LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 15/09

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 1,29-39. On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you." He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

Saint Isaac the Syrian (7th century), monk near Mosul
Ascetical discourses/"Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place"
Nothing renders the soul so pure and joyful, nor illumines and distances it from evil thoughts, so much as keeping vigil. For this reason our fathers all persevered in this work of keeping vigil and adopted the rule of remaining awake through the night throughout the course of their life of asceticism. In particular, they did this because they had heard our Savior call us to it urgently in various places through his living Word: «Be vigilant at all times and pray» (Lk 21,36); «Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test» (Mt 26,41); and again, «Pray without ceasing» (1Thes 5,17).
Nor was he satisfied with having warned us by his words. He also set us an example in his own person by favoring the practice of prayer above everything else. That is why he frequently went off alone to pray, and not arbitrarily but choosing night as his time and the desert as his place that we too, avoiding the crowds and the bustle, might become able to pray in solitude. That is why our fathers received this high teaching concerning prayer as though it came from Christ himself. And they chose to watch in prayer following the command of the apostle Paul so that, above all, they might be able to remain close to God without interruption through continual prayer... Nothing external touches them nor moves the purity of their mind, which would trouble those vigils that fill them with joy and are the light of their souls.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Egypt: Gaza's Second Front.By FrontPage Magazine 14/01/09
Gaza: Israel under fire for alleged white phosphorus use-Christian Science Monitor 14/01/09
Arabs fiddle and squabble, again, as Palestine bleeds and burns, again-The Daily Star 14/01/09
Quotes and Notes Corner: 'Die or Embrace Islam'by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz 14/01/09
'Iranians Are Pro-Israel' - Part I.by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz 14/01/04
'Iranians Are Pro-Israel' - Part 11.by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz 14/01/04

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 14/09
Lebanese Army Deploys Special Forces in South-Naharnet
Israel Retaliates to Rocket Attack on Kiryat Shmona by Shelling Southern Lebanon-Naharnet
Fneish : We Have Nothing to Do With Firing Rockets on Israel-Naharnet
Clinton to Engage Iran and Syria Soon-Wall Street Journal
Bin Laden tape calls for holy war in Gaza-Christian Science Monitor
Geagea: We Would Defend Lebanon-Naharnet
Qassem: We are in the Age of the Resistance and There is No Going Back-Naharnet
Hizbullah Committed to Cabinet Stand on Rockets-Naharnet
Israel Threatens to Destroy South Lebanon-Naharnet
Rockets from Lebanon hit Israel -emergency services-Reuters
Rockets fired from Lebanon hit Israel once again-AP
Lebanon: Three rockets fired into Israel-آكي - Italy
Israel shells south Lebanon after rocket attack-International Herald Tribune
Lebanese TV confirms rockets attack on N Israel from S Lebanon-Xinhua
Israel Retaliates to Rocket Attack on Kiryat Shmona by Shelling Southern Lebanon-Naharnet
Israeli army continues offensive on Gaza for 19 days Xinhua
Israel Says Hamas Is Damaged, Not Destroyed-New York Times
Lebanese Cabinet Dispute over Council of the South Budget-Naharnet
Ministers In Lebanon Reject Canceling Right of MPs of Customs Exemption, Financial Allowances-Naharnet
Murr: Lebanon Would Not Be a War Theater-Naharnet
Lebanon Ready for Any Arab Summit-Naharnet
Lebanon Receives Additional U.S. Military Hardware-Naharnet
Israel stops Iranian aid ship heading to Gaza-AP
An Israeli View: Manage the diplomatic phase-Jerusalem Post
Palestinian official rejects involving Lebanon in war againstIsrael-Xinhua
Beirut repeats support of calls for summit on Gaza-Daily Star
False alarm over bomb scare at UNIFIL base blamed on over-enthusiastic dog-Daily Star
Gaza reminiscent of Sabra and Shatila - doctors-(AFP)
Lebanese town names street after 'real man' Chavez for expelling Israeli envoy-(AFP)
March 14's US wing calls for joint effort to get expatriates here for June polls-Daily Star
Salameh: stable monetary situation may lead to lower interest in 2009-Daily Star
Pneumonia claims Mansour Rahbani at 83-Daily Star
The Daily Star's first editor passes away at age 88-Daily Star
Beirutis put little faith in protest as means of ending Israeli war on Gaza-Daily Star
Anger over Egypt's Gaza policy still playing out on streets of Beirut-Daily Star
Hillary Clinton promises new approach to diplomacy-Los Angeles Times

Lebanon: Three rockets fired into Israel
Beirut, 14 Jan. (AKI) - At least three rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon on Wednesday, provoking fears of a second front in Israel's offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defense Forces immediately responded to the rocket attacks and fired a number of artillery shells. No injuries were reported in the exchange of fire.
"Three rockets fired into Israel landed outside the city of Kiryat Shmona," Micky Rosenfeld, a police official told the media on Wednesday.
Witnesses said Israel responded immediately with artillery fire into southern Israel.
The rocket attacks occurred as Israel's military offensive, Operation Cast Lead, entered its 19th day (Photo).
Palestinian officials estimate 978 Palestinians, many of them women and children, have died in the Israeli assault since it began on December 27.
