LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 06/16
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletin16/english.june06.16.htm
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Bible Quotations For Today
Blessed are the
eyes that see what you see!For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired
to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not
hear it.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10/21-24:"At that same hour
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the
intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your
gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one
knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and
anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ Then turning to the disciples,
Jesus said to them privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!For I
tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not
see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."’
Those who are unspiritual do
not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and
they are unable to understand them because they are discerned spiritually.
First Letter to the Corinthians 02/11-16:"For what human being knows what is
truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends
what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand
the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not
taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things
to those who are spiritual. Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts
of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to
understand them because they are discerned spiritually. Those who are spiritual
discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.
‘For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the
mind of Christ."
Pope Francis's Tweet For
Today
The Saints are not
supermen, nor were they born perfect. When they recognized God’s love, they
followed it and served others.
Les saints ne sont pas des surhommes, ni ne sont nés parfaits. Quand ils ont
connu l’amour de Dieu, ils l’ont suivi, au service des autres.
إن القديسين ليسوا أُناسًا خارقين، ولم يولَدوا كاملين. عندما عرفوا محبة الله،
تبعوه في خدمة الآخرين
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 05-06/16
Concern for Religious Minorities in Iraq/Scott A Morgan/Assyrian International
News Agency/June 05/16
Obama's Refugee Policy: Yes to Potential Terrorists, No to Victims of
Genocide/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/June 05/16
Polygamy: Europe's Hidden Statistic/Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/June
05/16
The Black and White Picture Emerging in Northern Syria/Middle East Briefing/June
05/16
Saudi Arabia & Iran: What Can Putin Do/Middle East Briefing/June 05/16
NATO Facing New Global Security Challenges/Middle East Briefing/June 05/16
Erdoğan Must Act Quickly to Solve Turkey’s Kurdish Problem/Middle East
Briefing/June 05/16
Saudi Arabia will reap what the US has sown in Iraq and Syria/Jamal Khashoggi/Al
Arabiya/June 05/16
Smearing Palestine in UK schools must stop/Yara al-Waziri/Al Arabiya/June 05/16
Could the defeat of ISIS turn to pyrrhic victory/Hisham Melhemi/Al Arabiya/June
05/16
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on
June 05-06/16
Grand
Mufti Says Ramadan Begins Monday
Many Muslims to begin fasting for month of Ramadan on Monday
Daryan during Ramadan Message: Presidential Elections Priority over
Parliamentary Ones
Report: IS Adopting Cluster Cell Method in its Operations in Lebanon
Jumblat: Franjieh's Presidential Chances Collapsing and I'm Willing to Endorse
Aoun
Report: Hariri Urges Mustaqbal Leadership to 'Avoid Escalation' with LF
2 Children among 3 Dead, 5 Hurt in Zahle Traffic Accident
Hizbullah Scouts Rally against 'Celebratory Gunfire'
Army Seizes Explosive Belt, Arrests 2 Terror Suspects in Majdal Anjar
Report: Mustaqbal to Use Ramadan Iftars to Bridge Divide among Allies
Anthony Labaky, new head of Kataeb's Students and Youth Department
Maronite patriarch Bshara Rahi, Rahi: Institutional nation building begins by
electing a head of state then proceeding downwards
LAF finds weapons, suicide vests in farm in Majdel Anjar
Two enemy drones circle over South, Bekaa regions
Lebanese Army raids house in Beqaa, arrests two men
Hajj Hassan: US project seeks to tear apart region, to strike at Hezbollah
Aridi: Machnouk's recent stance is misplaced, running for parliamentary
elections is between me and Jumblatt
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on
June 05-06/16
UN slams Syria for refusing aid to
besieged areas
Iraqi forces secure southern edge of ISIS-held Fallujah
Commander Says Shiite Militias May Enter Fallujah if Fight Drags On
Blast kills bodyguard in charge of protecting wife of the Syrian president
Iran rejects US charge of being top terror sponsor
Another IRGC Massacre in Aleppo, Quds Force Commander Reportedly Dead
U.S. Documents: the Khomeini Wave Was Blessed by the White House
Bahrain Arrests 8 Men Trying to Escape to Iran by Boat- BNA
Turkish Warplanes Target Kurdish Militants, at Least 27 Killed – Army
IRAN: Protest against diversion of River Karoun
Iran: Oppressive measures intensified out of fear for expansion of social
protests on pretext of Ramadan
China Hits at U.S. 'Provocations', Says Doesn't Fear 'Trouble'
Libya PM Rules out International Military Intervention
Israel Releases Iran TV Correspondent
Netanyahu Set for Third Russia Visit in Recent Months
Security Tight as Israelis Mark 1967 Capture of East Jerusalem
Hollande Acknowledges Threat of Euro 2016 Attack
Links From Jihad Watch Site for June 05-06/16
Netherlands: Muslims attack non-hijabbed Muslima as “infidel
whore”
Doctors Without Borders tells non-Muslim staff in refugee camps to observe
Ramadan
Austrian TV faked footage of Muslim migrants helping flood victims
82 people hired for security posts for Euro 2016 on terror watch lists
UK: Police commissioner blocks gay sauna’s license to avoid offending Muslims
Salt Lake Tribune: Qur’an doesn’t command violence against nonbelievers
Bangladesh: Muslims murder wife of anti-terror cop and Christian grocer
Nets cover gorilla death 6 times more than Islamic State Christian beheading
Hugh Fitzgerald: What’s a European Liberal to Do?
How Ayatollah Khomeini suckered Jimmy Carter
Germany: “Fear and panic” among Christian refugees as Muslims persecute them
Hillary Clinton blames San Bernardino jihad attack on “gun lobby”
Islamic State threatens jihad murders in US, Europe this month
Germany: Refugee background checks “unaffordable”
San Jose: Muslim chases, tackles Trump supporter after rally, then brags on
Twitter
Sweden took in 162,000 refugees in 2015 — 494 got jobs
June 04-05/16
Grand Mufti Says Ramadan Begins Monday
Naharnet/June 05/16/Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan announced Sunday that
tomorrow, Monday is the first day of the annual fasting month of Ramadan. “In
line with the Sharia rule that says that the sighting of the crescent moon of
the holy month of Ramadan in a certain country applies to the rest of the
countries, and after the crescent moon was sighted in several Arab and Muslim
countries, we accordingly verify that tomorrow, Monday is the first day of the
holy month of Ramadan,” Daryan said in a statement.He hoped the holy month will
bring “security, safety and serenity” to all Lebanese.
Earlier in the day, religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Yemen, Kuwait and Iraq had also confirmed that Ramadan
begins on Monday. Other Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa are
also expected to begin observing Ramadan on Monday or on Tuesday. During
Ramadan, Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and
having sex from dawn to dusk. They break the fast with a meal known as iftar and
before dawn they have a second opportunity to eat and drink during suhur.
Ramadan is sacred to Muslims because tradition says the Koran was revealed to
the Prophet Mohammed during that month. Ramadan is followed by the Eid al-Fitr
festival
Many Muslims to begin fasting
for month of Ramadan on Monday
Sun 05 Jun 2016/NNA - Millions of Muslims around the world will mark the start
of the holy month of Ramadan on Monday, a time marked by intense prayer,
dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts. Saudi Arabia's state TV announced the
new moon of Ramadan was spotted Sunday evening. Local media in Indonesia, the
world's most populous Muslim country, also said Muslims there would begin
fasting Monday, as will Muslims in Singapore, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Qatar,
Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and the Palestinian
territories, among others. Following these announcements, a mosque in Tampa,
Florida announced to its followers that they too would celebrate the first day's
fasting Monday. Muslims follow a lunar calendar and a moon-sighting methodology
that can lead to different countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two
apart.By Sunday evening, Pakistan and Iran had yet to officially announce Monday
as the first day of Ramadan. Traditionally, countries announce if their
moon-sighting council spots the Ramadan crescent the evening before fasting
begins. The faithful spend the month of Ramadan in mosques for evening prayers
known as "taraweeh," while free time during the day is often spent reading the
Quran and listening to religious lectures.The fast is intended to bring the
faithful closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less
fortunate. AP
Daryan during Ramadan
Message: Presidential Elections Priority over Parliamentary Ones
Naharnet/June 05/16/ Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan stressed on Sunday
the importance of a head of state in ending the political impasse in Lebanon and
the paralysis at state institutions. He said during a speech marking the
beginning of the month of Ramadan: “The presidential elections should be a
priority ahead of the parliamentary ones.” “We cannot end the paralysis at state
institutions without electing a president. “The president protects the
constitution and national unity,” Daryan added. The mufti also criticized the
debate revolving on whether the presidential elections are more important than
the parliamentary ones, noting that while politicians argue over this issue,
peoples in neighboring countries are being driven out of their homes due to
raging conflicts. “Do you not see the wave of immigrants who no longer have a
nation?” he asked. He said that Ramadan is the month of forgiveness and piety
and of helping others. “The believer does not kill, lie or steal. We should
therefore, out of faith, seek to stop bloodshed in the world. “We urge the Arab
League, United Nations Security Council, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation
to put an end to the wars in Syria and Iraq.”
Report: IS Adopting Cluster
Cell Method in its Operations in Lebanon
Naharnet/June 05/16/ Security agencies have determined that the Islamic State
extremist group is adopting the “cluster cell” method in order to expand its
operations in Lebanon and abroad, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on
Sunday. Security sources explained to the daily that cluster cells work
independently from each other and the members of each cell do not know the
identity of members of other cells. This means that the members of a cell
arrested in the southern city of Sidon in early May was unaware of the plots of
another cell uncovered by the army in Khirbet Daoud in Akkar on Thursday, said
al-Hayat. Three terrorists were arrested in the Khirbt Daoud raid. These
suspects had no information about a group that was detained by State Security in
Aley on Friday, reported the daily. The terror group's method has not deterred
the security forces however from detaining a number of extremists throughout the
country.
Jumblat: Franjieh's Presidential
Chances Collapsing and I'm Willing to Endorse Aoun
Naharnet/June 05/16/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat noted
Sunday that the presidential chances of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman
Franjieh have “started to collapse,” adding that he is willing to endorse Free
Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun's nomination. “Suleiman Franjieh went
too far during his trip to Paris and his chances to reach the presidency have
started to collapse,” Jumblat said in an interview with LBCI television,
referring to Franjieh's Paris meeting with al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM
Saad Hariri. “Syria cannot accept a Lebanese president whose policies are not
guaranteed,” Jumblat added. Noting that he was opposed to Aoun's nomination
prior to FPM's “reconciliation” with the Lebanese Forces, the PSP leader
revealed that he is willing to endorse Aoun for the presidency “if that would
achieve Lebanon's interest.”“Perhaps there is a regional-international decision
rejecting the election of a new president,” Jumblat added. Lebanon has been
without a president since Michel Suleiman's term expired in May 2014 and Hariri
launched late in 2015 a proposal to nominate Franjieh for the presidency.
Hariri's move was met with reservations from the country's main Christian
parties as well as Hizbullah. Aoun's supporters argue that he is more eligible
than Franjieh to become president given the size of his parliamentary bloc and
his bigger influence in the Christian political arena. As for the rise of
resigned Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi as a new Sunni leader in the wake of the
latter's stunning victory in Tripoli's municipal polls, the PSP leader pointed
out that “all parties contributed to arming the rival groups in Tripoli,
including Ashraf Rifi,” in reference to the deadly clashes that the city
witnessed between 2008 and 2014. “Tripoli witnessed a political settling of
scores and the first target was Saad Hariri,” added Jumblat.“We will see where
will Ashraf's rhetoric take Tripoli's Sunnis,” he went on to say. “I wonder if
there is a foreign role in Rifi's movement in Tripoli,” Jumblat told LBCI.
Addressing Hariri, the PSP leader added: “Beware of those who are the closest to
you.”“Some reports have said that Jamaa Islamiya voted for Rifi's list in
Tripoli and, if confirmed, this means that Turkey is settling its scores,”
Jumblat suggested. Warning Hariri “not to return to the previous tense rhetoric
against Hizbullah, even if he remains alone,” the PSP leader stressed that
“sometimes we must not follow the pulse of the popular base.” “This is what I
did after the May 7, (2008) clashes,” he added. “The country can only be
governed through settlements, not through the number of parliamentary seats,”
said Jumblat about Hizbullah's call for passing an electoral law based on
proportional representation.
“We must carry on with the internal dialogue in order to foil strife,” he said.
And refusing “any attempt to turn Lebanon once again into an arena for settling
scores between Iran and the Arabs,” Jumblat addressed Hizbullah chief Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah, saying “it is not our job in Lebanon to topple the House of
Saud.”“Even in Iran they have not called for this,” Jumblat noted.
Report: Hariri Urges
Mustaqbal Leadership to 'Avoid Escalation' with LF
Naharnet/June 05/16/Efforts are underway among the Mustaqbal Movement to avert a
deterioration of ties with the Lebanese Forces, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah
on Sunday. It said that head of the Movement MP Saad Hariri urged Mustaqbal
officials against “escalating” tensions with the LF. He issued a memo urging
calm “in order to preserve the unity of the March 14 coalition.” He demanded
that disputes with the LF “remain limited to their normal borders” and they
“shouldn't be blown out of proportion.”Circles close to Hariri told al-Seyassah
that there are no differences between the Musatqbal Movement and LF over “the
strategy of the Cedar Revolution”, revealing that contacts are underway to calm
tensions between the two sides. LF chief Samir Geagea had issued a similar
warning to his supporters earlier this year amid tensions between the Mustaqbal
and LF over the presidential elections. The Movement will soon hold an expanded
meeting of its leaders to assess the recent municipal polls, most notably the
results in the northern city of Tripoli, the circles told al-Seyassah. Last
week, resigned Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi marked a resounding victory in
municipal elections in the northern city of Tripoli. A list he endorsed was
running against one backed by Hariri, former Premier Najib Miqati, and former
Minister Mohammed al-Safadi and Faisal Karami. Two other lists were running in
the elections. Differences emerged between Hariri and Rifi in wake of the
former's nomination of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh as president
late in 2015. The gap widened when the MP failed to endorse Rifi's resignation
from cabinet earlier this year. He stepped down from his post in protest against
“the power Hizbullah wields over the government and its decision-making.”
2 Children among 3 Dead, 5 Hurt in Zahle Traffic Accident
Naharnet/June 05/16/Three people were killed and five others were injured Sunday
in a three-vehicle traffic accident on the Zahle-Chtaura highway in the Bekaa,
the Traffic Management Center reported. It said the collision occurred near the
social security center. LBCI television meanwhile said that the dead include a
two-year-old toddler and a 12-year-old boy. The National News Agency said the
accident involved a Honda SUV, a Renault Rapid van and a Mercedes, identifying
the dead as Aisha Ahmed al-Youssef, Hadi al-Husseini and the two-year-old boy
Mohammed Ahmed al-Ahmed, and the injured as Alaa, Mariam, Tamer and Kamel
al-Ahmed, and Samir Moussa. The wounded were rushed to several hospitals in the
Zahle region, LBCI said.
