Zebulon Simentov, Thought To Be Afghanistan's Last Jew Flees Country
New
Age Islam News Bureau
30
October 2021
• Turkish Women From 81 Provinces Walk To Support Victims Of Terrorism
• Rusnah
Aluai , PKR MP Apologises For Saying Drinking Timah Whiskey Is Like ‘Drinking
Malay Women’
• Jordan’s
Garment Sector Is Top Destination for Bangladeshi Women Workers
• Solidify
Women-Centric Initiatives in Budget 2022, Women’s Groups Tell Putrajaya
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/zebulon-simentov-afghanistan-jew/d/125681
--------
Zebulon
Simentov, Thought To Be Afghanistan's Last Jew Flees Country
Oct
29, 2021
Tova
Moradi, 83, an Afghan Jewish woman who fled Kabul this month (AP Photo/Franc
Zhurda)
-----
JERUSALEM:
For years, Zebulon Simentov branded himself as the "last Jew of
Afghanistan", the sole remnant of a centuries-old community.
He
charged reporters for interviews and held court in Kabul's only remaining
synagogue. He left the country last month for Istanbul after the Taliban seized
power.
Now
it appears he was not the last one.
Simentov's
distant cousin, Tova Moradi, was born and raised in Kabul and lived there until
last week, more than a month after Simentov departed in September.
Fearing
for their safety, Moradi, her children and nearly two dozen grandchildren fled
the country in recent weeks in an escape orchestrated by an Israeli aid group,
activists and prominent Jewish philanthropists.
“I
loved my country, loved it very much, but had to leave because my children were
in danger,” Moradi told The Associated Press from her modest quarters in the
Albanian town of Golem, whose beachside resorts have been converted to
makeshift homes for some 2,000 Afghan refugees.
Moradi,
83, was one of 10 children born to a Jewish family in Kabul. At age 16, she ran
away from home and married a Muslim man.
She
never converted to Islam, maintained some Jewish traditions, and it was no
secret in her neighbourhood that she was Jewish.
“She
never denied her Judaism, she just got married in order to save her life as you
cannot be safe as a young girl in Afghanistan,” Moradi's daughter, Khorshid,
told the AP from her home in Canada, where she and three of her siblings moved
after the Taliban first seized power in Afghanistan in the 1990s.
Despite
friction over her decision to marry outside the faith, Moradi said she stayed
in touch with some of her family over the years.
Her
parents and siblings fled Afghanistan in the 1960s and 1980s. Her parents are
buried at Jerusalem's Har Menuhot cemetery, and many of her surviving siblings
and their descendants live in Israel.
But
until this week, she had not spoken to some of her sisters in over half a
century.
“Yesterday,
I saw my sisters, nieces and nephews after around 60 years through a video
call. We spoke for hours,” Moradi said. “I was really happy, I saw their
children and they met mine.”
“They
said it's like she came back from the grave,'" Khorshid said.
Source:
Times of India
--------
Turkish
Women from 81 Provinces Walk To Support Victims Of Terrorism
OCT
29, 2021
Women
from 81 provinces staged a protest against the PKK in Şırnak province, Turkey,
Oct. 28, 2021. (IHA Photo)
-----
Women
from 81 provinces gathered in eastern Şırnak province on Thursday to support
families that are victims of terrorism and to fight for the return of their
children from the claws of terrorist organizations.
The
group of women, supported by the Interior Ministry, gathered at the Cumhuriyet
Square in Şırnak. The group voiced slogans against the terrorist organization
with Turkish flags in their hand.
Hatice
Atan, head of an association supporting the protesting women, said that the
protest was organized to support mothers whose children have been abducted by
the PKK.
Civilian
movements against the PKK have grown in recent years with many families staging
demonstrations or walks in several provinces inspired by the Diyarbakır
protests.
Most
recently, one more family has joined the ongoing protests against the PKK’s
activities in front of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) headquarters in
southeastern Diyarbakır.
Families
that have been protesting for 787 days now, continue to wait for their children
well into the night, holding the photos of their sons or daughters who have
either been deceived or abducted by the terrorist group.
The
protest started when Hacire Akar turned up on the doorstep of the HDP’s
Diyarbakır office one night, demanding to be reunited with her son. Akar’s son
Mehmet returned home on Aug. 24, 2019, giving hope to other families. A week
later, on Sept. 3, 2019, families inspired by Akar staged a collective sit-in
protest.
