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Presidential Decision on Forming Committee to Rehabilitate Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo

Oct 15, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – President Bashar al-Assad on Monday issued Presidential Decision No. 18 for 2012 on forming a committee to carry out maintenance and rehabilitation works of the Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo.

The committee is headed by Governor of Aleppo , Mohammad Wahid Aqqad, and it consists of seven members.

The decision set December 31st, 2013 as the deadline for completing the maintenance and rehabilitation works on.

The committee members are:

– Aleppo Governor Mohammad Wahid Aqqad, Chairman

– Director General of Military Construction Establishment Gen. Riad Issa, member

– Director of Antiquities and Museums in Aleppo Yousef Kanjo, member

– Head of the Antiquities Institution Mohammad Qejeh, member

– Engineer Marwan Hamzeh from Engineering Department at Aleppo University, member

– Engineer Fadel Mzayek from Engineering Department at Aleppo University, member

– Engineer Mohammad Mesbah Baqi from Engineers’ Syndicate in Aleppo, member

– Engineer Mohammad Wahid Haddad from Aleppo Endowments Directorate, member

Levant Scholars Union, Endowments Ministry Denounce Attack on Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo

The Levant Scholars Union denounced on behalf of Arab and Islamic world the attack perpetrated by Al Qaeda on Great Umayyad Mosque.

In a statement, the Union condemned the attack that involved the desecration of the mosque and destroying a vault full of Quran copies which they scattered, in addition to damaging a sacred relic belonging to Prophet Mohammad.

The Union said the crimes of those who desecrated the mosque don’t involve political ends nor will it give them any influence or help them achieve the goals for which they snuck into Aleppo, stressing that the attack was an act of vengeance and a desecration of a prominent Islamic site committed by Al Qaeda, which is an alien entity that doesn’t have anything to do with the Islamic nation.

The statement wondered about the positions of Syria’s neighbors who turn a blind eye and ignore Islam which they claim to belong to.

The Union asserted that what happened in the Great Umayyad Mosque is part of the repeated attacks on Islamic Sanctities according to a methodical plan by Israel and its protector the United States.

The statement also lauded the decision by President al-Assad to form a committee to rehabilitate and restore the mosque quickly.

Ministry of Awkaf: Attack on the Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo a Desecration of Religion

Ministry of Islamic Endowments (Awkaf) said that the attack on the Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo by takfiri armed groups is a desecration of religion, considering it a grave indication of the ferocious campaign against the safety and dignity of the homeland.

In a statement on Monday, the Ministry said that the Great Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo was attacked by takfiri gangs that harmed its lofty stature as a great worshipping place, who destroyed its walls, burned its furniture and plundered its scientific and cultural riches that are unparalleled in the Arab world.”

The Ministry said that attack is part of repeated attacks against the Islamic sanctities, especially al-Quds, according to a methodical plan devised by the Zionists and the US.

The source added that the terrorist groups also made for the closet containing copies of the Holy Quran and smashed it, before making for the sacred relic that belonged to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) that was in the mosque.

”It stands to reason that this crime does not have a political goal,” the ministry said, ”The attack is intended to undercut the stature of the Mosque as one of the historic milestones and a renowned worshipping place.”

The ministry hailed President Bashar al-Assad’s decree to set up a special committee for rehabilitating the Mosque.

Terrorists Killed , Explosive Devices Dismantled in Several Provinces

Oct 15, 2012

PROVINCES, (SANA) – A military unit on Monday destroyed four cars used for transferring terrorists, weapons and ammunition and a car equipped with a machinegun, killing a number of terrorists in Bab al-Hadid area in Aleppo city.

In Aleppo city, the Armed Forces attacked terrorist gatherings near Walid Bilal Schoo;, Obeida bin al-Jarrah School, Kastal Harami Square, al-Zahrawi Souq, al-Tananir Square and other areas and inflicted heavy losses on the terrorists.

In Aleppo countryside, the Armed Forces destroyed a terrorist hideout in Oram al-Sughra and eliminated several terrorists.

The Armed Forces also attacked a terrorist gathering in Rif al-Muhandisin Farms in Aleppo countryside and destroyed a car loaded with weapons and terrorists.

Four citizens of one family, the father, mother and two sons were martyred after a mortar hit their house by a terrorist group led by terrorist Abdullah al-Hussein al-Takal, known as the Capitan at Katan area in al-Marja, Aleppo.

Terrorists Eliminated, Explosive Devices Dismantled in Damascus Countryside

A unit of the Armed Forces dismantled a number of explosive devices which were planted by armed terrorist groups on al-Asha’ri Farm road in the eastern Ghouta in Damascus Countryside.

An armed forces unit eliminated tens of terrorists and destroyed five cars they were using in the town of al-Shefouniye in the eastern part of al-Ghouta area in Damascus countryside.

Armed Forces Dismantle 2 Explosive Devices in Homs

Units of the armed forces in cooperation with the authorities dismantled two explosive devices which were planted by a terrorist group near the Sma’alil village turnpike on the Homs-Masyaf road.

A source in the province told SANA reporter that the two devices weighed 25 kilograms each.

The authorities dismantled 5 explosive devices in the same area on Sunday.

Members of an Armed group Killed in al-Khaliyda, Homs

A unit of the armed forces today killed members of an armed group in al-Khaliydea in Homs, destroying mortar launcher and DSKH machinegun.

A source in the province told SANA reporter that another Army unit has been able to kill a number of snipers at Jourat al-Shaiyah near the National Hospital in Homs, destroying a number of terrorist dens, inflicting heavy losses upon them.

Three Terrorists Killed in Hama

A army unit carried out a qualitative operation against terrorists near Tal Melh crossroads in Mhardeh area in Hama, killing 3 of them.

Terrorists Eliminated in Deir Ezzor

A unit of the Armed Forces stormed a terrorist hideout in al-Jbeileh neighborhood in Deir Ezzor and eliminated all the terrorists inside it.

Terrorist Basel al-Mustafa was identified among the dead.

A unit of the armed forces killed members of an armed terrorist group at al-Madalja neighborhood in Deir Ezzor, among the terrorists killed was Basel al-Mustafa.

Another Army unit destroyed 3 DSHK-equipped cars and killed all the terrorists inside them at al-Hussaiynea area in the city.

Three Mortar Launchers Destroyed, Terrorists Eliminated in Idleb

An armed forces unit destroyed 3 mortar launchers and 3 pickup trucks along with the terrorists inside them in an operation at Wadi al-Deif area and the town of Hamdiye in Idleb countryside. Tens of terrorists were killed in this operation.

An armed forces unit destroyed gatherings of terrorists in Ma’ar Shamsha in the countryside of Ma’aret a;-Nu’man and in the villages of Ihsem, al-Bara and Sarja in Jabal al-Zawiya area, eliminating tens of terrorists.

The armed forces also destroyed a gathering of terrorist in Ma’artamsarin, a shoulder-mounted missile, and a pickup carrying terrorists on the Hesh-Hamdiye road.

Another unit destroyed a gathering of terrorists in the town of Saraqeb, eliminating all the terrorists inside it.

Terrorists Killed, Weapons Seized in Daraa Countryside

Units of the Armed Forces destroyed a number of cars used by armed terrorist groups and killed scores of terrorists, some of them of non-Syrian nationalities in Daraa countryside.

A source in the province told SANA reporter that terrorists Abdul-Aziz al-Shummari, of Saudi nationality and al-Mo’tasen Billah Mohammad Shdeid, of Libyan nationality along with terrorists Farouq Salah al-Akeedi, Abdul-Majeed Motlaq al-Majareesh, Ali Hassan al-Houshan and Waleed Adnan al-Zahri were identified among the dead in Muhajja area in Daraa countryside.

The source said that the army destroyed several cars and terrorists command centers and arrested scores of terrorists, adding that a number of IEDs, weighting between 25-100 kg, were dismantled.

The army also seized RPG launchers, machineguns and night-vision binoculars in the areas of Ain Basha, Karm Basha and Nabe’ al-Sakhr in Daraa countryside.

The Armed Forces killed scores of terrorists, among them was Kamal Ahmad al-Houri.

General Command of Army and Armed Forces: Media Reports on Using Cluster Bombs by Syrian Army Untrue

Oct 15, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – The General Command  of the Army and the Armed Forces stressed on Monday that the misleading media outlets have recently published untrue news claiming the Syrian Arab Army has been using cluster bombs against terrorists.

In a statement, the General Command said the Syrian Army does not possess such bombs, stressing that those news are untrue and come in the framework of misleading media which is aimed at diverting the public opinion from the practices of the armed terrorist groups against civilians.

Lavrov Denies Claims on Using Cluster Bombs by Syria

Oct 15, 2012

MOSCOW, (SANA) – Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, stressed on Monday that Syria does not use cluster bombs as human rights organizations claimed, adding that there is no evidence to prove these claims.

In a statement to journalists in Luxembourg, Lavrov pointed out that the Middle East and other countries are full of illegal weapons, adding that it is difficult to specify from where these weapons are transferred.

Lavrov: Moscow Will Demand Retrieval of Shipment Seized by Turkey From Syrian Plane

Earlier, Lavrov said that Moscow will formally demand the retrieval of the shipment seized by Turkey onboard the Syrian plane as there are no violations in its nature or documents.

In a statement after the meeting of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin with members of the Russian National Security Council, Lavrov said that Moscow is waiting for a reply from Ankara on preventing the Russian diplomats from communicating with the Russians onboard the plane while it was grounded.

