LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
November 6/16
Compiled
& Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
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Bible Quotations For Today
I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew
16/13-20/:'When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’And
they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others
Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’He said to them,
‘But who do you say that I am?’Simon Peter answered,
‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon
son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father
in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’Then
he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the
Messiah."
Jesus entered once for all into the
Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood,
thus obtaining eternal redemption
Letter to the Hebrews 09/01-12/:"Even the first covenant had
regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was constructed,
the first one, in which were the lampstand, the
table, and the bread of the Presence; this is called the
Behind the second curtain was a tent called the Holy of Holies. In it stood the golden altar of incense and the ark
of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which there were a golden
urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the
covenant; above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat. Of
these things we cannot speak now in detail. Such preparations having been made,
the priests go continually into the first tent to carry out their ritual
duties;
but only the high priest goes into the second, and he but once a year,
and not without taking the blood that he offers for himself and for the sins
committed unintentionally by the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that
the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed as long as the first tent
is still standing. This is a symbol of the present time, during which gifts and
sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshipper,
but deal only with food and drink and various baptisms, regulations for the
body imposed until the time comes to set things right. But when Christ came as
a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and
perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered
once for all into the
Latest Lebanese Related News published on November 05-06/16
Hariri
Concludes Second Day of Unbinding Consultations
Naharnet/November 05/16/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri concluded the second and final day of unbinding consultations with lawmakers on Saturday to form a new cabinet. He first met with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party. After the meeting leader of the SSNP said: “The government's priority must go to the social and economic issues and to meet the needs of the citizens to encourage them to stay in their country. Reform begins with stipulating an election law that does justice to the Lebanese. He added: “It is our right to have a sovereign ministerial portfolio.”
Hariri later met with MP Emile Rahme who said: “I have asked for the formation of a
national unity government. “The trilogy of army-people-resistance is what made
“We reiterated the need to address the living conditions and to improve the security situation in addition to the necessity to stipulate an electoral law that provides just representation.”On behalf of the Armenian MPs bloc, MP Agop Pakradonian said after meeting Hariri: “We suggested the formation of a 32-minister cabinet that can represent even the minorities. We urged for a speedy but not hasty formation of a cabinet.”Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya MP Mohammed al-Hout said: “We would like to be represented in the cabinet. I expressed our hopes that the ministerial statement begins with the Baabda declaration and the oath of office (made by Aoun).”
For his part, MP Robert Ghanem said: “I have asked Hariri to form a national unity
government that restores confidence in the State and its institutions and that
brings back the Arab investments to
“We expect a speedy government
formation to reactivate the state's institutions and solve the people's
problems. We reminded of the need not to exclude any sect from any ministry,”
MP Michel Pharaon said. After meeting with Hariri, MP
Serge Ter Sarkisian stated:
“This government should be productive. Power lies in the President and the PM,
not in the ministers.”MP Ahmed Fatfat
of the Mustaqbal bloc met with Hariri alone at first
and later joined the bloc which is headed by MP Fouad
Saniora, who said: “We urged for a quick cabinet
formation and we wish that everyone facilitates the process.” Former prime minister Hariri was nominated Thursday to form
Report:
Berri Says Geagea wants to
Keep Kataeb and Marada Out of Cabinet
Naharnet/November
05/16/Speaker Nabih Berri
has warned PM-designate Saad Hariri that the Lebanese
Forces chief Samir Geagea
plans to keep the Kataeb party and Marada Movement out of the new government formula, al-Akhbar daily reported on Saturday. The daily said that Geagea is trying to limit the Christian representation in
the new cabinet to his LF ministers. Berri has
advised Hariri to seek to pick ministers from both the Kataeb
and Matrad as he expressed willingness to facilaite any obstacles that might hamper this step,
according to al-Akhbar. Hariri began his
consultations on Friday with the parliamentarians to form the new cabinet after
being nominated to the post by 112 out of 126 members of parliament. The
consultations will continue on Saturday. Hariri met with several blocs on
Friday including the Lebanese Forces. The LF bloc MP George Adwan
said after the meeting that his bloc demanded “a sovereign ministerial
portfolio, a services-related portfolio and a mid-caliber
portfolio.” “We want a government in which all parties would abide by its
decisions without boycotting or obstruction. Those who want to practice
obstruction or opposition are free to stay outside Cabinet,” Adwan added. Former prime minister
Hariri was nominated Thursday to form
Hariri
after Consultations: Atmospheres Were Positive, Cooperation with Aoun and Berri Continue
Naharnet/November
05/16/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stressed
on Saturday after concluding the consultations with lawmakers to form a new
government that the atmospheres were generally positive, as he assured that
joint cooperation with President Michel Aoun and
Speaker Nabih Berri
continue in that regard. “I will brief the President as for the consultations.
All the atmospheres are positive since we all want to form a new government as
fast as possible,” said Hariri. To a question on the demands of some blocs to
be given sovereign ministerial portfolios, Hariri said: “This is something
normal that we will discuss with the President.”“We
are positive as for the cooperation with all political forces in the country to
form a national unity government,” he added. “Parliamentary blocs differ in
sizing. They will be represented depending on that.”Hariri
launched two-day consultations on Friday with members of parliament after his
designation to form a new government one day before. Hariri's key support had
contributed to the election of Free Patriotic Movement founder and ex-army
chief Michel Aoun as Lebanon's 13th president on
Monday, which ended around two and a half years of presidential and political
vacuum. Hariri's nomination and Aoun's election have
raised hopes that
In a sign that Hariri's task ahead
might not be easy, Hizbullah's MPs declined to
endorse him for the prime minister post, even though his nomination was
all-but-assured. Hariri is likely to struggle with his government's policy
statement, which will have to make reference to
Report:
Inclination to Form 30-Minister Cabinet, as Hariri Continues with Consultations
Naharnet/November 05/16/Among the ongoing consultations to form a new government after the designation of PM Saad Hariri, there is a tendency to form an all-inclusive 30-minister government instead of the usual 24, to pave way for the representation of all political parties, An Nahar daily reported on Saturday. Sources following up closely on the consultations said there is “semi-final trend to form a government of thirty ministers to include a broader political participation,” which will be formed under the banner of “consensus and national unity.”“None of the political parties are to be distanced including those that opposed the election of President Michel Aoun such as the Marada and Kataeb,” they added. “This time, the government will not be under the pressure of an 'obstructing third' because it is no more applicable now that the cards are shuffled and the alliances with Aoun are different,” remarked the sources. The new government could include some new state-portfolios. To avoid a prolonged formation process, Aoun and Hariri could be pushed to form a technocrat cabinet shall the conditions set by political parties and demands to get specific portfolios mount. Hariri began consultations on Friday with the parliamentarians to form the new cabinet after being nominated to the post by 112 out of 126 members of parliament.
The consultations will continue on Saturday.
