Israel kills 20 in Gaza on Eid al-Fitr, mostly women, children
New Age Islam News Bureau
31 March 2025
• Israel kills 20 in Gaza on Eid al-Fitr, mostly women, children
• Doncaster Muslim women spread Eid cheer with gift bags for non-Muslim neighbours
• Converted Muslim woman alleges forceful reconversion
• 'No place for women like me': Afghan women activists in Pakistan face deportation, persecution by Taliban
• "Women in Afghan Prisons...": US Woman Freed By Taliban Sends Message To Trump
• Iran police disperse pro-hijab protest amid security concerns
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/israel-kills-gaza-eid-al-fitr-women-children/d/135018
-----
Israel kills 20 in Gaza on Eid al-Fitr, mostly women, children
30 March 2025
Palestinians arrive to attend Eid al-Fitr prayers at Gaza City's historic Omari Mosque on March 30, 2025. (AFP)
------------
Women and children are among at least 20 people who have been killed in Israeli airstrikes that hit the Gaza Strip as Palestinians observe the first day of Eid al-Fitr.
The regime’s military forces attacked a tent encampment for forcibly displaced people in the al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza early Sunday morning.
The encampment, which was designated a “humanitarian safe zone” by Israel in December 2023, is one of the most overcrowded areas in Gaza.
Eid al-Fitr, a festive Muslim holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramdhan, is supposed to be a joyous occasion, but in Gaza, “It’s the Eid of sadness,” said Palestinian worshiper Adel al-Shaer.
“We lost our loved ones, our children, our lives, and our futures. We lost our students, our schools, and our institutions. We lost everything,” he said. Shaer said he has lost 20 members of his extended family in Israel’s genocidal war on his homeland.
Saed al-Kourd, another worshiper who attended outdoor prayers in the central town of Deir al-Balah, said, “We go out to perform God’s rituals in order to make the children happy, but as for the joy of Eid? There is no Eid.”
An American surgeon volunteering at a hospital in the Gaza Strip underscores the Israeli regime’s heavy toll on Palestinian medical facilities since October 7.
Israel ended a fragile two-month-old ceasefire with Hamas as it resumed its savage campaign of death and destruction in Gaza on March 18.
It has since killed hundreds of Palestinians, mostly women and children, and has allowed no food, fuel, or humanitarian aid to enter the coastal enclave.
The genocidal war, which began in October 2203, has claimed the lives of more than 50,000 Palestinians, destroyed vast areas of Gaza, and displaced around 90% of the 2 million population there.
Source: www.presstv.ir
-----
Doncaster Muslim women spread Eid cheer with gift bags for non-Muslim neighbours
By Darren Burke
31st Mar 2025
Members of Doncaster's Muslim community handed out gift bags to non-Muslim neighbours for Eid.
-----------
Members of LajnaIma’illah Doncaster – the women’s auxiliary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association – spread some festive joy by dishing out presents to neighbours, friends, and acquaintances.
The initiative aims to foster friendship and understanding within the local community, reflecting the Muslim community’s longstanding commitment to inter faith harmony and neighbourly kindness as taught in Islam.
Eid-ul-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, is not just a day of celebration for Muslims but also a time for gratitude, charity, and strengthening community bonds, a spokesperson said, adding: “The Holy Qur’an and the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad emphasise compassion towards neighbours, as highlighted in the saying: “He is not a believer who eats his fill while his neighbour goes hungry.”
The founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, reinforced this principle, stating: “The teaching of the Holy Qur’an is full of exhortations for doing good to one’s fellow beings. A very important teaching is that one should do good to one’s neighbours, whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim.”
The current world head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, has consistently reminded members of their duty towards neighbours, stating: “If we claim to be true Muslims, then it is our duty to fulfil the rights of others and to establish the highest standards of love and affection. This is what true Eid is.”
Zunaira Mahmood, President of LajnaIma’illah Doncaster, shared her thoughts on the initiative: “Eid is a time of joy and gratitude.
"As Muslims, it is part of our faith to share that joy with everyone around us. By reaching out to our neighbours, we hope to build bridges of understanding and kindness.”
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, known for its motto “Love for All, Hatred for None,” actively promotes unity and compassion in society.
"As the community celebrates Eid with prayers, festivities, and acts of charity, this simple yet meaningful gesture serves as a reminder of the true spirit of Islam—kindness, neighbourly love, and universal brotherhood.”
