, 2015.
[9] Al-Safir (Lebanon), February 2, 2016.
[10] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), February 2, 2016.
[11] Al-Safir (Lebanon), February 2, 2016.
[12] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), February 2 2016; Al-Safir (Lebanon), February 4-5, 2016.
[13] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), February 5, 2016.
[14] Al-Safir (Lebanon), February 5, 2016.
[15] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), February 3, 2016.
[16] In September 2015, Fayad's family said that Abbas Ibrahim had agreed to take charge of the affair as per the family's request, and that he was the only official element handing the matter. Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), September 9, 2015. It should also be mentioned that Al-Nahar criticized the state's handling of the affair, arguing that it is reminiscent of previous abduction cases in Lebanon – not one of which Lebanese security forces ever solved even though the names of the kidnappers and the locations of the hostages were well known. The daily added, "This is probably not the last [such case]." Al-Safir, Al-Nahar (Lebanon), February 2, 2016.

Lebanese army’s policy of containment in Arsal
Nicholas Blanford/Now Lebanon/February 09/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/02/09/nicholas-blanford-lebanese-armys-policy-of-containment-in-arsal/
The army raid last week against an Islamic State (ISIS) cell in Arsal and recent territorial clashes between ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra in the adjacent mountains briefly attracted attention once more to the volatile northeast border area which marks the western edge of the regional struggle against ISIS.
Although barely known by the rest of Lebanon, a conflict is being waged on a near daily basis out of sight in these remote and desolate mountains pitting the Lebanese army against ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra with Hezbollah also thrown into the mix.
ISIS is deployed mainly in the mountains southeast and east of Qaa and Ras Baalbek respectively while Jabhat al-Nusra mans positions east and southeast of Arsal.
Since the August 2014 assault against Arsal by a combined force of some 700 ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra militants, the army has expanded and strengthened its presence in the vicinity of the town and further north. Arsal today is ringed by fortified army outposts with every road and track accessing the town guarded by a checkpoint.
The approaches to Ras Baalbek and Qaa from the east and southeast respectively are also protected by army positions and observation towers built on mountain tops with overlapping fields of view. The Lebanese army is using an array of weaponry and equipment, including 155mm artillery guns, Cessna aircraft (some fitted with Hellfire missiles), pilotless reconnaissance drones, observation towers, snipers and most recently observation balloons, to guard against attack, monitor the movement of militants and strike them and their positions. Much of the equipment is new, the result of several international military assistance programs for Lebanon. The foreign assistance packages arose partly in recognition of the key role the army is playing in preventing the ISIS “caliphate” from expanding further west toward the Mediterranean.
Barely a day goes by without some fighting in the Arsal-Qaa area, mainly shelling from the army’s 155mm artillery guns or long-range shooting attacks against army posts by militants armed with 12.7mm heavy machine guns and 14.5mm or 23mm anti-aircraft guns. Nusra’s positions in the quarries area southeast of Arsal are only two kilometers from the nearest army posts, presently manned by troops from the 5th Intervention Regiment. East of Ras Baalbek, ISIS snipers and machine gunners sometimes crawl to within one kilometer of the army posts of Tallet Hamra.
Hezbollah also has been busy in this area in the past two years, building new tracks and mountain-top outposts. Hezbollah fighters man a series of mountain crest posts facing ISIS’ positions southeast of Qaa. A second line of defense which has emerged in the past year lies nearly six kilometers south of Arsal. It consists of a line of outposts with connecting roads that oversee the area of Wadi Khayl. The outposts serve as a buffer to guard against southward advances by the militants into areas that back onto Shitte-populated villages such as Younine and Nahle. Hezbollah routinely trades mortar and rocket fire with Nusra, whose positions are less than five kilometers to the east. Occasionally, Hezbollah fighters mount anti-tank missile ambushes against Nusra vehicles, an echo of past resistance operations against Israeli troops occupying south Lebanon.
While the army generally dominates the high ground, the positions of ISIS and Nusra lie in valleys sometimes on the east-facing “reverse” slopes of hillsides to afford better protection against the army’s artillery guns firing from the west. Most of the militants’ outposts are ad hoc, consisting of small tunnels and bunkers dug into the sides of valleys or abandoned farmsteads sometimes supplemented by shipping containers for accommodation. Nusra’s militants have made good use of the bulldozers they stole from Arsal’s quarries to excavate the side of a valley nine kilometers southeast of the town to build a comparatively large outpost, visible on Google Earth.
According to residents of Arsal, the militants are in good morale generally having had two years to dig in and make themselves as comfortable as they can in the mountains. Supplies are still brought in from Arsal and from the Jarajeer and Qarah areas in Syria.
A dried up river bed between Arsal and Ras Baalbek serves as a rough boundary between ISIS and Nusra positions. However, the recent fighting between the two groups in the Zamarani area on the border east of Arsal, suggests that ISIS may now be holding ground south of the river bed.
Contrary to widespread media reports, the fighting had no impact on Arsal itself. Residents said they could hear no sounds of fighting and cadres belonging to Nusra and ISIS living in the town chose not to clash.
One resident claimed that the battles were for control not only of the Zamarani border crossing but also for the numerous orchards that proliferate in the area which are a valuable source of food in the summer months.
Interior Minister Nohad Mashnouq observed in December that “the Arsal region, and not the town of Arsal, is an occupied area,” in reference to Nusra and ISIS. But the town itself is under de-facto occupation due to the dominating presence of militants from both groups. While Nusra is seen as a stronger force in the town, ISIS has intimidated the residents into acquiescence through extortion and assassinations. The municipality is toothless in the current circumstances. There is no police presence in Arsal and the army’s deployment is essentially securing an outer perimeter around Arsal rather than the center of the town itself. Many ISIS and Nusra militants live inside the town, either in rented houses or with their families in the refugee camps. Almost all the refugee camps are located inside the army’s peripheral ring of outposts and checkpoints.
One resident of Arsal described the circumstances in Arsal as a “tragic chaos” with little income trickling in. Farmers are unable to access their orchards and stone masons cannot reach their quarries.
“People cannot afford to buy diesel for heating,” he said.
For now, the army’s policy is one of containment in the Arsal area. An order to clear the militants from Lebanese territory would require a significant political decision unlikely to be taken in the absence of a president. That means the residents of Arsal may have to suffer for a while longer.
Nevertheless, the army’s posture in the Arsal-Qaa area and the assets it can bring to bear against the militants represent a huge leap in its capabilities compared to a few years ago. Its strengthened deployment in this area has effectively bottled up the militants and ended any possibility that they could punch west into the more populated areas of the Bekaa – if that was ever their intention in the first place.
***Nicholas Blanford is Beirut correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor and author of “Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah’s Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel.”

Captured Hezbollah members "received little training"
Now Lebanon/February 09/16
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566590-captured-hezbollah-members-received-little-training-lost
Lebanese journalist Carol Malouf released her full one-hour interview with two captured Hezbollah fighters in Syria, which a local TV station cut after pressure from the party.
Hezbollah captive interview. (YouTube)
http://youtu.be/dw-fVbuerXM
BEIRUT – Lebanese journalist Carol Malouf has released the entirety of her interview with two Hezbollah members held captive by Al-Nusra Front in Syria, less than a week after local station MTV aired a substantially abbreviated version of the video after coming under pressure from the party.
In the one-hour video—published Monday on YouTube—Hassan Nazih Taha and Mohammad Mehdi Shuaib spoke at length about their deployment as Hezbollah technicians in Syria, working alongside the party's fighters aiding the Bashar al-Assad regime. All of the Hezbollah members' statements were made while in captivity and do not necessarily reflect the true views of the prisoners. Their statements may have been made under duress, direct or indirect.
The technicians, who were taken prisoner in November outside Aleppo, described the scant military training they had received and the blunders that led to their capture by Al-Nusra Front. The two young men, one of whom still bore wounds he said he suffered during his capture, explained that every Hezbollah member is obliged to fulfill one 15-day military posting ('murabata') per year along one of the party's "front-lines."
"As the front in the south is inactive and there is no war there, and because the battles have moved to the north, to Syria, Hezbollah has moved all the battlefront locations and the fighting locations to Syria," Taha told Malouf."So the mandatory 'murabata' is now in Syria."Despite facing the prospect of fighting in war-torn Syria, both of the Hezbollah captives said they were motivated to join the party due to sectarian sentiments, financial incentives and the belief they were defending Lebanon.
Little training, lost on frontlines
The Hezbollah members said that they had received little military training and served on the frontlines in support positions but not as fighters. Shuaib, who started working for Hezbollah in 2007 as a computer technician, told Malouf that he and his colleague Taha were communications specialists.
"Military, I have [taken] the one course that everyone in the party takes… It's called the fighter course," he said.
"The level of my military experience [can be] considered low. I did [the course] when I was [in] ta'bia [reserves] before I was regularized in 2013."
The purported account of the two mens' capture at the hands of Nusra points to their low level of training and preparedness for combat in Syria.
Taha said the two of them were ordered to go to the Jabal al-Eis area southwest of Aleppo—near the frontlines where Hezbollah troops and Iraqi militias battled insurgents—to set up antennas for radio communication.
"There was no-one to go with us," said Taha. "On the way there in the afternoon [the route] was fairly obvious, the road was clear. So we went, but it took us a long time to finish. We stayed till, perhaps, after 19:00. Night had fallen and it was dark. It was the first time we'd been to that area in our lives."
"On the way back, instead of going left, which was the way back to where we had come from, we went straight on. We got lost on the road. We had no idea. We were lost. We reached a [certain] point and then we were fired upon."
Although both the young men blamed themselves for their capture, they also criticized the security procedures in southwestern Aleppo.
"We were truly surprised. How had they sent us when the area still wasn't secure? There were mistakes. There were mistakes," Shuaib said regretfully.
"Even the big mistake—that we lost our way—[was partly our fault] but why hadn't they set up a checkpoint?... They hadn't closed the road."
Financial incentives
During the course of the interview it became clear that financial incentives and pressures played a role in not only why the men went to Syria, but also why they joined Hezbollah in the first place.
Taha—who worked as a teacher—said that he was partly motivated to join the party by economic reasons, saying that in "education you get the minimum wage, but with Hezbollah you get slightly over the minimum wage."
"So the matter becomes one of converging interests, between creed and living."
His colleague, Shuaib, in turn said he felt he could not leave the party in 2013 when obliged to deploy to Syria because he feared losing his job as a computer technician.
"If I say no, I would think to myself, organizational procedures will be taken against me. Maybe it could reach the point of dismissal: I'd be fired from work," he said.
Both of the young men received a meager financial compensation for deploying to Syria. Shuaib explained that prior to the Syrian conflict, Hezbollah members would receive approximately $4 a day for fulfilling their 15-day mandatory 'murabata' service in non-combat zones in the south. Members now receive this compensation, called a 'hajz,' for serving with Hezbollah in Syria.
"Stirring up sectarianism"
The captive Hezbollah fighters said that they had been influenced by sectarian rhetoric long prior to going to Syria to fight on behalf of the Assad regime. The men painted a picture of their upbringing in the Bekaa and southern Lebanon, where they were indoctrinated by Hezbollah's Imam al-Mahdi Scouts program from a young age through a series of cultural and para-military activities. As the war worsened in Syria, and Hezbollah stepped up its political and military support for the Syrian regime, the fighters said they heard propaganda about foreign "mercenary fighters"—some of them prisoners released from Gulf states—flocking to Syria to threaten Shiites.
"There was sectarian pressure: 'They are coming to demolish our shrines, they are going to take our women prisoner,'" Taha told Malouf, giving examples of commonly voiced fears among members of his community.
The Hezbollah member added that many Shiites believed Sunni Islamist rebels were "coming to kill us, especially [after] the things that happened on the borders… and the rockets that struck the Bekaa area," a reference to the Syrian militant strikes on Shiite populated areas in eastern Lebanon. "This contributed greatly to the stirring-up of sectarianism," he said. The two fighters also said that they had believed "mercenary" Sunni fighters battling the Assad regime wanted to destroy the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine near Damascus, an important pilgrimage site for Shiite Muslims, the defense of which became a rallying cry for Shiite militias fighting alongside the Syrian army.
"People would say 'mercenaries have come from abroad… and written [in public places]: Sayyeda Zeinab you will go with the regime,'" Shuaib said. "It's those people who came from abroad, not the Syrians, who want to get rid of the shrines."
His colleague Taha, in turn, said that Hezbollah fighters "hear" that Sunnis are a "community that hates the imams and the line of Imam Ali," in reference to figureheads of Twelver Shiite Islam. "They hate Shiites and they hate such-and-such… They have an obsession with this subject," he added giving examples of commonly repeated phrases.
Hezbollah pressured MTV to cut interview
Maalof's exclusive video interview with the Hezbollah captives was originally slated to be aired by Lebanese broadcaster MTV on February 3, however the piece was slimmed down to a mere seven-minute segment on the physical and psychological health of prisoners.
Malouf told NOW on Wednesday that she had initially agreed with MTV to air thirty minutes of the footage she recorded during a trip to Syria in December in which she interviewed the two captives.
The journalist said that the MTV was pressured by several Hezbollah officials who called Walid Abboud, the presenter of the show on which the interview was to be aired; Gabriel al-Murr, the owner of MTV; and Malouf herself.
"Somebody leaked the information to Hezbollah from inside MTV," said Malouf. "First, Walid received a phone call from somebody in Hezbollah, but not very senior, [telling him] 'I'm giving you advice, it's probably better if you don't air it,' and things like this."
"Then somebody more senior called Gabriel al-Murr […] and told him literally that 'this interview does not serve the purpose of Hezbollah or MTV'."
Following that call, Murr sought to axe the interview altogether, said Malouf. After lengthy debates on Monday and Tuesday, during which time Malouf was also contacted by Hezbollah exerting further pressure, it was agreed that seven minutes of the less "controversial" footage would be aired.
MTV was not immediately available for comment on the matter, hours before the episode of the bi-weekly Bi Mawdouiyeh ("Objectively") program was set to air.
Hezbollah, for its part, has made no mention of the matter, although an online outlet supportive of the party reported Tuesday that Hezbollah had "made a number of calls to MTV at the highest of levels in order to stop the channel" from broadcasting a tape of its captured fighters.
Exclusive sources told the site—whose editor-in-chief Fadi Nazzal is close to Hezbollah's ally, the Amal Movement—that Hezbollah could "resort to asking Lebanon's National Audiovisual Media Council to convene and take a decision to forbid the showing of the video clip."
Hezbollah has a longstanding policy of not commenting to NOW.
NOW's English news desk editor Albin Szakola (@AlbinSzakola) wrote this report. Ullin Hope translated the Arabic-language source material.​
**Carol Malouf's full interview with captured Hezbollah members Mohammad Shuaib and Hassan Taha. (YouTube)
http://youtu.be/dw-fVbuerXM

