HOW TO CURE CAVITIES

Anti-coup protests continue in Egypt

28 June 2014
Source: Middle East Monitor

Dozens of anti-coup protests were held across Egypt on Friday to voice opposition to the continuation of the military coup and the repression that followed the July 3 ouster of freely elected president Mohamed Morsi.

In southern Cairo, a protest was held in Maadi district, calling for the departure of Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and the restoration of democracy.

In Al-Waraq neighbourhood in Giza governorate, residents held an anti-coup demonstration in which they condemned the brutal practices of the security apparatus against coup opponents.

In Sharqeya, protests were held in several neighbourhoods, calling for "the prosecution of coup leaders" and "retribution for all the victims" of Rabaa and other massacres.

In Port Said, protesters called for the release of all political prisoners, and condemned the "unfair trials" of coup opponents.

Link:  /www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/12413-anti-coup-protests-continue-in-egypt.

Erdogan criticises Gul for congratulating Al-Sisi: We do not congratulate coups

27 June 2014
Source: Middle East Monitor

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised his country's president, Abdullah Gul, in front of EU ambassadors in Turkey.

The criticism came during a meeting between Erdogan and EU ambassadors over dinner, when Erdogan criticised Gul's congratulations for Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the leader of the recent coup in Egypt, upon his assumption of the post of the presidency. Jordan' s As-Sabeel newspaper quoted Erdogan as saying: "I must be honest, this congratulations to me holds no meaning, because it is not possible to offer congratulations to a coup leader."

Erdogan said that Egypt still plays a pivotal role in the future of the Middle East, expressing his wishes for Egypt and its people to enjoy actual democracy and stressing that his government's attitude towards Egypt stems from this point.

He added that Egypt's legitimate president, Mohamad Morsi, who came to power after winning a popular election with 54 per cent of the vote, was deliberately isolated to allow the army to bring about a military coup against a democratically elected government.

Erdogan stressed that the Turkish position has not changed on the issue of Egypt, and he criticised those countries that are avoiding calling what happened in Egypt a coup and accepting what he called the recent non-transparent sham of an election.

Link:  www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/12400-erdogan-criticises-gul-for-congratulating-al-sisi-we-do-not-congratulate-coups.

Ecuador's president expresses Zionist support

27 June 2014
Ramona Wadi 
Source: Middle East Monitor

During the UN International Meeting on the Question of Palestine held in Quito in March, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Leonardo Arízaga, described Palestine as a "permanent concern". Not long afterwards, his President, Rafael Correa, managed to unravel all vestiges of support for the Palestinian cause.

Besides meeting with Jewish entrepreneur Jonathan Medved – a photo of the two on Twitter had the caption, "Discussing innovation and Israel-Ecuador relations with President Correa of Ecuador @MashiRafael. Viva la innovacion!" ‑ Correa also regurgitated a number of Zionist fables that have entered mainstream rhetoric in a video circulated widely online. In his discourse, Correa hails Israel for a number of achievements disassociated from the ramifications, including the so-called accomplishment of "making the desert bloom" and praising the settler-colonial state's technological innovations and entrepreneurship. According to Correa, "Israel is an example that we should follow to emancipate in Latin America."

Right on cue, Israel and Ecuador signed agreements in which Israel pledged to assist with development and technology projects in the South American state. The agreements were signed in Jerusalem by Israel's Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett and his Ecuadorean counterpart, Richard Espinoza Guzmán. Rumours about a possible state visit by Correa to Israel at the end of this year have also emerged.

As expected, Correa's comments obscured all other resulting endeavours. Zionists and the right wing in Latin America upheld Correa's comments, deeming him "intellectually honest in recognising the advantages of the only democracy [sic] in the Middle East." Others compared Correa with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has persisted in upholding his predecessor Hugo Chavez's legacy towards Palestine.

The left wing and Palestinian supporters expressed indignation at Correa's words, as well as cynicism with regard to the outdated metaphors that, once upon a time, served to consolidate the establishment of the settler-colonial state. Posting on Twitter, former adviser to the Palestinian Embassy in Argentina Rafael Araya Masry, wrote, "President Correa should know that if Israel succeeded in making the desert bloom, it occurred due to the theft of 85% of Palestinian water." Masry also deemed Correa's comments to be both derogatory and deceptive.

Commentators on social media invoked reminders of Zionist aggression fuelling the constant warfare "based upon lies disseminated in the media", and questioned propaganda that hailed Israeli universities and research as unique in the world. They cited Cuban advances in areas such as education and health which are disregarded routinely by the mainstream media.

Undoubtedly, Correa's revelatory support for Zionism necessitates a rethinking of his country's alleged support for the Palestinians. Ecuador has become another example of those countries which profess support for Palestine while conspiring simultaneously with Israel to increase its profits and allow it to perpetrate further colonial violence. In a way, Correa's hypocritical stance on Palestine reflects the contentious issues he faces with the indigenous people of Ecuador, who maintain that the president is promoting neoliberal policies to their detriment.

The reversal of previously declared Ecuadorean support for Palestine follows the opening of a diplomatic mission in the capital Quito, which is expected to be reciprocated in Palestine. Correa's declared Zionist support, however, sheds serious doubts upon supposed allegiance to countries embarking upon resistance to occupation and colonialism. In the case of Palestine, it is time for the leadership to reject compromised support that will ultimately detract from the dynamics of liberation.

Link:   https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/blogs/politics/12386-ecuadors-president-expresses-zionist-support.

Abbas congratulates Al-Assad for re-election as Syrian president

26 June 2014
Source: Middle East Monitor

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has said the re-election of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad started "a countdown to the end of Syria's crisis".

Agency France Press quotes Abbas as saying in a hand written message to Al-Assad: "Your election to the presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic guarantees Syria's unity and sovereignty, and starts of a countdown to the end of Syria's crisis and its war against terrorism."

This is the clearest support that Al-Assad has received from the PA since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in mid-2011. Abbas expressed his hopes for stability in Syria and "success" for Al-Assad.
The PA's relations with the Syria regime deteriorated when a verbal clash about the reliability of talks with the Israeli occupation erupted between Abbas and Al-Assad during an Arab League meeting held in Libya in 2010.

As Syria's relations with Hamas were good at the time, Fatah demanded that the reconciliation file with Hamas be moved away from Damascus. But then Al-Assad's regime got angry with Hamas when it decided to support the popular Syrian uprising.

This development made Fatah repair its relations with Al-Assad and the PA sent missions to talk with the Syrian regime about the Yarmouk refugee camp, which has been under siege for about a year.

Link:  www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/12365-abbas-congratulates-al-assad-for-re-election-as-syrian-president.

Trans-Pacific Partnership (NAFTA on Steroids) Threatens Sovereignty

26 June 2014 
Joe Wolverton, II, J.D.
Source: The New American


As anyone who reads The New American knows, the are several fronts in the plutocrats’ war to eradicate our fundamental liberties and the Constitution that protects them. It is sometimes difficult to keep up with the manifold threats to the prosperity and perpetuation of the American Republic.
Of all the weapons aimed at our freedom and founding documents, though, there is perhaps none more potent than the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). So imminent is the harm hiding within the still-secret “trade pact” that one author recently described the TPP as “The greatest threat to American sovereignty.”