Hizbullah Scouts Rally
against 'Celebratory Gunfire'
Naharnet/June 05/16/The Hizbullah-affiliated al-Mahdi Scouts movement on Sunday
organized sit-ins and rallies in several southern towns and villages to voice
rejection of the celebratory gunfire trend, state-run National News Agency
reported. “A large scout rally was held in the city of Nabatieh during which
speeches were delivered to condemn the practice of firing weapons into the air,”
NNA said. The rally involved speeches for representatives of the Nabatieh
Municipality, the Nabatieh merchandisers association and civil society groups.
“All speakers called for putting an end to the celebratory gunfire trend,
stressing that the bullets must be 'saved for confronting the Israeli and
takfiri enemies,'” the agency added. The southern town of Kfar Rumman also
witnessed a scout march on its main street, during which banners urging
residents not to fire into the air were raised, NNA said.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had several times urged supporters not
to fire their weapons into the air during his televised speeches but his calls
have fallen on deaf ears. Some supporters would also fire into the air during
funerals of Hizbullah fighters killed in the Syrian conflict. The growing trend
has reportedly prompted Nasrallah to issue an internal memo to Hizbullah's
members in recent days, in which he warned that those who fire into the air
would be expelled from the party without any compensations. The latest municipal
and mayoral polls that were held in May witnessed several injuries caused by
celebratory gunfire in many regions. The phenomenon is not limited to
Hizbullah's supporters or a certain political party and Lebanon's modern history
has witnessed numerous cases of deadly celebratory gunfire. While some citizens
would fire into the air during weddings and funerals others might go trigger
happy to celebrate religious and national holidays, most notably New Year's Eve.
Celebratory gunfire, also called aerial firing or happy fire, is the shooting of
a firearm into the air in celebration. It is culturally accepted in parts of the
Balkans, the Middle East, the Central Asian region of Afghanistan, the South
Asian regions of Pakistan and Northern India. In regions such as Puerto Rico and
other areas of the United States it is practiced illegally, especially on
holidays like New Year's Eve. The practice may result in random death and injury
from stray bullets. Property damage is sometimes another result of celebratory
gunfire and shattered windows and damaged roofs are often found after such
celebrations.
Army Seizes Explosive Belt,
Arrests 2 Terror Suspects in Majdal Anjar
Naharnet/June 05/16/The army carried out on Sunday a raid in the eastern town of
Majdal Anjar where it arrested two suspects and seized a quantity of weapons
including an explosive belt. The raid targeted a farm where Syrians are residing
and two houses belonging to members of the Khanjar family, said the National
News Agency. An army statement later said that a military force raided at dawn
the house of Lebanese national Darwish Ibrahim Abdul Khaleq where it arrested
him along with Syrian citizen Hassan Mohammed Saleh.The raiding force seized “an
explosive belt, a Kalashnikov machinegun, a quantity of light-caliber
ammunition, four hand grenades, four detonators and various military gear,” the
statement added. Al-Mayadeen television had earlier reported that the detainees
are members of the Islamic State extremist group. The army and security forces
have in recent days arrested numerous terror suspects, amid warnings of a
possible attack in the country.
Report: Mustaqbal to Use
Ramadan Iftars to Bridge Divide among Allies
Naharnet/June 05/16/The Mustaqbal Movement will take advantage of the advent of
the holy month of Ramadan to bridge gaps among its allies in wake of the recent
municipal elections, reported the Kuwaiti al-Anba daily on Sunday. Sources from
the movement said that iftar meals will serve as occasions to overcome divides
“among allies and friends.” Head of the movement MP Saad Hariri will host a
series of iftars at the Center House, starting the fourth day of the fasting
month. Contacts are also underway to mend bridges with resigned Justice Minister
Ashraf Rifi. Differences emerged between Hariri and Rifi in wake of the former's
nomination of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh as president late in
2015. The gap widened when the MP failed to endorse Rifi's resignation from
cabinet earlier this year. He stepped down from his post in protest against “the
power Hizbullah wields over the government and its decision-making.”Last week,
Rifi marked a resounding victory in municipal elections in the northern city of
Tripoli. A list he endorsed was running against one backed by Hariri, former
Premier Najib Miqati, and former Minister Mohammed al-Safadi and Faisal Karami.
Two other lists were running in the elections.Ramadan is set to begin next week.
Anthony Labaky, new head of
Kataeb's Students and Youth Department
Sun 05 Jun 2016/NNA - Kataeb Party announced in an issued statement the victory
of Anthony Labaky as head of its Students and Youth Department during the
elections held on Sunday in Saifi. The statement added that Labaky thanked his
comrades and students who participated in the democratic process and expressed
pride for being elected as head of this department.
Maronite patriarch Bshara
Rahi, Rahi: Institutional nation building begins by electing a head of state
then proceeding downwards
Sun 05 Jun 2016/NNA - Institutional nation - building begins by electing a head
of state then proceeding downwards, Maronite patriarch Bshara Rahi, stressed in
his Sunday sermon at Bkirki today. Assisted by four bishops, the patriarch
recited verses from the New Testament Gospels of Luke depicting the apostles'
following in the footsteps of Jesus to the contrary of those who persecuted and
crucified him. Blessed be the one who'd caused the Blind to see, the patriarch
retorted. Having welcomed Maronite clerics living and working in Poland and the
USA, patriarch Rahi briefed them over an imminent Maronite Synod's working
liturgical agenda including certain spiritual exercises in the offing as he
said. The patriarch also quoted verses from the Gospels of John and exhorted his
congregation to firmly believe in them in a bid to fathom solid foundations of
the Church; personal relations with Christ are essential for our wellbeing and
for enabling us to distinguish between the Good and the Bad, between Truth and
lies, Rahi said. Crisis - ridden families and communities are largely due to a
malfunction in our relationship with God and this relates to the disintegration
of the state as well, he added. Politicians therewith, need to do away with
their malpractice by halting all bickering among themselves and, by reviving the
state institutions which remain over and above narrow egotistic interests, Rahi
went on. Also beseeching the international community to put an end to Middle
Eastern conflicts, the patriarch concluded that by making peace between the
belligerents, the displaced and the kidnapped could be repatriated to their
homes and properties.
LAF finds weapons, suicide
vests in farm in Majdel Anjar
Sun 05 Jun 2016/NNA - A unit from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) raided on
Sunday a farm inhabited by Syrian nationals and two residences for people from
Al Khanjar family in the Bekaa town of Majdel Anjar, and found numerous weapons
and explosive suicide belts.
Two enemy drones circle over
South, Bekaa regions
Sun 05 Jun 2016/NNA - An Israeli enemy reconnaissance aircraft violated the
Lebanese airspace over the town of Kfarkila at 12:20 p.m. on Saturday, circled
above various Southern regions and then left at 21:10hrs from above the town of
Alma el-Shaeb, a Lebanese Army communiqué indicated on Sunday.
Lebanese Army raids house in
Beqaa, arrests two men
Sun 05 Jun 2016/NNA - An Army unit raided on Sunday around dawn the house of
citizen, Darwish Ibrahim Abdel-Khalek, in Majdel Anjar in the Beqaa and arrested
him along with a Syrian named Hassan Saleh, Lebanese Army Command's Orientation
Directorate indicated in a statement. The Army unit also seized an explosive
belt, a Kalashnikov, light ammunition, four hand grenades, four detonators and a
variety of military equipment which were found in their possession. The two
arrestees were handed over to competent authorities, along with the seized
military items, for further action.
Hajj Hassan: US project seeks to tear apart region, to strike at Hezbollah
Sun 05 Jun 2016/NNA - " U.S. project seeks to tear apart the region and strike
at Hezbollah under the rubric of so - called "New American - dominated Middle
East" therewith facilitating U.S. control over economic resources and natural
wealth, minister of Industry Hussein Hajj Hassan stated during an inauguration
ceremony titled "Victory and dignity of a nation" today. "We shall remain united
and well disposed in our rejection of all forms of sectarian discord; we shall
also oppose U.S. design by fighting for unity." Minister Hajj Hassan stressed. "Nusra
Front and ISIL, who have perpetrated thus far thousands of suicide attacks, must
carry out one single attack against Israelis to make believe that they have real
enemies", the minister concluded.
Aridi: Machnouk's recent
stance is misplaced, running for parliamentary elections is between me and
Jumblatt
Sun 05 Jun 2016/NNA - Deputy Ghazi Al-Aridi on Sunday criticized the latest
stance launched by Minister of the Interior and Municipalities, Nohad Machnouk,
regarding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, noting that "his position was misplaced
by its timing and content...Saudi Arabia is known for its ongoing support for
Lebanon and such position only weighs down on Lebanese-Saudi relations."Deputy
Aridi reiterated, during an interview on Voice of Lebanon, that the
parliamentary elections would be held right on time even if they were executed
under the 60's law. Concerning running for candidacy in parliamentary elections,
the MP said the issue remained between him and PSP leader, Walid Jumblatt. The
Deputy described the municipal electoral alliances as "unrealistic and
illogical" and these elections have reflected the political chaos that Lebanon
was witnessing. Commenting on the security situation in Lebanon, Aridi
emphasized that the security apprehension was ever present and no one could
guarantee any security act, so what was required was continuous coordination
between all security apparatus. He concluded that the US policy aimed at
"stirring a Sunni - Shiite strife, only benefited Israel."
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published
on
June 04-05/16
UN slams Syria for refusing aid to
besieged areas
The Associated Press, United Nations Sunday, 5 June /Access to millions of
Syrians in need of help is worsening as violence increases across the war-torn
country, the UN humanitarian chief warned Friday, and the Security Council
announced it will formally ask Damascus to allow air drops to besieged areas.
Stephen O’Brien said he told a closed emergency council meeting that recent
attacks “are creating new humanitarian emergencies and compounding the
challenges” as access continues to be denied to some besieged locations where
needs are most acute. The 5-year-old civil war in Syria has killed some 250,000
people, displaced millions and left vast swaths of the country in ruins,
enabling the ISIS group to take control of large areas of the country. A Russia-
and US-brokered truce began on Feb. 27, but fighting has continued to rage in
many areas. While the United Nations continues to provide aid to millions of
Syrians every month, O’Brien said it needs access and “the consent of the Syrian
government and all necessary security guarantees, in order to conduct air
drops.” The International Syria Support Group, a coalition of world powers known
as the ISSG, had called for the UN World Food Program to unilaterally deliver
food to besieged Syrians starting June 1 if access wasn’t granted by the
government.France’s UN Ambassador Francois Delattre, the current Security
Council president, said the UN “will ask Damascus to authorize humanitarian air
drops to reach localities for which land access was denied by the Syrian
regime.”He said Syria’s authorization of some aid convoys to besieged towns is
“at best a drop in the ocean.”“We have not been fooled by the Syrian regime’s
ploy to authorize certain convoys which turn out to be empty of food or medicine
or both,” Delattre said. “There is a strong momentum here in the Security
Council, a strong pressure on the Syrian regime, to say ‘enough is
enough.'”Syria’s UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari insisted that “humanitarian aid
has never been denied by the Syrian government to any part of the country.” He
dismissed “baseless allegations” by some council members that the government is
hindering deliveries to certain areas and insisted the council meeting was an
attempt “to demonize the government” and exert “political pressure” ahead of the
next round of talks aimed at ending the war.Jaafari, Syria’s chief negotiator at
the peace talks, refused to say whether Syria would authorize air drops. The
Syrian government announced late Thursday that it approved the delivery of aid
to 36 “restive areas” and partial deliveries to eight other areas in June. The
United Nations had requested access to 34 locations to help 1.1 million people
and Syria approved 23 requests in full and six partially, and rejected five, UN
humanitarian spokeswoman Amanda Pitt said. O’Brien, the undersecretary-general
for humanitarian affairs, said the UN needs “full approval” of its June request.
That request included all 19 locations officially designated as besieged areas
except Yarmouk, which is covered by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and
Deir el-Zour, which is under siege by ISIS and is already receiving airdrops,
Pitt said. Of the 17 besieged locations that the UN sought to aid, Pitt said
Syria approved 12 requests in full and three partially — Moadamiyeh, Daraya and
Douna, where it approved medical assistance, school supplies and milk for
children. Syria rejected UN requests to send aid to Zabadani, a mountain resort
which has been besieged by government forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters
since last year, and Waer, the last rebel-held neighborhood in the central city
of Homs, Pitt said. O’Brien said the UN has been able to reach 40 percent of the
592,700 people in besieged areas. But he said only two besieged locations were
reached by land in May, a sign of the potential importance of air drops, which
are more difficult and costly. WFP said it is “activating” its air delivery plan
following a request from the ISSG, which is led by the US and Russia. But it
stressed the need for authorizations and funding first. The UN food agency said
late Thursday that 15 besieged areas would require helicopter operations for air
drops if land access is not granted. High-altitude air drops are taking place in
Deir el-Zour and would be possible in two other villages, it said. Russia’s UN
Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, Syria’s close ally, said Moscow is looking at “all
possibilities” including air drops if they are effective. But he strongly
criticized unnamed council members for trying to make humanitarian access a
precondition for peace negotiations, calling this “an immoral position.”
Iraqi forces secure southern
edge of ISIS-held Fallujah
Agencies Sunday, 5 June 2016/Iraqi forces say they have secured the southern
edge of ISIS stronghold of Fallujah, two weeks after the launch of an operation
to recapture the Lt. Gen. Abdel Wahab al-Saadi says his forces secured the
largely agricultural southern neighborhood of Naymiyah, under cover of US-led
coalition airstrikes, and are poised to enter the main city. The slow-moving
operation was announced in May. On Monday, Iraq’s elite special forces began
pushing into the city center, but they have faced stiff resistance as Fallujah
has been under ISIS control for more than two years, and the militants have been
able to erect complex defenses. Fallujah is one of the last strongholds of ISIS
in Iraq. The militants also hold its second largest city, Mosul. Meanwhile, an
Iraqi paramilitary organization dominated by Tehran-backed militias is willing
to send forces inside Fallujah if efforts to retake the city are too slow, its
top commander said on Sunday. Iraqi forces launched a vast offensive on May
22-23 against Fallujah, which lies only 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad
and is one of ISIS’s main bastions. The Hashed al-Shaabi militias have since the
start of the operation confined their action to Fallujah’s outskirts and left
elite federal forces to conduct breaching operations. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi
has stated clearly that Hashed forces would not enter the city, amid fears of
sectarian unrest and abuses against the city’s Sunni population. But Hashed al-Shaabi’s
military commander, who goes by the name Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, said that could
change if the fighting drags on. “We’re partners in the liberation, our mission
is not yet done,” he told reporters in Baghdad. “We have accomplished the task
given to us, which was to surround (Fallujah) while the liberation was assigned
to other forces,” Mohandis said.
