The occasion of the feast of the Resurrection and celebrated by Copts in Egypt next Sunday I hope that you will listen to the mouths and voices of all organizations and human rights bodies as well as individuals to meet the repeated demands on several occasions exemption Presidential some imprisoned Christians private Girgis Baromy accused falsely of raping a child Farshout where proven medical reports that he was suffering the address of the men, which means his lack of ability and sexual Ms. Demiana Obaid Abdel Nour Luxor teacher and cancel the sentence was in the right kids Bani Mazar who were accused of contempt of religion, according to the principle of equality and justice between the citizens of one nation have also been exempt from some Muslim prisoners in all their festivals and rituals or that there is nothing to prevent giving the President the right to exemption presidential Christians in their festivals recognized by the state.

    

When you kiss some one
You need to kiss them twice
The kiss has lots of meaning
It’s also very nice

Our life is full of kissing
In many different ways
Kiss the one that you love
You live a longer days

Kiss can make you happy
Kiss can make you cry
Kisses have lots of feelings
As long as you don’t lie
Your Mother is so special
Believe in me she is
My mother is no longer here
I’m kissing mum with tears
Happy mother’s day

NSM
After two weeks inside a Beirut jail Tara Brown,  Stephen Rice, David Ballment, Ben Williamson and Sally Faulkner are free.

The saga that began with a payment by the Nine Network ended the same way.  A last minute multi-million dollar deal secured by the network saw the five walk free after 9pm (AEST) last night.

Its been a heavy price to pay for Sally Faulkner who has agreed to relinquish all custodial rights to her two children, Lahela, 5 and Noah, 3 – grant husband Ali Elamine a divorce and give up a custodial application in the Family Court in Australia.

She also has given away the right to ever bring her children home, negotiating a deal where she can see her children in Lebanon, or in a third country – but never in Australia.

Nine executives worked to get paperwork and compensation payments done by 9pm AEST so that Brown, Rice, Ballment and Williamson could walk free just hours after Mr Elamine and his mother, Ibtissma Berri, agreed to drop kidnapping charges against the crew.

Rice, Williamson and Tallment were the first to leave prison with Brown and Faulkner joined them in a waiting van half an hour later.

There were smiles and hugs between the five tired looking Australians as a relieved crew finally tasted freedom.

The deal done, the payment – rumoured to be up to $3m – made  the 60 Minutes went straight to Beirut airport where they are currently waiting on a flight to return them home  to Australia.

Not with them was the four-person crew employed by Nine to undertake the child snatching or Sally Faulkner who will stay to make one final trip to visit her children, this time with the knowledge of their father so she could say good-bye.

Ms Faulkner will farewell her two children in the judges quarters in the next few days before she then returns to Australia to her husband and three-month-old baby, but not with her older two  Lahela and Noah, with whom she had just one night after the snatching took place.

Mr Elamine said in the end he was relieved the deal was struck.

“Sally did this out of motherly love. It just came to a scenario where if we dropped the case off Sal we had to drop the case off people who were not physically involved,’’ he said.

“At the end of the day it’s all for the kids. Down the line the kids might say: ‘Why did you keep Mum in jail?’ I don’t want that upon me. It’s for the best.”

“It sucks, the whole thing sucks. “ he said “No one wins here ... I told Sally she can come and go as she wants. She is the mother. The only thing we can do is cooperate to give them a better future. “

He said that the two children, who had admitted they wanted to be with their mother, had not known what had been going on.

“They don't know what has been happening these last two weeks ... I couldn't tell them anything.”

Mr Elamine said that he struck the deal as the crew “have families too.”

“They have children,' he said.

“Being a parent away from your children sucks, and that is another reason I want Sally to be out (of jail) because she has a three-month-old baby in Australia she needs to care for ... I don't want to come between them.”

It is reported that it was a “man to man” breakdown from Nine Network cameraman Ben Williamson that caused Mr Elamine cave in from his previously strong stance.

“Ben (Williamson) was a bit emotional and the sound recordist too and I put myself in their place: Ben was frustrated because he wasn’t seeing his own kids and I felt bad about that,’’ Mr Elamine said.