Lebanese television reported that four rockets had been launched close to the south Lebanon town of Hasbaya.
Israeli media reported a similar incident occurred on Thursday, when at least two Katyusha rockets fired from south Lebanon exploded in northern Israel.
Two people were lightly wounded in the attack, and a number of others suffered from shock.
No one has claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks. The Islamist group Hezbollah said it had nothing to do with rocket attacks that targeted Israel from southern Lebanon last week.

Rockets fired from Lebanon hit Israel once again
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writers Ibrahim Barzak And Amy Teibel, Associated Press Writers
AZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Militants in Lebanon sent rockets crashing into northern Israel on Wednesday, while Israeli aircraft pounded a Gaza cemetery, Hamas weapons positions and tunnels used for smuggling, witnesses and the military said Wednesday.
The rockets from Lebanon landed in open areas near the town of Kiryat Shemona, causing no injuries or damage, Israeli police said. Residents of northern Israel were instructed to head to bomb shelters following the second attack from Lebanon in less than a week.
The rockets have fueled Israel's fears that militants in Lebanon could try to open a second front in solidarity with Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers.
The Israeli air and ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 940 Palestinians, half of them civilians, according to Palestinian hospital officials. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo Wednesday in diplomatic efforts to end the violence, which began 19 days ago.
Thirteen Israelis have also been killed, four of them by rocket fire from Gaza.
Eight years of Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israeli towns sparked the war, which began on Dec. 27 with a devastating air offensive, then expanded to include a ground campaign.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday's rocket attacks from Lebanon. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed guerrilla group that fought a monthlong war with Israel in 2006, denied involvement in a similar attack last week and speculation has focused on small Palestinian groups in Lebanon.
Lebanese security officials said the Israeli army fired shells on southern Lebanon in response. Israeli helicopter gunships flew reconnaissance missions along the heavily protected border as Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers sent out patrols, the Lebanese officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press.
The Israeli military confirmed that it returned fire, and said it regarded the Lebanese government and military as responsible for preventing attacks on Israel.
In Gaza, Israeli warplanes and helicopter gunships pounded 60 targets overnight, including a police court in Gaza City, rocket-launching sites, weapons-production and storage facilities and about 35 weapons smuggling tunnels, the military said. Witnesses in southern Gaza reported an air strike on the house of a rocket squad leader.
Aircraft also struck the Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza City, destroying about 30 graves — some recently dug — and scattering body parts for yards, residents said.
"There was flesh on the roofs, there was small bits of intestines. My neighbor found a hand of a woman who died a long time ago, we put it all into a plastic bag," said resident Ahmad Abu Jarbou.
The military had no immediate comment, but rocket squads have used graveyards as launching pads in the past.
Four Palestinians, including at least two militants, were killed and 32 people were wounded in overnight fighting, Gaza hospital officials said.
Early Wednesday, Israeli tanks fired shells at civilian areas, igniting small fires that dissolved into clouds of white smoke that hung above the city center, witnesses said. The Israeli military has not confirmed allegations that it has improperly used white phosphorous shells, saying only that it uses munitions is in accordance with international law.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has urged Israel to exercise "extreme caution" in using the incendiary agent, which is used to illuminate targets at night or create a smoke screen for day attacks, said Peter Herby, the head of the organization's mines-arms unit. The Red Cross said it had no evidence to suggest the incendiary agent was being used improperly or illegally.
Fireballs and smoke plumes from Israeli bombing have become a common sight in the territory of 1.4 million people, who are trapped because Israel and Egypt have blockaded border crossings ever since the Islamic militant Hamas group seized power in Gaza in June 2007.
Humanitarian concerns have increased amid the onslaught although some aid is getting through to Gaza during daily three-hour lulls Israel has allowed to let in supplies. A total of 111 truckloads of food and medical supplies were to pass Wednesday, the military said.
Palestinian rocket fire has dropped significantly since the offensive began. Twenty rockets and mortar shells were fired toward Israel on Tuesday, and there was no fire early Wednesday, the military said. In the early days of the offensive, militants fired as many as 80 a day.
Israel says it will push forward with the offensive until Hamas ends all rocket fire on southern Israel, and there are guarantees the militant group will stop smuggling weapons into Gaza through the porous Egyptian border.
Hamas has said it will only observe a cease-fire if Israel withdraws from Gaza.
Israeli military officials have said the talks in Cairo will determine whether Israel moves closer to a truce with Hamas or widens its offensive to send thousands of reservists into crowded, urban areas where casualties on both sides would likely mount.
Israel had planned to send its lead negotiator, Amos Gilad, to Cairo on Wednesday, but his trip was put off because conditions weren't ripe, defense officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the date of his departure has not been set.
Iranian state television reported Wednesday that the Israeli navy intercepted an Iranian ship loaded with medicine, food and clothing destined for Gaza, forcing the vessel to head toward an Egyptian port.
Ahmad Navabi, head of the humanitarian aid group sponsoring the ship, said on state television that the Israel navy approached the cargo ship just 20 miles off the coast of Gaza, and ordered it to turn around.
