LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
May 13/12
Bible Quotation for today/Love
01 Corinthians 13/01-13: "I may be able to speak the languages of human beings
and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy
gong or a clanging bell. I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have
all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to
move mountains—but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I
have, and even give up my body to be burned—but if I have no love, this does me
no good. Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or
proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a
record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love
never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal.
There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking
in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass.
For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; but when
what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear. When I was a child,
my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an
adult, I have no more use for childish ways. What we see now is like a dim image
in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial;
then it will be complete—as complete as God's knowledge of me. Meanwhile these
three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.
Latest analysis, editorials, studies,
reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Changes in Israeli Policy after the Netanyahu-Mofaz Deal/David
Makovsky/May 12/12
Egyptians hit thieves of stolen democracy/By: Ahmed
Al-Jarallah/Arab Times/May 12/12
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for
May 12/12
Nasrallah: Hezbollah able to strike anywhere in Israel
Nasrallah:
Syria at crossroads, may descend into Iraq-like abyss
Nasrallah stands behind proportional representation
Anshel Pfeffer / The most important report on nuclear Iran you are likely to
read
Amnesty
blasts Iran for cartoonist lash sentence
Ahead of Nakba Day, Palestinians take measures to avoid confrontation with
Israel
Lebanon’s Palestinians wary of
Nakba march
Carpet factory north of Beirut catches fire
Lebanese hold 13 Syrians hostage in exchange for
kidnapped citizens
March 14 to reorganize, involve nonmembers
Lebanese banks cut government debt exposure
Tour highlights progress in Bekaa Valley
environmental projects
Jumblatt verbal salvos target various fronts
Former culture ministers lash out at Layoun over
Beirut’s Roman hippodrome issue
Father of baptized Muslim girl accuses
priests of practicing sorcery on her
Siniora:
Cabinet should not disassociate from Syrian border violations
Group of South Lebanon residents express
frustration with Hezbollah reconstruction
More deadly explosions raise fears of insurgency in Syria
Nasrallah: Hezbollah able to
strike anywhere in Israel
By Reuters /In televised address, Hezbollah chief says some of his harshest
comments against Israel in months, warning Israelis that 'the time has come when
we will remain and you will be the ones who disappear.'Get Haaretz on iPhone Get
Haaretz on Android Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that his
militant group was capable of striking any target in neighboring Israel, saying
"the days when we fled and they did not are over." "Today we are not only able
to hit Tel Aviv as a city but, God willing, we are able to hit specific targets
in Tel Aviv and anywhere in occupied Palestine," Nasrallah said in a televised
address. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks via a TV screen from a secret
location, during a ceremony, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, May 11,
2012.
"For every building destroyed in Dahiya, a building will be destroyed in Tel
Aviv," he said, referring to Hezbollah's stronghold in a suburb of southern
Beirut. Nasrallah's comments were some of his harshest words against Israel in
several months, and came amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah's
main backer, Iran. Israel argues Iran's nuclear enrichment project is being used
to make an atomic bomb and has warned it could launch a strike to stop Tehran.
Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes. Hezbollah has long been
seen as a proxy for Iran and Syria and many analysts believe that in the event
of an Israeli attack on Iran, Hezbollah could return fire. "The days when we
were forced from our homes and they were not forced from theirs are over,"
Nasrallah said, to cheers from a crowd of supporters watching his speech. "The
days when we were afraid and they were not are over," he said. "And we say to
them: The time has come when we will remain and you will be the ones who
disappear."
Hezbollah is both a powerful political party and militant group in Lebanon and
fought a war with Israel in 2006. The group claimed it won a victory even though
Lebanon suffered high casualties and many areas were heavily bombed. Nasrallah
was speaking at an event to mark the completion of Hezbollah's renovation
projects for neighborhoods in southern Beirut that were damaged by Israeli
bombing in the 2006 war.
Changes in Israeli Policy after the Netanyahu-Mofaz Deal
David Makovsky /May 9, 2012
Israel's new national unity government strengthens both Binyamin Netanyahu and
Shaul Mofaz, but it will ultimately be judged by whether it makes progress on
its foreign and domestic policy agenda.