That’s quite a claim, but, a close scrutiny of the details (scant though they may be) of the 12-nation agreement reveals that the accusation is accurate.

Since his second inauguration, President Obama has kept his foot on the TPP pedal, pushing for the quick culmination of the deliberations and the ratification of the same by the Senate.

Since his reelection in 2012, President Obama has been forced to focus on domestic issues, chief among which was the ObamaCare rollout debacle. Not that foreign policy hasn’t had its time in the foreground, speaking specifically of Syria, Ukraine, and Iraq.

Now, however, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be brought front and center, and the president reckons the time is right to renew his effort to solve the problems plaguing the approval of the 12-nation regional trade pact.

President Obama used the State of the Union address in January as an opportunity to request Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) from Congress. TPA is a tool that the president demands be in the U.S. trade representative’s bag when he sits down with his colleagues from the other TPP participant nations.

Not so fast. The Washington Post reported on February 19 on the pressure the president is feeling from his own party to pump the brakes on the TPP and fast track authority:

Already, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are opposed to moving forward with granting Obama fast-track authority.

"Everyone would be well-advised just to not push this right now," Reid said in March. He's generally opposed to large global trade agreements.

Resistance from Reid and Pelosi usually would be enough to at least ease the White House push. But Obama and Vice President Biden have also been directly confronted on the issue in recent weeks by rank-and-file members. And 151 House Democrats — more than half of the caucus — co-signed a letter late last year written by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) to voice opposition to fast track authority and the TPP.

Others in the president's party have pointed out what should be obvious dangers of the TPP. The Politico article contains a quote from a Democratic lawmaker:

“TPP would force Americans to compete against workers from Vietnam, where the minimum wage is $2.75 per day,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said. “It threatens to roll back financial regulations, environmental standards and U.S laws that protect the safety of drugs and food and the toys we give our kids.”

On May 24, the Financial Times published an article on the “fast track” debate, focusing on the efforts of Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to convince a sufficient bloc of Democrats to drop their opposition to granting trade promotion authority. The Financial Times reported:

To do so, he [Wyden] argues, will mean addressing concerns over the lack of transparency that plague negotiations. He also wants to make sure any TPA bill, which traditionally sets US objectives for trade deals as well as limiting Congress’s ability to amend them, addresses modern sectors such as the trade in digital goods.

In a move that will cause concern with some US negotiating partners such as Brunei and Vietnam, Mr Wyden says he would also like to see trade agreements address human rights, something advocated by fellow Democrats.

“I think it’s the responsible thing to do and I think it will bring more support for the cause of trade expansion,” Mr Wyden says.

A post published on the blog Economy in Crisis expertly lays out the danger lurking in the fast track process:

If Congress foolishly grants Obama fast-track trade authority, President Obama alone will draft the agreement without Congressional input. Congress will have just 90 days before signing and entering into an agreement, requiring a floor vote 15 days after the bill is discharged from Committees. Congress will then have only 20 hours of debate in each House, not the normal debate and cloture or the ability to amend the legislation. If passed, the TPP will become U.S. law and will then require approval from every one of the other signatory nations before Congress can revoke or change their content. There will be all sorts of mischief lurking in the TPP pages and we will not know until it is approved.

As with the multitude of similar trade pacts the United States has formed, the ultimate aim of the TPP is the creation of a regional super government — thus the stonewalling of federal lawmakers who dare seek to assert some sort of oversight.

In the case of the TPP, the zone would be called the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). Members of the proposed “free trade” bloc include all the current TPP participants: Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Mexico, Chile, Canada, and the United States. The regional trading partnership is intended to establish “a comprehensive free trade agreement across the region.”

Economic and political integration will push the once-independent United States of America into yet another collectivist bloc that will facilitate the complete dissolution of our nation and our states into no more than impotent members of a one-world government.



Predicting such a scenario isn’t exactly a prophetic act, though. The TPP has been described as “NAFTA on steroids,” and a quick rehearsal of the devastation washed up on American shores in the wake of NAFTA will serve as a cautionary tale of the terrors of the TPP.

In its report entitled “NAFTA at 20,” Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch provided a primer on NAFTA’s enervating effect on the American economy. The paper reports:

NAFTA created new privileges and protections for foreign investors that incentivized the offshoring of investment and jobs by eliminating many of the risks normally associated with moving production to low-wage countries. NAFTA allowed foreign investors to directly challenge before foreign tribunals domestic policies and actions, demanding government compensation for policies that they claimed undermined their expected future profits. NAFTA also contained chapters that required the three countries to limit regulation of services, such as trucking and banking; extend medicine patent monopolies; limit food and product safety standards and border inspection; and waive domestic procurement preferences, such as Buy American.

Some of the specific harm caused by NAFTA is highlighted in the report:

1. $181 billion U.S. trade deficit with NAFTA partners Mexico and Canada

2. One million net U.S. jobs lost because of NAFTA

3. A doubling of immigration from Mexico

4. Larger agricultural trade deficits with Mexico and Canada

5. More than $360 million paid to corporations after “investor-state” tribunal attacks on, and rollbacks of, domestic public interest policies.

Americans who study the subject realize that the domestic legal processes being carried out in secret by the globalists sitting around the TPP negotiating table is, like NAFTA before it, an attack on American laws, American courts, American freedom of expression, American sovereignty, and the American Constitution.

Joe A. Wolverton, II, J.D. is a correspondent for The New American and travels nationwide speaking on nullification, the Second Amendment, the surveillance state, and other constitutional issues.  Follow him on Twitter @TNAJoeWolverton and he can be reached at jwolverton@thenewamerican.com.

Link: http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/item/18572-trans-pacific-partnership-nafta-on-steroids-threatens-sovereignty.

7 indicators Muslims reached the Americas before Columbus

 June 6, 2014
 By: http://moorishharem.com/
Source: Muslim Village.com

Source: http://moorishharem.com/

It is an established, but not much publicized knowledge among historians that Muslims had very early contacts with the people of the lands now called Americas. There are plenty of records and evidences for the arrival of Muslims in America, not less than 600 years before Columbus.

Despite the plainly obvious argument that an empire/empires which ruled (directly or indirectly) more than half of the then known world for more than 800 years would have been the most probable to reach a land only 1500 nautical miles from its shores. (The distance between Freetown, Sierra Leoneand Natal, Brazil is 1822 miles/2933 km/1583 nautical miles, which is less than that between the ports of Aden and Colombo, a distance Muslim traders covered with much ease), history has been forced down the throats of the mankind that Columbus “discovered Americas” in 1492.

Historians have confirmed that during the golden days of the Muslim nation, Muslim ships were plying the Atlantic Ocean, which was then known as the Sea of Injustice, and they were heading west.

Years in which the parts of Americas were “discovered”. Piri Muhyid Din Re’is’s map (Below)showed them all in 1513.