Hariri's key support had
contributed to the election of Free Patriotic Movement founder and ex-army
chief Michel Aoun as Lebanon's 13th president on
Monday, which ended around two and a half years of presidential and political
vacuum. Hariri's nomination and Aoun's election have
raised hopes that
Aoun Receives Congratulatory Cables from Hollande and Others
Naharnet/November
05/16/French President Francois Hollande said that
the election of General Michel Aoun as head of the
Lebanese republic was a “historic event for the friends of
Zahra:
LF Doesn't Want to Exclude anyone from Government
Naharnet/November
05/16/Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra clarified that claims alleging that the
LF wants to exclude certain political parties from the new government were
untrue, As Sharq al-Awsat
daily reported on Saturday. “There is a difference between a government of
national unity and a government that works for national unity,” said Zahra in
an interview to the daily. “When we say that the opposition should stay out of
the government, we do not intend to exclude a certain political party. We mean
to say that including all the political components disrupt
democracy and therefore it is better that things carry on normally through the
presence of pro-government and the opposition. Since the stipulation of the Taef Accord we have become used to governments of national
unity which has disrupted accountability,” he went on to say. Zahra's comments
came after reports said that Speaker Nabih Berri has warned PM-designate Saad
Hariri that the LF chief Samir Geagea
plans to keep the Kataeb party and Marada Movement out of the new government formula. On
Thursday, Hariri was formally tasked with forming a new government after he
received a sweeping majority of 112 votes in the binding parliamentary
consultations. Hariri's key support had contributed to the election of
President Michel Aoun who also received crucial
support from Hizbullah and the Lebanese Forces. On
Monday, Aoun was elected as
Zarif Expected in
Naharnet/November
05/16/Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif is expected to arrive in
Russian
Official to Arrive in
Naharnet/November
05/16/A high-level Russian official is expected to visit
On Monday, Aoun
was elected head of the Lebanese republic by the majority of 83 parliament
votes. Aoun received key support for his presidential
bid from al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri, which ended two and a half years of
presidential vacuum. On Thursday, Hariri was designated to form
Rifi Urges 'Popular, Political Action', Vows to Confront
'Iranian Hegemony'
Naharnet/November
05/16/Resigned Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi announced Friday that the confrontation against what
he called “the Iranian hegemony over
“Surrender and despair are not present in our dictionary and we will continue the path with our people,” he vowed.
“Now more than ever, we will adhere to the State, the exclusive presence of arms in the hands of the security forces, the international resolutions, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and anyone who gives up on these issues will be held responsible,” Rifi went on to say.
“Together we will defend
He added: “We will not allow the destruction of our ties with the Arab world for the sake of the Iranian expansionist scheme. This is the Lebanese republic and we won't accept that it be turned into the republic of the supreme guide.”
Rifi has
fiercely opposed the election of Aoun or Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh
as president, citing their close ties with Iran-backed Hizbullah
and the Syrian regime. Aoun was elected president on
Monday after receiving key support for his nomination from al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad
Hariri, who has been named Prime Minister-designate. Rifi,
who was once part of Hariri's Mustaqbal Movement,
launched a major challenge to Hariri's position as the leader of
Hariri is likely to struggle with
his government's policy statement, which will have to make reference to
Gemayel says Kataeb will stand by
new Lebanese President Aoun
The Daily Star/November 05/16/BEIRUT: Former Lebanese President Amine Gemayel said that the Kataeb
Party will stand by the newly-elected President Michel Aoun
after a decision was made to put political differences aside. In remarks to the
Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar published Saturday, the
former Kataeb Party chief said their decision not to
vote for Aoun was in line with a decision they had
made in the past not to vote for someone for the rivaling
March 8 coalition, and was not made in direct opposition to Aoun.
“The party has now turned the page on that and has announced that they will
stand by the new leader. We hope that the new era will succeed in recovering
Nasrallah calls for national unity govt
The Daily Star/ November 05/16/BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Sayyed
Hasan Nasrallah Friday
called for the formation of a national unity government, adding that his group
will not take part in any Cabinet that Speaker Nabih Berri decides to boycott. Speaking at a memorial for slain
party official Moustafa Chehade,
Nasrallah called on rival Lebanese parties to work
together "to build a state." "We should have a positive attitude
in the new era," he said, praising Berri for the
role he played in managing the Oct. 31 presidential elections. "We want
the Cabinet to be formed and [for it to be] productive," he said. But the
Hezbollah chief added that his party wouldn't join any government that Berri refuses to take part in. Nasrallah
also denied that Hezbollah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc had nominated
anyone for the premiership. "Hezbollah didn't name anyone, but offered to
facilitate the appointment of a new PM for a fresh and positive start (in the
country)," he said. He said that the group's bloc would take a clear
stance on the formation of the new Cabinet Saturday, after its meeting with
PM-designate Saad Hariri. Berri
was the official negotiator on behalf of both Hezbollah and his own Development
and Liberation bloc on the designation of the new Cabinet's portfolios. Aoun had asked the Future leader to form a new government
Thursday, after 112 out of 126 MPs, including Speaker Nabih
Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc, endorsed him
for the role. On Friday, Hariri kicked off two days of consultations with the
aim of forming a “national accord government."Nasrallah
briefly praised caretaker Prime Minister Tammam Salam
over his "patience and running the country's crises with minimum losses,”
and hailed Marada Movement chief Sleiman
Frangieh for being an "honest ally, who stood by
Hezbollah."Turning to the presidential election,
Nasrallah said that Hezbollah had proved that despite
all accusations, the group was earnest in its support for Aoun.
Michel Aoun was elected president Monday, ending over
2-1/2 years of presidential paralysis that began when the term of former
President Michel Sleiman ended in May 2014."We
are relieved because the man residing in the
"Claims that Hezbollah didn't want Aoun as
president were misleading,” Nasrallah said. “We are
not liars.""Some political powers took
credit for facilitating the elections, but we have been saying since the crisis
began that they should agree with Aoun," he
added.
Aoun
foresees unified foreign policy
Joseph Haboush/The Daily Star/November 05/16
Aoun
assured the Lebanese people that there would also be an agreement on a single,
unified foreign policy, while saying a new electoral law was paramount. “A
priority for the forthcoming period is the agreement of a new law for the
parliamentary elections, which will take place as scheduled next May,” Aoun said, following the meeting. “
The statement was made following the meeting with American Ambassador Elizabeth Richard, caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Arab League Ambassador Abdul-Rahman al-Solh and U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag, in addition to a number of other ambassadors.
Kaag said the meeting was “productive,” adding that “we hope to continue to keep in direct contact as assured by President Aoun.”
The president also met with the heads of Lebanese security apparatuses. Internal Security Forces head Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous, General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim and State Security head Maj. Gen. George Karaa each met separately with the new president.
Aoun praised the security forces for maintaining stability in the country while implementing the law in a just manner.
Meanwhile, French President
Francois Hollande said he believed Aoun’s election was “a historic event for
“The [election] gives hope to the
Lebanese and those who hope for
Hollande
called for a new Cabinet to be formed as soon as possible to facilitate aid
from international donors. “A constitutional Parliament will allow for more aid
to be delivered, and specifically for humanitarian aid
[to help with issues such] as the Syrian refugee crisis in
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
also congratulated Aoun. “Your election is the first
step in overcoming the political crisis and paralysis of constitutional
institutions in
Merkel went on to reassure Aoun that
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
congratulated Aoun and the Lebanese people over the
election of a president. Erdogan expressed his desire
for “the close and brotherly
President of the Swiss
Confederation Johann Schneider-Ammann congratulated
Separately, the President of the Peoples’ Republic of China Xi Jinping congratulated Aoun, and expressed hope for improved ties between the two nations.