Meanwhile, Iran's supreme political and religious authority, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious opinion, or fatwa, urging Muslims throughout the world to avoid the purchase of any products that would profit Israelis.
**Teibel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Sam F. Ghattas contributed to this report from Beirut, Lebanon.

Israel stops Iranian aid ship heading to Gaza
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran – The Israeli navy has intercepted an Iranian ship loaded with medicine, food and clothing destined for Gaza and forced the vessel to head toward an Egyptian port, Iran's state television reported Wednesday.
Separately, Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious opinion, or fatwa, declaring the purchase of any Israeli goods or trade with Israeli companies to be forbidden. Ahmad Navabi, head of the humanitarian aid group sponsoring the ship, said in comments aired on television Wednesday that the Israel navy approached the cargo ship, Shahed, just 20 miles (30 kilometers) off the coast of Gaza at dawn Wednesday, and ordered it to turn back.
"An Israeli warship approached our cargo ship and warned us not to approach Gaza. We could see the lights at Gaza coast. We were forced to change route toward an Egyptian port," Navabi said.
The ship was carrying 2,000 tons of medicine, food and clothing to Palestinians living in Gaza.
Navabi said his group may have to try to send the humanitarian aid to Gaza through the Rafah land crossing at the Egyptian border. The ship left the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas two weeks ago. Iran has already sent a cargo plane filled with 50 tons of relief assistance to Egypt to be sent on to Gaza.
Iran has condemned Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip and said Iran would stand by the Palestinians.
Israel's bombardment of Gaza, which has killed more than 940 Palestinians since Dec. 27, has sparked outrage in Iran and throughout the Muslim world. Israel has said it launched its campaign to stop rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns by Hamas. Iran is Hamas' main backer, providing it political and financial support, though Tehran denies sending the organization weapons.
Iranian authorities issued an order last week banning international companies from working in Iran if they are found to have any shares owned by Israelis. And on Sunday, the Iranian government said it plans to impose sanctions on foreign companies dealing with Israel but it is not clear how or when will it be carried out.
In the opinion posted on his Web site, Khamenei urged Muslims throughout the world to avoid purchase, import, re-import and promotion of any products Israelis may profit from. "All Muslims are required to avoid purchase and use of goods that bring profit to Zionists who are at war with Islam and Muslims," Khamenei said.
A fatwa is a religious opinion that Muslims obey if they revere the person issuing it, which in the case of Khamenei would be restricted largely to Iranian Shiites.
Iran doesn't recognize Israel and has no trade ties with the Jewish state but the ruling affects international companies operating in Iran whose shareholders could prove to be Israelis.

Gaza: Israel under fire for alleged white phosphorus use
By Robert Marquand | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
and Nicholas Blanford | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the January 14, 2009 edition
PARIS; and Beirut, Lebanon - Marc Garlasco has been on the northern border of Gaza for the past five days watching what he says are white phosphorus munitions exploding over a crowded refugee camp.
Mr. Garlasco, a senior military analyst for New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), says that the way Israel is using the incendiary device is illegal. White phosphorus shells contain more than 100 felt filaments that ignite upon contact with the atmosphere, drift to earth, and burn intensely for at least 10 to 12 minutes.
The usage of white phosphorus is not illegal under international law if it's used in military operations as a smoke screen to cover troop movements or against bunkers, armored vehicles, and ammunition dumps. But its use is forbidden against people – civilians and soldiers alike – under nearly all military codes and laws.
"The use of white phosphorus is banned as a weapon that causes 'unnecessary suffering,' " says Mark Ellis, director of the International Bar Association in London. "It isn't to be used in civilian areas, or indeed against people since it creates horrible damage to the human body, and unnecessarily so."
Israel, which has been charged with using white phosphorus in Lebanon, says it is not using white phosphorus in its war against Hamas in Gaza, now in its 18th day.
"The IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] acts only in accordance with what is permitted by international law and does not use white phosphorus," IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi told Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday in response to a query.
But Garlasco says that phosphorus is clearly being used in the Jabaliya refugee camp, one of the most crowded areas in Gaza.
"I can see them; we are very certain, whatever the Israeli Defense Forces may say, that white phosphorus is being used. It was used by Israel in Lebanon in 2006, but not until the population fled. In Gaza, the population can't flee."
As the offensive continues, which has killed more than 900 people, a variety of European doctors in Gaza, human rights groups, news organizations like Al Jazeera, and observers on the border are reporting instances and sightings of weapons use that is causing deaths, and wounds they say they have not encountered before. Most are calling for access to Gaza to determine what is true amid a rage of reports and rumors.
While the phosphorus explosives are widely condemned for raining down indiscriminate harm, questions have also arisen about the possible use of another weapon called Dense Inert Metal Explosives, or DIME, that was created by the US Air Force. DIME is designed to be used in crowded urban areas since the weapons are highly lethal but have an extremely limited range of explosive force that can reduce collateral damage.
Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert, who worked in Gaza's main Shifa hospital during the first weeks of the conflict, and who spoke to media in Egypt and Norway in recent days, is the main source for allegations of DIME use.
"This is a new generation of very powerful small explosive that detonates with extreme power and dissipates its power within a range of five to 10 meters," he told reporters. "There is a very strong suspicion I think that Gaza is now being used as a test laboratory for new weapons."