In a stunning political shift, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and
Shaul Mofaz, the newly elected head of the leading opposition party Kadima,
forged a national unity government in Israel late Monday night. The move adds 28
Kadima parliamentarians to the ruling coalition, increasing the current
government's tally to 94 of the Knesset's 120 seats, the most ever. Mofaz will
become vice prime minister, a member of the inner security cabinet, and a
minister-without-portfolio. Various portfolios will be given to other Kadima
members. The move was announced mere hours after the preliminary passage of a
bill calling for early elections on September 4. The parties have now pushed
those elections to October 2013, the end of the full four-and-a-half-year term
-- a longevity few Israeli governments have achieved. In a joint press
conference on Tuesday, Netanyahu and Mofaz announced that the new government's
focus will be fourfold: drafting new legislation to replace the Tal Law, a
controversial measure that exempts the ultraorthodox (Haredim) from military
service and is due to expire in August; proposing changes to the electoral
system in time for the next election; passing a new state budget; and advancing
what Netanyahu dubbed a "responsible" peace process with the Palestinians. Any
preliminary analysis of these developments must look at both the political and
policy motivations.
POLITICAL IMPACT: MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE
On a purely political level, the deal was clearly done to strengthen both
Netanyahu and Mofaz. Under its terms, the very risk-averse Netanyahu will likely
remain in power for another year-and-a-half before facing a vote. And while he
has not said so publicly, he is acutely aware that his previous coalition's
dependence on right-wing parties hurt both his and Israel's image. He is also
mindful of the fact that unity governments tend to be popular domestically.
The deal offers an opportunity for a center-right alliance (and greater
independence and maneuverability for Netanyahu) that was unlikely to present
itself after early elections. Although polls had put the prime minister safely
ahead of Kadima before the announcement, he has long viewed Mofaz as a
formidable opponent who could eat away at the Likud Party's Sephardic populist
base. As a Sephardic former chief of staff who has championed economic populism,
Mofaz casts an image of political moderation that poses a threat to Netanyahu,
who prefers to bring him inside the tent. The prime minister also hopes that a
unity government will allow him to openly absorb at least some of Kadima's more
hawkish members after the next election, since the party originated in 2005 as a
breakaway from Likud, which opposed Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement at the
time.
For Mofaz, the deal gives him and Kadima a new lease on life. Having just
replaced Tzipi Livni at the party's helm, he was ill prepared for September
voting. He will now have time to rebuild Kadima, which polls had been predicting
would only receive 11 seats in fall elections, compared to the 28 it holds
today.
Meanwhile, the Labor Party is betting that the new coalition will dissipate
without any substantive accomplishments, intensifying public cynicism toward the
two leaders who just recently were hurling invectives against each other. An
early poll taken immediately after the decision indicates that the public is
skeptical. Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich also hopes that a summer revival of
the social protest movement will again bring hundreds of thousands to the
streets expressing dissatisfaction. Ironically, organizers of that movement have
admitted that electoral reform is a prerequisite for the societal changes they
seek.
DOMESTIC ISRAELI ISSUES
The most immediate impact of the deal will likely be decreased influence by the
ultraorthodox Haredim. Netanyahu apparently realized that his previous coalition
would not survive a rewrite of the Tal Law. The new coalition's configuration
means that three secular parties -- Likud, Kadima, and Yisrael Beitenu -- will
now have 70 of the 94 coalition seats. Yet the Likud Central Committee has many
religious (albeit not Haredi) members, and the party garners many religious
votes. Despite its differences with the Haredim, Likud may press for a more
gradualist focus on civilian national service programs that could mitigate the
shock to the ultraorthodox community.
Netanyahu and Mofaz's public commitment to changing the electoral system is
tantalizing given the disproportionate influence that the existing proportional
representation system has afforded the Haredim and ultranationalists. Some
critics argue that until the system is changed, any Israeli advances toward
peace will be stymied by an opposed minority. Yet Likud may be fearful of any
change that is not incremental, as it does not wish to alienate the small
parties -- largely religious, but not exclusively so -- that have been part of
its coalition governments since its first electoral victory in 1977.
IRAN
In terms of policy motivations for the deal, Iran seems to be key. The issue was
conspicuously absent from Netanyahu's press conference. For his part, Mofaz has
publicly suggested that he does not favor a unilateral Israeli attack at the
moment. Of course, he also said -- as recently as last week -- that he would
definitely not join the government and was determined to bring Netanyahu down.
Mofaz led the previous Israeli government's dialogue with the United States
regarding Iran and often publicly hinted that an Israeli strike was an option
that could not be discounted.
Whatever the case, the deal means that there will be no early elections to
distract Netanyahu from the Iran issue. One can expect him to carefully monitor
the multilateral talks involving the United States and Iran in the coming weeks.
Nobody knows whether a nuclear deal will be reached in the short term given the
looming European embargo of Iranian oil, but Netanyahu will want to know that
Israel's interests are protected even if it is not at the table.
The new coalition is certainly welcome news to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who
-- along with Netanyahu -- has been the leading advocate of an Israeli strike.