Muslims reached the shores of the lands now known as the Americas in the following instances:
1. In the year 889 AD, Muslim sailor Khishkhash ibn Said ibn Aswad Al-Qurtuby (of Cordoba) set sail from the port of Palos in Muslim Spain and reached a certain land in the west. He returned home with huge treasures. He drew a world map calling these areas in the Atlantic Ocean “the unknown land”. The Muslim geo-historian Al-Masoudy records this in his book “Muruj-al-Dhahab wa Maadin Aljawhar”(956 AD);”Some people feel that this ocean is the source of all oceans and in it there have been many strange happenings. We have reported some of them in our book Akhbar az-Zaman. Adventurers have penetrated it on the risk of their lives, some returning safely, others perishing in the attempt. One such man was art inhabitant of Andalusia named Khashkhash. He was a young man of Cordoba who gathered a group of young men and went on a voyage on this ocean. After a long time he returned with a fabulous booty. Every Spaniard (Andalusian) knows his story.”

2. In Feb. 999 AD, Ibn Farukh from Granada in Muslim Spain landed in Gando (Great Canary), visited King Guanariga and continued his journey westwards till he found two islands, which he called Capraria and Pluitana. He arrived back in Spain in the month of May that year. Abu Bakr b. ‘Umar al Qutiyya relates the story of his voyage.

3. In twelfth century AD, a group of North African sailors: According to the famous Arab geographer Al Sharif al Idrisi (1097-1155);”A group of seafarers sailed into the sea of Darkness and Fog (the Atlantic Ocean) from Lisbon in order to discover what was in it and to what extent were its limit. They were a party of eight and they took a boat, which was loaded with supplies to last them for months. They sailed for eleven days till they reached turbulent waters with great waves and little light. They thought that they would perish so they turned their boat southward and travelled for twenty days. They finally reached an island that had people and cultivation but they were captured and chained for three days. On the fourth day a translator came speaking the Arabic language! He translated for the King and asked them about their mission. They informed him about themselves, then they were returned to their confinement. When the westerly wind began to blow, they were put in a canoe, blindfolded and brought to land after three days’ sailing. They were left on the shore with their hands tied behind their backs, when the next day came, another tribe appeared freeing them and informing them that between them and their lands war a journey of two months.” From “The Geography of Al Idrisi”.

4. In 1310 AD, Abu Bakari (Abu Bakar), King of the Malian Empire: The predecessor of the world-renowned ruler of the African Islamic Empire of Mali, Mansa Musa set off on a voyage to discover the limits of the neighbouring sea (Atlantic ocean). The emperor narrated this on his famous Hajj pilgrimage in 1324.(See his narration below). There are ample proof that African Muslims from Mali and other parts of West Africa (Mandinga) arrived in the Gulf of Mexico around 1312. They used the Mississippi River as their access route for exploring the interior.

5. In 1421, Cheng He – The legendary Chinese admiral: Cheng He (A Muslim)travelled around the world in the fifteenth century. British marine historian Gavin Manzies proves in his book ” 1421 – The year China discovered America” that Cheng He beat Columbus by 71 years. A Chinese historical document known as the Sung document records the voyage of Muslim sailors to a land called as Mu-Lan-Pi (America) in 1178. This document mentioned in another publication – the Khotan Amiers – published in 1933 after the Cheng He voyages.

6. The first map of Americas by Piri Muhyid Din Re’is in 1513. The famous Turkish admiral in charge of the Ottoman Red Sea and Indian Ocean fleets made this map and presented it to Sultan Selim I. Even though Columbus has been to the Caribbean by then, the areas accurately depicted in the map had not been “discovered”. Therefore it is logical that the Ottoman admiral was well aware of the areas. ( Refer figure).He was a famous navigator and mapmaker and wrote a handbook on the Aegean and the Mediterranean Seas, known as Piri Re’is Bahriye. The map was discovered by chance in the library of Serallo, Istanbul in 1929 by Khalid Edhem Bey.

7. The “First” to see the Americas became Muslim. May be as a divine justice on a false historical claim, the first Christian to see the American land, Rodrigo de Triana or Rodrigo de Lepe, became a Muslim on his return to Spain, “because Columbus did not give him credit nor the King any recompense, for his having seen before any other man, light in the Indies.”

Link:  http://muslimvillage.com/2014/06/06/54173/7-indicators-muslims-reached-the-americas-before-columbus/.

Turkey to move towards renewable energyexc

6 June 2014
By Oguzhan Ozsoy and Bahattin Gonultas
Source: developing8.org

Turkey aims to upscale renewables by 30 percent by 2023 with the second fastest rise in demand for energy in the world after China

Turkey looks to renewable energy as an alternative source to relieve its dependency on foreign energy and fossil fuel resources such as oil, gas and coal, according to experts.

Turkey is second in the world after China in terms of its rising energy demand, and consequently the country aims to upscale renewables by 30 percent by 2023.

Turkey generated 45 percent of its electricity from natural gas, 25 percent from coal, 25 percent from hydro-power and 3 percent produced by wind power plants in 2013. 

Turkey consumed 245.5 billion kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity in 2013 and Turkey’s total electricity consumption for 2014 is estimated to be 256 billion kilowatt-hour (kWh), an increase of 4.1 percent compared to last year, according to the Turkish Electricity Production Company (TEIAS). 

Turkey meets half of its electricity needs from fossil fuels - 32 percent from coal and 23 percent from natural gas.

According to the study from the country's Energy Ministry, Turkey's electricity demand will reach 620 billion kilowatt per hour.

Turkey will generate 15 percent of its electricity from hydropower, 12 percent from wind and geothermal power, 11 percent from nuclear energy, 5 percent from solar power and 2 percent from others by 2030, according to the ministry.

Solar Energy Industrialists Association (GENSED) Professor Sener Oktik, said "Clean energy is the guarantee of our future energy needs and our environment," and he claimed that solar power will expand into the world’s biggest source of energy before the next century.

"Solar power will dominate, making up almost 37 percent of all energy supplies, with oil providing 10 percent, wind power 8 percent and natural gas 7 percent by 2100," said Oktik.

He also said the photovoltaics sector, which is a method of generating power by converting solar radiation into direct electricity current using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, is rapidly emerging in the Asia pacific region.

Turkish Wind Energy Association (TUREB) President Mustafa Serdar Ataseven said, "If Turkey increases the number of wind power plants, this could be reflected in lower energy costs for citizens because we use our own local resources, with no payment required for the energy sources and no gas emissions from wind power."

"Turkey has energy sources that are environmentally friendly. We need to work together to use these resources very effectively," Ataseven said.

Ataseven stated that energy imports to Turkey are very expensive. "Imports make the country dependent on foreign sources. We need to produce our energy locally without damaging our environment," he added. 

Turkey's wind energy has a 3,000 megawatt (MW) production capacity and will reach 4,000 MW levels by the end of the year.

Source: Anadolu Agency

 

Link:http://developing8.org/Latestnews.aspx?NewsTitle=Turkey%20to%20move%20towards%20renewable%20energyexc.

 

Sri Lanka Muslims killed in Aluthgama clashes with Buddhists

16 June 2014
Source: BBC

At least three Muslims have been killed in overnight clashes with hardline Buddhists in southern Sri Lanka. 

The men died of gunshot wounds near a mosque in the town of Aluthgama in what is seen as Sri Lanka's worst outbreak of sectarian violence in years.

More than 78 others have been seriously injured in the violence, justice minister Rauf Hakeem said.
A curfew is in place in Aluthgama and nearby Beruwala. Muslims make up 10% of Sri Lanka's mainly Buddhist population.

