'Egypt to Pursue Relationship With Hezbollah'

In shift from Mubarak-era policy, Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon says Brotherhood-dominated Egypt will engage terror group.

Photo: REUTERS

In a dramatic policy shift, Egypt will seek to forge “tight” relations with Hezbollah, Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Ashraf Hamdy revealed in a candid interview published on Saturday in the Beirut-based Daily Star.

“You cannot discuss politics in Lebanon without having a relationship with Hezbollah,” Hamdy was quoting as saying, before describing the terrorist group as a “real force on the ground” with “big political and military influence.”

Hamdy announced that Muslim-Brotherhood- dominated Egypt would begin “stretching [its] hand out in the proper, balanced way to all regional powers,” including Hezbollah, to forge “tight” contacts with Lebanon’s rulers.

Egypt-Hezbollah relations, generally strained under president Hosni Mubarak, in large part due to Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel, reached rock bottom in 2008 during Israel’s Cast Lead military operation.

At that time, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah called on Egypt, to no avail, to intervene militarily on behalf of Gaza-based Palestinians.

Continued

Iran: Pastor Jailed on Christmas Day

Reports coming out of Iran say that the Iranian government again has arrested and jailed Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the Iranian government used a previous criminal charge to put Nadarkhani back in Lakan Prison in Rasht, Iran.

Nakarkhani was acquitted of blasphemy and released from jail in September after spending over 1,000 days behind bars.

The American Center for Law and Justice reports that a judge in an Iranian court is ordering that Nadarkhani spend the final 45 days of his prison term on other charges behind bars.

The ACLJ report says the decision is “malicious” because “Pastor Youcef was torn away from his wife and two young boys on Christmas Day.”
The ACLJ said it was only international pressure that freed Nadarkhani earlier this year.

“Iran’s brutal repression and persecution of Christianity has not gone unnoticed. The type of immense international pressure placed on Iran earlier this year that led to Pastor Youcef’s prior release may be the only hope for freedom for these men,” the ACLJ statement said.

WND reported in August that after Nadarkhani’s 1,000th day in jail, the pastor was likely facing additional charges.

The English language site for the Farsi Christian News Network said that Nadarkhani would be charged with banditry and extortion. The network report says Nadarkhani was supposed to appear in court earlier, but there’s no record the hearing took place.

The Assist News Service reported that an Iranian website claimed Nadarkhani was accused of “security crimes.”

“The article claimed that Youcef Nadarkhani is accused of rape and repeated extortion,” Assist reported.

Nadarkhani’s arrest comes only days after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard arrested and detained Iranian-born American pastor Saeed Abedini.

WND reported last week that the American pastor was being held in the “brutal” Evin Prison.
The pastor, who holds dual Iranian-American citizenship, was arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Abedini was arrested shortly after arriving in Iran in September to visit his parents. Reports of his arrest didn’t become known until this past week.

Abedini’s captors have refused to disclose the charges, but the American Center for Law and Justice says that the prison is “especially brutal” and that he’s in jail because he formerly ran a network of house churches while he still lived in Iran.

Reports explained he returned to Iran to work on an orphanage.

Source: WND News

Syria Government Forces Retake Homs District

 

Syrian government forces have pushed rebel forces out of the Deir Baalbeh district of the city of Homs after several days of fierce fighting.

One activist group said that more than 200 civilians were killed by regime forces after the fighting, but the claim cannot be independently verified.
The death toll across Syria on Saturday was reported to be as high as 400.

The strategically important city of Homs has seen much of the heaviest fighting in Syria's 21-month conflict.
Residents of Deir Baalbeh were rounded up and forced into a petrochemical plant where they were summarily executed, according to the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), an opposition group based in Syria.

Women and children were among the dead, according to the LCC.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group, reported violence across Syria on Saturday, including in suburbs of the capital Damascus which have seen persistent clashes in recent weeks as the government attempts to wipe out the rebels' presence there.

The SOHR said it had not been able to get through to Deir Baalbeh to document the deaths there.
Risk of 'chaos'

The latest violence comes after United Nations peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned on Saturday of "hell" for Syria if no political solution was negotiated to the crisis.

Mr Brahimi, speaking after talks with the Russian foreign minister, said the conflict had become more militarised and sectarian.

It also risked bringing chaos to the region with neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan overrun by refugees, he said.

Mr Brahimi arrived in Cairo on Sunday for talks with the Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.
Opposition groups say more than 44,000 people have been killed since protests against Syria's government began in March 2011.

Earlier this month the UN's refugee agency said more than half a million Syrians had fled to neighbouring countries.

Source: BBC News

Saudis Detain Dozens For "Plotting to Celebrate Christmas"

Saudi religious police stormed a house in the Saudi Arabian province of al-Jouf, detaining more than 41 guests for “plotting to celebrate Christmas,” a statement from the police branch released Wednesday night said.

The raid is the latest in a string of religious crackdowns against residents perceived to threaten the country's strict religious code.

The host of the alleged Christmas gathering is reported to be an Asian diplomat whose guests included 41 Christians, as well as two Saudi Arabian and Egyptian Muslims. The host and the two Muslims were said to be “severely intoxicated.”

The guests were said to have been referred to the "respective authorities." It is unclear whether or not they have been released since.

The kingdom, which only recognizes Islamic faith and practice, has in the past banned public Christmas celebrations, but is ambiguous about festivities staged in private quarters.

Saudi religious police are known to detain residents of the kingdom at whim, citing loose interpretations of Sharia and public statements by hardline religious leaders to justify crackdowns.

Saudi Arabia's head mufti Sheikh Abdel Aziz bin Abdullah had previously condemned “invitations to Christmas or wedding celebrations.”

A member of the Higher Council of Islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Mohammed al-Othaimin recently prohibited sending holiday wishes to "heretics" on Christmas or other religious Christian holidays.

'Apostate' at risk of execution

On Thursday, the Beirut-based Gulf Center for Human Rights reported that Saudi human rights defender Raef Badawi is at risk of execution on apostasy charges.

Badawi is co-founder and editor of the Liberal Saudi Network. When he first appeared before the district court in Jeddah, he was charged with “insulting Islam through electronic channels” and “going beyond the realm of obedience.” The Judge then referred the case to the higher Public Court on an apostasy charge, which carries the penalty of death.

The General Court in Jeddah proceeded with apostasy charges on December 22.
Badawi was arrested this June after the Liberal Saudi Network called for “a day of liberalism” in Saudi Arabia, which included a conference that was later canceled after a warning from authorities.

Earlier this week, controversial Saudi novelist and political analyst Turki al-Hamad was arrested for criticizing Islam and the royal family in a series of tweets.

Al-Hamad is an outspoken liberal who writes about sexuality issues, underground political movements and religious freedom. The offending tweets suggested that Islam be rectified in the same way that the Prophet Muhammad is said to have revised earlier Abrahamic religions.

Source

Plight of Syrian Christians Intensifies

The condition of the Church in Syria is becoming more and more desperate. Christians, their property and their churches continue to be the targets of violent attack.

According to a prayer bulletin from Barnabas Aid, a group which provides assistance to the persecuted church, a senior church leader reported some disturbing facts.

Christians in Syria also face “inflation, poverty, growing of sectarian enmity, shortages of supplies of food and fuel, cold weather, revenge, kidnaping for big amount of ransom, risks of traveling, frequent Internet cut off and (more).”

Barnabas Aid reported that while the Christian population of Homs was once 50,000-60,000, just 80 Christians remain in a Christian neighborhood of the old city in Dec. 2012.

They are being held hostage by rebels and prevented from leaving. They’re dying one by one as a result of serious hardships and lack of medication.

A Barnabas partner said they are being kept there as “human shields” by Salafist rebel groups to deter government forces from attacking the Christian area, which is now occupied by rebels.

Despite the dangers they face, and the fact that many Syrian Christians have fled their homeland, church leaders in Syria have refused to leave their people.  

Barnabas Aid reported one senior Christian leader said, “We have to say we want to stay here. It is our vocation to give our testimony. We had a lot of persecution in the past and we have to find a way to continue.”  

As observers predict the collapse of the Assad regime, under which Christians in Syria had been well treated, the future for Christians looks bleak. Barnabas Aid had a request.

“Give thanks to the Lord that He is a faithful God who does not desert His people in need. Ask that He will be a stronghold and a refuge for the 80 Christians left in Homs, and that they will be allowed to leave in safety.”  

Barnabas Aid added, “Pray that all Christians in Syria will know the Lord's peace in these desperate times, and that He will make a way for them to live in safety in their own country.”

Source

Indian Gang-Rape Victim Dies In Singapore Hospital.

The victim of a violent gang-rape in New Delhi has died in a Singapore hospital more than two weeks after the brutal attack.

Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth hospital released a statement saying the 23-year-old student had died "peacefully” early Saturday local time.
The hospital’s chief executive, Dr. Kevin Loh, said the victim died surrounded by her family and officials from the Indian embassy.

Loh said she suffered from severe organ failure, following injuries to her body and brain.
“She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome,” he said.

The victim was transported to Singapore for treatment on Thursday, after suffering severe internal injuries, a lung infection, a heart attack and brain damage.

Indian High Commissioner, T.C.A. Raghanvan told reporters that arrangements are being made to have the victim’s body returned to India.

The case has sparked outrage in India and has prompted near-daily demonstrations in New Delhi and across the country.
Angry protesters are demanding greater protections from violent sexual acts, from groping to rape, that affect thousands of women across the country but often go unreported.

Police in New Delhi took strides to contain and end the protests, shutting down roads and using tear gas and water cannons on the protesters.

The government appealed for calm and promised to fast-track the case. It also said it would look at new measures to prevent crimes against women.

