LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJUNE
05/2011
Biblical Event Of The
Day
James 5/7-20: "Be patient
therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for
the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the
early and late rain. 5:8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the
coming of the Lord is at hand. 5:9 Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another,
so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door. 5:10 Take,
brothers, for an example of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spoke in
the name of the Lord. 5:11 Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have
heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the
Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 5:12 But above all things, my brothers,
don’t swear, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath; but let
your “yes” be “yes,” and your “no,” “no”; so that you don’t fall into hypocrisy.
5:13 Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing
praises. 5:14 Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the
assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the
Lord, 5:15 and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will
raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 5:16 Confess your
offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The
insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective. 5:17 Elijah was
a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain,
and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years and six months. 5:18 He prayed
again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. 5:19
Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
5:20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save
a soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins".
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Muslim Brotherhood Riding the
Crest of Arab Spring/By:
Walid Phares/June 04/11
Syria: Inside Bashar Assad's Dungeons/TIME/June
04/11
Syria stalls Lebanese
government/Matt Nash/June 04/11
No end in sight/The Economist/June
04/11
President Assad’s Bloody Hands/The
New York Times/June 04/11
A Syrian’s distress/By: Hazem
al-Amin/June 04/11
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for June 04/11
100,000 at Syria protester
funerals, rights group says/Now Lebanon
Thousands-strong Funerals for
Syrian Protestors Killed Friday/Naharnet
UN
chief voices alarm at escalation of violence in Syria/UNNews Centre
Rights group calls for
Syria sanctions/Independent
Syrian Demonstrators Galvanized by 13-Year-Old's Death/VOA
34 Killed in Syria During Mass Protests Against Brutal Child
Killings/Christian Post
Syria's ShameL Huffington Post
Syria Blocks Internet Access Amid
Unrest/Wall Street Journal
Rai: No need to separate God from the state/Daily Star
Refugees cannot be ignored: UNRWA/Daily Star
Lebanon bans all vegetable imports from Europe/Daily Star
Lebanon's budget deficit rises to 35.51 percent of spending/Daily Star
Lebanon army bans demonstrations
near Israel border/AFP
Top Sidon figures urge president to resume dialogue/Daily Star
Palestinians scrap march after
Lebanese Army bans border protest/Daily Star
Berri unlikely to hold parliament
session without Sunni MPs, says source/Now Lebanon
Tawhid Party: Postponing Sunday’s
march due to US pressures/Now Lebanon
Miqati Defends Decision to Boycott
June 8 Session/Naharnet
Hizbullah Accuses U.S. of
‘Poisoning’ Cabinet Formation Process/Naharnet
5 Men Escape Baabda Detention
Center/Naharnet
Britain’s Ambassador Hopes for
Quick Formation of Cabinet/Naharnet
Suleiman Hopes Miqati Would Form
Cabinet before June 8/Naharnet
Aoun Claims Facilitating Work of
Miqati who Should Now ‘Match Names with Portfolios’/Naharnet
Strugar: UNIFIL Forces Will
Increase in July, No Decision Yet to Reduce Italian Contingent/Naharnet
Higher Islamic Council Urges
Respect for Cabinet Decisions/Naharnet
Geagea Hints that Jumblat Should
Review his Stance, Form New Majority/Naharnet
Hizbullah Accuses U.S. of
‘Poisoning’ Cabinet Formation Process/Naharnet
Beyond The
Dropzone
Kamal El Bata Lebanese Feedom Fighter
Passes
By editor-at-large on 3 June 2011
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Kamal El Batal – Lebanon’s national director of the World Council of the Cedars
Revolution (WCCR) – passed away, Thursday, June 2.
Batal, an engineer by profession who has for years supported – and struggled –
for freedom and democracy in his beloved Lebanon, “suffered a massive heart
attack from which he could not be revived,” according to a statement issued
today by the Washington, D.C.-based WCCR.
In recent weeks, Batal has been on a fact-finding mission, operating in Lebanon
along the dangerous Syria-Lebanon border, gathering information and interviewing
refugees streaming across the border escaping Syria’s brutal military crackdown
on its civilian population.
Over the past several years, Batal has worked tirelessly, demonstrated enormous
leadership, often at great risk, in the various international efforts to break
down the regionally dominating Iranian-Syrian-Hizballah axis.
Testifying before a U.S. congressional panel in Sept. 2008, Batal said, “Though
some may believe that Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon following UN Security
Council Resolution 1559 (which calls for the withdrawal of all foreign forces
from Lebanon and the disarmament of all militias), the reality is that Syria’s
intelligence agents and special teams freely operate in Lebanon today. They
facilitate, train, arm, control, and direct militias and their allies to serve
the aims of the Syrian Regime.”
He added, “It is almost certain that the Syrian government masterminded and
facilitated the majority of the assassinations in Lebanon … It is no coincidence
that all armed groups today are allied to the Syrian regime.”
In its statement today, the WCCR said, “How fitting that Kamal’s family name is
Batal, ‘Hero’ in Arabic, for that is how he lived his life by witnessing the
truth and fearlessly fighting for justice.”