The men who were killed were shot after midnight following several hours of clashes between two factions in which stones and bottles were lobbed, reports the BBC's Charles Haviland in Aluthgama.
Mr Hakeem, a Muslim, said he was "outraged" at the police failure to keep law and order and that the authorities had allowed Buddhists to demonstrate three days after a smaller sectarian clash in the area, involving Muslim youths and a Buddhist monk's driver.

He said he was "ashamed" to be part of the government. He made his remarks as he visited areas which have been caught up in the violence.

The authorities imposed a curfew after clashes began following a rally by the BBS, the Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Brigade in Aluthgama on Sunday.

Eyewitness accounts tell of Muslims being pulled off local buses and beaten. There are also reports of looting as well as shops being burned.

Muslim shops were burned and looted in the town

Clashes broke out as Buddhists marched into Muslim populated areas

The rally by the Buddhist BBS took place when tensions were already high

 

'Act in restraint' After its rally, the BBS marched into Muslim areas chanting anti-Muslim slogans, reports say, and the police used tear gas to quell the violence. Unconfirmed reports say security forces also used gunfire.
Witnesses say Muslim homes and a mosque were stoned.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has announced an investigation.

"The government will not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands. I urge all parties concerned to act in restraint," he tweeted.

Correspondents say tension has recently been high between the two sides, with Muslims calling on the government to protect them from hate attacks by Buddhists, and Buddhists accusing minorities of enjoying too much influence.

For the past couple of years, Sinhalese Buddhist revivalist groups have been staging demonstrations heavily laden with anti-Muslim rhetoric, usually led by monks, our correspondent reports.

Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27864716.

 

Why I've ditched statins for good

23 Mar 2014
 By Haroun Gajraj
Source: The Telegraph

As experts clash over proposals that millions more of us take statins to prevent heart disease and stroke, a vascular surgeon explains why he feels better without them 

  When I had a routine health check-up eight years ago, my cholesterol was so high that the laboratory thought there had been a mistake. I had 9.3 millimoles of cholesterol in every litre of blood — almost twice the recommended maximum. 

 It was quite a shock. The GP instantly prescribed statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs that are supposed to prevent heart disease and strokes. For eight years, I faithfully popped my 20mg atorvastatin pills, without side effects. Then, one day last May, I stopped. It wasn’t a snap decision; after looking more closely at the research, I’d concluded that statins were not going to save me from a heart attack and that my cholesterol levels were all but irrelevant.

When I informed my GP of my decision three months later, I wasn’t entirely honest. Rather than say I was sceptical about the drugs, I told my doctor I’d quit the statins because they were causing pain in my arm.

He didn’t bat an eyelid. Evidence from the drug industry published this month – evidence I suspect was heavily reliant on data from the drug industry, as Dr James Le Fanu pointed out on these pages last week – may suggest that side effects are uncommon, but previous studies have found that one in five people on statins suffers adverse side effects, from muscle pain and diarrhoea to memory loss and blurred vision.

The GP simply suggested I try another brand of statin. The sooner the better, he said, given that I’d already been off my prescription for three months. “Hang on,” I said. “Could you give me a blood test first?” When the results came back, he was amazed that my total blood cholesterol was lower than when I’d been on statins. After three months without the pills, it was 5.4mmol/l (5.4 millimoles per litre of blood) compared with 5.7 mmol/l a year earlier.

 The only major changes I’d made to my lifestyle since coming off statins were eliminating sugar (including alcohol and starchy foods such as bread) and eating more animal fat. Many experts now believe that sugar is emerging as a true villain in the heart-disease story; while after decades of demonisation, saturated fat has been acquitted of causing heart disease by a recent “meta” analysis of 70 studies by Cambridge University.

Typically, I was eating red meat three or four times a week and enjoying butter, full-fat milk and plenty of eggs. You would have thought that after three months on a diet so high in saturated fat, my cholesterol would have shot back up to pre-statin levels — but no, it came down and has stayed down seven months on. Not only that, but my levels of LDL (so-called bad cholesterol) were also lower than when I’d been on statins, and my ratio of HDL (so-called good cholesterol) to LDL was under four for the first time, an excellent sign, according to medical wisdom.

Not that I cared about any of this.

Yes, it was the statins that originally reduced my cholesterol levels so dramatically. But so what? I believe that high cholesterol has been a scapegoat for too long. Yes, it may, in some circumstances, be an indicator of heart disease but there is no evidence of a causal link. In my view, high total blood cholesterol or high LDL levels no more cause heart attacks than paramedics cause car crashes, even though they are present at the scene.

Just lowering cholesterol with drugs without sorting out the dietary and lifestyle factors that actually cause heart disease is nonsensical. Besides, there are plenty of other, more reliable indicators of heart-disease risk. What further astonished my GP was that on these indicators I was now apparently better off in other ways than when I’d been on statins. My blood pressure was down. For the first time in years, I was slimmer, especially around the belly. My triglycerides — a type of blood fat with a causal link to heart disease — were lower than at any time in the preceding eight years. My fasting blood glucose was at the optimum level, whereas a year earlier it had been too high. My total white blood count — a marker of inflammation — was lower.

My blood test for a marker called glycated haemoglobin (A1c), high levels of which are associated with heart disease and overall mortality, were bang on normal. Finally, my level of c-reactive protein (CRP) — a protein that rises in response to inflammation — was extremely low. So, biochemically, I was in excellent shape, better than when I’d been on the statins. “Have you taken up running?” asked my bemused GP.

No, I’d always run. For years, I’d exercised three times a week, eaten plenty of fish, refrained from smoking and tried to keep my stress levels low. The only thing I’d changed was my intake of sugar and animal fat.

That check-up was seven months ago and now, at 58, I’m not on a single tablet. My GP is happy. I feel better than I have in years and, at the same time, deeply concerned about proposals advising even wider use of statins.

Until 2005, statins were prescribed only to those with at least a 30 per cent or greater risk of having a heart attack within 10 years. This was then reduced to a 20 per cent risk. Now, draft NHS guidelines would have them dished out to those with just a 10 per cent risk — in other words, most men over the age of 50 and most women over the age of 60.

I am a vascular surgeon. Before founding a private clinic in Dorset 11 years ago, specialising in varicose veins, I worked in the NHS for 13 years. Back then, I didn’t question medical guidance on cholesterol, and thought statins were a wonder drug. And so they probably are, for men who have heart disease — not necessarily because they lower cholesterol, but because they may cut other risks such as the inflammation-marker CRP. Exercise, weight loss and omega 3 supplements also lower CRP.

But what about other groups — women, the elderly and people like me who have not been diagnosed with heart disease? The evidence that we will benefit from cholesterol-lowering drugs is ambiguous at best. The 2011 Hunt 2 study, one of the most recent and largest, followed 52,000 men and women in Norway aged 20-74 with no pre-existing heart disease, for 10 years.

The results for women were crystal clear. The lower a woman’s total cholesterol, the greater her risk of dying, either of heart disease or anything else, including cancer. This reflects findings in previous studies.

For men, high cholesterol was associated with heart disease and death from other causes. But so, too, was low cholesterol — below 5mmol/l. Again, this is only an association, not a causal link. A range of between 5mmol/l and 7mmol/l was the optimum level. Guess what? This is already the national average. In addition, numerous studies have linked high cholesterol levels with increased longevity in the elderly.