Earlier this week Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told protesters the government would “make all possible efforts to ensure security and safety of women in this country.”

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said he would consider the demands that all arrested suspects in the case face the death penalty.

Other Indian officials, however, have been slammed for comments that insulted the protesters and downplayed the nature of the crime.

National lawmaker and son of India’s president, Abhijit Mukherjee, apologized on Friday for calling the protesters “highly dented and painted” women, who go from discos and nightclubs to demonstrations.

The victim and a male friend were on a public bus on Dec. 16 when they were attacked by six men who took turns raping her after beating both of them. The attacks continued while the bus made its way through the city, even passing through police checkpoints.

The men are accused of inserting a rod into her body. The victim and her friend were eventually stripped naked and dumped on the side of a road.
The horrific crime has brought the reality of violence against women in India to the international stage.

Sexually assaulted women are often blamed for the crime, which causes them to keep quiet and refrain from reporting it to police for fear of shaming their families. Also, police often refuse to accept complaints from those who do report rape and cases that do reach the court drag on for years.
There are more than 40,000 rape cases before the Indian courts.


Read more: here

Abbas Threatens to Disband PA if Peace Talks Don't Resume

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threatened on Thursday that he will disband the PA unless there is Israeli movement toward renewing peace talks after Israel's elections on January 22, AFP reported.

Abbas said that if such a situation arises he will hand full responsibility for Judea and Samaria to the Israeli government.

"If there is no progress even after the election I will take the phone and call (Prime Minister Binyamin) Netanyahu," AFP quoted Abbas as having said during an interview with the Haaretz daily.

"I'll tell him...Sit in the chair here instead of me, take the keys, and you will be responsible for the Palestinian Authority."
"Once the new government in Israel is in place, Netanyahu will have to decide -- yes or no," Abbas told the newspaper.

Since Netanyahu was appointed Prime Minister in 2009, Abbas has refused to come to the negotiating table and has continuously tried to impose preconditions on talks.

Abbas is demanding that Israel accept the indefensible pre-1967 lines as final borders, release all Arab terrorists from its jails, and halt construction in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem for a second time before talks begin. At the same time, he has refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Even when Israel imposed a ten-month freeze on Jewish construction in an attempt to bring Abbas back to the negotiating table, he refused, choosing instead to impose more preconditions. Continued

Islamists’ Harsh Justice Is on the Rise in North Mali

 

There have been at least 14 cases of amputation since the Islamist takeover. Moctar Touré, above, was accused of stealing guns.

 

BAMAKO, Mali — Moctar Touré was strapped to a chair, blindfolded, his right hand bound tight to the armrest with a rubber tube. A doctor came and administered a shot. Then Mr. Touré’s own brother wielded a knife, the kind used to slaughter sheep, and methodically carried out the sentence.

“I myself cut off my brother’s hand,” said Aliou Touré, a police chief in the Islamist-held north of this divided nation. “We had no choice but to practice the justice of God.”

Such amputations are designed to shock — residents are often summoned to watch — and even as the world makes plans to recapture northern Mali by force, the Islamists who control it show no qualms about carrying them out.

After the United Nations Security Council authorized a military campaign to retake the region last week, Islamists in Gao, Mr. Touré’s town, cut the hands off two more people accused of being thieves the very next day, a leading local official said, describing it as a brazen response to the United Nations resolution. Then, the Islamists, undeterred by the international threats against them, warned reporters that eight others “will soon share the same fate.”  Continued

Christianity 'Close To Extinction' In Middle East

Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report.

The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam Photo: ALAMY

The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.

And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.

It warns that converts from Islam face being killed in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran and risk severe legal penalties in other countries across the Middle East.

The report, by the think tank Civitas, says: “It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree.

"A far less widely grasped fact is that Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers.”
It cites estimates that 200 million Christians, or 10 per cent of Christians worldwide, are “socially disadvantaged, harassed or actively oppressed for their beliefs.”

“Exposing and combating the problem ought in my view to be political priorities across large areas of the world. That this is not the case tells us much about a questionable hierarchy of victimhood,” says the author, Rupert Shortt, a journalist and visiting fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.

He adds: “The blind spot displayed by governments and other influential players is causing them to squander a broader opportunity. Religious freedom is the canary in the mine for human rights generally.”

The report, entitled Christianophobia, highlights a fear among oppressive regimes that Christianity is a “Western creed” which can be used to undermine them.

State hostility towards Christianity is particularly rife in China, where more Christians are imprisoned than in any other country in the world, according to the report.

It quotes Ma Hucheng, an advisor to the Chinese government, who claimed in an article last year that the US has backed the growth of the Protestant Church in China as a vehicle for political dissidence.

“Western powers, with America at their head, deliberately export Christianity to China and carry out all kinds of illegal evangelistic activities,” he wrote in the China Social Sciences Press.

“Their basic aim is to use Christianity to change the character of the regime...in China and overturn it,” he added.

