Jerusalem News (15 July, 2015, 28 Tammuz, 5775)
Contents:
1. Why Lebanon's Sunnis Support ISISÂ by Hilal Khashan [Interesting Article for background information regarding ISIS etc, in general]
2. ISIS Detonation 101: Booby-Trapping and Detonating Infant by Lori Lowenthal Marcus
3. Cattleman Raising Historic Herd of Red Heifers in Israel [for rebuilding the Temple] by Anav Silverman
4. Steven Shamrak:Â Syrian Rebels Publicly Execute ISIS Members
5. Joseph Seigal: Two Contrary Views of the Greece Crisis
(a) The Greeks Exploited the Good Will of Others and Indulged Themselves
(b) The Germans are to Blame (for a change)
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1. Why Lebanon's Sunnis Support ISIS [Interesting Article for background information regarding ISIS etc, in general]
by Hilal Khashan
[Hilal Khashan is a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut.]
Middle East Quarterly
Summer 2015 (view PDF)
http://www.meforum.org/5316/lebanon-sunnis-isis
Extracts:
The claim by a recent public opinion poll that only 1 percent of adult Lebanese Sunnis are supportive of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)[1] must be taken with a large pinch of salt since "there is a vast gulf between how people say they behave and how they actually behave."[2] In fact, since Lebanese Sunnis are willing to support whoever can defeat their enemies and restore their pride, many of them find ISIS appealing for quite a few reasons: They have an aversion to Shiites and feel estranged from the Lebanese state while harboring nostalgia for the caliphate. Many admire power in any form, and others have a predisposition to anomic terrorism.
Aversion to Shiites
The rise to preeminence of Lebanese Shiites began after the Amal movement evicted the Lebanese army from the southern suburbs of Beirut in February 1984. A year later, Hezbollah made its debut and formed a militia to fight the Israel Defense Forces and its Southern Lebanese Army surrogate.
After a long period of Shiite ascendance, the prominence of Rafiq Hariri revived Sunni political hopes in Lebanon, but his assassination in February 2005 crushed expectations. In May 2008, Hezbollah stormed mostly Sunni west Beirut and liquidated the militia of the Future Movement, headed by Hariri's son Saad.
The Sunnis thus lost political prerogatives that had accrued to them from the 1943 National Covenant with the Maronites. Having already lost the support of the Palestine Liberation Organization due to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Sunnis suddenly found themselves giving way to a new Shiite contender that enjoyed strong regional support.
Estrangement from the Lebanese State
Some government officials privately admit that ISIS has established itself in Lebanese Sunni areas, including Beirut.Local observers note that the "seed of ISIS terror is found in every depressed area of Lebanon."[16] Support for ISIS grows as Sunnis lament the sad state of their coreligionists in Iraq and Syria, comparing it to their own situation as Iranian-backed Hezbollah continues to exercise hegemony over Lebanese politics. Rising Sunni anger and ISIS's successes do not bode well for Lebanese political stability.[17]
Pining for the Caliphate
Unlike Shiites, who believe that the caliphate usurped the rights to the succession of Muhammad's household, Sunnis have viewed the caliph as their legitimate leader for thirteen centuries. Yearning for a resurrection, the caliphate continued to live on after its 1924 abrogation by Turkey's Kemal Ataturk as Sunnis "view it as the state of Muslim glory and justice."[18] Its reestablishment, for example, was the raison d'etre of Hassan Banna's Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928. Lebanese Sunnis also find the neo-Ottoman policies of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party appealing and are particularly fond of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.[19]Obsession with the caliphate has not spared Sunnis from delusional thinking. Arab fondness for Hitler is well documented, at times to the point of asserting that the tyrant viewed Islam and its culture with favor.[20] As Daniel Pipes points out: "Nazis portrayed Islam as an ally and, accordingly, called for its revival while urging Muslims to act piously and emulate Muhammad."[21] It is also not rare for some Arabs to argue that Napoleon converted to Islam and sought to create a great Muslim empire.[22] In June 2014, ISIS's Baghdadi announced the formation of the Islamic State and designated himself caliph. Given his extreme bloodletting, even against fellow jihadists, the announcement did not generate wide approval. However, the sight of cruising motorists in Sunni areas blowing their horns, the Lebanese tradition of expressing happiness, after Baghdadi's announcement sent a muted message of approval. The issuance of the Islamic State's passport was another cause for pride. It is difficult for Sunnis to disavow the inscription on IS's passport that reads, "We will deploy armies for the holder of this passport, if harmed."[23]
Islam literally means submission to legitimate religious authority: "Believers, obey God, His Messenger, and those charged with authority among you."[24] This imperative may well dispose believers to revere power and display intolerance for dissenting voices. Using Bin Laden's famous strong-horse metaphor, Lee Smith argues that the "Sunnis have been a bloc of force that has never known accommodation or compromise, but has rather compelled everyone else to submit to its worldview."[25] Because of the central role of the caliph in enforcing the Shari'a and spreading the faith to all corners of the globe, the "Sunni figure has often been the able statesman, the hero of conquests, or the victory-maker."[26] In a study on Lebanese college students' reaction to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, 82 percent of Sunni respondents chose Saddam Hussein as their preferred political leader.