As for me, I have not been diagnosed with heart disease, and nobody in my family has had a heart attack. However, all four of my paternal uncles and my sister have diabetes. Research from Canada, published last year in the BMJ, has shown that statins raise the risk of diabetes, so that gives me little faith. The controversy over these drugs was reignited last week when Prof Sir Rory Collins from Oxford University warned that doctors’ hesitancy about prescribing them to those at risk could cost lives.

GPs are, by definition, generalists. They don’t have time to read and analyse data from every paper on every medical condition. Even so, in a recent survey by Pulse magazine, six in 10 GPs opposed the draft proposal to lower the risk level at which patients are prescribed statins. And 55 per cent said they would not take statins themselves or recommend them to a relative, based on the proposed new guidelines.

If that doesn’t speak volumes, I don’t know what does.

 

Link:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/10717431/Why-Ive-ditched-statins-for-good.html.

President Rouhani's Turkey visit a turning point in relations between D-8’s two important members

9 June 2014
Source: developing 8.org

Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, who pays a historic visit to Turkey with an Iranian delegation composed of one vice president, seven ministers and a number of businessmen, described partnership between Turkey and Iran as 'strategic' and 'strong' with future plans to deepen relations in every field.

Iranian President Hasan Rouhani arrived in Ankara early June 9 for crucial talks on a number of key issues in his first official trip to Turkey since he took over the presidency last year.

Rouhani was welcomed by Turkish President Abdullah Gül at an official ceremony. The two presidents announced they have decided to improve bilateral relations at the joint press conference following their meeting. “[Rouhani] is the first Iranian president who has paid an official visit to Turkey in the last 18 years. This is why the visit is historic,” Gül said, describing Iran as “an old, valuable friend.”

“The visit carries our bilateral relations forward in every area. We expressed our common will during the meeting,” Gül said, stressing that several deals from culture to economy have been agreed upon. “Our relations are not just about two countries. They are important for the whole region and the world,” Gül said.

Rouhani emphasized the joint target of increasing bilateral trade from $15 billion to $30 billion. “Instability [in the region] is not in the favour of anyone in the world,” Rouhani said, adding that integrating Turkish railroads with Iranian ones in the border town of Bazergan was one of the deals agreed upon during the June 9 meeting.

The two presidents also said they will meet businessmen from both countries on June 10 to encourage them to invest in the respective countries.

Iran and Turkey have signed 10 accords of cooperation in a meeting both presidents attended. The agreements reportedly were intended to ‘deepen bilateral relations between Tehran and Ankara’ more than ever. Rouhani and Gül attended the joint meeting to sign the agreements. The agreements addressed cooperation in cultural and scientific exchange programs, tourism, cultural heritage, post, standard institutes, and two customs agreements.

Rouhani’s Meeting with PM Erdogan

Turkey will bolster its trade ties with neighbouring Iran by speeding up the implementation process of a preferential trade agreement signed in January. We had set a goal during my visit to Iran in January: to raise the trade between the two countries to $30 billion by 2015," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a joint press conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on 9 June.

Erdogan said the trade between Turkey and Iran stood at $22 billion in 2012 before dipping to $14.5 billion in the following year due to economic sanctions imposed on Tehran. "As part of our endeavour to fix this, we have reaffirmed the necessity of forming a High Council of Strategic Cooperation and establishing a preferential trade zone between the two countries," he said. Trade volume between Turkey and Iran stood at $3.2 billion in the first quarter, according to Turkey's official statistics office.

For his part, Iranian President Rouhani said Erdogan and himself exchanged views on bilateral ties and regional developments. Calling on Turkish businessmen to invest in Iran's railways and ports, he said Iran and Turkey reached agreements to boost cooperation in energy, transportation, tourism and banking. Also discussed in the meeting were international and regional issues as well as cooperation between the two states in international organizations such as the U.N., Organization of the Islamic Cooperation and especially the D-8. 

Describing Turkey as one of the most important countries in the region, Rouhani said his administration’s foreign policy priority was to increase relations with neighbouring countries. Recalling his meeting with Erdogan in Tehran in January, Rouhani said important agreements on transportation, customs, tourism, culture, security and political relations would be signed during the talks. 

The two officials reiterated their objectives to increase the trade volume to $30 billion by the end of 2015. Erdogan said Turkey is planning to ratify the agreement of preferential trade with Iran until the end of this month so that they could reach their objective.

In Turkey visit, Rouhani heads a delegation of his cabinet members including ministers of foreign affairs, roads and city planning, oil, information technology, interior, intelligence, culture and Islamic guidance, and economic affairs.

Link:http://developing8.org/Latestnews.aspx?NewsTitle=President%20Rouhani%27s%20Turkey%20visit%20a%20turning%20point%20in%20relations%20between%20D-8%E2%80%99s%20two%20important%20members.

BBC Report Confirms Iranian Soldiers Are Running The Show In Syria

Jun. 3, 2013

Michael B. Kelley

Source: Business Insider

Thousands of Lebanese Hezbollah militants are amassing around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in preparation for an assault on the city, Loveday Morris of The Washington Post reports.

  The deployment demonstrates the group's complete commitment to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and may profoundly affect the 26-month conflict.

“The Aleppo battle has started on a very small scale; we’ve only just entered the game,” a senior Hezbollah commander told The Post. “We are going to go after strongholds where they think they are safe. They are going to fall like dominoes.”

The commander had been overseeing five units in Qusair, a town near the Syria-Lebanon on border where Hezbollah has been spearheading a regime offensive to retake the town for the last three weeks.

The increased presence of the militant group, in addition to the arrival of sophisticated military technology such as Iranian surveillance drones and Russian anti-mortar systems, has helped solidify recent gains made by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

(Meanwhile, The U.S. is witholding millions pledged to helped the Syrian opposition.)

Hezbollah's preparations to attack Aleppo, which is nowhere near the Lebanon-Syria border, significantly raises the stakes in the war.

“A deployment so deep into Syria and in such a crucial place would be a clear indication that Hezbollah’s role in Syria was never limited to defensive aims but is geared toward helping Assad score major victories,” Emile Hokayem, a Middle East-based analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told the Post.

Aleppo is Syria's largest city and served as the country's commercial hub before the war.
David Barrett of The Telegraph reports that the metropolitan population, about three million before the war, has grown to about 3.5 million since the opposition seized half the city last July.

Rebels, primarily al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, have been administering city services in areas under their control while a stalemate persists.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/hezbollah-is-preparing-to-attack-aleppo-2013-6#ixzz35cGPhzgO

Hezbollah Is Launching An Offensive That Will Profoundly Change The Syrian War

Jun. 3, 2013
Michael B Kelley
Source:Business Insider


 Thousands of Lebanese Hezbollah militants are amassing around the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in preparation for an assault on the city, Loveday Morris of The Washington Post reports.

The deployment demonstrates the group's complete commitment to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and may profoundly affect the 26-month conflict.

“The Aleppo battle has started on a very small scale; we’ve only just entered the game,” a senior Hezbollah commander told The Post. “We are going to go after strongholds where they think they are safe. They are going to fall like dominoes.”

