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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
February 2015 issue 158
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‫النـــــور‬
‫اإلنكليزية الرائدة في الواليات المتحدة األميركية‬-‫الجريدة العربية‬
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158 ‫ العدد‬2015 ‫ فبراير‬- ‫شباط‬
‫* أ َمة عربية أم ل ّمة عربية؟‬
‫ األوضاع أصبحت جاهزة‬:‫* “داعش” ته ّدد‬
”‫“لتحرير والية لبنان‬
‫ أشخاص ذبحوا ثالثة‬3 ‫* الجنائية التركية تحكم ببراءة‬
‫مسيحيين داخل دار نشر مسيحية‬
‫ وهذا مضمونها‬..‫* «حزب هللا» بعث رسالة إلى إسرائيل‬
‫* حوار مع السيد المسيح‬
‫* غزة ق ّررت أن تكسر حصارها البحري‬
Israel is the New Front in the Syrian War
As Hezbollah Gains Ground in the Golan, Iran
is Now Knocking on the Door of Israel’s Quietest
Border
By Phillip Smyth
.......The strategic importance of this region
was further underlined by the presence of
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
Gen. Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, who, along
with five other Iranians, was among those
killed in the Jan. 18 Israeli strike.
Tehran had promised to respond to the attack;
a day before the Jan. 28 retributive strike it
even reportedly went through “diplomatic
channels” with the United States to once
more threaten Israel with a response. The killing of a high-ranking Iranian military leader
who was directly cooperating with Hezbollah
commanders comes on the heels of increasing reports of open IRGC activity in Lebanon. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have been
active in the Syria campaign, coordinating
operations with Hezbollah against moderate Syrian rebel forces and Sunni jihadis, but
they have continued to lose members in Syria.
As far back as August 2012, Syrian rebels
claimed to have kidnapped over 40 Iranians
associated with the Revolutionary Guards.
Losses aside, Iran and its proxies have larger
strategic aims than simply winning territory
back from Sunni rebel and jihadi groups.
The youth brigade
A particular casualty illustrates these goals.
The most well-known and well-publicized
Hezbollah member to die in the Jan. 18 attack
was Jihad Imad Mughniyeh, the son of Hezbollah’s terror mastermind Imad Mughniyeh.
Jihad’s father, who likely involved in the 1983
bombing of U.S. and French peacekeepers in
Beirut and the 1983 bombings in Kuwait,
and was indicted in the United States for his
involvement in the 1985 hijacking of TWA
Flight 847, was killed in a murky Damascus
car bomb assassination in early 2008. Like
his father before him, Jihad Mughniyeh’s
funeral was held in the Hezbollah-dominated
neighborhood of Dahiyeh, south of Beirut,
and was attended by thousands. Mourners
shouted “Death to America” and “Death to
Publisher
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Israel” as the casket was carried through the
throngs of Hezbollah supporters.
Jihad’s pedigree was a key element of his rise
within Hezbollah, but nepotism was not the
sole reason. While the younger Mughniyeh
had the wasta, he seemingly followed in the
path of other Hezbollah fighters. As a child
he was a member of Hezbollah’s Imam alMahdi Scouts, an organization that serves as
an incubator for youths to later become full
Hezbollah members and fighters. Reportedly, photos emerged on Hezbollah-linked
social media showing Jihad taking part in
parades for the group. Still, claims of his
military prowess have remained elusive.
While little confirmable information exists
regarding how Jihad moved up the ranks
within Hezbollah, a number of reports had
surfaced claiming he was active within
Syria. In late 2013, Free Syrian Army intelligence sources claimed Jihad was presented
with command over Hezbollah’s developing
“Golan file.”
Despite his youth — he was reportedly born
in 1989, placing him in his mid-20s — Jihad
had a long history of publicly advocating
for Hezbollah with high-profile patrons.
Promoted in social media and other news
sites, the younger Mughniyeh was photographed with Hezbollah Secretary General
Hassan Nasrallah, IRGC Quds Force leader
Qassem Suleimani, Iranian generals, diplomats, and even Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Following his father’s assassination in
Damascus, Jihad cultivated a decidedly
more public image than his late father. He
was active in Hezbollah’s student wing at
the Lebanese American University and
graced Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV, praising
martyrs like his father. In a 2008 speech,
dressed in military fatigues during the
memorial ceremony for his father and other
Hezbollah leaders, Jihad took to the stage,
chanting, “At your service, Nasrallah.” And
during 2013’s annual memorial for martyr
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leaders, Jihad once again ascended to the
stage.
Regardless, Jihad Mughniyeh whose name
was reportedly later scrolled across mortar
shells lobbed into Israeli positions was
likely more important in death than he
was operationally, particularly for Hezbollah’s youth. Regardless, Jihad Mughniyeh
whose name was reportedly later scrolled
across mortar shells lobbed into Israeli positions was likely more important in death
than he was operationally, particularly for
Hezbollah’s youth. It’s worth noting that
many of the Hezbollah figures killed alongside Jihad were just as young as him: Ali
Hassan Ibrahim (reportedly born in 1993),
Ghazi Ali Dhawi (reportedly born in 1988),
and Muhammad Ali Hassan Abu al-Hassan
(reportedly born in 1985). It’s likely that
these all were lower-level Hezbollah ground
commanders in charge of smaller units or
geographic zones in the Golan Heights.
A shift in power along the Syrian border
While the Jan. 18 attack represents another
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saga in the long-running war between Israel
and Hezbollah, it also underlines a strategic power shift between Iran and the Assad
regime. Hezbollah’s success in opening a
new front in the Golan has been a major
accomplishment. With greater access to the
Golan — or at least sections of it — Hezbollah has a new, non-Lebanese zone it can
utilize to target Israel. This may have been
Hezbollah’s primary goal all along. Long
before Syria’s brutal civil war, it was Hafez
and Bashar al-Assad who used Lebanon, and
often Hezbollah, as a front to exact their military goals against Israel. Now the tables have
turned, and it is Hezbollah and its masters in
Tehran who can choose areas of Syria to use
against Israel.
For Iran and its Hezbollah proxy, this success is a step in a process to militarily
encircle the Israelis. Tehran is currently resolidifying its relationship with Hamas in
Gaza, addressing a push for a southern front
against Jerusalem.
Continued on page 4
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Iran Seizes One Arab
Capital After Another
By Charles Faddis
Want to know what the most valuable skill
is for an intelligence officer? It’s not how to
drive a sports car at high speed through the
streets of Monaco, although that does sound
like fun. It’s not how to make the perfect
martini, although a good martini is always
welcome. It’s not even how to proficiently
use a handgun, although in extremis it would
be a good idea to know how to do so. No, it’s
something very simple. It’s knowing how to
listen.
Maybe our leaders ought to cultivate that
skill a little more.
Speaking in the fall of 2014 Iranian lawmaker Ali Reza Zakani, a member of the
nation’s parliament and a close confidant of
Supreme Leader Khameini, bragged that the
Iranians had already taken control of three
Arab capitals, Beirut, Damascus, and Baghdad, and that Sanaa, the capital of Yemen,
would soon be the fourth.
Apparently, no one bothered to pay attention.
There is a huge, dangerous, virulently antiAmerican menace growing in the Middle
East. It possesses vast military power, huge
oil resources, and a great deal of advanced
technology. It views the world in apocalyptic terms, and it knows to a moral certainty
that it is on the side of God and that we are
followers of Satan.
No, it is not the so-called Islamic State in
Syria and Iraq, although that monstrous
creation is a severe danger in its own right.
It is the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is
gathering steam and on the march across
the Middle East. As shown by the quote
above, the Iranians have been crystal clear
about their intentions. They are flexing their
muscles and seizing control of Arab governments wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself.
In Beirut, Hezbollah and their Iranian sponsors hold sway. For years Lebanon has been
plagued by the existence of this powerful
Shia group within its borders. Increasingly,
however, we are no longer talking about a
nation state threatened by violent extremists.
We are talking about a terrorist group that
controls a nation state. Hezbollah is becoming the reality, and Lebanon the fiction.
In Syria, Assad hangs on only by virtue of
the support he is receiving from Iran and
Hezbollah. Thousands of Hezbollah fighters are on the ground inside Syria. The Iranians have provided and continue to provide massive support to Assad’s regime.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
trains, equips, and guides the forces fighting to keep Assad in power. Syria, always
an ally of Tehran, is increasingly a puppet.
The same transformation is taking place
in Baghdad. While we speak only in terms
of ISIS and Sunni extremists, Iran is rapidly taking control of Iraq and the government in Baghdad. Iranian Revolutionary
Guard Corps personnel are on the ground.
Senior Iranian commanders are increasingly involved in directing Iraqi military
efforts. At the same time we are attempting to persuade Iraqi Sunnis to trust their
government, Baghdad is becoming a client
of Tehran.
And now we come to Yemen. For years
it has been well known that Iran has been
arming and training the Shia Houthi rebels
who just seized control of the capital. Iranian ships headed to Yemen have been
stopped at sea carrying massive quantities
of weapons, equipment, and explosives.
Press reports have documented the scale
of the effort and its goal, to overthrow the
government in Sanaa and seize control.
That goal has now been realized. Another
Middle Eastern nation has fallen under
the control of the mullahs in Tehran. This
is, however, not the end of anything. It is
simply another step along the way in what
the Iranians refer to as the “grand jihad” —
the conquest of the entire Middle East by
the Shia forces of the Islamic Republic.
If that sounds perhaps too fantastic, maybe
we ought to listen again to what our adversaries have to say. Zakani’s remarks regarding the impending fall of Yemen did not
end with that prediction. He went on to
state that the seizure of Sanaa would be just
one more step in the logical progression
of the Iranian revolution, and, just to be as
clear as possible added, “The turn of Saudi
Arabia will inevitably come.”
Continued on page 11
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The Kurds set their sights on Mosul after taking back Kobani. The Islamic State appeared
unstoppable when it swept Mosul with ease last June. Now, a senior Iraqi Kurdish official
says government forces are readying to oust the extremists. But the Kurds are going to need
help. Mosul is mostly comprised of Sunni Arabs, and is located in disputed territory that
Kurds have also claimed as their own. To defeat the Islamic State, the Kurds must avoid the
perception of arriving as a conquering army. Meanwhile, the Islamic State’s increasing presence in Libya after an attack on a Tripoli hotel killed 10
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah can afford all-out war, but the situation could nonetheless
spiral out of control.
The wars in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine are getting wide coverage in Western media, but there
are at least 30 other conflicts in the world that are likely to go largely unnoticed this year
and keep millions of people in crisis. Here are a few of them: DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
OF CONGO Fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s east displaced 770,000 people
in 2014 alone. An estimated 7 million people across the country need aid, according to the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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Dubai Overtakes
Heathrow as Top
International Airport
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ECONOMY
Traffic at the airport increased 6.1 percent
last year to 70.47 million passengers, Dubai
Airports said, adding that it expected a further surge in traveller numbers in 2015.
