Bible Quotation for today/Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles
Luke 06/12-19: "12 At that time Jesus went up a hill to pray and spent the whole night there praying to God. When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter) and his brother Andrew; James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,15 Matthew and Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon (who was called the Patriot), Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor.  When Jesus had come down from the hill with the apostles, he stood on a level place with a large number of his disciples. A large crowd of people was there from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from the coast cities of Tyre and Sidon; they had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those who were troubled by evil spirits also came and were healed. All the people tried to touch him, for power was going out from him and healing them all.

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources 
Culture clashes can be moveable beasts/By Michael Young/ The Daily Star/May 09/13
Want to stop Iran's takeover of Syria/By: Michael Weiss/Now Lebanon/May 09/13
If one has to fight, one will fight to win/By: Mona Alami/Now Lebanon/May 09/13 

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 09/13

Israeli- and Hizballah-controlled enclaves take shape inside Syria

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report May 8, 2013/Syrian rebel forces continued to fall back this week against superior Syrian forces in the north, center and south. Wednesday, May 8, they lost the important town of Kirbet Ghazaleh in the Horan province of southern Syria. For the first time in two months, the main transit route opened up for Syrian troops to reach the Jordanian border from Damascus and the opposition forces holding ground along the Syrian-Israeli border. The rocky Golan plateau split between Syria and Israel by a demilitarized zone is beginning to move onto center stage. Tuesday, Bashar Assad was quoted as saying the Golan will be the “front line of resistance” after giving radical Palestinians under his wing permission to install missiles there against Israel. Unidentified Syria military sources vowed to attack the Israeli army vehicles crossing the line to evacuate wounded rebels in need of medical care. Our military sources say that if Israeli army vehicles, presumably unmarked, are indeed entering Syria to pick up injured rebels, they are most likely alerted by local liaison agents in the battle zones who guide them to the spots were the injured men are waiting. The pro-Al Qaeda Jabhat al-Nusra will have deduced that the contact points between these local Syrian agents and the IDF are located in the 8 sq. km separation zone on the Golan, which has been patrolled by UN Disengagement Observer (UNDOF) peacekeepers since Israel and Syria signed an armistice in 1974.
Hence the abduction of four peacekeepers Monday. The rebel Islamist Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade which claimed responsibility released a photograph of the kidnapped UN troops sitting barefoot on a carpet and wearing light-blue U.N. armored vests, three of which were marked “Philippines.”This incident highlighted the high strategic importance of the Golan plateau.
Israel has set up a large field hospital near the Tel Hazakah observation and military post on Golan which overlooks southern Syria and northern Jordan. There, incoming Syrian war wounded are vetted and examined by Israeli army medics who decide whether to patch them up and send them back, or judge them badly hurt enough for hospital care. The seriously hurt are moved to one of the the nearest Israeli hospitals in Safed or Haifa.
This arrangement suggests a kind of security zone is evolving on the Israeli-Syrian border which may recall the alliance which evolved between Israel and the Maronite Christians of South Lebanon out of the 1976 Lebanese civil war. Israel then set up medical facilities for treating Lebanese Christian war wounded at several points on what came to be called the Good Fence. The Maronites willingly pushed Palestinian terrorist forces back from the border and were given permits to work in Israel and other benefits. The South Lebanese Army established at the time with 2,500 militiamen functioned effectively under Israeli command for two decades.
The whole system collapsed when in 2000 Ehud Barak, then prime minister, pulled Israeli forces out of the buffer zone and back to the border. It was then that Hizballah moved in.
No one has actually referred to the potential of the Lebanese scheme in one form or another growing out of Israel’s initial medical ties with certain non-Islamist Syrian rebel militias across the Golan border. But it may be happening on the quiet. Foreign-controlled enclaves are in a more advanced condition in other parts of Syria under the Hizballah and/or Iranian forces assisting the Syrian army’s fight against rebel forces.
Hizballah has completely encircled Al-Qusayr, the central Syrian town which commands the main routes between Damascus, Homs and Lebanon. Civic leaders have sent emissaries to Hizballah commanders offering to capitulate against a pledge not to ravage the town and to save its inhabitants. In Damascus, Hizballah’s troops along with Iranian Basij militiamen command the Shiite holy places.
And in the southwest, they are securing a cluster of 30 Shiite villages opposite South Lebanon, not far from the intersection of the Israeli-Syrian-Lebanese borders. By pouring fighting men into Syria, Hizbballah is gambling on Israel not taking advantage of its heavily diluted strength on home ground to strike Hizballah strongholds in Lebanon or its supply routes from Syria. Both Hizballah and Israeli appear to be in the process of relocating their lines of confrontation from Lebanon to Syria. Israel’s air strike Sunday, May 5, which hit Hizballah and Iranian targets, may have been the first skirmish between them on Syrian territory. It is unlikely to be the last.

Berri Calls for Parliamentary Session on May 15 to Discuss Electoral Law
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri called on Wednesday lawmakers for a parliamentary session on May 15 to discuss the adoption of a new electoral law. The session will be held at 11:00 a.m. to tackle the endorsement of the new electoral law that has deepened the gap between the Lebanese foes. Berri had previously set a May 15 parliamentary session that would have the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal on its agenda for being the only plan that was approved by the joint parliamentary committees unless an agreement is reached on an alternative plan before that date.
He reiterated during his weekly meeting with lawmakers that he would call for a vote on the proposal during the session.
But several blocs and independent MPs are likely to challenge it even if it was adopted by parliament, which will bring the country back to the 1960 law that was used in the 2009 polls.
That law considers the qada an electoral district and is based on the winner-takes-all system. But most parties have rejected it despite their failure to reach consensus on a new plan.
 

