LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِApril
05/2010
Bible Of the
Day
Mark
16/8-20: " 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.” 16:19 So then the Lord*, after he had spoken
to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
16:20 They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and
confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
Free
Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
Iraqi Christians Under
Fire/AINA/April 04/10
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 04/10
Baroud Warns of Extending
Municipal Councils Mandate/Naharnet
Moussawi Says It'd Be 'Foolishness'
for Some to Think They'd Be Able to Defeat Hizbullah/Naharnet
Aude Slams Brawl over
Elections, Calls for Strong State/Naharnet
'Holy Fire' Lights Up
Jerusalem Church for Easter/AINA
Sarkozy's advisers:
Renewed talks between Israel and Syria unlikely/Ha'aretz
Qabalan Extends Easter Greetings to Lebanese, Calls
on Nations to Learn Courage from Christ in Facing/Naharnet
Suleiman: Lebanon is Strong, Will Enjoy Stability
Throughout 2010/Naharnet
Fears About Repercussions of Nasrallah's Remarks on
Tribunal/Naharnet
Hariri Carries with him to Damascus New Agreements on April 13-14/Naharnet
Report: Army Arrests 4 after Gunfire in Ouyoun Orghosh/Naharnet
Sanctions against Iran: Lebanese 'Embarrassment' Despite European Unwillingness
to Create Problems/Naharnet
Jumblat Wants to Meet Nasrallah to Thank Him, Reveals Car Brakes Failed on Way
Back from Syria/Naharnet
Baroud Says Transitional Provisions to Be Effective if Reforms Adopted before
May 2, Including Technical Extension/Naharnet
'Holy Fire' Lights Up Jerusalem
Church for Easter
Posted GMT 4-3-2010 19:16:39
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- The flame poured forth from the tomb, lighting up the
cavernous church as fire passed from candle to candle held by thousands of
Christian pilgrims convinced they were witnessing a miracle. Orthodox Christians
packed into Jerusalem's centuries-old Church of the Holy Sepulchre and spilled
out into the surrounding cobblestone alleys in anticipation of the annual "Holy
Fire" ceremony on the eve of Easter Sunday. Believers hold that the fire is sent
from the heavens to ignite candles held by the Greek Orthodox patriarch in an
annual rite symbolising Jesus's resurrection that dates back many hundreds of
years. Minor scuffles broke out as Israeli police struggled to contain the
crowds as they made their way through the Old City and packed into the church
that Christians believe stands on the site where Jesus was crucified and buried.
The ceremony began with a group of a few dozen local Arab Christians who pumped
up the crowds by beating drums and chanting in honour of Jesus and Mary.
Then the Greek Orthodox patriarch, Theophilos III, made his grand entry at the
head of a procession of monks, chanters, dignitaries and red and gold banners
bearing icon-like images.
After circling the ornate tomb in the heart of the church three times amid
chants of "Axios" ("Oh, great one") the patriarch entered the shrine on Jesus's
traditional burial site and then emerged with several lit candles. The flames
were passed throughout the crowd, casting a flickering orange glow on the grey
walls and towering stone columns and filling the air with smoke as police armed
with fire extinguishers stood by nervously. "It's a miracle. It comes from the
sky, down into the tomb and then lights the candles in the hands of the
patriarch," said George Papadopoulos, one of the black-cloaked chanters in the
procession.
A few metres (yards) away, Kostas Kotulis, a 24-year-old pilgrim from Athens,
passed his hand back and forth over a bolt of lit candles.
"It's a miracle, and only the Greek patriarch can do it," he said. "I touch the
fire and I don't get burned."In one corner of the cathedral a woman swept a
candle over a disabled boy in order to bless him. A short way away a young woman
ran a candle up and down the legs of another woman and even beneath her skirt.
The annual tradition dates back to at least the fourth century AD, when the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built. Greek Orthodox lore holds that at least
three times during the Middle Ages other Christian denominations tried -- and
failed -- to receive the Holy Fire. The church, Christianity's holiest site, is
shared uneasily by six denominations, the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic,
Armenian Orthodox, Egyptian Copts, Syrian Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox. Past
ceremonies have been marred by violence, with fist fights breaking out among
monks from the different denominations over perceived changes to a status quo
hammered out over several centuries.
Although this year's ceremony passed off peacefully, a few people fainted after
standing for hours in the tightly packed space, and some pilgrims said the
chaotic nature of the gathering took away from their spiritual experience. "I
came here because I believe in it, but I don't like that the people go crazy,"
said Ioanna Buciv from Romania, as the pilgrims streamed out of the church to
the sound of bells echoing across the city rooftops. "They were pushing and
shouting... You come here for something spiritual but you don't feel at peace."
