LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
February 07/17
Compiled
& Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
The
Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://www.eliasbejjaninews.com/newsbulletins17/english.february07.17.htm
News Bulletin
Achieves Since 2006
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Bible Quotations For Today
He called a
child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change
and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18/01-05/:"At that
time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven?’He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell
you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes
me."
The saying is sure: If we have
died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign
with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains
faithful for he cannot deny himself.
Second Letter to Timothy 02/01-13/:"Be strong in the grace that is in
Christ Jesus; and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to
faithful people who will be able to teach others as well. Share in suffering
like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s
aim is to please the enlisting officer. And in the case of an athlete, no one
is crowned without competing according to the rules. It is the farmer who does
the work who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say,
for the Lord will give you understanding in all things. Remember Jesus Christ,
raised from the dead, a descendant of David that is my gospel, for which I
suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the
word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the
elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with
eternal glory. The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live
with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will
also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny
himself.
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis
& editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 06-07/17
Hariri rules out any future rifts with Aoun/Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/Februar
07/17
Jumblatt throws down the gauntlet in Lebanon/Says apply Ta’if Accords, or
amended 1960 electoral law/Gulf News/Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior
Writer/February 07/2017
May meets Netanyahu: Two urgent issues the British PM must raise/Peter Oborne/Middle
East Eye/Monday 6 February 2017
France: Le Pen Launches Presidential Campaign/"This election is a choice
of civilization./ Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/February 06, 2017
The Choices Palestinians Make/Dexter Van Zile/Gatestone Institute/February 06,
2017
Between Quebec’s mosque and Paris’ Louvre/Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al
Arabiya/February 06/17
Has America returned to us/ Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/February 06/17
The extremist plot to disrupt Saudi-US ties/Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/February
06/17
Michael Flynn and adopting the right approach/Sawsan Al Shaer/Al
Arabiya/February 06/17
What Shakespearean tragedies tell us about who we mourn for/Ehtesham Shahid/Al
Arabiya/February 06/17
Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on
February 06-07/17
Saudi Arabia to appoint ambassador to Lebanon: president's office
Saudi Minister Meets Aoun, Says New Ambassador to Lebanon Appointed
Hariri Meets Saudi Minister
Salam, Sabhan tackle current developments
Bassil: Agreement with Jumblat Fails, Hybrid Law Hasn't Been Dropped
Hizbullah and Mustaqbal Urge Electoral Law 'within Constitutional Timeframe'
Families Demand 'General Amnesty'
Report: Proportional Representation Back into the Spotlight
Interior Minister urges Aoun to revise vote law stances
Hariri rules out any future rifts with Aoun
Sami Gemayel Rejects All Versions of 1960 Electoral Law
UK Secretary of State Renews UK Commitment to Lebanon
Public Works Minister meets Egypt Ambassador, Transportation Directorate
delegation
Chtaura road reopened
Jumblatt throws down the gauntlet in Lebanon/Says apply Ta’if Accords, or
amended 1960 electoral law
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 06-07/17
Toronto Muslim speaker: “We must celebrate our way of life…until their
way of life dissipates under our feet”
Toronto Protest: ‘Celebrate our barbaric cultural practices’, become ‘enemies’
of liberalism,”
Trump Vows U.S., Allies Will Defeat 'Radical Islamic Terrorism'
Iran Imports 149 Tons of Uranium from Russia
US VP warns Iran not to test Trump administration
Trump steps up attack on judge over travel ban
Iran's missile test 'not a message' to Trump
Oil stuck near $57 as Iran, OPEC countered by U.S. drilling rebound
Israel targets Hamas sites after Gaza rocket attack
Russia, Turkey, Iran discuss Syria ceasefire implementation in Astana
ISIS encircled in Syria’s al-Bab after army advance
Iraqi forces wage psychological war with jihadist corpses
Gas line rupture in southeastern Iran kills two
British govt says won’t allow lawmakers to block Brexit
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan defense ministers discuss bilateral ties
Hundreds march in Quebec in tribute to mosque shooting victims
Links From Jihad Watch Site for on February 06-07/17
Toronto
Muslim speaker: “We must celebrate our way of life…until their way of life
dissipates under our feet”
USA
Today likens Steve Bannon to Islamic State caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Behead
them in their own homes: Pennsylvania Muslim drew up assassination list of US
military personnel
CBS
poll: Two-thirds of Democrats say Islam and Christianity are equally violent
“Nice
legs”: Video shows Texas Muslim father making creepy remarks to daughters he
murdered in honor killing
Rep.
Brad Sherman likens Trump to ISIS, says both “bent on destroying civilization”
Winston
Churchill: Anti-German Hate Group Leader?
Raymond
Ibrahim: How Trump Can Help Persecuted Christians and Protect Americans with
One Move
Jamie
Glazov Moment: Did Chuck Schumer Cry Over Obama’s Christian Ban?
Hugh
Fitzgerald: “I’m a Muslim — Ask Me Anything,” Answers 24-29
Theresa
May bans Muslim migrant from leaving UK because he’s a suspected terrorist
Daily
Mail defames Geert Wilders as “rabble rouser…wide boy of European politics”
Nathan
Lean of Georgetown University calls for “public uprising” to overthrow Trump
Uber
driver gets fired for disliking Islam
Latest Lebanese Related News
published on February 06-07/17
Saudi Arabia to appoint ambassador to Lebanon: president's office
Reuters/February 6, 2017/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia will appoint a new
ambassador to Lebanon, encourage the return of Saudi tourists and increase
flights there by Saudi airlines, the Lebanese president's office said, in a
sign of improved bilateral ties. The kingdom's Gulf Affairs Minister Thamer
al-Sabhan informed President Michel Aoun of the changes when they met at the
presidential palace on Monday, Aoun's office said in a statement.
Saudi Minister Meets Aoun, Says New
Ambassador to Lebanon Appointed
Naharnet/February 06/17/President Michel Aoun held talks with Saudi State
Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan on Monday at the Presidential
Palace, the state-run National News Agency reported. Al-Sabahan stressed during
his meeting with Aoun that his visit comes in the “framework of following up on
discussions that have been first agreed between Aoun and Saudi King Salman Bin
Abdul Aziz,” during the president's visit to
Hariri Meets Saudi Minister
Naharnet/February 06/17/Prime Minister Saad Hariri held a meeting on Monday
with Saudi State Minister for Gulf Affairs Thamer al-Sabhan at the Grand
Serail, the National News Agency reported. The meeting took place in the
presence of the Prime Minister's aide Nader Hariri. Nader Hariri. Talks focused
on the latest local and regional developments as well as the bilateral
relations between the two countries.
Salam, Sabhan tackle current developments
Mon 06 Feb 2017/NNA - Former Prime Minister, Tammam Salam, met on Monday
evening at his residence in Mousaitbeh with Saudi State Minister for Arab Gulf
Affairs, Thamer Al Sabhan, accompanied by Saudi Charge d'Affaire in Lebanon
Walid Abdullah Bukhari and Minister Al Sabhan's Assistant Walid Al Yaacoub.
Talks reportedly touched on most recent developments in
Bassil: Agreement with Jumblat Fails,
Hybrid Law Hasn't Been Dropped
Naharnet/February 06/17/Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement leader
Jebran Bassil clarified that an agreement on an electoral law for the upcoming
parliamentary polls has not been reached as yet with Progressive Socialist
Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday. “A
hybrid electoral law was put for discussion six months ago, and they (PSP) have
agreed on it six months ago. But last week and in a matter of two days they
changed their mind,” Bassil told the daily in an interview. Jumblat's PSP has
backed down from its previous support for a so-called hybrid law that mixes the
proportional representation and winner-takes-all systems. The PSP, which is now
in favor of the winner-takes-all system, has recently warned that any law
containing proportional representation would “marginalize” the minority Druze
community. Bassil stressed that discussions between the political parties and
those rejecting the law continue “but no results have been reached so
far.”However, the Minister assured that efforts will succeed at devising an
election law just like they succeeded at electing a president for
Hizbullah and Mustaqbal Urge Electoral Law
'within Constitutional Timeframe'
Naharnet/February 06/17/Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal Movement stressed during
their 40th bilateral dialogue session on Monday “the importance of devising an
electoral law within the constitutional timeframe.”The conferees also called
for “holding the elections on time” while emphasizing the need to “preserve
security and political stability.”While Mustaqbal has rejected that the
electoral law be fully based on proportional representation, arguing that
Hizbullah's arms would prevent serious competition in the party's strongholds,
Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat has totally rejected proportional representation,
even within a hybrid law, warning that it would “marginalize” the minority
Druze community. Hizbullah, Mustaqbal, the Free Patriotic Movement, AMAL
Movement and the Lebanese Forces are meanwhile discussing several formats of a
so-called hybrid electoral law that mixes proportional representation with the
winner-takes-all system. The country has not organized parliamentary elections
since 2009 and the legislature has instead twice extended its own mandate. The
last polls were held under an amended version of the 1960 electoral law and the
next vote is scheduled for May.