Berri Lashes Out at March 14 'Centrists,' Says Contacts Ongoing to Form Cabinet
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri hinted that the ongoing contacts to form a new cabinet have so far failed to reach common ground, criticizing those who began classifying themselves as centrists while they are “clearly affiliated in the March 14 alliance.” “Those centrists want a large share of the 24-member cabinet... Maybe I should start classifying myself as a centrist,” Berri told several local newspapers on Wednesday. Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam is seeking to form what he called a “cabinet of national interest” that comprises no MP hopefuls. Meanwhile, the March 14 forces have been calling for a neutral cabinet, while the March 8 camp has demanded a “political government” and centrist Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat has stressed that his bloc will not grant its vote of confidence to a “one-sided cabinet.”
Berri wondered how several senior officials take firm stances against a certain team then categorize themselves as centrists. The speaker revealed that he will call for consecutive parliamentary sessions on May 15, 16,17 and 18 until the lawmakers agree on an electoral law. “They have to choices either agree on a consensual electoral law or vote on a draft-law,” Berri said. He reiterated his stance from the 1960 law, which is based on winner-takes-all system, stressing that he prefers the adoption of the so-called Orthodox Gathering draft-law, as it guarantees holding the polls over the proportional representation system. The plan, which considers Lebanon a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system, has been approved by the joint parliamentary committees despite the rejection of al-Mustaqbal, the National Struggle Front and the March 14 alliance's independent lawmakers.  While the 1960 law considers the qada an electoral district and is based on the winner-takes-all system. But most parties have rejected it for failing to guarantee the appropriate representation for all the Lebanese and mainly Christians.

March 14 Urges Incorporation of Baabda Declaration in Constitution
Naharnet/The March 14 General Secretariat renewed on Wednesday its condemnation of Hizbullah's involvement in the unrest in Syria, calling on it to withdraw its members from the country. It urged in a statement “President Michel Suleiman, seeing as he is the guardian of the constitution, to refer in a letter the Baabda Declaration to parliament where it can be endorsed by lawmakers in order to keep Lebanon away from regional crises.”
It made its remarks after its weekly meeting, during with it urged the Arab League to address Hizbullah's involvement in Syria.
Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel announced on Tuesday coming forward with a suggestion to amend the preamble of the constitution to stipulate Lebanon's neutrality towards regional conflicts. “The Baabda Declaration must be adopted in the constitution and in the laws so that no one can act against it. It will be considered illegal if the declaration is breached,” he said.
The Baabda Declaration was unanimously adopted during a national dialogue session in June 2012. It calls for Lebanon to disassociate itself from regional crises, most notably the one in Syria. Moreover, the March 14 General Secretariat called for the formation of a neutral government capable of preventing the spread of the Syrian unrest to Lebanon and protecting the Lebanese “against some sides' insistence on linking the country's fate to that of Syria.”To that end, it hoped that Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam would speed up the cabinet formation process, urging Suleiman to pressure him in this matter “in order to prevent Salam from being subject to any blackmail.”His efforts to form a new government have stalled over the March 8 camp's alleged insistence to obtain veto power and allow Shiite leaderships to name the sect's ministers.
According to An Nahar daily Wednesday, the coalition has conditioned a 45 percent of seats in the government similar to its weight in parliament and has rejected the rotation of portfolios that Salam had suggested. Addressing the kidnapping of the nine Lebanese pilgrims in Syria, the March 14 General Secretariat reiterated its condemnation of any “violation against the freedom of any Lebanese national.”
It demanded that General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim relay a letter to authorities in Damascus to release all Lebanese held in Syrian prisons since the time of Syria's hegemony over Lebanon that started in the 1970s.
Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Saturday that Lebanese authorities are awaiting from the kidnappers a list of names of Syrian female prisoners held in Syrian jails they want released in exchange for the pilgrims.
Ibrahim is expected to head to Damascus to discuss the release of the pilgrims.

Former Deputy Speaker Elie al-Ferzli Meets MP Gemayel, Says There is More Conviction that Orthodox Plan is Best Option
Naharnet /Former Deputy Speaker Elie al-Ferzli said a meeting he held with Phalange MP Sami Gemayel on Wednesday enhanced the strong belief that the Orthodox Gathering proposal is the best option for a new electoral law. Following the 90 minutes of talks with Gemayel in Bikfaya, al-Ferzli said: “There is more conviction after today's meeting that the Orthodox (proposal) is the best option.” He hoped however that rival lawmakers would reach consensus on an alternative that appeases all sides and guarantees the best representation for all the Lebanese and mainly Christians. “Until now and around than five days before the national assembly no one suggested a law that guarantees the rights of Christians, respects article 24 of the constitution and stops the ongoing assaults on the constitutional rights of Christians since 1991,” said al-Ferzli, who is the architect of the Orthodox proposal. The plan considers Lebanon a single electoral district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system.  The former deputy speaker, who has been tasked by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun to discuss with Christian officials the electoral law, said he talked with Gemayel about the importance of coming up with a plan that “reproduces political life in Lebanon.” His comments came as Speaker Nabih Berri called on lawmakers for a parliamentary session on May 15. He reiterated during his weekly meeting with lawmakers that he would call for a vote on the Orthodox proposal during the session for being the only plan that was approved by the joint parliamentary committees unless an agreement is reached on an alternative plan before that date.Wednesday's meeting with Gemayel was held two days after similar talks between Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and caretaker energy minister Jebran Bassil, who is a Free Patriotic Movement official. The meeting at Geagea’s residence in Maarab was attended by al-Ferzli and LF MPs George Adwan and Elie Kairouz.

