A Different Arab Revolution? Three Women Lousia Hanoune, Zubaida Asouland SaidaNeghza Vying To Be Algeria's Next President
New
Age Islam News Bureau
04
August 2024
•
A Different Arab Revolution? Three Women LousiaHanoune, Zubaida Asouland
SaidaNeghza Vying To Be Algeria's Next President
•
Arab Olympic Women Athletes are Exposing Gender Bias in Sports
•
Yazidi Mother, Daughter Share Story Of Capture By Islamic State And Plea For
Loved Ones To Be Brought To Canada
•
Bristol Far-Right Protest Sees Muslim Women Being Advised To Avoid City Centre
•
Video Appears To Show Gang-Rape Of Afghan Woman In A Taliban Jail
•
Crown Prince Hussein And Princess Rajwa Of Jordan Welcome First Baby Girl
•
GRP Arrests Bangladeshi Woman For Human Trafficking In West Tripura's Charipara
•
'Muslim Patrol' Vigilante Groups Gather In UK During Protests After Stabbing
Deaths Of 3 School Girls
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
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A
Different Arab Revolution? Three Women LousiaHanoune, Zubaida Asouland
SaidaNeghzaVying To Be Algeria's Next President
Fatima
Badwi
August
03, 2024
Secretary
General of the Workers' Party (PT) Louisa Hanoune waves. Xinhua/ZUMA
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ALGIERS
— Three women have announced their candidacy in Algeria's presidential
election, on Sept. 7, which will potentially mark a new chapter in the North
African county, five years after peaceful protests forced the removal of
President AbdelazizBouteflika.
The
three women are LousiaHanoune, head of the leftist Workers’ Party (PT), Zubaida
Asoul, lawyer and head of the Union for Change and Progress party, and
SaidaNeghza, president of the General Confederation of Algerian Enterprises.
Source:
Worldcrunch.Com
https://worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/algeria-elections-president-women-candidates
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Arab
Olympic Women Athletes are Exposing Gender Bias in Sports
August
3, 2024
By
Mirna Sayed Abdulaal
Before
we’ve even had a chance to fully grasp that the 2024 Paris Olympics have begun,
follow the athletes, and learn about their achievements, one major topic has
already dominated the world: women’s bodies.
In
just one week, millions around the world are suddenly determining who qualifies
as a woman athlete, what she is allowed to do, and how she should do it, all
based on their own limited and narrow views of womanhood.
Two
Egyptian athletes have recently become the focus of intense speculation and
criticism, with their athletic abilities being questioned solely due to their
reproductive status and bodily functions. Algerian boxer ImaneKhelif has also
faced online discrimination and bullying due to her body and physical
attributes, with many individuals wrongly accusing her of being a man.
Egyptian
fencer Nada Hafez recently went viral for competing while seven months
pregnant, attracting a wave of criticism and backlash over her decision to
continue competing during pregnancy. Similarly, Egyptian boxer YomnaAyyad
caused a stir by being disqualified from the 54 kg women’s event for not
meeting the weight requirement.
The
reactions and commentary have exposed a deeper societal issue: a wider
ignorance about how women’s bodies function, as well as a tendency to use these
bodies as a means to evaluate their talent, performance, and work ethic.
Rather
than celebrating their athletic prowess, the focus has shifted to scrutinizing
their personal biology, revealing a deeper issue of gender bias in the sports arena.
Policing
the bodies of women athletes is a long-standing issue that continues to exist
to this day. Historically, intense exercise was believed to jeopardize young
women’s fertility, with misguided assumptions that women’s reproductive organs
influences anatomy, physiology, and movement.
Studies
once claimed that exercise could be detrimental to women’s health, but these
claims were countered with equally strong arguments that physical activity
during menstruation was not only safe but beneficial, and that athletic women
could have healthy pregnancies.
Historian
Martha Verbrugge, an expert on women’s health and bodies, argues that
skepticism about female exercise extends beyond health concerns. She contends
that these doubts are more deeply rooted in cultural attitudes than in
biomedical research.
Despite
the scientific research supporting women athletes, the central issue remains:
why is a woman’s body the subject of global debate to the extent that it
undermines her ability to perform and be recognized as a serious athlete?
Women’s
bodies have long been associated with their external performance, and instead
of fostering greater understanding and education about women’s health, this
connection often leads to discussions shaped more by cultural attitudes and
societal roles than by legitimate scientific inquiry.
