LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِApril 04/2010

Bible Of the Day
Mark 16/1-18: "When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him. 16:2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 16:3 They were saying among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 16:4 for it was very big. Looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back. 16:5 Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were amazed. 16:6 He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him! 16:7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.’” 16:8 They went out, and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid. 16:9 Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 16:10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 16:11 When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they disbelieved. 16:12 After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country. 16:13 They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either. 16:14 Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation. 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. 16:17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; 16:18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
Lebanese citizen saved from beheading, for now/Paige Kollock,/Now Lebanon/April 03/10
John Kerry Wasting Time In Syria/Basil & Spice/April 03/10
Easter Sunday: A Syrian bid to resurrect Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ/.By Alastair Beach/April 03/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 03/10
Cassese Says International Community Running Out of Patience on STL Work is Main Challenge Ahead/Naharnet
Saudi 'witchcraft' beheading can still be stopped - Beirut/AFP
US aid stokes controversy in Beirut/UPI.com
Beheading of Man in Saudi Arabia for Witchcraft Averted/Voice of America
Hamas signals it wants to keep Gaza quiet/The Associated Press
SAUDI ARABIA: Factional politics may be at heart of legal dispute over/Los Angeles Times (blog)
Political fallout expected in Hariri probe/UPI.com
US to use intelligence-based screening at airports/CTV.ca
Israel's deadly legacy still lurks in Lebanon/AFP
Damascus committed to Mideast peace - Kerry/Daily Star
Jumblatt: Syria ties will be based on supporting resistance/Daily Star
Debate persists over Lebanon-US aid program/Daily Star
Baroud: Municipal Elections on Time if No Reforms Approved/Naharnet
Jumblat Wants to Meet Nasrallah to Thank Him, Reveals Car Brakes Failed on Way Back from Syria/Naharnet
Ahmadinejad: Israel closer to certain death if it attacks Gaza/Now Lebanon

Resurrection, Hope & Faith
By: Elias Bejjani*
ِApril 03/10
Christ has truly risen and we are witnesses to His resurrection!
But what does it say? The word is with you, in your mouth, and in your heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach: that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says; whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. (Romans 10: 8 -11)
Oh how great is the need nowadays, to understand the meaning and message of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! The fast pace of life has turned us merely into sad human shells of crippled beings, consumed by greed, selfishness and the race for worldly pleasures. Our thoughts and actions are directed by trifle material matters and concerns. In the midst of all this moral and ethical havoc, we have forgotten that we are the sons and daughters of Almighty God and that He has created us in His image and likeness and made our bodies a temple for Him.
We often find ourselves intentionally forgetting the fact that our Heavenly Father has shown us His great love and affection by sending us His only son; born as human, He suffered humiliation and pain and was crucified so that we could be relieved from the burden of our original sin. Through His crucifixion and death, Jesus triumphed over death and resurrected from the dead, thereby resurrecting us with Him, pure and forgiven of all sin and impurity. Oh how the yoke of death and sin has been lifted from our shoulders and carried by our Lord Jesus!
Worldly matters frequently make us easy prey to our sinful instincts and wrongful human inclinations. How easy we are seduced by sin knowing that our Father gave so much for our salvation. In such darkness, our faith, perseverance and hope become weakened, as we drift away from the teachings of our Lord. Shame is our neglect of our rightful obligations towards our heavenly Father and towards those who need our love, compassion and friendship.
We need to realize wholly and become fully aware of the great blessing that Jesus’ resurrection from death is indeed a new life for all mankind, free from all sin. This fact alone is a comfort that must be remembered with every breath and allowed to settle deep within our minds, hearts and souls. His resurrection is an established truth in its essence, and this truth should penetrate into our bones.
“He is not here, rather He has risen”. We as Christians truly believe that Christ rose from the dead and is alive within all of us. His resurrection is the essence of our faith, beginning with the holy Apostles and ending with us, the Church. His resurrection is not solely a historical event, but rather it is our source of faith which explodes forth like a powerful volcano in our conscience and thoughts.
For the believers, this truth cultivates and purifies the faith, allowing them to courageously walk the road of salvation with steadfastness, strength, and veracity. The Father blesses His sons and daughters with the same compassion and love that resurrected His beloved Jesus. Our heavenly Father, through the sacrifice of His only Son, provided for us a lesson and an example of true love, fatherly compassion and parental sacrifice. He proved to us, His flock and children, that He is love and that His love for us has no limits and that His forgiveness is unending. What peace and comfort is this for us!