Families Demand 'General Amnesty'
Naharnet/February 06/17/Lebanon's central prison in Roumieh witnessed protests
by a number of inmates on Monday, as relatives of prisoners staged
road-blocking sit-ins in several Lebanese regions, demanding a “general
amnesty.”“Inmates staged protests in Roumieh Prison's Block B and resorted to
knocking forcefully on the doors to protest security measures taken by the
Internal Security Forces,” state-run National News Agency reported. An ISF
statement said “the situation is under control,” denying reports about an
alleged attempt to take a prison guard hostage.
Report: Proportional Representation Back
into the Spotlight
Naharnet/February 06/17/Prospects are emerging that a proportional
representation vote law for the upcoming parliamentary polls where
Interior Minister urges Aoun to revise
vote law stances
The Daily Star/February 06/17/BEIRUT: Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk
expressed hope that President Michel Aoun would reconsider his stance over the
new electoral law in order to avoid transforming his post into a
"controversy."
Machnouk's statement was made during a recorded interview with Al-Araby TV that
will be aired later Monday. The minister said that Aoun was not "required
to take stances to acquire popularity," describing him as a "complete
leader."Aoun refused during last week's Cabinet session to comment on
Machnouk’s request to discuss the formation of a 10-member commission, which
was not on the Cabinet's agenda. The commission would oversee the upcoming
parliamentary elections before an agreement is reached on a new vote law.
The minister is expected to call on voters to begin preparations for the
elections on Feb. 21, two months ahead of the elections, set for May. Deep
divisions among rival political groups have thwarted attempts to reach a
consensual electoral law to replace the current 1960 vote law. When asked
whether division over the matter would break the political consensus between
Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Machnouk told his interviewer that
Lebanese factions were "keen to maintain the political consensus in the
country... which is part of its stability."He warned against a stronger
quake that could destabilize the political status quo in the country, saying
that it would put the new government in a "difficult
situation.""No one has any interest in [destabilizing the
situation]... particularly parties represented in the Cabinet," Machnouk
said. Machnouk said that Aoun's election as the country's 13th president on
Oct. 31 "wasn't by chance... it was the result of an announced regional
settlement declared by Iranian Foreign Minister [Mohammad Javad Zarif] and
European foreign policy chief [Federica Mogherini] Last month Zarif said that
cooperation between his country and Saudi Arabia had ended Lebanon's political
deadlock. His statement was made despite continuous remarks by Lebanese
factions that the election of Aoun was a decision made in
He reiterated his belief that Lebanese factions "will fail to reach a new
electoral law ahead of the deadlines... if they manage to reach a new vote law,
then they can set a new date for the parliamentary elections. They have until
May."Machnouk, who is a Future Movement member, said that the party
supports a hybrid electoral law and not a complete proportional representation
system. He called for a "peaceful and calm discussion" over the
matter. "Factions should reach consensus."The Free Patriotic
Movement, the Amal Movement and Hezbollah have repeatedly expressed their
support for a full proportional vote law. Progressive Socialist Party MP Walid
Jumblatt has backed down on supporting a hybrid electoral law, renewing his
support for the majoritarian system.
- Lebanese fighters in Syria/The Interior Minister also touched on the number
of Lebanese fighters who joined opposition groups in Syria, saying that it
"doesn't exceed hundreds.""I can state seriously, but not
officially that the numbers of Lebanese fighters doesn't exceed a few hundred.
Not more than 400."
Hariri rules out any future rifts with
Aoun
Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/Februar 07/17
“There will be no divisions from now on at the governance level,” Hariri said
during a meeting with a delegation from the Roman Catholic Higher Council, led
by Minister of State for Planning Michel Pharaon, at the Grand Serail. The
premier added that he was in daily contact with Aoun, discussing with him
“various issues and problems facing
Commenting on Aoun’s demand for a new electoral law that would be fair to the
Christians, Machnouk said: “Certainly, the president can say his opinion inside
the Cabinet by supporting this or that orientation. But he must not be part of
the political tug-of-war [over a vote law].”Machnouk was apparently referring
to Aoun’s warning that he would prefer a vacuum in the legislative body over a
new extension of Parliament’s mandate. This was Aoun’s strongest signal yet
concerning his opposition to the 1960 sectarian-based majoritarian electoral
law that divides
Machnouk said his ministry was preparing to hold the elections under the 1960
law in the absence of an agreement by the rival factions on a new voting
system. Referring to a four-party committee struggling to agree on a new law
ahead of the Feb. 21 deadline for the May 21 elections, Machnouk said: “Those
concerned with discussions and negotiations say it is possible to reach a new
[vote] law. But my personal view is that they will not able to reach [an
agreement].”He added that the Interior Ministry is bound by law and the
Constitution to hold the elections on time on May 21 under the 1960 system. “If
they reached a new law before May 21, that is on May 20, they can set a new
date for elections. This means that they have February, March, April and more
than half of May [to agree on a vote law],” he said. However, in sharp contrast
with Machnouk’s gloomy outlook, Aoun Monday reassured the Lebanese that there
would be a new electoral law that ensures “just representation” for all
Lebanese. “There is no need to worry about the discussions over the next
electoral law because the elections will eventually be held and
Sami Gemayel Rejects All Versions of 1960 Electoral Law
Naharnet/February 06/17/Kataeb Party leader Sami Gemayel voiced his utter
rejection on Monday of endorsing the controversial 1960 electoral law for the
upcoming parliamentary elections even with an amended version. “If a new
electoral law was not approved this week, we might head towards either the 1960
law or a technical extension of the parliament's term which we categorically
reject,” said Gemayel after a meeting he held with former president Michel
Suleiman. “The 1960 law doesn't allow new reformist and independent forces to
enter the parliament nor secures fair representation,” stressed Gemayel. The MP
described amendments made to the 1960 vote law as a way to redistribute shares
among political parties. “We want a vote law that secures equality among the
Lebanese,” he stressed. Gemayel's comments came in an indirect criticism for a
statement made by Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat who
openly called on Sunday for holding the parliamentary polls under a “revised”
version of the 1960 vote law, rejecting all calls for proportional
representation. The political parties have intensified their efforts in recent
days in a bid to agree on a new electoral law before the expiry of the
deadlines. They are discussing several formats of a so-called “hybrid”
electoral law that combines the proportional representation and
winner-takes-all systems. While al-Mustaqbal Movement has rejected that the
electoral law be fully based on the proportional representation system, arguing
that Hizbullah's weapons would prevent serious competition in the party's
strongholds, MP Walid Jumblat's Democratic Gathering has totally rejected
proportional representation, even within a hybrid law, warning that it would
“marginalize” the minority Druze community.
Naharnet/February 06/17/The
Public Works Minister meets Egypt
Ambassador, Transportation Directorate delegation
Mon 06 Feb 2017/NNA - Minister of Public Works and Transportation, Youssef
Fenianos, met on Monday with Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon, Nazih al-Najari,
with talks touching on the current local and regional situation.Speaking to
reporters following the meeting, the Ambassador indicated that his visit was to
congratulate the Minister on his post, as well as on the election of a new
president of the Lebanese republic."We also discussed the regional
situation, in addition to affairs that require cooperation between the two
countries," al-Najari said, highlighting the necessity to enhance
bilateral cooperation.Fenianos also met today with Secretary of the Change and
Reform bloc, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, with whom he discussed the current general
situation, as well as an array of development-related affairs.The Minister has
earlier held a meeting with the General Directorate of Maritime and Land
Transportation. Separately, Fenianos denied in a statement that he had put away
the dossier of tenders relevant to Beirut airport equipment.Stressing that his
Ministry did not do any wrong, he maintained that he was working on equipping the
airport with the best technologies.