Lavrov stressed that there are no secrets regarding the Syrian plane, adding that the plane was carrying radar electronic equipment of dual use and not banned by any international agreement

Russian Foreign Ministry: Journalist Kochneva who Disappeared in Syria is Ukrainian Living Permanently in Syria

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich stressed that journalist  Anhar Kochneva who is said to have disappeared in Syria is a Ukrainian citizen who lives permanently in Syria.

Lukashevich said in a statement that Kochneva has been in contact with several Russian TV channels, pointing out that the Russian Embassy in Damascus is exerting active efforts and coordinating with Ukrainian representatives to take necessary measures to free her.

In turn, the Ukrainian Presidential  Media office announced that President Viktor Yanukovych tasked the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to inquire about the situation of Kochneva’s disappearance and to protect the rights and interests of Ukrainian citizens.

Churkin: Halt of violence Priority to the International community

The Russian Envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin described the halt of violence in Syria as a priority for the international community, saying that Moscow relies on the mission of the UN Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi and on the constructive participation of the international and regional players in finding a solution to the crisis as soon as possible.

“Geneva statement on the crisis in Syria is still important.. all responsible parties have to cooperate in order to reach a solution,” Itar Tass News Agency quoted Churkin as saying on Monday.

He called on the Syrian opposition to announce adherence to Geneva Action Group’s statement on Syria, referring that the Syrian government has expressed support to this statement.

“We expect similar steps by the Syrian opposition,” Churkin added.

Al-Halqi: Optimistic about the Future…Working to Reach Free, Strong and Renewed Syria

Oct 15, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA)_Prime Minister, Dr. Wael al-Halqi expressed pride in the steadfastness of the Syrian people and their rallying around the armed forces in confronting terrorism and conspiracies.

During his meeting on Monday with head of the General Union of Syrian Women, Majida Quteit, and members of the Union’s executive office, al-Halqi said “We are optimistic about the future, and working with our people and NGOs to get past the current situation and achieve the national reconciliation to paving the way from the post-crisis area and build a free, strong and renewed Syria.”

Al-Halqi reviewed the government’s efforts in rehabilitating the infrastructure, public and private properties targeted by armed terrorist groups, pointing out that these attacks harmed the sectors of health, transport and energy, not to mention historical sites and worshipping places, the latest of which was the attack on the Great Umayyad Mosque in Aleppo.

He added that the economic situation is good despite the sanctions, and all goods are available in good quantities.

Al-Halqi discussed with Quteit and members of the Union the activities of the Union and its effective role under the current events in caring for the affected families.

The meetings also tackled the Union’s work and the status of its service and development projects, especially those related to childhood development programs and women empowerment.

Al-Halqi also hailed the role of the Union in the construction and development process, underlining the government’s support to it as to enhance its role.

People’s Assembly Discusses Law of Regulating the Dental Association’s  Work

Oct 15, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA)_ During a session on Monday chaired by Speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Lahham, the People’s Assembly discussed the law on regulating the Dental Association’s work to be ratified later.

The members’ speeches emphasized the importance of amending the law of regulating the Association’s work as to be consistent with the new constitution and to cope with scientific development and the profession’s requirements, and achieves the best services for citizens.

Member Fadia Deeb underlined the importance of enacting a law that regulates the work of the Association in light of the development that Syria is witnessing, especially that the new constitutions has granted independence to unions so that it became imperative to amend the unions’ work law.

Member Safwan al-Qurabi underlined the importance of redrafting a new and modern law that takes into consideration all important issues in dentistry, as the number of doctors doubled and the nature of problems changed.

The Assembly also agreed to a request on the resignation of the Member Sattam al-Dandah who was nominated as Syria’s ambassador to Iraq.

The Assembly also referred the members’ questions for review.

Women, Family and Children Rights Committee at People’s Assembly Discusses Work, Objectives

The Committee of Women, Family and Children’s Rights at the People’s Assembly discussed its work plan, objectives and means to bolster its work to preserve the rights of women, Family and Children.

Head of the committee, Nahed al-Moallem, said that the committee aims at empowering women politically, culturally, socially and economically in addition to consolidate the role of women in Arab and international conferences.

She added that the committee also aims at preserving and protecting the rights if children as stipulated in the UN Children’s rights law, stressing the need to establishing Family care centers in cooperation with the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs (SCFA) in all provinces.

Women, Family and Children Rights Committee is one of four permanent committees established by the People’s Assembly in last June.

Minister of Education to (ISESCO): Organization’s Activities Concerning Syria without its Agreement Unwelcome

Oct 15, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Minister of Education, Dr. Hazwan al-Wiz, on Monday said that the activities of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) which discussed issues and files concerning Syria and called on Syrians

In a letter to ISESCO Director-General, Dr. Abdul-Aziz bin Othman Altwaijri, Minister al-Wiz said that the organization’s activities violate its charter and affect the relationship between Syria and the organization.

He pointed out that in spite of  the current crisis which is hindering reform and development, the Syrian educational and scientific institutions are still playing their roles in constructing and spreading knowledge to the Syrian people.

He called on the ISESCO not to interfere in the Syrian internal affairs and not to be biased to sides linked to schemes and plots that have aggressive dimensions.

The Minister also called on the organization to depend on the information and facts which come from authentic sources offered by the Syrian authorities through official and periodical letters to the international sides and humanitarian organizations.

After the suspension of Syria’s membership, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO)  organized activities describing them as ’emergency activities’ in coordination with some Arab states to discuss issues concerning Syria.

Central Bank of Syria Denies Reports that it Stopped Interfering in the Syrian Market

Oct 15, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA)-Governor of Central Bank of Syria Adib Mayaleh on Monday denied reports by the misleading media that the Bank has stopped to interfere and ordered the money-changing institutions to halt sale until further notice.

In a statement to SANA, Mayaleh reassured the Syrian citizens that the Central Bank has reserves of different currencies to meet the demands of the country and keep the price of Syrian pound, saying “the Central Bank of Syria is covering the trade market needs and others.”

Brahimi Denies He Suggested Sending Peacekeeping Force to Syria

Oct 15, 2012

BAGHDAD, (SANA) – UN Envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi on Monday dismissed reports alleging he suggested sending peacekeeping forces to Syria.

In a press conference held in Baghdad, Brahimi said “I didn’t propose such thing and I don’t know where this news came from, It certainly did not come from me.”

Earlier, Ahmad Fawzi, Spokesman for the UN Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi dismissed that Brahimi is setting a plan to deploy an international peacekeeping force in Syria, as the Sunday Telegraph reported earlier.

Answering a question on the creditability of a report published by the newspaper on Sunday, Fawzi said the report is baseless.

Ashton Voices Agreement with Russia over Seeking Peaceful Solution to Syrian Crisis and Supporting Brahimi’s Mission

Oct 15, 2012

LUXEMBURG, (SANA) – The European Union’s High Representative Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said on Monday that the EU shares Russia’s conviction that that solution in Syria must be peaceful.

The Italian news agency AKI said that Ashton made statements on the sideline of the regular meeting of EU foreign Ministers held on Monday in Luxemburg, with her statements commenting on the meetings between the ministers and their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, although she didn’t give many details about the discussions during that meeting.

Ashton said that they discussed with Lavrov the latest developments in Syria and that they stressed the need to seek a peaceful solution and support the mission of UN Envoy Lakhdar Ibrahimi.

She said that the EU understand Russia’s concerns, particularly regarding the deteriorating relations between Turkey and Syria, stressing the need to work on an immediate cessation of violence inside Syria and not allowing this violence to spread.

NY Times Quoting Officials: Petraeus Deeply Involved in Supplying Gunmen in Syria

Oct 15, 2012

WASHINGTON, (SANA) – U.S. officials and Middle Eastern diplomats said that US President Barak Obama and senior officials of his administration are aware that the arms flow from Saudi Arabia and Qatar to Syria arrives to the hands of hard-line “Islamic” jihadists.

In a news report published on Sunday under the title ” Rebel Arms Flow Is Said to Benefit Jihadists in Syria,” the newspaper said that according to classified assessments of the crisis in Syria submitted to U.S. officials, ” the United States is providing intelligence and other support for shipments of secondhand light weapons like rifles and grenades into Syria, mainly orchestrated from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The shipments organized from Qatar, in particular, are largely going to hard-line Islamists”.

The newspaper quoted officials of countries in the region as saying that director of the Central Intelligence Agency, David H. Petraeus has been deeply involved in trying to steer the supply effort. The newspaper added that one Middle Eastern diplomat who has dealt extensively with the C.I.A. on the issue said that Petraeus’s goal was to oversee the process of “vetting, and then shaping, an opposition that the U.S. thinks it can work with.”

” According to American and Arab officials, the C.I.A. has sent officers to Turkey to help direct the aid, but the agency has been hampered by a lack of good intelligence about many rebel figures and factions,” NY Times said.

The newspaper questioned the White House’s strategy of minimal and indirect intervention in Syria, adding that it is sowing the seeds of future insurgencies hostile to the United States.

“American officials have been trying to understand why hard-line Islamists have received the lion’s share of the arms shipped to the Syrian opposition through the shadowy pipeline with roots in Qatar, and, to a lesser degree, Saudi Arabia.

The officials, voicing frustration, say there is no central clearinghouse for the shipments, and no effective way of vetting the groups that ultimately receive them. Those problems were central concerns for Petraeus, when he traveled secretly to Turkey last month.” The newspaper reported.

The newspaper quoted a Middle Eastern diplomat whose government has supported the Syrian gunmen as saying that his country’s political leadership was discouraged by the lack of organization and the ineffectiveness of the disjointed Syrian opposition movement. The disorganization is strengthening the hand of Islamic extremist groups in Syria, some with ties or affiliations with Al Qaeda.