UAE tries ‘Hezbollah’, ‘Qaeda’ cell members
AFP, Abu Dhabi Tuesday, 9 February 2016/Separate trials have opened in the United Arab Emirates of three men accused of links to Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah movement and 23 others for ties to Al-Qaeda, newspapers reported Tuesday. The three Lebanese men charged with “forming and managing a group linked to Hezbollah without obtaining a permit” appeared Monday before Abu Dhabi’s state security, Emarat al-Youm newspaper said. Al-Ittihad daily said one of the men is a Canadian citizen and that representatives of his country’s consulate attended the hearing, during which all three defendants denied the charges. The trial was adjourned to February 15. In March last year, the Lebanese government said 70 Lebanese, mostly Shiites, were facing deportation from the United Arab Emirates. In 2009, dozens of Lebanese Shiites who had lived in the UAE for years were expelled on suspicion of links to Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, the arch rival of Sunni-ruled Gulf monarchies. In the other trial, 23 mostly Yemeni defendants have been charged with forming a cell linked to al-Qaeda as well as forgery, the newspapers said. Two of the defendants remain at large, according to the reports. That trial was adjourned to March 7. Authorities have enacted tougher anti-terror legislation, including harsher jail terms and have introduced the death penalty for crimes linked to religious hatred and extremist groups. The UAE stepped up security measures since the wave uprising protests swept the region in 2011. In July, the UAE executed an Emirati woman for the extremist-inspired 2014 murder of an American school teacher in an Abu Dhabi shopping mall.

Hezbollah fears its captives
Diana Moukalled/Al Arabiya/February 09/16
Last week, Hezbollah pressured local Lebanese television station MTV to cut footage of its interviews with three Hezbollah fighters who are held captive by al-Nusra Front. It’s therefore useful to recall similar incidents which took place over the past few years. In 2004, press ethics regarding captives did not prevent Hezbollah from allowing its media to interview Israeli officer Elhanan Tannenbaum, whom the party held captive at the time and who was later released as part of a prisoner swap. At the time, Hezbollah made an effort to show that it treated its captives - who it says are affiliated with the “Israeli enemy” - well. A few days ago, al-Nusra Front did the same exact thing when it allowed Lebanese reporter Carol Maalouf to interview the Hezbollah members it holds captive. This interview included efforts to imply that al-Nusra is treating the hostages well. In the first case, Hezbollah thought allowing its Israeli captive to be interviewed as a propaganda strategy was justified. In al-Nusra’s case, Hezbollah was confused and it pressured the station to not broadcast the interview with the three captives.
Backing down
MTV backed down following the intimidation and only aired a few minutes of the pre-agreed upon footage. It doesn’t matter whether the captive is a fighter or a civilian, as balance between freedom of speech and hostages’ rights and protecting them is essential. However, these are not the only incidents of this kind. In the past few years, we’ve witnessed many interviews carried out with captives - whether military servicemen or civilians - in Syria and Lebanon. Media outlets competed over a scoop without caring much about ethics, which are essential when it comes to such interviews. Reporters and media figures thus played the role of the investigator and the political and moral reference. For example, interviews with many captives were held upon Hezbollah’s support and approval. I am referring to those held with the Lebanese pilgrims who were abducted in the Syrian town of Azaz by a Syrian opposition faction.
At the time, some Lebanese people responded to this abduction by kidnapping Turks, Syrians and even other Lebanese citizens. Members of the Lebanese al-Moqdad family, which is close to Hezbollah and which seemed to be in control of security and media coverage, allowed several reporters and journalists to meet their captives and interview them in a very humiliating manner. Back then, Hezbollah did not prevent any station from broadcasting these interviews. On the contrary, it seemed to approve these abductions and these interviews as well as the marginalization of legal principles and human rights.
Propaganda purposes
The professional problem related to interviewing prisoners did not push Hezbollah to discuss the rights of captives or to realize its sin of exploiting its cause for propaganda. The moral and ethical content when it comes to media outlets interviewing war prisoners is problematic. However, the major standard here is the humanitarian interest of the captive themselves and the extent of confusion which can be caused by information revealed at a time when the abductor uses these interviews for propaganda purposes. It doesn’t matter whether the captive is a fighter or a civilian, as balance between freedom of speech and hostages’ rights and protecting them is essential. This is the general rule. However all the aforementioned cases did not respect this principle. Hezbollah was the first to violate these ethical standards. The group’s fury over that MTV interview is not because it wants to protect its kidnapped members or defend their rights and interests. The problem is that this interview, regardless of its content and whether the captives’ statements are sincere or being made under pressure, enables Hezbollah to make its agenda tolerated on political, security and moral fronts. Ever since the party began fighting in Syria alongside the Assad regime, it has imposed a media blackout on its involvement in the war there. Hezbollah wants to keep this status quo, and it even wants all the funerals for the fighters who died in Syria to remain quiet. Hezbollah wants to continue preventing the media from talking to these fighters’ families and wants the shattered homes to settle with grieving and lamenting their loss without much fuss in the media. Morally speaking, one cannot overcome the circumstances of the interview with Hezbollah’s captives or settle with its content; however, Hezbollah’s panic and pressure on the television station are what actually require questioning and shedding light on.

Rahi Says Lebanon Needs ‘Real Statesmen’ to End Baabda Vacuum
Naharnet/February 09/16/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said on Tuesday that Lebanon needs “real statesmen” to end the presidential vacuum.“We need real statesmen to be able to elect a president,” al-Rahi said in his sermon during a mass he celebrated on the occasion of Saint Maroun in Bkirki. The patriarch urged Maronites to “build bridges rather than walls” among different factions. He gave his blessing to any initiative that removes the obstacles facing the presidential elections. Al-Rahi was referring to Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea’s endorsement of the candidacy of his long-time rival Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun. Despite Geagea’s backing for Aoun last month, the parliament failed once again Monday to elect a new president over the growing differences between the rival blocs. Baabda Palace has been vacant since the term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014. The Bkirki mass was attended by MPs Antoine Zahra and Gilberte Zouein, and Marada Movement official Youssef Saadeh as representatives of Christian parties. They later held a closed-door meeting with al-Rahi.

Beirut Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar: Presidency Should Not Be Linked to Issues beyond Lebanon's Borders
Naharnet/February 09/16/Beirut Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar condemned on Tuesday the ongoing vacuum in the presidency, while hailing the recent rapprochements and initiatives that have been launched to end the dispute. He said during a sermon marking Mar Maroun Day: “Our national dignity should not allow us to link the presidency to issues beyond our country's borders.”On the initiatives, he noted: “Respecting the constitution does not mean neglecting the National Pact.”The constitution will remain the “only guarantee” for the country, Matar went on to say.
“If we want to elect a president, we must also ensure that he has a country to rule,” stressed the bishop. This also demands that the constitution and National Pact are respected. “We hope that the presidential crisis will be resolved within weeks, not months,” he added. Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls. Initiatives to end the deadlock saw Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri, of the March 14 camp, nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh, of the March 8 alliance, as president. Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea nominated his longtime rival Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun as president as well. These efforts have so far failed to elect a president after Hizbullah, Aoun's key ally, announced over the weekend that its lawmakers will not head to the polls unless an agreement is reached to elect the MP.