The “lion’s share” of persecution faced by Christians arises in countries where Islam is the dominant faith, the report says, quoting estimates that between a half and two-thirds of Christians in the Middle East have left the region or been killed in the past century.

“There is now a serious risk that Christianity will disappear from its biblical heartlands,” it claims.
The report shows that “Muslim-majority” states make up 12 of the 20 countries judged to be “unfree” on the grounds of religious tolerance by Freedom House, the human rights think tank.
It catalogues hundreds of attacks on Christians by religious fanatics over recent years, focusing on seven countries: Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria, India, Burma and China.

It claims George Bush’s use of the word “crusade” after the September 11 attacks on New York created the impression for Muslims in the Middle East of a “Christian assault on the Muslim world”.

“But however the motivation for violence is measured, the early twenty-first century has seen a steady rise in the strife endured by Christians,” the report says.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq left Iraqi Christians “more vulnerable than ever”, highlighted by the 2006 beheading of a kidnapped Orthodox priest, Fr Boulos Iskander, and the kidnapping of 17 further priests and two bishops between 2006 and 2010.

“In most cases, those responsible declared that they wanted all Christians to be expelled from the country,” the report says.

In Pakistan, the murder last year of Shahbaz Bhatti, the country’s Catholic minister for minorities, “vividly reflected” religious intolerance in Pakistan.

Shortly after his death it emerged that Mr Bhatti had recorded a video in which he declared: “I am living for my community and for suffering people and I will die to defend their rights.

"I prefer to die for my principles and for the justice of my community rather than to compromise. I want to share that I believe in Jesus Christ, who has given his own life for us.”

The report also warns that Christians in India have faced years of violence from Hindu extremists. In 2010 scores of attacks on Christians and church property were carried out in Karnataka, a state in south west India.

And while many people are aware of the oppression faced in Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi and other pro-democracy activists, targeted abuse of Christians in the country has been given little exposure, the report says.

In some areas of Burma the government has clamped down on Christian protesters by restricting the building of new churches.

“Openly professing Christians employed in government service find it virtually impossible to get promotion,” it adds.

Source

No Merriness Here: Mosque Puts Fatwa On Christmas

Fatwa ... The head imam at Lakemba Mosque has told the congregation they should not participate in anything to do with Christmas. Photo: Kate Geraghty

The Lakemba Mosque has issued a fatwa against Christmas, warning followers it is a ''sin'' to even wish people a Merry Christmas.

The religious ruling, which followed a similar lecture during Friday prayers at Australia's biggest mosque, was posted on its Facebook site on Saturday morning.

The head imam at Lakemba, Sheikh Yahya Safi, had told the congregation during prayers that they should not take part in anything to do with Christmas.

Samir Dandan, the president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, which oversees the mosque, could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

The fatwa, which has sparked widespread community debate and condemnation, warns that the "disbelievers are trying to draw Muslims away from the straight path".
It also says that Christmas Day and associated celebrations are among the "falsehoods that a Muslim should avoid ... and therefore, a Muslim is neither allowed to celebrate the Christmas Day nor is he allowed to congratulate them".

The posting of the fatwa has shocked many Muslim leaders. The Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohammad, said the foundations of Islam were peace, co-operation, respect and holding others in esteem.
"Anyone who says otherwise is speaking irresponsibly," he said.
"There is difference between showing respect for someone's belief and sharing those beliefs," Dr Ibrahim said.
Dr Ibrahim said the views did not represent the majority of Muslims in Australia. "We are required to have good relations with all people, and to congratulate them on their joyous events is very important."

The fatwa quotes the teacher Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim as saying that congratulating disbelievers for their rituals is forbidden, and if a "Muslim who says this does not become a disbeliever himself, he at least commits a sin as this is the same as congratulating him for his belief in the trinity, which is a greater sin and much more disliked by Almighty Allaah than congratulating him for drinking alcohol or killing a soul or committing fornication or adultery”.

A community leader, Dr Jamal Rifi, said he did not agree with the school of thought behind the fatwa.
"We can share the festivities with friends and families and neighbours – I don't think there is any civil, religious or ethical reason not to," he said.

Dr Rifi and Sheikh Youssef Nabha, the imam of the Kingsgrove Mosque, are travelling to Nauru on Sunday night with priests from the Maronite and Melkite churches in Sydney to attend Christmas celebrations with the asylum seekers held there.

Dr Rifi said he and Sheikh Youssef would be distributing Christmas cards during the visit.
A community advocate and Muslim convert, Rebecca Kay, told Fairfax Media: "It's sad to see the Lebanese Muslim Association, which considers itself the peak body representing Australian Muslims, with comments like these. It goes to show how far they are from representing the community.
"The notion that Muslims wishing other people a Merry Christmas will take them out of their faith is outright ridiculous, laughable and borders on the extreme."

Keysar Trad, a former official with the Lebanese Muslim Association, said in his time with the organisation they used to regularly greet people with Merry Christmas. "I don't know what has changed," he said. "But now as a representative of Australia's peak Muslim body, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, I would like to wish all your readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."

Read more: here

PA Threatens 'Action' Against Israel if Netanyahu Wins

The Palestinian Authority is threatening to take action against Israel if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wins the elections in January.

A senior official in the PA said Thursday that if Netanyahu wins another term in office, the entity would take a series of measure in order to isolate.

The official, Hussam Zumlot, told The Associated Press that the PA would make use of its new non-member status at the United Nations to file a complaint against Israel for war crimes at the International Criminal Court.
"2013 will see a new Palestinian political track. There will be new rules in our relationship with Israel and the world," Zumlot said.

Besides going to the International Criminal Court, the PA is also examining the options of holding huge demonstrations against Israel in Judea and Samaria, ending the security cooperation with the IDF and demanding that the international community impose sanctions on Israel.

"We have to prepare ourselves for a long and tough battle," added Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization. "We will use all the political tools available."

The PA is blaming Netanyahu for the impasse in the peace talks, ignoring the fact that it is PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas who has repeatedly rejected Israeli calls to resume negotiations and has continuously tried to impose preconditions on talks.

Abbas is demanding that Israel accept the indefensible pre-1967 lines as final borders, release all Arab terrorists from its jails, and halt construction in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem for a second time before talks begin. At the same time, he has refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Continued, here.

Report: Russia Sends Warships To Mediterranean For Possible Syria Evacuation

Russia has sent warships to the Mediterranean Sea in case it has to evacuate its citizens from Syria, Interfax news agency quoted a naval source as saying on Tuesday.

In what appeared the clearest sign so far that Russia is making firm preparations for a possible evacuation, a group of five ships, including two assault ships, a tanker and an escort vessel, left a Baltic Sea port on Monday, the source said.

The vessels were heading to the Mediterranean and could stay there for an indefinite period, Interfax said.

"They are heading to the Syrian coast to assist in a possible evacuation of Russian citizens ... Preparations for the deployment were carried out in a hurry and were heavily classified," it quoted the source as saying.

The report could not immediately be confirmed independently.

Interfax published its report after the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that two Russian citizens working in Syria had been kidnapped along with an Italian citizen.

The source said that anyone evacuated from Syria would be taken to Black Sea ports.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said last week that it was possible that President Bashar al-Assad's opponents might win the civil war in Syria and that Russia was looking at preparations for a possible evacuation.

Moscow is Syria's biggest arms supplier and has remained an ally of Assad throughout the 21-month-old uprising and has protected him from three consecutive UN Security Council resolutions meant to put pressure on him.

Russia has offices in Syria for state weapons exporter Rosoboronexport and maintains a small naval repair and maintenance base on the country's Mediterranean coast.

Source

Ya'alon: US Poised For Action On Iranian Nukes

US-led efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program have resumed since President Barack Obama's re-election and include preparation for possible military action, Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon said on Tuesday.
Ya'alon's remarks suggested cautious optimism at prospects for an international resolution to the decade-old standoff with Tehran, though Israel says it remains ready to attack its arch-foe alone as a last resort.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has set out a mid-2013 "red line" for tackling Iran's uranium enrichment project. The West says this program is aimed at developing the means to build atomic bombs. Tehran denies this, saying it is enriching uranium solely for civilian energy.

Ya'alon told Army Radio on Tuesday that Israel knew there would be no movement on the issue before the US election in November, but had expected renewed effort after the vote.
"And indeed it has been renewed," he said, adding that the Iran issue is "still our top priority."

He cited contacts among the United States, Russia, France, China, Britain and Germany and Iran about holding new nuclear negotiations, ongoing sanctions against Iran, "and preparations, mainly American for now, for the possibility that military force will have to be used". He did not elaborate.
The P5+1 powers said last week they hoped soon to agree with Iran on when and where to meet. There have been suggestions it could happen this month, though January now seems more likely, Western officials say.

'Zone of immunity'

A former armed forces chief, Ya'alon questioned Obama's resolve on Iran during the Democratic president's first term. By contrast, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the lone centrist in Netanyahu's coalition government, argued in Obama's favour.
Ya'alon, a Likud member, is a frontrunner to succeed Barak, who has announced he will retire from politics after Israel's January 22 election.

On Monday, Barak reiterated Israel's determination to deny Iran the capability to make a nuclear weapon. Israel, widely assumed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, sees a nuclear-armed Iran as a mortal threat.
The prospect of unilateral Israeli air strikes, and ensuing retaliation by Iran, a big oil exporter, and its Islamist guerrilla allies in Lebanon and Gaza, worries world powers.

Speaking to Jewish leaders in New York, Barak acknowledged the limitations of Israel's military against Iran's distant, dispersed and well-defended nuclear facilities.
"The Iranians are deliberately trying to create a level of redundancy and protection for their program, what we call the 'zone of immunity'. Once they enter the zone of immunity, fate will be out of our hands," Barak said.
"The state of Israel was founded precisely so that our fate would remain in our own hands." Barak's term "redundancy" refers to Israel's belief that Iran seeks to stockpile raw uranium and enrichment centrifuges on a scale that would allow it to restore independent nuclear capacity should its known facilities be attacked.