Since
then, the number of families demanding the return of their children who they
say were deceived or kidnapped by the terrorist group has been gradually
growing.
The
families have not given up their posts despite difficult conditions, at times
being threatened or ridiculed by HDP officials and those with links to the PKK
terrorist organization. The protest continued despite the coronavirus pandemic,
with the families taking the necessary precautions.
A
significant number of suspected terrorists have begun to flee the PKK and
surrender, but many terrorists lack the courage to leave the group out of fear
of severe punishment if caught.
The
HDP, long facing public scrutiny and judicial probes over its ties to the PKK,
is under pressure from the growing civilian movement. Various groups from
around Turkey have supported the Kurdish mothers in their cause, with many
paying visits to the protests to show their solidarity.
In
its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a
terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union –
has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children
and infants.
Source:
Daily Sabah
--------
Rusnah
Aluai , PKR MP Apologises For Saying Drinking Timah Whiskey Is Like ‘Drinking
Malay Women’
29
Oct 2021
BY
KEERTAN AYAMANY
Rusnah Aluai/ Photo- Facebook
-----
KUALA
LUMPUR, Oct 29 — PKR MP Rusnah Aluai has apologised for her controversial
speech regarding the Timah whiskey brand yesterday, where she said consuming
the alcoholic drink was akin to “drinking a Malay woman” .
“Although
my original intention was to make sure there is no confusion about the label,
my speech was misunderstood.
“Because
of that, to whomever was offended by the speech, I apologise”, she said in a
Facebook post today.
The
Tangga Batu MP however did not explain what she actually meant by her remark.
The
Tangga Batu MP had yesterday questioned Timah’s name and the particular image
of “Captain Speedy” — otherwise known as Tristam Charles Sawyer Speedy — that
is printed on the brand’s bottle, during yesterday’s Dewan Rakyat sitting.
She
asserted the brand’s name could be confused with short forms of the Malay
feminine names, such as Fatimah, and pointed out that the image of Captain
Speedy seems to be wearing a kopiah that is often donned by Muslims.
Winepak
Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd, the company behind the locally produced alcoholic
drink had a meeting with multiple ministers yesterday, where it agreed to
reconsider the brand’s name and asked for a week to consult its investors and
other stakeholders.
The
company previously explained that Timah was a reference to the tin mining era
in colonial Malaya, and that it used the image of Captain Speedy as he is said
to have introduced the drinking of whiskey in the country.
Source:
Malay Mail
--------
Jordan’s
garment sector is top destination for Bangladeshi women workers
October
30, 2021
DHAKA:
Jordan has become a top destination for skilled garment workers from
Bangladesh, officials in Dhaka say, as hundreds of Bangladeshi women find
employment in the kingdom’s clothing sector every week.
Bangladesh
started exporting skilled garment workers to Jordan in 2010 through a
government agreement. Jordan’s garment industry has expanded rapidly in the
past few years, and two thirds of Bangladeshi female workers in the kingdom now
find employment at its clothing factories.
In
other Middle Eastern countries, Bangladeshi women work mostly as domestic
helpers.
According
to data from the Bangladeshi Embassy in Amman, the Jordanian garment sector
currently employs 40,000 Bangladeshi women.
“Every
week we recruit around 500 female migrants for Jordan’s garment sector,”
Mohammad Abdus Sobhan, company secretary of the state-run Bangladesh Overseas
Employment and Services, told Arab News. “It’s a very good opportunity for
Bangladeshi female migrants to earn more as a skilled workforce with much more
dignity.”
“All
they need to have is some working experience in the local garment factories,”
he said, adding that average monthly salary of Bangladeshi garment workers in
Jordan is between $260 and $360 and that all of them initially receive two-year
contracts.
The
demand for Bangladeshi labor has been on the rise since the lifting of
coronavirus restrictions, Sobhan said. In 2020, the kingdom accepted only about
3,700 garment workers from Bangladesh, but this year up to Sept. 30 more than
12,300 had already left for the Middle Eastern country.
Jordanian
employers bear all the costs of processing working permits, travel,
accommodation and healthcare.
Bangladesh
Nari Sromik Kendro (BNSK), a rights organization for migrant workers, has been
conducting awareness campaigns in the country’s rural areas about work
opportunities abroad. It has found that workers are interested in joining
Jordanian garment factories due to their employment model.