“In several towns along the Turkey-Syria border, rebel commanders can be found seeking weapons and meeting with shadowy intermediaries, in a chaotic atmosphere where the true identities and affiliations of any party can be extremely difficult to ascertain. Moreover, the rebels often adapt their language and appearance in ways they hope will appeal to those distributing weapons.

For instance, many rebels have grown the long, scraggly beards favored by hard-line Salafi Muslims after hearing that Qatar was more inclined to give weapons to Islamists. The Saudis and Qataris are themselves relying on intermediaries — some of them Lebanese — who have struggled to make sense of the complex affiliations of the rebels they deal with.” The newspaper concluded.

Four Workers Martyred, Others Injured in Terrorist Attack against a Bus in Homs

Oct 15, 2012

PROVINCES, (SANA) – An armed terrorist group on Sunday targeted a bus carrying workers with an explosive device near al-Aabrini crossroad on Zaydal – al-Jaberiyeh road to the east of Homs city, killing 4 workers and injuring 20 others, a source in the province said.

The source added that the engineering units dismantled 12 explosive devices of various weights planted by terrorists on Zaydal-al-Jaberiyeh road in Homs countryside.

The Armed Forces targeted a terrorists’ gathering in the city of al-Rastan in Homs province, killing and injuring dozens of the terrorists.

SANA reporter was informed by a source in the province that terrorists Mahmoud Obeid, Iyad Idrees, Mahmoud Shahhoud, Samer Rahmoun and a terrorist of Tunisian nationality nicknamed Abu al-Qaqa’a were identified among the dead.

Another army unit clashed with and eliminated an armed terrorist group in al-Dayabyeh town in al-Qseir countryside, among the killed terrorists was the leader of the group, terrorist Abdul-Salam Harba.

Authorities clashed with an armed terrorist group in al-Husn area in Homs countryside, killing scores of terrorists, among them was terrorists Nizar Mirza, the leader of the terrorist group.

Armed Forces Destroy Terrorists’ Hideouts, Anti-aircraft Missiles

A unit of the Armed Forces on Sunday destroyed terrorists’ hideouts and a number of anti-aircraft missiles near al-Zeraa school and al-Inzarat neighborhood in Masaken Hanana in Aleppo City.

The army members also killed scores of terrorists in the area.

Also, amilitary unit destroyed two cars equipped with DShK machineguns, two large trucks supplied with a mortar launcherand eight cars for carrying terrorists, killing dozens of them near Issam al-Ghadiri School in al-Halwaniyeh in Aleppo.

Authorities foil attempt to detonate booby-trapped truck loaded with about 3 tons of explosives near al-Layramoon Roundabout in Aleppo city.

Another military unit targeted terrorists’ gatherings in Bab al-Nairab and near the Park in Aleppo, destroying four mortar launchers and ten vehicles for carrying terrorists and killing tens of them including terrorist groups’ leaders.

The body of terrorist Ahmad Abdul-Rahman nicknamed with Sheikh al-Jabal, of non-Syrian nationality, was identified.

Units of the armed forces destroyed 4 dens for armed terrorists and two cars equipped with DShK machineguns, and several vehicles loaded with weapons and ammunitions in qualitative operations near al-Ajazeh roundabout and the Sports Institute in Bustan al-Basha in Aleppo city, killing and injuring scores of terrorists.

A unit of the armed forces destroyed three cars carrying weapons and ammunition in a qualitative operation that left several terrorists killed near al-Sroubian pool in Bustan al-Basha in Aleppo.

The terrorist Mohammad Mahmoud al-Sukhni, leader of a terrorist group, was killed, along with all his group’s members in a qualitative operation by the armed forces near al-Marjeh roundabout in Aleppo.

In Aleppo countryside, a unit of the Armed Forces attacked a terrorist gathering in Arab Fattoumeh area and destroyed five pick-ups and killed all terrorists in them.

Among the killed terrorists were Riad al-Sarhan, the leader, of Egyptian nationality, Azz Eddin al-Masri, RPG shooter, of Egyptian nationality, and Khalil Abdul-Aziz, sniper, of Saudi nationality.

A number of terrorists were killed in a explosive device explosion in Khan al-Assal area and five cars and a truck loaded with weapons and ammunitions were destroyed.

In Aleppo city, the Armed Forces carried out qualitative operations attacking terrorist gatherings near Antakia Gate in the old City of Aleppo, Kastal Harami, al-Hatab and al-Tananir squares, al-Ahrar square in al-Kallaseh and al-Haj Bridge. Heavy losses were inflicted on the terrorists.

The Armed Forces attacked terrorist gatherings in al-Jandoul, al-Fursan, Deir Hafer, Ein Jara and Kafar Naha areas leading to killing and wounding tens of terrorists and destroying their DShK-equipped  vehicles.

A Citizen Injured in Explosive Device Blast in Mazzeh, Damascus

Citizen Ayman Yousef Wannous was injured in a blast of an explosive device planted by an armed terrorist group inside a car near al-Fatah Mosque in al-Mazzeh area in Damascus city.

SANA reporter was informed that Wannous, who works for al-Azmena private magazine, was severely injured.

The reporter added that Wannous was admitted to the hospital to receive treatment.

Army Units Clean Some Towns in Eastern Ghota in Damascus Countryside from Armed Terrorist Groups

Units of the Armed Forces cleared towns of Zbdeen, Deir al-Assafir, Shaba’a, Muhamadiyeh and Jisreen in the Eastern Ghota in Damascus Countryside of armed terrorist groups.

Army Eliminates Scores of Terrorists in Idleb

The Armed Forces eliminated large numbers of terrorists during qualitative operations carried out in several areas in Idleb province.

A source in the province told SANA that the army targeted terrorists’ gatherings in the areas of Saraqib, Jabal al-Zawya, al-Alyah, al-Ghassanyeh and al-Zi’inyeh, eliminating large numbers of the terrorists and destroying a Mortar and DShK-equipped cars.

 

The source added that the army killed scores of terrorists in Heish town in Idleb countryside, destroying rocket launchers and dozens of DShK-equipped cars.

A unit of the Armed Forces clashed with an armed terrorist group in al-Doweila area in Idleb countryside, eliminating all of the group’s members.

Among the killed terrorists was Salaheddin Ayyoub, leader of the so-called “Mohammad’s Soldiers Battalion”.

A Civilian Martyred, Two Others Injured by Terrorist’s Gunfire in Hama

An armed terrorist group opened fire on civilians in al-Aaydeen Camp in Hama City, Killing a civilian and injuring two others.

An official source told SANA reporter that terrorists were shooting citizens in the Camp from their Taxi car causing the martyrdom of civilian Rashid Saadi and the injury of two others.

Authorities Arrest Terrorists in Hama City

The authorities in Hama city arrested two terrorists, one of them disguised as a woman, who were planting an explosive device in al-Hader area in the city.

A source in the province told SANA reporter that the authorities seized a bag including 15 kilo grams of highly explosive materials attached to batteries and a number of detonators.

The source added that the authorities clashed with a terrorist group which tried to cover the two terrorists while planting the explosive device and eliminated two members.

A Number of Terrorists Eliminated, Weapons Seized in Countryside of Hama

The authorities carried out a qualitative operation against terrorists near Kafr al-Ton crossroad in the countryside of Hama, Killing some of them and seizing their weapons.

Armed Forces Eliminate Terrorists in Deir Ezzor

A unit of the Armed Forces targeted on Sunday a number of terrorists gathering near al-Orfi Mosque in Bor Said street in Deri Ezzor city and killed several of them.

A source in the province told SANA reporter that a unit of the Armed Forces eliminated a gathering of terrorists in al-Takaya Street in al-Jbeilieh area and arrested one of the most wanted terrorists and eliminated an armed terrorist group near al-Rawdah Mosque.

Meanwhile, a terrorist was killed while he was planting an explosive device in Cinema Fouad Street.

Authorities eliminate a number of terrorists in Hama Countryside, Seize Weapons

The authorities in Hama province eliminated several terrorists in a qualitative operation against an armed terrorist group.

A source in the province told SANA reporter that machineguns and ammunitions were seized.

In Idleb province, the Armed Forces eliminated large numbers of terrorists in Hish town and destroyed missile launchers and tens of DShK-equipped vehicles.

Armed Forces Confront Terrorists Trying to Infiltrate into Prophet Younes mountain top

A unit of the Armed Forces confronted an armed terrorist group that tried to infiltrate into Prophet Younes Mountain top in Lattakia countryside and eliminated tens of them and injured others.

SANA reporter quoted a source in the province as saying that large amounts of ammunitions were seized including machinguns, NATO sniper rifles and RPG launchers.

Authorities Inflict Heavy Losses Upon Terrorists in Hasaka

Authorities clashed with an armed terrorist group in al-Kantari area on Hasaka-Raqqa road, inflicting heavy losses upon terrorists.

A source in the province told SANA that scores of terrorists were killed, adding that the authorities confiscated a DShK-equipped pick-up, 2 PKC machineguns and large amounts of munitions.

Salehi and Brahimi Stress Need to End Crisis in Syria Peacefully

Oct 14, 2012

TEHRAN, (SANA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi reiterated his country’s call for resolving the crisis in Syria through peaceful means, hoping that UN Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi will be able to cooperate with regional and other influential countries and carry out his task of finding a peaceful solution and ending the crisis by the Syrians themselves.

In a joint press conference with Brahimi held on Sunday in Tehran, Salehi said that the Syrian government has repeatedly showed willingness to realize the demands of its people and took the necessary steps in this regard, affirming that the Syrian people are free and democratic and have the right to elections and choosing a People’s Assembly, constitution and laws based on their own opinions.

