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In this mailing:
by Khaled Abu Toameh
• November 16, 2016 at 5:00 am
- The position of
the two Palestinian leaders, Arafat and Abbas, is deeply rooted in
the Palestinian tradition and culture, in which any compromise with
Israel is considered an act of high treason. Abbas knows that
concessions on his part would result in being spat upon by his
people -- or killed.
- Hence the PA
president has in recent years avoided even the pretense of
negotiations with Israel, and instead has poured his energies into
strong-arming the international community to impose a solution on
Israel.
- The French
would do well to abandon their plan for convening an international
conference on peace in the Middle East.
- Declaring a
Palestinian state in the Security Council only makes them look as if
their actual goal is to destroy Israel -- and they know it. They
would be fooling no one.
- Many in Europe,
particularly France, seem be aching to do just that -- as a
"present" to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to
show how submissive they can be; to encourage more
"business" with Muslim states, and, they might hope, to
deter more terrorist attacks. Actually, if the members of the UN
Security Council declare a Palestinian state unilaterally, they are
encouraging more terrorist attacks: the terrorists will see
that attacks "work" and embark on more of them to help the
jihadi takeover of Europe go even faster.
Like his predecessor Yasser Arafat (left), Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (right) would rather die intransigent
than achieve a peaceful settlement with Israel.
Last week, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas tipped
his hand concerning his ultimatum on any revival of the peace process
with Israel.
"I'm 81 years old and I'm not going to end my life drooping,
making concessions or selling out."
Thus declared a defiant Abbas at a rally in Ramallah, marking the
12th anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat.
Abbas in this way relayed to the hundreds of Palestinians who
gathered in Ramallah to commemorate Arafat: "I have no intention of
going down in history as a leader who compromised with Israel."
Like Arafat, Abbas would rather die intransigent than achieve a
peaceful settlement with Israel.
Yet the position of the two Palestinian leaders is deeply rooted in
the Palestinian tradition and culture, in which any concession to or
compromise with Israel is considered an act of high treason.
by Robert Jones
• November 16, 2016 at 4:00 am
- "The
Turkish state attacks this sacred site to abuse Assyrians and
indirectly convey this message: 'You will either live as I want you
to live or you will leave these lands." — Tuma Celik, the
Turkey representative of the European Syriac Union (ESU) and the
editor-in-chief of the Assyrian monthly newspaper, Sabro.
- "Latin
Catholic churches still have neither a legal personality nor
foundation status, making it impossible for them to register
property or seek restitution." — European Commission 2016
Turkey Progress Report.
- Muslim
extremists often try to blame the violent or repressive acts against
non-Muslims on "Muslim grievances." They claim that
because of the "pain" or alleged "injustices,"
they are exposed to, they kill or attack other people.
- Why do many
Muslim extremists often demand more privileges in the West -- such
as Islamic sharia law courts -- but never give indigenous
non-Muslims equal rights in their own countries?
- If their
violence is only for "self-defense," why are they
attacking, enslaving and persecuting the communities that are on the
verge of extinction?
- And why is the
Turkish government attempting to build mosques across five
continents while it relentlessly persecutes Christians who have been
there for centuries -- long before Turks even arrived in the region
from the Central Asia?
The Syriac Orthodox Mor Gabriel Monastery in Mardin,
Turkey. (Image source: Nevit Dilmen/Wikimedia Commons)
The European Commission has recently issued its 2016 Turkey Progress
Report, which contains serious criticism of the country's increasingly
grave human rights record.
One of the issues that the report has brought to light is the
problem that Assyrians (or Syriacs) in Turkey face as a religious
minority, such as property rights for the oldest surviving Syriac
Orthodox monastery in the world: Mor Gabriel (the monastery of St.
Gabriel), located in Mardin province, in southeastern Turkey.
One would expect Turkey, a NATO member and a candidate for EU
membership, to preserve both the monastery and the tiny Assyrian
community in the country. Nonetheless, the Turkish government has been
involved in a dispute with the historic monastery and has threatened its
existence.
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