Bkirki Meeting for Christian Ministers over Marginalization
Naharnet/February 09/16/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is planning on inviting Christian ministers for a meeting on Friday to inquire them about the alleged marginalization of Christians in state institutions, An Nahar daily reported on Tuesday. The newspaper said al-Rahi wants to hear the ministers’ remarks on the status of Christian employees at their ministries and other institutions during the meeting in Bkirki. The issue has been in the public eye in the past years but it gained momentum when ministers from Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal movement were accused of marginalizing Christians. Bishop Boulos Matar told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that Friday’s meeting in Bkirki is aimed at sending a warning and at rejecting lack of partnership. Last week, Public Works Minister Ghazi Zoaiter denied claims that his ministry has been carrying out more development projects in areas with a Muslim population than in Christian regions. Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khali also defended a decision to allocate a senior post at the ministry's taxpayers department that was held by Bassema Antonios, a Christian, to Shiite Muslim employee Mohammed Suleiman. The finance ministry has not witnessed any new appointments but rather a periodic reshuffle of incumbent employees, he said.

Fuel Tax Faces Growing Opposition
Naharnet/February 09/16/A plan to impose a tax on gasoline will likely fail over the objection it faces from several parties represented in the government and a coalition of public sector employees. Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told al-Joumhouria daily that he will brief the cabinet on Wednesday on the country’s financial situation and will stress the importance of the participation of all parties in any decision-making on spending. But the Syndicate Coordination Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, has warned that it could organize a strike Thursday if the cabinet, during its Wednesday session, decided to add tax on fuel. Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi from the Kataeb Party was among ministers rejecting an increase in gasoline prices, an idea that surfaced to meet the demands of Civil Defense volunteers to become full-timers. The cabinet failed last week to pass a decree to make them full-time employees over lack of financial resources.But now that twenty liters of gasoline is selling at about LL20,000 as a result of a global slide in oil prices, some officials are mulling to put the tax (around LL5,000) to fund the employment of the volunteers. We can’t approve to add a tax every time there is a popular demand,” Qazzi told al-Joumhouria. He called instead for a comprehensive development plan. The Free Patriotic Movement has also rejected a tax hike. Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas, said, however that he would approve a tax hike if he was convinced by Khalil’s briefing on the need for additional resources to help the treasury. An Nahar daily quoted ministerial sources as saying that the majority of cabinet ministers will reject adding LL5,000 on gasoline prices. The $20 million needed to make the Civil Defense volunteers full-timers does not require a tax hike, they said. Other projects that are worth millions of dollars have been previously approved without adding taxes, the sources added.

Shaker Says Will Only Turn Himself in to 'Just Judiciary', Slams 'Big Criminal' Samaha
Naharnet/February 09/16/Former pop star turned fugitive Islamic militant Fadel Shaker stressed during a TV interview aired on Monday that he will only turn himself in to what he described as a “just judiciary,” reiterating the claim that he was “asleep” when the Abra battle started. “I truly had the intention to turn myself in because I know that I didn't do anything wrong,” Shaker told MTV. “I want to turn myself in, but to whom shall I turn myself in?” he asked. “We do have an upright judiciary and we have just judges who fear God, but let them remove the judges' handcuffs and allow them to issue fair rulings,” Shaker added. Noting that “politics is confining the judiciary,” the fugitive man referred to the recent controversial release from jail of ex-minister Michel Samaha, who is facing terrorist charges. “We have seen the example of how they freed the big criminal Michel Samaha,” Shaker said. “Only God knows what bombings he had been involved in prior to his arrest on charges of smuggling explosives,” he added. Samaha and Syrian security chief Ali Mamluk had been indicted by Lebanon's judiciary with a conspiracy to smuggle explosives into Lebanon with the aim of staging bombings and assassinating political and religious figures. “The Lebanese judiciary must acquit me, seeing as the defense minister, (detained Islamist cleric) Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and all the detainees in their custody have all said that I'm innocent. What are they still waiting for?” Shaker asked on Monday. Shaker, who has been on the run for nearly three years, has repeatedly denied fighting alongside al-Asir's gunmen in the fierce 2013 clashes with the army in the Sidon suburb of Abra. At least 18 soldiers and dozens of gunmen were killed in the gunbattles. Monday's interview was conducted at a home in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh where Shaker has been residing since the Abra battle. The Lebanese state does not have authority over the country's 12 Palestinian camps. “We took up arms when we started facing threats, provocations and shootings at the hands of Hizbullah's (Resistance) Brigades,” Shaker told MTV, referring to a Hizbullah-affiliated group. “All people know the practices of Hizbullah's brigades and how they assault people without any accountability,” he charged. Shaker also reiterated that he was “asleep” when the Abra battle started and that he had been at odds with al-Asir during that period. Asked to send a message to the families of the army's dead and wounded, he said : “May God have mercy on the army's martyrs and on our martyrs as well, because a third party wronged against them both, and I had nothing to do with the Abra battle.” Though he grew to become one of the Arab world's most famous singers, Shaker suffered through a miserable childhood of poverty, which a onetime musician friend says helped lead him down a dark path later in life. Now in his mid-forties, Shaker was born to a Palestinian mother and Lebanese father. Born Fadel Shmandur, he began his career as a popular wedding singer who performed from the rooftops of the Ain el-Hilweh camp, an over-crowded and hopeless place. In his prime, Shaker sang love songs that were instant region-wide hits. He released his first album in the late nineties, and continued to perform until 2011.

Canada to end air strikes against ISIS
The Associated Press, Toronto Tuesday, 9 February 2016/Canada’s prime minister on Monday announced that the country will end air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) by Feb. 22, saying that “the people terrorized by ISIL every day don’t need our vengeance, they need our help.”Justin Trudeau, following up on campaign promises he made last year, also announced that the government will expand efforts to train local forces and rebuild the war-torn region. Military personnel in the region will increase to 830 from the current 650 and provide planning, targeting and intelligence expertise. “As I said many times throughout the campaign in my commitment to Canadians, this is a non-combat mission,” Trudeau said. The Liberal leader said Canada’s contribution to the U.S.-led coalition’s mission against the Islamic State group is being extended until the end of March 2017. The U.S. had asked coalition members to boost their military contributions in Iraq and Syria against ISIS after the deadly attacks in Paris in November. However, Trudeau’s promise that Canada would pull its jets was already part of his winning campaign. “While air strike operations can be very useful to achieve short-term military and territorial gains, they do not on their own achieve long-term stability for local communities,” Trudeau said during a news conference Monday. The country had six fighter jets carrying out the strikes. “We will be supporting and empowering local forces to take their fight directly to ISIL so that ... they can reclaim their homes, their land and their future,” the prime minister added. Canada will keep two surveillance planes in the region as well as refueling aircraft, and it will triple the number of soldiers training Kurdish troops in northern Iraq to about 200, from about 69 now. The size of Canada’s “train, advice and assist” mission will triple, including additional medical personnel and equipment including small arms, ammunition and optics to assist in training Iraqi security forces. Trudeau said the government will spend more than US$1.15 billion (CA$1.6 billion) over the next three years on the mission as a whole, including on security, stabilization and humanitarian and development assistance.

Israeli MPs Take First Step to Pass Contentious NGO Law
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/16/A controversial bill that would compel NGOs receiving most of their funding from foreign governments to declare it in official reports passed its first reading in the Israeli parliament early Tuesday. The proposal -- denounced by critics as likely to encourage a witch-hunt against leftist groups that campaign for the defense of Palestinian rights -- was passed in a 50-43 vote following a tense debate. Two more readings of the bill by the parliament, or Knesset, are required for it to become law. The text has renewed tension between one of the most rightwing governments in Israeli history and the United States and the European Union. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who proposed the law, argues it will boost transparency as the government seeks to fight foreign interference and attempts to delegitimise the state of Israel. She has insisted it does not target any specific NGO.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also expressed support for the law. The text does not specifically refer to leftist organisations, but they are expected to be most affected as right-wing NGOs, such as those supporting Israel's occupation of the West Bank, tend to rely on private donations, particularly from within the United States. Several leftwing Israeli NGOs receive large percentages of their funding from abroad, including from European governments. The bill has sparked international criticism, with the U.S. and EU ambassadors to Israel both expressing concern over its implications. - Chilling effect? -It stipulates that NGOs receiving more than half of their funding from foreign governments will have to declare it in all their official reports. At the request of Netanyahu, however, a proposed requirement for NGO members to wear a badge indicating their organisation is funded by a foreign country was dropped. "I do not understand how a requirement for transparency is anti-democratic; the opposite is true," Netanyahu said last month. "In a democratic regime, we need to know who is financing such NGOs, from the right, the left, up or down." Israeli leftwing NGOs have expressed concern at increasingly personal attacks they have been subjected to in recent months, including regular harassment and even death threats. Settlement watchdog Peace Now has called the bill "a hate crime against democracy" while the United States has warned it could have a "chilling effect". In a statement on Tuesday, Peace Now said "the passing of the NGO bill is a violent and discriminatory act of public shaming against those criticising the government. "Despite Netanyahu's statements, the bill resembles the situation in Russia and not that in the United States or in any other democratic country," it said.

More than one million Syrians living under siege: NGOs
AFP | The Hague Tuesday, 9 February 2016/More than one million Syrians are living under siege after nearly five years of war, a new NGO report said Tuesday, warning that the crisis was “far worse” than U.N. officials have acknowleged. “New data gathered by Siege Watch shows that there are well over 1,000,000 Syrians under siege in locations in Damascus, Rural Damascus, Homs, Deir Ezzor and Idlib governorates,” said the report jointly released by a Dutch group and a US-based institute.

Deadly blast hits police club in Damascus
AFP, Beirut Tuesday, 9 February 2016/A suicide car bombing killed nine people Tuesday at a police officer’s club in the Syrian capital, a monitor said, in an attack claimed by ISIS. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 20 people were also wounded in the Damascus blast, adding that policemen were among the dead and injured. The monitor said the suicide bomber had been wearing a police uniform, a tactic used in the past by ISIS. The jihadist group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement circulated on social media. It said one its members had detonated an explosives-laden car at a club for “criminal” police officers, and claimed that the attack had killed nearly 20 people and wounded 40. Syrian state television initially reported the blast had hit a vegetable market in the Masaken Barzeh district in northern Damascus. But it subsequently cited a source in the interior ministry saying a car had tried to ram into the police officer’s club in the area, but was stopped by guards. “A suicide bomber then detonated his explosives, causing deaths and injuries,” the state broadcaster reported. Syrian state news agency SANA said three people were killed and 14 wounded in the attack. Car bombs have been used regularly in Syria’s war, often to devastating effect.While the capital has been largely spared, a multiple bomb attack near the Sayyida Zeinab shrine outside the city killed at least 71 people last month. More than 260,000 people have died in Syria’s conflict since it began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