He said that Iran’s viewpoint regarding the crisis in Syria matches Brahimi’s in that violence and killing must stop before any other step, adding “unfortunately, every day passes and a number of innocents are killed in Syria, which isn’t in the interest of Syria nor the region nor the Islamic nation nor the international community.”

Salehi said that the faster the crisis in Syria is resolved, the better, adding that Iran is prepared to cooperate fully with Brahimi to find a suitable solution.

He noted that the UN has specific qualities and ideas, and that the responsibilities shouldered by Brahimi place him in a neutral and non-biased position, stressing that non-bias may be questioned but Brhaimi represents a neutral side and can take effective steps.

Salehi also pointed out to the suggestion Iran presented during the ministerial committee meeting in New York, stressing that any other ideas will be within the agenda of resolving the crisis.

He concluded by saying that Brahimi is working hard to bring differing opinions closer together, hoping that he will be able to present a suggestion that resolves the crisis in Syria in the future.

For his part, Brahimi said that the UN is fully aware of the critical nature of the situation in Syria and the need to resolve it quickly, noting that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for the cessation of violence every day.

He said that Ki-moon calls on daily basis for stopping the flow of weapons to all sides in Syria and pressing all influential countries to call for an end to violence and seeking peaceful solutions to the real issues.

Brahimi stressed the need to resolve these real issues in peaceful ways, affirming that the UN is ready to offer help to bring viewpoints closer and help the Syrians resolve their problems.

He said that he’s looking forward to continuing talks with Iran along with other countries in the region that affect what is happening in Syria and are affected by it, thanking Iran for the document it presented in New York.

Brahimi concluded by hoping that all these ideas would unite in a single project that end the suffering of the Syrian people and resolves the crisis properly in a manner that serves the interests of the Syrians.

People’s Assembly Passes Bill on Law for Biosecurity of Genetically-Modified Life Forms and Products

Oct 14, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – During a session on Sunday chaired by Speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Lahham, the People’s Assembly passed a bill on the law of biosecurity of genetically-modified life forms and their products.

The law aims to guarantee the health of humans, animals, plants and protect the environment by setting guidelines for the import, export, transportation, production, circulation and use of genetically-modified life forms and their products, in addition to setting a framework for research and development in genetic engineering.

The law also seeks to keep up with advances in genetic engineering, particularly in the field of agriculture such as the production of high-yield crops or ones that can survive in soils with high salinity, in addition to monitoring the use of genetic technology according to the standards and regulations of biosecurity.

Agriculture Minister Sobhi al-Abdullah pointed out that the Establishment for the Procurement of Agricultural Production Requirement, an affiliate of the Agricultural Scientific Research Agency, is currently doing work in the field of modern biotechnology to help develop the agricultural sector.

The Assembly referred a number of legislative decrees and bills to the appropriate committees for processing and study, including a bill on ratifying the cooperation agreement signed by Syria and the International Center for Geopolitical Analysis and Commercial Cooperation in Moscow, and a bill on exempting people with overdue electricity bills from interests and fines.

The Assembly also referred members’ written questions to the appropriate authorities, with the questions dealing with various issues including educational hospitals, postponing the debts of what farmers to the Agricultural Banks, reinstating workers who were fired or who quit their jobs and were not convicted of anything, amending the basic workers law.

The session was adjourned until 12 PM on Monday.

SYP 1 Billion Allocated to Compensate Damages to Citizens’ Properties Caused by Terrorism in 2012, SYP 30 Billion More to Be Allocated in 2013

Oct 14, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Deputy Prime Minister for Services Affairs, Minister of Local Administration Omar Ghalawanji said that SYP 1 billion has been allocated to the building committee established in September 23rd to compensate for the damages caused to uninsured private properties affected by terrorism in 2012.

During the first meeting of the committee on Sunday, Ghalawanji, who chaired the committee, said that half of the money will come from the budget of the Local Administration Ministry and the other half from the state general budget, adding that SYP 30 billion has been allocated to the committee and will become available to it by the start of 2013.

Ghalawanji reviewed the committee task which include setting basis and criteria for compensating damages, taking necessary steps for rehabilitating damaged infrastructure and utilities, and providing humanitarian relief to affected citizens.

He pointed out that his Ministry requested sub committees in provinces to finish documenting actual damage to private properties and put the data in charts within a week, adding that the issues of raising the values and the cap of compensations and finding mechanisms for compensating owners of vehicles damaged by terrorism are being discussed.

Ghalawanji called for presenting accurate reports on repairs that have been completed and their costs, noting that no repairs should be made in hotspots or unsafe areas until they are fully cleared of terrorists.

Regarding humanitarian relief, Ghalawanji underlined the efforts made by his Ministry in cooperation with international organizations such as the UNHCR, WFP, UNDP and UNICEF.

During the meeting, it was decided that damages estimated anywhere between SYP 30,000 and 250,000 receive 40% compensation, while damages estimated between 250,000 and 350,000 will be compensated with 100,000, with damages over 300,000 receiving a 30% compensation of no less than 100,000 and no more than 1.5 million.

Damages estimates at over 1.5 million will be presented to the Prime Ministry, and an advance payment of 50%  of the estimated damages will be given to affected citizens.

Governors are also authorized to allocate extra funds from the sums other than the funds from the allocated budget of this project when needed, given that the extra funds don’t exceed 20% of the value of the funds allocated to them.

The committee also discussed requests from the ministries of interior, electricity, health, education and national reconciliation on the committee’s work in rehabilitating infrastructure and utilities.

Booby-trapped Car Explodes on al-Mazzeh Highway Causing Material Damage Only

Oct 14, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – A suicide terrorist blew up his booby-trapped car on al-Mazzeh Highway in the early morning on Sunday, resulting in material damage only.

An official source told SANA reporter that the explosion was carried out by a Kia Rio car loaded with large amounts of explosives, causing material damage only and no casualties.

Based on Principle of Reciprocity, Syria Decides to Not Allow Turkish Civilian Planes to Fly Over Syria as of Midnight of October 13

Oct 14, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry announced that based on the Turkish government’s decision to not allow Syrian civilian planes to fly over Turkey, and based on the principle of reciprocity, the Syrian government decided to not allow Turkish civilian planes to fly over the territories of the Syrian Arab Republic as of midnight of Saturday, 13/10/2012.

In a press statement issued on Saturday evening, the Ministry said that the Syrian government regrets the Turkish government’s escalatory decision which primarily targets the interests of the Syrian people.

Petroleum Minister Discusses Means of Increasing and Maintaining Production

Oct 14, 2012

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Saiid Hneidi discussed on Sunday with heads of petroleum workers’ trade unions means for increasing and maintaining production and dealing with difficulties facing workers.

Discussions focused on workers’ demands and the difficulties hindering their work, in addition to issues related to equipment maintenance, increasing workers’ compensation, extending contracts, exchanging technical expertise, and increasing fuel allocations for some provinces.

Minister Hneidi noted that the petroleum sector was targeted heavily by terrorists due to its importance and impact on national economy and citizens’ livelihood, while some countries targeted this sector through sanctions, affirming that his Ministry is exerting huge efforts to circumvent these sanctions.

He lauded the efforts of workers in the petroleum sector who are working around the clock under the difficult circumstances to maintain production and provide citizens’ fuel requirements.

The Minister also affirmed that all the points raised in the meeting will be studied and the applicable suggestions will be implemented, and that other issues such as the difficulty some workers are facing in reaching their workplaces due to terrorism will also be tackled.

Lebanon Keen on Syria’s Security and Stability, Lebanese Foreign Minister Says

Oct 14, 2012

BEIRUT, (SANA)- Lebanese Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Adnan Mansour, stressed Lebanon’s keenness on the security and stability in Syria due to the geographical position and distinguished historical relations between the two countries.

In a statement to the Lebanese An-Nahar newspaper published on Sunday, Mansour said that there are some who want to exploit the events in Syria to undermine the situation in Lebanon and other countries, pointing out to the necessity of that Lebanon has to control its borders with Syria to prevent the infiltration of gunmen into or out of Syria.

He stressed that the Lebanese army is doing its duty in this regard, but it doesn’t prevent the infiltration of the armed members into Syria.

Minister Mansour added that the repercussions of the situation in Syria will influence the whole region, particularly Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.

He called for fortifying the Lebanese internal front and national awareness to foil any attempt to undermine Lebanon’s security.

By Ramzy Baroud

13 October, 2012

@ Countercurrents.org

It seems that media consensus has been conclusively reached: Turkey has been forced into a Middle Eastern mess not of its own making; the ‘Zero Problems with Neighbors’ notion, once the foreign policy centerpiece of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), is all but a romantic notion of no use in realpolitik.

Turkey’s “policy’s goal – to build strong economic, political, and social ties with the country’s immediate neighbors while decreasing its dependency on the United States – seemed to be within sight,” wrote Sinan Ulgen nearly a year ago. “But the Arab Spring exposed the policy’s vulnerabilities, and Turkey must now seek a new guiding principle for regional engagement.”

This reading was not entirely unique and was repeated numerous times henceforth. It suggests an air of naiveness in Turkish foreign policy and overlooks the country’s barely selfless regional ambitions. It also imagines that Turkey was caught in a series of unfortunate events, forcing its hand to act in ways inconsistent with its genuine policies of yesteryears. This, however, is not entirely true.

