New Page 5

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006

Bible Quotations For Today
The Wise Men Knelt in front of the Child offered ther gifts Left without seeing Herod
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 02/01-12: In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,`asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: "And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel." ’ Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
"Book of Revelation 21,9-10/21-27: "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practises abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 27-28/15
ISIS Slaughtering Christians “In Their Beds”/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/December 27/15
The Real Threat to Palestinian Christians: Radical Islam/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/December 27/15
Has the U.N. resolution on Syria already been violated/Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/December 27/15
Five reasons why we must NOT censor ISIS propaganda/Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/December 27/15
A Saudi vow to protect regional security and stability/Samar Fatany/Al Arabiya/December 27/15
The battle over Sinai: ISIS's next strong force/Ronen Bergman/Ynetnews/December 27/15

Nasrallah: Retaliation to al-Quntar's Assassination Will Inevitably Come
Naharnet/December 27/15/Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah reiterated his pledge Sunday that his group will retaliate against Israel over the assassination of its senior operative Samir al-Quntar. “The retaliation to Samir's assassination will inevitably come,” Nasrallah vowed in a televised speech marking one week since Quntar's death in an air raid in Syria that Hizbullah has blamed on Israel. Nasrallah noted that the timing and place of retaliation is now in the hands of Hizbullah's fighters and military commanders. “We do not fear any repercussions or threats and we cannot tolerate that the blood of our jihadist fighters and brother be shed anywhere in this world,” Hizbullah's leader stressed. “The Israelis are hiding like rats along the border … The Israelis are worried and they should be worried -- along the border and inside Israel. Their threats will not benefit them,” Nasrallah added. He noted that Samir al-Quntar has become “an icon for the school of resistance.” “After he was freed from prison, Samir could have lived a normal life among his family and friends, and he could have stayed in the axis of resistance without getting involved militarily, but he refused to do so,” Nasrallah said. “It was one of the ideas I proposed to him and I told him that he could play an intellectual role,” he revealed. Referring to Quntar's role in the so-called Syrian Resistance for the Liberation of the Golan, Nasrallah added: “When the activities of the resistance started near the Golan, Israel grew very anxious, and it started retaliating in a disproportionate manner to any shelling or gunfire on the border, even if it did not cause casualties.”Hizbullah played a key role in Quntar's release after he had spent 30 years in Israeli jails, becoming known as the longest-serving Arab prisoner. Shortly after his release, Quntar joined Hizbullah. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said he became "head of the Syrian Resistance for the Liberation of the Golan," a group launched two years ago by Hizbullah in the Syrian region, most of which Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war. Nasrallah noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “sought to obtain international recognition of the annexation of the Golan under the excuse of the Syrian conflict.”“Israel decided that eliminating such an important target is worth the adventure and the sacrifice ... They thought that al-Quntar is not that important to Hizbullah,” he added.
On Monday, Nasrallah had pledged that Hizbullah would retaliate to the assassination “at the appropriate time and place and in the appropriate method.”

Hariri Remembering Shatah: We Will Remain Loyal to March 14's Unity
Naharnet/December 27/15/Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri hailed on Sunday on the second anniversary of the assassination of his advisor, Mohammed Shatah, his “friend's open mind, deep humanity, and honest patriotism.”He said via Twitter: “We will remain loyal to the unity of the March 14 coalition that Shatah had worked for.”“We will continue to remain committed to justice for him and all the martyrs of the Cedar Revolution,” he added. “Shatah was clear in his vision, hard working in his mission, loyal to his country, and a genius in defending sovereignty, democracy, and national unity,” he stressed. “On this day, I miss Shatah, the friend, brother, and comrade,” Hariri added. “We should be inspired from his insistence on dialogue, to mend bridges and derive solutions to restore our nation on the path of the state and dignity,” said the lawmaker. Shatah was killed in a bombing in downtown Beirut on December 27, 2013.Hariri had accused in the wake of the blast the criminals as being the same ones who assassinated his father, former PM Rafik Hariri, on February 14, 2005. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon tackling the 2005 murder has accused five Hizbullah members of being behind the crime.

Saniora Stresses March 14 Unity during Shatah Commemoration, Decries Slow Probe
Naharnet/December 27/15/Al-Mustaqbal bloc chief ex-PM Fouad Saniora stressed Sunday that the March 14 coalition will remain united despite the differences that emerged over MP Suleiman Franjieh's presidential nomination, as he lamented that a probe into the 2013 assassination of ex-minister Mohammed Shatah has not made much progress.“Shatah believed in the Lebanon of the state of law and equality and he called for the implementation of the Taef Accord,” said Saniora at a ceremony commemorating Shatah at the Mohammed al-Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut, which was attended by Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and other March 14 leaders and officials. He noted that Shatah's contributions “were effective in all the deliberations that led to the final text of (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1701, the creation of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the issues of the Shebaa Farms and the demarcation of the Exclusive Economic Zone.”“The crime of Shatah's assassination has created a void that we have not been able to fill until the moment,” Saniora noted. “We have not and will not change our goals and objectives and we will not stop our openness towards all our partners in the country in order to preserve civil peace. We will not back down on the slogans and objectives for which Shatah was martyred,” Saniora vowed.Turning to Hizbullah's military intervention in neighboring Syria, the former premier said the March 14 forces will never approve of Hizbullah's involvement in the conflict, warning that the party's young fighters are entangled in “a cause that is not their cause.”“Day after day, it is becoming evident that this is not the proper way to confront terrorism or protect Lebanon from it … This is not the right way to preserve the unity of the Lebanese and their civil peace or their relations with their Arab neighbors,” Saniora added. As for the relations among the March 14 forces, the ex-PM underlined that “the differences of opinion that occurred or might occur in the March 14 coalition over specific issues cannot affect the core of the cause, which is related to Lebanon's existence.”“The March 14 forces were and are still a national necessity today more than ever,” he said. Addressing the issue of the presidential vacuum, Saniora called for the speedy election of a president who would “preserve the Constitution and Lebanon's independence, unity and territorial integrity.”“The March 14 forces will remain, regardless of any disagreements, because their cause is related to Lebanon's fate. Nowadays we have three missions – electing a president, protecting Lebanon from the destruction that is surrounding us, and running public affairs in a manner that achieves welfare, reform and renaissance,” Saniora added. Lamenting lack of progress in the probe into Shatah's murder, the ex-PM said: “Is it reasonable that the investigations in the case of Shatah and his comrades have not made any progress although the security agencies have made achievements in the fight against terrorist groups and the Israeli-linked spy cells?”Shatah was killed in a bombing in downtown Beirut on December 27, 2013. Hariri had noted in the wake of the blast that the assassins are the same ones who murdered his father, former PM Rafik Hariri, on February 14, 2005. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon tackling the 2005 murder has accused five Hizbullah members of being behind the crime. Hizbullah has refused cooperation with the court and dismissed it as a U.S.-Israeli scheme aimed at tarnishing its image, vowing that the five accused will never be found.

2 Palestinians Stab Soldier, Killed by Troops
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 27/15/Two Palestinians in the West Bank stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier on Sunday and were shot dead by troops, the army said, the latest in a three-month wave of attacks. The Palestinian health ministry said that the assailants were Mohammed Sabaaneh, aged 17, and Nur Eddine Sabaaneh, 23, from Qabatia near Jenin in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The incident, in Huwara in the northern West Bank, was the second of the day. Earlier a Palestinian stabbed and moderately wounded a soldier in Jerusalem before he was arrested. A wave of violence since the start of October has claimed the lives of 135 people on the Palestinian side, 19 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean. Many of the Palestinians killed have been attackers while others have been shot dead by Israeli security forces during clashes. In Sunday's Huwara incident, the army said a second soldier may have been hit by fire from his own side but it was still investigating. The Israeli rescue service said it took two soldiers to hospital, one moderately wounded and one lightly, but it did not describe their injuries. A number of Palestinians have attempted attacks with kitchen knives in what some analysts have described as virtual suicide missions. Palestinians have grown frustrated with Israel's occupation, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership. Pope Francis, the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, used his traditional Christmas Day address to urge Israelis and Palestinians to resume "direct dialogue", saying the conflict had "serious repercussions" on the Middle East. U.S.-backed peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel collapsed in April 2014 after nine months of fruitless meetings amid bitter recriminations and mutual blame.

Child Killed by Gunshot in Baalbek
Naharnet/December 27/15/A toddler girl was killed Sunday by a gunshot from a hunting rifle in the Bekaa region of Baalbek, state-run National News Agency reported.“The body of the child Nagham Abbas al-Outa, 8, was transferred to the state-run hospital in Baalbek with a gunshot wound to the neck from a hunting rifle,” NNA said.Security forces immediately arrived on the scene and launched a probe.“According to preliminary investigations, Nagham was likely shot accidentally as a relative was cleaning the weapon,” the agency added.

One Killed, 7 Injured in Blast at Banana Fermentation Plant in Tripoli
Naharnet/December 27/15/One person was killed on Sunday in an explosion at a banana fermentation center in the northern city of Tripoli, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3). Seven people were also wounded in the blast that occurred in the city's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood. The National News Agency said that the explosion was sparked due to the use of carbide, which the most commonly used ripening agent for fruits. The security forces have since cordoned off the area. A similar incident took place in January 2013, when one person was killed and five others injured in an explosion at a banana fermentation plant in the southern city of Sidon.

Al-Rahi: Distinction Must Be Made between Accepting Presidential Initiative and Proposed Candidate
Naharnet/December 27/15/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi justified on Sunday his recent remarks that the political initiative aimed at ending the deadlock in Lebanon should be taken seriously. He said during his Sunday sermon: “Our saying that the initiative should be taken seriously means that we are distinguishing between it and the name being proposed.” Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls. Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri had proposed in recent months a settlement that would see Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh elected president as part of a greater political initiative in Lebanon. The suggestion was met with reservations from the March 8 and 14 camps. Al-Rahi's remarks on Thursday that the initiative “should be taken seriously” was met with criticism, most notably from the Change and Reform bloc.

Report: Al-Rahi's Call for Maronite Meeting Not Heeded
Naharnet/December 27/15/Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi had recently attempted to hold a meeting for the main Maronite leaders in Lebanon, revealed the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday. It said however that “some sides were not receptive of this call.” The patriarch's visitors told the daily that some Christian MPs and leaders are “uneasy” over his stances and are “imposing conditions” due to his support of the presidential initiative that is “backed by international powers.”Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri had proposed in recent months a settlement that would see Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh elected president as part of a greater political initiative in Lebanon. The suggestion was met with reservations from Christian Change and Reform bloc of the March 8 camp and Kataeb and Lebanese Forces of the March 14 coalition. Al-Hayat remarked that these reservations were reflected over the Christmas holiday whereby tradition calls for Christian figures to congratulate the patriarch on the occasion by visiting Bkirki. None of the major Christian leaders visited him this year, it noted. Notable figures who visited al-Rahi were former President Michel Suleiman, MP Marwan Hamadeh, and Nehmetallah Abi Nasr, who is a member of the Change and Reform bloc. Al-Rahi had on Thursday demanded “the election of a president as soon as possible” and “urged the political blocs to take the presidential settlement initiative seriously.” Lebanon was plunged in a vacuum in the presidency after the end of the term of Suleiman in May 2014 without the election of a successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.

