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Bible Quotation For Today/Parable Of the Widow & The Judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people/Pray always and don't lose heart
Luke 18/01-08: "Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my opponent. "For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, "Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming." ’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’"

Bible Quotation For Today/Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul
First Letter to the Corinthians 01/10-17: "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul’, or ‘I belong to Apollos’, or ‘I belong to Cephas’, or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power."

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 20-21/15
A Loud & a Big Hail To Mr. Harper & the Conservatives Party, Now with the Opposition Status/Elias Bejjani/20 October/15
Observers: Iran wins Canada's elections/Walid Phares/October 20/15/
Canada imam: “Islam in its essence calls for a division between faith and state/Jihad Watch/20 October/15
The delusion of an ‘Islamic State,'” by Mohamad Jebara/Ottawa Sun/20 October/15
Canada’s Liberal Party win historic election/The Associated Press/20 October/15
Turkey Still Dances with ISIS/Burak Bekdil/The Gatestone Institute/October 20/15
German FM: Iran, Saudi tensions strengthen terrorists/Arash Karami/Al-Monitor/October 20/15
Europe seen as wild card as Iran nuclear deal goes into effect/Julian Pecquet/Al-Monitor/October 20/15
Turkish religious scholar says 'masturbation is imperative and necessary'/Sibel Hurtas/Al-Monitor/October 20/15
Christians Persecuted by Muslims Even in the West/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/October 20/15
The Secret Awfulness of Saudi Arabia/Douglas Murray/Gatestone Institute/October 20/15
Kuwaiti journalist 'Abdallah Al-Hadlaq: Israel Has The Right To Defend Itself Against Palestinian Knife Terrorism/MEMRI/October 20/15
Turkey in, refugees out: EU’s dirty deal/Mahir Zeynalov/Al Arabiya/October 20/15
Memories of the 1988 Algerian Spring (part 2)/Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya/October 20/15
Who can replace Bashar al-Assad/Raed Omari/Al Arabiya/October 20/15
What is Iran so afraid of with the West/Camelia Entekhabi-Fard/Al Arabiya/October 20/15

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin for Lebanese Related News published on October 20-21/15
A Loud & a Big Hail To Mr. Harper & the Conservatives Party, Now with the Opposition Status
Observers: Iran wins Canada's elections
Mustaqbal: Mashnouq Remarks a Warning Bell, We Decide on Staying in Govt., Dialogue
Asir Trial Postponed to January 5.2016
Parliament Re-Elects Members of its Committees
Fugitive Killed in Clash with Army in al-Taybeh
Change and Reform Demands Prior Agreement on 'Legislation of Necessity' Topics
Jumblat Criticizes 'Presidential Race that Passes through Garbage Dumps instead of Ballot Boxes'
Mother 'Kidnaps' own Children over Dispute with their Father
Report: Lebanese Army Confirms Targeting Nusra Members in Monday's Shelling
Report: New Landfill Location in Kfar Zabad to Be Assessed

A Loud & a Big Hail To Mr. Harper & the Conservatives Party, Now with the Opposition Status
Elias Bejjani/20 October/15
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2015/10/19/elias-bejjania-loud-a-big-hail-to-mr-harper-the-conservatives-party-now-with-the-opposition-status/
Yes, with trust, Proud and full conviction, I personally voted and loudly advocated for Mr. Harper and the Conservative Party. My political choice was and is still the Conservative Party although the Liberal Party has already won a majority and will form the new Canadian government. I supported the Conservative Party and will remain do so because its platforms matches my beliefs and convictions in almost in every life and political domain among which the ethical, moral, family ties, human rights, patriotism and foreign policies. The Majority of the Canadians apparently voted for what they believe is a need for change. The outcome of the elections is fully accepted and honoured. In conclusion this is democracy and the Canadians freely has elected the party who will form the new government and assume the governing full responsibilities. Congratulations to Mr. Trudeau Canada's new PM and a loud and genuine hail for Mr. Harper for the great job that he executed with courage all through his years as PM.

Observers: Iran wins Canada's elections?
Walid Phares/October 20/15/Sources from inside the Iranian regime revealed that the ruling establishment in Tehran is satisfied with the results of the elections in Canada and the victory of Mr Justin Trudeau, as they expect that his Government will end the Canada economic sanctions on Iran and more importantly would terminate Canada's policy actions of the Ayatollahs' human rights records. Canada was the last liberal democracy to continue the pressure on the Islamic Republic despite the so-called "Iran deal." Already months ago, Middle Eastern Canadian analysts have noted that many Canadian financial interests were mobilizing against the conservative Government arguing that they want their share of the mega deal of 150 billion dollars going to the land of the Ayatollahs. Observers in Beirut said "seen from the region, this is a victory to the Iran deal camp and it will be felt soon. Canada is expected to restore its embassy in Tehran, cease its human rights pressure on the regime and eventually remove Hezbollah from its terror list. From here it looks like a third victory of the Obama Administration." Note that a Trudeau Government will end Canada's air force participation in the air campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and instead train the pro-Iranian forces of the Baghdad Government. "It is a complete reversal of policy," said a Canadian observer, "it is an Obama type of ideological change in national security and foreign policy. It will swing all the way to the other side, before the Canadian public realizes that shift. People in Canada who voted for Trudeau, wanted a change in domestic policies, as was the case in the US in 2008, but they will get a change in foreign policy instead, and for the worse" said the observer. "Mabrouk li Hizbullah" would fit today's news from Canada...

Canada imam: “Islam in its essence calls for a division between faith and state”
October 20, 2015/By Robert Spencer /Jihad Watch/“Mohamad Jebara is the Chief Imam, resident scholar at the Cordova Spiritual Education Centre.” His claim that “Islam in its essence calls for a division between faith and state” is extraordinary, since throughout the history of Islam there never was a division between faith and state until the advent of secular Turkey in the twentieth century — and secular Turkey was founded upon an explicit rejection of political Islam, not a development within Islam that allowed for secular government. Jebara also says: “The closest to the notion of an ‘Islamic State’, if there were such a thing, would be humanist democracy” — and yet there never has been an Islamic humanist democracy in the history of the world. Here again, Turkey cannot be counted as one, as it was built upon a rejection of Islamic principles regarding the state, not an application of them.Mohamad Jebara, Chief Imam, resident scholar, is, in other words, misleading his readers and giving them false information — unless we are to believe that Islam in its essence has never been realized in 1,400 years of Islam.
“The delusion of an ‘Islamic State,'” by Mohamad Jebara,
Ottawa Sun, October 18, 2015:
Being ardent about languages, history and their psychological impact upon perspective, I cannot help but observe signs displayed in the background of news footage from within the “Islamic State” and put these signs and slogans in their religious, historical and linguistic contexts.
When I see signs and graffiti that translate, “Khilafah in accordance with Guidelines of Prophecy”, it is clear to me that ISIS is attempting to justify and legitimize their existence by exploiting a common misunderstanding of the concept of Khilafah.
In the Qur`an, Khilafah refers to personal responsibility for the upkeep of the world, not a form of government.
In fact, neither Qur`an nor Prophet Muhammad speak about Khilafah as a form of governance. The Prophetic model of leadership is one in which a proficient government is elected by, and representative of, the people; not a totalitarian system, based on hatred, cruelty and intolerance.
The objective of Khilafah is for each citizen to take personal responsibility for establishing a just and balanced society, wherein social justice, equality and inclusion are the norm.
Contrary to what many presume, Islam in its essence calls for a division between faith and state, for once faith is politicized it is inevitable that it will become corrupted and manipulated for political and economic gains.
When the Ottoman Empire was officially dissolved in 1924, several contenders sought to seize the opportunity to claim the exploited title of “Caliph”, including Egypt’s King Fuad.
In response, Islamic scholar, Ali Abdel-Raziq (1888-1966) wrote a book highlighting that Caliphate is not a religious requirement.
Arguing against it, he said: “We have absolutely no need for such a caliphate; neither for our religious matters nor our worldly affairs. I assert that the caliphate had been a great tribulation and source of misery for both Islam and Muslims; a fountain of anguish and corruption.”…
Tolerance, justice, benevolence and good citizenship are the foundation of Khilafah. Khilafah can be found and realized wherever these principles are established: This is the letter and spirit of Islam….
The closest to the notion of an “Islamic State”, if there were such a thing, would be humanist democracy.
Secular governance closes the door to the temptation to subjugate the populace with threats of divine retribution, thus engendering freedom of thought, tolerance, kindness and justice: a truly Islamic State.

Canada’s Liberal Party win historic election
By The Associated Press | Toronto/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/Canadians voted for a sharp change in their government on Monday, returning a legendary name for liberals, Trudeau, to the prime minister’s office and resoundingly ending Conservative Stephen Harper’s near-decade in office. Justin Trudeau, the son of late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, became Canada’s new prime minister after his Liberal Party won a majority of Parliament’s 338 seats. Trudeau’s Liberals had been favored to win the most seats, but few expected the final margin of victory. Trudeau, tall and trim at 43, channels the star power - if not quite the political heft - of his father, who swept to power in 1968 on a wave of support dubbed “Trudeaumania.” Pierre Trudeau, who was prime minister until 1984 with a short interruption, remains one of the few Canadian politicians known in America, his charisma often drawing comparisons to John F. Kennedy.Justin Trudeau, a former school teacher and Member of Parliament since 2008, becomes the second youngest prime minister in Canadian history.
Return to the left
Trudeau has re-energized the Liberal Party since its worst electoral defeat four years ago when they won just 34 seats and finished third behind the traditionally weaker New Democrat Party. Trudeau promises to raise taxes on the rich and run deficits for three years to boost government spending. His late father, who took office in 1968 and led Canada for most of the next 16 years, is a storied name in Canadian history, responsible for the country’s version of the bill of rights. Canada has shifted to the center-right under Harper, who has lowered sales and corporate taxes, avoided climate change legislation and clashed with the Obama administration over the Keystone XL pipeline. “The people are never wrong,” Harper said. “The disappointment is my responsibility and mine alone.”Harper said he called Trudeau to congratulate him. The Trudeau victory will ease tensions with the U.S. Although Trudeau supports the Keystone pipeline, he argues relations should not hinge on the project. Harper has clashed with the Obama administration over other issues, including the recently reached Iran nuclear deal. The Liberals were elected or were leading in 185 districts, with Trudeau winning his Montreal district. The party needed 170 to gain a majority. The Conservatives were next with 97, followed by the New Democrats at 28 and Bloc Quebecois with nine.

Mustaqbal: Mashnouq Remarks a Warning Bell, We Decide on Staying in Govt., Dialogue
Naharnet/October 20/15/Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday described Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq's latest remarks as a “warning bell,” while stressing that it has the final say on the issue of staying in or leaving the government and the dialogue sessions.
In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the bloc said Mashnouq's statement “reflected the dismay of the Lebanese over the current situations in the country and the state of its constitutional institutions.”
“These remarks are a warning bell for everyone, especially for the obstructors who are standing in the way of the country and its citizens,” it added. On Friday, Mashnouq had hinted that al-Mustaqbal movement could quit the government and the ongoing dialogue if the political deadlock continues in the country. “The persistence of the current situation would represent the first step towards leaving the government and the dialogue,” Mashnouq said at a ceremony commemorating slain Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan. Mustaqbal said Tuesday that the minister's statement “clearly underscored that the practices of the 'party of weapons' (Hizbullah) and its political and security violations have reached a totally unacceptable level.”“It is no longer possible to tolerate the continued obstruction of the presidential elections and the government's work,” the bloc added, warning of negative repercussions on “civil peace and the political, economic and social situations.”Stressing the importance of “overcoming this dilemma that has been created by Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement,” Mustaqbal underlined the need to “activate the work of the government” and “support its security plans in all Lebanese regions, especially in the Bekaa.”The bloc also said that it backs “fruitful and efficient dialogue among the Lebanese” as it expressed its “continued support for Prime Minister Tammam Salam and his government.”Tensions surged between al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah over the weekend in light of a war of words between officials from the two parties.Speculation was rife last week that the cabinet would convene on Tuesday in order to tackle the garbage crisis, but no session has been scheduled until the moment. The government's work has been paralyzed in recent months amid a dispute with MP Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement over its decision-making mechanism and the thorny issue of military and security appointments, which has prompted a boycott by the movement's ministers. Aoun announced last week that his ministers would not attend a cabinet session aimed at tackling the garbage crisis even though he supports Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb's proposal to solve it.