Source: Www.Doncasterfreepress.Co.Uk
-----
Converted Muslim woman alleges forceful reconversion
March 31, 2025
File
--------
MITHI:A newly converted Muslim girl, Saima, along with her husband Saddam and workers of political and religious parties staged a sit-in protest at the main gate of the SSP Tharparkar office. Saima alleged that she had converted to Islam a few weeks ago, but was tricked out of her home in Mithi, kidnapped, and taken to Karachi, where an attempt was made to forcefully convert her back to Hinduism.
She alleged that the Vice Chairperson of the Municipal Committee Mithi, Sumitra Devi, Ashok Kumar Meghwar, her father, and two cousins ??were involved in the incident. She claims that she escaped, returned to her husband, and went to Mithi police station to register a case against the kidnappers, however the SHO Mithi police station left, after which she first staged a sit-in at the gate of Mithi police station and then at the office of SSP Tharparkar. Saima demanded protection and for a case to be registered against the involved persons.
SHO Qadir Bakhsh Behrani informed the protesters that SSP Tharparkar, Adil Memon, has directed an inquiry into the case under the supervision of DSP Mithi, Majid Qaimkhani, after which a case will be registered against the people involved. The SHO assured Saima that she would be protected, and the protest was ended.
Source: Tribune.Com.Pk
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2537353/converted-muslim-woman-alleges-forceful-reconversion
-----
'No place for women like me': Afghan women activists in Pakistan face deportation, persecution by Taliban
FP News Desk
March 30, 2025
More than 50 prominent Afghan women’s rights activists sheltering in Pakistan face imminent deportation to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where they say they risk imprisonment or death.
The Pakistani government has pledged to expel millions of undocumented Afghan nationals amid worsening relations with Kabul and a spike in cross-border militant attacks.
Since the deportations began in September 2023, at least 844,499 Afghans have been forcibly returned, according to Amnesty International. The rights group said returnees face a “real risk of persecution” under Taliban rule, The Guardian reported.
Among those under threat are 60 Afghan women who fled persecution for their activism in support of women’s rights and education. Many have been forced into hiding in Islamabad and Rawalpindi as police reportedly conduct door-to-door raids, arresting Afghans and allegedly extorting bribes.
Humaira Alim, a former education activist, fled Afghanistan in December 2022 while pregnant with her first child after receiving death threats from the Taliban. She now lives in Islamabad with her two young children on a month-to-month visa.
“If they send me back to Afghanistan, it only means death,” Alim said. “The Taliban have records on me and my activism. There is no place for women like me. They only arrest and torture us.”
Alim said she knows dozens of Afghan women—lawyers, human rights defenders and protest organisers—who are also in hiding and fear deportation.
Pakistan has given all undocumented Afghans until March 31 to leave voluntarily or face arrest. The women are seeking more time to secure asylum in a third country. Some are awaiting possible relocation to Brazil, while others continue to search for safe haven.
“Deporting these people to the Taliban is a death sentence,” said Liliana Harrington, senior campaigner for Avaaz, a global advocacy group. “Pakistan would not only abandon these brave people to their oppressors but also abandon its proud legacy of protecting vulnerable Afghans.”
“The Pakistani authorities are violating the rights of Afghan refugees with impunity,” Lassee said. “These decisions are being made arbitrarily, without transparency or accountability.”
Source: Www.firstpost.com
-----
"Women in Afghan Prisons...": US Woman Freed By Taliban Sends Message To Trump
By Ruchika Pareek
March 31, 2025,
In a video shared on Donald Trump's Truth Social account, American citizen Faye Hall expressed gratitude to the President Trump for securing her release from Taliban custody in Afghanistan. Smiling and appearing in good health, she said, "Thank you for bringing me home."
Hall, along with a British couple, Peter and Barbie Reynolds, and their Afghan translator, was detained on February 1 while traveling to central Bamiyan province. Washington's former envoy to Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad, confirmed that Hall was in the care of the Qatari delegation in Kabul and would soon return home.
"American citizen Faye Hall, just released by the Taliban, is now in the care of our friends, the Qataris in Kabul, and will soon be on her way home," Khalilzad posted on X. A source familiar with the situation confirmed that Hall had undergone medical checks at the Qatari embassy and was in good health. She was released on Thursday following a court order with logistical support from Qatar.
In her video message, Hall thanked Trump and also called attention to the plight of Afghan women imprisoned by the Taliban. "All the women in the Afghan jail always ask me, 'When is Trump coming?' They truly see you as their savior. They're waiting for you to come and set them free," she said.
