LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
September 17 /12

Bible Quotation for today/Humility
Mark 10/35-45: "James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’ When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Burning the embassies: Who will benefit/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/September 16/12
The nightmare of al-Assad/By Hussein Shobokshi/Asharq Alawsat/September 16/12
The Collective Punishment of Egypt's Christian Copts/By Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity/ September 16/12

Pope Departs Beirut, Urges Lebanon to Resist those who Would Destroy Peace
Naharnet /16 September 2012,
Pope Benedict XVI took leave of Lebanon on Sunday urging its people, Christian and Muslim, to reject anything that might divide them and to choose brotherhood. "I pray to God for Lebanon, that she may live in peace and courageously resist all that could destroy or undermine that peace," he said at the close of a three-day visit to a country with 18 officially recognized faith communities. "I hope that Lebanon will fortify the communion among all her inhabitants, whatever their community or religion, that she will resolutely reject all that could lead to disunity, and with determination choose brotherhood." His remarks were particularly poignant as a civil war raging in neighboring Syria has caused rifts among Lebanon's political class, with political factions divided in their stance towards President Bashar Assad's regime. It also comes as the world is rocked with deadly protests by Muslims angered over a U.S.-made film that mocks Islam. Speaking of his time in Lebanon, the pope said "the Arab world and the entire world will have seen, in these troubled times, Christians and Muslims assembled to celebrate peace." "It is a tradition in the Middle East to receive a guest with consideration and respect as you have done. I thank you all. "But, to that consideration and respect, you added something else, which can be compared to one of those renowned oriental spices which enriches the taste of food: your warmth and your affection, which make me wish to return." Referring to the biblical story in which King Solomon asked Hiram, from what is now the Lebanese city of Tyre, to build the temple in Jerusalem, the pope recalled that furnishings from Lebanese cedars adorned the interior. So Lebanon was "present in the sanctuary of God, in the holy place and in the holy of holies. May the Lebanon of today, and her inhabitants, also dwell in the sanctuary of God! "May Lebanon continue to be a place where men and women can live in harmony and peace with each other, in order to give the world not only a witness to the presence of God... whatever their political, social or religious standpoint."

Pope Celebrates Mass on Final Day in Lebanon, Calls for Mideast Leaders to Work for Peace
Naharnet Newsdesk 16 September 2012/
..Pope Benedict XVI prayed on Sunday that Middle East leaders work toward peace and reconciliation, stressing again the central theme of his visit to Lebanon, whose neighbor Syria is engulfed in a civil war. "May God grant to your country, to Syria and to the Middle East the gift of peaceful hearts, the silencing of weapons and the cessation of all violence," the pope said at the end of mass on the final day of his trip to Lebanon, which was attended by President Michel Suleiman and a number of other officials.
He also appealed to the international community and to Arab countries, in particular, that "as brothers, they might propose workable solutions respecting the dignity, the rights and the religion of every human person." In his weekly Angelus, a prayer to the Virgin Mary, he said "let us ask her to intercede with her divine Son... for the people of Syria and the neighboring countries, imploring the gift of peace.
"You know all too well the tragedy of the conflicts and the violence which generates so much suffering. Sadly, the din of weapons continues to make itself heard, along with the cry of the widow and the orphan. "Violence and hatred invade people’s lives, and the first victims are women and children. Why so much horror? Why so many dead?"
Earlier, the pope said that, "in a world where violence constantly leaves behind its grim trail of death and destruction, to serve justice and peace is urgently necessary.
"I pray in particular that the Lord will grant to this region of the Middle East servants of peace and reconciliation, so that all people can live in peace and with dignity," he added.
An estimated 350,000 people had gathered under a bright warm sun to join the pontiff as he celebrated a solemn mass on his third and final day in Lebanon.
Benedict said service is key to the practice of a Christian life, just as Jesus Christ did not come to be a powerful political leader, but a servant.
On Saturday, the frail, 85-year-old pontiff urged Middle Eastern Christians and Muslims to forge a harmonious, pluralistic society in which the dignity of each person is respected and the right to worship in peace is guaranteed. Those who desire to live in peace must have a change of heart, Benedict said, which involves "rejecting revenge, acknowledging one’s faults, accepting apologies without demanding them and, not least, forgiveness." He said the universal yearning of humanity for peace can only be realized through community, comprising individual persons, whose aspirations and rights to a fulfilling life are respected.
He said the conditions for building and consolidating peace must be grounded in the dignity of man.
Poverty, unemployment, corruption, addiction, exploitation and terrorism "not only cause unacceptable suffering to their victims but also a great impoverishment of human potential. We run the risk of being enslaved by an economic and financial mindset, which would subordinate 'being' to 'having'."
Without pointing fingers, he said "some ideologies undermine the foundations of society. We need to be conscious of these attacks on our efforts to build harmonious coexistence."
Benedict noted that Christians and Muslims have lived side by side in the Middle East for centuries and that there is room for a pluralistic society.
"It is not uncommon to see the two religions within the same family. If this is possible within the same family, why should it not be possible at the level of the whole of society?
"The particular character of the Middle East consists in the centuries-old mix of diverse elements. Admittedly, they have fought one another, sadly that is also true. A pluralistic society can only exist on the basis of mutual respect, the desire to know the other and continuous dialogue."
Central to that, the freedom "to profess and practice one’s religion without danger to life and liberty must be possible to everyone."
Echoing his words Grand Mufti, Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, said the events rocking the Arab world "bring us Muslims and Christians a light that shows us the path to a better tomorrow, though they also bring many dangers that are a threat to us.
"But just as we made our history together in the past, we will also make our future together, based on coexistence."
The pope's outreach to Muslims is particularly poignant as the region is rocked by the deadly violence over the anti-Islamist film that cost the lives of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans on Tuesday.
On Saturday, the pope met with thousands of youth, urging Muslims and Christians to "live side by side without hatred, with respect for the beliefs of each person, so as to build together a free and humane society.Addressing a number of Syrians among them, he said: "I want to tell you how much I admire your courage," adding that he was "sad because of your suffering and your bereavement."
The pope returns to Rome on Sunday evening.
SourceAgence France Presse.