Asir Trial Postponed to January 5.2016
Naharnet/October 20/15/The trial of detained Salafist cleric Ahmed al-Asir was postponed on Tuesday to 2016. The new session, held at the Military Tribunal, will be held on January 5, 2016. His defense lawyer Antoine Naameh presented formal objections before the court, saying that his client needs permission from Dar al-Fatwa to stand before preliminary investigations due to his position as a cleric. The defense also criticized the publication of the details of interrogation with the detainee, saying it affects the judiciary's transparency, reported LBCI television. Furthermore, the court approved the formation of a medical committee to monitor Asir's health, who suffers from diabetes, and later submit a report on his condition. Asir was arrested at Rafik Hariri International Airport in August as he attempted to travel from Lebanon to Nigeria via Cairo using a fake Palestinian passport. Asir, a firebrand anti-Hizbullah cleric, has been on the run since June 2013 after his armed supporters clashed with the Lebanese army in the southern port city of Sidon, leaving 18 soldiers dead. The army seized his headquarters after 48 hours of clashes, but Asir was able to escape with several of his followers. He continued to issue audio statements while on the run, and various rumors circulated as to where in Lebanon he was hiding. In 2014, a military judge recommended prosecutors seek death sentences for Asir and 53 others. He and his associates were accused of "having formed armed groups that attacked an institution of the state, the army, killed officers and soldiers, took explosive materials and light and heavy weapons and used them against the army."

Parliament Re-Elects Members of its Committees
Naharnet/October 20/15/Parliament convened on Tuesday to elect members of its various committees, as well as members of its bureau. It re-elected the members of the committees and renewed the terms of its treasurers, reported al-Jadeed television. Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra replaced Mustaqbal MP Robert Fadel in the finance committee. Fadel in turn replaced LF MP Fadi Karam in the economics committee. The session was held without incident or political bickering that had marred committee sessions. The meeting was held with the Change and Reform bloc's approval of a proposal to “preserve the current balance of political blocs within the committees,” reported al-Joumhouria newspaper. "The parliament's Secretariat members, heads, members and rapporteurs of the parliamentary committees are composed of political blocs and different sectarian affiliations. It is in no one's interest to reconsider the issue due to the current circumstances. It is better now to keep things as they are," said MP Michel Moussa prior to the parliamentary session. The representation of blocs at the committees is proportional to their representation at parliament.

Fugitive Killed in Clash with Army in al-Taybeh
Naharnet/October 20/15/A fugitive was killed Tuesday in an exchange of gunfire with the army in the Baalbek area of al-Taybeh, the military said in a statement. It said troops opened fire at the plateless SUV of the fugitive, Hussein Ali Sawwan, after he failed to stop at a checkpoint and tried to run over one of the soldiers. Sawwan succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in the region after being wounded in the shooting, the army added. It noted that the man had been sentenced to hard labor on charges of murdering a person and that he was wanted on multiple arrest warrants. “A Kalashnikov machinegun and a quantity of ammunition were seized from his car and Military Police has launched a probe into the incident,” the army said.

Change and Reform Demands Prior Agreement on 'Legislation of Necessity' Topics
Naharnet/October 20/15/The Change and Reform bloc led by MP Michel Aoun announced Tuesday that it supports the so-called legislation of necessity amid the presidential void, but stressed that the topics must be agreed on before heading to parliament. “We reiterate our stance on the legislation of necessity, which was raised due to the presidential vacuum and the extensions,” bloc secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan announced after the weekly meeting in Rabieh. “The legislation of necessity deals with major national issues such as the electoral law and the law on restoring nationality and we are willing to discuss other issues that fall under this criteria,” he added. Earlier in the day, the parliament convened to elect members of its various committees, as well as members of its bureau. Speaker Nabih Berri urged lawmakers during the meeting to agree to hold a legislative session as soon as possible, cautioning them that the World Bank has warned Lebanon that it would drop it from its list of aid receivers for years to come in the absence of the necessary financial legislation. Turning to the issue of the presidential vacuum that started in May 2014, Change and Reform reiterated that the president of the republic must be “influential in his community as stipulated by the Taef Accord.” “The president's characteristics must also conform with the National Pact, in line with the Constitution,” it said. Responding to a reporter's question on the national dialogue sessions, Kanaan said that in order for dialogue “to be of use, it must tackle the issues that we are complaining of, especially the constitutional problem in the political system.”

Jumblat Criticizes 'Presidential Race that Passes through Garbage Dumps instead of Ballot Boxes'
Naharnet/October 20/15/Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Tuesday the prolonged presidential vacuum, while hailing the efforts of Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb in resolving the garbage disposal crisis. He said via Twitter: “I wonder at how the presidential race now has to pass through the garbage dumps instead of ballot boxes.” He made his remark in reference to political bickering over the elections and the alleged manipulation of the garbage crisis for political gain. “Shehayyeb will take it upon himself to reveal the details of the trash file if the issue reaches a dead end,” warned Jumblat. 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. Shehayyeb has been leading efforts to resolve the garbage crisis that erupted with the closure of the Naameh landfill in July as politicians failed to find an alternative for it. The crisis has led to the pile up of garbage on the streets throughout the country, raising fears of the environmental and health repercussions of the problem.

Mother 'Kidnaps' own Children over Dispute with their Father
Naharnet/October 20/15/Three children were allegedly kidnapped from in front of their school in Beirut's Bir Hassan neighborhood on Monday. The Internal Security Forces said that the children, aged 8, 5, and 4 and who also hold Canadian citizenship, were taken after school hours from the car that normally transports them home. It was later revealed that they were “abducted” by their mother over a legal dispute with their father. The mother, assisted by six armed people, intercepted their vehicle and went off with them, said MTV. Investigations are underway to find the children's whereabouts.

Report: Lebanese Army Confirms Targeting Nusra Members in Monday's Shelling
Naharnet/October 20/15/The army has bolstered its security measures on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal in light of the shelling on Monday that saw the death of eight extremists, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Tuesday. A high-ranking military source confirmed to the daily that the army's shelling had targeted members of the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front. It also clarified that the military shelled the armed groups with artillery, not helicopters as media reports had speculated. “The army has bolstered its measures in the area to thwart any attack or ambush by armed groups,” the source added. The military shells the positions of al-Nusra on Arsal's outskirts and the Islamic State on Ras Baalbek's outskirts “on a daily basis,” it explained, adding that Monday's shelling was “significant” because it incurred a number of casualties among the gunmen's ranks. Eight people were killed and many wounded on Monday when the army targeted militant positions along the eastern border with war-torn Syria. The army frequently shells the militants' positions in the border area, while Hizbullah fighters have confronted them on the Syrian side. The border area is also home to informal Syrian refugee camps largely beyond the reach of authorities or aid agencies. In August 2014, Islamic State and Nusra Front militants seized some 20 Lebanese soldiers and police officers during a brief cross-border raid on the town of Arsal. The extremists have executed four of them and are still holding the rest.

Report: Repercussions of Mustaqbal-Hizbullah Dispute to Be Contained
Naharnet/October 20/15/The tensions that erupted between the Mustaqbal Movement and Hizbullah over the weekend will be limited, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Tuesday. Informed sources told the daily that mediations are being conducted between the two sides in order to “contain the repercussions of the dispute.”They appeased fears that the movement will abandon the dialogue with Hizbullah, revealing that Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri had contacted Speaker Nabih Berri to inform him of his commitment to the talks. Prime Minister Tammam Salam has meanwhile expressed his “disgust” with the state of affairs on the political scene, hoping to hold a meeting with Berri soon to tackle the latest developments. A crisis erupted between the Mustaqbal Movement and Hizbullah in wake of Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq's warning on Friday that the movement might quit the government and the ongoing dialogue if the political deadlock continues in the country. Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday voiced his party's commitment to the government and dialogue, adding: “We refuse to be blackmailed. Those who wish to stay in the dialogue sessions and the government are welcome, and those who wish to leave, are free to do so.”

Report: New Landfill Location in Kfar Zabad to Be Assessed
Naharnet/October 20/15/A new location to establish a landfill to address Lebanon's mounting garbage crisis will be assessed on Tuesday, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper. It said that the landfill is located on the outskirts of Kfar Zabad in the eastern Bekaa region. Another location in Kfar Zabad had been considered in previous weeks. Once the assessment is made, Prime Minister Tammam Salam will be informed of its results and he will then call cabinet to session to introduce modifications to the trash disposal plan ahead of giving the green light for its implementation. As Safir newspaper had reported on Tuesday however that no new location for a landfill is being studied. It attributed the discrepancy to the presence of more than one technical team aimed at assessing potential dump locations. Media reports had said in recent weeks that officials are awaiting the approval of Hizbullah and the AMAL movement over the establishment of a landfill in the Bekaa. Al-Liwaa newspaper said Tuesday that the rejection to create a dump in the Bekaa can be attributed to growing political tensions. The residents of Kfar Zabad had in recent days staged a demonstration against the possibility of establishing a landfill in their region. Lebanon was plunged in a garbage disposal crisis after the closure of the Naameh landfill in July with officials failing to find an alternative to it. The crisis has led to the pile up of garbage on the streets throughout the country, raising fears of the environmental and health repercussions of the problem. Political disputes have been hindering an agreement over a new landfill.

Draft Arab UNESCO Resolution on al-Aqsa Compound Draws Israel Ire
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/October 20/15/A group of Arab states has angered Israel by submitting a draft resolution to the U.N. cultural body stating that Jerusalem's Western Wall -- the holiest site at which Jews can pray -- is an "integral part" of the al-Aqsa mosque compound. The flashpoint compound, which is considered sacred to both Islam and Judaism, is located in the southeastern corner of the Old City in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Muslims call it al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) while Jews rever it as the Temple Mount which housed the First and Second Temples. Located adjacent to the sprawling esplanade, the Western Wall is the most sacred site at which Jews are allowed to pray as they are not permitted to worship at the compound itself. Clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at the compound in September are widely thought to have led to the current wave of deadly violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories. raft text seen by AFP on Tuesday, Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates condemn Israeli actions at the compound, including restricting access to Muslim worshipers during Eid celebrations last month over security fears.It also states that "the Buraq Plaza (the name given to the square in front of the Western Wall) is an integral part of the Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al-Sharif." The draft will be put to a vote on Wednesday or Thursday within UNESCO's 58-member executive board.
'Distorting history' -
Israel denounced the statement as "a clear endeavor to distort history" and appropriate the site. "The Temple Mount and the Western Wall in the heart of Jerusalem lie at the foundation of Jewish history. These are incontrovertible facts of history," said Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. UNESCO chief Irina Bokova on Tuesday expressed concern over the matter. "She deplores the recent proposals under discussion by the UNESCO executive board that could be seen to alter the status of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls, inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list, and that could further incite tensions," the U.N. body said in a statement. "The director-general appeals to the UNESCO executive board to take decisions that do not further inflame tensions on the ground and that encourage respect for the sanctity of the holy sites."The al-Aqsa compound is a 14-hectare (35-acre) rectangular esplanade at the southeast corner of the Old City which was seized by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed in a move never internationally recognized. Israel considers all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital, but the Palestinians want the eastern sector as capital of their future state. Believed to be where the Prophet Mohammed made his night journey to heaven, it is the third-holiest site in Islam after the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, both in Saudi Arabia. The esplanade is also revered as the holiest site in Judaism because it housed both the First and Second Temple. Jews are allowed to enter the compound itself, but are forbidden from praying there for fear of triggering tensions with Muslim worshipers. Today, the holiest site at which Jews can pray is the Western Wall -- the last remnant of supporting wall of the Second Temple complex.

Russia, U.S. Sign 'Memorandum' on Air Safety over Syria
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/October 20/15/The United States and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes measures so their pilots steer clear of each other as they conduct separate bombing campaigns in Syria, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the document was signed earlier in the day and took immediate effect. "There's a series of protocols in place that effectively are intended to avoid any sort of risk of a mid-air incident between our air crews and Russian air crews," Cook said. "If they follow these protocols, we should not have the risk of engagement with Russian air crews over Syria."Moscow also reported that both countries had signed the memorandum. The Pentagon says Russia had initially asked for "deconfliction" talks with the United States after Moscow launched its air war in Syria on September 30 in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces. U.S. defense officials were furious after they only got a vague "heads-up" from Moscow about an hour before Russia began its bombing campaign. Cook said the memorandum establishes several protocols aimed at maintaining professional airmanship, as well as the use of radio frequencies and the creation of a secondary line of communication on the ground. However, he was quick to stress that the understanding did not signal broader agreement with Russia's Syria strategy. "The MOU does not establish zones of cooperation, intelligence-sharing or any sharing of target information in Syria." he said. "We continue to believe that Russia's strategy in Syria is counter-productive and their support for the Assad regime will only make Syria's civil war worse."The United States is leading a 60-plus member coalition targeting Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria and has been carrying out frequent raids for more than a year. Russia also claims to be targeting IS and other "terrorists," but the Pentagon says it is hitting non-IS rebels fighting forces loyal to Assad. Earlier Tuesday, a CNN report said Russian planes had twice in the last two weeks flown very close to coalition planes -- within 500 feet in one instance. The Russians need to abide by these flight safety protocols that they have now agreed to because we don't want miscalculations or misunderstanding," Cook said when asked about the report.