The
focus shifts away from their athletic achievements to questioning their
eligibility as women to fulfill these roles in society. This broader discussion
uses their bodies as a means to restrict and undermine women’s ambitions,
turning their societal roles into a contentious issue.
Nada
Hafez, who competed in the Olympics while seven months pregnant, faced
significant backlash from Egyptians and even TV anchors. Critics have labeled
her decision as irresponsible and have even suggested that her coach should
face legal repercussions.
However,
the backlash against Nada Hafez is more deeply rooted in cultural attitudes and
biases toward pregnant women than in genuine medical concerns, as Verbrugge
notes. Despite the increasing presence of Egyptian women in the workforce,
their bodies and pregnancies are often viewed as disruptive to professional
roles, reinforcing the notion that the ideal worker is male.
As
one viral post states, “working from home while pregnant is considered
acceptable, as is picking worms from fields of long-staple Egyptian cotton or
cleaning stairs and washing carpets. However, traveling to the Olympics and
competing in the round of 16 while pregnant is unacceptable.”
The
post highlights the double standards in how pregnant women are treated, with
their domestic work being seen as more acceptable than their professional
activities or public roles. The notion that pregnant women should prioritize domestic
labor over professional work is unfounded and discriminatory, as pregnancy does
not alter a woman’s capacity to excel in any occupation.
In
response to the backlash, Hafez explained that she had consulted her doctor,
Professor Omar Abdel Aziz, to ensure that her participation in the Olympics was
medically safe.
Hafez
is not the first athlete to compete while pregnant. The Olympic Charter and the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules do not explicitly ban pregnant
athletes from participating in the Games. Decisions about their participation
are based on medical assessments and doctors’ recommendations, considering both
the athlete’s health and the safety of the fetus.
Throughout
sports history, there have been several notable instances of athletes competing
in championships while pregnant. One prominent example is Kerri Walsh Jennings,
the renowned American beach volleyball player, who competed in the 2012 Summer
Olympics in London while five months pregnant.
Source:
Egyptian Streets.Com
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Yazidi
mother, daughter share story of capture by Islamic State and plea for loved
ones to be brought to Canada
By
Joanne Roberts
August
3, 2024
For
many Yazidi people scattered across the world, not a day goes by without
thinking of family. August 3rd marks exactly ten years since militants from the
Islamic State group began waging an onslaught against the people, where many
were forced to flee their homes, and thousands more were killed or abducted and
forced into slavery.
Yazidis,
a religious minority based mainly in northern Iraq, follow an ancient religion
that combines elements from Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam.
They
were persecuted by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, who considered them
heretics. In 2016, a United Nations report declared that the slaughter, sexual
slavery, indoctrination, and other crimes committed against the 400,000 Yazidi
amounted to genocide.
Saturday
afternoon, Winnipeg’s small Yazidi community gathered at the Canadian Museum
for Human Rights to commemorate the day and think of their loved ones — those
killed, those still in captivity, and those still missing.
Some
families allegedly receive updates about loved ones from posts by the Islamic
State, including a mother and daughter who shared photos that were allegedly
taken by ISIS militants of their family members being sold into slavery.
According to the UN Syria Commision of Inquiry, Yazidi girls, as young as
nine-years-old, and women have been auctioned as slaves.
CityNews
reporter Joanne Roberts sat down with mother, AdolBapier Ilyas, and daughter
AhlamRafo, who share their story and pleas for family reunification.
“On
August 3rd, 2014, prior to that I was living in a small village called Hardan
in Northern Iraq, in the Sinjar region. I was living with my four kids, my
husband and extended family. [We] lived in a small, peaceful home, very happy
where my kids went to school. My husband went to work, and I did the housework.
Very happy, very peaceful village and happy family. Until August 3rd of 2014,
where ISIS swept through Yazidi villages and towns. Where we were not able to
escape on August 3rd, we were stuck inside our homes until approximately 5
p.m.”
“Another
fellow villager came knocking on every single door … letting the people of
Hardan know that ISIS swept through many Yazidi villages and towns already, and
they are taking the women and children and killing the men. Shortly after 5
p.m. … we fled and we saw many bodies on the way. People laying in mass graves.
They were shot dead. Many people running barefoot.
“We
went through a couple of other Yazidi villages while fleeing. To name a couple,
we passed Hanasur, that is another Yazidi village. And then we got to another
village named Sinun. Inside of Sinun, unfortunately, my family and I were
captured by ISIS.