Barak will now retain his position until the 2013 elections. Given the defense
minister's vanishing political base, Netanyahu would have come under party and
other pressures to replace his close ally in the aftermath of early elections.
Retaining Barak gives the prime minister more time to calculate whether and when
an Israeli strike will occur.
More broadly, a national unity government that includes three former military
chiefs of staff will have an easier time galvanizing public support for any
course of action or inaction that Netanyahu chooses. Those who believe Israel
will strike compare the Mofaz deal to Prime Minister Levi Eshkol bringing in
Menachem Begin and his opposition party on the eve of the 1967 war.
PALESTINIANS
Kadima will now be able to lobby against West Bank settlement expansion from
within, for instance, advocating that construction be limited to existing
settlement blocs largely adjacent to the pre-1967 boundaries where most of the
settlers actually live. In theory, Kadima's inclusion could give Netanyahu the
political cover he needs to uphold the Israeli Supreme Court's ruling that a
particular unauthorized outpost be evacuated this summer. Yet even the 2006-2009
Kadima-led government avoided dismantling such outposts, fearing that it would
drain political capital needed for the larger task of peacemaking with the
Palestinians. Moreover, leading peace process critic Avigdor Liberman will
remain as foreign minister, though his relative weight in the cabinet and his
leverage over Netanyahu on the peace issue may be diminished by the fact that
his party (Yisrael Beitenu) is not the most senior coalition partner.
Generally speaking, Kadima's inclusion means better prospects for peacemaking
than in the past, giving Netanyahu more room to maneuver on the issue than
before. Israel may now be more inclined to make bilateral gestures when it comes
to the state-building efforts favored by Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayad,
or to try other quiet overtures. To the extent Washington's involvement is at
issue, however, the political window for such action between U.S. and Israeli
elections will be narrow. Even if President Obama is reelected, this window will
not open until November, and if he loses, the window narrows even further, given
that a new president would not be inaugurated until January and would need time
to organize a new cabinet.
U.S.-ISRAELI RELATIONS
Although the U.S. government will presumably not comment on the domestic affairs
of another government, it clearly prefers Israeli coalitions that are not
dependent on right-wing parties who favor settlement expansion. Historically,
Washington has viewed Israeli opposition parties as pressure points for dealing
with prickly Israeli leaders. Despite the president's sometimes-rocky
relationship with Netanyahu, the Obama administration has avoided playing this
card. In any case, the new unity government eliminates this option, especially
since key Kadima members have long blamed U.S. standoffishness for contributing
to the party's decline.
CONCLUSION
Israel's new coalition is a marriage of convenience for Netanyahu and Mofaz. If
it yields genuine legislative achievements, it will be seen as inspired and
politically savvy. But if it serves as a fig leaf for inaction, it will validate
Yachimovich's accusation that it is nothing more than a cynical ploy for
political survival.
David Makovsky is the Ziegler distinguished fellow and director of the Project
on the Middle East Peace Process at The Washington Institute.
Nasrallah: Syria at
crossroads, may descend into Iraq-like abyss
May 11, 2012 /Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah accused the US, Israel
and some Arab states of stoking "terrorism" in Syria, during a speech broadcast
to thousands of his supporters in southern Beirut.“We condemn the suicide
attacks on Damascus… but the accusations we heard from some satellite channels
that the Syrian regime had staged these attacks were laughable.”“Who wants the
destruction of Syria? America and Israel and some Arab countries,” he added.He
also warned that Syria might be sliding into more violence and internal
strife.“The Syrians are faced with two choices, either dialogue and elections or
the current [Iraq-like] model.”The anti-regime uprising in Syria has seen the
death of nearly 12,000 people, mostly civilians, since it erupted in mid-March
last year, according to a rights group. Thousands have fled to neighboring
Lebanon and Turkey. Nasrallah addressed the uprising in Bahrain saying that the
accusations launched against Hezbollah, claiming that the party was contributing
to an increase in violence in Bahrain were “all lies.”“These are all lies… we
support a peaceful resolution [to the Bahraini crisis], [while] the authorities
are encouraging violence to crush peaceful protests.” He also voiced support for
the leading Bahraini activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, as well as for Palestinian
prisoners who went on hunger strike in Israeli prisons saying that the lack of
support for them was “shameful.”Khawaja, who has become a symbol of the
opposition movement, was arrested in April 2011 shortly after the authorities
crushed month-long Shia protests in a crackdown that killed 35 people, according
to an independent inquiry. Commenting on the issue of the electoral law for the
2013 parliamentary elections, Nasrallah voiced support for proportionality
saying that it allows for “proper representation because it doesn’t eliminate
any [political faction].”He also called for more dialogue and said that the
elections “should be held on time.”While he voiced understanding for the stance
of the Progressive Socialist Party regarding the electoral law issue, Nasarallah
said that “the Future Movement is opposed to proportionality for the sole reason
that it wants to dominate the [Sunni] sect.”He added, however, that Hezbollah
“will not use its weapons” during the elections.Lebanese parties are currently
debating the electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Nasrallah delivered a speech on Friday during an event in Beirut's southern
suburbs celebrating the reconstruction of the district, much of which was
destroyed by aerial bombing in the 2006 war with Israel, Hezbollah channel Al-Manar
said. At least 1,200 Lebanese died during the 2006 war, most of them civilians,
while around 160 Israelis died, the majority of them soldiers.