The commander had been overseeing five units in Qusair, a town near the Syria-Lebanon on border where Hezbollah has been spearheading a regime offensive to retake the town for the last three weeks.

The increased presence of the militant group, in addition to the arrival of sophisticated military technology such as Iranian surveillance drones and Russian anti-mortar systems, has helped solidify recent gains made by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

(Meanwhile, The U.S. is witholding millions pledged to helped the Syrian opposition.)
Hezbollah's preparations to attack Aleppo, which is nowhere near the Lebanon-Syria border, significantly raises the stakes in the war.

“A deployment so deep into Syria and in such a crucial place would be a clear indication that Hezbollah’s role in Syria was never limited to defensive aims but is geared toward helping Assad score major victories,” Emile Hokayem, a Middle East-based analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told the Post.

Aleppo is Syria's largest city and served as the country's commercial hub before the war.

David Barrett of The Telegraph reports that the metropolitan population, about three million before the war, has grown to about 3.5 million since the opposition seized half the city last July.
Rebels, primarily al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, have been administering city services in areas under their control while a stalemate persists.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/hezbollah-is-preparing-to-attack-aleppo-2013-6#ixzz35cD3zBcx

Iran Is Increasingly Calling The Shots For Assad In Syria

Jul. 24, 2013
Michael B Kelley
Source: Business Insider

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been forced gradually to cede power to Iran to prop up his regime during the grinding conflict in Syria.

The implications for the Middle East could be dramatic.

"Whether Assad stays or goes is becoming irrelevant," a diplomat in the region told Khaled Yacoub Oweis of Reuters. "The conflict is now bigger than him, and it will continue without him. Iran is calling the shots." 

Assad has been increasingly leaning on Iranian troops, Hezbollah guerrilla fighters from Lebanon, and Shi'ite militias from Iraq as he preserves his elite loyalist units after 28 months of fighting. 

Consequently, Hezbollah and Iranian troops have become directly involved in the command structures of Assad's forces.

"Now the operations are well-planned and the objectives are precise," Rami Abdel, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP in April. "This is because Iranian officers are on the ground, leading operations, while new Iranian weapons conceived for this kind of battle are flowing in."

Iran has had troops on the ground to fight for Assad's regime in August, and Quds forces from the foreign operations arm of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) may have been there as early as 2011.

More recently Iran has been training Syrian militias in guerrilla tactics while Iranian officers and Hezbollah fighters lead in battle.

"[Assad] can no longer call a division head and tell him to bomb the hell out of this neighborhood or that," Abu Nawar, a Jordanian military analyst, told Reuters. "His command has been eroded and the command structure is now multinational."

Right now the fighting inside Syria is most intense in Homs, which is a key corridor between Damascus, Lebanon, and the coastal Alawite heartland.

There is also talk that Assad is aiming to form an Alawite state in that area to sequester himself and his less fervent sect of Shia Islam from wider Sunni-Muslim war playing out in Syria and Iraq.
Martin Chulov and Mona Mahmood of the Guardian report that Assad asked a well-known diplomatic figure "to approach the former Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, late last year with a request that Israel not stand in the way of attempts to form an Alawite state."

(Previous reports of sectarian cleansing of Sunnis along the coast corroborate that notion.)
Iran is primarily concerned with maintaining the Shi'ite crescent — which includes Shi'ites from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria — and is fully determined to keep its geographical link to Lebanon intact.

 Essentially, Iran holds sway over a huge swath of the Middle East right now (i.e. the Shi'ite crescent), with the crux being Syria.

The ongoing war in the area could drag on for years, and the outcome will alter the balance between Shias and Sunnis as well as between Iran and Israel/U.S.

As Iranian-American journalist Ali Gharib recently wrote in a Daily Best piece about the hawkish stance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "The U.S. and Iran are on a collision course, one that ends very badly for everyone involved."


 
 Link: .businessinsider.com/iran-is-calling-the-shots-in-syria-2013-7.

Ethiopian diplomat: Renaissance Dam will be built 'with its full capacity'

23 June 2014
Source:Middle East Monitor

 Ethiopia is moving forward with the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam with its full capacity and according to the original plans despite Egyptian reservations, an Ethiopian diplomat told Arabi 21 website Sunday.

The suspension of an Egyptian anchorwoman from Tahrir TV channel has reopened discussions on the crisis of the dam's capacity, amid reports of a UAE-Israeli mediated initiative in the horizon.
Tahrir anchorwoman Rania Badawy has been suspended after a complaint from the Ethiopian ambassador in Cairo following an argument she had with him during a live call-in with her show. Badawy has hung up on ambassador Mahmoud Dardir after he accused her of arrogance due to her question whether Ethiopia will carry on with the construction of the dam based on the original plan.
Responding to a question by Badawy regarding the dam's current capacity and its impacts on Egyptian water security, the ambassador stressed that this is a sovereign matter, and that Ethiopia has "moved beyond Egyptian dictations and conditions in this regard."

Arabi 21 website asked an Ethiopian diplomat regarding the implications of the ambassador's remarks. The diplomat confirmed that his country had not changed its initial construction plans and would not accept any discussions with Egypt on them.

The diplomat confirmed reports of an Emirati-Israeli initiative that calls for the continuation of the construction according to initial plans, with an Ethiopian pledge not to use the full capacity of the dam in a way that impacts Egyptian and Sudanese share of the water.

The diplomat pointed out that the initiative, if approved, would not resolve the crisis because Addis Ababa would still be able to use the full capacity of the dam whenever it sees fit.

Link: www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/12290-ethiopian-diplomat-renaissance-dam-will-be-built-with-its-full-capacity.

Corrupt Egypt gas deals revealed

09 June 2014
Source: Middle East Monitor



In Egypt's Lost Power, Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit reveals the hidden story of Egypt's oil and gas industry. It describes how tycoons cashed in as a nation lost out - and provides compelling new evidence that the Arab world's most populated country may soon become energy dependent on Israel.

The documentary describes how Egypt - once a major natural gas exporter - made a series of deals from so corrupt that it has devastated the nation's energy sector. What's more, the country that it sold gas to from 2008 to 2012 at below market prices - Israel - is now in possession of massive gas reserves that it intends to sell to Egypt.

Sources in Tel Aviv describe how, after the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt made clandestine approaches to the Israeli government in order to "ensure the flow of gas" to Egypt.
Former Israeli Energy Minister Yosef Paritzky told the program: "Egypt needs gas. We can sell it. What else can be better?"

More than a dozen industry specialists, including former and current officials, were interviewed over the course of this five-month investigation.

Investigative reporter Clayton Swisher tracked down and located fugitive billionaire Hussein Salem in Madrid as well as his former business partner (and former Mossad officer) Yossi Maiman outside his offices north of the Israeli capital, Tel Aviv.

The program examines Egyptian government records, court filings, and corporate records and discovered that powerful energy companies are now suing Egypt in numerous international arbitration courts.

The investigation also addresses how deliberately generated gas shortages played a role in the toppling of Egypt's first democratically elected President, Mohammed Morsi.

Edward Walker, a former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and Israel, tells the show that many in Washington welcomed last year's coup. "He's attractive because he's not Morsi. And the concern has always been to maintain and sustain the relationship between Egypt and Israel. So it was not really in our interest to see them (the Muslim Brotherhood) succeed."