Suleiman Urges Commitment to Apostolic Exhortation to Maintain Dialogue in Lebanon
Naharnet/16 September 2012/President Michel Suleiman noted on Sunday that there can be no development without peace and justice. He said: “There is a need to commit to the Apostolic Exhortation in order for Lebanon to remain the country of dialogue and openness.”He made his remarks during a farewell ceremony held in Pope Benedict XVI’s honor at Rafik Hariri International Airport.
The pope concluded on Sunday a three-day visit during which he signed the Apostolic Exhortation. Suleiman added: “The exhortation includes guidelines for social and political reform and the need arises today for us to abide by its dictates.” “There can be no peace without justice and the respect of human rights,” he continued. He thanked the pontiff for his visit and numerous statements on Lebanon, its unity and independence. He also thanked him for his efforts to protect it against any aggression, reiterating a pledge that Lebanon “will remain a nation of dialogue, openness, and mutual coexistence based on equal partnership among all of its sons.” “You now leave the land of the cedars after you had delivered to it a message of peace during a time of changes,” said the president.
“Lebanon will maintain loyal to its ties with the Vatican,” declared Suleiman. On regional developments, he noted: “The Arab revolts have potential for reform and democracy despite the violence witnessed.”

Pope urges unity as he departs Lebanon
September 16, 2012/By Dana Khraiche/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Pope Benedict XVI urged Lebanese Sunday to reject strife and continue their model of coexistence before departing Beirut at the end of a rare three-day visit by the head of the Catholic Church to this Mediterranean country.
“I pray to God for Lebanon, that she may live in peace and courageously resist all that could destroy or undermine that peace,” Benedict said in his farewell speech at Beirut’s international airport.
"I hope that Lebanon will fortify the communion among all her inhabitants, whatever their community or religion, that she will resolutely reject all that could lead to disunity, and with determination choose brotherhood," the pope added.
The Holy See also praised the efforts of the president and the government in organizing activities during his stay and said: “In these troubled times, the Arab world and indeed the entire world will have seen Christians and Muslims united in celebrating peace.”
“May God bless Lebanon and all the Lebanese,” the Holy See added as hundreds of people dressed in white and carrying The Vatican flags chanted his name.
The Holy See waved goodbye to onlookers before boarding a Middle East Airlines Airbus 320, which took off at 7.30 p.m. and is headed to the Italian capital Rome.
"But, to that consideration and respect, you added something else [to the trip], which can be compared to one of those renowned oriental spices which enriche the taste of food: your warmth and your affection, which make me wish to return. I thank you for that especially," Benedict said.
President Michel Sleiman, who spoke during the farewell ceremony, thanked the pontiff for his efforts to help Lebanon remain united and said that his country would stay loyal to the message of coexistence.
“We cannot but thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your compassion, care and efforts for the sake of Lebanon and its unity,” the president said after a military band played the national anthems for the Vatican and Lebanon.
“You depart the land of the cedars after bringing it and the East a message of peace and love in a time of historic changes and challenges,” Sleiman said.
Sleiman, the only Christian head of state in the Arab world, also said that the Synod represents a “new hope for Lebanon,” because it carries political, culture and social recommendations.
Benedict’s last stop prior to his departure from Rafik Hariri International Airport was the Syriac Catholic monastery in Charfet, north of Beirut, where he called for the unity of Christians in the Middle East.
During the 30-minute meeting with Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan as well as patriarchs and bishops of non-Catholic denominations, the pope stressed the importance of Christian unity in the Middle East and reiterated his call for Christians not to abandon their land.
Patriarch Younan received the pope upon arrival and accompanied him to the Hall of Honor, where the Holy See signed the monastery’s guest book.
The pontiff, who was welcomed by Lebanese of different faiths during his stay, will deliver a farewell speech before boarding a Middle East Airlines Airbus 320 at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport at 7 p.m.
During his three-day visit, which comes 15 years after the landmark visit of the late Pope John Paul II, the head of the Roman Catholic Church called for interfaith dialogue as a means to bring peace to the region.
In a Sunday morning Mass attended by an estimated 350,000 people at the Beirut Water Front City, the pope urged the Arab countries and the world to propose solutions to end the conflict in Syria.
“Let us ask her [Virgin Mary] to intercede with her divine son for you [Lebanon] and, more particularly, for the people of Syria and the neighboring countries, imploring the gift of peace,” the pope said at the end of the Mass.
“You know the problems that beset the region. There is a tremendous amount of pain ... Why so much death? I call on the international community and Arab countries to propose solutions which respect human rights," he added.
Sleiman, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Mikati as well as MPs and Cabinet ministers attended the Mass. Other politicians in attendance included Future Movement MP Bahia Hariri and several Hezbollah deputies.
During his visit, the Holy See met with various Christian and Muslim figures including Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani who delivered a letter to the pope and said Saturday that “any attack on Christians is in an attack on Muslims.”
The pope, who said he represented a “pilgrim of peace” during his stay in Lebanon, urged Christians in the country and the Middle East not to abandon their land. In a gathering Saturday with Arab and Lebanese youth at Bkirki, the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate, the pope said he was moved by the courage of Syrian youth and said he was saddened by the hardships of the people there.
He reiterated his praise of Lebanon’s “beautiful coexistence” and urged Muslim youths to work with their fellow Christians.
During the ceremony, Benedict urged Christians not to abandon their land because of an “uncertain future.”
“Unemployment and dangers should not force you to migrate for an uncertain future. Act as the makers of your country's future and play your role in society and the Church,” he said.
The Holy See signed the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East Friday in a ceremony at Saint Paul Basilica in Harissa, north of Beirut, where he urged Christians not to be afraid but brave difficulties facing them in the region.

America's ambassador to the United Nations, Rice: 'No daylight' between U.S., Israel on Iran
WASHINGTON: America's ambassador to the United Nations says there's "no daylight" between the United States and Israel when it comes to stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. But Susan Rice also says U.S.-Israeli intelligence indicates that the two nations have "considerable time" before that happens. Rice was responding to a steady drumbeat of warnings in recent days by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Iran is dangerously close to acquiring an atomic weapon. Rice tells CNN's "State of the Union" that economic penalties are working.
Tehran insists its program is peaceful. Rice says President Barack Obama has been clear that it stands with Israel and "will do what it takes" to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. But, she adds, "we are not at that stage yet."