“On the occasion of your election as president and on behalf of the Chinese government and its people, I congratulate you and wish you the best,” Xi said.
Xi went on to say that “there have been deep diplomatic ties between the two nations dating back 45 years ... I place great importance on developing Chinese-Lebanese ties ... which will have a positive impact on the two nations.”
Aoun
also received congratulatory phone calls from the President of
Meanwhile Friday, French President
Hollande contacted caretaker Prime Minister Tammam Salam to hail his efforts in guiding
In other news, caretaker Interior
Minister Nouhad Machnouk said
the swearing-in speech by President Aoun was a clear,
complete and serious path to overcoming obstacles facing
“The inaugural speech stated the
necessity to improve ties with Arab states that will positively impact
Lebanon
Policy in the Incoming US Administration
Position Statement by the Lebanese Information Center
November 1, 2016/ Before its occupation by Syria and the subsequent
emergence of Hezbollah as a dominant force in its domestic and foreign affairs,
Lebanon was a reliable ally of the United States in the Middle East. Most
Lebanese are steadfast in their affection for the
It is our hope that the incoming administration would protect US
interests in the Middle East while supporting
Continuing and increasing its much-appreciated financial and military
support to the Lebanese armed forces.
Working to ensure non-interference in Lebanese affairs
by regional powers and to disengage
Supporting the upholding of a consensual democracy that
guarantees the rights of individuals and communities in a pluralistic society
that is inherently composed of minorities.
Continuing to demand the full implementation of UN
Security Council Resolutions such as 1559, 1680 and 1701, which call for the
disarmament of Hezbollah and of armed groups in Palestinian camps as well as
the cessation of military aid from any state to militias within
Ensuring the monitoring of the Syrian-Lebanese borders
to stop the flow of Iranian and other military material and personnel from
Supporting the enactment of a reformed and equitable legislative election
law to achieve true representation of the various components of the Lebanese
population
Rejecting any notion of a permanent settlement of Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon since Lebanon’s particular religious and demographic considerations
exclude the viability of naturalizing these refugees.
Continuing to engage, empower and assist
Defending basic rights and individual freedoms in
We believe that it is imperative that the
Hezbollah
may have secured its domestic flank through election of its ally Aoun but interminable war in
Nicholas Blanford/The Arab Weekly/November 11/16
Aoun’s inaugural speech, while generally bland and appeasing, included statements that confirmed that Hezbollah has emerged as the true winner from Lebanon’s protracted presidential crisis and vindicated the party’s decision, along with its allies in the March 8th parliamentary coalition, to boycott two-and-a-half years of electoral sessions until its candidate was assured success.
Referring to the conflict with
This formulation echoes
Hezbollah’s justification for maintaining the Islamic Resistance, the name of
its armed wing. Hezbollah’s argument long ago moved on from the assumption
that the end of outstanding disputes between
In 2006, Ali Ammar,
a Hezbollah MP, said the “extent of the resistance is not
the Shebaa farms nor the return of the
[Lebanese] prisoners [held in
It is highly likely that the army-people-resistance formula, which helps legitimise the Islamic Resistance as an asset of Lebanese defence, will be retained in the official statement of the next government.
As for
The key word here is
“pre-emption” as it helps gird Hezbollah’s argument that its intervention in
The next government, headed by former prime minister Saad Hariri, will not pose an obstacle to Hezbollah’s domestic and regional agenda.
Hariri returns to the premiership holding a weak hand. His financial empire is in disarray; there is no cash to sustain his patronage networks and his decision to endorse Aoun for the presidency has further sapped his popular support on the Sunni street.
Rivals for the country’s Sunni
leadership, particularly former Justice minister Ashraf Rifi, are beginning to
snap at his heels. Rifi is sweeping up discontented
Sunnis not only in his traditional fiefdom of
Hariri cannot rely on the backing
of
Still, Hezbollah faces pressing
challenges, particularly the heavy cost of the war in
Traditionally, the process of recruitment into Hezbollah’s ranks takes months and consists of an initial vetting procedure, extensive religious classes and basic military training at the party’s camps strung along the flanks of the Bekaa valley.
While this arduous and thorough
recruitment process is continuing for true believers in Hezbollah’s cause, the
party is also scooping up recruits specifically to fight in
These raw recruits are given a
month-long basic training course before being dispatched to
There is, however, increasing
anecdotal evidence to suggest that some fighters are tiring of the conflict,
particularly of being deployed to places such as
Some fighters are refusing to
return to
It is unclear how deep such sentiment runs within Hezbollah’s ranks but the party apparently has formed a unit to address issues of low morale, underlining that the leadership takes the discontent seriously.
Hezbollah may have secured its
domestic flank through the election of its ally Aoun
as president but the interminable war in
Nicholas Blanford
is the author of Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah’s Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel (Random House 2011). He lives in
Aoun has no agenda for
Ali al-Amin/The Arab Weekly//November 06/16
It was neither Lebanese democracy nor a solid economic salvation agenda for the country that carried Michel Aoun to the presidency. It was not his programme for fighting corruption, nor was it the promise to the end of the sectarian-based system of power sharing that had turned the state into religious and sectarian fiefdoms. What brought Aoun to power was something completely different.
Following two-and-a-half years without a president and more than 40 parliamentary sessions devoted to electing a president, the parliamentary alliance between Aoun and Hezbollah was successful in using the excuse of no quorum to block parliamentary elections. There was an unwise constitutional blockage imposed by the presidency of the parliament that led to the void in the position of president of the republic all this time.
So, instead of coming to the presidency through the main gate, Aoun took the back alleys of political manoeuvring and fiddling with the constitution.
Democracy in
Aoun and
Hezbollah clearly signalled that becoming president in
Thus, the presidency in their eyes
is not really representing and working for the common interest of one state and
one people but that of one faction inside one sect using the military power of
another faction inside another sect. The whole operation marked the end of a
democratic system that had been in place in
In his quest for the presidency, Aoun had no real agenda for saving
Clearly, he wanted to avoid
annoying Hezbollah, the same party that has gone to extreme lengths to flout
the authority of the state and that has found, in Aoun,
the perfect cover for its rogue actions from illegally bearing arms to fighting
in
Aoun has
also used sectarian discourse to blackmail his Christian opponents. He
succeeded in demonstrating that, if one wants to win in
Investing in sectarian strife and exploiting the theme of threat to minorities enabled Aoun to obstruct the presidential elections and gave Hezbollah more clout to weaken the power of the state.
Hezbollah in
Naturally, Aoun, 83, would remain true to his election platform. Faced with the sorry condition of the Lebanese state, he will do no more than continue to use his slogan Protecting Christians’ Rights and just seize more state positions for his followers.
Constantly playing the card of sectarian rights is what many on both sides of the fence desire. It guarantees continued polarisation of the society and blind allegiance to the so-called leaders and obviates the obvious option of choosing allegiance to the state and the combined authority of the constitution and the law. Those playing the game of divisiveness cannot be more satisfied.
The next phase in
Aoun knows quite well that his new presidential powers cannot touch Hezbollah’s illegal weapons or forbid their use abroad. Hezbollah, in turn, knows that Aoun will not broach the topic, not out of fear but simply because he will continue to play the card of sectarian allegiance to the detriment of the rights of citizenship.