Angry Mourners Bury Saudi Shiites Killed in 'IS Attack'
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/October 20/15/Angry mourners on Tuesday buried two of five Saudi Shiites killed in the latest attack in the kingdom claimed by the Sunni extremist Islamic State group.All five died when a man opened fire Friday at a Shiite meeting hall during commemorations of Ashura, one of the holiest occasions for the Shiite faith, before being shot dead by police. It is the fourth time in a year that members of the minority community in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia have gathered to mourn victims of mass bombings and shootings. Two of Friday's victims in the Eastern Province's Qatif city were buried in the nearby Al-Ahsa region. "Unfortunately, we are getting used to it," said Hussein al-Nemr, an organizer of a mourning ceremony for the three others in Qatif. "There is anger, but kind of depression that there is no solution, there is no end" to the attacks, Nemr said by telephone. Wael Fuad, another mourner, told AFP: "People are not happy. We are being targeted. We are civilian victims that have done nothing, absolutely nothing except gather because we love our imam." In June, four Shiites died preventing a suicide bomber from entering the hall of Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam city. Days earlier, 21 people died in another Shiite mosque bombing in Eastern Province. Groups claiming affiliation with IS said they carried out the bombings, as well as Friday's shooting. During Ashura last year, gunmen killed seven Shiite worshipers, including children, in the eastern town of Al-Dalwa.

Turkey ready to accept transition period for Assad
Reuters, Ankara/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/Turkey is ready to accept a political transition in Syria in which President Bashar al-Assad stays in symbolic power for six months before leaving office, and is discussing the plan with Western allies, two senior government officials said on Tuesday. NATO member Turkey has long been one of Assad’s fiercest critics, insisting that no lasting peace can be achieved in Syria without his removal from power. “Work on a plan for Assad’s departure is under way ... (Assad) can stay for six months and we accept that because there will be a guarantee of his departure,” one of the officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We have moved forward on the issue to a certain degree with the United States and our other allies. There is not an exact consensus on when the six-month period would begin, but we think it won’t be too long.”The United States will put the proposal to Russia, one of the Turkish officials said, but it was not clear whether Moscow would entertain the idea. Three weeks ago, Russia launched air strikes in support of Assad against insurgents fighting him. European nations have struggled to find a common position on the role Assad should play in the solution of the Syrian crisis. France is keen to see Assad go as soon as possible, while Germany would prefer to have him involved in the transitional phase before he quits. Britain wants Assad to leave power “at some point” as part of any deal by world powers to end the four-year-old conflict, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Tuesday. Assad said in an interview with Iranian television aired on Oct. 4 that it was not up to any foreign official to decide Syria’s future, including any transitional period mooted. “The future political system, and which individuals govern Syria, this is a decision for the Syrian people. That’s why these statements don’t concern us,” he said.

U.S. deploys ground-attack a-10 planes to Turkey
By AFP, Washington/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/The U.S. military has deployed a dozen A-10 ground-attack planes to the air base at Incirlik in southern Turkey, a U.S. official said Tuesday. The 12 planes, famed for their tank-destroying capabilities, arrived over the weekend and have already been scheduled to fly missions in support of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) jihadists in Iraq and Syria, the official told AFP. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the move had "added capability" to the coalition's efforts against ISIS. Known by troops on the ground as "Warthogs," A-10 planes are heavily strengthened and designed to withstand direct hits from armor-piercing rounds. The planes typically fly lower and slower than F-16s, which also puts them more in harm's way. "There's more significant risk than other aircraft due to the flight path they typically fly," the official said. It wasn't immediately clear if the U.S.-led coalition has already used A-10s during its bombing campaign of ISIS jihadists, which has been going on for more than a year. The move comes three weeks after Russia launched its own bombing campaign in Syria. Officials from the Pentagon and Moscow are due to finalize an "understanding" over air-safety rules to avoid planes from the two powers flying into each other. The official said the A-10s could potentially be used to support rebel groups fighting ISIS in northern Syria, including a group called the "Syrian Arab Coalition" that received a massive airdrop of ammunition this month. Turkey in July allowed U.S. planes to use Incirlik Air Base to attack IS positions in Syria.

Ban says visit to Jerusalem reflects ‘global alarm’
By Staff writer, Al Arabiya News/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon warned of a “dangerous escalation” and urged Israelis and Palestinians to move quickly to calm nearly three weeks of unrest during a surprise visit to Jerusalem on Tuesday. “My visit reflects the sense of global alarm at the dangerous escalation in violence between Israelis and Palestinians,” he told journalists after meeting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. He warned: “If we do not act fast, the dynamics on the ground will only get worse.”Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (R) speaks together with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (L) after their meeting in Jerusalem October 20, 2015. (Reuters) Ban is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Tuesday and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday morning. The violence, including a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car attacks against Israelis, has raised fears of a full-scale uprising. “It is not too late to avoid a broader crisis,” Ban said, urging renewed peace efforts, with negotiations at a standstill for more than a year. “In my meetings today and tomorrow, with the Israeli and Palestinian leadership, I will be appealing to all to make concerted efforts to limit new incidents on both sides ... We must not allow extremists on either side, or those who believe violence is the answer, to further fuel the conflict.” He said that “beyond the immediate tensions, what is missing is the resolve to restore a political horizon for talks, and a political process that delivers real results and peace.”“We must, for the future of our children, come back from this dangerous abyss, safeguard the two-state solution, and lead people back to the road toward peace.”
Kerry on ‘basic calm’
Also on Tuesday, Kerry held out the possibility that he may meet Netanyahu in the Middle East rather than in Germany as previously planned. "I will be meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu either in Germany or in the region," Kerry said during a question and answer session after making a speech on climate change. The State Department has not finalized Kerry’s travel plans for the week, but reports have suggested he could meet Netanyahu in Berlin then continue to Amman for talks with Abbas and King Abdullah of Jordan. Kerry said he will engage Israeli and Palestinian leaders on the “basics” of administering Jerusalem’s holy sites to try to calm tempers in the city. On the agenda will be the administration of the Haram al-Sharif and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, holy sites that have been a flashpoint in the recurrent clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters.
Recent violent incidents
In the latest incident, a Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli officer in the occupied West Bank before other troops shot the assailant, the military said. The Palestinian Health Ministry said he was killed. The Israeli military early Tuesday, meanwhile, destroyed the West Bank house of a Palestinian from Hebron in the West Bank who allegedly killed an Israeli in a knife attack last year, the army said, according to Agence France-Presse. The destruction of the house of Maher al-Hashlamoun was accompanied by clashes between dozens of Palestinian stone throwers and Israeli soldiers. Hashlamoun, a member of Islamic Jihad, was given two life sentences by a military court in March for the November 10, 2014 murder of Dalia Lemkus, 26, and the attempted murder of two other people on a road in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, south of Jerusalem. Last week, the Israeli government ordered an intensification of punitive home demolitions in response to a wave of stabbing and shooting attacks and other deadly unrest. It says the controversial policy acts as a deterrent but critics say the main victims of such demolitions are relatives forced to pay for another person's actions. Meanwhile, Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem, more than a third of the city’s population, on Monday woke up to a new reality: Israeli troops are encircling Arab neighborhoods, blocking roads with concrete cubes the size of washing machines and ordering some of those leaving on foot to lift their shirts to show they are not carrying knives. Netanyahu’s government has portrayed the measures as temporary, in line with what his advisers say any police department in the U.S. or Europe would do to quell urban unrest. But some allege he is dividing occupied Jerusalem, something Netanyahu has said he would never do. Arab residents, who have long complained of discriminatory Israeli policies, say the latest closures are bringing them to a boiling point and lead to more violence. The unprecedented clampdown is meant to halt the rash of stabbings attacks. Many of the attacks were allegedly carried out by residents of occupied East Jerusalem, the sector captured and annexed by Israel in 1967 and claimed by Palestinians as a future capital.he unrest, the most serious in years, has also been stirred in part by anger over what they see as increased Jewish encroachment on the mosque compound, Islam’s most sacred site outside Saudi Arabia and also revered by Jews as the location of two destroyed biblical Jewish temples. (With AFP, AP and Reuters)

Global powers urge Libyans to form unity govt
By AFP | Paris/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/Western and Arab states issued a joint declaration Monday urging rival sides in Libya to accept U.N. proposals for a power-sharing government "immediately" to end rampant instability in the country. The statement was published jointly by the foreign ministers of Algeria, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Qatar, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States as well as the EU foreign policy chief. They "call on all parties in the Libyan political dialogue to immediately adopt the political agreement negotiated by the Special Representative to the United Nations, Mr (Bernardino) Leon," it reads. Libya has had two administrations since August 2014, when a militia alliance that includes Islamists overran the capital, forcing the internationally recognized government to take refuge in Tobruk in the east. U.N. envoy Leon has put forward proposals for a power-sharing government, but both the internationally recognized parliament and the Islamist-backed assembly have balked at the appointments. The U.N. Security Council has threatened to impose sanctions on those who block a peace deal in Libya or undermine any political transition in the country, which descended into chaos after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. The new U.N.-backed government would be headed by Fayez el-Sarraj, a deputy in the Tripoli parliament, and include three deputy prime ministers, one each from the west, east and south of the country. A meeting hosted by the U.N. Support Mission in Libya and Britain brought together representatives of 40 countries on Monday to seek ways to support a "Government of National Accord" in Libya. "There is no other way except, God forbids, a further slide into bloodshed and chaos," said Ali Al-Za'tari, deputy special representative of the secretary-general for Libya in a statement. A unity government in Libya is seen as the best chance to tackle migrant-smuggling from Libyan territory across the Mediterranean and the rise of ISIS.

White House parries questions on Joe Biden presidential run
By AFP | Washington/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/Barack Obama and his top aides struggled to fend off questions about Vice President Joe Biden’s possible 2016 run on Monday, as rampant speculation threatened to eclipse the White House’s political message. Amid reams of Washington conjecture, outright speculation and a trending #bidenwatch Twitter hashtag, Obama was again asked whether his 72-year-old deputy would enter the race to succeed him. “We’re talking about climate change today,” Obama said. It is an issue that has become increasingly distracting for a White House that prides itself on trying to shape the daily media agenda. One Democratic lawmaker, Brendan Boyle, went as far as to declare for Biden on social media. “I have a very good source close to Joe that tells me VP Biden will run for Prez,” the U.S. congressman tweeted. The White House was a little less forthcoming. “The vice president himself needs to make this decision,” said spokesman Josh Earnest, in one of a series of questions from reporters during the regular daily briefing. “It’s something that he’s obviously been considering not just over the last several months, but I think probably even longer. And when he’s arrived at a decision, I’m confident it’s one he’ll announce.” Earnest denied that the speculation was a problem, but said that sooner or later a decision would have to be made. “I think that anybody who has served this party and this country as long as the vice president has is entitled to all of the time and space that they need to make this personal decision,” said Earnest. “The laws of physics will require that this is a decision that be announced relatively soon, because the date of these contests is coming up. But for the precise date, that’s something that only the vice president knows.”Biden - as much a back-slapping, hand-shaking, old-school retail politician as he is a statesman - is popular with voters and has garnered great sympathy following the recent death of his son.According to a recent CNN poll of around 1,000 people, Biden has 51 percent favorable ratings, versus Hillary Clinton’s 46 percent.
Crucially, he is less distrusted, with 37 percent of those polled holding unfavorable views, versus 50 percent for Clinton.

U.S. deploys ground-attack a-10 planes to Turkey
By AFP, Washington/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/The U.S. military has deployed a dozen A-10 ground-attack planes to the air base at Incirlik in southern Turkey, a U.S. official said Tuesday. The 12 planes, famed for their tank-destroying capabilities, arrived over the weekend and have already been scheduled to fly missions in support of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) jihadists in Iraq and Syria, the official told AFP. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the move had "added capability" to the coalition's efforts against ISIS. Known by troops on the ground as "Warthogs," A-10 planes are heavily strengthened and designed to withstand direct hits from armor-piercing rounds. The planes typically fly lower and slower than F-16s, which also puts them more in harm's way. "There's more significant risk than other aircraft due to the flight path they typically fly," the official said. It wasn't immediately clear if the U.S.-led coalition has already used A-10s during its bombing campaign of ISIS jihadists, which has been going on for more than a year. The move comes three weeks after Russia launched its own bombing campaign in Syria. Officials from the Pentagon and Moscow are due to finalize an "understanding" over air-safety rules to avoid planes from the two powers flying into each other. The official said the A-10s could potentially be used to support rebel groups fighting ISIS in northern Syria, including a group called the "Syrian Arab Coalition" that received a massive airdrop of ammunition this month. Turkey in July allowed U.S. planes to use Incirlik Air Base to attack IS positions in Syria.