Abou Faour: Iranian Reservations Hampering Political Initiative
Naharnet/December 27/15/Health Minister Wael Abou Faour revealed that no new developments have emerged regarding the initiative aimed at ending the political and presidential deadlock in Lebanon, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday. He told the daily: “Had we sensed some Iranian enthusiasm over the initiative, then we would have seen a different approach by the March 8 camp over it.”Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri had proposed in recent months a settlement that would see Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh elected president as part of a greater political initiative in Lebanon. The suggestion was met with reservations from the March 8 and 14 camps. “The proposal needs more discussions among the two coalitions, especially between Hizbullah and Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun from the March 8 side, and Hariri and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on the March 14 side” continued Abou Faour. “Contacts have resumed between Hariri and Geagea, but no breakthrough has yet been reached,” added the minister. Lebanon was plunged in a vacuum in the presidency after the end of the term of Michel Suleiman in May 2014 without the election of a successor. Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.

Fall of Ramadi Flashpoint Hands Iraq Forces Landmark Victory
News Agences/Naharnet/December 27/15/The Islamic State group abandoned its last stronghold in Ramadi Sunday, effectively handing Iraqi forces their biggest victory since last year's massive jihadist nationwide offensive. There were still parts of the flashpoint government complex the elite counter-terrorism service could not enter, as jihadists had rigged the entire area with explosives before retreating. And while pockets of jihadists may remain, Iraqi forces said they no longer faced any resistance, and officials were already congratulating them for liberating Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province. "All Daesh (IS) fighters have left. There is no resistance," Sabah al-Numan, the counter-terrorism force's spokesman, told AFP. "The operation is almost wrapped up," as a major clearing effort was still needed to allow forces to move in. People waving Iraqi flags celebrated the Ramadi victory in several cities, including Baghdad and the holy Shiite city of Karbala. Parliament Speaker Salim al-Juburi issued a statement congratulating the "heroes of the security forces for a great victory, which resulted in the liberation of the city of Ramadi from terrorism." The U.S.-led coalition, which was heavily involved in supporting Iraqi forces in Ramadi, also congratulated them on the success of an operation that began soon after they lost the city in May. "It is the result of many months of hard work by the Iraqi Army, the Counter Terrorism Service, the Iraqi Air Force, local and federal police and tribal fighters all supported by over 600 coalition air strikes since July," spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said.
Unknown casualties
Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led coalition air strikes had punched into the center of Ramadi on Tuesday, in a final push to retake the city. Fighting over the past two days had been concentrated around the government complex, whose recapture had become synonymous with victory in the battle for Ramadi. According to medical sources, 93 members of the security forces were brought in with injuries on Sunday alone. "The dead bodies are taken directly to the main military hospital" near the airport, said one hospital source. At least five government fighters have been killed over the past two days alone, but no official has divulged any overall toll for the operation.
Estimates a week ago were that the Islamic State had around 400 fighters to defend central Ramadi, many of them protecting the government compound. Those numbers were thought to have drastically declined over the past two days, with several fighters retreating from the main battle and dozens of others killed in fighting or in suicide attacks. Ali Dawood, the head of the neighboring Khaldiya council, said IS fighters used civilians as human shields to slip out of the government complex. "Daesh fighters forced all the families living around the compound to go with them in order to flee towards Sichariyah, Sufiya and Jweiba," on the eastern outskirts of Ramadi, he said. He had said on Saturday that more than 250 families had managed to escape the combat zones since the start of the operation and had been escorted to safety by the army.
Boost for the army
Ramadi lies about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Baghdad and is the capital of Anbar, which is Iraq's largest province and borders Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. A victory there would help boost Iraq's much-criticized military, which collapsed when IS took over large parts of the country in June 2014. The "Hashed al-Shaabi" (Popular Mobilization), a force dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias, played a leading role in the recapture of several cities and areas but stayed on the fringes in Ramadi. "The prestige goes to the Iraqi military," said political analyst Ihsan al-Shammari. "As an institution, it's the first time since the Daesh invasion (in June 2014) it has achieved a victory without the support of the Popular Mobilization force," he said. Shammari argued that the positive outcome in Ramadi would vindicate Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi as well as the coalition, both frequently criticized for failing to retake Ramadi faster. Government forces held off months of IS assaults in Ramadi until May 2015, when the jihadists blitzed them with massive suicide car bombs and seized full control of the city. The fightback has often been laborious and poisoned by political wrangling, but Defensce Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said a week ago that Iraqi forces had reclaimed half of the territory nationwide lost to IS last year. IS still holds Fallujah, which lies in the Euphrates Valley between Ramadi and Baghdad, as well as the country's second city of Mosul.

Iraqi forces surround ISIS-held complex in Ramadi
Reuters, Baghdad Sunday, 27 December 2015/Iraqi forces encircle the government complex in Ramadi, the last stronghold of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in the western city, and are about to enter it, joint operations command spokesman Yahya Rasool told Reuters. "We're clearing the buildings and streets around the complex of bombs in preparation to go in," he said. "I expect we will go into the complex in about an hour," he added. Recapturing Ramadi, which fell to the militants in May, would be one of the most significant victories for Iraq's armed forces since ISIS swept across a third of the country in 2014. The militants "seem to have fled the complex, we're not encountering any resistance," said Sabah al-Numani, a spokesman for the counter-terrorism units that are leading the fight on the government side. "We're seeing lots of Daesh bodies, killed in the air strikes on the compound," he told Reuters. The Iraqi government forces are backed by air support from an international coalition led by the United States. Shi'ite militias backed by Iran, which have played a major role in other offensive against ISIS, have been kept away by the Iraqi government from the battlefield in Ramadi to avoid sectarian tensions. If the offensive in Ramadi succeeds, it will be the second main city to be retaken from ISIS after Tikrit, in April. Officials said it would be handed over to the local police and to a Sunni tribal force once secured. After Ramadi, the army plans to move to retake the northern city of Mosul, the biggest population centre under ISIS control in Iraq and Syria. Dislodging the militants from Mosul, which had a pre-war population close to 2 million, would effectively abolish their state structure in Iraq and deprive them of a major source of funding, which comes partly from oil and partly from fees and taxes on residents.

Erdogan warns against Mideast sectarian divisions
By Staff writer, Al Arabiya News Saturday, 26 December 2015/The full interview with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, by Al Arabiya News Channel presenter Mountaha al-Ramahi, will be aired on Sunday at 16:00 GMT (19:00 KSA). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Al Arabiya News Channel that the Middle East is suffering from sectarian plots to divide the region. In a preview of the interview with the leader, to be aired fully on Sunday, Erdogan demanded that countries in the region come together to address this plot to stir sectarianism. Al Arabiya News Channel presenter Mountaha al-Ramahi interviewing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan He said there were “disagreements” between Turkey and Iran over regional issues. “There are disagreements between Turkey and Iran, but I do not want these disparities to affect good neighborly relations ... sectarianism should not prompt us to become enemies, Islam must be our reference. “There are intentions in the world to divide us and we need to join our efforts and come together. Look at what is happening in Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Libya ... we have to overcome these problems and if we manage to do so, the Islamic world will be more powerful,” Erdogan added.
Turkish presence in Iraq
On the Iraq crisis, the president said that Turkish forces currently training Iraqis in the Bashiqa Camp near Mosul, came at the request and knowledge of Iraqi authorities. However, he did not say whether these stationed forces will withdraw. “Iraqi-Turkish relations are good. We tackled developments in Iraq during [Iraqi Prime Minister] Haidar al-Abadi’s visit to Turkey,” he said. “When ISIS entered Iraq, the Iraqis asked for our help and we told them we were ready. We asked them to assign a suitable site to set up our base and so they did. It all began at the end of last year, and in March, we were allocated the Bashiqa area.”He added: “The Iraqi defense minister visited the training camp, but it seems that the developments in Syria have affected the situation in Iraq. Syria, Iran, Iraq and Russia have formed a quartet alliance in Baghdad and asked Turkey to join, but I told President [Vladimir] Putin that I cannot sit alongside a president whose legitimacy is distrustful.”The full interview with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, by Al Arabiya News Channel presenter Mountaha al-Ramahi, will be aired on Sunday at 16:00 GMT (19:00 KSA).

Israel ministers endorse bill to spotlight foreign-funded NGOs
AFP, Jerusalem Sunday, 27 December 2015/Israeli ministers on Sunday endorsed contentious draft legislation to toughen rules on rights groups which receive funds from abroad, the justice minister said, in a move left-wing NGOs have called a witch-hunt. Approval of the draft by the ministerial committee on legislation means that it now goes to parliament as a government bill, where it must pass three readings to become law. If the initiative is successful, Israeli non-governmental organizations which get at least half of their funding from “foreign state entities” will be obliged to identify donors on their financial statements and in official statements to Israeli public bodies. It would also compel staff of such NGOs to wear special identity tags when appearing in front of parliamentary committees, as is currently the case with paid lobbyists. The bill’s sponsor, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, has alleged that “blatant interference in internal Israeli affairs by foreign governments is unprecedented and widespread.”Shaked cited a U.N. inquiry into the 2014 summer war in Gaza, which concluded that Israel may have been guilty of war crimes. She said it relied on evidence from foreign-backed NGOs B’Tselem, Adalah and Breaking the Silence. She is a member of the far-right Jewish Home party, which has been at the forefront of attacks on such groups. “We are asking of states that wish to intervene in Israel’s internal affairs to do so publicly via diplomacy,” Shaked said in a statement on Sunday. Party leader Naftali Bennett, also education minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, has banned Breaking the Silence from addressing high-school students, which it had done for many years. The group is made up of Israeli military veterans who publicize abuses they say they have seen or taken part in during their military service in the occupied Palestinian territories. Several left-wing Israeli NGOs receive large percentages of their funding from abroad, including from European governments. Right-wing NGOs tend instead to be funded by private individuals, also often outside Israel, and so are not subject to the restrictions. “This is a disturbing milestone in right-wing efforts to delegitimize and silence these organizations,” the left-leaning Israeli daily Haaretz wrote in an editorial on Sunday. “Shaked’s bill represents a severe blow to freedom of expression and activity of organizations working in various fields who protect Israel’s moral image.”

North African al-Qaeda says top figure killed in ambush
The Associated Press | Algiers Sunday, 27 December 2015/The North African affiliate of al-Qaida says one of its leading figures has been killed in an ambush by Algerian soldiers. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, says that Abu al-Hassan Rachid al-Bulaydi, head of the Sharia Committee, was killed on Friday “as a result of an insidious ambush by the apostates,” according to a statement translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. The statement said he was killed in the Tizi Ouzou region east of Algiers.The Algerian Defense Ministry said two “dangerous terrorists” had been killed Friday in another part of Tizi Ouzou, and it wasn’t clear whether al-Bulaydi was one of the two. AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droukdel, is thought to be holed up in the mountainous Tizi Ouzou region. AQIM is blamed for sporadic attacks on soldiers.

Egypt military: 2 militants killed in northern Sinai
The Associated Press, Cairo Sunday, 27 December 2015/Egyptian military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir says the military has pursued and killed two "terrorist elements" and injured another in northern Sinai, where Egyptian forces are battling an insurgency by a local Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) affiliate. The military spokesman says in a Sunday statement on his official Facebook page that security forces chased two militants as they fled on a motorcycle, killing one and injuring another in the provincial capital of el-Arish. In another incident, military forces pursued a third militant near Mount Halal, leading to his death amid a gunfight. A Russian airliner crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula Oct. 31, killing all 224 people on board. Russia has said the crash was caused by an onboard bomb, which the local ISIS affiliate in northern Sinai claims it planted.