Ali al-Amin is a Lebanese writer.
A
new reign in
Khairallah Khairallah/The Arab Weekly/November 06/16
A new reign has begun in
Many have found similarities between these circumstances and those that surrounded Bachir Gemayel’s election in 1982. The comparison, however, is unwarranted for reasons too many to enumerate here but one is that in 1982 no one dared to play the card of the presidential vacuum to force members of the parliament to vote for Gemayel.
Up to 2014, when Michel Suleiman’s term as president ended, never had an interim period without a leader at the top lasted two-and-a-half years. During this time, a question crucial to the future of the country kept popping up: Was the political vacuum in the presidency perpetuated to justify the call for ending the current political system in the country given that the balance of power that had led to the Taif agreement was no longer in place?
What is important is that
From the beginning, the actions of
Saad Hariri, the Future Movement leader, were
dictated by a strong sense of duty towards
It has to be admitted that Aoun knew how to handle Hezbollah. Perhaps the 10-year-long experience as allies had something to do with it. In any case, Aoun’s nomination saved the country from the vacuum at the head of the state.
The new mood is optimistic despite
Aoun’s less-than-rosy past. His speech on taking the
oath of office was well-balanced. The president broached three themes: the
importance of upholding the constitution and the national pact; the economic
crisis in the country; and the importance of keeping distance from the war in
Aoun
seemed to be well aware of the challenges posed by the new reality in the
region. One of these challenges is
The coming days will reveal whether plugging the political void will clean up the existing chaos. The quick formation of a new cabinet will certainly speed up things. It will also be known whether Hezbollah backed Aoun only after being cornered by Hariri.
Hezbollah continues to veil its
true intentions in
With 1.5 million Syrian refugees
in the country,
A new dawn has broken in
**Khairallah
Khairallah is a Lebanese writer. The commentary was
translated and adapted from the Arabic. It was initially published in middle-east-online.com.
Michel
Aoun: Machiavelli’s Prince or Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince?
Claude Salhani/The Arab Weekly/November 06/16
Many Lebanese remain divided over
the country’s former army commander Michel Aoun, who
after vying for the presidency for nearly two decades was finally voted to the
top job. Just getting all of
Getting those of varying political agendas such as Hezbollah and conservative Christian parties to agree to sit at the same table requires a certain degree of political know-how.
A former Lebanese army general, Aoun was forced into a 14-year exile in
After numerous attempts to find a
president acceptable to all political factions, foreign and domestic, the Lebanese
parliament has made Aoun proud with his unexpected
last-minute political alliances. The result placed him ahead of his rivals for
the post, which under
Some Lebanese see Aoun as the leader who will take the country out of its years of political wilderness. Others regard him as a renegade officer and loose cannon who could well reignite the civil war. If nothing else, Aoun is a highly controversial, if not somewhat enigmatic figure. But is he the Prince or the Little Prince?
While Saint-Exupéry,
who served as a French military aviator during the second
world war and ultimately disappeared in the southern
Despite his political
shortcomings, Aoun promised to change
The retired general claims much
credit for
This is worrying many Lebanese who view Aoun with suspicion, if not outright revulsion. Others see in him new hope.
“We have to put the past behind
us,” said Tony Haddad, a close aide who lobbies for the general’s interests in
This might not be as easy as it sounds. Before his exile, Aoun made many enemies when he took on the Syrians, then the Christian militias in one of the final, but harshest, stages of the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war.
So how do you put the past behind
you? First, you forgive your enemies, hoping they will forgive you. Second, you
try to introduce reconciliation — a relatively little-tested concept in
“Transparency is going to be the key,” Haddad said. “People trust him, they want a clean leadership.”
Haddad said some of the antipathy felt by many Lebanese towards Aoun was the clash of “reformers versus traditionalists”. Haddad called Aoun a “reformer” who wants to change things. Indeed, his uttering this one word, “change”, was enough to ensure Aoun the support of hundreds, if not thousands, of followers.
“I think his vision is beyond what most people can comprehend in this region,” said Haddad.
It is, however, precisely this vision that is being questioned. A vision many accuse of being rather blurred and quick to forget the past.
“Ask him about the millions of dollars he received from Saddam Hussein,” suggested a Lebanese friend. I did ask.
“The general got help from Saddam
but he gave him nothing in return,” said Haddad, adding even former
“The help from
“Ask him why is it that he has
allied himself with the most avid supporters of
In politics, things change,
alliances change, explained Haddad, adding all Lebanese politicians, including
opposition leader Walid Jumblatt,
have in the past dealt with
It was late at night as I sat down to write these words and caught sight of Machiavelli’s ghost as it floated over my desk.
“Niccolo, is this correct? Is it true?” I asked.
Looking somewhat ashen and in a great hurry to escape Levantine politics, Machiavelli replied, “Certo, certo,” (sure, sure) before quickly disappearing into the night.
But if Machiavelli’s ghost ran away, my friend persisted.
“Ask him how come he has given the
Syrians a clean bill of health by announcing they are no longer in
I did ask.
“The general carries no grudges against his former enemies,” replied Haddad.
The general may carry no grudges
but some of the people he shelled during the “war of liberation” find it hard
to forget. Summing up the feelings of many Lebanese who fall into that
category, another friend from
Alas, the ghost was gone before I could get an answer to that last question.
Claude Salhani is the Opinion section editor of The Arab Weekly.
Aoun’s election in
Ed Blanche/The Arab Weekly/November 06/16
It has probably averted a
political and economic meltdown but this unlikely partnership between two
politicians who have been at daggers drawn for years has wider implications
in the
The most important of these is
that Shia Iran, striving to become the Middle East’s
paramount power, has shifted the balance of power away from
Despite the evident political
compromise that occurred in
Aoun, an 83-year-old former army commander who has long hungered for the presidency, finally secured it on October 31st, primarily through a ground-breaking alliance with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the most powerful force in Lebanon, on February 6th, 2006, that breached Lebanon’s rigid sectarian barriers.
The pact was based on Aoun securing the presidency, with Hezbollah’s support.
Six months later, Hezbollah triggered a 34-day war with
Under a 1943 agreement,
So now, for the first time, the Tehran-backed Shias have unprecedented influence in the presidential Baabda palace, although it remains to be seen how they use it.
This new era in Lebanese politics suggests that, even though Tehran had to accept Hariri, named prime minister on November 3rd, it has supplanted Riyadh, which had championed Lebanon’s Sunnis and had strongly opposed Aoun’s nomination to fill the politically dangerous presidential vacuum.
This was caused in May 2014 when the six-year presidential term of Michel Suleiman, another ex-army commander, expired with parliament unable to elect a successor, largely through the machinations of Hezbollah.
The breakthrough, via French mediation, only came after Hariri, his popularity at an all-time low, endorsed Aoun after months of backing the Maronite leader’s rivals. Significantly, Hezbollah abstained from endorsing Hariri.
The Saudis have been gradually
giving up on
In 2015,
The Aoun-Hariri partnership, part of a complex power-sharing agreement, is an unlikely, and potentially volatile, one.
Hariri, 46, leader of the Sunni-dominated March 14 alliance, previously served as prime minister of a national unity government in 2009-11 that was eventually sabotaged by Hezbollah.