The Resurrection of Christ grants every one of us the right to call himself a child of God; it is the return of Paradise lost, the threshold of the Holy of Holies of immortal life and communion with God. St. Paul tells us that if there had been no Resurrection then our Christian faith would have been deprived of any foundation or value: "If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.... If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins (1 Cor. 15:14, 17)."
Easter is a festival of hope for salvation and for a new life and a new beginning. This Holy season calls on us to renew our faith in Jesus as our Messiah and to consolidate our confidence in His Church and its teachings. Easter calls on us all to love and forgive each other and as a family to unite together in celebration of our risen Lord. It is also a time to repent for our wrongful deeds and thoughts; to cleanse our hearts and walk forward with steadfast the righteous path of salvation.
Let us never forget the humbling truth that all of us will one day stand before our Almighty God to answer for our all our deeds, good and bad. It is in this light we need to remember the teachings of the Apostles; That In the end times, there will be hypocrites, walking before their own ungodly lusts and causing divisions, lacking the Spirit. They taught us to strengthen ourselves and our faith through prayer and the Holy Spirit and to nurture our love for our God, while seeking the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our resurrection through Jesus Christ occurs today and lives on in each day of our life. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit enlighten and empower us on this Holy day just as with the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. Let us all proudly proclaim that Christ is living in us and with us, Christ has truly risen and we are witnesses to His resurrection!
Happy Easter to all, and especially to my dear and beloved family members, relatives, supporters, friends and readers.
May God Bless You All!

Beheading of Man in Saudi Arabia for Witchcraft Averted
Voice Of America/Beirut 02 April 2010 /Daily Star
A Lebanese man condemned to death for witchcraft by a Saudi court will not be beheaded Friday as had been expected, his lawyer said.
Ali Hussain Sibat, the father of five, was to be executed after noon prayers Friday, but a frenzy of media coverage, appeals by international human rights groups and intervention by several Lebanese government officials, may have saved his life, at least temporarily.
His lawyer, May al-Khansa, said she was still unsure whether the beheading had been waived or postponed.
A Shi'ite Muslim, Sibat traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2008 to perform a religious pilgrimage known as 'umra,' when he was arrested by Saudi's religious police who accused him of practicing sorcery. The charges stem from Sibat's job in Lebanon, where he has hosted a popular television show in which he made predictions on an Arab satellite TV channel from his home in Beirut. There is no legal definition of witchcraft in Saudi Arabia, but horoscopes and fortune telling are condemned as un-Islamic.
Khansa is asking the Saudi government for mercy. "I'm asking to forgive him. I'm asking amnesty," he said.
Though there is no law on the books stating that witchcraft is a crime, Saudi Arabian authorities have been known to arrest people for it before. In 2007, an Egyptian national was put to death for sorcery.The human rights group Amnesty International has been calling for an end to Saudi Arabia's use of capital punishment. Amnesty researcher Lamri Chirouf says the rulings of the Saudi courts operate arbitrarily and secretively. "There are many other people (who) have been arrested for sorcery, but it wasn't seen by the judges as a seriously (as serious). The death penalty is used excessively in Saudi Arabia. There is no law on what is and is not capital punishment, and the courts are very secretive, so the accused is not guaranteed a right of defense. We don't know if there's another story. The court judgement just refers to acts of sorcery, but didn't say what the acts were supposed to be," Chirouf said.
Khansa had contacted Lebanese leaders earlier to appeal on his client's behalf. The leaders would not speak publicly, but Khanza said she was told the Lebanese government did lobby for Sabit. Chirouf says, until that is clear, it is important to keep putting pressure on the Saudi government. "Human rights are the responsibility of everybody. It's a collective responsibility, not only of the Lebanese. It doesn't mean the United States, UK and France, etc should not be concerned. We should all be in this together," Chirouf said.
There is a law against witchcraft in Lebanon, but it is considered a misdemeanor, punishable at most, by a few months of jail. The death penalty is also still legal in Lebanon, but used sparingly, and in recent years, some politicians have called for the Lebanese government to abolish it altogether.

