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In this mailing:
by Shmuel Bar •
February 7, 2016 at 6:00 am
- The EU-Turkey
agreement of 25 November, which provided Turkey with 3 billion euros
over two years in order to stop the flow of refugees to Europe, has
not achieved that goal. Speaking privately, EU officials complain
that Turkey has not taken any concrete measures to reduce the flow
of refugees. In our assessment, Turkey will continue to prevaricate
on steps to stem the flow of refugees as pressure on the EU to give
more concessions.
- During the
coming year there will certainly be further terrorist attacks that
will push European public opinion further to the right.
- We assess that
Iran will continue in indirect channels with a parallel nuclear
program, realized long before the 10-year target of the JCPOA.
- The demand for
unification of Kurdistan -- Iraqi and Syrian -- will also begin to
be heard. It is highly likely that Russia will take advantage of the
trend and support the Kurds, effectively turning an American ally
into a Russian one.
The Iranian seizure of two US Navy patrol boats on
January 12 underlined the sense of immunity that Iran has achieved.
The announcement by the IAEA that Iran has fulfilled its obligations
according to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has triggered
"Implementation Day" and the removal of the nuclear-related
sanctions on Iran. The JCPOA, however, did not deal with Iran's ballistic
missile program, and the sanctions related to it are still nominally in
force. These sanctions are minor and will not have any real effect on the
Iranian missile program. The missile program will mature during this
period and will include Ghadr missiles with ranges of 1,650-1,950 km,
which may be capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
by Raymond Ibrahim
• February 7, 2016 at 4:00 am
- "It was
very difficult above all when they said, 'Become Muslim or we'll cut
your head off.'" — Rev. Jacques Mourad, Syriac Catholic priest,
Syria.
- "The only
reason they [Muslim authorities] let you go is when they torture you
to death.... They don't want you to die in prison, it's not their
responsibility, so they send you home to die." — Helen Berhane,
gospel singer, Eritrea.
- "[I]f they
fear that people are offended by being surrounded by Christian
symbols, then perhaps those [Muslim] people applied for asylum in
the wrong country." — A speaker for the Progress Party, Norway,
on being asked to remove crosses from Christian camp sites to
accommodate Muslim asylum seekers.
In December 2015, a Christian cemetery in Kirkuk, Iraq
was vandalized. Crosses and tombstones were broken, and graves opened.
Hostility for Christmas was on full display. On Christmas Day,
Muslims in Bethlehem, as documented here, set a Christmas tree on fire
and greeted the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem with a hail of stones; in
Belgium, Muslim "refugees" set fire to a public Christmas tree;
in Nigeria, Muslim jihadis attacked churches during Christmas mass and
killed at least 16; in the Philippines, on Christmas Eve, Muslim jihadis
slaughtered 10 Christians to "make a statement;" in Bangladesh,
churches skipped Christmas mass, due to assassination attempts on pastors
and death threats against Christians; in Indonesia, churches were on
"high alert," with 150,000 security personnel patrolling; in
Iran, Christians celebrating Christmas in homes were arrested; and three
Muslim countries -- Somalia, Tajikistan, and Brunei -- formally banned
any Christmas celebrations.
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