Paris attacker Samy Amimour buried
AFP, Paris Sunday, 27 December 2015/Samy Amimour, one of the men that massacred 90 people at the Bataclan music venue in Paris, was buried north of the city, local officials said Sunday.The 28-year-old was buried on Thursday in Seine-Saint-Denis suburb of Paris, where he grew up and his parents still live."There were very, very few people there," said a source in the local town hall. Amimour was previously a bus driver before spending around two years in Syria, according to family members who spoke to AFP in October, prior to the brutal attacks in Paris. Three other jihadists blew themselves up outside the Stade de France stadium, and another exploded his suicide vest outside a bar not far from the Bataclan. French law gives individuals the right to a burial either in their area of residence, the area they died, or where their family has a collective plot.

Baby killed in clashes between Turkish forces, Kurdish rebels
AFP - Diyarbakir, Turkey Sunday, 27 December 2015/A three-month baby and her grandfather were killed in crossfire in clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants in the southeast, medics said on Sunday.The family’s house in the southeastern town of Cizre came under shelling on Friday night as clashes intensified between Turkish security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The baby, identified as Miray, was shot in the head, doctors said. But the family called the ambulance when they saw Miray was breathing. Her 73-year-old grandfather Ramazan Ince was caught in the crossfire while he was carrying Miray to the ambulance, witnesses told AFP. But it was already too late for her and her grandfather died in hospital, medics said. The family claims that the fire came from the direction of the state hospital in Cizre, which is controlled by Turkish security forces. Tensions are rising throughout Turkey’s restive southeast, where curfew has been in place in a number of towns due to clashes. The operations mark a new escalation in the over three decade conflict with the PKK after a fragile truce collapsed in July after just one-and-a-half years. The army said on Saturday nearly 200 PKK militants were killed in the operations since the offensive began in mid-December.

Two Palestinians killed after stabbing soldier
Reuters, Jerusalem Sunday, 27 December 2015/Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians who stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, the army said, the latest attack in 12 weeks of heightened violence. Almost daily Palestinian stabbings, car-rammings and shooting attacks have killed 20 Israelis and a U.S. citizen, raising fears of a wider escalation a decade after the last Palestinian uprising subsided. Since the start of October, Israeli forces or armed civilians have killed at least 130 Palestinians, 81 of whom authorities described as assailants. Most of the others have been killed in clashes with security forces. In the latest fatal incident, the Israeli military said two Palestinians stabbed a soldier in the village of Hewara, near the West Bank city of Nablus. “Forces on site responded to the imminent danger and fired toward the attackers, resulting in their death. An initial inquiry suggests an additional soldier was injured as a result of the fire directed toward the attackers,” the military said in a statement. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said the two Palestinians were relatives, one aged 17 and the other, 23. Earlier in the day, a Palestinian stabbed and wounded a soldier near Jerusalem’s main bus station. The assailant was overpowered by a security guard and arrested, police said. The surge in violence has been fueled by Palestinians’ frustration over Israel’s 48-year occupation of land they seek for an independent state, and the expansion of settlements in those territories which were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinian leaders say a younger generation sees no hope for the future living under Israeli security restrictions and with a stifled economy. The latest round of U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed in April 2014. Violence has also been triggered by Muslim anger over stepped-up Israeli visits to Jerusalem’s al Aqsa mosque complex. The site, Islam’s holiest outside Saudi Arabia, is also revered by many Jews as a vestige of their biblical temples. Israeli leaders says Islamist groups who call for the destruction of Israel have played a major role in inciting the recent violence.

Saudi Arabia intercepts missile from Yemen
Reuters, Dubai Sunday, 27 December 2015/Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a Scud ballistic missile fired from Yemen on Saturday, according to a statement on the Saudi state news agency SPA. “Saudi Air Defense Forces intercepted at about 11 P.M. (2000 GMT) yesterday a Scud missile launched from Sanaa, in Yemeni territory, towards the city of Najran ... the air force immediately destroyed the rocket launch platform,” the Saudi statement said. The attack is the latest of several ballistic missile strikes by Yemeni forces on its northern neighbor, none of which have caused any reported casualties. A military alliance of mostly Gulf Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia in March began bombing Yemen’s Houthi militias, an ally of Iran, to try to restore the government of president Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi. The conflict has killed nearly 6,000 people and plunged the impoverished country into a humanitarian crisis, but a ceasefire coinciding with United Nations-backed talks began on Dec. 15. Yemen’s warring parties agreed to resume talks on Jan. 14.

Czech leader slams ‘organized migrant invasion’
AFP, Prague Sunday, 27 December 2015/Czech President Milos Zeman called the current wave of refugees to Europe “an organized invasion”, adding young men from Syria and Iraq should instead “take up arms” against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group. I am profoundly convinced that we are facing an organized invasion and not a spontaneous movement of refugees,” said Zeman in his Christmas message to the Czech Republic released Saturday. He went on to say that compassion was “possible” for refugees who are old or sick and for children, but not for young men who in his view should be back home fighting against militants. “A large majority of the illegal migrants are young men in good health, and single. I wonder why these men are not taking up arms to go fight for the freedom of their countries against the Islamic State,” said Zeman, who was elected Czech president in early 2013. He added that their fleeing their war-torn countries only serves to strengthen the ISIS group. The 71-year-old evoked a comparison to the situation of Czechs who left their country when it was under Nazi occupation from 1939-1945. It is not the first time Zeman has taken a controversial stance on Europe’s worst migrant crisis since World War II. In November, the left-winger attended an anti-Islam rally in Prague in the company of far-right politicians and a paramilitary unit. The country’s Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, who has previously criticized the head of state’s comments, said Zeman’s Christmas message was based “on prejudices and his habitual simplification of things”. Migrants are not the only target of Zeman’s caustic remarks: he said last week that his country should introduce the euro on the first day after indebted Greece’s departure from the common currency, causing Athens to recall its ambassador. He also said he was “very disappointed” that talks in the summer to eject Greece from the euro did not come to fruition. Both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, former communist countries that joined the European Union in 2004, have rejected the EU’s system of quotas for distributing refugees amid the current migrant wave. More than one million migrants and refugees reached Europe this year, mainly fleeing violence in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The crisis has strained ties within the European Union, with mostly newer members taking a firm anti-migrant stance and some northern countries like Germany welcoming those fleeing war. Few asylum seekers have chosen to stay in the Czech Republic, a NATO member nation of 10.5 million people. Regardless, a recent survey showed that nearly 70 percent of Czechs oppose the arrival of migrants and refugees in their country.

Russia releases footage of strikes on ISIS oil tankers
Staff writer, Al Arabiya News Sunday, 27 December 2015/Russia has released dramatic images of what officials claim to be a successful strikes targeting ISIS’s oil-smuggling tankers in northern Syria, without being more specific on their location. “We’ve attacked many terrorist bases, hits were identified on targets and much damage was caused to the terrorist infrastructure,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement this week following the release of the footage.Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Rudskoy speaks during a briefing in Moscow. (Reuters) The images, taken as stills from the fresh footage, show Russian warplanes striking tankers allegedly transporting oil for sale on the black market. Officials claimed to have destroyed “17 such truck columns in the past week alone - part of a Moscow-led onslaught against ISIS’s oil rackets that Russia says has wiped out nearly 2,000 oil tankers since Russia directly entered the war in Syria in September,” The Telegraph reported. It is unclear whether the tankards were being operated by ISIS or by other rebel groups. (Reuters) The footage, presented to the media by Lieutenant General Sergei Rudskoy, a senior figure in Russian Armed Forces command, showed the tankers being lit up with flames and plumes of thick black smoke followed. It is unclear whether the tankards were being operated by ISIS or by other rebel groups, as Russian warplanes have previously targeted moderate rebel groups across northern Syria, while claiming to have only targeted ISIS positions. The Kremlin said it had also hit “one of the main headquarters of the militants” in an airstrike on an undisclosed location. Russia's air force has made 5,240 sorties since it started the strikes in Syria on Sept. 30, including 189 sorties last Thursday alone, Russia's defense ministry told reporters on Friday. (With Reuters)

15,000 protest Turkey’s military crackdown on Kurdish rebels
AFP, Berlin Sunday, 27 December 2015/Around 15,000 people marched in Dusseldorf on Saturday to protest against Turkey’s military crackdown against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels, local police said. The marchers, demonstrating on behalf of Germany’s federation of Kurdish groups, Nav-Dem, also slammed the European Union for striking a refugee “deal” with Ankara, promising three billion euros in return for holding back refugee flows. A police spokesman said the turnout at the protest was far higher than the 7,000 people expected by the organizers. After a ceasefire for more than two years, fighting resumed last summer between Turkish security forces and the PKK, dashing hopes of ending a conflict that has left more than 40,000 people dead since 1984. Turkish security forces are currently imposing curfews in several towns in the Kurdish-dominated southeast in a bid to root out PKK rebels from urban centers. The operations mark a new escalation in five months of fighting with the PKK, which initially fought for Kurdish independence but now presses more for greater autonomy and rights for the country’s largest ethnic minority.

U.S. reports 17 air strikes against ISIS on Christmas Day
By The Associated Press, Washington Sunday, 27 December 2015/The Pentagon says the United States hit ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria with 17 airstrikes on Christmas Day. The strikes targeting ISIS fighters, facilities and vehicles were carried out by fighter aircraft, bombers and remotely controlled aircraft. The Pentagon said Saturday that five of the strikes were carried out in Syria and 12 in Iraq. The strikes targeted ISIS tunnels, explosive manufacturing sites and other targets such as bridges and ISIS fighting outposts. All U.S. aircraft returned safely. The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation that is designed to target ISIS.

Egypt jails two policemen to life over torture killing
AFP, Cairo Sunday, 27 December 2015/An Egyptian court sentenced two policemen to life in jail for torturing to death a man in custody, in the third such verdict this month, a judicial source said. A court in the Nile delta city of Tanta sentenced Lieutenant Ahmed al-Kafrawi and Sergeant Hani Salah in absentia to life behind bars for killing Ismail Abdelhamid in October last year. The two fugitives were also handed a year in jail for violence against another detainee, the source said. Under Egyptian law, they will be given a new trial if they are arrested or turn themselves in. Rights groups regularly accuse the regular police and members of the secret police of abusing and torturing detainees. Saturday’s judgement was the third this month for a death in custody, after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned that police officers found guilty of “committing mistakes” would be punished. On Dec. 12, an Egyptian court sentenced two secret policemen to five years in prison for beating to death an imprisoned lawyer in a Cairo police station in February. The verdict came two days after another court sentenced an officer to five years for beating to death a suspect in a drug case in the Nile delta town of Rashid. The prosecutor general has also ordered 13 policemen to stand trial next month for beating to death a man in custody in the southern city of Luxor in November. Police abuses under former president Hosni Mubarak were a key factor for the 2011 uprising that led to his ouster. One of the triggers of the revolt was the case of a young man, Khaled Saeed, tortured to death by police after his arrest in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. Mubarak was succeeded in 2012 by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Mursi, who lasted a year in power before his ouster by the army following massive rallies demanding his resignation. Mursi’s overthrow unleashed a deadly crackdown on his supporters in which thousands have been detained, and accusations of ill treatment in prisons are common. The interior ministry has said it does not condone torture but says there have been “individual” cases of abuses.