Iraq cholera cases grow, spread to Kurdish region
AFP, Baghdad/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/The number of cholera cases in Iraq has risen to more than 1,800 as the epidemic spread to the northern autonomous Kurdish region, health officials said Tuesday. “There have been 1,809 recorded cases of cholera in Iraq” since an outbreak started along the Euphrates valley last month, a health ministry statement said. Ministry spokesman Rifaq al-Araji told AFP that the governorates of Baghdad and Babil, south of the capital, were the worst affected with more than 500 cases each. The disease has killed six people so far, including four in the Abu Ghraib region at the very beginning of the outbreak, before health authorities had set up a response plan. The Kurdish health ministry reported its first cases since the outbreak, two each in the provinces of Arbil and Dohuk. Khalis Khadhr, spokesman for the regional ministry, said two of the cases were people displaced from the most affected parts of central Iraq. The Kurdish-run governorates of Dohuk and Arbil host hundreds of thousands of people displaced by conflict from other parts of Iraq. Authorities have blamed the cholera outbreak mostly on the poor quality of water caused by the low level of the Euphrates. A previous outbreak had killed four people in the Kurdistan region in 2012. After a short incubation period of two to five days, cholera causes severe diarrhoea, draining the body of its water. The United Nations says the number of people displaced by conflict in Iraq since the start of 2014 has topped 3.2 million.

Russia has no information about reported Russian deaths in Syria
By Staff writer, Al Arabiya News/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/The Russian embassy in Damascus said on Tuesday it had no information about reports that three Russians had been killed fighting alongside Syrian government forces. “There is no information about the alleged ‘deaths of three Russians’ or ‘three Russian servicemen’ in Syria, as reported by Reuters,” RIA news agency quoted the embassy as saying. The three Russians were killed when a shell hit their position in Latakia, Reuters reported a senior pro-government military source as saying. If confirmed, the deaths which occurred on Monday night would be the first known incident of Russians killed in Syria since Moscow began air strikes in support of President Bashar al-Assad on Sep. 30. Syrian officials could not be reached for comment. Russia’s defense ministry did not respond to requests for comment. However, Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, told Reuters that his sources in the area had confirmed the deaths of Russians, but did not have a figure. He said he believed they were not regular Russian forces but volunteers. The pro-government source, who is familiar with military events in Syria, said that at least 20 Russians were at the post in the Nabi Younis area when the shell struck. Moscow repeatedly stated there are no Russian troops on ground, but said there are trainers and advisors working alongside the Syrian military, and forces guarding Russia’s bases in western Syria.
The Kremlin also said it is not undertaking any steps to recruit and deploy volunteer fighters. Top Syrian rebel commander killed. Meanwhile, Russian air strikes in Latakia killed a top rebel commander from a group armed by Assad’s foreign enemies, the Observatory said on Tuesday. The Observatory said 45 people - both rebel fighters and civilians - were killed in the air strikes on Monday evening in the Jabal Akrad area, which is held by the First Coastal Division rebel group. The group, which fights under the banner of a loose alliance of factions known as the “Free Syrian Army”, confirmed the death of its chief of staff, Basil Zamo, formerly a captain in the Syrian military. The First Coastal Division is one of several groups that have received foreign military support under a program supported by the United States, including U.S.-made anti-tank missiles, the most potent weapon in the rebels’ arsenal. In some cases the support has included military training by the Central Intelligence Agency. Assad’s main foreign foes include Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. The commander of another such group, the Nour al Din al-Zinki Brigades, was killed in fighting south of Aleppo on Monday. These groups, often led by officers who defected from the Syrian army after the uprising against President Assad erupted in 2011, have been widely eclipsed by jihadist groups such as the Nusra Front and ISIS. The Syrian army backed by fighters from Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have launched a series of ground offensives against insurgent-held areas of western and northwestern Syria since Russia began air strikes in the country on Sept. 30.(With Reuters)

Turkey ready to accept transition period for Assad
Reuters, Ankara/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/Turkey is ready to accept a political transition in Syria in which President Bashar al-Assad stays in symbolic power for six months before leaving office, and is discussing the plan with Western allies, two senior government officials said on Tuesday. NATO member Turkey has long been one of Assad’s fiercest critics, insisting that no lasting peace can be achieved in Syria without his removal from power. “Work on a plan for Assad’s departure is under way ... (Assad) can stay for six months and we accept that because there will be a guarantee of his departure,” one of the officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We have moved forward on the issue to a certain degree with the United States and our other allies. There is not an exact consensus on when the six-month period would begin, but we think it won’t be too long.” The United States will put the proposal to Russia, one of the Turkish officials said, but it was not clear whether Moscow would entertain the idea. Three weeks ago, Russia launched air strikes in support of Assad against insurgents fighting him. European nations have struggled to find a common position on the role Assad should play in the solution of the Syrian crisis. France is keen to see Assad go as soon as possible, while Germany would prefer to have him involved in the transitional phase before he quits. Britain wants Assad to leave power “at some point” as part of any deal by world powers to end the four-year-old conflict, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Tuesday. Assad said in an interview with Iranian television aired on Oct. 4 that it was not up to any foreign official to decide Syria’s future, including any transitional period mooted. “The future political system, and which individuals govern Syria, this is a decision for the Syrian people. That’s why these statements don’t concern us,” he said.

Putin says Russia stepping up fight on terrorism after Syria strikes
By Reuters | Moscow/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/ President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Russia had foiled 20 militant attacks this year and was stepping up efforts to root out domestic terrorism, almost three weeks after launching air strikes against Islamist fighters in Syria. The Russian authorities have arrested a number of suspected militants since the Syria campaign started on Sept. 30, a development that stoked fears that militants could seek revenge by attacking targets inside Russia. A week ago, Russia’s FSB Federal Security Service said it had foiled a plot to attack Moscow’s busy underground using explosives, news that rekindled painful memories among Russians of a series of deadly attacks on the metro in the 2000s. Some of the men arrested in connection with the plot had undergone Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) training in Syria, the FSB said. Speaking at a meeting in the Kremlin with military officers, Putin said the FSB had killed 112 militants and arrested more than 560 so far this year. “The complex international situation demands that we strengthen our counter-terrorism work including inside our own country,” said Putin. “We need to act just as energetically and efficiently (as in the past). It is vital to expose the links between Russian militants with international terrorist groups and their sponsors.”Putin spoke as police said they had detained 20 suspects they accused of financing terrorism and advocating the creation of an Islamic caliphate on Russian soil. The interior ministry said it had conducted a search of 24 addresses in the Moscow region where members of outlawed organisation Hizbut Tahrir resided. “The members of the extremist organisation were recruiting new followers, distributing banned religious material and raising funds, including to help finance armed militants,” the ministry said in a statement. Putin said ISIS militants in Syria were planning to destabilise other regions and were recruiting Russians and citizens of other former Soviet states with a view to expanding their operations. "Having established a foothold in Syria and other Middle East countries, the terrorists have been building plans to increase expansion and destabilise entire regions," RIA quoted Putin as telling high-ranking officers. Russia’s main breeding ground for Islamist militants is in the mainly Muslim North Caucasus region, including in the internal republics of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, where Islamist insurgencies have been simmering for years. The Kremlin has fought two wars in Chechnya since the 1991 Soviet collapse and now relies on loyalist Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to use force to keep relative peace in the region. Russia says it is also worried about the possible spread of jihadism to the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, a region Russian strategists have traditionally called the country’s “soft underbelly.

Pistorius freed on parole after year behind bars for killing girlfriend
By Reuters | Johannesburg/Tuesday, 20 October 2015/Oscar Pistorius, South Africa’s “Blade Runner”, was released on parole on Monday, just short of a year into his five-year sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. But the disgraced Paralympic gold medalist must serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest, and still has to face an appeal by prosecutors who argue that he should have been convicted of murder rather than culpable homicide. Pistorius, 28, who was found guilty of the lesser charge when he fired four shots through a locked bathroom door and hit Steenkamp, will be confined to his uncle Arnold’s home in a wealthy suburb of the capital Pretoria. The athlete, whose lower legs were amputated when he was a baby, will be freed in line with South African sentencing guidelines that say non-dangerous prisoners should spend only one-sixth of a custodial sentence behind bars. The department of correctional services said Pistorius’ parole conditions include that the gun enthusiast must undergo psychotherapy and is not allowed to possess a gun. Africa’s most advanced economy has one of the world’s highest rates of violent crime. “He might not have been found guilty of murder, but it was yet another instance of a South African woman killed by an intimate partner, and I don’t believe the time he spent in prison reflects the severity either of his crime or the epidemic of violence against women,” said Louise Ferreira, a feminist. Steenkamp’s family have said they are unhappy with Pistorius’s sentence and questioned the verdict in public in August. Tania Koen, a lawyer for the Steenkamp family which has opposed early parole, told state broadcaster SABC last week: “Nothing is changed in their lives. Reeva is not coming back.” Prosecutors argue the verdict should be one of murder because Pistorius must have known that the person behind the door could be killed. The appeal is due to be heard on Nov. 3. The state will argue that the trial judge misinterpreted parts of the law and ignored vital evidence. A murder conviction would result in a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. A panel of five judges will hear the appeal. They could either reject the prosecution’s appeal, order a retrial or convict Pistorius of murder themselves, legal experts say.

Turkey Still Dances with ISIS
Burak Bekdil/The Gatestone Institute/October 20/15
Originally published under the title "Turkey's Grisly Dances with the Islamic State."
The largest terror attack in Turkish history targeted a peace demonstration.
On October 10, Turkey woke up to the worst single terror attack in its history. The twin suicide-bomb attack in Ankara killed 97 and injured nearly 250 people, with more than 60 of the wounded being treated in intensive care. As of October 14, no one had claimed responsibility, but all indications pointed to the Islamic State (ISIS, or IS)—the same jihadists Turkey's Islamist government once helped logistically, in the hope that they would facilitate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's downfall and the establishment of an Islamist regime there.
In fact, the attack in front of the main train station in downtown Ankara looked like a bigger-scale version of a July 20 attack in Suruc, a small town on Turkey's border with Syria. A Turkish-Kurdish suicide-bomber with ties to the Islamic State murdered 33 people at a pro-Kurdish meeting in Suruc, and paved the way for a spiral of violence that has since claimed hundreds of lives. Actually, since most of the deaths resulted mostly from Turkish-Kurdish clashes, the attacks may have claimed thousands: Kurdish militants' casualties remain unknown. Since July 20, more than 150 Turkish police and military officers have been killed.
ISIS felt that Turks had not followed its call to "rise up and fight against these atheists, these Crusaders and these traitors."
One of the two perpetrators of the Ankara bombings now is believed to be the brother of the Suruc bomber. The second suspect also has alleged ties with jihadist groups.
On October 10, thousands of pro-peace activists from different NGOs—most of them pro-Kurdish, secular, leftist and opponents of the AKP government—had gathered in front of Ankara's main railway station, to protest the wave of violence sparked by the Islamic State suicide-bombing in Suruc in July. They had no way of knowing that two other jihadists would turn their "peace rally" into a bloodbath. The usual police body searches for weapons or bombs—carried out routinely before every public rally—were omitted this time. Interior Minister Selami Altinok admitted that the body searches were not done, but refused to accept allegations of negligence.
The murder of nearly 100 people in a terror attack is shocking wherever in the world it happens, or whoever commits it. But the Ankara attack was hardly a total surprise. This author has mentioned at least a few times the findings of an August 2014 poll, which found that 11.3% of Turks did not view the Islamic State as a terrorist organization. Eleven percent is in no way a marginal figure: If a "mere" 11.3% of Turks thought so generously of ISIS, it meant that there were nearly nine million Turks sympathetic to jihadists. And only 5% of that would mean an army of nearly 450,000. The two suicide-bombers on October 10 were most likely just a two of that big bunch of 450,000 or so sleepers inside Turkey.
Shocking? Not really. In August, the Turkish Justice Ministry revealed that there were only 126 people in Turkish prisons on charges of being a member of IS. "Hence the unnerving threat of IS attacks on Turkish cities, most probably by the group's 'sleeper cells' inside Turkey," this journalist previously warned. IS had recently released a video promising to "conquer" Istanbul by the armies of the Caliph:
Soon, Turkey's east will be dominated by the atheist PKK [Kurdish militants], and the West will be dominated by the Crusaders. They will kill children, rape women, and enslave you. O people of Turkey; before [it is] too late, you should rise up and fight against these atheists, these Crusaders and these traitors. You should also repent. You should condemn democracy, secularism, human-made laws, tomb-worshipping and other devils.
Apparently, the people of Turkey did not "rise up and fight against these atheists, these Crusaders and these traitors." So they had to be killed by jihadists in suicide-bombing attacks. IS promised to attack, and it did.
450,000 minus two (suicide-bombers) leaves behind too big a number. Turkish cities are unsafe. Turkey's Islamist leaders look appalled to have been attacked by their one-time comrades. They should not. They wanted to dance with the devil in order to "Islamize" the failed state of Syria. The dance has ended up in carnage. It had to.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested that Kurds or Communists might have been involved in the blast.
Turkey's Islamist leaders once hoped that they would triumphantly visit Damascus when it would be Sunni Islamist, not Shia and secular. Instead, their former jihadist friends hit them right in the heart of their capital. But Ankara does not learn.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, instead of calling a spade a spade, mentioned three other organizations as potential culprits for the attack. In addition to the Islamic State, he said, other suspects were the PKK, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) and the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP).
These Kurdish and extreme left organizations mentioned by Davutoglu are big enemies of jihadists, not friends with whom to jointly organize a terror attack. Most victims were sympathizers of the Kurdish and leftist groups. Yet four days after the Ankara bomb attack, after the police had already identified the two suicide-bombers as Turkish sleepers linked with the Islamic State, Davutoglu still said that the attackers were linked with both IS jihadists and Kurdish militants.
Davutoglu cannot admit that jihadists alone simply murdered people en masse in twin bomb attacks.
The Ankara bombing was a bad ending of one part of the Turkish Islamists' willing dance with the devil. The dance is not over yet.
**Burak Bekdil is an Ankara-based columnist for the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily News and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.