The recent skirmishes of Oct 4 at the Syrian-Turkish border were reportedly invited by mortar shells fired from the Syrian side. Five people including 3 children were killed and the incident was Turkey’s ‘last straw.’ Turkey’s Anatolia news agency reported of an official Syrian apology through the United Nations soon after the shelling and the Syrian government promised an investigation. However, their seriousness remains doubtful. But the Turkish military was quick to retaliate, as the parliament voted to extend a one-year mandate to the military in order carry out cross-border military action. Irrespective of the violence at the Syrian border, the mandate was originally aimed at Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq and it had already been set for a pre-scheduled vote in mid-October.

The peculiarly evolving episode seems unreal. Not long ago, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had, to the displeasure of Israel and the US, reached out to both Syria and Iran. He referred to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as his ‘brother’, knowing of the full political implications of that term. When Turkey voted against Iran sanctions at the United Nations in June 2010, ‘it provoked a crisis,” a Wall Street Journal article read. Later, Turkey quarreled with NATO over the missile-defense initiative, a system that is clearly aimed at Iran and Syria. “Turkey is becoming the Alliance’s ‘opt-out’ member in operations in Muslim countries,” said the WSJ. These developments took place at the heels of the deadly Israeli military raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which carried mostly Turkish peace activists as part of a larger effort – The Gaza Freedom Flotilla – aimed at breaking the siege on Gaza. Israel killed 9 Turkish civilians and wounded many more on the Mavi Marmara.

Erdogan and other Turkish officials rose to the status of superstars among Arabs at the time when ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was himself complicit in the Gaza siege. Understandably, the AKP became a political model and the subject of endless academic and television debates. Turkey was the brand to beat even culturally and economically.

Internally, Erdogan and his party were credited for overseeing massive economic growth, and successfully reining in and eventually integrating the once insubordinate, coup-prone military leadership into a democratic system managed by elected civilians. Externally, Erdogan and his Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu helped rebrand and partly break the isolation of several Arab leaders, including Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi. (Turkish leaders must have been fully aware of the grievances of Arab peoples as they signed economic deals worth billions of dollars with the very dictators they helped oust.) Although Ankara’s spat with Tel Aviv didn’t translate into tangible change in Israeli or US policies towards Palestinians, a level of gratification permeated: At last, a country strong enough as Turkey had the courage to stand up to Israel’s intransigent and calculated insults.

Then Tunisia overthrew its president and Turkey’s foreign policy cards were mix-up like never before. If the US, France and other Western powers were inconsistent and self-contradicting in their stances on uprisings, revolutions and civil wars that struck the Middle East and North Africa in the last 18 months, Turkey’s foreign policy was particularly muddled.

Initially, Turkey responded to what seemed like distant affairs with good sound bites concerning people’s rights, justice and democracy. In Libya, the stakes were higher as NATO was hell-bent on determining the outcomes of Arab revolts whenever space allowed. Turkey was the last NATO member to sign onto the Libya war. The delay proved costly as Arab media that cheered for war seemed to target Turkey’s prized reputation and credibility.

When Syrians rebelled, Turkey was prepared. Its policy was aimed at taking early initiative by imposing its own sanctions on Damascus. It went even further as it turned a blind eye while its once well-guarded border area became awash with smugglers, foreign fighters, weapons and more. Aside from hosting the Syrian National Council (SNC), it also provided a safe haven for the Free Syrian Army that operated from the Turkish borders at will. While much of that was justified as righteous Turkish action to deter injustice, it was one of the primary reasons which made a political solution unattainable. It turned what eventually became a bloody and brutal conflict into a regional struggle. It allowed for Syrian territories to be used in a proxy conflict involving various countries, ideologies and political camps. Since Turkey is a NATO member, it meant that NATO was involved in the Syrian conflict, although in a more understated way than its war on Libya.

The Kurdish dimension to Turkey’s role in Syria is of course enormous. Less reported is that Turkey is industriously working to control any Kurdish backlash in Syria’s northeast region, thus doubling Turkey’s border conflict, which has been mostly confined to northern Iraq. Writing in Turkish Today’s Zaman, Abdullah Bozkurt spoke of “a high-stakes game plan for Turkey to control the fast-paced developments in northern Syria using the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in neighboring Iraq as a proxy force without getting directly involved in Syria.” Moreover, Ankara has more discreetly worked to compel favorable policies by the SNC regarding the Kurdish question. Bozkurt further reports that “Ankara has silently pushed SNC to elect an independent Kurd, Abdulbaset Sieda, in June as a compromise leader .. as a safeguard measure for Turkey to exert influence over some 1.5 million Kurds in Syria.”

Indeed, the so-called Arab Spring has partly confused and eventually helped realign Turkish foreign policy towards Arab countries, and even Iran. Turkey however was barely a passive player before or after the upheaval. The impression that Turkey has stood at the fence as competing agendas south of their border finally pushed Ankara to the brink, is both erroneous and misleading. Regardless of how Turkish politicians wish to formulate their involvement, there is no escaping that they have taken part in the war against Libya, and are now entangled, to some extent by choice, in the brutal mess in Syria.

The sad irony is that hours after Turkey’s retaliation to the Syrian fire, Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor told reporters in Paris that an attack on Turkey is an attack on NATO, an underhanded gesture of careful solidarity. He added, “If the Assad regime were to fall, it would be a vital strike on Iran.” Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman could barely hide his excitement, for what the US neoconservatives failed to achieve, is now being done by proxy. Lieberman, hardly a visionary, predicted a ‘Persian Spring’ on the way that, he urged, must be supported. For Israel and the US, now that Turkey is on board, the possibilities are endless.

Ankara must reconsider its role in the deepening calamity, and devise more sensible policies. War should not be on the agenda. Too many people have died that way.

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto Press, London.)

By Kourosh Ziabari

13 October, 2012

@ Countercurrents.org

Nobel Prize is the most prestigious honor which one may be awarded in his lifetime. The legacy of Alfred Nobel is so matchless and incomparable that more than one century after the first Nobel Prize was awarded, it is still the most exalted and esteemed prize that can be conferred to people who work for the promotion and advancement of sciences and global peace.

Many people live their entire life with the dream of winning a Nobel Prize, without revealing this sealed aspiration to anyone. Chemists, physicists, medics, economists, authors, poets and activists who invest their whole life on a groundbreaking achievement which rightfully and truly deserves a Nobel Prize may witness the swift and unstoppable passage of years, without being ever recognized for their striking breakthroughs and accomplishments, either by the Nobel Foundation or the universities, organizations and groups which award important prizes.

Nobody can doubt that Nobel Prize is an insignificant reality or may diminish in importance and value with time. Every year, weeks before the announcement of the Nobel Prize laureates in physiology or medicine, chemistry, physics, literature, peace and economics, mass media, authors, university professors and ordinary people begin to make speculations about who may be given the prize and have their name recorded in the brilliant history of the Nobel Prize.

Upon writing his will in 1895, Alfred Nobel thought that it must be suitable to entrust the responsibility of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to a Norwegian committee, because Norway did not have the same militaristic traditions as Sweden, and “at the end of the nineteenth century the Norwegian Storting (legislative assembly) had become closely involved in the Inter-Parliamentary Union and its efforts to resolve conflicts through mediation and arbitration,” as written by the Norwegian Nobel Committee website.

Alfred Nobel had realized the need for supporting and sponsoring global efforts aimed at fostering peace and tranquility around the world, and for this reason, he demanded that a group of five Norwegian lawmakers should decide about the destiny of the Nobel Peace Prize each year.

It’s not far from reality to claim that the criteria for the endowment of Nobel Peace Prize as stipulated by the Norwegian Nobel Committee have been usually politically motivated, and this is something which is not in line with the essence of Alfred Nobel’s will. Of course there are people in the history of Nobel Peace Prize who were awarded the prize righteously for their sincere efforts to promote peace, encourage dialogue among the nations and reduce or abolish the standing armies. But, let’s just be fair. Was the European Union really worthy of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize?

I really don’t know if this union has really contributed to fraternity and integrity between its 27 members throughout the past decades, but what I have personally witnessed in the past year is that this union has aggressively declared an all-out, bloodless war on Iran, affecting millions of innocent civilians in my country who can’t understand for what crime they are being targeted and punished in such a belligerent and unfair manner.

The European Union began to impose an inclusive oil embargo against Iran since July 1 as a result of direct pressure and lobbying by the United States and in an effort aimed at paralyzing Iran’s nuclear program which they claim is not aimed at civilian purposes, and finally breaking the back of Iran’s economy and pressuring it into making political concessions.

As a result of these sanctions, the value of Iran’s currency, rial, has dropped to its lowest level against dollar in three decades, the country has been hit by a staggering and overwhelming hyperinflation which according to Prof. Steve H. Hanke has been increasing the price of goods and commodities by 70% every month since the sanctions began to take effect and the country’s export of oil has decreased 600,000 to 800,000 barrels each day which means a 50% reduction in sales. Moreover, several international insurance companies, airliners and shipping lines have ceased their cooperation with Iran as a result of the economic crisis which has encompassed the country.

As a result of the oil embargo and other financial restrictions imposed on my country by the EU, the Iranian families are unable to fund their students abroad and consequently, a large group of Iranian students studying in foreign universities are returning en masse. Sensitive medicine and pharmaceutical products which were previously imported from the foreign countries cannot find their way to Iran’s markets anymore and thousands of patients badly in need of medicines for such diseases as thalassemia, hepatitis, diabetes, different types of cancer, heart diseases and psychiatric disorders are facing serious problems with finding their medicines.

Are the leaders of the European Union recognizing that their sanctions are taking a heavy toll on the innocent, ordinary Iranian citizens and shattering the ambitions and aspirations of thousands of youths who cannot realize their dreams due to the financial problems which have tumbled on their lives?