[AUTHOR’S NOTE: Though I’ve never met Batal, we have spoken together several
times either by email or phone, and I personally knew him to be – as his
reputation was and will always be – one of the brightest, most intuitive and
courageous men to have served in any capacity in the global war on terror.]
– Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at uswriter.com.
Thousands-strong Funerals for Syrian Protestors Killed Friday
Naharnet Newsdesk /Thousands-strong funeral processions filed out of mosques and
past closed shops in the central Syrian city of Hama on Saturday, as mourners
buried dozens of protesters shot dead by security forces a day before. A Syrian
human rights activist increased Friday's death toll among protesters to 63, up
from an initial count of 48. Most of the dead were killed in Hama after troops
opened fire on crowds. Mustafa Osso also said Saturday that the Internet had
been mostly restored, a day after authorities shut it down.
At least 1,270 people have been killed since an uprising against President
Bashar Assad's regime began in mid-March, according to the Local Coordination
Committees, which helps organize and document Syria's protests. The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday that at least 48 people were killed
in Hama, which has become a new center for protest and violence. In 1982, the
Syrian regime heavily bombed the city to crush an uprising, killing thousands.
After noon prayers, tens of thousands of people streamed out of mosques carrying
coffins of the dead and headed toward the two city's main cemeteries, said Rami
Abdul-Rahman, the rights group's director. Friday's protests appeared to be the
biggest since the uprising began, with people gathering in ever larger numbers
in cities and towns across the country, Abdul-Rahman said. Hama residents said
most shops were closed to protest the shootings. "People are in a state of
shock," a resident, who spoke by telephone, said on condition of anonymity for
fear of government reprisals. "God knows whether they will kill more people
during the funerals."Witnesses' reports could not be independently verified. The
Syrian government has severely restricted the media and expelled foreign
reporters, making it nearly impossible to independently verify what is happening
there. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said authorities released a
leading opposition figure Saturday. Ali Abdullah of the Damascus Declaration
Group had been jailed since 2007.Authorities have released hundreds of political
prisoners this week after Assad issued a general amnesty Tuesday.
100,000 at Syria protester funerals, rights group says
June 4, 2011 /More than 100,000 people turned out on Saturday for the funerals
of dozens of protesters killed by security forces in the Syrian city of Hama, a
rights group said.
At least 53 people were killed during anti-regime demonstrations on Friday
across Syria, all but five of them in Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights said.
It said security forces shot dead 48 people in Hama, where a crowd of more than
50,000 gathered for the city's biggest rally since the mid-March outbreak across
Syria of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.In Homs, a city 40
kilometers South of Hama, two people were killed and another two in nearby
Rastan, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the London-based Observatory. One person
was also killed in Idleb, northwest Syria. Rights groups say more than 1,100
civilians have been killed and at least 10,000 arrested in the brutal crackdown
since the protests began.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Tawhid Party: Postponing Sunday’s march due to US pressures
June 4, 2011 /Tawhid Arab Party said on Saturday that postponing Sunday’s march
on Lebanon’s southern borders was due to US pressures on Lebanese authorities,
according to a statement issued by the party’s press office. The US does not
want the May 15 events which revealed the “fragility” of Israel to reoccur, the
statement added. On May 15, Palestinians in the occupied territories, inside
Israel and across the region, including Lebanon, marked the anniversary of the
Jewish State's 1948 creation, known in Arabic as the "nakba" or "catastrophe.”
Many protestors were injured and others were killed in Maroun al-Ras in Lebanon.
On Friday, Lebanon banned all demonstrations near the Israeli border as the
Palestinians gear up to mark 44 years since the seizure of the West Bank and
Gaza Strip during the Six Day War.-NOW Lebanon
Berri unlikely to hold parliament session without Sunni MPs, says source
June 4, 2011 /“[Speaker Nabih] Berri is unlikely to hold the parliament session
in the absence of Sunni MPs, or most of them,” a source close to the speaker
said in remarks published on Saturday. The source told Al-Hayat newspaper that
Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati—who declared that he will not attend the
June 8 Parliament session—had originally suggested to Berri to hold the session
to renew the tenure of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh. The Central Bank
governor’s tenure will end in July 2011 and a cabinet decision to assign a
successor to his post is needed. However, since the current cabinet only holds a
caretaking status, Speaker Nabih Berri has called for a parliamentary session to
discuss the issue, a move March 14 parties have rejected. Mikati, who was
appointed to the premiership in January with the backing of the Hezbollah-led
March 8 coalition, has been working since January to form a government.-NOW
Lebanon
Syria stalls Lebanese government
Matt Nash/Now Lebanon/June 4, 2011
While a debate about who will get what in the next cabinet is being presented as
the reason forming it is taking so long, analysts told NOW Lebanon that the
ongoing protests – and the state’s violent response – in neighboring Syria is
likely the real culprit. With Syria’s internal problems in flux – it is far from
clear if the regime can stop protesters from taking to the streets and demanding
its fall, or if demonstrators can succeed in their attempt to topple the ruling
Assad family – the country’s allies in Lebanon, tasked with forming a
government, are biding their time.Imad Salamey, a professor of Political Science
at the Lebanese American University, said he thinks Damascus is itself
intervening to slow down the process of forming a government in Beirut. “From
the Syrian perspective, now is not a good time to make other countries upset
about a one-sided government that will leave out the Future Movement and March
14,” he said. Such a government composed mainly of politicians from the March 8
alliance would “make the Saudis and the US and West at large very critical. It
would place the Syrians in a situation they don’t want to be in at the
moment.”That said, however, he noted that the Syrian leadership itself is likely
too distracted to be heavily involved in Lebanese politics these days. Rather,
they’ve likely sent the message for a delay and are allowing their allies to
implement that plan. Also seeing the real reason for the delay lying abroad,
Oussama Safa, director of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, said he thinks
Hezbollah is the real obstacle to a new government as the party takes a
wait-and-see approach toward developments in Syria.
