Father's Day: Gratitude Vs Ingratitude
By: Elias Bejjani*
June 16/13
"Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!" (Lydia M. Child, U.S. Author)
Hopefully, all men will have the blessed grace of being fathers. Being a father is a heavenly endowment, a great satisfaction, and a fulfilling Godly obligation as the Holy Bible teaches us: "Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it."
Almighty God has blessed both parents, fathers and mothers and recommended that they be honored, respected, cared for, and obeyed by their children. God's fifth commandment delineates this heavenly obligation and duty: ""Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which The Lord your God gives you." (Exodus 20:12 )
God is our Holy Father, and we all, men and women, are His beloved children. Fathers on Earth are God's servants who are entrusted by Him to safeguard, raise, embrace, support, provide and teach their children. Meanwhile fathers are required to carry their holy duties in raising their children in the fear of God, with the best of their knowledge, all their resource and means, full devotion and with all required sacrifices.
Fathers are the cornerstone of their families upon which children depend, learn, nurture, hold fast and shape their lives. Caring, devoted and righteous fathers are always given a hand by God and blessed for their rearing and erection of boundaries.
Today we are celebrating "Fathers' Day", with all those who cherish fathers, appreciate their sacrifices and honor their Godly role. Best wishes to all fathers hoping they will be shown today all the due gratitude from their sons and daughters. On this very special day our deceased fathers' and mothers' spirits are roaming around sharing with us our joy and happiness, God bless their souls.
Attitudes of gratitude or ingratitude towards fathers on Fathers' Day, are very sensitive issues that affect and touch the hearts and minds of many people. These two contradicting attitudes exhibit how much a person is either appreciative or ungrateful.
The majority of people hold on dear to their fathers and do all that they can to always show them their great and deeply felt gratitude, while sadly there are those odd ones out who show no gratitude, abandon them and even at times endeavour to ruin their lives and inflict harm and pain on them.
By doing so and negating God's commandments that stress an utmost respect for parents, these people make themselves enemies of Christ Himself. Definitely God will be angry about such condemned conduct. This deviation from all human norms occur because of ignorance, selfishness, lack of faith and hope. These people fall into temptation, become proud of what they should be ashamed of, worship things that belong to this world and forget all about "Judgment Day".
Colossians 3/20: "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord".
Leviticus 20:9: "For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him"
Fathers no matter what must be loved, honored, dignified and respected. God Himself is a Father and He will not bless those who deny their fathers' heavenly right of fatherhood and respect. In this context, Billy Graham says: "A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society." The Holy Bible in tens of its verses warns and puts on notice all those with callous hearts and numbed conscience who show no gratitude to their fathers and break their hearts.
Isaiah 46:4: "Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save."
Even when fathers are abandoned by their children and denied their heavenly rights, they never ever hold any grudges, feelings of hatred or hostility against them. No matter what, fathers always wish their children health, prosperity and success. One of our Lebanese deeply rooted sayings portray how fathers constantly feel towards their ungrateful children: " My heart beats for my son no matter what, while my son's heart is callous like a rock"
Many verses in the Holy Bible overtly call on the children to treat their parents with love, endurance, affection and utmost care. At the same time the Bible instructs parents to value the Godly delegation to them to raise their children with all means of righteous, protection and provision.
Proverbs 23/22: "Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old".
Ephesians 06/01-02: "Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do. Respect your father and mother is the first commandment that has a promise added: so that all may go well with you, and you may live a long time in the land".
Many grown-up men and women do not appreciate their parents' sacrifices unless they themselves have become parents. Back home in Lebanon where the family has always been sacred, we have a saying that shows how important it is in the eyes of the God that parents are always to be respected, honored and loved. "God will not bless or facilitate the life of those who mistreat their parents and He will reply to the parents' wrath when they ask for punishment for their ungrateful children".
Good, loving , faithful and God-fearing fathers know no hatred, grudges or despair. They remain, always, hopeful and keep on praying to Almighty God that their children, (grateful or ungrateful ) are constantly healthy, prosperous, happy, and successful .
Philippians 04/04-07: "May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice! Show a gentle attitude toward everyone. The Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart. And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.".
Happy Fathers' Day to all Fathers.

Egypt's Morsi Severs Relations with Syria: We Stand against Hizbullah for Interfering in the War
Naharnet /Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on Saturday announced the "definitive" severing of relations with war-torn Syria, which is suffering from more than two years of civil war. Egypt "decided today to definitively break off relations with the current regime in Syria, to close that regime's embassy in Cairo and to recall Egypt's charge d'affaires" from Damascus, Morsi told thousands of Islamist supporters in a Cairo stadium for a "Support for Syria" rally. Morsi also slammed Hizbullah's interference in the Syrian war. "Egyptians stood by Hizbullah in 2006 and today we stand against the party for its involvement in the war against the people," he said. The Egyptian president stressed: "We demand Hizbullah to leave Syria."

U.N. Security Council Denies Receiving Lebanese Complaint on Syria Violations
Naharnet/Reports that Lebanon has filed a complaint to the U.N. Security Council against the Syrian violations were foiled Saturday when sources of the British mission at the council assured otherwise, As Safir daily said.
Britain, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council has not received so far any formal complaint from Lebanon against the violations. The information was also confirmed by sources of the Lebanese delegation at the U.N., added As Safir. Lebanon will send a complaint that does not include any measures to be taken to the Security Council over the assaults carried out by Syrian regime troops and the rebel Free Syrian Army, informed sources told the daily. They added that Lebanon will not file a compliant against the Syrian opposition so as not to constitute a recognition of the body. Government sources said earlier that Lebanese authorities have sent a memo to the Security Council on Syrian violations and “filed a complaint” with the Arab League over the assaults. However, they added that caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour is still mulling the request of President Michel Suleiman to file the complaint.