Bishop Matar Denies Making Specific Proposal over Report of Hybrid Vote Plan Backed by Suleiman
Naharnet/Beirut Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar has been tasked by Bkirki to promote a hybrid electoral plan that was previously proposed by President Michel Suleiman, An Nahar newspaper reported on Wednesday despite the clergyman's denial. An Nahar said that the proposal allows 68 candidates to be elected under the winner-takes-all system in 26 electoral districts and 60 via proportional representation in 11 districts.
The plan had faced several obstacles over differences between the rival parties on the division of seats under the two systems, the daily added. When asked by Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) about the report, Matar denied that he had made a “specific proposal.”“We are in the process of searching for a consensus vote law that is fair to all” after the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal was dropped by the four main Christian parties, he said.
The Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Phalange party and the Marada movement had announced the plan as their choice for a new vote law. But last month, the rival Maronite leaders decided to suspend their proposal in a bid to give different groups a chance to agree on an alternative law. They however declared the 1960 election law as “dead and buried” and pledged not to run for elections under it.
Matar, who on Tuesday met with President Michel Suleiman, al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora and caretaker minister Wael Abu Faour, told al-Joumhouria newspaper that the talks came as part of consultations on the electoral law. “I delivered a message from Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi to Saniora on his hopes to agree on a fair vote law and hold the elections on time,” the bishop said. He then briefed Suleiman on the results of the meetings he held with the Lebanese officials. Matar met on Friday with Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat. Abu Faour and MP Akram Shehayyeb, two Jumblat envoys, visited Matar on Tuesday as a goodwill gesture after the bishop's meeting with the PSP chief in Mukhtara. “Things are making progress,” Matar told al-Joumhouria. The bishop also said that Maronite leaders will hold a meeting in Bkirki before May 15 to study the results of the consultations held among the country's political figures to reach consensus on a vote law. Speaker Nabih Berri has set a May 15 parliamentary session that would have the Orthodox Gathering proposal on its agenda for being the only plan that was approved by the joint parliamentary committees unless an agreement is reached on an alternative plan before that date. Several blocs and independent MPs are likely to challenge it even if it was adopted by parliament, which will bring the country back to the 1960 law that was used in the 2009 polls.
That law considers the qada an electoral district and is based on the winner-takes-all system. But most parties have rejected it despite their failure to reach consensus on a new plan.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel  Prepared 'Modified Version' of 1960 Law, Amid Talks on Extending Parliament's Term
Naharnet /Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel revealed on Tuesday that he prepared a “modified formula” for the 1960 electoral law reiterating his call on the electoral candidates to submit their nominations based on the said law if politicians failed to reach a consensual law, the Al-Joumhuria daily said. “I have prepared a modified formula for the 1960 electoral law,” Charbel told the daily, “and candidates running for the parliamentary elections should submit their candidacies based on the 1960 law if an agreement on a new one was not achieved by the 19th of May.” “In that case the parliament should convene and extend its term for another two months paving the way for the interior ministry to take the necessary measures and preparations to hold the elections,” added the Minister. Charbel assured that he predicted reaching a deadlock on the controversial electoral law and has therefore prepared the modified version which he has not offered to any of the political parties yet. Moreover, Charbel said he has prepared a two phase electoral project, where the first phase of the elections is conducted based on sectarian basis and the second on a majority basis. “Both stages aim to improve the Christian representation,” said Charbel. On the other hand, An Nahar daily pointed to two possibilities debated between various factions that could be a solution for the thorny issue. “Speaker Nabih Berri could call for a parliament session, despite failure to agree on a new law, to discuss the Orthodox Draft proposal, thus prompting the Sunni and Druze lawmakers to withdraw from the session and the quorum would be lost. Berri is then pushed to suspend the session,” the daily said. “The Speaker would then call for a second session and extend the Parliament's term for not less than 6 months to give more time to reach an agreement on an electoral law that meets approval of all parties.”The other option, according to the daily, is to vote on the Orthodox draft-law knowing that it will fail the vote thus opening the way for a de-facto 1960 draft-law. Berri had previously urged political blocs to reach an agreement on an electoral law before May 15, otherwise he would call for a parliament session to vote on the Orthodox proposal. The joint parliamentary committees have approved the Orthodox plan - where each sect elects its own representatives- in light of the refusal of al-Mustaqbal bloc, the Progressive Socialist Party MPs, the independent MPs of the March 14 alliance.

Constitutional Council Head: Our Decisions Cannot be Scrutinized
Naharnet/The head of the Constitutional Council, Issam Suleiman, refuted on Wednesday claims that the 10-member body had failed to take decisive stances, saying it has played an important role in legislation. “There is no place for vacuum in the Constitutional Council, which monitors the constitutionality of laws and arbitrates parliamentary election challenges,” Suleiman said in a press conference.
“The Council is the backbone of the state of law and its by-laws are a proof to that,” he said. “Claims that the Council hasn't achieved anything since its inception include lots of fabrications,” Suleiman told reporters. “The decisions that it has issued have a huge importance and have played an essential role in legislation,” he said, adding “they have pushed towards the development of the process of parliamentary elections and controlled them.”
Suleiman vowed the Council will carry out its mission, saying its decisions cannot be scrutinized for allegedly lacking legality or constitutionality even if the mandate of its members had expired over the failure to appoint new members.  Asked about a challenge filed by Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat's bloc on the suspension of the electoral deadlines, Suleiman said “it is being studied and a decision will be issued within the (one-month) deadline.” Jumblat's eight-member National Struggle Front, Deputy Speaker Farid Makari and lawmakers Ahmed Karami and Marwan Hamadeh filed on April 26 the challenge against the suspension of the electoral deadlines set by the 1960 law. President Michel Suleiman signed last month the draft-law suspending the deadline for submitting nominations for the polls until May 19. The draft-law was referred to the president after it was approved by parliament despite the boycott of Jumblat's bloc. It calls for setting the deadline for submitting candidacies to three weeks before the elections date. It also allows candidates who seek to withdraw their nominations to do so 15 days before the polls.