“I think that Hezbollah is taking its time. Formation of a government is an
important card in its pocket,” he said. “The situation in the region and in
Syria will either keep the balance of power [in Lebanon] or change it
completely. So Hezbollah wants to play that card very carefully.”
When Hezbollah and its allies toppled Saad Hariri’s national unity government in
January, the rhetoric at the time suggested that the party wanted to quickly
form a government that would break ties with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL),
the court established by the UN to investigate political assassinations in
Lebanon. Safa, however, played down the importance of needing a government to
combat the STL. “I think right now, the institution really functioning that can
do something about the STL is the parliament, and parliament’s already held in
the hands of Hezbollah. The other institutions that would be useful to the STL
are the security services, and Hezbollah controls most of those,” he said.
The debate about portfolios, therefore, is partially a ploy to buy time. Free
Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun is at the forefront of this fight as he
attempts to name the lion’s share of Christian members of the cabinet and tries
to position people close to him in powerful ministries like Interior and
Telecommunications.
Salamey said he thinks these demands are “artificial, meant for a delay in the
cabinet formation.”
A politician close to the March 14 coalition who is not participating in talks
but following them closely told NOW Lebanon that while other parties in March 8
may be happy to see Aoun’s requests stall the process, he himself genuinely
wants everything he’s asking for and feels entitled to it.
The source said part of the deal Aoun and Hezbollah reached in 2006 includes
Aoun handling the nuts and bolts of governance. The FPM has been very vocal
lately and in the past about its desire to retool, in particular, the country’s
economic policies. “Change and reform” is both the name of the party’s
parliamentary bloc, and the slogan party members repeat over and over.
In the struggle for the Christian street, it makes sense that Aoun would want a
strong hand in the new government as a way to get things done – if the
government functions unlike many before it – and strengthen his political base
at the expense of other Christian leaders.
Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, for his part, this week apparently
officially ruled out forming a technocrat government, which Salamey said would
have possibly been the best solution for him to try. The March 14 source,
however, said that while he supported a technocrat government, he didn’t think
it would be likely because it would be seen as an affront by Mikati against
Hariri. The Sunni billionaire is not keen to alienate Hariri any more than his
mere nomination already has, the source said.
As the process drags on, a potential option emerging lately is the formation of
a centrist bloc within the cabinet. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt last week said
flat out that Hezbollah is responsible for delaying the cabinet, and this week
had dinner with Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel, a member of the March 14
coalition. Jumblatt is apparently trying to rebuild bridges with March 14 after
relations reached a nadir when he voted with March 8 for Mikati. If Jumblatt and
Gemayel reach an agreement – which is the rampant speculation of what they are
trying to do – they could likely convince President Michel Sleiman and possibly
Mikati himself to join them.
This new idea could kick-start the moribund process, but everyone NOW Lebanon
spoke to for this article said seeing a cabinet soon is unlikely.
President Assad’s Bloody Hands
Published: June 3, 2011
The New York Times
Syrians have shown extraordinary courage, standing up to President Bashar
al-Assad’s reign of terror. We wish we could say that about the international
community. So long as Mr. Assad escapes strong condemnation and real punishment,
he will keep turning his tanks and troops on his people.
Mourning a Boy, Crowds in Syria Defy Crackdown (June 4, 2011)
Times Topic: Bashar Al-AssadHuman rights groups believe that more than 1,000
protesters have been killed in a three-month crackdown and that 10,000 more have
been arrested. Hamza Ali al-Khateeb, the 13-year-old boy whose tortured body was
shown in an online video, has become a heartbreaking symbol of the regime’s
brutality. According to activists, he was arrested at a protest on April 29 and
not seen again until his broken body was delivered to his family almost a month
later.
His murder and that of at least 30 other children who joined the protests show
the depths to which Mr. Assad and his thugs have sunk.
On Friday, in some of the biggest demonstrations yet, thousands of people again
returned to the streets to demand political freedoms. Activists said dozens of
protesters were killed in Hama after troops and regime loyalists opened fire.
Independent journalists are barred from the country, so the full extent of the
violence is unclear. What we do know is that the Syrian government has unleashed
a wave of repression, perhaps the most vicious counterattack of the Arab spring.
After the killing began, the United States and Europe imposed sanctions — mostly
travel bans and asset freezes — on certain key regime officials while exempting
Mr. Assad. Only later did they add his name to the list. The rhetoric is
stiffening. On Thursday Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declared that
Mr. Assad’s legitimacy is “if not gone, nearly run out.” But some American and
European officials still buy the fantasy that Mr. Assad could yet implement
reforms.
