Prominent Iranian Bookstore Shut Down by Police Over Customers’ Hijab
New Age
Islam News Bureau
25 December 2023
·
Muslim
Women In London Create A 'Safe Space' To Rally For Palestine
·
Woman
Activist Fatima Amiri, Calls For Action Against Ban On Girls' Education In
Afghanistan
·
Prominent
Iranian Bookstore Shut Down by Police
Over Customers’ Hijab
·
UNRWA Struggles
To Provide Care For 50,000 Pregnant Women In Gaza Amid Israeli Attacks
·
Sara
Sharif: UK And Pakistan Courts Tussle Over Siblings' Future
·
'I Don't
Blame Anyone': Woman Begins New Life After Islamic State, Kazakh Prison
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iranian-bookstore-hijab/d/131379
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Prominent Iranian Bookstore Shut Down by Police over Customers’ Hijab
As part of
efforts to enforce the ban over the past year, authorities have closed several
businesses for not respecting the dress code. (AFP/File)
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Dec 24, 2023
Maryam Sinaee
Iran's Police closed down one of the
country’s leading bookstores in Tehran on Friday for allowing women without
“proper” Hijab to participate in a cultural event.
In a statement posted on its website,
Shahr-e Ketab (Book City), a flagship chain bookstore, revealed that the police
department in charge of overseeing retail shops, restaurants and similar
businesses had sealed its central store in Tehran.
The police cited a “failure to abide by
regulations of trade and interior ministry’s [directives]” as the reason for
the closure of the popular bookstore in the heart of the capital.
Shahr-e Ketab, Iran’s largest chain of
book and music stores, is a non-profit organization that operates dozens of
modern bookstore-cafes across the country. In addition to selling books, it
holds various cultural events.
“The Book City of Tehran was closed down
over a few strands of hair!” Mohammad-TaghiFazel-Meybodi, a prominent cleric
who opposes coercion of women to wear the hijab, said in a tweet Friday. He
questioned the religious and legal justification for suspending cultural
centers and businesses over such minor issues and criticized the authorities
for disgracing the country.
The central branch of Shahr-e Ketab,
Iran’s largest chain of book and music stores, in Tehran
Fazel-Meybodi, like many others, also
criticized the government for prioritizing the enforcement of hijab rules over
addressing more pressing issues such as corruption and economic improvement. He
suggested that the money spent on enforcing the compulsory hijab could have
been better utilized to combat embezzlement and rising prices.
In recent months, authorities have
increased pressure on businesses and retailers to enforce hijab rules and have
warned or shut down thousands of businesses.
The closure of businesses for
hijab-related issues, a tool used by authorities for four decades, is aimed at
pressuring them to police women's hijab compliance, allowing the police and
other authorities to avoid direct confrontation and potential clashes with
citizens over hijab observance.
Many among Iranian women are
increasingly refusing to wear the hijab even at the risk of being deprived from
services in government offices, hospitals, and other public areas or their
vehicles being impounded by the police for weeks.
On Friday an airport police official,
Mohsen Aghili, said women who do not fully adhere to the “sharia-dictated
hijab”, would no longer be served at airports.
After weeks of denial by various
officials including the mayor of Tehran and the interior minister, the
Secretary of the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, AbdolhosseinKhosropanah,
on Friday confirmed that hijab enforcers are indeed organized by the council’s
“Hijab and Chastity Taskforce” in coordination with the interior ministry.
Hijab enforcers, uniformed women in
black veils, are sometimes accompanied by male plainclothes cameramen who
record hijab breaches. They were initially stationed at metro stations in
August but are now seen patrolling other public places, such as parks and busy
streets, and admonishing women whose appearance does not conform to the
dictated hijab rules.
Khosropanah also demanded gender
segregation in universities and claimed that “the world has realized that
gender segregation in different areas [of society] ensures better performance
and security of both genders.”
Source: iranintl.com
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202312247548
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Muslim Women In London Create A 'Safe
Space' To Rally For Palestine
Thousands
were marching to Whitehall on Saturday. Photo: Jess Hurd
------
Dec 24, 2023
Lemma Shehadi
Muslim women in London have come
together to create a “safe space” at the Palestine protests.
Abi rami Raveendran, an activist from
west London, is part of a group who formed a bloc of mainly Muslim women who
march together during the rallies.
“All these women are very passionate
about the cause, but they don’t know what to do with it, and they don’t really
have an outlet,” she told The National.