Eichhorst Meets Miqati, Urges All Sides in Lebanon, Region to Respect Policy of Disassociation
Naharnet /Head of the delegation of the European Union Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst voiced on Wednesday the EU's support for Lebanon's policy of disassociation. She called on “all parties in Lebanon and the region to respect this position.”She made her remarks after meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail. The discussions focused on the security situation in Lebanon and in the region, as well as on the challenges brought by the influx of refugees from Syria. Eichhorst expressed the EU's concern by the recent developments in Syria and “called on all to respect the principle of sovereignty and to refrain from any action which could undermine the already fragile situation in the region.” She also stressed the importance of forming a new government in Lebanon quickly in order for it to take action on all the pressing issues faced by the country.
Moreover, she expressed support for the Lebanese army and all security institutions for preserving calm and stability. She praised the role also played by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which should be allowed to carry out its mandate fully and safely to protect the people in the South. The ambassador recalled the recent decision taken by the EU to provide an additional financial support of 30 millions Euros to Lebanon to mitigate the impact of the Syrian crisis in the country. She explained that through this decision, the EU will contribute, in line with the priorities of the Government of Lebanon's Response Plan to the Syrian Crisis, to alleviate the needs of both refugees from Syria, including Palestinians, and the Lebanese host communities. She added that the EU continues to look for possibilities of providing further resources to assist and support Lebanon in these challenging times.

Saniora Slams Hizbullah's Fighting in Syria, Urges Suleiman, Berri, Miqati to Speak out against it
Naharnet /Head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora slammed on Wednesday Hizbullah's fighting in Syria alongside regime forces, saying that those seeking to avert the repercussions of the crisis should not send their youth to fight in the country. He therefore urged President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam, and all political leaders and MPs to realize the dangers facing Lebanon. “They must break the silence and fear and demand that the party withdraw its fighters from Syria,” he declared during the launching of a book by the Mustaqbal Movement in response to another by the Free Patriotic Movement that criticizes the policies of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri during his tenure at the head of government. Saniora added: “Hizbullah's involvement in Syria is the greatest danger against Lebanon and its people.” “It should be a priority for the party to withdraw its fighters from Syria in order to protect Lebanon's civil peace and internal unity,” he said.“The Lebanese people, families, and mothers do not want their children and fathers to fight in Syria in defense of the country's regime,” remarked the former premier. “We take pride in the fight against Israel, but we are ashamed of fighting in the defense of a regime that is killing its own people,” he continued. He deemed as “very dangerous” the involvement of Lebanese groups in Syria with the knowledge of the Lebanese state and its security and political institutions.
“Given these dangerous developments, we are in need now more than ever for a government that would primarily be tasked with holding the parliamentary elections to protect Lebanon and its constitutional institutions,” Saniora said. To that end, he stressed the need to provide Salam with the necessary support, instead of obstacles and preconditions, to complete his mission to form a new cabinet.
This new cabinet should not be comprised of political members or MP hopefuls, he explained. “This will facilitate its formation, ease tensions in Lebanon, and pave the way for a new phase in the country during which all massive pending issues may be addressed through dialogue and sound governing,” added the MP. The new government cannot be comprised of members who represent powers that are taking part in the fighting in Syria, Saniora said.
His efforts to form a new government have stalled over the March 8 camp's alleged insistence to obtain veto power and allow Shiite leaderships to name the sect's ministers.
According to An Nahar daily Wednesday, the coalition has conditioned a 45 percent of seats in the government similar to its weight in parliament and has rejected the rotation of portfolios that Salam had suggested.
Saniora also called for adhering to the policy of disassociation and the Baabda Declaration and implementing them without selectivity in order to keep Lebanon away from regional axes and conflicts.
The Baabda Declaration was unanimously adopted during a national dialogue session in June 2012. It calls for Lebanon to disassociate itself from regional crises, most notably the one in Syria.
Addressing ongoing efforts to reach an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law, Saniora renewed the Mustaqbal Movement's commitment to coexistence in Lebanon and a law that offers fair representation for all sides. “We back any hybrid law proposal that achieves these goals,” he said of draft laws that combine the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems.
“We want to stage the elections as soon as possible seeing as it seems that they may not be held as scheduled” due to the failure to reach an agreement over the vote law, the MP said.
The elections are set for June 16 but are likely to be postponed due to the ongoing disputes over the electoral law.
Berri called on Wednesday lawmakers for a parliamentary session on May 15 to discuss the adoption of a new electoral law.

Vacuum Hits Bekaa, Sidon Mufti Posts as Row over HIC Deepens
Naharnet /Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani rejected to renew the tenure of Bekaa Mufti Sheikh Khalil al-Mays and Sidon Mufti Sheikh Salim Soussan, which have ended two days ago, over the row concerning the Higher Islamic Council. According to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Wednesday, Qabbani has based his decision on the stances taken by the two Muftis, who didn't support him in his decision to hold the HIC elections. Dar al-Fatwa sources told the daily that Qabbani informed al-Mays and Soussan of his decision. Sources close to Soussan told al-Akhbar that he rejects Qabbani's decision, pointing out that he will head to his office as usual and carry out his jurisdictions. On Tuesday, members of the HIC held an extraordinary meeting chaired by deputy head of the council Omar Mesqawi.
The meeting deemed the recent HIC elections as “invalid,” noting that the Muftis of districts across the country will remain in their posts until electing new ones. The Council, which elects the mufti and organizes the affairs of Dar al-Fatwa, has been at the center of controversy after 21 of its members, who are close to ex-Premier Saad Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement, extended its term until the end of 2013 despite Qabbani's objection.
The mufti has refused to hold or join any meetings at Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon’s top Sunni religious authority, and called for the elections of council members. But last month the Shura Council allegedly deemed the call illegal and canceled the elections. Its decision followed a similar move it made last year when it canceled previous polls set by the Mufti for December 30. Those who reject the polls held on April 14 argue that they were illegal, however Qabbani says that the Shura Council has no authority over Dar al-Fatwa to ban the elections. However, the Grand Mufti held a meeting for the newly-elected council deepening the row over the matter.

