البطريرك الراعي: العالم العربي يعيش ظروفاً صعبة ودقيقة
Patriarch al-Ra'i: the Arab world are living in difficult circumstances and accurate
http://www.sana.sy/ara/3/2011/10/21/376975.htm
October 21, 2011
New York - SANA
Patriarch of the Maronite Bishara al-Ra'i said that the Arab world, living in difficult circumstances, accurate and wished to get on the demands of the Arab peoples and their rights through dialogue, not conflict, civil war, away from all external interference here and there.
The Patriarch, in a speech in the Lebanese consulate in New York that he does not have an Arab Spring if the violence continues and the war continued as they claim innocent numerous, pay the price usually are the minorities will not be an Arab Spring if he dies, and one of the sons of this nation will not be an Arab Spring if we got to the civil wars or religious or sectarian.
al-Ra'i wished to return the Arab world to take his place in the international community as a scientist distinguish the unique character, a coexistence of the Islamic - Christian.
Respect rights, religious freedom in Mideast, Maronite patriarch urges
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1104165.htm
By Beth Griffin
Catholic News Service
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Unless Middle Eastern countries support religious freedom and respect human rights, the "Arab spring" movement will devolve into an "Arab winter," said Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai.
Patriarch Rai said the "Arab spring" movement holds much promise, but its leaders must "adopt a separation between religion and state." He said such a system exists in his native Lebanon and "respects all religions and all values of each religion."
"We wish to see freedom practiced in those countries. We wish to see the values of human rights and democracy implemented," he told a news conference Oct. 20 at the New York headquarters of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, a pontifical agency that supports the Catholic Church in the Middle East, North Africa, India and Eastern Europe.
"It's not easy to talk about democracy in the Western sense in countries that have a theocratic system. Christianity divides politics and religion, and we wish Islam and other religions to do the same," Patriarch Rai said.
Failure to do so will result in civil wars, such as the one in Iraq, he warned, and will lead to the rise of regimes "that are even more fundamentalist. This is something that will be to the detriment of everybody."
Patriarch Rai said conflicts between Israel and the Arab countries and between Israel and the Palestinians have had a negative impact on Christians.
"The Arab-Israeli conflict is at the level of religion and culture. The conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis is a conflict (about) a people whose sovereignty, whose land, was taken away, who were displaced and for 64 years have been promised by United Nations resolutions a right of return, but this has not happened," he said.
"In Lebanon, we have suffered from the presence of a half million Palestinian refugees, and the war in Lebanon in 1975 started with the Palestinians," he added.
He said the conflict led to injustice, oppression and the rise of fundamentalist movements in the region.
"The atmosphere that was created by those conflicts has impacted the Christian presence in the Middle East, causing some to leave for economic and security reasons," he said.
Speaking about Israel, Patriarch Rai said, "In this day and age of globalization, it is strange to see a nation that wants to be for one religion or one race because, automatically, you are excluding the others."
"There will be no peace in that part of the world until Judaism, Islam and Christianity separate church and state," he said.
Patriarch Rai said tolerance of Christians in the Middle East falls into three categories. In some countries, they have no rights to establish a church or maintain a presence. In other countries, such as Egypt, the church exists and Christians can worship, but religious life is difficult and there are restrictions on construction and repair of churches. The third category covers places where Christians live freely and are accepted, but freedom of conscience is not respected and people do not have the right to change religions.
Patriarch Rai stressed that Christians are not outsiders in the Middle East and were established there "and impacted society with their values" 600 years before Islam. They have contributed positively to their countries and should not be made scapegoats in any area.
He said the international community has a responsibility to limit the spread of fundamentalism in the world and encourage moderate people to take the lead in countries of the Middle East.
"The very large part of Islam is moderate," he added.
He said the church does "not side with any government or regime," but asks whoever is in power to respect the rights of the people and guarantee freedom of speech, religion and conscience.
Patriarch Rai said that in Lebanon, 18 distinct religious groups live together, "not in ghettoes." He said Lebanon is a sign of hope for peoples of the region, and "the church in Lebanon is considered a guarantee for the Christian presence for that part of the world."
Patriarch Rai, 71, was elected March 25 as the leader of the Lebanon-based Maronite church, which is the largest of the six Eastern Catholic patriarchal churches with an estimated 13.3 million members.
Since his installation, he has traveled throughout Lebanon, meeting Catholics, Muslims, Orthodox and Protestants. He described spontaneous gatherings of people of many faiths, carrying placards referring to him as the patriach of national unity and of political reconciliation.
Patriarch Rai's visit to New York concluded an inaugural U.S. trip that included pastoral events in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York. He met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Oct. 21.
Pope may visit Lebanon in 2012: report
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Oct-21/151870-pope-may-visit-lebanon-in-2012-report.ashx
October 21, 2011 12:39 PM
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Bkirki and the Vatican are preparing for a possible visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Lebanon in 2012, as part of the Catholic Church's strategy to protect Christians in the Middle East, Friday's As-Safir reported.
"The Maronite patriarchate and the Vatican are coordinating to discuss preparations for a possible by Pope Benedict's visit to Lebanon in 2012," the paper quoted Church sources as saying.
"This is part of the Vatican's new strategy to protect the Christian presence in Lebanon and the East," the Church sources said.
Sources added that the Vatican and Bkirki share the single priority of protecting the Christian presence in the Middle East, especially following recent developments in the region.
Egypt's military police drove armored vehicles into a crowd of Christians protesting against an attack on a church in southern Egypt earlier this month, resulting in the death of at least 25 people.
With the fall of Hosni Mubarak, fears have escalated that ultraconservative Salafists and other Islamic groups may be targeting Coptics, who make up 10 percent of Egypt's roughly 80 million people.