Dubai International is home to Emirates, the
Middle East's largest carrier, which along
with Abu Dhabi's Etihad and Qatar Airways
has seized a significant portion of travel
between the West, Asia and Australasia.
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said
Dubai International would boost its annual
capacity to 90 million passengers this year
with the opening of Concourse D -- a new
hall for arrivals and departures.
Oil-poor Dubai has spent years trying to
diversify its economy with core sectors now
including trade, transport and tourism.
Aided by a rapid expansion in capacity, aviation is expected to account for more than a
third of the emirate's GDP by 2020.
London Heathrow by contrast has struggled
to grow, with a commission still studying
proposals to increase capacity there and at
Gatwick airport, south of London.
The two are among five airports serving the
UK capital that form the busiest hub in the
world with around 135 million passengers
a year.
Dubai's increase in
passenger
numbers
comes despite a slight
fall in the number of
flights taking off in
2014, due to 80-day
runway refurbishment
project.
Emirates Airline in
particular has bought
more
wide-bodied
aircraft, including the
world's largest fleet of
Airbus A380 superjumbos, helping the
average number of
passengers per flight at Dubai to grow to
more than 200.
Dubai's surge in traffic "is no doubt due to
the massive A380 fleet at Emirates," said
aviation expert Addison Schonland.
Flights to and from Western Europe saw
the biggest passenger growth in Dubai, followed closely by destinations in the Indian
subcontinent, Asia and North America.
European airlines, notably Air FranceKLM and Lufthansa, have voiced concern
at increased activity by Gulf-based compa-
Heathrow handled 68.1 million international
passengers in 2014, according to airport figures.
The British hub still outclassed Dubai International in overall numbers, handling 73.4
million passengers if travellers on domestic
flights are included.
nies, complaining of differences in taxation
that they say cause unfair competition.
Dubai's other airport, Al-Maktoum International, opened for passengers in 2013 and
will be capable of handling 120 million
travellers when completed in 2022.
Swiss Private Banks Fight for Survival
The sudden appreciation of the Swiss
franc has intensified pressure on Switzerland’s private banks, raising the prospect
of job cuts and bankruptcies. The Swiss
National Bank’s decision two weeks ago
to abandon the cap it imposed to stop
the Swiss franc appreciating against the
euro caused the domestic currency to
soar, before the franc pared back some of
the gains. Analysts and bankers believe
the dramatic central bank U-turn will
be extremely damaging for Swiss private banks and asset managers that have
a high proportion of their costs in Swiss
francs, but most of their revenues in foreign currencies.
Moody’s said Julius Baer, Zuercher Kantonalbank, Credit Suisse and UBS will
“suffer most” from currency translation
effects on their foreign currency-denominated asset bases.
handle this. The small banks [with less
than SFr10bn ($11.4bn) in assets] are
really the ones in danger.”
The worst-affected banks will lose
between 10-15 percent of their fee
income, according to Hintermann. This
will exacerbate pressure on the Swiss
banking sector, which is already grappling with a global shift towards onshore
assets, increased tax transparency and a
U.S. investigation into Swiss banks that
had undeclared American customers.
Burkhard Varnholt, Julius Baer’s chief
investment officer, said: “The surge of
the franc has been a blow to all companies whose costs are predominantly
Swiss. Investors hate volatility and
uncertainty and this is exactly what has
happened over the past few days. It is
a challenge to any private bank around
the globe.”
A spokesman for Julius Baer, Switzerland’s largest private bank, confirmed
that staff cuts are one of the measures
being considered to reduce costs as a
result of the currency spike.
Thomas de Saint-Seine, chief executive
of RAM, a Geneva-based wealth manager, said his group will restrict hiring
in Switzerland and negotiate terms with
its service providers to try and mitigate
the currency turmoil. He predicted the
group’s net profitability will fall 15-20
percent if the foreign exchange rate
remains at the current level.
“This will make [survival] very difficult,” said Christian Hintermann,
Zurich-based partner at KPMG, the consultancy. “The large private banks will
The SNB’s simultaneous decision to
lower interest rates from -0.25 percent
to -0.75 percent will reduce the profitability of domestically orientated banks,
in particular St Galler Kantonalbank,
Berner Kantonalbank, Valiant Bank and
Clientis, according to Moody’s.
Other large private banks and fund
groups moved to reassure investors and
shareholders that they would be resilient despite the currency setback.
Martin Moeller, head of equities at
UBP, the Geneva-based private bank,
said: “Private banking has had a couple
of difficult years already. I don’t think
this will lead to any bankruptcies but
[some private banks] will consider their
options.”
The same is true of energy. India is dangerously dependent on hydrocarbon imports,
and vulnerable to a range of energy shocks
that could upend growth. The United States
is the world’s new energy superpower.
India and the United States enjoy a lopsided relationship in which the closest
cooperation occurs in the areas of defense
and homeland security. This was evident
at the Modi-Obama summit, where the
leaders renewed a 10-year defense pact,
expanded defense technology-sharing and
co-production plans, and committed to
greater cooperation on counter-terrorism.
Yet U.S.-India trade and investment ties
remain strangely underdeveloped — in
striking contrast with China, whose U.S.
trade is more than five times greater. This
is somewhat perverse: whereas China is a
strategic competitor to the United States,
India is a strategic partner.
President Obama therefore has a compelling interest in helping Modi deliver on
the promise of his overwhelming election
mandate: to spur the rapid and sustained
economic growth that is the only solution
to India’s underdevelopment, the surest
source of its future security, a stabilizer
of the Asian balance of power, and a new
engine of global prosperity.
How America Can Unleash India’s
Massive Economic Potential
President Barack Obama’s successful
summit with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in New Delhi reminds us that India,
no less than China, will help determine
the future of Asia and the world – and that
India and America are destined to be allies
in support of peace and pluralism in the
emerging global order.
Modi underlined this point when he said
the U.S.-India partnership would be instrumental in “shaping the character of this
century.” India, after decades of sitting
on the sidelines of global politics, would
now assume its “responsibility” within an
Indo-U.S. “global partnership,” he said.
This marks the demise of India’s vexed tradition of non-alignment, which may once
have suited a country that was weak and
poor but makes no sense for a country that
is rising and strong.
After years of courtship, it appears Washington now has a partner in New Delhi
it can do business with – and who is not
embarrassed to align openly with the
world’s superpower to advance India’s
interests, as were previous leaders in New
Delhi. The vision statement on Asian security agreed to at the summit aligns India
with America and Japan in advocating a
regional balance of power that is tilted
towards Asia’s democracies rather than
towards China. Indeed, the two leaders
even discussed reconstituting the Quadrilateral Partnership comprising America,
India, Japan, and Australia – a grouping
China previously condemned as an “Asian
NATO.”
Modi has argued that foreign policy starts
at home, and that only a vigorous India
that gets its domestic house in order will be
respected abroad. The overarching objective of his grand strategy is to fuel economic growth at home so that India can
improve both its people’s welfare and its
security. Dramatic reforms to the country’s statist economy are essential to seed
growth and produce the jobs necessary to
employ what will become the world’s biggest workforce.
This is where partnership with America
comes in. As a technology and innovation superpower, the U.S. can offer new
technology partnerships in the realms of
energy, environment, defense, health care,
education, and other fields to supercharge
India’s development trajectory. A 2008
civilian nuclear energy deal, which has
been dogged by legal issues, is one such
technology partnership. Happily, Obama
and Modi seem to have arrived at an understanding on how to finally implement it.
As Modi and Obama discussed, Washington could also work with New Delhi to
move India towards accession to the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum. This would require substantial liberalization of the Indian economy, which
would benefit India even more than it
would APEC.
New Delhi’s record of obstructionism
in trade liberalization talks at the World
Trade Organization, and its exclusion from
the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership and
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, otherwise risk isolating it from the world’s most productive
trade arrangements. Unlike in 1980, when
imports and exports constituted about 15
percent of India’s GDP, today trade makes
up almost half its economy.
India’s competitiveness will slip if it is
not anchored in liberalized commercial
arrangements with the world’s leading
economies.
It could offer long-term supply arrangements that boost India’s energy security —
if India commits to the necessary reforms to
take advantage of such a partnership.
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Wo r l d N e w s
Mediating Mass Murder
Susan Rice has stalled the American push for
an arms embargo in South Sudan. By Colum
Lynch Colum Lynch is Foreign Policy's
award-winning U.N.-based senior diplomatic
reporter. Lynch previously wrote Foreign
Policy's Turtle Bay blog, for which he was
awarded the 2011 National Magazine Award
for best reporting in digital media. He is also
a recipient of the 2013 Elizabeth Neuffer
Memorial Silver Prize for his coverage of the
United Nations.
Before moving to Foreign Policy, Lynch
reported on diplomacy and national security for the Washington Post for more than
a decade. As the Washington Post's United
Nations reporter, Lynch had been involved
in the paper's diplomatic coverage of crises
in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, and
Somalia, as well as the nuclear standoffs with
Iran and North Korea. He also played a key
part in the Post's diplomatic reporting on the
Iraq war, the International Criminal Court, the
spread of weapons of mass destruction, and
U.S. counterterrorism strategy. Lynch's enterprise reporting has explored the underside of
international diplomacy. His investigations
have uncovered a U.S. spying operation in
Iraq, Dick Cheney's former company's financial links to Saddam Hussein, and documented
numerous sexual misconduct and corruption
scandals.
Salva Kiir Mayardit, South Sudan’s president,
founding father, and long-time darling of
Washington’s political class, stands accused of
presiding over security forces responsible for
killing thousands of civilians in a 13-month
long civil war that has heightened fears of
genocide and fueled international calls for the
imposition of a U.N. arms embargo to stem
the bloodshed.
But Susan Rice, the U.S. National Security
Advisor and a long-standing champion of
South Sudan, has for months resisted appeals
from key allies, including Britain and France,
and from members of President Barack
Obama’s national security team, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Samantha Power,
the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to
push for the weapons ban, according to more
than one dozen foreign diplomats, human
rights advocates, and congressional officials
interviewed by Foreign Policy.
Power — perhaps the administration’s most
fervent interventionist — and Kerry have
argued internally that Kiir has ignored Washington’s diplomatic appeals to halt the killing
for long enough and that it is time to impose
more coercive measures, including an arms
embargo, to change his behavior, according to
those sources.