His endorsement of Aoun is all the more surprising since the event that propelled him into politics — the February 14th, 2005, assassination of his billionaire father and former premier Rafik Hariri — allegedly involved Hezbollah.
Four of its members have been
indicted by a UN-mandated court in
Ed Blanche has covered
A
president ‘made in
Eyad Abu Shakra/Al Arabiya/November 05/16
A few days ago, a supposedly wise
Lebanese politician hailed the imminent end of the presidential impasse by
saying “we are going to have ‘a made in
Such words are as misleading as
they are painful. The said politician, who is well-versed in Lebanese politics,
militarily and politically, with foes and friends, must realize that
Alas, the fact is that
Thus, today, when some hail the
agreement on “a made in
Foreign meddling
The first is that Lebanon is a country occupied and dominated by Hezbollah; a religious-military party with vital links outside the country (i.e. Iran), and one that enjoys stature and capabilities that far exceed those of the Lebanese state, which in turn is penetrated by the party thanks to the sectarian apportionment of political, military, and economic posts. Incidentally, Hezbollah, which is an inseparable part of Iran’s regional set-up and is widely said to follow its orders and political directives throughout the Middle East, has been the actor that has prevented the election of a president for the past 29 months, blackmailing the Lebanese people into accepting its candidate, now described as “a made in Lebanon president.”
How can the Lebanese, who have
failed to build a homeland, believe that they can produce ‘a made in
The second is that
Thirdly, as far as
Fourthly, in connection with the above, President Barack Obama, during his last few weeks in the White House, seems to be in a hurry to complete the mission he considers the cornerstone of his Middle East policy, as reflected in the JCPOA with Tehran, which is rehabilitating and normalizing political relations with Iran, if not making it a strategic ally of the USA and giving it a free hand in its neighboring Arab countries. Thus, it is no coincidence that the need to end the vacuum in Lebanon was timed with the battle to liberate Mosul, which the UN expects is going to leave more than a million homeless (mostly Sunni Arabs) and the silence accompanying the annihilation of Aleppo at the hands of a shaky regime saved from collapse by Iran’s militias, then by direct Russian intervention.
Without disregarding
In Europe,
However, it is in the Middle East
and
Given such a background, how can
the Lebanese, who have failed to build a homeland, believe that they can
produce “a made in
*This article was first published
in Asharq al-Awsat on
November 2, 2016.
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous
Reports And News published on November 05-06/16
Raqa Assault to Likely Take Longer than Pentagon Chief
Predicts
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 05/16/After Iraqi security forces eventually recapture Mosul, the Islamic State group will be left with only Raqa in neighboring Syria as a bastion, and the jihadists' self-proclaimed "caliphate" will be largely gone. The US-led coalition has been striking IS across both countries for more than two years, and has long held Raqa in its sights -- an IS defeat there would be a defining endpoint of the campaign. But Pentagon chief Ashton Carter surprised commanders last week when he declared the actual assault on Raqa could start "in the next few weeks," after British Defense Minister Michael Fallon made a similar prediction.Privately, many high-ranking Pentagon officials were caught off-guard, and expressed skepticism the Raqa push could start so soon, given the Gordian knot of unpredictability in the chaos of Syria.
Carter's timeline is "a
little more ahead of what I have been hearing so far," one US defense official told AFP on condition of anonymity,
choosing his words carefully. Another
That official added the assault
may yet start before 2017, "but it could drag on further for other reasons
we can't control.""It's up to" the
local forces, he added. "We are ready if they are ready."Even
before the start of a ground offensive, likely to be fought along similar lines
to the one happening in
This entails non-stop strikes on
IS fighting positions and the slicing of supply lines into and out of the
northern Syrian city. Coalition spokesman Colonel John Dorrian
said those operations had already partially succeeded, and had helped cut
routes from Raqa to and from
- Unknown factors -Military
officials are grappling with a slew of unknowns that have not been at play in
the
"There are going to be more
people who want to join the effort to dislodge" IS, he said without going
into details. Further complicating matters is
While the
And then there's
Iraqi
Forces in New Push into
Agence
France Presse/Naharnet/November 05/16/Iraqi special
forces threw themselves back into battle Saturday after a first foray into
Mosul was blunted by stiffer than expected resistance from jihadists defending
the birthplace of their "caliphate".While
the elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) fought the Islamic State group in the
streets of Mosul, the army and federal police attacked one of the last sizeable
towns on the more distant southern front. The mass exodus feared by aid groups
of some of the million-plus civilians still trapped in Mosul has yet to
materialise but the number of people displaced by the battle has grown sharply
in recent days. "Our forces are now engaged in fierce fighting inside the
neighbourhoods of east
CTS forces made their first real
push into the streets of
- Southern front -The jihadist
group had looked increasingly pragmatic when vastly outnumbered and outgunned
in recent months, sometimes giving up emblematic bastions almost without a
fight. But some of the 3,000 to 5,000 jihadists estimated to be inside the city
may have been galvanised by a rare message from their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Thursday. The jihadist supremo released an audio recording for the first time in
almost a year urging his fighters not to retreat. Federal forces on the
southern front attacked Hamam al-Alil,
one of the main towns between their staging base in Qayyarah
and
Forces working their way up the
- 'Ahead of schedule' -The ministry of displacement and migration said it had taken in 9,000 displaced people during the past two days. It put the total number of Iraqis displaced into camps since the start of the operation at 29,539.
Relief organisations were fighting
the clock to build up their shelter capacity ahead of the feared mass exodus
from
"New
advances on all axes. Ways to go, but ahead of schedule," he said. US
and other commanders have warned that the offensive could take weeks or months.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi,
who has visited the front lines several times since the offensive started, has
vowed to rid the country of IS by the end of the year. Retaking
Saturday, 05 November 2016 /NCRI -
The head of Iranian regime’s Social Workers Association acknowledged on
Wednesday November 2 that following Iraq, Iran under the rule of the Mullahs is
the second saddest country in the world. According to ISNA state news agency,
Hassan Mousavi Chalak
stated that based on average statistics on social happiness provided by a
number of respected International organizations,
Sunday, 06 November 2016/NCRFI - In a letter from Karaj Gohardasht Prison (West Tehran), the political prisoner Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, has regarded Khamenei as the cause of all the price rises and the pressure on Iranian people, saying ‘down with all the thieves and freeloaders of Mullahs’ and ‘down with the very principle of vilayat-e-faqih meaning Governance of Jurists (Khamenei)’. The letter reads: “after years of being in prison, I finally could see the red meat with my eyes, although was not able to touch or smell it. I wish I had not seen it, imagining that just like other basic needs, red meat has also been removed from the food basket and does not exist in reality anymore.” “Once I was informed of its almost $20 per kilo price, considering that half of it is wasted away, I realized by rule of thumb that the monthly expense (cost of meat) of a family of four with the least consumption of meat would be almost $400 and then I could no more think of the cost of their other needs. I cried for an hour for the 70 million Iranians and then I yelled out loud: “down with the thieves and freeloaders of Mullahs and down with the very principle of vilayat-e-faqih, the causes of all the price rises and miseries of Iranian people.”