Al Qaeda-led Salafis hit three Egyptian Sinai bases, down Egyptian chopper
DEBKAfile Special Report September 16, 2012/Salafi Bedouin and al Qaeda bands Sunday, Sept 16, expanded their Sinai offensive to three Egyptian bases along a 70-kilometer front three days after they raided the US-led Multinational Force base south of El Arish in northern Sinai and hoisted the black Islamist flag. debkafile’s military sources report that at dawn, a small group managed to creep up to the northern Sinai Egyptian command center in al Arish and plant a large bomb against its walls. Because of the total Egyptian blackout on the episode, there is no information on casualties or damage.
The explosion was followed by a horde of heavily armed gunmen firing rocket grenades and heavy machine guns swooping on the center and seizing the rooftops of surrounding buildings to pin down the Egyptian commanders inside the compound. By the end of the day, the Salafi-al Qaeda gangs were in control of El Arish, the key town of northern Sinai.
At a distance of 40 kilometers, a fierce battle erupted at another site, Sheikh Zuwaid, 3 kilometers from the MFO’s northern base which was attacked Friday. The raiders captured the local school and took dozens of children hostage. Using them as human shields, the terrorists advanced on the local police station shooting anti-tank rockets, rocket grenades, automatic weapons and fire bombs.
To repel this attack, the Egyptian army deployed combat helicopters which struck the invaders with missiles and heavy machine guns. One chopper was reported shot down. Due to the Egyptian news blackout, there is no word on the fate of the children, the helicopter crew or whether it was downed by an anti-air rocket or machine gun fire,
The Salafi-al Qaeda terrorists next turned to the Egyptian special forces base at Rafah abutting the Gaza Strip and just across the Israeli border. This is the same base which Salafi Bedouin and al Qaeda gunmen attacked on Aug. 5 killing 16 Egyptian troops and crashing through the frontier barrier into Israel.
debkafile’s military sources report that the broad al Qaeda-led offensive Sunday marks a major and dangerous escalation in the Islamist terrorist coalition’s war plans for Sinai. It carried four messages:
1. It is a military force to be reckoned: The jihadi terrorists first displayed their military prowess on Aug. 5, when they took on two armies at once. Sunday, they attacked three military targets along a 70-kilometer front, a feat which even the Afghan Taliban has not mastered.
2. This feat puts the Sinai Army of Islam at the forefront of the violent Islamist protest against the United States sweeping across the Middle East and Asia over a film mocking the Prophet Muhammad. Because it is beyond the horizon of international attention and the Western media, Washington, Cairo and Jerusalem have been able to keep its true impact under wraps.
3. More than 1,000 MFO peacemakers including hundreds of American officers have been under Salafi-Al Qaeda-Bedouin siege for three days since their Al Ghora base was raided Friday. They have a fleet of helicopters and small reconnaissance aircraft with American crews, but they don’t dare take off because it is feared that al Qaeda gunmen will shoot them down with FIM-92 Stinger anti-air missiles smuggled into Sinai from Libya.
4. The IDF high command is tensed now for the jihadis to again turn their guns and rockets on Israel.

Hezbollah: U.S. should be held accountable for anti-Islam film
September 16, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hezbollah’s leader blamed the United States Sunday for a recent anti-Islam film that has led to outrage in countries where Muslims live and said the offensive production posed a grave threat that aimed to sow strife between Christians and the followers of the Prophet Mohammad. Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah also urged Lebanon to criminalize any form of insult to Islam’s Prophet. “The ones who should be held accountable and boycotted are those who support and protect the producers, namely the U.S. administration,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech. Nasrallah described as disingenuous attempts by the U.S. to halt the broadcasting on the Internet of “Innocence of Islam” – which has led to sometimes violent protests against U.S. and foreign missions in the Arab world. "The movie was produced in the United State and here the Muslim world is asking the American administration to stop broadcasting the movie and prevent the release of the full version as well as holding accountable those who attacked the dignity of a billion-and-half people in the world,” he said.
“But the U.S. administration assures that it will do nothing, citing the idea we all know of freedom of speech and American principles,” he added.
Nasrallah said the Muslim community needed to respond to the film. “[The insult to Muslim] requires a huge stance by the Muslim community that is commensurate with such a danger and aggression,” he said. The Hezbollah chief said the aim behind the film was to stir discord between Christians and Muslims. “There are goals for such an insult to Islam and its Prophet ... one of these is to incite strife between Muslims and Christians and to drag them to a religious, sectarian and bloody conflict,” Nasrallah said.