An arms embargo, Rice believes, would
undermine a democratically-elected government’s ability to defend itself against an insurgency led by Kiir’s former vice president,
Riek Machar that has also committed heinous
mass atrocities. Rice also is concerned that an
embargo would be ineffective because South
Sudan’s neighbor and military ally, Uganda,
would not enforce it even if one were imposed,
those sources claimed.
Continued from page 1
Israel is the New Front in the Syrian War
If needed, the Golan’s near-anarchic conditions also provide Hezbollah with plausible
deniability (in the odd case it wishes to deny
it had a role in attacking the Jewish state).
Geographically, the domination of the Golan
potentially creates a Hezbollah-dominated
zone stretching from the Mediterranean to the
Jordanian border.
Tensions have already occurred between
Hezbollah and Israel in the Golan and on the
Israel-Lebanon border. As early as May 2013,
Bashar al-Assad had announced that the Golan
would become a “resistance front.” As early
as May 2013, Bashar al-Assad had announced
that the Golan would become a “resistance
front.” This was followed by threats made by
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), Assad’s
Palestinian proxy, claiming that it would
send fighters to battle the Israelis in the area.
Hezbollah also followed up with calls that it
would “liberate Syria’s Golan.” On March 5,
2014, Hezbollah fighters attempted to plant an
improvised explosive device (IED), an operation thwarted by Israeli forces. But fewer than
10 days after that attempt, Hezbollah claimed
responsibility for an IED attack near the IsraelLebanon border that wounded four Israeli soldiers in the northern Golan. And another Lebanon-based IED attack occurred in October 2014,
which Hezbollah was accused of organizing.
Reportedly, Hezbollah has also created proxy
groups in the region: In the words of one Israeli
general, “Hezbollah gives [these groups] the
IEDs and the Iranians give them the inspira-
tion.” In early 2014, photos emerged of Abu
Shahed al-Jabbouri, the leader of Liwa Dhulfiqar, an Iraqi Shiite-manned militia bolstering
Bashar al-Assad’s rule, posing in the Golan
near the border with Israel. Hezbollah had
assisted in the creation of Liwa Dhulfiqar and
had operated with the group in Syria. For Israel,
it seems, enough is enough. If the Jan. 18 airstrike on Jihad and company was an attempt to
eliminate some of the more high-profile planners of these attacks, then the Jan. 28 shelling
of Syrian artillery positions can been seen as
a signal to Damascus, Hezbollah, and Tehran:
The opening of a Golan front would not be tolerated.
Israel is understandably worried about encirclement. But this development is not simply
limited to Israel. With the Houthi victory in
Yemen, increased tensions in Bahrain, and
Iran’s numerous Shiite militia proxies projecting their power in Iraq, Saudi Arabia is also
facing a more fractious but similar predicament
to the Israelis in Tehran’s new geographic arc
of influence.
But Hezbollah — and Tehran — are not easily
cowed. The attack on Jan. 28 that killed two
Israeli soldiers has demonstrated that the price
of not retaliating outweighed the risks of sparking a broader regional war. Hezbollah hardly
wants to appear as if its hands are tied fighting
Sunni elements in Syria. With four anti-tank
missiles fired in the Shebaa Farms, and mortars
launched at Mount Hermon, Hezbollah seems
intent on revenge — and showing Israel that
the Jewish state is still Target No. 1.
First U.S. Troops Head to Middle
East to Train Syrian Opposition
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the first
group of about 100 U.S. troops to head
to the Middle East in the next few days
to establish training sites for Syrian opposition fighters battling Islamic State militants, the Pentagon said on Friday.
Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press
secretary, said the troops, mostly special
operations forces, were authorized last
week and would begin arriving in countries outside Syria in the coming days,
with a subsequent wave of several hundred military trainers following in the
weeks thereafter.
The U.S. focus in the campaign against
Islamic State has been mainly on Iraq,
with the exception of a large number of air
strikes to support Kurdish fighters trying
to prevent the takeover of the Syrian town
of Kobani near the Turkish border and few
days ago, I.S. were pushed out of Kobani.
Kirby said the advanced element of U.S.
forces headed to establish training sites
amounted to fewer than 100 troops.
"They're going to ... take a look at what's
there and prepare for further deployments,"
Kirby said.
Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have offered
to host sites where U.S. forces could train
members of the Syrian opposition to fight
Islamic State and provide security in their
home communities. Kirby did not say where
exactly the first training sites were located.
The U.S. military has said it is planning to
send more than 400 troops for the training
mission and several hundred support forces
for a total of about 1,000 or more.
Kirby said Major General Michael Nagata,
the special forces chief tapped to handle the
training mission, has had "very productive"
meetings with Syrian opposition leaders.
"But it didn't lead to specific people signing
up yet," Kirby added.
U.S. officials have said if the current
momentum continues, training could begin
in the spring, with the first trainees returning to Syria at year's end. Officials plan to
train 5,000 Syrian fighters a year for three
years .
UN Harshly Criticises Turkey for Deterioration
of Human Rights Diplomats Condemn Intimidation of Journalists, Police Crackdowns, Censorship, Interference in Judiciary, Confiscation
of Armenian Properties.
‘Severe’ deterioration in human rights situation
GENEVA - Turkey faced harsh criticism
Tuesday at a United Nations review of its
rights record, with diplomats condemning
intimidation of journalists and brutal police
crackdowns on demonstrators.
"We are concerned about growing restrictions on freedom of expression, including
censorship of new media and the Internet,
and provisions of Turkish law that unduly
limit peaceful assembly," US representative
Keith Harper told the UN Human Rights
Council.
His comments came during a so-called Universal Periodic Review of Turkey's rights
record -- something all 193 UN countries
must undergo every four years.
But Turkey hit back, insisting it had made
great strides in human rights and that freedom of expression and assembly were
"indispensible" parts of the country's democratic order.
"The protection and promotion of human
rights is one of our priority political objectives," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister
Buelent Arinc told the council.
While acknowledging there were some
journalists in Turkish prisons, he insisted
their detention was "not related to their
journalistic activities."
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has sacked thousands of police and
scores of judges and pushed through legislation tightening state control over the Internet
and the judiciary, raising questions at home
and abroad about the state of democracy in
Turkey.
Egypt was especially harsh in its criticism,
with representative Amr Ramadan lamenting
a "severe deterioration in the human rights
situation in Turkey," and slamming Ankara
for deadly crackdowns on demonstrators and
jailing journalists.
"We would have wished to have seen such
criticism coming from parties who adhere to
the same universal values as we do," Arinc
fired back at Egypt, which itself has jailed
numerous journalists and seen many protestors killed in clashes with security forces.
However, Egypt's criticism was echoed by a
large number of the 122 diplomats to take the
floor Tuesday.
Harper, the US representative, pointed to
"government interference in the judiciary
and law enforcement sectors," including
efforts to reorganise the courts, warning that
this "undermines the rule of law."
British representative Karen Pierce
expressed concern over "restrictions on the
freedoms of assembly and expression, and
the separation of powers," urging Ankara to
"ensure judicial reforms are implemented in
line with international standards."
Others criticised Turkey for discriminating
against minorities.
Armenia's representative Vahram Kazhoyan
said Ankara should return "the confiscated
properties of Armenians and other religious minorities, such as places of worship,
including monasteries, church properties
and religious and cultural sites."
He also called for Turkey to "fully implement the international obligations emanating
from the UN Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."
Armenians say the Ottoman state conducted
genocide against them during World War I
repressions that left an estimated 1.5 million
people dead. But modern Turkey has always
vehemently resisted terming the mass killings as genocide.
Boko Haram Attacks Northeastern
Nigerian City, Dozens Killed
A near deserted street is photographed as
a curfew is placed on people after clashes
between Nigerian troops and Islamic
extremists, in the city of Maiduguri, Nigeria, Jan. 25, 2015, In fierce fighting, Nigerian troops clashed with Islamic extremists
who attacked Maiduguri, the biggest city
in northeast Nigeria. Dozens of combatants
have been killed and wounded, soldiers
and hospital workers said.
P.5
An-Nour
February 2015
www.An-Nournews.com
(770) 608-3343
Info@An-NourNews.com
Health / Social
Science & Technology
Lucid Dreams and
What to do in a Flu
Metacognition: AwareEpidemic? Stay at
ness of Thinking;
Home and Watch TV
Awareness of Dreaming Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)
Nasa's New Horizons Probe to Start
Taking Pictures of Pluto
To control one's dreams and to live 'out there'
what is impossible in real life -- a truly tempting idea. Some persons -- so-called lucid
dreamers -- can do this. Researchers from the
Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and the Max Planck Institute
of Psychiatry in Munich have discovered that
the brain area which enables self-reflection is
larger in lucid dreamers. Thus, lucid dreamers are possibly also more self-reflecting when
being awake.
Lucid dreamers are aware of dreaming while
dreaming. Sometimes, they can even play an
active role in their dreams. Most of them, however, have this experience only several times
a year and just very few almost every night.
Internet forums and blogs are full of instructions and tips on lucid dreaming. Possibly,
lucid dreaming is closely related to the human
capability of self-reflection -- the so-called
metacognition.
The researchers further want to know whether
metacognitive skills can be trained. In a follow-up study, they intend to train volunteers
in lucid dreaming to examine whether this
improves the capability of self-reflection.
include actions individuals can take to
reduce disease spread, such as hand washing and minimizing contacts with sick
people. These can play a key role in reducing the spread of infectious diseases such as
influenza, according to research.
Social distancing, staying indoors and
avoiding social activity, is an important
NPI in the event of an epidemic, especially when a vaccine is unavailable or limited. Whether privately initiated or policy
directed, NPIs calling for the closure of
schools and entertainment venues, and cancelling public events are becoming more
relevant in control strategies.
Lead Negatively
Impacts Cognitive
Functions of Boys
More Than Girls
The female hormones estrogen and estradiol may help ward off the effects of lead
exposure for young girls, explaining why
boys, are shown to suffer more often from
the cognitive disabilities linked to lead.
A study recently published in the Journal
of Environmental Health provides evidence
the female hormones estrogen and estradiol
may help ward off the effects of lead exposure for young girls, explaining why boys,
in greater numbers than girls, are shown to
suffer from the cognitive disabilities linked
to lead.
Is female Cycling Egypt Doctor Gets
Socially Unaccept- 2 years in Jail for
able in Egypt?
Fatal Female
Circumcision
Egyptian female cyclists pedal for acceptance in Cairo where few women dare ride
bicycle.
Yasmine Mahmoud cuts a defiant figure as
she weaves her bicycle through the chaotic
streets of Cairo, a place where few women
dare to pedal.
Every day, like for the past four years, she
takes her bicycle from her 10th floor apartment and rides through the Egyptian capital,
to the astonishment of bystanders.
