Jerusalem News
(September 8, 2020, 19 Elul, 5780)
Contents:
1. Is Turkey Moving into Northern Lebanon? by Jonathan Spyer
2. More Details on the George Floyd Incident by Mrs. A.J. Millington
3. When Muslims Leave the Faith
by Daniel Pipes
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1. Is Turkey Moving into Northern Lebanon? by Jonathan Spyer
https://www.meforum.org/61435/is-turkey-moving-into-northern-lebanon?utm_source=Middle+East+Forum&utm_campaign=7a041699ac-MEF_Spyer_2020_08_31_02_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_086cfd423c-7a041699ac-33769089&goal=0_086cfd423c-7a041699ac-33769089&mc_cid=7a041699ac&mc_eid=6bec0781b0
The Jerusalem Post
August 27, 2020
Extracts:
Turkey is the latest regional predator seeking to gain a foothold in Lebanon.
According to a report on the pro-Saudi Al Arabiya website published on August 19, officials in Lebanon are concerned at increased indications of Turkish efforts to build strength and influence in the country. The report quoted two sources in Lebanese intelligence, who mentioned recent Turkish efforts to bring weapons into northern Lebanon. "We are pretty worried about what's going on. The Turks are sending an incredible amount of weapons into the north," the website quoted its source as saying.
These reports await confirmation, and Al Arabiya is of course a media source linked to Saudi Arabia, a state rival of Turkey's. But the evidence for a broader Turkish effort to build influence and allies in Lebanon in recent months is considerable, and solid. As are the indications of a Turkish-controlled infrastructure emerging in Sunni northern Lebanon. Both fit with the broader pattern both of Turkish behavior and of broader regional realities.
In terms of the former, Turkey is actively involved using both its own forces and proxies in the two fragmented Arab countries to Lebanon's east , Syria and Iraq. The deployments in both countries already have the look of the long term about them, with clearly defined areas of control. Turkey is also active in Libya, where its backing of Fayez Sarraj's government almost certainly prevented the fall of Tripoli to the forces of Gen. Khalifa Haftar earlier this year.
Turkey seeks to become the main strategic beneficiary of the Middle East's chaos and fragmentation.
To these areas add Turkey's aggressive naval stance in the Eastern Mediterranean, and its active backing of Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank and of Islamist organizations in Jerusalem. All these add up to a strategy in which Ankara is seeking to emerge as the main strategic beneficiary of the chaos and fragmentation that has gripped much of the region over the last decade.
Regarding broader regional realities, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Lebanon, today are geographical spaces rather than states in the sense traditionally understood. Within these spaces, rival regional and global powers are competing for ascendancy. Turkey is a central player in the first three countries named. It would be surprising if it were not active in the fourth.
Other regional players are paying close attention to Turkey's belligerent stance. The Times this week reported Mossad head Yossi Cohen as telling Arab intelligence chiefs that "Iranian power is fragile... but the real threat is from Turkey."
In the countries mentioned above, Turkey seeks to leverage both its Sunni Islamist credentials to appeal to Sunni Arab populations, and where relevant its Turkic ethnicity to appeal to Turkic remnant populations in the Levant.
Turkey's activities are centered around the northern port of Tripoli, a stronghold of Sunni political Islam.
Sunni Islamist Turkey is apparently seeking to recruit the Lebanese Sunni street to its banner.
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2. More Details on the George Floyd Incident by Mrs. A. J. Millington
re
JN-1229. Jerusalem News
https://hebrewnations.com/features/jn4/jn1229.html
#3. What is the hardest truth about the George Floyd incident?
That all of this protesting? all of this rioting? by Kenny Nguyen
Dear Yair Davidiy,
Many thanks for Kenny Nguyen's article on the George Floyd Incident. A few months ago, my husband said he saw the original footage where Minneapolis police engaged Floyd. He had cocaine packets falling from his pants pockets. The police were called b/c he passed a counterfeit $20.00 bill. Besides MLK, Jr., this is what Black America exalts as heroes and martyrs.
Prior to that, he and one of his cronies busted into a pregnant woman's apartment unit--looking for drugs and money. Floyd threatened her with a gun which he placed on her belly saying he'd kill her and her unborn child if he didn't get what he wanted. They found no money or drugs and stole her cell phone. He served 5 years in prison yet, released to go out and repeat the same stupid process again. I am also for the death penalty. Most criminals never learn while in prison as prison doesn't rehabilitate a criminal mind. As far as I'm concerned, he got what he deserved b/c of the wrong choices he made.
Despite the fact that there are some corrupt cops doesn't mean that ALL COPS are corrupt. There are lots of them who indeed are here to serve and protect. And talk of de-funding the police department is plain STUPID. The majority of black Americans are pro-drugs and pro-crime. I am not one of them, and think for myself. As a biracial Sephardic Jewish woman, I choose to disassociate with lots of black Americans b/c I have found they're the most racist group on the planet...for what it's worth.
Shalom Aleichem,
Mrs. A.J. Millington
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3. When Muslims Leave the Faith
by Daniel Pipes
https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-muslims-leave-the-faith-11596755143?
Extracts:
In the West, conversions involving Islam appear to be a one-way street in its favor. Famed new believers include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Keith Ellison, and Sinead O'Connor, as well as flamboyant flirts like Prince Charles, Michael Jackson and Lindsay Lohan. Also, there are about 700,000 African-American converts and their descendants.
But, in fact, it's a two-way street. Indeed, born Muslims who leave Islam have a far greater impact than do converts to Islam.
To begin with, some numbers: In France, around 15,000 Muslims convert annually to Christianity, according to a 2007 estimate. About 100,000 American Muslims abandon Islam each year, reports a 2017 Pew Research Center survey. This amounts to 24 percent of all Muslims in the United States, with Iranians disproportionately represented. These numbers roughly counterbalance those of non-Muslims converting to Islam.
Reasons for leaving Islam vary: Pew finds 25 percent of American ex-Muslims have general issues with religion, 19 percent with Islam in particular, 16 percent prefer another religion, and 14 percent cite reasons of personal growth. Slightly more than half of those leaving (55 percent) abandon religion entirely and slightly less than a quarter (22 percent) convert to Christianity.
Apostates challenge Islam in three main ways: publicly leaving Islam, organizing with other ex-Muslims, and rejecting the Islamic message.
First, overtly apostatizing is a radical act that can lead to execution in a Muslim-majority country like Iran. Even in the West, it meets with rejection by families, social ostracism, humiliation, curses, threats, reprisals, and violent attacks. Accordingly, conversions out of Islam tend to be cautious or hidden, as in the cases of British author Salman Rushdie and pop star Zayn Malik. Carlos Menem of Argentina minimized his apostacy; Barack Obama elaborately denied his.
Nonetheless, some converts make a point of leaving publicly, encouraging others by their example. Ibn Warraqwrote Why I Am Not a Muslim. Nonie Darwish and Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote books about becoming "infidels." The journalist Magdi Allam converted at the hands of Pope Benedict in a widely televised ceremony.
Second, ex-Muslims living in the West do something inconceivable in Muslim-majority countries: starting with Germany's Central Council of Ex-Muslims (Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime) in 2007, they have organized dozens of public ex-Muslim organizations to provide mutual support, polish arguments, raise troublesome issues (such as female genital mutilation), and fight Islamism.
Third, Western-based ex-Muslims have developed an impressive reach into traditional Muslim communities with their books, radio, television, e-mail blasts, websites, and social media. With near impunity, they spread savvy messages in Arabic and other major languages.