Mehdi Farahi Shandiz
Gohardasht
Prison,
Saudi,
Agence
France Presse/Naharnet/November 05/16/Northern
Partisan support
Izala
leader Abdullahi Bala Lau
has been accused of stoking anger by declaring that
Power and influence
A senior Nigerian security officer
said IMN's religious beliefs were immaterial but its
alleged disregard for law and order was an issue, as was its lack of
recognition of the Nigerian state. IMN started out as a student movement in
1978 and morphed into a Sunni revolutionary group inspired by the Islamic
revolution in
Banning order
Izala's
preaching against IMN and Shia Islam has increased since
last December. It openly supported the military crackdown in
More
Protests Against Plundering by
NCRI Iran News Saturday, 05
November 2016/According to reports, as looting and plundering by leaders and
officials of the Iranian regime continues, the owners of 240 units of “Mehr” cooperative housing complex in Bandar Abbas (
NCRI Iran News Saturday, 05
November 2016/Education International (EI) calls on its members to take action
and protest against the six-year jail sentence imposed on Mr. Esmail Abdi, a leader of the
Tehran Teacher Trade Association. The sentence was announced on 7 October by
Branch 36 of the Appeal Court of Tehran. EI encourages its member organisations
and their individual affiliates to petition the authorities through the LabourStart appeal. EI has informed the authorities of the
Islamic Republic of Iran that the charges, including one for “assembling and
colluding against national security”, are unjust and contravene various human
right conventions, including those protecting freedom of expression and
association, as well as the right of unions to be consulted on education
policies. Mr. Abdi, along with three other Iranian
teacher unionists, had already been unfairly detained in July 2015 to prevent
them from attending the 7th World Congress of Education International in
This latest re-sentencing comes at
a time when the regime’s neoliberal policies have created a crisis in the
country’s educational system and for teachers’ living conditions. The
privatisation and commodification of education have
destroyed any remnants of equal opportunity or free education in
Iranian teachers are continuing to teach despite being deprived of their basic rights. Teachers’ wages are often below the poverty line. Iranian teachers’ nationwide protests and strikes over the past years, demonstrate their strong demands for systematic change. Every year, as many as 150,000 highly skilled Iranians emigrate. Many do so as a result of high unemployment, but political oppression and lack of religious freedom are also determining factors in emigration.
The authorities are attempting to silence teachers’ grievances through repression and the extended incarceration of unionists and activists.
EI invites its members to take action now:/(31 October 2016)
Iraqi
Troops
Reuters /05 November 2016
Iraqi troops advancing towards
Chibok Schoolgirl Kidnapped By Boko
Haram Is Found In
Carey Lodge/ Christian Today/ 05 November 2016
Around 270 girls, most of them Christians, were taken from their school on April 14, 2014.Reuters
One of more than 200 schoolgirls
abducted by Islamist militant group Boko Haram from their school in north-east
Agence
France Presse/Naharnet/November 05/16/ Hillary
Clinton and Donald Trump brandished starkly different visions of
Trump doubled down on his attacks on Clinton as a product of a venal and incompetent establishment, while Clinton headlined an optimistic concert spectacular featuring superstar singer Beyonce.Forecasts based on polling averages still give the 69-year-old Democrat an edge over the 70-year-old Republican property mogul ahead of Tuesday's vote. But Trump has been buoyed by signs that he is closing the gap in the key swing states that will decide who secures an electoral college win.
So both headed Friday to the American rustbelt, where blue-collar voters that were once reliable Democrats may be tempted by Trump's protectionist promise to repatriate jobs from Mexico and China.Clinton's campaign brought her to Cleveland, Ohio, a state that fellow Democrat President Barack Obama won in 2012 but where she now trails Trump in opinion polls by around five percentage points.
She was introduced with a
show-stopping set by rapper Jay-Z and his even more famous wife Beyonce, who sang songs of emancipation and empowerment
wearing a version of
- 'Dark vision ' -Earlier, Clinton
had been in Detroit, Michigan, where supporters booed her populist rival when
she attacked his affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin and a "dark
vision" of an America mired in poverty and failure."When
I hear my opponent talking about
Trump was in
Some of
The prospect that the November 8 vote will be close or that a once unlikely Trump victory could presage instability and recession has rocked markets. The S&P 500 stock index closed down for the ninth straight day Friday, and the leaders of America's friends and foes alike are watching in amazement as the world's most powerful nation turns on itself.
Kidnapped
Italians, Canadian Released in
Two Italians and a Canadian who
were kidnapped in the south of conflict-torn
A former British business minister
said Saturday he was seriously misled by the Ministry of Defense
over a missiles deal with
After being assured that
The war in
Kuwaiti opposition groups are
aiming for a comeback in parliament after a four-year election boycott, seeking
to reverse what they see as the deteriorating political situation in the Gulf
state. More than 30 prominent Islamist and liberal opposition figures and
former lawmakers have registered to run in the November 26 polls in the hope of
forming a formidable political force.
The change in the voting system and the opposition boycott together helped elect a pro-government assembly that critics often described as a "rubber stamp" parliament.
By boycotting the polls, the opposition sent an important message against the government's "unconstitutional practices" that undermined true democracy, Islamist candidate Mohammad al-Dallal said.- 'Boycott failed' -"After four years (of opposition boycotts), the political situation has deteriorated, corruption became rife and both the government and parliament failed to deal with major economic and security issues," Dallal, a former opposition MP, told AFP. "That is why the participation of the opposition became necessary to enforce reforms, confront corruption and strengthen democracy," he said. Former liberal opposition MP Abdulrahman al-Anjari admitted the boycott failed to achieve its goals. "The boycott failed to abolish the government change in the voting system," Anjari, who is running for office, said at a symposium this week. Parliament should not be left without opposition," he said. But several opposition figures, including former three-time parliament speaker Ahmad al-Saadun, have decided to continue with the boycott saying participation will not solve any problem.
The opposition is rejoining polls while one of its prominent leaders and former MP Mussallam al-Barrak is serving a two-year jail term for criticising the ruler in public.
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis& editorials from miscellaneous
sources published November 05-06/16
.Islam's
"Human Rights"
Janet Tavakoli/Gatestone Institute/ November 05/16
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9241/islam-human-rights
No intelligent government should impair the right of free speech to placate people who falsely claim they are victims when often they are, in fact, aggressors.
To the 57 members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, however, all human rights must first be based on Islamic religious law, Sharia: whatever is inside Sharia is a human right, whatever is outside Sharia is not a human right.
Therefore, slavery or having sex with children or beating one's wife, or calling rapes that do not have four witnesses adultery the punishment for which is death, or a woman officially having half the worth of a man, are all "human rights."
Soft jihad includes rewriting history as with the UNESCO vote claiming that ancient Biblical monuments such as Rachel's Tomb or the Cave of the Patriarchs are Islamic, when historically Islam did not even exist until the seventh century; migration to widen Islam (hijrah), as we are seeing now in Europe and Turkish threats to flood Germany with migrants; cultural penetration such as promoting Islam in school textbooks or tailoring curricula for "political correctness"; political and educational infiltration, as well as intimidation (soft jihad with the threat of hard jihad just underneath it).
More regrettable is that these are so often done, as at UNESCO, with the help and complicity of the West.
