3 Denver Girls Played Hooky from School and Tried To Join ISIS
New Age Islam News Bureau
24
Oct 2014
The First International Seminar under the banner of ‘Muslim Women’s’ viewpoints’ to be held in London with Head of the World Forum for Proximity of the Islamic Schools of Thoughts
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• In West,
ISIS Finds Women Eager to Enlist
• Saudi
jails 4 women for preparing sons to "wage jihad, backing Qaeda"
• Pakistan:
For a Majority of Rape Victims, Justice Is Still Awaited
• Saudi to
Deal ‘Strictly’ With Female Drivers
• Malawi
Muslims Fight Sex Customs Fuelling AIDS
• India:
Chennai Public School Celebrates Malala Day
• Award
winner cites ‘unsung heroes’ in Pakistan press
• Iran
Acid Attacks: Authorities 'to Blame for Involving Islamic Law in Women's Lives'
• Yazidi
Female Fighter Recalls Horrifying ISIS Massacre
• Egyptian
Woman Arrested For 'Anti-Police' Facebook Page
• Pak SC
urges govt to protect lady health workers
• As
insurgency burns, revival of Thai south script points way to peace
• 1st
“Muslim Women’s’ Viewpoints” Seminar to Be Held in London
• Women,
Children Caught in Deadly Firefight near Tunis
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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3 Denver
Girls Played Hooky from School and Tried To Join ISIS
October
24, 2014
(CNN) --
The first indication that something was wrong was a phone call from his daughter's
Denver area school to let Assad Ibrahim know that she had not come to class.
He
dialed her cell. And she answered. But, officials say, she didn't tell him that
she was on her way to Syria to join ISIS.
She was
just late for class, that's all, Ibrahim's daughter told him on Friday,
according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, which filed a runaway
report.
The
American girl of Sudanese descent also kept quiet about her two girlfriends,
Americans of Somali descent, who were flying with her to Turkey by way of
Germany.
Two more
girls, sisters
Those
two had told their father, Ali Farah that they were going to the library.
But when
Farah got home from work, a visitor came calling, according to the documents.
Apparently, it was Ibrahim.
Farah
should check to see if his daughters' passports were missing, the visitor told
him -- just like his daughter's passport was.
Sure
enough, they were gone, along with $2,000 in cash.
The two
families called the FBI. They said they thought the girls were on their way to
Turkey.
The
agency put out a notice on their passports.
German
authorities intercepted the trio, ages 15, 15 and 17, at Frankfurt airport and
put them on a plane back to the United States, where they were greeted by FBI
agents.
The
three girls were questioned and released. Two U.S. officials say they had
planned to join militants with ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
A former
jihadist speaks out
Out of
the blue
The
girls' parents say they had no idea their children planned to travel. None of
them had ever run away before.
Their
disappearance hit them out of the blue, the way other ISIS related incidents
are popping up in the Western world. Two more turned up in tandem with the
girls' runaway attempt.
On
Monday, a radical convert to Islam in Canada ran down two soldiers in his car,
killing one of them. Martin Rouleau Couture, 25, then led police on a chase
before his car rolled into a ditch in the town of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu,
southeast of Montreal.
He
exited the car, and police shot him dead.
Back in
July, Couture, too, had tried to join foreign jihad, and Canadian police
arrested him on his way to Turkey. But they could not charge him and had to let
him go.
And this
week, a video turned up of a 17-year-old Australian boy standing with ISIS
fighters and threatening to behead Western leaders, including President Obama,
then fly the ISIS flag over the White House.
Colorado
teen pleads guilty in plan to join ISIS
ISIS'
draw
ISIS
has, for an anti-Western organization, been surprisingly attractive to young
recruits from the West, as well as to some young women.
More
than 100 of the foreign fighters have come from the United States, according to
intelligence estimates; hundreds more from Europe, which is geographically
closer to the fight.
Every week,
five more people from the UK alone join ISIS, a British police commissioner
said Tuesday. And that's a conservative estimate.
"We
know that over 500 British nationals traveled to join the conflict," said
Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe from the Metropolitan Police.
"Five
a week doesn't sound much, but when you realize there are 50 weeks in a year,
250 more would be 50% more than we think have gone already," he said.
To put
things into perspective, though, thousands more come from the Middle East and
Africa. More than 3,000 have joined from Tunisia.
Sense of
belonging
It's
more than just a radical interpretation of Islam that is drawing teens to the
extremely bloodthirsty militant group, a former CIA officer says.
"They're
often times searching for an identity, because what the jihadis are actually
pushing is a specific narrative, which is: Your people (Muslims) are being
oppressed in this place called Syria; your government is doing nothing; we're
the only ones who are actually going to help you out," said Aki Peritz.
"Why don't you join the fight?"
Richard
Barrett of The Soufan Group says many of the teens lack a sense of belonging
where they live, and they believe ISIS can give it to them.
"The
general picture provided by foreign fighters of their lives in Syria suggests
camaraderie, good morale and purposeful activity, all mixed in with a sense of
understated heroism, designed to attract their friends as well as to boost
their own self-esteem," he says.
And ISIS
constantly cranks the PR machine, making expert use of slick videos and social
media.
Echoing
back West
ISIS'
global digital reach has terror experts in the United States worried about
security at home as well.
There
are terrorist groups in Yemen and in Syria with stated ambitions of striking on
American soil, but another threat is more probable, says counterterrorism
expert Matt Olsen.
"I
would say the most likely types of attack is one of these homegrown violent
extremists or lone offenders in the United States, and (with) the rise of ISIS
and the number of people going to Syria...the likelihood does go up."
Self-styled
attackers like the Boston Marathon bombers could be the result.