“Our
female migrants are very interested in taking the opportunity since it’s an
employer pay model, where the employer bears all costs to have the migrants’
services,” BNSK executive director Sumaiya Islam said.
Workers
themselves say higher incomes are also a factor.
“My
elder sister joined a garment factory in Jordan three years ago. The working
environment and salary structure is much better than in Bangladesh,” said
Masuma Begum, a 33-year-old single mother of two who is scheduled to fly to
Jordan next month. “So, I also decided to join my sister.”
Kulsum
Akter, 27, another garment worker who is preparing to work in Jordan, said the
job will help her to provide for her whole five-member family.
“The
job in Jordan will double my income,” she said. “Now I will provide better
education for my seven-year-old son.”
BRAC,
the largest development organization in Bangladesh, encourages the authorities
to do more to tap into the Jordanian market
“It’s
a very good opportunity for our female migrants since they earn more without
any incidents of abuse,” BRAC’s head of migration program Shariful Hasan said.
“We
need to make the people aware at the grassroots level, so that the intended
migrants can make an informed decision about their opportunities in the
overseas market.”
Dhaka’s
ambassador to Amman, Nahida Sobhan, said the embassy is regularly in touch with
Jordanian authorities, the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, the Jordan Garments,
Accessories and Textiles Exporters Association, and individual factory owners
to facilitate the employment of Bangladeshi workers.
“We
are maintaining regular contact with Jordan’s Ministry of Labor and other
government agencies to bring more Bangladeshi workers,” she said. “We have
regular interaction with the business community.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1957936/world
--------
Solidify
women-centric initiatives in Budget 2022, women’s groups tell Putrajaya
29
Oct 2021
BY
SHAHRIN AIZAT NOORSHAHRIZAM
KUALA
LUMPUR, Oct 29 — Putrajaya should deliver on its pledge for women to occupy one
in three boardroom seats, gender advocacy groups said in response to the Budget
2022 target of at least one female director in all companies.
Women’s
Centre for Change (WCC) programme director Karen Lai said this should also be
expanded to cover the public sector and politicians.
She
said it was important to continue such efforts until the country reached “the
minimum critical mass” of 30 per cent women’s representation in all
decision-making levels.
“Currently,
women’s political representation is still lagging behind and this has a
significant impact on laws and policies affecting women, children and families
on the ground,” she told Malay Mail.
In
2011, then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that Putrajaya would
implement a 30 per cent quota for women in corporate boardrooms but this was
never made into law.
However,
Nation of Women (NoW) president Hanizah Talha said it is also critical to
ensure qualified women were appointed on merit, and not simply to make up the
quota.
Institute
of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM) said the push for more women to be
included in leadership roles was empirically beneficial, citing a study that
showed companies with at least 30 per cent women directors reported 38 per cent
higher return on equity versus firms with all-male directors.
“This
is a reflection of the importance of advocating for greater diversity on
boards,” it said.
Separately,
the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) asked whether the Budget 2022 went far
enough to fundamentally address gender inequality in the country.
Among
others, it said there was no increased investment to improve the country’s
childcare infrastructure despite the lack of this being a major impediment for
women’s work.
“Besides
investments in D11 (Sexual, Women and Child Investigation), we did not hear any
indication of increasing investments for crucial services like One Stop Crisis
Centres in public hospitals or an increase in JKM officers.
“Commitment
to increase women’s protection shelters was announced, though the investment
figure was not mentioned,” it said.
Sisters
In Islam communication officer Aleza Othman said the initiative for single
mothers dubbed “MyKasih Capital” did not appear to have sufficient allocations.
“Allocations
are made for single parent households that can see them benefitting up to
RM2,500. The allocation for programme MyKasih Kapital would only benefit up to
2,000 single mothers when the number of single mothers in Malaysia exceed more
than this. “Whether the budget addressed the structural poverty issues faced by
single parent households affected by the pandemic remains to be seen,” she told
Malay Mail.
When
tabling Budget 2022 today, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz
announced plans to tackle sexual crimes against women and children, address
period poverty, assist single-parent households, and increase women’s
representation in corporate leadership.
Source:
Malay Mail
--------
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/zebulon-simentov-afghanistan-jew/d/125681
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism