LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
JULY 5/2006

Below News From the Daily Star for 05/07/06
Rival Druze factions stage gunbattle in Chouf Mountains, 1 dead in clashes 
Journalist demands explanation for politicization of his judicial file
'Permanent national dialogue can eclipse Cabinet, Parliament'
Siniora's office insists diplomatic-appointments proposal under review
Minister urges participation in Palestinian talks
US Embassy honors MPs at 4th of July lunch
Egyptian envoy says national talks crucial
Aoun's bloc to sue judges who 'fail to do their duty'
Future Movement: Franjieh stirring strife
Blame for Druze gunbattle rests squarely upon national dialogue
Lebanon's lagging IT sector linked to broader economic ills
Japanese culture comes to Lebanon on kite tails
Olmert threatens wider offensive as militants' deadline passes
Below News From miscellaneous sources for 05/07/06
Lebanese patriarch brings message of peace-St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Land of the Free and Home of the Hated-theTrumpet.com
National dialogue Hezballah arms issue again on hold-Monday Morning
Monday Morning Interview with MP for Jbeil-Kesrwan Walid Khoury
Olmert Issues Veiled Threat Against Syria-Munster Times
Israel blames Syria for crisis-News24
Card. Sfeir: USA fmorally obliged to encourage Mid-East peace-AsiaNews.it
Hezbollah hopes the Maronite Patriarch re-directs his last -Al-Manar
Lebanese Prime Minister Urges Iran to Stop Nuclear Program-NCR-Iran.org
Syria continues to play with fire in Lebanon-Ya Libnan
Rival Druze gunmen clash in Lebanon, one dead-Washington Post
Druze factions clash in Lebanon-BBC News
Lebanon: One dead in clash over Syria support-Al-Bawaba
Jordan: Syria is Not Fulfilling Its Water Obligations-The Media Line
Syria's Assad receives phone call from Annan on Palestinian issue-People's Daily Online
Syria should take responsibility for protecting Hamas: Israel-Daily News & Analysis
Journalist faces trial-Trade Arabia
Journalist faces trial for 'defaming Lahoud'-Gulf News
Assad: Syria will stand by Palestinians-Gulf Times

Only Regular Army Should Undertake Lebanon's Defence: Lebanese Cardinal
Beirut (AsiaNews) --- Only the regular army should be responsible for Lebanon's defence, according to the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. In making this statement, he expressed his views about one of the burning issues of Lebanese political dialogue -- the weapons of resistance movements, especially Hezbollah. Cardinal Sfeir was speaking shortly before his departure for a pastoral trip to the United States, during which he will meet President George W. Bush and the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.
Yesterday, at the airport, he talked about the "inter-Lebanese dialogue", describing it as "indispensable", saying he hoped it would be successful. However, he added, the Lebanese people would not need this dialogue if the country's constitutional institutions were working as they should. Responding to a question, he emphasised that "the regular forces defending the country and the resistance are, right now, an accomplished fact. But the dialogue needs to be oriented in such a way that only the army will be responsible for the country's defence."
During the 20 days of his stay in the United States, Cardinal Sfeir will visit the American Maronite community to present -- nearly a month after deliberations closed -- the conclusions of the Maronite Patriarchal Synod, the first since the 19th century and since the latest political and religious developments. In Beirut, however, observers have underlined a political side to the trip; although this is not the Patriarch's first visit to the US, it is of particular significance because it is his first since Lebanon's liberation from the Syrian army. This was an event which, according to diplomatic sources in Lebanon, was the fruit of moves by Cardinal Sfeir and promises made to him by President Bush during a visit to the US in 2003, when the patriarch insisted on the role Washington could play in restoring full sovereignty to Lebanon.
The patriarch will be accompanied for the present trip by his "political right hand", the Maronite archbishop of Antelias, Mgr Youssef Bechara, who was the moderator of meetings with Kornet Chehwan, which contributed in no small way to developments in the political situation, seeing that it was born after a famous statement issued by the Maronite bishops in 2002. This statement maintained "the necessity of freeing Lebanon of Syrian occupation, because the presence of the Syrian army has destroyed the social peace and financial stability that Lebanon used to enjoy." Mgr Youssef Bechara was also appointed by Patriarch Sfeir to be the general secretary of the last sitting of the synod, and he is also considered by many to be Sfeir's most likely successor.
The patriarch's schedule in the US includes meetings with the Maronite community in the United States, where the Maronite hierarchy is represented by two bishops, one in New York and the other in Los Angeles (Mgr Robert Chahine and Mgr Gregori Mansour), to present the works of the Synod, especially the chapter dedicated to the importance of the Maronite diaspora. There has also been mention of the patriarch's desire to create a lobby capable of helping Maronites in Lebanon to remain in the land of their fathers. © 2006, Assyrian International News Agency

Blame for Druze gunbattle rests squarely upon national dialogue table
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Editorial- Daily Star
In the blink of an eye, a dispute over the placement of political posters in the Chouf mountains in Lebanon turned into a gunbattle between rival Druze factions. The village where the clashes took place is appropriately named Al-Jahliyeh, which is the Arabic word for ignorance. Such open signs of lawlessness demonstrate that we are still living in an age of darkness, in which tribal clashes, anarchy and instability are accepted norms.
The responsibility for this state of affairs rests squarely upon the table of the national dialogue. The leaders who are gathered for the national talks have not yet even discussed the idea of implementing reforms that would breathe new life into the Lebanese state and make it capable of upholding and enforcing the law. It is no longer enough for leaders to blame external forces for instability in the country. They have no one but themselves to blame for failing to rebuild the tattered state and strengthen its fragile institutions. By conducting politics as usual, they have left the Lebanese state dangerously weak and exposed to internal and external manipulation.
Over the past year, the Lebanese system has sustained several strains, including protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad and rioting over a television comedy skit parodying Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. But the clashes in the Chouf mountains yesterday raised the ante to another level of lawlessness. If Lebanese leaders do not act quickly, instability could quickly spread, as others will certainly view any lack of decisive action as a license to sow chaos and instability across the country. Lebanese leaders must choose: Either they can continue to allow their fellow citizens to languish in an era of ignorance, or they can change course and usher in an age of civilization by implementing bold political reforms.