Al Jazeera, which has reporters in Gaza, has described hospital cases that appear to conform to the clean tearing of limbs that DIME can cause.
Italian scientists from the New Weapons Research Committee, which examines emerging military technology, said in a statement that "evidence is mounting" of DIME usage, saying the wounds may be "untreatable" due to metals like tungsten that enter the body. DIME is packed with tungsten dust that forms micro-shrapnel upon detonation.
Paola Manduca, a geneticist at the University of Genoa, says she has seen "four photos from Gaza hospitals since December that look like the effects of DIME. We want to stress as professionals that we need to be able to verify what is happening, and we can't do that if Gaza is blocked."
But Israeli experts deny any such usage of DIME by the IDF in Gaza. Shlomo Brom, former brigadier general who consulted international legal experts on weapons use as head of the IDF's Strategic Planning division, derided human rights groups' allegations on white phosphorus and DIME as political propaganda.
"The weapons itself are not illegal. Whether they are used in keeping with international law is a matter of interpretation. To judge you need all of the operational considerations and intelligence available. Of course, they don't have it, so they are playing a very irresponsible role," he says.
During the Lebanon war in 2006, Israel was suspected of employing depleted uranium munitions as well as DIME. The Israeli military has also used cluster bombs and phosphorous munitions in its previous battles in Lebanon.
It was heavily criticized by human rights groups for firing both kinds of munitions into the densely populated streets of west Beirut during the siege of the city in the summer of 1982.
In the 1990s, when Israeli troops occupied a border strip of South Lebanon, the distinctive cotton ball puffs of brilliant white smoke from exploding phosphorous rounds were a common sight in frontline areas. The Israelis used phosphorous to burn crops in frontline villages and to destroy ground cover used by Hezbollah fighters to infiltrate the occupation zone.
In August 1997, five Israeli soldiers burned to death during a battle with Lebanese guerrillas when they were trapped in a frontline valley by a brush fire ignited by phosphorous rounds fired by their own artillery.
HRW reported in 1996 that phosphorous shells fired by Israel had struck populated areas, causing civilian casualties, during a week-long Israeli air and artillery blitz in South Lebanon in July 1993. At the time of the 1993 attack, Maj. Gen. Herzl Bodinger, commander of the Israeli Air Force, was quoted by Israel's Yedioth Ahranot as saying: "We do not use such bombs."
But in 1994, the US State Department reported that there were "credible accounts of IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] use of phosphorous shells against military and civilians targets" in South Lebanon.
Other controversial armaments used by Israel in Lebanon included antipersonnel "flechette" rounds fired by tanks. The round is designed to explode in the air, showering the target with 5,000 three-centimeter-long steel darts in a cone-shaped trajectory some 900 feet long.
The United Nations recorded many instances of "flechette" rounds being used in South Lebanon in the 1990s in which civilians were killed or wounded.
Last year, Fadel Shanaa, a Reuters cameraman, was killed in Gaza by a "flechette" round fired by an Israeli tank that Mr. Shanaa was filming at the time.
Whether Israel is using white phosphorus illegally or not in its latest war against Islamist militants in Gaza, the issue may be gaining too much focus, says Garlasco from HRW, and could be "a red herring."
Sara Roy, a senior research scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, agrees.
"While it is important to pay attention to these weapons, the majority of Gazans are being killed by typical military operations. I am a scholar and I use words carefully, and this seems like a massacre."
• Joshua Mitnick contributed reporting from Tel Aviv.

Quotes and Notes Corner: 'Die or Embrace Islam'
by Tevet 17, 5769, 1/13/2009
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/3290
Religious Jews are in a good position, I think, to understand Islamic scholarship on the text of the Koran. Some of it is reminiscent of the Jewish style of commentary. Commentary on the Koran is called tafsir and the most important tafsir is that of Ibn Kathir. Kind of like "the Rashi" of Koranic exegesis - but even more authoritative.
With that in mind, let's look at some Koran verses with their tafsir of Ibn Kathir.
The Koran, Al-Tawba, verses 29-30 says:
(29) "Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth among the People of the Scripture, [fight] until they pay the jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." (30) "And the Jews say:
"Fight against those who believe not in Allah..." -- The Koran
Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!"
Ibn Kathir comments: "This honorable verse (29) was revealed with the order to fight the People of the Book, after the pagans were defeated, the people entered Allah's religion in large numbers, and the Arabian Peninsula was secured under the Muslims' control. Allah commanded His Messenger to fight the People of the Scriptures, Jews and Christians, on the ninth year of Hijrah, and he prepared his army to fight the Romans and called the people to Jihad announcing his intent and destination."
The Koran, Al-Tawba, verse 5 says:
"So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful."
Ibn Kathir explains that "slay the idolaters wherever you find them" means "on the earth in general... executing some and keeping some as prisoners." The Koran's exhortation "and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in every ambush," is saying, "Do not wait until you find them. Rather, seek and besiege them in their areas and forts, gather intelligence about them in the various roads and fairways so that what is made wide looks ever smaller to them. This way, they will have no choice, but to die or embrace Islam," according to Ibn Kathir.