U.N. Human Rights Council Slams Hizbullah Role in Syria
Naharnet /The U.N.'s top human rights forum on Friday condemned the involvement of foreign fighters in Syria's civil war, singling out the pro-regime forces sent across the border by Lebanon's Hizbullah. The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council backed a resolution from the United States, Britain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, with 37 votes in favor, nine abstentions and just one member, Venezuela, against. The text said that the council "condemns the intervention of all foreign combatants in the Syrian Arab Republic, including those fighting on behalf of the regime and most recently Hizbullah". It said that the involvement of foreign forces in the conflict "further exacerbates the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation, which has a serious negative impact on the region". At a May 29 sitting the council had also condemned the Syrian regime's use of foreign fighters in the besieged town of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border, and ordered an urgent probe into the killings there but stopped short of naming Hizbullah. Friday's resolution condemned "in the strongest terms all massacres taking place in the Syrian Arab Republic and stresses the need to hold those responsible to account", as well as "all violence, especially against civilians, irrespective of where it comes from, including terrorist acts and acts of violence that may foment sectarian tensions". It also noted the "widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms and all violations of international humanitarian law by the Syrian authorities and the government-affiliated Shabbiha militias". At the same time it also condemned similar abuses by rebels, but underlined that a U.N. commission of inquiry had stated that they had not reached the intensity and scale of those committed by the regime camp. The council also reiterated its demand that Syria admit the commission of inquiry, which was set up in September 2011 but has failed to win entry. The council vote came a day after new figures from the United Nations showed that at least 93,000 people -- including 6,500 -- have been killed since the war erupted in March 2011 after protests against Syrian President Bashar Assad. More than 1.6 million Syrian refugees have fled to neighboring countries, and the U.N. warns that the number could more than double this year. Source/Agence France Presse.

Rockets Hit Baalbek, Aleppo Shiite Town after Nasrallah's Speech
Naharnet/Two people were wounded on Friday as nine rockets fire from Syrian territory landed in the Bekaa city of Baalbek, shortly after Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed in a speech to put an end to rocket attacks against the Baalbek-Hermel region. “Five rockets fired from the Syrian side of the border fell on the Baalbek area of al-Kayyal,” state-run National News Agency reported. It later said four more rockets hit the city, wounding two people. The agency said the rockets fell in the areas of al-Kayyal, Adous intersection, al-Basatin and near the My College School, the house of Suleiman Ramadan and the house of Sheikh Hassan Shamas. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian rebels “fired a Grad rocket on the Shiite Aleppo town of al-Fawaa, describing the shelling as a response to Nasrallah's speech.”In his address, Nasrallah noted that “there is a delicate situation in the Baalbek-Hermel area -- which includes the rockets that are falling on the area -- that needs special care.”“The sensitive point is that some media outlets are circulating rumors that these rockets are being fired from Arsal and its barren mountains -- they are accusing a Sunni town of shelling Shiites towns,” he said. “And whenever a Arsal resident is killed or attacked, some politicians directly accuse Hizbullah. Some media outlets are spreading lies and I call on everyone to verify any report. I announce that the rockets were not fired from Arsal, but rather by the armed groups inside Syrian territory and God willing we will find a solution to this issue,” Nasrallah vowed.

Report: March 14 Completes Memo for Suleiman on Hizbullah's Fighting in Syria
Naharnet /The March 14 forces have completed a memorandum on their position on Hizbullah's fighting in Syria, reported the daily An Nahar Saturday. It said that the memorandum will likely be submitted to President Michel Suleiman soon. “The memo is currently being circulated among the March 14 lawmakers to garner their signatures ahead of presenting it to the president mid next week,” it revealed. A large March 14 delegation will be tasked with handing the statement to Suleiman, added the daily. An Nahar had reported on Friday that a number of March 14 leaders had met on Thursday night in order to review the memorandum, saying that it was backed by all members of the alliance. Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had declared during a speech on Friday that the party will stay involved in the conflict, after having helped Syrian regime forces recapture the key town of Qusayr from rebels. "Where we need to be, we will be. Where we began to assume our responsibilities, we will continue to assume our responsibilities," he added. "To defeat this very, very dangerous conspiracy (against Syria) we will bear any sacrifices and all the consequences,” he stated. Hizbullah fighters spearheaded a devastating 17-day regime assault on the Syrian town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border which culminated on June 5 with its recapture from the rebels. Nasrallah had previously justified the group's involvement in Syria by saying they were defending Lebanese-inhabited border villages inside Syria and Shiite holy sites in the Damascus province. But during a May 25 speech marking the 13th anniversary of Israel's military withdrawal from Lebanon, Nasrallah said "if Syria falls in the hands of the Takfiris and the United States, the resistance will become under a siege and Israel will enter Lebanon. If Syria falls, the Palestinian cause will be lost.”