The nightmare of al-Assad
By Hussein Shobokshi/Asharq Alawsat
The Arabs will wake up one day and realize the extent of the deceit they have been exposed to with the al-Assad regime. The Arabs will wake up and realize the size of the plots that have been carried out by this regime in its country and in the region. The Arabs will wake up one day and know exactly what role was performed by the Syrian regime in the region, for whose benefit and what the results were. The extent of vengeance and hatred at the heart of this regime towards its people is truly amazing, indiscriminately committing acts of brutality, murder and mass punishment against towns, villages and citizens, using all weapons and means for its massacres.
The al-Assad regime was “created” for certain reasons and goals and continues to exist for the very same reasons and goals: Destroy Syria economically, break the morale of the proud Syrian people, make fear, anxiety, suspicion and doubt the basic features of life there, and preoccupy the people by filling them with meaningless slogans about socialist revolutions and resistance. As it turned out, the regime was never serious about achieving any of these slogans practically on the ground. All the crimes and assassinations against politicians in Lebanon and members of the Palestinian leadership were committed to maintain a degree of fear against the unknown, but it soon became very clear who was behind them and who implemented them. The Syrian regime enlisted economic, political, intellectual, military and security aides for the sole purpose of suppressing the Syrian people to the utmost degree, and to make them live in an atmosphere of panic and terror that they could not wake up from. If one could not cope, they would be forced to leave the country or pay the price with prison or their life.
The al-Assad regime never offered a respectable attempt to prove it was sincere about liberating territories occupied by Israel. The Golan Heights remained undisputedly secure, which prompted Israel to formally annex them, safe in the knowledge that this decision would not be met with any formal military resistance, whether from the army or from the public, because the al-Assad regime would prevent this in various ways, means and methods.
The survival of the al-Assad regime in power in Syria is not only a slight against politics and a violation of human rights; it is a sin in every sense of ethical and religious teaching. Given the magnitude of the regime’s crimes and its evil we must eliminate it, rather than engage in dialogue. This would only justify it and provide excuses and support, and complicity in the Syrian case takes on a variety of forms. Through the criminal Syrian regime confronting its people with missiles, tanks and planes, and depriving them of bread and water thus leaving them homeless and hungry, the issue has transformed from a political one into an issue of asylum and refugees.
It has also become clear that Syria’s policy of fear mongering is not a weapon for internal use only. We see it in Turkey with al-Assad’s supporters having a hand in Kurdish bombings inside the country, and we can also see tensions appearing among the Turkish Alawite bloc. These two groups [the Kurds and the Alawites] account for twenty million people in the democratic state of Turkey, and any tension between them and the ruling bloc will affect the overall stability of the country. Syrian fear mongering has also reached Jordan through some Palestinian refugee camps there, riddled with al-Assad’s intelligence services. The Jordanian street has been stirred up into a frenzy against its own government, which poses a serious source of concern and strain for the authorities there. This represents a veiled threat from Syria, warning that there will be more tension if Jordan continues to support the Syrian revolution, although the support itself is somewhat timid and limited.
The Arabs will wake up one day and realize the extent of the deceit and crimes that the al-Assad regime has carried out against its own people and its own country, and that the extent of the psychological damage sustained by the Syrian people throughout four decades far exceeds the material damage that has been done to buildings and facilities in cities and villages.
This nightmare will end, as will the fragmentation that has engulfed Syria for many dark decades. However, we must reach a new level of awareness in order to prevent the country being hijacked again under loose terms, false slogans and misleading goals. The nightmare of the al-Assad reign is in its last throes…Yes this sentence has been uttered before, but a regime of such criminality takes more time to overcome than others!

Burning the embassies: Who will benefit?
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat
In 1998, former US President Bill Clinton ordered a missile strike on al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden’s camps in Afghanistan, and six missiles were subsequently launched. This move launched a storm in Washington, whereby Clinton was accused of fabricating a crisis to draw attention away from the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Clinton’s actions in Afghanistan were described as an attempt to “wag the dog”, in reference to the title, and plot, of the 1997 American-made film.
Today the same scene is being repeated in our region, specifically with the burning of US embassies, and it is clear that there are those seeking to take advantage of this state of anger striking our region. Of course, there is nothing wrong with defending the Prophet, peace be upon him, for this is the highest honor, but not in the manner that has been displayed in response to the offensive film. Unfortunately there will be many beneficiaries from what is currently happening in our region; there are the governments of the Arab Spring countries, the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran, Bashar al-Assad, the Sadrist trend, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, Russia and even Obama himself. The issue is simple, but where should we start…Iran for example? Is it conceivable that demonstrations have broken out in Tehran, condemning the offensive film about the Prophet, whilst Iran itself intends to produce a film about the Prophet Mohammed, and has employed an Iranian actor to embody the Prophet’s role for the first time in history, in order to provide an account contrary to that of the Sunni doctrine? Is there anything more hypocritical than this?
For Bashar al-Assad, the offensive film has come as a timely lifeline. Now al-Assad has more time to choose an escape route, despite the deaths of approximately 27,000 Syrians. The world is preoccupied with the burning of embassies, not the killing of Syrians, and here we see Russia berating Washington, in defense of al-Assad, with Moscow saying that Hillary Clinton’s policies have put America’s embassies in the eye of the storm. This does not only constitute a lifeline for al-Assad, al-Qaeda also stands to be one of the largest beneficiaries. Contrary to what the West may think, or Time magazine, which published its latest US edition under the headline “The End of al-Qaeda?”, the truth is that the terrorist organization is witnessing a mad moment of resurgence today, with demonstrators in Kuwait chanting “Obama, we are all Osama”! As for the Muslim Brotherhood, they are trying to get the Jordanians to understand what they missed out on with the Arab Spring, and are trying to strengthen their positions in the country whilst Jordan is preoccupied with managing the influx of Syrian refugees and al-Assad’s threats. The same applies to the Sadrist trend, which wants to strengthen its position against Nuri al-Maliki! Then there are the Arab Spring states that are seeking any form of escape from their internal crises. Everyone wants to take advantage of the crisis surrounding a film made by a nobody, albeit offensive to the Prophet, pbuh, but he cannot be defended by burning and killing.
As for Obama, this is a larger story, especially during the period of a presidential election. Obama now can divert attention away from several issues, whereby he can escape from the deteriorating economy, Syria, and also those who have criticized him for “leading from the background” in Libya. The Republicans are fishing for pitfalls at every opportunity, especially when Hillary Clinton says that the Arab revolutions did not happen to “trade the tyranny of a dictator for the tyranny of the mob”. In truth, Obama is fortunate that he does not have a heavyweight competitor for the presidency, especially as he is now being labeled as being responsible for bringing the Brotherhood to power in our region. This is the state of affairs as things stand, but is anyone paying attention? Obviously no one is!