"Unfortunately, it's socially unacceptable
in Egypt for a girl to ride a bicycle in the
street," said the 31-year-old executive secretary, as she prepared to set off from the
upscale Cairo neighbourhood where she
lives.
Women enjoy more freedom in Egypt than
in deeply conservative Muslim countries
such as Saudi Arabia, but the most populous
Sunni Arab country still considers it inappropriate for them to ride bicycles.
Unlike in many countries, the two-wheeler
is considered unsafe for travelling in Cairo's
traffic-clogged roads.
For Egyptian women it is all the more challenging given the city's notorious sexual
violence, and female cyclists in particular
are targeted by passers-by.
The majority of cyclists in Egypt are working class men, preferring two wheels for
running daily errands.
An-Nour Newspaper
We Give You The News
You Give Us Your Views
CAIRO - An Egyptian appeals court sentenced a doctor to more than two years in
jail for performing a female circumcision
that killed a teenage girl, overturning an
acquittal.
A lower court in November had acquitted the doctor and the father of 14-yearold Sohair al-Bataa in the first such case
brought to the courts since the procedure
was banned in 2008. Despite the ban,
female genital mutilation (FGM) is still
widespread in Egypt, especially in rural
areas. It is practised among Muslims as
well as Egypt's minority Christians.
An appeals court in the Nile Delta city of
Mansura sentenced Dr Raslan Fadl to two
years and three months in jail for "manslaughter, negligence, endangering the
child's life ...and for performing FGM," a
judicial source said.
The girl's father, who was also acquitted
by the lower court, was handed down a
three-month suspended sentence.
FGM involves the removal of the clitoris and, sometimes, even more extreme
mutilation, in a bid to control women's
sexuality.
The procedure can cause lifelong pain
and serious complications during childbirth.
A 2000 survey found that 97 percent of
married women in Egypt had undergone
the procedure.
FGM is also practiced in a number of
other African countries as well as parts
of the Middle East, and is usually carried
out by women.
The World Health Organization estimates
that up to 140 million women have been
victims of genital mutilation worldwide.
Nasa’s New Horizons spacecraft, which has
travelled three billion miles in nearly nine
years in its journey to Pluto, is expected to
start taking pictures of the dwarf planet from
today.
The New Horizons probe marks humanity’s
first trip to the mysterious planet, and while
the first pictures it takes are expected to
reveal little more than bright dots, the images
will be invaluable for scientists waiting on
the ground.
Converting Olive Mash into Cash
An experimental system to create heat and
power with waste from olive oil processing
is up-and-running in Spain.
The system shows a promising way forward for reducing environmental damage
and converting organic waste to energy,
scientists say.
Apple CEO Tim
Cook’s Salary
Doubled in 2014
SAN FRANCISCO: Apple CEO Tim
Cook got a hefty cash bonus that brought
his total compensation to $9.2 million
last year. That's more than double what
he received the previous year, as the
company enjoyed a surge in sales and
profit fueled by the popularity of its new,
over-sized iPhone 6 models.
Cook's pay for fiscal 2014 included
$1.7 million in salary and $6.7 million
in incentive pay that was awarded by
Apple's board after he beat the performance goals that directors had set for
him, according to a regulatory filing. He
also received $774,176 in other compensation, including a 401k contribution,
company-paid insurance premiums and
security expenses.
Apple reported $182.8 billion in revenue
for the fiscal year that ended September
27 and $39.5 billion in profit, after seeing
record sales last fall. Sales of iPhones
rose 21% in the company's fourth quarter, which made up for a decline in sales
of iPads. Apple's annual revenue has
increased in each of the last three years.
Cook and the company’s other top officers were awarded the maximum bonus
possible.
Cook and the company’s other top officers were awarded the maximum bonus
possible under Apple’s incentive plan,
after the company’s annual revenue and
$52.5 billion in operating profit each
exceeded the plan’s maximum goals by
7%, the filing said.
FDA Could Set millions of Genetically
Modified Mosquitoes Loose in Florida Keys
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering releasing the nonbiting male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes modified by Oxitec to pass along
a birth defect to their progeny, thus
killing off the next generation of the
mosquitoes that can carry dengue and
chikungunya. The FDA is planning to
release the mosquitos in a neighbor- these viruses. Climate change and globalizahood of 444 homes near Key West, Fla. tion are spreading tropical diseases farther
KEY WEST, Fla. – Millions of genetically
modified mosquitoes could be released
in the Florida Keys if British researchers
win approval to use the bugs against two
extremely painful viral diseases.
Never before have insects with modified
DNA come so close to being set loose in a
residential U.S. neighborhood.
"This is essentially using a mosquito as a
drug to cure disease," said Michael Doyle,
executive director of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, which is waiting to
hear if the Food and Drug Administration
will allow the experiment.
Dengue and chikungunya are growing
threats in the U.S., but some people are more
frightened at the thought of being bitten by
a genetically modified organism. More than
130,000 signed a Change.org petition against
the experiment.
Even potential boosters say those responsible
must do more to show that benefits outweigh
the risks.
"I think the science is fine, they definitely
can kill mosquitoes, but the GMO issue still
sticks as something of a thorny issue for the
general public," said Phil Lounibos, who
studies mosquito control at the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory. "It's not even so
much about the science — you can't go ahead
with something like this if public opinion is
negative."
Mosquito controllers say they're running out
of options that can kill Aedes aegypti, a tigerstriped invader whose biting females spread
from the equator, and Key West, the southernmost city in the continental U.S., is particularly vulnerable.
"An arriving person would be infectious for
several days, and could infect many of the
local mosquitoes," Doyle said. "Within a
few weeks you'd likely end up with several
infected mosquitoes for each infected visitor."
There are no vaccines or cures for dengue,
known as "break-bone fever," or chikungunya, which causes painful contortions. U.S.
cases remain rare for now, but dengue sickens 50 million people annually worldwide
and kills 2.5 percent of the half-million who
get severe cases, according to the World
Health Organization. Chikungunya has
already overwhelmed hospitals and harmed
economies across the Caribbean after infecting a million people in the region last year.
Insecticides are sprayed year-round from
helicopters and door-to-door in charming
and crowded neighborhoods throughout the
Keys. But because Aedes aegypti don't travel
much and are repeatedly doused with the
same chemicals, they have evolved to resist
four of the six insecticides used to kill them.
But critics accused Oxitec of failing to
obtain informed consent in the Caymans,
saying residents weren't told they could be
bitten by a few stray females overlooked in
the lab.
Instead, Oxitec said only non-biting males
would be released, and that even if humans
were somehow bitten, no genetically modified DNA would enter their bloodstream.
P.6
February 2015
An-Nour
www.An-Nournews.com
The Battle for Aleppo and the Rise of the
Jihadists
The battle for Aleppo is nearing its final
critical stages, after over two years of
deadly stalemate that saw the city split
down the middle, and a once hopeful
rebel movement disintegrate into chaos
spawning radicalism and extremism in its
wake. On 20 July, 2012, rebels attempted
to storm Damascus after a sophisticated
intelligence operation mounted by an
unidentified foreign agency assassinated
four top regime officials at the Crisis
Management Cell on 18 July. Their backers hoped this would be a decisive and
deadly blow to the regime. Their assault
was ultimately unsuccessful, but a similar
push would also be made by the rebels of
Aleppo, with mixed results.
The battle began when sleeper cells took
over the neighbourhood of Salah al-Deen
on 19 July, followed by a lightning push
into the eastern and north eastern areas of
Aleppo city over the following two days.
The battle for Aleppo, though, was not formally announced by al-Tawheed until 21
July, and later by the Military Council of the
Free Syrian Army (FSA) through its leader,
Abdel Jabar al-Akidi, who called for a mass
mobilization. It is very important to remember that at this stage, the strong presence of
foreign jihadi fighters in Aleppo as well as
the Syrian offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq (later
to split off from al-Qaeda central and become
the Islamic State (IS) group) Jabhat al-Nusra
was well known to the outside backers of the
Syrian opposition and rebels. In fact, their
entrance into Syria was facilitated - or at least
not meaningfully hindered - in order to make
use of their superior military prowess gained
through years of brutal fighting on global
jihadi battlefields in helping the Syrian rebels
defeat the regime’s forces.
So were they prevented from doing so by an
order from outside? Was Plan B stopped as
Turkey realized the Damascus offensive had
failed, and the fall of Aleppo would bring
anarchy to its long border areas (which it
eventually did)? This seems to be the only
logical conclusion.
Equally, was the regime purposefully luring
them in to take Aleppo and calling Turkey’s
bluff, knowing full well the negative repercussions the fall of Syria’s second largest
and most important center of commerce and
manufacturing into chaos would have on
the armed uprising and Turkey itself? Was it
allowing conflict to reach Aleppo because it
feared it would erupt into full-scale civil disobedience and mass protests like Hama did
before it, given the unprecedented student
anti-regime demonstrations at Aleppo University?
The aftermath and the meteoric rise of
the jihadists
In any case, there is no denying the profound
significance of the battle for Aleppo and the
impact it had on the rest of the Syrian uprising. Aside from furiously enflaming the civil
conflict it heralded the beginning of a new
phase marked by increasing violence, anarchy and radicalisation. As the central state’s
grip began to weaken, it unleashed a large
wave of death and destruction as it fought
back to hang onto power. It also set the stage
for the dramatic rise and increasing dominance of the jihadist groups on the Syrian and
Iraqi scenes.
The radical seasoned jihadists of al-Nusra
were at the forefront of the battle for Aleppo;
indeed they were instrumental in overrunning the heavily armed regime checkpoint at
Anadan, which guarded the northern approach
to the city from the Gaziantep highway. Back
then, they were bolstered by foreign fighters,
the majority of whom later formed their own
groups or joined ISIS after al-Nusra’s leader,
al-Golani refused to recognise his former
boss. al-Baghdadi’s authority and split. Those
foreign jihadis were later clearly seen manning checkpoints across rebel held areas
inside Aleppo, and freely flying the black
and white Islamist and al-Qaeda banners.
Their presence and contribution to the fight
was extoled and defended by both the Syrian
opposition in exile as well as the rebel leadership, who called them “freedom fighters
coming to help their Syrian brothers against
tyranny”.
It is likely this was done out of necessity and
not true conviction, as Liwa’ al-Tawheed,
along with the rebel FSA umbrella organisation also supported the civil secular initiatives like the city council (Majles Mahali),
which was set up to provide public services
and administration in rebel held areas of Aleppo
city. This campaign of “radicalisation” was furthered by the unchallenged emergence of foreign
jihadi preachers, who at gunpoint would take to
mosque pulpits during communal prayers and
give sermons espousing the virtues of holy war
and the establishment of Islamic rule.