“When
we were taken captive inside Sinun. We had in a vehicle, it was myself, two out
of my four children, my mother-in-law and my husband and a few other extended
family members. In a couple of vehicles ahead of us, there was my
brother-in-law’s extended family and two of my other kids were with them. We
were all held captive and ISIS told us to drive back into Hanasur, where they
were hauling Yazidis that they had captured.
“ISIS
came and loaded everybody onto huge trucks and they drove us into Syria. They
started driving at approximately 7:30 [p.m.] and they were driving until about
12 at midnight that same day. As well as some Yazidi men were driving their own
vehicles, that ISIS had filled with Yazidis from that hall in Hanasur. ISIS
militants were driving in the front and in the middle as well as in the back.
That’s where their big trucks were, they were loaded with Yazidis. Yazidi
drivers were driving in between their trucks. Anybody who drove slowly, [ISIS
militants] would take out their guns and say they would kill them if they don’t
speed up.
“They
were trying to get us into a school hall named the School of Shadadia in Syria.
We arrived at 12:00 p.m. at Shadadia school hall, where again everyone was
gathered. In this hall, where they separated every family. They separated me
from my husband and three boys. They kept my daughter and many other female
members of the Yazidi family.
“For
two days I did not see my husband and my boys, neither did any of the other
female members of the Yazidi community. [ISIS militants] said they were waiting
for a call from their commanders, ISIS commanders, to execute all of the male
members of the Yazidi community that were in the hall. After two days they said
they got the call but they won’t be killing the males. We were there for a few
days where they took all the females outside. We slept in the school yard and
the male members were inside the school where they weren’t allowed out or to
mingle with their family members.
“After
a few days, I was able to see my husband and older boys. They fed the women and
the girls, ISIS militants, but they would not feed the men. My youngest boy,
every time ISIS brought around meals, anything he could pocket, he would put in
his pocket and say I will save it for my father because he hasn’t eaten in
days.
“We
were in that school for another eight days. After eight long days, the men and
women were separated again. We were hauled in big trucks again, by ISIS
militants, and we were driven back into Iraq. Women and girls were loaded in
two big trucks and the men and older boys were also loaded into different
trucks. The women and girls were driven to Mosul and the men and older boys
were taken to Til-Banat.
“We
were there for a number of months in Mosul, where ISIS militants would come and
take the virgin girls. The younger girls, better-looking girls. The boys were
separated.
“Every
day there were air strikes, a few times throughout the day, for approximately
50 days where we were running from one spot to the next. Hiding under rubble,
hiding under rocks. Hiding in everything and anything you could imagine.
“ISIS
mostly moved us, driving at night, and avoiding driving during the day.
Families were reunited. Each family was placed in a home in the village of
Kocho, but it was surrounded. Each home was surrounded by ISIS militants. We
were in Kocho for approximately two months, and anybody who tried to escape or
didn’t do what ISIS said would be executed on the spot.”
Source:
Winnipeg.Citynews.Ca
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Bristol
far-right protest sees Muslim women being advised to avoid city centre
By
EstelFarellRoig
3
AUG 2024
Muslim
women have been told to avoid the city centre tonight ahead of a far-right
protest being planned in the city. Mosques in the city have put out a statement
urging people to "stay safe and alert" if they have to go the city
centre tonight (August 3).
Two
opposing demonstrations are happening in Bristol later tonight (Saturday,
August 3) in the city centre. A far-right demonstration and a
counter-demonstration will both happen at Castle Park this evening. You can
follow our liveblog with updates here.
The
far-right demonstration, which has been promoted on social media using the
taglines “enough is enough” and “stop the boats” follows similar demonstrations
across the country including those in London, Hartlepool, Manchester, Aldershot
and Southport, following the murder of three young girls on Monday.
In
response, a counter-demonstration was promoted by the Bristol branch of Stand
Up to Racism. It will be held at the same location but will start at 6pm, with
the far-right demonstration starting at 7pm.
In
a long statement, All Mosques in Bristol in partnership with Bristol Muslim
Strategic Leadership and the Bristol Somali Forum said: "There will be
very heavy policing in the city centre this Saturday.
Fight
in over 2000 unique and authentic Vehicles. Fight on Land, on Water and in the
Air. Join the most comprehensive vehicular combat game. Over 2000 tanks, ships
and aircraft.