Iraqi Kurdish forces in anti-ISIS commando raid: officials
AFP, Kirkuk Sunday, 27 December 2015/Iraqi Kurdish forces carried out a commando operation near Hawijah in which several senior members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were captured or killed, local and security sources said Saturday.The operation involved helicopters and bore similarities with a joint raid elite Kurdish troops conducted in October with U.S. special forces also near Hawijah, the sources said. Local Iraqi security officials said the raid took place overnight in the town of Riyadh, south east of ISIS-held Hawijah and south-west of Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk.
“The operation targeted a Daesh (ISIS) hideout,” said Sarhad Qadir, a police brigadier general in Kirkuk district. “A fight erupted between the two sides which led to the death of several Daesh members and the arrest of another group of them,” he told AFP. Qadir and other officials said a local ISIS leader called Hussein al-Assafi was among those killed in the operation. Some sources said the raid was a joint operation with U.S. commandos but the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition’s spokesman, Colonel Steve Warren, denied any involvement. Rokan Mekhlef Jassem, a police captain from Hawijah, said nine IS members were detained and 12 killed, but no confirmation was immediately available from the government of the autonomous Kurdish region. Ibrahim al-Juburi, an official in the Hawijah mayor’s office before the area was taken over by ISIS last year, also confirmed a raid on a jihadist hideout. He said Assafi was a member of the Islamic Army from 2003 to 2010 and then of the Ansar al-Sunna insurgent group. He pledged allegiance when ISIS took over in June 2014 and was made a militant chief in Riyadh, Juburi said. Iraqi forces, including fighters from the Popular Mobilisation paramilitary organization and from the Kurdish peshmerga, have been slowly closing in on Hawijah in recent months. Kurdish anti-terrorism forces and U.S. special forces conducted a raid on October 23 during which 70 captives described as facing imminent execution were freed. A U.S. serviceman died of wounds sustained during the brazen operation, which seemed to mark a break from Washington’s declared “no boots on the ground policy.” The U.S. defense secretary, Ashton Carter, said the next day that he expected more such raids in the future.

Armed Kurdish group claims Turkey airport blast
AFP, Diyarbakir Saturday, 26 December 2015/An armed Kurdish group on Saturday claimed an explosion near a plane at Istanbul’s second international airport which killed a female cleaner and wounded another. “We ... claim the attack carried by mortar bombs at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport,” on Wednesday, the Freedom Falcons of Kurdistan (TAK) said on its website. Airport cleaner Zehra Yamac, 30, died of head wounds hours after the blast on the tarmac at the airport on the Asian side of Turkey’s largest city. The wounded victim was also a cleaner. The attack came as Turkey wages an all-out offensive against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which launched an armed insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, initially fighting for Kurdish independence, then pressing for greater autonomy for the country’s largest ethnic minority. Turkish officials say TAK is a front for PKK attacks on civilian targets and the PKK claims TAK is a splinter group over which it has no control. On its website, TAK lashed out at what it described as a “war coalition” between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Islamic State group against the Kurds. It also said the airport attack was a response to the “fascist attacks that turn Kurdish cities into ruins.”The armed group, which had been silent for some time, claimed the attack had inflicted “serious damage” to the airport and that five planes were “heavily” damaged.

Search Ends for Missing in Myanmar Jade Mine Landslide
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/December 27/15/Rescuers in northern Myanmar called off their search for workers feared buried in a jade mine landslide, police said Sunday, with no missing people or bodies recovered. A wall of rocks, mud and debris careered down a hillside on Friday afternoon at Hpakant in Kachin state, the war-torn area that is the epicenter of Myanmar's secretive multi-billion-dollar jade industry. Locals reported as many as 50 people might have been buried. But officials played down those numbers, saying only three men had been reported missing. More than 100 people were killed in the same area in a landslide last month, highlighting the huge risks people take to fuel global -- and particularly Chinese -- demand for jade. A police officer in Hpakant said rescue efforts were called off because the risk of further landslides was too great. "The rescue process was stopped this afternoon because there were possible dangers and cracks appearing on the debris dump site," the officer, who asked not to be named, told AFP. "We haven't found anybody and we don't know how many casualties there were," he added. Another police officer had earlier told AFP three people were thought to be missing. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar Sunday reported the same figures. The paper quoted Tin Swe Myint, head of the Hpakant Township Administration Office, as saying that the landslide took place after most workers had finished work and unlike last month's tragedy it had not engulfed a row of shanty houses. However a second police officer warned it was difficult to say for sure how many have been caught up in the landslide. "We have no idea how many might be buried there," local officer Thet Zaw Oo told AFP by phone. Myanmar's shadowy and poorly regulated jade trade is enormously dangerous, with landslides a frighteningly common hazard. Those killed are mainly itinerant workers who scratch a living picking through the piles of waste left by large-scale industrial mining firms in hopes of stumbling across an overlooked hunk of jade that will deliver them from poverty. A civilian rescuer who asked not to be named said the landslide site was far from Hpakant town and had no phone coverage. "There are many cracks (in the ground), it's very dangerous for rescue teams to drive diggers there," he said, adding that locals still believed dozens could be buried. Myanmar is the source of virtually all of the world's finest jadeite, a near-translucent green stone that is enormously prized in neighboring China, where it is known as the "stone of heaven". But while mining firms -- many linked to the junta-era military elite -- are thought to be raking in huge sums, local people complain they are shut off from the bounty. In an October report advocacy group Global Witness estimated that the value of Myanmar jade produced in 2014 alone was $31 billion and said the trade might be the "biggest natural resource heist in modern history".

ISIS Slaughtering Christians “In Their Beds”
Muslim Persecution of Christians, October 2015/
by Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/December 27/15
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2015/12/27/raymond-ibrahim-isis-slaughtering-christians-in-their-beds/
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7121/isis-slaughtering-christians
“People are even killed inside the camps, and the refugees are afraid to say if they saw somebody get killed. … they’re buying and selling ladies and even girls.”— Former ISIS operative.
“We will not stop hunting Christians and burning churches. Christians are Allah’s enemies!” — Extremist Islamic leaders, Indonesia.
“My family members and I have been marked for death, and everyone in the community denied ever knowing my family or me…” — A convert to Christianity, Nigeria.
“In Bangladesh, Christians are a weak minority and this is why Muslims are attacking us.” — Nirmal Rozario, general secretary of the Bangladesh Christian Association.
Teams of trained killers disguised as refugees were sent by the Islamic State (IS) into U.N. refugee camps to kill Christians, including “in their beds,” and to kidnap young girls to sell or use as slaves. This was revealed on October 24, according to a report, soon after an IS operative “got cold feet and renounced jihad after witnessing Christians helping out other refugees within the camp. He then revealed that he had been sent with an Islamist hit squad to eliminate Christians as part of the hate group’s ideological drive to wipe the religion off the map.” The report also quoted an aid worker saying:
They’re like a mafia. People are even killed inside the camps, and the refugees are afraid to say if they saw somebody get killed. If you ask them, they’ll say, “I don’t know, I was asleep.”… The camps are dangerous because they have IS, Iraqi militias and Syrian militias. It’s another place for gangs…. They’re killing inside the camps, and they’re buying and selling ladies and even girls.
The rest of October’s roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Islamic State Slaughter of Christians
Syria: The Islamic State executed three Christian men who, along with 250-300 other Christians, were abducted in an earlier raid on an Assyrian Christian village. In the video of the execution, the three Christians appeared on their knees, dressed in the usual orange jumpsuits; they were then shot dead by three masked executioners. Before being killed, each of the Christians identified himself by name and village of origin. The president of the Alliance church in Syria described one of the slain as “a great man of God who took a risk by staying in his village to take care of his people and to encourage them in the Lord.” In the same video, ISthreatened to execute the remaining Christian hostages unless a ransom — as much as $100,000 USD per hostage — was met.
Islamic State jihadists execute three Assyrian Christian men in Syria, on September 23, 2015.
Libya: A group claiming affiliation with the Islamic State announced the beheading of a Christian man of South Sudanese origin who had been living and working in Libya since 1989. It is unclear when the execution took place. A masked IS figure appears in the video and accuses South Sudan of mistreating Muslims. He does this despite South Sudan having an interim constitution that defines itself as a secular state — unlike Sudan, which rules according to Sharia and oppresses non-Muslims: “Oh Christians in South … no safety or shelter for you except that of the Islamic State,” the masked jihadi says. The Christian is then forced down to his knees, his throat slit and his head cut off.
Muslim Attacks on Christian Churches
Indonesia: Several churches were destroyed by Muslim rioters and local authorities in Aceh. On October 9, hundreds of Muslims marched to the local authority’s office and demanded that all unregistered churches in Aceh be closed. Even though the authorities agreed, on October 13, a mob of approximately 700 Muslims, some armed with axes and machetes, torched a local church. When the mob moved to a second church, they engaged in violently clashes with Christians trying to protect their church. One person, believed to be a Christian, was killed and several injured. About 8,000 Christians were displaced. Extremist Islamic leaders afterwards issued messages: “We will not stop hunting Christians and burning churches. Christians are Allah’s enemies!” In response, local authorities demolished three churches (one Catholic, two Protestant) on October 19, and vowed to destroy many more in the months to come.
Sudan: Two churches were destroyed in separate incidents. On October 17, a Lutheran church was burned down in Gadaref. The building was completely destroyed, including the furniture and Bibles inside. On October 22, in Omdurman, after giving the congregation only 72 hours’ notice and citing “redevelopment,” authorities demolished the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sudan. The church had stood on the same location for over 30 years. According to local sources, Muslims set fire to the building before officials ordered bulldozers to tear down the rest of it. “The strange thing is that the church was destroyed but the mosque was still standing in its place! This shows us many things… We were asking them, ‘Where are our rights?’” a Lutheran church leader said.
Syria: On the night of October 25, a mortar shell hit the Latin church of Aleppo, dedicated to Saint Francis, as mass was being celebrated. Launched from areas held by anti-Assad forces, the shell hit the roof and exploded outside. Seven people were injured. According to Bishop Georges, the apostolic vicar of Aleppo, “It was around 10 before six in the evening, there were about 400 people in church and the time had come for communion… If the grenade had exploded inside there would have been a massacre. Instead, only seven worshippers were injured, not in a serious way, when rubble fell down and the roof was damaged.”
Iraq: At least eight historic and ancient Christian churches in Mosul were used as animal slaughterhouses by the Islamic State during Bakr-Eid, the Islamic Festival of Sacrifice. The St. Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church, which was seized by the Islamic State (IS) a year ago, was one of them. In June, IS had announced that the church would be reopened as a “mosque of the mujahideen,” even though the ancient church was later apparently deemed suitable only for slaughtering animals.
Germany: On October 20 in Cologne, eight young men appeared in court and were charged with robbing churches and schools to finance the Islamic State’s jihad in Syria. The central figure in the gang, of Moroccan background, had also uploaded a YouTube video encouraging Muslims to join IS. When the eight young men had earlier broken into churches, they had stolen collection boxes, crosses, and other objects “dedicated to church services and religious veneration,” the prosecutors alleged.
Slaughter and Persecution of Muslim Converts to Christianity
Uganda: Muslims, angry at a former Muslim for converting to Christianity, killed his wife, a mother of eight children. On October 19, men had come knocking on the family’s door looking for the apostate. His wife told them he was away, according to her children who were present. One of the men said, “Your husband has followed the religion of his brother [Christianity], and we had warned you people to stop these activities, but our message has landed on deaf ears.” Next, “[t]he attackers dragged our mother outside the house as she screamed and cried for help,” said her 13-year-old. The Christian woman was later found in a pool of her own blood 100 meters away. Rushed to a hospital, she was declared dead on arrival. A few weeks earlier, her husband’s brother had also been killed after a religious debate with Islamic scholars.
Nigeria: A former Muslim who converted to Christianity revealed his all-too-typical experiences — including how the jihadi organization Boko Haram tried to kill him, burned his stores and his father’s home, and slaughtered one of his cousins, a college student:
A few months after my conversion to Christianity, I received several threats and warnings from the insurgents, telling me to revert to my former religion or face dire consequences. I received written threats saying I could only run but could not hide, which I took to the Police and they told me they would do something about it, but nothing was done… I conducted my own investigations. One of my neighbors whose brother received the same notes because of his conversion a few years ago was killed by an unknown killer…. My family members and I have been marked for death, and everyone in the community denied ever knowing me or my family…
Kazakhstan: On October 9, a court began hearing a case against a Muslim convert to Christianity, facing as much as ten years in jail on charges of “inciting religious hatred.” A member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, the 54-year-old man was led to the courtroom in handcuffs. Several witnesses in the case reportedly testified that during Bible study sessions he had expressed ideas that sounded “insulting to Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad.” His case is part of what Christian advocacy groups view as a pretext to persecute Christians minorities, especially converts, or “apostates,” in the Muslim majority nation.
Dhimmitude in Egypt
An Egyptian teacher of Arabic whipped a 10-year-old Coptic Christian boy with 40 lashes in a Cairo school. The doctors who later examined the boy’s wounds “could not believe that a teacher could do this,” said the boy’s father. On October 21, during the Coptic student’s last class of the day, Arabic, the teacher told the pupils to remain silent until they had copied all the Arabic phrases on the board, which were likely derived from the Koran. When Babawi, the Christian boy, asked the student in front of him to move his head so he could see the blackboard, the teacher proceeded to lock the door and flog him 40 times with a large electrical cord all over his body. The boy passed out and was found drenched in his own blood. Later he was found to have severe damage to his bones and kidney. The boy’s father filed a police report and spoke to school authorities, but, he said, “Until now, no legal steps have been taken against the teacher.”
In late October, a Christian man was abducted and tortured for refusing to convert to Islam. Fayiz Fouad, a Christian, was kidnapped as he was returning from a visit to the St. George Coptic Orthodox Monastery in Qena. He was held hostage for three days. During that time, he was tortured in an “ugly manner,” according to a rights activist: “The story isn’t merely about kidnapping; it has an ISIS component to it.” His family managed to release him with the help of an influential village elder — and the payment of 50,000 Egyptian pounds, or $6,225 USD. According to the rights activist, “The issue of kidnapped Copts continues in Nag Hammadi, despite the fact that Egyptian Security knows where these kidnappers are situated and their identities, and yet remains silent about their crimes.”
In Minya, a group, still unknown, broke into a Christian household on October 21 and snatched a five-year-old child from his bed. They threatened to slaughter him unless a 200,000 Egyptian pound ransom (more than $25,000) was received. The child’s father went to police but they refused to help: “Although I gave the police all the details of the call, the cellphone number which called me, but they still didn’t help us, they didn’t even follow up the phone call, try to identify the caller or arrest the kidnappers.” Unable to raise the large amount they asked, he pleaded with the kidnappers and they agreed to release the child for 45,000 Egyptian pounds (nearly $6,000).
On October 5, after a Christian student stood up to a Muslim bully, around 200 Muslims rioted in the town of Samalout, in the Minya Governorate. At least ten Christians were hospitalized; several shops and homes were attacked and destroyed. The attacks continued until police arrived and forced the Muslim rioters to retreat. Even though the identities of many of the assailants were known to police, no arrests were made.
Dhimmitude in Bangladesh
A Christian priest survived an attempt on his life by three Muslims who had pretended to be interested in Christianity to gain entrance to his house. Luke Sarker, the 52-year-old pastor of Faith Bible Church, suffered injuries when the men, aged between 25-30, tried to slit his throatwith a knife at his home in the district of Pabna. The story had begun a month earlier, when one of the attackers contacted the pastor and said he wanted to convert. “I cannot convert you,” Sarker had said, “but you can come to me to know about Christianity.” The following day two men came and he preached the Gospel to them as his wife served them tea. “They said they liked whatever I shared with them. When they left my home, they said they would like to come again to my house. I appreciated and welcomed their forthcoming visit, because telling about Jesus is my work.” Soon the two plus another came unannounced. The pastor took them in: “I spent around half an hour with them discussing about Christianity. Suddenly, one of them grabbed my neck just under the chin. I tried to shout but could not. I was groaning and tried to bite the fingers of the grabber. The other two persons tried to slit my throat with a knife.” Sarker’s family rushed in to help their father fight off the Muslims; his wife shouted for help, and when a neighbor came in, the assassins fled the scene.
Separately, on October 15, about 100 Muslims attacked a Christian family in Dhaka and forced them to abandon their three-room house. “They wanted to shoot me. They told us that they would kill us if we had opposed the expropriation of our house,” one of them said. The intruders were accompanied by police, “who witnessed the expropriation and did nothing to stop it. We lost our possessions, money, and we’re out of the house.”
“I visited the place occupied by Muslims,” said Nirmal Rozario, general secretary of the Bangladesh Christian Association: “They are committing a grave injustice against the Christian community. In Bangladesh, Christians are a weak minority and this is why Muslims are attacking us.”
About this Series
While not all, or even most, Muslims are involved, persecution of Christians is expanding. “Muslim Persecution of Christians” was developed to collate some — by no means all — of the instances of persecution that surface each month.
It documents what the mainstream media often fails to report.
It posits that such persecution is not random but systematic, and takes place in all languages, ethnicities and locations.
Raymond Ibrahim is author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War in Christians (published by Regnery in cooperation with Gatestone Institute, April 2013).