-NOW Lebanon
Amnesty blasts Iran for
cartoonist lash sentence
May 11, 2012 /Iran's reported conviction of a cartoonist to 25 lashes for a
caricature of a former lawmaker is the Islamic republic's latest attack on
freedom of expression, Amnesty International said Friday.
Reports by online news outlets last week said cartoonist Mahmoud Shokrayi was
handed the sentence for depicting Ahmad Lotfi Ashtiani, an MP for Arak, as a
football player.Ashtiani, a conservative criticized for interfering in sports,
found the cartoon published by a city magazine offensive and took Shokrayi to
court, according to the reports which are yet to be confirmed by official
media.Amnesty condemned the sentencing as an attack on freedom of
expression.Shokrayi's "brutal sentence, just for drawing a harmless cartoon,
sends a chilling message to all Iranians that they cannot freely and peacefully
express their views without the fear of facing harsh reprisals," said Ann
Harrison, deputy director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa program.
"This is yet one more example of the Iranian authorities' relentless attack on
freedom of expression. Flogging is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment for
any crime, and as such is prohibited under international law," she said."The
Iranian authorities should be working to remove it as a punishment in law
instead of sentencing ever more people to lashes," she said.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Egyptians hit thieves of stolen democracy
By: Ahmed Al-Jarallah
NOBODY needs proof of the revolutionary ideologies of the Muslim Brotherhood and
Salafist other than the current incidents in Egypt. The military council of this
country has been receiving threats from political-blackmailing groups with the
intention to enforce issues that contradict the agreement reached by a majority
of Egyptians.
The dictatorial tendency of these groups was exemplified further when the
disqualified candidate, Hazem Abu Isma’el, threatened to organize a million-man
march on Friday if the Higher Electoral Committee fails to rescind the decision
on the grounds that it contravenes the Constitution. The motive is to push his
country towards crisis or compel them to accept his candidacy.
The citizens have realized their deception — they only embraced democracy as a
means of taking over governance through political intimidation, terrorism and
threat. Their antics were discovered when the citizens foiled their plot to
control the country completely by preventing the participation of other
political blocs.The groups are only struggling to complement actions taken by their counterparts
in Iraq and Iran wherein they have exploited democracy and freedom to achieve
their goals. They later upturned the Constitution to approve provisions to
guarantee self-perpetration in governance. However, they have forgotten Egypt is
different from other countries, so regardless of the outcry and the formation of
a parliamentary majority, people will understand how they achieve this goal and
they will remain the minority.
The scenario is about hijacking the January 25 revolution from the youths, but
it is not long before the Egyptians started to attack the ‘thieves’ who tried to
take the mantle of leadership by trading in religion. They present themselves as
the only genuine believers while others are Quraish pagans. They have forgotten
that majority of Egyptians are known for their piety and faith; hence, there is
no need for anybody like Mulla Omar, Bin Laden and the Taleban to teach them
their religion.
We are only consoled by the fact that Egypt will not fall into the claws of
these groups, considering the readiness of the military which has been handling
the issue with a high level of self-restraint and patience. However, an ancient
adage says, “Fear annoyance of the patient person”. The recent dispersal of the
supporters of Abu Isma’el in Abbasiya is the main title of a book the military
should read whenever it is upset.
Those who have attempted to storm the Ministry of Defense — the only remaining
fortress of security and stability — look like the ‘Taleban’ militants in Tora
Bora, Kandahar and Peshawar rather than Cairo. They also look like the
cave-dwellers during the pre-Islamic era, before the Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)
came to guide the entire world towards the right path. This shook our minds even
though we are not Egyptians, so what do we expect from the civilized Egyptians.
Apparently, these groups cannot lead Egypt because the civilized and
sophisticated Egyptians will never tolerate attempts to turn counterclockwise —
back to the last 10 centuries. Accepting this means we will be victims of
ignorance in the dark ages like them.