Jordan Summons Israel Envoy over Jerusalem Mufti
Naharnet /Jordan on Wednesday summoned Israeli Ambassador Daniel Nevo after MPs unanimously demanded the government expel him following Israel's detention of the mufti of Jerusalem, state media reported. Interior Minister Hussein Majali, who is acting foreign minister, summoned Nevo, the official news agency Petra reported. "These Israeli actions violate international law and obstruct peace efforts. As occupying force, Israel is responsible for preventing such provocations. Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa are a red line," Majali said. Majali asked Nevo "to convey this message to his government in a very clear way," Petra reported.
The development came after the lower house of parliament "unanimously demanded the government ask the Israeli ambassador to leave Jordan, and recall the Jordanian ambassador in Israel," Walid Obeidat, Petra said.
The non-binding vote came in response to "Israeli occupation measures at Al-Aqsa mosque" in the Old City, in the annexed eastern sector of Jerusalem. Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur told MPs his government "views the Israeli violations in a very serious way." Nsur added that the Jordanian embassy in Tel Aviv "will take all necessary measures to respond to these hideous crimes."
"If things develop, the government will ask the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting."
Israeli police questioned Hussein on Wednesday over a "disturbance" at Al-Aqsa mosque compound a day earlier, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. They released him six hours later without charge. Mohammed Qudah, Jordan's Islamic affairs minister, said: "Israel has prevented worshipers from entering the mosque. It plans to build a bridge to link Al-Aqsa to some nearby settlements."
"Israeli excavations around the mosque have noticeably increased. Around 62 synagogues have been built around Al-Aqsa to form a circle around it," Petra quoted him as saying.
Qudah added that "the most dangerous development was when hundreds of settlers backed by the Israel army entered Al-Aqsa this morning." "At the same time waqf (Islamic affairs) officials were prevented from going to their work, while materials needed for maintenance of the mosque were not allowed," he said.
The site, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques. It is also venerated by Jews as the place where their two ancient temples once stood.
Some MPs demanded Jordan scrap its 1994 peace agreement with Israel, Petra said, but a statement by the parliament did not mention the treaty.
"The lower house of parliament condemns Israel's dangerous escalation. Its repercussions will impact the entire region and create a new cycle of violence, insecurity and instability," the MPs said in a statement. In March, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas signed a deal with Jordan's King Abdullah II, confirming a 1924 verbal agreement giving Amman custodianship over Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem.
Source/Agence France Presse.

Kurdish Rebels Begin Critical Pullout from Turkey
Naharnet /Kurdish rebels began withdrawing from Turkey into their stronghold in northern Iraq on Wednesday, a major step towards ending a decades-long conflict that has left tens of thousands of people dead.
The pullout is the first visible sign that months of fragile talks between the state and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) could succeed in ending 29 years of guerrilla war.
"We know that they have started moving," Selahattin Demirtas, a pro-Kurdish lawmaker actively involved in the process, told Agence France Presse.
About 2,000 rebel fighters are expected to begin leaving Turkey on foot, travelling through the mountainous border zone to reach their safe havens in the inhospitable Qandil mountains in northern Iraq. There they will join another 5,000 fellow militants at the command base which has been used as a springboard for attacks against Turkish security forces.
The withdrawals are expected to take three to four months, with several media outlets reporting that the rebels have been on the move for weeks and that May 8 is a "symbolic" date of departure.
On Tuesday, the rebels said they would not renege on their promise to withdraw following an order from their jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan. Ocalan, known as "Apo" or uncle to Kurds but a "baby killer" by Turks, called in March for a historic ceasefire from his jail cell after months of clandestine peace talks with Turkish security services.
But if his supporters have agreed to the pullout, they have not yet taken their hands off their guns as the delicate process begins.
The rebels on Tuesday complained about Ankara boosting troops and carrying out surveillance flights at the border, saying they were "delaying the peace process" and paving the way for "provocations and clashes."
The Turkish army has not confirmed these measures but said their "fight against any terrorism continues", although no fatal clashes have occurred in recent months, the first such lull in years.
Acting PKK leader Murat Karayilan warned late last month that the fighters would would strike back and the withdrawal would halt "immediately" if they were attacked.
"We have no doubt about the state but fear provocation from dark forces," Demirtas said, referring to the possibility of ambushes by splinter paramilitary groups which may not be fond of the process.
Mass withdrawals in 1999 were disrupted when Turkish forces ambushed departing rebels, killing around 500 people and wrecking hopes for a permanent peace.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly vowed that retreating rebels "will not be touched".
He said Tuesday that "laying down weapons" should be the top priority for the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara and the West, for the process to succeed.
Karayilan said in April that the PKK was expecting Ankara to "do its part" before giving up arms, and called for wider constitutional rights for Turkey's Kurds, who make up around 20 percent of the 75 million population.
A permanent peace could transform Turkey's impoverished Kurdish-majority southeast, where investment has remained scarce and infrastructure insufficient due to the threat of clashes.
It will also impact Erdogan's political future, after he braved a major nationalist backlash in revealing the negotiations with Ocalan.
Millions of Kurds are expecting Ocalan, who narrowly escaped a death sentence in 2002 after European Union pressure, to be pardoned and join political life.
Ocalan said in his March peace call that a ceasefire would be the beginning of a "new era" for the Kurdish movement.
"It is not the time to give up the struggle, but to start a different one," Ocalan said.
Source/Agence France Presse.