Most appalling, the United Nations Security Council is unable to muster the
votes to condemn the bloodshed much less impose sanctions. Russia, cynically
protecting longstanding ties with Damascus, is blocking meaningful action and
China has fallen in lockstep. India is also reluctant to act — a shameful stance
for a democracy that has been bidding for a permanent seat on the Council. If
Russia and China, which have veto power, can’t be won over, the United States
and Europe must push a robust sanctions resolution and dare Moscow and the
others to side with Mr. Assad over the Syrian people. We do not know how this
will turn out. But arguments that Mr. Assad is the best guarantor of stability
and the best way to avoid extremism have lost all credibility.
No end in sight
The Economist
President Bashar Assad is floundering in his efforts to snuff out the rebellion
Jun 2nd 2011
..A dead child: an international symbol for the protestersNOW in its third
month, Syria’s uprising shows no sign of abating. Indeed, though the weekly
death toll goes up and down, the strife is worsening. On Friday May 27th, 12
people are known to have died—a lower number than on most previous Fridays. But
the ensuing violence was as intense as ever. The army attacked two restive
tribal towns, Telbiseh and Rastan, that lie just north of Syria’s third city,
Homs, which has also been in the line of fire. Tanks are reported to have
shelled Rastan. At least 40 people have been killed and scores arrested. The
main road north to Aleppo, Syria’s second city, was closed and communications
cut.
The unrest covers just about the whole country. Protesters, growing steadily in
number, are becoming more innovative. People in neighbourhoods of Homs have
taken to shouting “Allahu akbar!” (“God is great!”) in unison from balconies at
night. In Hama, where the president’s father, Hafez Assad, suppressed an
uprising in 1982, thousands protested in a square on May 27th. Deir ez-Zor, a
tribal city in the north-east, is increasingly restless.
A plethora of torture reports is making people angrier still. The case of a
13-year-old, Hamza al-Khatib, has been widely aired, to general disgust. His
body, given back by officials to his parents on May 25th, a month after he was
arrested, bore multiple marks of abuse, including bullet holes, signs of
electric shock, burns, bruises, a broken neck and castration. The state media
said it was all faked but people generally believe the parents. A report by
Human Rights Watch, a New York-based lobby, documents summary executions in
Deraa, a southern city where the protests began.
Though the protests have been mainly peaceful, armed revolt may be brewing. In
tough towns such as Rastan, Telbiseh and Tel Kalakh, where tribal honour is
fiercely upheld, more people are responding to the security forces with force.
In Rastan protesters threatened to blow up a bridge. In Tel Kalakh, a smuggling
border town where guns proliferate, tanks have been hit by rocket-propelled
grenades. The government makes much of its own forces’ death toll, said to
exceed 100, and cites the violence against them to justify the regime’s
crackdown. Armed gangs, many of them adherents to the minority Alawite sect to
which the Assad family belongs, are reported to be terrorising rebellious areas.
Alawite villagers near Sunni settlements are said to have been given arms.
Alawite army units are in the vanguard of repression. As a result, sectarian
tension is up. In fact, the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam that many
Muslims do not consider Muslim at all, is split into clans. In February several
Alawite sheikhs distanced themselves from the Assads on the website of an
Alawite dissident, Wahid Saqr, deriding attempts to stir ethnic and sectarian
strife. Syria is also divided by geography and class. Many educated middle-class
people in Damascus dismiss the protesters as rural illiterates or religious
fanatics. Some approve of the crackdown. A few say that “nothing is going on.”
But most admit that the country is in turmoil. The hectic manner in which the
state media seek to portray the situation as normal merely affirms the disarray.
The economy is plainly in a mess. Tourism, which accounted for a good 5% of GDP
in 2010 and was a key source of foreign currency, has evaporated. Foreign
investors have fled. The government is promising more public-sector jobs and
bigger subsidies for fuel. Regulations are being laxly enforced in the capital,
as security forces and the police are tied up elsewhere and are scared of
annoying people in central Damascus, which has been relatively quiet. Hawkers
laying their wares on pavements have proliferated. Extra storeys go up overnight
without permission.
The president is lying low. Since the trouble began, he has made two big
speeches, one on March 30th to a sycophantic parliament, and another more
serious effort on April 16th. He is poised to give a third. He has met
delegations from affected areas and has conceded that his security forces have
“made mistakes”, but has accepted no blame for the deaths, now over 1,000. He
has promised an amnesty for prisoners, including members of the still outlawed
Muslim Brotherhood. Some 10,000 people are said to be jailed.
On June 1st a bigwig in the ruling Baath party said the government wanted a
national dialogue, with parameters soon to be announced. But he refused to
consider the sort of constitutional changes that could challenge Mr Assad’s
autocracy, allow him to be freely opposed in an election or remove the Baath
party’s official role as “leader of the state and society”.
Efforts to blame foreigners for the unrest—and Western powers for wanting to
restore colonialism—no longer seem to work. Protesters have begun to wave
placards denouncing Mr Assad’s ally, Iran, and chanting against Hizbullah, the
Lebanese party-cum-militia that is part of an axis with the Iranian and Syrian
governments. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has recently spoken up for Mr Assad.