The Real Threat to Palestinian Christians: Radical Islam
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute/December 27/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7120/palestinian-christians-threat
The Christians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are no different from their brothers in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya, who face a ruthless campaign of ethnic cleansing at the hands Islamist groups. Yet Palestinian Authority (PA) leaders want the world to blame only Israel for the predicament of Christians.
The PA's decision to cancel Christmas celebrations had nothing to do with Israel or the "intifada." It came after threats by Muslim extremists to target Christians and their holy sites.
On Christmas Day, Muslim Palestinians hurled stones at the car taking the head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land to Bethlehem. It would not surprise anyone if next year the PA decides to cancel Christmas celebrations for "security reasons."
If, in the media and the international community, this strategy of turning a blind eye to the Muslim persecution of Christians continues, next year's Christmas in Bethlehem is sure to be an even less happy one.
This was not a happy Christmas for our Palestinian brothers in the West Bank who happen to be Christian. The Palestinian Christians have now become a tiny minority in Bethlehem. This year, they were just lucky that Christmas passed without a major terrorist attack or serious outbreaks of violence.
On Christmas day, Muslim Palestinians hurled stones at the car taking the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, to Bethlehem. Twal, head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, was fortunately not hurt in the attack. The stone-throwers, local residents said, were from a refugee camp near Bethlehem. They had apparently said they were opposed to holding any form of celebrations in Bethlehem -- on the pretext that there is no reason to celebrate while Palestinians are being killed by Israelis -- who, by the way, have merely been trying to stop Palestinians from killing them.
There is no guarantee, however, that next year's Christmas in Bethlehem --- and other Palestinian cities and villages -- will be safe for our Christian brothers. It would not be surprising if next year the Palestinian Authority (PA) decides to cancel Christmas celebrations for "security reasons."
The Palestinian Authority leadership, just before Christmas, announced that celebrations this year would be limited to religious festivities, because of the ongoing wave of terrorism against Israelis -- attacks that some of our leaders are calling the "Al-Quds Intifada" or the "popular uprising. Our leaders also told the Christian population that there was no reason to celebrate while Palestinians were being shot and killed by Israelis -- meaning those Palestinians killed while stabbing Jews with knives or running Jews down with cars.
On the eve of Christmas, however, it became clear that the real reason behind the PA's decision to cancel public celebrations had nothing to do with Israel or the "intifada." The decision, it turned out, came after threats by Muslim extremists to target Christians and their holy sites. Christian residents of Bethlehem and Ramallah said they received threats and demands to cancel celebrations from various Islamic groups. Their threats come in the context of ongoing Islamist persecution of Christians not only in the Palestinian territories, but also in other Arab countries, such as Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt.
It is this campaign of intimidation against Palestinian Christians that prompted the Palestinian Authority security forces to arrest scores of Islamists in the West Bank ahead of Christmas.
One report, which said that Palestinian security forces in the West Bank had rounded up 16 men affiliated with Islamic State and other jihadi groups, was truly startling. Our leaders in Ramallah have long been denying the presence of Islamic State followers in the West Bank. These men in Ramallah are always saying that such claims are "rumors" spread by Israel to create confusion and anarchy among Palestinians. The clampdown on Islamists in the West Bank shows that our leaders have been lying to us and to the rest of the world, as well.
It also shows that, contrary to what the Palestinian leadership has been saying, Israel and the "intifada" had nothing to do with the decision to cancel Christmas celebrations. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in his Christmas message, chose to ignore the Islamist threats against Palestinian Christians. Instead, he put all the blame on "extremist Israeli settlers," whom he accused of "attacking churches and mosques."
Apparently, President Abbas and our leaders are living on a different planet where people do not hear of the plight of Christians in our neighboring Arab countries. There is, it seems, on Planet Ramallah, no campaign of intimidation and terrorism waged by Palestinian Islamists against our Christian brothers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Even before the attack on Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, Palestinian Muslims had set fire to a Christmas tree in the Christian village of Al-Zababdeh, in the northern West Bank. Palestinian security forces arrested two Palestinian Muslims belonging to a radical Islamist group, in connection with the arson.
On top of that, in a cynical exploitation of a Christian symbol to promote violence and hate, Palestinian Muslims have been disguising themselves in Santa Claus costumes while throwing stones at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. It is hard to think of anything more saddening than to watch a Santa Claus engage in violence instead of handing out gifts and candies to little children.
President Abbas, however, does not appear to consider this an insult to Christians and their faith. It seems the Palestinian agitators dressed in Santa Claus outfits were hoping to show the world that Israeli soldiers were deliberately attacking Christians and their symbols. It is not yet clear if there was any disappointment that the Israeli soldiers were apparently not the least bit interested in taking the bait.
For this condition, the mainstream Western media is largely to blame. It has long been complicit, unethically and immorally, in helping Palestinians spread their message of anti-Israeli hate. The Western journalists and photographers covering the violence knew perfectly well that the men wearing Santa Claus outfits and throwing stones while yelling "Allahu Akbar" were in fact Muslims, not Christians, but not one of them chose to report this important fact.
Muslim Palestinians in the Bethlehem area, among them men dressed in Santa Claus costumes, hurl stones at Israeli soldiers while yelling "Allahu Akbar," on Dec. 18, 2015. (Image source: Anadolu Agency video screenshot)
Unfortunately for our Palestinian Christian brothers, a vulnerable minority, this was a somber Christmas in the West Bank. What seemed to many of us most painful on this holiday was not the wave of terrorism against Jews, or the "occupation," but the seriously growing threat of radical Islam.
The Christians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are no different from their brothers in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya, who face a ruthless campaign of persecution and ethnic cleansing at the hands of Islamic State and other Islamist groups. Yet, that is a circumstance our leaders in Ramallah do not want the world to know. They want the world to blame only Israel for the predicament of the Christians in the Palestinian territories and the Middle East.
If, in the media and the international community, this strategy of turning a blind eye to the Muslim persecution of Christians continues, next year's Christmas in Bethlehem is sure to be an even less happy one.
**Bassam Tawil is a scholar based in the Middle East.