Lebanese citizen saved from beheading, for now…
Paige Kollock,/Now Lebanon
April 3, 2010
Have you ever had your palm read or consulted a fortuneteller? If you have, according to judges in Saudi Arabia, you have violated Islamic law, a crime punishable by death.
Death was, and still could be, the fate of Ali Hussain Sabat, a Lebanese national from Al-Ein, a town located between Baalbek and Hermel in eastern Lebanon. A religious Shia, Hussein travelled to Saudi Arabia in 2008 with one of his sons to perform a religious pilgrimage known as umra, when he was arrested by Saudi’s religious police, the Mutawaeen.
His crime was amusing people, and predicting their futures, for good or for bad. Sabat hosted a popular television show in Lebanon in which he offered callers advice and read into their futures. The show was so well known that his lawyer, May el-Khansa, believes the Mutawaeen recognized Sabat from the program, which aired across the Middle East.
In 2009, following his arrest and detention, a Medina court gave him the death penalty for practicing sorcery. There is no legal definition of witchcraft in Saudi Arabia, but horoscopes and fortune telling are condemned as against Islam. Sabat launched an appeal, but just last month the appeal was rejected and the death sentence upheld.
On Tuesday, Khansa got word that the execution was to be carried out within 48 hours, by the end of the working week in Saudi Arabia. Media outlets, which had been loosely following the case, ramped up coverage, and human rights groups begged the Saudi government to exercise mercy. Khansa herself asked the Lebanese government to intervene, as did Sabat’s family.
“The family is in a very bad situation. His mother is sick and dying, all of the house is crying,” she told NOW Lebanon.
Friday morning, they were able to breathe a slight sigh of relief, as news trickled in that the Saudi government had issued a stay of execution. But the details of Sabat’s condition are still sketchy, due to the secretive nature of the Saudi court system.
“I cannot contact him directly; I can only contact him through Lebanon’s embassy in Riyadh, through diplomatic channels,” said Khansa, who is based in Lebanon.
Human rights group Amnesty International has been on the case since the beginning, and is urging Saudi authorities to release Sabat immediately and unconditionally, “if he has been convicted solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression,” according to a statement from the group.
But that is the larger question: was the sentence just for sorcery, considered a misdemeanor in Sabat’s home country, or do the Saudis have other, larger issues with Sabat? Lamri Chirouf, a researcher at Amnesty International, says it is impossible to know.
“The Saudi justice system is very secretive. Often the prisoners themselves don’t know what is happening until that day. We don’t know if there’s another story. The judgment just refers to acts of sorcery, but it didn’t say what the acts were supposed to be. I don’t know if they caught some [astrology-related] books with him,” he said.
The system in Saudi Arabia is not only secretive, it’s haphazard, as there is no law stating which crimes deserve capital punishment and which do not.
“It’s always left to the judges to decide whether an offense is a capital punishment or not. Many other people have been arrested for sorcery, but it wasn’t seen by the judges as seriously as this case, and the courts are not open,” said Chirouf.
What is known, however, is Saudi judges’ penchant for giving the death penalty. More than 100 people were executed in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, 69 people are known to have been executed, including 19 foreigners. If Sabat were to meet the same fate, he would be the ninth this year. Executions are usually done by be-heading, and as a means of deterrence, they are often carried out in public squares.
The death penalty is also legal in Lebanon, but rarely used, and is carried out through shooting or hanging. Recently, some politicians have called for it to be abolished altogether.
Urging Lebanese politicians to look after one of their own nationals, Khansa took the family’s pleas to the innermost political sphere in Lebanon on Thursday, asking President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, both of whom maintain good relations with Saudi Arabia, to step in. She says they did intervene, and that Hariri gave his word to Sabat’s wife that he would save her husband’s life – a promise that, so far, he has managed to keep. Lebanese Minister of Justice Ibrahim Najjar also stepped in, issuing a statement on the matter and asking the Saudi government for mercy.
“I know that the Lebanese officials have been pointing out that the Saudis would be welcomed if they suspended any measure in this regard,” he told NOW Lebanon. “I’m using the word ‘suspend’,” he added.
While family and friends are grateful for their leaders’ last-minute efforts, they question whether Lebanon’s influence with the Saudi government is strong enough to ensure Sabat’s release, and if so, how much political capital they are willing to use to get him off of death row.