Are the leaders of the European Union who now carry the grandiose accolade of the world’s most important prize for promoting peace recognizing that the purchasing power of the middle-class and working families has experienced an unimaginable free-fall in the recent months and that their lives is on the verge of blowing apart?

Waging wars does not take place simply by means of bombarding cities or dropping nuclear bombs on other nations. What the European Union has been doing with Iran is the unmistakable representation of an all-out war in which the ordinary citizens are the silent victims.

Alfred Nobel writes in his will, my capital should be “invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.”

 

Was destroying the economy of Iran and ruining the lives of thousands of innocent civilians the magnum opus for which the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

Kourosh Ziabari is an Iranian journalist

 

 

By Mairead Corrigan Maguire

13 October, 2012

@ Countercurrents.org

Alfred Nobel was a visionary who believed in a demilitarized peaceful world. In his Will he left his Nobel peace prize to those who would work for ‘fraternity among nations’,’abolition or reduction of standing armies’, and ‘holding and promotion of peace congresses’.

In Nobel’s will the award for Peace was to go to Champions of peace, those working to replace militarism with international order based on law and the abolition of national military forces. Nobel’s vision and dream was to replace the power of militarism and war, with the power of law. I believe the Awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union, does not meet the criteria of Alfred Nobel vision and spirit, and his vision of a demilitarized peaceful world.

In many ways the European Union has done much in the past sixty years for Peace and reconciliation amongst nations, but it has sadly done little for the demilitarization of Europe. Whilst the EU imposes severe Austerity measures upon many EU countries it simultaneously supports the growing militarisation of Europe by its support for US/NATO (guilty of war crimes against Iraq, Afghanistan, etc., ) It continues to support the policies of USA Nuclear weapons, held in six EU States. It supports arms sales from European States (UK, Germany, etc.,) to countries all around the world. The EU instead of upholding human rights for countries such as Palestine, has rewarded Israel by giving them special trading status and huge grants (EU tax payers money) for its Military Research and weapons thus enabling it to continue it illegal policies of occupation and Apartheid of Palestine.

I cannot support this decision to give the peace prize to EU and appeal to the Swedish Foundation Authority to hold the Nobel Committee accountable for giving, yet again, a political award instead of supporting People taking courageous, and often dangerous stands to help move the human family away from military international Relations to one based on peaceful resolution of conflict.

I believe that the reform of the nobel peace Committee is now necessary. As is the case of all other nobel prize committees which are made-up of experts in their particular field, perhaps it is time too for the NPP Committee to be comprised of people experienced in the field of Peacemaking and International Law.

Mairead Maguire is a Northern Irish peace activist, and winner of 1976 Nobel Peace Prize. (www.peacepeople.com)

 

 

 

By Heidi-Jane Esakov

13 October 2012

@ Palestine Update

The apartheid analogy has often been used when describing the conditions of Palestinian’s living under Israeli occupation. Heidi-Jane Esakov draws these stark parralels by comparing the Israeli demolition of the Bedouin village in Israel’s Negev region to the forced removals in Sophiatown, South Africa, during apartheid.

During the forced removals of the South African suburb of Sophiatown in 1955, around 65,000 residents were moved and “dumped in matchbox houses” in black townships. Only a few years before that, in 1948, Bedouins of Israel’s Naqab/Negev region, who Israel had not expelled, were also forcibly moved “from their ancestral lands into a restricted zone called the Siyag (literally, ‘fenced in’)”. And, just as Sophiatown was completely bulldozed, the Negev village of Al-Arakib was recently razed to make way for a Jewish National Fund forest.

As a South African it is particularly difficult not to see the stark parallels between the experiences of black South Africans under apartheid and of Palestinians today.

Haunting echoes of apartheid’s forced removals

Sophiatown, a once vibrant, predominantly “black” residential area, was targeted by the apartheid government in its programme of forced removals. In accordance with apartheid-inspired segregation and settlement of whites on land previously inhabited by black South Africans, Sophiatown became the “whites-only” suburb of “Triomf” (Triumph).

In a haunting mirror, on September 12, 2012, the Bedouin village of Al-Arakib in Israel’s Negev region was demolished for the thirty-ninth time – despite tenure dating back to the Ottoman period. More recently the government won the right to build a Jewish settlement on the site of the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran. The planned Jewish settlement will become Hiran.

The villagers of Umm al-Hiran and Al-Arakib are citizens of Israel: Its Arab citizens that Israel prides – and parades – as proof of its democracy. They are, however, not Jewish, a critical determiner of who is entitled to what land and how rights are allocated. If the state has its way, Al-Arakib will be forested over by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), and, with Umm al-Hiran, join the fate of around 500 Palestinian villages that have been wiped from the face of the “Jewish State” since 1947 (a process that started before the state came into being in 1948). Many of these villages now lie buried beneath Jewish settlements and JNF recreation parks and forests.

JNF’s Zionist socialisation

Like so many Jewish children, I had a JNF Blue Box (money box); “the small Blue Box and the Big Jewish Dream” that has become a symbol of Jewish-Zionist identity. I had certificates representing trees planted in my name. These were integral to my socialisation into Zionism: I was helping to make “the desert bloom” and enabling “my people” to return to “our” homeland.

 

What I did not know was that my “right” to the land was contingent on the dispossession of Palestinians from their land and rights. Discovering the truth was jarring.

The ruins in the JNF South Africa Forest in the Galilee enthralled me as a child visiting Israel; I believed I had stumbled upon an ancient archaeological site. I have since learnt that these ruins are the remains of the destroyed Palestinian village of Lubya. Like many other South African Jews, I have sponsored trees in this forest.

JNF’s inherent racism

The JNF, established in 1901 to acquire land for Jewish settlement, plays a critical role in socialising and educating Jews into Zionism, and institutionalising the belief that Jews have a right to land and rights at the expense of Palestinian rights. The JNF is also central to the state’s ownership, and ongoing appropriation, of land. With the state’s identity premised on “the land” (Eretz Yisrael), the JNF, a quasi-governmental organisation, arguably embodies the state.

The JNF owns 13 per cent of land and along with the Israel Lands Administration manages 93 per cent of all land. Its constitutive tenets are inherently racist, stipulating that only Jews may use or lease JNF land. Some of this land was purchased prior to 1948, but the larger part was transferred by the state post independence. This allowed the state to surrender its responsibility of equality to all its citizens by passing its authority to the JNF which could then openly practice exclusion.

The JNF unashamedly confirms: “It is not a public body that works for the benefit of all its citizens of the state. The loyalty of the JNF is given to the Jewish people and only to them is the JNF obligated. The JNF, as the owner of JNF land, does not have a duty to practice equality to all citizens of the state.”

In other words the JNF owes loyalty to me, but not to 20 per cent of Israel’s population, its Palestinian citizens, not to mention Palestinians dispossessed by the Nakba. And according to its Jewish-only policy, I have more right to land – a South African of Lithuanian origin – than Palestinians who have lived on the land for centuries. And despite its racist policies, the JNF is still given authority to manage most state land.

‘Judaisation’ of the Negev

The JNF further positions itself as an innocuous environmental organisation:

“Over the past 109 years, JNF has evolved into a global environmental leader by planting 250 million trees… bringing life to the Negev Desert and educating students around the world about Israel and the environment.”

The truth is quite different.

To ensure that the villagers of Al-Arakib can never return, the JNF has begun planting a forest of environmentally damaging, non-indigenous eucalyptus trees to conceal evidence of its existence. Further exposing the JNF’s hypocrisy, in the process of forced removals, the state uprooted hundreds of indigenous olive trees.

Al-Arakib and Umm al-Hiran are but two of the many so-called unrecognised Bedouin villages targeted by the state; villages unrecognised despite the thousands who live in them – unrecognised to render the inhabitants powerless. As part of the Prawer Plan, the state plans to expel 30,000 Bedouins from their villages in the Negev, and forcibly move them to designated townships. This will devastate livelihoods, sever them from their land, destroy ancestral lifestyles, and corrode at their communal identity and sense of belonging. In close collaboration with the JNF, the state plans to settle 250,000 Jews in the Negev.

Simply put, the idea is to make the Negev Jewish and ensure that the non-Jewish inhabitants live in manageable enclaves.

With our own history of apartheid, particularly disquieting was discovering the role of the South African JNF in enabling this displacement of Bedouins. Certificates are even available to support the project:

“[O]ur goal is to bring 250,000 new residents to the Negev… JNF South Africa is making a difference by assisting young pioneers to establish farmsteads… located in the Negev highlands between the Telallim Junction to the town of Mizpe Ramon… built on available sites in the Negev that are neither protected nature reserves nor army training areas. Most of the sites have been chosen for their scenic location and in many cases have been built on previously disturbed sites.” [my emphasis]

Would Sophiatown too be a previously disturbed site?

Apartheid?

The UN/ICC definition of apartheid is “systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime”.

For many Jewish South Africans the apartheid analogy that is gaining traction is painful and is being determinedly challenged. As South Africans we know apartheid, and it was brutal. White South Africans, however, cannot know the pain and humiliation of dispossession and oppression. Rather, we can know what it means to be privileged at the expense of someone else’s oppression.

It is not for the oppressor to decide how the oppressed should understand their oppression.

But, how is whites-only different to Jewish-only? And, if the forced removal of 30,000 Bedouins to make way for 250,000 Jews is not “systematic oppression… with the intention of maintaining the regime”, what, then, is it?