Aside from radicalising the public and rebel
fighters, another major extremist policy that
went unchallenged would prove to be pivotal
in greatly weakening the moderate rebel cause,
that of “take no prisoners”. To be precise, it is to
take prisoners but execute them openly and publicise that through video footage. Haji Marea’
in fact, tried to pin those prisoner executions on
regime agents whom he said were trying to soil
the reputation of Liwa al-Tawheed and the rebels
and sway public opinion against them. But it was
clear that both Islamists, as well as moderate
rebel groups were now engaging in prisoner executions which were serious violations of international law. Those ill thought-out policies of war
crimes would come back to haunt them and have
disastrous consequences on the rebel movement
as a whole.
Effectively, the jihadists had strengthened
their own presence and that of the regime,
creating a symbiotic relationship and a
mutual deadly balance, to the ultimate detriment of the moderate rebels and their revolutionary cause. The rest as they say is history,
Haji Marea was killed in a regime airstrike in
November 2013 that targeted a secret meeting of top Aleppo rebel leaders, as well as
Allouch of Damascus and Abboud of Idleb
who escaped with minor injuries. Questions
still remain about who gave the coordinates
and why. This greatly weakened the Aleppo
rebels, who tried to unite under a new large
and ambitious pan-Syrian formation called
the Islamic Front, signalling their final departure from a secular identity and into a religious one.
Al-Nusra had by then been seriously weakened
after it split in May 2013 from its mother ship,
al-Qaeda in Iraq, as many of its members, especially the veteran foreign fighters left to join the
newly created terror colossus, ISIS. Along with
the Islamic Front, al-Nusra was successfully
able to oust the newly created ISIS from most
of Aleppo in January 2014. But by then, ISIS
had already become an unstoppable colossus
which dominated former rebel allies and took
over their strongholds across east Aleppo from
Minbeg, al-Bab and onto the provincial capital
of al-Raqqa. It also captured much of the oil rich
eastern province of Dier Ezzor. Those achievements in Syria gave it the momentum to spectacularly and dramatically overrun huge swathes
in Western Iraq this summer in its ambitious
campaign to create a functioning, self-sustaining
proto-state in the mould of a hard-line Islamic
Caliphate which it named simply the Islamic
State. This prompted panicked alarm among
those world powers that had been ignoring, or
indeed facilitating its meteoric and destructive
rise in Syria and treating it with indifference
and apathy, even though there were clear warning signs. A hasty military coalition led by the
US was formed and tasked with degrading the
Islamic State’s military capability and halting
its growth until a comprehensive strategy for its
final defeat could be formulated.
Meanwhile, the final remnants of a defeated
rebellion in north Syria were rapidly disintegrating, with some fleeing the battlefield entirely,
while others joined the extremists or pledged
their allegiance to ISIS as it captured their territory and assimilated their groups. Al-Nusra is
now doing much the same thing to the rebels of
Idleb and very soon Aleppo, out of fear that they
will soon turn on it in tandem with the US led
coalition’s airstrikes targeting its positions. This
brings us squarely to where we are today in the
messy and complex Syrian conflict. The horrific menace of the Islamic State was birthed
from the chaos of Aleppo’s battle lines, which
were directly fed and orchestrated by Turkey,
Saudi Arabia and Qatar with the complicity
of their Western NATO allies.
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Islam’s Problem With Blasphemy
Mustafa Akyol
WILL “moderate Muslims” finally
“speak up” against their militant coreligionists? People around the world have
asked (but, as in the past, have not all
seriously examined) this question since
horrific attacks on the French satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo and on a kosher
supermarket in Paris.
In fact, Muslim statesmen, clerics and
intellectuals have added their voices
to condemnations of terror by leaders
around the world. But they must undertake another essential task: Address and
reinterpret Islam’s traditional take on
“blasphemy,” or insult to the sacred.
The Paris terrorists were apparently
fueled by the zeal to punish blasphemy,
and fervor for the same cause has bred
militancy in the name of Islam in various
other incidents, ranging from Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa against the
writer Salman Rushdie in 1989 to the
threats and protests against the Danish
newspaper Jyllands-Posten for publishing cartoons lampooning the Prophet
Muhammad in 2005.
Mockery of Muhammad, actual or perceived, has been at the heart of nearly all
of these controversies over blasphemy.
This might seem unremarkable at first,
but there is something curious about it,
for the Prophet Muhammad is not the
only sacred figure in Islam. The Quran
praises other prophets such as Abraham,
Moses and Jesus and even tells Muslims
to “make no distinction” between these
messengers of God. Yet for some reason,
Islamist extremists seem to obsess only
about the Prophet Muhammad.
Even more curiously, mockery of God
what one would expect to see as the most
outrageous blasphemy seems to have
escaped their attention as well. Satirical magazines such as Charlie Hebdo
have run cartoons ridiculing God (in the
Jewish, Christian and Muslim contexts),
but they were targeted with violence
only when they ridiculed the Prophet
Muhammad.
Of course, this is not to say extremists
should threaten and harm cartoonists for
more diverse theological reasons; obviously, they should not target them at all.
But the exclusive focus on the Prophet
Muhammad is worth pondering. One
obvious explanation is that while God
and the other prophets are also sacred
for Judaism and Christianity, the Prophet
Muhammad is sacred only for Muslims.
In other words, the zeal comes not from
merely respect for the sacred, but from
militancy for what’s sacred to us — us
being the community of Muslims. So the
unique sensitivity around Muhammad
seems to be a case of religious nationalism, with its focus on the earthly com-
munity rather than of true faith, whose main
focus should be the divine.
Still, this religious nationalism is guided by
religious law Shariah that includes clauses
about punishing blasphemy as a deadly sin.
It is thus of vital importance that Muslim
scholars courageously, even audaciously,
address this issue today. They can begin by
acknowledging that, while Shariah is rooted
in the divine, the overwhelming majority of
its injunctions are man-made, partly reflecting the values and needs of the seventh to
12th centuries when no part of the world was
liberal, and other religions, such as Christianity, also considered blasphemy a capital
crime.
The only source in Islamic law that all Muslims accept indisputably is the Quran. And,
conspicuously, the Quran decrees no earthly
punishment for blasphemy — or for apostasy
(abandonment or renunciation of the faith),
a related concept. Nor, for that matter, does
the Quran command stoning, female circumcision or a ban on fine arts. All these doctrinal innovations, as it were, were brought into
the literature of Islam as medieval scholars
interpreted it, according to the norms of their
time and milieu.
Tellingly, severe punishments for blasphemy
and apostasy appeared when increasingly
despotic Muslim empires needed to find a
religious justification to eliminate political
opponents.
One of the earliest “blasphemers” in Islam
was the pious scholar Ghaylan al-Dimashqi,
who was executed in the 8th century by the
Umayyad Empire. His main “heresy” was
to insist that rulers did not have the right to
regard their power as “a gift of God,” and
that they had to be aware of their responsibility to the people.
Before all that politically motivated expansion and toughening of Shariah, though, the
Quran told early Muslims, who routinely
faced the mockery of their faith by pagans:
“God has told you in the Book that when you
hear God’s revelations disbelieved in and
mocked at, do not sit with them until they
enter into some other discourse; surely then
you would be like them.”
Just “do not sit with them” — that is the
response the Quran suggests for mockery.
Not violence. Not even censorship.
Wise Muslim religious leaders from the
entire world would do Islam a great favor if
they preached and reiterated such a nonviolent and nonoppressive stance in the face of
insults against Islam. That sort of instruction
could also help their more intolerant coreligionists understand that rage is a sign of
nothing but immaturity. The power of any
faith comes not from its coercion of critics and dissenters. It comes from the moral
integrity and the intellectual strength of its
believers.
Mustafa Akyol is a contributing opinion
writer and the author of “Islam Without
Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty.”
Riyadh One of World's 50 Safest Cities
Riyadh ranked 46th in the list of the
world’s 50 safest cities for 2015, with
Tokyo topping the list and Jakarta trailing at the end, according to the annual
report drafted by The Economist magazine. In its evaluation of the 50 safest
cities, The Economist used four indicators including the quality of digital
security in the city and rate of identity
theft. Riyadh came in the 43rd position with 53.26 percent in this area.
In health security which looks into
the life expectancy rates of the city’s
inhabitants and the rate of hospital
beds in comparison with its population,
Riyadh achieved 53.33 percent. The city
also achieved 61.53 percent in infrastructure
safety which is concerned with the quality
of roads . As far as personal security goes,
Riyadh received 60.26 percent for traditional
safety measures such as police intervention
and the number of crime victims. Overall,
Tokyo ranked first in the index, Abu Dhabi
(25), Doha (29), Kuwait (36), Tehran (49)
and Jakarta (50). New York and Los Angeles ranked first in digital security, and Zurich
topped the list in health and infrastructure
safety.
The views expressed in all the articles are those of the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect
the official policy or position of AN-NOUR Newspaper
P.7
An-Nour
February 2015
www.An-Nournews.com
The Ancient Samaritans of Mount Gerizim
Perched above the West Bank city of Nablus, the Samaritans say
theirs is the true religion of the ancient Israelites
MOUNT GERIZIM - An ethnoreligious
group descended from the ancient Semitic
inhabitants of the region, the Samaritans say
theirs is the true religion of the ancient Israelites.
Samaritanism is Abrahamic and closelyrelated to Judaism, which the Samaritans
say was altered and amended after being
brought back by those returning from Babylonian exile.
While the Samaritans once numbered 1.5
million, the community all but disappeared,
dwindling down to a mere 150 people by
1917.
Today, there are roughly 700 Samaritans left
in the world. About 360 reside on Mount
Gerizim, perched above the Palestinian city
of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, while
the rest live in Holon, just outside of Tel
Aviv.
The Samaritans on Mount Gerizim hold both
Israeli and Palestinian ID cards; many members of the community previously lived in
Nablus, but moved to the mountain-top community when violence broke out during the
First Intifada.
The Samaritans say that Mount Gerizim was
the original holy place of Israel, and the major
difference between Jews and Samaritans is
the location of their holiest place of worship;
Jerusalem according to the Jewish faith, or
Mount Gerizim in Samaritanism.
The High Priest of The Samaritans, Abdallah Wasef Tawfiq Al Kahen, and his brother,
Husni Al Kahen, say they can trace their lineage all the way from Adam to Moses, a fact
that is extremely important to the community.
According to tradition, the high priest himself
must be from the lineage of the Levi tribe.
The Samaritans also claim to have the oldest
language in the world: ancient Hebrew.
Achievements of 11th Century Scientist
Ibn al-Haytham
Global campaign celebrates achievements of 11th century scientist Ibn alHaytham UNESCO headquarters in
Paris witness launch of global campaign
titled ‘1001 Inventions and World of Ibn
Al-Haytham,’ in presence of 2,000 guests.
