LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِOctober 04/2011

Bible Quotation for today/Riches in Heaven
Matthew 06/19-21: "Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where your riches are."

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
 Extremism of minorities/By Tariq Alhomayed/October 03/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October 03/11
Turkish warships harass Israeli freighters. Israeli missile boats off Cyprus
Shin Bet: Threat of settler violence against Israeli officials rising in West Bank

U.S. Defense Secretary to arrive in Israel to discuss Iran nuclear program
 Ahmadinejad: Mideast conflict can end if immigrant Jews 'go home'
 Iranians divided over effects of Arab Spring
Revolutions are an Islamic awakening: Grand Ayatollah
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai: My views reflect Vatican policy
Al-Rahi’s Positions on Syria, Hizbullah Removed from Bishops Proclamation after Extensive Debate
Berri meets Ahmadinejad, says Arab uprisings evoke fears
Berri slams interference in Syria, says resistance a necessity
Closed crossings fail to halt Syrian refugee influx into Lebanon
 Row over STL funding threatens to split Lebanese Cabinet
Higher Islamic Council decries killing of civilians in Arab revolts

Turkish warships harass Israeli freighters. Israeli missile boats off Cyprus
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report/ October 2, 2011/, Increasingly assertive Turkey is setting the scene for clashes in the eastern Mediterranean. Since Thursday, Sept. 29, Turkish warships have been harassing Israeli merchant vessels in waters off Cyprus, debkafile's military sources report. They come close enough to establish wireless communication and caution the Israeli vessels they are in contravention of international law and ordering them to change course. The Israeli crews mostly ignore these "orders", treating them as Ankara's latest bid to assert Turkish naval mastery of the Eastern Mediterranean. But the situation is getting explosive enough to spark a major incident.
Over the weekend, Israeli Air Force planes circled near the sites of the incidents but not directly over the Turkish vessels. At the same time Israeli missile ships sailed close to Cyprus's Exclusive Economic Zone waters, where the Houston-based Noble Energy began drilling for natural gas on Sept. 19 in the face of Turkish threats. The rig is situated 160 kilometers south of Cyprus adjacent to Israel's Leviathan gas field.
Western naval sources tracking the new Turkish and Israeli deployments reported Saturday, Oct. 1: "Turkey and Israel are in a constant muscle-flexing contest in the eastern Mediterranean. They are metaphorically shaking fists in each other's faces and raising the risk of a confrontation that could quickly veer out of control."
Last week, Ankara retaliated for Cypriot and Israeli deep sea gas explorations by sending an exploration ship of its own escorted by a frigate and a submarine to Cyprus. Ankara sources also disclosed that Turkish F-16 fighters had been deployed in the northern part of the island.
Voicing concern over Turkey's assertiveness, NATO secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Friday, Sept. 30, said: "Obviously, the tensions between Turkey and Israel are a matter of concern. It's a bilateral issue – NATO is not going to interfere with that. But it is the interest of the alliance to see these tensions eased, because Turkey is a key ally and Israel is a valuable partner for the alliance." The NATO Secretary contradicted Ankara's claim that Israel would not be allowed to open an office at alliance headquarters in Brussels. "NATO defense ministers agreed during the meeting in April that NATO partners can have offices… This includes all partners," he said.
Referring to concern about the tensions over natural gas exploration "between Turkey and Cyprus as well as Israel," Rasmussen said: "I urge all parties to find peaceful solutions to disputes through constructive dialogue." He said he did not expect armed clashes in the region. However, he suggested that Turkey has to be managed carefully as it asserts a growing role on the global stage. Also Saturday, Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias had this message for Ankara: "I wish to underline to all those who attempt to question this right of the Republic of Cyprus: our sovereign rights are non-negotiable."Five days ago, the prime ministers of Greece and Turkey, George Papandreou and Tayyip Erdogan talked by phone. And four days ago, Adm. James Stavridis, Commander of NATO forces in Europe, flew to Ankara directly from Israel for talks with Turkish leaders.