Hariri: Nasrallah Replaced Entire Lebanese State with Hizbullah Shura Council
Naharnet/Former prime minister Saad Hariri snapped back on Friday at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, accusing him of replacing the entire Lebanese state with “Hizbullah's Shura Council.”
Nasrallah “showed skill in exploiting the pains of those who were wounded in the confrontations with the Israeli enemy to cover up for the involvement in fighting against large segments of the Syrian people,” Hariri said in a statement issued by his press office only hours after a speech by Nasrallah marking the Wounded Resistance Fighter Day. "But Sayyed Hassan was not successful or eloquent in attributing the crimes his party is taking part in in Syria to the al-Mustaqbal Movement and in his claims that the movement is sending fighters and burying the dead in Syrian territory," Hariri added. He described the remarks as "fabricated by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's imagination and totally false," strongly denying "organizing or sending a single individual to fight in Syria." Hariri asked: "Who is the side that tasked Sayyed Hassan with following up (on the Syrian conflict), and did he request a cabinet session to ask whether Lebanon needs to fight a self-defense battle in Syrian territory?" He also wondered whether Nasrallah had asked President Michel Suleiman about his opinion on "the participation of the Lebanese army in the battle of defending Lebanon." "Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah sought to replace the entire Lebanese state with Hizbullah's Shura Council and to prove once again that he does not acknowledge the state and its institutions, presidencies and armed forces, because he only acknowledges one authority: the authority of the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sayyed Ali Khamenei,” Hariri went on to say. Citing Nasrallah's fatwa forbidding celebratory gunfire, Hariri urged him to issue a fatwa forbidding the continued use of weapons. “Is shooting dead the southern young man Hashem al-Salman permissible? Is firing on the children, women and elderly of Syria permissible? Is fighting in Qusayr's streets considered a contribution to the building of Syria?” Hariri added. “It is haram (impermissible in Islam) to implicate Lebanon and expose the interests of its people to danger and it is haram to insist on an unknown path that will lead to destruction … and yet you are demanding a cabinet in which you have the one-third veto power and you want the Lebanese to approve of your decision of continuing to defend Bashar Assad's regime,” Hariri said. Earlier on Friday, Nasrallah said Hizbullah will stay involved in the Syrian conflict, after having helped regime forces recapture the key town of Qusayr from rebels.
He noted that “thousands of (anti-regime) fighters have come from all around the world and the entire world is fighting in Syria through money, weapons and media.”
“After two years we realized that they are insisting on continuing the battle, even if Syria was destroyed and the regime fell ... and the alternative is the groups that are killing and slaughtering people,” Nasrallah added.
He noted that Hizbullah was “the last party to intervene in Syria while al-Mustaqbal Movement and other Lebanese parties were the first to intervene, not to mention the other nations, groups and organizations.”
Defending the intervention, he said: “There is a front that was targeted by the Americans, the Israelis and the Takfiris, and we were attacked when we intervened on the side of this front.”

Al-Rahi: Political Powers Abandoned Disassociation Policy by Meddling in Affairs of Other Countries
Naharnet /Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi lamented on Saturday the practices of the political factions in Lebanon, saying that their actions have “veered away from their national roles.”He said during a mass at Bkirki: “The political powers are no longer disassociating themselves from regional axes, but they are meddling in the affairs of other countries.”“Officials are obstructing political life in Lebanon, abusing their power, and crippling constitutional institutions,” he remarked. Moreover, he accused them of “politicizing ministries and public administrations for sectarian purposes.” “The factions are meddling in the affairs of other countries, especially Syria, thereby neglecting internal security and stability and rendering the people victims of various violations,” noted al-Rahi. “The people, who are lost between two rival factions, are wondering about their fate and we will stand by them and cater to their interests,” declared the patriarch. “We pray that God will send Lebanon worthy officials, who would be capable of rising above petty interests and defend the nation and its people,” he added. “These officials should succeed in extracting Lebanon out of the abyss and restore its civilized and peaceful role in the region,” he remarked.

President Michel Suleiman Calls on Army to Pursue Baalbek Rocket Attackers
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman called on Saturday on the army to pursue the assailants who fired rockets on the Bekaa city of Baalbek and to maintain the security of the Lebanese people. “The army should pursue the assailants,” Suleiman stated. He pointed out that such acts that target the safety of the Lebanese areas are completely rejected regardless of who are responsible for them. “The Lebanese state will not tolerate such incidents and will find those who are responsible for them to maintain the security of the Lebanese people on its territories,” Suleiman added. On Friday, two people were wounded as nine rockets fire from Syrian territory landed in Baalbek, shortly after Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed in a speech to put an end to rocket attacks against the Baalbek-Hermel region. The agency said the rockets fell in the areas of al-Kayyal, Adous intersection, al-Basatin and near the My College School, the house of Suleiman Ramadan and the house of Sheikh Hassan Shamas. In his address, Nasrallah noted that “there is a delicate situation in the Baalbek-Hermel area -- which includes the rockets that are falling on the area -- that needs special care.” “The sensitive point is that some media outlets are circulating rumors that these rockets are being fired from Arsal and its barren mountains -- they are accusing a Sunni town of shelling Shiites towns,” he said. “And whenever a resident from Arsal is killed or attacked, some politicians directly accuse Hizbullah. Some media outlets are spreading lies and I call on everyone to verify any report. I announce that the rockets were not fired from Arsal, but rather by the armed groups inside Syrian territory and God willing we will find a solution to this issue,” Nasrallah vowed.