If one has to fight, one will fight to win”
Mona Alami/Now Lebanon
Jabhat al-Nusra is the winningest faction in Syria
Olly Lambert’s powerful documentary “Syria Behind the Lines” shows the evolution of the country’s peaceful revolution, into ideological warfare, before morphing into the ugliest of sectarian conflicts. The documentary depicts two enemies separated by the width of the Orontes River: Ahmad, a 20 year-old Sunni who left the police to join the ranks of the FSA, and Lieutenant Ali Ghazi, an Alawite officer. Ahmad’s story crystallizes the dilemma of Syrian rebels who are mostly Sunnis, and their slow but ineluctable radicalization when faced with a protracted and unequal conflict.
At the beginning of the documentary, Ahmad’s mother jokes about her son’s adoption of a beard. She says it is all for show. “He struggles when reading the Quran, I am not happy about it. I want him to pray,” she tells the camera.
Slowly Ahmad’s story begins to unravel. The young FSA fighter is faced with the bombing of his village by MIG planes, causing 25 civilian casualties in one day. In the midst of dark nights, lightning bombs from which several rockets seem to be fired illuminate the sky of Al Bara, before wreaking havoc in the town. Buildings are flattened and people are torn to pieces. The documentary underlines that in one day alone, over 60 airstrikes took place Syria. Rebels on the other hand rely mostly on Kalashnikovs and rocket-launchers stolen from the regular army, or makeshift weaponry, a few examples of which have been featured in The Atlantic. By the end of the film, Ahmad, a handsome and idealistic young man, who is injured three times in the war, says he wants to join the radical Jabhat al-Nusra, an organization with ties to al Qaeda. Ahmad’s story is one of many currently unfolding in Syria. Many rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad are slowly choosing the path of radicalization. While foreign countries are concerned about foreign jihadis joining the Syrian revolution, more worrisome is the spread of fundamentalism among formerly moderate Sunni Syrians. Al-Qaeda’s foreign legions might have a frightening influence in the current events of Syria, but their chance of survival is limited in a short-term conflict, which would strip it from the support of a popular base. A protracted war, allowing for the radicalization of large swaths of Syrians will nonetheless guarantee the terrorist organization with a more permanent presence.
Essential catalysts to terrorism are prevalent on the Syrian scene. Terrorism is generated by perceptions of unfairness when an ethnic group – or a community such as the Sunnis in Syria – are disadvantaged when it comes to economic opportunity, social status, access to military power, and lack of protection. While the first two contributed to the current revolution, the latter two factors are also strongly present among Syrian rebels. The Western refusal to enforce a no-fly zone, timid arming by Arab countries (with reports pointing to their support of radical groups) and empty western calls to arm the rebels have left the largely moderate Sunni rebellion isolated and marginalized. While the United States has doubled its assistance to the Syrian opposition by up to $250 million, Russia’s support of the Assad regime has been steadfast. In 2011 Russia sold $1 billion worth of arms to Syria, according to Reuters. Russia signed arms contracts worth $17.6 billion with 65 countries in 2012 among which Syria was one of its largest clients, according to the Rionovosti website. One can easily do math.
It is clear that while arming the rebels is a path fraught with risks as weapons could end up in the hands of Islamic extremists, it would nonetheless pull the armed opposition away from the embrace of radical groups, by providing fighters with a fairer chance in battle, making terror for moderate Syrians less of an appealing option.
The belief that terrorism with a strong religious base is the only effective way in ushering change in Syria should be removed from the political equation. Violence on both sides of the Syrian divide is inevitable, but its repercussions and transgressions can be contained by arming the moderate opposition, before it is too late. “We are all Nusra,” said one Syrian activist from Jabal al-Zawiya. His tight shirt, handsome face, and strong predilections towards women and smoking do not fit the profile of a jihadi fighter. Will he turn into one? “If one has to fight, one will fight to win, and for now the strongest faction is Nusra.”