Barak added that Israel is "determined to prevent Iran from becoming a military nuclear power."
The Iranian projects have been dogged by sabotage. While Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility, Ya'alon said there could be more in store, in parallel to global economic pressure.
"Sometimes malfunctions happen there - worms, viruses, explosions. Therefore this schedule is not necessarily chronological. It is more technological," he told Army Radio.
"We are, without a doubt, closely tracking developments in the program there, lest they attempt to pass the red line."

Source

It Could Have Been My Son

By Vicki Chandler
Special to ASSIST News Service

WARMINSTER, PA (ANS) -- How can this be possible? How could there be another mass shooting? How can anyone make sense of the massacre in Sandy Hook Elementary School? What kind of a person would harm innocent children, those as young as kindergarten students, just days before Christmas?

Adults escort young children through a parking lot after reports of a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. (Photo credit: Newtown Bee/Shannon Hicks)

In 2012, too many mass murders took place in our country. They took place in places where people should feel safe. Places like a movie theater, a shopping center, and an elementary school. Newtown, Connecticut was once voted as one of the safest place to live in America (according to NeighborhoodScout’s ® Top 100 Safest Cities in the U.S.).

That idyllic town, beautifully adorned with Christmas decorations, became shrouded in police tape on December 14th. Signs displayed the reaction of its citizens. Signs which signaled what needed to be done: “Prayer Vigil” and “Say a Prayer.”

Even President Obama looked to God for comfort when he quoted scripture saying, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3).  

Hundreds packed the church to attend the prayer vigil while throngs more outside peered into the windows. The united body leaned toward anyone who could provide comfort and answers. The collective cry of “Why” screamed to know why that day, why that school, and why those shot. A seasoned New York detective reported he stopped trying to figure out motives after seeing countless scenes of massacres. Closed eyes of the young students couldn’t make the scenes disappear. Tears of the parents couldn’t wash away their pain.  

Police patrol the streets outside Sandy Hook Elementary School after a deadly school shooting in Newtown, Conn (Photo: Reuters/Adrees Latif)

Stunned authorities struggled to describe the nightmare in Newtown. They called the death and destruction a rampage, a massacre, a horrendous tragedy, a mass murder, a horrible crisis, an assassination, and a hideous crime.

Shell-shocked witnesses named their reeling emotions as being gut-punched, heartbroken, beyond overwhelmed, terrified, devastated, and rattled. Saying their experience was unspeakable, unthinkable, unimaginable, and incredibly difficult. The images were seared in their minds, leaving them with bleeding hearts.

Descriptors can’t convey responses to the trauma. No superlative can come close to explain the incident. Minds can’t fathom any reasonable explanation. Anger and grief demand answers.   The shooter’s brother hinted at an explanation. He told police his brother had a personality disorder.

His mental illness (MI) can never be an excuse for such carnage. Others with serious mental illness don’t commit such crimes. MI offers, however, one explanation. Which begs the question: are unstable, mentally ill people getting enough mental health care?

On the Piers Morgan Tonight show on CNN, Dr. Frank Ochberg said, “We failed in America in protecting people with serious mental illness.” On the same show, Dr. Xavier Amador stated emphatically, “These things are exceedingly rare. This is an opportunity to fix things that are terribly broken in our mental health system.”  

Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s voice of experience said, “The most important thing for the families is to know they’re not alone. There will be an explanation of the incident. But, there will not be an understanding of it…The explanation won’t help us understand why the shooter did the unfathomable deed…This is not a simple situation. There won’t be a simple solution…the whole nation realizes this rare crime can happen anywhere. It’s so arbitrary.”  

President Obama addressed the stunned nation with his call to action. “We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”

We’re all desperate to find that elusive meaningful action. We struggle to identify policies or laws that will stop the carnage once and for all. Thorough investigations are being done. Questions being raised in Connecticut were raised just last July in Colorado.   Only several months ago innocent lives were arbitrarily taken in a movie theater. Back then experts, such as mental health personnel and city officials, were trying to offer insights and solutions. Yet, we still struggle to comprehend such senseless acts.   Is it even possible for rational, law abiding citizens to understand irrational violence? Can we find an answer that will lead us to say, “Okay, now that makes sense”? How can we stop the insanity?

There is one who can shed some light on insanity. Someone who has a unique perspective. The Aurora shooter’s mother. Little attention has been given to the mother of that shooter. Some wonder, “What happened in his childhood that led him to do such a thing? What kind of parent raises a child who would commit such a horrific act?”   The mother of the shooter could tell you what kind of parent raises a child with MI. She must have suspected something was wrong. Surely she had suspicions and fears. Perhaps she worried what her son might do. But, could she have imagined that the torment in her son’s head would tear through the hearts and lives of so many innocent victims? Could she have predicted her own son would be capable of committing such destruction? Was there anything she could have done to prevent the slaughter? What kind of life did she have? What was she thinking? How did she feel?
 