Turkish harassment of Israeli cargo vessels began after those interchanges, indicating that the Erdogan government has no intention of meeting exasperated US and NATO efforts to cool rising tensions in the eastern Mediterranean.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai: My views reflect Vatican policy
October 03, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai said before departing to the United States Saturday that his visit was pastoral in nature, while his recent controversial statements reflected the policy of the Vatican. “I am on a pastoral visit on the occasion of the gathering of Maronite bishops who are in the diaspora countries across North America, South and Central America,” Rai said at Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut. Rai said that his recent trip to Paris, where the patriarch’s statements on Hezbollah’s weapons and the Syria crisis had sparked controversy, had been of a different nature “because I received an official invitation from the French president … however, with regard to America I am going to visit our people and I will also go to other countries where we have parishes,” Rai said. Asked whether he would travel to Syria, Raid said: “It is my duty to visit all of our parishes and people in Jordan, the Holy Land, Syria and the rest of the Arab world.” Rai also confirmed that he would visit Iraq next month. Questioned on the controversial statements he made in Paris and whether these reflected Vatican policy, Rai said: “It is enough to read what the Vatican says to know whether what I said reflected [Vatican policy] or not.” During a five-day visit to France last month, Rai tied the issue of Hezbollah’s disarmament to an overall Middle East peace sand called for giving Syrian President Bashar Assad a chance to implement political reforms. He also warned that the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Syria could threaten the presence of Christians there.

Row over STL funding threatens to split Cabinet
October 03, 2011/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The row over the financing of a U.N.-backed court is threatening to cause a split within the Hezbollah-dominated Cabinet after both President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati have clearly signaled that Lebanon will honor its commitments to U.N. resolutions, including the payment of its share to the court’s funding.
The tacit row, which has now burst out into the open following last month’s trips to New York where Sleiman and Mikati pledged to fulfill Lebanon’s international obligations in speeches while chairing the U.N. Security Council’s sessions, has prompted behind-the-scene contacts to prevent the crisis over funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) from putting the fate of the government into jeopardy, official sources said.
“Behind-the-scene contacts have been launched with the parties concerned to find a satisfactory solution for the problem over the financing of the tribunal,” a source close to Mikati told The Daily Star Sunday.
The source said that Mikati’s stance, which was spelled out in his speeches and statements in Beirut and New York, supported the payment of Lebanon’s $32-million funding to the STL.
“Prime Minister Mikati sees that Lebanon’s interest lies in fulfilling its commitments to U.N. resolutions, particularly Resolution 1757 that established the Special Tribunal for Lebanon,” the source said.
The source did not say who the “parties concerned” with whom contacts have been launched are. But he was clearly referring to Hezbollah, the Amal Movement of Speaker Nabih Berri and the Free Patriotic Movement led by MP Michel Aoun, who oppose the STL altogether, let alone financing it. Hezbollah and its March 8 allies, which hold a majority in Mikati’s 30-man Cabinet, have dismissed the tribunal as “an American-Israeli court” designed to target the resistance group.
Mikati met with Sleiman at Baabda Palace Saturday to mull over issues that will be discussed at the next Cabinet session scheduled to be held Wednesday against the backdrop of differences among its members over the STL’s funding.
Mikati’s visit to Syria is likely to take place at any time, though no final date has been set yet for the visit, the source said.
The rift over the STL’s funding surfaced over the weekend with Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas, a member of Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc, rejected the top officials’ remarks on the tribunal’s funding.
“The stances that the president and the prime minister have announced about funding the tribunal do not bind the government. They are merely a matter of opinion,” Nahhas said in a radio interview which he confirmed by telephone to The Daily Star Sunday. “The issue of the tribunal’s funding needs to be discussed by the Cabinet, something which has not happened yet.”
Nahhas said Aoun’s bloc will not agree to the tribunal’s funding because of the doubts it has over the tribunal’s work.
State Minister Salim Karam from the Marada Movement of Zghorta MP Suleiman Franjieh, who is allied with Hezbollah, said the STL’s funding cannot be addressed by a decree to be signed by Sleiman, Mikati and the justice minister in order to avert a clash inside the Cabinet.
“This is a political decision. Therefore, it requires a political understanding among all parties of the government,” he told the Central News Agency. Karam said the STL’s funding would be addressed at Wednesday’s Cabinet session.
Hezbollah’s Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohammad Fneish declined to comment on Mikati’s remarks on funding the tribunal.
“Hezbollah’s position on the STL is well known,” he told The Daily Star.
Meanwhile, Minister for the Displaced Alaaeddine Terro from Druze leader Walid Jumblatt’s parliamentary bloc told a rally in the Chouf that the government supported the funding of the STL, even though it did not include any member from the opposition March 14 camp.
Beirut MP Ammar Houri said the Future Movement of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri was waiting to see if Mikati would honor his promise to finance the STL.
“If the government fails to finance the tribunal, this proves that this government is a Hezbollah-controlled government,” Houri told The Daily Star. “We have heard nice words from Prime Minister Mikati that he will finance the tribunal. We are waiting to see if his words will be translated into action,” he said.
Houri warned that failure to honor Lebanon’s commitments to U.N. resolutions would put the country into a confrontation with the international community and lead to the collapse of the government. “In this situation, the prime minister cannot stay in office,” he said.
