Tag Archives: The Levant News Site

Arthur Blok has been appointed as the new Executive editor-in-chief of the Levant News website. Blok replaces Dr. Haytham Mouzahem who will focus now on his research work at the Beirut Center for Middle East Studies, from which he also the director and founder. The Dutch-Lebanese born journalist had a …

The azza [funeral or wake, take your pick] at the Egyptian mosque was proceeding. People shook each other’s hands and wished each other an end to the days of their sorrows. The young men thanked the other youngsters for actually showing up. The men either wore dark suits or were …

THE LEVANT NEWS EXCLUSIVE – By Dr. Haytham Mouzahem* — The Shias of Lebanon gained global reputation in the early 1980s of the 20th century with the emergence of Hezbollah and its military operations against the Israeli occupation in Lebanon. Hence; their destiny came to be synonymous with that of …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Alwan Amin Eddine* – Israel was not aware enough regarding its military strike targeting some Hezbollah leaders in “Al-Amal Farms”, the Syrian Qunaitra’s area on Jan 18, 2015. It thought that Hezbollah is busy in Syria, and the Syrian army is exhausted and spread all …

THE LEVANT – Iran will try to persuade Saudi Arabia to cut oil production when the oil ministers from the two OPEC members meet this week in Vienna, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Sunday citing a television interview with the country’s oil minister. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting …

THE LEVANT  – Egypt would be ready to lend a hand in securing a future Palestinian state by sending in troops that could help out local police and offer Israel security guarantees, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a newspaper interview. Sisi, who is visiting Italy and France this week, …

THE LEVANT – Saudi Arabia has made some progress in providing affordable housing to citizens but the housing shortfall remains substantial due to rapid population growth. Saudi Arabia’s population hit 30 million last year and is expected to rise by another 7 million by 2020, presenting a challenge for authorities …

THE LEVANT – by Graham E. Fuller – The ISIS Phenomenon continues to astonish—to notch up innovative new features in Islamist politics that suggest a deepening ability to exploit and feed off long-term accumulated Muslim grievances. What are the logical end-points of extremism at which these forces finally reach terminal collapse? What kind …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE- By Kevin Galalae  – The mantra of the international community since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio has been to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (man-made) interference with the climate system.” At the Copenhagen Climate Summit in …

THE LEVANT – Bahraini authorities released pro-democracy activist Zainab Al Khawaja from detention on Wednesday, her lawyer and sister said, as she awaits trial over a charge of insulting Bahrain’s king by tearing up his picture. Zainab, daughter of jailed activist Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, fell foul of the judge last …

THE LEVANT – Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan said it was time to reclaim the identity of the Arab world from a minority of extremists who have filled screens with images of violence and destruction. “These images don’t represent me anymore than they represent you,” said Queen Rania, in …

THE LEVANT – Anis Hamadeh, http://www.anis-online.de/1/essays/29.htm (bilingual) – The event comes before the news. Gaza 1 brought more than 1400 dead between 27 Dec. 08 and 18 Jan. 09, more than 900 of them civilians, as well as 13 Israelis. We remember the phosphorus clouds above the Gaza Strip that …

THE LEVANT – By Dr. Amer Al Sabaileh – With the failure of the Geneva II peace conference for Syria, the option of a political resolution seems to back on the table again. The peace talks held in Geneva faced off between the US priority of a political transition in Syria …

THE LEVANT – Friday morning around 50 Palestinian and international activists used makeshift bridges to cross the Apartheid wall between Qalandiya and Northern Jerusalem. This non-violent direct action was in response to the restrictions Israel had placed on Palestinian worshippers wishing to access Al-Aqsa Mosque in the past months. Activists scaled the wall one by …

THE LEVANT – An Iranian Supreme Court ruling barring from government positions a former judiciary figure linked to protester deaths after the disputed 2009 presidential election is a step toward justice, but far from adequate. In 2010 a parliamentary committee had found Mortazavi responsible for the deaths of three persons due …

THE LEVANT – The Houthi armed group and the Yemeni armed forces’ Sixth Regional Command appear to have committed violations of the laws of war during fighting in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, from September 17-21, 2014. The government should investigate alleged violations by both sides and appropriately punish those responsible. Human Rights …

THE LEVANT – The capturing of Yemen’s capital by a Shiite militia in September is stoking alarm in Arab capitals that Iran is using the conflict to widen its power in the Middle East, according to senior Arab and U.S. officials. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and other …

THE LEVANT – A car bombing on Tuesday killed a leading member of Yemen’s powerful Sunni Al-Islah party whose supporters have been battling Shiite militias, a security official said. Al-Islah assistant secretary general Sadeq Mansur died “immediately” when a device inside the door of his car exploded in the country’s …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi – The international coalition- led by the U.S.- against the Islamic State [IS], with additional American airstrikes targeting the ‘Khorasan’ al-Qa’ida group in Syria (in reality just al-Qa’ida veterans from the Afghanistan-Pakistan embedded with Syria’s al-Qa’ida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra [JN])- has prompted media speculation …

THE LEVANT – A viral video showing a Syrian boy rescuing a girl under gunfire, watched online by millions of viewers, was faked by a Norwegian film crew, according to its director. Posted on YouTube on Monday, the “Syrian hero boy” video was shot on location in Malta last summer …

THE LEVANT – By Ben Norton – Israel has banned Norwegian doctor and human rights activist Mads Gilbert from entering Gaza for life. Gilbert, a professor at the University Hospital of North Norway, where he has worked since 1976, earned international renown for his philanthropic work in late 2008, during Israel’s Operation …