ISIS is no exception to the customary approach of Muslim power projected through strong leadership. If anything, it has exaggerated the use of coercion and carried it to new heights.
In its war in Syria and Iraq, ISIS resorts to ruthless tactics without regard to human cost. To win the battle for Tabaqa airbase in northeastern Syria, eventually overrun in August 2014, ISIS did not mind losing twice as many militants as government troops.[32] What matters more for ISIS was to strip Iraqi and Syrian soldiers to their underwear and march them to their humiliating death in order to project invincible power.
Like most Muslims, Lebanese Sunnis see themselves as the victims of centuries of backwardness, marginalization, and defeat. They tend to favor any signs, however elusive, that signal reversing Sunni weakness. A flag vendor in Tripoli explained the popularity of ISIS: "[P]eople ... like whoever is strong."[35] Poor, angry and marginalized teenagers in Tripoli want "great victories."[36] Even though public display of support for ISIS in Lebanon is punishable by law, "any young man in Tripoli, if asked, would confess how much he admired its power."[37] When confronted with the brutality and viciousness of ISIS, its supporters often lean on the Qur'an to justify their position: "Muhammad ... and those with him are firm of heart against the non-believers, compassionate among themselves."[38]
More Trouble in the Making
What is happening in Syria and Iraq is a religious war with ethnic overtones. As a microcosm of the region's religious and ethnic conflicts, it is difficult to imagine how Lebanon can be spared.
Syria and Iraq are experiencing a religious war with ethnic overtones; it is difficult to imagine how Lebanon can be spared.
Furthermore, while there are no accurate figures about the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, this group is thought to exceed one million persons. Among them, thousands of Islamist militants masquerade as refugees. Lebanon's tenuous security situation largely depends on the whim of regional countries patronizing its antagonistic sects.
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2. ISIS Detonation 101: Booby-Trapping and Detonating Infant
In order to teach its recruits about detonation devices, ISIS wired and detonated an infant before dozens of its members.
By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus
Published: July 14th, 2015
Extract:
As part of its training course on detonation devices, an infant was wired with explosives and detonated in Iraq by the brutal terrorist organization ISIS.
The story, reported in Iraqi News, is just one more example of the depravity exhibited by ISIS and its adherents. And yet, jihadi-wannabes continue to ooze into the territories controlled by ISIS.
The infant who was murdered as part of the ISIS teaching session, was apparently the child of a man executed earlier in the month by the terrorist organization.
The child was blown up using a remote detonator. The explosion took place in front of dozens of ISIS members.
According to Western Journalism, thousands of children have been recruited by ISIS since the organization became public. The children are brainwashed and taught it is their holy duty to undertake suicide missions or participate in mass executions.
In addition to voluntary recruits, ISIS kidnapped up to 500 children this month alone.
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3. Cattleman Raising Historic Herd of Red Heifers in Israel [for rebuilding the Temple]
By: Anav Silverman, Tazpit News Agency
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/cattleman-raising-historic-herd-of-red-heifers-in-israel/2015/07/14/
Extracts:
JERUSALEM Â The Temple Institute is working together with an Israeli cattleman to raise a red heifer in Israel, in strict accordance with the Biblical commandment. The project is the culmination of years of research at the Temple Institute that fuses ancient religious texts and modern science.
"We've been working on this for decades. The red heifer has to be supervised and cared for in a special way since its birth. And it's very complex," Â Rabbi Chaim Richman, the International Director of the Temple Institute told Tazpit News Agency.
Over two thousand years ago, during the near millennium that the two Temples stood in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount, the ashes of the red heifer were used by the priests for purification purposes.
In order to carry out this project, the Temple Institute has joined forces with an experienced Israeli cattle rancher who is an expert in the science of animal husbandry, under the halachic supervision and guidance of the rabbis of the Temple Institute. The cattle rancher is utilizing the technique of implanting the frozen embryos of the Red Angus cattle, which originally come from North America in Israeli domestic cattle.