John Kerry Wasting Time In Syria
 (4/2010)
Apr 2, 2010
Rick Francona--
Over the past few months, President Barack Obama has attempted to engage Syria and improve America's relations with the country. Obama has appointed an ambassador to fill the post which has been vacant since 2005 when Syria was suspected (rightly, in my opinion) of complicity in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafqi al-Hariri in Beirut. I applaud the Administration's efforts to try and break Iran's diplomatic hold on Syria - that will be critical to a comprehensive peace in the Middle East (see my earlier article, Obama to "engage" Syria - why not?).
Unfortunately, John Kerry has decided to insert himself into the process. I hope he was not sent by the White House, but is merely attempting to make himself relevant in American politics. If the President did in fact dispatch Kerry to Damascus and is relying on the Senator for advice about the Middle East, we are in trouble.
Let's look at the Senator's words, beyond the obvious, "Syria is an essential player in bringing peace and stability to the region."
Here's a Kerry classic: "Both the United States and Syria have a very deep interest in having a very frank exchange on any differences (and) agreements that we have about the possibilities of peace in this region."
Huh?
"There are things that the United States can do, there are things that Syria can do, there are things that Israel can do, Turkey can do, some are unilateral, some are multilateral. But all of us have to work together in order to seize real opportunities.
"We also remain deeply concerned about the flow of weapons in this area, through this area, to Hezbollah. That is something that must stop in order to promote regional stability and security."
This is not rocket science. If there is to be peace between Syria and Israel, Israel must return the Golan Heights which it has occupied since seizing the area in the Six Day War of 1967. For its part, Syria will have to stop the Iranian resupply flights into Damascus that are Hizballah's primary source of weapons used to threaten Northern Israel.
How about just publicly demand those two things: Israel, commit to return the Golan. Syria, agree to stop Iranian resupply of Hizballah? It doesn't take an hours-long meeting at the Qasr al-Sha'ab that creates a bunch of words that mean nothing - I refer to your "Kerry classic" above.
Do you really think that you accomplish anything on these trips? Having served at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, I can tell you the answer is no.
Lt Col Rick Francona (U.S. Air Force--Retired) enlisted in the Air Force in 1970, and served as a Vietnamese linguist until 1973, conducting aerial reconnaissance missions over Vietnam and Laos. After Arabic language training, he served at a variety of locations in the Middle East from 1975 to 1977, and supported the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon in 1976. In 1978, he became an Arabic language instructor at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.
Today Francona is a retired Air Force intelligence officer and Middle East specialist. In addition to his role as the lead U.S. military interpreter during the Gulf War and a principal author of the report to Congress on the conflict, he served throughout the Middle East with the Defense Department and national intelligence agencies. Francona is also the author of Ally to Adversary: An Eyewitness Account of Iraq's Fall from Grace. From 2003 to 2008, he was a media analyst on Middle East political-military events for NBC News, and appeared regularly on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, MSNBC, CNBC, Hardball, Countdown, and others.
His decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star, and nine Air Medals, as well as campaign awards for service in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and the Balkans. The colonel was awarded the Central Intelligence Agency Seal Medallion for his service with that agency. In 2006, Lt Col Francona was inducted into the Defense Language Institute Hall of Fame. You'll find Lt. Col Francona online at http://francona.blogspot.com/
Saudi Arabia 2010: There Is No Freedom Of Speech/Copyright © 2006-2010, Basil & Spice. All rights reserved.

Cassese Says International Community Running Out of Patience on STL Work is Main Challenge Ahead
Naharnet/President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Antonio Cassese stressed that the tribunal -- set up by a U.N. Security Council resolution to try suspects in the murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri – "has not faced any negative feedback from any international side," adding that the most important challenge for the STL is the international community running out of patience on its work. In an interview with the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily, Cassese said he prepared a comprehensive cooperation agreement which he presented to several countries in the region and other countries hosting Lebanese communities. The cooperation agreement was not sanctioned by any country and the response was that the agreement must be endorsed at the level of national legal structures, the thing that will take long years, according to Cassese. "That does not mean that these countries rejected, but rather that the mechanisms of endorsing this agreement will require complicated measures," Cassese added. "I can assure that everyone is willing to cooperate and we have not received any negative feedback up till now. What happened is that we shifted from a very ambitious approach to endorsing more realistic mechanisms which aim at guaranteeing more efficiency for our measures."