An earlier picture of Chris and Vicki Chandler

I don’t know the shooter’s mother, but I can imagine what she’s feeling. I know what it’s like to watch a talented, brilliant teenager “snap.” Years ago, our son, Chris, was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. In his junior year of high school, he had a break from reality. Voices inside his head told him to assault my husband and me. The parents he loved.  

Before Chris began medicine to treat his MI, I knew he was unstable. Rambling words droned from his mouth in a constant flow. I witnessed bizarre behaviors and longed for a predictable life. I sensed impending doom.   His psychiatrist said he needed to be hospitalized. I agreed.

But, my husband and I felt helpless. Laws regarding involuntary commitment prevented us from forcing Chris to be hospitalized. Unless we could prove he was a danger to himself or others, we couldn’t commit him against his will. Technically, Chris hadn’t posed a threat to himself or us. Those constraining laws made me feel like a hostage in my own home.   But, our son didn’t commit mass murder. He got the help he needed. Chris benefitted from early diagnosis and treatment. Statistics show he’s in the minority.

A recent picture of Chris

There is still so much shame and stigma surrounding MI. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) shares startling facts about children’s mental health in our country. On their website, they report that most of children suffering with MI fail to be identified or get proper treatment and support. How many are we talking about? Millions.  

Our hearts ache for those who lost loved ones in Colorado, in Connecticut, and in too many other places of mass murders. We weep for innocent people whose lives will be forever changed. Why did it happen? There’s a different question that offers hope. Who can help?  

Our heavenly Father knows what it’s like for a Son to die. He gave His only Son for us so that we could one day live with Him in heaven. A place without such carnage as seen on the news; a place where God will wipe away every tear: a place where there will be no more pain. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4 NIV).

I’m comforted by that hope. That eases my pain and gives me peace. You might say, “That’s easy for you to say. You don’t know what it’s like to face an insane man threatening your life.” My answer: For two months during our son’s psychotic episode, he stared at me with an empty darkness in his eyes and threatened my life.   During those days, God provided peace and inner calmness amid piercing sorrow. Peace that can’t be comprehended. How could I have such peace in the face of death? Because of Him!

Chris playing keyboards during a church solo

God offers us hope. We all can do something to prevent more massacres. In our prayers for the victims and their families, let’s also pray for parents who have a child with MI. Let’s pray they get the help they need, to obtain an early diagnosis, and get proper treatment. Pray for greater understanding of the early warning signs of MI. And beg our merciful Father to stop the entertainment industry from glorifying violence in movies, music, and computer games. Violence which feeds troubled minds with evil thoughts.

We can and must work to change the involuntary commitment laws. Laws which make it impossible for parents to get hospital care for an adult child with MI before a violent act is committed.

Additionally, more supports must be in place for parents when their child is suffering from severe mental illness.   “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 NIV).  

Mental Health Organizations, where parents can get help: National Organizations:

 * National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
3803 N. Fairfax Dr., Ste. 100
Arlington, VA 22203
Main: (703) 524-7600
Information Helpline: (800) 950-NAMI (6264) * National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
6001 Executive Boulevard Room 8184, MSC 9663
Bethesda, MD, 20892-9663
(301) 443-4513
nimhinfo@nih.gov
http://www.nimh.nih.gov
(866) 615-6464

* Mental Health America
2000 N. Beauregard Street, 6th Floor Alexandria, VA 22311
Phone (703) 684-7722
Toll free (800) 969-6642
Fax (703) 684-5968
In Crisis? 1-800-273-TALK

* Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
1 Choke Cherry Rd.
Rockville, MD, 20857
samhsainfo@samhsa.hhs.gov
http://www.samhsa.gov
(240) 276-2130

Christian Organizations:
* Local churches
* No Longer Alone Ministries (NLAM)
630 Janet Avenue, Lancaster, PA 17601
Phone: 717-390-4891 * Focus on the Family
1-800-232-6459
Arrange to speak with a licensed Christian counselor at no cost by calling 1-855-771-HELP (4357) Monday through Friday between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Mountain time.

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 Source

Thousands of Hamas Supporters Rally in West Bank

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK — For the first time since 2007, Hamas supporters flooded the streets of the West Bank to mark the Islamic movement’s 25th anniversary. Riding a wave of increasing support after the deadly exchange of fire with Israel last month, Hamas called for more rallies across the West Bank.

In central Ramallah, base of Hamas’ Western-backed rival, Fatah, hundreds of Palestinians proudly waved the green Hamas flags. A truck drove through the streets blaring out a musical chorus of “strike Tel Aviv.” Larger rallies were held in recent days in Nablus and Hebron, where Hamas has a stronger support base.

