LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

November 23/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

 

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Bible Quotations For Today
Prophets are not without honour except in their own country and in their own house
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 13/54-58/:"Jesus came to his home town and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’ And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour except in their own country and in their own house.’ And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Letter to the Galatians 03/23-29/:"Before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 22-23/16  
Lebanon celebrates 73rd Independence Day/Joseph A. Kechichian/Gulf News/November 22/16
Hariri sees obstacles in way of forming new Lebanon government/Lisa Barrington/Reuters/November 21/16
Vilifying Walid Phares‎/Sarah N. Stern/Israel Hayon/November 22/16
Walid Pharès ou la revanche de l’isolationnisme/Youssef Mouawad/L’Orient-Le Jour/22/11/2016
Israel accuses Iran of sending Hezbollah arms on commercial flights/Ynetnews/Reuters/November 22/16
The False Premise of Palestine and Peace/ Barry Shaw/Gatestone Institute/November 22, 2016
Iranians, with light in hand, look after Obama/ Camelia Entekhabi-Fard/Al Arabiya/November 22/16
Aleppo assault aims to displace 275,000 people/ Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/November 22/16
Mohammed Surur passed away but Sururism lives on/ Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/November 22/16
Trump's Iran Deal Rhetoric, Israelis Say Not So Fast/Tim Daiss/Forbes/November 22/16


Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on November 22-23/16

Lebanon Marks 73rd Independence Day
Erdogan Calls Hariri, Voices Support for Lebanon
Qatar FM to Visit Lebanon for Talks with Aoun, Top Leaders
Geagea Says Cabinet Delayed by Parties Seeking to Rein in New Presidential Tenure
Sami Gemayel: Kataeb Doesn't Want Ministerial Portfolio, Any Post if Price is to Renounce Principles
Bassil Calls for Liberating 'Minds of Politicians' from 'Foreign Hegemonies'
Hariri Avoids Syrian Ambassador at Independence Reception
Saudi Delegation Leaves Beirut Without Touching on Halted Arms Grant
Berri Adamant to Keep 'Finance' and 'Public Works' Portfolios
Lebanese Army Builds Wall Near Palestinian Refugee Camp
Lebanon celebrates 73rd Independence Day
Hariri sees obstacles in way of forming new Lebanon government
Vilifying Walid Phares‎
Walid Pharès ou la revanche de l’isolationnisme
Israel accuses Iran of sending Hezbollah arms on commercial flights
Qahwaji places wreath on Army Martyrs Monument
Official reception wraps up at Baabda Palace
US Ambassador back in Beirut
Sami Gemayel commemorating Pierre Gemayel's assassination, Founding of Kataeb Party: We do not compromise on constants and principles, Our sole aim is Lebanon and not positions

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on November 22-23/16
Senior al-Qaida Leader Killed in U.S. Strike in Syria
U.N. Resumes Aid to Syrians Stranded on Jordan Border
Syrian Army Urges Rebels to Quit Aleppo, Let Civilians Out
Moscow Accuses U.N. Envoy of 'Sabotaging' Syria Resolution
More than 1,000 Combatants from Iran Killed in Syria
U.S.-Led Coalition Strike Destroys Mosul Bridge
68,000 Iraqis Displaced from Mosul Offensive
Talks on Cyprus Unification Break up Without Agreement
19 Killed in Renewed Yemen Clashes
Palestinian Wielding Knife Shot Dead in West Bank
Trump would 'Love' to Broker Peace between Palestinians, Israel
Egypt Court Quashes One of Morsi Life Sentences
Little Hope for Polls to End Kuwait Political Chaos

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on November 22-23/16
UK: Muslim couple jailed for sending money to Islamic State nephew
Canadian police force holds seminar against “Islamophobia”
Video: Robert Spencer on Obama’s claim “no religious rationale” for terrorism
Keith Ellison headlined fundraiser for Muslim activist who called for “Palestinians” to embrace “The Jihad Way”
Robert Spencer in PJ Media: Priebus Calls Aspects of Islam ‘Problematic.’ Are They?
Obama administration in its death throes still covering up key details of Iran deal
Hamas top dog: “Trump loves the Jews…I do not rule out the possibility that he is a Jew”
Germany: Muslim migrants burn down hall, screaming “There isn’t enough Nutella, Gummibears, and chocolate”
Hugh Fitzgerald: Nicholas Kristof’s 12-Step Program (Revised Edition)
Islamic State jihadis from US now returning, pose jihad threat at home
Italy: Muslim migrant arrested for sexual assault of eight-year-old boy playing outside his house
New York: Muslim charged with “Nice in Times Square” jihad mass murder plot
NBC News tweets out half-quote from Priebus to give impression Trump administration open to Muslim registry
Islamic State publishes a ‘how to’ outfox Twitter guide

Links From Christian Today Site for on November 22-23/16
Why Are The Houses Of Parliament Being Floodlit Red?
Crucifixion, Torture And Sex Slavery: The Cost Of Being A Christian Under Islamic State
Hundreds More Myanmar Rohingya Flee To Bangladesh Say Aid Workers
Christian Convert Sentenced To Death In Sudan Secretly Read Bible In Prison
Up To One Million People Fleeing Boko Haram Have Been Cut Off From Humanitarian Aid
Prophet Of Doom' Investigated Over Spraying Churchgoers With Pesticide
Catholic Priest Thanks Protestant Clergy Who Reached Out To Him After 'Hate Crime' Attack
Patriarch Kirill: Multiculturalism Puts Christianity At Risk
Thousands March In Support Of Top Christian Politician Facing Blasphemy Investigation
At Least 30 Dead In Suicide Attack On Afghanistan Mosque, Claimed By ISIS
Vatican Explores Space-Age Technology To Preserve Its Most Ancient Documents
Indifferent To Truth And Decency': Former Archbishop Rowan Williams Slams Donald Trump
UK Churches Urge Government: Protect Britain's Poorest Families
Jesus Christ Has Officially Been Declared The King Of Poland
Iraqi Christian Teen Recreates Ancient Art Bulldozed By ISIS

Latest Lebanese Related News published on November 22-23/16
Lebanon Marks 73rd Independence Day
Naharnet/November 22/16/Lebanon celebrated Independence Day on Tuesday with several challenges facing the country, including lining-up a new cabinet after the recent election of President Michel Aoun which ended a two-year power vacuum at the post. The country marked 73 years of independence with an official ceremony that was be staged at Shafiq al-Wazzan Boulevard in Downtown Beirut. President Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, Caretaker PM Tammam Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri headed the officials who attended the ceremony marking the country's independence. Two Prime Ministers, Hariri and Salam, sat side by side at the ceremony after strenuous efforts to form a new cabinet before Independence Day failed.During the Independence Day parade, hundreds of red, white and green balloons were launched skywards after military helicopters overflew marching soldiers. Aoun, Berri, Hariri and Salam later headed to Baabda palace where they received well-wishers. After the election of ex-army chief Aoun on October 31, Hariri was designated to form a government but the formation is witnessing some delay amid wrangling over the distribution of ministerial portfolios. Lebanese Independence Day commemorates the country's liberation in 1943 after 23 years of governance by French Mandate that succeeded Ottoman rule.
 
Erdogan Calls Hariri, Voices Support for Lebanon
Naharnet/November 22/16/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri received a phone call Tuesday from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hariri's office said. The Turkish leader congratulated Hariri on his appointment as PM-designate and stressed to him that “Turkey stands by Lebanon,” the office said. Michel Aoun's election as president and Hariri's appointment as premier-designate have raised hopes that Lebanon can begin tackling challenges including a stagnant economy, a moribund political class and the influx of more than a million Syrian refugees. In a sign that Hariri's mission as premier might not be easy, Hizbullah's MPs declined to endorse him during binding parliamentary consultations. Hariri is likely to struggle with his government's policy statement, which will have to make reference to Israel, as well as the war in Syria, both potential flashpoints with Hizbullah.
 
Qatar FM to Visit Lebanon for Talks with Aoun, Top Leaders
Naharnet/November 22/16/Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani will visit Lebanon Wednesday for talks with President Michel Aoun and top Lebanese officials, state-run National News Agency reported. The minister will be carrying a letter from Qatar's ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, NNA said. In addition to his talks with Aoun, Sheikh Mohammed will meet with Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Tammam Salam, PM-designate Saad Hariri and caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil. The visit comes a few days after a similar one by a senior Saudi delegation led by Mecca Governor Prince Khaled al-Faisal. Aoun's election as Lebanon's 13th president after two and a half years of presidential void has raised hopes that Lebanon can begin tackling challenges including a stagnant economy, a moribund political class and the influx of more than a million Syrian refugees. In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country. Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to protect Lebanon from "the fires burning across the region."
 
 Geagea Says Cabinet Delayed by Parties Seeking to Rein in New Presidential Tenure
 Naharnet/November 22/16/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Tuesday that the formation of the new cabinet is being obstructed by parties seeking to prevent newly-elected President Michel Aoun from implementing his presidential vision. “The real problem that is delaying the formation of the government is the fact that some parties have not digested the idea that there is a new presidential tenure,” Geagea told LF school students in Maarab. “They want the presidency and the new tenure to be like they were during the Syrian tutelage era. Some parties do not even tolerate that the president is having a say in the issue of the cabinet line-up,” Geagea added. Slamming the paramilitary parade that Hizbullah has held in Syria's Qusayr and the parade that ex-minister Wiam Wahhab has organized in Jahliyeh, Geagea said “the message was not only addressed to the areas around Jahliyeh, but also to the new tenure.”“They wanted to warn him against going too far and to tell him that there are limits on his performance,” Geagea added. “Some do not want the president to think or to restore Lebanon's foreign ties, especially after the deterioration of the past five years. General Michel Aoun has started to restore Lebanon's foreign ties and some do not like this idea at all,” the LF leader went on to say. He stressed that the problem is not about a certain ministerial portfolio. “Some want to have the president under their control and of course General Aoun is not a president who receives orders from anyone,” Geagea added.“Lebanon and the new tenure cannot be under any party's control. This tenure can only be governed by the oath of office and the Constitution,” the LF leader emphasized.
 