Cassese noted that the tribunal does not have the power to compel nations to cooperate nor its own tools such as police. "Under these circumstances, the only way is to convince through diplomatic means."Answering a question on STL's funding, Cassese stressed that the challenge the STL is facing in this regard is the same one facing all international tribunals, a trend that indicates that the international community is running out of patience on such international tribunals given their high expenses.
However, he added that the STL is exerting a major effort in order to cut its expenses and utilize resources in an optimum manner.
As to speculations on an imminent indictment, Cassese stressed that only STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, who will eventually say his word, can decide on that matter.
Cassese stressed that the real guarantee for preventing any media leaks is the integrity and high professionalism of the tribunal's team, adding that the resignation of some previous STL officials was a regular thing, especially that employees of international tribunals hail from several nationalities and usually desire to return home after a certain period.
"Failure is not an option for the STL; our only choice is success," Cassese vowed. Beirut, 03 Apr 10, 10:31

Jumblat Wants to Meet Nasrallah to Thank Him, Reveals Car Brakes Failed on Way Back from Syria
Naharnet/As the local political spectrum remained under the impact of the latest developments imposed by the visit of Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat to Syria, As Safir daily revealed that a nearby meeting will gather Jumblat to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Jumblat expressed to As Safir his desire to meet with Nasrallah to "express direct gratitude on what he did in terms of paving the road to Damascus, and of course, to evaluate what happened, including the meeting with (Syrian) President (Bashar) al-Assad."
On the other hand, As Safir reported that the security measures which accompanied Jumblat's visit to Damascus fully served their purposes except for what happened on the way back from Syria. After the Assad-Jumblat meeting, the Druze leader drove his car on the way back as Hizbullah Secretary-General's Political Assistant Hussein Khalil occupied the front passenger seat and Wafiq Safa, Head of Hizbullah's Coordination and Liaison Committee occupied a rear seat, according to As Safir. Everything was going fine until Jumblat's motorcade trespassed Aley Roundabout and reached the outskirts of the al-Kahale village to face what was not expected: the brakes of the armored car failed. As the car moved along the downhill road, the brakes status deteriorated requiring Jumblat to slam his foot on the brakes "more than 10 times" for a minimum control over the vehicle until it finally reached Beirut."Everything was fine, but the downhill road from Kahale to Beirut was not fine… It was a perilous experience that we overcame," Jumblat told As Safir. Beirut, 03 Apr 10, 12:24

Easter Sunday: A Syrian bid to resurrect Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is remembered on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but the language he spoke is all but forgotten. A controversial new language institute in Syria seeks to save Aramaic.
The ancient Syrian village of Malula (also spelled Maaloula) is one of only three hamlets where residents still speak the Aramaic of Jesus Christ's day. As Easter Sunday approaches, pilgrims from around the world have been visiting its holy sites and rediscovering the language.
.By Alastair Beach, Contributor / April 2, 2010 /Christian Science Monitor
Malula, Syria
While millions will commemorate the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ this Easter Sunday, only a handful of people could discuss his works in the language of his day: Aramaic.
.Nearly all of them live in three Syrian villages, the last outposts in a region largely swept by the Arabic of Islam. In a bid to preserve its ancient heritage, Syria launched a series of language courses in 2007 to bolster the fading influence of a 3,000-year-old language that once reigned supreme in the Middle East.
And so it was that an Aramaic institute joined the cluster of buildings that cling to a rocky spine in the village of Malula, about 35 miles northwest of Damascus. But the program ran into trouble recently, when a Syrian newspaper suggested that the alphabet being used to teach written Aramaic bore an uncanny resemblance to the Hebrew characters found in modern-day Israel. Worried that a flagship heritage scheme might in any way be associated with the country’s neighboring enemy, the government-run University of Damascus, which established the institute, acted quickly to freeze the Aramaic program.
“There were some people in the press trying to cause trouble,” says George Rezkallah, an elderly villager from Malula who runs the institute. He is hopeful that classes will be able to resume this summer.