Outsiders have plainly been loth to get entangled. But they are getting edgier
about doing nothing. The language of American officials, such as Hillary
Clinton, the secretary of state, has become sharper. A draft of a UN Security
Council resolution condemning the Syrian crackdown is circulating. Western
governments are trying to persuade Russia, which has long backed the Assad
regime, and China at least to abstain; the pair would probably veto any move to
refer Syria’s leaders to the International Criminal Court at The Hague, in
contrast to their treatment of Libya’s leaders. The Arab League, which endorsed
NATO’s attack on Muammar Qaddafi, is silently hedging its bets. But the Turks,
after cultivating Mr Assad’s friendship, seem to have turned against him.
The consensus among Arabs in the region has been that Mr Assad will survive the
ordeal in the short run but lose legitimacy and stoke hatred for a future
showdown. But that consensus is becoming less solid. Mr Assad is in a quandary.
Should he talk to the opposition or whack it? Either way entails grave risks to
his regime.
A Syrian’s distress
Hazem al-Amin/Now Lebanon
June 4, 2011
I recently met a Syrian businessman from Aleppo, one of those people who does
not wish for the Syrian regime to fall. He is neither close to the ruling
political or security apparatus, nor one of its foes. He is simply a Syrian to
whom the regime did no harm. What struck me about the man, however, was the
intense grudge he held against the Lebanese politicians who have appeared on TV
to defend the current regime in his country. His opinion on this breed of
politicians is worth discussing, as he considered them to speak a different
language to the Syrians and to use a dictionary that is wholly unrelated to
Syrian division. One of the politicians of whom he spoke called on the Syrian
president to quit the so-called “containment policy with the conspirators” and
urged him to bring the [Syrian] army into confrontation with them. Another
Lebanese politician brandished the threat of a potentially all-encompassing
regional conflict, if the regime in Syria were to be endangered.
Our friend, the Syrian businessman, believes that Lebanese politicians and media
figures who appear as guests on Syrian television do so, not only because they
are part of a mechanism that is utilized by the Syrian regime in its time of
need, but also because they are foreigners. The violence used by the Syrian
regime internally has a different dimension to the violence that it used in
Lebanon. In Syria, violence is mute and takes place in daily interactions,
alongside rhetoric of compromise. No Syrian, no matter how close he or she is to
the regime, could call upon Assad to step up his violent confrontation with
protesters, nor could they threaten the Arab region as a whole.
After thinking about this businessman’s point of view for two consecutive days,
I decided to test its soundness. Indeed, Syrian MPs and political analysts on
satellite television, who have risen to notoriety due to their flimsy pretexts
and reasoning, are always keen to end their irrational on-screen talk with an
assertion of their inclination toward some kind of settlement.
Alternatively, they say that a distinction should be made between protesters and
“conspirators.” Some, for instance, acknowledge the possibility that a mistake
has been made, whereas others try to shrug the mistake off with a smile. As a
result, Syrians feel like laughing; however Lebanese nationals leave them
seething with anger.
Regime-friendly Syrian citizens feel that those Lebanese [who are too vocal
about defending the Syrian regime] are acting in such a way as to endanger [the
very nature of] daily behavior in Syria. In the meantime, these same people
merely express dissatisfaction with the performance of their own citizens, who
appear on television as regime analysts or close supporters of the regime. The
protesting majority is certainly angrier. Daring to call for more blood is in
effect encouraging the regime to go beyond the violence that is already being
exerted, knowing already that the regime’s violence reaches new heights every
day.
Yet calling for more violence pushes these heights even further away. No sooner
are such calls for violence made than the [Syrian] regime adopts them merely a
couple of days later.
Syrians spread dozens of jokes and funny stories about Syrian pro-regime
analysts, but we have yet to hear any joke about the Syrian regime’s mouthpieces
in Lebanon. Perhaps it is because we know that their statements, even when
rendered as jokes, would not come out at all as funny.
Britain’s Ambassador Hopes for Quick Formation of Cabinet
Naharnet Newsdesk /British Ambassador Frances Mary Guy hoped on Saturday that
the cabinet would be formed soon and said that Lebanon is the most stable
country in the Middle East. During a tour to Hasbaya, Guy said: “This country is
the most stable now in the region and it is badly in need for a government which
we would like to see tomorrow or after tomorrow.” She hoped that south Lebanon
would remain calm and the incidents that took place during Nakba Day would not
happen again. Her comment came a day after Palestinian organizers who had
planned a march to the border with Israel on Sunday cancelled their move. The
organizers said the march marking the 1967 Arab-Israeli war's anniversary would
be replaced by strikes across all of Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps. On
Nakba Day on May 15, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians who marched to
Israel's borders with Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. Six people were killed
in Lebanon.
Higher Islamic Council Urges Respect for Cabinet Decisions
Naharnet Newsdesk /The Higher Islamic Council on Saturday voiced concern over
the delay in the formation of the cabinet and called for the respect of
decisions taken by the government.