The use
of the Internet makes terrorists more vulnerable to tracking, but that has
become more difficult since Edward Snowden revealed secret U.S. surveillance
programs.
Opinion:
What lures Americans to Syria fight?
Girls'
online activities
In
Denver, the 17-year-old girl was apparently the instigator of the trip, having
planned it for months, two U.S. officials said.
But all
three researched the plan online, visiting websites where extremists discuss
how to get to Syria. The online activity didn't set off any tripwires the FBI
typically uses to flag possible jihadist sympathizers, the officials said.
The FBI
is combing all of their communications to see if anyone was helping them. Their
parents think ISIS was behind the trip.
Investigators
are also not sure the girls had even worked out the final goal for their
travel.
As was
the case with the Canadian, Couture, the investigation into the travel will
probably not lead to charges, especially because the girls are minors, the two
U.S. officials said.
On
Monday, Sheriff's Deputy Evan Driscoll visited the two girls of Somali descent
in their home and had a conversation with them.
"The
girls explained that they stole the $2,000 and their passports from their
mother," he wrote in the runaway report.
They
wouldn't tell Driscoll why they flew to Germany.
The
deputy called dispatchers and had the girls' runaway listing removed.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/colorado-teens-syria-odyssey/index.html
-------------
In West,
ISIS Finds Women Eager to Enlist
By
STEVEN ERLANGER
October
24, 2014
LONDON —
The young Western Muslims trying to join radical Islamist groups in Syria and
Iraq now include increasing numbers of young women who are seeking to fight or
to become the wives of fighters. It is a new twist on a recruitment effort that
has led several thousand men from Europe and beyond to flock to the
battlefield.
In the
past week alone, the authorities reported two instances of women and girls
trying to get to Syria or take part in jihad. On Wednesday, the British police
arrested a 25-year-old woman north of London on suspicion of preparing
“terrorist acts” related to the fighting in Syria. Over the weekend, three
teenage girls from the Denver suburbs — two sisters of Somali descent and a
friend of Sudanese descent — were intercepted as they tried to travel to Syria.
Those
were the latest in a series of cases of young Muslim women from the West trying
to join militant groups like the Nusra Front or the Islamic State, also known
as ISIS or ISIL, which is waging a campaign to create a caliphate in Iraq and
Syria. The largest numbers of Western recruits have come from France and
Britain, but others have come from Austria, Belgium and Spain.
For
several months, the Islamic State has been making a concerted effort to enlist
women and girls. It is deploying female recruiters, producing new publications
and creating online forums.
The
precise number of women seeking to join the groups is unclear, but some
analysts estimate that roughly 10 percent of recruits from the West are women,
often influenced by social media networks that offer advice, tips and even
logistical support for travel.
These
networks often portray life under the caliphate as a kind of Islamic paradise
that offers a religious alternative to what can often be a second-class life of
struggle and alienation in the West. Female recruits often find the reality is
far different from that ideal.
While
some women are attracted to the idea of marrying a fighter, others “are joining
I.S. because it provides a new utopian politics, participating in jihad and
being part of the creation of a new Islamic state,” said Katherine E. Brown, a
lecturer in defense studies at King’s College London who studies the
phenomenon.
She
cited images on social media of female recruits cooking, chatting, caring for
children and meeting for coffee. At the same time, there are images of women
carrying automatic rifles, wearing suicide belts and even displaying severed
heads.
The
“combination of violence and domesticity” is important, Ms. Brown said, adding
that the women were politically engaged and often felt alienated by Western
life, mores and politics.
Just 10
days ago, an all-woman jihadist group calling itself Al Zawraa announced its
establishment on the Internet, saying that it sought to prepare women for jihad
by teaching them Shariah, weapons use, social media and other online tools,
first aid, sewing and cooking for male fighters (“the heroes of the religion”).
Al
Zawraa appears to be affiliated with the pro-Islamic State group Al Minbar
Jihadi Media Network, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors
extremist activities.
Continue
reading the main story
Historically,
women make up about 25 percent of the members of terrorist organizations as
diverse as the Irish Republican Army, Chechen fighters and the Tamil Tigers,
Ms. Brown said. But in the case of the Nusra Front and the Islamic State, the
figure is about 10 percent, more in line with the gender makeup of far-right
movements, she added.
Over the
past two years, “a maximum of 200 women” have traveled to Syria or Iraq from
Europe, she said. At least a quarter of those women traveled with members of their
families — husbands, brothers or fathers.
While
figures vary, at least 60 of the women are believed to be British, and more
than 70 are French. A majority are thought to be 18 to 25 years old.
Kamaldeep
Bhui, a professor of cultural psychiatry and epidemiology at Queen Mary
University of London, said that young Muslim women were as likely to be
radicalized as men. “There is an increasing epidemic of girls” wanting to join
jihad, he said at a briefing organized by the Science Media Center in London.
He found
that women with the highest risk of radicalization were most angry about
injustice and most tolerant of even violent forms of protest against it.
“The
group who sympathized were younger, in full-time education” and more
middle-class, Professor Bhui said. “They were more likely to be depressed and
socially isolated.”
Recent
migrants who were poorer and busier were less likely to have radical
sympathies, he said, in part because they remembered the problems of their
homelands.
Dounia
Bouzar, a French anthropologist, is the founder of the Center for the
Prevention of Sectarian Excesses Linked to Islam. In most cases, she found,
young women who seek jihad do not come from particularly religious families but
are good students who want to go to Syria to marry a devout Muslim or provide
humanitarian aid.
“There
is a mix of indoctrination and seduction,” Ms. Bouzar said. “They upload photos
of bearded Prince Charmings on Facebook.”