Turkey Protesters 'to Stay in Park' Despite PM Concession
Naharnet /Turkish protesters hunkered down in an Istanbul park Saturday, rejecting an olive branch the government had hoped would end two weeks of nationwide civil unrest.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's offer to halt the redevelopment of Gezi park that first ignited the protests was presented as a major concession but after conferring all night the protesters said their movement was about something bigger than a conservation struggle. "We will continue our resistance in the face of any injustice and unfairness taking place in our country," the Taksim Solidarity group, seen as most representative of the protesters, said in a statement. "This is only the beginning." The decision looked set to inflame tensions a day after Erdogan offered to halt the Gezi Park redevelopment until a court ruled on its legality, his first major conciliatory gesture yet in a bid to end the biggest challenge of his Islamist-rooted government's decade-long rule. "Young people, you have remained there long enough and delivered your message.... Why are you staying?" Erdogan said in a speech broadcast on live television. In the capital Ankara, meanwhile, riot police again fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse demonstrators overnight. Around 30 protesters were arrested.
Later on Saturday, tens of thousands of supporters of Erodgan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were expected to take to the streets of the capital for an election rally, in what has been billed as a show of strength for the embattled premier. A peaceful sit-in to save Gezi Park's 600 trees from being razed prompted a brutal police response on May 31, spiralling into nationwide demonstrations against Erdogan, seen as increasingly authoritarian. Nearly 7,500 people have been injured and four killed in the mass unrest, which has seen police use tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets against demonstrators who have hurled back fireworks and Molotov cocktails. The United States and other Western allies have widely condemned Erdogan's handling of the crisis, undermining Turkey's image as model of Islamic democracy.
After taking a combative stance against the demonstrators, dismissing them as "looters" and "extremists", Erdogan on Friday held his first talks with an umbrella group called Taksim Solidarity, seen as most representative of the protesters. He agreed to abide by a court-ordered suspension of the project -- a move welcomed by the protesters. He also said that if the court rules the Gezi Park redevelopment is legal, he wants to hold a popular vote on plans to build a replica of Ottoman-era military barracks on the site.
But Taksim Solidarity said the government had failed to address their list of demands, including a call for arrested demonstrators to be released and for police chiefs to be sacked. Buoyed by the dialogue with Erdogan, the group said the protesters were "stronger" than ever. "The party in power has lost its legitimacy before the eyes of local and international media and failed to achieve its objective."
-- 'The general opinion is to resist' -- "We will stay because our demands have not been satisfied by the government," Gezi Park protester Ata told Agence France Presse, adding that the protests had given him renewed confidence in his country. "I'm very hopeful now for the future of this country and also for my own future. Nothing will be the same in Turkey," the 32-year-old doctorate student said.
"The general opinion is to resist," said 20-year-old medicine student Pelin on her way to the park. Opponents have accused Erdogan of repressing critics and of forcing conservative Islamic policies on the mainly Muslim but staunchly secular nation -- including religious education reforms and restrictions on alcohol sales. While opposition to the premier is intense, the 59-year-old has been in power since 2002 and remains the country's most popular politician. His AKP has won three elections in a row and took nearly half the vote in 2011, having presided over strong economic growth in the country of 76 million people.
Erdogan has repeatedly urged supporters to answer the protesters by voting for his AKP in local polls next year. Britain's BBC meanwhile announced it had suspended ties with Turkey's private station NTV after it pulled a BBC programme that covered the initial failure of mainstream Turkish media to cover the protests. Turkey's protesters have already criticised the country's mainstream media for failing to properly cover the story.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Maronite Bishops: All Sides Must Stop Fueling Syrian Crisis
Naharnet/The Maronite Bishops Council voiced on Saturday its concern with the ongoing crisis in Syria and the political deadlock in Lebanon. It said in a statement after its annual retreat in Bkirki and headed by Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi: “We call on all sides to stop pouring fuel over the fire raging in Syria.” “We call for the end of the unrest in Syria and a return to dialogue in order for its people and those of the region to live in peace,” it demanded. The bishops also condemned the kidnappings linked to the crisis, including the ongoing abduction of Bishops Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji. They were kidnapped at the end of April, reportedly near the rebel-held town of Kafr Dael, near Aleppo in northern Syria. No group has claimed responsibility for their kidnap, but sources close to the Greek Orthodox Church and the Syrian authorities have claimed the kidnappers were "Chechen jihadists". Addressing the situation in Lebanon, the Maronite bishops expressed their “great concern” over the political deadlock, particularly the politicians' failure to agree on a new parliamentary electoral law, the extension of parliament's mandate, and the inability to stage the elections. “These developments harm Lebanon's image of diversity and democracy,” they lamented. Parliament's term was extended over the blocs' failure to agree on a new electoral law, which has consequently postponed the elections. The term was extended for 17 months therefore delaying the elections to next year.

George Sabra: Lebanese Govt. Must Prevent Hizbullah from Fighting in Syria
Naharnet/Interim head of the opposition Syrian National Council George Sabra accused the Syrian regime of attempting drag Lebanon into the conflict in his country and by involving Hizbullah in the crisis, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper Saturday. He told the daily: “The Lebanese government must assume its responsibilities and prevent Hizbullah from fighting in Syria and meddling with the fate of the Syrian and Lebanese people for the sake of regime that will inevitably collapse.”“Hizbullah has awakened a sectarian monster that it will not know how to put to rest again,” he lamented. “The resistance's glory was lost when it directed its arms against Beirut on May 7, 2008 and its weapons turned into shame when they were used in the streets of Damascus and al-Qusayr,” he added. “The party is now preparing to battle for Aleppo, but Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah should heed our warning and avert strife he will regret for the rest of his life,” Sabra warned. “We have great affection towards the Lebanese people and we have true allies who are loyal to the Syrian revolt, such as the Mustaqbal Movement, Lebanese Forces, the Democratic Left Movement, the March 14 alliance, and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, whose position we understand,” he noted. Hizbullah fighters spearheaded a devastating 17-day regime assault on the Syrian town of Qusayr near the Lebanese border which culminated on June 5 with its recapture from the rebels. Nasrallah had previously justified the group's involvement in Syria by saying they were defending Lebanese-inhabited border villages inside Syria and Shiite holy sites in the Damascus province. But during a May 25 speech marking the 13th anniversary of Israel's military withdrawal from Lebanon, Nasrallah said "if Syria falls in the hands of the Takfiris and the United States, the resistance will become under a siege and Israel will enter Lebanon. If Syria falls, the Palestinian cause will be lost.” Nasrallah had declared during a speech on Friday that the party will stay involved in the conflict, after having helped Syrian regime forces recapture the key town of Qusayr from rebels.