German FM: Iran, Saudi tensions strengthen terrorists
Arash Karami/Al-Monitor/October 20/15
While visiting Tehran to discuss trade between Iran and Germany, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also met with Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to encourage his country to work to reduce tensions with regional rival Saudi Arabia, which is currently one of the most intractable crises plaguing the Middle East. Iran and Saudi Arabia, which are at the political centers of Shiite and Sunni Islam, respectively, are currently in indirect military conflicts in some of the deadliest wars in the Middle East, including Syria and Yemen.In an interview with Iranian media before his trip, Steinmeier said he planned to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia to find a political solution to Syria’s civil war. Rafsanjani had been previously tasked with easing tensions with Saudi Arabia after the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s and he has been a vocal advocate of easing tensions now. The transcript provided by Rafsanjani’s website of the Oct. 18 meeting with Steinmeier, however, indicates that the hajj stampede in Saudi Arabia that killed 474 Iranians has further complicated a possible de-escalation between the two countries.
Steinmeier said, “Political differences between Iran and Saudi Arabia have resulted in strengthening terrorists in the region, and if these two Islamic countries cooperate, other Islamic countries will also put aside their differences.” Rafsanjani expressed hope that both countries can use their experiences in fighting terrorism to resolve differences but also said that to fight terrorism, there must be “an all-encompassing cooperation” to first impede the progress of terrorists and then an effort to uproot them, though he did not specify how.
Rafsanjani also added that after the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, despite the fact that Saudi Arabia supported Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the war, Rafsanjani worked to ease tensions with Saudi Arabia. During Steinmeier's Tehran University visit, some students held signs protesting Germany's support of Saddam in that war.
Rafsanjani had good relations with former Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and said that had their joint plan of creating a commission to address religious differences been implemented, it could have resolved many differences; however, he also said the current rulers of Saudi Arabia sometimes seem unseasoned.
On the hajj stampede, Rafsanjani said that instead of strengthening the relations between Muslims, “It wounded the feelings of Muslims.” Saudi Arabia maintains 769 people were killed in the September stampede in the city of Mina while the Associated Press has reported that nearly twice that number of people had died.
That a high percentage of Iranians were the victims of the stampede has angered many Iranian citizens and officials, making addressing Iran-Saudi relations even more difficult. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in speaking with hajj officials Oct. 19, said that the hajj stampede must not be forgotten and “the issue raised at world assemblies for years.” Iranian officials believe that Saudi management and poor emergency response led to the high number of deaths.
In response to how Iran and Saudi Arabia can address issues, Rafsanjani said that political games must be put aside and pay attention to the crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinians.
With the international sanctions against Iran to be removed as a result of the implementation of the nuclear deal in the coming days, Steinmeier said that Germany is ready for economic trade and political relations with Iran.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/10/iran-saudi-germany-foreign-minsiter.html?utm_source=Al-Monitor+Newsletter+[English]&utm_campaign=802ffd552e-October_20_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_28264b27a0-802ffd552e-102494681

Europe seen as wild card as Iran nuclear deal goes into effect
Julian Pecquet/Al-Monitor/October 20/15
Critics of the nuclear deal with Iran want the Obama administration to quickly set firm limits on sanctions relief to prevent the international coalition that brought Tehran to the table from unraveling.
With the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) having gone into effect Oct. 18, skeptics worry that a trickle of European companies entering the Iranian market will soon turn into a flood. They say that could neuter the non-nuclear sanctions that are supposed to stay in place under the deal, while making it harder for Europe and the United States to collaborate on snapping back nuclear sanctions if Iran violates its terms.
The future of the sanctions regime "really depends on how assertive will US authorities be early on in the game, because it will set the precedent and the tone for the Europeans," said Emanuele Ottolenghi, a senior fellow at the hawkish Foundation for the Defense of Democracies who has advised Congress as well as several European foreign ministries on Iranian issues. He told Al-Monitor, "If the Europeans see that there are little consequences and there is little action against them, they’ll push the boundaries, no doubt."
US Congress has similar concerns.
"I strongly believe that the strength and unity of our transatlantic coalition will continue to play a positive role in the long-term success of this deal," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations panel on European affairs, wrote to the French, British and German ambassadors last month. "The JCPOA contains strong incentives for Iran to meet its nuclear commitments, but a unified response to any Iranian violation is the best way to ensure the long-term success of this agreement."
Under the terms of the deal, both Europe and the United States are set to suspend their nuclear sanctions once Iran has taken the agreed-upon steps to dismantle its nuclear program, which should take six months or so. The United States, however, will indefinitely retain a broad range of sanctions that aim to punish Iran for its support for terrorism, human rights violations and ballistic missile research.
For the most part, European and other countries outside the United States will be allowed to resume foreign trade with Iran on everything from oil and gas to financial services, transportation and related sectors — about 95% of Iran's external economic activity, according to former State Department sanctions official Richard Nephew. The United States, however, will retain the ability to crack down on a number of foreign transactions with Iran, fueling the current debate over how far to turn the screws.
Because the US list of entities sanctioned for non-nuclear activities is longer than Europe's, the Treasury Department has some flexibility in how difficult it wants to make life for European firms that opt to do business with redlined Iranian firms. In addition, Congress is all but certain to try to slap new sanctions on Iran for its support for its terrorist proxies, notably in Syria.
"The administration has asserted that it is committed to even making additional designations under some of the executive orders, as far as terrorism and proliferation," said Kenneth Katzman, a sanctions expert with the Congressional Research Service. He told Al-Monitor, "Some of the entities on the EU list that may be delisted by the European Union will still be listed by the United States, and therefore secondary sanctions would still apply. It's going to make it very difficult to have transactions with those entities."
US government agencies are also expected to play a major role in interpreting the laws that prevent foreign entities from using the US financial system to do business with Iran. With Iran opening up to foreign investment in the coming months and years and the JCPOA allowing foreign banks to transact with Iran using US dollars, potential investors will have to pay close attention to the pending rules.
“What I’ve told clients is, there’s two things they should be waiting for," Erich Ferrari, an attorney who handles transactions with Iran, told Al-Monitor. He said, "No. 1 is wait for further guidance to come out from OFAC [the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control] to determine how they’re going to deal with the implementation of US sanctions relief. [And] also be aware of any US person who may be involved either directly or indirectly in transactions for which they would want to re-enter Iran or in activities that may provide back-office support to the company."
President Barack Obama himself has sought to assuage any fears on Capitol Hill that Europe and the United States will have a rift over Iran sanctions.
“I am confident that we can impose consequences for Iranian violations without having to do so alone,” Obama wrote in a Sept. 7 letter to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. “Our European allies have made clear that they would join us in re-imposing unilateral sanctions and have conveyed to us that they stand ready to re-impose European Union sanctions in a calibrated manner as appropriate in the event Iran violates the JCPOA incrementally, ensuring that we can deter such non-compliance as well.”
Wyden announced his support for the deal a day later.
Critics of the deal aren’t so sure. They see Britain reopening its embassy in Tehran and France sending business delegations and worry that those warming ties could foreshadow a trans-Atlantic clash in the future.
"It's going to be a challenge for the administration to persuade the Europeans that it's appropriate to keep all those sanctions for terrorism and other reasons," said Patrick Clawson, the director of research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He told Al-Monitor, "Certainly the way in which European businesses are acting, and the way European governments are acting about their businesses' involvement in Iran, suggests that they think their companies are going to be able to carry on financial transactions with Iran without a whole lot of impediments. And that's kind of hard to square with a continued application of these secondary sanctions."
If history is any guide, Clawson and others argue, the United States may well end up caving in to European pressure just as what happened in the mid-1990s with the passage of the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act. After European nations rebelled against the US effort to stop them from doing business with who they want, President Bill Clinton and his successors gave them a broad exemption that infuriated Congress.
“Soon after the bill was signed into law, the Europeans complained about it and the Clinton administration gave them a carve-out, which was not called for in the bill at all," said a former aide to former Sen. Al D'Amato, R-N.Y., the bill's author. "They got a carve-out waiver for everything. Right there is your explanation for what can happen.”
Defenders of the deal argue that's why Republicans are deluded if they think they can rip up the deal and hope to get Europe on board with sanctions again. But they also downplay the risks of such a rift happening in the first place if the United States abides by the deal.
“I think other countries are going for the most part to ignore attempts by the United States to twist their arms not to implement the deal if Iran continues to comply with the agreement,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. He told Al-Monitor, “But at the same time, if Iran violates its commitments, the Europeans are going to be there right alongside us to snap back sanctions and take other necessary actions. They’re the ones who have been taking on the economic sacrifices over the past decade, not the United States.”
As a result, even some critics of the deal are advising Republicans and other foes of the deal in Congress to work in tandem with the Europeans if they have any hope of success.
“If the message is, ‘We’re still fighting the deal,’ then Europeans are going to shrug, because the deal is done," said Ottolenghi. He added, "But if the message is, ‘We’re not fighting the deal, but what we’re doing is to ensure that the business community is diligent about who they’re doing business with’ … then I think you will have a different response because the argument will not be, ‘Don’t do business with Iran,’ the argument will be, ‘Do business with that part of Iran that is not tainted by connections with the proliferation-industrial complex, with terrorism, with the IRGC [Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps], and so on.’”
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/10/europe-iran-nuclear-deal-implementation-wild-card.html?utm_source=Al-Monitor+Newsletter+[English]&utm_campaign=802ffd552e-October_20_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_28264b27a0-802ffd552e-102494681