Has the U.N. resolution on Syria already been violated?
Brooklyn Middleton/Al Arabiya/December 27/15
The latest and rare paper victory for Syria has yet to bring forth any change on the ground or even begin to halt the bloodshed. I believe the United Nations Resolution 2254 has been repeatedly violated since its adoption on December18, frequently by Russia – a signatory to the agreement. Without any consequences ensuing for the continued breaches, the agreement will ultimately prove meaningless. On December26, at least nine people were killed, including five children, when Russian aircraft aerially bombarded a school in the Jarjanaz area of Idlib province. Video footage and photographs of the attack aftermath, circulating on Twitter, showed familiar scenes: Blood-soaked sidewalks, endless rubble and tiny, mangled bodies. One day prior to that deadly attack, the Syrian Network for Human Rights indicated that Russia carried out a number of airstrikes on a women and children’s hospital in Aleppo, rendering it useless. Important actors have agreed on the steps that need to be taken in Syria; those ignoring what they have just vowed to uphold must be dealt with. Quite clearly, both attacks were in flagrant violation of stipulation number thirteen of resolution 2254, which indicates that all signatories have agreed to “cease any attacks against civilians and civilian objects as such, including attacks against medical facilities and personnel.”Meanwhile, Amnesty International has just released a briefing detailing Russia’s indiscriminate bombing campaign since it intervened militarily in the country. Director of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa Program Philip Luther noted that there was damning evidence indicating Russia may have carried out war crimes in Syria, “by striking residential areas with no evident military target and even medical facilities, resulting in deaths and injuries to civilians.”
Bombing civilian sites
In addition to Russia’s continued attacks against civilians, reports indicate forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad carried out a chemical weapons attack, possibly using Sarin, in the rebel-held town of Moadamiyeh, located south west of Damascus, on December 23. At least five people were reportedly killed. There is no likelihood Russia and the Assad regime will sit down for talks to discuss the most complex matters of the conflict when they refuse to even halt bombing civilian sites. This critical point should trigger a shift in the current focus of future discussions: First, stop the bloodshed and then talk later. Russia’s failure to uphold one of the most basic tenets of the new resolution underscore its inability to act as a partner for peace in Syria. There can be no genuine progress made on bringing stability to Syria while parents are digging their children out of rubble or people are suffocating to death from toxic gas.
All signatories of the resolution should convene for an urgent meeting and confront Russia directly. The failures of the U.S.-Russia backed chemical weapons deal, which resulted from a lack of following through and trusting the regime to report its own inventory, should not be repeated with this latest resolution. Important actors have agreed on the steps that need to be taken in Syria; those ignoring what they have just vowed to uphold must be dealt with. The worst possible outcome of continued negotiations with Russia – who act on behalf of the murderous Assad regime both diplomatically and militarily – would be allowing them to continue carrying out indiscriminate attacks while signing agreements they have no intention of honoring.

Five reasons why we must NOT censor ISIS propaganda
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim/Al Arabiya/December 27/15
Whenever we in the West have our culture and way of life challenged, we like to define ourselves as the ‘free world’, a cultural universe where the liberty of the individual, of his conscience and his speech is paramount. We take this to be self-evidently good. Yet this leaves us open to attack, because we must give equal platform to those who would take our freedoms and liberties away from us. This has been a fundamental “problem” with liberalism for as long as it has existed. And today, one of the greatest challengers to our liberal values is ISIS. ISIS has probably the most sophisticated media and propaganda operation in the history of global terror. They have an English language magazine, they post major speeches in seven languages, they have Twitter accounts for Arabic, English, French, and German, and thousands of their Twitter followers installed an ISIS-constructed app to simultaneously retweet their official updates to swamp social media. They release audio on Soundcloud, pictures on Instagram, and send graphics and images via WhatsApp. When those accounts are blocked by the platform providers, or hacked by groups like Anonymous, they create new ones. They are very good at broadcasting their narrative across all these different social media channels, but they also tailor their messaging accordingly, with messages in Western languages framed specifically for the consumption of Muslims in the West and the Arabic channels directed towards those closer to their territory. And it’s not just tweets and snippets too. The narrative is developed into full length movies and documentaries, for more “broadsheet” consumers. This is a far cry from the days of Osama bin Laden filming himself speaking into a camera and sending it to the media. On top of it all, our mainstream media channels in the West routinely broadcast ISIS atrocities, and media clips produced by ISIS themselves, providing the group with free publicity and allowing them to “build a brand” which is currently the “household brand” for Islamist terrorism and ensures that any alienated young men and women in the West and indeed in the Arab world who do become radicalised join this group instead of any other. And it also ensures that other jihadi groups in other parts of the world, such as Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya or Nigeria “swear allegiance” to ISIS and, perhaps, even coordinate actions with them – something much more serious than symbolic allegiances.
Courting media attention
In the circumstances, it is perhaps understandable that there have been calls on the mainstream media to curtail the coverage they give to ISIS. When terrorists carry out attacks like the ones in Paris last month, they court media attention more than anything. And on the face of it, at least, it would seem that the most immediate retort would be to deny them the publicity they crave. But I believe that would be the wrong response. The best way to tackle the ideologies fueling these atrocities is not by ignoring them, but by confronting them. And rebutting them with moral clarity and vision. First of all, censoring ISIS in this way is simply not feasible. We can very well demand that mainstream newspapers and TV news stations limit their coverage of these issues, but that would leave the entire field of discussion to the unregulated areas of the internet, the “blogosphere” and social media. ISIS would still dominate in these areas, except now we will have removed from the discourse those outlets that would be most capable to hold the ISIS narrative to scrutiny. Secondly, restricting ISIS coverage in the mainstream media limit the group’s reach in terms of them radicalising young men and women in the West. That claim simply flies in the face of everything we have learnt from the academic study of radicalisation since 9/11. Nobody watches the 6 o’clock news, sees some short clip of an ISIS beheading and decides to become a terrorist. Quite the opposite. People become radicalised when they become isolated from mainstream culture, usually as part of a small group of ‘like-minded’ people, and it is in these circumstances that they consume preferentially the narratives of jihadism from online sources, more and more, as they reject mainstream culture and its narratives. But exposure to critiques and rebuttals of these narratives from mainstream culture, can help counter this process.
Thirdly, censorship will create a dangerous precedent against freedom of the press. A precedent that says that if an enemy puts its narrative with sophisticated propaganda, our best response is not to counter that narrative, but to shut it out. Fourthly, Restricting coverage or media reporting would also mean the public would know less about ISIS. The struggle against them would become a lower order issue. That would make it harder for leaders to mobilize public support to fight them. It would risk undermining support for our intelligence, military, and financial actions against them.
And lastly, this must be an issue of principle and conscience. Government censorship should be beyond the pale, if we are the liberal free-thinkers we claim to be. And demanding self-censorship from the mainstream media should be equally suspect. As liberals, we often like to believe that in rational debate ignorance, bigotry, hatred and violence must dissolve. This may not be true – at least not when expressed in such simplistic terms. But from what we know about how radicalization happens and why people go down the road of violent terrorism, the best way to tackle the ideologies fueling these atrocities is not by ignoring them, but by confronting them. And rebutting them with moral clarity and vision. What we must do, and what the media must do, is to take this challenge head on. Learn about Islam. Learn about the motivations people have when becoming jihadists. And challenge the terrorists on the terms and on the values the purport to promote. The de-radicalization programmes of Saudi Arabia and especially Indonesia show that Islam is perhaps the best antidote to Islamism, after all.

A Saudi vow to protect regional security and stability
Samar Fatany/Al Arabiya/December 27/15
In his speech to the Shoura Council, King Salman addressed the major political challenges that are a threat to Saudi Arabia, the Arab and Islamic nations and the global community. The priority remains the defeat of terrorism, the establishment of an independent State of Palestine, the launch of a political transition in Syria and ensuring the unity of the Syrian territories, the security of Yemen and restoring Yemeni legitimacy and stability as well as securing the entire region’s stability and territorial integrity. The King reiterated the Kingdom’s determination to fight terrorists and to drain their resources. He firmly declared the Kingdom’s will to coordinate with Muslim and peace-loving countries and international organizations to combat terrorism and maintain global peace and security. He highlighted the Kingdom’s role in establishing the Islamic Military Alliance and the joint operations center in Riyadh to coordinate military operations to combat terrorists wherever they may be. He said the Saudi government will continue to firmly combat deviant ideologies that blatantly distort Islamic teachings to promote a selfish agenda. King Salman also warned against those who wish to tamper with the Kingdom’s security and stability. He stated that terrorism is a global threat that has no religion or homeland and reiterated that the Kingdom has exerted great efforts to pursue terrorists, prosecute them and dismantle their networks and cells and has managed to successfully foil many of their evil plans.
Shouldering responsibilities
The King firmly stated that the Kingdom will continue to support all efforts to confront the challenges that are threatening the Arab and Muslim nations. The legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and establishing their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital is an endeavor long sought by the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia condemns the recent Israeli criminal violations, notably the escalation and irresponsible actions of killing unarmed, innocent people, including women and children. The King stated that the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, violating its sanctity and targeting worshipers should be halted and that the continuing Israeli settlement construction works must be suspended and the old ones removed. He called upon the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and take the necessary measures to protect the Palestinian people against Israeli aggressive practices that continue to provoke all Arab and Muslim states. Saudi Arabia would indeed welcome any positive international cooperation in addressing the conflicts of the Middle East region. King Salman warned against the threat involving the security of Yemen and its people which also threatens the region’s stability and territorial integrity. He stressed the Kingdom’s determination to restore Yemeni legitimacy and stability and ward off the threats posed by terrorist groups and their regional supporters.
The King also expressed Saudi Arabia’s keenness to achieve security, stability and justice in Syria and highlighted its role in bringing together all Syrian opposition factions to find a political solution ensuring the unity of the Syrian territories in accordance with the resolutions of the Geneva I Conference. He stated that the Kingdom will continue to seek a political solution that will enable the Syrian people to establish a transitional government composed of moderate opposition forces that guarantee the unity of Syrians and the departure of foreign troops and terrorist organizations.
King Salman was very clear in defining all the challenges of the Kingdom and the whole region and stressed the keenness of the Kingdom to work together with peace-loving countries and international organizations to address the major challenges that are threatening the world.
The Middle East region remains in crisis and the challenges are overwhelming. A more positive global cooperation is very critical at this stage to address the growing regional and global threats. The current policies and the confrontational attitudes between all elements involved in the Middle East conflict have ruined all prospects for peace. Unless we eliminate the atmosphere of distrust and conflict, there can be no peace and the terrorist threat will continue to destroy our peaceful world.
Federica Mogherini the EU’s High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy got it right when she said: “Our positive common agenda is us coming together. We cannot and must not fear each other. It’s not the ‘other’ but ‘the fear of the other’ that can destroy our region.” She echoed these genuine words of wisdom and goodwill during a gala dinner that was held during the Mediterranean Dialogue Forum in Rome on Dec. 11. Mogherini called for “new regional architectures” that would include a wider Middle East of the Gulf, the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and the Euro-Mediterranean area. She said: “We are linked, we share an interest in peace and security.”
She concluded her remarks by stressing the need for the integration of the whole Mediterranean Region to usher in peace and development, as it did for Europe. Diplomacy, dialogue and cooperation are possible and they can bring positive results.
Saudi Arabia would indeed welcome any positive international cooperation in addressing the conflicts of the Middle East region. Let us begin by addressing the humanitarian issues of the Palestinians and the Syrian refugees that require immediate attention. The despair and the injustice inflicted upon the innocent because of biased policies and prejudices must be addressed along with a new action plan to counter ISIS and other terrorist hate propaganda.