*Heidi-Jane Esakov is a researcher at the Afro-Middle East centre

 

By William Blum

13 October, 2012

@ Killinghope.org

“Nuclear, ecological, chemical, economic — our arsenal of Death by Stupidity is impressive for a species as smart as Homo sapiens”

The hurricanes, the typhoons, the heat waves … the droughts, the heavy rains, the floods … ever more powerful, ever new records being set. Something must be done of course. Except if you don’t believe at all that it’s man-made. But if there’s even a small chance that the greenhouse effect is driving the changes, is it not plain that, at a minimum, we have to err on the side of caution? There’s too much at stake. Like civilization as we know it. Carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere must be greatly curtailed.

The three greatest problems facing the beleaguered, fragile inhabitants of this lonely planet are climate change, economic crisis, and the violence of war. It is my sad duty to report that the United States of America is the main culprit in each case. Is that not remarkable?

Why does Barack Obama not pursue the battle against climate change with the same intensity he pursues war? Why does he not seek to punish the American bankers and stockbrokers responsible for the financial calamity as much as he seeks to punish Julian Assange and Bradley Manning?

In both cases he’s putting the interests of the corporate world before anything else. No amount of fines or penalties will induce corporate leaders to modify their behavior. Only spending some hard time in a prison cellblock might cause the growth in them of their missing part, the part that’s shaped like a social conscience.

Only prosecuting George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and their partners in bombing and torture will discourage future American war lovers from following in their bloody footsteps.

The recent election result can only embolden Obama. He likely took it as an affirmation of his policies, although only 29.3% of those eligible to vote actually voted for him. And an unknown, but certainly significant, number of those who did so held their nose while voting for the supposed lesser of two evils. Hardly indicative of impassioned support for his policies.

Last week the United Nations Climate Summit was held in Doha, Qatar. The comments which came from many of the activists (as opposed to various government officials) were doomsdayish … “Time is running out … time has already run out … the climate has already changed … Hurricane Sandy, rising sea levels, the worst is yet to come.” The Kyoto protocol is still the only international treaty stipulating cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a touchstone for many environmentalists. But the United States has never ratified it. At the previous conferences in Copenhagen and Durban, the US blocked important global action and failed to honor vital pledges.

At the Doha conference the US was acutely criticized for failing to take the lead on planet protection, especially in light of its standing as the largest historic contributor to the current levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. (“The most obdurate bully in the room”, declared the Indian environmentalist, Sunita Narain. 2)

What motivates the American representatives, now as before, as ever, is concern about corporate profits. Cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions can hurt the bottom line. A suitable epitaph for the earth’s tombstone. Shamus Cooke, writing on ZSpace, sums it up well: “Thus, if renewable energy is not as profitable as oil — and it isn’t — then the majority of capitalist investing will continue to go towards destroying the planet. It really is that simple. Even the best-intentioned capitalists do not throw their money away on non-growth investments.”

A brief history of Superpowers

From the Congress of Vienna of 1815 to the Congress of Berlin in 1878 to the “Allies” invasion of Russia in 1918 to the formation of what became the European Union in the 1950s, the great powers of Europe and the world have gotten together in grand meeting halls and on the field of battle to set the ground rules for imperialist exploitation of Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Australasia, to Christianize and ‘civilize’, to remake the maps, and to suppress revolutions and other threats to great-power hegemony. They have been deadly serious. In 1918, for example, some 13 nations, including France, Great Britain, Rumania, Italy, Serbia, Greece, Japan, and the United States, combined in a military invasion of Russia to “strangle at its birth” the nascent Bolshevik state, as Winston Churchill so charmingly put it.

And following World War 2, without any concern about who had fought and died to win that war, the Western powers, sans the Soviet Union, moved to create the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO, along with the European Union, then joined the United States in carrying out the Cold War and preventing the Communists and their allies from coming to power legally through elections in France and Italy. That partnership continued after the formal end of the Cold War. The United States, the European Union, and NATO are each superpowers, with extensive military, as well as foreign policy integration — almost all EU members are also members of NATO; almost all NATO members in Europe are in the EU; almost all NATO members have had a military contingent serving under NATO and/or the US in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and elsewhere.

Together, this Holy Triumvirate has torn apart Yugoslavia, invaded and devastated Afghanistan and Iraq, crippled Iran, Cuba and others with sanctions, overthrown the Libyan government, and are on the verge now of the same in Syria. Much of what the Triumvirate has told the world to justify this wanton havoc has concerned Islamic terrorism, but it should be noted that prior to the interventions in Iraq, Libya and Syria all three countries were secular and modern. Will the people of those sad lands ever see that life again?

In suppressing the left in France and Italy, and later in destabilizing the governments of Libya and Syria, the Holy Triumvirate has closely aligned itself with terrorists and terrorist methods to a remarkable extent. 3 In Syria alone, it would be difficult to name any Middle East terrorist group associated with al Qaeda — employing their standard car bombings and suicide bombers — that is not taking part in the war against President Assad with the support of the Triumvirate. Is there anything — legally or morally — the Triumvirate regards as outside its purview? Any place not within its geographical mandate? Britain and France have now joined Turkey and Arabian Peninsula states in recognizing a newly formed opposition bloc as the sole representative of the Syrian people. “From the point of view of international law, this is absolutely unacceptable,” Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev declared. “A desire to change the political regime of another state by recognizing a political force as the sole carrier of sovereignty seems to me to be not completely civilised.” France was the first Western state to recognize the newly-formed Syrian National Coalition and was swiftly joined by Britain, Italy and the European Union. 4 The neck irons tighten.

The European Union in recent years has been facing a financial crisis, where its overriding concern has been to save the banks, not its citizens, inspiring calls from the citizenry of some member states to leave the Union. I think the dissolution of the European Union would benefit world peace by depriving the US/NATO mob of a guaranteed partner in crime by returning to the Union’s members their individual discretion in foreign policy.

And then we can turn to getting rid of NATO, an organization that not only has a questionable raison d’être in the present, but never had any good reason-to-be in the past other than serving as Washington’s hit man. 5

The United Nations vote on the Cuba embargo — 21 years in a row

For years American political leaders and media were fond of labeling Cuba an “international pariah”. We don’t hear that any more. Perhaps one reason is the annual vote in the United Nations General Assembly on the resolution which reads: “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”. This is how the vote has gone (not including abstentions):

Each fall the UN vote is a welcome reminder that the world has not completely lost its senses and that the American empire does not completely control the opinion of other governments.

How it began: On April 6, 1960, Lester D. Mallory, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, wrote in an internal memorandum: “The majority of Cubans support Castro … The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship. … every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba.” Mallory proposed “a line of action which … makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.” 6 Later that year, the Eisenhower administration instituted the suffocating embargo against its eternally-declared enemy.

Placing American presidents in their proper context

“Once upon a time there was a radical president who tried to remake American society through government action. In his first term he created a vast network of federal grants to state and local governments for social programs that cost billions. He set up an imposing agency to regulate air and water emissions, and another to regulate workers’ health and safety. Had Congress not stood in his way he would have gone much further. He tried to establish a guaranteed minimum income for all working families and, to top it off, proposed a national health plan that would have provided government insurance for low-income families, required employers to cover all their workers and set standards for private insurance. Thankfully for the country, his second term was cut short and his collectivist dreams were never realize.

His name was Richard Nixon.” 7

Films on US foreign policy

The Power Principle is a series of three films by Scott Noble. Part one, “Empire”, is the only one I’ve seen completely so far and I can say that it’s great stuff. The three parts, with their times, are:

Part 1: Empire (1h 35m)

Part 2: Propaganda (1h 38m)

Part 3: Apocalypse (1h 10m)

Featured in the films are Noam Chomsky, Michael Parenti, John Stockwell, Christopher Simpson, Ralph McGehee, Philip Agee, Nafeez Ahmed, John Perkins, James Petras, John Stauber, Russ Baker, Howard Zinn, William Blum, Nancy Snow, William I. Robinson, Morris Berman, Peter Phillips, Michael Albert, and others of the usual suspects.

To comment about these films or others by Scott Noble, write to him at dmacab9@hotmail.com

Much more publicized is the new film and book by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick. Entitled The Untold History of the United States, it is a 10-part series appearing on Showtime. Only Stone’s name could get this dark side of US history and foreign policy on mainstream television. It will be interesting to observe what the mass media has to say about this challenge to some of America’s most cherished beliefs about itself.

Notes

1. Jeanette Winterson, The New York Times, September 17, 2009 ↩

2. Democracy Now!, December 7, 2012 ↩

3. For France and Italy, see Operation Gladio Wikipedia; and Daniele Ganser, Operation Gladio: NATO’s Top Secret Stay-Behind Armies and Terrorism in Western Europe (2005) ↩

 

4. Agence France Presse, November 26, 2012↩

5. For the best coverage of the NATO monolith, sign up with StopNATO. To get on the mailing list write to Rick Rozoff at r_rozoff@yahoo.com. To see back issues at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato ↩

6. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958-1960, Volume VI, Cuba (1991), p.885 ↩

7. From the review of the book: I am the change: Barack Obama and the Crisis of Liberalism by Charles Kesler. Review by Mark Lilla, The New York Times Book Review, September 30, 2012, p.1 ↩

William Blum is the author of:

Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War 2

Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower

West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir

Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire

Portions of the books can be read, and signed copies purchased, at www.killinghope.org

Email: bblum6 [at] aol.com

By David Swanson

12 October, 2012

@ Warisacrime.org

Yes, indeed, it is a little-acknowledged feat of miraculous life-saving power that Europe has not gone to war with itself — other than that whole Yugoslavia thing — since World War II.  It’s as clear a demonstration as anything that people can choose to stop fighting.  It’s a testament to the pre-war peace efforts that criminalized war , the post-war prosecutions of the brand new crime of making war, the reconstruction of the Marshall Plan, and … and something else a little less noble, and much less Nobel-worthy.