Rival Druze factions stage gunbattle in Chouf Mountains, 1 dead in clashes
By Rym Ghazal -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Al-JAHLIYEH, Lebanon: One person was killed and five others wounded in a gunbattle late Monday night between supporters of rival Druze leaders in a small village in the Chouf Mountains of Lebanon. Security was tight and tempers were high in the village of Al-Jahliyeh some 26 kilometers south of Beirut, after one of its residents was shot dead.
Security reports stated that an argument broke out at 1:30 a.m. on Monday between supporters of former minister Wiam Wahhab's "Unity Party" and the supporters of the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP) on the one side and the Progressive Socialist Party on the other. The ensuing clashes resulted in the death of one PSP member.
Security sources said that as members of the SSNP and the pro-Syrian Unity Party were hanging up posters of the SSNP's late founder Antoine Saade, insults were traded between them and PSP members in the area.
Wahhab's personal bodyguard Haitham Bou Ziab then pulled out a gun and shot at the PSP supporters, killing Moayad Sami al-Ayyas, 19, with a gun shot in the back, and wounding five other PSP supporters.
Bassam Fayad, Yousif Mohammad al-Ayyas, Anwar Mohammad al-Ayyas, Fouad Yousif Qardab and Hassan Qardab suffered gunshot wounds and were transferred to the nearby Ain wa Zein Hospital - with one of the wounded in critical condition. Security sources said that other members of the Bou Ziab family are also being pursued by the military and police, including Hussam, Belal, Helal, Jelal, Rayman and Shafeeq Bou Ziab.
As The Daily Star went to press, one suspect was arrested and another had turned himself in to the authorities.
It is not the first time supports from opposing sides clashed in the area. In April, another of Wahhab's bodyguards shot and wounded two civilians, relatives of PSP member and MP Wael Bou Faour, because they objected to his presence at a funeral in another Druze mountain village. Acting Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat said the suspects are being pursued by the police and the army and "will be brought to justice."
"All the casualties appeared to be supporters of Jumblatt," Fatfat told The Voice of Lebanon Radio station on Tuesday.
"It is clear that there are some parties who are trying hard to create disturbances and are trying to stir strife in the country," said Fatfat, adding that this is a criminal act and should be dealt with as a crime.
Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Joseph Khaleel will handle the investigation and was seen interrogating witnesses and residents near the crime scene. The two politicians at the heart of the clash, Wahhab and Jumblatt, both called for calm and for supporters to put down their weapons, with Wahhab asking politician to "stop adding fuel to the fire."
Wahhab called for a meeting of Druze leaders at a round table to calm the situation down.
"The suspects have a history of causing trouble in the area and are known for their track record of riots," said Wahhab, whose house was raided by some of the residents as they searched for the fleeing gunmen. "We should not allow this to escalate and create divisions, and I call on all the Druze leaders and sides to meet, as at the heart of this clash there lies a political problem," Wahhab said during a conference on Tuesday. Jumblatt, who is currently out of the country, called the Ayyas family to pay his condolences. Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamade, representing Jumblatt in Lebanon, made rounds to the hospital and to the homes of residents of Al-Jahliyeh. In a news conference, he said "we will chop off the hand that dares to touch Al-Jahliyeh or any other part of Chouf, Aley, Baabda, Rashaya and Hasbayya."
Police and army troops are now posted throughout Al-Jahliyeh, checking cars and ID cards, but the Ayyas family said this security "came too late." "They shot my sweet boy in the back and there was no one around to stop the killers," Ameena al-Ayyas told The Daily Star. "Politicians need to stop bringing their problems into our homes and the government needs to stop just apologizing and actually protect its citizens." The Bou Ziab family, whose members have been accused of the shooting, condemned the killing in a statement, and stressed that "those who committed the heinous crime should be the only bearers of responsibility." - Additional reporting by Maher Zeineddine

Lebanese patriarch brings message of peace
By Tim Townsend
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH-07/02/2006
At a meeting with religious leaders Saturday, Lebanese Cardinal Nasrallah Peter Sfeir, patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church, stressed the need for people of all faiths to help quell global conflict that is often rooted in religious difference.
"Each of us has a responsibility to look after each other," he said. "We can co-exist in harmony and respect for each other if we keep love in our hearts."
Sfeir spoke to roughly two dozen leaders of various St. Louis faith groups - Mormons, Muslims, Quakers, Roman Catholics - at an interfaith event at St. Raymond's Maronite Catholic Parish, 931 Lebanon Drive, St. Louis. Sfeir is in St. Louis for a four-day pastoral visit. He will also be stopping in Chicago and New York City.
During his time in St. Louis, Sfeir's main message was one of hope and peace. At Saturday's interfaith event, Ghazala Hayat, president of the Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis, asked Sfeir if it was possible to have peace in the Middle East.
"When politics intervenes, it is sometimes hard to see people living together," said Sfeir. "But religion has no material interest. Religion has only God, and if we all pray to God as one, all humanity will be together as brothers."
The patriarch is one of the most significant religious figures to visit St. Louis since Pope John Paul II came to the city in 1999.
The Maronite Church, an ancient Eastern Rite branch of Catholicism, is based in Lebanon. St. Raymond's, in St. Louis' LaSalle Park neighborhood, is the seat of one of two eparchies, or dioceses, of the Maronite Church in the U.S. Sfeir lives in Bkerke, north of Beirut.
Local honors
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, a Maronite Catholic and a lifelong member of St. Raymond's (his father runs the church's banquet hall), greeted Sfeir at Lambert Field on Thursday with a key to the city.
On Friday, the Rev. Lawrence Biondi, president of St. Louis University, gave the patriarch the university's highest honor, the Sword of Ignatius Loyola. Named for Jesuit founder Inigo Lopez de Loyola, the award is given "to those who have given themselves to humankind for the greater glory of God." Past recipients include President Harry S. Truman and Katherine Dunham.
Bishop Robert J. Shaheen, the first American-born bishop of the Maronite Catholic Church, is the head of the diocese, called the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, headquartered at St. Raymond's.
More than a million Maronite Catholics live in the U.S., according to the Rev. Andre Mhanna, rector of St. Raymond's, and more than 40,000 people in the St. Louis area are "connected to Lebanon in some way."
The church counts more than five million Maronites around the globe, though there are fewer than a million Maronites left in Lebanon. Maronite Catholics make up slightly less than a quarter of Lebanon's population of about 4 million.
Sfeir, the 76th patriarch of the Maronite Church, is referred to as His Beatitude and Eminence, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. In the New Testament, Acts 11:26 says that "it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christians.'"
In the late fourth century, a group of Christians who had formed a community around an Antiochene hermit named St. Maron established a monastery. In the seventh century, the Maronites were forced to move into the hills of Lebanon in the wake of conflicts with Muslims. They lived there for centuries, eventually becoming a church community whose leader took the title of Patriarch of Antioch and All the East.
In the 12th century, the Maronite Church officially established its union with the Latin or Western Rite Catholic Church, and has been in full communion with the Vatican ever since. Sfeir, who is 86, was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1994 - the third Maronite cardinal in history.
The patriarch is not just a religious figure, he's also a political player in the Middle East. David Schenker, a senior fellow in Arab politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Sfeir "has tremendous political and moral standing in Lebanon."
Last year, Sfeir met with President George W. Bush in the White House and in February, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid the patriarch a visit at his residence outside Beirut rather than meet with Lebanon's Syria-backed president, Emile Lahoud.
Lebanon's tradition mandates that the president be Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the parliament a Shiite Muslim.
As leader of the community that provides his country's president, Sfeir is in a unique position to influence Lebanese - and Middle East - politics, say experts. "But he's cautious about that role and knows the sway he holds," said Schenker.
In a country where Christians are the minority, Christian leaders must work closely with Muslims. "Lebanese Muslims and Christians respect him as a religious and political leader," said Mohamad Alhabi, a Lebanese Sunni who has lived in St. Louis for 25 years.ttownsend@post-dispatch.com