The battle over Sinai: ISIS's next strong force
Ronen Bergman/Ynetnews/December 27/15
As the world's eyes are focused on the Islamic State in Syria and its activity in Europe, the organization's branch in Sinai - Ansar Bait al-Maqdis - is gaining strength, and the Russian plane bombing may be just the beginning of its integration into ISIS's international war. Ronen Bergman outlines the profile of one of the most threatening and intriguing challenges faced by the Israeli and international security community, only a few kilometers south of Eilat.
The Russian plane crash in Sinai on October 13, which left 224 people dead, is still preoccupying intelligence organizations around the world. Updated intelligence received by Western intelligence agencies reveals that the few days before the attack saw a significant increase in the volume of written and spoken communication between senior members of the Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (ABAM - "Supporters of the Holy House") terror organization, which has been calling itself Sinai Province in the past year after swearing allegiance to the Islamic State, who are active in the Sheikh Zuweid area in the northern part of the peninsula.
In addition, there has been a sharp increase in volume of communication between these activists and elements affiliated with ISIS's Security and Intelligence Council in Iraq and Syria. This body is responsible for ISIS's most important secret activities, including special operations and aiding organizations outside Syria and Iraq, where the organization's power base is, including al-Maqdis.
There are apparently no recordings or documentation of this communication (conversations, chats, encrypted emails), but indications of its existence clearly show that its volume grew consistently until the plane crash. Shortly after the crash, it almost completely stopped. These findings serve as evidence, although purely circumstantial at the moment, that someone in al-Maqdis had preliminary knowledge about what was about to happen, if not more than that.
This evidence is neither final nor unequivocal. Each of the involved elements has a different interest in determining the cause of the crash. Sheikh Abu Osama al-Masri, who identifies himself as the ABAM leader (It's uncertain that this is a real name, and there are differences of opinion between intelligence organizations as to the whether he is indeed the commander) and has already issued statements on behalf of the organization in the past, claimed responsibility for downing the plane. There is no doubt that ISIS, or groups affiliated with it, are interesting in taking credit for the murderous activity.
The Russian authorities, which announced that the crash was an intentional sabotage, have a double interest to determine that it was a terror attack - both in order to remove responsibility for a technical failure from the Russian airline and to justify the ongoing Russian operation in Syria.
In a remarkable coincidence, senior Egyptian sources announced that they had reached the opposite conclusion - that the crash was not a terror attack. This matches, allegedly at least, the Egyptian interest to prove that there were no flaws in the security arrangements at the Sharm El-Sheikh Airport, where - according to suspicions - the bomb was planted on the plane, if indeed there was a bomb.
The world is waiting, therefore, for clearer results of the investigation which is being conducted simultaneously by a number of intelligence organizations in the West and in the Middle East: Will it succeed in determining if and how ISIS managed to take revenge against the Russians for intervening in the fighting against it?
The names of several key activists in this organization is repeatedly raised in the investigations into the matter: The widely mentioned name is Abdullah Mohammed Sayyid Kishta, a main force in improving ABAM's abilities in the past two years, who served in the past as an operations officer in Hamas' military wing. Kishta then left for Sinai, through one of the tunnels under the Philadelphi Route (which separates between Egypt and the Gaza Strip), and became head of instructions at ABAM in regards to the operation of antitank missiles and advanced explosive devices.
He is considered one of the senior antitank warfare experts in the region. Since he began his work in the organization, there appears to be an extremely significant increase in al-Maqdis' use of antitank missiles and in their improvement. Up to two years ago, they mainly used RPGs, moving on to more advanced missiles like the Kornet.
Kishta is helping the organization improve its terror abilities in developing and assembling advanced bombs, including armor-piercing antitank explosives and explosive devices against roads and armored bunkers of the Egyptian army.
Intelligence groups in the West received information in March and April this year about ties between senior ISIS members in Iraq and members of al-Maqdis' bomb units, including Kishta. A decoding of these messages revealed that ISIS's R&D experts in Iraq are convinced that they have managed to develop a certain formula for putting together explosives with relatively low effectiveness, but which cannot be detected through regular means.
In the same messages, they also discussed the possibility of smuggling bombs or explosives to supervised areas, by planting the explosives inside a human being through surgery or swallowing.
Two weeks after the plane crash, Sinai Province released a picture of a can which they said had brought the plane down. Shai Arbel, CEO of the Terrogence intelligence company, which is composed of former members of the Israeli intelligence community and engages - among other things - in the collection of information about ISIS and its branches around the world, says that an analysis of the photos of the can and other material obtained by the company reveals that "there is considerable likelihood" that the claim is true and that it was indeed the reason for the plane cracking up in the air.
Arbel refused to elaborate on the information, but said that according to the company's investigations, "the can, which had contained a soft drink that is only available in Egypt, could have contained a sufficient amount of explosives - not necessarily of the type detectable by airport sensors - in order to bomb planes." There is a reasonable possibility that the terrorists used quite a primitive explosion mechanism, rather than an electronic switch operated by remote control, barometric pressure or a timer, but something like a condom filled with acid which gradually absorbed the rubber and activated the explosion mechanism some time after the plane took off. Such a mechanism would have only been discovered in a strict search.
Intelligence sources say that the investigation is focusing on the suspicion raised by the intelligence information that Sinai Province managed to recruit a local worker at the Sharm al-Sheikh Airport, likely a Bedouin from one of the peninsula's large tribes, who helped get the bomb on the plane. This may match the can story, if it turns out that the worker "helped" it get through some of the control mechanisms and X-ray scanners on the way. If it turns out that this is indeed what happened, it will have far-reaching consequences on the international aviation system.
Haim Tomer, former chief of the Intelligence Division at the Mossad, says: "My instinct tells me that the explosion on the Russian plane was a terror attack. And if it indeed turns out that ABAM was behind it, we are talking about an incident with wide strategic significance. It proves that ISIS leader (Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi has the ability to operate through satellite organizations not only in Iraq but also in Syria, Lebanon, Africa and now in Sinai. If it's true, he succeeded, in a very short time in terms of preparing and executing an operation, in taking revenge against the Russians for the war they are waging in Syria. If that is the case, his ability and his organization's ability is much higher than we thought."
Regardless of the Russian plane crash, the ABAM organization is one of the most threatening and intriguing challenges faced by the Israeli and international security community. In this case, the challenge - and the threat - are only a few kilometers south of Eilat.
The target: Egypt
Israeli intelligence first heard the name Ansar Bair al-Maqdis in Gaza.
"In the early 2000s," Haim Tomer recalls, "we heard there were radical Salafi cells in Gaza which go by that name. At the time, it was a local organization which attracted former activists from all kinds of other organizations who were discharged from them or found Hamas' policy to be too moderate after different agreements signed with Israel.
ABAM was first comprised of a mixture of fragments of organizations and people and did not appear to be a big success. Israel's security control and Hamas' dominance made it impossible for the organization to really thrive and it didn’t leave a significant mark. But in 2002, its name emerged again in organizations of Bedouin in northern Sinai, and then in all of Sinai.
"We were confused for a moment," says a senior source in the AMAN (Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate) research division. "We didn’t know if these were the same people we knew from Gaza or that they were just using the same name."
But an examination conducted in Israel at the time revealed that global jihadist elements - mainly Egyptian, Libyan and Saudi - arrived in Sinai in order to take advantage of al-Qaeda's international success at the time, after the September 11 attacks and the wave of attacks which washed through the world afterwards, and establish a terror organization there. These activists used a local infrastructure of Bedouins and Salafi Sunni activists who had escaped from Gaza.
They saw Sinai, and rightfully so, as a place which the Egyptian army and police had the weakest hold on, a place which would allow them to act, live and hide for an extended period of time. The Bedouins suffered at the hands of President Gamal Abdel Nasser until the Six-Day War, and when Sinai was returned to Egypt in 1982, they were perceived as collaborators with Israel. In practice, Sinai received very little budgets from the Egyptian government and the Bedouins were discriminated against. On this background, the recruiters had no problem convincing them why radical Islam was right.
The activists, who numbered about 100 people at the time, established their headquarters on the Jabal Yalak mountain range, the highest range in northern Sinai, and the Jabal Helal range, areas with no Egyptian presence and extremely difficult conditions on the ground. The organization's goal until 2010 was local - to target the Egyptian army and Egyptian interests across Sinai, and later on to take over areas in the peninsula and keep hurting tourists.
The smuggling of weapons and additional goods through Sinai to Israel increased during that period. The Bedouins were a key factor in this industry. The ABAM people benefitted from it and the organization members purchased a large amount of weapons with the Bedouins' help.
During that period, the organization received local funding, and the jihadist activists would raise funds among the relatively sympathetic Bedouin tribes, asking for a donation for different Islamic organizations, which did not all necessarily exist. For fear of Egyptian intelligence informers, they did not raise funds on behalf of the organization itself of course. However, "the Bedouins who donated knew exactly where the money was going," says a Shin Bet official who dealt with the issue at the time.
On October 7, 2014, the organization executed its most devastating attack until then. Joint Palestinian-Egyptian-Bedouin cells detonated three car bombs in a scheduled and combined manner at tourist sites in Sinai which attract Israeli vacationers. Forty-three people were killed in the attacks, including 21 Israelis, and 171 were wounded.
The Egyptian authorities reacted aggressively. They executed the perpetrators of the attack who were not killed and arrested 2,400 suspects, the large majority of whom were Bedouins, who were kept under harsh conditions and sometimes tortured in their interrogations.
In addition, the Egyptian government imposed a series of tough sanctions on the Bedouin population in Sinai, which it perceived as responsible for the attacks, the great embarrassment vis-à-vis Israel (the Israeli Counter-Terrorism Bureau had repeatedly warned against the danger while the Egyptians denied it) and the serious blow to tourism.
The arrests, the investigations, the executions and the economic sanctions worked in the short run. But as is often revealed in the war on terror, they only radicalized the situation in the long run. The detainees became more radical in the prisons, where they made contact with other Salafi Sunni jihadists. At the same time, global jihad activists arrived in the peninsula again to gain support.
The next stage in ABAM's quick organization arrived a year later, in 2005, upon Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip. The pullout led to a major growth in the smuggling of people, goods, food, weapons and fuel under the Philadelphi Route. Sinai's Bedouins made a fortune from the smuggling (about $230 million a month, according to figures submitted to AMAN's Research Division, which served as the foundations of the connection between Hamas and the organization in Sinai.
In mid 2005, the Egyptian army launched a series of attacks on the Jabal Helal mountain range in Sinai, where the organization's bases were located. The Egyptian army sustained heavy losses and failed to achieve many of its goals. Later on, in around 2006, the organization's members began trying to increasingly infiltrate populated areas in northern Sinai - Rafah, El-Arish on the way to Quneitra and the Suez Canal. This activity was created at the same time as the creation of the organization's sleeper cells on the other side of the mountain, on the route between Sharm El-Sheikh and Eilat, whose only goal was to harm tourism in Sinai.
One of the problems in the Egyptian army's activity was the "security protocol" of the 1979 peace agreements with Israel, under which it is forbidden for Egypt to station military forces in the Sinai peninsula. In the past 13 years, Egypt has repeatedly pleaded with Israel to allow it to bring in special forces to raid the area and to significantly boost the regular army forces stationed at the peninsula. Israel sometimes agreed, but quite unwillingly.
"Israel obviously has a clear interest that Egypt will fight terror in Sinai," says Colonel (res.) Ronen Cohen, former director of the Terrorism Desk and deputy head of the research division at AMAN. Today, Cohen is one of the owners of Inspiration, a company which manages security-related projects and provides intelligence services, information collection, processing and analysis in Middle Eastern and Persian Gulf countries. "On the other hand, it was very important to us all these years to maintain the peace agreement as it is and not to create a precedent of bringing Egyptian forces into Sinai for a long period of time."