Alfred Nobel’s will, written in 1895, left funding for a prize to be awarded to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” Fredrik Heffermehl has been leading a valuable effort to compel the Nobel committee to abide by the will . Now they’ve outdone themselves in their movement in the other direction.

Europe is not a person.  It has not during the past year — which is the requirement — or even during the past several decades done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations.  Ask Libya.  Ask Syria.  Check with Afghanistan.  See what Iraq thinks.  Far from doing the best work to abolish or reduce standing armies, Europe has joined with the United States in developing an armed global force aggressively imposing its will on the world.

There were good nominees and potential nominees available, even great ones .

Now the Nobelites have almost guaranteed themselves a second-ever pro-war peace-prize acceptance speech.  If you don’t recall who gave the first one, I’ll tell you after the U.S. election when you might be better able to hear me.

What a disgrace that the Nobel peace prize needs alternative awards that don’t go to warmongers.  What a further shame that even those don’t always go to people who measure up to Nobel’s will.

Was Nobel asking so much really when he asked that a prize go to whoever did the best work toward abolishing war?

The West is so in love with itself that many will imagine this award a success.  Surely Europe not going to war with itself is more important that Europe going to war with the rest of the world!  Imagine how many white people might have died if Europe had kept its warmaking to itself.  By directing the threat of war outward and engaging in humanitarian wars and philanthropic wars, Europe has taken us beyond naive war abolition and into an era of powerful possibilities. Oh, and some dark people died.  But we’re looking at the Big Picture.

Does this not frighten anyone?

David Swanson’s books include ” War Is A Lie .” He blogs at http://davidswanson.org and http://warisacrime.org and works as Campaign Coordinator for the online activist organization http://rootsaction.org . He hosts Talk Nation Radio . Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook .

By Anshul Kumar Pandey

12 October, 2012

@Countercurrents.org

The attack on Malala Yousufzai shows the cowardice of the self appointed guardians of Islam and the power of the pen in an increasingly connected world

On Tuesday, the 9th of October, as Malala Yousufzai sat in her school bus in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area of Pakistan, chatting with her friends and looking forward to returning her home, she had no idea that soon she would be lying in a hospital bed battling for her life. The Taliban, which have been vociferously opposed to the education of girls in the Islamic Republic, soon stopped her bus, identified her and shot her in the head. What was the need to identify her? It so happened that it was Malala who had been at the forefront of the campaign opposing the Taliban diktat of prohibiting girls from attending schools. In a country whose politicians and media think twice before writing or speaking anything against the Taliban, Malala Yousufzai, at the tender age of 11, had made her views crystal clear by writing an online diary for the BBC’s Urdu Service, describing the horrors of living under the Taliban. This had made her the principal eyesore for the Taliban.

Many people wonder and applaud the courage of young Malala on taking on the Taliban by their horns. It would not be an exaggeration to say that some of this courage is ingrained in the very existence of everyone living under the diktats of religious fascists, the core difference being the urge to action, a complete refusal to kow tow to the nonsensical and completely misogynist orders of power weilders and an unflinching commitment to fight against the greatest of the odds. It is no wonder then, that Malala owes her name to Malala Maiwand, a Pashtun poet and a national folk hero in Afghanistan, who rallied the Pashtun army against the British troops in 1880 in the Battle of Maiwand. Times were bleak then, times are bleaker now.

The question that is swirling in the minds of every Pakistani, nay, every person who loves free speech, equality in education and a right to normal childhood is what will it take to stop these spate of shootings, blasts and suicide bombings that have wrecked normal livelihood in Pakistan? Clearly, the strategy of appeasing the Taliban by bowing down to their every ridiculous order, bending over backwards to fulfill their every demand and maintaining a silence closely resembling stupidity and utter cowardice, hasn’t worked at all. It has only made the mad men to sling their Kalashnikovs or AK-47s with more vigor and has given them the authority, an authority gained by fear and terror, to point their guns in any direction and shoot.

Malala is no idealogue. Neither is she a demagogue capable of pulling crowds numbering in thousands. She is just an ordinary schoolgirl who has dared to scribble question marks on the sheets of the history of a nation which are soaked with blood. It did not take her a reserve of herculean strength to oppose the Taliban. It just took her a simple pen, or a keyboard, to start writing how she felt, what she saw, what she believed in. It was the strength of her belief, the strength of her courage, the strength of her resistance, that shook the high pedestals that the Taliban occupied. For if there is any sworn enemy to the crushing wheels of tyranny, it is the spanner of inquisitiveness.

In pointing fingers to the religious dictatorship of Taleban and the utter mayhem that has engulfed her once beautiful valley, Malala put all the apologists of such events to shame. Even as she lies in her hospital bed battling the now familiar forces of death, the entire world celebrates her courage, her determination and her sheer will to wage a battle. Her name means the one who is grief stricken, and yet, it is the people world over who are grief stricken at this assassination attempt.

It was with acute aptness that the New York Times interpreted this attack:

Malala was advocating the ideology of love. She was a young ambassador of peace. By attacking her, the Taliban attempted to warn all the youngsters not to follow her ideology. But after the attack, Malala’s followers have multiplied across the country. She has won. (1)

In Malala’s victory, lies the self inflicted disgraceful humiliation of the Taliban.

Notes:

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/opinion/malala-has-won.html?_r=0

Anshul Kumar Pandey is the Editor at Large of Youth Ki Awaaz: Mouthpiece for the Youth. He can be contacted at anhulkumarpandey [at] gmail [dot] com.

 

 

By Dr. Thorsten Pattberg

12 October, 2012

Few people realize that the Bible discourages people from studying foreign languages. The story of the tower of Babel informs us that there is one humanity (God’s one), only that “our languages are confused”. From a European historical perspective, that has always meant that, say, any German philosopher could know exactly what the Chinese people were thinking, only that he couldn’t understand them. So instead of learning the foreign language, he demanded a translation.

Coincidentally, or maybe not quite so, History with a capital ‘H’ followed the Bible. At the time of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, when German scholars still spoke Latin, the German logician Christian Wolff got his hands on a Latin translation of the Confucian Classics. His reaction, I think, is as funny as it is disturbing: He reads Kongzi in Latin and says something like “Great, that looks very familiar, I have the feeling that I totally understand this Confucius!”.

Wolff was so overjoyous with his new mental powers, that he went on to lecture about the Chinese as if he was the king of China. It’s brilliant; if it wasn’t so comical. Among his unforgettable findings were ‘The Motives of the Chinese’, or ‘The Final Purpose of the Chinese’, and so on.

And, of course, when somebody occasionally asked master Wolff why he didn’t visit China, the greatest sinologist of all time played out his greatest intellectual triumph. He replied that “the wisdom of the Chinese was generally not so highly valued that it was necessary to travel there for its sake”.

It’s thus pretty much established, I think, that History stopped with this Wolff, or at least got too tired and too cynical. He sufficiently demonstrated that just about any European could become a ‘China expert’ without knowing a single Chinese terminology.

Since this was true for just about any foreign language; so now we know why the German philosopher Immanuel Kant could reasonably announce the ‘End of All Things’, and Georg Hegel could proclaim the ‘End of History’. Both learned men knew very well that they hadn’t mastered any non-European language in their life-time; and they simply assumed that History was a bit like that too.

This attitude in the Western hemisphere has never changed, with the effect that we live in a crazy world today. Most Europeans believe that the Chinese “speak their languages”, only that they “talk” in Chinese. Take the case of ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights’. You may have considered this, but those are European words and do not exist in China at all. Imagine China would return a favor and demand from Europe more wenming and tian ren he yi.

The European attitude is reflected in its translations. Most Westerners simply translate every Chinese key concept into convenient biblical or philosophical terminology. As a result, the Western image of China is literal Chinese-free.

Translation, of course, is an old human habit. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t question it. It was our habit to slay our opponents in battle, but we don’t do that any more (except in Afghanistan and Iraq). Why do we still destroy foreign key vocabulary? Well, we first do so, I think, for sociological reasons. If Germany censors all important foreign terminologies, the German public is lead to think it alone knows everything there is to be known in the world, and – metaphorically speaking – behaves like it. That’s why Germany has produced so many “world historians” and “philosophers” like Georg Hegel, Max Weber or Karl Marx.

Academics call it deutungshoheit – meaning having the sovereignty over the definition of thought.

It might sound very depressing, but truth must be told: the West knows little about China, and Cultural China has never become a truly global > phenomenon. Not a single one percent of the educated European citizenry, in my estimation, knows what ruxue is, or a junzi or shengren. And those are some of the most important Chinese concepts there ever were.

Some commentators have argued with me that we need a ‘Global language’, and today’s English is the best candidate. To this I reply, are you crazy, that’s exactly what the Germans once did; now it’s the Anglo-Saxons who close their ‘History’ book and say “we already know you”. No, the true ‘Global language’ would be radically different from today’s English, it would need to adopt the originality and the tens of thousands of words provided by humankind’s other language traditions on top of it.

Every language learner has this from time to time: a subconscious certainty that something is lost in translation, every time, without exception.

Maybe there is a hidden flaw in the story of the tower of Babel. What if our languages are not confused at all, but any single group of human beings were just never enough in numbers to explore all the world’s possibilities? What if the Chinese had invented things – and named them daxue, datong, wenming, tian ren he yi and so on – that no American has ever thought of this way, just as it always has been – I think we agree on this- the other way round.

It is often said that language is the key to understanding China’s culture and tradition.

The question is, which one should it be.

Dr. Thorsten Pattberg is a German scholar at The Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University. Versions of this article have been published by Shanghai Daily and Asia Times in October 2012.