Hariri: Nasrallah Replaced Entire Lebanese State with Hizbullah Shura Council
Naharnet/Former prime minister Saad Hariri snapped back on Friday at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, accusing him of replacing the entire Lebanese state with “Hizbullah's Shura Council.”
Nasrallah “showed skill in exploiting the pains of those who were wounded in the confrontations with the Israeli enemy to cover up for the involvement in fighting against large segments of the Syrian people,” Hariri said in a statement issued by his press office only hours after a speech by Nasrallah marking the Wounded Resistance Fighter Day. "But Sayyed Hassan was not successful or eloquent in attributing the crimes his party is taking part in in Syria to the al-Mustaqbal Movement and in his claims that the movement is sending fighters and burying the dead in Syrian territory," Hariri added.
He described the remarks as "fabricated by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's imagination and totally false," strongly denying "organizing or sending a single individual to fight in Syria."
Hariri asked: "Who is the side that tasked Sayyed Hassan with following up (on the Syrian conflict), and did he request a cabinet session to ask whether Lebanon needs to fight a self-defense battle in Syrian territory?"
He also wondered whether Nasrallah had asked President Michel Suleiman about his opinion on "the participation of the Lebanese army in the battle of defending Lebanon."
"Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah sought to replace the entire Lebanese state with Hizbullah's Shura Council and to prove once again that he does not acknowledge the state and its institutions, presidencies and armed forces, because he only acknowledges one authority: the authority of the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sayyed Ali Khamenei,” Hariri went on to say.
Citing Nasrallah's fatwa forbidding celebratory gunfire, Hariri urged him to issue a fatwa forbidding the continued use of weapons. “Is shooting dead the southern young man Hashem al-Salman permissible? Is firing on the children, women and elderly of Syria permissible? Is fighting in Qusayr's streets considered a contribution to the building of Syria?” Hariri added. “It is haram (impermissible in Islam) to implicate Lebanon and expose the interests of its people to danger and it is haram to insist on an unknown path that will lead to destruction … and yet you are demanding a cabinet in which you have the one-third veto power and you want the Lebanese to approve of your decision of continuing to defend Bashar Assad's regime,” Hariri said. Earlier on Friday, Nasrallah said Hizbullah will stay involved in the Syrian conflict, after having helped regime forces recapture the key town of Qusayr from rebels. He noted that “thousands of (anti-regime) fighters have come from all around the world and the entire world is fighting in Syria through money, weapons and media.”
“After two years we realized that they are insisting on continuing the battle, even if Syria was destroyed and the regime fell ... and the alternative is the groups that are killing and slaughtering people,” Nasrallah added.
He noted that Hizbullah was “the last party to intervene in Syria while al-Mustaqbal Movement and other Lebanese parties were the first to intervene, not to mention the other nations, groups and organizations.”
Defending the intervention, he said: “There is a front that was targeted by the Americans, the Israelis and the Takfiris, and we were attacked when we intervened on the side of this front.”

Hizbullah Slams German FM, Describes Accusations as 'Void'
Naharnet /Hizbullah lashed out on Saturday at German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle's accusations that the party killed civilians in Qusayr area of central Syria, near the Lebanese border. Hizullah described in a statement Westerwelle's accusations as “void, false and baseless.” “The international customs state that the country's stances and policies should not be based on false and misleading information,” the statement said.
The party considered that the German FM accusations are part of the campaign on Hizbullah to please the United States. “Hizbullah adopts the highest moral and humanitarian standards in dealing with civilians and military personal, which every international humanitarian institution agrees on,” the statement added. Westerwelle said in comments published in Saudi Okaz newspaper that Hizbullah's involvement in Qusayr battles is a “dangerous turn of events in Syria,” condemning the targeting of civilians in the area by Hizbullah fighters. Hizbullah, a staunch ally of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, has become increasingly embroiled in the conflict in neighboring Syria, which is now in its third year. The group has dispatched fighters to battle alongside regime troops, including most prominently in Qusayr, a former rebel stronghold in central Homs.
Its fighters helped the Syrian army win back control of the town earlier this month, dealing a harsh blow to the opposition. The regime has said it plans to build on that victory by trying to retake large parts of the northern city of Aleppo and its surrounding province, but it is unclear whether Hizbullah will also join that operation.