By Joseph Krauss
© 2010, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.
Iraqi Christians Under Fire
Assyrian International News Agency
Fr Rayan Paulos Atto showed me an elaborately decorated bronze and glass case
mounted on the wall near the altar of his airy modern church in Erbil. It was a
reliquary, a showcase for displaying a relic of a saint or martyr -- the sort of
thing you might find gathering dust in the sacristy of some venerable Italian
basilica.
Fr Rayan's reliquary contains a miniature icon of the Virgin which is spattered
with tiny droplets of blood -- the blood of his closest friend, a priest gunned
down on the steps of his church in the name of Islam. For Christians in Iraq
today the possibility of martyrdom is an ever present reality, not a historical
curiosity.
The campaign of violence against Christians is one of the most under-reported
stories of Iraq since the invasion of 2003. And it could change the country's
character in a fundamental way; by the time the dust finally settles on the
chaotic current chapter of Iraq's history, the Christian community may have
disappeared altogether -- after 2,000 years as a significant presence. About
200,000 Iraqi Christians have already fled the country; they once made up three
per cent of its population, and they now account for half of its refugees.
Erbil, in northern Iraq, has become a magnet for Christian refugees who are too
poor to leave Iraq or do not want to abandon their country. It is the seat of
the Kurdish Regional Government, which treats the Christians well; it is safe;
and there is an established Christian community to welcome them. Many of them
gravitate towards the traditionally Christian suburb of Ainkawa.
Ainkawa is a 15-minute drive from the centre of Erbil, and on the way there,
with Fr Rayan at the wheel, we passed the motorway exit to Mosul. Mosul -- the
biblical city of Nineveh -- is only 50 miles from Erbil, but it remains a
fearsomely violent place and it was there that Fr Rayan's friend lost his life.
The two of them had met in Rome, where they were both studying theology. Fr
Ragheed Ganni, who was a little older, showed him the Roman ropes, and they
formed a close bond that endured when they returned to parishes in Iraq.
Fr Ragheed began to receive threatening letters from Muslim extremists telling
him to close down his church, but he refused to do so. The gunmen simply turned
up at the end of mass one Sunday and shot him, together with three of his
sub-deacons. I asked Fr Rayan whether he would be willing to take on a job in
Mosul now. "Sure, why not?" he replied in measured tones. "I would do it. I
think being a martyr is something very special".
Almost every day refugee families turn up from Mosul or Baghdad asking for Fr
Rayan's help in starting a new life. And with them they bring stories of the
continuing horror they have left behind. The latest trend in Mosul is young men
and women being stopped on the street and asked for their identity cards -- and
shot if their names reveal their Christian origins. "They used to ask for money
first," Fr Rayan said. "Now they just kill them right away."
Ainkawa quickly reveals itself as a Christian neighbourhood; beer, spirits and
white wedding dresses are displayed in the shop windows along the main street.
The suburb has grown like Topsy since it became a haven for Christian refugees;
Fr Rayan grew up here and can remember the days when it was little more than a
farming village. About 1,000 families lived in Ainkawa at the time of the
invasion; since then the number has increased six-fold.
New housing is being thrown up all over the place to accommodate the influx.
Many of the streets where refugees have been settling are scruffy, half-built
developments on the outskirts. Families who have left prosperous businesses and
comfortable homes behind in Baghdad have opened jerry-built convenience stores
to serve their neighbours.
A woman running a vegetable stall told me that she and her husband left Baghdad
after 36 years when their church was bombed. She went back recently to
investigate whether she was entitled to a food allowance from the government,
but fled again because a group of young men knocked on the car window and
threatened her for not wearing a headscarf. A family in the neighbouring street
said they had fled Baghdad after their nephew was shot dead as he left church
after a prayer meeting. A middle-aged man explained stoically that his son had
been kidnapped and never heard of again. "He would have been 25 now," he said.
"It would be very expensive to find out what happened to him, and I don't have
any money." His second son is in the United States.
Fr Rayan took me to Ainkawa's oldest church, St George's. It has a cool,
whitewashed interior, and its domes are supported on massively thick pillars. No
one knows quite how old it is; there is a stone with an inscription recording
the rebuilding of the church in the seventh century, but Fr Rayan believes the
first church on the site was established in the third or fourth century. It
would have been a centre of Christian life long before St Augustine turned up in
Canterbury, and probably pre-dates the birth of the Prophet Mohammed by several
centuries.