“We are still in the area and we’ll continue to support (them) if the liberation
happens quickly. If they are not able, we’ll enter with them.”Hashed and other
forces have almost completely surrounded the city, where Mohandis said 2,500
ISIS fighters are still holed up. Backed by US-led air strikes, Iraq’s elite
counter-terrorism service has over the past week attempted to break into the
center of the city but has been slowed by tough resistance, as well as concerns
over the presence in central Fallujah of an estimated 50,000 civilians.(With AFP,
AP)
Commander Says Shiite Militias May
Enter Fallujah if Fight Drags On
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/16/ An Iraqi paramilitary organization
dominated by Tehran-backed militias is willing to send forces into Fallujah if
efforts to retake the city are too slow, its top commander said on Sunday. Iraqi
forces launched a vast offensive on May 22-23 against Fallujah, which lies only
50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad and is one of the Islamic State group's
main bastions. The Hashed al-Shaabi militias have since the start of the
operation confined their action to Fallujah's outskirts and left elite federal
forces to conduct breaching operations. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has
stated clearly that Hashed forces would not enter the city, amid fears of
sectarian unrest and abuses against Fallujah's Sunni population. But Hashed al-Shaabi's
military commander, who goes by the name Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, said that could
change if the fighting drags on.
"We're partners in the liberation, our mission is not yet done," he told
reporters in Baghdad."We have accomplished the task given to us, which was to
surround (Fallujah) while the liberation was assigned to other forces. "We are
still in the area and we'll continue to support (them) if the liberation happens
quickly. If they are not able, we'll enter with them."Hashed and other forces
have almost completely surrounded the city, where Mohandis said 2,500 IS
fighters are still holed up. Backed by air strikes, Iraq's elite
counter-terrorism service has over the past week tried to break into the city
center but has been slowed by tough resistance and concerns over the presence
there of an estimated 50,000 civilians. Leaders and fighters of the various
militia groups fighting under the umbrella of the Hashed have sent mixed
messages over the issue. Hadi al-Ameri, head of the Tehran-backed Badr
organization whose armed wing is one of Iraq's most powerful militias, has
repeatedly stressed that Hashed forces should not enter central Fallujah.
Slow progress
Yet he told the Washington Post in article published on Saturday: "No one can
stop us from going there."Mohandis is a key figure in Iraq's battle to retake
the territory lost to the jihadists in 2014. He is considered one of the most
powerful men in the country and has close ties to Iran. Mohandis argued that the
human and material cost would rise the longer the operation dragged on. "A
lengthy liberation operation would cost the security forces more and would
inflict more destruction on the city, just like what happened in Ramadi," he
said. Ramadi is the capital of the vast Anbar province, in which Fallujah is
also located. It was retaken by government forces early this year after falling
to IS in May 2015. Federal forces relied heavily on air support from the
U.S.-led coalition to recapture the city, entire areas of which have been
leveled. Asked about the Hashed al-Shaabi's role in Fallujah's liberation, the
spokesman for the Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against IS
said Abadi would have to approve any change in the current plan. "The Hashed al-Shaabi
forces have already done their part by liberating hundreds of square kilometers
(square miles) and surrounding the militants who are inside the city," Brigadier
General Yahya Rasool told AFP."Only the commander-in-chief of the armed forces
has the authority to decide who should be involved in breaching operations." On
Sunday, elite Iraqi forces were battling IS on the southern edge of Fallujah, in
the Jbeil and Shuhada neighborhoods."There is some resistance by Daesh, but a
little less than in previous days," said Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi,
using an Arab acronym for IS. He added that on the northern side, police and
other forces still had not reached the boundaries of the city but were nearing
the train station.
Blast kills bodyguard in
charge of protecting wife of the Syrian president
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Sunday, 5 June 2016/A car bombing on Saturday
has killed Alaa Makhlouf, the bodyguard in charge of protecting Asma al-Assad,
wife of the Syrian president, media sources affiliated with the Syrian regime
reported.
However, the anti-regime Free Alawites Movement claimed the deadly attack on its
Twitter and Facebook accounts, vowing similar operations targeting people close
to the Syrian government. The Free Alawites Movement did not give any further
details of the incident. It remains unclear where Makhlouf was killed as some
Facebook pages said Makhlouf was killed on the Damascus-Soueida highway while
other pages said he was killed in Damascus.Faring an extremist Islamist rule in
Syria, Alawites, who make about 12 percent of Syria’s population, have long
supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is also an Alawite. However,
Assad’s regime thoroughly exploiting its Alawites support have left many from
the religious minority disgruntled and angry. Some opposition Syrian officials
claimed that the number of Alawites killed to protect Assad’s regime in
comparison to their number and in proportion to Syria’s population was “big.”
Iran rejects US charge of
being top terror sponsor
The Associated Press, Tehran Sunday, 5 June 2016/Iran has rejected an annual US
State Department report that called it the world's leading sponsor of terrorism.
State TV on Sunday quotes Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari as
saying the report is "false" and further evidence of the "lack of credibility of
reports by the US State Department."As in many previous years, the report
identified Iran as the world's "foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2015"
through its financing, training and equipping of various extremist groups,
notably Lebanon's Hezbollah, as well as the government of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad. But Tehran has defended its support for Palestinian militant
groups, saying they have the right to resist Israel's occupation
Another IRGC Massacre in Aleppo,
Quds Force Commander Reportedly Dead
Youssef Diab/Asharq Al
Awsat/June 05/16/Beirut- Iranian media revealed that another slaughter had hit
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC troops located in Aleppo. This is
considered the second wave of massive losses Iranian troops have suffered in
Aleppo, Syria. Quds Force’s special operations commander Jahangir Jafari Naya
was reportedly killed in Southern Aleppo city. Meanwhile, Syrian opposition
sources confirmed that over 50 Iranian officers, and a fighter, have died in an
al-Nusra Front shelling. In the attack, 13 other Iranian members were
apprehended. The Quds Force is a Special Forces unit of Iran’s Revolutionary
Guards responsible for their extraterritorial operations. The former massacre in
Khan Touman last May, had also cost the Iranian interference in Syria dozens of
IRGC officers. On the other hand, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
revealed that the Russian-backed Assad regime forces- for the first time in two
years- have entered Raqqa province—the zone has been considered an ISIS-held
stronghold. Moreover, Free Syrian Army general denied all Russian information
claiming that two thousand extremists are gathering near north Aleppo, he
confirmed that no extremists exist among the ranks of rebels, and that the sole
extremists are ISIS terrorists. FSA General Al Akidi explained that the
opposition fighters are not preparing any attacks near northern Aleppo, however,
he did mention Opposition fighters continuously being attacked and being
disrupted. Media Activist Manbaj Ahmed Mohammed said that ten civilians among
which four belong to the same family were killed and over 17 others injured
Saturday night. The casualties were caused by the U.S.-led coalition offensive
against ISIS-held land in the rural areas of Manbij city in Syria.Since the
offensive began on May 30, forces have captured more than 100 square kilometres
of territory, Air Force Col. Pat Ryder, U.S. Central Command spokesman, stated
at a weekly media briefing on Friday.
U.S. Documents: the Khomeini
Wave Was Blessed by the White House
Adel al-Salmi/Asharq Al Awsat/June 05/16/London- Recently declassified documents
revealed that Washington had shown undue leniency to the Ayatollah Khomeini
scheme and mission of the Wilayat al-Faqih, otherwise known as the Guardianship
of the Islamic Jurist. At the peak of negotiations, Khomeini requested that the
Carter administration interfere to take down former Prime Minister Shapour
Bakhtiar’s government, in addition to forcing the army to surrender. Khomeini’s
demands were made four days before leaving Paris for Tehran, the documents
revealed. The declassified documents made details on the Carter- Khomeini
relationship clearer. The U.S. administration lent a hand to Khomeini after
confirming that he is cooperative. Support given to Khomeini came after the U.S.
decision was taken on removing Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, also known by Shah, from
rule. U.S. officials considered that the mullah-army combination is a proper
formula for establishing rule in Iran. Bakhtiar was seemingly supported by the
U.S., however, things were different behind closed doors. What the U.S. was
cooking in Tehran, in line with the Paris efforts on preparing a new thrown for
Khomeini to rise, prove that Bakhtiar was out of the game. Carter’s missionaries
in Tehran were focused on directing the negotiations between army generals and
Khomeini representatives solely and no other opposition members. Washington had
already tacitly agreed to a key part of Khomeini’s requests by telling the
military leaders to stay aside. On 29 January, Prime Minister Bakhtiar, under
enormous local pressure, opened the Iranian airspace to Khomeini’s return. “This
might make him more reasonable or at least less involved in political affairs,”
he told the American ambassador, two weeks before being swept away by the
Khomeini wave. Two days before the ayatollah’s arrival, the Shah’s top commander
had given specific insurances to Khomeini representatives that the military in
principle was no longer opposed to political changes, including in “the
cabinet”.“Even changes in the constitution would be acceptable if done in
accordance with constitutional law,” the US embassy was told by a reliable
source in the Khomeini camp, BBC reported.
Bahrain Arrests 8 Men Trying
to Escape to Iran by Boat- BNA
Asharq Al-Awsat English/June 05/16/Eight men were arrested by Bahrain’s coast
guard, as they were attempting to escape to Iran by boat, according to state
news agency BNA. Bahrain’s official agency said two other men it described as
“fugitives” had also prearranged the escape from Iran. The eight men had already
been convicted now – in absentia – and consequently sentenced to between 10 to
15 years in prison, BNA said.There are a total of 17 people convicted on
unspecified charges who had escaped Bahrain’s Dry Dock Detention Center on
Friday, with 11 being recaptured. Thousands of mainly Shi’ite Muslim Bahrainis
are in jail on charges ranging from participating in anti-government protests to
armed attacks on security forces in the Western-allied Gulf kingdom, where the
U.S. Fifth Fleet is based.
Turkish Warplanes Target
Kurdish Militants, at Least 27 Killed – Army
Asharq Al-Awsat English/June 05/16/Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish militant
targets in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey and the army killed 27 fighters
near its borders with Iraq and Iran, the armed forces said on Sunday. Gun
positions, shelters and caves used by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in
the Gara area of northern Iraq and the countryside of Lice district in
Diyarbakir province, were completely destroyed by air strikes, according to the
statement. Despite no death toll was given, however state-run Anadolu Agency
cited security sources as saying small groups of PKK militants were killed in
those strikes. Moreover, 7 PKK militants were killed in a clash in Semdinli near
the Iraqi and Iranian borders on Saturday, while air strikes in Semdinli on
Friday killed 20 PKK fighters, it said. Over than 1,000 people, mostly PKK
fighters, were killed in three months of clashes in those areas, security
sources say.
IRAN: Protest against diversion of
River Karoun
Sunday, 05 June 2016 13:50 /NCRI – Residents of the Iranian city of Ahwaz, in
Iran’s south-western Khuzestan Province, have rallied once again to protest an
attempt by the regime to divert water from the River Karoun. According to
reports received from Iran, on Thursday, June 2, Ahwazi residents formed a human
chain in front of the Choubi Park across from Street 17 in Kianpars region in
the city of Ahwaz. The protest started at around 5 pm and continued until 9 pm
local time. The demonstrators held signs protesting the transfer of Karoun’s
water, some of which read:
Lifeless Karoun = Khuzestan’s death
Karoun is our life
Transfer of water = Khuzestan’s death
No to diversion o Karoun’s water
Do not turn Khuzestan into hell by transferring its water
On May 17, agents of the notorious Intelligence Ministry arrested a 26-year-old
Ahwazi resident and environmental activist named Zakia Harnisi and transferred
her to the Intelligence Ministry’s information headquarters in the Amanieh
region in Ahwaz.Zakia Harnisi is a graduate of agricultural engineering and is
active in the field of cultural issues and the environment. She has been very
active in forming human chains and campaigns to protest the diversion of Karoun
River. The regime’s intelligence officers from Ahwaz entered Ms. Harnisi’s home
in the town of Kian without a judicial warrant and also confiscated her personal
belongings including her books, computer and mobile phone.
Saudi Arabia arrests 32 over spying for Iran regime
National Council of Resistance of Iran/Sunday, 05 June 2016/
Saudi Arabia has arrested 32 spies with links to Iran's regime in three years,
according to a report on Sunday in the Saudi daily Okaz.
The spies were 30 Saudis, an Iranian, and an Afghan who were all part of
espionage rings working for Iran's regime, Okaz wrote.
The 32 spies with links to the Iranian intelligence services are still on trial
and the public prosecutor has recently presented his evidence against each of
the suspects, the daily said.
The charges include the formation of a spy cell, which liaised and collaborated
with elements of the Iranian regime's intelligence ministry to provide secret
and sensitive information related to the military and that affects the national
security, the territorial unity and integrity of Saudi Arabia and its armed
forces.
The suspects are also accused of meeting the Iranian regime’s Supreme leader Ali
Khamenei and coordinating with agents from the Iranian intelligence, according
to Okaz.
Other charges include attempts to carry out acts of sabotage against economic
interests and vital installations in Saudi Arabia, to undermine social peace and
public order, to spread chaos, to incite sectarian strife, and to carry out
hostile acts against the kingdom.
The suspects also face accusations of high treason, and attempting to recruit
people working in state agencies to commit acts of espionage for the Iranian
intelligence service.
According to the charges, most suspects had travelled to Iran and Lebanon where
they were trained on espionage techniques including drafting coded messages.
Some of the suspects had hacked into computers to obtain sensitive information
related to the internal and external security and the national economy of Saudi
Arabia, Gulf News wrote on Sunday.
Others charges included supporting riots and demonstrations in Qatif in eastern
Saudi Arabia, possessing weapons, forging documents and accepting bribes.
Iran: Oppressive measures
intensified out of fear for expansion of social protests on pretext of Ramadan
National Council of Resistance of /Sunday, 05 June 2016 08:07 /Mullah Ahmad
Zargar, secretary of the suppressive “Promotion of virtue and prevention of
vice” institute, announced that to speed up the processing of files related to
those arrested by this institution, “Special branches to process the cases of
‘Promotion of virtue and prevention of vice’ have been established in the
justice departments throughout the country, as well as the Court of Justice and
the Supreme Court.” He added that “Directives for the formation of councils of
‘Promotion of virtue and prevention of vice’ in organizations, ministries,
religious boards, and even mosques” have been issued. The suppressive security
forces issued a communiqué to emphasize on the need to “adhere more to morality
and hijab and avoid abnormalities” during the month of Ramadan. “All drivers and
passengers of vehicles, public or private, need to avoid showing breach of
fasting, creating noise pollution, and acts contrary to religious observations,”
it wrote. On the pretense of “promotion of public security and tranquility”
during Ramadan, Qom’s Prosecutor Mostafa Barzegar Ganji said: “Plans have been
devised [for the security forces] to inspect homes and numerous hideouts.”