“Most of them don't even know each
other. They will bring snacks, they will bring water, it's a very wholesome way
to protest,” she said.
Last week, the group was formally recognised
as the local branch for Hillingdon by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, a
nationwide protest movement.
National demonstrations calling for an
end to Israel’s bombardment and siege of Gaza have taken place on a near-weekly
basis since October 7.
These marches have gathered hundreds of
thousands of protesters from a wide range of communities.
But a sharp rise in anti-Semitic and
anti-Muslim incidents in the UK meant the protests for Palestine have seen
additional policing.
Since forming, the group has become more
politically active, writing to their MPs and councillors about the Palestinian
issue.
“We’re literally just learning as we
go,” Ms Raveendran said.
Recently, they worked together to help
bring British-Palestinian families trapped in Gaza back to the UK.
Though the UK began evacuating British
citizens from Gaza in November, some families have struggled to leave.
The women supported them by contacting
local MPs and councils, and seeking legal advice, Ms Raveendran said.
“There’s only four or five of us. But
we’re doing what the government refused to do, when none of us have any
political power,” she said.
One family arrived just days ago, she
added. They are being supported by members of the group, who are in regular
contact with them and sending them food.
The group is now calling for the UK to
accommodate Palestinian refugees or Palestinians seeking medical treatment,
similar to the Ukraine resettlement scheme, which was launched within a month
of Russia’s invasion in 2022.
“What the government did after two weeks
for Ukraine, they haven't still done for Palestine, it's been over two months,”
she said.
This is a fraught issue as Palestinians
do not want to leave their homes, fearing a permanent displacement.
But Ms Raveendran fears the absence of a
scheme supporting Palestinians is reflective of a “systemic racism” within the
UK.
“Why haven’t the government acted like
they did for Ukraine?
“It’s the double standard and the
Islamophobia and the racism,” she said.
She criticised the UK's recent calls for
a “sustainable ceasefire”, which would be implemented once Hamas no longer
controls the Gaza Strip and all hostages are released.
“Even the terms they’re using now, like
sustainable ceasefire, these are very vague and passive terms,” she said.
The group plans to continue its work
during the holidays, with a local rally planned for January 6.
“We're getting different religious
communities to come together. [Muslim] and Jewish communities, Sikh
communities, Christian communities, Hindu communities,” she said.
“We want everyone to come together and
fight for something that genuinely affects all of us,” she said.
Source: thenationalnews.com
https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/palestine-israel/2023/12/24/muslim-women-in-london-create-a-safe-space-to-rally-for-palestine/
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Woman Activist Fatima Amiri, Calls For
Action Against Ban On Girls' Education In Afghanistan
Fatima
Amiri, A Teenage Afghan Student, Survivor of Kaaj Suicide Attack
------
Dec 25, 2023
KABUL: A woman activist in Afghanistan
has come out openly against the Taliban's draconian policies, putting curbs on
the education of girls in the country, Khaama Press reported, adding that she
called for strict action against the ban.
Fatima Amiri, a survivor of the Kaaj
educational centre attack and a staunch advocate for girls' education,
criticised the suspension of scholarships for Afghan girls and requested that
alternate educational alternatives be considered rather than implementing
prohibitive policies in the country.
Addressing a virtual conference on the
education of girls in Afghanistan, Amiri said that there should be a sustained
fight against the normalisation of the education ban.
She said that opposition to girls'
education derives from a gender apartheid attitude that affects decades, not
simply hundreds or millions, Khaama Press reported.
Significantly, Amiri was a part of the
elite class at the Kaaj educational centre, which was targeted by a terrorist
attack in September 2022, killing over 60 students and seriously injuring her.
She is presently receiving therapy in
Turkey. Fatima and her classmates, many of whom were also injured, sat the
university entrance exam about a month after the attack, earning public
attention with their university admissions. However, the Taliban forbade girls
from pursuing further education.
In December of the same year, Amiri was
designated one of the BBC's 100 important and inspiring women, Khaama Press
reported.
Fatima has time and again stressed that
opening up possibilities for girls' education overseas is a priority and online
education for girls should also be supported.
She posted on the social media platform
X (formerly Twitter) that providing online classes for girls was another
option, though not the primary one. Nonetheless, efforts should be made to
guarantee that education does not come to a halt, she noted.