The
propaganda and messaging of the Islamic State are positive, a contrast to the
negative message coming from anxious governments, Ms. Brown of King’s College
London said.
“The
Islamic State offers a positive image and says: ‘You’re welcome here. Come join
us in the formation of an ideal state,’ ” Ms. Brown said. “But from Western governments,
it’s very negative, so they feel demonized constantly and alienated.”
Some of
the British women are reportedly running a sort of all-female religious police
force to monitor un-Islamic behavior in Raqqa, a Syrian city held by the
Islamic State. Other women have been posting on Twitter images of food,
restaurants and sunsets clearly intended to lure more recruits.
In
Colorado, friends and relatives of the three teenagers who were detained over
the weekend were struggling to understand why, according to federal officials,
they left the Denver suburbs to join Islamic State fighters in Syria.
Last
Friday, the two sisters stayed home from school and told their father that they
were heading to the library. The parents soon discovered that the girls were gone,
with their passports and $2,000 in cash.
The
reality of life inside the radical groups is often different, of course, from
the cheerful images on screens. The Islamic State is run by men and is strictly
patriarchal, with recruits separated by sex.
Ms.
Bouzar said some young women had found themselves confined to the home. “Some
see the massacres, the bombs, and understand that they’ve been had,” she said.
Others,
Ms. Brown pointed out, “find that life there is as mundane as in Birmingham or
Glasgow — except for the electricity blackouts and communal toilets and
beheadings.”
nce
inside Syria, they are married off to jihadists. Several who have tried to
return have found themselves prisoners, analysts said. They are forced to wear
head-to-toe robes with a niqab, a head scarf that covers the face.
According
to numerous interviews with Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria over
electronic services including email and Skype, women play an important role,
with wives — Syrian, Iraqi or foreign — often accompanying their husbands as
they move from post to post. Married fighters receive higher pay and holiday
bonuses, members say.
There
have been cases of men taking multiple wives, as well as accounts of rape,
forced marriage and women being sold into slavery.
In an
article in Foreign Policy, Aki Peritz and Tara Maller wrote that male jihadists
were “committing horrific sexual violence on a seemingly industrial scale,”
citing reports from the United Nations and Amnesty International.
The
Syrian government has long said that women are being recruited for “jihad
al-niqah,” or “sex jihad,” as some sheikhs argue that it is religiously
permitted to have sex with fighters to help them in their duties.
Several
female Islamic State supporters said that was a myth, and that women were
joining the group to provide substantive help such as medical treatment, social
media advice and cooking.
“I know
some sisters who emigrated to Syria a couple of times to help the holy
warriors,” said Umm Fatimah, a Tunisian woman who said she hoped to join two
brothers fighting with the group. “And not for jihad al-Nikah.”
The
family of one young French girl in Syria, Nora el-Bathy, 15, said she was
desperate to come home. Her brother, Fouad, said that she had expected to work
in a hospital but that instead she was babysitting for the children of
jihadists.
The
family, which lives in Avignon in the south of France, had no idea that she had
become radicalized, or that she would leave her home dressed as usual, only to
change into a full-length covering on the way to school.
“We were
completely unaware,” said Fouad, who has since seen pictures of Nora fully
veiled that were taken by her friends. “We did not know that she had a double
life.”
Reporting
was contributed by Suzanne Daley and Rukmini Callimachi from New York; Jack
Healy from Denver; Maïa de la Baume from Paris; Ben Hubbard, Hwaida Saad and
Anne Barnard from Beirut, Lebanon; and Alan Cowell and Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura
from London.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/world/europe/as-islamists-seek-to-fill-ranks-more-western-women-answer-their-call.html
-------------
Saudi
jails 4 women for preparing sons to "wage jihad, backing Qaeda"
24 Oct
2014
Four
women in Saudi Arabia have been jailed for preparing their sons to wage war and
for supporting Al-Qaeda, official media said, in the kingdom's latest
"terrorist" convictions.
They
were sentenced to between six and 10 years in prison, the Saudi Press Agency
reported late Wednesday following the verdicts.
It said
a court convicted the women on charges including "preparing some of their
sons to fight in conflict areas believing that it is required by Islam".
They
were also found guilty of "supporting Al-Qaeda", accessing blocked
Internet sites, and downloading "audio-visual material related to fighting."
It did
not say when the offences occurred or give the nationalities of the accused,
although three were issued with travel bans, suggesting they are Saudi
nationals.
The
kingdom's top cleric, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, has urged young Muslims not
to be influenced by "calls for jihad... on perverted principles".
He has
described Al-Qaeda and IS jihadists as "enemy number one" of Islam.
Authorities
in 2011 established specialised tribunals to try Saudis and foreigners accused
of belonging to Al-Qaeda or of involvement in deadly attacks in the kingdom
from 2003-2006.
The
latest convictions come with Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours participating
in US-led air strikes against Islamic State group extremists in Syria.
King
Abdullah in February decreed jail terms of up to 20 years for citizens who
travel abroad to fight, after the conflict in Syria attracted hundreds of
Saudis.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/113808/World/Region/Saudi-jails--women-for-preparing-sons-to-wage-jiha.aspx
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Pakistan:
For a Majority of Rape Victims, Justice Is Still Awaited
October
24, 2014
ISLAMABAD:
The tiny village of Rampur Awal in Mirwala, Punjab, is a cauldron of shame. Its
residents can’t seem to shake off the stigma of the repeated rape of fourteen-year-old
R* by her stepfather, who allegedly also forced her to abort twice.
“I don’t
want to live anymore. Repeated rape and later abortions brought shame upon me,”
R told The Express Tribune via phone.