Likewise, the prosecutor for Golestan Province noted that those who do not
observe fasting will receive 74 lashes in public. Colonel Salehi, deputy
commander of security forces in Khuzestan, announced the extensive presence of
“tangible and intangible police patrols and vehicles and foot patrols” in “the
city, passages, streets and around religious places” and said: In the month of
Ramadan “to observe the sanctity of Ramadan, citizens ought to seriously avoid
showing non-observance of fasting or dressing inappropriately in public places,
guild units, recreational areas, business complexes, and public streets… drivers
of public or private vehicles should also avoid any showing of non-observance of
fasting, creating noise pollution, and abnormalities.” The police of Hamadan
also announced the formation of special patrols during Ramadan.
As such, the Iranian regime has used the occasion of Ramadan to ramp up its
recent repressive measures to confront the expansion of popular protests. The
increasing trend of executions and arrests and lashing of hundreds of young men
and women in different cities on the absurd charge of participating in
festivities, inspection of 1025 guild units, sealing of 10 gardens and 32 coffee
shops and teashops and restaurants in Fars Province, sealing of 19 clothes
stores on the pretext of “selling unconventional and non-permissive clothing” in
Tabriz, and sealing of 15 beauty parlors in Alborz province are among these
measures. Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran/June 4, 2016
China Hits at U.S. 'Provocations',
Says Doesn't Fear 'Trouble'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/16/China on Sunday hit out at U.S.
"provocations" and said it does not fear "trouble" over its territorial disputes
with neighbors in the South China Sea. "The South China Sea issue has become
overheated because of the provocations of certain countries for their own
selfish interests," Admiral Sun Jianguo told a security summit in Singapore. Sun
spoke one day after U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned that Chinese
construction on a South China Sea islet claimed by the Philippines would prompt
unspecified "actions" by the United States and other nations.
On a visit to Mongolia Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry also warned Beijing
against setting up an air defense identification zone over the disputed waters,
saying it would be a "provocative and destabilizing act". Rhetoric has escalated
ahead of a ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on a case
brought by the Philippines, a longtime U.S. ally and former colony, against
China, which has shunned the proceedings and says it will not recognize any
ruling. The Chinese admiral, in a clear reference to Washington, said "freedom
of navigation" patrols in the South China Sea were a display of "military
muscles" and that China was being forced to "accept and honor" the tribunal's
ruling. "China firmly opposes such behavior. We do not make trouble but we have
no fear of trouble," Sun, the head of the Chinese delegation to the Singapore
forum known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, said in prepared remarks.
In an open forum, he addressed Pentagon chief Carter's statement on Saturday
that Beijing risks building a "Great Wall of self-isolation" with its military
expansion in the contested waters. "We were not isolated in the past. We're not
isolated, and we will not be isolated in the future. Actually I am worried some
people and countries are still looking at China with a Cold War mentality and
prejudice," the Chinese admiral said in response questions from other delegates.
"They may build a wall in their mind and end up isolating themselves," he
said.In his speech, Sun said "any countries not directly concerned are not
allowed to sabotage our path of peace for selfish gains."
Competing claims
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post has reported that China plans to establish
an outpost on Scarborough Shoal, located 230 kilometers (140 miles) off the
Philippines, which considers it part of its exclusive economic zone. Beijing
claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea and has developed contested
reefs into artificial islands, some topped with airstrips. Manila says China
took effective control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012, stationing patrol vessels
and shooing away Filipino fishermen, after a two-month stand-off with the
Philippine Navy. Carter declined to elaborate when pressed on Saturday over what
"actions" Washington might take. But he also proposed stronger bilateral
security cooperation with China to reduce the risks of a mishap. Admiral Sun on
Sunday repeated China's pledges to seek a peaceful solution. Apart from the
Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also have competing claims in the sea,
which encompasses vital global shipping routes and is believed to have
significant oil and gas deposits. Beijing's territorial claims, based on
controversial historical records, have also pitted it against the United States,
which has conducted patrols near Chinese-held islands to press for freedom of
navigation. Pentagon officials say two Chinese fighters last month conducted an
"unsafe" intercept of a U.S. spy plane in international air space over the South
China Sea.
Libya PM Rules out
International Military Intervention
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/16/ The prime minister of Libya's
U.N.-backed unity government has ruled out an international military
intervention to fight the Islamic State group, which has had a growing presence
in the country since 2014. Some 25 nations including the United States and
Russia agreed last month to help Libya arm itself against the jihadists, but
Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj told French newspaper Journal du Dimanche he
would not allow foreign troops on the ground. "It's true that we need help from
the international community in our fight against terrorism and it's true that
this is something we have already received," he said in the interview, published
Sunday. "But we are not talking about international intervention," Sarraj said,
adding that the presence of foreign ground troops would be "contrary to our
principles". "Rather we need satellite images, intelligence, technical help...
not bombardments," he said. The Government of National Accord (GNA), established
in Tripoli more than two months ago, has been trying to unify violence-ridden
Libya and exert its control over the entire North African country. However, it
faces opposition from a competing authority based in the east which has its own
armed forces -- militias and some units of the national army -- commanded by
controversial General Khalifa Haftar. Both bodies are currently engaged in a
race to be the first to drive the Islamic State group out of the coastal city of
Sirte, a bastion for jihadists in the country. On Saturday, forces loyal to the
GNA said they had retaken a jihadist air base near the city. Sarraj told Journal
du Dimanche that "total victory over IS in Sirte is close". "(We hope) that this
war against terrorism will be able to unite Libya. But it will be long. And the
international community knows that," he said.
Israel Releases Iran TV
Correspondent
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/16/Israel on Sunday released a
correspondent in the Golan Heights for Iran's Arabic-language television after
four days of detention, police said. Bassam al-Safadi, a journalist for the Al-Alam
news channel, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of "supporting a terrorist
organization and incitement to violence and terrorism," police said. A court in
Nazareth in northern Israel extended his remand until Sunday, when he was
released "under limitations, including a five-day house arrest," police said. In
an interview with Beirut-based Al-Alam on Sunday, Safadi said he was "accused of
incitement to terrorism, supporting terror organizations and standing behind
terror organizations."The 43-year-old was described by police as Arab Israeli,
but many Arab residents of the Golan, who are from the Druze community, consider
themselves Syrians. Iran is an ally of Syria, which is technically at war with
Israel, and a sworn enemy of the Jewish state.Hussein Mortada, head of Al-Alam's
office in Syria, said on Wednesday that the arrest was part of a "systematic
campaign" by Israel against the media. Israel seized 1,200 square kilometers
(460 square miles) of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and
later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
Netanyahu Set for Third Russia Visit
in Recent Months
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/16/Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu will travel to Moscow on Monday to meet Russian President Vladimir
Putin, the premier's office said, with the two having held talks in recent
months over the conflict in Syria. Netanyahu's two-day trip is his third to
Russia since September and also comes as the two nations mark 25 years since the
reestablishment of diplomatic relations. The Israeli premier's office did not
provide details on the talks, but Syria is likely to play a prominent part. With
both Israel and Russia having carried out military operations in war-torn Syria,
the two countries have sought to coordinate their actions to avoid accidental
clashes. Russian forces have backed Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime in
the conflict. Israel opposes Assad but has sought to avoid being dragged into
the war. It fears however that the chaos in the neighboring country could help
strengthen its arch-enemy Hizbullah. Netanyahu admitted publicly for the first
time in April that Israel had attacked dozens of convoys in Syria which were
transporting weapons to the Lebanese group, which fights alongside Assad's
forces. In September, Netanyahu and Putin agreed to set up a "hotline" to avoid
accidental clashes. In a further sign of cooperation, the prime minister's
office said recently that Moscow had agreed to return an Israeli tank taken by
Syrian forces in the 1982 Lebanon war and later handed over to Russia, where it
has been kept in a museum. Israel had sought the return of the tank in part to
console the families of soldiers missing in action since the battle in which it
was taken. "To the families of MIAs Zechariah Baumel, Zvi Feldman and Yehudah
Katz, there has been nothing to remember the boys by and no grave to visit for
34 years now," Netanyahu said last week."The tank is the only evidence of the
battle and now it is coming back to Israel thanks to President Putin's response
to my request."
Security Tight as Israelis
Mark 1967 Capture of East Jerusalem
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/16/ Israeli police deployed in large
numbers in Jerusalem on Sunday for an annual march marking the country's 1967
seizure of the Palestinian-dominated eastern half of the city. This year's march
came as Muslims prepare to begin observing the fasting month of Ramadan, when
many Palestinians visit the flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem's Old City.
The Israeli march for "Jerusalem Day" was also passing through the Muslim
quarter of the Old City before arriving at the Western Wall, which is directly
below the al-Aqsa compound, leading to fears of tensions. Some 30,000
demonstrators were expected at the march which began at around 5:15 pm (1415
GMT). "We shall be there in very large numbers," Israeli police spokesman Asi
Aharoni said ahead of the march. "We have more than 2,000 police just for the
Jerusalem Day events."Israeli rights group Ir Amim had asked the supreme court
to bar the march from entering the Old City through the Damascus Gate, the main
entry used by Palestinians. The court rejected the appeal, but required the
marchers to complete their passage through the Damascus Gate by 6:15 pm and
through the Muslim quarter by 7:00 pm. The time restrictions were in place in
case Ramadan began on Sunday night. The start of Ramadan coincides with the new
moon. Young Jewish demonstrators gathered in the city center near the Old City
ahead of the march, including religious students with separate processions for
males and females. At Damascus Gate, heavy security included barricades and
nearby cafes that cater to tourists had closed. Small groups of young Jews
waving Israeli flags and chanting nationalist slogans filed through the Muslim
quarter. Some shopkeepers closed their stores out of precaution. "Last year they
put glue to destroy my lock," said shopkeeper Rimon Himo as he wrapped tape
around his lock. "I learned my lesson."While Israelis see the day as celebrating
the "reunification" of Jerusalem, Palestinians view the 1967 war as resulting in
the seizure of their land. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a
speech on Sunday that "even in the darkest periods in our nation's history, in
the darkness of exile, in the lowest of despair, our path was always lit by one
beam of hope -- Jerusalem, Zion." Israel occupied east Jerusalem in the 1967
Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international
community. Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future
independent state, whereas Israelis see all of Jerusalem as their capital. The
future status of Jerusalem is among the most contentious issues in the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hollande Acknowledges Threat of Euro
2016 Attack
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/June 05/16/ French President Francois Hollande
acknowledged on Sunday there was a threat of an attack during the Euro 2016
football championship but said the country must not be intimidated. He also
issued an appeal for a halt to transport strikes that threaten to disrupt the
month-long football extravaganza opening on Friday. "This (attack) threat
exists," he told public radio France Inter. "But we must not be daunted. "We
must do everything to ensure that the Euro 2016 is a success." The country is on
high alert for possible terror strikes during the football extravaganza opening
on Friday, following the jihadist attacks in Paris in January and November last
year. The United States warned last week of the risk of attacks, with the French
stadiums hosting the matches but also the so-called fan zones where spectators
will be gathering in large numbers potential targets. France has also been in
the grip of nationwide protests and transport strikes over controversial labor
reforms, with the sense of malaise compounded by flooding in the Paris region. A
final round of negotiations is due to take place between French rail operator
SNCF and the government in a bid to break a five-day strike that has blocked
trains and created transport chaos across the country.And Air France pilots are
threatening to start a four-day strike on June 11, when the Euro tournament is
in full swing, and a major protest is planned in Paris on June 14."No-one would
understand if the trains or the planes... prevented the smooth transport... of
spectators."
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on June 04-05/16
Concern for Religious Minorities in
Iraq
By Scott A Morgan/Assyrian
International News Agency/June 05/16
(AINA) -- The decision by US Secretary of State John Kerry to declare that the
actions of ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) were indeed Genocide was
a critical point in the Situation. The question now becomes what will be the
next step moving forward.
The report compiled by the Knights of Columbus was one of the most scathing
reports ever generated regarding Human Rights Abuses since the Rwanda Genocide
back in the 1990s. Recently USCIRF (US Commission on International Religious
Freedom) released its annual report documenting Violations of Religious Freedom
as required by Congress.
The findings by the commission are chilling to say the very least. While most of
the World has focused on the Atrocities committed by ISIS committed against the
Christians, Yazidis, Shi'a, Turkmen and the Shabaks have left these communities
in a vulnerable state. However the PMF (Popular Mobilization Forces) which are
Militias that are aligned with the Central Government in Baghdad are just as
culpable in committing these acts. Throughout its History Iraq has been beset by
Sectarian Violence. This has been a factor that has had a negative impact on the
Human Rights Climate inside the Country. Saddam Hussein maintained order by
intimidation and favoring the Sunni Community. The Government of Nouri Al-Maliki
actually set forth some of the chaos that is currently seen today with his
actions against the Kurdish Minority in the North. Some of the numbers coming
from the North are frightening. 1,562 Yazidis were killed during the summer of
2014. In 2015 a UN Agency revealed that 5,838 Yazidis were kidnapped by ISIS and
sadly that 3,192 of them were women. Between January and August of last year
2,000 Iraqis were killed in the Nineveh Plain and 125,000 Chrisitians were
forced to flee to the KRG for safety. Assyrian Monasteries have been destroyed
and other Churches and Cemeteries have been desecrated. The main focus right now
among most observers right now is the situation around the City of Fallujah. It
appears that the fighting has reached an impasse and Iraqi Government Forces and
the PMF have encountered ISIL Defenses that appear to be centered on the use of
Human Shields. The planners of this mission did not appear to take this tactic
into consideration when the operation was launched.
This is just a sampling of the background into a volatile situation which led
USCIRF to recommend that Iraq receive the status of a CPC (Country of Particular
Concern). This is a status that was recommended back in 2008. It should be noted
that a Post Saddam Government in Iraq has never been designated a CPC by the
State Department which actually makes the determination. The question about what
the US should do next does not have an easy answer but there are several ways to
move forward. Providing Assistance to those who remain to document these actions
is a no-brainer. Maybe providing assistance to protect themselves will be the
next step.
Scott Morgan is the President of Red Eagle Enterprises. Currently based in
Washington, he specializes in US Policy towards Africa focusing on Security,
Assymetrical Operations and Business Development South of the Sahara.
© 2016, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.