'We can select proper candidates from those calves that are born. They will be cared for under specific instructions,' explained Rabbi Richman to Tazpit.
The end result of this program will be the introduction of the Red Angus breed into Israel said Rabbi Richman, who also added that it would improve the quality of cattle in Israel. This method, authorized and approved by Israel's Ministry of Agriculture, has already proven successful with the birth of a number of male Red Angus.
Raising a perfect red heifer in accordance with the Biblical commandment requires advance planning, preparation and constant supervision according to Rabbi Richman. In order for a red heifer to be considered kosher for Biblical use, it must literally be raised from birth under specific conditions and in a controlled environment, which has never been attempted in Israel during modern times.
'Three decades of research and preparation have led us to this special day. ...the Temple Institute has taken a bold move towards the third. Having already prepared over 70 sacred vessels including the golden menorah and High Priest's gemstone-encrusted breastplate, now is the time to fulfill the commandment of the Red Heifer,' Â said Rabbi Richman.
According to Jewish tradition, a red heifer is a female cow that is three years of age with a particular reddish hue and cannot have even two hairs of any other color. It cannot be used for any type of labor and must be blemish free. The biblical commandment regarding the red heifer can be found in the Book of Numbers and is considered as the only antidote to the state of impurity brought on by death.
'The emergence of the red heifer is not some mystical miracle,' elucidated Rabbi Richman. 'It is a practical development alongside Torah knowledge and science.'
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4. Syrian Rebels Publicly Execute ISIS Members
Steven Shamrak <shamrakreport@gmail.com>
Islamists Kill Each Other
The Syrian rebels, calling themselves Jaysh Al-Islam or the "Army of Islam," composed of approximately 25,000 soldiers following the unification of 60 rebel factions, released a bloody video showing the brutal slaughter 18 of ISIS fighters, while one rebel announces: "Allah did not make a disease without appointing a remedy to it."
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5. Joseph Seigal: Two Contrary Views of the Greece Crisis
Extracts:
From: Joseph Saigal <joseph.saigal@gmail.com>
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(a) The Greeks Exploited the Good Will of Others and Indulged Themselves
Extracts:
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The whole Greece issue in a simplified way:
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The 19 finance ministers of the single Euro currency bloc
have dismissed the request of the Greek PM Tsipras.
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Greece is now left insolvent after 5 years of  E 240 bn bailouts dried up.
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Greece failed to make a simple  E 1.5bn payment to the IMF on time .
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This has thrust the 16-year-old single currency  a historic blow .
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What is happening in Greece is the result of socialism in excess.
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For example everybody gets pension. Everybody, means everybody.
At the age of 57, a Greek self employed person retires with full State pension.
If a Greek works in a hazardous profession, he can retire with full pension at 50.
There are about 450 professions classified as hazardous. One of them is hairdresser.
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All entitlements- healthcare, education, unemployment benefits, housing, etc, are there.
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With these securities in place, Greeks stopped having babies.
If government is there to take care of you from cradle to grave, why maintain families.
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Fertility rate in Greece is just 1.41.(World Bank in fact put the figure at 1.29 in 2013.)
So there are not enough Greek youth to take care of the old aged Greeks.
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If there are no taxpayers around, government earns nothing.
But Greeks say, 'We don't give a damn. We don't care , just arrange the money.'
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"Just keep our Welfare cheques coming. Otherwise we will burn down the cities."
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The Greeks want their entitlements to continue, to be paid by the rest of Europe.
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Greece failed to disclose their excessive borrowing from market at the time of joining EU.
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Now Greece can survive only by keep on borrowing to repay previous borrowing.
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Tourism has taken a big hit due to this crisis .Their economy was on low wages and good sea connectivity which was the reason why EU got them.
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(b) The Germans are to Blame (for a change)
 Extracts:
[Truth numbers 1, 2, 3 Claim that for technical reasons the Germans are actually financially profiting from the crisis in Greece.]
Truth number 4: The huge Greek debt that came out in 2010 wasn't the result of state that spends lots more than they collect taxes but the fact that for decades Greece payed its debt by receiving new loans.
Truth number 5: The myth of the 'lazy Greeks' first showed up in 2010 although according to Eurostat Greeks work more hours than the Germans and under much worst conditions.
Truth number 6: Germany did make it to be the most powerful economy in Europe cause in 1953 the Allied countries (included Greece) cut the German debt more than 50% and paused any payments for reparations until Germany will be re-united again. Germany has avoided to pay such reparations using some kind of 'tricks' such us the 4+2 agreement.
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