U.N. fears for hundreds of thousands if Syria troops encircle Aleppo
Reuters, Geneva Tuesday, 9 February 2016/Hundreds of thousands of civilians could be cut off from food supplies if Syrian government forces succeed in their offensive to encircle rebel-held parts of Aleppo, the United Nations said on Tuesday, warning of a massive new flight of refugees. Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, have launched a major offensive in the countryside around Aleppo, which has been divided between government and rebel control for years. The assault to surround Aleppo, once Syria’s biggest city with 2 million people, amounts to one of the most important shifts of momentum in the five year civil war that has killed 250,000 people and already driven 11 million from their homes. The United Nations is worried that the government advance could cut off the last link between rebel-held parts of Aleppo and the main Turkish border crossing, which has long served as the lifeline for insurgent-controlled territory. “If the GoS (government of Syria) and allies sever the last remaining flight route out of eastern Aleppo City it would leave up to 300,000 people, still residing in the city, cut off from humanitarian aid unless cross-line access could be negotiated,” the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in an urgent bulletin. “If the GoS advances around the city continue, local councils in the city estimate that some 100,000 - 150,000 civilians may flee towards Afrin and the western countryside of Aleppo governorate.”
Volatile situation
The U.N. World Food Program said in a statement it had begun food distribution in the Syrian town of Azaz near the Turkish border for the new wave of people displaced by the fighting. “The situation is quite volatile and fluid in northern Aleppo with families on the move seeking safety,” said Jakob Kern, WFP’s country director in Syria. “We are extremely concerned as access and supply routes from the north to eastern Aleppo city and surrounding areas are now cut off, but we are making every effort to get enough food in place for all those in need, bringing it in through the remaining open border crossing point from Turkey.”The Russian-backed government assault around Aleppo, as well as advances further south, helped torpedo the first peace talks for nearly two years, which collapsed last week before they got under way in earnest. Moscow turned the momentum in the war in favour of its ally President Bashar al-Assad when it joined the conflict four months ago with a campaign of air strikes against his enemies, many of whom are supported by Arab states, Turkey and the West. German chancellor Angela Merkel accused Russia this week of bombing civilians, against a U.N. Security Council resolution Moscow signed up to in December. Russia says it is targeting only Islamist militants. The complex multi-sided civil war has drawn in outside powers, with the United States leading a separate campaign of air strikes against ISIS militants who control eastern Syria and northern Iraq.

Turkey ‘won’t close borders,’ expects 70,000 refugees
Reuters and AFP Tuesday, 9 February 2016/Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday that his country will not close its border with Syria and expects a possibility of 70,000 refugees amassing at the gates. On Monday, at least 30,000 Syrians were at the Turkish border after fleeing a Russia-backed regime offensive on the northern region of Aleppo, Davutoglu said. With his country facing mounting pressure to open its border, Davutoglu said the refugees would be admitted if need be, although Turkey should not be expected "to shoulder the refugee issue alone." "Around 30,000 Syrians have now massed," the border with northwestern Syria which remains closed, he told a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
U.N. urges Turkey to open borders to Syrians
Meanwhile, the United Nations called on Turkey on Tuesday to open its borders to thousands of desperate Syrian refugees fleeing Aleppo, in line with its international obligations to protect people fleeing conflict or persecution. William Spindler, spokesman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the agency understood the concern of Turkish authorities about “possible large influxes” into the country, already hosting more than 2.5 million Syrian refugees. “Turkey has also allowed a number of vulnerable and wounded people in Turkey. However, many people are not being allowed to cross the border. We are asking Turkey to open its border to all civilians in Syria fleeing danger in need of international protection as they have done,” Spindler told a news briefing.

Ramadi linked to army base after Iraqi advance
Reuters, Baghdad Tuesday, 9 February 2016/Iraqi forces recaptured territory from ISIS militants on Tuesday which links the recently recaptured city of Ramadi to a major army base in western Iraq, the military said. A statement broadcast on state television said the army, police and counter-terrorism forces had retaken several areas including the town of Husaiba al-Sharqiya, about 10 km (6 miles) east of Ramadi. “(Our forces) also managed to open the road from Ramadi to Baghdad which passes through al-Khaldiya,” the statement added, referring to a highway that links the city to the Habbaniya base where U.S.-led coalition forces are located. Iraq’s army declared victory in December over ISIS in Ramadi, the provincial capital west of Baghdad. It was the first major gain for the U.S.-trained force since it collapsed in the face of an assault by the militants in 2014. Government forces are still dismantling bombs planted in Ramadi, and much of the city’s infrastructure needs to be rebuilt. Tuesday’s advance boosts government efforts to close in on Falluja, the ISIS stronghold located between Ramadi and Baghdad which is besieged by the army and Iranian-backed Shiite militias.The ultra-hardline Sunni militants of ISIS swept through a third of Iraq in 2014, declaring a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, carrying out mass killings and imposing a draconian form of Islam.

Iran's reformist ex-president calls on supporters to vote
AP | Tehran Tuesday, 9 February 2016/Iran’s reformist ex-president has called on Iranians to cast their vote in the upcoming election despite a ban preventing many reformist candidates from running. In a statement issued late Monday Mohammad Khatami called on his supporters to vote in the Feb. 26 parliamentary elections to serve the national interest. He said that although it is disappointing that “capable” and “deserving figures” have been disqualified, people should vote because “massive participation” and “heated elections” are in their interest. Khatami remains influential among reformist Iranians, and particularly among young people and women, although state media is banned from publishing his comments. In past elections, large turnouts have led to a greater number of seats for pro-reform candidates. On Saturday the Guardian Council, Iran’s hard-line constitutional watchdog, reversed a ban on 1,500 parliamentary candidates. It is unclear how many of these are reformists. In total, some 6,200 candidates will now be running for Iran’s 290-seat parliament. Pro-reform and moderate parties had issued a statement last month complaining that only 30 of the 3,000 reformist candidates fielded across the country were allowed to run. The elections are expected to be a show-down between hard-liners and moderates, who are hoping for an electoral boost following the newly-implemented nuclear deal and the lifting of international sanctions.

Kremlin rejects Merkel's criticism of Russia over Syria bombings
AFP | Moscow Tuesday, 9 February 2016/The Kremlin on Tuesday issued a rare rebuke to German Chancellor Angela Merkel a day after she criticised Russian air strikes in Syria.In Ankara on Monday, Merkel -- referring to air strikes including those carried out by Russia -- said “we are horrified in the face of this human suffering.”Her comments represented some of the sharpest criticism yet of Russia’s aerial campaign by Merkel. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Merkel should carefully watch what she said on the Syrian crisis. “We once again call on everyone to be very careful and responsible in their choice of words, given the already delicate situation in Syria now and the Syrian settlement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Despite complaints from the West and the Syrian opposition, Russia had not received any credible evidence of civilian deaths from air strikes, Peskov said. He also said no voices had been raised in protest against the “barbaric actions of terrorists” when they assaulted Syrian regime forces in the past. “No one made any statements of this kind at the time,” Peskov told reporters. Syria peace talks were suspended in Switzerland last week as the West and the Syrian opposition accused Moscow of targeting civilians and seeking a military solution to the nearly five-year war. Asked on Monday whether Russia would press ahead with its bombing campaign in Syria if the peace talks resume, Peskov declined to comment. Fears mount that Syria’s mainstream opposition rebels risk total collapse after a Russian-backed regime advance that severed their main supply line to the city of Aleppo.

ISIS widow charged over U.S. hostage death
AFP, Washington Tuesday, 9 February 2016/The widow of late ISIS financial leader Abu Sayyaf was charged Monday for her alleged role in the death of U.S. aid worker Kayla Mueller last year. Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar, a 25-year-old known as Umm Sayyaf, was accused of conspiring to provide support to the violent extremists, forcibly detaining Mueller and other captives in the couple’s homes, where she was sexually assaulted by ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Bahar acknowledged that Baghdadi “owned” Mueller during her captivity at the Sayyaf residences, describing “owning” as equivalent to slavery, federal prosecutors said. ISIS fighters claimed that Mueller, who was kidnapped in the Syrian city of Aleppo in August 2013, was killed in a February 2015 coalition air strike that buried her in rubble. U.S. officials say the circumstances of her death remain unclear. She was 26. Abu Sayyaf was killed in May 2015 in a rare U.S. commando raid inside war-torn Syria. Bahar was captured during the operation, and U.S. forces also rescued a young woman from the Yazidi minority and seized a stash of firearms, the complaint recalled. If convicted, Bahar faces life in prison. She is currently in Iraqi custody, facing prosecution for terror-related activities. “We fully support the Iraqi prosecution of Sayyaf and will continue to work with the authorities there to pursue our shared goal of holding Sayyaf accountable for her crimes,” Assistant Attorney General John Carlin said in a statement. “We will continue to pursue justice for Kayla and for all American victims of terrorism.”

Saudi Patriot intercepts Houthi ballistic missile
AFP, Riyadh Tuesday, 9 February 2016/A Patriot missile shot down a Scud fired from the Yemeni capital towards southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition told AFP, the day after another Scud attack. In the latest incident, debris from the destroyed Scud fell in the kingdom's Jizan border province, causing no injuries, Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri said. He said militias launched it from inside the Yemeni capital Sanaa, located around 200 km from Jizan - which they seized in late 2014. The Saudis have deployed Patriots designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, which have been fired occasionally since March when the Saudi-led coalition began air strikes in support of the Yemeni government after Iran-backed Houthi militias seized much of the neighboring country. In April last year the Saudi defense ministry said coalition strikes had removed threats to Saudi Arabia’s security "by destroying heavy weaponry and ballistic missiles" seized by the Yemeni militias. With coalition-backed anti-Houthi forces now 30 to 40 km from Sanaa, the militias are retaliating, Assiri said. On Monday the coalition said air defenses intercepted a Scud fired at Khamis Mushait, a city near the King Khalid Air Base which is at the forefront of Saudi-led air operations against the Houthi militias and their allies, elite troops loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Knesset suspends Arab-Israeli lawmakers from Balad Party
Reuters, Jerusalem Tuesday, 9 February 2016/Three Arab-Israeli lawmakers were suspended on Monday from speaking in parliament as punishment for supporting families of Palestinian assailants killed by security forces after they attacked Israelis. The Knesset Ethics Committee ruled that Balad party members Hanin Zoabi and Basel Ghattas would be barred from plenum and committee business for four months and Jamal Zahalka for two months, but they will be able to vote. Last week, the three visited the families of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces in incidents, including one on a bus in Jerusalem last year in which three people were killed. They were accused of standing as a mark of respect for the attackers, but Zahalka denied this and said they were praying. Tensions between Jews and Arabs in Israel have risen since a wave of stabbings, shootings and car-rammings carried out mainly by Palestinians has killed 27 Israelis and a U.S. citizen since October. A few Arab Israelis have also carried out attacks. In the same period, Israeli forces have killed at least 156 Palestinians, 101 of them assailants, authorities say. Most of the others died during violent protests. The bloodshed has been partly fuelled by Palestinian frustration over long-stalled peace talks and anger at perceived Jewish encroachment on a contested Jerusalem shrine. The three legislators faced the hearing after other lawmakers, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and hundreds of members of the public complained to parliament and accused the three of disloyalty to the state. “We are not prepared to accept a situation where Knesset members support the families of those who murdered Israeli civilians and stand to attention to the memory of those who murdered our children,” Netanyahu said in parliament. Attorney-General Avihai Mandelblit has also called for a police investigation against the three. The left-wing Balad party is part of the Joint Arab List, a conglomeration of four factions that holds 13 seats in the 120-member Knesset. Balad members are particularly vocal in supporting Palestinian causes.