And then Ibn Kathir clarifies further our understanding of Islam: "These verses allowed fighting people unless, and until, they embrace Islam and implement its rulings and obligations." But Ibn Kathir does not depend on his own interpretation alone, he quotes the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as recorded in the most accepted book of Hadith (Islam's collection of Muhammad's instructions and personal example): "Ibn Umar said that the Messenger of Allah said, 'I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establish the prayer and pay the poor-tax.'"
Ibn Kathir says that Koran 9:5 is called "The Verse of the Sword" and that it "abrogated every agreement of peace between the Prophet and any idolater, every treaty, and every term." He quotes from another section of the Hadith saying, "No idolater had any more treaty or promise of safety ever since [this verse] was revealed."
Now, bearing all this in mind, along with the fact that Hamas is an Islamic fundamentalist movement whose members consider the Koran their constitution, some simple questions present themselves:
Who in their right mind would sign any deal, of any kind, with any of them?
**Researched, compiled and presented by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

'Iranians Are Pro-Israel' - Part I
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129392
(IsraelNN.com) An Iranian pro-democracy activist tells Israel National News that the image of Persians as fanatical fundamentalist Muslims is, for the most part, incorrect. However, he warns, the people of Iran will most likely join together in opposing any attack on their country out of a deep sense of patriotism.
According to the Islamic Republic of Iran's Fars News Agency, tens of thousands of students appealed to their
We are the followers of Cyrus the Great and his charter. The great king practiced what he believed.
government in recent weeks to "authorize martyrdom-seeking volunteers to leave Iran and fight against Israel in response to the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip." However, the nation's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Iranian television Thursday that the government will not be allowing the would-be jihad fighters to travel to Gaza, because "our hands are tied in this arena."
The day before Khamenei's televised appearance, a communique came out of Iran from a previously unknown organization called the Iranian Student Movement for Freedom claiming that Iranian students are not signing up for the Gazan jihad. "Claiming that the Iranian students are signing up to become martyrs is yet another attempt by the Iranian regime to force the world into believing that the Iranian people support the Islamic regime's global terror," says the communique.
Israel National News turned to Amil Imani, an Iranian-born pro-democracy activist currently living in the United States, for an insight into the true picture within Iran at this critical time. Imani is a widely published columnist, with articles appearing in the popular New Media Journal, American Thinker, Faith Freedom International, and this publication as well. He has also been on hundreds of radio talk shows across the world, including BBC World News.
INN: You once sent me a video purportedly filmed in Tehran of a graffiti artist creating a mural celebrating Israel's Independence Day. Do we have any hard numbers on grass-roots opposition to the Islamic regime?
Imani: First, let me thank you for the invitation. Temperamentally and historically most Iranians are pro-Israel. It's in their genes. By that, I mean, we are the followers of Cyrus the Great and his charter. The great king practiced what he believed. He, for example, helped rebuild the Temple of Solomon which had been destroyed by the Babylonian kings and freed some 40,000 or more Jews who had been imprisoned and kept as slaves by the Babylonians, empowering the Jewish people to return to their homeland. Something that was followed by Cyrus's heirs up to this date.
There are only a handful of Iranians, who are directly or indirectly paid by the present regime, who show enmity for Israel, but I think deep down, even they pretend and do not mean it. We have had nothing against the State of Israel or the Jews and we do not have even to this very date. We have always been protective of the Jews in Iran. That is a fact that has been proved many times over.
Sadly, the Jewish people have been used as scapegoats for many centuries by a variety of non-Jews. Regrettably, Muslims and Islamists, for their parts, have adopted scapegoating as an article of faith. The Muslims blame the Jews for all kinds of heinous things, dating back to the time of Muhammad himself.
Realistically, 80 to 90 percent of the entire population of Iran truly despise the current regime. In recent weeks, many cities in Iran have been the sources of ferocious anti-government protest, but, as always, the Western media has ignored reporting it.
80 to 90 percent of the entire population of Iran truly despise the current regime.
INN: How deep has Islamist brainwashing penetrated in Iran?
Imani: Today the Iranian people are having to carry on the work that the dissidents in the Soviet Union had to do at one time - and are suffering the same kinds of oppression and imprisonment and intimidation. The regime has spent billions of dollars for its Islamic propaganda and mass brainwashing. They have tried everything in their power to take away the joys of life from people and make them vessels of Allah. For the past 30 years, very similar to the "Great Purge", the mullahs, the agents of terror, have imposed an Islamic cultural revolution by forcing a prolonged indoctrination of Islamic dogma on people of all ages, particularly the young children. The ultimate goal was to "Islamicize" Iran's universities and schools. Ostensibly mandated to enforce the Islamic Dress Code, enacted in May 2006, armed guards are posted at all centers of higher education to prevent anti-regime demonstrations.
As more time passes, the mullahs are in more trouble. After the mullahs' uprising and their brutal acts, the Iranians found out that they were cheated badly by the Toodeh Party, as well as all the so-called left-leaning intellectuals; therefore, they had no choice but to find out how, why and by whom they were cheated. The result is that they went after soul searching. They went back to rediscover their roots, with the result that today almost all the young generation, which comprises more than half of the 70 million citizens, are more aware of their glorious pre-Islamic past than ever before.