Obama's Refugee Policy: Yes
to Potential Terrorists, No to Victims of Genocide
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/June 05/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8161/obama-refugee-policy
"Without doubt, Syrians of all confessions are being victimized by this savage
war and are facing unimaginable suffering. But only Christians and other
religious minorities are the deliberate targets of systematic persecution and
genocide." — U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, March 17, 1016.
Christians account for 10% of Syria's total population — yet they account for
less than 0.5% of the refugees received into America. Sunni Muslims are 74% of
Syria's population — yet 99% of those received into America. In other words,
there should be 20 times more Christians and about one-quarter fewer Sunnis
granted refugee status than there already have been.
ISIS is "taking advantage of the torrent of migrants to insert operatives into
that flow." — James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence.
Although the U.N. and U.S. know that Sunni refugees are terrorizing Christians
in their camps, they abandon the true victims who deserve sanctuary in the West,
while "humanitarianly" taking in their persecutors.
The Obama administration has been escalating a policy that both abandons Mideast
Christians and exposes Americans to the jihad.
Late last year it was revealed that 97% of Syrian refugees accepted into the
U.S. were Sunni Muslims — the same Islamic sect to which the Islamic State
belongs— while fewer than half-a-percent were Christians.
This disparity has since gotten worse. From May 1 to May 23, 499 Syrian refugees
— a number that exceeds the total number of refugees admitted during the last
three years — were received into the United States. Zero Christians were among
them; 99 percent were Sunni (the remaining one percent was simply listed as
"Muslim").
These numbers are troubling.
First, from a strictly humanitarian point of view — and humanitarian reasons are
the chief reason being cited in accepting refugees — Christians should receive
priority simply because currently they are among the most persecuted groups in
the Middle East. Along with the Yazidis, Christians are experiencing genocide at
the hands of ISIS, as the State Department recently determined. The Islamic
State has repeatedly forced Christians to renounce Christ or die; has enslaved
and raped them, and desecrated or destroyed more than 400 of their churches.
As Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) put it this March, "Without doubt, Syrians of all
confessions are being victimized by this savage war and are facing unimaginable
suffering. But only Christians and other religious minorities are the deliberate
targets of systematic persecution and genocide."
Sunni Muslims are not being slaughtered, beheaded, and raped for refusing to
renounce their faith; they are not having their mosques burned, nor are they
being jailed and killed for apostasy, blasphemy, or proselytization. On the
contrary, non-ISIS affiliated Sunnis are responsible for committing dozens of
such atrocities against Christian minorities every single month all throughout
the Islamic world.[1]
Unsurprisingly, many Sunnis entering America and Europe — including the
terrorists who killed 120 people in Paris, 32 people in Brussels, and 12 in
California — share the same Sunni-sanctioned hate for and opposition to
non-Muslim "infidels." Director of National Intelligence James Clapper admits
that ISIS is "taking advantage of the torrent of migrants to insert operatives
into that flow."
Even if one were to operate under the assumption that refugee status must be
made available to all Syrians, regardless of religion, the simple demographics
of Syria expose the pro-Sunni, anti-Christian bias of the current Obama refugee
policy: Christians account for 10% of Syria's total population — yet they
account for less than 0.5% of the refugees received into America. Sunni Muslims
are 74% of Syria's population — yet 99% of those received into America. In other
words, there should be 20 times more Christians and about one-quarter fewer
Sunnis granted refugee status than there already have been.
Finally, the excuse given by those who defend this disparity rings totally
false: According to the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, Christian and other
minorities "fear that registration might bring retribution from other refugees."
So supposedly they do not register and are left out of the process. As ongoing
reports reveal, however, the majority of those at refugee camps — Sunnis — are
persecuting the Christians in their midst, sometimes killing them. During one
Mediterranean crossing from Libya to Sicily, Muslim "refugees" shouted "Allahu
Akbar!" ["Allah is the Greatest!"] as they hurled as many as 53 Christians
overboard.
Although the U.N. and U.S. know that Sunni refugees are terrorizing Christians
in their camps, they abandon the true victims who deserve sanctuary in the West,
while "humanitarianly" taking in their persecutors.
The Catholic Church and several mainline Protestant denominations are equally
guilty. Most recently, "Christian refugees [were] 'let down' by Pope [Francis]:
he promised to take them to Italy but then took only Muslims instead."
Such hypocrisy has been on open display since recent the problem of the U.S.
accepting refugees from the Middle East arose. Months ago, Barack Obama — who
was raised a Sunni Muslim — described the proposal that preference should be
given to Christian minorities as "shameful": "That's not American. That's not
who we are. We don't have religious tests to our compassion," he said loftily.
Today, however, it is clear from the statistics alone that there is a very clear
bias[2] in the refugee program: it favors those most prone to committing acts of
terror in America while ignoring those experiencing genocide. It is the Obama
administration's own refugee policies that are "shameful," "not American," and
do not represent "who we are."
*Raymond Ibrahim is the author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on
Christians (published by Regnery with Gatestone Institute, April 2013).
[1] Even before ISIS' new "caliphate" was established, Christians were and
continue to be targeted by Muslims— Muslim mobs, Muslim individuals, Muslim
regimes, and Muslim terrorists, from Muslim countries of all races (Arab,
African, Asian, etc.) — and for the same reason: Christians are infidel number
one. See Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians for hundreds of
anecdotes before the rise of ISIS as well as the Muslim doctrines that create
such hatred and contempt for Christians who are especially deserving of refugee
status.
[2] These recent revelations of the Obama administration's pro-Muslim and
anti-Christian policies fit a clear and established pattern of religious bias
within his administration. Examples follow:
When inviting scores of Muslim representatives, the State Department is in the
habit of denying visas to solitary Christian representatives.
When a few persecuted Iraqi Christians crossed the border into the U.S., they
were thrown in prison for several months and then sent back to the lion's den.
When the Nigerian government waged a strong offensive against Boko Haram,
killing some of its jihadi terrorists, Secretary of State John Kerry called for
the "human rights" of the jihadis, who regularly slaughter and rape Christians
and burn their churches. More recently, Kerry "urged Tajikistan not to go
overboard in its crackdown on Islam."
When persecuted Coptic Christians planned on joining Egypt's anti-Muslim
Brotherhood revolution of 2013, the U.S. said no.
When persecuted Iraqi and Syrian Christians asked for arms to join the
opposition fighting ISIS, D.C. refused.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. No part of the Gatestone
website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without
the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Polygamy: Europe's Hidden
Statistic
Judith Bergman/Gatestone Institute/June 05/16
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8199/polygamy-europe
The sheer volume of polygamous marriages shows that such marriages are also
entered into in Europe, in secret, through Islamic marriage ceremonies conducted
by imams. In most European countries, imams are not required to report these
marriages to the authorities.
Daham Al Hasan fled from Syria to Denmark, leaving behind his three wives and 20
children. Under the Danish rules of family unification, one of his wives and
eight of his children have joined him in Denmark. But Al Hasan wants all his
children with him, as well as all his wives. Lawyers estimate that the remaining
wives will be able to join their children in Denmark. The case has caused a
shock not only because of what it will cost the Danish state just in child
allowance, but because Al Hassan claims that he is too ill to work or even learn
Danish. "I don't only have mental problems, but also physical problems..." He
has admitted that his "mental illness" consists of missing the children he
voluntarily left behind.
Even if theoretically women can go to the police or press charges, they run the
risk of being beaten or possibly divorced. Women's shelters are "full of Muslim
women."
The spokeswoman of Germany's Federal Employment Agency said that the
establishment of a central registry of Islamic marriages would be helpful for
investigating claims of fraud.
A few years ago, Sweden's Center Party, one of the four parties in the
center-right governing coalition at the time, proposed legalizing polygamy. The
idea caused outrage; the proposal was dropped. The party's youth division,
however, refused to let go: "We think it is important for the individual to
decide how many people he or she wants to marry," said Hanna Wagenius, head of
Center Youth, predicting that polygamy would be legal in ten years, when her
generation would enter parliament and make sure of it.
Sweden is not the only place in Scandinavia where "idealistic" youths have
advocated polygamy. In 2012, the youth division of Denmark's Radikale Venstre
Party ("Radical Left"), then part of the governing coalition in Denmark, also
proposed that polygamy should be legalized in Denmark. The move came four years
after an Iraqi asylum seeker, who had worked for the Danish military in Iraq as
a translator and then fled to Denmark, arrived with two wives. As Denmark does
not recognize bigamy and as he refused to divorce his second wife, he returned
to Iraq. "It is unacceptable that we are so narrow-minded in Denmark, and will
not help a man who has helped us. We want to do something about that," Ditte
Søndergaard, head of Radikale Venstre Youth, said at the time. The proposal,
however, did not find favor with any of the other political parties.
As far-fetched as these proposals may sound, they signify the shifts taking
place in the West regarding fundamental ethical issues of gender equality and
the willingness to accommodate Islamic sharia law. They are also proof of an
enduring willful blindness to the detrimental effects of the practice of
polygamy, not only in terms of financial costs to the state, but also to the
Muslim women and children, whose rights these young politicians purport to
support.
Muslim polygamy is only rarely debated in the media. The practice, therefore,
despite its spread across the European continent -- spanning, among other
countries, Sweden, Denmark, the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands --
continues largely to hide under the public radar. As the practice is illegal
across the continent and therefore not supposed to exist, there are no official
statistics of polygamous marriages anywhere in Europe.
Several countries, such as the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden and France,
nevertheless recognize Muslim polygamous marriages if they were contracted
abroad under certain circumstances, such as if polygamy is legal in the country
where the marriage took place. It is estimated that as many as 20,000 polygamous
Muslim marriages exist in Britain. In France, as polygamy was legal until 1993,
the minimum estimate as early as 2006 was around 20,000 polygamous marriages. In
Germany, it was estimated in 2012 that, in Berlin alone, 30% of all Arab men
were married to more than one wife.
In April, Swedish professor Göran Lind argued that it was time to "put one's
foot down" regarding polygamy in Sweden, after it was disclosed that Sweden had
recognized "hundreds" of polygamous marriages contracted abroad. Professor Lind
pointed out that polygamy is not compatible with Swedish law, especially the
principles of equal treatment of spouses, the equality of all human beings, and
the prohibition against discrimination on the basis of gender, as codified in
the European Convention on Human Rights. One might add to those the principles
enshrined in the UN's Convention on the Elimination of All Discrimination
Against Women, article 16, according to which,
"States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in
particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women:
"(a) The same right to enter into marriage;
"(b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only
with their free and full consent."
Considering how much time leading European politicians spend on assuring their
electorates of their dedication to human rights, their tacit acceptance of these
glaring violations of women's rights, as enshrined in the above conventions,
which polygamy constitutes, is rather peculiar.
The sheer volume of polygamous marriages, however, attests to the fact that such
marriages are also entered into in Europe, in secret, through Islamic marriage
ceremonies conducted by imams. In most European countries, imams are not
required to report these marriages to the authorities. Therefore, despite the
probable knowledge of the authorities, this illegal practice is basically
allowed to flourish unhindered. As Islamic marriage does not legally exist in
Europe, the woman entering into the union is left legally stranded and
vulnerable with no means -- other than the local imam or sharia council -- of
getting out of the marriage. Even if women can theoretically go to the police or
press charges, they run the risk of being beaten or possibly divorced. Women's
shelters are "full of Muslim women," as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who worked in them,
attests.
Polygamous Muslim marriages are bound to become an even bigger problem in the
wake of the migrant crisis.
In Denmark these days, Daham Al Hasan is making headlines. He has twenty
children with three wives, but two years ago fled alone from Syria to Denmark,
and left his wives and children behind. Recently, under the Danish rules of
family unification, one of his wives and eight of his children have joined him
in Denmark. But Al Hasan wants all his children with him, as well as all his
wives. He has been granted permission for nine additional children to join him,
but as Denmark does not allow polygamy, the two remaining wives, under the same
rules of family unification, are not permitted to join him. Lawyers, however,
estimate that the remaining wives will also be able independently to join their
children in Denmark, once they are there.
The case has caused rather a shock in Denmark, not only because of the
extraordinary size of the family, and what it will cost the Danish state just in
child allowance, but because Al Hassan claims that he is too ill to work or even
to learn Danish. "I don't only have mental problems, but also physical
problems", he says by way of explanation, "My back and my legs hurt." He has
admitted that his "mental illness" consists of missing the children he
voluntarily left behind. This means that he and his family live exclusively off
the Danish taxpayers' money.
What is noteworthy about the current debate, however, is what is not being
debated: namely that Al Hassan is a polygamist. While it is only natural that
politicians and citizens feel violated and aggrieved about the financial costs
to the Danish state, they should be equally concerned about the practice of
polygamy. Yet not a single Danish feminist has spoken out about it.
In the television documentary, "Sharia in Denmark", several imams recorded on a
secret camera answered in the affirmative and without the least hesitation the
question of whether a woman's husband was allowed to take another wife against
his first wife's wish. For them, in fact, despite the fact that they live in a
country where bigamy and polygamy are prohibited, for a man to take a second,
third or fourth wife regardless of what any of them thought, seemed perfectly
natural.
A qualitative study about Muslim women in Denmark from 2009, performed by Tina
Magaard for the Danish Ministry of Welfare, documented the practice of polygamy
among Danish Muslims. One Turkish woman told the interviewers:
"A growing group of women marries a man who is already married. They get married
by an imam because then they become more accepted. Apparently, they have no
alternative. They become ostracized if they were divorced and are on their own.
Many would rather live a life where they get an identity -- then they belong
somewhere and then they are accepted. And it is sad that it exists in Denmark. I
think if they could count the numbers, which is very difficult, they are
probably much higher than we think."
Another woman, a Muslim convert, said:
"This [polygamy] is something that I have really seen a lot of, there was a
period when it became fashionable. I think it was five or six years ago, it was
crazy, I think almost every second couple I knew, the man got himself an extra
wife. But then, after a year or so, he regretted it or he divorced the first
wife. I actually think there were twelve from my circle of friends where the
husband got himself another wife."
In a German documentary from 2013, the journalists found that Muslim men used
polygamy as a means to commit fraud and obtain more welfare benefits. The tactic
was to have their wives claim at the Employment Center that they were single
women who did not know the father of their children. The story works because
Germany, like other European countries, has no way of ascertaining the existence
of an Islamic marriage, especially as German law does not obligate women to
inform the authorities of their marital status.
In the film, the journalists asked the spokeswoman of the Federal Employment
Agency -- the supervisor of the local Employment Agencies responsible for paying
out welfare benefits -- whether the Federal Employment Agency was aware of the
many instances of fraud. The woman said that they were indeed aware of the
polygamy and the ensuing fraud and even enumerated the places where it was rife:
large cities in Western Germany, such as Berlin, Cologne and Frankfurt. The
journalist then asked the woman why nothing was being done about it. "I believe
these cultural differences are very sensitive, we are a very tolerant country,"
the woman said. Asked whether the Federal Employment Agency was perhaps too
tolerant, the woman said that indeed she herself was wondering how it will all
end.