Six
months have passed but the local police have failed to arrest the 49-year-old
culprit, Shah Nawaz, who is a landlord in the village.
A senior
police officer, who was investigating R’s case at Jatoi police station
Muzaffargarh, confirmed the case, adding that it ‘looked genuine’. “But an
influential local landlord is a stumbling block in the proceeding of this
case,” he said, while requesting anonymity.
R is the
latest addition to Mukhtar Mai Shelter Centre for Rape Victims in Mirwala,
Muzaffargarh.
“Nobody
listens to rape victims now residing in my shelter,” said Mukhtar Mai, a social
worker, who was herself subjected to gang rape in 2002. She asked as to how the
rapist in R’s case managed to elude the police for six months.
“The
chief justice is the only hope for R and other rape victims living here in my
shelter,” she said.
However,
‘R’ and other inmates of Mukhtar Mai’s centre are not the only rape victims
seeking justice. According to statistics provided by Ministry of Interior, more
than 14, 583 rape cases were registered in the country during the last five
years but only 1, 041 (7%) rapists are convicted by courts so far.
Punjab
province witnessed 12, 796 (88%) rape cases during this period while 1, 077
(7%) cases were registered in Sindh, said the official figures available with
The Express Tribune.
The
stats reveal that more than 458 (3%) rape cases were registered in
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), 92 in Balochistan, 60 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir
(AJK), 11 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 90 cases were registered in Islamabad Capital
Territory.
Last
year, the figures of rape victims shot up as compared to previous years.
Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Sughra Imam also raised this issue in the
Senate.
More
than 222 rape victims got registered their cases with various police stations
while only three accused were convicted in Sindh last year. In 2012, 143 rape
cases were registered but only six accused were convicted in the province.
Over 108
rape complaints were lodged in K-P last year while police registered only 54
rape cases in the province. Interestingly, not a single accused was convicted
by courts in the province.
Since
2008, only one accused was convicted in federal capital, which witnessed 28
rape cases last year. Three rapists were convicted by the courts in the AJK
while five persons have been convicted in the G-B in last five years.
Farkhanda
Aurangzeb of Aurat Foundation – who has also served at the senior most post in
women development ministry – said unreported rapes are a silent shame for the
state where majority of cases are still pending with the courts.
She
stressed on promptly addressing the loopholes in existing laws dealing with
such crimes. “Rape victims can’t get justice until laws are amended. Rapists
must be punished and process of implementation on amended laws must be enforced
by the government,” she said.
“Waderas
and landlords are usually involved in such crimes and no one dares to pursue
cases against them,” she observed.
*name
withheld
http://tribune.com.pk/story/780333/at-large-for-a-majority-of-rape-victims-justice-is-still-awaited/
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Saudi to
Deal ‘Strictly’ With Female Drivers
October
24, 2014
Female
drivers in Saudi Arabia will be dealt with “strictly”, authorities said on
Thursday before a right-to-drive campaign culminates at the weekend.
The
kingdom is the world’s only country where women are not allowed to operate
cars.
Activists
said in early October they were revving up their campaign using social media.
But the
interior ministry said it will “strictly implement” measures against anyone who
“contributes in any manner or by any acts, towards providing violators with the
opportunity to undermine the social cohesion”.
The
statement was carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
Activists
have encouraged women to post pictures of themselves driving on Twitter under
the hashtag #IWillDriveMyself, as well as on Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp.
More
than 2,700 people have signed an online petition.
Activists
told AFP that every day “two or three” women have shared pictures of themselves
driving via WhatsApp.
But they
say nothing special is expected for the campaign’s peak on Sunday.
“We just
ask the ladies who need to drive, to drive as usual on the 26th” or on another
day, said one activist, Nasima al-Sada.
Aziza
al-Yussef, who says she runs errands in her car two or three times a week, said
the campaign was about “raising the voice” and making their demand heard -- but
not by doing anything illegal such as a demonstration.
Activists
argue that women’s driving is not against the law.
Tradition
and custom are behind the prohibition, which is not backed up by an Islamic
text or judicial ruling, the online petition states.
Last
year, activists also focused their demands on October 26 -- which they simply
call a “symbolic” date as part of efforts to press for women’s right to drive.
At least
16 were fined for taking the wheel on that day.
Saudi
women still need permission from a male guardian to work and marry, while
restaurants are divided into “family sections” and separate areas for single
men.
The
ultra-conservative Wahhabi Islamic tradition is predominant in the kingdom,
where it applies to both religious and political life.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/10/23/Saudi-to-deal-strictly-with-female-drivers-.html
-------------
Malawi
Muslims Fight Sex Customs Fuelling AIDS
October
24, 2014
LILONGWE
– As HIV and AIDS pandemic continues to wreck havoc in Malawi, Muslim
traditional leaders in the southern African nation have ganged up to
“eradicate” some cultural practices which are said to be fuelling the spread of
this deadly disease in the highly impoverished country.
“There
are some cultural beliefs and customs which we have allowed to take root in our
societies since time immemorial,” Senior Chief Kadewere from a predominantly
Muslim south told OnIslam.net.
“These
include forcing teenage boys who are straight from initiation ceremonies to
sleep with teenage girls after puberty. These girls are also forced to have
sexual intercourse with older men after puberty or after going through
initiation ceremonies,” he added.
Malawi
has one of the highest HIV and AIDS prevalence rates in the sub-Saharan Africa
with women and children bearing much of the brunt.
Poverty
has been singled out as the main factor aggravating the spread of the disease.
Nevertheless,
outdated traditional customs have been a stumbling block in the face of efforts
to eradicate HIV and AIDs.