Both hard and soft jihad are how Islam historically has been able to overrun Persia, Turkey, Greece, Southern Spain, Portugal, all of North Africa, and all of Eastern Europe. It is up to us not to let this be done to us again.
After witnessing the Islamic Republic of Iran violate human rights, adopt sharia law, persecute other religions, murder dissenters, and compel the judiciary to serve the Ministry of Intelligence, it seems clear that the worst thing that can happen to a free Western country is to allow Islamic fundamentalists to take over a government.
Most of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims pray in Arabic, even if it is not their mother tongue. The problem, however, is not in the translation; it is in the ideology.
Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudi Arabian; two more were from the United Arab Emirates; one was from Egypt, and one from Lebanon. All were from Arabic-speaking countries.
Muslim scholars did not unite to protest the act of terrorism on 9/11. Instead, many celebrated a victory; the Quran includes passages that permit violence to expand Islam. Most so-called Muslims are peace-loving, but if there are 164 verses of the Koran prescribing jihad, and many Muslims might feel it would be heretical or disloyal to condemn it.
Arabic-speaking Muslim countries are not alone
in supporting terrorism. According to the U.S. Department of State, the Islamic
Republic of Iran is still the leading state sponsor of terrorism.
Until his death earlier this year,
Ayatollah Vaez-Tabasi, a leading Shia
cleric in
Muhammad's Practices Clash with the Humanistic Values of Western Civilization
Fundamentalists view Muhammad as
the perfect man. Yet Muhammad led violent followers who raped, enslaved war
captives, and murdered unbelievers as part of Islam's program to expand. Today
that behavior is emulated by Islamic terrorists in
Muhammad had several wives, including a slave given to him as a gift. When he was in his fifties, he asked for a friend's six-year-old daughter and consummated the so-called marriage when the child was nine. Although Muhammad criticized corrupt customs of his Arab contemporaries, he had sex with a girl who was too young to be capable of consent; in the West we call this statutory rape. (Sahih Bukhari volume 5, book 58, number 234)
Referring to Muhammad's life,
fundamentalists allow forced marriages of female children in countries
including
If fundamentalist Muslim leaders do not understand how flawed this ideology appears to the West, their incomprehension may spring from a fundamentally different view of human rights: To the West, these values are embodied in the Enlightenment -- such as individual freedoms, freedom of thought, disinterested enquiry -- and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – that all people, regardless of race religion or gender, have the right to life, liberty personal security, and freedom from slavery torture, and degrading treatment.
To the 57 members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), however, all human rights must first be based on Islamic religious law, Sharia: whatever is inside Sharia is a human right, whatever is outside Sharia is not a human right.
To the 57 members of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation, all human rights must first be based on
Islamic religious law, Sharia: whatever is inside Sharia is a human right, whatever is outside Sharia is not a human right. Pictured above:
The 2016 OIC
Therefore, slavery or having sex with children or beating one's wife, or calling rapes that do not have four witnesses adultery the punishment for which is death, or a woman officially having half the worth of a man, are all "human rights."
In 2005, after the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard drew a cartoon mildly satirizing Muhammad as an assignment for a newspaper, many Muslim clerics cried blasphemy and called for his death. These included a Pakistani cleric who offered a one million dollar reward to anyone who would murder the Dane. Thousands of Muslims protested. In 2010, an axe-wielding Muslim assailant attacked Westergaard in his home; fortunately, Westergaard was able to escape to a secure room.
Western governments should stand resolute against those who would blackmail us into giving up our freedoms. No intelligent government should impair the right of free speech to placate people who falsely claim they are victims when often they are, in fact, aggressors.
Reformist Muslims and the Credibility Crisis
Most of the world's 1.6 billion Muslims may not countenance violence and human rights violations, but the fact remains that fundamentalists are not a fringe group; they occupy senior positions in the Muslim clerical hierarchy. There are tens of millions (or more) of them, and each seems to believe that his interpretation of Islam is the only correct one. Of this group, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands are jihadis willing to engage in active violence.
Many Reformist Muslims claim they are being unfairly lumped into this extremist crew, but if they are claiming a schism, many they often have not been clear about it.
When Martin Luther, a Catholic priest and a theology professor, repudiated two core teachings of the Catholic Church, he acknowledged that, by definition, he was no longer Catholic. He was part of the Protestant Reformation, and his followers are called Lutherans.
Reformist Muslims still call themselves Muslims, but there can never be a Quran 2.0. Every word in the Quran is believed to be the word of Allah, similar to the Ten Commandments as the direct word of God; no one is able to say that Allah did not mean what Allah reportedly said. Interpretations, however do differ and since 1948 have apparently caused the deaths of 11,000,000 Muslims at the hands of other Muslims.
So one can imagine what might be in store for non-Muslims.
Islam, moreover, seems to have
been has been set up to spread it both by violence, "hard jihad," and
"soft jihad. " Hard jihad includes
terrorism, murder and attempted murder. Soft jihad includes rewriting history
as with the UNESCO vote claiming that ancient Biblical monuments such as
Rachel's Tomb or the Cave of the Patriarchs are Islamic, when historically
Islam did not even exist until the seventh century; migration to widen Islam (hijrah), as we are seeing now in Europe and Turkish threats
to flood Germany with migrants; cultural penetration such as promoting Islam in
school textbooks or tailoring curricula for "political correctness";
political and educational infiltration, as well as intimidation (soft jihad
with the threat of hard jihad just underneath it). More regrettable is that these are so often
done, as at UNESCO, with the help and complicity of the West. Both hard and
soft jihad are how Islam historically has been able to overrun Persia, Turkey,
Greece, Southern Spain, Portugal, all of North Africa, and all of Eastern
Europe. It is up to us not to let this be done to us again. Janet Tavakoli is the author of Unveiled Threat: A Personal
Experience of Fundamentalist Islam and the Roots of Terrorism, a newly-released
non-fiction book about the current negative implications of Islamic
fundamentalism for the
© 2016 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
Let’s
close the
Yara al-Wazir/Al Arabiya/November 05/16
For as long as I have lived, I have hoped that my children will grow up to experience true gender equality. According to the World Economic Forum, this is unlikely as it will take an estimated 178 years to close the gender gap around the world.
Particularly focusing on the
Middle East, if the
The tactical focus in the early stages of closing the gap must be on maximizing female participation in the labor market. To do this, full advantage of the impact of the digital revolution on the macroeconomic landscape must be realized.
The digital revolution is automating manufacturing jobs and streamlining administrative processes – both industries are large employers of women. As such, naturally women must adapt to this digitization and adapt their skills accordingly. By 2050, the World Economic Forum predicts a sharp decline in job roles related to administrative office, manufacturing, and arts and entertainment industries. Simplistically, there will be one new STEM related job for every man who loses his job, but only one STEM related job created for every 20 women who lose their jobs. With the decline of the availability of the positions, and the rise in demand for STEM related roles, women must use this as an opportunity to develop the right skills in the right areas to enable them to become key players in the future’s economy.
A world driven by technology
The good news is that women are recognizing the skills that are needed to close the gender gap in a world driven by technology. The bad news is that the sociopolitical enablers that can encourage female participation in the region are still lacking.