The antiquity of Iraqi Christianity was brought home to me during Vespers at St
Joseph's, a big new church in the centre of Ainkawa. The prayers were in
Aramaic, the language that Jesus would have spoken.
Church tradition holds that Christianity was brought to Jewish communities here
by the apostles Thomas and Thaddeus, and it is certainly plausible that
Christianity put down its first roots in the area while St Paul was on his early
evangelising journeys to Greece and Rome. There is good historical evidence that
Christianity had established itself in what was then Mesopotamia by the early
second century.
Christianity's fortunes under Islam were mixed. There were periods in the early
centuries of Arab rule when Christian scholars and doctors played an influential
part in the life of the Abbasid caliphate, and a ninth-century patriarch writes
of monks being despatched from what is now Iraq to evangelise in China and
India.
Christians were persecuted and sometimes massacred during the turbulent period
that lasted from the late 13th century until the early 16th century, and were
forced to live as second-class citizens under the Ottomans. But Christian
communities survived, and even under Saddam Hussein their place in Iraqi society
was secure: his notorious foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, was a Christian, and in
Ainkawa there is a memorial to the Christian young men who died in Saddam's war
against Iran.
Little of this rich history is widely known in the West. The Archbishop of
Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is a passionate advocate on behalf of the region's
Christians. "The level of ignorance about Middle-Eastern Christianity in the
West is very, very high", he said. "A good many people think the only Christians
in the Middle East are converts or missionaries. I have heard some quite highly
placed people, who ought to know better, saying that."
I asked Dr Williams about the two politicians who took us to war in Iraq: Tony
Blair and George Bush were the most enthusiastically Christian leaders we have
had for many years. "The Christianity both of them were shaped by is, on the
whole, a very, very Western thing," he said. "I don't sense that either of them
had very much sense of the indigenous Christian life and history that there is
in the region."
Iraq's Christians blame Western ignorance for many of their problems. Louis Sako
is the Chaldean Archbishop of the Northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk: the Chaldeans
are the largest of Iraq's Christian denominations. He is scathing about the
Western missionaries he says came piling into Iraq in the immediate aftermath of
the American invasion looking for converts.
In Baghdad alone, he told me, 30 new churches opened up shop, "with money, with
books they were handing out to people on the street. I think this is provoking
people. A Muslim cannot change his religion. It is not allowed. And they think
they are here as missionaries to gain Muslims for Christianity."
The Chaldeans are in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, and Louis Sako
has been instrumental in persuading Pope Benedict to convene a special synod on
the plight of Christians in the Middle East this October. In a pamphlet he has
produced to bring the issue to the world's attention he writes: "Iraq is our
homeland -- we have been here long before the arrival of Islam. We are an
indigenous people, not some colonial entity from somewhere else."
But he says that, since the invasion, many Iraqi Muslims have come to see
Christians as exactly that -- a colonial entity. Christianity has become
associated with the West, and therefore with the Occupation.
The factors behind the eruption of violence against Christians are complex.
Canon Andrew White, the redoubtable vicar of Baghdad, has watched the process
from the start: he first came to the Iraqi capital in the late Nineties to
reopen the city's one Anglican church, St George's, which had been closed down
after the first Gulf War. He, too, points a finger at western ignorance of
Iraq's religious ecology. He recalls an early meeting with Jerry Bremer, the
pro-consul sent by George Bush to sort out the chaos in Iraq in 2003. "I said we
have to deal with the religious leaders and sectarian issues nowe_SLps Bremer
said to me, 'Oh, don't worry about that. This isn't a religious country at all.
It is very secular.' " It did not take long for Ambassador Bremer to change his
mind. When they met again, he told Andrew White: "I can't even deal with water
and electricity because religion keeps getting in the way."Canon White has a
weakness for loud bow-ties. He is a giant of a man and cuts an incongruous dash
as he strides around the heavily fortified compound of St George's in his crisp
blue blazer, a gun-toting Iraqi police officer seldom far from his side. "At the
end of October, there was a major car bomb attack here," he remarked airily,
"164 people were killed. And David [here he gestured at one of his Iraqi
assistants] had to pick up all the arms and legs and hands and bits of body."
That bomb was probably aimed at a nearby government building rather than the
church. One of the reasons Christians have suffered in Iraq is simply that they
have been caught up in the general violence like everyone else. But another is
certainly that, as a religious minority, they are especially vulnerable in a
society that has fractured along sectarian religious lines.