After its weekly meeting at Dar al-Fatwa, the council reiterated the need to
remain committed to nationalistic stances in terms of the preservation of
national unity and the state and its constitutional institutions. Politicians
should put their nation’s interest above their personal ambitions to preserve
the safety of the nation and its citizens, said the statement issued by the
conferees. They said the Lebanese should live respectful lives in a state based
on national partnership between Muslims and Christians. All Lebanese should hold
onto the institutions and respect the law and cabinet decisions, the statement
said in reference to a 2007 cabinet decision to put a third GSM network under
the operation of telecom company OGERO. The network has caused a tumult between
the March 8 and 14 forces after Caretaker Telecommunications Minister Charbel
Nahhas sought to dismantle it. The delay in the formation of the
government has bad implications on the economy and social conditions, it added.
Geagea Hints that Jumblat Should Review his Stance, Form New Majority
Naharnet Newsdesk /Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said that the cabinet
crisis would be solved only if some blocs reviewed their stances and formed a
new parliamentary majority. “There is no possibility to end the crisis unless
some parliamentary blocs reviewed their stances and formed a new majority that
quickly works on holding things together by forming a cabinet and filling the
current void,” Geagea told the Saudi Okaz daily published Saturday. The LF
leader seemed to be hinting to Walid Jumblat’s National Struggle Front which in
January transferred the parliamentary majority from the March 14 forces to March
8 when it named Najib Miqati for the premiership. Asked about fears by Speaker
Nabih Berri about the return of the spate of assassinations to Lebanon, Geagea
said: “I haven’t received warnings from official Lebanese security apparatuses …
but there are no signs that political assassinations would return.” The
kidnapping of the seven Estonian tourists in March and the roadside bombing that
targeted U.N. peacekeepers last week, were behind expectations about the return
of the spate of assassinations, he said. “I think that if security incidents
take place, they would target international troops or foreigners in general in
an attempt to pressure European countries not to impose further sanctions
against the regime of (Syrian) President Bashar Assad,” Geagea added. Asked if
Lebanon was under threat politically and security wise as the indictment of the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon is nearing, he said the country is already at the
edge of the cliff. “It is clear that the indictment will be issued at this stage
so I don’t think that its release would lead to a security crisis,” Geagea told
Okaz. He warned March 8 that resorting to the streets won’t abolish the
indictment, which is reportedly expected to name low-ranking Hizbullah officials
for involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case.
Hizbullah Accuses U.S. of ‘Poisoning’ Cabinet Formation Process
Naharnet Newsdesk /Hizbullah accused the Untied States on Saturday of hindering
the formation of the new Lebanese government and using the international
tribunal as a tool to change the balance of power in the country. Deputy head of
Hizbullah’s executive council Sheikh Nabil Qaouq said: “The international
tribunal has become a political tool in the local political balance of power
that the U.S. and its followers in Lebanon are using to confront the current
parliamentary majority.”
He said reports that the tribunal would issue the indictment in July mean that
the U.S. wants to block the formation of the cabinet which when formed it would
defeat the “American veto.”
The government lineup is “closer than ever,” Qaouq said. “Every time the
formation of the cabinet makes progress, it reminds us of the U.S. and its
conditions in an overt attempt to poison the positive atmosphere.” Hizbullah MP
Nawwaf Moussawi confirmed that significant progress was made in the formation of
the new government but warned that U.S. ambassador Maura Connelly was exerting
pressure on the process. “The choice of ministers and the policy statement are
not made by U.S. dictations but by Lebanese will,” he stressed.
The new parliamentary majority insists on holding onto a nationalistic cabinet
that represents all Lebanese sects, Moussawi said.
UN chief voices alarm at escalation of violence in Syria
UN News Centre/3 June 2011 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced his
alarm at the escalation of violence in Syria, which has reportedly claimed at
least 70 lives over the past week alone, and called for independent and
transparent investigations into all the killings.
This week’s toll in the ongoing Government crackdown against protesters calling
for reform brings the number of casualties to more than 1,000 since mid-March,
with many more injured and thousands arrested. The protests are part of a
broader uprising this year across North Africa and the Middle East.
A statement issued by his spokesperson stated that Mr. Ban is “deeply troubled”
by the continued serious violations of human rights, including disturbing
reports of the deaths of children under torture, live ammunition and shelling.
“All killings should be investigated fully, independently and transparently,” it
said.
Mr. Ban took note of the announcement by the Syrian authorities of an amnesty
and the establishment of a committee to establish a national dialogue.
“He emphasizes, however, that violent repression by security and military forces
must end immediately for a genuine and inclusive dialogue to take place and lead
to the comprehensive reforms and change called for by the Syrian people,” the
statement said.
The Secretary-General’s concern was shared by his Special Representative on
Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, who today urged the Syrian
Government to ensure the protection of all children amid the ongoing unrest.
“Violence against children must stop and children’s safety must be upheld at all
times,” she stated in a news release. “Children need to be protected from
unlawful arrest, torture and ill-treatment, and their lives should not be put at
risk under any circumstance.”
Earlier this week, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it had received, but
could not independently confirm, information that the use of live ammunition
against demonstrators has reportedly left at least 30 children dead.
Ms. Santos Pais called on the Syrian Government to ensure the protection of all
children from violence. She also called for the thorough and impartial
investigation of all reported child deaths and incidents of violence against
children, including alleged cases of unlawful arrest in demonstrations, and
torture in detention.
Rights group calls for Syria
sanctions
June 3 2011 /Reuters
Syrian women living in Jordan adorn their faces and clothes with the national
flag during a protest to demand that Syrian President Bashar Assad step down
from power.