“As
times have evolved, we have discovered that these customs and beliefs are
outdated and can no longer be entertained. These cultural practices are the
ones aiding the spread of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in most of the societies in
this country,” said Kadewere.
“We
can’t allow these to continue particularly at this time when we are struggling
with the pandemic. These beliefs have put the lives of women and girls at risk
of contacting the pandemic.”
Therefore,
Muslim traditional leaders decided to shoulder the responsibility of spreading
awareness about the dangers of such practices, spreading true values of Islam.
“It is
for this reason that as Muslim traditional leaders we have taken the lead to
sensitize our communities on the dangers of these practices. As custodians of
cultural values, we have taken this initiative to fight against these beliefs,”
said Kadewere.
“We
believe that as traditional leaders, we have a moral responsibility to guide
our subjects on proper conduct and life styles particularly at this time, when
the HIV and AIDs pandemic shows no signs of abating.”
The
traditional leader said chiefs were being mobilized to hold sensitization meetings
with their subjects and faith leaders who include Christians to raise awareness
on the risks of these cultural beliefs.
“The
traditional leaders and faith leaders are taking these messages to their
followers through Mosques and Churches. Since we launched this initiative, we
have not heard of much of these cases. Almost everybody seems to be aware of
the consequences. This initiative has also reduced numbers of early pregnancies
among girls. We are on course to rid our societies of these practices.”
Step in
Right Direction
Muslim
efforts have been praised by key stakeholders in the fight against HIV and AIDS
in the country.
“This is
a step in the right direction. The move Muslim chiefs have taken mean a lot in
the fight against the pandemic.” Mara Kumbweza Banda, National Chairperson of
the National AIDS Commission (NAC), told OnIslam.net.
“Chiefs
have an influence over their subjects and therefore the importance of this
initiative can’t be overemphasized. We highly commend this development.
“What’s quite
pleasing is that these traditional leaders also have an influence in the Muslim
community which means that we are tackling this problem from a religious
perspective as well. As a commission, we stand in solidarity with them as we
work to reduce risks of women and children and above all of the whole
humanity,” said Kumbweza Banda.
“It is
high time we shed off some of our beliefs and customs mainly those which are
harmful to the young children and women. We need to take precautionary measures
in our societies, if we are to minimize the spread of HIV and AIDS.”
Islam is
the second largest religion in the country after Christianity. Muslims account
for 36% of the country’s 16 million population.
The
World Bank rates Malawi as one of the World’s poorest nations whose majority
poor struggle to survive on less than US$1 a day.
“The
resistance from some quarters is very strong. However, we are motivated by the
level of support that we are getting from the communities,” said Kadewere.
“We are
going to achieve what we are intending to do against all odds. We are not going
to rest until the battle has been won.”
His
counterpart, Traditional Authority Nkalo agrees that in the past, these
practices were a “way of life” in his area.
“Before
this in initiative was rolled off, these practices were a way of life. People
would do this for fun. But in the long run, people have realized that of the
harm this was causing to the communities, that’s why most of them are in
support of this undertaking. These practices are slowly fading away,” Nkalo
told OnIslam.net.
http://www.onislam.net/english/news/africa/478877-malawi-muslims-fight-sex-customs-fueling-aids.html
-------------
India:
Chennai Public School Celebrates Malala Day
October
24, 2014
CHENNAI:
A 17-year-old Muslim girl from Pakistan named Malala Yousafzai is celebrated
across the globe today. Though young, she has an undaunted spirit and a strong
conviction that made her speak out to make education possible for girls.
Chennai
Public School, Thirumazhisai, acknowledged the work of Malala and celebrated
her accomplishment by naming October 14 ‘Malala Day’. The whole exercise was to
invalidate the myth that young girls cannot have international acclamation.
Every child will not only draw confidence and inspiration but will learn to
stand up for their convictions.
One thousand students from Classes I-X came
together to make a human chain to symbolise Malala’s work. Students made a
formation representing Malala holding aloft a book. The school aspires to
develop more Malalas.
Conceived
by school Principal Stella Pauline Punitha and ably coordinated by the
coordinators Lakshmi Venkat, Radhika, Rachel Renuka and headmistress Dr
Meenakshi, the day saw all the students, particularly girls, emulate Malala in
their spirit and movement.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/education/student/School-Celebrates-Malala-Day/2014/10/24/article2490973.ece
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Award
winner cites ‘unsung heroes’ in Pakistan press
24 October 2014
The
Pakistani journalist honored for courageous reporting on Thursday spoke out
against "brutality" against reporters in her country as she expressed
hope for greater freedom for the news media.
Asma
Shirazi, Pakistan's first female war correspondent and host of popular TV talk
shows, made the comments as she accepted the 2014 Peter Mackler Award for
Courageous and Ethical Journalism.
Shirazi
said she was encouraged by the recognition but noted that the country remains
one of the most dangerous in the world for news reporters, with 99 journalists
killed in the line of duty since 2000.
Journalists
in Pakistan "are working in an environment where they could be killed
anytime," she told the award ceremony at the National Press Club in
Washington.
'I
dedicate this award to the unsung heroes of journalism in Pakistan who
sacrificed their lives for the cause of their profession."
She said
this includes many working in remote ares who "are endangering their lives
on every spur of the moment."
The
situation is one of "extreme gravity," she said, noting that
reporters have been beheaded, tortured, and killed in suicide bombings.
"Despite
these dangers and difficulties, Pakistani journalists continue unabated with
the task at hand, to give voice to the voiceless, to speak truth to power and
to tell everybody the everyday story of our life," she said.
She
added that the prize offers "an opportunity to raise my voice against the
brutality that journalists in Pakistan are subjected to."