Rowan Williams thinks the collapse of the historically good relations that Iraqi
Christians enjoyed with their Muslim neighbours reflects a wider trend in the
Middle East. "If you speak to a great many Muslims in the Middle East," he said,
"you will hear them saying: 'Until a couple of decades ago, our version of Islam
was one that was happy to co-exist, but we suddenly find heavily funded, very
active, very aggressive, very primitive Islamic groups coming in and telling us
that we have never really been Muslims at all, and re-shaping the whole of our
relations with the rest of the community.' " Andrew White knows what that trend
means on the ground. Last year, he agreed to baptise 13 Iraqi Muslims who wanted
to join his church. Within a week, 11 of them, he told me, had been killed.
I asked Rowan Williams whether he thought we might see Christianity disappear
from the Middle East altogether in our lifetime. "I am sad to say that I think
it is a possibility," he said, "and a possibility that appals me."
By Edward Stourton
www.telegraph.co.uk
Copyright (C) 2010, Assyrian International News Agency. All
Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.
Sarkozy's advisers: Renewed
talks between Israel and Syria unlikely
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Last update - 02:12 04/04/2010
A report submitted a few weeks ago to French President Nicolas Sarkozy by two of
his top diplomats concludes that there is no chance to renew substantial
negotiations between Israel and Syria in the near future, Haaretz has learned.
The officials had visited the Middle East recently to investigate the
possibility of French mediation between the two countries.
Israeli diplomats and senior Jerusalem officials told Haaretz that the authors
of the report were Patrice Paoli, director of the North Africa and Middle East
desk at the French Foreign Ministry, and Nicolas Gallas, a special adviser to
Sarkozy on Middle East affairs.
The two senior French diplomats visited Israel during the second week of March,
which coincided with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit. They met with
Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor, National Security Adviser
Uzi Arad, and individuals who had been involved in the indirect negotiations
with Syria conducted by the Olmert government through Turkish mediation.
In their report, the French diplomats told Sarkozy that they believe meaningful
negotiations between Israel and Syria are not possible in the near future due to
the two country's considerable mutual suspicion and lack of readiness to make
any kind of compromise. In their opinion, Israel is not ready to fully withdraw
from the Golan Heights, while Syria is not prepared to cut ties with Iran and
Hezbollah.
The meeting held with Arad, who holds the Syrian portfolio in the Prime
Minister's Office, seemed to have the strongest impact on the diplomats. A
senior Israeli official told Haaretz that Arad stressed to them that Israel will
not fully withdraw from the Golan, and even discussed ideas for land exchanges
between Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel - at the conclusion of which Israel
would retain the Golan.
"After listening to Arad, they realized they were wasting their time and there
was no genuine desire in Israel at that stage to progress on the Syrian track,"
the official said.
The diplomats, however, do not put all of the blame on Israel. They also met
with Syrian President Bashar Assad and other Syrian officials, who made it clear
to them that Syria had no intention of cutting off its close relationship with
Iran. They also denied that Syria was delivering munitions to Hezbollah. The
Syrians implied that they would prefer Turkey, rather than France, to mediate.
Aude Slams Brawl over Elections, Calls for Strong State
Naharnet/Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut Elias Aude on Sunday criticized the
brawl over the municipal elections and called for equality guaranteed by a
strong state.
"We claim that we are a democratic country but we don't practice democracy,"
Aude said during Easter mass at Saint George Cathedral in downtown Beirut.
"Why don't we join forces to create a strong state and refined institutions and
keep the judiciary incorrupt?" the Archbishop wondered.
"In a respected country, no one discusses the date of presidential, or
parliamentary or municipal elections," he said in reference to bickering among
Lebanese politicians over the date of the municipal polls and suggested reforms
to the municipal draft-law. He also criticized pubs and nightclubs in the area
of Gemmayze after legal battles between the owners and citizens took a sharp
turn. "I am against tourism if it is going to create discomfort for citizens."
Turning to regional issues, Aude said: "Aren't the wars that we are witnessing
proof of people's lack of mercy to others?" he wondered. Beirut, 04 Apr 10,
09:15
Qabalan Extends Easter Greetings to Lebanese, Calls on Nations to Learn Courage
from Christ in Facing Injustice
Naharnet/Deputy Head of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Sheikh Abdul Amir
Qabalan on Sunday called on nations to learn from Christ "the courage to face
the oppressor."