Want to stop Iran's takeover of Syria?
Michael Weiss/Now Lebanon
Ground the Syrian Air Force.
It’s been edifying to see how quickly the international press has discovered that Syrian air defense systems are not quite so “formidable” as they were once described by senior Pentagon officials. It apparently takes a heavily-subsidized American client state to demonstrate via mushroom clouds the flaws in American strategic thinking now that leading from behind has become a happy conceptual partner to being led by the nose by forty years of Ba’athist propaganda about Syria’s military might. But then, the Israelis have openly mocked Washington’s failure to uphold its own “red lines” and they never tire of reminding their American patrons that when it comes to human intelligence and dealing with state actors in the Middle East, the heavy lifting is really best left to them. In the hours between Thursday and Friday last week, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck a convoy of Iranian-made Fateh-110 missiles destined for Hezbollah that being warehoused near Damascus International Airport, as well as Russian-made Yakhont shore-to-sea cruise missiles. Then, between Saturday and Sunday, the IAF waged nine more air strikes on the Syrian capital, including on the Jamraya chemical research facility in north Damascus (a target it already struck in a similar raid last January), the Fourth Armored Division Headquarters in Mezzeh, southwest Damascus, and the Republican Guard’s 104th Brigade in the Qasioun mountain region, which was engulfed in flames. Syria claims that more than 100 of its soldiers were killed by these attacks, and many more injured. (The Fourth Armored Division and Republican Guard are Assad’s praetorian divisions, without which his conventional military would virtually cease to exist.)
According to press accounts, both Israeli sorties, as well the earlier one waged in January, occurred without the IAF ever penetrating Syrian airspace; it used stand-off missile systems from the skies above Lebanon. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was so unbothered by the threat of retaliation from powdering some of Bashar al-Assad’s impregnable fortresses that he didn’t even cancel a scheduled trip to China. Israelis then indicated that this isn’t the last time they intend to pay call on Damascus. Assad, meanwhile, retaliated against the Zionist aggressor by bombing more of his own people.
Michael Ross, an ex-Mossad officer, told me that the key to Israel’s in-and-out operations is its advanced electronic warfare system, which was constructed by Unit 8200 (“Israel’s NSA”) and is an advanced form of the “Suter” network that blinded Syrian radars during the IAF’s 2007 attack on Syria’s nuclear facility at al-Kibar. “The software identifies emitters and entry into enemy communications networks,” Ross said. “Then it shuts down some or all enemy emitters or injects misleading information or even malware. To control the skies, you must first control the electromagnetic spectrum. This is now IAF doctrine.” Ross also said that the Fateh-110 missiles had been delivered by Iran no more than a week before they were destroyed, which indicates that either the Islamic Republic is remarkably lax with its shipping manifests or that Israeli assets come and go in Syria like I do my own living room.
The last few days have seen a grit-teeth conversation among Syrian dissidents about what to make of Israel objectively aiding their cause. They needn’t disturb their consciences overmuch because the IAF looks right past them and doesn’t even see Syria as an independent country anymore, only an emerging Iranian suzerainty in the Levant. Dr. Shimon Shapira, a retired brigadier general of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), has written a paper unambiguously titled “Iran’s Plans to Take Over Syria,” which emphasizes comments made by Mehdi Taaib, the head of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s think tank, that Syria is “35th district of Iran,” tantamount to Khuzestan, the Arab-populated district of Iran. The architect of this grand strategy is Major General Qasem Suleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp-Quds Force, who, in an ambitious operation named for himself, has begun the training and financing of 150,000-strong sectarian militia in Syria known as Jaysh al Sha’bi, drawn from fighters from Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraq, and even the Gulf states. This Basiji-style irregular army, as well as older Syrian formations such as the minorities-staffed Popular Committees and the shabiha (both of which also receive the mullahs’ largesse), stand to inherit the responsibilities of the Syrian Army, and further Iranian interest, in the event of regime collapse.
Lest anyone think that these claims amount to Israel overstating its own security threat, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has put out a new study about the Persian bulwark keeping Assad alive which legitimates and expands on Shapira’s analysis. ISW also suggests that a major imperative for grounding Syrian aircraft or destroying the Air Force’s infrastructure is to halt to the uninterrupted supply-line of personnel and materiel from Tehran.
The report neatly lays out the history of proven Iranian involvement in Syria such as the assassination of IRGC-QF Brigadier General Hassan Shateri in the Damascus countryside in February 2013, and the prisoner swap deal brokered between the regime and the Free Syrian Army in January, which saw the release of high-ranking officials of the IRGC-Ground Forces including the current and former commanders of IRGC Shohada unit; the commander of 14th Imam Sadegh Brigade (Bushehr province); and members of the 33rd al-Mahdi Brigade (Fars province). All of these units have extensive experience in counterinsurgency tactics, as they deal with provinces of Iran used to tribal and ethnic unrest. As the ISW authors observe: “The forward deployment of high-ranking current commanders of IRGC Ground Forces units is unusual, as IRGC-QF is Iran’s traditional foreign military arm while IRGC-GF is responsible for internal security and conventional operations inside of Iran.”Moreover, the presence in Syria of agents from Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces, a sub unit of the Iranian Interior Ministry answerable to the Supreme National Security Council (and thus Khamenei himself), suggests that Tehran views Syria much the same way that Moscow views Georgia: as a domestic rather than foreign concern.
How are Iranian agents and weapons arriving in Syria? Through Iranian commercial and sometimes even Air Force planes, which ISW considers the “most critical component of Iranian material support to Syria.” In June 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Iran Air for sending military hardware including “missile or rocket components” to Syria, which the IRGC of course dressed this up as medical equipment or innocuous spare parts. Another Iranian airline, Yas Air, was also sanctioned in March 2012 for moving IRGC-GF agents and weapons. In total, the Treasury Department has identified 117 cargo and passenger planes associated with Yas Air, Iran Air, Mahan Air facilitating the regime’s war machine. To quote from the ISW report:
“One Syrian Air Ilyushin-76... has been identified as having travelled between airfields around Moscow, Tehran, and Damascus in 2012. Unauthenticated flight manifest records indicate that this Syrian plane has used Iraqi, Iranian, and Azeri airspace to deliver equipment from Russia. The aircraft reportedly transported over 200 tons of Syrian banknotes printed in Russia over multiple trips in 2012. The aircraft also attempted to transport refurbished Mi-25 Russian attack helicopters in this manner, although Iraqi authorities denied the over-flight request.”
When the U.S. controlled Iraqi’s air space, Iran had to travel via Turkey’s to deliver materiel to Syria. Yet Turkey started interdicting and inspecting Iranian aircraft in March 2011, forcing Iran to revert to Iraqi skyways. Nuri al-Maliki’s assurances to the State Department that he would inspect all flights coming from Iran and headed to Syria would be worthless even if they weren’t mendacious because the Iraqi Air Force in its current state can hardly patrol its own airspace. (Don’t worry, though: the Transport Minster Hadi al-Amiri is a member of the Tehran-supported Badr Organization and widely seen as an accomplice of the IRGC.)
Still another problem is Iran’s enabling of Iraqi Shiite militias in Syria such as Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH), Asai’b Ahl al-Haq (AAH) and the newly formed Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade (AFAB), which is diverse outfit of Syrian, Iraqi, and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters. Some of these militants are first flown to Tehran for training before being flown back to Damascus, chiefly to guard the Seyyada Zeinab district of the capital, where the daughter of Imam Ali is entombed.
Moving Iranian personnel and hardware within Syria is also best done through air transport. Yet the regime relies almost exclusively on the IL-76 transport plane, of which it currently has only five left in its inventory. Of its main strafing aircraft, the L-39 trainer jet, the Syrian Air Force is down to between 40 and 70. All other fixed-wing aircraft in its order of battle, particularly the MiG and SU attack jets, are Soviet-era, require heavy maintenance and even heavier training to make them mission capable. An intervention that confined itself to Syria’s air traffic would therefore severely hinder Iran’s ability to prop up Assad or further Suleimani’s “takeover” project.Perhaps seeking to drive this point home, ISW released a helpful slideshow yesterday examining the three ways that such an intervention can be accomplished. The first is to wage limited air strikes on Syrian infrastructure (runways, fuel depots, command, and control centers) without really going after the planes themselves. This would degrade the regime’s ability to receive Iranian air cargo (or IRGC facilitators or repatriating militiamen) as well as then redistribute them around Syria. It would further reduce the regime’s capability to launch air attacks against the opposition, thus improving, albeit not guaranteeing, conditions for a safe zone in the north. The second option is go after some Syrian aircraft and degrading the regime’s ability to transport anyone or anything incoming from Iran around the country (though this option wouldn’t necessarily stop personnel or materiel from entering Syria). The third option is a no-fly zone, which would eliminate the regime’s ability to conduct bombing runs or receive aerial resupply from Iran. It would protect any safe zone established along the Syrian-Turkish border from aerial attack, though not from any ground incursions (here is where trained and well-equipped rebels would be necessary stand-in forces for foreign boots on the ground).
In a follow-up interview with Foreign Policy, ISW analyst Christopher Harmer explained: "Establishing a classic no-fly zone is time consuming and costly; grounding the Syrian Air Force is as simple as sending a few cruisers and destroyers from Norfolk over to the Eastern Med and dropping 250 (Tomahawk) TLAM into Syria. That ends the Syrian Air Force in less than an hour.”
The good news is that this wouldn’t cost nearly as much as the executive branch has let on. The bad news is that so long as President Obama gives his consent to further IAF sorties, I don’t see the United States looking to compete with a regional ally for control of Syria’s skies. The likelier outcome is that Israel will continue with pinprick operations to disrupt the Iranian-Syrian-Hezbollah missile nexus, while Suleimani’s sectarian insurgency plans will continue unabated.
 