"I
expect this award to promote the true meaning of courage and ethical journalism
in Pakistan," she added.
Pamela
Constable, the Washington Post journalist who introduced Shirazi, praised the
recipient for her dedication.
"Its
not easy to be a woman in Pakistan, and it's not easy to be a journalist who is
committed to speaking or writing the truth," she said. "It's
especially hard to be both."
The
award, named for the late AFP journalist Peter Mackler, is administered by
Global Media Forum in partnership with AFP and Reporters Without Borders.
Shirazi
reported on conflicts that include the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, Taliban
violence on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in 2009 and General Pervez
Musharraf's 2007 state of emergency.
She also
hosted two popular television talk shows, including one on parliamentary
affairs that Musharraf banned when he clamped down on independent news
coverage.
Pakistan
is currently ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index
published by Reporters Without Borders.
Shirazi
is the sixth recipient of the award, and the first from Pakistan. Last year's
winner was Sudanese journalist Faisal Mohammed Salih.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/media/print/2014/10/24/Award-winner-cites-unsung-heroes-in-Pakistan-press.html
------------
Iran
Acid Attacks: Authorities 'to Blame for Involving Islamic Law in Women's Lives'
October
24, 2014
More
than 2,000 people have taken to the streets of Iran to protest against a surge
in acid attacks in the country. The protests were staged in the city of Isfahan
where at least four women were disfigured with acid last week.
According
to police Chief Gen. Ismaeil Ahmadi Moghaddam, eight episodes of acid attacks
occurred in the area in the last few months.
Investigators
said that the assailants used the same modus operandi of throwing acid at the
women in cars while riding motorbikes. The authorities believe the similar
nature of the attacks suggests that they were carried out by the same people,
but added that the motive was still unknown.
However,
local media and protesters suggested that the women were disfigured because
they did not follow the dress code implemented in the country. According to
Iranian Islamic law, women are required to wear the Hijab – a garment which
covers head and chest, with the exception of the face – and to cover legs, arms
and torso when they are in public.
London-based
political activist and journalist, Professor Reza Moradi, said that the
thousands of people who rallied demanded "an end to the involvement of the
law in women's life in general and safety for women."
Speaking
to IBTimes UK, he said: "Attacks took place in the street targeting random
women who were not 'properly veiled'.
"Thousands
of men and women protested and accused the authorities for the outrageous act;
the government has been passing laws and urging police to tackle 'civil
disobedience' (improper veiling and rejection of Islamic dress code). So it is normal to hold the authorities
accountable for the actions and for not safeguarding the society against such
attacks."
Acid
Throwing Widespread Worldwide
Acid
throwing is often carried out to disfigure people, not to kill them. The
practice is not frequent in Iran, but it is largely widespread in Asian and
Middle Eastern countries such as India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan,
and also some areas of South America and Africa.
A 2013
report warned about the surge in similar attacks in Italy. In one episode, a
woman who was pregnant with twins was attacked and burned with acid while she
was parking her car near a clinic in Milan.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iran-acid-attacks-authorities-blame-involving-islamic-law-womens-lives-1471481
-------------
Yazidi
Female Fighter Recalls Horrifying ISIS Massacre
October
24, 2014
A Yazidi
woman, who believes she has lost her family in a massacre in which Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants reportedly killed hundreds of the
ethnic minority community in northern Iraq, has taken up a fight against the
militants group and is determined to reclaim her land back.
“I will
never forgive! I have promised myself that before I die I will return to
Shengal,” Robjon told Kurdish journalist Khazar Fatemi in a video report
published in the Huffington Post, referring to her hometown, from which she
managed to escape before it was completely seized by ISIS.
She has
taken up arms with YPG, the national army of Syria’s Kurdistan, and joined
their fight against the group.
“They
had killed some 600 men and kidnapped the women and kids,” Robjob said.
ISIS
revealed earlier this month that it was selling Yazidi women, which were
kidnapped earlier.
Recalling
the horrifying events prior to the massacre that took place last August, Robjon
said that she managed to escape with others to Mount Sinjar located west to
Iraq’s Mosul, but her entire family was stuck in the town.
“When I
got to the [Sinjar] mountain I called them. They said ‘we are surrounded we
can’t get out!’... The next time I called they didn’t answer,” she said with
tears in her eyes.
“A few
days later we were informed that everyone in our village had been killed,” she
added.
The
young woman has been playing tough and trying to remain focused on her fight,
but it was clear that her heart was burning just by the thought of her family.
“I
always feel like crying. I hide behind a wall so my friends won’t see me, and I
cry… I think about my little sister and wonder what ISIS did to her,” she said.
Further
threat
ISIS
militants besieged about 700 Yazidi families in Mount Sinjar, where those who
escaped had sought refuge, security sources told Al Arabiya News Channel last
Monday.
Meanwhile,
head of the spiritual council for Yazidis, Tahsin Ali Saeed, pleaded the
international community to help protect his people from “extermination.”
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/10/23/Yazidi-female-fighter-shares-recalls-horrifying-ISIS-massacre.html
-------------
Egyptian
Woman Arrested For 'Anti-Police' Facebook Page
October
24, 2014
An
Egyptian woman has been arrested for launching a Facebook page allegedly
inciting “violence against the police and army,” Egypt’s daily al-Ahram
reported.
The woman,
who was the administrator of the page dubbed “The Revolutionary Alliance,”
called on Egyptians to attack governmental infrastructures including banks,
police vehicles and other public properties, al-Ahram and MENA news agency
reported.
Following
her arrest, the 35-year-old reportedly admitted she was a supporter of the
Muslim Brotherhood and that she was in contact with one of its member hidden in
Turkey.