Germany and Turkey vow to end Aleppo violence
The Associated Press, Ankara Tuesday, 9 February 2016/As tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing violence massed at Turkey’s border, Turkish and German leaders pledged on Monday to redouble diplomatic efforts to end the fighting around the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo and prevent more refugees making their way into Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after talks with Turkey Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that she was “not just appalled but horrified” by the suffering caused by the bombing in Syria, primarily by Russia. Merkel said Turkey and Germany would push at the United Nations for all sides to adhere to a U.N. resolution passed in December that calls for an immediate halt to attacks on civilians in Syria. Merkel was in Ankara for talks on how to reduce the influx of migrants into Europe, mostly via a perilous boat crossing from Turkey to Greece. Turkey’s coast guard said Monday that another 27 migrants had died after their boat capsized in the Bay of Edremit while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos. Her visit came after a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive around Aleppo sent up to 35,000 Syrians fleeing toward the border with Turkey in recent days. Turkey has taken in 2.5 million Syrian refugees since the conflict began, and authorities say the country has reached its capacity to absorb refugees. The border crossing remained closed for a fourth day on Monday and aid groups continued to provide assistance to the Syrians massed at a displaced persons camp nearby. Syrian army troops meanwhile, recaptured another village north of Aleppo on Monday, bringing troops and allied militiamen to within a few miles (kilometers) of the Turkish border. Aleppo “is de facto under siege. We are on the verge of a new human tragedy,” Davutoglu said. “No one should excuse or show tolerance toward the Russian air attacks that amount to ethnic massacres by saying, ‘Turkey takes care of the Syrian refugees anyway,’“ Davutoglu said. “No one can expect Turkey to take on the burden on its own.” Added Merkel: “We have been, in the past few days, not just appalled but horrified by what has been caused in the way of human suffering for tens of thousands of people by bombing — primarily from the Russian side.”“Under such circumstances, it’s hard for peace talks to take place, and so this situation must be brought to an end quickly,” Merkel said.

At Least Eight Dead, 100 Injured in German Train Crash
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/February 09/16/Two commuter trains collided head-on in southern Germany on Tuesday, killing at least eight people and injuring around 100, in one of the country's deadliest rail accidents in years. Hundreds of rescuers were racing to pull passengers from the wreckage in a wooded area near Bad Aibling, a spa town about 60 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of Munich. Several carriages were overturned. "We have eight dead on the trains," said police spokesman Juergen Thaimeier, adding that about 100 people had been injured, 55 of them seriously.Local police spokesman Martin Winkler had earlier given a toll of four dead. But rescuers subsequently found another four bodies in the train wreckage.The "tragic accident occurred on the single-track route between Rosenheim and Holzkirchen this morning shortly after 7:00 am (0600 GMT)," regional rail company Meridian, a subsidiary of the French group Transdev, said in a statement. The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. Rainer Scharf, a police officer from the southern state of Bavaria, said that "given the severity of the accident, we believe the two regional trains collided head-on at a low speed."He added that the priority was to "rescue the many injured". The police tweeted that several hundred emergency services workers were on the scene in the rural area. Rescue workers from nearby Austria were also on site, rolling news channel NTV said. About a dozen helicopters were also deployed, with television footage showing them waiting in a clearing outside the forest, from where rescuers were emerging with stretchers carrying the injured. A journalist for local broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk reported that rescuers were climbing on the wreckage and pulling people out. The rail route was closed to traffic, as well as two local roads."The accident is an enormous shock for us," said Bernd Rosenbusch, who heads the Bavarian rail company BOB that operates trains on the route. "We will do everything to help travelers, their relatives and our employees," he added. The accident is believed to be the first deadly train crash since April 2012, when three people were killed and 13 injured in a collision between two regional trains in the western German town of Offenbach. The country's deadliest post-war accident happened in 1998, when a high-speed ICE train linking Munich and Hamburg derailed, killing 101 people and injuring 88 at the northern town of Eschede.

Libyan warplane crashes after attacking ISIS
AFP Tuesday, 9 February 2016/A warplane operated by forces loyal to Libya’s recognized government crashed Monday near the eastern city of Derna after attacking ISIS positions, a military official said. Spokesman Nasser el-Hassi told AFP the pilot of the MiG-23, Younes al-Dilani, “survived the crash”. Hassi refused to reveal the cause but LANA news agency, which is close to the recognized government, attributed it to “technical problems”. Before crashing, the aircraft conducted raids on ISIS positions some 15 km from Derna. Two administrations are vying for power in war-ravaged Libya, one based in the capital Tripoli backed by a coalition of militias, and the internationally recognized government, exiled in the east. In early January, a MiG 23 came down in Benghazi, the main city in the east. The authorities reported a technical problem but ISISclaimed to have shot it down. Derna, 1,100 km east of Tripoli, is controlled by the Mujahedeen Shura Council of Derna, a motley mix of militias that includes Ansar al-Sharia which is close to al-Qaeda. The chaos engulfing Libya since the fall of dictator Muammar Qadddafi’s regime in 2011 has fostered the rise of IS which has based itself in the former dictator’s hometown of Sirte in eastern Libya.

Israeli conditions for returning bodies condemned
AFP, Jerusalem Tuesday, 9 February 2016/Israel is ready to return the bodies of 10 Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks but their families have refused to accept certain conditions, a government spokesman said on Monday. Israel will return the bodies if the families “agree in advance that the funerals take place at night, with a limited number of attendees,” a spokesman for the ministry of public security told AFP. “These conditions have not yet been accepted by the families,” he said, despite reports in the Israeli media that two of the bodies could be returned by Tuesday to families in east Jerusalem. Since a wave of violence erupted in October, 165 Palestinians have been killed, according to an AFP count. The violence has also claimed the lives of 26 Israelis, an American, an Eritrean and a Sudanese. Israel does not always immediately return the bodies of slain attackers. The policy has infuriated Palestinians and sparked condemnation from rights groups who decry what they say is “collective punishment”. Israeli security forces are also divided on the policy. The army, which controls the occupied West Bank, argues that such confiscations exacerbate tensions and has returned dozens of bodies since December. Annexed east Jerusalem however is under the authority of Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan and he has staunchly refused to release the bodies of the 10 attackers.

When Russia received Rifaat al-Assad as an exile
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/February 09/16
A recently published book by Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa, who has been out of sight since 2012, describes how Russia agreed to receive Rifaat al-Assad, who had a dispute in 1984 with his brother and late president Hafez over power when the latter suffered health problems. This means it would not be strange if Moscow repeated such an act of containing the Syrian crisis by granting President Bashar al-Assad safe passage or exile. Rifaat tried to assert control over Damascus, but a split ensued due to a dispute among Alawites over power. The situation continued until Hafez woke up from a coma just as forces loyal to him and those loyal to Rifaat were on the verge of fighting. The Soviets sent envoy Heydar Aliyev, then-first deputy premier, to Syria. Aliyev demanded to meet with Rifaat to know what was going on. According to the book, Hafez did not reject this intervention, and sent Sharaa to accompany Aliyev during his meeting with Rifaat to know what they would talk about. Afterward, Hafez promoted Rifaat to vice president but decreased his brother’s powers. If the Russians had done today what they did in 1984, and if they had supported calls for Bashar to step down, they would have prevented a catastrophe. “I, upon the president’s request, found a decent exit for Rifaat to keep him out of Syria,” Sharaa wrote. “I contacted the French ambassador to arrange an official visit for Rifaat to France as vice president so he can then stay in Paris, but the Foreign Ministry refused to receive Rifaat. I later made the same request again, and we waited for a while but France did not alter its stance and this caused tension between us and them.”Sharaa then turned to the Soviets, who responded quickly. According to him, they “welcomed the request” and Hafez sent Rifaat on an official visit as vice president along with a delegation of high-ranking officers. This was Rifaat’s goodbye trip, along with around 70 of his officers - a trip to live in exile until further notice. Rifaat accepted to leave Syria to resolve the problem, but Hafez wanted to control every detail so he sent Sharaa with Rifaat to Moscow. He also sent security officials to accompany Rifaat’s officers, who were being sent to Russia for “compulsory recreation.” Sharaa said Moscow agreed to host them. According to him, an argument erupted on the plane mainly between Rifaat and Shafiq Fayad, then-commander of the 3rd Division, which went as far as pulling out guns. The dispute did not calm down until then-chief of air force intelligence Mohammad al-Khuli intervened. The Kremlin received Rifaat according to protocol, and they held official talks. Sharaa writes that Rifaat used to inform Hafez of the details of his meetings, including statements he gave to Russian TV that Sharaa says he helped formulate as “although Rifaat masters talking properly, I feared the Russians would employ certain statements that would suit them, or that Rifaat would reveal what’s inappropriate regarding the crisis.”
Then and now
Russia’s initiative saved the regime from chaos and fighting. When we recall these events, we can see the difference between Moscow then and today, and between yesterday’s Assad and today’s. Bashar is behind the worst political and humanitarian disaster in the Middle East. Excluding him has become necessary because he has destroyed all chances of reconciliation by resorting to murder and destruction to resolve the Syrian crisis. Bashar staying in power will inflict bigger disasters on the political system, his family, sect, country, and even the region and the entire world due to the expansion of terrorism.
If the Russians had done today what they did in 1984, and if they had supported calls for Bashar to step down, they would have prevented a catastrophe. In the end, everyone will realize that he cannot go on being in power because his regime is destroyed. If the Russians play a positive role now and support removing him, they will be rebuilding Syria and their image, and ending this tragedy.

Fate of Iran’s next parliament may already be sealed
Camelia Entekhabi-Fard/Al Arabiya/February 09/16
While asking voters to participate at two upcoming elections to nominate the next Iranian parliament and the country’s Assembly of Experts, Iran’s supreme leader did not shy away from saying what outcomes he expects. Speaking last month, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei thought it was important to clarify an earlier statement in which he said even Iranians who disagree with the Islamic Republic’s political system should vote in the elections. “This remark does not mean that the people should want to vote for those who do not accept the system into parliament,” he said. His remarks have already disappointed many; not just the people, but also moderate-reformist members of the system who perceive elections as an opportunity for change. Iranians are now left without a prominent reformist figure to vote for among the qualified candidates. Any hope of mobilizing voters who are seeking change is not high.Khamenei appears to no longer want to drag a huge number of voters to the polling stations as a demonstration of public support for him. Instead, he is changing his tune and implying that he no longer needs the crowds as a testimony. Both elections to nominate Iran’s parliament and its Assembly of Experts (a clerical body that monitors the supreme leader’s performance and chooses his successor), are scheduled on the same day, February 26. The Guardian Council, which is responsible for vetting parliamentary candidates, has disqualified a large number of moderates, semi-reformists and those close to the government of moderate President Hassan Rowhani. The mass disqualifications, despite this week’s reversal of a ban on 1,500 candidates, have led to the public losing interest in the vote.
‘If we don’t vote, we lose’
Iranians are now left without a prominent reformist figure to vote for among the qualified candidates. Any hope of mobilizing voters who are seeking change is not high. Rowhani has realized this, and urged Iranians to vote, recently saying “if we don’t vote, we definitely lose.” This was one of the most direct remarks from the president about the elections. He knows that the public’s disappointment can benefit the hardliners and lead to them winning most, if not all, of the seats in parliament. The lack of reformist and moderate figures entering parliament can cause difficulties for Rowhani when it comes to continuing to implement the terms of the nuclear deal in the coming months. Rowhani still needs public support to fully implement the deal and continue to reduce tensions with Western powers and boost the economy. But if he lacks parliamentary support, the rest of his presidency may prove difficult, as well as prospects for his re-election. The next presidential election is in less than two years. A hardliner-majority parliament also poses another fear; the extreme empowerment's of institutions such as the Revolutionary Guards, currently operating in Syria and Iraq. Many do not wish to publicly admit these fears, but political leaders – among the reformists such as former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani – have raised the alarm. Iran is about to mark the 37th anniversary of its Islamic Revolution on February 11. A lot has changed in society since the revolution, but the struggle between the two sides of the country’s political system appears to be endless.

In Egypt, is ignorance a matter of choice or destiny?
Mohammed Nosseir/Al Arabiya/February 09/16
Decades of persistent failure to advance our country from a developing nation into a knowledgeable, developed society has led many people to the erroneous conclusion that ignorance is Egypt’s destiny! Yet quite the reverse is true. I believe Egyptians deliberately seek to avoid the truth; they replace fact with fiction to avoid facing reality, thereby creating an ignorant society in which every citizen claims, falsely, to be well-informed! Actually, I believe an ignorant society is the reflection of an authoritarian state that perceives knowledge as a threat to the autocratic ruler. Keeping the vast majority of Egyptians in a state of ignorance will do nothing to help our country to progress; it can only serve to hold us back. Ignorance in Egypt is well articulated! For years, it has served to split society into two groups: a very small number of people who are well-informed (but are not recognized by society and are never invited to express their opinions publicly), and the vast majority of the population that claims, incorrectly, to be knowledgeable while having no clue about the issues they present. Nevertheless, I believe the state often prompts these people to express their opinions publicly – in order to misguide citizens further.
Living in ignorant bubbles
Those who believe that education advances people’s knowledge are mistaken. Personal preference is the key determining factor in choosing between ignorance and comprehension. Educated people deliberately only accept knowledge that suits their preferences and personalities, completely disregarding facts that are not to their liking. Illiterate people on the other hand may be unable to differentiate between fact and fiction, but the number of illiterate citizens who have a good understanding of Egypt’s political dynamic and who are easily able to see through the false, heavy-handed state propaganda has often surprised me. Meanwhile, many well-educated citizens believe and enjoy the state’s ridiculous narratives, continuing to live happily in their ignorant bubbles. I believe the Egyptian state has been mobilizing the media through a method of continuously broadcasting propaganda aimed at inflating the ruler’s status. It dismisses all information from foreign sources by blithely accusing these sources of conspiring against Egypt. Several decades ago, in their desire to know the truth, Egyptians used to try to tune into foreign radio channels to learn about political developments in their country. Nowadays, most people have access to a multitude of satellite channels, and the Internet is a source of abundant information – yet ignorance is more widespread in Egypt than it was a few decades ago! Furthermore, state manipulation of the media has encouraged a major section of society to express its opinions on social media networks, counter-attacking the state by using the same method – the conveyance of false narratives. The combination of state propaganda and fictitious social media reports has exacerbated the deterioration of basic common sense among Egyptians, leading the entire society to debate nonsensical issues, with everyone assuring their peers that their information comes from trustworthy sources. Of course, the condition of ignorance is not a uniquely domestic issue; millions of citizens across the world (many of whom live in fully transparent countries) believe in stories that do not exist. However, in most developed countries these people are not in the driving seat. People sometimes argue that disengaging the masses from learning the true facts about their country is a good thing; it enables an authoritarian ruler to function in peace, without having to deal with any debate. In fact, deliberately maintaining a society in a condition of ignorance and depending completely on a single citizen (the ruler) undoubtedly limits the ruler’s knowledge and places the burden of all the nation’s challenges on his shoulders alone – instead of capitalizing on the entire society as a focal source of knowledge. Living in such a mindless society for decades should encourage citizens to acquire their own independent filters (that are unaffected by their personalities) and to apply them prior to digesting any information. A fair assessment of the truth should come first; the expression of preferences should follow. Sharing absolute facts with citizens would enable them to contribute to the resolution of their country’s problems and would certainly relieve the state of many of its challenges. Keeping the vast majority of Egyptians in a state of ignorance will do nothing to help our country to progress; it can only serve to hold us back.

Saudi Arabia is bringing Iran to its knees
Mudar Zahran/Jersusalem Post/February 09/16
On January 11, 2016, Iran’s official media confirmed the state had filled the Arak nuclear reactor core with concrete. In short: Iran has killed its flagship nuclear site and its nuclear program is now limited to smaller projects, paperwork, research and, of course, propaganda videos. But how could this have happened? While the US-Iran nuclear deal does dictate that Iran must reduce the operational capacity of the Arak nuclear reactor in particular, nobody could have believed Iran would have jumped to execute this part of the deal so quickly. Iran has been known to never give up anything except for handsome rewards.
Iran’s “sweet surrender” would never have been possible without the sophisticated and determined pressure of one country; Saudi Arabia, and one man; Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.For years Saudi Arabia has been warning the West against the growing Iranian influence in the Middle East. What helps Saudi Arabia here is that it understands the region much better than many Western governments. When the revolution broke out in Syria in 2011, the West in particular dealt with it as local unrest, an armed revolution or a civil war at worst. Saudi Arabia understood clearly even then that Iran was on a mission to control Syria and turn it into terrorism export hub.
While the world was busy trying to negotiate Syria’s future with both Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iran, Saudi Arabia was not wasting any time; it put up all the proper support for Syria’s only secular opposition body, the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC). Today, there seem to be no other moderate parties in Syria than the SOC, and on top of that the world is referring to Saudi Arabia for coordination with it on Syria as the only option left. Saudi Arabia’s effort to limit Iran’s power did not end with Syria. In an effort to fight back, Iran tried to destabilize Saudi Arabia’s southern borders by empowering the pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias in Yemen, the Houthis. These militias had become too strong, to the point of taking over most of Yemen, and eventually controlled the capital, expelling Yemen’s elected president.
However, the Saudis weren’t having any of it – the Saudi crown prince and defense minister, Bin Salman, launched a fierce military operation to crack down on Houthis in Yemen. In Yemen, Bin Salman was focusing on massive surgical air-strikes by Saudi’s Royal Air Force – second strongest in the region – and avoiding sending in ground troops in order not to engage the Saudi army with the fluid and fast-moving Houthis militias. Since then Saudi fighter pilots have been clocking more flight hours than any others in the world.
As a result Houthis have been scattered all over Yemen – an insult to Iran which had pledged earlier to support the Houthis to the end.Iran’s media even announced Iranian special forces and weapons were going to be flown to Yemen to support the Houthis – none of which happened as a determined Bin Salman ordered his fighter jets to impose an embargo on Iranian vessels and jets trying to enter Yemen.  Still, Iran’s humiliation in Yemen was merely an introduction to what Saudi Arabia did next. It is no secret that Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest oil producers and therefore has a major say on global oil prices. Saudi Arabia has increased oil production to the point of driving oil prices so low that Iran has begun suffering. The Saudis can easily stand the decrease in revenues; Saudi Arabia enjoys a catalogue of natural resources and minerals besides oil, and on top of that has a rather Westernized economic model capable of surviving such a painful drop in revenues.
For example, since the drop of oil prices Saudi Arabia began implementing social welfare programs for its citizens to create a safety net that secures them amid the economic downturn. Iran could not afford any of this, nor does it have a liberalized economy that could withstand such shock. In addition, Iran has been financing two major civil wars in Syria and Iraq, and supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon. Recent Arab media reports confirmed Hezbollah militants have been complaining of their pay being slashed in half, and Assad’s militias complaining about smaller government handouts.
In other words, Saudi Arabia has pushed Iran to the edge and moved it from the offensive to the defensive, forcing it to accept two public humiliations, one in Yemen and the other at home when Iran literally buried its crown jewel in cement.
Further, Saudi Arabia’s intelligence services began a relentless crackdown on Iran’s intelligence operatives in Saudi Arabia itself. There have been several reports of arrests and uncovering of cells. Crown prince Bin Salman didn’t stop there: Saudi Arabia carried out long-standing execution sentences of convicted pro-Iranian terrorists as well as others including Islamic State affiliates. One of these was Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr, dubbed the “Shi’ite bin-Laden”. Nimr was a pro-Iran Saudi Shi’ite cleric who had been convicted of planning, financing, inciting and aiding terrorist operations on Saudi soil, in which several Saudis officers and civilians have been killed. Before the execution Iran’s media constantly warned Saudi Arabia it could “shake the ground under its feet” if Nimr were executed. Nonetheless, Saudi carried out the execution, and nothing happened, nor was Iran able to shake anything in the kingdom, adding another humiliation to the list.
A non-Saudi Arab diplomat told me: “For Iran, Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Shi’ite terrorist godfather like al-Nimr is pretty much like the crucifixion of Jesus to his followers.”Saudi Arabia has been pressuring the Iranian bully politically, militarily and financially, as well as publicly humiliating it.
Saudi Arabia may never have a peace treaty with Israel, but it is wise enough to take on Iran and limit its ambitions for regional dominance. Saudi Arabia follows Sharia law internally, but the outcomes of its foreign policy have been helping moderation and sanity in our troubled region.
Those bashing Saudi Arabia must understand: undermining Saudi Arabia is direct empowerment of Iran.The author is a Jordanian-Palestinian politician.

 America Has No Business Calling ISIS 'Apostates'
Jacob Olidort/Washington Institute/February 09/16
Washington lacks the voice and vocabulary to rhetorically challenge the group's theology, so it should focus on making better use of other potent tools that can actually stop jihadist goals from becoming a reality.
On February 2, Secretary of State John Kerry described the Islamic State as "apostates" -- a word with very clear theological implications. This administration has chosen its words about the group carefully, and in October it opted for "Daesh" (the Arabic acronym for "ISIS") under the assumption that it insults the group and because, to use President Obama's justification, "ISIL is not Islamic...and [is] certainly not a state."
The words we use do indeed matter, but it is equally important to recognize that these words can sometimes matter even more to our enemies, and perhaps in undesirable ways. Whereas we see the term "apostate" as an insult, the Islamic State uses it to excommunicate other Muslims and make exclusive claims on legitimacy. The question of Muslims' inclusion -- specifically, whether one's actions necessarily reflect one's belief -- has been the focus of much debate since the founding of Islam. Standing on the margins, and typically within specific political contexts, various groups took the view that any actions and statements a Muslim makes that contradict Islamic doctrine nullify that person's status as a Muslim.
Today, it is this formula (as adapted by Sayyid Qutb in the 1960s) that jihadists apply to Muslims and Muslim-majority governments who do not subscribe to their worldview. This is one example of the historical and conceptual depth of the language of groups like IS, which identify with the early period of the religion's history, when those terms were first put into use.
Enter the United States. Kerry's word choice this week exemplifies what can go wrong when we try to speak a language we don't understand: we needlessly enmesh ourselves in a nuanced theological debate -- and not any obscure squabble, but a dispute that stands at the very center of the faith. Engaging in theological discussions is not necessarily a bad exercise. But if it is the U.S. government doing so, and if the task at hand is defeating the Islamic State, there are better and more constructive approaches, namely those that focus on the group's methods and territorial expansion, rather than its terminology.
Just as we need to remind ourselves that we lack the voice and vocabulary to rhetorically challenge IS's theology, we should remember that we have the tools to stop it from becoming a reality. As I have written elsewhere, it is not "countering" its theology or calling it by different names that should be our focus -- indeed, doing either gives the group the attention it craves. Rather, we must more narrowly understand the ways in which it uses that theology to justify its actions.
Put differently, its vision for society is being validated every day by depicting Washington as betraying a region, especially the Middle East's Sunnis, by colluding (directly or indirectly) with Shiite powers who exploit Sunnis in Syria and Iraq. In turn, so the ISIS narrative goes, the Sunni utopia they create is the necessary solution for this course of events. The solution for stopping this is not in the words we use, but in the actions we take.
Jacob Olidort is a Soref Fellow at The Washington Institute.