THE LEVANT – At least 340 people have been killed in fighting for Libya’s second city Benghazi since the launch of a government-backed offensive against Islamist militias a month ago, medical sources said Saturday. At least 356 people have been killed in fighting for Libya’s second city Benghazi since the …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE  – By Hussain Choukri – Iraqi forces broke a months-long siege by jihadist fighters of the country’s largest oil refinery Saturday as the top US officer flew in to discuss the expanded war against the Islamic State group. Iraqi forces broke the Islamic State group’s months-long siege …

THE LEVANT – The United Arab Emirates, which belongs to a US-led coalition fighting jihadists, on Saturday issued a list of 83 Islamist groups which it classified as “terrorist organisations”. The list, approved by the cabinet and published on the official WAM news agency, is similar to an announcement made …

THE LEVANT – Jordan’s tough stance towards Israel over Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque reflects a determination to preserve its custodianship of the flashpoint site as well as its own stability, analysts say. By recalling its ambassador to Israel, the Hashemite kingdom sent a message that deploying police inside the mosque compound …

THE LEVANT – Israel will never agree to limit its construction activity in annexed east Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday. “One thing should be clear: we will never accept the definition of building in Jewish neighbourhoods of Jerusalem as settlement activity,” he said at a news conference …

THE LEVANT – With some 1,500 additional US ground troops heading to Iraq, the first advance team of US forces has gone to the Anbar Province, the restive southwestern province held almost entirely by ISIS. The US team, made up of about 50 troops, is scouting facilities from the 2003-2011 …

THE LEVANT – Saudi Arabia on Wednesday transferred the deputy governor of the kingdom’s Eastern Province, in the aftermath of an unprecedented attack against minority Shiites in the region. A royal decree “decided to relieve Emir Jalwi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaid al-Saud” from his post and transfer him to Najran …

THE LEVANT – US military action against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria began on a small scale three months ago but has steadily expanded in size and scope, raising the stakes for Washington, experts say. The mission has morphed from protecting religious minorities in Iraq to a vow …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – Denmark is to send a further 25m kroner to Gaza to help the Palestinian children, announced Trade and Development Minister Mogens Jensen. The minister said that the latest funding, which is in addition to the 11m kroner sent in July, was to help the children of …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By John Simmens – The Gaza Strip is not a place most world travelers would eagerly visit. But Olympia clinical psychologist John Van Eenwyk, 68, is not your typical world traveler. He founded the International Trauma Treatment Program in Olympia and has spent much of his …

THE LEVANT – French lawmakers will vote on November 28 on a proposal by the Socialist Party urging the government to recognise Palestine as a state, a parliamentary source said Wednesday. The non-binding but highly symbolic vote would follow a similar vote in the British parliament and after Sweden announced …

THE LEVANT – Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi on Wednesday sacked 36 army officers in an anti-corruption drive at a time when the military is locked in conflict with Islamic State group jihadists. His office said that Abadi, who also serves as armed forces commander in chief, and has already …

THE LEVANT – Israel will not cooperate with a United Nations inquiry into its 50-day war with rocket-firing militants in Gaza this summer, a government spokesman said Wednesday. Israel will not cooperate with a United Nations inquiry into its 50-day war with rocket-firing militants in Gaza this summer, a government …

THE LEVANT – The following is the text of the letter by Rabbi David Yosef, Head of Beit Hamidrash “Yahavei Da’at” and member of the Council of Torah Sages (Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah), to Benjamin Netanyahu. The letter was written on November 9th, 2014. Pursuant to the Halacha Ruling publicised last …

THE LEVANT – The leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, has described the continuous violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque at the hands of Israel as “an indication of the occupation’s arrogance and its increased stupidity,” Al-Araby Al-Jadid news website reported on Tuesday. Salah further explained that, “the …

THE LEVANT – Individual resistance operations in the West Bank and Jerusalem are a justified and natural reaction to the Israeli military occupation and its crimes against the Palestinian people and holy sites, Hamas said. Hamas criticised the murder of Khayr Al-Din Hamdan in cold blood, describing it as a …

THE LEVANT – Palestinian Jerusalemite Bassam Zeidani confirmed that Israeli forces stormed his Jerusalem home yesterday and ordered the arrest of his nephew Hamza Zeidani, a child who is only two years old. Zeidani added that Israeli forces entered his home with a warrant for Hamza’s arrest and when they …

THE LEVANT – By Sobhi Ghandour – Islam has once again taken centre stage in the western media, with headlines dominated by terrorist attacks carried out by Muslims. However, acts of terrorism committed by non-Muslims are just seen as violent crimes by individuals. The concept of “Islam and the West” in modern …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Julia Lugovska – US-led strikes have targeted a gathering of Islamic State leaders in Iraqi town near the Syrian border late on Friday, 8 November. This meeting possibly included ISIS top commander Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, reported one of the local TV channels on Saturday and …

THE LEVANT – Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets on Friday and called for the government to cancel the peace agreement with Israel in response to the escalation of violence in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, Arabs48 website said. Demonstrators chanted “death to Israel” and called for the closure of the Israeli …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – while the media have solely focused on denouncing what they perceive as Islamic radicalism, aligning Daash sickening ideology and perversion with Islam,thus perpetuating the belief that Islam is inherently flawed; Muslims have recognized the manipulation for what it is – ultimate propaganda. Beyond the ideology, beyond …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Catherine Shakdam – This Thursday the BBC published a report in which Mark Lowen recalls his encounter with a Syrian child, a child who claimed he was on his way to join Daash, aka ISIL in Syria. The boy who said he wanted to be …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – By Catherine Shakdam – Andrew Gilligan from the Telegraph wrote in his latest report that Britain has quite simply “sold her soul to Qatar,” slamming the British government for openly engaging and dealing with Qatar even though it continues to harbour ties with well-known terror groups …