The
suspect also reportedly said that the Brotherhood figure was giving her orders
for attacks.
International
and Egyptian rights groups have expressed alarm over an increasingly broad
crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood members by authorities since then-army chief
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi seized power in July 2013.
Thousands
of Brotherhood supporters are in jail and the state crackdown over the past
year has expanded to include liberal and secular activists who played a leading
role in the 2011 uprising that toppled Husni Mubarak.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/media/digital/2014/10/23/Egyptian-woman-arrested-for-anti-police-Facebook-page.html
-------------
Pak SC
Urges Govt to Protect Lady Health Workers
October
24, 2014
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court has directed federal and provincial authorities to ensure the
protection of lady health workers (LHWs) and make sure no harassment incident
takes place as the LHWs go from pillar to post to obtain their letters of job
regularisation.
The
court also directed the authorities to ensure that the job letters are
dispatched directly to the residences of lady health workers, hence nullifying
the chances of any illegal or unethical demand being made for the handing over
of these letters.
The
two-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, was
hearing a suo motu case on Thursday regarding the regularisation of hundred and
six thousand lady health workers.
The
bench has also sought affidavits from federal and provincial secretaries of
health that all the letters have been delivered to the lady health workers at
their residences.
Justice
Khawaja asked the representatives of lady health workers to lodge cases against
officials, who are harassing them in government offices. Lamenting over the
miseries of the workers, he asked Attorney General of Pakistan that for how
long the poor people would be humiliated.
The
bench has also taken notice over the delay in payment of salaries of 322 lady
health workers in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
On the
last date of hearing, the court was surprised to know that lady health workers
in ICT have not received the salaries even for the month of June so far.
The
bench asked AGP that why the court was falsely informed that lady health
workers in ICT got the salary of the said month. Justice Khawaja warned that
the court will not spare anyone in fundamental rights issues. The hearing of
the case was adjourned until November 21.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/780308/discouraging-harassment-sc-urges-govt-to-protect-lady-health-workers/
-------------
As
insurgency burns, revival of Thai south script points way to peace
October
24, 2014
Saiburi
(Thailand) (AFP) - A high-pitched chorus pours out from a Muslim nursery school
in Thailand's insurgency-battered south, as girls in crisp, white Hijabs read
aloud the curls and flourishes of a home-grown script virtually erased from public
life.
Thailand
annexed the Muslim-majority south more than a century ago and ever since has
sought to railroad the distinctive local culture into accepting rule from
Bangkok.
Resentment
at the perceived assault on the region's identity has galvanised support for an
insurgency that has left 6,100 people dead -- the majority civilians -- since
2004.
Jawi
(pronounced Yawi by Thais), which deploys the Arabic alphabet to write the
Patani Malay language, is used by elders and taught to youngsters at private Muslim
schools in the southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
But
repeated assimilation drives mean it is not on the curriculum in state schools
while village names once written in jawi have been changed to Thai, leaving
locals desperate to revive the writing -- and the cultural lineage it
represents.
"We
have to preserve our cultural uniqueness," says local historian Ismail
Ishaq Benjasmith at the end of jawi classes at a tadika -- religious school --
in the coastal Saiburi district of Pattani.
"It
is a small issue but it feeds into violence, because our history has been
changed by the government and little by little people get angry."
Like
many others in the mountainous, forested neck of land between Thailand and
Malaysia, Ismail says years of cultural degradation have crystallised support
for the rebellion.
In a
move to restore the much-loved script he is leading a campaign to bring jawi
names back onto village signposts.
After a
slalom through barbed-wire topped checkpoints, the road reaches a fishing
village on a palm-fringed beach.
A
signpost reads 'Mengabang' in the romanised rumi script for Malay common across
the peninsula, but the name is also written below in jawi and Thai.
It is a
small, but deeply symbolic, victory for Ismail who with a local cultural group
called PUSTA lobbied for 10 villages to get a jawi sign.
The
former top Thai civilian official for the south, Tawee Sodsong, endorsed the
pilot scheme in a rare nod by the state to the underlying causes of the
conflict.
But
Tawee was removed from his job shortly after the army toppled the elected
government in May, taking with him Ismail's dream of seeing all 2,000 villages
across the south given their jawi name.
The
script, which has variations across the Malay peninsula, is far from simply a
cultural relic, also functioning as a way into the Koranic language of Arabic
for the poorly educated Sunni Muslim population.
But as
children stream out of their language classes, the sea breeze sending their
hijabs flowing behind them, Ismail says now only the old or very young have a
grasp of the script.
"Our
ancestors tell us about our history, our language, but the government wants to
tell us a different story."
Colonial
rule has seen several attempts to impose "Thainess" and the country's
shibboleths of 'nation, religion and king' over the deep south -- once a proud
sultanate and wealthy trading point.
Field
Marshall Plaek Phibunsongkhram, Thai prime minister through the late 1930s and
then again from the late 40s, made Thai language teaching compulsory on the
school curriculum, parachuting Buddhist officials into key bureaucratic
positions, at the expense of local Malay-Muslim leaders.
Jawi was
gradually culled from public life and locals were told to take Thai names -- in
addition to their own.
In the
1960s hard-line military ruler Sarit Thanarat went a step further, bringing all
Muslim schools under the yoke of the national system.
To many
the memory of those periods, which were accompanied by crackdowns on
resistance, remains sharp.
"If
you have something of your own and then someone takes it, it's natural to want
to take it back," says Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman, 54, a local businessman
involved in the renaming project.
Several
rounds of peace talks fizzled out last year as focus turned to political
turmoil in Bangkok. Now, junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha says he is ready to
return to the table.