"The topic of discussion: Education
of Afghan girls! In this emergency, many opportunities should be created for
Afghan girls, not unlike many countries that have stopped giving scholarships
to Afghan girls because they do not have the right to leave the country without
Muharram, they should not suffer from both sides," she posted on X.
"Another way is to create online
courses, which still cannot solve the problem from the root, but efforts should
be made not to stop education in general. Don't let the education of Afghan
girls (closing the doors of universities and schools) be normalized," she
added.
It has been over two years since the
Taliban banned girls from attending schools after sixth grade in Afghanistan
and has not taken any step towards restoring girls' education in the country.
Since the Taliban took the reins of
Afghanistan, they have issued several decrees imposing restrictions on women.
Afghanistan's women have faced numerous challenges since the Taliban returned
to the helm of Afghanistan in 2021.
Girls and women in the war-torn country
have no access to education, employment, or even public spaces.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/woman-activist-calls-for-action-against-ban-on-girls-education-in-afghanistan/articleshow/106261284.cms
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UNRWA struggles to provide care for 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza amid Israeli attacks
25.12.2023
Mohammad Sio
The UN Palestinian refugee agency is
struggling to provide care for at least 50,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip
amid relentless Israeli attacks.
“There are an estimated 50,000 pregnant
women in the Gaza Strip, with over 180 giving birth every day,” the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said in a
statement.
The UN agency said its doctors and
midwives “are doing everything possible to provide care for post-natal &
high-risk pregnant women at the 7 operational UNRWA health centers.”
Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip from
the air and land, imposed a siege, and mounted a ground offensive in
retaliation for a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.
At least 20,424 Palestinians have since
been killed and 54,036 injured in the Israeli onslaught, according to Gaza's
health authorities, while around 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been
killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in
ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed,
and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid
shortages of food and clean water.
Source: aa.com.tr
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/unrwa-struggles-to-provide-care-for-50-000-pregnant-women-in-gaza-amid-israeli-attacks/3091519
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Sara Sharif: UK and Pakistan courts
tussle over siblings' future
December 25, 2023
LONDON — Courts in the UK and Pakistan
are involved in a complex legal tussle to decide what should happen to the
siblings of Sara Sharif.
Sara, 10, was found dead at her home in
Woking, Surrey, in August. Her father, stepmother and uncle deny her murder.
The overlapping cases will decide where
the siblings should ultimately live, after they were taken to Pakistan.
They can now be reported after
restrictions were lifted following an application by media organisations.
Since Sara Sharif was found dead there
have been a series of hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in
London.
In those hearings Sara's siblings were
made wards of court, and the court ordered that they should be returned to the
UK.
That led to Surrey County Council making
an application to the High Court in Lahore in Pakistan to secure the children's
return to Britain.
The court processes in Pakistan and London
are ongoing, and at the moment the children remain in Pakistan.
There had been a restriction on
reporting that there is a legal process ongoing in London, but that has now
been lifted following an application by the BBC, journalists Louise Tickle and
Hannah Summers, and PA Media.
Sara Sharif's father Urfan Sharif, her
stepmother Beinash Batool and her uncle Faisal Malik all left the UK for
Pakistan with her five siblings the day before she was found dead on 10 August.
The location of the three adults and
five children was a mystery for five weeks. Then Pakistan police raided the
house of the children's grandfather, Muhammad Sharif, and found the children.
Muhammad Sharif told the BBC they had
been staying there since the day they arrived in the country, looked after by
their family.
A day after their discovery, a court
ordered that the children be sent to live in a childcare home in Pakistan.
Their grandfather began fighting to gain
full custody of the children through Pakistan's courts.
The three adults who were not with the
children flew back to the UK several days later and were arrested.
They were charged with murder and
causing or allowing the death of a child. All three have pleaded not guilty.
On 19 October, Surrey Country Council
asked the High Court in Lahore to allow them to bring the children, aged
between one and 13, back to Surrey.
The court room in Lahore was packed with
standing room only as multiple cases including criminal charges were heard.
The judge requested that all five
children attend the case. They were initially kept in a back room until their
case was heard.
After speaking to all parties in his
chamber, the judge gave interim custody to the grandfather of the children.
The case has been heard several times in
Pakistan since October and for now the children remain with Muhammad Sharif.