Mikati’s repeated confirmation about funding the tribunal triggered an angry response from Aoun, who told reporters last week that if Mikati wanted to fund the tribunal, he could do so by drawing on his personal wealth, which Aoun estimated at $5 billion.
The STL is trying to uncover the perpetrators of the massive suicide truck bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others on Feb. 14, 2005. The Netherlands-based tribunal has indicted four Hezbollah members in Hariri’s assassination and demanded their arrests. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has rejected the indictment, vowing never to turn over the four suspects.

Iranians divided over effects of Arab Spring
October 03, 2011/By Kristin Dailey/The Daily Star
TEHRAN: Iranians are divided over the nature of the Arab uprisings that have swept the region, and whether the protests have strengthened or weakened Iran’s position in the Middle East, two analysts told The Daily Star in a joint interview. “The power of the U.S. administration is being curtailed and the power of Islamists is growing and flourishing,” said Abdolhosein Allahkaram, the founder and former leader of Ansar-e Hezbollah and a retired brigadier general of the Revolutionary Guards, echoing views that have been expressed by Iran’s senior religious leaders. But Sadegh Zibakalam, a liberal political science professor at Tehran University, argued that the Arab Spring had undermined Iran’s position in the region, particularly because of the Islamic Republic’s unwavering support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“We have been sticking to Bashar Assad, a despicable regime, and I can understand that if I were a Syrian I would hate the Islamic Republic,” said Zibakalam, arguing that such sentiment could linger for a long time in any post-Assad Syria.
He added that the uprisings had largely passed over Iran’s chief Arab adversary, Saudi Arabia, leaving the Islamic Republic more isolated in a Middle East that was increasingly hostile toward Iran.
“Things don’t look very good for the Islamic Republic in the region, as far as I can see. We don’t have good relations with practically any Arab country,” said Zibakalam.
Allahkaram countered that in the aftermath of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran’s position in the region has never been stronger, while the Arab uprisings were giving rise to governments that would no longer tolerate U.S. or Israeli aggression.
“The U.S. and its allies, Europe and also Israel are in a state of confusion in terms of strategy because [former U.S. President] George W. Bush’s policy of pre-emptive war has led the U.S. to a devastated economy. Now we see the power of the West in decline and the power of Iran rising in terms of geopolitics,” he said.
“Israel is now in a situation that’s losing its power in the region, but at the same time, opposite to that, Iran has been empowered,” said Allahkaram.
As an example of Israel’s diminishing stature in the region, Allahkaram pointed to recent protests in Egypt which led to the evacuation of Israeli diplomats from the country.
But Zibakalam noted that the Israeli diplomats had quietly returned to Cairo in the aftermath of the protests, proving that little had changed in the Arab world’s relationship with the West and Israel. “None of these Arab protest movements are overtly anti-American, anti-Western, even I dare say they are not anti-Israel, anti-Zionist,” he said.
“Because of that I don’t think they will change very substantially the relationship between the Arab world and the West, between the Arab world and the United States, and between the Arab world and the state of Israel.”
The two analysts differed over how the protests should be described, with Zibakalam calling them pro-democracy movements and Allahkaram describing them as Islamic uprisings driven by middle classes who sought greater empowerment.
“At its core it is a religious movement,” said Allahkaram. “Middle classes are after what has been called democracy, but what is in fact a desire for rule by the people [based on Islam], not Western democracy.”
But Zibakalam dismissed the label “Islamic awakening,” which the Iranian government and its supporters use to describe the protests, as “nonsense.”
“The people in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria simply want democracy, they want free elections, they want press freedom, they want rule of law, they want the end of despotism and dictatorship. It has nothing to do with Islam,” he said.
Zibakalam conceded, however, that the pro-democracy uprisings would in all likelihood benefit Islamist political parties, since they were the most organized and would therefore have an advantage in any democratic election.
“But at the end of the day these countries won’t be like Iran; they will be like Turkey, like Malaysia, modern democratic countries,” he added.
The two analysts also disagreed as to whether foreign interference was driving the unrest in Syria.
“In Syria we see almost the same thing happening, where middle classes seek empowerment, but of course the difference is the involvement of foreign forces in Syria,” said Allahkaram.
Zibakalam countered: “I think what is happening in Syria is exactly the same that is unfolding in all the Arab countries. Bashar Assad is just a despot he’s just a dictator, just like Hosni Mubarak, Ali Abdullah Saleh, like Moammar Gadhafi – you tell me, what’s the difference between Bashar Assad and Moammar Gadhafi? As far as I’m concerned, nothing, there’s no difference between them.”