U.S. Shoots Down Syria 'No Fly Zone' Idea
Naharnet/The White House on Friday all but ruled out the notion of mounting a no-fly zone in Syria, billing it as difficult, dangerous and costly, and unsuitable to halting close quarters ground battles. A day after U.S. officials pledged to stiffen military help to Syrian rebels, likely moving towards sending some form of arms for the first time, they made it clear that swift U.S. mission creep in the country is not on the cards. Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said mounting a no-fly zone in Syria poses significant logistical and strategic challenges that are more acute than those faced by NATO and Arab League allies in Libya in 2011.
"It's dramatically more difficult and dangerous and costly in Syria, for a variety of reasons," Rhodes said.
"One is that in Libya, you already had a situation where the opposition controlled huge portions of the country and you could essentially protect those portions of the country from the air. "You do not have the same types of air defense system that exist within Syria. So in that regard, it's more difficult."
Rhodes also argued that in many cases, rebels and forces fighting with Bashar Assad's Syrian regime were "fighting in some instances block by block in cities" in a way that made targeting particular forces difficult.
"I think people need to understand that the no-fly zone is not some type of silver bullet that is going to stop a very intense and, in some respect, sectarian conflict," Rhodes said, stressing though that Washington was not ruling out options, some strategic approaches would not work.
"We don't at this point believe that the U.S. has a national interest in pursuing a very intense, open-ended military engagement through a no-fly zone in Syria at this juncture."
U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice took a similar tack when asked about a possible no-fly zone in New York. "That option has some downsides and limitations that we are very well aware of and will factor into any decision," said Rice, who will next month take over as Obama's National Security Advisor at the White House.
Domestic opponents of the White House have demanded that Obama set up a no-fly zone in Syria to protect refugees and rebels from air strikes.
Republican Senator John McCain said Thursday that the United States should be able to set up a no-fly zone "fairly easily,""I'm talking about establishing a safe zone, it's neutralizing Bashar's air power, which is a decisive factor now in this conflict, as compared to doing nothing," McCain told CNN on Thursday.
Top White House officials on Friday refused to publicly provide a list of the kind of new aid Washington would provide in response to requests by Syria's opposition Supreme Military Council.
But the bolstered "military support" is understood to include some lethal materials that Washington has previously declined to throw into the conflict. Whether heavy weapons or just small arms will be involved is unclear.
Part of the reticence of top officials is apparently due to the fact that such military aid is classified and may be funneled to selected Syrian rebels forces in a covert mission by the Central Intelligence Agency.
"We do want to be responsive to the requests that have been made by the SMC and General Idris, consistent with our own national interests," said Rhodes, referring to rebel military leader Selim Idris.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki rejected some reports in U.S. media that a no-fly zone had been decided upon, though said it remained in the options that Obama had at his disposal. A day after his White House announced stringer U.S. aid to Syrian rebels after concluding Assad's forces had crossed a U.S. "red line" by using chemical weapons, Obama still had not addressed the policy change in public.
The decision came after prolonged agonizing among White House officials about how to deepen U.S. aid to Syrian rebels while at the same time trying to ensure America is not dragged into another war in the Middle East.
Obama could privately detail U.S. plans in a video conference session later on Friday with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy, and will tackle the issue at the G8 summit Monday and Tuesday in Northern Ireland. Despite private indications on the scope of the assistance and leaks to the media on the likelihood that some arms will be involved, the true nature of the new U.S. military aid remained unclear. "It seems to me that we are not yet clear precisely what the policy response is going to be -- greater support on a different scale, and with perhaps greater urgency of one kind or the other seems to be on the cards," said a Western diplomat.
"I think the specific answers of what and when and how have yet to be produced."Source/Agence France Presse.

In Lebanon, Traumatized Syrians Struggle to Survive
Naharnet/Sadness is written on the face of 45-year-old Jamila, living in the open-air municipal courtyard of Arsal in Lebanon and still traumatized by her escape from Syria's former rebel stronghold Qusayr.
Along with her sick husband and three children, she fled the town in Syria's central province of Homs in the hours before it fell on June 5 to regime forces backed by Hizbullah. They had to watch fellow Syrians who died on the way buried hastily by the roadside as they made for the safety of Arsal town across the border inside Lebanon. Now they are struggling to survive, with no shelter of their own and almost no way to feed themselves. When food is handed out, the refugees queue in their hundreds for rations. "We left in group after group a few hours before the fall of the town. We were practically running, it was everyone for themselves," Jamila says, her sick husband lying on a mattress nearby. "Dozens died of thirst, or their injuries, or just plain exhaustion," she says, wrapped in a black veil, her voice faltering. "The men dug graves in a hurry to bury those who died. It was horrible."Thirst was a constant companion, with the refugees so desperate that they tried to draw sap from twigs and drops of water from irrigation hoses. Guided by rebel fighters, they ate fruit from trees along the route, and even raw potatoes dug up from fields. The conflict in Syria, now in its third year, has changed the face of Arsal, a Sunni Muslim town of 40,000 residents that is now also home to some 35,000 refugees, including 3,000 who arrived from Qusayr in just 10 days. With nowhere to live, some refugees have set up makeshift shelters in the corners of the municipality courtyard, suspending blankets from trees to provide rudimentary privacy and shade. "We have no money and no food," Jamila says. U.N. agencies and NGOs from Qatar, Denmark and Norway are trying to meet the needs of the refugees, but their work is "insufficient," municipal council member Wafiq Khalaf says, urging that tents be distributed. Some residents have offered up empty rooms or buildings still under construction as temporary shelters. One group of 17 people are living in a stairwell. In the next building, 30-year-old Mohammad has taken up residence in a garage with his three children, the eldest just five.
"Their mother was killed by a rocket on the road," he says sadly. A one-time member of the ruling Baath party, he speaks bitterly about his fate. "For years, we used to sing 'Long live Bashar Assad' and this is how they repaid us."In the municipality courtyard, a boyish-looking 18-year-old is covered in bandaged wounds that he says were sustained "in combat". He fled Qusayr on foot, but insists he want to go back to Syria "in order to bring down the regime".For other refugees, daily life and the struggle to survive are a greater priority. "There's nowhere to wash... we've been homeless for seven days," sighs another, Rima. She fled with her husband and their four children, including a baby just 10 months old, in a car. They say they were turned back at the border with Jordan before arriving in Lebanon by traveling through Damascus province. The Arsal region shares some 55 kilometers (34 miles) of border with Syria, packed with illegal crossings used by those desperate to flee the violence that has killed more than 93,000 people. Syrian aircraft have bombed the area many times, the regime arguing that it is "chasing down terrorists", its description for rebels. The Sunni region largely supports the Syrian uprising, which is Sunni-dominated, but lies within a mostly Shiite area that is a bastion of Hizbullah, an ally of the Damascus regime. The flow of refugees shows no sign of slowing, with a truck carrying another 30 people arriving on Friday. "May God make them suffer as they have made us suffer!" one woman cries as the vehicle pulls up.
Source/Agence France Presse