"We
do not want anyone to be alarmed but we ask you to be alert. We are not asking
anyone not to enter the city centre but, if you have to, especially our
sisters, then we ask you to stay safe and alert.
Source:
Bristolpost.Co.Uk
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-far-right-protest-sees-9458383
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Video
appears to show gang-rape of Afghan woman in a Taliban jail
Zahra
Joya
3
Jul 2024
The
Guardian has seen video evidence of a female Afghan human rights activist being
gang-raped and tortured in a Taliban jail by armed men.
There
have been mounting reports that sexual violence is being inflicted on women and
girls being held in detention in Afghanistan, but this video is believed to be
the first direct evidence of these crimes occurring.
According
to the activist, the mobile phone footage was later sent to her as a threat
that it would be shared more widely if she continued to speak out against the
Taliban regime.
In
the video recording viewed by the Guardian and Rukhshana Media, the young woman
is filmed being told to take off her clothes and is then raped multiple times
by two men.
The
woman in the video – recorded on a phone by one of the armed men – tries to
cover her face with her hands. One of the men pushes her hard when she
hesitates as he gives her orders.
The
woman has said that she was arrested for taking part in a public protest
against the Taliban and was raped while being held in detention in a Taliban
prison. She has since fled Afghanistan. She said that after she spoke out
against the Taliban in exile, she was sent the video and told that if she
continued to criticise the regime the video would be sent to her family and
released on social media.
She
believes that the attack was deliberately recorded to be used to silence and
shame her. The person filming the assault captures her standing naked with her
face visible and she is identifiable during the attacks.
Last
week the Guardian published accounts of teenage girls and young women who said
that they were sexually assaulted and beaten after being detained under
Afghanistan’s draconian hijab laws.
In
one case, a woman’s body was allegedly found in a canal a few weeks after she
had been taken into custody by Taliban militants, with a source close to her
family saying she had been sexually abused before her death.
The
Guardian and Rukhshana Media spoke with multiple other female protestors and
activists who have also come forward to allege that they have been tortured and
beaten after being arrested for calling for women’s rights.
“They
gave electric shocks and hit parts of my body with cables so that I would not
be able to show in front of the camera tomorrow,” she said, adding that she had
been tortured into admitting to taking money from foreigners to protest against
the Taliban.
ParwanaNejarabi,
23, said she was beaten and given electric shocks after being detained by
Taliban forces when protesting for women’s rights in early 2022. She said she
spent a month in solitary confinement and was shown a letter with an order for
her to be stoned to death. “I could hear them saying, ‘She should be killed,’”
she said. She was released after a forced confession and fled Afghanistan to
live in exile.
Despite
the huge risks to their safety, women inside Afghanistan are still staging
public protests and criticising the Taliban regime, with Rukhshana Media
recording at least 221 acts of protest by women and girls over the past two
years.
Heather
Barr, associate director of the women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch
said the Taliban continue to act with “complete impunity for abuses,
particularly behind the prison walls.”
“The
Taliban are aware of how much stigma is involved around the issue of sexual
violence in Afghanistan and how incredibly difficult – and usually impossible –
it is for victims of sexual violence to come forward and tell their stories,
even sometimes to their own families, because there is a risk of shame and
potentially ‘honour’ violence,” said Barr.
The
UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard
Bennett, said: “I am alarmed by reports of torture and ill-treatment in
Afghanistan, including allegations of sexual violence in detention, especially
of women. We are continuing to look into these reports and to establish the
facts.”
Earlier
this week, Taliban officials took part in a special meeting on Afghanistan
hosted by the UN in Doha to discuss the country’s future. No Afghan women were
present at the meeting and women’s rights were not included on the agenda.
Source:
The Guardian
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Crown
Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa of Jordan welcome first baby girl
Aug
4, 2024
NEW
DELHI: Jordan's royal court on Saturday announced that Princess Rajwa, wife of
Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan, gave birth to a girl, the couple’s firstborn
and first grandchild of King Abdullah II.
According
to a statement from the Royal Hashemite Court, the baby was named Iman. Crown
Prince Hussein also shared a heartwarming video on Princess Rajwa's official
Instagram page, where he can be seen cradling his newborn daughter while the
American ballad "You Are My Sunshine" plays in the background.
“The
Royal Hashemite Court extends its sincere congratulations and best wishes to
Their Royal Highnesses and to Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania
Al Abdullah on this happy occasion,” the statement further read.