Islam has become taboo for the new generation, so much so that it is taken as an insult to call any Persian "Muslim". This phenomenon is more prevalent among the Iranian diasporas all over the world. They are renouncing Islam and adhering to Zoroastrian faith. This very fact indicates the depth of the mullah's Islamic policy, which is doomed to failure.
INN: What is driving the pro-regime support rallies and statements we do see in the Iranian streets?
Imani: Distribution of money, bribery and brute force. The government employees are forced to participate in all kinds of makeshift demonstrations by the Islamist government thugs, as well as paid-for professional demonstrators from other places, including Lebanese Hizbullah, Palestinian terrorists and Afghani people. They have buses, full of people ready to go for these shows of deceit.
*Part II of this interview will appear tomorrow, Tuesday, January 13, 2009.

'Iranians Are Pro-Israel' - Part II
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129404
(IsraelNN.com) The following is Part II of an interview Israel National News conducted in recent days with Amil Imani, an Iranian-born pro-democracy activist currently living in North America. The discussion focused on an effort to understand Iran at this critical time in history.
INN: What do you think would be the reaction of Iranians to an Israeli attack to take out the nuclear sites in Iran?
The mullahs are highly vulnerable, given the ruin they have visited upon Iran and their stone-age discriminatory practices.
Imani: It would be a mixed reaction outcome which would not be easy to envisage. Some people think that it is our right to have the technology, but not under the helm of the irresponsible present regime. That includes me.
Therefore, it is obvious that many people will not appreciate an attack on the nuclear facilities in Iran that will turn our national wealth into dust. That alone will create uncertainty in predicting what would be the reaction of Iranians towards demolishing the nuclear facilities. Knowing the Iranian patriotism, they would be more or less forced to set aside their differences and fight with the invaders. They think that the present irresponsible regime will pass sooner or later; therefore, we have to safeguard our national assets.
An unsuccessful military action would give [Iranian President Mahmoud]Ahmadinejad more power and popularity in the Islamic world, particularly in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. The regime also has its own missile program that can reach up to London. They can hit Israel with ease and also attack other U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf region.
INN: Do you think such an attack is possible?
Imani: I am not the authority to comment on this question. It is the responsibility of the Israelis' relevant authorities to examine the possibility of such a full-fledged undertaking. I believe neither the military option nor the appeasement of the present regime is the way to defeat the Islamofascists. The mullahs are highly vulnerable, given the ruin they have visited upon Iran and their stone-age discriminatory practices. A comprehensive political, moral and economic measure by the United States and others offers the best chance of ending the mullah's reign of terror and re-enlisting Iran in the rank of free democratic nations.
Iranians are much different today than a few years ago. There are many elements, even within the regime itself, that advocate that mullahs must give up power and go back to their mosques.
INN: How close is a "new Persian revolution"?
Imani: I hear many people always ask me the same question: Why couldn't the Iranian people extricate themselves from their present, very suboptimal circumstances in terms of economic opportunity, freedom of speech and vital human rights? When are they going to revolt?
The previous revolution was not so much a revolution, but a restoration, a significant move backward in time. Let me also say this, most Iranians are not really devoted to the orthodox Shi'a faith, regardless of what the flickering images on Western TV screens show after Friday prayers. Most Iranians are open-minded, multicultural, pragmatic and [are] looking both towards East and West. Iranian people are definitely not hostile to the West in general - or to the United States and Israel in particular. In fact, according to a recent Gallup poll conducted in 27 mostly Muslim countries, only in Iran have sentiments toward the United States improved.
Again, realistically, it appears Iranian people do not wish to have another revolution; they are seeking a peaceful transition. They look to our friends abroad for their support, which till this very day is yet to come.
If all fails, revolution will find its path. The revolution must be directed towards making things better. Iranians have learned that this has not been the case most often. It must aim towards the improvement of certain aspects of society, economics, culture, or any other aspects of a social group. Iranians do not wish an aggressive revolution. They believe violence should not be used, as this only leads to the loss of life, war, and loss of objective. Iranians by nature are peace loving people.
INN: What do you think will be the attitude of a non-Islamist Iran to Israel? To the Arab world? To the Palestinian Authority? To the Kurds?
Imani: 1. The non-Islamic attitude towards Israel will return to the friendly atmosphere of pre-1979 upheaval. 2. The Arab World is not our concern. We are - by sheer numbers and knowledge, industry, etc. - superior to them. Hence, we can keep a proper relation with them as we had before. 3. Iranians, as well as all the Arabs, have unfavorable attitude towards Palestinians. There is no doubt about that. Actually, the Arabs call them "dividers"! 4. The Kurds are true Aryans/Persians. We do not have problems with them. If they seek internal administrative autonomy in their own region, it will not create a problem. We have a provision in the 1906 Constitution and its Amendments for the same autonomy. However, it was not put to work then due to the security of the entire country; whereas, the situation has changed in a way that it does not warrant the same precautions.
INN: From your familiarity with Islam and Islamist regimes - like Hamas - what should be Israel's immediate objective in Gaza? And for the long-term?