Moderate Rowhani Wins Iran Presidential Election
Naharnet /..Moderate cleric Hassan Rowhani was declared Iran's new president on Saturday, the interior minister said, in an outright election victory that ends eight years of conservative grip on the top office.
Rowhani, 64, a former top nuclear negotiator who has championed more constructive engagement with world powers, won outright with 18.6 million votes, or 50.68 percent of those cast.
Announcing Rowhani's win, Interior Minister Mohammad Mostafa Najjar said 36.7 million people, or 72.7 percent of the electorate, had voted on Friday. More than 50.5 million Iranians had been eligible to vote for a successor to Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who was constitutionally barred from standing again after serving two consecutive terms. Rowhani's tally was enough to ensure there would be no run-off against the runner-up, Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who was in distant second place with 6.07 million votes. Current nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, was third with 3.17 million. The withdrawal of the sole reformist from the race had left the field open for Rowhani to win the votes of both moderates and reformists and establish a large lead over his divided hardline opponents. Former first vice president Mohammad Reza Aref pulled out on Tuesday at the urging of reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami, who then threw his weight behind Rowhani. Rowhani inherits an economy that has been badly hit by EU and U.S. sanctions targeting the key oil and banking sectors. Friday's election was the first since the disputed 2009 re-election of Ahmadinejad triggered massive street protests by supporters of his rivals, that were crushed in a deadly crackdown. In 2003, when Rowhani was top nuclear negotiator under Khatami, the Islamic republic agreed to suspend its controversial enrichment of uranium. The program restarted two years later when Ahmadinejad was first elected.
Iran has been at loggerheads with world powers over its nuclear drive, which the West suspects is aimed at developing an atomic weapon capability.
Tehran denies the charge, but the sanctions imposed over the stand-off have isolated it internationally.
In campaigning, Rowhani pledged to move to ease the sanctions, which have led to severe economic pain. Inflation is raging at more than 30 percent, the rial has lost nearly 70 percent of its value, and unemployment is rising.
The economy formed the focus of voters' concerns. "We expect the new president to improve the economy so that it gets better and better," said Tehran resident Farshid Hassan Zade ahead of the results.
Rowhani also boasts close ties with moderate ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and touts his relations with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all key issues, including the nuclear program.
Rowhani is a representative of Khamenei on the Supreme National Security Council, Iran's top security body, and was its secretary for 16 years until 2005.
Khamenei congratulated Rowhani on winning the presidential election, the website leader.ir reported. "Congratulations to the people and to president-elect Hojatoleslam Hassan Rowhani," Khamenei's Internet site said. "I urge everyone to help the president-elect and his colleagues in the government, as he is the president of the whole nation," he added. Rowhani has said there will be "no surrender" to Western demands in talks on Iran's controversial nuclear program but has promised a more constructive, less adventurist approach. Before the official results were announced, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, spokesman for the Guardians Council electoral watchdog, said "no violation" had been reported. However Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, said on Thursday that the political climate in Iran did not allow a "free and fair" election.
Tehran resident Ali Yousefi said after voting on Friday: "I think that there was a great level of participation in this election, which shows that people will show up when they should and turn everything to their favor."
The 2009 protests that followed Ahmadinejad's re-election led to the eventual detention under house arrest of opposition candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and the widespread suppression of reformists.
Khatami's endorsement of Rowhani for president gave birth to an online movement, with social networkers urging abstentionists not to waste their votes. Rowhani has vowed to restore diplomatic ties with arch-foe the United States, which cut relations in the aftermath of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy by Islamist students. He has also pledged that "discrimination against women will not be tolerated". Married with four children, he holds a doctorate in law from Scotland's Glasgow Caledonian University, according to his official CV.He was born in 1948 in the town of Sorkheh southeast of Tehran. Source/Agence France Presse.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mob of "Hundreds of Muslims" Attack Christians in Bangladesh

http://www.persecution.org/2013/06/14/mob-of-hundreds-of-muslims-attack-christians-in-bangladesh/
Perpetrators Operate With Impunity as Government Fails to Protect Religious Minorities
6/14/2013 Washington, D.C. (ICC)-International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that a group of radical Islamists have targeted and attacked Christians in Bangladesh. Two incidents in the last week have left priests and seminary students among those severely beaten. In both incidents the attackers have operated with impunity. On June 5, Muslim extremists went to the Tumilia mission, a Catholic compound, and physically harmed Fr. Abel when he came out of his room. Some say that the extremists went simply with the intention of robbing the property; however ICC sources confirm that this is "targeted persecution on the Christians by the same group of Islamists."  On June 6, another attack by the same group of radical Islamists occurred after a Muslim man died from a heart attack during a conflict between Christians and Muslims regarding trespassing. The Christians report that the Muslims continued to trespass on their land to steal mangos and their requests to cease and desist were ignored. Blaming the Christians for the man's death, the Muslims staged an attack on the entire village. Two of the Christians fled and sought shelter at the Catholic Church's mission compound in Dinajpur, in Northern Bangladesh. However, a mob of Muslims numbering over a hundred stormed in armed with local weapons. "They broke the main gate, destroyed the barb wire fence and entered the compound. They beat up Fr. Uzzal, seminarians and destroyed some parts of the buildings...vandalized and looted everything," says an ICC source.
"The police arrested some of the Christians and took them to the police station but did not take any action against the Muslims who were trespassing on the Catholic Compound,"
the ICC source continued. "The Muslims wait for any excuse to attack the religious minorities." Not one perpetrator has been arrested in either of these cases. "The priests are afraid to do anything against the perpetrators," says an ICC source. "Most of the time the Muslim extremists are protected by the [Muslim] ruling party. This is Bangladesh, where we [Christians] live without any security and protection from the government or law enforcing agencies," the source continued. Corey Bailey, ICC's Regional Manager for Bangladesh says, "According to their Constitution, there is Religious Freedom in Bangladesh, but that exists only on paper. Muslims attack religious minorities with impunity. This is outrageous and must end. I urge those interested in religious freedom to contact the Embassy of Bangladesh and demand better protection for religious minorities, as well as justice in these cases."
Ambassador: H.E. Akramul Qader 202-244-2745 or 202-244-0183 (PABX)