On the one hand, governments are participating heavily in creating strong role models for women by including women in politics, which the UAE set a strong example by employing more female cabinet members than any other time in history. On the other hand, focusing on labor market participation, the metric that has an incredible opportunity for improvement, there is plenty to be done. The metric can be tackled in two ways: fiscal policy changes as well as changes that impact sociocultural expectations.
The power that governments have to incentivize women to remain in the labor market, and namely in STEM-related industries and roles, is greater than many realize
Government improvements with regards to fiscal policies that incentivize employers to hire women and policies that encourage women to remain in employment are severely lacking. The power that governments have to incentivize women to remain in the labor market, and namely in STEM-related industries and roles, is greater than many realize. The public sector accounts for over 25 percent of the labor market in several countries, therefore the role that governments can play to actively accelerate closing the gender gap is grossly underestimated. The government has the upper hand in tailoring fiscal and monetary policy to incentivize women, society, and private sector employers to help close the gender gap. Incentives can be in the form of offering reduction in business and trading taxes, improvement of provision of monetary support for domestic help for families with dual careers, or even provision for part-time and flexible working hours for state-employees.
With regards to sociocultural expectations, the incentives are as simple as providing opportunities for flexible work hours, remote working locations, maternity and paternity leave. These are policies that can be put in place by both public and private sector.
Recognizing the impact of the technology revolution early on is key to providing the momentum to embracing the economic diversity it brings and actively work to close the gender gap. By creating a highly skilled female workforce, it is inevitable that this will translate into improved political and economic participation.
In the
Iraqi
and Syrian moderates must join forces to quell extremism
Tallha Abdulrazaq/The Arab Weekly/November 06/16
Numerous statements have emerged
from various Iraqi quarters that indicate that extremist Shia
groups with loyalties to
In a seeming attempt to reassert himself in a gambit to regain Iraq’s top job, former prime minister and current Vice-President Nuri al-Maliki made provocative statements that the battle for Mosul would extend to Syria and Yemen.
While Maliki’s
statements may be brushed aside as bluster, the most recent to make similar
comments, however, was the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella
organisation of predominantly Shia paramilitaries
backed by
The PMF has been accused of war
crimes by international human rights organisations. As such, its
declared intent to transfer its fight from homeland defence to an offensive war
in a different country smacks of the same standards employed by ISIS when it
bombastically declared an end to the Sykes-Picot borders between
This poses an incredibly dangerous problem for moderate, anti-establishment forces in both countries.
Syrians yearning and fighting for
democracy for the past six years have already had to square off against Shia militants fighting at
In
Such sectarian rhetoric
encouraged militias and the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) to use massive
violence to quell the demonstrators, as the protesters were accused of
harbouring terrorists. This was again used as an excuse to violently disperse
protest camps. This led to Sunni demonstrators taking up arms to defend themselves,
a chaotic and violent environment that allowed ISIS to find a new foothold in
Once ISIS is defeated, it seems
natural for these other factions to reappear in one form or another, as the
underlying social and political issues that led to the rise of
Much as the Shia
militias, Assad’s regime and
The moderates cannot allow groups
such as
Both Assad and
However, moderate forces on both
sides of the border must join forces in preventing the flow of men and materiel
designed to further a sectarian war that has to end now before it is too late. Shia militias cannot be allowed to move from one country to
another, just as their Sunni extremist counterparts must be stopped. In many
ways, they are similar to each other, and both ISIS and the Shia
militias threaten the futures of the people of
**Tallha
Abdulrazaq is a researcher at the
Tom Regan/The Arab Weekly/November o6/16
The conflict in
Into this vacuum have stepped
For
The situation is different for
Some experts put the number of
Iran-connected dead in
Iranian security and intelligence
services are advising and assisting the Syrian military.
It adds up to a lot of blood and
treasure. It is also the main reason that
Slowly but surely,
For
There is no reason for
A stronger and longer Iranian
presence in
Tom Regan, a columnist at factsandopinion.com, previously worked for the Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, the Boston Globe and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He is the former executive director of the Online News Association and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in 1992.
Erdogan is closing in on vision of one-man rule
Yavuz Baydar/The Arab Weekly/November 06/16
Applying all means of political engineering, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to have set the final stage of the governing change that has left the country sharply polarised and anxious.
He is closer than ever to a
constitutional referendum that could grant him full-scale empowerment — an
omnipotent presidency — to rule the country. It is, no doubt, an exercise that
will have vast consequences in the region, in the global scheme of alliances
and be a costly gamble for the future of
Erdogan
decisively steered the country to an authoritarian-majoritarian
direction since the
Attempts to establish peace with the Kurdish political movement — the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its political wing, the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) — did not last long. Revising sharply his political road map for absolute power, Erdogan in the summer of 2015 headed towards establishing a full-scale conservative-nationalist alliance.
He cunningly manoeuvred towards
the elements of the army (the militarist Kemalist
flank that favours
Erdogan’s hard-line policies, which were played out in scorched-earth moves in the mainly Kurdish provinces, paid back well. On top of that, July’s botched coup cemented the foundation of his popularity, as the MHP, fearing implosion and in general content with the politics of fear, found itself as a de facto ally of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The road to absolute power is not an easy one, however. Erdogan and the AKP he tightly controls lack the seats to take the issue to referendum. In parliament, which has 550 seats, he needs 330 votes to do so. The AKP falls short by 14, which, due to the resistance of the other opposition parties, Kemalist Republican People’s Party (CHP) and pro- Kurdish HDP, makes him dependent on the MHP, which has 40 deputies.
The next parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled for 2019. Here Erdogan plays his cards masterfully on several fronts.
Utilising the failed coup as “God’s gift”, as he expressed it, he now rules the country by decree, eradicating civilian opposition by sheer force, tarnishing what remains of the rule of law.
His destruction of critical media
is almost complete, with the massive raid on
Erdogan knows that he also has the main opposition CHP in his hand. Stuck in an ideological impasse that prevents it from forging a leftist opposition bloc with HDP, the third largest group in parliament, CHP remains in limbo. Its leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has time after time proven far too weak in his oratorical and strategic skills to challenge Erdogan.
This leaves HDP, which is the only voice of political resistance, very vulnerable and Erdogan keeps tightening the screws on the HDP. Its elected mayors in Kurdish provinces, one after another, have been arrested, municipalities seized and given to the government-appointed trustees.
Services in those settlements have been halted as the internet, telephone lines and garbage collecting have ceased to operate for days, paralysing daily life. The aim seems to be to turn the Kurdish voters against the HDP, which they solidly supported in the past.
Erdogan also squeezed the nationalist MHP into a corner. He knows that its leader, Devlet Bahceli, fears an early election, because the party has lost voters to the AKP. Therefore, he pushes for a vote in parliament, paving the way to a referendum, possibly next April or May.
Bahceli, a fierce opponent of the Kurdish demands for recognition and representation, seeks three things in return: That the new constitution preserves the unitary nature of the state, not give in to any demands for recognition of identities other than Turkish and that the death penalty will be reintroduced.
All signs are that Erdogan will have no objections to them as long as his dream comes true. His hope is that a referendum will end with a yes victory assembling AKP and MHP voters, which make up about 60-65% of the electorate.
That is the plan but there are major problems possible. Such a result would mean insufficient consensus necessary for making a major change
Also, if it comes escorted by the
death penalty,
Yavuz Baydar is a journalist based in