Chtaura road reopened
Mon 06 Feb 2017/NNA - The road linking Chtaura to Zahle in Bekaa was reopened
after supporters of prisoners blocked the way with blazing tires, in call for
general amnesty, National News Agency correspondent reported on Monday.
Prisoners' friends and relatives also reopened the international airport
highway, after they had closed it in the afternoon.
Jumblatt throws down the gauntlet in
Lebanon/Says apply Ta’if Accords, or amended 1960 electoral law
Gulf News/Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer/February 06/2017
Beirut: In what is turning out to be a matter of confessional principle that
upholds Lebanon’s socio-political fabric, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt threw
down the gauntlet on Sunday as he formally rejected the much discussed
proportional vote law. He insisted that either an amended version of the
disputed 1960 majoritarian system ought to be adopted or that the 1989 Ta’if
Accords be formally applied. Ta’if, which is yet to be ushered in, called for
the creation of a Senate — presumably led by a Druze. More importantly, it
maintained that confessionalism ought to be abolished, and that, to put it
mildly, is work in progress in a society defined by confessionalism. The
Lebanese confessional system recognises 18 communities, both Muslim and
Christian, with specific political rights, translated with representation
across the spectrum, including most government offices.
Proportionality, based on each sect, would presumably grant each of the 18
leading communities their representation according to their demographic weight
in the country. Jumblatt’s remarks, which came as he was reelected to head the
Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), dismissed a proposal floated by Foreign
Minister Gebran Bassil, who is also the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement
(FPM). The Druze leader perceived Bassil’s four-party [FPM, Future Movement,
Amal and Hezbollah] committee meetings to agree on a new voting system ahead of
the February 21 deadline for the upcoming parliamentary polls, as little more
than an FPM effort to “eliminate historic pro-Jumblatt Christian
representation”.According to the usually reliable Al Jumhuriyyah daily,
“Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil told the four-party committee that he is
willing to be lenient with Jumblatt regarding the Druze seats but that it is
out of the question for his bloc to comprise any Christian MPs”.In response,
Jumblatt demanded that parliamentary elections be held on time (in May 2017),
though he pointed out that the Ta’if Accords made no mention of sect-based
proportionality, a favourite of both the FPM and Hezbollah.What added to the
ongoing confusion, exacerbated by unending meetings among elites reiterating
the same positions for weeks and months on end, was the position reached by
President Michel Aoun. On Friday, the head-of-state vowed to confront parties
that are allegedly obstructing the endorsement of a new electoral law (the
PSP), rejected the 1960 law, and threatened to put a new voting system to a
popular referendum.
Foreign Minister Boutros Harb, a member of parliament from Batroun and an
established constitutional scholar, clarified that a referendum “seeks to avoid
[staging] elections”, which was yet another anti-Aoun and anti-FPM/Hezbollah
provocation.
Jumblatt did not take the referendum bait as he stressed the necessity for a
partnership with the FPM, saying that the PSP was represented in the government
“with two ministers and we have voted for President Michel Aoun. We hope that
President Aoun will understand different viewpoints to reach with him and
others a new electoral law”, he concluded. What truly preoccupied Jumblatt were
the implications of the hybrid law proposal that calls for electing a part of
parliamentary seats under a majoritarian system and another part under a
proportional vote law that, he insisted, would deprive his 11-member bloc of
some parliamentary seats in the Chouf-Aley region. The Druze chieftain affirmed
that full sect-based proportionality — even if is not mentioned in the Ta’if
Accords — can only be introduced in
Saudi-Lebanese ties receive strong boost
Latest LCCC Bulletin For
Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 06-07/17
Toronto Muslim speaker: “We must
celebrate our way of life…until their way of life dissipates under our feet”
Robert Spencer/Jihad Watch/ February 6, 2017
Canada’s Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act forbids child
marriage, polygamy, and forced marriage. It is being widely derided now as
“anti-Muslim,” probably by the same people who last week were telling us that
such practices had nothing whatsoever to do with Islam. It has even been blamed
for the Harper government’s defeat. It will probably soon be a relic of
history, and immigrants can stream into
Meanwhile, this Syed Hussan is openly preaching sedition. But that is
apparently just fine these days as long as you’re on the Left.
Note his open Sharia supremacism and call for the conquest of
“
Jonathan D. Halevi, CIJ News, February 6, 2017
Thousands gathered on Saturday, February 4, 2017 in front of the American
Consulate in
One of the speakers at the rally was Syed Hussan, who represented the
organization No One Is Illegal-Toronto and is affiliated with Toronto Community
Mobilization Network and Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.
In his speech, Syed Hussan portrayed white supremacy, capitalism and liberalism
as the enemy describing Donald Trump and
The following is the transcript of Syed Hussan’s speech:
I want you to repeat these names with me Mamadou [Tanou Barry], Abdelkrim
[Hassane], Khaled [Belkacemi], Aboubaker [Thabti], Azzeddine [Soufiane],
Ibrahima [Barry] shot, killed, murdered, executed, massacred while praying, for
praying, never forget. Lives extinguished, families torn apart, children made
fatherless, a river of tears.
A river of tears by the gun shots of a single man [Alexandre Bissonnette] or so
we are told. An act of hate someone has to believe.
But this act, this attack, this shooting was no act of hate. It is a strategic
act, and intentional act, a thoughtful act.
Mamadou [Tanou Barry], Abdelkrim Hassane] and Khaled [Belkacemi] were killed
because they were seen as enemies. Aboubaker [Thabti], Azzeddine [Soufiane],
Ibrahima [Barry] were killed not by a lone wolf, but because they were threats.
You see, we, you and I, pushed out by borders, beaten down by police and
impoverished in our communities. We are threats. We are fundamental challenge
to our system of oppressiveness, this destructive way of life that cherishes
the few over the many.
This way for life is what killed them. It gauges on oil to spread its evil
wings. And to steal this oil it must declare us, it must declare the places we
come from with oil, anti of humanity. It must turn us into enemies.
This way of life is Islamophobia. It’s Capitalism. This way of life brings
perpetual war, enraging war from
For as long as there has been history, black, brown, we’re the others. It is on
our deaths that this system, this way of life, dances. And this way of life is
what killed those six men.
This way of life needs borders. It needs to divide some of us into citizens and
the rest of us into undocumented, migraines, others.
It needs to steal Indigenous children, destroy language, disappear women. We
are made into enemies, disposable, locked up in prisons, forced to do
endangered labour, in forms of factories. Pushed of our lands, recorded, weighed
and measured for our skin.
This murderous way of life is white supremacy. This way pf life needs to be
taken care off, its children fed, its food cooked, its homes kept warm and for
that it must have gender, women. Women that are made to serve but watch
closely. This way life is patriarchy.
And this way of life, the one that killed our six loved ones, needs armed
forces whose work is death. And it needs bureaucrats, it needs administrators
to sustain it. It needs courthouses like this one [The Toronto Courthouse]. And
it needs a public, a public that is you and I to uphold these laws, enforcing
them in the smallest of ways as teachers that check ID cards, as nurses that
check health cards.
This kind way of life is liberalism. And this way of life comes in all colours.
It comes in the red, the blue and the orange of your political parties. It
comes in many flavors. It comes in a caustic bile of [US President Donald]
Trump and it comes in the saturated sweetness of [Justin] Trudeau, who defends
Muslims, but will arm the [Saudi] bombing of Yemen, who defends Muslims, but
will scrap to the likes of Barrick Gold [mining company] and will not clean the
five decade long of mercury poisoning in Grassy [Narrows Reserve in Ontario]….
We must break down the borders that keep out migrants and refugees. We must
tear down the prisons and the detention centers. We will seize the farms and
the factories. We must become the enemies, so that in this city everyone can
live with food, shelter, dignity.
We must become the enemies that sow terror in their hearts so that laws like
C-51 shredded away. We must celebrate our way of life, what they called
barbaric cultural practices on our streets and in our homes until their way of
life dissipates under our feet. Let us become enemies. Let us organize. Let us
win. We cannot wait. Freedom is calling. This is what these demands, that
demand of us, let us be enemies.