Israeli official signals no war is imminent with Iran
Reuters – JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A senior Israeli official signaled on Saturday that there would be no unilateral attack on Iran in the coming weeks, saying that international pressure had kept Tehran's controversial nuclear program in check. Speculation that Israel might attack Iranian atomic facilities alone, and soon, has soared given an unusually public dispute with the United States about how much time to allow for negotiations and sanctions to run their course before considering military action.
Amos Gilad, top aide to Defence Minister Ehud Barak, was asked in a television interview whether the Jewish high holidays, which begin on Sunday and end on October 9, would be "quiet in terms of any initiative taken by Israel". The question followed an extensive discussion with Gilad about Iran's nuclear program, which the West suspects is geared toward producing bombs despite Tehran's denials, and about the violent outrage sweeping the Muslim world in response to an American video clip mocking the Prophet Mohammad.
"What Israel will or won't do - I recommend that this remain behind closed doors," Gilad told Channel Two television in response.
"But to the extent it is possible to foresee the holidays, it looks like it will be quiet, if you exclude all kinds of events like some maniac or hate crimes that set the entire world on fire."
Gilad played down the spat with Washington, saying that Israel and its foreign allies agreed that "the Iranian threat is a central threat" and that awareness of this cooperation had prevented Tehran producing weapons. "For now, as long as there is this unanimity, it seems to me that even the Iranians understand this and are not crossing the line .. of implementing and building a nuclear bomb, not because they are merciful toward us, not because they like us, but because they fear a military response or another response," he said.
Iran says its uranium enrichment program, which could yield the material for a nuclear warhead, is designed purely for energy and medical needs.
Israel sees a mortal threat in a nuclear-armed Iran. Though widely assumed to have the region's sole atomic arsenal, the Israelis lack the conventional firepower to deliver lasting damage to Iran's distant, dispersed and well-defended facilities, and have said they would prefer superior U.S. forces to do the job.
(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Iran on brink of nuclear bomb in six-seven months: Netanyahu
By Matt Spetalnick and Dan Williams | Reuters
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that Iran was just six to seven months away from being able to build a nuclear bomb, adding urgency to his demand that President Barack Obama set a clear "red line" for Tehran in what could deepen the worst U.S.-Israeli rift in decades.
Taking to the television airwaves to make his case directly to the American public, Netanyahu said that by mid-2013, Iran would be 90 percent of the way toward enough enriched uranium for a bomb. He urged the United States to spell out limits that Tehran must not cross if it is to avoid military action - something Obama has refused to do.
"You have to place that red line before them now, before it's too late," Netanyahu told NBC's "Meet the Press" program, saying that such a U.S. move could reduce the chances of having to attack Iran's nuclear sites.
The unusually public dispute - coupled with Obama's decision not to meet with Netanyahu later this month - has exposed a deep U.S.-Israeli divide and stepped up pressure on the U.S. leader in the final stretch of a tight presidential election campaign.
It was the clearest marker Netanyahu has laid down so far on why he has become so strident in his push for Washington to confront Tehran with a strict ultimatum. At the same time, his approach seemed certain to stoke further tensions with Obama, with whom he has had a notoriously testy relationship.
Senior U.S. officials say Iran has yet to decide on a nuclear "breakout" - a final rush to assemble all the components for a bomb - and they express high confidence that Iran is still at least a year away from achieving the capacity to build a bomb if it wanted to. This contrasts with Netanyahu's timetable, although the Israeli leader stopped short of saying Iran had decided to manufacture a weapon.
Netanyahu showed no signs of backing down on Sunday and even sought to equate the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran with the Islamist fury that fueled attacks on U.S. embassies across the Muslim world last week and shocked many Americans.
"It's the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today. You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?" Netanyahu asked in the NBC interview, in a clear emotional appeal to Americans still reeling from the angry protests sparked by a film that mocked the Prophet Mohammad.
There have been no accusations, however, of any Iranian role in stoking the violence that have swept Muslim capitals from the Middle East to Africa in the past week.
'IN THE RED ZONE'
Netanyahu said a strong ultimatum was needed to Iran, which denies it is seeking a nuclear bomb.
"They're in the ‘red zone'," Netanyahu said, using a colorful American football metaphor that describes when a team is close to scoring a touchdown.
"They're in the last 20 yards. And you can't let them cross that goal line," he said. "Because that would have unbelievable consequences."
Asked whether Israel was closer to acting on its own despite Obama's call for more time for sanctions and diplomacy to work, Netanyahu said: "We always reserve the right to act. But I think that if we are able to coordinate together a common position, we increase the chances that neither one of us will have to act."
Obama, seeking re-election in November, has faced harsh criticism from Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney, who has seized on U.S.-Israeli differences to accuse the Democratic president of being too tough with Israel and not tough enough with Iran.
Netanyahu's sharpened rhetoric in recent days had stoked speculation that Israel might attack Iran before the U.S. ballot, believing that Obama would give it military help and not risk alienating pro-Israeli voters. But Netanyahu has drawn criticism at home for overplaying his hand, and he faces divisions within the Israeli public and his own government that will make it hard to launch a unilateral strike any time soon. Possibly seeking to soften the edge with Washington, Netanyahu said he appreciated the president's assurances that Iran would not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
"I think implicit in that is that, if you're determined to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons, it means you'll act before they get nuclear weapons," he said.
But Netanyahu, whose persistent "red line" demands have infuriated U.S. officials, again made clear that was not enough.
"It's important to communicate to Iran that there's a line that they won't cross," he said. "I think a red line, in this case, works to reduce the chances of the need for military action. Because once the Iranians understand that there's a line that they can't cross, they're not likely to cross it."
Drawing a parallel not likely to go down well with the Obama administration, Netanyahu said that if the United States had set a red line before Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, "maybe that war could have been avoided." In his most specific comments to date on the subject, Netanyahu told CNN: "They're moving very rapidly to completing the enrichment of the uranium that they need to produce a nuclear bomb. In six months or so they'll be 90 percent of the way there." He appeared to be referring to Iran's enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity, a level it says is required for medical isotopes but which is also close to bomb-fuel grade. According to an August report by U.N. inspectors, Iran has stockpiled 91.4 kg of the 20 percent material.
Experts say around 200-250 kg (440-550 pounds) would be the minimum required to enrich further into enough material for a bomb, a threshold Iran could potentially reach soon by producing roughly 15 kg (33 pounds) a month, a rate that could be speeded up if it activates new uranium centrifuges. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barack has warned that Iran may be approaching a "zone of immunity" in which Israeli bombs would be unable to penetrate deeply buried uranium enrichment facilities. The United States has more potent weapons that would allow more time for the sanctions push to work.
Israel is widely believed to possess the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal.
(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