Following the Israeli dilemma, Egyptian forces entered Sinai to conduct aggressive deep raids against members of ABAM, but were later forced to pull out so as to honor the agreement with Israel. The terror organization took advantage of this restriction and rushed to rehabilitate itself each time.
The exchange of blows with the Egyptian government continued over the next few years, but 2010 saw a change in the way the organization perceives itself: From an organization with a clear local goal - to harm the Egyptian government - it moved to the international level.
An Israeli intelligence source explains that the association with international elements is ideological, but also practical: "The world has become flat, and the connection with elements all over the world - through the Internet - has become relatively simpler, even in a world in which they are being monitored. And they know they are being monitored. Their big problem in Sinai is the physical isolation: On the one side Israel, and on the other side Egypt. All that in a dry and desolate area lacking resources. They need every help they can get."
Sinai makes up only 7 percent of Egypt's territory and has just a little less than 1 percent of the population (some 600,000 people). Nonetheless, the peninsula is located in an important geographical spot for the passage of significant amounts of global trade - as well as a lot of oil, of course.
"The association with al-Qaeda," says Ronen Cohen, "dictated the 'stage strategy' to the organization, ahead of the establishment of the Islamic caliphate in the Arab domain. Between the stages, there is a long and gradual process, and each stage depends on the success of the previous stage. The association with al-Qaeda was also reflected in a significant increase in the terror attacks."
Haim Tomer explains: "ABAM's activity reflects a process which has been accelerated since the beginning of the Arab Spring, in which territorial Islamist elements team up with a global entity. Since the beginning of the decade, scattered reports began flowing in about contacts created between the organization in Sinai and global jihad elements. At that stage, it was still only al-Qaeda, mainly in Iraq. There were exchanges of messages, transfer of knowledge, and fighters travelling from Sinai to train in Iraq and Afghanistan."
As part of this international activity, the organization boosted its activity against Israel. On August 18, 2011, a bus was targeted in a combined terror attack in Eilat; the organization released a video and dedicated it to the Palestinian prisoners. The operation's stages, planning and execution were presented by a spokesperson of the organization whose face was blurred and by an activist known as Abu Masab, who took part in the attack.
Following the serious operation, claims were made that Israel had fired into Egypt, leading to a harsh wave of protest and even to the evacuation of the Israeli Embassy, which was exactly what the organization had been trying to do - to complicate the delicate relations between Israel, the Egyptian government and the public opinion in the country.
On September 21, 2012, three gunmen and an Israeli soldier were killed in exchanges of fire on a mountainous area on the Israeli border.
In July 2012, the organization released a video in which it claimed responsibility for a series of explosions in the pipes leading natural gas from Egypt to Israel. Against the backdrop of footage of the preparations for the attacks and a documentation of the actual explosions, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri could be heard urging the jihadists in Sinai and in Egypt to target the gas pipe, in a way which implied that ABAM operated under his inspiration and guidance.
From 2010 to 2014, the organization fired rockets several times towards Israeli communities, and mainly towards Eilat, but didn’t always claim responsibility.
Morsi and al-Sisi
In June 2012, President Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood member, rose to power in Egypt. During his term, many Islamist activists were released from prison. When Morsi was ousted and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rose to power, many Islamist activists fled to Sinai. Today, they make up the main organizational infrastructure on which the organization is based. Many of these activists became ABAM terrorists and largely reinforced the organization's power.
And so an extremely skilled group of activists was formed in Sinai: Most of them trained by Hamas, Egyptian officers who support the Muslim brotherhood and retired or were discharged from the army following al-Sisi's cleansing process there, alongside al-Qaeda elements who arrived from outside the peninsula, jihadists released from the Egyptian prison and local Bedouins who despise the government in Cairo.
On several occasions after President Morsi was ousted, al-Qaeda leader al-Zawahiri turned directly to the global jihad activists in Sinai and urged them to attack Israeli and Western targets. It was part of al-Qaeda's ongoing effort to turn ABAM into part of the international organization.
In the past three years, the organization has carried out many operations, sometimes on a weekly basis, against Egyptian government facilities. The attacks even took on al-Qaeda characteristics. In November 2012, for example, four Bedouins were beheaded for "spying for the Israeli Mossad."
On September 5, 2013, the organization made a failed attempt to assassinate the Egyptian interior minister. On January 25, 2014, the organization recorded an important symbolic achievement - downing an Egyptian military Apache helicopter with a surface-to-air missile. The organization's Twitter page lauded the operation and promised many more to come, also against the "heretic tourism" in Sinai.
Hamas aid
The improved abilities demonstrated by the organization in the past three years stem mostly from the aid it receives from Hamas. Western intelligence sources I have spoken to, under the condition that I don't mention the country they are active in, say that Hamas in Gaza is helping the al-Maqdis organization with money, weapons, military equipment and training.
According to these sources, Hamas' attitude towards the Salafi organizations operating in the Gaza Strip is completely different, polarized in fact, from its attitude towards the organization operating in Sinai. With the former it is in the midst of a serious conflict and sometimes uses force against its members and restrains their activity against Israel, when it jeopardizes the fragile ceasefire.
With the organization in Sinai, on the other hand, it has formed extensive relations which are concentrated in the hands of Hamas' military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades. It's unclear whether the organization's political leadership (which resides in Turkey and the Persian Gulf) is fully aware of these relations, which are being sustained in complete secrecy, due to the high sensitivity vis-à-vis the Egyptian government.
Hamas' interest to be in touch with al-Maqdis stems mostly from the harsh conflict between the current Egyptian government and the Muslim Brotherhood movement, and it grew significantly after President Morsi was toppled. Hamas (who Morsi is accused in Egypt of having illegal relations with) seeks to harm the Egyptian government, but without being directly involved in the fighting. Moreover, as Alex Fishman revealed in Yedioth Ahronoth this week, Hamas is paying the Sinai Province money to guard its moving arms depots as the weapons pass through Sinai on the way to the Philadelphi Route and the Gaza Strip.
In the past three years, Hamas has been significantly helping al-Maqdis to upgrade its military and operational abilities. While two years ago, al-Maqdis' videos mainly documents peasants wearing ghalabias and equipped with small arms (Kalashnikov rifles and grenades), today they document activity on an entirely different level - with new communication means, advanced weapons and camouflage and fighting abilities in a constructed area.
Today the organization operates different types of rockets, including Fajr, aerial defense systems warning against the Egyptian army's depth charges (Israel has allowed Egypt to operate warplanes and assault helicopters against the organization in Sinai), advanced antitank missiles, antiaircraft shoulder-fired missiles, huge amounts of explosives, mortars with different diameters, advanced communication means, some of them coded, and satellite phones.
Hamas is reaching out to al-Maqdis not only with weapons. Recently, for example, Israeli customs seized a delivery of cloths which was meant to reach Gaza, according to the customs, in order to sew striped uniform, some of which was to be transferred to Sinai. It has also been revealed that after the deadly attacks on Egyptian posts on January 29, 2015, some of al-Maqdis' wounded were sent to Gaza for medical care, at Hamas' approval.
According to updates estimates, the organization numbers 500 to 1,000 members, including 100-200 of activists who traveled to train and participate in the fighting in Syria and Iraq, teamed up with global jihad elements there and received combat training.
Oath of allegiance to ISIS
In November 2014, following an open and blatant conflict between ISIS and al-Qaeda, ABAM had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State and to its leader. The public letter to al-Baghdadi read, among other things: "Oh, faithful brothers, Allah blessed be he has instructed us to march in his righteous way and hold onto the rope he is offering, unite our efforts and powers and prevent a split, so that our nation will not be lost and all that is torn will no longer be torn… Our commander, Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Qurayshi al-Husseini: We, the mujahideen of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, pledge allegiance to you as the commander of all the believers and mujahideen in the Islamic State and as the caliph of all Muslims, as long as you march in the road of Allah and the sunnah of his prophet and in the road of our righteous forefathers. We swear to listen to you and obey you, willingly or unwillingly, and not to oppose your orders. We won't let anyone demand what he has no right to demand after swearing allegiance to you."
"This isn't just a symbolic statement, but part of the rift within the jihadist movements," says Ronen Cohen, noting that the al-Nusra Front organization in Syria got into a bitter conflict with al-Baghdadi following his announcement on the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, which contradicts al-Qaeda's stage perception. ABAM's caliphate announcement is therefore its way to turn its back on al-Qaeda and express complete solidarity with al-Baghdadi. Indeed, the al-Nusra Front organization was quick to respond, accusing al-Maqdis of corruption. An Egyptian al-Nusra Front activist, Abu Ubaida al-Masri, implied that Ansar Bair al-Maqdis had been paid to change its allegiance. He wrote his Twitter account that "with the mercy of Allah, the Islamic State members' plan to buy oaths of allegiance in Pakistan, Somalia and the Caucasus region have failed. They have succeeded in Libya and Sinai."
"This declaration of independence is mainly a challenge for al-Sisi's regime," explains Cohen, "as we are not just talking about a terror organization which opposes the government, but about an organization which is declaring - in a strong sovereign state like Egypt, as opposed to the weak Syria and Iraq - the establishment of a new, independent and separate state." As mentioned, the Sinai Province operates under ISIS's Security and Intelligence Council. The council was founded and operated under the supervision of Abu Muslim al-Turkmani (a.k.a Ahmed Abdullah al-Hiyali), who was known by that name since he came from the Turkmen region in northern Iraq, the third ethnic group in Iraq (alongside the Kurds and the Arabs) which has tight relations with Turkey. He was a colonel in the special forces of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard, and after the American invasion and the disbandment of the Iraqi army, he was among the founders of ISIS and became one of the deputies of ISIS leader al-Baghdadi and the person in charge on his behalf for the Iraq area and special operations.
After his death on August 18, 2015 in an American UAV attack, he was succeeded by Abu Ali al-Anbari, who like his predecessor Turkmani, came from Mosul and was a loyal activist to Saddam Hussein, reaching the rank of brigadier-general in the Iraqi army before it was dispersed by the United States in 2003. He was appointed by al-Baghdadi as governor of the Syrian region and took control of the council after Turkmani's assassination. On December 12, several Arab media outlets reported that al-Anbari had been killed together with 14 other ISIS activists in a joint attack by the US and Iraqi forces on the Syrian border. These reports have yet to be officially confirmed by the organizations. If they are true, it can be seen as a significant achievement for the coalition forces. ISIS has proved, however, at least for now, that it is stronger than the assassination of some of its activists, as important as they may be, and keeps holding on and carrying out attacks despite the bombings targeting the organization.
Intelligence sources have been putting a lot of efforts, since ABAM swore allegiance to ISIS and turned into Sinai Province, to monitor the communication channels between the two organizations. One of these channels, it turns out, is the popular Telegram instant messaging app, whose encryption scheme is considered particularly difficult for infiltration by external elements, even intelligence organizations. It turns out that due to the encryption scheme's high level, different global jihadist elements are using the Telegram app to communicate with each other. Intelligence sources have discovered that Telegram serves as an excellent communication channel between Sinai Province activists and ISIS funding and logistics elements in Syria and Iraq. Among other things, Telegram was used to transfer the funds from the Security and Intelligence Council to Sinai Province. Intelligence sources discovered that the fund transfers were conducted through alleged NGOs for humanitarian purposes which are operating from Turkey and through the Western Union Company, which engages in an efficient international transfer of funds (and was completely innocent in these transfers, as a legitimate company operating in a completely legal manner).
The Security and Intelligence Council activists demonstrated a lot of expertise in transferring and controlling the funds. It has been revealed, for example, that they knew intelligence organizations in the world were monitoring transfers of more than $500, and therefore split their transfers into smaller "doses."

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006 Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006

News Bulletin Achieves Since 2006
Click Here to go to the LCCC Daily English/Arabic News Buletins Archieves Since 2006