Trump Vows U.S.,
Allies Will Defeat 'Radical Islamic Terrorism'
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/February 06/17/President Donald Trump vowed
Monday that America and its allies would defeat the "forces of death"
and keep radical jihadists from gaining a foothold on U.S. soil, but did not
offer details about his strategy to defeat the Islamic State group. In his first
visit to U.S. Central Command -- responsible for an area that includes the
Middle East and Central Asia -- Trump also did not say whether he would scrap
parts of the anti-IS mission in Iraq and Syria undertaken by his predecessor
Barack Obama. "Today, we deliver a message in one very unified voice to
these forces of death and destruction --
30-day review
Trump made fighting "radical Islamic terrorism" a central plank of
his election campaign, and the issue is emerging as the organizing principle of
his foreign and domestic policies. Centcom plays a key role in Operation
Inherent Resolve -- the U.S.-led mission to "degrade and defeat" IS.
A total of 17,861 strikes have been launched across northern
Work with
Trump used potential cooperation in the fight against the fighters as a reason
to embrace Russia and has tried to implement an order banning refugees and
nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United
States.The ban has spurred an unprecedented battle with the courts. On Sunday,
Trump tried to pin the blame for future attacks on the federal judge who has
temporarily blocked his executive order. "Just cannot believe a judge
would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court
system. People pouring in. Bad!" Trump said. He did not offer evidence for
the suggestion that would-be terrorists are flocking to the country. Most
experts express more concern about Americans becoming radicalized and carrying
out IS-inspired attacks, rather than the group dispatching clandestine agents
around the world.
Taking the fight to IS
The contours of Trump's policy to fight the Islamic State group abroad are
still coming into focus, after less than three weeks on the job. His call for a
review of the anti-IS campaign included any "recommended changes to any
Iran Imports 149 Tons of Uranium from
Russia
Naharnet/Agence France Presse/February 06/17/Iran will receive the final part
of a 149-ton shipment of uranium from Russia as part of its nuclear deal with
world powers, it was announced on Monday. "The first shipment arrived on
January 26 by plane and the last will arrive tomorrow, Tuesday," said Ali
Akbar Salehi, head of
US VP warns
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Monday, 6 February 2017/Days after the
Trump administration imposed new sanctions on
Trump steps up attack on judge over travel
ban
Reuters, Washington Monday, 6 February 2017/President Donald Trump on Sunday
ramped up his criticism of a federal judge who blocked a travel ban on seven
mainly Muslim nations and said courts were making US border security harder,
intensifying the first major legal battle of his presidency. In a series of
tweets that broadened his attack on the country’s judiciary, Trump said
Americans should blame US District Judge James Robart and the court system if
anything happened. Trump did not elaborate on what threats the country
potentially faced. He added that he had told the Department of Homeland
Security to “check people coming into our country VERY CAREFULLY. The courts
are making the job very difficult!”The Republican president labeled Robart a
“so-called judge” on Saturday, a day after the Seattle jurist issued a temporary
restraining order that prevented enforcement of a 90-day ban on citizens from
Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and a 120-day bar on all
refugees. A
Legal limbo
The ruling by Robart, appointed by former Republican President George W.
Bush, coupled with the decision by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in
Fact and fiction Trump’s Jan. 27 travel restrictions have drawn protests
in the United States, provoked criticism from US allies and created chaos for
thousands of people who have, in some cases, spent years seeking asylum.
Reacting to the latest court ruling, Iraqi government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi
said: “It is a move in the right direction to solve the problems that it
caused.”In his ruling on Friday, Robart questioned the use of the Sept. 11,
2001 attacks on the
Iran's missile test 'not a message' to
Trump
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted by Tasnim news
agency as saying: "
Qasemi said The U.S. government was "still in an unstable stage" and
Trump's comments were "contradictory"."We are waiting to see how
the
(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; editing by Ralph Boulton)
Oil stuck near $57 as
By Alex Lawler/LONDON (Reuters)/February 06/17/ - Oil steadied close to $57
barrel on Monday as rising tensions between the
(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Adrian Croft)
Israel targets Hamas sites after Gaza
rocket attack
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) /February 06/17/— Israel's military fired on Hamas
installations in Gaza after a rocket launched from the territory exploded
inside Israel on Monday, with no reports of casualties on either side. Hamas,
the Islamic militant group that rules
Russia, Turkey, Iran discuss Syria
ceasefire implementation in Astana
Reuters, Astana Monday, 6 February 2017/Experts from Russia, Turkey, Iran and
the United Nations have started a technical meeting in Kazakhstan's capital,
Astana, to discuss in detail the implementation of the Syrian ceasefire
agreement, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday. Representatives of
ISIS encircled in
Reuters,
ISIS militants in the area are now effectively surrounded by the army from the south
and by Turkish-backed rebels from the north, as
The Syrian army’s advance towards al-Bab risks triggering a confrontation
with the Turkish military and its allies - rebel groups fighting under the Free
Syria Army banner - which have been waging their own campaign to take the city.
In three weeks, Syrian army units moved to within 6 km (4 miles) of al-Bab, as
Damascus seeks to stop its neighbour, Turkey, penetrating deeper into a
strategic area of northern Syria. “It’s clear the regime is in a hurry to reach
al-Bab,” said Mustafa Sejari, a senior rebel official in the FSA group Liwa
al-Mutasem. The Turkish-backed rebels, who have had the city in their sights
for months, would fight government forces if they got in the way, he said.
Iraqi forces wage psychological war
with jihadist corpses
* Islamic State corpses on streets are clear message
* Iraqi forces poised to attack west Mosul
* Citizens recall jihadist reign of terror
By Michael Georgy
MOSUL, Iraq, Feb 6 (Reuters) /February 06/17/- The flyblown corpses of Islamic
State militants have been rotting along a main street in north Mosul for two
weeks, a health risk for passersby. Suicide bombers' belts beside the fighters
can still explode, killing anyone nearby.But the Iraqi army has no intention of
burying the jihadists and hopes as many people as possible will get a good look
at their blackened bodies, torn apart by bombs and bullets. As Iraqi forces
prepare to expand their offensive against Islamic State from east to west
PSYCHOLOGICAL WEAPON
The corpses are left on view as a psychological weapon to deter Islamic State
sleeper cells, which Iraqi officials say are highly effective and distributed
across the country. Islamic State has executed thousands of Iraqi soldiers and
policemen, and their comrades are eager for revenge. "We leave them in the
street like that so the dogs eat them," said soldier Asaad Hussein.
"We also want the citizens to know there is a price for supporting
terrorists."Sunni Mosul had accused the Shi'ite-led
"If your beard length did not meet their requirements, that was a month in
jail and 100 lashes in public."
SPREADING FEAR
The militants are no longer in charge in east Mosul but they are still very
capable of spreading fear.Two men approached a soldier to complain that there
were suspicious wires that may be attached to a bomb on a door at the factory
where they work.
Minutes later, an increasingly familiar scene unfolded. Soldiers looked up and
spotted a drone aircraft operated by Islamic State militants, located about 600
metres away across the
Gas line rupture in southeastern
By Reuters,
British govt says won’t allow lawmakers to block Brexit
By Reuters, London Monday, 6 February 2017/Theresa May’s Brexit strategy
will not be able to block Britain from leaving the European Union, May’s
spokeswoman said on Monday before a debate on possible amendments to
legislation in parliament.“We think there should be a straight forward bill
about giving the government the power to deliver on the decision of the British
people,” the spokeswoman told reporters, adding that parliament will have a
vote on the final deal with the EU.“We are not going to allow there to be
attempts to remain inside the EU or rejoin it through the back door.” The bill,
which would give the prime minister permission to trigger the Brexit process,
faces pressure from pro-EU lawmakers who are seeking greater transparency and
oversight about her negotiating strategy, and more say on the final exit deal.