Culture clashes can be moveable beasts

By Michael Young/ The Daily Star
It is a fact that the notion of a clash of civilizations, first popularized by the American academic Samuel Huntington, is more relevant than ever in the minds of many people. Especially when it concerns Muslim-Western relations, there is a view that Muslim and Western values are incompatible. And yet Huntington’s argument that after the Cold War conflict would be defined not by ideology or economics, but by cultural differences, was prophetic as culture has become the principle basis for differentiation, even if it is often viewed in far too static a way.
The reaction to Huntington’s conclusion was generally one of unease. If what he said was true, then the future of the world could be very bleak indeed. Cultural differences would be regarded as sinister rather than as foundations of invigorating diversity. For many, Huntington seemed to be looking at the glass half empty, when the very concept of global interaction, and globalization in general, imposed a far more heartening reading of the situation.
Both sides had a point. Huntington was prescient for realizing that the causes of conflict would shift away from ideological antagonism (though the argument with respect to economics was less persuasive), even if they remained firmly in the realm of ideas. However it is also true that, in his rendering, global relations seemed to reflect an apocalyptic vision – that of perennial discord and enmity.
There is nothing wrong with discussing the disparities between Western and Muslim values, but to lend to the discussion unchangeable qualities on both sides is to miss the adaptable nature of culture and the ability of humans to modify cultural reactions in changing environments.
If one wants to question Huntington’s paradigm, it is in the sphere of perceptions where that has to be done. For many people in the West, the Arab uprisings since 2011 have been a case in point. These people have come to believe that what began as a yearning for democracy and freedom has ended up favoring Islamist groups that are neither particularly democratic nor tolerant of freedom, and who have usually sought restrictive legislation against women, a substantial portion of their populations.
But the reality lies in the nuances. For example, in Egypt and Tunisia, the Muslim Brotherhood and Ennahda have taken over major state institutions. While they have allowed behavior unheard of under the old regimes, they have also become increasingly contested as they have retained powers allowing them to restrict certain freedoms, such as freedom of expression, while riding roughshod over representative bodies.
Acknowledging the complex undercurrents of the Arab revolts is necessary in order to grasp what is going on. The notion that there is something irreconcilable between the aspirations of Arab societies and those of Western societies is simplistic, and often wrong, just as it is equally naïve to expect Arab societies in ebullition will wholeheartedly embrace Western values, such as secularism, the primacy of the individual at the expense of the group, and so on.
To demand such an embrace, no less than declaring it impossible, is to believe that culture talks in absolutes.
In the last 12 years since the 9/11 attacks, familiarity has led to a better Western understanding of the complexities in the Muslim world, while far-reaching changes in the Muslim world have undermined a black and white view of the region in the West. When Syrians revolted two years ago, they had no hesitation in asking for Western help, just as the overthrow of pro-Western autocrats was regarded favorably in the United States and Europe.
A Syrian or Egyptian still regards freedom much as a Frenchman or an American does, even if the preferred social contract each will advocate to protect those freedoms differs. Perhaps some will want more secularism, others more religion. But if the preferred social contract ends up undermining those same freedoms, then the chances are that new rebellions will occur at some stage.
Huntington was correct in looking toward culture as the boundary between Western and Eastern societies. But boundaries are ever-changing and values cross over between cultures by osmosis. To assume cultures are autarkic and rigid is as erroneous as to assume that cultural distinctions are invariably resolvable. The truth about culture lies in the middle; values are transposable, which is why identity is most enthralling when they are tethered the least.
*Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR. This commentary is published in collaboration with the Common Ground News Service (www.commongroundnews.org).