Berri slams interference in Syria, says resistance a necessity
October 02, 2011 /By Thomas El-Basha/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri told a conference in support of the Palestinian intifada in Tehran Saturday that the Lebanese resistance would remain a deterrent against the hostile ambitions of Israel and accused Arab states of interfering in Syria’s internal affairs. “We give our assurances the resistance will remain a deterrent force against Israel’s hostile intentions. In the current state of the Middle East this resistance in fact represents a Lebanese necessity to prevent Israel from exploiting and fragmenting the Arab system in order to single out Lebanon or the Palestinian territories,” Berri said, adding that Lebanon remained Israel’s principal Arab foe of in the region.
The speaker of the Lebanese Parliament was among several officials to attend the 5th International Conference on the Palestinian Intifada, which saw opening speeches by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei and Berri’s Iranian counterpart, Speaker Ali Larijani.
Berri commended the Islamic Republic on its technological achievements and praised the recent activation of the Busheir atomic power plant, “which we hope will reach its full capacity soon.”At the conference, which Berri urged should seek to uncover Israeli crimes and focus on ways of innovating and developing new means for resistance, the Lebanese speaker slammed the Jewish state on the Judaization of Jerusalem as well as the expansion of settlement activity.
As tangible steps to help the Palestinians, Berri said Palestinian unity was essential, “because unity is the weapon of Palestine,” as well as the need to maintain the tool of resistance.
Arab support of Jerusalem at all levels was also needed to prevent the Judaization of the city, Berri said, while questioning the fate of funds announced by the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Conference for Gaza, Jerusalem and the uprising.
On this issue of Lebanon, Berri said Israel, with armaments from the United States, continued to violate Lebanese territory, in land and air, as well as violations against “Lebanese maritime borders and acts of piracy in the exclusive economic zone aimed at Lebanon’s natural resources of oil and gas.”
“Israel, as well as all the above, continues to occupy territories that are dear to Lebanon, principally the Shebaa Farms, the hills of Kfar Shouba and the northern part of the village of Ghaggar. It also continues to sabotage United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” Berri added.
However, Berri voiced optimism that the tide was turning against Israel as a result of revolutions in several Middle East countries including Egypt and Jordan.
“At the Arab and Palestinian levels we are sensing positive developments, namely that Israel can no longer claim to be the single democracy in the Middle East after what we witnessed in terms of Arab developments. … Israel failed to neutralize Egypt and the Egyptians proved that their uprising is not simply connected to internal politics but foreign policy as well. The demands for annulling the Camp David accord are growing.”
“The developments on the Jordanian street started with a focus on Israel, Wadi Araba [the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel] and its embassy in Amman as the source of all evil and this is what made the enemy ambassador … in Amman to live in a state of fear.”
Despite positive developments in the Arab world, Berri, a close ally of Damascus, criticized Arab states on their behavior toward Syria, accusing them of interfering in its internal affairs while they could be expending their resources on aiding the Palestinians.
“Here we ask: where is the official Arab boycott of Israel instead of Syria?” Berri asked.
“Why is Arab money being spent to fund protests in Syria instead of supporting the Palestinians to stay in their land? Why so much effort on the part of the Arab media to intensify the tensions in Syria instead of uncovering the crimes of the Israeli occupation and it abuses against the Palestinians?
“Is it because Syria, like Iran, lies on the line of resistance to the hostility and racism of Israel and because it calls for a just and comprehensive peace according to international resolutions and wants to secure the Palestinian people? My answer simply put is: Yes,” Berri said.
Berri added that he was not against reform in Syria, but that “should be done through internal agreement, not by foreign interference, and even worse, [it should not be] through Arab [Interference].”

Higher Islamic Council decries killing of civilians in Arab revolts
October 02, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Higher Islamic Council condemned in a statement over the weekend the killing of civilians calling for freedom in Arab countries and urged the world to support people facing repression.
The council also backed Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s commitment at the United Nations that the government would fund the controversial Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
“The council discussed the issue of revolutions in Arab countries [where people are] seeking to lift the darkness in search of freedom, justice and a dignified living in their countries. [The council] called for the immediate cessation to the bloodshed of innocent lives … and the abuse of the dignity and lives of people,” a statement said Saturday.
The council, headed by Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani, also urged the world not to ignore the suffering of people in their just cause.
“The [council] also called on the people around the world to be aware of these hardships and to support these people in their just and righteous cause because it is our duty to conquer the darkness wherever it may be on the basis of legal principles.”
In an apparent reference to controversial statement by Maronite Patrirach Beshara Rai on the crisis in Syria and the fate of Christians should President Bashar Assad fall, the council warned that such fears were counterproductive.