Israel says U.S. must be firm on stopping Iran nuclear threat
By Dan Williams | Reuters –
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A senior Israeli official said on Sunday the United States should not wait for Iran to decide on building a nuclear weapon before it considers military action against the Islamic Republic. "When is the point at which it should be stopped? Just when the bomb is assembled on the tip of the missile and is ready for launch?" Dan Meridor, deputy Israeli prime minister with responsibility for nuclear and intelligence affairs, said in a radio interview. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who sees a mortal threat to Israel from Tehran, has hinted he could resort to war unless Washington and other world powers give Iran an ultimatum on curbing its uranium enrichment programme. U.S. President Barack Obama has rebuffed Netanyahu's lobbying, opening a rift between the allies although they agree that Iran has yet to take the final steps of purifying uranium to military grade and assembling a warhead. Tehran denies seeking the bomb, saying its nuclear projects are for peaceful energy and medical purposes. Diplomatic talks between it and world powers have so-far proved fruitless. Speaking on Israel Radio, Meridor praised the Obama administration for its insistence that it will not allow Iran to get nuclear arms. But such shows of resolve must be emphasized, he said. Iran could reach stage of nuclear development which would allow it to make a warhead quickly years in the future when the world's guard was down, he said. "This demands clarification, to my mind, to make clear that even an Iran that is a decision away from nuclear weaponry, be it within days or weeks, is a nuclear-armed Iran," Meridor said. The Israelis have made clear they sees the window of opportunity to strike Iran closing as it digs in and defends its facilities.
While not explicitly stating when they would consider Iran close enough to the nuclear threshold to warrant a war, Israeli officials say they are watching the pace of its fortification, its uranium enrichment to 20 percent purity - just short of bomb-fuel grade, and its production of enrichment centrifuges.
"I think the question is when the crucial stage is passed beyond which you will be hard-pressed to stop Iran from assembling a nuclear bomb," Netanyahu said in a Jerusalem Post interview published on Sunday. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak accused Iran in May of pursuing a strategy that would allow it to build a bomb at 60 days' notice.
Israel refuses to confirm or deny its own nuclear capabilities, which are widely believed to include the Middle East's only atomic arsenal. Iran's eastern neighbor, U.S.-allied Pakistan, is also nuclear-armed.
(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Iran Guard commander: 'Nothing will remain' of Israel if it attacks
By The Associated Press | The Canadian Press /The top commander in Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard has warned that "nothing will remain" of Israel if it takes military action against Tehran over its controversial nuclear program. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari said Iran's response to any attack will begin near the Israeli border. The Islamic Republic has close ties with militants in Gaza and Lebanon, both of which border Israel. He also told a news conference in Tehran Sunday that if it is attacked, Iran will no longer be committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, under whose terms U.N. inspectors visit Iranian nuclear sites. Israel has left open the possibility of a strike on Iran if diplomacy fails to stop what it says is a push for a nuclear weapon. Tehran claims its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander says its troops in Syria
By Marcus George | Reuters –(Reuters) - Members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) are providing non-military assistance in Syria and Iran may get involved militarily if its closest ally comes under attack, commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Sunday.
Jafari's statement is the first official acknowledgement that Iran has a military presence on the ground in Syria where an 18-month-old uprising has left tens of thousands dead.
Western countries and Syrian opposition groups have long suspected Iran has troops in Syria. Iran has denied this.
"A number of members of the Qods force are present in Syria but this does not constitute a military presence," Iranian news agency ISNA quoted Jafari as saying at a news conference.
Qods is an IRGC unit set up to export Iran's ideology. It has been accused of plotting attacks inside Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Jafari did not indicate how many IRGC members were in Syria but said they were providing "intellectual and advisory help".
The Islamic Republic has backed Syria's President Bashar al-Assad since the crisis began and regards his rule as a key part of its axis of resistance against Israel and Sunni Arab states.
Jafari also said Iran would change its policy and offer military backing if Syria came under attack.
"I say specifically that if Syria came under military attack, Iran would also give military support but it ... totally depends on the circumstances," he said.
U.S. officials this month accused Iraq of facilitating the transfer of weapons to Syria by opening its airspace to Iranian aircraft. Baghdad has denied the accusation.
Analysts say that losing its key Syrian ally would weaken the Islamic Republic's ability to threaten Israel through the Syrian-backed Shi'ite resistance movement Hezbollah.
Jafari dismissed Israel's threats of attack on Iran, saying Israel was having trouble persuading the United States to back its actions.
"Our answer to Israel is clear. In the face of such actions by the Zionist regime, nothing of Israel would remain," he said.
He said any Israeli attack on Iran would also trigger retaliatory action on U.S. bases in the region and that trade via the Strait of Hormuz would be disrupted.
An attack on Iran would also call into question Iran's commitment to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), he said, comments that will cause concern among Western diplomats who want to find a peaceful resolution to Iran's nuclear program and avoid military consequences.
"If international organizations cannot stop Israel, Iran will not see itself as committed to its obligations. Of course this does not mean that we will go in the direction of a nuclear bomb," Jafari said.
Three rounds of talks earlier this year between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries - the United States, Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain - have so far failed to reach agreement on Iran's nuclear activities which the U.S. believes are targeted at developing a weapons capability. The West is demanding that Tehran halts all high-grade enrichment, close its Fordo nuclear facility and ship out all stocks of high-grade uranium. Tehran maintains its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. (Additional reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Louise Ireland)