 Admiral William Fallon, a former head of U.S. Central Command rejected the policy of promoting democracy in the Middle East. "It isn't just about having elections. That's wonderful," he told Egypt's Lost Power. "But what comes after the election? If there's not a framework for making government work to accomplish things, then it's very hollow".

Former Israeli Ambassador Oded Eran, an advisor to the Knesset, welcomed a new energy relationship with Cairo. "If we can get into an agreement...supplying gas to Egypt, this will also cement the relations, political and economic, between Israel and Egypt."

Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit's previous scoops include the Palestine Papers, The Bin Laden Files, What Killed Arafat?, and Killing Arafat.

Egypt's Lost Power broadcasts on Al Jazeera English on Monday, June 9th at 2000 GMT, and 1900 GMT on Al Jazeera Arabic.

Link: www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/11971-corrupt-egypt-gas-deals-revealed.

Non-Muslim Rights in the Ottoman Empire

Dec. 21
Source: Lost Islamic History

Comments: It is clear, that under the Shariah both Christians and Jews have rights. Prophet Muhammad was the leader/ruler of the city-state of Medina. Under his leadership cases involving Muslims would be decided by The Qur'an-whereas, cases involving Jews was decided by The Torah. Obviously, the Ottoman empire followed the example of Prophet Muhammad-thereby implementing The Shariah/Islamic Law.Here is the article:

 

Much like previous Muslim Empires, the Ottomans showed great toleration and acceptance of non-Muslim communities in their empire. This is based on existing Muslim laws regarding the status of non-Muslims. They are protected, given religious freedoms, and free from persecution according to the Shariah. One of the first precedents of this was the Treaty of Umar ibn al-Khattab, in which he guaranteed the Christians of Jerusalem total religious freedom and safety.

The Millet System

The first instance of the Ottomans having to rule a large number of Christians was after the conquest of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II in 1453. Constantinople had historically been the center of the Orthodox Christian world, and still had a large Christian population. As the empire grew into Europe, more and more non-Muslims came under Ottoman authority. For example, in the 1530s, over 80% of the population in Ottoman Europe was not Muslim. In order to deal with these new Ottoman subjects, Mehmed instituted a new system, later called the millet system.

Under this system, each religious group was organized into a millet. Millet comes from the Arabic word for “nation”, indicating that the Ottomans considered themselves the protectors of multiple nations. Each religious group was considered its own millet, with multiple millets existing in the empire. For example, all Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire were considered as constituting a millet, while all Jews constituted another millet. 


Each millet was allowed to elect its own religious figure to lead them. In the case of the Orthodox Church (the biggest Church in the Ottoman Empire), the Orthodox Patriarch (the Archbishop of Constantinople) was the elected leader of the millet. The leaders of the millets were allowed to enforce their own religion’s rules on their people. Islamic law (Shariah) had no jurisdiction over non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire.

In cases of crime, people would be punished according to the rules of their own religion, not Islamic rules or rules of other religions. For example, if a Christian were to steal, he would be punished according to the Christian laws regarding theft. If a Jew were to steal, he were to be punished according to Jewish laws, etc. The only time Islamic law would come into account was if the criminal was a Muslim, or when there was a case involving two people from different millets. In that case, a Muslim judge was to preside over the case and judge according to his best judgement and common law.

In addition to religious law, millets were given freedom to use their own language, develop their own institutions (churches, schools, etc), and collect taxes. The Ottoman sultan only exercised control over the millets through their leaders. The millet leaders ultimately reported to the sultan, and if there was a problem with a millet, the sultan would consult that millet leader. Theoretically, the Muslim population of the Ottoman Empire also constituted a millet, with the Ottoman sultan as the millet leader.

Legacy

 The Ottoman Empire lasted from 1300 to 1922. Throughout most of this history, the millet system provided a system of religious harmony and belonging throughout the empire. As the empire expanded, more millets were organized. Separate millets existed for Armenian, Catholic, and Orthodox Christians, for example, with each sect being divided further into more specific regional churches.

 The millet system did not last until the end of the Ottoman Empire. As the empire weakened in the 1700s and 1800s, European intervention in the empire expanded. When the liberal Tanzimat were passed in the 1800s, the millet system was abolished, in favor of a more European-style secularist government. The Ottomans were forced to guarantee vague “rights” to religious minorities, which in fact limited their freedoms. Instead of being allowed to rule themselves according to their own rules, all religious groups were forced to follow the same set of secular laws. This actually ended up causing more religious tension in the empire, which was one of the causes of the genocide of the Armenians during World War One in the Ottoman Empire’s dying days.

The millet system was a unique and creative solution to running a multi-ethnic and multi-religious empire. The rights and freedoms it gave to religious minorities were far ahead of their time. While Europe struggled with religious persecution into the 1900s, the Ottomans created a harmonious and stable religious pluralistic system that guaranteed religious freedom for hundreds of years.
Bibliography:
Itzkowitz, Norman. Ottoman Empire And Islamic Tradition. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1981. Print.
Ochsenwald, William, and Sydney Fisher. The Middle East: A History. 6th. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Print.

 Link: http://lostislamichistory.com/non-muslim-rights-in-the-ottoman-empire/.

 

The EU's willingness to work with Egypt undermines its condemnation of human rights abuses

06 June 2014
 Samira Shackle
Source: Middle East Monitor

When Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's democratically elected president, was ousted in July 2013, the European Union – along with other western powers – was unsure how best to respond. During the months that have passed, it has retained a cautious tone: condemning human rights abuses, while also tentatively praising aspects of the new government's policy programme.

Following the announcement that General Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi had won last month's presidential election with a huge landslide, the EU released a statement saying that the group "expresses its willingness to work closely with the new authorities in Egypt in constructive partnership with a view to strengthening our bilateral relations." It also reiterates concerns about the repressive context in Egypt, saying that the "respect for rights falls short of constitutional principles". In their respective statements, the White House and Downing Street were similarly cautious in the language they used, alluding to the repression of civil society and the opposition, while also congratulating Al-Sisi and expressing their willingness to work with him.

Of course, this is largely due to Egypt's position as a vital regional ally to the west. The country – and, specifically, its military – is seen as a key part of western counter-terrorism work in the Middle East.

While the EU and the US are evidently keen to keep this alliance strong, their protestations about the repressive policies of the government have continually fallen on deaf ears. The EU statement on the election contained several specific criticisms:

"Building a deep and sustainable democracy will only succeed with the establishment of democratic, transparent and accountable institutions that protect all citizens and their fundamental rights. In this context the EU reiterates its deep concern with the continued detention of members of peaceful civil society, political opposition and activists. The EU also reiterates its call on the Egyptian authorities to allow journalists to operate freely; to ensure peaceful protest notably by amending the protest law, to launch independent and credible investigations into the violent events since 30 June 2013; to ensure the defendant's rights to a fair and timely trial based on clear charges; to ensure humane prison conditions in line with international law and standards; to review the numerous death sentences imposed on political opponents in mass trials and to respect due process."

The same day that the statement was issued, Egypt announced that the prosecution in the case of the Al Jazeera journalists would be seeking the maximum penalty: that's 15 years imprisonment for the foreigners, and 25 years for the Egyptians. The case – in which more than 20 Al Jazeera journalists are being tried on charges including terrorism and damaging the reputation of Egypt – has attracted enormous international attention. The UK, US, and EU have all called for the release of the journalists, but Egypt's authorities have held steady.