The woman then said that the establishment of a central registry of Islamic
marriages would be most helpful and desirable, as it would make possible
investigating claims of fraud; but that this was a matter for the politicians.
"How will it all end?" Not well.
*Judith Bergman is a writer, columnist, lawyer and political analyst.
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. No part of the Gatestone
website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without
the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
The Black and White Picture
Emerging in Northern Syria
Middle East Briefing/June 05/16
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have provided limited support to the
Free Syrian Army (FSA) units that have come under relentless attack by ISIL in
north Syria. However, when other opposition groups bombarded the predominantly
Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud quarter of Aleppo, the YPG stopped its limited support to
the besieged FSA fighters. All the while, US-led coalition planes did not
interfere to assist the FSA troops.
Only ISIL, Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN), and the YPG seem to be the players currently
acknowledged in north Syrian maze by external players. ISIL continues its
limited blitzkrieg in the north and northeast of Syria. It currently surrounds
A’zaz and Mare’, after cutting the road between the two towns when it took
Kaljibrin and Kafr Kelbin and a dozen other villages that were previously under
the control of various opposition groups.
In a way, the general situation in north and northeast of Aleppo seems to be
developing into the division of the region between those three blocs
acknowledged by external players: ISIL, YPG, and JAN. The presence of the FSA,
as we have previously predicted, is under intense attacks. The mistake made
throughout the evolution of the crisis has been the persistent failure to create
and enhance the “third way”, that is the alternative to both YPG and Islamic
extremist groups. This failure led to a gradual reduction of the effective
weight of the middle ground represented by the FSA. Bashar al-Assad has hoped
for this result from the start. Obama’s policies provided additional help
through early delays in fulfilling repeatedly promised assistance. The Russians
closed the circle by focusing their air raids on many groups affiliated with the
FSA.
Now, ISIL is not the only force expanding. The YPG have captured the following
Arab villages: Ahras, Kafr Naya, Kafr Nasih, Tel Rifaat, Sheikh Issa, Tel Baluni,
Ayn Daqnah, Kafr Khashir, Kafr Antun, Ajar, Mashtal, Menagh, Maaranza, Deir
Jamal and others. One can imagine military strategists saying that they do not
care about local sensitivities so long as the YPG are killing terrorists.
But this is the simplification that General David Petraeus carefully avoided. If
you operate in the Middle East, you have to leave linear simplifications,
practicalities, and empirical expediencies back home. Events on the ground do
not occur according to any mathematical logic or computer-generated pattern.
Petraeus and his men understood that extremely well. For this reason, Iraq’s
Kurdish Peshmerga was not used to liberate predominantly Arab central Iraq from
al-Qaeda a decade ago.
JAN also is expanding in an almost unstoppable manner. News services have
covered this extensively. The organization adds 3,000 new members to its
manpower every month. This figure is tenfold its average just five months ago.
Ultimately, Assad got what he wanted: the black and white picture of northern
Syria is turning out the way he planned it. One wonders: Why did the US airforce
not attack ISIL lines when they were advancing towards A’zaz and Mare’? Why did
it not even try to help the relatively moderate FSA when it came under attack by
ISIL? Could it be because JAN forces were also present in some of the targeted
villages? But even if the choice is between ISIL and a mix of FSA and JAN,
wouldn’t that require bombing ISIL first then sorting out the positions of JAN
to hit them later? FSA forces in the region ran out of arms and had to withdraw.
All their pleas for urgent help went unanswered. US planes neglected all their
calls. Or may it have been a calculated move from the US military to pressure
Turkey to change its policies?
The US led coalition now seems to prefer Assad’s and Putin’s initial black and
white picture. While the coalition bombed ISIL in a later phase of the battle,
the damage was already done. Assad planes continued bombing FSA positions
anyway. JAN and other groups stupidly supported the continued attacks on Sheikh
Maqsoud in Aleppo, as if their real enemy was there.
For the civilians in the region, they either flee the conflict to Afrin, where
they are well received by the Kurds, or they remain as long as they have their
fields and sources of water locally. The inhabitants of al-Haisha and Tel al-Samn
(north and south) explain their reluctance to leave these dangerous areas by
stating their fear that the YPG will control the area and declare it Kurdish
territory, and afterwards refuse to let them return to their homes.
It is difficult to make sense of the complicated picture in north and northeast
Aleppo. Yet, there are some elements which seem to be self-evident.
* ISIL: It is clear that ISIL is rushing to A’zaz and Mare’ in order to lift the
pressure on Raqqa. By approaching American-supported YPG lines, the Kurdish
forces would be forced to focus on enhancing those lines, rather than starting
an offensive on Raqqa.
ISIL is also preoccupied with its messaging to its supporters following the
potential loss of its self-proclaimed capital. The organization’s blitzkrieg has
given it control over areas that almost double the territories it lost around
Raqqa, if measured in square miles.
* FSA: It is not totally over yet for the FSA in northern Aleppo. However, the
YPG seems to be thinking along the lines of Assad’s tactics. From the
perspective of the YPG, if the area between the western Kurdish enclave in Afrin
and their territories east of the Euphrates (the Manbij Pocket) are controlled
by ISIL, thus interrupting Kurdish control of historically Kurdish territories
in the east and west, it should guarantee that the Americans will support the
Kurds’ campaign to capture this pocket, by which they would therefore acquire a
continuous stretch of land along the Turkish border, even at the expense of Arab
lands.
In this formula, the FSA does not have a place in the YPG-PKK calculus. As for
ISIL, its fighters will be killed exactly as they wish. They do not care much
about the tactical objectives of the YPG or the US. All they want is to die.
Their “future” is after death, while the future of Syria’s north will be handed
to the Kurds – and the Kurds are happy with this bargain.
But this is not the end of the story. Kurdish forces are about to capture Manbij,
a Sunni Arab town and a stronghold of ISIL. This will take Arab-Kurdish tension
to a higher level. It is difficult to see how the Kurds can ever leave Manbij if
it represents the fulfillment of their goal to connect their eastern territory
with their western enclave in Afrin. As explained, this goal comes at the
expense of the Arab land that separates both. Taking traditionally Arab
territories by force will push Syrian Sunni Arabs to the arms of any group that
vows to take this land back. Here, we see not only the seeds of another ISIL but
also of a long conflict between Arabs and Kurds in the north of Syria.
* The US and Russia: It is quite clear that there is a joint game plan between
the two powers based on a dual track. The first part is to try to empty
transitional arrangements from any real content, all the while pushing for the
so-called diplomatic avenue. The second is a partition of Syria based on giving
Assad the so-called “meaningful” Syria and giving the Kurds the territory which
stretches from Afrin to Hasakah.
The north of Syria is heading for troubles that could have repercussions over
the course of decades to come.
Saudi Arabia & Iran: What Can
Putin Do?
Middle East Briefing/June 05/16
Recent efforts to reduce tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran seem to have
failed. Even an attempt to modify Russia’s approach to the region through the
candid discussion that took place between the GCC foreign ministers and Sergei
Lavrov on May 26 is not expected by anyone in the region to bring any immediate
results. The tension between the two sides, the GCC and Iran, is mounting
steadily, as it has been for the last few years.
Saudi Arabia arrested an alleged Iranian spy ring, of 30 Saudi agents working
for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in May. Tehran claimed that Riyadh
fabricated the story and that it has no spies in Saudi Arabia.
This happened while pro-Iran Shia militias in Iraq were plastering the rockets
they fire at ISIL in Fallujah with pictures of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the Shia
cleric executed by the Saudi government in January of this year. The militias
also brandished pictures of Ayatollahs Khomeini and Khamenei, and sectarian
killings were reported in many of the surrounding Iraqi villages, whenever the
cameras were not present.
At almost the same time, Iran was sending regular army forces (rather than the
IRGC) to Syria to fill the spaces from which IRGC units were withdrawn, having
suffered heavy losses. The fresh troops came from the Artesh Forces (the Iranian
Army) and their deployment may reflect something deeper than just filling the
vacuum created by withdrawing some IRGC units.
Meanwhile, attempts to settle a dispute about permitting Iranians to go to Mecca
for the annual Hajj season have faltered. Iran has decided not to allow its
citizens to go to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj season, as Tehran rejected the
regulations set by Saudi Arabia for organizing of the event.
On top of this, the Iranian and Saudi hackers have exchanged cyber-attacks on
each other’s government websites, and the war between the two sides is on.
This all occurs at a time when President Obama talks about cold peace between
Saudi Arabia and Iran – what cold peace? No, “pas encore”, there is still a long
way to go.
But time should be measured in steps taken, not in number of days or months
passed. What kind of steps should be taken, then, which, if strung together, may
form the path that concludes with a durable detente between the two countries?
And who should take those steps to help the two sides reach a “cold peace”?
GCC foreign ministers went to Moscow for the fourth round of strategic
cooperation talks between the two parties. This is the first time the ministers
meet in Moscow. The previous three rounds were held in the Gulf.
Naturally, Russian diplomats were inclined to put the most optimistic face on
the conference. Moscow’s ambassador in Riyadh said that Moscow already has a
substantial thoughts regarding Gulf security and solving the Syrian and Yemeni
crises, while his boss, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, said that the two sides
have matching views on many regional problems “notwithstanding some
differences”, and that the talks were “constructive and beneficial.” However,
Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, said that Russia and the GCC “did not
reach an agreement on the future of Bashar al-Assad.”
Many signs indicate that there are more disagreements rather than fewer. But the
GCC ministers did not initially aim at making a bid to change Russia’s policies
in the region, rather, they were only explaining to Moscow their collective
concerns related to Russia’s policies on the questions of GCC security, the role
of Iran, and the crisis in Syria, offering ideas and proposals, and signaling to
Moscow that it can play a different role if it chooses to do so.
Obviously, the Russians prefer not to publicly express any hint that they may
reconsider their position on the future of Assad. President Putin promised
Ayatollah Khamenei during their meeting in Tehran last November that Russia will
not unilaterally decide the future of Assad without clearing its position first
with the Iranians. But Moscow’s position on this issue is pragmatic in the sense
that they see the crisis from strategic a perspective and not on personal bases.
The meeting did not accomplish any substantial results. It merely ended up
providing Moscow with a clear view of the GCC positions for solving the Syrian
crisis and enhancing Gulf security. This was coupled with an elaboration of how
Russia-GCC future relations could evolve if Moscow played a constructive role in
these two matters. Prospects of oil production and nuclear energy cooperation in
particular were laid down in very clear terms.
But the difference between this last meeting and the one held in Kuwait in
February 2014 reflects how Russia’s weight in the Middle East increased within
only two years. Russia is taken now as a well-placed potential broker between
the GCC and Iran in the two pressing issues of Syria and Gulf security. This was
not the case only two years ago.
Only last February, Moscow warned that any move by Gulf nations to send in
troops to support the rebels in Syria would risk a “new world war.” Now,
instead, we seem to be seeing more dialogue.
But what are the chances of Russia playing the role of a fair broker?
To answer this question, we have to examine the factors that could shape the
Russian role in the region, and hence their ability to preserve their current
weight, or perhaps even increasing it. The first factor is obviously what the US
does, or doesn’t do: Russian influence is always relative. If the US returns to
a dynamic role, able to address regional issues in a timely fashion, the space
available for Russia and its leverage on the ground would certainly be reduced.
It is likely that the next president will mostly abandon the “Do Nothing”
doctrine of President Obama.
The second factor is the degree of flexibility that Iran and the GCC are ready
to manifest in regional crises. So far, we see only doubling down from both
sides in their fierce regional competition. Signs of fatigue are not yet
apparent. Despite the heavy losses of the IRGC in Syria, Tehran decided to
reinforce them with regular army. And despite substantial financial losses due
to low oil prices, the Saudis are still pumping their crude at almost full
capacity.
Proxies of the two sides have not shown any flexibility in Syria or Yemen. In
Iraq, we still see the same old sectarian fever flaring side by side with a
general political and security crisis in the Shia regions.
The third factor is how Russia will handle itself in such a severely polarized
region. In other words, it is difficult to conceive of Russia reducing its
support for Iran to walk a middle road. President Putin has invested quite a bit
of his political, diplomatic, and military capital in his current policy.
Fears in Moscow of a potential rapprochement between Iran and the West do not
yet furnish enough grounds to make GCC offers to Moscow attractive. It was not
surprising that President Putin met IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani last
December and that Soleimani is now a frequent visitor to Moscow. As the IRGC can
disrupt any Iranian rapprochement with the West, he should be seen in the
Kremlin as a strategic ally.
This creates a structural obstacle in the sought-after Russian shift in the
Middle East, for it is obvious that that the IRGC is the logical ally of
Moscow’s anti-West strategy while it is at the same time the main source of
trouble for the GCC and regional stability. It is difficult to see how Moscow
can reconcile its need for the anti-West IRGC and the GCC’s need for stability
and a fair solution in Syria.
At best, only minor changes could occur in Putin’s Syria policy, and at a high
price. Any serious change in Russia’s Middle East policies is conditioned on
combatting IRGC interventionism in the region, hence reducing its relative
weight in Tehran. This is the only circumstance that will force Mr. Putin to
change his calculations.
The less useful the IRGC becomes, the more it will become clear to Putin that it
may be risky to continue his hardline policies in Syria or to decline GCC
invitation for better relations.
Expecting a shift in Moscow’s Middle East strategy is overly optimistic,
particularly if it is based on the temptation of business deals and diplomatic
overtures. For Russia to change its approach, the dynamics of the region’s
crisis have to change.
NATO Facing New Global
Security Challenges
Middle East Briefing/June 05/16
Posted by: MEB in Article 3 days ago
The heads of state of the 28 nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) will be meeting in Warsaw, Poland, on July 8-9, facing serious security
challenges to the east and the south, which will strain the Alliance’s
resources, and which have already caused fissures among some core members.
The top agenda item at the summit will be Russia. Ever since Russia’s annexation
of Crimea and Moscow’s subsequent “hybrid” support for separatist forces in
southeast Ukraine, the security architecture of post-Cold War Europe has come
unraveled. The European Union and the United States imposed harsh economic
sanctions against Russia, and some of President Vladimir Putin’s closest Kremlin
allies and Russian oligarchs have been personally sanctioned. The NATO-Russia
Council, which had been a cornerstone of common security deliberations, was shut
down, and only reinstated on a limited basis in April of this year. At a recent
meeting of NATO foreign ministers, it was decided to seek another meeting of the
NATO-Russia Council before the Warsaw summit.