Hizbullah Faces Criticism In Lebanon For Besieging Madaya: Its Starvation Of Syrians Recalls Past Crimes Of Mass Extermination In History
By: Dr. M. Terdiman and E. B. Picali/MEMRI/February 09/16/ Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No.1226
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/02/09/dr-m-terdiman-and-e-b-picalihizbullah-faces-criticism-in-lebanon-for-besieging-madaya-its-starvation-of-syrians-recalls-past-crimes-of-mass-extermination-in-history/
Introduction
For the past seven months, the Syrian town of Madaya, northwest of Damascus, has been besieged by Hizbullah and forces of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. The town’s plight has made headlines lately because of numerous media reports that its residents are malnourished and even starving to death because food and humanitarian aid are not being allowed in.
Madaya is included in a six-month ceasefire agreement between rebel forces and the besiegers, under UN oversight. The agreement, which came into force on September 20, 2015, stipulated that humanitarian aid be allowed intothe city of Al-Zabadani, also besieged by Hizbullah and the Syrian regime, and that wounded fighters and civilians can be evacuated from it. In return, Shi’ite civilians will be allowed to leavethe towns of Fu’ah and Kefraya, located in Shi’ite enclaves in the Rif Idlib area, which are besieged by rebel forces. As to Madaya, which is near Al-Zabadani, the agreement states that the siege on it will be lifted, humanitarian aid will be allowed in, and the seriously wounded, to be identified by the Red Crescent under UN oversight, will be evacuated.[1]
Humanitarian aid was indeed allowed into Madaya on October 18, 2015, and again some three months later, on January 11, 2016. However, despite the UN’s wish, as expressed by United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, to evacuate from the town some 400 malnourished civilians,[2] and despite reports that 16 people have died of starvation,[3] the siege on Madaya continues, and Hizbullah has even reportedly escalated it and has not allowed any evacuation.[4]
As noted, Madaya has received much attention in the global media, including in the Middle East and Lebanese media. Images of starving civilians, among them children and the elderly, have been circulated widely via media and social networks, with blame being placed on the Syrian regime and Hizbullah. Hizbullah, for its part, denied the accusations, saying that the photos had been fabricated and circulated as a smear campaign.
Hizbullah’s denials had no effect on the organization’s critics in Lebanon, including both the March 14 Forces and independent Shi’ite activists and journalists. Both harshly criticized it, accusing it of perpetrating crimes against humanity and of starving an entire town to death, and compared these actions to Nazi crimes and other acts of mass extermination in history. Hizbullah’s opponents in Lebanon argued that these deeds exposed the organization’s immorality as well as its hypocrisy in claiming to protect the weak and oppressed, and that they tarnished the image of the entireresistance axis. Anti-Hizbullah articles and cartoons also appeared in the Saudi press, which supports the March 14 Forces and is known for its hostility towards the organization.
This report reviews Hizbullah’s denial of the accusations against it regarding the siege of Madaya, and the harsh criticism of Hizbullah in Lebanese media.
Hizbullah Denies Accusations It Is Starving Madaya To Death
As stated, Hizbullah denied that it was besieging Madaya and was responsible for starving its residents. In a January 7, 2016 statement posted on the Hizbullah-owned Al-’Ahd website, the organization complained that it was the victim of “an organized campaign aimed at harming the image of the resistance.” It even questioned the authenticity of some of the shocking photos of starving people being circulated by media and on social networks, claiming that some of them were not from Madaya at all. It added that the accusations against Hizbullah were nothing but “organized libel and fabricated allegations being deliberately spread by the biased media and press of the Sa’ud family [the Saudi royal family]” and that “these relentless media campaigns, whose goal is well known, constantly take every opportunity to hurl groundless accusations [at others] without backing them up with evidence or proof…”
Hizbullah blamed the situation in Madaya on militants within the town, saying in its statement: “Responsibility for what is happening in Madaya rests solely with the armed terrorist groups that are holding the town hostage, and with external elements that support these militants…” It continued: “On October 18, 2015, dozens of trucks were allowed into [the towns of] Madaya, Serghaya and Baqin, loaded with food and medical supplies that were supposed to last for months. The same quantity [of supplies] was also brought into [the Shi'ite towns of] Fu’ah and Kefraya… It is the leaders of the armed gangs who are controlling [the distribution] of the food. They are hoarding it in their warehouses in the [town] center, stealing it from the populace and selling it to residents who can afford to pay. Madaya was not part of the battle until fighting erupted in nearby Al-Zabadani, when militants [began] using it as a base from which to launch operations against the Syrian army and Hizbullah, with the aim of changing the course of the war. The armed terrorist groups are using the residents, of which there are no more than 23,000, as human shields and as a political bargaining chip, as part of their deceptive media campaign. So far there have been no deaths [of starvation] in Madaya. Many civilians are attempting to leave it, but the armed groups are not letting them…”[5]
Hizbullah deputy-secretary-general Na’im Qassem likewise said that “false claims” were being made against the organization, and accused militants inside Madaya of starving the populace. He added: “We are committed [to the agreement] and are implementing it fully. It is the other side that is not meeting [its obligations].”[6]
Hizbullah’s Al-Manar TV also rallied to the organization’s defense, airing a report from inside Madaya featuring several residents stating that armed militants controlled the town and had appropriated the humanitarian supplies and divided them amongst themselves. These residents also attested that the “terror organizations” controlled the supply storerooms, one of which was inside the home of a senior commander, and that these organizations were selling supplies to the townspeople at “unbelievable” prices.[7]
Syrian opposition sources said that these residents had been bribed to say these things in exchange for food and permission to leave the town.[8]
March 14 Forces: Madaya Will Remain An Indelible Mark Of Shame On Hizbullah’s Forehead
The siege of Madaya and the starving of its people, and Hizbullah’s refusal to acknowledge its responsibility for the situation, evoked harsh condemnations from Hizbullah’s political rivalsin Lebanon.
Sa’d Al-Hariri: Madaya Is Being Executed With The Sword Of Starvation
Sa’d Al-Hariri, former Lebanese prime minister and current head of the Al-Mustaqbal political camp, stated that Madaya was being executed. On January 7, 2016, he tweeted: “Two months of siege and of withholding food and medicine from 40,000 civilians in Madaya. Where is the world’s conscience? The siege of Madaya is the execution of a city by the sword of starvation.”[9]
Al-Hariri’s tweet
Likewise, March 14 Forces general secretariat called the Madaya siege a crime against humanity, and urged the international community to help its residents and to prosecute the Syria regime and its allies – hinting at Hizbullah. It stated in a communiqué: “The siege of starvation on the Syrian city of Madaya reaches the level of a crime against humanity, and requires the international community to take immediate steps to ensure that the necessary humanitarian aid is delivered to the people of this town, and that they are saved. Furthermore, the international legal agencies must take the necessary steps [against] the ones who are responsible for this crime, among the Syrian regime’s leaders, allies, and supporters, and bring them before the competent international judicial authorities for punishment. The Lebanese, who in principle oppose Hizbullah’s participation in the war on the Syrian people because [this war] violates the [Lebanese] constitution and the legitimate international resolutions, see Hizbullah’s participation [in this war], and especially its besieging and starving [of populations], as a mark of shame that contradicts the political ethics that Hizbullah purports to uphold.”[10]
Lebanese MP: Hizbullah Is Worse Than Nazi Regime
Druze MP Marwan Hamadeh said that no one who participates in the siege of Madaya, or who fails to protest against it, should be allowed to call themselves part of the “resistance and struggle,” and added:”Hizbullah [aka] the Islamic Republic [of Iran] and the Syrian regime should be ashamed of themselves. Moreover, the world, and its envoy Staffan de Mistura, should also be ashamed, in light of what is happening in the Syrian town of Madaya. We have reverted to something more despicable than Nazism, Stalinism, and Zionism; this requires that we revoke the title of resistance and struggle from any person, organization, or nation participating in the siege of Madaya or remaining silent regarding this horrendous crime against humanity.”[11]
Al-Mustaqbal Editorial: The World Must Not Remain Silent In Light Of Madaya’s Siege And Starvation
Criticism of Hizbullah was also expressed in the pro-March 14 Forces Lebanese press. An editorial in the daily Al-Mustaqbal also claimed that Madaya was a victim of the Syrian regime and called on the world to not remain silent: “The unjust siege on the town Madaya and the nearly 40,000 residents remaining there does no honor to the regime of the tyrant dictator Bashar Al-Assad, nor to his supporters and allies. Moreover, it is a scarlet letter that will remain on the breast of them all until the Day of Judgment… The strangled and besieged Madaya, which was ‘sentenced to death by the sword of starvation,’ as [Al-Mustaqbal Stream] Chair Sa’d Al-Hariri said, is a victim of the Assad regime and its ally Hizbullah, just as it is a victim of the international community’s dodging the fulfillment of its simplest human and political duty towards this miserable town and its residents and towards the Syrian disaster in general. Madaya is a cry of pain in the face of the entire world, which stands by and witnesses, at the dawn of the third millennium, a sight reminiscent of the acts of horror, crimes, and genocides of the very distant past.”[12]
Al-Mustaqbal: The Fruits Reaped By Hizbullah In Its “Holy War” In Syria Are The Children Of Madaya
Lebanese columnist ‘Ali Al-Husseini wrote in Al-Mustaqbal that “Hizbullah and its media outlets are showing extremism and arroganceregarding a town whose population is lining up in preparationfor death. [This] party [Hizbullah] sows hatred in its public, misleading it into thinking that this is a holy war, the winds of which might kill them if they do not reap its ‘fruits’ at the earliest opportunity. These fruits… today are the corpses of children, whose bodies, ravaged by famine before the January frost painted them blue and turned them into lifeless wooden planks, bear no indication that they were once alive… Hizbullah boasts that it was born and reared on foundations that are religious, cultural, and educational, and claims to belong to a philosophical school that champions the slogan ‘We reject humiliation’… and therefore it is despicable for it to use all these actions and operations against unarmed civilians who share its geographical space and language. The surprising thing is that its members neverused such operations when they fought the Israelis in the South…”[13]
Al-Mustaqbal Columnist: Hizbullah Is Like Dracula Sucking The Syrians’ Blood