California man linked to anti-Islam film taken in for questioning
By Alex Dobuzinskis | Reuters – Sat, 15 Sep, 2012..
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California man convicted of bank fraud was taken in for questioning on Saturday by officers investigating possible probation violations stemming from the making of an anti-Islam film that triggered violent protests in the Muslim world. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, voluntarily left his home in the early hours of Saturday morning for the meeting in a sheriff's station in the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos, Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said. "He will be interviewed by federal probation officers," Whitmore said. He said Nakoula had not been placed under arrest but would not be returning home immediately. "He was never put in handcuffs... It was all voluntary." Nakoula, who has denied involvement in the film in a phone call to his Coptic Christian bishop, was ushered out of his home and into a waiting car by several sheriff's deputies, his face shielded by a scarf, hat and sunglasses. The crudely made 13-minute English-language film, filmed in California and circulated on the Internet under several titles including "Innocence of Muslims", mocks the Prophet Mohammad. The film sparked a violent protest at the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi during which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed on Tuesday. Protests have spread to other countries across the Muslim world. For many Muslims, any depiction of the prophet is blasphemous. Caricatures deemed insulting in the past have provoked protests and drawn condemnations from officials, preachers, ordinary Muslims and many Christians. U.S. officials have said authorities were not investigating the film project itself, and that even if it was inflammatory or led to violence, simply producing it cannot be considered a crime in the United States, which has strong free speech laws.
Two attorneys visited Nakoula's home hours before he was taken in for questioning. They said they were there to consult with him.
BANK FRAUD CONVICTION
Nakoula, whose name has been widely linked to the film in media reports, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in 2010 and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, to be followed by five years on supervised probation, court documents showed. He was accused of fraudulently opening bank and credit card accounts using Social Security numbers that did not match the names on the applications, a criminal complaint showed. He was released in June 2011, and at least some production on the video was done later that summer.
But the terms of Nakoula's prison release contain behavior stipulations that bar him from accessing the Internet or assuming aliases without the approval of his probation officer.
A senior law enforcement official in Washington has indicated the probation investigation relates to whether he broke one or both of these conditions. Violations could result in him being sent back to prison, court records show. Clips of the film posted on the Internet since July have been attributed to a man by the name of Sam Bacile, which two people linked to the film have said was likely an alias.
A telephone number said to belong to Bacile, given to Reuters by U.S.-based Coptic Christian activist Morris Sadek who said he had promoted the film , was later traced back to a person who shares the Nakoula residence. Stan Goldman, a Loyola Law School professor, said whether Nakoula is sent back to jail over potential probation violations linked to the film, such as accessing the Internet, was a subjective decision up to an individual judge. "Federal judges are gods in their own courtrooms, it varies so much in who they are," he said, noting such a move would be based on his conduct not on the content of the film. As well as the fraud conviction, Nakoula also pleaded guilty in 1997 to possession with intent to manufacture methamphetamine and was sentenced to a year in jail, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.

Fury over Mohammad video simmers on in Muslim world
DUBAI (Reuters) - A wave of furious anti-Western protests against a film mocking the Prophet Mohammad abated on Saturday, but U.S. policy in the Muslim world remained overshadowed by 13 minutes of amateurish video on the Internet. Washington ordered family members and non-essential staff to leave the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, which was attacked on Friday, after Sudan turned down its request to send Marines to bolster security. In addition, it pulled non-essential personnel out of its embassy in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, also attacked on Friday, and urged American citizens to leave the city.
Marine platoons have been sent to U.S. missions in Yemen and Libya since the unrest erupted. Elsewhere, riot police stormed into Cairo's Tahrir Square and rounded up hundreds of people after four days of clashes and demands from protesters for the U.S. ambassador to be expelled. Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority denounced the attacks on diplomats and embassies across the Middle East as un-Islamic. But the Yemen-based branch of al Qaeda applauded the killings of U.S. diplomats in Libya and urged Muslims to kill more, calling the video posted on the Internet another chapter in the "crusader wars" against Islam. A California man convicted of bank fraud, who has denied reports that he was involved in the film's production, was taken in for questioning by officers investigating possible probation violations stemming from the making of the film.
Afghanistan's Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on a base that killed two American Marines, saying it was a response to the insults to the founder of Islam.
RELATIVE CALM
Hundreds of Muslims took to the streets of Australia's largest city, some throwing rocks and bottles in clashes with police. Some carried placards reading "Behead all those who insult the Prophet".
About 80 Islamist militants were arrested in Paris while trying to demonstrate outside the U.S. Embassy near the Champs Elysees, French police sources said.
Saturday was, however, relatively calm after at least nine deaths in the Muslim world on Friday during protests and attacks on American and other Western embassies.
President Barack Obama, leading a ceremony on Friday to honor the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans who died in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 11, vowed to "stand fast" against the violence. "The United States will never retreat from the world," he said. The Pentagon rushed to bolster security at missions abroad.
The U.S. State Department on Saturday also urged American citizens to avoid Sudan's restive Darfur, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan regions.
Libyan authorities said they had identified 50 people who were involved in the attack in which ambassador Christopher Stevens died.
In an interview aired on Saturday on NBC's "Nightly News," Libyan President Mohammed Magarief was quoted as saying that foreigners along with Libyans were involved in the attack on the consulate in Benghazi. He added there were 10 suspects in custody. Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al al-Sheikh, denounced the attacks while urging governments and international bodies to criminalize insults against prophets. He described the short film as "miserable" and "criminal," but said attacks on the innocent and on diplomats were "a distortion of the Islamic religion and are not accepted by God".
FREE SPEECH LAWS
The video, circulating on the Internet under several titles including "Innocence of Muslims," portrays Mohammad as a womanizer and a fool.
"We were attacked by Obama, and his government, and the Coptic Christians living abroad!" shouted one long-bearded Muslim protester outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Friday.
In the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, who has denied involvement in the film in a phone call to a Coptic Christian bishop, was ushered out of his home and into a waiting car by sheriff's deputies, his face shielded by a scarf, hat and sunglasses.
He was voluntarily interviewed by federal probation officers and left about 30 minutes later, a police spokesman said.
U.S. officials have said authorities are not investigating the film project itself, and that even if it was inflammatory or led to violence, simply producing it cannot be considered a crime in the United States, which has strong free speech laws. A statement posted on a website used by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula called on Muslims to "follow the example of Omar al-Mukhtar's descendants (Libyans), who killed the American ambassador". "Let the step of kicking out the embassies be a step towards liberating Muslim countries from the American hegemony," the group said.
Hundreds of mourners in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, attended the funeral on Saturday of a young protester shot to death when riot police battled a crowd attacking the U.S. Embassy on Thursday.
(Writing by Andrew Roche; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Peter Cooney)

Canada closes 3 more embassies over safety concerns
CBC – .Canada is closing three of its embassies for the day today — in countries where anti-U.S. protests have turned violent — citing continued security concerns.
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says the missions in Egypt, Libya and Sudan will not be open to ensure the safety of diplomatic staff.
The U.S. State Department ordered the departure of all family members and non-essential personnel on Saturday from posts in Sudan and Tunisia.
It blames the security situation in the capitals of Tunis and Khartoum.
The Canadian mission in Tunis is normally closed on Sunday.
The moves follow a wave of protests and violence over an anti-Islam film that has swept across the Middle East and other Muslim countries in recent days.
Al-Qaeda appears to be attempting to capitalize on this anti-U.S. feeling.
"What has happened is a great event, and these efforts should come together in one goal, which is to expel the embassies of America from the lands of the Muslims," the grroup said in a statement released Sunday, according to The Associated Presss.
The Pentagon dispatched elite Marine rapid response teams to Libya and Yemen on Friday, but a team deployed to Khartoum was turned back when the Sudanese government objected.
There were more anti-U.S. protests Sunday over the 14-minute film, which was made in California.
Several hundred university students in Afghanistan gathered to protest, burn an American flag and to chant "Death to America."
The obscure, amateurish movie made in the U.S. is called Innocence of Muslims and depicts the Prophet Muhammad as being engaged in offensive behaviour.
Actors who appeared in the film said they were misled about it, and that some dialogue was crudely dubbed during post-production.
The Canadian Embassy in Cairo also closed on Thursday because of the angry protests at the nearby American embassy.
The normal Egyptian weekend is Friday-Saturday so the Cairo embassy has been closed since.
CBC's Derek Stoffel visited the Canadian Embassy in Cairo on Sunday, where a note on the door informs visitors of that it's closed. About a dozen people were outside, looking to get visas and travel documents. "I'm surprised the embassy is closed. Now I'm not sure when I can get my papers renewed," said one man who wants his work permit renewed.
The Harper government shuttered its embassy in Tehran and severed diplomatic ties with Iran earlier this month, in part because it said it was concerned about the safety of Canadian diplomats.

The Collective Punishment of Egypt's Christian Copts
by Raymond Ibrahim/Coptic Solidarity
http://www.meforum.org/3338/egypt-christian-copts-collective-punishment
Last month saw Egypt's latest large-scale "collective punishment" of Christian Copts. It started when a Christian launderer accidently burned the shirt of a Muslim customer, which led to a brawl between the two Egyptians (first reported here). The next day "the Muslim, with approximately 20 of his followers, went to the Christian's home to attack him. Expecting this, the Christian was prepared and climbed to the highest point of his roof, hurling Molotov cocktails at the Muslims." One Muslim man was injured and later died in a hospital. Before he died, between 2,000-3,000 Muslims attacked the Christians of the village, leading to an exodus of approximately 120 Coptic families. AINA has details of the aftermath:
The sectarian crisis in the village of Dahshur escalated on August 1 after the burial of the Muslim man who died yesterday in hospital. Hundreds of Muslims torched and looted Coptic businesses and homes despite hundreds of security forces being deployed in the village. Eyewitnesses reported that security forces did not protect most Coptic property... "As 120 families had already fled the village the day before after being terrorized, the businesses and homes were an easy game for the mob to make a complete clean-up of everything that could be looted," said Coptic activist Wagih Jacob. "The security forces were at the scene of the crime while it was taking place and did nothing at all." After the violence, the family of the deceased Moaz Hasab-Allah said that destroying Coptic property is not enough and that Copts have to "pay for their son's death" with lives.
Collectively punishing dhimmis—the barely tolerated non-Muslim infidels indigenous to the lands conquered by Islam—for the crimes of the individual is standard under Islam, and a regular occurrence among Egypt's native Christians. Other examples include:
Jan, 2012: A mob of over 3,000 Muslims attacked Christians in an Alexandrian village because a Muslim accused a Christian of having "intimate photos" of a Muslim woman on his phone. Terrified, the Christian, who denied having such photos, turned himself in to the police. Regardless, Coptic homes and shops were looted and set ablaze. Three Christians were injured, while "terrorized" Christian women and children, rendered homeless, stood in the streets with no place to go. As usual, it took the army an hour to drive 2 kilometers to the village: "This happens every time. They [security] wait outside the village until the Muslims have had enough violence, then they appear." None of the perpetrators were arrested. Later, in an effort to empty the village of its 62 Christian families, Muslims attacked them again, burning more Coptic property. According to police, the Muslim woman concerned has denied the whole story, and no photos were found.
Nov, 2011: Similar to the above story in Dahshur, the inadvertent killing of a Muslim by a Christian in a fight started by the Muslim when he torched the Christian's home resulting in the "collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village." Two Christians not party to the altercation were killed; others were stabbed and critically wounded. As usual, "after killing the Copts, Muslims went on a rampage, looting and burning Christian owned homes and businesses." Again as in Dahshur, despite all this "Muslims insist they have not yet avenged" the death of their slain co-religionist; there were fears of "a wholesale massacre of Copts." Once again, many Christians had fled their homes and were in hiding.
Apr, 2011: When Muslims falsely blamed the deaths of two Muslims on a Christian, one Christian was killed, ten hospitalized, an old woman thrown out of her second floor balcony, and Christian homes and properties plundered and torched.
Nov, 2010: When a teenage Christian youth was accused of dating a teenage Muslim girl, 22 Christian homes were set ablaze to Islam's war cry of "Allahu Akbar." During the attack the Muslim mob threw fireballs, gasoline, and stones at Coptic homes and detonated Butane Gas cylinders.
It is telling that in all the above examples, Christians were attacked either because 1) they fought back against Muslims or because 2) they were rumored to have relationships with Muslim women. In fact, both of these are banned. Among the many stipulations Christians had to agree to when they capitulated to the invading armies of Islam in the 7th century, and as captured in the Pact of Omar, was never to raise their hands against a Muslim—even if the latter was the aggressor—and never to have relations with Muslim women. If they failed to follow these rules as well as many others, their lives—and the lives of their surrounding coreligionists—became forfeit.
As Mark Durie points out in his book on dhimmitude, The Third Choice: "Even a breach by a single individual dhimmi could result in jihad being enacted against the whole community. Muslim jurists have made this principle explicit, for example, the Yemeni jurist al-Murtada wrote that 'The agreement will be canceled if all or some of them break it' and the Moroccan al-Maghili taught 'The fact that one individual (or one group) among them has broken the statute is enough to invalidate it for all of them.'"
*Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.