On May 30, NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow, a former US
Ambassador to Russia, addressed the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Tirana,
Albania. He devoted most of his remarks to the challenges posed by Russia. “In
the last couple of years, Russia has illegally annexed Crimea and it continues
its aggression in Eastern Ukraine. It has also significantly built up its
military forces from the Barents Sea and the Baltic to the Black Sea and in the
eastern Mediterranean,” he told the assembled parliamentarians. “These actions
challenge the very foundation of European security, undermining respect for
national sovereignty and the use of peaceful means to settle disputes—principles
laid down in the Helsinki Final Act and many post-Cold War agreements that
Moscow helped to write. Moreover, Russian leaders don’t conceal that their
vision for European security is no longer Helsinki, but Yalta—a Europe based on
spheres of influence that we thought was long behind us.”
In response, Vershbow noted, NATO has greatly increased the size and number of
maneuvers since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, and all 28 NATO member
states pledged at the 2014 heads of state summit in Wales to boost defense
spending to the minimum 2 percent of national GDP, with 20 percent of those
funds earmarked for new weapons systems. NATO has also tripled the size of its
NATO Response Force to 40,000 troops, with 5,000 assigned to the Spearhead Force
that can deploy anywhere in NATO territory within 48-72 hours.
The biggest boost in NATO forces directed at containing the Russian threat will
be finalized at the upcoming July meeting in Warsaw, when a proposal to post
four combat battalions in the three Baltic States and Poland will be voted
upon.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has proposed that the size of those
forward-based forces be doubled, to a total of eight or nine combat
battalions. Whether that rotating force is made up of 4,000 or 9,000 troops is
of only secondary importance. As Hammond emphasized in recent statements at the
NATO foreign ministers gathering, the purpose of the deployment is to create a
“tripwire.” Any Russian aggression against those front-line NATO member
countries will be a trigger for immediate Alliance action against Russia.
The last time that such a NATO “tripwire” force was deployed was during the Cold
War 25 years ago.
Another less public initiative, undertaken principally by the United States, is
aimed at providing credibility to the “tripwire” deployment. The Pentagon is
moving rapidly ahead with the modernization of the tactical nuclear weapons that
formed a crucial deterrent against a Soviet assault into Western Europe during
the Cold War era. The new generation B61-12 tactical nuclear bombs will be far
more accurate, with a longer range, making it possible to greatly reduce the
size of the nuclear blast due to the far greater accuracy. Those tactical
nuclear weapons will be deployable on airborne cruise missiles that can be fired
from longer distances.
The combined deployment of the “tripwire” battalions into the nations bordering
on Russia, along with the forward basing of the B61-12 tactical nuclear weapons
(approximately 500 will be deployed throughout Europe, including Eastern
Europe), and the deployment—already well underway in Spain and Romania—of a
ship-based and land-based ballistic missile defense system, is aimed at
deterring any further Russian aggression against smaller nations bordering on
Russian territory. As Vershbow told the parliamentarians, the Russians already
have forces on the ground in disputed parts of Georgia and Moldova, against the
wishes of those governments.
Vershbow also sought to reassure the parliamentarians that “this presence will
be defensive, proportionate and in line with our international commitments,
including the NATO-Russia Founding Act. NATO does not seek confrontation but we
will defend each and every Ally against any attack. Our presence will be
sufficiently robust that there will be no doubt about the strength of our
collective resolve, but there will be no grounds to accuse NATO of posing an
offensive threat to Russia or any other state.”
Going into this crucial NATO heads of state gathering, Russia is looking for
weak links in the Alliance, and there are some to be found. Last week, President
Putin visited Greece, where he made some generous offers to create a major gas
storage facility there, to supply Europe with vital natural gas. This follows
the breakdown of the South Stream and Turkish Stream pipeline schemes, all in
the aftermath of the Russian actions in Crimea and then Syria.
While Greece is the most obvious “low hanging fruit” in Europe, Italy, Hungary,
and even France have expressed opposition to the eastward deployments and to the
plan to extend the European Union sanctions against Russia, when they expire on
July 31. Recently, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has also
expressed reservations about the continuing efforts by the EU and NATO to
isolate Russia. Germany has historically been Russia’s largest European trading
partner, and German high-tech firms have lost a significant amount of business
under the EU sanctions policy.
Another big question mark for NATO, going in to the Warsaw meeting, is whether
the European NATO nations are genuinely going to live up to the “burden sharing”
agreements reached at the 2014 Wales summit. Robert Gates, who served as US
Secretary of Defense under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama,
continues to sharply criticize the European NATO countries for dodging their
responsibilities.
Furthermore, even as Russia demands more of NATO’s resources and attention than
any other challenge, there are other serious challenges that cannot be ignored. Vershbow,
after focusing on the Russia threat, next turned to the continuing threat of
terrorism, and the refugee crisis that has been triggered by the continuing
conflict in the Middle East, North Africa, and Afghanistan. NATO ships will be
increasing patrols in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, to intercept smuggling
ships bringing refugees to the southern shores of Europe. The Libya Government
of National Accord has already requested security assistance from NATO, and
there are plans for Italy to spearhead a multi-national force of as many as
5,000 troops to join in the fight against the Islamic State on Libyan
soil. British Foreign Secretary Hammond urged that deployment of troops to
Libya, to combat ISIL, not just train indigenous forces. That idea will be a
hotly debated subject in July in Warsaw.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has also formally asked NATO to step up
training and other missions to build the Iraq National Army, also to combat ISIL.
Resource constraints and already simmering political fissures will continue to
challenge NATO, as it deliberates on an expanding mission, including a return to
what some Europeans see as the kind of great power military standoff that many
had assumed would never happen again on European soil, following the collapse of
the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.
Russia has expanded its military to an alarming degree, modernizing its arsenal
of strategic nuclear weapons, placing new combat units along its western front,
and publicly advertising new generations of hyper-sonic missiles that can defeat
the missile defense systems being built up by the United States and NATO to
defend against Iran’s growing arsenal of longer-range missiles.
Erdoğan Must Act Quickly to
Solve Turkey’s Kurdish Problem
Middle East Briefing/June 05/16
It was difficult for US officials to explain the pictures printed in the media
showing US special operation troops wearing the insignia of the YPG (Kurdish
People’s Protection Units) in northern Syria on May 26.
Here, for example, is what the US State Department Mark Toner said May 27: “We
have said that we believe they’re – and we hold to this – that we believe they
are separate entities (from the PKK). I can’t rule out that there is some
connections. Look, I can’t – let me put it this way– I can’t categorically say
that there’s not any connections, but we have made very clear that the YPG is a
separate entity from the PKK with – is located geographically in a separate area
in northern Syria and is, as we have said before, taking the fight to Daesh in
northern Syria and is a very effective fighting force, I might add.”.
Well, Jabhat al-Nusra (JAN) is located in a different geographical place than
al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. It is a different entity. It also fights Daesh. Why
then bomb it? And why not remove it from the State Department website dealing
with terrorist activities all over the world, as has happened with the YPG?
The two criteria provided by the spokesman are not really valid to justify the
change in position. It was hard for Toner to explain what happened, not because
he lacks sufficient spinning skills but because it is hard for reasonable person
to explain.
Army Colonel Steve Warren, a spokesman for US forces in Iraq and Syria, called
the patch a “sign of partnership”. But what Col. Warren said undermines the
official US story which indicates that the forces that will liberate Raqqa are
not the YPG, but those called “The Syrian Democratic Forces” (SDF), which are
constituted of Kurds and Arabs. But why would the Green Berets put on the YPG
patch and not that of the SDF? And how will it be possible now for the US to
continue promoting the story that the SDF is composed of a mix of both Arabs and
Kurds? The YPG is currently marching towards ISIL’s capital, which is an Arab
town. Lies have short legs, and though they run fast sometimes, they do not go
far.
ISIL printed enlarged copies of the Green Beret soldiers and put the images on
trucks with loudspeakers calling people to join ISIL “to defend Islam against
the “unbelievers”. A very active effort to dig more tunnels and trenches is
underway. It was reported that the flow of civilians fleeing ISIL’s capital has
slowed down either due to confidence in the defenses or due to ISIL assurances
that Raqqa is not the real target of SDF.
In fact, there are many signs that support the assumption that the real target
of SDF deployment is the northern and northeastern countryside of Aleppo. While
ISIL is expanding rapidly in that region, the YPG forces are expanding even
faster. The Free Syrian Army and other groups are hammered by both.
The pictures enraged Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said in a
public speech in Diyarbakır on May 28 that the images reveal that Turkey has
been betrayed. “This is not what was promised to us; I am someone who believes
that politics should be conducted honestly. Therefore, our allies, those who are
with us in NATO, cannot and should not send their own soldiers to Syria, with
insignias of the YPG,” said Erdoğan.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has strongly reacted to the photos,
saying it is “unacceptable, a double standard and hypocrisy.”
Yet, Toner expressed the US position clearly when he said that Washington will
“continue to support them (the YPG) with our assist and support operation.”
No one is arguing here that supporting the YPG in the fight against ISIL is an
effective way to recapture Raqqa, and no one is calling for abandoning this very
effective force either. But the story reveals the fractured US strategy for both
Syria and fighting ISIL, and all the problematic aspects of this strategy. In
order to create the environment capable of sustaining an ISIL defeat, the US has
to fulfill certain requirements. Syria’s Arabs have to be a principal force in
achieving this objective, and Arab-Kurdish relations have to be looked at
through an eye sensitive of future scenarios.
Col. Warren later said that wearing the YPG patches was unauthorized and
inappropriate. “Corrective action has been taken. We have communicated as much
to NATO ally Turkey,” he added. But it was not the fault of the US soldiers who
are putting their lives on the line to defeat this cult of death, rather, it is
the general context in which the fight is placed that has to be questioned.
Erdoğan can’t play the victim here either. His position on ISIL was not above
suspicion before the terrorist group turned against Turkey. ISIL forces swept
through rebel territory in Aleppo province at the end of May. The shocking ISIL
advance on two rebel-held towns comes as the jihadist group is facing an attack
further east, in its own heartland of Raqqa province. It is clear that ISIL is
both trying to keep morale high among its supporters by expanding while its
capital is under attack, and aiming at expanding its fighting forces through new
recruits.
ISIL fighters cut a key road between the rebel towns of A’zaz, close to the
Turkish border, and nearby Mare’. On May 27 rockets fired from ISIL-controlled
territory in northern Syria hit Turkey’s border province of Kilis, 20 days after
the last such attack by the jihadist group targeting the province. In response,
Turkey shelled ISIL positions for several hours.
The primary fact that should be evident to Ankara from all this is that Turkey
has a Kurdish problem and that this problem will get even worse. President
Erdoğan is determined to deal with the Kurdish question from a security
perspective, while in fact it is a national question. To make it even more
difficult for him, Erdoğan believes all Kurds are terrorists. This outlandish
view makes everyone else believe that his position stands on the lines between
ultra-nationalism and racism.
But the Kurds are there. They are in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. They will
not go away. The more denial of their legitimate rights that they face, the more
alienated they will become. Not all Kurds are PKK, but Erdoğan’s policies push
them into the arms of this terrorist group. While they should not all be
considered PKK sympathizers, Erdoğan is making the mission of the PKK much
easier.
When all the dust of the Syrian crisis settles, President Erdoğan will find his
nightmare before his eyes: a Kurdish entity controlled by a quasi-PKK group on
his borders, Turkish Kurds carrying more fuel to continue their fight, and his
own country on the verge of a civil war.
It is not too late yet. President Erdoğan should change gears and admit that the
Kurdish question will not be solved by armed forces using more advanced
techniques to suppress the problem.
If he does not, Turkey may become the next state on the list of threatened
countries of the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia will reap what the US
has sown in Iraq and Syria
Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya/June 05/16
Washington is fully aware of what’s happening in Syria. It has a special envoy
for Syria who constantly meets with the Syrian opposition and a former
ambassador to the country who is displeased with the way the US administration
has dealt with the Syrian crisis from the very beginning. The former ambassador
continues to offer advice to his government that is not taken into
consideration. He is said to have even participated for years in two operation
command centers directed by three entities: the State Department, the CIA and
the Pentagon.Located in Amman and the South of Turkey, the command centers
reportedly collect information that determines the prevalence of different armed
groups fighting in Syria, and their movement between cities, villages and
regions. They also record the rise and fall of the influence of these groups and
track weapon supplies, sources and distribution. Even the demographic changes as
a result of the on-going conflict are recorded.
After taking the advice of countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar and
after dealing with the different rebel forces, Washington seems to have turned
its back on its allies. It appears to have ignored the interests of its regional
allies and of the Sunnis. It doesn't seem to care about the majority of Syrian
revolutionists and has instead opted for the Kurds to ensure the liberation of
al-Raqqah from ISIS. It has sent around 300 US troops to support Kurds fighters.
These troops reportedly proudly lead with yellow ribbons on their arms
representing the Democratic Union party linked to the PKK, once classified as a
terrorist group by Turkey and the US. This has triggered Turkey’s ire.
Washington is said to have clarified that it has engaged with the group for the
sake of al-Raqqah alongside a group of Arab tribal fighters.
All this must be causing apprehension to Saudi Arabia. It may have also added to
its growing concern over the “neo-Americans”, even if their justification was
accepted for fighting in Fallujah along with the Iranian revolutionary guards
lead by major general Qassem Suleimani.These troops belonging to “al-Hashd el-Shaabi”
and the Iraqi army are closely linked in a way thus making the fight against
ISIS impossible without them. Even if we accept such a hypothesis, Washington is
not compelled to choose Kurd separatists as partners in the war in Syria against
ISIS. In fact, it has three better alternatives.
Three alternatives
The first alternative would be the Syrian rebels, the right option for several
reasons. They represent the majority of Syrians, they call for regime change,
oppose the partition of their country, and are against ISIS that is fighting
them in the first place. ISIS withdrew from the ancient city of Palmyra captured
by the Syrian regime, evacuated several villages in which the Kurds gained
ground, but were fiercely fighting the Syrian rebels in Azaz.
Washington is said to have had an unpleasant experience with the rebels as they
abandoned Washington after getting trained and acquiring weapons. Yet,
Washington imposed on Syrian rebels strict conditions but not on the Kurds. It
held them accountable for their connection with al-Nusra and al-Qaeda-affiliated
groups in the battlefield.
Is this retribution against the “Sunni Islam” that hit America on September 11?
Washington is said to be carrying out background checks of members belonging to
the opposition and even spying on their phones. It obliged them to only fight
against ISIS but not the regime, which is the main reason behind the revolution
and their call for freedom. All this has jeopardized the trust between the two
sides. However, Washington’s supposed links to a minority group that does not
have any national relevance is still not justified.
The second option would be of the old US ally, Saudi Arabia, which has
repeatedly said it is ready to dispatch ground forces to Syria to rein in ISIS
if an international cover, i.e. the American support, is provided. America knows
that Saudi Arabia is capable of creating a large Islamic alliance that goes
beyond Syrian revolutionaries, Turkey and Gulf countries.