In a particularly caustic article in the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal titled “Dracula in the Arab Lands,” Lebanese poet and literary critic Paul Shaul compared Hizbullah to Dracula sucking the Syrians’ blood: “Behold Hizbullah, the agent of [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei and [Iran's Islamic] Revolutionary Guards Corps, which has, since it entered Syria, played the role of Dracula sucking the Syrians’ blood, as if the blood of young Shi’ites or Lebanese and Arabs, or its murders, was not enough for it… Hizbullah has launched a policy of extermination and expulsion… a major [forced population] transfer! [It has implemented] a policy of ethnic, racial, and sectarian expulsion, in order to destroy Syria’s demography, and to empty the land of its inhabitants! It ‘appropriated’ their blood and sucked it, as Dracula sucked his victims’ blood.
“It carried out these crimes against humanity in several regions, until chance brought it, as an ally of Syria’s spillers of blood, to besiege 40,000 Syrians in Madaya… a barbaric siege that is as deranged as the deeds of Israel, Putin, and Hitler. They are starving Madaya out of hatred and sectarianism. And they [the Madayans] are turning into skeletons… The party of Iran eats human flesh; what is the difference between the bloodsucking Dracula and a party that gorges itself on the flesh of people and animals?”[14]
Lebanese Writer: “Hizbullah Is Starving Syria’s Children”
Lebanese writer Ahmad ‘Ayyash wrote under the headline “Hizbullah Is Starving Syria’s Children” in the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar: “All Hizbullah’s media attempts to change the picture of the siege on the Syrian [town of] Madaya and its starving residents have been unsuccessful. This is because the photos of children in this unfortunate city clearly refelected [the disaster] that befell it after seven consecutive months of siege by the Syrian regime forces and Hizbullah…
“This is how Hizbullah, whose secretary-general Nasrallah boasts of being a soldier in the army of the Iranian Rule of the Jurisprudent, won a new reputation as the starver of Syria’s children, to go with its reputation as a supporter of the dictator Bashar Al-Assad.[15]
Lebanese Journalist: The Lebanese Government, Some Of Whose Ministers Are From Hizbullah, Is Becoming An Accomplice To War Crimes In Syria
In a January 8, 2016 article on the Lebanese website Now Lebanon, which is known for its anti-Hizbullah positions, Lebanese political researcher Ziad Majed, a cofounder of the Democratic Left Movement in Lebanon, wrote: “Two hours away from Beirut, Syrian men, women, and children are hungry for bread, and some are dying of starvation… Two hours away from Beirut, a war crime is thus being carried out. This is not the first war crime in Syria; it was preceded by many crimes like it, carried out by the Assad regime and its militias across Syria…
“But this time [these crimes] are being carried out by Lebanese youthswhose party has ministers in the Lebanese government as well as a highly influential parliamentary faction. [They are doing so]in the sense that Hizbullah, by participating in the siege and starvation of Madaya, is makingthe Lebanese authorities partially responsible for this crime. Likewise, [Hizbullah]is placing the onus of this barbaric crime upon many Lebanese who support it [i.e. Hizbullah], stripping them of the option of using the arguments – arguments refuted from the outset – that justified its intervention in Syria in 2012.
‘Defending borders’ is not accomplished by starving Syrian children; ‘defending the shrine of Zaynab’ does not require snipers to fire on mothers seeking milk and flour… As for the new argument [used] to justify the crime of Madaya, Al-Zabadani and Baqin – that is, the [anti-Assad forces' purported] siege on the towns of Nabal and Al-Zahraa, or Fu’ah and Kefraya – this is no less refuted… first of all, because it is not Hizbullah’s business to besiege any Syrian community in response to a siege on another Syrian community, and second of all because the response to a crime, if one was committed, is not the commission of a more serious crime…”[16]
Hizbullah Criticized By Lebanese Shi’ites: We Oppose Hizbullah’s Atrocities
Independent Shi’ite elements in Lebanon, considered anti-Hizbullah,[17] were also critical, condemning the siege and stating that it violated all human values and that Hizbullah does not represent the Shi’ites. They also criticized Shi’ite clerics for remaining silent in the face of Hizbullah’s actions.
Communiqué By Shi’ite Personages From Lebanon: The Shi’a Renounces The ‘Holocaust’ Committed By Hizbullah In Syria
As stated, in January 2016 several prominent independent Shi’ite figures, among them Supreme Shi’ite Islamic Council member Mustafa Hani Fahs, Shi’ite journalist Muhammad Hassan Al-Amin who is editor of the Lebanese anti-Hizbullah website Janoubia.com, Arab Center for Dialogue director Sheikh Abbas Al-Jawhari, and others, published a “Madaya Declaration” condemning Hizbullah’s besieging of Madaya for political objectives and explaining that by doing so Hizbullah was not representing the Shi’ites.
Al-Amin explained that it was decided to publish the declaration in light of senior Shi’ite clerics’ and officials’ failure to speak out about the Madaya events, and added that its planners and signatories wanted to clarify that Hizbullah and Hizbullah’s actions were not representative of the views ofall Shi’ites.[18]
The Madaya Declaration states: “In light of the atrocity of the policy of killing and of besieging to death that is being implemented by the regime and its supporters against the residents [of Madaya], and based on human sentiment, on Arab responsibility, and on Islamic and historical fraternity, we raise our voices in solidarity with the residents of the town of Madaya, and we reject the use of the language of starvation, killing, siege, and subjugation. We hereby announce that:
“We absolutely condemn the term ‘balance of death’ and the siege, particularly when its outcome is tragic because bringing infood, water and medicines is banned, with the aim of accomplishing political objectives. We view this as a violation of all human values, Arab understandings, and human rights conventions. We oppose Lebanese nationals’ participation in killings and siege against our brothers in Syria on the pretext of ‘wiping out the terrorists’… We hereby declare that the Shi’a denounces the Syrian ‘holocaust’ and its outcomes, and finds these unacceptable and condemnable by any standard.
“We demand the immediate withdrawal of the armed Lebanesenationalswho are involved in the war in Syria, particularly from areas facing Lebanese soil such as Al-Zabadani and Al-Qalamoun. We maintain that what is happening [there] is the uprooting of the people of this region with the aim of creating despicable demographic shifts that will destroy the unity of the socio-historical fabric shared by the Syrian and Lebanese peoples, and will damage neighborly relations and shared life for decades to come. Therefore, we do not agree that any Lebanese national participate in these despicable crimes.”[19]
Lebanese Journalist: I Am Ashamed To Be Lebanese And Shi’ite, And Am Ashamed To Eat
At the same time, the Lebanese website Janoubia.com, operated by ‘Ali Al-Amin, published a series of articles by Shi’ite writers harshly criticizing Hizbullah. Al-Amin himself penned an article stating that Hizbullah had tarnished the image of the resistance, in which he said: “Hizbullah knows that the image of the resistance has been tarnished by its leadership… Hizbullah released a communiqué responding to those who condemned it for besieging Madaya and starving its children, in which it claimed that the protests by the starving people and by those enraged at the murder of dozens by means of the weapon of starvation were nothing but ‘an organized campaign aimed at blackening the image of the resistance’…
“Didn’t the writers of this communiqué consider for a single minute that their own child or children could fall victim to a similar siege? … Can any impudence be greater?… Hizbullah merely fears for the image of the resistance – the image of a young, beautiful idea that is now one of an old man drinking the blood of his opponents and starving the children of those who refuse to leave their land to him and depart… [In Hizbullah's eyes,] killing 10,000 or 20,000 men, women, and children is a fair price for eliminating 600 armed men… [In that case,] who is blackening the image of the resistance? The starving people who cried out and posted photos of their children and their dead? Or Hizbullah, drunk on blood and no longer knowing right from wrong? …
“I feel ashamed – not just because I am Lebanese, not [just] because I am Shi’ite, and not [just] because I am a resident of South [Lebanon] likesome of the young people who are starving the children of Madaya. [I feel ashamed]because I had lunch before writing this article. I feel ashamed for filling my belly. Forgive us, people of Madaya. Forgive us, and do not blame us for the actions of the witless among us.”[20]
Hizbullah Supporters, Opponents Clash On Social Media
The argument between the pro- and anti-Hizbullah camps was also evident on social media. Thus, for example, Shi’ite opponents of Hizbullah launched the “Lebanese Unrelated To Hizbullah” hashtag. One tweet using the hashtag stated: “I refuse to be party to the blood[letting] of the Syrian people. I refuse to make Lebanon an arena to implement Iran’s expansionist ambitions.”[21]
The Facebook hashtag “Madaya Dying Of Starvation” featured an image of an emaciated Bashar Al-Assad, Hassan Nasrallah, President Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, with the caption: “I wish that just as they starved the residents of Madaya, they will die of starvation…”[22]
On January 7, 2016, Shi’ite Lebanese journalist Nadim Koteich, who is close to the March 14 Forces, posted on his Facebook page an image of Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah surrounded by starving children, with the text: “Yes, yes, the path to Jerusalem runs through the empty stomachs of Madaya’s children.”[23]
Poster mocking the Hizbullah flag: “The Starvation Party: Iranian Terrorism in Syria and Lebanon” (Source: Facebook.com, January 9, 2016)
On the other hand, Hizbullah supporters launched the hashtag “Solidarity With The Madaya Siege,” under which they taunted those besieged in the town and posted photos of the large repasts they themselves enjoyed. However, the widespread criticism that this sparked appears to have caused many to delete the images.
Tweets featuring food to taunt those besieged in Madaya (Source: Alaraby.co.uk, January 9, 2016)
*Dr. M. Terdiman and E. B. Picali are research fellows at MEMRI.
Endnotes:
[1] Orient-news.net, September 19, 2016.
[2] Champress.net, January 12, 2016.
[3] Al-Hayat (London), January 30, 2016.
[4] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 26, 2016.
[5] Alahednews.com.lb, January 7, 2016.
[6] Assafir.com, January 9, 2016.
[7] Almanar.com.lb, January 10, 2016.
[8] Orient-news.net, January 10, 2016.
[9] Twitter.com/Saadhariri, January 7, 2016.
[10] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), January 8, 2016.
[11] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), January 8, 2016.
[12] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), January 8, 2016.
[13] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), January 9, 2016.
[14] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), January 17, 2016.
[15] Al-Nahar (Lebanon) January 9, 2016.
[16] Now.mmedia.me/lb/ar, January 8, 2016.
[17] See MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 938, Independent Shi’ites In Lebanon Challenge Hizbullah, February 22, 2013.
[18] Janoubia.com, January 10, 2016.
[19] Facebook.com, January 8, 2016.
[20] Janoubia.com, January 7, 2016.
[21] Twitter.com/lidazzz87, January 10, 2016.
[22] Facebook.com, January 8, 2016.
[23] Facebook.com, January 7, 2016.