Egyptian TV Promoting Anti-Semitism and Child "Martyrdom"
By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
As Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak portrays himself as an honest broker in the Middle East, recent Egyptian TV programs inculcate Arab children with Jew-hatred and the desire for Jihad death.
Egyptian cleric Sheik Muhammad Sharaf Al-Din [pictured above] appeared on a children's program on Al-Nas television on June 21, 2006, and told a story from Islamic tradition in which a Jewish woman tried to poison Muhammad. After telling the story, in which the prophet of Islam is miraculously spared, the sheikh took a call from a child viewer.
"Ruqaya, what did you learn from today's show?" the sheikh, Muhammad Sharaf Al-Din, asked the child.
"I learned that the Jews are the people of treachery and betrayal...."
Sheikh Al-Din interrupted the caller, shouting, "Allah Akbar!" Turning to the children in the studio, he instructed:
Say Allah Akbar! What did Ruqiya say? The Jews are the people of treachery and betrayal. May Allah give you success. We want mothers who teach their sons Jihad, the love of Allah and His messenger, sacrifice for the sake of Islam, and love for the countries of the Muslims. Loving the country of the Muslims. May Allah bless you, Ruqaya. That is the most beautiful thing I have heard - that the Jews are the people of treachery, betrayal, and vileness.
An earlier episode (June 15, 2006) of the program for children on the same television station promoted death in the course of Jihad against "infidels."
The host of the program, Egyptian Sheikh Muhammad Nassar, of the Egyptian ministry of religious endowment, invited the children to "listen to a very beautiful story to learn about the courage of a child, and how, when a child is brought up in a good home, and receives proper education in faith, he loves martyrdom, which becomes like an instinct for him. He can never give it up." Nassar goes on to describe and praise the insistence of a 15-year-old boy to join the Islamic war against the Byzantine Empire, how that boy was killed in battle, and what miraculous events surrounded his burial. He also explained the holiness of the Jihad warrior killed by enemies of Islam and praised the boy in the story because he sought his death in Jihad.
"He died happy," the sheikh told a studio audience of children and the child viewers at home.
All video and translations provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The above video clips, numbered 1184 and 1185, can be viewed on the MEMRI website

Disarming Hizbullah requires a regional solution
Commentary by Nicholas Blanford
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
The fate of the Shebaa Farms elicited a flurry of excitement in Lebanon in early June following speculation in the Israeli media that the government of Ehud Olmert might be considering relinquishing the remote 25-square-kilometer mountainside. The media conjecture coincided with a letter from United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in which he reiterated the steps Beirut and Damascus must take to confirm Lebanon's sovereignty over the area.
Annan's letter repeated what all parties have known since early 2000, when the occupation of the Shebaa Farms first came to public consciousness prior to the Israeli troop withdrawal from South Lebanon. The farms are also the focus of a diplomatic initiative undertaken by Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN special envoy charged with overseeing the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559. Larsen, backed by the recently adopted Resolution 1680, is seeking to persuade Lebanon and Syria to fully demarcate their joint border, which at the southern end includes the Shebaa Farms.
Determining the sovereignty of the farms is seen as a necessary precursor to a mooted package deal that involves an end to Israel's occupation of the territory, a cessation of Israeli overflights in Lebanese airspace and the release of the last Lebanese detainees in Israel, in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese Army along the UN-delimited southern border with Israel and the disarmament of Hizbullah. The latter two components of the deal are among the as-yet-unfulfilled conditions of 1559. However, the chances of success are bleak on several counts.
First, Syria has proved reluctant so far to cooperate with the Lebanese in the demarcation of their joint border, a symptom of the tense bilateral relationship that has existed between the two countries since the assassination 16 months ago of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in a recent interview with Al-Hayat that border demarcation could start anywhere "but not from the farms under the shadow of the Israeli occupation." Given the disparities between Lebanese and Syrian military maps of the mutual border, it could be a long wait before the cartographers reach the Shebaa Farms. Until then, the farms officially will remain Syrian territory.
Second, the Israeli government is unlikely to order a withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms unless it receives cast-iron guarantees that Hizbullah's fighters would be replaced by Lebanese troops along the border and that the Islamic resistance would be dismantled.
Third, an Israeli withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms would not lead to the disarming of Hizbullah. Indeed, if the Israelis abandoned the farms it is likely that Hizbullah would claim another victory and its fighters would fill the vacuum, establishing positions along the new border at Wadi Asal and enjoying the new southward vista from the Jabal Summaqa and Jabal Ramta hilltops.
An Israeli withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms would remove Hizbullah's most compelling justification for retaining its armed wing and certainly sharpen the domestic Lebanese debate over the future of the resistance. After all, what need is there for resistance if there is no longer any occupation left to resist? But Hizbullah long ago countered this eventuality by asserting that the resistance is required as long as Israel remains a threat to Lebanese sovereignty, a nebulous and potentially open-ended condition. If anyone is still in doubt on this point, Hizbullah parliamentarian Ali Ammar made it abundantly clear recently, saying that "the resistance is not the Shebaa Farms ... nor the return of the prisoners [from Israel], but its extent is when it becomes impossible for Israel to violate Lebanon's sovereignty even with a paper kite."
In this context, a realist might recommend the perpetuation of the status quo in the Shebaa Farms as the lesser evil, pending a more formal move toward resuming a regional peace process. The farms have proved a useful pressure valve where Hizbullah fighters and the Israeli military can occasionally let off steam guided by tacitly understood rules of the game which have helped forestall a major burst of violence for nearly six years. The area is remote and unpopulated and the risk of civilian casualties on either side is minimal. In the absence of the Shebaa Farms, Hizbullah might be tempted into more risky endeavors elsewhere along the border to prove its continued military relevance, which could spark an unwanted escalation of violence to the disadvantage of both sides.
As long as Hizbullah commands the support of the vast majority of Lebanese Shiites as well as the backing of Syria and Iran, it should be able to fend off domestic and international calls to disarm. The fate of the Islamic resistance is inextricably intertwined with other dynamics in the Middle East - the West's confrontations with Syria and Iran, American policy toward the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Sunni-Shiite tensions.
Attempting to unpick Hizbullah's arms from the Gordian knot of Middle East challenges and resolve that as a separate and unconnected issue is almost certainly a futile exercise, as the diplomatic initiatives over the Shebaa Farms suggest. Disarming Hizbullah peacefully requires the globalized approach offered by a resumption of the Middle East peace process. There, the Islamic resistance is but one constituent of a package of interrelated issues to be tackled comprehensively by Israel and its northern and Palestinian neighbors.
Nicholas Blanford is a Beirut-based reporter who has covered Hizbullah extensively for over a decade. He is author of "Killing Mr. Lebanon: The Assassination of Rafiq Hariri and its Impact on the Middle East," which will be published by IB Tauris this September. This commentary first appeared at bitterlemons-international.org, an online newsletter.

Card. Sfeir: USA “morally obliged” to encourage Mid-East peace
By Youssef Hourany -4 July, 2006
During a visit to the United States, the patriarch said resolving the Palestinian problem was crucial to calming the region’s conflicts. In Lebanon, Hezbollah must be disarmed, but “this is not easy”, given the ties of the Party of God with Syria and Iran.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – The United States should commit itself with some urgency to encouraging the peace process in the Middle East, which would lead to resolution of the Palestinian problem, a key issue for peace in the region. And it is necessary for Lebanon to regain full sovereignty, so that only the army will bear arms. The first meeting with journalists of the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, during his visit to the US, focused on these issues. His visit may include a meeting with the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.
The highlight of the early days of the patriarch’s third pastoral visit to Maronites in the United States – which kicked off on 29 June in Saint Louis – was a ceremony at the prestigious university of the Jesuits, during which the university rector, Fr Lorenzio Biondi, conferred a “Honoris Causa” degree upon the patriarch. The ceremony was attended by the highest civil and academic authorities. On this occasion, Cardinal Sfeir reiterated “the perennial position of the Maronite Church and its fidelity to principles already lived and preached by its predecessors”. He insisted on the fundamental role played by the Maronites in the renewal of Lebanon, “a message for the East and for the West”.
Patriarch Sfeir addressed a press conference in Saint Louis before leaving for Chicago, the second leg of his pastoral visit. He talked about the “urgency and moral obligation” prompting American leaders to “facilitate the path of the Middle East peace process, because the Palestinian cause is the sword constantly piercing the heart of the region, and once a solution to the Palestinian problem is found, many problems and conflicts in the region will be resolved”.
Patriarch Sfeir then reiterated his full backing for the re-establishment of a sovereign Lebanon, free of all armed presence that was not governmental. This would entail the disarmament of the Party of God, but “disarming members of Hezbollah is not easy by any means because they are protected by Syria and Iran”. The patriarch expressed his gratitude to the international community, for protecting the rights of the Lebanese people – downtrodden by the country’s enemies – through UN resolutions.
Reaching Chicago yesterday, Cardinal Sfeir presided over the annual meeting of Maronites of the United States (NAN), which this year coincides with the 40th anniversary of the erection of the first Maronite diocese in the United States and with the appointment of the first archbishop, Mgr Francis El Zayek. The patriarch told participants that his visit to the United States was “an immediate application of decisions taken during the latest Maronite Synod on the necessity of fortifying ties between Maronites in Lebanon and the diaspora”, with a “strong invitation” to contribute to the rebirth of Lebanon, the shared homeland of Christians and Muslims.
Sources close to Patriarch Sfeir told AsiaNews about the desire and commitment of Maronite representatives to arrange for a political meeting between Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir and the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, especially since the assignment of the Lebanese dossier to a new ambassador, Robert Danin, who replaced Elizabeth Debel.

Hezbollah hopes the Maronite Patriarch re-directs his last statement and Aoun warns of social catastrophe
Tuesday, July 04, 2006 -
Lebanese Assafir daily quoted sources close to Hezbollah as saying that the party found strange the statement by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir in the US. Sfeir said that it will be very hard to disarm Hezbollah since Syria and Iran are moving it. The source added that Sfeir's overseas statement does not agree with the general context of the national dialogue, not to mention the offense to the party and its large audience. Assafir said that Hezbollah saw that it was neither the time nor the place to slip into a dispute over Sfeir's words and hoped that the Patriarch re-directs the course of his statement.
Aoun
The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc warned against a social catastrophe that will plague the Lebanese people, particularly the poor class. The bloc headed by MP Michel Aoun, accused the government of following a policy to crush the poor class and renewed calls to dissolve the cabinet as long as it has no emergency plan to salvage the country. Aoun's bloc also held the so called February 14 majority government, responsible for not following up the case of detainees in Syrian jails after having pledged to do so in its Policy Statement.

Lebanese Prime Minister Urges Iran to Stop Nuclear Program
Monday, 03 July 2006
NCRI – Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said yesterday Iran should abandon its nuclear program in the interests of Middle East peace. "I don't subscribe to any idea that Iran should have nuclear power,'' Siniora said in an interview yesterday in his office. Siniora said he had raised Lebanon's opposition to Iranian nuclear power in "frank and very good discussions'' with Iranian regime's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. While Beirut seeks good relations with Tehran, it could "not approve of any intervention made by Iran into our affairs,'' he added. Iranian regime continues its nuclear program says it wants to enrich uranium to low levels so it can fuel a nuclear power plant. The U.S. and European governments fear Tehran is planning to develop atomic weapons. Foreign ministers from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- the U.S., China, Russia, the U.K. and France -- plus Germany offered a package of trade and technology incentives in return for restrictions on the regime's nuclear research program.

Syria continues to play with fire in Lebanon
Tuesday, 4 July, 2006
Beirut- One person was killed and five were wounded on Tuesday in Jahliyeh, a village located south east of Beirut in the Shouf region of Mount Lebanon, when supporters of Wiam Wahab , a pro-Syrian politician tried to antagonize the supporters of anti- Syrian Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.
Shooting erupted when members of Wahab's Tawhid Movement and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) were plastering political posters in the main square of the village. The National News Agency said a gunman from the Abu Diab family then opened fire killing a man it identified as Muayed al Ayass and wounding five others. Future TV said the shooter was one of Wahab's supporters. Acting Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat did not say who was responsible for the shooting but confirmed that all the casualties were among Jumblatt 's followers.
"Until now no one has been arrested. The gunmen have escaped to an unidentified location and the army and security forces are chasing them down," he told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.
Fatfat, who described the situation in the area as still "tense," said: "It is obvious that certain parties are doing their best to incite trouble”, in reference to Syria and its allies
He said Jumblatt has given orders to his followers to contain the situation "to avoid being dragged into strife."
The clash within the Druze community follows months of tension between Jumblatt, a major anti-Syrian figure who is considered the most prominent Druze leader, and Wahab, a staunch Syrian ally who is trying to challenge Jumblatt' s influence over the sect with funding and support from Iran and Syria..
In April, Wahab 's bodyguards shot and wounded three people attending a funeral in the Hasbaya region during a brawl over his presence there. Some of the residents of the mainly-Druze Khalwat al Kfeir village objected to Wahab 's presence there and clashed with his security guards who then fired into the air to disperse the crowd.
MP Wael Abou Faour, a member of Jumblatt 's parliamentary bloc, at the time accused Wahab of acting on Syria's behalf to ignite an inter-Druze strife and threatened to press charges against him.
Wahab also threatened to press charges against Abou Faour and Jumblatt for what he said was as an attempt on his life by the two politicians' followers.

Syria is behind the trouble
Ya Libnan correspondent in Jahliyeh reported that Wahab, who served as a minister in the former government of Omar Karami has very few followers amongst the Druze community. The Syrians have been using Wahab ever since Jumblatt in 2004 opposed the extension of president Emile Lahoud ‘s term to divide up the Druze community. So far Syria has failed , because the Druze community looks down at Wahab and views him as a Syrian tool.
Our correspondent reported that Wiam Wahab who lives in Jahliyeh, is related by marriage to the Abu Diab family but has very few supporters in the family, due to his Syrian connections. Most Druze do not trust Syria because ever since Syria invaded Lebanon it was very hostile to the community which was then headed by Walid’s father Kamal Jumblatt who was assassinated by the Syrians in 1977.
Syria, a master in” Divide and Rule “ politics has been able to divide up most of the Lebanese communities but so far failed in dividing up the Druze community . Ya Libnan correspondent has reported that recently Syria and Iran have intensified their efforts by providing Wahab with intelligence and financial support because the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has exposed the long range plans of Syria and Iran for the region.
In a recent interview Jumblatt accused Iran and Syria of exporting al Qaida to Lebanon to turn this tiny country into another Iraq. Sources: Ya Libnan, Naharnet

Druze factions clash in Lebanon
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt is a leading anti-Syrian politician
Security officials in Lebanon say that one person has been killed and five wounded in fighting between supporters of rival Druze politicians. The clashes were between supporters of the pro-Syrian former minister, Wiam Wahhab, and the anti-Syrian politician, Walid Jumblatt. They broke out during a dispute over the display of political posters in the town of Jahliye, south of Beirut. The security forces moved in to stop the fighting. It was not clear which side began the shooting, but acting Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat said all the casualties appeared to be supporters of Mr Jumblatt.
Tensions
This is not the first clash between the two groups. In April, Mr Wahhab's bodyguards shot and wounded two civilians who objected to his presence at a funeral in a Druze mountain village. Tensions between supporters and opponents of Syria's influence in Lebanon have increased since the assassination of the former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri, in February 2005.
Many Lebanese blame Syria for Mr Hariri's death and an on-going United Nations investigation has said the killing could not have taken place without the knowledge of high-ranking Syrian officials.
Syria has denied any involvement. The assassination of Hariri precipitated the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon in April 2005, after a 29-year presence, under heavy domestic and international pressure.

Rival Druze gunmen clash in Lebanon, one dead
Tuesday, July 4, 2006-BEIRUT (Reuters) - One person was killed and five were wounded in a firefight between followers of rival Lebanese Druze leaders on Tuesday, security sources said.
They said the overnight clash began when supporters of pro-Syrian former minister Wiam Wahhab were plastering posters in the village of Jahiliyah, southeast of Beirut, sparking a dispute with followers of Druze chieftain Walid Jumblatt, a fiery critic of Damascus. Lebanese army units moved in and ended the clash, the sources said. Authorities were investigating the incident and seeking the arrest of participants, they said.
It was the second deadly firefight between supporters of Wahhab and Jumblatt this year, reflecting rising political tensions in Lebanon since Syria ended three decades of military presence in its smaller neighbor last year.
The Syrian pullout came after intense international and Lebanese pressure in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in Beirut in February 2005.
A continuing U.N. investigation has implicated Syrian officials and allied Lebanese security officials in the murder. Syria has denied any links to the killing. Hariri's killing and the Syrian withdrawal plunged the country into the worst political crisis since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Jordan: Syria is Not Fulfilling Its Water Obligations
Written by The Media Line Staff
Published Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Jordan is claiming that its northern neighbor, Syria, is not committed to the water agreement signed between the two countries in 1987, the London-based daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat reports. The Jordanians are demanding that Syria transfer 15 million cubic meters of water, but so far Syria has rejected the demand.
"Israel is more committed to its water agreements with Jordan than Syria is," Muhammad Zafir Al-'Alim, Jordan's minister of water and irrigation, told reporters on Monday. According to Al-'Alim, Syria dug 3,500 wells and constructed 38 dams, where it now stores 156 million cubic meters of the Al-Yarmouk River’s waters. "This lessens the quantity of water flowing to Jordan and makes it insufficient," Al-'Alimi added.
The Syrian-Jordanian joint High Committee, which met last week, decided to form a high-level technical committee to investigate the matter. Al-'Alim predicted that Syria would eventually transfer up to 10 million cubic meters of water to Jordan.

Syria should take responsibility for protecting Hamas: Israel
AFP -Tuesday, July 04,
MOSCOW: Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday said Syria should be made to take responsibility for supporting the Palestinians in the heat of a military escalation sparked by the capture of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants. "Syria, which protects (Hamas) and grants asylum to its chiefs must understand that it can not escape responsibility for that," she said in an interview with Interfax news agency during a visit to Moscow.
Earlier on Monday President Bashar al-Assad had renewed Syria's support for the Palestinians over the matter.
Israel has threatened to kill leaders of the Palestinian movement Hamas it holds responsible for the soldier's capture in a raid on the Gaza border, including its political supremo Khaled Meshaal who lives in exile in Syria.
In a clear message to Assad last week, four Israeli warplanes overflew one of his palaces in northern Syria while he was in residence. And on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert renewed calls for Syria to expel Palestinian militant leaders.

Journalist faces trial
Posted: Tuesday, July 04, 2006-Beirut
A Lebanese investigative judge has referred an anti-Syrian journalist and a former prominent diplomat for trial over a newspaper article he said defamed President Emile Lahoud, a staunch ally of Damascus.
Beirut judge Abdel-Rahim Hammoud said the charges against Fares Khashan were related to an article published in the newspaper Al Mustaqbal (The Future) on Feb 24, which quoted disparaging remarks about Lahoud made by Johnny Abdou, a former military intelligence chief and ambassador to France.
The daily's editor-in-charge, Tawfik Khattab, will also appear before Beirut's Publications' Court, Hammoud said in a statement. Al Mustaqbal is owned by the family of former Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri, who was assassinated in a February 2005 bomb blast in Beirut.
Khattab was not available for comment.
Both Khashan and Abdou are abroad. If convicted, each could face up to two years in jail or a maximum fine of about $65,000. Hariri's son, Saad Al Hariri, leads an anti-Syrian coalition that dominates parliament and the government and has tried unsuccessfully to unseat Lahoud, accusing him of being the last symbol of Syrian tutelage in Lebanon.
Syria was the dominant force in Lebanon since the middle of the 1975-1990 civil war until the withdrawal of its troops last year, bowing to world pressure after the killing of Hariri. A UN investigation has implicated senior Syrian officials and their former Lebanese security allies in the killing.

Assad: Syria will stand by Palestinians
Published: Tuesday, 4 July, 2006,
Relatives of Hamas lawmakers detained by the Israeli army stage a protest before a session of the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah yesterday
DAMASCUS: President Bashar al-Assad renewed Syria’s support for the Palestinians yesterday in the heat of a military escalation sparked by the capture of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants.
“Syria stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the Palestinian people in their crisis and faced with Israeli repression,” Assad told the country’s highest political body, the state news agency Sana reported. “Israel’s aggressive stand and its unjust accusations against (Palestinian) national forces serve to increase our commitment to Arab rights,” he said in a first reaction to the crisis triggered by the June 25 capture of the soldier.
Chairing a meeting of the National Progressive Front, Assad pointed to “Syria’s efforts to support the Palestinian people and bring about the success of the national dialogue between the different Palestinian factions”.
Israel has threatened to kill leaders of the Palestinian movement Hamas it holds responsible for the soldier’s capture in a raid on the Gaza border, including its political supremo Khaled Meshaal who lives in exile in Syria.
In a clear message to Assad last week, four Israeli warplanes flew over one of his palaces in northern Syria while he was in residence. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert renewed calls for Syria to expel Palestinian militant leaders.
“The key to resolving the crisis is in Damascus since the directives and orders for terrorist actions originate there,” Olmert said in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“The Syrian leadership must dismantle the terrorist organisation command centres located in its territory,” he added, according to the premier’s office. l The Jordanian government yesterday described Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip as “unacceptable and unjustified”, but ruled out the freezing of bilateral ties with the Jewish state as demanded by the opposition.
“Jordan’s attitude in this respect is quite clear. We view the Israeli escalation as unacceptable and unjustified, particularly the targeting of the unarmed and innocent civilians,” the government’s official spokesman Nasser Judeh told a weekly media briefing.
Jordan’s position, as set forth by King Abdullah II, emphasised direct negotiations, refraining from the language of violence, the use of force and unilateral measures, and adhering to the international road map for peace in the Middle East, Judeh said.
Responding to a reporter’s question, the Jordanian official excluded the suspension of bilateral ties with Israel to pressure it into halting its attack in Gaza.
“Jordan is ... utilising all its ties in the region and the world to stop this escalation and push the two parties to return to the negotiating table,” he said.
Opposition parties, led by the Islamic Action Front (IAF), and affiliated trade unions have been urging the Amman government to freeze the peace treaty it concluded with Israel in 1994 to force Israel to stop its week-long operation in the Gaza Strip. – Agencies
MP for Jbeil-Kesrwan Walid Khoury: ‘Radical solutions needed to deal with the worsening situation’
Monday Morning: Dr. Walid Khoury, MP for Jbeil-Kesrwan and a member of the Bloc of Reform and Change, criticized the mentality of “those who manage public affairs in a way to serve their interests”, considering that the government had “dismally failed on the political, economic and security levels, something which requires the creation of a national unity cabinet representative of all the political currents”. He continued, “How long will Lebanon continue to live outside the institutional framework, and what is the government waiting for to implement the decisions made at the national dialogue conference? “ MP Khoury indicated that the Christian community feels “it is not adequately represented” in the halls of power, and certain ministers consider themselves false witnesses because they do not take an effective part in the making of decisions.
What is your reading of the intermediate report that the Belgian judge, Serge Brammertz, recently presented to the UN secretary-general?
It is distinguished by its professionalism, in the sense that it does not raise questions of a political character, as his predecessor did, something which embarrassed certain quarters on the internal and external levels.
The report also reassured Syria, which provided information required by the international investigating commission, whose mandate has been extended for a year.
The Bloc of Change and Reform, to which I belong, takes the view that the probe into the assassination of former Premier Hariri should be dissociated from the Lebanese internal situation and from Lebanon’s external relations. This is what the dialogue conference agreed to do.
MP Saad Hariri has said it will be difficult to stabilize the situation in Lebanon until the truth is revealed about Hariri’s assassination.
Everyone wants to know the truth of the affair so that the criminals receive a condign punishment.
At the same time, no one wants to immobilize life in our country. Everyone wants the situation to take its normal course and not have to go on improvising from one day to another, living outside the institutional framework.
The participants in the dialogue conference agreed on what they called a “pact of honor” by which they would refrain from criticizing one another in public. Has this pact been respected by all parties?
The purpose of the pact was to put a stop to exchanges of accusations and invective. Regrettably, Mr. Walid Jumblatt has resumed his virulent attacks on Syria, arguing that the pact does not apply “beyond Masnaa” [the border crossing between Lebanon and Syria].
It may be that Mr. Jumblatt wants to torpedo any Arab initiative likely to reestablish relations between Lebanon and Syria, something to which Speaker Nabih Berri is devoting much time and energy?
Lebanon, Syria
Do you infer from this that certain circles do not want to normalize relations with Damascus?
Some parties have something against Syria after the long tutelage it exerted over Lebanon. At the same time, we notice that Syria does not do enough to improve its image with many Lebanese. This was apparent when Damascus turned a deaf ear to the request by Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to visit Damascus to discuss matters of common interest. It was this that gave General Michel Aoun the idea of sending a delegation representing the dialogue conference.
The Syrians may not want Premier Saniora as an interlocutor, but are they well-inspired if they refuse to receive a delegation representing the whole of the Lebanese political class?
But General Aoun’s suggestion was not accepted by all the participants at the round table. How do you explain this rejection?
Some people were undoubtedly using the refusal as a means of responding to Syria’s inimical attitude towards Premier Saniora.
Who is responsible for the failure to implement the decisions of the dialogue conference?
You have to put this question to the government, which has even failed to apply the decisions concerning Palestinian arms outside the camps.
Your bloc is calling for a change of cabinet. Is this possible in the present circumstances?
Certainly, because if the situation continues in this way for a long time, it will be difficult to redress. Premier Saniora can’t behave as a party chief enjoying the support of the parliamentary majority and arrogating to himself the right to isolate others and preventing them from being associated in the taking of decisions which determine the country’s future.
Christians marginalized in the halls of power
After the disturbances of February 5 and June 1, followed by appointments to civil service posts, do you consider that the Christians are living in a prejudicial situation?
Within our bloc we don’t speak of confessionalism because we are working within a national framework. General Aoun is far removed from sectarianism and confessionalism. But let’s not forget certain facts: Christian leaders were marginalized , while other so-called representatives of the Christians were center stage. The last elections were the proof of their desire for change.
But so far, Christians do not feel that they are really taking part in power; the present line being the same as the one followed for 16 years. Certain Christian ministers who are friends of mine consider that they are not taking an effective part in government. Let’s not forget the celebrated meeting at the Cedars to which Dr. Geagea invited Christian leaders to focus attention on this problem.
The Christians can no longer be marginalized and the Muslims should reject such a situation, which could have unfortunate repercussions on the whole country. The Christians must not beg for a parliamentary seat or a ministerial portfolio.
How do you assess the cabinet’s conduct of public business?
The government has to deal with social, economic and security issues. But in the face of a worsening situation, there is a lack of radical solutions. In the Jbeil District, for example, state expenditure between 1992 and 2005 amounted to four million dollars, while spending in other regions amounted to as much as 30 millions in one or two years. The present cabinet isn’t responsible for this, of course; previous governments are. Premier Saniora has studied the dossier and promised to find a solution. But he tells us that money is lacking, while at the same time we are surprised to see enormous projects funded by the state.
In the light of the present internal tensions, do you fear an explosion of the Lebanese street?
Absolutely not. What happened last February and on June 1 could have been the spark of a civil war. But that would require the participation of the leaders, and this is something we have gone beyond. The signing of the Document of Understanding between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezballah has established an atmosphere of coordination on the ground.

Land of the Free and Home of the Hated
By Ron Fraser November 2004
Anti-U.S. invective fills the pages of newspapers all over the world—including the U.S. itself. What is the source of this startling rise in the hatred of America, and why is it happening now?
“A century ago, anti-Semitism was called ‘the socialism of fools.’ Now something similar threatens to
become rampant: anti-Americanism. … Like historical anti-Semitism, it transcends ideological boundaries and brings together economic, social, religious and national animosities in a murderous brew” (Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 28, 2001). It is a peculiar thing, this murderous brew. Whereas the Jew has been the target of such hatred for centuries, it is the Anglo-American who has increasingly born the brunt of an illogical, international hatred in recent times.
Special Relationship
Much has been made of the “special relationship” that the U.S. and British peoples have enjoyed: in particular during Winston Churchill’s prime, during the Reagan/Thatcher years, and, latterly, as demonstrated in the Anglo-American-led alliance against terror.
Of course, it was only 220 years ago that the Americans overturned British rule in their North American colonies and sent them packing in the war of revolution. Peace was concluded between the two nations in 1782. Yet out of this conflict was forged a bond of mutuality that was to affect the ongoing history of both nations to this day. As British historian Paul Johnson put it, “Once America was recognized as independent by the British, the two nations had far more to agree about than to dispute …” (A History of the American People).
Though brotherly spats were to occasionally follow between the U.S. and Britain, it was from the point of American independence that Britain commenced its rapid rise to become the greatest imperial power ever. The United States, after the Civil War of 1861 to 1865, rapidly rose to become the greatest single nation ever in human history.
Any truly objective commentator would be forced to admit that, despite not-infrequent bungling by occasional inept administrations throughout the ensuing history, the British and American people have brought many more blessings to the nations of this world than have they curses. Statistical records prove this point. No other nations in history have reached out to the same extent to share their largesse with those unfortunate nations that are periodically caught in natural crises than the Anglo-Americans. No other nations have spread education, the knowledge of hygiene, modern medicine, the rules of effective administration and the rule of law as have the Anglo-Americans. No other nations have sought to educate the world in the Judaic-Christian theology of monotheism, the worship of the one true God, nor to spread the Word of God, the Bible, to so many peoples in so many languages, as have these Anglo-Americans.
But what has been the response of the world to the outflowing, magnanimous generosity of these two nations? In this early 21st century, most particularly concerning the United States, it has incredibly become a blind hatred!
Anti-Globalists and Intellectuals
“Anti-Americanism is becoming the way people think about the world and position themselves within it. It is a mindset that extends beyond politics to economic and cultural realms” (Foreign Policy, September-October 2004). Why such a phenomenon? Who is influencing and shaping this seeming global anti-American mindset? Someone has to be culpable.
Commentator Jean-Francois Revel blames the anti-globalist lobby. “In spreading the lie that globalization impoverishes the most needy, the protesters simply act upon their twin enthusiasms: anti-American and anti-capitalism” (American Enterprise, June 2004). Ravel makes the point that the thousands of demonstrators who seek to disrupt meetings held by representatives of global business and commerce are merely acting out their “frustration of having seen all the socialisms and all the revolutions fail.”
On the other hand, Paul Johnson sees the intellectuals in society as playing a significant role in the creation and perpetuation of the great anti-American lie. “Anti-Americanism is the prevailing disease of intellectuals today. Like other diseases, it doesn’t have to be logical or rational. But, like other diseases, it has a syndrome—a concurrent set of underlying symptoms that are also causes.” Johnson’s summation? “Anti-Americanism is factually absurd, contradictory, racist, crude, childish, self-defeating and, at bottom, nonsensical” (Forbes, July 21, 2003). What a brilliantly simple definition that is of classic 21st-century intellectualism! Then Johnson cuts to a root cause of this blind hatred of America. “It is based on the powerful but irrational impulse of envy—an envy of American wealth, power, success and determination.”
Rampant Jealousy
Understandably, given the essence of human nature, jealousy of the blessings enjoyed for so long by the Anglo-American people in large part contributed to the demise of the British Empire. Stimulated by certain intellectuals and socialists, subjects of the Crown within British colonies clamored for the seizure of the wealth created under British rule. A subsequent revisionist rewriting of British history succeeded in largely brainwashing whole post-Victorian era generations into believing that the largely benign rule of the British was the very opposite to its reality.
This once global, anti-British mind-set has, since the U.S.’s emergence as the greatest single national power, translated itself into a rising hatred of America.
Author and professor Francis Fukuyama maintained, upon the cessation of the Cold War, that we had realized the end of history. By that he meant that every form of government known to man had been tried and the only one that had effectively survived to be increasingly embraced by nations around the world was liberal democracy. This is that form of government which Churchill termed the best of the worst—the implication being that, based on the reality that all human forms of government are faulty systems, liberal democracy had been proved through history to be the least of all evils.
That being the case, it is interesting to note the observation of a Wall Street Journal writer as he witnessed the opening ceremony at the recent Olympic Games in Greece. “It occurred to me watching this pageant of superb sportsmen and sportswomen that much the same true freedom of spirit could be seen on the faces of athletes from a list of nations with familiar names—Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Afghanistan, Grenada, Kuwait, South Korea, the former captive nations of Romania, Bulgaria, the Czechs, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania (all holding elections since the early 1990s), and the other former Soviet republics.
“These Olympians have one thing in common: They come from the nations the U.S. has liberated since the end of World War ii.
“Across the past half century, the United States used the power of its soldiers, its financial power or its diplomatic power to liberate these people from authoritarian and totalitarian governments or invaders” (August 20).
This journalist then went on to pose the question, in respect of two European hotbeds of emerging anti-Americanism, “How many nations have free France and free Germany liberated since 1945?”
EU Motivations
Why have these European “allies” of the U.S. turned against the hand that freed and then fed them during their post-war recovery barely half a century ago?
Take a look at the resumés of some of the highest-profile movers and shakers in the EU. For instance, consider EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, EU Commission President Manuel Barosso. All were left-wing radicals in their youth. All of them rose through the ranks of the 1960s disestablishment age, an age of rebellion against the norms of capitalist Jewish/Anglo-Saxon Protestant society. Theirs was a youth in rebellion against anything that exemplified the Anglo-American conservative tradition. These men were simply anti-American from their youth. Do leopards change their spots? Or, rather, does such radicalism just morph into a more careful and subtle means of expression, in the political arena, as youth matures into adulthood?
Consider the outcome. These leaders either preside over or vote for an EU budget that sponsors anti-Jewish terrorism! A report released recently by the Funding for Peace Coalition reveals that European taxpayers’ contributions have “been diverted toward graft, terrorism and anti-Israel incitement” (IsraelNationalNews.com, September 3). You can read our related article on page 8 of this issue.
The same leaders sponsor and endorse a major pop-art exhibition in Brussels, the EU’s capital city, which startlingly publicizes the extent of anti-Americanism within the Union today. The London-based Telegraph newspaper reported that this exhibition casts “the United States as the villain of modern times.” It observes that such anti-American views “can be heard every day in the corridors and canteens of the Union’s institutions” (September 14).
When called upon to support the U.S. in its third campaign in Iraq, against a leader who terrorized his own people with weapons of mass destruction (let alone his proven efforts to build an arsenal of such weapons to use against other nations), Germany’s leaders, these “former” anti-U.S. radicals, make the boldest of political statements, revealing their true colors, by refusing to join the alliance against terror!
At that point we should have remembered that those hate-filled Islamic extremists who slaughtered thousands of lives in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, came out of the hotbed of a radical Islamic terrorist enclave tolerated by Germany in the city of Hamburg! Perhaps, at that point, we should have remembered 1972, when Jewish Olympians were slaughtered by Islamic extremists at the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany! Perhaps we should have remembered that it was the German authorities, under the administration of Chancellor Willie Brandt, who let these anti-Jew, anti-American murderers go scot-free! The German government simply released these terrorists, thus enabling them to return to their anti-American, anti-Jew networks to continue with their evil work. The lesson for the terrorist inner circle? If you want a safe haven within which to hatch and perpetrate your dirty business, then Germany will roll out the welcome mat!