Turkish religious scholar says 'masturbation is imperative and necessary'
Sibel Hurtas/Al-Monitor/October 20/15
Sare Davutoglu, the wife of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, is a gynecologist known for her conservative approach to medicine. A graduate of Istanbul University’s medical faculty, she worked at a clinic at the Islamic University of Malaysia in the 1990s. Interviews she gave during that period, her argument that Islam’s edicts on health could be used in modern medicine and her alleged support of the fatwa institution made headlines in the Turkish media after she became the first lady last year. The issue was important, for many people in rural Turkey still resort to faith healers and exorcists instead of doctors. Ridding the health sector of faith healers and transforming the people’s mentalities is actually the history in a nutshell of the struggle doctors have in Turkey. Hence, Sare Davutoglu’s views on Islamic medicine were met with concern and criticism.And while her views were thus far judged on the basis of interviews or speculation, they boiled down to a concrete initiative in October. An annual congress on prophetic medicine, which used to convene in the form of small gathering, was this year held under Sare Davutoglu’s patronage and for the first time hosted by a university — the Cukurova University in the southern city of Adana. Local governor’s offices, public hospitals, education departments and mufti’s offices were officially mobilized to boost participation to the event.
More than 160 speakers took part in the four-day prophetic medicine congress, which opened on Oct. 7. Only a handful of physicians attended the event, while the majority of participants were members of theology faculties and masters of the Quran with no academic background.
The presentations at congress, which opened with recitation of Quranic verses, covered issues such as healing concepts in the Quran and the hadiths, the Prophet Muhammad’s treatment practices and recommendations (cauterization, wet cupping, etc.), substance abuse, Islamic faith and immunology, the effects of worship on human health, circumcision, organ donation and mental health through prayer.
Recep Cigdem from Harran University’s theology faculty made one of the most attention-grabbing presentations, titled “Islam’s approach to sexual life.” The presentation, made available to Al-Monitor, addressed anal and oral sex as well as sadism and masochism, and included the following lines: “The hadith [says] ‘He who has an anal intercourse with his wife is accursed.’ Allah does not look [approvingly] to those who approach men or women from the anus. Though different views exist on this issue, they are not supported by the verse. … With regard to oral sex, some Islamic scholars describe it as permissible, while others as something objectionable. There is no religious text that openly describes it as something prohibited. … Sadism and masochism are inappropriate. … Stimulating drugs are not advisable. … Sexual plastic surgery (breast enlargement, penis enlargement) is not advisable unless it is medically necessary. … There is no religious text banning masturbation. In the face of adultery and similar risks, masturbation is imperative and necessary.”
Mustafa Unverdi from Gaziantep University’s theology faculty made another interesting presentation — on organ donation, a controversial topic in Islam. The paper, which he made available to Al-Monitor, said, “The opponents of organ donation argue it is unknown to which person transplanted organs would be a witness and hence interpret organ transplantation as a sort of evading accountability. I, however, believe these verses are metaphoric. Organ transplantation does not pose a problem in terms of religious accountability because the foundation of accountability rests on reason and will. Organ transplantation does not amount to the transfer of personality. In sum, since no problem is seen in terms of faith, I believe that organ and tissue transplantation is not only legitimate but also imperative and necessary as a treatment when the necessary conditions arise.”
These presentations are quite important in terms of weeding out superstitions from the faith-related medical realm. Yet the congress was largely brushed aside by the media, falling victim to prejudices for being called a “medical” event. Had it been presented as a congress aimed at weeding out superstitions from Islam, it would have certainly received the attention it deserved.
Medical professionals also raised objections to the “medical” label of the event. Neslihan Mungan, the head of the medical chamber in the host city Adana, released a critical press statement that read, “Scientific truth can change only in time with positive evidence and can be interpreted only with the use of scientific data and norms of proven efficiency. Faiths should not be expected to be part of or contribute to this platform. Obsolete knowledge that has not passed through the filter of reason is nothing more than superstition. Superstitions cannot guide science. They hamper science and prevent the progress of societies. In this context, the organization of congresses in Turkey and the speeches there should not be made by individuals outside the related field. Medical congresses should be organized by doctors and theology congresses by theologians.”
The medical label of the congress was not a coincidence, but rather an omen that the winds of conservatism, which have blown strong under the Justice and Development Party (AKP), are swaying the health sector as well. Last year, the Health Ministry paved the way for the use of traditional treatments in public hospitals, including wet cupping, leeches and bone setting.
In August, the ministry began equipping hospital rooms in Ankara with Qurans, books about the life of the Prophet Muhammad and prayer rugs. Like all other public institutions, hospitals across Turkey have been equipped with prayer rooms. This drive raises questions not only about Islamization in the health sector but also about discrimination, with the state catering to the followers of only one religion.
In a country where faith healers and exorcists are still in business, especially in underdeveloped regions, a congress addressing medicine on the basis of Islamic beliefs under the auspices of the prime minister’s wife is a disputable matter. One wishes these efforts were canalized to weeding out superstitions from faith-related medical issues, which would have served both to enlighten the people and break prejudices toward Islam.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/10/turkey-sex-islam-anal-masturbation.html?utm_source=Al-Monitor+Newsletter+[English]&utm_campaign=802ffd552e-October_20_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_28264b27a0-802ffd552e-102494681

Christians Persecuted by Muslims Even in the West
“Here we pray only to Allah”
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/October 20/15
“Convert or Die” — Graffiti on a restaurant, Gothenburg, Sweden.
“Very religious Muslims are spreading the following idea throughout the refugee centers: Sharia law rules wherever we are.” – Gottfried Martens, pastor of a south Berlin church.
“You have a cross on — then you are also a Christian f***ing whore. Do you know what we do to people like you? … You get stoned [to death].” — Muslim threats against Christians in Denmark, documented by TV2.
A British Christian family that was attacked says both police and the Anglican Church have failed to provide any meaningful support and are “reluctant to treat the problem as a religious hate crime.”
Christian residents of Europe continue to be persecuted, often by Muslims allowed into Europe on the grounds that they are being “persecuted.”
As Muslims grow in numbers, so do their demands — assimilation in Europe is falling by the wayside.
“Before we put on a show of unity with Muslims, let’s have them begin by respecting our civilization and our culture.” — Giuseppe Berlin, Municipal Councillor of Cinisello Balsamo, Italy.
Last April, police in Sicily reported that Muslim migrants hurled as many as 53 Christians overboard during a recent boat crossing from Libya. The motive was that the victims “professed the Christian faith while the aggressors were Muslim.” Another report cited a boy seen praying to the Judeo-Christian God. Muslims commanded him to stop, saying “Here, we pray only to Allah.” Eventually the Muslims “went mad,” in the words of a witness, started screaming “Allahu Akbar!” ["Allah is Greater!"] and began hurling Christians into the sea.
Even when Christian refugees make it to the West, they often continue to be persecuted by Muslims, their fellow “refugees.”
According to a September 30 report, in Germany “Many Christian refugees from Syria, Iraq or Kurdistan are being intimidated and attacked by Muslim refugees. In several refugee centers set up by the local authorities, Sharia law is being imposed, and Christians — which are a minority — are the victims of bullying.”
Gottfried Martens, pastor of a south Berlin church, said that “very religious Muslims are spreading the following idea throughout the refugee centers: Sharia law rules wherever we are.” Martens expressed especial concern for Muslims who convert to Christianity — apostates who, according to Islamic law, can be killed: “There is a 100% chance that these people will be attacked.”
Earlier, in July 2014, the weekly Die Zeit explained how “an atmosphere of intimidation and hostility towards Christians” reigns in the refugee centers. Christians, referred to as “pigs,” have limited access to communal kitchens. Local authorities said, “The police have reached their absolute breaking point. Our officials are increasingly being called to confrontations in refugee homes.”
The situation is the same in other European nations. Last Tuesday in Gothenburg, Sweden, Markus Samuelsson, of Assyrian descent, found the walls of his restaurant covered with jihadi graffiti. These included the messages: “Convert or Die” and “The Caliphate is Here.” The Arabic letter ن (“N” for “Nasara,” or “Christian”) was painted on the walls of the pizzeria next door and the local bakery as well, though non-Assyrian businesses were left untouched. (The Islamic State is known to mark out Christian homes and businesses with this letter before attacks.)
A July report told of how two small families of Christian asylum seekers were harassed and abused by approximately 80 Muslim asylum seekers from Syria. The Muslims — described by one Swedish newspaper as “fundamentalist Islamists” — and the Christians resided in the same asylum house. As in Germany, the Muslims ordered the Christians not to use communal areas and not to wear crosses around their necks.
After extensive harassment and threats, the Christian refugees, who thought they had escaped ISIS, left the Swedish asylum house “fearing for their own safety.” A spokesman for the government migration agency responsible for their center said:
They dared not stay. The atmosphere became too intimidating. And they got no help… They chose themselves to organize new address and moved away without our participation because they felt a discomfort.
Asylum seekers in the Swedish city of Kalmar, where Christian refugees were forced to move out of public housing after being harassed and threatened by Muslims.
In Denmark, according to the conclusion of a study conducted last year, “Christian asylum seekers are repeatedly exposed to everything from harassment to threats and physical abuse by other [Muslim] refugees in the asylum centers, simply because they have converted from Islam to Christianity.” An eight-year-old Christian boy was repeatedly bullied and beaten by larger Muslim boys on his way to school, to the point that he dropped out. In another incident, someone tampered with a Christian asylum seeker’s bicycle so that he crashed and broke both hands.
According to Niels Eriksen Nyman, who led the study:
There are certainly many more cases around the country than the ones we hear about in the church. I hate to say it, but I’m afraid that on some of the asylum centers there are some very unhealthy control mechanisms when the staff turns their back… I refuse to support Islamophobia, but we have a serious problem here.”
It certainly seems so. After all, such persecution is not limited to refugees. Christians of Middle Eastern or Asian backgrounds who have been living in the West for years are also being targeted.
In Muslim-majority areas of Denmark — voted 2013′s “happiest country in the world” — Christians of Middle Eastern backgrounds experienced “harassment, verbal attacks and in some cases direct violence from Muslims,” according to TV2. One Christian, “Jojo,” born in Denmark to Lebanese parents, said that Muslims sometimes surround and bully her about her Western attire. When one of them noticed she was wearing a cross, he said “Well, you have a cross on — then you are also a Christian f***ing whore. Do you know what we do to people like you? Do you know what we do to people like you? You get stoned [to death].”
Another Christian woman of Iranian background in Denmark recounted how she and her son are harassed on the Muslim-majority block where they live — and where she stands out for not wearing a hijab, the Islamic veil: “My son is being called everything. I get called all sorts of things. Infidel. Filthy Christians. They tell me I ought to be stoned to death. My son was beaten at the bus stop. He was called pig, dirty potato (Muslim slang for Danes), and that ‘you and your mother should die.’”
Similarly, in the United Kingdom, a Pakistani man, his wife, and their six children are suffering “an appalling ordeal at the hands of neighbours who regard them as blasphemers.” Their “crime” is converting to Christianity — over 20 years ago. Despite being “prisoners in their own home after being attacked in the street, having their car windscreens repeatedly smashed and eggs thrown at their windows” the Christian family says both police and the Anglican Church have failed to provide any meaningful support and are “reluctant to treat the problem as a religious hate crime.”
The family plans to relocate from their home city of Bradford to a “white English” area to escape the hate campaign. Nissar Hussain, the father, said: “Our lives have been sabotaged and this shouldn’t happen in the United Kingdom. We live in a free democratic society and what they are doing to us is abhorrent.”
Other refugees who convert to Christianity are snatched back to Islam. Last year, in New Zealand, friends of a Muslim convert to Christianity known as Daniel said they “fear the refugee has been abducted from his Christchurch flat and taken back to Saudi Arabia — home to the Islamic holy city of Mecca — where it is against the law for Muslims to abandon their faith.”
Daniel arrived about five years ago on a Saudi government scholarship to study English, eventually converted to Christianity and applied for asylum. He was granted refugee status on the grounds that he would be persecuted in Saudi Arabia, and told friends he was terrified he would be kidnapped and forced to return. According to the Sunday Star-Times, “his friends … say he was last seen in the company of two strange Arab men and believe he was taken out of the country under duress, possibly by agents of the state or family members. … There have been numerous documented cases of Saudi nationals being uplifted from foreign countries.” In one case, a man who converted to Christianity and was brought back to Saudi Arabia was told “more than once if he did not renounce his Christianity that he could expect to be beheaded.”
Even Europe’s indigenous Christians and their churches under attack by the “refugees” as well:
Italy
Last May, a Muslim schoolboy of African origin beat a 12-year-old girl during school because she was wearing a crucifix around her neck. The boy, who had only started to attend the school a few weeks earlier, began to bully the Christian girl — “insulting her and picking on her in other ways all because she was wearing the crucifix” — before he finally assaulted her. Italian police did not charge the boy with any offense, citing that he was a minor.
On Sunday, May 10, after mass at church, a group of young Muslim immigrants interrupted a Catholic procession in honor of the Virgin Mary. They shouted insults and threats as the group passed in front of the Islamic Cultural Center in Conselice, a small town in lower Romagna. Approximately 100 Catholic Christians, including several small children, were preparing to receive their first Holy Communion.
On New Year’s Day, a 67-year-old Moroccan man, heard mumbling verses from the Koran, used an iron rod to hurl to the ground and severely damage five statues — including of the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and the Christ Child — and destroy the altars and baptistery in the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta in Cles, Trentino.
On January 9, in the chapel of St. Barnabas in Perugia, as a man was kneeling in prayer before a statue of St. Mary, while holding a photograph, presumably of someone he loved, five “foreigners,” described as being of North African descent, attacked him: “The first thing they did was rip the photo from his hands. Next they unleashed their hatred against the image of the Virgin Mary. They broke the statue to pieces and then urinated on it.”
On January 17, a crucifix was destroyed in Cinisello Balsamo, a municipality in the Province of Milan, near a populated mosque. The municipality’s Councillor, Giuseppe Berlin, did not mince words about the identity of the culprit(s): “Before we put on a show of unity with Muslims, let’s have them begin by respecting our civilization and our culture. We shouldn’t minimize the importance of certain signals; we must wake up now or our children will suffer the consequences of this dangerous and uncontrolled Islamic invasion.”
France
On April 15, a man dressed in traditional Muslim attire damaged and desecrated Christian gravestones and crosses in the cemetery of Saint-Roch de Castres (pictures here). The prosecutor said, “The man repeats Muslim prayers over and over, he drools and cannot be communicated with: his condition has been declared incompatible with preliminary detention.” He was hospitalized as “mentally unbalanced.”
Less than two months later, during the early morning of August 5, at Thonon-les-Bains, a man of about 30, described as a “young Muslim,” committed major acts of vandalism in the church of Saint-Hippolyte and in the adjacent basilica of Saint-François-de-Sales. He overturned and broke two altars, the candelabras, and lecterns; he destroyed statues, tore down a tabernacle, twisted a massive bronze cross, broke some stained-glass windows and smashed in a sacristy door.
Austria
After reportedly listening to Muslim chants, a man, known only as Ibrahim A., went on a church-vandalizing spree and desecrated four churches. He overturned and destroyed statues, crosses, and altars. The Archbishop of Vienna described the attack as “so far the worst act of vandalism in my time as Archbishop…. I am shocked by the devastation in the churches. I hope that the perpetrator or perpetrators did not know what they were doing.” Ibrahim A., 37-years-old, was caught in the act of vandalizing St. Stephan’s but was released at the time because police did not realize it was one of many attacks that had been carried out that day. Police have been unable to find him since then.
Germany
A Turkish man being treated in a hospital attacked his nurse because there were “too many crosses” on the wall. According to Mainpost, a German publication, “A 34-year-old went to St. Joseph Hospital … due to a ‘gastro-intestinal flu.’ Suddenly he refused to be treated, because he thought there were too many Christian crosses on the wall. Because of the crosses, the man started insulting the nurse, calling her a bitch, fascist, and the like. Then the man, according to police report, also started becoming physically aggressive. The hospital called the police. The officers seized the man in front of the hospital and checked him.”
United States
Last year in Columbus, Indiana, three churches were vandalized on the same night. The words most frequently sprayed were “Infidels!” and “Koran 3:151.” The verse from the Koran states, “We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve [or "infidels"] for what they have associated with Allah [reference to Christian Trinity] … And their refuge will be the Fire, and wretched is the residence of the wrongdoers.”
Australia
Last year, a report said that “Church-goers in Sydney’s west have been left shaken after a stranger shouted death threats from a car bearing the Islamic State flag. The car drove past Our Lady of Lebanon Church at Harris Park on Tuesday and witnesses claim it had a flag similar to those brandished by Islamic State jihadists hanging out the window.” A church official said the people in the car threatened to “kill the Christians” and slaughter their children: “They were strong words and people were scared of what they saw.” Witnesses saw a flag outside the window with the words, “There is only one god and Muhammad is the prophet.”
Islamic hostility for Christians remains the same. Just as they are hounded in Muslim majority nations, Christian refugees from the Middle East and even longtime residents of Europe continue to be persecuted — often by Muslims allowed into Europe on the grounds that they are being “persecuted.”
According to what I call “Islam’s Rule of Numbers” — which holds that as Muslims grow in numbers, so do their demands — assimilation in Europe is falling by the wayside.
As millions more Muslims continue to flood the continent, they will not be limited to expressing their anti-Christian hostility on the unprotected dead in cemeteries, or on inanimate church buildings, statues, and crosses. Rather, as in the Islamic world, native Christians themselves will be hounded even more.
That is exactly how the “Muslim world” — most of which rests on lands that once were Christian, then taken by Muslim jihad — came into being.
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6701/christians-persecuted-in-west
**Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians, is a fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and Middle East Forum