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai has also raised the alarm over the Christian presence in Syria, warning that the unrest there could threaten Christians should it lead to the Muslim Brotherhood taking power, or to civil war between Sunnis and Alawites.
"The Vatican and Maronite patriarchate have information about the increase in immigration in the number of Christian families from Syria and that some of these families have begun buying houses in Lebanon, Arab and other foreign countries for permanent residence due to developments in Syria," the paper reported.
The daily also said Rai's remarks, which sparked weeks-long debate in Lebanon, stem from information provided by the Vatican regarding the danger facing the Christian presence.
Rai later said his remarks were taken out of context and dismissed any concerns over the future of Lebanon's Maronite community.
Sources also said that Rai's main concern now is the creation of a new electoral law that can protect the presence of Christians in Lebanon.
"Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai is placing great importance on establishing a new electoral law given that this issue represents a primary step toward … lessening political dependence of Christians on other parties," the paper added.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has drafted a new electoral law based on proportional representation. The Cabinet has not discussed the draft law which Charbel has proposed be implemented for the upcoming 2012 parliamentary elections.
The current system in Lebanon is based on a winner-takes-all electoral system.
The paper also added that Bkirki aims to eliminate what it views as the political isolation of Christians and rid the country of foreign strategies, either Arab or foreign.
Khoury: Syria committed no violations since border undefined
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Oct-21/151879-khoury-syria-committed-no-violations-since-border-undefined.ashx
October 21, 2011 03:03 PM
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The Syrian-Lebanese Council's secretary-general said Friday that the Syrian army had not violated Lebanon's sovereignty during recent incidents, because they occurred in disputed areas where the borders between the countries have not been demarcated.
"There were no incursions into Lebanese territory from the Syrian army as it was claimed and you could easily ask the Lebanese army who is the responsible authority on the border," Nasri Khoury told reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Grand Serail.
"The area that was in the news is a common, disputed area and consequently we cannot determine whether it is Lebanese or Syrian because the borders have not been demarcated yet."
Earlier this month, a famer was killed in the northern town of Arsal when Syrian soldiers reportedly crossed several kilometers into Lebanese and shot in the direction of farms.
Arsal residents have reported several similar incursions. There have also been reports of Syrian troops crossing the border in the Wadi Khaled area.
Lawmakers from across the political spectrum have for several years been calling on the government to demarcate the border between Lebanon and Syria.
"What happened in Arsal is that there is a disputed area with each side claiming it belongs to them," Khoury said, adding that a committee from the council was working to resolve border demarcation issues.
Khoury also criticized the media coverage of the incidents, saying that most of the reports were not followed by official statements to support them, and added that the Lebanese and Syrian armies were coordinating on a daily basis on several border issues.
"I think that things are good between the two countries on all levels, regardless of all attempts to disrupt the relationship," he said.
باحثون وصحفيون مصريون: ما يبث حول سورية يثبت أن الإعلام يشهد فوضى وغيابا لأخلاقيات المهنة وبات أداة لخدمة أجندات خارجية
Egyptian journalists and researchers: what is broadcast on Syria proves that the media is a mess and the absence of the ethics of the profession and become a tool to serve the agendas of Foreign Affairs
http://www.sana.sy/ara/3/2011/10/21/376942.htm
October 21, 2011
Cairo, (SANA) -
A number of researchers and journalists, the Egyptians that what is broadcast on the situation in Syria from the events of fabricated facts and contrary to the fact proves that the media is a mess is unprecedented and an absence of ethics and the Charter of the profession where he became a tool of the forces controlled by and employed by service orientation ideological, political, or to carry out instructions or external links.
The director of the Center for the dawn of Strategic Studies in Cairo, Hussein Maaloum in a statement to SANA correspondent today that Mibut about the situation in Syria confirm a lie is because it is broadcast and facts fabricated in order to employ them to the trends of the way the media and funders, and perhaps dealing Western media and some Arab channels can be considered as an extreme example of political direction have where the use of those channels to amplify the small events of the Nile from Syria and its leadership, while completely ignoring the facts are in support of this leadership and show its support.
Maaloum said that the saying is do not lie down, where it is certain that the TV picture, which is trying the media presented as a mirror of reality and that it plays the role of the carrier objective of ongoing events is the kind of deception because it is in fact primarily concerned with making and provide a reality TV show unconditional considerations of ideology, political and economic .
Maaloum said that many of the images provided by the media but are subject to the interests of product news and see the political, ideological and trying to influence events across the image provided by claiming as fact what is happening in reality, which can be called a breakthrough media.
In turn, said Mohamed Voile deputy editor of the Republic, that some Western media is witnessing all forms of chaos unprecedented in the absence of commitment to ethics and the Charter of the profession and overlap and desires for the differences and friendships in the content and content of the message media, and directed to serve the goals of private or execution of the instructions or external links.
The Voile that this mess was not created after what happened in Egypt and Tunisia, but was present in one form or another but it is now taken to widen a plan to guide the masses in the direction of a particular or to suggest the events are not real and can be seen in the coverage of some channels to make Syria a living example of where it is amplified events or the use of old photographs or footage from other places to suggest reality is contrary to the truth of what is happening in Syria, and publish only what is negative and Tdkhmh while completely ignoring the positive events.
The Voile facts that occurred in Egypt, was published in a newspaper of the proceedings of the special places of ancient Egypt is Egyptian and say that it was exposed by the readers of Facebook and explained how it's transferred from Arab newspapers to bring in another country.
For his part, noted columnist Mustafa architecture that media freedom turned into a mess of many Arab media, and to achieve a hidden agenda of some political parties or currents, and often for some countries.
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