Question: "What happens after death?"
GotQuestions.org
Answer: Within the Christian faith, there is a significant amount of confusion regarding what happens after death. Some hold that after death, everyone “sleeps” until the final judgment, after which everyone will be sent to heaven or hell. Others believe that at the moment of death, people are instantly judged and sent to their eternal destinations. Still others claim that when people die, their souls/spirits are sent to a “temporary” heaven or hell, to await the final resurrection, the final judgment, and then the finality of their eternal destination. So, what exactly does the Bible say happens after death?
First, for the believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that after death believers’ souls/spirits are taken to heaven, because their sins are forgiven by having received Christ as Savior (John 3:16, 18, 36). For believers, death is to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). However, passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 describe believers being resurrected and given glorified bodies. If believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, what is the purpose of this resurrection? It seems that while the souls/spirits of believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, the physical body remains in the grave “sleeping.” At the resurrection of believers, the physical body is resurrected, glorified, and then reunited with the soul/spirit. This reunited and glorified body-soul-spirit will be the possession of believers for eternity in the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21-22).
Second, for those who do not receive Jesus Christ as Savior, death means everlasting punishment. However, similar to the destiny of believers, unbelievers also seem to be sent immediately to a temporary holding place, to await their final resurrection, judgment, and eternal destiny. Luke 16:22-23 describes a rich man being tormented immediately after death. Revelation 20:11-15 describes all the unbelieving dead being resurrected, judged at the great white throne, and then being cast into the lake of fire. Unbelievers, then, are not sent to hell (the lake of fire) immediately after death, but rather are in a temporary realm of judgment and condemnation. However, even though unbelievers are not instantly sent to the lake of fire, their immediate fate after death is not a pleasant one. The rich man cried out, “I am in agony in this fire” (Luke 16:24).
Therefore, after death, a person resides in a “temporary” heaven or hell. After this temporary realm, at the final resurrection, a person’s eternal destiny will not change. The precise “location” of that eternal destiny is what changes. Believers will ultimately be granted entrance into the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1). Unbelievers will ultimately be sent to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). These are the final, eternal destinations of all people—based entirely on whether or not they had trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation (Matthew 25:46; John 3:36).
Recommended Resources: Logos Bible Software and Heaven by Randy Alcorn.
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Syria’s Afghanization

By: Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Alawsat
For over a year now, extremist groups have been urging Muslim youth to join the war in Syria. They succeed in prompting hundreds, if not thousands, of Muslim youth from different nationalities to join their cause.
The latest development is the news that this figure is on the rise. The number of jihadists in Syria will be far greater than those we’ve seen over the past 20 years in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia.
The main reason for this is the continuing war and the brutality of the Syrian regime’s crimes, in addition to the involvement of Shi’ite Hezbollah fighters, Iranian soldiers and Iraqi militia, transforming the conflict into a sectarian war. An expert on extremist Islamist groups has estimated that the number of jihadists in Syria will most likely outstrip all expectations. He said that we should not be surprised if the number exceeds 30,000 in the upcoming months. He also believes that regional governments, which have sought to increase security, will ultimately fail to prevent these youth from traveling to Syria. This is despite the employment of clerics, muftis and other religious figures to urge the youth against participating in the fighting.
The war in Syria appeals to the sentiments of many. There are some who feel that their brothers have been dealt a great injustice. Such youth possess sectarian religious beliefs that make them feel that jihad is obligatory and that their Islam is not complete without it. Many websites, meanwhile, continue to urge young men to join the war in Syria.
In the face of these challenges, several countries, including those that support the Syrian opposition—such as Saudi Arabia—have urged their citizens not to go to war in Syria, emphasizing that this is the Syrians’ land and their affair, and the last thing they need is foreign fighters appearing on the scene.
The crimes of the Syrian regime and its allies—Hezbollah, Iran and Russia—have compelled many, both Sunni and Shi’ite, to go to Syria and fight. The problem will not remain limited to Syria; it will expand to include the entire region. Syria has revived Al-Qaeda, which had lost both its glory and a number of its leaders, who have been killed over the past few years.
Do not be surprised if some of enemies of Al-Qaeda also call for jihad and send fighters to die for the sake of eliminating the regime’s militias and its allies. These people view this as a decisive war against the Iranian camp, believing that the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and its humble capabilities are unable to secure victory alone.
They do not see any political solution that guarantees the toppling of the Assad regime on the horizon. Therefore, a few thousand suicide bombers will no doubt help defeat the Assad regime and the Iranians. Although the idea of sending jihadists, who are willing to die, to Syria appeals to many who think that the balance of power has shifted in the favor of the Iranians, it is short-sighted.
These jihadist groups will later turn into terrorist organizations working against the Syrian people, the region and the world.
They will follow the path of Afghanistan’s jihadists, who fought the Soviets in the 1980′s but became the largest terrorist organization in the world after the end of the war.
These jihadist groups will become a problem for the Syrian people. These groups will harm Syria’s unity and political plans. The Syrian people will end up getting rid of a criminal dictator, only to find themselves governed by an extremist group that also resorts to crimes to impose its political agenda.
The only military option is to enable the Syrian people to defend their country by supporting them with arms, training and intelligence.
Some may say that such aid had been present but has ultimately not been successful, especially after professional and well-equipped forces from the Iranian camp entered the battlefield.
Yes, support is there, but this falls short of the needs of the Free Syrian Army, which continues to request more aid and assistance.
However, we must also not underestimate the Syrian opposition’s power and will. We must not forget that it seized most border crossings and many military airfields, and secured control of more than half of Syria.
This means that despite the recent defeat as a result of the arrival of the Iranians and their allies, the opposition is still capable of shifting the balance of power.