The Secret Awfulness of Saudi Arabia
Douglas Murray/Gatestone Institute/October 20/15
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6722/saudi-awfulness
Ali Mohammed Al-Nimr, arrested in Saudi Arabia at the age of seventeen, has been sentenced to beheading and crucifixion.
Last week, two Saudi human rights activists were sentenced to jail for illegally establishing a human rights organization, questioning the credibility and objectivity of the judiciary, interfering with the Saudi Human Rights Commission (one can imagine what that is like), and describing Saudi Arabia as a police state.
Karl Andree, a 74-year-old British grandfather and a UK citizen who has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for the last year, is due to receive 350 lashes for unpardonable crime of being caught with some homemade wine.
British Justice Minister Michael Gove has now reportedly insisted that the UK could not possibly enter into a contract to train Saudi prison guards.
The naïve Western leaders are those who expect our countries to carry on with "business as usual" with a regime that sentences our citizens to flogging, and that beheads and crucifies political dissidents.
The naïve politicians are those who think the publics of the West do not know what a human rights sewer Saudi Arabia is, or think that we will put up with it. If that were ever the case, that time is over.
Is international opinion on Saudi Arabia finally shifting? For years, one of the great embarrassments and contradictions of Western diplomacy has been the intimacy of the West's relationship with the House of Saud. Of course, both Britain and America have some responsibility for installing and then maintaining the Saudi royal family in their position. Were it not for this circumstance, in addition to the world's largest oil reserves, the people we now call the Saudi royal family would be neither richer nor any more famous than any other group of goat-herders in the region.
For decades now, the Saudi royal family has been a continuing embarrassment for the civilized world. Their brand of extreme Wahhabi Islam is not only -- against some very stiff competition -- one of the worst interpretations of the Islamic faith. It is the basis of a religious and judicial system that they have not been content to keep within their borders, but rather regard as such a success that they have sponsored it around the world, while promoting violence abroad to keep it from exploding at home.
From the mosques of North Africa to the schools of Europe, these abusive and retrograde Wahhabi teachings can be found everywhere. Ten years ago, the Saudi-sponsored King Fahad Academy in West London was found to be using Saudi Ministry of Education textbooks that, among much else, taught their young students that Christians and Jews are apes and monkeys. But even while such teachings have been pushed into our countries, they have been swallowed by Western leaders. The possibility that whatever regime follows the House of Saud in Arabia could be even worse could have been one reason for this, at least in recent years. Another reason, probably much more likely, was the simple desire for a slice of the desert kingdom's cash. So, even while Saudi Arabia practices and exports a brand of Islam essentially indistinguishable from that of ISIS, the alliance has gone on. Until now.
In March of this year, Sweden's Foreign Minister, Margot Wallstrom, spoke out against Saudi Arabia's brutalizing repression of 50% of its population: women. She also objected to the Saudi regime's sentencing of blogger Raif Badawi to a thousand lashes for the crime of writing a mild blog regarding the wish for a bit more speech. The sentence was, said Wallstrom, "medieval" and a "cruel attempt to silence modern forms of expression."
The Saudi propaganda regime promptly attacked the Swedish minister for "unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Saudi Arabia." The Saudi propaganda machine has had to issue similar statements quite a lot as of late, most recently when worldwide attention finally focussed in the past few weeks on the case of Ali Mohammed Al-Nimr, arrested at the age of seventeen, who has been sentenced to beheading and crucifixion. The international uproar that this unspeakable sentence has finally triggered suggests that the House of Saud may -- in the media Information Age -- not only have overstretched itself, but come to the end of a road.
This past week, another two Saudi human rights activists -- Abdelrahman Al-Hamid and Abdelaziz Al-Sinedi -- were sentenced to jail for, among other similar charges, illegally establishing a human rights organization, questioning the credibility and objectivity of the judiciary, interfering with the Saudi Human Rights Commission (one can imagine what that is like), and describing Saudi Arabia as a police state.
These cases are, finally, being noticed in a significant way, and being picked up in mainstream newspapers and media outlets. Now, there is a British case that has caught international attention. In recent days, Karl Andree, a 74-year-old grandfather and British citizen, who has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for the last year, is due to receive 350 lashes after being found guilty of the unpardonable crime of being caught with some homemade wine.
As his family back home in Britain have said in an appeal to Prime Minister David Cameron, it is likely that this sentence will kill Mr. Andree, who has already been weakened by cancer.
British citizen Karl Andree, a 74-year-old grandfather and cancer survivor, has been in a Saudi Arabian prison for the last year and is due to receive 350 lashes -- all for the crime of possessing homemade wine.
It is significant that cases such as this, of routine Saudi barbarism, are finally causing a reaction. The UK and Saudi Arabia had agreed on a contract worth £5.9 million (USD $9.1 million) for the UK to train Saudi prison guards, but in recent days the UK government withdrew from this contract. The cause was a cabinet discussion in which the new British Justice Minister, Michael Gove, reportedly insisted that the UK could not possibly have such an agreement with Saudi Arabia. The two specific cases he is said to have highlighted were the case of Mr Andree and the case of Ali Mohammed Al-Nimr.
The Foreign Secretary is alleged to have disagreed with Mr. Gove, describing his views as "naïve." But the Justice Minister, appropriately enough, prevailed. It is not Michael Gove, of course, who is naïve. The naïve Western leaders are those who expect our countries to carry on with "business as usual" with a regime that sentences our citizens -- or anyone -- to flogging, and that beheads and crucifies political dissidents.
The days of the secret awfulness of Saudi Arabia are long over. Now the routine abuses and atrocities of Saudi Arabia are rapidly moving from the blogosphere to the newspapers to the tables of cabinet with an unstoppable momentum. The naïve politicians are the ones who think the publics of the West do not know what a human rights sewer Saudi Arabia is, or think that, while knowing this, we in the West will all sit back and put up with it. If there were ever a time when this was the case, that time is over.
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/6722/saudi-awfulness

Kuwaiti journalist 'Abdallah Al-Hadlaq: Israel Has The Right To Defend Itself Against Palestinian Knife Terrorism
MEMRI/October 20, 2015 Special Dispatch No.6192/On October 18, 2015, Kuwaiti journalist 'Abdallah Al-Hadlaq published an unusual article in the official Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan harshly condemning the "Palestinian knife terrorism" and the "incitement" by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud 'Abbas. Israel, he stated, has the right to defend itself and also to kill the Palestinian assailants, even if they are women and children. Al-Hadlaq also attacked the international community for not taking Israel's side and for failing to support this right. He concluded his article with the promise that the Israeli truth would eventually win out and overcome the Palestinian lie. However, following highly negative reactions, Al-Watan was forced to remove the article from its website. This is not the first time that Al-Hadlaq has expressed support for Israel. Previously, he published several articles supportive of Israel and sharply critical of Iran and Hamas. For this reason, he was included in the 2009 blacklist of Arab writers who support Israel and oppose the resistance axis that was published by pro-resistance axis Arab newspapers and websites.[1]
Below is a translation of Al-Hadlaq's article:
Al-Hadlaq's article on the Al-Watan website prior to its removal
"Palestinian President Mahmoud 'Abbas must stop the incitement to hatred and condemn the attacks targeting Israelis. [He must do] this given the upsurge in stabbing incidents against Israelis in Jerusalem and other Israeli cities. "As Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said, the Palestinian knife terrorism will not vanquish Israel. "In view of the intensification of the crimes carried out by the Palestinians – their knife terrorism against Israeli soldiers and attempts to seize their weapons, as well as crimes against innocent civilians – Israel has a right to defend itself and kill the Palestinian terrorists, whatever their age, whether they are children, adolescents, men, or women. "It is embarrassing that the international community remains silent, like the dead, in confronting Palestinian crimes against Israelis, the continued series of stabbings against them, and the escalation of Palestinian knife terrorism. This same international community denies Israel's legitimate right to defend itself, its people, and its citizens. "The State of Israel will continue to exist, and the Palestinian knife terrorism will not frighten it; the scattered Palestinian refugee camps are temporary. [This is because] despite the international community's negligence [in that it does not] support Israel's [right] to defend itself, its people, and its army, we are talking about the Palestinian lie versus the clear, open, Israeli truth. "Thus, the Israeli truth will win, although only a few support it, and the Palestinian lie will be defeated, even though many cheer it."
Endnote:
[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6132, Kuwaiti Columnist: The Gulf States' Real Enemy Is Iran; Israel Is A Friendly Country, August 13, 2015; MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 635, Concerns in Kuwait, Gulf over Iranian Threat to Gulf States, September 9, 2010; MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 5061, Arab Columnists Criticize Firing Of Rockets From Gaza As Reckless Escapade Serving Iran, Not Palestinians, November 20, 2012; MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2319, Arab Media Publishes Blacklist of Writers, April 20, 2009.

Turkey in, refugees out: EU’s dirty deal
Mahir Zeynalov/Al Arabiya/October 20/15
A few years ago, Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi castigated Europe for supporting rebels fighting against him, and threatened to be unhelpful in curbing Europe-bound migration. That bargaining chip, migration, is now being offered to Turkey by the European Union (EU). German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Turkey last week was part of an EU-led initiative to offer what some called a “dirty deal,” raising eyebrows across Europe. Germany’s largest-selling newspaper Bild asked on its front page: “Who gains most from the chancellor’s Turkey trip: Merkel or [President Recep Tayyep] Erdoğan?” Other German dailies and opposition figures blasted Merkel for emboldening Erdoğan as his former party, the AKP, is set to run in elections in just two weeks. Merkel offered to revive EU membership talks even though rights and freedoms in Turkey are getting worse. Amnesty International criticized her visit, and asked her to insist that Turkey clean up its act before treating it as a reliable partner in EU border management. “Talks between the EU and Turkey... risk putting the rights of refugees a distant second behind border control measures designed to prevent refugees from reaching the EU,” Amnesty said.
In Turkey, 100 academics penned a joint letter to Merkel, warning her that the visit would strengthen a man who has blatantly violated EU values.
EU incentives
The EU faces the biggest migration crisis since World War II, with hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants waiting at border crossings in Balkan countries, hoping to be able to proceed to more affluent Western Europe. Germany, which has promised to take in at least 800,000 this year, is feeling the strain at a time of rising anti-immigrant sentiment across the continent. European leaders deliberately avoid using the term “refugees,” because international law forbids turning them back. They are described as “migrants” seeking a better life in Europe, rather than desperately fleeing war or persecution. One of the proposals Merkel set forth during her visit was to designate Turkey a “safe country” for refugees, a move that would allow the EU to deny asylum requests by refugees. Turkey is already feeling the burden of hosting more than 2 million, and complains of inadequate international aid. The EU offered 3 billion euros for Turkey’s help in stemming the refugee tide, a deal resembling that between Europe and Gaddafi. Italy offered $5 billion to Libya to curb illegal immigration to Europe. Turks themselves are unable to travel to Europe without a visa. It is the only country with membership negotiations that is not given a visa-free regime. Merkel promised to push EU leaders to start dialogue on the issue. Ankara started EU membership talks a decade ago, but there was little if any progress. EU reluctance to accept Turkey is coupled with Ankara’s failure to meet EU criteria in reforms, governance and standards. Merkel offered to revive EU membership talks even though rights and freedoms in Turkey are getting worse. Ankara is clearly more interested in breaking its international isolation and joining European leaders in photo-ops. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu asked Merkel for an opportunity to attend European summits. If accepted, the move would be a major PR boost for a ruling party that has lost most of its international friends in the past couple of years.

Memories of the 1988 Algerian Spring (part 2)
Jamal Khashoggi/Al Arabiya/October 20/15
The 1988 Algerian Spring, whose anniversary is this month, left us with many lessons from which we have not learned. The same mistakes are being repeated, with ruling elites determined to cling to power. We can see that in the following memories:
• I rushed to a press conference held to announce the results of the first and last free legislative elections in Algeria, which took place in Dec. 1991. I arrived late, and found my colleagues quietly leaving the hall. I asked my late colleague Qosi Darwish, who was a specialist in Algerian affairs, what happened as the conference had barely begun.
He replied: “This was the shortest, most dangerous press conference I’ve ever attended. We were all dumbfounded by the results. The Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won with more than 80 percent. After the interior minister announced the results, silence prevailed in the hall.” That night, at a dinner that gathered Algerian journalists and politicians, questions started to arise: “Will there be a second round? Will the results be canceled?”
• On new year’s eve, at the usual party at the Algeria Hotel given by the ruling class, diplomats and journalists were asking as a joke: “Will this be the last new year party?”
• After a few days, I went to meet the late Abdul Qader Hashani, who headed the FIS. Its headquarters were modest, with few workers. Everyone was worried. Someone told me that Hashani was in a neighboring mosque, and would come after evening prayers. After a few moments, the oil engineer-turned-politician entered. The young man had a beard, and was wearing a blue jilbab over a high-neck, white cotton shirt.
Algeria is in a better state than other Arab countries, where people search for deadly boats to carry them to Europe, or hide under a bridge to avoid bombardment
We discussed preparations for the second round of elections. His answers were simple: there were no preparations, and they did not want to provoke anyone. If elections were held, they would win.
What drew my attention most was his appearance, which was totally different from the usual Arab politician. He belonged to the working people. I understood then that the conflict in the Arab world was not between different movements, as many writers describe it, but between classes.
• I attended a demonstration of millions called by the leader of the Socialist Forces Front, Hocine Ait Ahmad, who represented along with his party the “civil and liberal” alternative. He was defeated by the FIS but came second, ahead of the ruling party.
The slogan of his protest was: “No to an Islamic republic. No to a police state.” It seemed like the uprising of civil forces versus the rise of Islamists. The army responded to the first demand only.
• I attended a reunion held every Tuesday at the place of my friend Mohamed Said Tayeb. I was back from Algeria, and everyone was wandering: “What will happen? Will the army interfere?” I answered with confidence: “I don’t think so. If the army intervenes, the gates of hell will open on Algeria.”
• I returned to Algeria after the coup. A week later, everyone was waiting to see if the FIS would create a stir on the streets. A small group of journalists decided to cover the events that were expected after Friday prayers. The mosque we chose was surrounded by police and soldiers. Worshipers came out quietly among the security men, and were looking at each other. They did not protest, but they cheered whenever they entered the streets.
The security men did not follow them, and for some reason one officer ordered us to accompany him to a neighboring guard post. There was even tension inside the station. We expected to stay there for hours. A Syrian journalist was working for CNN and its famous correspondent Christiane Amanpour. He outsmarted the police and let the camera roll. One of the gendarmes noticed and punched him hard. I saw his tooth fly in the air.
Amanpour made a fuss about it and shouted loudly, requesting to call the U.S. embassy immediately. After half an hour, men who seemed to be from the intelligence took us to the hotel, saying they did that to protect us!
• I was not present at the following incident, but I have watched it on video. FIS President Abbassi Madani was addressing the crowd at the July sit-in. He was saying enthusiastically: “If [the army] comes out to us in tanks, we’ll eat them alive.”
A pro-government Algerian screened the video in his office and said, laughing: “They were eaten alive.” He was referring to the army storming and forcibly dispersing the sit-in. Since then, Islamists learned not to test the violence of the deep state.
• My last story is painful to those who believe in the centrality of the judiciary in governance. I met a judge before the trial of FIS leaders Madani and Ali Belhadj. He told me with confidence that they would “not execute them, but imprison them for 12 years only.” The trial had not taken place yet, so how could he divulge that information to the press?
I faxed his statement to Al-Hayat newspaper’s office in London, as I was their correspondent then. However, it seemed that the news had gotten out as I received many phone calls, and knew later that senior Algerian officials had contacted my colleagues in the main office.
I assured the editor-in-chief that I had recorded the judge’s words, but the newspaper’s interest required that I delete the phrase: “We’ll imprison them for 12 years.” Indeed, the same verdict was delivered.
These painful memories belong to a world that has not changed. Algeria remains after 28 years where the youth of Oct. 1988 left it. However, it is in a better state than other Arab countries, where people search for deadly boats to carry them to Europe, or hide under a bridge to avoid bombardment.

Who can replace Bashar al-Assad?
Raed Omari/Al Arabiya/October 20/15
The question of who could replace Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been asked throughout the conflict, and has gained urgency amid defections and rebel gains against his regime. The formation of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), and its military arm the Free Syrian Army (FSA), brought to the fore Syrian politicians, army defectors and technocrats who were viewed as transitional figures. FSA founder Riad al-Asaad was seen as the best candidate when the FSA began to take the lead on the battlefield. However, with rising concerns about its radical attitude, Paris-based Burhan Ghalioun stepped up as an uncontroversial technocrat who could bring together secular and religious groups. When Islamists took power in other Arab countries, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib was seen as a good transitional figure. With Islamists’ unsuccessful rule, and amid attempts to prove the moderate attitude of the SNC and FSA, independent writer and secular Marxist Michel Kilo, and long-time dissident George Sabra, were then seen as good candidates. However, with criticism of SNC leaders being based aboard or exiled, the focus was on Haytham Manna. As part of a major Levantine tribe, Ahmad al-Jarba was then seen as a good transitional figure when there was a need to engage Syrian tribes in the fight against Assad and foreign extremists. Assad will likely leave Syria’s political scene one way or another, but he will probably be replaced by a national assembly that includes regime figures, rather than by an opposition representative
However, due to the SNC’s failure to present itself as a cohesive and reliable opposition, as well as the emergence of key Islamist and jihadist players on the ground, talk of the aforementioned figures as possible replacements to Assad dissipated. At one point, when the conflict began acquiring sectarian overtones, and amid recognition of the need to include regime figures in a transition process, Syrian Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa - a Sunni Muslim - was seen by the opposition as a suitable replacement. However, questions have been raised about the circumstances of his disappearance from the political scene.
Complicating factors
One of the most important factors in the debate over a viable replacement for Assad is the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He has used the group as a scarecrow, with the message: “Better me than ISIS.” Russia’s military intervention in support of the regime is another complicating factor, with Assad now seemingly unconcerned about being replaced. He will likely leave Syria’s political scene one way or another, but he will probably be replaced by a national assembly that includes regime figures, rather than by an opposition representative. This scenario has been alluded to by both Washington and Moscow.

What is Iran so afraid of with the West?
Camelia Entekhabi-Fard/Al Arabiya/October 20/15
In one of his strongest statements against the United States, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said earlier this month that “talks with America are forbidden.” This seemingly put diplomatic reconciliation talks following the Iran nuclear deal off the table. Khamenei’s hardline supporters in parliament labeled the top nuclear negotiators “traitors.” Why? Perhaps a misinterpretation led Khamenei’s loyalists to believe that the supreme leader was confronting the nuclear deal, which at that time had already been submitted to parliament for final approval. Not long ago, Khamenei had permitted negotiators to hold talks with the Americans as required, since international sanctions had placed much pressure on Iran’s economy. Western powers had worked hard for two years to secure the nuclear deal and to prevent another regional conflict. Having any hope of diplomatic reconciliation with the West after the deal was mainly dependent on regional crises.No interest in talking about Syria with the Americans, was Iran’s first official statement that was presented to the press during the United Nations General Assembly in New York late September. Without the support of the revolutionary guards, the supreme leader would lose his main power base
The domestic consequences of the nuclear deal and the public’s high expectation of seeing economic improvement is one thing, but the supreme leader’s hesitance reflects his fears of Western influence - which is another thing. Khamenei’s resistance to further improve relations with the West, despite the international community’s expectations to see a more cooperative Iran, post-nuclear deal, should come from the hardliners pressure on him. The classic example of the hardliners, is the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who have a conflict of interest with the Rowhani government that strives to improve relations with the West. There’s the nuclear deal which is agreed on the one hand, but not when it comes to regional allies such as Bashar Assad or Hizbollah in Lebanon. The supreme leader is saying nothing has changed, and nothing will ever change. But his audience are mainly IRGC, who felt their authority was challenged by the nuclear accord. The current government led by Hassan Rowhani set its goal to improve Iran’s relations with the world, and they have prioritized this foreign policy, which would result in their efforts in the nuclear deal. But since the nuclear agreement, no step has been taken - even one as little as having talks with neighboring countries about regional matters, let alone the crisis in Syria.
Is it really the West’s cultural influence?
The U.S. president says he is ready to talk with Iran and Russia about Syria, but Iran has refused. Iran is simply not interested in having talks beyond the nuclear agreement for several reasons. Fear of U.S. cultural influence, which was mentioned by the supreme leader and repeated in Friday prayers last week, is believed supposedly to be the only reason for their rejection. IRGC’s concern over Syria, and also Russia’s involvement, apparently makes Bashar Al-Assad stronger and that gives Iran the upper hand in this conflict, seeing itself free of the need for anyone, especially the United States and its regional allies.
Also without the support of the revolutionary guards, the supreme leader would lose his main power base. Regional matters are the Revolutionary Guards’ speciality, and there was a need for Ayatollah Khamenei to put Rowhani’s government and their ‘super diplomats’, back in their place, to understand that they could not stretch their diplomatic efforts.
The death threats to Mohammad Javad Zarif and Dr Ali-Akbar Salehi, were a warning to anyone who wanted to discuss the regional conflicts with western nations as a direct consequence of the Iran nuclear deal. The increasing challenge Iran faces managing three conflict zones (Syria, Iraq and somehow Yemen), is not an easy task, and sooner or later will leave the operators too tired to carry on alone. Especially increasing Iranian involvement in Syria and the recent deaths of a number of high ranking IRGC officers there, including IRGC Commander General Hossein Hamadani which alerted public opinion about the Iranian presence in the conflict zone. On Tuesday, Iranian press reported that two more high ranking IRGC officers - General Farshad Hasunizadeh and Hamid Mokhtarband - had been killed by ISIS in Syria. As well as the international community, what does the Arab world think about Iran’s deepening involvement in Syria and the death of some of its key military officers there? Iran’s welcoming of Russian military assistance in Syria, has become sadly on a par with the increasing number of high ranking Iranian military officers killed there. What Iranian leaders are mainly afraid of is not the cultural influence or subtle changes which might be imported with Western goods and talks with the U.S., but losing their own regional influence.

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