Source: Www.oneindia.com
-----
Iran police disperse pro-hijab protest amid security concerns
By Maziar Motamedi
30 Mar 2025
Tehran, Iran – In a first, Iranian authorities have dispersed a demonstration calling for stricter implementation of the country’s dress code rules.
On Friday evening, after state-organised Quds Day rallies in support of the Palestinian cause ended, police dispersed dozens who had been camping out in front of the parliament for weeks.
The demonstrators, mostly women clad in full-body black chadors, had been there for nearly 50 days to decry what they view as loose enforcement of mandatory hijab, which signifies the abandonment of “Islamic values” to them.
Women and men in Iran are bound by a law passed shortly after the country’s 1979 revolution to adhere to strict dress codes – including a veil covering hair for women – on pain of prison, flogging, or financial penalties.
The country’s so-called “morality police”, known as “Gasht-e Ershad” or Islamic guidance patrol, would round up people on the streets for “undermining public decency” and put them in vans to be “re-educated” at designated centres or be punished through the courts.
That is what happened to 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022, who was arrested in Tehran for alleged non-compliance with hijab laws while out with her family.
She died in police custody, her death triggering nationwide protests for months. Hundreds of protesters and dozens of security forces were killed in the unrest, with authorities saying the United States, Israel, and other rivals were behind the “riots”.
Iranian authorities announced they would suspend the morality police in late 2022, but the force’s white vans soon made a comeback to the streets of Tehran and other major cities.
Many more women and men have been arrested or had cases opened against them for dress code-related offences. This has ranged from average Iranians on the streets to journalists and veteran actresses who appeared unveiled in public, and businesses or even taxi drivers whose customers were deemed to be violating the law.
Faced with increasing hijab-related “crimes”, especially in Tehran, where many women go out without a headscarf, Iranian authorities have been trying to implement new legislation that would boost their authority to crack down on offenders.
A new hijab bill that defines heavy punishments, especially ramped-up financial penalties, was passed by Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament in September 2023, under the administration of late President Ebrahim Raisi.
It was then discussed in top state bodies many times, before finally being backed in September 2024 by the Guardian Council, the 12-member constitutional watchdog that has to greenlight legislation before it can be implemented.
But President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has pledged to pursue mandatory hijab through non-confrontational methods like “education”, said his government would be incapable of enforcing the “impractical” bill.
After much speculation, conservative parliament chief and former military commander Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf finally confirmed in March that the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) had ordered the bill’s implementation halted.
The council agreed that the bill “could cause tensions in today’s society” in the aftermath of the 2022-23 protests, Ghalibaf told state media, adding that the government and parliament are working on finding ways of enforcing it in the future.
In the meantime, as authorities battle a budget crunch under sanctions pressure from United States President Donald Trump, they have launched new efforts to crack down on hijab offences.
They have set up cameras in public spaces to identify and punish unveiled women, allowed people to report others – and their vehicles, which could be impounded – for hijab offences without providing evidence, and imposed heavy fines or shuttered violating businesses.
Some local media called them “super-revolutionaries” due to their religious zeal, and they have garnered praise and support from ultraconservative factions within the Iranian establishment.
They, along with several hardline legislators in parliament, have been accusing the parliament chief and the president of complacency over the enforcement of the hijab bill.
Iranians shop at a flower market before Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, in Tehran, Iran, March 17, 2025 [Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters]
But Tehran Governor Hossein Khosh-Eghbal said on Saturday that the demonstrations were “illegal” and warned that police would disperse any further protests held without permits.
He did not mention why the demonstrations were tolerated for weeks, or comment on claims, including by conservative legislator Javad Nikbin, that the demonstrators were paid to be there and had been bused in.
They also broadcast a short video via state media that showed their officers trying to reason with the shouting protesters and explain why they must disperse by law before taking action.
In a viral video filmed by one of the protesters and circulated online, the woman behind the camera can be heard screaming and saying 400 male and female officers descended on them, put them in vans and dropped them in different parts of Tehran to disperse them.
The state-run Fars news agency reported that police used “physical means” to end the protests and left demonstrators on the outskirts of the city in the middle of the night.
Politicians with the Paydari (Steadfastness) Front, the ultraconservative faction whose presidential candidate Saeed Jalili was defeated in elections last year, have been lambasting the decision.
Hamid Rasaei, a top hardline legislator with the faction, said whoever decided to disperse the protesters did it “either out of foolishness or due to infiltration”.
Source: Www.Aljazeera.Com
-----
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/israel-kills-gaza-eid-al-fitr-women-children/d/135018