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan defense ministers
discuss bilateral ties
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English Monday, 6 February 2017/Saudi Arabia’s
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud received Pakistan’s Minister of
Defense Khawaja Mohammed Asif in Riyadh on Sunday. Prince Mohammed bin Salman,
who is also the kingdom’s second deputy premier and minister of defense,
discussed means to enhance bilateral relations with his Pakistani defense
counterpart. The domain of defense cooperation, in addition to efforts exerted
by the two countries relating to combat of terrorism, were the focus of
discussion in
Hundreds march in Quebec in tribute to
mosque shooting victims
AFP, Quebec City Monday, 6 February 2017éSeveral hundred people braved snow and
cold Sunday in Quebec City to honor the six men shot to death a week earlier
while praying at a local mosque. “No to Islamophobia, Yes to Peace,” “Open Your
Heart” and “No to Terrorism” were the messages on some of the signs and banners
carried by marchers, many of them Muslim. The victims included two Algerians, a
Tunisian, a Moroccan and two Guineans, all holding Canadian citizenship as
well. They had been attending evening prayers at their mosque when a gunman
stormed in and unleashed a barrage of bullets from a pistol and a
semi-automatic rifle. Eight other men were wounded – three remain hospitalized
– in one of the worst attacks on the Muslim community of a Western nation. The
suspect, Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, surrendered to police and was charged with
six murders and five attempted murders. Also read: Iranian Americans feel
stuck, confused, afraid of travel ban The march Sunday began not far from the
mosque, at
Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis
& editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 06-07/17
May meets Netanyahu: Two
urgent issues the British PM must raise
Peter Oborne/Middle East Eye/Monday 6 February 2017
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/may-trump-1754295247
Theresa May must reiterate British opposition to West Bank settlements,
and she must tackle Israeli leader over Shai Masot affair
Theresa May today completes a hat trick of meetings with controversial
and very right-wing world leaders.
Late last month saw her now notorious visit to Donald Trump in
Then she flew to
Britain's May does fighter jet deal with Turkey, presses on rights
Now Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu comes to Downing Street,
fresh from announcing the construction of 3,000 new settlement homes in the
West Bank and East Jerusalem in a fresh hammer blow to the Middle East peace
process.
May is completely right to meet Netanyahu, just as she was completely
right to meet Donald Trump. But she badly needs to learn the lessons from her
trip to
When she failed to speak out on the Muslim ban in
Dear Theresa May, your policies make it hard to feel like I belong
The first of these is settlements. Here
Netanyahu's policies have been disastrous for Palestinians and his latest
announcement of new settlement construction makes matters a great deal worse.
in 2012, William Hague as foreign secretary warned that settlement construction
in the
Hague, one of our most pro-Israeli foreign secretaries, said then that
this seismic moment would happen within two years. More than four years have
passed since he made those remarks and the situation has only got worse.
We are told that May will make her usual cursory pronouncement on British
opposition to settlement building before settling down to business. That is no
longer good enough. In the year of the centenary of the Balfour Declaration she
must make it plain to Netanyahu that
There is a second piece of business May must raise with her Israeli
counterpart. That is the still-mysterious case of Shai Masot, the Israeli
embassy official caught red-handed conspiring to "take down" the
foreign office minister Alan Duncan and other senior Conservative members of
parliament, as well as interfering in internal Labour Party politics.
Middle East Eye's coverage of the Israel Lobby scandal
This was an extraordinary episode. Had it involved any other British ally
- such as the
Had it involved
This episode is made very much worse by the fact that
May needs to say as much to Netanyahu. If she does not do so she will
make the government appear complicit in an Israeli attempt to undermine one of
its own ministers.
I supported "Brexit",
There was a hint of this in May's hurried visit to
Peter Oborne was named freelance of the year 2016 by the Online Media
Awards for an article he wrote for Middle East Eye. He was British Press Awards
Columnist of the Year 2013. He resigned as chief political columnist of the
Daily Telegraph in 2015. His books include The Triumph of the Political Class,
The Rise of Political Lying, and Why the West is Wrong about Nuclear Iran.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Soeren Kern/Gatestone Institute/February 06, 2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9900/le-pen-speech
"The question is simple and cruel: will our children live in a free,
independent, democratic country?" — Marine Le Pen, leader of
"Economic globalization, which rejects any limits, has weakened the immune
system of the nation by dispossessing it of its constituent elements: borders,
national currency, the authority of its laws in conducting economic affairs,
and thus allowing another world to be born and grow: Islamic
fundamentalism." — Marine Le Pen.
"Islamic fundamentalism instrumentalizes the principle of religious
freedom in an attempt to impose patterns of thought that are clearly the
opposite of ours. We do not want to live under the yoke or threat of Islamic
fundamentalism." — Marine Le Pen.
"Globalism is based, as we see, on the negation of the values
on which France was built and on the principles in which the
immense majority of French people still recognize themselves: the pre-eminence
of the person and therefore its sacred character, individual freedom and
therefore individual consent, national feeling and therefore national
solidarity, equality of persons and therefore the refusal of situations of
submission." — Marine Le Pen.
"Those who come to
"In terms of terrorism, we do not intend to ask the French to get
used to living with this horror. We will eradicate it here and abroad." —
Marine Le Pen.
"Everyone agrees that the European Union is a failure. It did not
deliver on any of its promises, particularly on prosperity and security....
That is why, if elected, I will announce a referendum within six months on
remaining or exiting the European Union..." — Marine Le Pen.
"The old left-right debates have outlived their usefulness.... This
divide is no longer between the left and the right, but between patriots and
globalists." — Marine Le Pen.
Marine Le Pen, the leader of the anti-establishment National Front party,
has officially launched her campaign to become the next president of
Speaking at a rally attended by thousands of her supporters in
National Front party leader Marine Le Pen, speaking at a rally in
Le Pen's political platform is contained in a manifesto of 144 promises
regarding immigration and global trade.
Polls show that Le Pen — who said the election of U.S. President Donald
J. Trump "shows that people are taking their future back" — is one of
the most popular politicians in
A February 2 Ifop-Fiducial poll for Paris Match, iTELE and Sud-Radio
showed Le Pen with 24.5% of the vote, compared to 20% for François Fillon of
the center-right Republicans party. In December 2016, Fillon, who has become
engulfed in a corruption scandal, held a three-point lead over Le Pen.
The poll also showed the independent centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron
with 20% of the vote, the Socialist Party candidate Benoît Hamon with 17%, and
the far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon with 9.5%.
The first round of the election will be held April 23. If no candidate
gets more than 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held on May 7.
Following is an abridged translation of key parts of Le Pen's speech:
In all respects, this presidential election is unlike previous ones. Its
outcome will determine the future of
After decades of errors and cowardice, we are at a crossroads. I say it
with gravity: the choice we will have to make in this election is a choice of
civilization.
The question is simple and cruel: will our children live in a free,
independent, democratic country? Will they still be able to refer to our system
of values? Will they have the same way of life as we did and our parents before
us?
Will our children, and the children of our children, still have a job, a
decent wage, the possibility of building up a patrimony, becoming an owner,
starting a family in a safe environment, being properly cared for, to grow old
with dignity?
Will our children have the same rights as us?
Will they live according to our cultural references, our values
of civilization, our style of living, and even they will speak
our French language, which is disintegrating under the blows of political
leaders who squander this national treasure — for example, by choosing a slogan
in English to promote the candidacy of Paris to host the 2024 Olympic Games?
Will they have the right to claim French culture when certain candidates
for the presidential election, puffed up by their own empty-headedness, explain
that it does not exist?
I ask this important question because, unlike our adversaries, I am
interested not only in the material heritage of the French, but I also want to
defend our immaterial capital. This immaterial capital is priceless because
this heritage is irreplaceable. In fact, I am defending the load-bearing walls
of our society.
Our leaders have chosen deregulated globalization. They wanted a happy
outcome, but the result is frightful.
Globalization develops at two levels: from below with massive immigration
and global social dumping; and from above with the financialization of the
economy.
Globalization, which became a fact with the multiplication of exchanges,
has become an ideology. Economic globalization, which rejects any limits, has
weakened the immune system of the nation by dispossessing it of its constituent
elements: borders, national currency, the authority of its laws in conducting
economic affairs, and thus allowing another world to be born and grow: Islamic
fundamentalism.
The latter has grown up within a deleterious communitarianism, itself a
child of mass immigration, suffered year after year by our country.
We have thus fulfilled our first political act, which is to name the
enemy.
These two globalisms, today, give a leg up to:
Economic and financial globalism, of which the European Union, the
financiers and the domesticated political class are its zealous servants;
Jihadist globalism, which undermines our vital interests abroad, but
which also takes root in our national territory, in certain neighborhoods, in
certain places, in certain weak minds.
Both work towards the disappearance of our nation, that is to say, of
These two ideologies want to subjugate our country.
One in the name of globalized finance, that is to say, the ideology of
all commerce, the other in the name of a radicalized Islam, that is to say, the
ideology of the whole of religion.
Faced with these two totalitarianisms that threaten our liberties and our
country, we must demonstrate lucidity, determination and unity.
Economic globalism kills by asphyxia — slow, progressive, but certain.
Islamic fundamentalism attacks us by the calculated harassment of
republican resistance, by incessant demands, by demands for accommodation, none
of which, for us, can be reasonable and therefore conceivable.
Nor let us forget that Islamic fundamentalism is barbaric, that it
manifests itself every day in the world by killing, massacring, using in
particular the vile and cowardly weapon of terrorism or mass murder.
As in all ideological wars, we find useful idiots and more or less
conscious accomplices who, through cowardice, blindness or greed, facilitate
these undertakings for the establishment of this barbarous ideology, the enemy
of
To advance, the advocates of these two globalist ideologies give the
illusion of relying on our principles; in reality, they falsely invoke freedom
to set up their totalitarianism: it is the freedom of the fox in the chicken
coop.
The first, economic and financial globalism, invokes freedom of trade,
freedom of movement, freedom of establishment; all those who venture to reveal
their failures are accused of ignorance, accused of some ideological drift, and
are struck down with moral reproach.
Economic and financial globalism is based on a pseudo economic expertise
that never yields, not even to the evidence of its economic failure and the
social devastation that it provokes. The objective is to reduce man to his role
as consumer or producer.
Countries are no longer nations united by matters of the heart, but by
markets, spaces where the commodification of everything and every human being
is conceivable, possible, accepted and even organized.
People are no more than populations. Borders are erased, as with
Schengen, to make of our countries station concourses where everyone is free to
come and stay and to participate in the leveling of the social protections, the
reduction of wages and the dilution of culture into the smallest common
denominator.
With the globalists, cultures of peoples, that is, what makes the world's
diversity, are destined to be erased in order to facilitate the
commercialization of standard products and to facilitate hyper profits at the
cost of ecological depletion of the planet or child labor of the
This world where economics is an end in itself and man, a simple tool in
its service, plunges us into an ephemeral era, in short, an artificial and
deeply dehumanized world.
The rights of people, their social situation, their well-being, the
environment in which they live, become the variable of adjustment of the
interests of large groups and castes.
For them, the nation is a non-tariff barrier. In their eyes, the country
is an open geographical space where the only requirement is to "live
together," that is to say, not to interfere with each other.
I want to denounce this powerful alliance between the promotion of savage
globalization on the one hand, and the culpable inaction, even in the face of
uncontrolled immigration and its direct consequence, the establishment of
Islamic fundamentalism.
If economic globalism advances with the shield of free trade, the second
of these globalisms, Islamic fundamentalism, instrumentalizes the principle of
religious freedom in an attempt to impose patterns of thought that are clearly
the opposite of ours.
The carelessness and weakness of our leaders have been a growth hormone
to this ideology that tried to sow death in the Louvre two days ago.
We do not want to live under the yoke or threat of Islamic
fundamentalism.
It tries to impose upon us pell-mell:
The prohibition of mixing in public places,
The integral veil or not,
Prayer halls in companies, street prayers, cathedral mosques,
The submission of woman by prohibiting the skirt, work or bistro.
No Frenchman, no Republican, no woman attached to dignity and liberty can
accept it.
Behind these two ideologies is inexorably the enslavement of people: An
enslavement, at first mental, which is effected by disaffiliation, by
isolation, by dissolution of traditional bonds.
Economic globalism professes individualism, and radical Islamism
communitarianism.
Globalism is based, as we see, on the negation of the values
on which France was built and on the principles in which the
immense majority of French people still recognize themselves: the pre-eminence
of the person and therefore its sacred character, individual freedom and
therefore individual consent, national feeling and therefore national
solidarity, equality of persons and therefore the refusal of situations of
submission.
These principles for which we are fighting are affirmed in our national
motto "
But these two globalist ideologies do not only attack our nation. Both of
them attack our Republic by questioning its indivisibility.
The answer is not technical but regal, which is why we call for the moral
rearmament of the country and a surge of national energy. We call for
resistance and reconquest.
There is nothing for us more beautiful than
I say to the French who are watching or listening to us: the fate of
The Revolution of Patriotism
It is what unites the French left and right, from the cradle to the cane,
from the factory to the office. It is what pits our vision against that of the
globalists.
We believe it is time to revitalize national sentiment, to live it on a
daily basis, to teach our children all that makes and has made their country,
to teach them to love their compatriots, to be proud of their history, to be
confident in the forces of
When one aspires to settle in a country, one does not begin by violating
its laws. We do not begin by claiming rights. To all, and especially to people
of all origins and all faiths that we have welcomed into our country, I repeat:
there are no and there will be no other laws and values in
On this subject there will be no retreat and no compromise.
Those who come to
We will strictly apply the rules of secularism in a country whose tragic
history has learned to guard against the wars of religion. We will extend the
rules of secularism to public spaces and we will inscribe them in labor laws.
We will respond to those who see with concern the rise of religious demands and
the rise of conflicts in the workplace.
We no longer want the state to allow the spread of the hatred of
The Revolution of Liberty
The first liberty is security. You may ask how to improve security when
for thirty years all governments have failed? Our method is simple: we will
apply the law!
As Cardinal de Richelieu said, "to make a law and not enforce it is
to authorize the thing that one wishes to defend against."
We will re-establish the rule of law, that is, enforce Republican law in
those places where it has been lost, where our rulers obviously lack the
courage and willpower. We are going to put an end to the impunity of criminals,
the no-go zones, the dictatorships of kingpins in certain districts, drug and
weapons trafficking, burglaries, burned cars.
We will stress the certainty of prosecution, the certainty of sanction,
the certainty of punishment, the certainty that delinquent aliens are
automatically deported.
I say to the mothers who listen to me, support me: Do not accept that our
children live in fear, in this daily violence of which they are the first victims,
sometimes at the cost of their young lives.
In order to fulfill their mission, so important to this country, we will
give back to our security forces the human and material resources as well as
the necessary support and instructions.
We shall rearm them, including morally, with the establishment of the
presumption of self-defense.
We will open suitable prison places, conclude agreements with countries
of origin so that foreign offenders will serve their prison sentences in their
country of origin, increase the means of justice and organize a response to
criminals that can be summarized in two words: zero tolerance.
In terms of terrorism, we do not intend to ask the French to get used to
living with this horror. We will eradicate it here and abroad.
Since we are at war with Islamic fundamentalism, we will apply to the
enemies of
We will give ourselves the necessary technical and human means and will
create the conditions and cooperation necessary for intelligence on the
national territory as well as outside.
Foreigners with an "S" file [Fiche "S" or Sûreté de
l'État (state security)] will be deported. Binationals with "S" files
will be deprived of their French nationality and sent back to their country of
origin. Frenchmen with "S" files will be prosecuted for aiding the
enemy.
Places of Islamic preaching will be closed and the sowers of hatred
condemned and expelled. The legal windows of Islamism, especially on the
Internet, will be extinguished.
Finally, this revolution of liberty is that of our collective liberties,
for state sovereignty, that is to say, for a free people to decide for
themselves. This struggle for sovereignty is first, principal, essential,
cardinal — it conditions everything else.
Without sovereignty, no protection is possible, no action is possible.
Without sovereignty, a promise becomes a false promise.
My political opponents claim to control borders, to prevent immigration,
to fight against unfair competition. They are lying to you. By refusing to free
themselves from the straitjacket of the European Union, which is the
decision-maker on these subjects, they refrain from any even minor inflection.
Worse, by staying in the euro, they are plaguing our economy, maintaining
mass unemployment and giving the European Union the means of pressure to impose
its inept views, its millions of migrants.
Everyone agrees that the European Union is a failure. It did not deliver
on any of its promises, particularly on prosperity and security and, worse, it
has put us under guardianship and kept us on a short leash.
Who could be satisfied with doing nothing against a system which enchains
us, which does not work, and worse, whose dysfunctions ruins us?
That is why, if elected, I will announce a referendum within six months
on remaining or exiting the European Union, and I will immediately engage with
our European partners — many of whom aspire as we do to sovereignty — a
renegotiation with this tyrannical Europeanist system which is no longer a
project, but a parenthesis in history and I hope one day a bad memory.
The objective will be to find within six months a compromise that will
allow us to recover our four sovereignties: monetary, economic, legislative and
territorial.
If the European Union does not submit, then I will ask the French to vote
in the referendum to resign from this nightmare and become free again.
In the same spirit, because we believe that
My commitment is to put
Putting our economy back in order
Putting our schools back in order
Putting our justice back in order
Putting our diplomacy back in order
Putting our security back in order
Putting our solidarity back in order
We open our arms to all those who share with us the love of France and
wish to engage our country on the path of national recovery.
The old left-right debates have outlived their usefulness. Primaries have
shown that debates about secularism or immigration, as well as globalization or
generalized deregulation, constitute a fundamental and transversal divide. This
divide is no longer between the left and the right, but between patriots and
globalists.
The collapse of traditional parties and the systematic disappearance of
almost all of their leaders shows that a great political re-composition has
begun.
Other peoples have shown the way.
The British have chosen freedom with the Brexit. The Italians have shown
their disapproval in the referendum on the Constitution. The Greeks are
thinking about leaving the Euro. The Americans have chosen their national
interest.
This awakening of the peoples is historical. It marks the end of a cycle.
The wind of history has turned. It will bring us to the top and, with us, our
country:
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.
Follow Soeren Kern on Twitter and Facebook
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed
here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone
Institute.
The Choices Palestinians Make
Dexter Van Zile/Gatestone Institute/February 06, 2017
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9893/palestinians-saif
The notion that the Israeli pilot is the only one who has any responsibility
for the child's death is simply false. A lot of bad choices were made — by
Palestinians — prior to the death of the young child and Atef Abu Saif knows
it; he just can't — or will not — address these choices, at least not in this
text.
The reality that Saif will not confront in his book [The Drone Eats With Me] is
that Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, bears a
huge measure of responsibility for the suffering he documents. Hamas has
repeatedly started wars that it cannot win against a country that cannot afford
to lose.
During these conflicts, it has launched rockets from schoolyards and has used
hospitals as command centers for its leaders, putting civilians on both sides
of the conflict at risk. When children are killed by Israeli strikes in
During the war in 2008–2009, Hamas... used cement and other building materials
allowed into the Gaza Strip—ostensibly for the benefit of Palestinian
civilians—in order to construct tunnels that could penetrate
During its 2012 fight with
Honesty requires that the deaths of these Palestinian children serve to drive —
not obstruct — the conversation toward Palestinian abilities and
responsibility.
On and on he goes in an emotionally powerful but intellectually dishonest
lament. Saif simply cannot come to grips with the responsibility Palestinian
leaders have for the suffering in the areas they govern.
This is exactly what Saif's condescending patrons and boosters in the
West are looking for — narratives that allow them to embrace and broadcast
baseless hatred for the Jewish state in the name of human rights.
Westerners who feast on this narrative do not help the Palestinians, but
hurt them, by responding to the misdeeds of Palestinian elites with
condescending pats on the head instead of the rebukes they warrant.
After returning from an awful weekend trip with a Christian youth group,
I told my mother I wanted to stop going to church in the next town over and
worship where we lived. "Nobody likes me over there," I said. Her
response was direct and brutal: "Maybe they are not the problem. Maybe it
is you."
It was a shock. Mothers are not supposed to talk that way to their
11-year-old sons (so I thought). In the years since, I have tried, with varying
degrees of success, when in a difficult position, to look at the role I played
in creating the circumstances I find myself in.
Maybe I have behaved in unlikable ways and need to stop. Life together
with other people — with any measure of peace — requires a willingness to
dispense with a false belief in one's innocence. We all tend to believe that
nothing is ever our fault; more likely, we realize that many things are.
There are times when I wish my mother could remonstrate with the
Palestinians intellectuals, many of them Christians, whom I meet in the course
of my work. Listening to them talk, it often seems as if the difficulties they
describe are solely the result of other people's acts. Most unsettling of all,
however, is the willingness of Western peace and human rights activists to
affirm this crippling narrative of innocence.
Instead of patting Palestinians on the head and telling them that
everything is
Here, the ability of the Palestinians to romance and recruit sympathetic,
empathetic and condescending peace activists actually works against them. It
hinders their development as a people because it prevents them from developing
the human capacity for agency, or ability to, in the words of psychologist
Albert Bandura, "influence intentionally one's functioning and life
circumstances... [People] are not simply onlookers of their behavior. They are
contributors to their life circumstances, not just products of them."
All too often, outsiders to the Israel-Palestinian conflict encourage the
Palestinians to view themselves as onlookers to their own suffering, without
encouraging them to think what their leaders did to cause this suffering. Over
the long haul, such condescension does not help, and can be lethal.
You can see this condescension in the blurbs promoting The Drone Eats
With Me: A Gaza Diary, (Beacon, 2016) by Palestinian writer Atef Abu Saif.
"This is what war is like in the twenty-first century—the voice of a
civilian in the onslaught of drone warfare, a voice we have never heard
before," writes Michael Ondaatje, author of the acclaimed text, The
English Patient. Molly Crabbapple, the radical author of Drawing Blood,
declares that Saif's book "deserves to become a modern classic of war
literature." It would seem that Saif has written a text of towering
importance.
Alas, he has not. Saif does provide a powerful first-person narrative of
the suffering endured by the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip during the
2014 war between
On the TV, the father of one of the children killed in an attack on the
Shuja'iyya quarter on July 9 wails at the corpse of his son: "Forgive me,
son, I could not protect you!" It is very hard to watch, knowing deep down
that this might be me in a week's time. Being a father brings with it a
deep-seated instinct to protect, but also an assumption that you can protect.
You are your children's hero, their superman. You tell yourself you can outwit
the planes, the tanks and the warships, to protect them. You can do anything
for their sake. But this father on the TV could not have done anything
differently to protect his son. Only the pilot had any choice in the matter.
The problem in Saif's thinking becomes evident in the last sentence:
"only the pilot had any choice in the matter."
The notion that the Israeli pilot is the only one who has any
responsibility for the child's death is simply false. A lot of bad choices were
made — by Palestinians — prior to the death of the young child and Saif knows
it; he just can't — or will not — address these choices, at least not in this
text.
By placing all the blame on the Israelis for the death of the child, he
is encouraging his readers to believe that the Palestinians are powerless to
change the circumstances under which they live. According to him, only the
international community, which Saif laments as ineffectual and indifferent, can
do that.
The reality that Saif will not confront in his book is that Hamas, the
terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip, bears a huge measure of
responsibility for the suffering he documents. Hamas has repeatedly started
wars that it cannot win against a country that cannot afford to lose. During
these conflicts, it has launched rockets from schoolyards and has used hospitals
as command centers for its leaders, putting civilians on both sides of the
conflict at risk. When children are killed by Israeli strikes in
Hamas has summoned civilians to the rooftops of buildings to serve as
human shields after
A Hamas official recounts on Palestinian TV how Israeli forces gave
advance warning to him, to evacuate his home before bombing it. He goes on to
describe how after the warning, he rushed to gather friends, family and
neighbors on the roof of the building to use as human shields, which caused
Israeli forces to abort the strike.
In the months prior to the 2014 war, Hamas leaders openly declared that
they were going to invade
The attempted attack on
During its 2012 fight with
Insisting that Saif confront Hamas's misdeeds in a book that recounts —
page after page — the tragic deaths of Palestinian children as a result of
Israeli airstrikes might, to some readers, seem like a merciless and heartless
thing to do. But if the goal is to bring these deaths to an end, that is
exactly what Saif and other Palestinian intellectuals need to do.
All too often, the Palestinian deaths are used to shut down the
conversation about what Palestinian leaders have done wrong and about the
underlying causes of the conflict. Honesty requires that the deaths of these
Palestinian children serve to drive — not obstruct — the conversation toward
Palestinian agency and responsibility. As long as average Palestinians view
themselves as ineffectual and helpless, their leaders will continue to rob them
blind and put their children in harm's way.