Imani: Israel is a sovereign state, but hardly safe. She is surrounded by nations and peoples who are bent on her
Now that Israelis have left Gaza voluntarily, they don't know what to do with [it].
destruction. It is tragic that your neighbors and you have not been able to find an equitable way of living side-by-side with mutual respect and in peace. I think the people of Israel are fighting for their very existence against a small group who are the elite of elite and want them removed from the planet.
Israel should never have left Gaza; they should have stayed and mopped up the terrorists. I am getting a bit miffed with GLOBAL TV [in Ontario, Canada - ed.] and other networks. Every time Hamas shoots these many rockets into Israel and Israel clouts them back, GLOBAL TV always shows the "poor Palestinian citizenry" suffering under the return fire of Israel. The poor Palestinian "innocent" citizens are taught in their schools, in their textbooks and in class that Israel and the West are bad and must be destroyed. This is promoted while the Hamas terrorists hide behind their women and children in a firefight.
But now that Israelis have left Gaza voluntarily, they don't know what to do with Gaza. I think they should keep their presence in Gaza as long as it takes to completely disarm Hamas, which has become the proxy of the Islamic Republic. But the problem is that the other party, Fatah, cannot be trusted either. Arabs do not trust them, why should Israelis do so? I believe Israel must always do what is in the best interest of Israel and her citizens.

Egypt: Gaza's Second Front
By FrontPage Magazine
FrontPageMagazine.com | Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Immediately after Operation Cast Lead began, an internationally published columnist wrote a series of articles entitled, "Hamas, Damascus, Iran - The New Axis of Evil," which stated the sovereign government of the Gaza Strip has "elements similar to Nazism." The author described Hamas as "lunatics who have butchered their own people," stating its leadership is "trying to bring destruction upon its people," whom it is "holding hostage."
Who penned such words? Was it William Kristol? Walid Phares? Alan Dershowitz?
No, it was Muhammad Ali Ibrahim, an Egyptian MP and editorialist for the state-controlled newspaper Al-Gumhouriyya, and his anthology reveals one of the most overlooked elements of the Israeli-Hamas conflict to date: the enlightened self-interest of many Arab nations, especially Egypt, is leading them to quietly align their foreign policy toward pursuing Israeli objectives. Chief among these is an abiding indifference toward, or antipathy for, the Hamas-led government of Gaza, discussions of a ceasefire conducted at a snail's pace, and the possible collaboration of two Arab governments in cutting off weapons smuggling to Gaza terrorists. These nations' reaction provides a glimmer of hope that in the modern Arab Street, there are some forces so radical mainstream Arab leadership will have nothing to do with them.
Egypt brokered the last Israeli-Hamas ceasefire in June, which Hamas systematically violated and refused to renew when it expired last December 19. In turn, Egypt and other moderates have exposed and attempted to isolate Hamas from the very beginning of hostilities. Ibrahim's newspaper columns followed an immediate dispatch written by Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party, which blamed Gaza's terrorist leadership - and not the familiar Zionist enemy - for violence. "Hamas is responsible for the turn that events have taken," the article read, describing the Strip's leaders as "reckless" and "delusional." Egytian officials also humiliated Gaza's leadership by announcing on December 28 that Hamas refused to allow wounded Palestinians to leave Gaza. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said, "The wounded are barred from crossing" into Egypt. He added, "We are waiting for the wounded to cross." However, it is the deeds of the largest Arab nation, not merely its words, that offend the Islamist entity.
Israel began its campaign of self-defense on Saturday, December 27, and Hamas called for an immediate emergency session of the Arab League to impose a ceasefire. The Arab League, largely controlled by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, sprang into action, calling a meeting -- for the following Wednesday, tacitly allowing the IDF to do its damage until December 31. Egyptian officials did not meet with Hamas officials to discuss the terms until last Tuesday, January 6, when Palestinian Hamas official Emad al-Alami and Syrian Hamas official Mohammed Nasr arrived in Cairo. Again this Tuesday, Qatar demanded a same-day emergency summit to discuss Gaza; Saudi Arabia, speaking on behalf of nearly all Arab League countries, chose to wait until the regularly scheduled meeting in Kuwait next Monday, January 19. The European Union, led by French President Nicholas Sarkozy, has been more responsive. French, Russian, and British officials tried to halt Operation Cast Lead from its outset and have pursued a regionally brokered ceasefire with indefatigable zeal ever since.
Yet the government of Egypt has not proved malleable to the terrorists' demands. At their initial meeting, al-Alami and Nasr rebuffed the Egyptian call for a ceasefire, insisting Israel "end the aggression, withdraw from Gaza, open the crossing points, especially Rafah, with a total lifting of the blockade." Egypt has not budged from a proposal that deeply offends Hamas: the plan sets no timetable for IDF withdrawal from Gaza and requires Gaza to open talks with Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, Hamas' avowed enemy, with the aim of eventual reunification it hopes will bury Hamas in the process. Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman told Hamas that Egypt is setting a minimum one-year term for the ceasefire, rather than a temporary tahdia, or calm, with Israel. In this, Egypt has the full support of the Saudis and Jordanian King Abdullah II. As of Tuesday, Hamas publicly rejected the Egyptian ceasefire proposal, sticking to its own terms. Egyptian sources have told the press Hamas leaders in Gaza support the ceasefire but its foreign political leadership has rejected the measure under pressure from Syria and/or Iran.