 Sami Gemayel: Kataeb Doesn't Want Ministerial Portfolio, Any Post if Price is to Renounce Principles
 Naharnet/November 22/16/Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel stressed Tuesday that his party will not renounce its “principles” and “the blood of its martyrs” for the sake of any ministerial portfolio or post. “We do not betray the cause for which our martyrs fell,” Gemayel said at a Harissa mass marking the 10th anniversary of the assassination of his brother, Pierre Gemayel, who was serving as industry minister when he was murdered. “What is the use of the Kataeb Party should it win all posts and lose it cause?” Gemayel asked. “We have grown tired of bargaining and 'half men'. A strong State is our objective and it cannot be built unless we insist to have full independence, full freedom, full sovereignty and full democracy,” Kataeb's chief added. He underlined that a real State cannot be built with “half a sovereignty, half a democracy, half elections and half lies.”“We have stood in the face of everyone who tried to put the hand on Lebanon and we are willing to sacrifice everything if the price of ministerial or parliamentary posts is to renounce the principles and the blood of the martyrs,” Gemayel emphasized.“You can take everything from us except for our dignity and the interest of our country,” he added. Gemayel noted that political pragmatism “should not stand for giving up principles.”“We entered parliament with our cause, principles and martyrs,” he reminded. Gemayel also warned that “when we allow someone to decide for us, we would be losing the meaning of our existence.”
 
Bassil Calls for Liberating 'Minds of Politicians' from 'Foreign Hegemonies'

Naharnet/November 22/16/Free Patriotic Movement chief and caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil called Tuesday for liberating “the minds of politicians” from “foreign hegemonies,” in tweets marking Lebanon's Independence Day. “We want the minds of politicians to be independent from foreign hegemonies and this is what we achieve in the presidency but it is not enough,” Bassil tweeted. “We must become independent from all diseases in our country, after we liberated ourselves from occupation, and today we want the independence of state institutions from corruption,” he added. “What's important is the independence of the Lebanese and their independent decision and this can only be achieved through a fair electoral law that completes the journey of the martyrs,” Bassil went on to say. The FPM chief also emphasized that “anyone who was martyred for a cause their believe in is the martyr of entire Lebanon.”“We want to start the building journey and our path will be long... but our cause will triumph because it is the cause of people who want to live free on their land,” Bassil added. The election of FPM founder Michel Aoun as Lebanon's 13th president after two and a half years of presidential void has raised hopes that Lebanon can begin tackling challenges including a stagnant economy, a moribund political class and the influx of more than a million Syrian refugees. In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country. Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to protect Lebanon from "the fires burning across the region."
 
Hariri Avoids Syrian Ambassador at Independence Reception
Naharnet/November 22/16/During a Presidential Palace reception where senior officials received well-wishers on Lebanon's Independence Day, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri avoided shaking hands with the Syrian Ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali and briefly withdrew from the reception. Hariri blames the Syrian regime for his father's assassination back in 2005. As soon as Ali arrived to offer his well wishes, Hariri briefly left the place where he was standing with President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Caretaker PM Tammam Salam to avoid shaking hands with the Syrian Ambassador. On 14 February 2005 Rafik Hariri, the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, was killed along with 21 others in an explosion in Beirut. His assassination was widely blamed on the Syrian regime.
 
Saudi Delegation Leaves Beirut Without Touching on Halted Arms Grant
 Naharnet/November 22/16/A Saudi delegation that arrived in Lebanon on Monday traveled back to Saudi Arabia overnight after holding talks with senior officials and congratulating President Michel Aoun on his election. Contrary to what reports have anticipated, the delegation which included Mecca Governor Prince Khaled al-Faisal and Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Nizar Madani, flew from Beirut without touching with officials on the reactivation of a halted Saudi grant for the Lebanese army, media reports said Tuesday. The envoy met with senior officials and conveyed two letters to Aoun from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz. The first contained congratulations on his election as president of the republic and the second contained an invitation to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Discussions did not touch on the halted Saudi grant for the Lebanese army, reports said. The Saudi delegation held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri. In February 2016 Saudi Arabia halted a $3 billion program for military supplies to Lebanon in protest against Hizbullah's policies and diplomatic stances by the Lebanese foreign ministry. The $3 billion program financed military equipment provided by France.
 
Berri Adamant to Keep 'Finance' and 'Public Works' Portfolios
Naharnet/November 22/16/Speaker Nabih Berri is adamant to be given the two ministerial portfolios of finance and public works and has stressed that he won't concede them to any other political party, media reports said on Tuesday. Berri will not accept attempts to allot the two portfolios to any other bloc other than his own, particularly that the main political blocs have each adhered to the portfolios that were allotted to them in the previous government. The foreign ministry portfolio is allotted to the Free Patriotic Movement, the interior and the telecommunications given to al-Mustaqbal Movement, said the reports. Sources close to Berri said the AMAL Movement has set two conditions in return for its participation in the new cabinet line-up. Allotting the public works ministry to the Liberation and Development bloc is one condition and giving Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh a portfolio that meets his approval is another. Coordination between Berri and Hizbullah will continue in that regard. Hizbullah will not step in to reduce or pressure Berri to drop some conditions in return for his participation in the new cabinet line-up as rumors say, added the reports. Although hopes rose that a cabinet could be formed before Independence Day, but efforts seem to stall in light of the political parties' adamant demands to be given specific portfolios in the future cabinet.
 
Lebanese Army Builds Wall Near Palestinian Refugee Camp
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/Lebanon is building wall near the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp to prevent jihadists from infiltrating, a military source said Monday. The overcrowded and impoverished Ain al-Hilweh camp near the southern coastal city of Sidon has gained notoriety in recent years as a refuge for Muslim extremists and fugitives. It also saw deadly fighting last year between the Jund al-Sham Islamist group and members of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement. And in September the army said security forces had arrested a Palestinian refugee suspected of links to the Islamic State group who was in the camp. "The construction of the wall began some time ago and the aim is to stop the infiltration of terrorists inside Ain al-Hilweh from nearby orchards," the military source told AFP. "It's a security measure" that was taken after the arrest of "fugitive terrorists" who had taken shelter in the camp, he said. Pictures were posted online showing cranes lifting huge concrete blocks on the western side of Ain al-Hilweh then setting them side by side, as well as watchtower. Social media users compared the wall to a controversial separation barrier which Israel has been building in the occupied West Bank since 2002. "Soon, the children of Ain al-Hilweh will draw pictures depicting Palestine and freedom on the wall of shame," one person said online. A camp official, Fuad Othman, called the wall a "provocation". Major General Mounir al-Maqdah, the head of the Palestinian security forces in Lebanon, criticized the construction of the wall. "The wall, parts of which have been erected, is causing psychological pressure for the Palestinian refugees," said Maqdah. "We wouldn't have needed a separation barrier and watchtowers if the Lebanese authorities had, years ago, found a solution to the Palestinian presence in Lebanon," he added. The military source said Lebanon "is not building a prison or a separation wall, but a wall for protection", adding residents would be able to go in and out from the camp, except from the western side. By long-standing convention, the army does not enter Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon but holds positions outside of it, leaving the factions to handle security inside. More than 61,000 Palestinian refugees live in Ain al-Hilweh, including 6,000 who recently fled the war in Syria, according to the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
 
Lebanon celebrates 73rd Independence Day
Joseph A. Kechichian/Gulf News/November 22, 2016
 http://gulfnews.com/news/mena/lebanon/lebanon-celebrates-73rd-independence-day-1.1933634
 Beirut: Lebanese elites gathered for the first time in three years for a large-scale military parade to celebrate the country’s 73rd Independence Day.  The official ceremony, staged along the Shafiq Al Wazzan Boulevard in Downtown Beirut near the harbour, assembled the newly elected President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, caretaker Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Speaker Nabih Berri. Most former officials were present too, casting a rare photo opportunity to display political unity as soldiers paraded, helicopters flew overhead, and small naval ships manoeuvred nearby in the Mediterranean.  Notwithstanding this projected image of unity, several challenges faced the country and its leadership, including strenuous efforts to form a new cabinet amid sustained wrangling over the distribution of ministerial portfolios.
 On Monday evening, local television stations broadcast a taped message from President Aoun, who called for “immunising independence”. He noted that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) were able to defend Lebanon’s borders, though he also telegraphed the news that serious disputes lingered.  “We must immunise independence through refraining from seeking help from foreign forces ... to achieve partisan interests at the expense of public interest,” said Aoun in his address.  The military parade displayed mostly American donated weapons, including never-before-seen communications capabilities that presumably allowed the LAF to know who was infiltrating in and out of the country.  In what was a veiled reference to Hezbollah, Aoun noted that “we have brothers who live in border regions in the North and the South and they represent Lebanon’s first protection shield,” adding, “We must give them special care in order to develop their towns and villages.”
 The head of state praised the LAF for “gaining citizens’ confidence and being their source of security and serenity”, though he did not address Hezbollah’s controversial recent claims that it too had an army that paraded on November 11 in Qusayr, Syria and send unmistakable messages to the newly elected head of state even if the latter was its ally.  Aoun hammered that whenever “dangers threaten the country, the army remains its security valve and the firm core of its national unity”, but devoted most of his celebratory remarks to seek the liberation of civil servants from the culture of corruption.  It was unclear why Aoun focused on corruption as his principal topic in his address as a statesman. He may have intended to send a message to all merchant-politicians that different principles would henceforth be introduced to eliminate or, at the very least, significantly reduce the rampant practice across all levels, though this was impossible to know. By stressing that corruption required quick attention, nevertheless, Aoun raised expectations that he planned to rekindle trust among the Lebanese.
 