PARIS - Nobel laureates, international
dignitaries, leading scientists and representatives from governments, industry and
academia were part of the 2,000 guests at
the UNESCO headquarters in Paris that
witnessed the launch of a global campaign
titled “1001 Inventions and the World of
Ibn Al-Haytham” to celebrate the scientific
achievements of the renowned 11th century
scientist Ibn al-Haytham and his work in
optics.
The launch event was part of the high profile
opening ceremony of the 2015 International
Year of Light and Light-based Technologies
(IYL 2015) at the UNESCO headquarters in
Paris. IYL 2015 is a yearlong initiative to
promote light-science and its applications
for humanity initiated by the United Nations
and supported by a host of partner organisations from across the world.
The global campaign 1001 Inventions and
The World of Ibn Al-Haytham is produced
by the UK based, science and cultural heritage organization, 1001 Inventions and Saudi
Aramco’s King Abdulaziz Center for World
Culture, in partnership with UNESCO and
IYL 2015.
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova
said, “I am pleased to partner with the international organisation 1001 Inventions to
launch the World of Ibn Al-Haytham global
campaign, to promote light-science for the
benefit of all. A ground-breaking scientist
from a thousand years ago, the life and work
of Ibn Al-Haytham have never been as relevant as they are today.”
The global campaign involves a series of
high-profile international events, engaging
science experiences including interactive
exhibits, live shows, workshops, digital
content on the website IbnAlhaytham.com,
educational products and teaching resources
as well as a short feature film staring legendary actor Omar Sharif.
The campaign inter-links IYL2015 themes
and programs on science, arts, culture and
technology using experiential learning to
incite inquisitiveness and curiosity and to
encourage young people to study Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
The campaign will now roll out in countries
around the world through engaging with
museums, science festivals, educational institutions, digital and social media platforms.
Ibn al-Haytham was born in the year 965 in
Basra (present-day Iraq), and died in about
1040 in Cairo. He was one of the earliest scientists to study the characteristics of light and
the mechanism/process of vision. He sought
experimental proof of his theories and ideas.
During many years of living in Egypt, ten of
which were spent under what we may now
call protective custody (house arrest), he composed one of his most celebrated works, the
Kitab al-Manazir, whose title is commonly
translated into English as Book of Optics but
more properly has the broader meaning Book
of Vision.
Ibn al-Haytham was born during a creative
period known as the golden age of Muslim
civilisation that saw many fascinating
advances in science, technology and medicine. In an area that spread from Spain to
China, inspirational men and women, of different faiths and cultures, built upon knowledge of ancient civilisations, making discoveries that had a huge and often underappreciated impact on our world.
Ibn al-Haytham is credited with explaining
the nature of light and vision, through using
a dark chamber he called “Albeit Almuzlim” which has the Latin translation as the
“camera obscura”; the device that forms the
basis of photography.
Out of the 96 books he is recorded to have
written; only 55 are known to have survived.
Those related to the subject of light included:
The Light of the Moon, The Light of the
Stars, The Rainbow and the Halo, Spherical
Burning Mirrors, Parabolic Burning Mirrors, The Burning Sphere, The Shape of the
Eclipse, The Formation of Shadows, Discourse on Light, as well as his masterpiece,
Book of Optics. Latin translations of some
of his works are known to have influenced
many Medieval and European Renaissance
thinkers of the Latin West like Roger Bacon,
René Descartes and Christian Huygens, who
knew him as “Alhazen”. The crater Alhazen
on the Moon is named in his honour, as is the
asteroid 59239 Alhazen.
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Crime and Punishment:
Islamic State vs Saudi Arabia
The Islamic State group has released a list
of punishments, mirroring those prescribed
by authorities in Saudi Arabia
IS published a list of crimes and their punishments on 16 December 2014 to serve “as
an explanation and as a warning” to those
living in territory under their control in
large parts of Iraq and Syria.
The document lists hadd crimes, which
are considered to be “against the rights of
God,” and includes fixed punishments for
theft, adultery, slander and banditry.
Crimes deemed hadd and their punishments are derived from the Quran and the
hadith, the collected teachings and sayings
of the Prophet Muhammad. However, with
the exception of Saudi Arabia, and IS-controlled areas, they are rarely applied.
Both IS and Saudi Arabia have made headlines so far this year for handing out spectacular, and very public, punishments.
IS recently circulated images of their militants throwing men off a roof in Iraq’s
Mosul, which is under their control, after
they were “convicted” of committing
homosexual acts.
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia has been roundly
condemned for flogging Raif Badawi, a
jailed liberal blogger convicted of, among
other charges, insulting Islam. Badawi was
sentenced to 1,000 lashes, although international pressure has since pushed authorities
to say they will review the harsh sentence.
But while IS has actively sought exposure for their brutal punishments, Saudi
Arabia has worked to keep evidence of
their actions within the conservative kingdom. Authorities arrested a police officer
accused of videoing a woman being publicly beheaded in Mecca. The video went
viral – prosecutors later said he had violated the Gulf state’s cybercrimes law.
Though their approach to implementing
these punishments is very different – Saudi
Arabia rarely, if ever, carries out executions for blasphemy or adultery - regional
experts have written that IS and Saudi
legal approaches are linked by a dedication
to Wahhabism, an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic scripture favoured by
Saudi authorities.
“On the one hand [IS] is deeply Wahhabist,” wrote Alastair Crooke, former
British intelligence agent and author of
Resistance: The Essence of Islamic Revolution.
“On the other hand it is ultra-radical in a different way. It could be seen essentially as a
corrective movement to contemporary Wahhabism,” he wrote, explaining that modernday Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia has been used
to entrench absolute power for the al-Saud
monarchy, which is hated by IS and accused
of corruption.
“[IS] looks to the actions of the first two
Caliphs, rather than the Prophet Muhammad
himself, as a source of emulation, and it forcefully denies the Saudis’ claim of authority to
rule.”
‘Ahistorical’ use of scripture
IS and Saudi Arabia’s use of punishments
rooted in Wahhabi doctrine is not replicated
anywhere else in the region, and experts say its
implementation is “ahistorical”.
Islamic law sets the bar high when it comes to
convicting people of hadd crimes. In the case
of adultery, the accused must confess to the
crime three times in court; alternatively, conviction relies on the testimony of four male, or
eight female, witnesses.
Experts in Islamic studies explained that hadd
punishments should be understood in the context in which they were set out.
“The doctrines formulated by Muslims jurists
in the Middle Ages made it very difficult to
convict, either because they defined the crimes
extremely narrowly or because the requirement
for evidence was extremely high,” said Joseph
E. Lowry, Associate Professor of Arabic and
Islamic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
Since the Middle Ages, when these doctrines
were formulated, the trend has been towards
more lenient punishments.
“Spectacular punishments, in legal systems
generally, were designed as a kind of symbolic
deterrent," Lowry explained. "Now, countries
are under a high level of surveillance, and it’s
possible to catch and incarcerate large numbers of people.
"Consequently, punishments are now generally much less draconian,” he added.
But in Saudi Arabia, a country dotted with
police and army checkpoints, public use of capital and corporal punishment remains common.
The kingdom has carried out 15 beheadings in
the first 20 days of 2015 and executed a total of
87 people in 2014 with 72 of these executions
taking place between August and December.
“Saudi Arabia has domestic constituencies that
they need to pacify, and this is one way for
them to appear hyper-Islamic,” Lowry said.
P.8
An-Nour
February 2015
Jokes
www.An-Nournews.com
The purpose of placing jokes in this section is to put a smile on your
face.
Jokes are NOT intended to humiliate anyone. Certain groups of people
located in a particular geographical area are distinguished due to their
trait and reputation.
A blonde, a redhead, and a brunette
were all lost in the desert. They found
a lamp and rubbed it. A genie popped
out and granted them each one wish.
The redhead wished to be back home.
Poof! She was back home. The brunette wished to be at home with her
family. Poof! She was back home
with her family. The blonde said,
"Awwww, I wish my friends were
here."
***************
Teacher: "If I gave you 2 cats and
another 2 cats and another 2, how
many would you have?" Johnny:
"Seven." Teacher: "No, listen carefully... If I gave you two cats, and
another two cats and another two,
how many would you have?" Johnny:
"Seven." Teacher: "Let me put it to
you differently. If I gave you two
apples, and another two apples and
another two, how many would you
have?" Johnny: "Six." Teacher:
"Good. Now if I gave you two cats,
and another two cats and another two,
how many would you have?" Johnny:
"Seven!" Teacher: "Johnny, where in
the heck do you get seven from?!"
Johnny: "Because I've already got a
freaking cat!"
***************
Do not be racist; be like Mario. He's
an Italian plumber, who was made by
the Japanese, speaks English, looks
like a Mexican, jumps like a black
man, and grabs coins like a Jew!
***************
There was a blonde, a redhead, and
a brunette. They were all trapped on
an island and the nearest shore was
50 miles away. The redhead swam
trying to make it to the other shore
she swam 15 miles, drowned, and
died. The brunette swam 24 miles,
drowned, and died. The blonde swam
25 miles, got tired, and swam back.
**************
China, Russia, and Poland venture to
space. China says they'll go to Pluto
because it's the farthest. Russia says
they'll go to Jupiter because it's the biggest. Poland says they'll go to the Sun.
Russia and China warn that they'll melt.
They reply, "We'll go at night."
***************
Q: What's the difference between
England and a teabag? A: A teabag
could stay in the cup for longer.
***************
So two Irishmen are traveling to Australia. Before they leave home, one
of their dads gives them both a bit
of advice: "You watch them Aussie
cab drivers. They'll rob you blind.
Don't you go paying them what they
ask. You haggle." At the Sydney
airport, the Irishmen catch a cab to
their hotel. When they reach their
destination, the cabbie says, "That'll
be twenty dollars, lads." "Oh no you
don't! My dad warned me about you.
You'll only be getting fifteen dollars
from me," says one of the men. "And
you'll only be getting fifteen from me
too," adds the other.
***************
Q: What's the difference between
America and yogurt? A: If you leave
yogurt alone for 200 years, it develops a culture.
Three contractors are bidding to fix a
broken fence at the White House. One is
from Chicago, another is from Tennessee,
and the third is from Minnesota. All three
go with a White House official to examine the fence. The Minnesota contractor
takes out a tape measure and does some
measuring, then works some figures with
a pencil. "Well," he says, "I figure the
job will run about $900. $400 for materials, $400 for my crew, and $100 profit
for me." The Tennessee contractor also
does some measuring and figuring, then
says, "I can do this job for $700. $300 for
materials, $300 for my crew, and $100
profit for me." The Chicago contractor
doesn't measure or figure, but leans over
to the White House official and whispers,
"$2,700." The official, incredulous, says,
"You didn't even measure like the other
guys! How did you come up with such
a high figure?" The Chicago contractor
whispers back, "$1000 for me, $1000 for
you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee
to fix the fence." "Done!" replies the government official. And that, my friends, is
how the new stimulus plan will work.