He urged peoples and nations to combat tyranny, corruption and perversion. In a
message he addressed to the Lebanese, extending greetings on the occasion of
Easter Day, Qabalan said: "Christ started his journey from Palestine to liberate
the world from oppression, tyranny and corruption, but Zionism arrived in our
land to destroy and smear the reputation of Christ, Moses and Mohammed." Qabalan
added that "the building of settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem are
hostile acts that indicate a new war and warn of a new displacement and
recurrent tragedies." Beirut, 04 Apr 10, 17:01
Suleiman: Lebanon is Strong, Will Enjoy Stability Throughout 2010
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman said Sunday that Lebanon is strong and is
witnessing a stage of economic, political and security stability that would
remain throughout 2010.
In remarks to reporters following closed-door talks with Maronite Patriarch
Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki, Suleiman said Israel knows that Lebanon is strong and
it can't launch war on it.
The president unveiled that the stage in the aftermath of the municipal
elections will witness extensive reform efforts from administrative
decentralization all the way to appointments.
He also described his talks with Sfeir "good as always." After his meeting with
the patriarch, Suleiman and first Lady Wafaa attended Easter mass in Bkirki.
During his sermon, Sfeir prayed that Suleiman and his assistants would put
Lebanon on the right track. Beirut, 04 Apr 10, 10:01
Fears About Repercussions of Nasrallah's Remarks on Tribunal
Naharnet/Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's latest interview with al-Manar
TV station included hints that the Shiite party might not continue to cooperate
with investigators probing ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination, officials
close to Hizbullah told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat. Hizbullah foreign
relations official Ibrahim al-Moussawi said that Nasrallah's remarks are "clear
and self explanatory." "Nasrallah gave himself the right … to say at any later
stage from the (international) tribunal's work that he rejects its decisions and
considers them biased," a source following up the issue told the newspaper.
Another source warned that "such a stance would have internal repercussions and
could reignite the Sunni-Shiite row in Lebanon." Asharq al-Awsat said that the
atmosphere that preceded Nasrallah's interview and reports that he would warn of
a new political May helped show the Hizbullah leader as calm.
Beirut, 04 Apr 10, 11:29
Hariri Carries with him to Damascus New Agreements on April 13-14
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri is scheduled to make his second visit to
Syria on April 13-14 to suggest the signature of new agreements between the two
countries, An Nahar daily reported Sunday. Education Minister Hassan Mneimneh
told the newspaper that the issue of the visit would be discussed during two
cabinet meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday outside the agenda of the council of
ministers' session. Mneimneh said the upcoming visit should be the "real start"
of attempts to mend fences and "restructure relations" particularly that Hariri
"would make his trip at the head of a delegation to suggest new agreements that
are in the interest of both countries rather than amend existing treaties."The
minister told An Nahar that the issue of Hariri's second visit to Damascus was
discussed during his historic meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad on
December 19, 2009. "It's important to benefit from all the lessons of the
previous stage and discuss the reasons behind the flaws in the two countries'
ties," he added. Beirut, 04 Apr 10, 08:06
Report: Army Arrests 4 after Gunfire in Ouyoun Orghosh
Naharnet/The Lebanese army has reportedly arrested four people in the area of
al-Mazareh after gunfire and rocket attacks on a family having lunch in Ouyoun
Orghosh.
Ad-Diyar newspaper said Sunday that the Karkaba family, which hails from
Baalbeck, was having lunch near Ouyoun Orghosh pond when they came under
attack.One family member was slightly injured, according to the daily. It said
that the army arrested four men from the Tawq family in al-Mazareh which lies
near Ouyoun Orghosh.
Ad-Diyar added that the army found a weapons depot in the area, which also
contained hashish estimated to be more than 1,000 kilograms. Beirut, 04 Apr 10,
08:23
Sanctions against Iran: Lebanese 'Embarrassment' Despite European Unwillingness
to Create Problems Naharnet/Lebanon is likely to face an "embarrassment" during
its presidency of the U.N. Security Council in May if it fails to vote on a
draft resolution calling for sanctions on Iran. European diplomatic sources told
pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published Sunday that "Lebanese
diplomacy could face an embarrassment if western countries failed to achieve
consensus" on Iran during the current Japanese presidency of the Council.
The sources said that Lebanon would likely abstain from voting to avoid becoming
part of any team. They told Asharq al-Awsat that Europe wouldn't blame Lebanon
"in case it opposes the draft resolution or abstains from voting because we know
its internal situation, its political balances and regional and foreign ties,"
in reference to Syria and Iran.
"We don't intent to create problems for the Lebanese government," the sources
added. Beirut, 04 Apr 10, 08:52