The Australian reports that that Mr Elamine, who had previously been accused of holding the parties to ransom by waiting for a significant financial settlement, may have received a payout in the “low single-digit millions”.

Mr Elamine told media he “did not sign anything, did not get anything”.

A second report in The Australian claims that Nine may have paid $3m to Mr Elamine.

According to Fairfax Media Judge Rami Abdullah refused to comment when asked if he could rule out a financial settlement taking place to break the deadlock.

Judge Rami Abdullah said he was still investigating the case despite the 60 Minutes crew and Ms Faulkner being released on bail.

“A crime has happened and everyone has a role in this affair,” Judge Abdullah said. He insisted that if formal charges were laid the crew had to return in person to Lebanon to face the charges.

Four men though did not fare so well. Mr Elamine continued his charges against the planner of the operation, Adam Whittington, and his crew: Craig Michael, ­Mohammed Hamza and Khaled Barbour.

They must remain in the country to face the charges.

Joe Karam, the lawyer for Mr Whittington and Mr Michael slammed the deal with Nine saying said it was not appropriate for Nine to exclude others involved in the operation from its deal-making.

It has been reported that Nine paid over $100,000 for the team to attempt to snatch the children.

“I am confused they didn’t include the people they asked to do the operation,” Mr Karam said.

“They were all a team: they came all together, they should leave all together.’’

The Department of Foreign Affairs, which has been helping Channel Nine with their negotiations in Beirut said in a statement:

"We are pleased to hear news of the release of Ms Faulkner and the four 60 Minutes crew members on bail. It is premature to comment on how soon the released Australians will be able to depart Lebanon, or any conditions attached to their release."

By Marcelle Mansour

Arab Council Australia (ACA) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and launched the Strategic Plan 2016-20120, on Thursday 31 March 2016 at ACA Bankstown.  In the presence of: The Honourable Mr David Clarke MLC- Member of the Legislative Council-Parliamentary Secretary for Justice and representing the Minister Hon John Akaka-for aging-Minister for Disability Services-Minister for Multicultualism; His Excellency Mr Ahmad Ait Issa-Minister of the Embassy of Morocco Canberra; Superintendent Dave Eardle-Commander Bankstown Local Area Command; Ms Melissa Johnston-Principal of Granville South Creative & Performing arts high School; and Ms Don Issa-Dupty Principal of the same school. 

More than a hundred people of Council members, guests, and heads of organizations, business owners, writers and artists, media representatives and community supporters attended the function.

Marcelle Mansour (Visual Artist and Writer of this article) performed the Master of Ceremony (MC). She gave an elaborate introduction about the Arab Council Australia’s history, and reflected on the efforts made in the past years. Marcelle explained how she is connected with this dynamic organization and its people for a long time, and described how the Council has grown significantly over the years and has taken new directions and initiatives that are responsive to the changing community environment. 

The event commenced with the launch of Council’s Strategic Plan 2016-2020 by the honourable David Clarke MLC, then the reconvened the 2015 AGM. The first part was held on 16 December 2015. On 31s of March 2016 was the second part of the 2015 AGM and Council reconvened it to present the full report about Council’s activities and elect a new Board and to launch Council’s new Strategic Plan for 2016 - 2020. Hopefully the Council will hold its AGM 2016 in the final half of this year.

Summary Reports were prepared and delivered by The Chairperson of Arab Council Australia, Ms Fatima Ali, before and after the Strategic Plan Launch, followed by the Treasurer Mr Amir Salem, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ms Randa Kattan. After the adoption of 2015 Annual Report, The election of the new Board of Management was conducted, overseen and reported by the Returning Officer, Dr Emad Berro, Pathologist and Microbiologist. 