As a result, both Cairo and Tel Aviv refuse to reopen the Rafah border crossings until the conditions of a 2005 agreement are met. Last Thursday, MSNBC reported Egypt forbade doctors from entering Gaza through the Rafah border crossing "citing security concerns."
Incredibly, Egypt, with assistance from Turkey, may move to cut off the flow of weapons into Gaza via secret tunnels quarried into Egypt. Israeli officials have acknowledged such as their prime military objective. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Ehud Olmert, called the destruction of the tunnel system "the make-or-break issue" upon which peace depends. Middle East envoy and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed "definitive action" must be taken on the tunnels, "otherwise, I think we are in for a protracted campaign." To date, the IDF has destroyed approximately 150 tunnels -- but it believes this accounts for only half of their total number.
Hosni Mubarak's government may have a bolder plan: building a moat along the Philadelphi Corridor, which connects Sinai to Gaza. Meanwhile, Turkish soldiers have volunteered to man the Egypt-Gaza border to keep weapons from crossing. It is unclear whether Mubarak would accept the second half of the plan, as Egypt wants no foreign troops on its soil. However, if such a program were implemented consistently, Turkish and Egyptian pressure coupled with Israeli control of the sea and air would assure that Hamas cannot replenish its arms stockpiles, effectively neutering it a a military force.
It is just this that has set the majority of the Arab Street burning with rage. Egypt has faced backlash from around the Arab world, and beyond, for its seeming indifference to Gaza and its refusal to reopen the Rafah border crossing. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the head of a non-Arab state, criticized Egypt for neglecting its Arab brothers in the land it once occupied. Lebanese Sunni cleric Maher Hamoud assigned Abu Gheit to the "Party of Satan." He further elevated the discourse by saying:
It is a disgrace that his name is Ahmad. He is Ahmaq Abu Ghaet ["Idiot Abu Shit"] - you all know what "shit" means. He is Idiot Abu Shit, not Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit. It is Idiot Abu Shit who is talking a load of shit, when he says the missiles are the reason for these crimes and for what is happening, without shedding a tear.
Angry crowds in Beirut have paraded with pictures of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez bearing the words, "This is what real men are like." On Sunday, angry Syrian crowds chanted,"Mubarak, you are a coward, you are the agent of colonization. Down, down with the Arab rulers, the collaborators."
One can see the frustration. Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey have offered humanitarian aid to Gaza -- but none have cut diplomatic ties with Israel, as Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez did. This week, 21 Kuwaiti MPs appealed to the government to declare Palestinian Authority President Abbas' impending visit "unwanted," due to his alleged weakness toward Israel. (He, too, has placed the blame for the war squarely on Hamas.) Faced with such indifference, Nicholas Sarkozy has taken to pressuring Syria, recognizing Damascus and Tehran hold sway over Gaza and alone are willing to accommodate its wishes.
Muslim anger has boiled over to the point that some are taking matters into their own hands. Israelis claim civilians inside Jordan and Syria have attacked Israeli soldiers patrolling those borders in the last week. This follows the firing of at least four Katyusha rockets from Lebanon into Israel late last year. So angry are Jordanians that the Hashemite Kingdom has had to make amends with its chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, and MB political front the Islamic Action Front (IAF), in order to allow its mostly Palestinian population to vent its anger over Gaza through controlled public demonstrations. Egypt, thankfully, took a different approach. As fighting broke out, Mubarak's men arrested at least 16 Muslim Brotherhood leaders following massive protests in Alexandria on January 9th.
Such anger shows the genesis of the cautious approach taken by Egypt, et. al. Their responsible course has been set, not out of benevolence for the Jewish state and it signals no change of heart about the dagger in the heart of Islam. Egypt has acted in this fashion for two self-serving reasons: its own prestige and its regime's safety, the latter of which is shared by many of its fellow travelers.
Egypt is the largest Arab nation in the world and looked to as the chief negotiator for the region. With an intractable Hamas being operated by terror-sponsors in Damascus and Tehran, the nations of Syria and Iran (themselves joined in a mutual entente) threaten Egyptian hegemony.
More to the point, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia share a common concern: Hamas' Islamofascist comrades have long desired to topple moderate, non-theocratic regimes. The Saudi royal family's promotion of Wahhabi Islam is essentially a protection racket. The Land of the Nile is faced with its own extremist, Islamist movement -- exacerbated partly by U.S. policy. The Bush Doctrine pressured Cairo to hold free and fair elections, as it did the Palestinian Authority, and in both cases radical Islamists gained ascendancy. In Egypt, members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood gained numerous seats in parliament as "independents." The last thing Cairo wants is a miniature Taliban on the Sinai border inspiring its own theocrats to join hands with foreign fighters.
All things being equal, there is little reason to believe the average government official in Egypt, Jordan, or Saudi Arabia would not secretly love to see Israel pushed into the sea. But politics makes strange bedfellows -- and right now, Egypt understands its survival as a secular state is tied to that of Israel.