But
trust is in short supply.
On
Saturday the deep south will mark the 10th anniversary of the deaths of 85
anti-government protesters at Tak Bai, the majority of them by suffocation as
they were stacked -- hands bound -- on top of each other in army trucks.
Thai
security forces stand accused of widespread human rights violations, including
arbitrary arrests, abuses and extra-judicial killings.
For their
part, rebels conduct near-daily ambushes or bomb attacks on security forces and
terrorise civilians -- both Buddhist and Muslim -- with assassinations and
arson attacks.
Teachers
have been a particular target, with scores shot dead by insurgents who see them
as agents of the Thai state.
A source
close to the talks told AFP the rebels are "in principle" ready to
talk, but have yet to formally agree.
Locals
such as Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman say peace depends on the Thai military easing
its grip on the region, but they are desperate for a resolution to the bloody
conflict.
"We
are ready for a change, ready for peace... but after so long I don't know if we
will get it," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/insurgency-burns-revival-thai-south-script-points-way-054254317.html
-------------
1st
“Muslim Women’s’ Viewpoints” Seminar to Be Held in London
October
24, 2014
The 1st
International Seminar under the banner of “Muslim Women’s’ viewpoints” to be
held in UK Capital City of London on Friday October 23 with Head of the World
Forum for Proximity of the Islamic Schools of Thoughts, Ayatollah Mohsen Araki
in attendance.
The
seminar to be mounted and held by the cooperation of the Global Association of
Muslim Women, the World Forum for Proximity of the Islamic Schools of Though
and London Islamic Center.
It is
worthwhile noting that the Global Association of Muslim Women which is titled,
from now on, ‘association’ in this Statute, is a global, nonprofit and
nongovernmental organization which aims at improving and enriching the
participation of Muslim women so as to forward objectives in global peace
arena.
Informing
female thinkers and pundits and Muslim elites in addition to furthering
understanding among them in the realms of religion, culture, society and
politics Is of objectives this association tries to fulfill
The
Global Association of Muslim Women also tries to utilize the potential and
activated capacity of active female thinkers and pundits and Muslim women in
the world to further unity and rapprochement among Muslims.
http://www.abna.ir/english/service/europe/archive/2014/10/23/646259/story.html
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Women,
Children Caught in Deadly Fire Fight near Tunis
October
24, 2014
Women
and children were caught up Thursday in a police siege of a home near the
Tunisian capital where security forces were fighting a gun battle with
"terrorists" in which a policeman died.
The
shootout came amid heightened security for fear of an upsurge in jihadist
violence in the run-up to a parliamentary election on Sunday, the first since
Tunisia's 2011 revolution.
At least
two women and an unknown number of children were inside the house in the town
of Oued Ellil on the outskirts of Tunis where a group was exchanging gunfire
with security forces, the interior ministry said.
"There
are at least two men, at least two women and children (in the house). We also
have information on the presence of explosives," ministry spokesman
Mohamed Ali Aroui said.
"We
have asked that they send out the children and women," he said.
Police
have been besieging the house for hours, exchanging fire with what authorities
described as a "terrorist group".
One
policeman was killed in the fire fight.
Aroui
did not describe the women and children as hostages, saying one of the women
was the "wife of one of the terrorists".
"Our
agent died of a bullet wound in the eye sustained in clashes with a terrorist
group," a police official told AFP at the scene.
With
security beefed up ahead of the election, Aroui told Mosaique FM radio police
had also clashed earlier Thursday with two "terrorists" in Kebili,
500 kilometres (300 miles) south of Tunis.
The
suspects were arrested after killing a private security guard in the gunfight,
he said.
The
operation in Oued Ellil was launched based on information extracted from the
two suspects, said Aroui.
The
suspects had been "preparing operations in the area," he said, adding
that two Kalashnikov assault rifles had been seized.
Elsewhere,
two soldiers were lightly wounded in a roadside bomb blast in Sakiet Sidi
Yussef near the Algerian border, defence ministry spokesman Belhassen Oueslati
said.
The
parliamentary election is seen as crucial to restoring stability in the North
African nation, the cradle of the Arab Spring revolutionary movements.
Since
the 2011 uprising that ousted veteran strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali,
Tunisia has seen a proliferation of Islamists suppressed under the former
autocratic president and the emergence of militant groups.
The
jihadists have been blamed for a wave of attacks, including last year's
assassination of two leftist politicians whose murders plunged the country into
a protracted political crisis.
Jihadist
groups have in the past three years killed dozens of Tunisian soldiers and
police, especially in violence in remote mountain areas on the border with
Algeria.
The
government has ordered the deployment of tens of thousands of soldiers and
police for election day.
On
Monday, Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou said the authorities had foiled
plots to bomb factories and attack foreign missions.
In an
interview with AFP, the leader of Tunisia's moderate Islamist movement said the
country's transition to democracy served as an example of how to defeat
extremists such as the Islamic State jihadist group.
"The
success of the Tunisian experience is in the international interest, especially
in the fight against extremism and the fight against Islamic State and similar
groups," Ennahda head Rached Ghannouchi said.
"The
Tunisian model is the alternative to the Daesh model... This Tunisian model...
brings together Islam and secularism, Islam and democracy, Islam and freedom
for women," he said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group
which has seized swathes of Iraq and Syria.
"One
of the best ways to fight terrorism is to advocate moderate Islam because
terrorism is based on an extremist interpretation of Islam," said
Ghannouchi, whose party has emerged as the leading political force in Tunisia
since the fall of Ben Ali.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/141023/women-children-caught-deadly-firefight-near-tunis
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