“[The council discussed] what is being said about the future of Christians in the Arab and Muslim world and sees that these fears could lead to strife and to dividing countries along sectarian lines which is not in accordance with Islamic culture which has embraced diverse generations and has offered equal opportunity to each person regardless of their religion.”
The statement by the religious council came on the same day that Rai headed to the United States on a 19-day pastoral visit.
Rai had earlier in the month sparked a political maelstrom after suggesting that ongoing unrest in neighboring Syria could have profound repercussions on the Christian community there, adding that the fall of President Bashar Assad could imperil Syrian Christians.
Rai’s remarks, which he subsequently claimed had been taken out of context, came during a visit to France in early September. He said that the fate of Hezbollah’s arms could be linked to the region’s prospects of achieving lasting peace.
Sources told The Daily Star Friday that Rai had reiterated his controversial position on Syria and Hezbollah’s arms during a meeting Friday with President Michel Sleiman.
The meeting of the Higher Islamic Council had been convened to discuss the recent spiritual Muslim-Christian summit in which Rai had taken part in.
During that summit last week, leaders highlighted the importance of the deep-rooted and historic presence of Christians in the Levant and also appealed to rival political leaders to avoid violent rhetoric and adopt dialogue as a means to resolve divisive issues.
In the statement Saturday, the council also expressed its backing of Mikati’s commitment at the United Nations on the issue of funding the U.N.-backed court probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Extremism of minorities
By Tariq Alhomayed
Asharq Al-Awsat
President Bashar al-Assad was quoted telling delegates from the East Christians Assembly that he “refused that Ottomanism would replace Arabism or that Ankara would become the decision-making center of the Arab world”. He also refused to leave the stage open for religious parties, because “this would allow the Muslim Brotherhood, which is headquartered in Ankara, to control the region”.
These words mean that the al-Assad regime is trying to win over the minorities by scaring them of the dangers posed by the majority. Yet the real problem here is not the al-Assad regime, but rather what the minorities themselves have done in our region; the Christians in Lebanon and Iraq, even the Shiites in Iraq and Bahrain, who are committing a grave mistake by sliding into the quagmire of supporting dictatorships, under the pretext that they will be protected against the majority. It is important here to repeat what I heard from a rational, liberal friend, who is far removed from sectarian views, about his reaction to the actions of minorities these days in our region. My friend’s opinion reflects the view of a substantial portion of the rational liberals in our region.
My friend, who lives in a politically sensitive location, said: “From experience, I am convinced that I have made two mistakes in my life…The first was that during my youth, and my enthusiasm for the Palestinian cause, when I believed that every error committed in order to liberate Palestine was acceptable, whatever it was, but experience has taught me that this way of thinking was wrong, and has shown me the magnitude of damage that has been inflicted upon the Palestinian cause and the region as a whole”. Then he added “as for my second mistake, which I have recently learned; due to the intensity of my enthusiasm for liberalism, I used to think that standing with the minority was a universal duty, but the truth is that the duty is to stand with the citizens, not the minority, whoever they are!”
The words of this friend are the mantra for the wise people in our region today. The reason behind this is not sectarian intolerance, but rather the shameless extremism of minorities. Such minorities have forgotten that citizenship, and of course the homeland, is superior to everything, even the dictator and his allies!
This is the mistake which befell the Shiites in Bahrain, and although they are not a minority in their own country, they are amongst their Arab surroundings. The same thing happened with the Shiites in Lebanon, given their surroundings, especially because they believe that there are embers [of an uprising] under the ashes in Iran. If the Iranians themselves are dreaming of the moment which they can finally breathe freedom, how can the Shia throw our region, especially whilst claiming to demand democracy, into the arms of Iran’s dictatorial regime? What is worse is how the Christians in the Middle East have been deceived, specifically in Lebanon and Syria, by al-Assad’s words that he would not allow Ankara to become the decision-making center of the Arab world, or leave the stage open to religious parties and the control of the Muslim Brotherhood. The al-Assad regime, an advocate of the secular state, has thrown itself in to the arms of Persian Iran, enabling it to go against all our Arab nations, and against all Arab decisions. This is not all, for it is also protected by the Islamic regime of Iran when it comes to suppressing the Syrian people.
The ultimate goal is to maintain the homeland and the right to coexist within it, under the framework of citizenship, and not under the shadow of minorities’ extremism and their downfall by supporting dictatorships which are doomed to fail. It is God’s intention, sooner or later, that dictators will leave and nations will remain. The danger today is that even the rational voices who once defended the minorities in our region have themselves become skeptical of the role of these minorities, let alone the skepticism of the general populace.