Human Rights Watch has called on the UN Security Council to impose sanction on
Syria and to hold the government accountable to the International Criminal
Court, following the deaths of more than 800 people in recent weeks.
The organisation released a report on Thursday based on interviews with victims
and witnesses.
The report strongly suggests that the systematic killings and torture qualify as
crimes against humanity.
According to witnesses, many people were left with lethal head, neck and chest
wounds. Civilians were deliberately targeted by security forces who used lethal
force against protesters and bystanders, in most cases without warning.
"For more than two months now, Syrian security forces have been killing and
torturing their own people with complete impunity," said Sarah Leah Whitson,
Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "They need to stop - and if they
don't, it is the Security Council's responsibility to make sure that the people
responsible face justice."
The protests first broke out in Daraa in response to the detention and torture
of 15 children accused of painting graffiti slogans calling for the government's
downfall. In response and since then, security forces have repeatedly and
systematically opened fire on overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrators.
Nine witnesses from the towns of Tafas, Tseel, and Sahem al-Golan described an
attack which took place on April 29, when thousands of people from towns
surrounding Daraa attempted to break the blockade on the city. Witnesses said
that the security forces stopped the protesters who were trying to approach
Daraa at a checkpoint near the Western entrance of Daraa city.
One of the witnesses from the town of Tseel who participated in the protest
said: "We stopped there, waiting for more people to arrive. We held olive
branches, and posters saying we want to bring food and water to Daraa. We had
canisters with water and food parcels with us. Eventually thousands of people
gathered on the road - the crowd stretched for some six kilometers. Then we
started moving closer to the checkpoint. We shouted "peaceful, peaceful," and in
response they opened fire. Security forces were everywhere, in the fields
nearby, on a water tank behind the checkpoint, on the roof of a nearby factory,
and in the trees, and the fire came from all sides. People started running,
falling, trying to carry the wounded away. Nine people from Tseel were wounded
there and one of them died."
Muslim Brotherhood Riding the Crest
of Arab Spring
Friday, 03 Jun 2011 08:38 AM
By Walid Phares
In my most recent book, "The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the
Middle East" (completed July 4, 2010), I argue that civil societies in the
Greater Middle East and Arab world had reached a “critical stage” in their
repudiation of all authoritarian forms of government: regime, theocracy,
military and ultra-nationalist.
The projections therein were based on a thorough study of antecedent Cedars and
Green Revolutions in Lebanon (2005) and Iran (2009) respectively, both with
limpid narratives, particularly online, and both auguring a continuation of
bottom-up, regime-crumbling uprisings in the region.
Even before the region’s revolutionary meltdowns began, our findings were
accompanied by a sober warning — a grueling contest would ensue between the
dispersed and disorganized proponents of liberal democratic reform and the
Islamists, led by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Indeed, as soon as the uprisings erupted on the streets of Tunis and Cairo, the
Islamist political machine went into high gear. With Al-Jazeera’s influential
backing and the support of Qatar’s “diplomatic duo” and Turkey’s Adalet ve
Kalkinma Partisi (AKP) (English: Justice and Development Party), the region’s
mostly-Sunni Islamist movements gradually rose from the bottom and seized the
initiative.
The first of three tactics the Islamists have pursued in their
protest-infiltration strategy was avoidance of any statement or action that
might associate the demonstrations with long-term Muslim Brotherhood goals.
Members were put on notice — no mention of Shariah or the caliphate.
The second was to focus on the affected regimes, not on the West. U.S., European
and even Israeli flag burning were forbidden. The third tactic involved invoking
Shabab al Thawra (English: “youth of revolution”), a rubric the Islamists used
repeatedly to camouflage their predatory intentions with the uprisings’ secular,
liberal democratic lexical accouterments.
While masses, and particularly real revolutionary youth, were exploding against
dictators from Egypt to Libya and Yemen to Syria, Islamist networks were
systematically climbing the ladder of each national revolt.
Like the anti-Tsar Bolsheviks of the October Revolution and the anti-Shah
Khomeinists of the Iranian Revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood are hampered in
their own milieu by citizens’ knowing them well enough to see through their
maneuvers.
In the West, on the other hand, the Ikhwan are supported by a vast army of
apologist elites who obfuscate their mission by referring to them as
“revivalists,” a misnomer that has been spoon-fed to the public and policymakers
for years.
As evidence that this propaganda still achieves its intended effect, a
high-ranking U.S. official recently referred to the Ikhwan as “a loose network
of secular groups.” Thus the Ikhwan, far better organized and funded than their
authentic counterparts in the region and buttressed by an illusory international
reputation, are riding the turbid wave and controlling the dynamics of the
so-called Arab Spring created for them by the region’s true secular reformers.
While chaos reigns among Muslim Brotherhood-infiltrated pro-democracy forces in
Egypt, Ikhwan in the Land of the Pharaohs are preparing for parliamentary and
possible presidential elections. They are launching a political party, a media
campaign, and preparing for a political offensive that will run into the
millions.