Hariri sees obstacles in way of forming new Lebanon government
By Lisa Barrington/Reuters/November 21/16
Lebanon's prime minister-designate Saad al-Hariri said on Monday his efforts to form a new government faced "stumbling blocks", testing hopes he could quickly steer the country out of its political crisis.
Hariri was named prime minister more than two weeks ago in a political deal that saw former army commander Michel Aoun, an ally of the powerful Iran-backed Shi'ite group Hezbollah, fill the presidency, which had been vacant for 2-1/2 years due to political divisions.
 Optimistic statements from rival politicians had given rise to hopes that the new cabinet would be in office in time for Lebanese independence day, which falls on Tuesday.
 But casting doubt on how quickly the government would be formed, Hariri said "there are some stumbling blocks" after meeting Aoun on Monday. "There is someone complicating matters," he said, without saying who.
 Tensions have arisen among rival leaders over portfolio distribution, the number of ministries in the new cabinet, and a contentious electoral law which needs to be passed for a parliamentary election to be held in 2017.
 Lebanon urgently needs effective government to address long-pending economic and development issues such as improving infrastructure, organizing refuse disposal and tapping offshore oil and gas reserves.
 Political tensions have paralyzed decision-making and raised fears for Lebanon's stability. The country has not had a parliamentary election since 2009.
 These tensions have been exacerbated by war in neighboring Syria, where Iran is a political and military ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and where Saudi Arabia funds opposition political and rebel groups.
 Also on Monday, Riyadh invited Aoun to visit and he said he was keen to strengthen ties with the kingdom.
 Lebanon is caught up in regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Riyadh has appeared to disengage from Lebanon over the past year as it became increasingly occupied with struggles against Iran in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Bahrain.
 Also In World News
 In each case, the two rivals back opposing sides.
 In February, Riyadh canceled a $3 billion aid package for the Lebanese army and also advised big-spending Saudis not to visit Lebanon, which relies heavily on tourism.
 This coincided with a financial crisis at the Saudi Oger construction firm belonging to the Hariri family, Saudi Arabia's main ally in Lebanon.
 Saudi Prince Khaled al-Faisal, governor of Mecca and an adviser to the king, said during an official visit to Lebanon that Aoun had promised to visit as soon as a new Lebanese government was formed.
 (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Tom Perry and Tom Heneghan)
 
Between the State’s Independence, and Independence from the State
Ahmad El-Assaad November 17, 2016/Roughly one week before the awaited traditional Independence Day military parade, supposed to consecrate the image of the end of the constitutional vacuum and the return of State institutions, came Hezbollah’s parade in Qusayr to once again harm the image of the Lebanese State, and confirm Hezbollah’s own independence from the latter, in its decisions and policies.  This show of force voided the ministerial statement of the upcoming Cabinet from its meaning, before it was even written; it rendered the self-exclusion policy, which might have been mentioned in the statement, mere ink on paper. As Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said, Hezbollah is going to be wherever its presence is needed – which is wherever the Wali al-Faqih shall decide it is needed, and the Lebanese State shall have nothing to say about it. As for studying a defensive strategy for the country, it has become quite useless, because Hezbollah is actually implementing an offensive strategy, made in Iran.  The continued presence of Hezbollah’s weapons, its involvement in foreign conflicts, especially in Syria, and its decision making independently from the State and other parties, form a reality that in turn constitutes a challenge for the new Presidency. As if Hezbollah is testing the water to see the reaction of the new president, whether he will overlook the fact that a party is bullying the Republic and acting as if the State was inexistent.
Therefore, President Michel Aoun must prove, from the get go, that he has become the President and is no longer an ally. Thus, Hezbollah’s audacious show of force in Qusayr must not go by unaddressed. It is rather the perfect occasion for General Aoun to inaugurate the strong Republic
 
 Vilifying Walid Phares‎
Sarah N. Stern/Israel Hayon/November 22/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/11/22/sarah-n-sternisrael-hayon-vilifying-walid-phares%e2%80%8e/#comments
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=17717
History has a strange way of judging people. American history honors ‎warriors of the past such as George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Douglas ‎MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower, who struggled and fought for America's ‎freedom and independence. However, the closer one gets to our current age of ‎moral relativism, the more critical we are of those who are thrust into a state of ‎conflict -- those who have had to realize that their people's survival sometimes ‎depends on defeating an enemy.‎
Walid Phares was born in 1957 to a Maronite Christian family in Beirut. By ‎the time Phares was in his 20s, Lebanon, which has always been more of a ‎mosaic of various religions and communities than a unified nation, had ‎plunged into a bloody civil war. Naturally, Phares supported his own Lebanese ‎Maronite Christian community's efforts to defend itself in this brutal, ‎existential struggle against Syrian occupation on the one hand and Palestinian and Lebanese Sunni and Shiite terror on the other.‎
As a young man just graduating from law school, he published a book on ‎pluralism, promoting a federal system in Lebanon as a way to halt the war and ‎protect minorities. Always prolific, he published many books on history and ‎politics, submitted hundreds of articles and was widely interviewed. He also ‎published a weekly magazine promoting Middle East minorities. At last he ‎formed a small political party, the Christian Social Democratic Party, in ‎East Beirut. The young lawyer wasn't involved in war but rather in ‎campaigns to raise awareness about the suffering in his ancestral land. He ‎traveled around the world to draw international attention to the conflict in ‎Lebanon and to offer solutions.‎
In 1986, toward the end of the conflict, he represented his small democratic ‎party in the representative political council of the local de facto government ‎known as "Lebanese Forces," opposing the Syrian occupation, much like the ‎American continental army resisted British colonial occupation. Phares' ‎intellectual skills ended up landing him with a task of diplomatic relations with ‎the outside world and reaching out to emigres. In 1990, after Hafez Assad's troops ‎invaded all of Lebanon, he decided to immigrate to the U.S. to pursue his ‎doctoral studies and warn the West about the impending jihadi terror threats.‎
In the United States, he received his doctorate and has authored 14 ‎books. He taught at Florida International University and Florida Atlantic ‎University and has testified before various congressional committees. Phares ‎has continued to be a champion of human rights for persecuted minorities ‎throughout the region. He is a pre-eminent scholar of the Middle East and has an ‎uncanny ability to decipher the various players on the many Byzantine Middle ‎Eastern chessboards and what their ultimate objectives are. He has a piercing ‎intellect and a thorough grasp of the region that makes him a national treasure ‎during these complicated times.‎
Professor Phares is highly regarded and is a respected American intellectual ‎after 26 years of service to his adopted country. Since 2008, he has been an ‎adviser to Congress and the European Parliament. His book "Future Jihad" ‎‎(2006) became a best-seller, while his prescient book "The Coming Revolution" ‎‎(2010) correctly predicted the Arab Spring before it ‎happened. His most recent book, "The Lost Spring" (2014), warned about the rise of Islamic State ‎before it surged, correctly predicted the Iranian expansion and once again ‎called for Western support for civil societies in the Middle East.‎
In 2011, Phares was appointed as a national security adviser to presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and in 2016, Republican nominee Donald Trump named him as one of his foreign policy advisers. Phares defended ‎Trump's platform on foreign affairs and Middle East policies and engaged in ‎diplomatic missions to explain the alternative policies of his candidate amid ‎intense criticism in the press. Among these policies were Trump's opposition ‎to the Iran deal and his determination to confront radical Islamic terrorism. ‎These two defenses drew the ire of the Iranians and the Muslim Brotherhood ‎against the adviser.‎
Thus, both lobbies used the classic charge of Islamophobia against Phares, just ‎because he warned against jihadism. But beyond the usual Islamist talking ‎points, his detractors waged a smear campaign based on fallacies and lies. ‎They targeted his early life during the Lebanese civil war, since the public ‎today has little information about that conflict and the U.S. press cannot easily ‎fact-check the Lebanese press (printed in French and Arabic) from that time ‎period.‎
Because he lived his younger years through the bloody days of the civil ‎war and championed a free area to defend his Christian community, Phares ‎has been tarred and feathered by progressive left-wing publications such as Mother ‎Jones. The false reporting was debunked several times, for example in Family Security Matters and Breitbart News, ‎but the lobbies keep using it nevertheless. ‎
I expect this from Mother Jones, but I was shocked to see ‎that these exact same allegations have been repeated word for word in an ‎article in The Jerusalem Post by Ben Lynfield. The piece alleged ‎statements that Phares did not make and selectively chose parts of analyses ‎developed in academic seminars to draw conclusions he did not make. Senior ‎Israeli academics and former officials who knew what was happening in ‎Lebanon are now responding to this tract and more will do so soon.‎
Phares is a national treasure, and the incoming U.S. administration could well ‎use his depth of knowledge of the region, his piercing intellect and his infinite ‎sense of compassion and justice for persecuted religious minorities all over the ‎world. Phares has been a strong proponent of a Lebanon free of the ‎suffocating choke-hold of Syrian and Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces. He ‎understands the clear and present danger that radical Islam poses to the region, ‎and to the world. And he has been on the right side of history.‎
Sarah N. Stern is founder and president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth, a pro-Israel American think tank and policy institute in Washington, D.C.‎