The origins of Aramaic
Speaking from his flat overlooking the village’s higgledy-piggledy hillside houses, Mr. Rezkallah says that while the two alphabets do have similarities, it is Aramaic which first began using square lettering around the 12th century BC. The Hebrew now used in Israel, he said, was formulated 700 years later after the restoration of the ancient kingdom of the Jews in the 5th century BC.
“The Persians adopted Aramaic. The Babylonians adopted it and so did the Jews. It then prevailed as the language of the Middle East until 700 AD.”
David Taylor, author of "The Hidden Pearl: Aramaic Heritage of the Syrian Orthodox Church," adds that the Jewish people adopted the square Aramaic alphabet – which had become the lingua franca of the entire Middle East from about 700 BC – after they were exiled to Babylon in 587 BC, before which they had used a Palaeo-Hebrew script.
The fact that it has survived in Malula today is nothing short of a “miracle,” says Gene Gragg, professor of Near Eastern Languages at the University of Chicago.
“It would be something of a linguistic tragedy if this splendid survivor were allowed to disappear,” he added.
It would also be a travesty for Syria, says Dr. Taylor.
“Aramaic is a constant reminder of the international importance of Syria in the ancient world, when it was a beacon of learning and culture that had a profound impact worldwide,” he says. “It mirrors the cultural, linguistic and religious diversity that has always been of such great importance in Syria and is key to its long-term success.”
A last remnant of Jesus's language
Modern branches of the language are still spoken across southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, and northwest Iran.
But the dialect spoken by its inhabitants – as well as the residents of two nearby, mostly Muslim, villages – is the only survivor of Western Aramaic, the closest modern descendant to the language spoken by Jesus and his disciples.
It would, in all probability, have been spoken by the Christian martyr St. Thecla, a disciple of St. Paul whose tomb in Malula draws pilgrims from around the world.
“It’s quite extraordinary,” says Annyck Wustyn, a 63-year-old visitor from France. “In our country, where we are mostly Catholic, Aramaic is like a myth. Now I know it is a reality.”
Pushing forward with the program
Undeterred by the move to shut down his Aramaic institute, Rezkallah plans to introduce a new course this summer which, for the first time, will include a textbook using Aramaic to English translations – effectively opening up the institute to non-Arabic speaking students for the first time since it was founded. According to Rezkallah, the dispute over the Hebrew similarities is still “being discussed,” but the institute has trained an extra nine teachers this year in anticipation of an extension of the program. The new textbook will, however, use Syriac script from the second century BC in lieu of square Aramaic lettering. For the likes of Atallah Shaib, a young man working in his father’s restaurant overlooking the rickety houses of Malula, the fight to secure his language’s future is as important as ever. “Aramaic is not a normal language,” says Mr. Shaib, his rolled-up sleeves revealing a series of inky blue Aramaic tattoos on his forearms. “It’s Jesus Christ’s language, and that’s the most important reason why we should keep it alive.”

Ahmadinejad: Israel closer to certain death if it attacks Gaza
April 3, 2010
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Israel on Saturday against launching a new assault on the Gaza Strip, saying such action would bring it "closer to certain death."
Ahmadinejad's comments come a day after Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom warned of a new offensive by the Israeli military on Gaza unless militant rocket attacks are halted.
According to Ahmadinejad, Israel is looking for an excuse to attack Gaza. “I want to tell the Zionists and their backers that enough crime has been committed already," he added.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon

Hassan Nasrallah
April 1, 2010
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah confirmed during an interview with Al-Manar television Wednesday that the prosecutor's office of Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) summoned 12 party members. He added that the tribunal will summon six others, but Hezbollah is in the process of verifying whether they are members or just affiliated with the party.
These members were summoned as witnesses and not as suspects, said Nasrallah.
He said that among those summoned was a cultural official and another member who deals with Palestinian-Hezbollah relations.
Nasrallah noted the STL has summoned other Hezbollah members in the past two years, calling on the STL to preserve the secrecy of its investigations.
The Hezbollah chief cited various media reports – including Le Figaro, Der Spiegel, Le Monde and As-Seyassah – that accused his party of being behind the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, however, he noted that the STL has not once accused a Hezbollah member of the killing.
“But we do not know what might happen in the future,” he added.
Nasrallah said that the accusations following Hariri’s death were political.