Think about this! There have been terrorist strikes within the EU in recent times—in France and in Spain. Terrorists with suspected Islamist links have struck hard also in Russia. But Germany has been spared such agony. Why? If the Islamic terrorists want to make a point of their concern about a coming crusade against Islam emanating from a European Union dominated by German leadership, then why not strike at Germany? The answer should be obvious. As long as German governments tolerate the seeding of Islamic extremist anti-Jew, anti-American movements within the confines of their borders, Germany remains safe from terror strikes by these extremists.
This is not dissimilar to London. As long as the “silly dove” Britain (Hosea 7:11) allows London to profit as chief banker for anti-Jew, anti-Anglo-American terror, the city of London will remain generally safe from Islamic terror strikes of a major nature.
But there is yet a third factor that is causing the rise of hatred from within the United States, and significantly elevating the risk of terrorist hits within the nation.
Porous Borders and Leftist Natives
There is continuing growth of the radical Islamic element within American society, much of it dormant, awaiting the signal to act. This has a lot to do with the porous borders to the north and south of the U.S.
The challenge posed by any effort to effectively police the vast U.S.-Canadian border territory is obvious. But it’s from the south, from increasingly unfriendly Latin American countries, that Islamic extremists are penetrating the U.S. While harmless American grannies in wheelchairs are being frisked at U.S. airports, Islamic extremists simply walk across America’s southern borders.
But it is not only those of Arabic or Persian extraction who, with evil purpose, are wandering across the border, having gained prior entry to Latin American countries. A literal flood of immigrants from neighboring Mexico is building into a real headache for the U.S. “As the number of Mexicans living in the U.S. has ballooned (growing from 2 million to 23 million over the past 30 years), so have the feelings of anti-Americanism among them. … Worse, it is being aided and abetted by the anti-Americanism of native American leftists” (FrontPageMagazine.com, Dec. 6, 2002).
David Montgomery, who wrote the article in FrontPage, attributes the blame for the self-hating anti-American leftist mindset to an amalgam of educationalists, media personalities and those who peddle such views while holding political office. “Is it any wonder that so many of our immigrants have contempt for our country and its traditions, when such a large number of native-born Americans feel the same way? From our schools, to our television shows, to the seats of our political power, widespread disdain is shown for many aspects of our nation’s culture and heritage. We are setting a very poor example for the newcomers to our country, regardless of their predispositions” (ibid.).
Root Cause
Yet there is something that is even more germane to all of this anti-Americanism—something operating at a higher level of reality than that of the human plane. It is, in fact, the ultimate root cause of both this reviving anti-Semitism and increasingly overt anti-Americanism.
Commenting on the innate tendency of human beings to stir conflict and hatred among themselves, the Apostle James declared, “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? You lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:1-3).
But what is it that influences human behavior in such a negative way? It is simply that which one of the original signers of the United Nations charter, a former Lebanese diplomat named Dr. Charles Malik, labeled as being the source of all human conflict. During an interview at the 40th anniversary celebrations of the founding of that institution, he pointed to an “ancient wisdom” that still exists in the Middle East, which declares that there is such a power as the devil, or Satan, who influences the minds of men and of nations to engage in conflict with each other. He spoke of a truism revealed in your Bible as to the existence of “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world …” (Revelation 12:9).
This statement is contained within a prophecy that goes on to predict a time when this great negative spiritual presence raises his foaming rage against mankind to fever pitch: “[F]or the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath …” (verse 12).
If you have been a longtime reader of this magazine, if you have watched the Key of David television program, blown the dust off your Bible and checked the currency of end-time Bible prophecy, you will know that this is that time! A time when Satan is gearing himself to trigger the greatest international conflict in this world’s history. It is a time that portends such great global havoc that, except for the intervention of an all-merciful supreme God, all life on the planet would face total annihilation! (Matthew 24:22).
Just Where Do You Fit?
Chief of all targets in Satan’s mind, as he views the nations, are the Judaic and Anglo-American peoples! You need to understand why. This shocking truth is explained in Gerald Flurry’s booklet The Key of David Vision, which we offer to you free upon request.
Anciently, Judah was one tribe of 12 within the nation of Israel. Those tribes were prophesied to become nations. Those 12 nations figure hugely in God’s plan to bring salvation to all mankind. Who are these peoples today? Can we find their descendents living in this age? Yes, we can! Believe it or not, large portions of their descendents are today to be found possessing the choicest locations on the planet—just as God prophesied it would be when He blessed the old patriarch of Judah and Israel, Abraham (Genesis 22:15-18).
But there were to be two nations in particular that would descend from Israel and be given special blessings in the closing centuries of man’s civilization. These are the descendents of Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, himself the great-grandson of Abraham (Genesis 48). It is a fact that, at this particular moment in history, with many in the West seeking to trace their family roots, interest is reviving in the study of the descendants of these Israelites. For proof that the British peoples are descended from Ephraim, and that the descendents of Manasseh now populate the United States of America, write immediately for your free copy of the book authored by Herbert W. Armstrong titled The United States and Britain in Prophecy.
What many within the increasing ranks of those who understand the identity of the U.S. do not realize, however, is that Bible prophecy actually predicts the great fall from favor of America, this greatest single nation on Earth! It depicts a U.S. caught in a pattern of disobedience to the God who granted its tremendous blessings, falling out of favor with God and, as a result, falling from great power and influence to become a despised nation, gloated over by its enemies as it descends into crisis upon crisis to the point of abject slavery!
Sound crazy? Only to those who refuse to check up and prove the veracity of unerring Bible prophecy.
This is not a tasteful message that we are called upon to deliver. But it is the truth! The fact is, you cannot afford not to check it out!
The reality is that the U.S. faces at least three massive headaches that will inevitably lead to its descent from greatness: 1) its tremendous dependence on foreign capital to fund its profligate consumerism, 2) the extreme overstretch of its military forces, and 3) the loss of its collective political will to see battle against its enemies through to real and ultimate victory! No power, no matter how huge its economy, can survive under such combined negative pressures. The EU knows that. China knows that. Russia knows it! Radical Islam knows it too! In fact, the thinking people around the globe, regardless of nationality, know it. It is a self-evident truth.
So where will you be and what will you do when the economy collapses? (Deuteronomy 28:44). Where will you be when the trumpet is blown and no one from your country goes to battle to defend its freedoms? (Ezekiel 7:14). Where will you be and what will you do when the rising hatred for America, and for the English-speaking allies of the U.S., morphs into a massive blockade by foreign powers, followed by foreign military invasion, and—the greatest ignominy of all—the taking of the world’s most freedom-loving people into abject, squalid slavery? (Deuteronomy 28:41).
You need to take those questions seriously—VERY SERIOUSLY!
It appears that at least one member of academia does. Read this: “As an ideology, anti-Semitism dehumanized its object and so helped prepare the way for mass murder. So, too, with the new anti-Americanism” (Professor Bernard Wasserstein, University of Glasgow, Chronicle of Higher Education, op. cit.).
Prophecy marches on to its inevitable fulfillment! The last moments of this last hour of mankind’s civilization, under the deceitful sway of “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world,” tick away. With each passing month, the hatred of the nations against America and its English-speaking allies rises even as anti-Semitism returns to haunt the planet.
There exist “allies” of the U.S. who simply became its post-World War ii allies for their own convenience. They have secretly worked against Anglo-American interests for decades. They will continue to bide their time, playing the U.S. for a sucker, till the day comes when they form alliances with other nations more conducive to the defeat of Anglo-American power and its replacement by their own! Time IS running out for you to prepare for that moment.
But the good news is that, whether you realize it or not, there IS a way of escape from all this! Write now for your copy of Ezekiel—The End-Time Prophet and find out how to make the changes in your life that will guarantee your protection from the holocaust ahead! It will show you how you can become one who contributes to the removal of all hatred between nations and be part of a movement that will usher in a world government that will guarantee true world peace!