Walid Pharès ou la revanche de l’isolationnisme
Youssef Mouawad/L’Orient-Le Jour/22/11/2016
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/11/22/youssef-mouawadlorient-le-jour-walid-phares-ou-la-revanche-de-lisolationnisme/
http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1019709/walid-phares-ou-la-revanche-de-lisolationnisme.html
 Aussitôt Donald Trump élu président, et à peine étions-nous revenus de notre « divine surprise », qu’un message nous parvenait s’en prenant à Walid Pharès, Libanais de souche, promu conseiller aux affaires étrangères du nouveau maître du monde. Le texto, rédigé en arabe, ne cachait pas ses intentions assassines. Circulant sur les réseaux sociaux, et sonnant l’alarme, il soulignait l’hostilité (al-tashadud) de Walid Pharès à l’égard de l’islam, rappelant son passé de militant dans les rangs des Forces libanaises et son rôle de fondateur de l’Union démocratique chrétienne dans les années 80.  On s’attendait à une réflexion quant aux effets de l’élection américaine sur les conflits du Proche-Orient, et voici qu’on nous sert l’argument ad hominem pour dénoncer l’isolationnisme (al-in’izaliya) d’un chercheur au passé militant, qui a fait carrière aux États-Unis dans la mouvance conservatrice. Serait-ce un écho des vieilles querelles idéologiques qui enflammèrent la scène libanaise, avec le déclenchement de la guerre civile en 1975 ? Ce règlement de comptes sous forme de frappe préventive est-il l’œuvre d’un orphelin du Mouvement national qui ameute le Web, l’air de dire : « Méfiez-vous, voici le CV du personnage qui risque de décider de nos destinées, son casier judiciaire n’est pas rassurant : il a fait sa carrière à l’ombre du Front libanais » ?
 Et certes, Walid Pharès, juriste de formation, avait été actif dans la « résistance chrétienne ». Ah, mais quelle sorte de reproche est-ce ? Comme si avoir fait ses classes chez les Mourabitoun, ou avoir démarré sa carrière au PSP ou au PPS, ou dans d’autres officines financées ou télécommandées par Abou Ammar, pouvait constituer un pedigree plus honorable !
 Toutes les milices se sont alors rendues coupables d’exactions, de nettoyages ethniques et de crimes de droit commun, pour ne citer que ces délits. Et puis a-t-on oublié que nos chefs de guerre respectifs, ces « princes du sang versé », se sont retrouvés à la même table des gouvernements respectifs, assis côte à côte pour assurer la gestion des affaires publiques ? S’indigner est tout à fait légitime, mais s’indigner de manière sélective ne porte pas !
 Mais revenons au texte alphanumérique précité, où c’est le recours à l’amalgame qui nous interpelle, l’acte d’accusation comportant entre autres les deux chefs suivants :
 1- Walid Pharès a considéré en son temps, et d’après le texto, qu’il y avait deux cultures distinctes au Liban, la culture chrétienne qui est par essence démocratique et la culture islamo-arabe qui l’est moins ou pas du tout*.
 Or cette catégorisation est, à notre avis, pernicieuse. Elle ne traduit pas la réalité des choses et ne sert qu’à la justification communautaire. On est loin de la confrontation soulignée par le père Sélim Abou s.j.** entre « la valeur occidentale du montagnard libanais et la situation médiocre du fellah, qui est historiquement un sous-développé »***.
 C’était déjà dur à avaler !
 Mais Walid Pharès allait pousser le bouchon encore plus loin. Il avait préconisé la ségrégation entre groupes libanais et prônait le développement séparé. C’était s’inspirer de certaines thèses de la « white supremacy », si courantes dans certains milieux du Sud des États-Unis.
 Cette prise de position est, pour nous, moralement condamnable. Le Liban est le pays des communautés juxtaposées, mais il ne saurait être un pays d’apartheid. Et puis, nous baignons tous, toutes communautés confondues, dans une sphère de culture islamo-arabe, sur une façade méditerranéenne ouverte aux influences occidentales.
 2- D’après ledit texto, Walid Pharès se serait élevé contre la dilution (al-tazwib) des communautés chrétiennes dans la masse musulmane. Et alors! Est-ce sujet à reproches ? Les minorités ont quand même le droit de préserver leurs acquis et de protéger leur mode de vie. On ne peut leur reprocher de tenir à leurs traditions ancestrales. Il faut craindre par-dessus tout les abus de la majorité. Il n’y a pas de démocratie si des groupes ethniques ou religieux sont sous-représentés ou si leurs droits collectifs sont bafoués. Et surtout garder à l’esprit que la Déclaration des droits de l’homme ne vise qu’à protéger les droits des individus : en ce sens, elle ouvre la voie à la marginalisation des minorités.
 Cela dit, il est grand temps de recentrer les débats et de préciser les thèmes de mobilisation.
 Appeler à la protection des minorités et à la préservation de leurs spécificités, ce n’est pas appeler à une alliance entre minorités, qu’elle soit défensive ou offensive. Ce n’est pas non plus prôner le développement séparé. Et c’est encore moins plaider l’apartheid !
 Youssef MOUAWAD
 *Walid Phares, « Pluralism in Lebanon », Kaslik, 1979 ; « The Lebanese thought and the thesis of Arabization », Dar el-Sharq Press, 1980.
 **Sélim Abou, « Le bilinguisme arabe-français au Liban », Paris, 1962.
 ***Dominique Chevallier, «La société du Mont-Liban à l’époque de la révolution industrielle en Europe », Paris, 1982, p.21.
 
Israel accuses Iran of sending Hezbollah arms on commercial flights
Ynetnews/Reuters/November 22/16
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4882925,00.html
Israel's ambassador at the UN Danny Danon issues a public letter to the UN Security Council, admonishing Iran for supposedly using commercial airlines to transfer weapons to Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.
Israel has accused Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of using commercial airline flights to ship weapons to Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah.
In a letter to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon accused Iran of using airlines such as Mahan Air for this purpose. The United States has sanctioned the Iranian carrier for providing services to the Quds Force, a special forces unit of the IRGC, as well as Hezbollah.
Iran's mission to the United Nations and Mahar Air were not immediately available to comment on the accusations.
Danon wrote that Quds Force officers pack arms and materiel into suitcases that are transferred to Hezbollah either by commercial flights to Beirut or commercial flights to Damascus in Syria, and then transferred by land to Lebanon.
"It is clear that Iran is still the primary supplier of arms and related material to Hezbollah, in blatant violation of numerous Security Council resolutions," Danon wrote. "The Security Council must condemn Iran and Hezbollah for the violation of its resolutions."
Danon's letter to the 15-member Security Council did not offer any evidence to support his accusations.
The charge may add fuel to the debate about the agreement among Iran, the United States and five other nations to remove some of the economic sanctions on Tehran in exchange for restraints on the country's alleged nuclear weapons program.
UN Security Council missile restrictions and an arms embargo on Iran are not technically part of the nuclear agreement.
US President-elect Donald Trump and several of his national security appointees have criticized the nuclear deal and charged that it does not do enough to halt the Islamic Republic's support for terrorism.
"Stop all engines on this nuclear deal. Take a step back. Really take a deep-dive look at everything going on in the Middle East," former Defense Intelligence Agency head Michael Flynn, Trump's choice for national security adviser, said in a Fox News interview in March.

Qahwaji places wreath on Army Martyrs Monument
Tue 22 Nov 2016/The gesture came on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of the Independence of Lebanon and in appreciation of the sacrifices of the army for the sake of their country.

Official reception wraps up at Baabda Palace
Tue 22 Nov 2016/House Speaker Nabih Berri, Caretaker PM Tammam Salam, and PM Designate Saad Hariri all left the palace.

US Ambassador back in Beirut
Tue 22 Nov 2016/NNA - United States Ambassador to Beirut, Elizabeth Richard, arrived Tuesday evening at Beirut International Airport, following a trip to her country.

Sami Gemayel commemorating Pierre Gemayel's assassination, Founding of Kataeb Party: We do not compromise on constants and principles, Our sole aim is Lebanon and not positions
Tue 22 Nov 2016/NNA - Kataeb Party Head, MP Sami Gemayel, stressed on Tuesday that "the goal of the Kataeb is to preserve Lebanon and not to gain any positions or posts," adding that "we do not compromise on our constants and principles."
"We have offered the dearest sacrifices and struggled for the sake of freedom, which is the foundation of Lebanon," Gemayel underscored, adding that "once we agree to anyone deciding on our behalf, we would have lost our reason for existence."
His words came during the Mass service held at "Our Lady of Harissa" Basilica marking 80 years since the founding of the Kataeb Party, and 10 years since the assassination of Minister and Deputy Pierre Gemayel.
Amidst a crowd of senior political officials, prominent figures and supporters who gathered to pay tribute to the memory of Martyr Pierre Gemayel, MP Gemayel recalled the cause for which his late brother sacrificed his life.
Vowing to remain steadfast in struggle, Gemayel emphasized that "We do not betray the cause for which you lost your life...and to those who dared to get to you, and to us through you, believing that by your assassination they would be killing the cause which you defended, we ask them to look around and see tens of thousands of Pierre Gemayel!"
"The struggle of the Kataeb for the sake of Lebanon is one based on genuine love for our nation, first and foremost, and not for positions, politics, power and ministries," Gemayel went on to underline.
He added: "The aim behind our struggle is our love for our cause, and we believe that God gave us this earth to love and defend, no matter the cost...Our national struggle is based on our love of Lebanon and freedom, as well as on honesty and ethics and daily practices."
Gemayel stressed that "We believe that no national life is correct except if based on those three values that we were raised to respect at the hands of Kataeb Founder Pierre Gemayel."
He concluded by saying: "We look to this new phase, and we call on everyone not be afraid of the Kataeb if they are working for the interest of Lebanon...We look positively to the future and to remaining the conscience of the nation and men of cause, always in service of Lebanon."

Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on November 22-23/16
Senior al-Qaida Leader Killed in U.S. Strike in Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/A U.S. drone strike has killed a senior al-Qaida leader in Syria who previously operated in Afghanistan, the Defense Department announced Tuesday. The November 18 strike near Sarmada in northwestern Syria targeted Abu Afghan al-Masri, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said. "He had ties to terrorist groups operating throughout Southwest Asia, including groups responsible for attacking U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and those plotting to attack the West," Cook said. Al-Masri was an Egyptian who originally joined al-Qaida in Afghanistan and later moved to its Syrian affiliate, Cook said. The Pentagon did not immediately provide further information about Masri, only that he had a "senior leadership role" in al-Qaida. "This is someone who helped organize al-Qaida activities," Cook said. He "has been on our radar for some time."A U.S.-led coalition is striking Islamic State group targets in Syria, but has also hit leaders from other groups including the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, which has renamed itself Fatah al-Sham. In October, the Pentagon said a U.S. air strike near Idlib had targeted a Nusra senior leader, Ahmed Salama Mabrouk, an Egyptian also known by his nom de guerre Abu Faraj.