The Hon Mr. David Clark MLC, spoke about how the Arab Council Australia has carried a heavy load in recent times, especially in the time of the increasing number of the Australian Arabic Speaking Communities who came from the most civilized culture of the world.  For the Arabic world is the cradle of science, medicine, astronomy and literature. In literature for example, Gibran Khalil Gibran is the third most widely read in the history after Shakespeare and Lao Tzu. Arab Council always welcomes and caters for everybody in need regardless to origin or religion.  The Hon Mr. Clarke also expressed his delightfulness for viewing such a great comprehensive strategic plan which has an inclusive clear vision and properly filled of fine details. The Hon Mr. Clarke congratulated Arab Council for their remarkable achievements and inclusiveness.

Ms Randa Kattan CEO, talked about the achievements and the challenges faced by the Council during the past years and the council efficient performances towards the objectives and goals.   She stated that Council has proved to be playing a significant role in presenting the interests of Arab Australians and in providing various services to the community. It is also worth mentioning that, Randa has been recognized as one of the top 21 Influential Women in 2015. Ms Kattan thanked and congratulated the staff and the Board for the commitment and hard work over the past year, looking forward to further achievements from this Council in the upcoming year and beyond. 

The audience were entertained by displaying a video of performance that was presented by the talented students of Granville South Creative & Performing Arts High School. Participants received token gifts of appreciation that say “Thank You”, including the Hon Mr. David Clarke MLC, Ms Melissa Johnston-Principal of Granville high School, Dr Emad Berro and Marcelle Mansour.

Marcelle took the opportunity to congratulate the staff and the new Board and thanked everyone who came along.

Refreshments were served and the event proved to be very successful due to the dedicated organisers, professional participants and wonderful attendees.

Physicians cannot explain why her eyesight was fully restored after prayers to St. Charbel Makhlouf of Lebanon
When Dafne Gutierrez, a 30-year-old blind mother of three, stood in front of a priest for a blessing, she felt there was someone standing on her right. Her family told her later that the priest was standing on her left side.
“There was somebody [on the right] touching me,” she told her sister-in-law, who responded, “But there was nobody close to you.”
“And ever since then I was feeling my body differently,” Gutierrez said in an interview Monday.
She was at St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church in Phoenix on a Saturday in mid-January for the visit of the relics of the St. Charbel Makhlouf, which were being brought around to many of the 36 Maronite parishes in the United States. Over the next couple of days her husband noticed something unusual about her. He asked her what the matter was. “You seem different,” he said.
Before dawn on Monday morning, she complained to him that it felt like her eyes were burning. Her husband noticed a smell in the room that resembled meat burning.
She tried opening her eyes. “I couldn’t see clearly, but I could see like shadows. I told him, ‘I can see you,’” she recalled.
Gutierrez had lived with Arnold Chiari malformation since she was 13. Two years ago she lost vision in her left eye, and then in her right eye last year. Doctors inserted a shunt to try to relieve the pressure, but that failed. Her headaches were “vise-like,” and she was afflicted with tinnitus, vomiting, dizziness and seizures. She was approved to go to a rehab/nursing facility because she couldn’t care for her children.
Her sister-in-law heard that the relics were coming and that St. Charbel had healed a blind boy in Mexico. Gutierrez is neither Maronite nor Lebanese, but as a woman of faith she prayed for the saint’s intercession. He’s had a great track record of healing, even after his death in 1898.
Not only was her vision restored, it was restored to 20/20, said Dr. Anne Borik, one of several physicians to examine Gutierrez. “The pressure in her brain got to the point where it caused damage to the optic nerve. After this happened, the optic nerve looked completely normal, with no signs of damage or atrophy,” she said in an interview “There’s nothing in the medical literature that anything like this had ever happened.”
She said that a long-standing damaged optic nerve causing blindness “does not just all of a sudden look normal in two days with complete restoration of vision.” According to the medical committee of which she was a member, she said, “We have no medical explanation and therefore believe this to be a miraculous healing through the intercession of St. Charbel.”
“God gave me my vision back for a reason,” Gutierrez said. “I want to be able to help others. I give testimony wherever I can because it’s important for people to know that God does exist and he does hear us. I tell people, ‘Don’t lose the faith. And the most important of all is confession, which brings you healing.’”
**John Burger is news editor for Aleteia’s English edition.