The
birth of Princess Iman comes approximately a year after the couple's lavish
wedding ceremony, which attracted a star-studded guest list, including Prince
William and Kate of Britain, as well as US first lady Jill Biden.
As
the eldest son of King Abdullah II, who has been ruling Jordan for more than
two decades, Crown Prince Hussein is next in line for the Hashemite throne,
which, according to Jordanian law, can only be inherited by males.
Source:
Times Of India
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GRP
arrests Bangladeshi woman for human trafficking in West Tripura's Charipara
By:
Shubham Bajpai
August
04, 2024
The
Government Railway Police (GRP) on Saturday arrested a Bangladeshi woman for
her alleged involvement in human trafficking in West Tripura's Charipara area,
said the police. The accused, identified as Khadija Begum (36) is a resident of
Brahmanbaria district in Bangladesh.
As
per the police, "A Bangladeshi woman named Khadija Begum was arrested by
the GRP (Government Railway Police) from the Charipara area in a joint
operation with BSF (Border Security Force) Unit 42 and Amtali Police Station on
Saturday afternoon." The GRP acted
on a tip-off and detained her. Khadija Begum will be presented before the
Agartala court for further legal proceedings.
Khadija's
arrest comes after the local law enforcement agency and BSF on Thursday
conducted a joint operation and apprehended 10 individuals, including 8
Bangladeshis after getting a tip-off about suspected illegal activities at
Agartala Railway Station.
The
operation was conducted amid the reports of cross-border human trafficking. The
individuals were arrested as they were preparing to board a train, allegedly
for illegal movement across the India-Bangladesh border. For further
questioning, all ten arrested individuals were held in police custody at the
local station. Authorities have also hinted at coordinating with Bangladeshi
officials to get deep into the case and potentially repatriate the Bangladeshi
nationals.
Notably,
there have been many arrests of Bangladeshi nationals at Agartala Railway
Station. On July 27, the GRP arrested 23 other Bangladeshi nationals from
Agartala Railway Station. Before that on July 1, 11 Bangladeshi nationals,
including 5 children and six women, were nabbed at the railway station. They
were arrested for illegally entering India without documents.
Source:
Www.Indiatv News.Com
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'Muslim
patrol' vigilante groups gather in UK during protests after stabbing deaths of
3 school girls
by:
Human Events
08/03/2024
"Muslim
patrol" vigilante groups gathered in the UK amid protests in response to
the fatal stabbing of three school-aged girls. Unrest from the protests has
resulted in clashes and violence with the police.
Footage
of the events showed several groups of Muslim men going out into the areas of
the protests taking place in the UK. Footage of the groups was seen in Stoke,
England. Riot police have made mass arrests at the protests in response to the
stabbings.
Breaking:
“Muslim patrol” groups have taken to the streets in Stoke, England to seek out
anti-mass migration protesters who gathered over the Southport deadly mass
stabbing attack where children were killed. The right-wing protesters accuse
police of two-tier policing and… pic.twitter.com/5HAn5LFBor
One
group was seen speaking to one who was reported to be a police liaison, who
told a group of Muslim men, “If there’s any weapons or anything like that, what
I would do is discard them at the mosque."
In
Stoke, England, a @StaffsPolice liaison officer tells the Muslim patrol group
that that they have a way out of getting in trouble with the law.
A
man with a megaphone said that they shouldn't give police "any
reason" to take issue with them with the weapons. One "Muslim
patrol" group was seen with a number of melee weapons as they took to the
streets in England.
Shelton,
Stoke, England — Another “Muslim patrol” armed with melee weapons have
mobilized on the streets to counter right-wing protesters angry over mass
migration and alleged two-tier policing. pic.twitter.com/2OKZIZDNPe
The
group, formerly led by Tommy Robinson, has been disbanded for years. “EDL” is
used inaccurately to describe English people generally who protest…
pic.twitter.com/oOYccNdE8l
On
Monday earlier this week, a suspect identified as a 17-year-old son of African
immigrants to the UK allegedly killed three children ages six, seven, and nine
and left several other children in critical condition. A total of 13 different
people were stabbed. The stabbing occurred at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class
at around 11:30am at the Hope of Hart Kids Club in Southport.
Earlier
in the week, police were armed with batons, shields, and other crowd control
equipment to thwart protests and riots that took place in response to the
stabbing.
Source:
Humanevents.Com
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