To be sure, Saif has, condemned Hamas for its totalitarian behavior after
the organization prevented him from leaving the Gaza Strip to attend a literary
awards ceremony in 2015 where he was to receive acclaim for his book, The
Suspended Life. This text, which was short listed for the International Prize
for Arabic Literature in 2015, does reportedly hint at Hamas's oppressive
agenda and style of governance. Saif is quite articulate and forceful declaring
that "Freedoms retreated gradually under Hamas rule in
Another Palestinian writer from
Predictably, Saif is quite forceful in his condemnations of
Who will convince this generation of Israelis that what they've done this
summer is a crime? Who will convince the pilot that this is not a mission for
his people, but a mission against it? Who will teach him that life cannot be
built on the ruins of other lives? Who will convince the drone operator that
the people of
On and on he goes in an emotionally powerful but intellectually dishonest
lament. Saif simply cannot come to grips with the responsibility Palestinian
leaders have for the suffering in the areas they govern. Nor can he come to grips
with the humanity or the hopes and dreams of the people on the other side of
the conflict. The reference to the Torah is a gratuitous slap — as is his use
of the words "legends and fantasies" to describe what goes on in the
drone operator's head.
Sadly, the book is not a "classic of war literature," but
instead, just another text in the overpopulated genre of anti-Zionist polemics,
otherwise known as "resistance literature." In the world Saif
describes, the Palestinians are innocent victims without any capabilities or
responsibility for the circumstances they are in; the Israelis, to him, are the
all-powerful monsters who have nothing but contempt for the international
community that fails to hold them accountable.
This is exactly what Saif's condescending patrons and boosters in the
West are looking for — narratives that allow them to embrace and broadcast
baseless hatred for the Jewish state in the name of human rights.
Westerners who feast on this narrative do not help the Palestinians, but
hurt them, by responding to the misdeeds of Palestinian elites with
condescending pats on the head instead of the rebukes they warrant.
Dexter Van Zile is Christian Media Analyst for the Committee For Accuracy
in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).
© 2017 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed
here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone
Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be
reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone
Institute.
Between Quebec’s mosque and Paris’ Louvre
Abdulrahman al-Rashed/Al Arabiya/February 06/17
Hassan Guillet, the imam of the mosque which was attacked last week in
Canada’s Quebec, said during the funeral of three men killed in the attack: “We
have 17 orphans. We have six widows. We have five wounded. We ask Allah for
them to get them out of the hospital as soon as possible. Did I go through the
complete list of victims? No. There is one victim. None of us want talk about
him. But given my age, I have the courage to say it. This victim, his name is
Alexandre Bissonnette. Alexandre, before being a killer he was a victim
himself. Before planting his bullets in the heads of his victims, somebody
planted ideas more dangerous than the bullets in his head.” What Imam Guillet
said has become more important than the debates on racial statements. It’s
true. The world is living through a crisis of sick ideas which managed to
transcend borders, languages and values by making use of technology, political
developments and chaos. In
Threat of ideas
As Imam Guillet said, the ideas planted in both men’s heads are more
dangerous than any bullet or terrorist crimes. Extremist intellect is currently
more evil than all the weapons present in the world today. We are facing a
situation that’s different from the wars of the past as wars have slogans and
commanders and they include governments and settlements and involve a winner and
a loser. However, that’s not the case with the wars of extremist ideas and
hatred battles. The international community is still confused about how it can
stop the possible conflict between nations and followers of religions. At the
same time, it is preoccupied as each party blames the other. All societies
suffer from this crisis. Look at the Buddhists in
Has
Mshari Al Thaydi/Al Arabiya/February 06/17
Will Yemen be the first battleground of confrontation between
‘State sponsor of terrorism’
However, the situation is completely different with Trump’s National
Security Advisor Michael Flynn. After assuming his post, Flynn criticized Iran
and described it as “the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism,” adding
that with the Trump administration “the days of turning a blind eye to Iran’s
hostile and belligerent actions toward the United States and the world
community are over. The commanders of the Khomeini regime, particularly
Revolutionary Guards’ commanders, are aware of how dangerous the situation is.
They are in a state of alert and they are testing determinations. Perhaps,
Revolutionary Guards’ media and cultural consultant Hamid Reza Muqaddam Far’s
statement describing Trump as a madman reflects their panic. We’ve lived
through difficult times with Obama, the Khomeini republic's friend and the
orchestrator of secret deals. The repercussions of this approach were Iranian
domination in Arab countries, security chaos and sectarian divisions.
Decisiveness stipulates seizing the emerging opportunities especially that
there’s a new American administration now. The enthusiasts of this Obama
letdown policy are many and active, therefore, “if the wind blows ride it.”
**This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat.
The extremist plot to disrupt Saudi-US ties
Turki Aldakhil/Al Arabiya/February 06/17
For decades, extremist views have been expressed to try and strain the ties
between
Historic relations
During the first phone call between President Trump and King Salman, the
**This article was first published in Okaz on February 06, 2017.
Michael Flynn and adopting the right
approach
Sawsan Al Shaer/Al Arabiya/February 06/17
American President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael Flynn
said on Thursday that the Trump administration was “officially putting
This represented the first outcome of the American policy toward
was our exact same opinion. Therefore, we agree here with this point in
terms of a future American policy toward
The Field of Flight
Not only that but one is even more surprised when realizing that in his
book The Field of Fight, which was published in August 2016, Flynn said that
Iran established an alliance with al-Qaeda and the Lebanese party Hezbollah
against their mutual enemy, i.e. the West and particularly the United States.
He confirmed that
Flynn believes that
Houthi menace
How can one contain a country that exported more than 19,000 kilograms of
weapons, ammunition and explosives to a country like
How can you contain a country which in August 2016 admitted through the
Iranian official news agency (IRNA) that the missile which Houthi militias
fired against Saudi territories was Zelzal-3, an Iranian-made missile? In May
of last year, the American navy said it intercepted an Iranian ship in the
**This article first appeared in Asharq Al-Awsat on Feb. 05, 2017.
What Shakespearean tragedies tell us about
who we mourn for
Ehtesham Shahid/Al Arabiya/February 06/17
Every terror strike these days is followed by stories of its unfortunate
victims. From a budding student caught in crossfire to a professional
sacrificing one’s life for a coworker, these tales of human tragedy create
immediate empathy. The same routine follows a natural disasters or a plane
crash. There is a rider attached to it though. We are probably more moved by
the tragedies of the rich and powerful compared to the ordinary folks. The
ripple effect created by the high and mighty travels far and wide. There is
greater furor when the more influential is targeted while the lesser known
victims of the same tragedy don’t get the same attention. So if a café in a big
city is ripped apart by a hate-filled suicide bomber, the unwinding CEO who
succumbs to his injuries is likely to get more television footage than the
janitor who was on duty. The security guard who blocked a blood-thirsty maniac
to safeguard lives of dozens may get occasional posthumous medals but often not
the same empathy. In other words, if life was unfair to these ordinary folks,
death does no better.
A senior colleague from
So if a café in a big city is ripped apart by a hate-filled suicide bomber, the
unwinding CEO who succumbs to his injuries is likely to get more television
footage than the janitor who was on duty
An unequal world
This is by no means an East vs West phenomenon as such a bias manifests itself
in different ways. The World Bank last year said that natural disasters push 26
million into poverty each year. This may be a huge number but, I reckon, little
more than a statistic of academic interest simply because hell would have
broken loose if anything happened to 26 million rich people of this world. In
his book The Disaster Profiteers, John Mutter argues that disasters become a
means by which the elite prosper at the expense of the poor. So probably, we
feel greater empathy toward the rich especially when they are made equal with
the poor in death. When terror struck Mumbai in 2011, two spots became the main
targets – a lavish hotel and a major railway station, besides a synagogue.
Since victims at the hotel included the who’s who – not just local but also
from abroad – the site every year gets more floral tributes than the railway
station where ordinary workers lost their lives.
Shakespearean tragedies
But what has all this got to do with Shakespearean tragedies? Well, it’s
the hamartia, or the tragic flaw that led to the downfall of all four great
Shakespearean tragic heroes – Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear and Othello. They were
all exalted figures who occupied center stage but caved in because of an
inherent weakness in their characters. Yet, we somehow identify with their
misfortune and probably even celebrate it. It is not so much the flaw that
matters as we are all flawed at some level. What makes these tragedies great is
the fact that ordinary men and women, transcending historical and geographical
boundaries, continue to empathize with the fall of these mighty men, which is
why they are timeless classics. In other words, they are such giants in their
own rights that their fall becomes even more spectacular. In today’s day and
age, as human suffering becomes more and more in-the-face, we must at least
treat humans equally in death, even if it is just for the sake of maintaining
sanity.