The Muslim Brotherhood has also been coaching Egypt’s armed forces on regional
diplomacy. This has resulted in the opening of Gaza’s gate to Egypt and Hamas
being hosted in Cairo. Similarly, in Jordan the Muslim Brotherhood is backing
the Islamist Action Front in a move directed against the Jordanian monarchy.
Cousin to Egypt’s Ikhwan, the Islamist al Nahda movement in Tunisia is
positioning itself for greater influence in that country’s leadership. In Libya,
the Shabab al Thawra (English: “Youth of the Revolution”), considered legitimate
by many European governments and Qatar, is having a significant impact on the
Interim National Council in Benghazi.
By abstaining from publicly declaring their ideology, the Islamists in Libya
have the upper hand so long as NATO continues to support their efforts with
airstrikes on the “apostate” Gadhafi regime.
The Muslim Brotherhood has insinuated itself into Syria’s popular uprising
against that country’s Ba’athist dictator. The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria has a
score to settle with the Assad dynasty over the massacre of thousands of Ikhwan
faithful in the 1980s; their strategic plan is to ride the Syrian revolt to the
very end.
By penetrating tribal boundaries and Yemen’s armed forces, Yemeni Salafists have
positioned themselves strategically while they launch their own version of
Shabab al Thawra. The Yemeni Republic’s first and current president, Ali
Abdallah Saleh, will fight until his resources are exhausted and his enemies
gain the upper hand. Nevertheless, the Islamists in Yemen are readying
themselves for the post-Saleh era.
The regional consortium of Ikhwan and their Salafist allies has have their eyes
on several other countries in the region as well, including Morocco, Algeria,
Mauritania, and eventually, parts of Lebanon, Iraq and Sudan. While moving with
stealth and efficiency, the Muslim Brotherhood is also pausing to obviate
concerns that might arise over possible Western partnerships.
The U.S. and European decision to designate 40-billion dollars to the Arab
Spring will ineluctably profit the Muslim Brotherhood who President Obama
referred to in his speech as those who do not necessarily believe in “our view
of representative democracy.”
In the meantime, the authentic democratic reformers — the Arab popular majority,
young Arab men and women, and ethnic minorities — who have borne on their
shoulders the brunt of the non-violent revolts, could still be outmaneuvered and
marginalized by the Muslim Brotherhood. Today’s Arab “Bolsheviks” could win the
day if the West doesn’t wake up soon and respond accordingly.
If the West can’t be roused from slumber, the Arab Spring may well become the
Middle East’s “Prague moment.”
***Dr. Walid Phares is the author of :The Coming Revolution: Struggle for
Freedom in the Middle East" and an adviser to members of the U.S. Congress and
European Parliament. www.walidphares.com
Question: "Why did God require animal sacrifices in the Old Testament?"
GotQuestions.org/Answer: God required animal sacrifices to provide temporary
forgiveness of sins and to foreshadow the perfect and complete sacrifice of
Jesus Christ (Leviticus 4:35, 5:10). Animal sacrifice is an important theme
found throughout Scripture because “without the shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). When Adam and Eve sinned, animals were killed by
God to provide clothing for them (Genesis 3:21). Cain and Abel brought
sacrifices to the Lord. Cain's was unacceptable because he brought fruit, while
Abel's was acceptable because it was the “firstborn of his flock” (Genesis
4:4-5). After the flood receded, Noah sacrificed animals to God (Genesis
8:20-21).
God commanded the nation of Israel to perform numerous sacrifices according to
certain procedures prescribed by God. First, the animal had to be spotless.
Second, the person offering the sacrifice had to identify with the animal.
Third, the person offering the animal had to inflict death upon it. When done in
faith, this sacrifice provided forgiveness of sins. Another sacrifice called for
on the Day of Atonement, described in Leviticus 16, demonstrates forgiveness and
the removal of sin. The high priest was to take two male goats for a sin
offering. One of the goats was sacrificed as a sin offering for the people of
Israel (Leviticus 16:15), while the other goat was released into the wilderness
(Leviticus 16:20-22). The sin offering provided forgiveness, while the other
goat provided the removal of sin.
Why, then, do we no longer offer animal sacrifices today? Animal sacrifices have
ended because Jesus Christ was the ultimate and perfect sacrifice. John the
Baptist recognized this when he saw Jesus coming to be baptized and said, “Look,
the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). You may be
asking yourself, why animals? What did they do wrong? That is the point—since
the animals did no wrong, they died in place of the one performing the
sacrifice. Jesus Christ also did no wrong but willingly gave Himself to die for
the sins of mankind (1 Timothy 2:6). Jesus Christ took our sin upon Himself and
died in our place. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him [Jesus] who had no
sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Through faith in what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross, we can receive
forgiveness.
In summation, animal sacrifices were commanded by God so that the individual
could experience forgiveness of sin. The animal served as a substitute—that is,
the animal died in place of the sinner, but only temporarily, which is why the
sacrifices needed to be offered over and over. Animal sacrifices have stopped
with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrificial substitute once for
all time (Hebrews 7:27) and is now the only mediator between God and humanity (1
Timothy 2:5). Animal sacrifices foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.
The only basis on which an animal sacrifice could provide forgiveness of sins is
Christ who would sacrifice Himself for our sins, providing the forgiveness that
animal sacrifices could only illustrate and foreshadow.