Standing with his son at the back of the crowd in Ramallah, 40-year-old Amjad Najjar said he supports Hamas because of its armed resistance against Israel.

“Today we celebrate that Hamas has fought the Israelis for 25 years,” said Najjar. “Hamas is fighting to get us our land back. Fatah has been doing peace talks for a long time, and they didn’t get us any of our land.”

Many Palestinians have become frustrated with the peace process in which they have been represented by Fatah and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Two decades after the PLO signed the Oslo Accord with Israel, Palestinians still don’t have a sovereign state, but do see hundreds of thousands of new Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Israel has favored talks with the PLO and Fatah, but rejects Hamas as a terrorist organization that calls for destruction of the Jewish state.

“Hamas stood fast and confronted Israel,” says Dr. Samir Awad, a professor of political science at Birzeit University near Ramallah. “The Palestinian people are fed-up with the Israeli occupation and the settlers, so they will support firmly any strike against the occupation, be it military or like what [President Abbas] did in the diplomatic arena.”

While Palestinians cheered Abbas for winning recognition by the U.N. General Assembly as an observer state, little has changed on the ground. And as many Palestinians see it, Hamas’ show of defiance seems to have brought concrete gains such easing restrictions on fishermen and farmers near Gaza’s borders with Israel. These Palestinians now feel that Israel has sent the message that violence wins, not negotiations.

Nael Barghouti knows this all too well. He had spent 34 years in an Israeli prison when he was released last year along with about 1,000 other Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Capturing one Israeli soldier managed to free more prisoners than years of negotiations.

“Hamas freed the prisoners by force and sacrifice,” says Barghouti. “I have respect for all the Palestinian factions that contribute the Palestinian revolution, but Hamas freed the prisoners so they get a higher respect.”

Barghouti is one of many West Bank Palestinians who may not align themselves with Hamas, but admire its style of resistance. As some Palestinians explain it, this why Hamas has dedicated support in West Bank territory where it has no authority.

Continued , here.

Egypt's Islamists Aim To Build On Constitution Vote

President Mohamed Mursi has won initial backing from Egyptians for a new constitution that he hopes will steer the country out of crisis, but which opponents say is an Islamist charter that tramples on minority rights.

A first day of voting in a referendum on the draft basic law resulted in 56.5 percent 'Yes' vote, Mursi's political party said. An opposition official conceded that Egyptians voting on Saturday appeared to have backed the measure.

Next Saturday's second set of balloting is likely to give another "yes" vote as the voting then will be in districts generally seen as even more sympathetic towards Islamists, and that would mean the constitution should be approved.

But the apparent closeness of the early tally gives Mursi only limited comfort as it exposes deep divisions in a country where he needs to build a consensus for tough economic reforms.

If the constitution passes, national elections can take place early next year, something that many hope will usher in the stability that Egypt has lacked since the fall of Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago.

"The referendum was 56.5 percent for the 'yes' vote," said a senior official in the operations room set up by the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party to monitor voting.

A statement from the opposition National Salvation Front did not explicitly challenge the Brotherhood's vote tally, saying instead that voting malpractices meant a rerun was needed.

RIGHTS GROUPS

Rights groups reported abuses such as polling stations opening late, officials telling people how to vote, and bribery. They also criticized widespread religious campaigning that portrayed "No" voters as heretics.

A joint statement by seven human rights groups urged the referendum's organizers "to avoid these mistakes in the second stage of the referendum and to restage the first phase".

Mursi and his backers say the constitution is vital to move Egypt's democratic transition forward. Opponents say it is too Islamist and ignores the rights of minorities, including the Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.

Continued.

US Gun Control debate Simmers After Newtown Massacre

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. senator and lifelong member of the National Rifle Association became the most prominent gun rights advocate to speak out after last week's school shooting, saying Monday it was time for the debate to move beyond political rhetoric and begin an honest discussion about reasonable restrictions on guns.

But White House spokesman Jay Carney cautioned, "No single piece of legislation or action will fully address the problem."
It remained unclear how President Barack Obama would move forward on his comments to use the "power" of his office to tackle gun violence.

Digital Extras

 

Photos

Supporters of gun control gather on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House in Washington on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, during a vigil for the victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

 

As many gun-rights advocates and politicians remained silent, the killing of 20 children as young as 6 years old led conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin to speak out Monday.
"Never before have we seen our babies slaughtered. It's never happened in America that I can recall, seeing this carnage," Manchin told MSNBC. "Anybody that's a proud gun owner, a proud member of the NRA, they're also proud parents, they're proud grandparents. They understand this has changed where we go from here."

The self-described "proud outdoorsman and hunter" added, "I don't know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle, I don't know anybody who needs 30 rounds in a clip to go hunting."

Manchin said he agrees with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has advocated banning the sale of assault weapons.
Democrats say the "meaningful action" Obama has spoken of in the wake of last week's shooting must include a ban on the military-style assault weapons and a look at how the country deals with individuals suffering from serious mental illness.


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