Such an alliance would be the perfect way to eliminate ISIS on the military and
the ideological levels and this will be very much welcomed by the local
population. In such a scenario, Washington will not have to send its ground
forces or expose its citizens to danger. It will solely have to protect its
allies from Russians and leave the task of restoring order to the regional
powers.
The third option is Turkey, which has reiterated several times its willingness
to create a buffer zone in the North of Syria that could be safe for millions of
Syrians and that could stop the flow of refugees to Europe. This would also end
rumors about making its land as the route for ISIS.
President Obama’s interview with The Atlantic spurred general outrage. His
insinuation regarding Turkish President’s failure because he “had refused to use
his huge army to resettle stability in Syria” angered Erdogan. It is true that
the Turkish president wasted several opportunities to intervene before Russia
eventually did but he continuously offered the Americans to lead a joint
operation against ISIS.
The question that arises is why is the United States reluctant to utilize its
historic allies such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia? Why does it display the
tendency to intervene with suspicious elements and minorities such as “al-Hashd
el-Shaabi” in Iraq and the Kurd separatists in Syria? Is this retribution
against the “Sunni Islam” that hit America on September 11? Even if that was the
case, it would be wrong interpretation because the perpetrator was not “Sunni
Islam” but an extremist group. However, such a belief, it seems, prevails in
American politics. This has been evident in an article published in The New York
Times or in one of the discourses attributed to President Barack Obama that he
has to justify each time he meets his Saudi allies.
Regardless of the rationale behind American approach in the region, it chooses
to align with wrong plans and bad intentions. We will bear the dire
repercussions of this approach in few years. The success of Iran and the
separatist Kurds in Iraq and Syria will not eliminate ISIS. It will rather be a
temporary victory out of the historic context and will spur further ethnic
divisions along with sectarian ones after years of failure and autocracy. This
will only result in decades of disasters. America intervenes in our world as we
seem unable to tackle the differences. In the light of this fact, isn’t it
crucial for us to understand the reason behind its interference? Saudi Arabia
might not be able to replace the US or push it in the right direction but this
is our region and we are going to suffer from the consequences of what the
United States does to us.
This article first appeared in Al Hayat on June 4, 2016.
Smearing Palestine in UK
schools must stop
Yara al-Waziri/Al Arabiya/June 05/16
British educational institutions are highly regarded worldwide. Unfortunately,
some of them are unable to find the courage to speak about, or even allow
mention of, Palestine at their campuses. As the Palestinian cause becomes more
prevalent among British society, smear campaigns are increasing. Educational
institutions that censor the very mention of Palestine are compromising the
integrity of the British education system, and the basic fundamentals of free
speech, which has been recognized as a common law in Britain for decades. The
past few months have proven that powerful institutions are being selective as to
who can exercise that right when it comes to Palestine.
Conference
The cancellation of a legal conference titled “International Law and the State
of Israel: Legitimacy, Responsibility and Exceptionalism” is a testament to the
sensitivity over the Palestinian cause. The conference was organized by
professors Suleiman Sharkh and Oran Ben-Dor, a Palestinian and Israeli
respectively. The smear campaign proved strong enough for the university to
cancel the conference due to alleged health and safety concerns. If the title of
the conference had been one that did not garner media attention, it would have
likely not been cancelled. The university’s decision is detrimental to what it
stands for. If there were serious health and safety concerns, it would have been
the university’s responsibility to organize additional security.
Student body
The issue of not even discussing Palestine extends beyond university
administration and into the student body. After Malia Bouattia become the first
black female president of the National Union of Students (NUS), a smear campaign
was launched against her that focused on her outspoken sympathy toward
Palestine. The campaign was covered by news outlets throughout the country.
Educational institutions that censor the very mention of Palestine are
compromising the integrity of the British education system, and the basic
fundamentals of free speech Rather than focussing on her achievements and what
Bouattia can offer the NUS, the media focussed on statements she had made about
the right of Palestinians to defend themselves. If she had made similar comments
about any other people facing oppression - Syrians, Afghans, or even the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community - it would not have been
considered outrageous.
Expulsion
Universities are not the only institutions in the UK that have proven sensitive
over Palestine, but they are the most resistant to change. Last week,
15-year-old Leanne Mohamed won a regional speech competition for her heartfelt
commemoration of the Nakba (Catastrophe), the Palestinians’ dispossession in
1948 when Israel was created. The Speakers Trust, which organized the
competition, expelled her from it and removed the video of the speech from the
internet. The Trust initially used the verbal abuse posted in the comments
section of the video as an excuse to take it down. She was expelled because her
speech did not have a “positive and uplifting message.”Rather than praising a
young millennial - whose generation is often shamed for being apathetic - for
such a heartfelt speech, the system chose to silence her. The message this sends
to the public is dangerously clear: freedom of expression is limited when it
comes to Palestine.
Censorship
Events that address Palestine must be celebrated, not censored. It is vital to
promote world history from numerous vantage points at educational institutions,
otherwise where are people expected to learn?
Numerous organizations and bloggers in the UK are leading these smear campaigns,
not realizing that silencing history will not delete it. The anti-Palestine
lobby in the UK is strong, and can only be combatted with an equally strong
pro-truth lobby. The pressure put on The Speakers Trust to republish Mohamed’s
video proved that organizations react to whomever shouts the loudest. Sympathy
for Palestine is not anti-Semitic, and direct action must be taken to stop
institutions from giving in to smear campaigns whose purpose is to stop the
public from even knowing where Palestine is on the map.
Could the defeat of ISIS turn
to pyrrhic victory?
Hisham Melhemi/Al Arabiya/June 05/16
The recent military setbacks suffered by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and the
beginning of attacks by local forces to retake Fallujah, Iraq and Manbij City,
Syria, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes, coupled with the steep decline in
the number of foreign fighters flowing to Join ISIS, portends the eventual
defeat of the Caliphate as a significant military threat maybe as early as 2017.
But given the trajectory of the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts in recent years, the
corrosive role of most outside powers, and the frightening human toll of
identity politics, the defeat of the monstrous Caliphate could turn to a
resounding pyrrhic victory.
Since the Second World War, the United States has had a poor record in
translating its military victories into political successes. It is very likely
that the two longest wars in American history will end with political forces
that are either hostile or unfriendly to the United States controlling both
Afghanistan and Iraq. The real challenge for the US in Afghanistan, Iraq and in
Syria was never military in nature, but rather political. After the eventual
military defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria the perennial question of “what’s next
politically?” will be asked just as it was asked after the liberation of
Afghanistan from Soviet occupation in 1989, the defeat of Iraqi forces in Kuwait
in 1991, and after the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq in 2011.
The victory of identity politics
Ironically, the defeat of ISIS, a positive development in and of itself, in the
absence of acceptable political scaffoldings to begin healing these societies,
could presage the victory of foreign powers like Iran and Russia, a genocidal
regime in Damascus and a sectarian corrupt regime in Baghdad both of which are
beholding to Tehran. More importantly in the long run, the defeat of ISIS if it
is not accompanied or followed by the eventual demise of the Assad regime in the
context of an overall political resolution that guarantees the civil and
political rights of all Syrian communities, and in checking Iran’s destructive
influence in Iraq, will result in the overwhelming victory of “identity
politics”.
The fights for Fallujah and Manbij City are raising serious fears not only of
massive civilian casualties, but of deepening sectarian and ethnic cleavages
leading to more death by identity and the creation of more refugees. The United
States is currently providing air power to support the Iraqi government forces
attacking ISIS forces in Fallujah, but these conventional forces are augmented
by Shiite militias backed and trained by Iran and led by Iraqis who are very
loyal to Iran. These largely Shiite militias make up the so-called Popular
Mobilization Forces (al-Hashd al-Sha’bi),were created in response to ISIS’
occupation of Mosul in June 2014. These militias engaged in widespread abuse in
Sunni cities liberated from ISIS in recent months.
The fights for Fallujah and Manbij City are raising serious fears not only of
massive civilian casualties, but of deepening sectarian and ethnic cleavages
leading to more death by identity and the creation of more refugees
Following the eviction of ISIS from Tikrit last year Human Rights Watch
documented the “Ruinous Aftermath” in the city thus: “in the aftermath of the
fighting, militia forces looted, torched, and blew up hundreds of civilian
houses and buildings in Tikrit and the neighboring towns..” While it is true
that the U.S. in the past criticized the sectarian practices of these militias
and asked the Iraqi government not to allow them to participate in liberating
Sunni cities from ISIS, a request that was ignored by Baghdad, there are ample
signs now that Washington has lessened its opposition to some of these militias.
In fact last spring US Consul General Steve Walker expressed sympathy with some
of the wounded members of the Popular Mobilization Forces during a visit to a
hospital in Basra.
Deepening sectarian and ethnic divides
Just as the city of Ramadi was essentially destroyed in order to be “saved” from
ISIS, a similar fate could befall Fallujah. There are credible concerns that the
decision to attack Fallujah which came after a short notice to the U.S. is in
part a political maneuver by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to deflect attention
from his domestic travails following a series of deadly bombings in Baghdad, and
growing social unrest against corruption and calls for reforms that almost
paralyzed his government. Iran, the hidden hand behind major Iraqi decisions,
was on display recently when the ubiquitous Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds
Force commander General Qassem Suleimani showed up in photos taken at an
operations room outside Fallujah, discussing maps of military operations with
senior militia commanders. The absence of a unified countervailing moderate Arab
Sunni force to ISIS in Iraq and Syria will guarantee that the defeat of ISIS,
will likely lead to the birth of a new form of Sunni radicalism in years to
come.
The fight for Manbij City, which is a prelude for a major attack on ISIS
controlled Raqqa is raising concerns about potential ethnic conflicts between
Kurds and Arabs. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed coalition of
armed groups led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), has been with
U.S. logistical support mobilizing thousands of fighters in the countryside
north of Raqqa to isolate the city. American Special Forces in Syria have been
training and advising and possibly fighting along with YPG fighters. In fact
U.S. military personnel have been “embedded” with YPG fighters, as seen in
recent photos showing U.S. soldiers wearing emblems of the YPG on their
shoulders.
But while the Kurds of Syria have legitimate political and cultural grievances
and demands that should be fairly addressed in a post-Assad Syria, nonetheless
the YPG which represent the most powerful Syrian Kurdish group has been accused
by human rights organizations of engaging in ethnic cleansings and forcing Arabs
and Turkmens from their areas and demolishing their homes in areas under YPG
control. It is ironic that the YPG, which came into existence with the help of
the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) of Turkey a group designated by the U.S. as a
terrorist group, is also receiving help from the Russians in Syria. If the YPG
leads the fight to retake Raqqa and its environ, a region inhabited by mostly
Syrian Arabs, the outcome will likely result in new tensions and possibly
violence between Arabs and Kurds.
The disintegration of states
In recent years we have witnessed the destructive triumph of identity politics
during the breakup of Yugoslavia, and the Sudan or between the Hutu and the
Tutsi. Since the beginning of the Arab uprisings five years ago, we have
witnessed the collapse of the state system in a number of Arab countries. Many a
historian and analyst have had their chance in recent weeks to ponder the legacy
or legacies of the Sykes-Picot agreement and the other treaties and arrangements
that led to the birth of the modern State system in the Middle East after the
First World War. One clear conclusion is that many of those societies failed to
develop modern state institutions, good and efficient governance based on fair
representations of the components of those societies, a failure that led to the
calamitous present in Syria, and Iraq ( the same can be said about Yemen and
Libya)..When the uprisings failed to create alternative political structures,
the brittle regimes in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen collapsed into chaos or
civil wars. (a similar situation occurred in Iraq, with the failure of the
invading power to create a functioning and fair governance). With the fears and
uncertainties spawned by the collapse of order, particularly in heterogeneous
societies, people fell back on their bedrock certainties and identities. When
people are threatened as members of a community (a religious sect or an ethnic
group) they tend to develop a strong sense of solidarity with other members of
the group as a form of self-defense. The identity of the group is almost always
exaggerated, and the threat is invariably described as existential. That is one
reason why civil wars are the most passionate of wars. It is so because the
combatants know each other, and because they have irreconcilable views and
visions about their way of life, their future and their very own identity.
Extreme identity politics reduce us to mere members of a large tribe.
The region is going through a historic convulsion that will last for years,
maybe decades. But the raging sectarian wars and mounting ethnic tensions are
recent and the product of power struggles, political decisions and events and
not the result of “ancient hatreds”. The Sunni-Shiite wars are unprecedented
because they are the product of the last few decades. The 1979 revolution in
Iran was a milestone in modern Shi’a assertiveness. Sunni political Islam after
suffering crushing blows by the Arab Nationalists in the 1950’s and 60’s began
to reassert itself after the Arab defeat in the war with Israel in 1967 by
claiming that the return to true Islam is the solution. The disastrous Iraqi
decision to invade Iran was a huge blow to Sunni-Shiite coexistence, and it
revived Arab-Persian enmity. In Syria, the ascendency of the Alawite minority
(an offshoot of Shi’ism) to power and their control of the army and the security
agencies deepened the rift with the Sunni majority. This situation led to a low
intensity civil war beginning in 1978 and culminating in the massacre of Sunni
rebels in the city of Hama in 1982. Finally the American invasion of Iraq, which
empowered the Shiites who have been marginalized in the modern state of Iraq and
oppressed as a community by the regime of Saddam Hussein, led to the most
sectarian bloodletting between the two sects in modern times. The U.S. cannot
mediate the Sunni-Shiite divide, but at least it should not pursue policies in
Syria and Iraq that will make it irretrievably worse.
In the last fifty years, many groups in the region engaged in crass expressions
of identity politics, and outright discourse of exclusion; this is true of Arabs
and Jews, Arabs and Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites and Christians and Muslims.
Identity politics and practices have become the norms, even in cities like
Alexandria, Beirut, Damascus and Baghdad that were once cosmopolitan. Dissent
against the prevailing orthodoxy of the tribe became prohibitive, particularly
under autocratic regimes, where the state is unable or unwilling in most cases
to help those who dare to challenge the discourse of identity politics. There
are few dissenting Shiite and Sunni voices in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and
other states were these two sects live, who would oppose publicly the course of
the tribe.
Ironically, the digital age which allows the peoples of the region, particularly
the youth tremendous opportunities to look beyond the confines of the tribe, to
be informed instantly of events and trends, to be exposed to practical and
theoretical knowledge, is in fact contributing to the atomization of the region
and deepening the attachment to identity politics. Death by identity need not be
the future of the region, but until the various tribes are exhausted, and until
new uprisings emerge against the sins of both the in-group and the out-group,
the scourge of extreme identity politics will continue to devour the region.