The timing of the announcement – just as international bodies congratulate Al-Sisi on his win and urge respect for rights – throws into stark relief the limited influence that western powers have in Egypt. This is partly because there is no real incentive for the Egyptian authorities to listen to western allies; military aid, for the most part, continues. Moreover, the government is receiving significant financial support from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. If, in a worst case scenario, the US or the EU cut off all their support, there would be a clear replacement. Yet, of course, it is highly unlikely that this support would ever be cut off in its entirety: Egypt is simply considered too important strategically. When condemnations are accompanied by statements of willingness to continue to work together, it somewhat undermines the message.

Of course, the decision to pursue the Al Jazeera journalists, Muslim Brotherhood supporters, and secular human rights activists – despite international criticism – is mostly the result of the country's intensely polarized internal politics. The interim government and, presumably, Al-Sisi's new administration, want to suppress dissent. The authorities do crave legitimacy, taking extraordinary measures to ensure a large turn out in the elections, including extending voting to a third day and threatening fines for those who did not vote. Yet despite these efforts, the EU election observer mission found that the election was "free but not always fair" (in the words of Robert Goebbels, Luxembourg member of the European Parliament) given the winner's overwhelming advantage in media attention and finances. The Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has made personal entreaties on behalf of Peter Greste, the Australian Al Jazeera journalist on trial, while Barack Obama and William Hague have also intervened. Yet these, as other criticisms, have fallen on deaf ears. One must question the usefulness of condemnatory statements when they are not followed up by action.

 Link: /www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/africa/11923-the-eus-willingness-to-work-with-egypt-undermines-its-condemnation-of-human-rights-abuses.

Has Al-Sisi turned down Qatari gas in favour of dependency on Israel?

14 June 2014
 Ahmad Al-Laythi
Source: Middle East Monitor

"The Egyptian public can make the calculation that it's happier to have electricity 24 hours a day because they deal with Israel in getting actual gas or they would prefer to be in the dark for some hours a day as a matter of principle," with this statement Simon Henderson of the Washington Institute concluded a documentary broadcast on Al Jazeera on Monday. The film addressed the corruption that marred the gas deal between Egypt and Israel and the role of the military in overthrowing president Mohamed Morsi to protect their economic interests with Tel Aviv.

Even though Egypt halted gas exports to Israel after the January 25 revolution, Tel Aviv discovered at that time massive amounts of gas in the Mediterranean fields of Leviathan and Tamar, enough to cover domestic consumption and export the surplus to neighbouring countries, topped by Egypt whose domestic gas demands exceeded its ability to produce. Moreover, Cairo has become unable to meet its obligations towards foreign oil companies with which Egypt signed contracts to export its share of gas discoveries after the government was forced to direct all production towards the domestic market.

In addition to the huge challenges facing General al-Sisi, the energy problem remains as one of the most serious problems he has to swiftly address. Otherwise he would risk weakening his grip on power in country which ousted two presidents in three years mainly due to instability and poverty.

Israel or Qatar

The drop in domestic gas production has led to a crisis of routine power outages in the country. At the same time, the government finds itself indebted with 8 billion dollars -which is more than half the country's foreign currency reserves. Foreign companies are now prosecuting Egypt and threatening to pull out of the domestic market and to halt their entire production, which would exacerbate the problem at an unprecedented scale. So, what would Al-Sisi do to alleviate this dilemma?

Analysts suggest that he has limited options. More specifically, he only has two options: importing gas from Israel, or Qatar. According to observers, importing from Israel constitutes a direct threat to Egyptian national security, since the Egyptian "energy security" would be fully in the hands of Tel Aviv. Furthermore, this option has another drawback as it would be embarrassing for Egypt, which until two years ago was exporting gas with staggeringly low prices, in flagrant squandering of the resources of the Egyptian state.

According to a report by Forbes magazine, purchasing gas from Israel would be tantamount to "a political land mine", particularly with reports that show that Egypt lost approximately $11 billion due to low-price gas sales to Israel, in addition to another $20 billion losses in the form of debts and liabilities. Forbes quoted Sherif al-Diwany, the executive director of the Egyptian Center for Economic studies, as saying that the ongoing tension between the governments of Egypt and Israel due to those losses will increase the cost of purchasing Israeli gas at a rate much higher than expected.

"In a volatile political situation, its not wise to become dependent on Israel – Al-Sisi will not do it," al-Diwany told Forbes. Egypt relies on natural gas to generate 70 percent of its power.

Gas in exchange for Muslim Brothers?

The second option for Al-Sisi would be to import gas from Qatar, a backer of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. It is no secret that Qatar has become a foe of the new regime in Egypt after the military coup. It has been the main financial backer of Morsi and Egypt's major energy partner. Morsi has signed an agreement with Qatar to build a floating terminal designed to convert LNG to natural gas, and to provide Egypt with five free shipments to help reduce the price of gas cylinders intended for home use. However, after the overthrow of the elected president, Egypt severed its political relations with Qatar, cancelled the agreement, thus losing supply of natural gas necessary to generate electricity. It has also been deprived of the possibility of converting the import of liquefied gas to natural gas to meet its needs.

Despite the political support of Gulf countries -such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait- to Al-Sisi and offering him with free oil shipments, these countries cannot replace Qatar, one of the largest gas producers in the world.

A report by Mid-Africa Time website mentioned that Tariq al-Mullah, the chairman of the Egyptian general petroleum authority, started in April negotiations for the resumption of importing natural gas from Qatar, yet has so far failed to reach any agreement. The website quoted a source in the Qatari ministry of industry as saying that the only condition for resuming talks is "easing pressures on the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters."

British journalists David Hearst said in a recent article that Morsi was an obstacle to an attractive deal between Egypt and Israel, a deal which is about to be reached, now that Morsi has been ousted.

The Al Jazeera documentary revealed Al-Sisi's secret communications with Israel to insure his political future through importing gas from Israel to cover the deficit in Egypt. The first part of Al-Sisi's plot was implemented last January by lifting the restrictions from foreign oil and gas companies operating in Egypt so they would be capable of importing gas from any foreign supplier, for the first time in the country's history, a move which opened the door for importing gas from Israel.
The Israeli military analysis website DEBKA file said that Egypt will soon start importing 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas annually from the Israeli Tamar field, which renders Israel the biggest gas exporter to Egypt. Nimrod Novick, a former adviser to the Israeli prime minister, said that Egypt, which is facing a number of lawsuits because of its failure to fulfil its obligations towards foreign companies, is currently planning to use the gas deal with Israel to solve this problem first, rather than solving the power outage problem. He pointed out that the agreement may stipulate Egypt's approval to export Israeli gas to the world through the liquefaction plants built on its territory. It seems that Al-Sisi has made up his mind to surrender to Tel Aviv and reject Qatari gas, as if he were telling Egyptians: "Accept Israeli gas or drown in your sweat and live in the dark."

Translated from Arabi21, June 13, 2014

Link:  www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/africa/12114-has-al-sisi-turned-down-qatari-gas-in-favour-of-dependency-on-israel.