**************
A Scotsman who was driving home one
night, ran into a car driven by an Englishman. The Scotsman got out of the car to
apologize and offered the Englishman a
drink from a bottle of whisky. The Englishman was glad to have a drink. "Go
on," said the Scot, "have another drink."
The Englishman drank gratefully. "But
don't you want one, too?" he asked the
Scotsman. "Perhaps," replied the Scotsman, "after the police have gone."
**************
Miss Colombia crowned
Miss Universe in Miami
Despite
being a relative
pageant newcomer, Miss
C o l o m bia
Paulina
Vega
has
been
crowned
Miss Universe, beating out first
runner-up Miss USA Nia Sanchez and
contestants from more than 80 other
countries.
Where I’ll Be
By Grace de Koekkoek
Walk up those white steps
To the door of blue
And dream
That's where I'll be
The song of light
The ocean breeze
The rose
And the shadows
Where I'll be
The eternity Of
loving you
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KIDZ CORNER
The Little Bird Who was Afraid to Fly
Once upon a time there was
a little bird named Birdie
and she was afraid to fly.
She would hide all day
and all night in the bushes,
mostly because there were
these big bully crows that
would land on the ground
in front of Birdie they
would scare her and tease
her by squawking “you
can’t flyyyy your afraid to
flyyyy” and the little bird would be soooo
scared she would hide in the dark underbrush
of these bushes. Abirdie5
One wonderful sunny day a very funny little
squirrel named Quirk scurried by and saw the
little bird and he asked her “what’s your name
and why are you hiding in these bushes”. The
little bird replied “My name is Birdie and I
am hiding because I’m afraid to fly and those
big bully crows tease me” so the squirrel said
“would you like to go sit in the tree” the little
bird said “yes very much!” so the squirrel sat
down and said “hop on my back and I will
take you up the tree.” squirrel
So he did, and everyday since then the squirrel
would come by the bushes and the little bird
would hop on his back and he would take her
up the tree and Birdie would sit on the branch
all day long. Quirk would spend the day scurrying and playing around the branches and up
and down all the trees in the forest. Birdie
would just watch wishing she could play too.
Then when it began to get dark the squirrel
would bring the little bird back down the tree
and would leave her in the dark shelter of the
bushes so she could go to bed.
On this particular day the little bird said “Quirk
would you stay here on this branch with me
so we can laugh and play and be friends forever.” The squirrel happily said “yes, I would
like that!” so that is exactly what they did they
Arabic Proverbs
‫أشحات ونزهي‬. (šaHHaat we-nozahi.) A beggar
but acting like a rich man. (Used to
describe someone who's in no position
to be picky but is still acting like he can
set the terms.
laughed and played,
they had been having
so much fun. Then the
crows noticed the little
bird was in the tree and
they swooped down
and started teasing the
little bird squawking,
“you can’t flyyyy your
afraid to flyyyy you
can’t flyyyyy”.
Well the little bird was
so upset that she started flapping her
wings and frantically saying “I can too
fly, I’m not afraid to fly, I can fly if I
wanted to fly, I can Fly If I want too!!!”
Quirk couldn’t believe his eyes he was
stunned looking at the little bird he
exclaimed “Birdie you’re flying, you’re
flying!”…the little bird had flapped her
wings so hard that she had begun to fly
“I’m flying?” she said “I am flying!” she
was so happy she flew looped deedoos
then up and down and in and out of all
the branches. Then she saw it, the tallest tree in all the forest and she flapped
her wings as hard as she could and flew
all the way to the tippy top of that tallest tree and she sat there so proud and
so brave. Birdie wasn’t afraid of flying
anymore and she was never bothered by
those big bully crows ever again. birdbowWHT
Everyday the squirrel would scurry up
the tallest tree in all the forest to meet
the little bird and they would laugh and
play throughout the whole forest, in and
out of all the branches, and up and down
all the trees having so much fun, Quirk
and Birdie remained best friends forever.
Good Night Little Ones
you could tell them, "3omr iš-ša'i ba'i.")
‫وقع في شر أعماله‬. (wi'i3 fi šarr a3maalu.)
He got entangled in the evil of his own
doings. (He was hoisted by his own
petard — fell into his own trap, was
harmed by his own plan to harm someone else.)
(šaHHaat we-3aayiz
riġiif.) A beggar, and he wants a (whole)
loaf. (If you're relying on other people's
generosity, you should just be grateful for whatever you can get instead of
complaining you didn't get more.)
(il-mo'men muSaab.) The
believer is afflicted. (The righteous
always suffer.)
‫حجة البليد مسح التختة‬. (Hegget el-baliid masiH
et-taxta.) The bad student's excuse
is erasing the blackboard. (Used to
describe people who are trying to divert
attention from their own failings by
talking about other things.)
‫اسعى يا عبد وأنا أسعى معاك‬.
‫شحات وعايز رغيف‬.
‫فوائده قوم عند قوم مصائب‬. (maSaa'ib qawmin
3and qawmin fawaa'ido.) Some people's disasters provide benefits for other
people. (What is disastrous for some
people can prove to be advantageous
for other people.)
‫الرايحات من أحسن الجايات‬. (ig-gayyaat
aHsan min ir-rayHHaat.) What is
coming is better than what is gone.
(The future is better than what's past;
used to cheer people up.)
‫لو حرف شعبطة في الجو‬. (law Harf ša3abaTa
feg-gaww.) "If" is like trying to hold
onto the air (i.e. something impossible).
(The equivalent of "If wishes were
horses"; if someone is talking about
what they'd do if they were a millionaire, or something else impossible, you
can tell them "law Harf ša3abaTa feggaww" to remind them that just wishing for things is pointless.)
(3omr iš-ša'i ba'i.) The
wicked or naughty live longer. (Can be
used to hint that if you take risks, it'll
pay off. Can also be used in a joking
way; for example, if a friend was in a
minor car accident and was uninjured,
‫عمر الشقي بقي‬.
‫المؤمن مصاب‬.
(il-ġurbaal il-gediid luh
šadda.) The new sieve is taut. (A new
broom sweeps clean.)
‫وقع في شر أعماله‬.
(is3a ya 3abd wana
as3a ma3aak.) Make an effort, and I'll
make an effort [to help] you. (God helps
those who help themselves.)
‫الفلوس مع التيوس‬. (il-filuus ma3a t-tuyuus.)
It's always the idiots who have [lots of]
money. (Used to disparage the rich.)
(il-mayya tikeddib
il-ġaTTaas.) The water gives the lie to
the diver. (The proof's in the pudding.)
‫الغطاس‬
‫تك ّدب‬
‫المية‬.
(il-gahl ni3ma.) Ignorance is
bliss (lit. a blessing).
‫الجهل نعمة‬.
(kullu 3and il-3arab
Sabuun.) It's all the same thing to those
who know nothing. Used if someone
views different things as if they're all
the same. (Lit. It's all soap to the Bedouins.)
‫كله عند العرب صابون‬.
‫العين بصيرة واليد قصيرة‬
(il-3ein baSiira walyad 'aSiira) The eye sees, but the arm is
short (cannot reach). Said when someone wishes for something beyond his
means.
‫( تأتي الرياح بما ال تشتهي السفن‬ta'ti r-riyaaH bi-ma
la taštahi s-sufun) Winds do not blow
as the ships wish. (You can't always get
what you want.)
P.9
An-Nour
February 2015
www.An-Nournews.com
(770) 608-3343
Info@An-NourNews.com
Community Events
St. Jude One of the World’s Premier Pediatric Cancer Research Center, is the Only
Center Where Families Never Pay for Treatment Not Covered by Insurance
No Child is Ever Denied Treatment Because of the Family’s Inability to Pay
based protocols for
treating children
with cancer and
other catastrophic
diseases. St. Jude
physicians serve as
mentors to physicians at our partner
sites and consult
on difficult cases.
Research is focused specifically on cancers,
some acquired and inherited immunodeficiencies, sickle cell disease, infectious diseases
and genetic disorders.
The current basic and clinical research at St.
Jude includes work in gene therapy, bone
marrow transplantation, chemotherapy, the
biochemistry of normal and cancerous cells,
radiation treatment, blood diseases, resistance to therapy, viruses, hereditary diseases,
influenza, pediatric AIDS and psychological
effects of catastrophic illnesses. St. Jude also
conducts long-term biostatistical investigations on the long-term outcomes of its patients
and is the only pediatric research hospital that
has been awarded a National Cancer Institute
cancer center support grant.
St. Jude recently completed an extensive
expansion program that bolstered the hospital’s research and treatment efforts, more
than doubling the size of its original campus.
The expansion included the Children’s GMP,
LLC, currently the nation’s only pediatric
research center on-site facility for production
of highly specialized treatments and vaccines;
an expanded Department of Immunology;
and a new Department of Chemical Biology
and Therapeutics for discovery of new drugs.
St. Jude now has 2.5 million square feet of
research, clinical and administrative space
dedicated to finding cures and saving children. The new Chili’s Care Center integrates
patient care and research where rapidly evolving CT (computerized tomography) and MR
(magnetic resonance) technology keep St.
Jude at the cutting edge for radiation therapy
in a pediatric / adolescent setting. Additionally, a state-of-the-art cyclotron enables St.
Jude researchers to undertake many important
new PET (positron emission tomography)
radiochemistry studies. These imaging techniques facilitate the rapid evaluation of new
therapeutic approaches and help choose those
most likely to be successful.
Patients About 7,800 active patients are
seen at St. Jude yearly, most of whom
are treated on a continuing outpatient
basis as part of ongoing research programs. The hospital also has 78 beds
for patients requiring hospitalization
during treatment. St. Jude has treated
children from all 50 states and from
around the world.
St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research
center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is
ever denied treatment because of the family’s
inability to pay.
Founding St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was founded by entertainer Lebanese
desnet Danny Thomas and opened on
February 4, 1962. St. Jude is supported primarily by donations raised by its national
fundraising organization, ALSAC, which was
established by Danny Thomas expressly for
the purpose of funding St. Jude. The hospital
also receives assistance from federal grants
(mainly through the National Institutes of
Health and the National Cancer Institute),
insurance and investments.
Operations are overseen by the Boards of
Directors and Governors. The research activities are reviewed annually by the Scientific
Advisory Board, composed of internationally prominent physicians and scientists. The
No Place Like St. Jude Families never
receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment,
travel, housing and food – because all
a family should worry about is helping
their child live. Treatments invented at St.
Jude have helped push the overall childhood
cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more
than 80 percent since it opened in 1962. St.
Jude is working to drive the overall survival
rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent in the
next decade. Because the majority of St. Jude
funding comes from individual contributors,
St. Jude has the freedom to focus on what
matters most – saving kids regardless of their
financial situation. St. Jude was founded by
the late entertainer Danny Thomas, who
believed that “No child should die in
the dawn of life.”
St. Jude is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer
Center devoted solely to children. St. Jude
has helped increase the survival rates for
acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) from
4% before opening in 1962 to 94% today.
We develop new treatments that reduce side
effects while maintaining or improving outcomes, so that survivors of childhood cancer
can have the best possible long-term health.
Because we have seen our patients with
brain tumors improve dramatically through
proton therapy, we are building the world’s
first proton therapy center dedicated solely
to treating children. St. Jude researchers and
doctors have research and treatment programs for children with pediatric HIV and
AIDS, as well as using new drugs and therapies to fight related infections. St. Jude was
the first institution to develop a cure for sickle
cell disease with a bone marrow transplant
and has one of the largest pediatric sickle cell
disease programs in the country. St. Jude was
the first pediatric cancer research center in
the U.S. with an on-site current Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility, which
produces innovative biopharmaceuticals and
other products for use in St. Jude-led clinical
trials. Back to top
Through the St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital-Washington University Pediatric
Cancer Genome Project, have completed
whole genome sequencing of more than 700
pediatric cancers along with 700 matched
normal genomes from the same children.
This bold project has produced significant
discoveries for children with tough-to-treat
cancers. In May 2012, St. Jude released the
largest-ever compilation of comprehensive
whole genome human cancer data for access
by the global scientific community (4,200
billion pieces of data). A gene therapy treatment invented by St. Jude and given as a
single treatment allows adults with hemophilia B to cease ongoing, expensive injections. This new treatment is expected to be
adapted for children and for other diseases.
St. Jude is the national coordinating center
for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium
and the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study,
both funded by the National Cancer Institute. St. Jude is the coordinating center for
a national study of sickle cell disease treatment funded by the National Heart, Lung,
and Blood Institute of the National Institutes
of Health. St. Jude is a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Studies on
the Ecology of Influenza Viruses in Animals
and Birds.
hospital’s daily operating costs are $2
million, which are primarily covered by By the Numbers St. Jude has treated children
public contributions. St. Jude has more from all 50 states and around the world. On
than 3,600 employees.
average, St. Jude has more than 67,000 patient
The mission of the International Outreach
Program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is to improve the survival rate of children
with cancer and other catastrophic diseases
worldwide, through the sharing of knowledge, technology and organizational skills.
There are currently 20 official partner sites
in 15 different countries around the world.
International Outreach helps partner medical institutions develop tailored evidenced-
visits each year. It shared research results in
775 articles published in peer-reviewed journals in 2012. That equals, on average, a new
discovery shared every 11 hours. St. Jude
has been recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to
Work For,” by The Scientist as one of the top
10 “Best Places to Work in Academia,” and
by U.S. News & World Report and Parents
magazine as a top children’s cancer hospital.
Danny Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion:
The life of Danny Thomas and the history
of ALSAC and St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital are commemorated in the Danny
Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion, located on the
campus of St. Jude. The architecturally unique
building contains memorabilia of late entertainer Danny Thomas, founder of St. Jude.
The Pavilion is home to Emmy Awards and
accolades for Thomas’ television show Make
Room for Daddy,
as well as other
entertainment and
lifetime
achievements. Part of the
Pavilion is dedicated to Thomas’
life as a humanitarian, highlighting the
awards and honors
he received for his
work on behalf of
the world’s children.
A centerpiece of this
exhibit is Thomas’
Congressional Gold
Medal, the highest civilian award given
by Congress.
The architectural layout of the Danny
Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion emits a starlike shape with five alcoves surrounding
the rotunda. Considered to be a modernistic representation of the world, the Pavilion’s design symbolizes the far-reaching
scope of ALSAC and the work of St.
Jude. Terrazzo flooring, with a radiating geometric pattern, lines the entry to
the Pavilion. Inside the dome, marblesheathed columns support a cupola, elaborately painted in blues and greens with
accents of magenta and purple, indicative of the colors of the Mediterranean.
Arched panels, calligraphically inscribed
in Arabic and translated in English, sum
up the founder and hospital's mission:
"He who denies his heritage
has no heritage."
"No child should die in the
dawn of life."
"Those who work for the good
are as those who do the good."
Go Eat Give Facilitates Dialogue on
Lebanon Through Food
Keynote speaker, Mr Hrair Balian, honor to have someone share the insights of
Director of the Conflict Resolution Pro- world affairs in an intimate setting. Mr Hrair
Balian is the director of the Conflict Resolugram at The Carter Center.
Can we discuss controversial global issues with
an open mind, with people from different backgrounds?
Atlanta based non-profit organization Go Eat
Give has found a unique way to capture the
attention of people and have open dialogue in a
meaningful way. Sucheta Rawal, the founder of
the organization, who is also a food critic and
travel writer, says, “Food is the one thing that
is a common denominator among us humans.
When we meet, celebrate, or mourn a loss, it is
always over food. Then why not bring citizens
from diverse backgrounds, religions and opinion together over a good meal?”
This is exactly what Go Eat Give has been
doing for the past two years. They organize
monthly destination dinners at ethnic family
owned restaurants and invite the public to
come share delicious food, listen to insightful
speakers, and watch live music and dance performances, which helps in breaking down stereotypes and forms new friendships. Since its
inception in 2012, Go Eat Give has showcased
communities such as Morocco, Turkey, India,
Cuba, Germany, Italy, Peru, Dominican Republic, Thailand, Malaysia, Mexico, Korea, Kenya,
Nigeria, Ethiopia, and many more. Over 1500
people have attended these events and realized
that we often overlook the diversity that exists
in our own backyards.
tion Program at The Carter Center. He oversees the program's efforts to monitor conflicts around the world and coordinates the
Center's cross-program efforts in the Middle
East. Mr. Balian is also an adjunct professor
at the Emory University Law School, where
he teachers an advanced international negotiations seminar. He is fluent in English,
French, and Armenian, with a basic knowledge of Arabic. Mr. Balian was born and
raised in Lebanon and moved to the United
States for his university studies. During his
keynote speech, Mr. Balian will share with
guests’ information about the culture of
Lebanon as well as the impact of the Syrian
war.
Go Eat Give strives to promote cultural
awareness and global experiences for Atlanta’s diverse population. Through its widely
attended Destination Dinners, Go Eat Give
offers people an opportunity to experience a
new country, without having to leave town.
These monthly events aim to deliver a look
into a country’s authentic culture – beyond
what may be perceived through stereotypes
or experienced during resort vacations.
Destination Lebanon will be held on
Thursday, February 26 at Nicolas Restaurant (1602 Lavista Road Northeast
Atlanta,
GA 30329) at 7pm. The event will
In February, Go Eat Give has partnered
with Nicola’s Restaurant to present Desti- be an opportunity for Atlanta residents to
spend an evening eating, learning, and
nation Lebanon – an evening of Lebanese
having fun. Tickets may be purchased at:
food, dance and cultural insights.
http://destinationlebanon.eventbrite.com
Nicola's Restaurant is in its 31st year of serving one of the best, most authentic Lebanese For more information about Go Eat Give
cuisine Atlanta has to offer. The restaurant’s visit www.goeatgive.org
owner, Nicola has created a family style buffet
picking some of his favorite recipes
from the menu. He will also donate half
the revenue from alcohol purchases to
the organization. Nicola says he loves
to share his passion for food and his culture with others, and is very excited to
host Destination Lebanon.
While a majority of the population
gets its news through various media
channels, it is a great opportunity and
P.10
An-Nour
February 2015
(770) 608-3343
Info@An-NourNews.com
www.An-Nournews.com
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Continued from page 2
Iran Seizes One Arab Capital After Another
There is unrest amongst the Shia in Bahrain, a tiny island nation just off the coast
of Saudi Arabia. All indications are that
the Iranians are stoking those fires and providing support. Saudi Arabia and the other
Gulf States have already had in the recent
past to intervene militarily in response.
When Israeli helicopter gunships took out
a group of Hezbollah fighters in the Golan
Heights recently they got an unexpected
bonus. They killed an Iranian general who
was accompanying the team. Intriguingly,
press reports suggest he was a missile
expert and was working with Hezbollah
on upgrading their capacity to launch missile attacks on Israeli territory.
Iran and Russia have signed a new defense
pact. As part of that agreement, the Rus-
sians will sell to the Iranians their most
sophisticated surface-to-air missile systems, which can pose a threat to even the
most advanced American aircraft.
Meanwhile, we seem almost oblivious.
Asked about the fall of Sanaa and Iran’s
role in it, White House press spokesman
Josh Earnest replied that it was unclear
what role Iran may have played in the
uprising. Apparently, the fact that the
Houthi rebels routinely display pictures of
Khamenei and the Ayatollah Khomeini did
not help him resolve the ambiguity.
In fact, undeterred by the advance of Iranian-backed forces in the Middle East,
President Obama has persisted in clinging to the delusion that the Iranians have
changed their tune, want to engage in
dialogue, and are interested only in peaceful coexistence. Negotiations regarding the
Iranian nuclear program, which has been
for many years a transparent cover for illicit
efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, are
pressing ahead.
Efforts by the U.S. Congress to impose,
conditionally, additional sanctions on Iran
are being strenuously opposed by the White
House, which claims that such actions might
push the Iranians away from the negotiating
table and heighten tensions.
What facts support the fantastic conclusion
that the Iranians want to ease tensions or
learn to coexist remains unclear. Yet, we are
pressing ahead, closing our eyes, covering
our ears and choosing to ignore the reality
of what is transpiring. Four Arab capitals
have fallen. The “grand jihad” continues.
What will be number five?
This column appeared first in Epic Times.
Charles S. Faddis, president of Orion Strategic Services, LLC, is a former CIA operations officer with 20 years of experience
in the conduct of intelli- gence operations
in the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe.
He is the senior intelligence editor for AND
Magazine and a contributor to a wide variety of counterterrorism and homeland security journals. His nonfiction works include
"Operation Hotel California," a history of
the actions of his team inside Iraq from 2002
to 2003, "Willful Neglect," an examination
of homeland security, and "Beyond Repair,"
an argument for intelligence reform. For
more of his reports, Go Here Now.
P.12
February 2015
An-Nour
www.An-Nournews.com
(770) 608-3343
Info@An-NourNews.com