“[The March 14 alliance] as well as regional and international powers accused Syria, while Israel accused Hezbollah,” he said, adding that the Jewish State was the first to point its finger at the party.
Nasrallah said that Israel failed to eliminate Hezbollah during the 2006 July War, and Hariri’s assassination became “their final weapon and their last card to play against the Resistance.”
According to Nasrallah, there are three hypotheses: that officials and writers accusing Hezbollah of assassinating Hariri are just drafting a certain scenario, which, coincidentally, the STL then adopts, that STL employees are leaking information to the media and that “those reporting on the STL investigations are prophets.”
He said that some STL employees are leaking information to the media. He added that he holds the STL and the Office of the Prosecutor responsible for all the published reports.
There are internal conflicts inside the STL, said Nasrallah, citing the various STL resignations.
He said the objective is to distort Hezbollah’s image and pressure and intimidate the party.
“They might be trying to pressure Hezbollah to concede and accept a deal,” he added.
He also said that he refuses all accusations against his party and its members, and that Hezbollah has serious remarks on the work of the International Independent Investigative Commission (IIIC).
Nasrallah said the IIIC was not committed to keeping its investigations secret and focused on one hypothesis from the very beginning, which is that Syria and the four generals murdered Hariri.
He also slammed the commission for gathering false witnesses to try and prove their hypothesis.
Even though the Hezbollah chief did not accuse Israel of Hariri’s murder, he said that “whoever says it is an unlikely [scenario] is insulting Rafik Hariri.”
 
He criticized STL Prosecutor General Daniel Bellemare for detaining the four generals for almost four years.
He also said that a high-ranking official in the IIIC proposed to former General Security Director Jamil as-Sayyed – one of the four generals detained – with a deal, which the latter rejected.
Nasrallah said that in order to again trust the investigation, it is necessary to try the false witnesses and those who backed them to guarantee that there will be no more false witnesses.
He called for trying those who leaked information and for strictly forbidding all leaks.
He said his party is concerned with knowing the truth, with stopping the misled investigation and with assisting to put it back on the right track.
Hezbollah will cooperate with the STL, otherwise, it will be suspected of being behind Hariri’s assassination, said Nasrallah. However, he added that if there are more leaks and the false witnesses remain protected, he has the right to take a different stance.
Nasrallah also said that the STL is not affected by the 2007 US-Internal Security Forces cooperation agreement, which, he added should be annulled.
It is a binding agreement and if breached will allow the US to withdraw its aid, he said.
Nasrallah said that the agreement allows the US to interfere in the ISF whenever it pleases, enforces the US’ definition of terrorism to categorize the ISF officers, insults the Lebanese cabinet by setting conditions that US aid cannot be used for drug trafficking or illegal acts.
“We want to help the ISF uncover more Israeli espionage networks. We want the ISF to be trained under the belief that Israel is the enemy and not the fake enemies the US creates,” he said, adding, “Training ISF members is a good thing, but what they are being taught is dangerous.”
According to Nasrallah, Hezbollah did not target ISF Director General Ashraf Rifi or Interior Minister Ziad Baroud.
Rifi attempted to resolve some issues pertaining to the agreement by sending a letter to the US embassy stating that Hezbollah is a Lebanese party, an act he described as positive. He said that President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri should also take such an initiative.
Nasrallah also said Sleiman’s call to resume the national dialogue has nothing to do with last month’s Damascus summit between him, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
However, he said the West is constantly questioning the Lebanese government about what it has done about Hezbollah’s weapons.
“Dialogue is crucial even if it does not lead to quick results, and national consensus is not a precondition to defend our homes,” said the Hezbollah chief.
He commented on Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt’s Wednesday visit to Syria, saying it is Lebanon’s interests.
Nasrallah touched on the upcoming municipal elections, and said his party is open to holding the elections and to postponing them.
However, he said it would be better to postpone the elections for a couple of months to adopt the draft municipal electoral law.
He also said that Hezbollah and the Amal Movement will run together in the elections, which, he added are for development purposes and the candidates are often running according to family affiliations.
However, he said some political tension will emerge in some villages and called for giving the cabinet a chance to achieve its goals. He also said that amid the Israeli threats, it is important for villages to be unified.
Nasrallah said he supports a system of proportional representation in big towns and not small ones, saying it would be more complicated.