The case to decide their permanent
custody is still pending. — BBC
Source: saudigazette.com.sa
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/639016/World/Mena/Sara-Sharif-UK-and-Pakistan-courts-tussle-over-siblings-future
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'I Don't Blame Anyone': Woman Begins New
Life After Islamic State, Kazakh Prison
December 24, 2023
AQTOBE, Kazakhstan -- After six years
with the Islamic State (IS) extremist group in Syria followed by four years in
a Kazakh prison on terrorism charges, AqmaralAlmaghambetova says she is
"full of regret" about her past as she tries to restart her life.
"One of my biggest regrets is not
being able to ask forgiveness from my mother, when she was alive, for
everything I'd put her through," Almaghambetova, 36, says.
"I had been in contact with my
mother by phone from prison until one month before her death [in 2021]. She
said she had forgiven me, but talking on the phone is not the same as speaking
in person and hugging each other," she told RFE/RL.
Almaghambetova's story is different from
hundreds of other Kazakh women who were repatriated from Syria after the defeat
of the so-called IS caliphate there.
Most of the women were allowed by the
government to reunite with their families and try to rebuild their lives.
Almaghambetova, however, was jailed and her children taken away by authorities.
In July 2019, two months after
Almaghambetova was brought back to Kazakhstan as part of the government's
repatriation operation, Zhusan, she was handed a jail sentence on charges of
propagating terrorism and inciting religious violence.
Almaghambetova -- who was released from
prison this summer -- admits to her wrongdoing, saying she doesn't blame anyone
but herself.
A native of Aqtobe in Kazakhstan's
oil-rich northwest, Almaghambetova went to Syria in 2013, leaving behind her
husband and their three children. The housewife, who was 26 at the time, says a
man she befriended on the Internet helped her to get to Syria through
Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.
Almaghambetova is reluctant to talk
about her time under IS, only giving some details of her life there. She
recalls contacting her husband from Syria and asking him to take their children
and join her to live in the "caliphate."
Those text messages -- in which she
explicitly supported the extremist IS ideology -- were used as evidence against
her in a Kazakh court some six years later.
Her husband refused to join her.
Almaghambetova then remarried twice, to
IS members, each of whom was killed in Syria. She gave birth to two more
children -- a boy and a girl -- who went to Kazakhstan along with their mother
but who have been placed in foster care by Kazakh authorities.
Kazakhstan, a predominantly Muslim
country in Central Asia, has repatriated more than 600 people -- including at
least 413 children -- from Syria between January 2019 and February 2021.
At least 14 children of Kazakh citizens
were taken to Astana from Iraq in 2019 in a separate repatriation operation
called Rusafa.
Shaming The Family
When Almaghambetova went to trial in
Aqtobe her mother, RaisaErdauletqyzy, was the only family member who came to
support her. All of her other relatives cut ties with her, saying she brought
disgrace to the family.
"The relatives tell me, 'Why are
you going to court?' [They said: 'She] brought nothing but shame to [the
family].' But I could not stay home, I am her mother," Erdauletqyzy told RFE/RL
at the time.
The mother and daughter saw each other
for the first time in six years when Almaghambetova was escorted to the
courtroom.
Almaghambetova now lives in an apartment
her mother her in her will so that she could have a roof over her head once she
was released from jail.
She hasn't been able to meet any of her
five children since being released from prison and returning to Aqtobe. The
three older children live with their father and the two younger children remain
with their foster parents.
"My ex-husband has remarried to a
good wife and is happy with her and I am happy for them," Almaghambetova
said. "His wife looked well after my children, cooking for them and doing
their laundry, and I'm very grateful for it. I speak to my children over the phone
and always tell them to respect [their stepmother.]"
Almaghambetova "deeply"
regrets abandoning her marriage after "falling under the influence of
radicals on the Internet." She says she's determined to make amends.
"My first husband is a good man who
loved me and took care of me, and I wanted for nothing," she told RFE/RL.
"Now we live in the same city again and I will apologize to him if we bump
into each other on the street. I'm also going to ask forgiveness from my former
in-laws."
Almaghambetova is now focused on her
volunteer work at the Ansar Information-Analytic Center that involves speaking
to groups about how religious extremists brainwashed her online. She receives
an equivalent of $150 a month from social services.
Almaghambetova no longer wears the
Islamic hijab and says she stopped praying five years ago. Her only dream now
is to "stand on [her] own feet" and get her two younger children out
of foster care.
"Once I had everything in life, but
took it for granted," she said. "Now, happiness for me is just
looking at the peaceful sky."
Source: rferl.org
https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-life-after-islamic-state-prison/32742147.html
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URL:
https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/iranian-bookstore-hijab/d/131379