U.N. Resumes Aid to Syrians Stranded on Jordan Border
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/The United Nations on Tuesday announced a resumption of aid to some 85,000 Syrian refugees stranded on Jordan's border with war-torn Syria in what Amman has declared a military zone. The kingdom closed the border on June 21, halting aid deliveries to a makeshift camp, after a bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed seven Jordanian soldiers. Since then, the kingdom has allowed a single delivery of aid to the refugees, back in August. In October, Amnesty International said more than 70,000 Syrians were trapped in "hellish conditions" in a remote, arid strip of no-man's land on Syria's side of the desert frontier. "The resumption of assistance comes at the start of the coldest period of the year, when temperatures can drop dangerously low," a U.N. statement said on Tuesday. It said the aid would include food, hygiene kits, winter clothing, blankets and plastic sheeting. Jordan's government said early last month that it would allow a resumption of aid in coming weeks. The United Nations says there are more than 600,000 refugees from Syria in Jordan, a figure Amman puts at 1.4 million. In August, King Abdullah II said his country was "doing its utmost to help refugees" from Syria. "However, we have reached our limits... This is an international crisis and an international responsibility, and the world has to do its part," he said.

Syrian Army Urges Rebels to Quit Aleppo, Let Civilians Out
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/Syrian pro-government forces pushed deeper into rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Tuesday, forcing civilians to flee as the regime pressed an assault to recapture the entire city. Military aircraft dropped leaflets over east Aleppo, urging rebels to distribute food to civilians, leave the area and allow residents to do so too. The regime pounded the east of the city with air strikes and barrel bombs as ground troops advanced in the key eastern neighborhood of Masaken Hanano, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A week into the latest round of fighting for the city, the regime controls around a third of the district, the Observatory said. The district has been shelled heavily during the war, and many residents had already fled, but the latest fighting prompted even the last holdouts to leave. Milad Shahabi, a member of the local council, told AFP that residents were fleeing to southern parts of the opposition-controlled east. Masaken Hanano was the first Aleppo district to fall to rebels in 2012, and is strategically vital. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said that if regime forces manage to take the district they will be able to "cut off the northern parts of rebel-held Aleppo from the rest of the opposition-held districts." At least 143 civilians, including 19 children, have been killed in the city's east since the latest assault began on November 15, according to the Britain-based monitor. Another 16 civilians, including 10 children, have been killed in rebel fire on western Aleppo, it said. Eight rebels were killed Tuesday, the Observatory added, including a senior commander from the powerful Ahrar al-Sham militia. Government troops, backed by Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group and Russian and Iranian forces, are battling rebels on several fronts inside opposition-held districts. The head of Iran's veterans' affairs office said Tuesday that more than 1,000 combatants sent from Iran to fight in support of President Bashar Assad have been killed in the conflict. Iran has sent military advisers, as well as fighters recruited from Afghanistan and Pakistan, to work with Assad's forces.
Trapped civilians
The renewed fighting comes amid international concern for the fate of more than 250,000 civilians trapped in besieged rebel-held areas of Aleppo. Despite searing international criticism, there is little sign that the government advance will be halted. On Tuesday, Assad's key backer Russia accused the U.N.'s Syria envoy of torpedoing a Security Council resolution to revive peace talks between the regime and opposition. "The United Nations in the form of its special representative Staffan de Mistura has been sabotaging the resolution for more than six months," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised remarks. The resolution calls for "holding inclusive Syrian talks without preconditions," he said. De Mistura was in Damascus over the weekend to discuss a humanitarian plan and a truce proposal for Aleppo, but both were rejected by the government. The plan called for aid deliveries to the east and the evacuation of the sick and wounded. Jihadist fighters would leave, but an opposition administration would remain at least temporarily. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Sunday the truce plan would "reward terrorists" and insisted the government would recapture the east.
Biggest victory yet
Recapturing east Aleppo would be the government's biggest victory yet in Syria's five-year conflict and deal a potentially decisive blow to the opposition. The city was once the country's economic powerhouse, but it has been ravaged by the war that has killed 300,000 people since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011. For the past four years, Aleppo has been divided between the government-controlled west and rebel-held east, which has been sealed off from the outside world since the army surrounded it in mid-July. No food aid has entered since then, and locals suffer severe shortages of food, fuel, electricity and water. Rebels have tried several times to break the siege, without success. The U.N.'s aid chief Stephen O'Brien on Monday slammed the use of sieges in Aleppo and elsewhere. In remarks to the Security Council, he said nearly one million Syrians were living under blockade. Emile Hokayem, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said there was very little the world could now do to prevent the whole city falling to pro-regime forces. "You can't send weaponry in any more, all the supply roads are cut, and you won't intervene from the air because of the costs and the risks," he told AFP. "There was a time to do something about Aleppo... but now it's too late."

Moscow Accuses U.N. Envoy of 'Sabotaging' Syria Resolution
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday accused the U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura of "sabotaging" a resolution backing peace talks between the regime and opposition. "The United Nations in the form of its special representative Staffan de Mistura has been sabotaging the resolution for more than six months," Lavrov said in televised remarks while on a visit to Minsk. The resolution calls for "holding inclusive Syrian talks without preconditions," Lavrov said. "It seems there is no other way except for the patriotic opposition and the government to take the initiative into their own hands and organize Syrian dialogue," he said. U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254 adopted in December 2015 proposed the establishment of a body to head the political transition. But it has been plagued by disagreements over the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom the Syrian opposition does not want to see in any future role. In January and February, de Mistura oversaw indirect talks which were cut short as the opposition denounced the regime's offensive in northern Syria that was bolstered by Russia's forces. Despite efforts to relaunch the talks in April, they eventually collapsed when the opposition announced it would not formally participate as long as government forces bomb civilians. Russia has been flying air raids in Syria since September 30, 2015, intervening on the request of Assad, Moscow's longtime ally.

More than 1,000 Combatants from Iran Killed in Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/More than 1,000 combatants sent from Iran to fight in support of President Bashar Assad in Syria have been killed in the conflict, the head of Iran's veterans' affairs office said Tuesday. "The number of martyrs from our country defending the shrines has now passed 1,000," Tasnim news agency quoted Mohammad Ali Shahidi Mahalati, the head of Iran's Foundation of Martyrs' and Veterans' Affairs, as saying. Iran has sent military advisers, as well as volunteer fighters recruited from Afghanistan and Pakistan, to work with Assad's forces. They are known in Iran as "defenders of the shrines" in reference to Shiite holy sites in Syria. Shahidi did not specify the nationalities of those killed. Shiite Iran is a staunch supporter of Assad and provides both financial and military support for his regime.  The Fatemiyoun Division of Afghan recruits organized by Iran comprises the majority of volunteers sent from Iran to fight in Syria and Iraq. Iran says they are sent to fight against Sunni extremists such as the Islamic State group (IS). The Islamic republic denies having any boots on the ground in Syria, and insists its commanders and generals of the elite Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations wing act as "military advisers" both there and in Iraq. Iranian media regularly report on the death in Syria of Iranian, Afghan and Pakistani "martyrs" whose bodies are buried in Iran. The latest death toll is significantly higher than previous tallies, although no overall figures have been officially announced so far. In August, Shahidi said Iran's Foundation of Martyrs' and Veterans' Affairs was caring for 400 people related to fighters killed in action in Syria and Iraq, half of them Afghans. "We immediately cover (the families) that the Quds Force announces to us," he said, according to ILNA news agency, referring to the Guards' foreign operations wing headed by Major General Qassem Suleimani.
"We are waiting for the Quds Force to confirm the martyrdom" of more fighters, "so we can cover their families too," he said at the time. Iran in May passed a law allowing the government to grant citizenship to the families of foreigners killed while fighting for the Islamic republic. The law could apply to volunteers from Afghanistan and Pakistan who are fighting in Syria and Iraq against jihadists including those from IS.

U.S.-Led Coalition Strike Destroys Mosul Bridge
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/The U.S.-led coalition said it carried out an air strike Tuesday that destroyed a bridge over the Tigris river in central Mosul to stop jihadists from rotating their forces in the Iraqi city. The strike leaves Mosul's oldest bridge, which was British-built, as the only one still standing out of five in the center of the city, according to residents."The reason for that is Daesh (IS) were using those as their lines of communications to re-supply their forces on the eastern side of the city and reinforce their forces, essentially rotating their forces," a coalition spokesman said. "So we’re not going to let that happen," Colonel John Dorrian told AFP. The fighting inside the city so far has focused on eastern neighborhoods, which elite counter-terrorism and army forces entered earlier this month. The Islamic State group has offered fierce resistance to defend its last remaining bastion in Iraq, the city where its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed a caliphate in June 2014. The eastern bank of the Tigris was expected to offer less resistance when tens of thousands of Iraqi forces launched a huge offensive on Mosul on October 17. Most of the jihadists' traditional bastions are on the western side of Mosul, as is the old city whose narrow streets will be hard to penetrate for the government forces' armored vehicles.

68,000 Iraqis Displaced from Mosul Offensive
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/More than 68,000 people have fled their homes since Iraqi forces launched a huge offensive against the Islamic State group in and around Mosul last month, the UN said Tuesday. The figure increased significantly over the past week as forces battled deep into the densely populated city, but it falls short of pre-offensive predictions. "68,550 people are currently displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance," the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement. OCHA said the aid response to the offensive launched against the jihadists on October 17 was growing in complexity, with varying needs for different categories of civilians. "Humanitarian needs are severe among displaced families in and out of camps, vulnerable residents of retaken communities, and people fleeing the intense fighting in Mosul city," it said. A million-plus civilians were thought to still live inside Mosul, the country's second city and the jihadists' last major bastion in Iraq, before the operation was launched. The number of people displaced since the start of the offensive "is less than we expected -- we should be able to handle this relatively small number easily", Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari told reporters after a meeting in Budapest. The UN had initially predicted that 200,000 civilians could be forced from their homes in the first few weeks of the offensive, Iraq's biggest military operation in years. - Still no safe routes -Iraqi forces have so far been sending the message to the population of Mosul that they should stay at home and not try to flee through the front lines. Many residents of Mosul have indeed hunkered down in their houses as Iraqi forces took on IS fighters in fierce street battles. That has however restricted both the government forces' ability to use heavier weaponry against the jihadists and aid groups' ability to deliver assistance to civilians in need. "While Mosul is under ongoing heavy attack, there are currently no safe routes out of the city," Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) spokeswoman Becky Bakr Abdulla told AFP. "Civilians are facing an extremely difficult decision of either staying in their homes stuck in the crossfire or risk their lives in an attempt to find their way out of the city," she said. The lower than expected displacement from the city of Mosul has allowed aid organisations to keep up with the number of displaced people in need of shelter. According to the UN, the majority of the displaced are housed in camps, whose capacity is being increased daily and is slated to reach around half a million by mid-December.

Talks on Cyprus Unification Break up Without Agreement

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/The latest round of talks between rival leaders on ending Cyprus's 42-year-old division broke up without agreement on Tuesday, the United Nations said. Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Mustafa Akinci have been meeting on the shores of Lake Geneva since Sunday in the second round of talks this month. "Despite their best efforts, they have not been able to achieve the necessary further convergences on criteria for territorial adjustment that would have paved the way for the last phase of the talks," UN spokesman Aleem Siddique said in a statement. "The two sides have decided to return to Cyprus and reflect on the way forward." The talks are aimed at reunifying Cyprus, a Mediterranean island whose division remains one of the world's longest-running political disputes. The island has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece. Anastasiades and Akinci met earlier this month, between November 7-11, to discuss potential territorial readjustments -- seen as the trickiest issue to resolve. That round finished short of a deal but hopes had been high that the second round could produce a map of internal boundaries for a future federation of Greek- and Turkish-speaking states on the island. The Turkish invasion saw thousands of Greek and Turkish Cypriots displaced. Territory is an intractable problem for the talks, since any agreement would inevitably involve a redrawing of existing boundaries and see members of both communities ousted from their current homes. The leaders had been thought to be close on the percentage of territory to be governed under Turkish Cypriot jurisdiction, with Akinci suggesting 29.2 percent and the Greek Cypriots proposing 28 percent. The sticking point is which towns and villages come within those boundaries. The UN and outgoing Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have staked much on solving the conundrum.

19 Killed in Renewed Yemen Clashes
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/Renewed clashes between Yemeni government forces and rebels killed 19 people on Tuesday, military officials said a day after a fragile 48-hour ceasefire expired without halting the violence. Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi repelled an attack by Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies on the outskirts of Taez city in the southwest, the officials said. The attack that began late on Monday targeted the Al-Dhabab area, which provides pro-Hadi forces with their only access to the flashpoint city that is surrounded by insurgents. Warplanes from the Saudi-led Arab coalition took part in defensive operations and repelling the attack, officials said. Eleven rebels and five government soldiers were killed, they added. Meanwhile, three soldiers were killed and four wounded late Monday by rebel sniper fire in the area of the northwestern coastal town of Midi, a military official said.The Huthis have been trying to advance on Midi's harbour, which is controlled by pro-Hadi forces, the official said. The coalition and the rebels traded blame on Monday over violations of the ceasefire which came into effect on Saturday after US Secretary of State John Kerry intervened. It was the latest international attempt to end Yemen's 20-month conflict, which the United Nations says has killed more than 7,000 people and wounded nearly 37,000. The Huthis overran the capital Sanaa and other parts of the impoverished country in September 2014, prompting the coalition to intervene six months later in support of Hadi.

Palestinian Wielding Knife Shot Dead in West Bank
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/A Palestinian was shot dead at a West Bank checkpoint on Tuesday after walking towards guards wielding a knife, Israeli police said. "A Palestinian attempted to cross the checkpoint using the vehicle lane and approached security guards brandishing a knife," police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement. "The terrorist was neutralised," she added, later confirming he had been killed. There were no Israeli casualties. The incident happened at the Qalandia checkpoint between the northern West Bank and and Jerusalem, which is used by thousands of Palestinians every day. The heavily fortified checkpoint is a hated symbol of Israeli occupation for Palestinians and has seen a number of attacks during an upsurge of violence over the past year. Since October 2015, 240 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed, according to an AFP count. Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some died in Israeli air strikes on Gaza. The violence has calmed significantly in recent months.

Trump would 'Love' to Broker Peace between Palestinians, Israel
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday he would "love" to clinch a deal to end the intractable conflict between Israel and the Palestinians despite the checkered history of U.S. attempts to broker a Middle East peace.
"I would love to be the one who made peace with Israel and the Palestinians, that would be such a great achievement," Trump said in an interview with The New York Times.A New York Times reporter tweeted that Trump also suggested that his son-in-law Jared Kushner could help broker a peace deal.

Egypt Court Quashes One of Morsi Life Sentences
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/An Egyptian appeals court on Tuesday quashed one of two life sentences handed down against ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi since his 2013 overthrow, his lawyer and a judicial source said. It is the second appeals victory in a week for Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement has been blacklisted and subjected to a crackdown that has killed hundreds of his supporters and seen thousands jailed or sentenced to death. Last week, the same court overturned a death sentence handed down against him on charges of taking part in prison breaks and violence against policemen during a 2011 uprising that toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak. The courts' handling of the cases against Morsi and his supporters, many of whom have been convicted after mass trials lasting just days, has drawn criticism from the United Nations, Western governments and human rights groups. Tuesday's ruling by the Court of Cassation also quashed the sentences against several Brotherhood officials who stood trial alongside him on charges of spying for Iran and Palestinian militant group Hamas, lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud told AFP. The court ordered a retrial, Abdel Maqsoud said, adding: "The verdict was full of legal flaws." From next Monday, the same court is to start reviewing a second life sentence handed down against Morsi in a separate trial on charges of stealing documents relating to national security and handing them over to Qatar, a longstanding supporter of the Brotherhood. Last month, it upheld a 20-year jail sentence handed down against Morsi on charges of ordering the use of deadly force against protesters during his year in power. Last week's decision quashing the death sentence enabled Morsi to stop wearing the red uniform reserved for death row prisoners, his lawyer said. Five co-defendants, including Brotherhood supreme guide Mohamed Badie, who also received death sentences, are to be retried too.
Morsi was Egypt's first freely elected leader but his year in power proved deeply divisive and he was overthrown by then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi following mass street protests.

Little Hope for Polls to End Kuwait Political Chaos
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/November 22/16/Kuwaiti civil servant Nasser Ahmed sits in a luxurious tent, taking advantage of the perks of election campaigning in the emirate seen as a pioneer of democracy in the Gulf. The middle-aged Ahmed has been worried that austerity measures initiated after oil prices fell sharply will gnaw away at his salary and benefits. But despite those concerns, and the candidate's fiery speech, Ahmed enjoyed an opulent open-buffet dinner put on by the host -- a tradition in this wealthy Gulf state. "I am just wondering if this one will finally bring stability," he said in reference to a series of political crises that have rocked the OPEC member since mid-2006. During that decade, the parliament in the desert emirate has been dissolved five times by the emir due to political disputes and twice by courts over procedural flaws. The most recent occasion the emir exercised those powers was last month when he called a snap election following a crisis over petrol price hikes.
Ahmed was among hundreds of men and women attending a rally put on in Kuwait City ahead of Saturday's election. Candidates routinely spend millions of dollars on rallies, meals and even on alleged vote-buying, observers and analysts say.
- 'Democratic experiment' -Election banquets differ in quality and variety, with some hopefuls in tribal areas even slaughtering camels as a sign of generosity. Hundreds of tents are erected all over the tiny emirate for candidates promoting their bid to enter the 50-member parliament. Pledges range from promises to improve health services to complicated political issues, like urging an end to internal feuds within the ruling Al-Sabah family -- in power for 250 years. In 1962, Kuwait became the first Gulf Arab state to draft a constitution and introduce parliamentary elections.But more than 54 years later, the emir still enjoys tremendous powers and the ruling family holds major cabinet positions including that of the premier. Often described as a half democracy, Kuwait's political system is part parliamentary and part presidential. The elected parliament enjoys legislative and monitoring powers including grilling the premier and ministers and voting them out of office on an individual basis, but it cannot oust the entire cabinet. Kuwait's democracy has been marred by disputes which intensified in the past decade with the opposition holding massive street protests demanding reforms that would effectively limit the ruling family's powers.
In 2014, an opposition alliance demanded broad reforms including a multi-party system and an elected government to be led by the winning party. "I think the main cause of disputes is that the ruling family-led government essentially does not believe in democracy," said analyst Anwar al-Rasheed. "Some government and ruling family quarters believe that issuing the 1962 constitution was a strategic mistake," said Rasheed, who heads the recently established Kuwait Liberals Movement. Senior royals and government officials have repeatedly rejected such criticisms. Rasheed said neighbouring Gulf states had put pressure on Kuwait to suppress democracy.
"They simply want to see the Kuwaiti democratic experiment dead so it does not affect them," he told AFP. Disputes between the government and lawmakers have been blamed for hindering development projects. Despite its shortcomings, Kuwait's democracy offers relative freedoms of the press and expression. Women have enjoyed full political rights since 2005, and have since been elected to parliament and appointed to the cabinet. There are 14 women running for office among 300 candidates.
- Economic issues dominate -Only the head of state is shielded against criticism in public, and several of his detractors including prominent former opposition lawmaker Mussallam al-Barrak have been jailed for doing so. The dissolved parliament, branded as a rubber-stamp for the government, also adopted laws that criminalise wide-ranging online activities. This year's campaign has however been dominated by economic issues after the government increased the prices of fuel and services. With a native population of just 1.3 million people and pumping about 3.0 million barrels of oil per day, Kuwait has offered its citizens generous welfare conditions including high wages and no taxes. The idea of changing that and taxing citizens or controlling their wages has had a major impact on society. "I will propose a law in the next parliament to ban the government from reducing subsidies or touching the salaries of Kuwaitis," former lawmaker Abdulkarim al-Kundari told an election rally. An overwhelming majority of candidates have issued similar pledges. Like Ahmed, many voters are not optimistic about the ability of the next parliament to resolve the emirate's chronic political problems. "I have a small hope only," he said. 

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on November 22-23/16
The False Premise of Palestine and Peace
 Barry Shaw/Gatestone Institute/November 22, 2016
 https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9387/israel-palestine-peace
 If the international community wants to see Israel make dangerous concessions, then they, and they alone, must ensure that Israel has a united and pragmatic peace partner.
 his should be Israel's basic demand: that a united Palestinian political leadership will recognize the right of all the citizens of the Jewish State of Israel to live in peace and security, alongside the State of Palestine.
 It is that simple. That is all it takes.
 The notion that the creation of a state of Palestine will herald everlasting peace is naïve in the extreme.
 After 50 years of a two-state failure, the French and other diplomats, in their duplicitously-named "peace initiative," have no other idea for how to settle the Palestinian problem, except to behave like parched men trudging across a burning desert toward a distant mirage that they think is an oasis paradise. It is not, and the same diplomats will take no responsibility for cleaning up the dangerous outcome of such a disaster.
 The international community is pressuring Israel to make wholesale concessions in territory and security, risking social and political upheaval, to grant the so-called Palestinians a state of their own.
 The sole criterion for making this happen is for the international community to accept the Palestinian precondition of forcing Israel withdraw to pre-1967 lines, which are the 1949 armistice lines and not a defined border.
 Whenever I approach a European diplomat with the following questions, none of them can give me an answer:
 1) What happens when a new emboldened Palestinian government continues calls for the liberation of the "rest of Palestine"?
 They call Haifa, Acre, Jaffa and the Galilee -- in fact, all of Israel -- "occupied Palestinian land". Just look at any Palestinian map: it is identical to Israel.
 It is little known that members of the Palestinian Authority call Israeli Arabs "Palestinians of the Interior."
 They also call Israeli Arabs the "Palestinians of '48." They have been joined in this by Arab Knesset Members, who also would not object to the eventual displacement of Jews by Arabs in Israel.
 According to their ambition, these Israeli Arabs will be "liberated" by a new Palestine.
 2) What will happen when inevitably -- by the ballot or by the bullet -- this Palestine is taken over by Hamas, designated an Islamic terror organization by the U.S. Department of State?
 If you think this question is far-fetched, think again. The students of Bir Zeit University voted overwhelming to elect Hamas representatives to head their student body. Bir Zeit is not in the Gaza Strip. It is less than ten kilometers north of Ramallah, literally a stone's throw from the offices of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
 These Hamas-supporting students will be the Palestinians' future opinion-makers after graduation.
 And let us not forget how in the Gaza Strip, in June 2007, Hamas seized power in a bloody coup that left more than a hundred dead and more than five hundred wounded.
 Hamas will continue its incendiary calls to destroy the Jewish state and to slaughter Jews.
 3) Do you really think that we Israelis will call upon our government to make territorial concessions that will bring these terrorists closer to our families and homes?
 So, what is the answer I get from the diplomats based in Israel to these genuine concerns? Well, nothing really. Just a throwaway line about it being up to the parties to solve their ongoing difficulties.
 If the international community wants to see Israel make dangerous concessions, then they, and they alone, must ensure that Israel has a united and pragmatic peace partner, not a weak, aging, corrupt, rejectionist and undemocratic leader to our east, who constantly says he will never recognize Israel as the Jewish State, and to our south, in Gaza, a rabid Islamic terror regime bent on our destruction.
 This should be Israel's basic demand: that a united Palestinian political leadership will recognize the right of all the citizens of the Jewish State of Israel to live in peace and security, alongside the State of Palestine.
 It is that simple. That is all it takes.
 Let the diplomatic world spend the next 50 years educating and training the divided Palestinian political leadership to come together as a force for peace.
 Then Israel will be happy to consider making concessions that might well be life-threatening, as it has done before.
 If the international community wants to see Israel make dangerous concessions, then they, and they alone, must ensure that Israel has a united and pragmatic peace partner, not a weak, aging, corrupt, rejectionist and undemocratic leader to our east, who constantly says he will never recognize Israel as the Jewish State, and to our south, in Gaza, a rabid Islamic terror regime bent on our destruction. (Image source: Palestinian Media Watch)
 **Barry Shaw is a Senior Associate at the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies.
 © 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.
 
 Iranians, with light in hand, look after Obama
 
Camelia Entekhabi-Fard/Al Arabiya/November 22/16
 A year ago, the foreign ministers of Iran and the United States engaged in seemingly friendly relations, sparking speculation that ties between the two countries could warm in the wake of the nuclear deal. This came after almost four decades of animosity and bitter relations between the two nations that not only saw Iran suffer but also impacted regional and international diplomacy. When the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeini died there was still no improvement in relations and under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s leadership mixed signals were indicative of internal conflicts of interests. The hostility reached a level of possible military confrontation over Iran’s controversial nuclear program back in 2012-13. Then a page turned to the most friendly time since the revolution when Hassan Rowhani was elected president in 2013. Obama offered an olive branch to Iran, one which resulted in the Iranian nuclear deal. However, even if particular presidents seek to restore relations with the US, Iranian politics are much more complicated. The cold wind of change with the new administration in Washington is chilling and reminds me of the time when George W. Bush called Iran a part of the “Axis of Evil” along with North Korea and Iraq. A beautiful description of post-revolution Iran was made by the former US Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad who talked about the two faces of Iran. “One Iran is the Iran of Mohammad Javad Zarif who was negotiating with us and the other Iran is the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) who have a mission to destroy what the government has built,” Khalilzad said that in his book “The Envoy: From Kabul to the White House.”
 The softer Iran
 But during the Iranian nuclear talks, the softer Iran represented by the government gained traction over the hard Iran represented by IRGC. Their success at reaching the nuclear agreement gave them an incredible opportunity to reduce tension with the US but, unfortunately, tension in Syria and across the Middle East caught Zarif and Rowhani off-guard. Iran has a nuclear deal which protects its right to enrich low-grade uranium and allows them to enter the international market. However, what they missed out on was the opportunity to improve their image. Hostile and frowning, Iranian diplomats didn’t miss a chance to label everyone their enemy. It is hard to say if even Rowhani can mend ties with the next US administration to the level he had with Obama. It looks like the good times between Iran and the US is coming to an end. The era of phone calls between Secretary John Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif, shared meals at Iranian restaurants in Montreux and Nowrouz tables at the White House is coming to an end. The Iran of the IRGC didn’t seize upon President Obama’s generosity and extraordinary softness toward the Islamic Republic. The cold wind of change with the new administration in Washington is chilling and reminds me of the time when George W. Bush called Iran a part of the “Axis of Evil” along with North Korea and Iraq.
 Of course, the situation and circumstances wouldn’t be as bad as the early 2000s but will never be as good as during Obama’s presidency. “It will be a day that us, with light in hand, look after Obama and Kerry,” prominent Iranian scholar Sadeq Ziba Kalam said to Nasim online to express his concern over Donald Trump’s presidency.
 
 Aleppo assault aims to displace 275,000 people
 Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/November 22/16
 East Aleppo is living through tragic and bleak days which neither words nor photos can describe. The Russian air force is shelling the city, while Bashar al-Assad’s forces and Iran’s militias are attacking the outskirts of the city. Meanwhile, Hezbollah militias are blocking the roads which provide supplies to the area. Five hospitals have been destroyed. The one which was most recently destroyed is a children’s hospital which jets shelled using Chlorine gas. There are no longer any places where people can transfer the thousands of injured to.
 Most attacks deliberately target the areas where there are civilians and not fighters. Why do they do that? It’s because they want to aggravate the tragedy, twist the world’s arm and displace whoever is left in the residential areas towards the Turkish borders. This is why they rejected requests to allow international relief supplies through and rejected Turkey and the UN’s proposal for the city’s autonomy. They’ve refused all solutions that end the tragedy. Meanwhile, the increasing operations of destruction continue around the clock. As one woman said, she tries to sleep just to escape the tragedy. Despite all this, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem said: “We do not accept the solution of the city’s autonomy. We will not allow aid to be delivered to the city, and we will not leave East Aleppo - with the 275,000 residents left in it - the captive of 6,000 terrorists.”The truth is the opposite of that. Assad’s forces and his Iranian and Russian allies are the ones who have taken the city’s residents as hostages and exploited them. They besiege and attack the city through the policy of starving its people, destroying houses and targeting hospitals. This does not only aim to eliminate 6,000 members of the Free Syrian Army but it is part of a plan to make Aleppo uninhabitable. Some may wonder what the difference between the FSA and al-Nusra Front is, since they all fight Assad. There is a huge difference and it lies in the purpose of fighting
 Aleppo’s massacre is happening before the entire world’s eyes. But despite the statements, no one is doing anything to stop it, which is the basis that paves the way for the upcoming phase of Syria’s “wars,” even if the Syrian army manages to storm the last FSA post and seize control over it. Those we are talking about are FSA fighters, not terrorist group fighters such as al-Nusra Front. The regime and its allies have come nowhere near to the militants, but still use them to justify their tactics, like they do to justify the resumption of their plan which will displace people and seize control of the city under the excuse of fighting Nusra and ISIS terrorists. Ever since the fighting widened last year, Assad’s forces, Hezbollah militias, the rest of the extremist Shiite groups and the Russian air force have not fought ISIS like they pledged they would. The party that is fighting ISIS in ar-Raqqah and other areas is the US-led coalition which facilitated Iran’s and Assad’s task and strengthened extremist Shiite militias which devoted their time to fight people in several areas that are mainly Sunni in order to solidify a sectarian Alawaite governance that follows a very small minority. What’s happening today is really mad and it will have deep and long-term repercussions in the near future.
 The domino effect of defeat
 What’s the next phase after Assad’s fall? The FSA, which represented the major power against the regime over the last five years and which represents the majority of Syrians, will weaken and may even disintegrate. Many of its fighters will leave its ranks to join armed, extremist Islamist groups like ISIS, al-Nusra Front and others. Some may wonder what the difference between the FSA and al-Nusra Front is, since they all fight Assad. There is a huge difference and it lies in the purpose of fighting. FSA fighters are Syrians whose patriotic goal is to liberate their land and country from the regime which they disagree with. Al-Nusra Front fighters, who are mostly Syrians unlike ISIS fighters who are mostly foreigners, have religious goals such as fighting infidels as they believe that most people are infidels - including their own countrymen who are Sunnis - and they aspire to establish their extremist caliphate and pursue jihad across the world. The current massacre in Aleppo and the massacres in Edleb’s and Hama’s countryside will push thousands of Syrians to join al-Nusra Front because it’s the only remaining party that’s willing to fight the regime. It’s through al-Nusra Front that they can get back at their enemies and the entire world. I am not talking about this for the purpose of begging support for the FSA; however. What the Russians, Iranians, Hezbollah and the Syrian regime are currently doing, i.e. sowing sectarian divisions in addition to the expanded murder of civilians and systematic displacement, will not be forgotten. East Aleppo may fall within days and other cities may fall afterwards as well. However the crisis will expand and the threat on the region and the world will double.
 *This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Nov. 22, 2016.
 
 Mohammed Surur passed away but Sururism lives on
 Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/November 22/16
 The death of Mohammed Surur ended a chapter of the history of political Islam in the Gulf. The Syrian cleric, who hailed from Houran, had spoken about his memories during a television show. His journey began with the traditional affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood. However, the problems which the group encountered in Syria forced him to seek another destination for his fundamentalist theories. He moved to Britain and then to Kuwait and to Saudi Arabia and studied at different religious institutions. His activity in Saudi Arabia’s Buraydah was interesting as he influenced students who later became symbols of “Islamist Awakening”. The magazine he established in Birmingham, named as-Sunnah, is the major source of Sururi political theory. Surur believed that his movement had a political vision. Perhaps his long journey was full of calls for recruiting followers and mobilizing the masses in order to create an ISIS. As-Sunnah accused late Saudi king Fahd bin Abdulaziz of betrayal in the early 1990’s. This indicated that Surur was busy with politics and was not just interested in it as he shifted to taking religious positions that may pave way to violent practices. Accusing others of betrayal is one of the most important stages of violence. Sururism is a byproduct of Brotherhood that amended whatever was lacking in the parent movement particularly in terms of doctrine. Sururism adopted Salafism as its doctrine and greatly focused on hakimiya (governance). It is a hybrid between Sayyid Qutb and Ibn Taimiya. In other words, Sururism is a Salafist Brotherhood movement. What’s interesting is how it focused on the unity of hakimiya as a doctrine within a pure political context and overlooked other unification aspects. This made its followers say: “It’s better to share castles than to share graves.” Even though Surur was a mathematics teacher, he recommended religious and political books to his students. This is not surprising as he was into politics.
 It is important to realize the extent of challenge posed by disastrous fundamental ideas at an early stage before we wake up one day and discover they have destroyed everything .Abdulaziz al-Yahya, a cleric who has followed up on Surur’s life and times, told journalist Hoda al-Saleh that Suroor did not deliver sermons at mosques. “He worked in the shadows until he went to Ahsa where he enjoyed more freedom and became more active. He spent a year and a half there. He used to swear at Manna al-Qattan because he had been assigned director of the Higher Judicial Institute, at Mohammed Mahmoud al-Sawwaf, an Iraqi preacher who was a consultant of King Faisal, and at Sheikh Ali al-Tantawi who taught classes at the Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University”.
 “All these men were assigned prominent positions and he believed they submitted to the government. Whenever he sat with someone, he used to talk about these men and warn of them,” Yahya said.
 Sururi influence
 This was the core of Sururi influence on the Saudi street. Surur used to attract young men to teach them everything about his ideology from scratch. He taught many people, who later became figures opposed to Saudi policy, ways to defend Sururi theories, which is based on absolute loyalty to the inspiring leader, and call for a nation that replaces their homeland as they seek to establish a “caliphate”.Sururism is the product of many factors. It’s a hybrid of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood ideology and emergence of Islamist movements in the Gulf. This established fundamentalism that could grow in this environment as it fed off the Gulf’s problems. This fundamentalism was revived with the Iraq-Iran War and the Gulf War and fed off internal social problems. It’s no surprise that Surur used his magazine to publish articles about Saudi and Kuwaiti affairs and to address his followers and supporters. He quietly built his organization, examined the circumstances and established ambient cell with mystery and calmness, as he himself put it. Surur did not hold traditional teaching classes as he did not think that interpretations of the Prophet’s hadiths – as they’re commonly carried out – are beneficial on the level of political theory. He wanted his vision to be the big political project in the Gulf. Surur’s death only ends this chapter but the theory is still out there and it has produced its own followers. He actually has a base of supporters. It is important to realize the extent of challenge posed by disastrous fundamental ideas at an early stage before we wake up one day and discover they have destroyed everything. Mohammed Surur wanted a Qutbi movement. His favorite quote regarding political work is the statement which Mohammed Qutb often repeated: “Ideas’ influence may be slow but its effects are certain.” **This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Oct. 22, 2016.

Trump's Iran Deal Rhetoric, Israelis Say Not So Fast
Tim Daiss/Forbes/November 22/16
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timdaiss/2016/11/22/trumps-iran-deal-rhetoric-israelis-say-not-so-fast/3/#47472f321368
Much has been made over Donald Trump’s surprising presidential win two weeks ago. The populist new president-elect hasn’t slowed down since then, giving plenty of fodder for both critics as well as supporters to digest.
While Trump puts together his cabinet, he is also talking about energy. According to reports, Trump has short-listed three names for Energy Secretary: James L. Connaughton chief executive of Nautilus Data Technologies and former environmental adviser to President George W. Bush, Robert E. Grady, a Gryphon Investors partner, and Continental Resources chief executive Harold Hamm – a champion of the nation’s oil and gas revolution.
Some of the energy issues facing the new administration include the Keystone XL pipeline, a politically divisive project that had been sidelined repeatedly by the Obama administration and finally rejected last November by the president.
Other energy decisions that will come across the new president’s desk include: considering what to do with the international Paris climate accord Obama has championed, trimming over-regulation that many claim has hobbled the country’s oil and gas industry, and the opening up of federal lands to oil and gas drilling – something that could help restore budget-bleeding Alaska to the forefront of U.S. oil production.
Trump will also consider the role of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Obama’s Clean Power Plan. That particular plan calls for utilities to lower carbon emissions and was at the heart of Obama’s commitment to the Paris agreement.
However, of all the decisions intersecting energy and geopolitics that the new president will make once he takes office, his decision over the Obama brokered nuclear deal between Iran and the so-called P5+1 (Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the U.S. and the EU) could be the most controversial.
Since Tehran agreed in July 2015 to scale back its nuclear capabilities in return for the lifting of most international sanctions, it has ramped up its oil production and became a major player within OPEC again. Now, at 3.92 million barrels per day (bpd) of output, the country is nearing its pre-sanction output mark of 4 million bpd
Obama tries to secure Iran deal
Despite Trump’s pledge to rip up the Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration is still forging ahead trying to secure it. Senior officials said yesterday that the administration is considering new measures in its final months in office to strengthen agreement. Action under consideration to buttress the pact includes steps to provide licenses for more American businesses to enter the Iranian market and the lifting of additional U.S. sanctions, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The officials were also quick to point out that the proposed new measures aren’t aimed at boxing in the new president-elect. They added that the proposals also are unlikely to make the nuclear agreement more difficult to rescind.
Israel’s take on Trump and Iran Deal
Of all the players impacted by the Iran nuclear deal and one that was most at odds with President Obama over its implementation has been Israel. Consequently, at first blush it seems that the general consensus in Israel would be to consider Trump their champion for pledging to trash the Iran nuclear deal – but not so.
Shemuel Meir, a former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) analyst and associate researcher at the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University says that the Iran deal is “beneficial to Israeli security, and thus must be safeguarded,” adding that the deal “removed the existential threat hovering above Israel.”
He said it “blocked Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon, and prevented the emergence of an arms race in the Middle East.” He argues that “without an Iranian nuclear weapon, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have no incentive to obtain nuclear weapons, thus preventing a domino scenario.”
“The deal also closed off the chapter of pre-emption strikes scenarios on Iran’s military targets and reduced the risks for a new and long regional war. A possibility that could become relevant should Iran deal be ripped up,” he says.
Others in the country agree. Two days after Trump’s win, The Times of Israel said that rolling back the Iran deal could isolate the U.S., alienate international allies, and play into the Iranian’s hands. Similar views have been common in the country.
However, most Israeli politicians are looking forward to Trump’s harder line against Iran. Aides for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the two leaders plan to meet in the first half of next year, probably by March, while the Israeli leader is already meeting with national security advisers to formulate a strategy.
A senior Israeli official said last week that Netanyahu is expected to tell Trump that Washington needs to take a harder line against Iran’s military program and lead a more concerted global effort to keep the country’s regional aspirations in check.
In August, the the Israeli Defense Ministry pulled no punches, comparing the Iran deal to the Munich Agreement signed by European powers with Nazi Germany in 1938. Many historians claim that western powers caved into Germany after the agreement, which led to World War II.
As far as Iran’s energy sector is concerned, any renegotiating or rescinding of the nuclear deal could eventually lead to fresh sanctions being put in place, while setting back the country’s oil and gas sector, with a corresponding knock-on effect on global oil production and supply