Indian Port Workers Refuse To Handle Israel Weapon Shipments Involved In The “War In Palestine”
New Age Islam
News Bureau
21 February 2024
Photo:
Mehr News Agency
------
·
Indian Port Workers Refuse To Handle Israel Weapon Shipments
Involved In The “War In Palestine”
·
Twelve Houses Razed, Crops Over 44 Acres Destroyed,
Cops Suspended Over ‘Beef Sale’ In Rajasthan
·
Media Employees Sin By Shaving Beards And Taking
Photos: Taliban Officials
·
‘We See Him As A War Criminal’: Biden Faces Ire Of
Muslim, Arab American Voters In Michigan
·
Pakistan A ‘Global Joke After Mother Of All
Rigging’: Imran
----
India
·
Nuh Violence: UAPA Charges Added Against Muslim Accused
In Three Cases
·
Bengaluru Mosque Road: Residents Say No To Ramzan
Food Mela Offering Delicacies, Haleem, Biryanis Variety Of Kababs
-------
South Asia
·
Kabir Says IEA’s Absence From UN Meeting Does Not
Mean Relations Are Strained
·
Faiq: UNSC to Hold Private Meeting on Afghanistan on
Feb. 26
·
President, PM pay homage to Language Movement heroes
·
UNICEF: 16% surge in acute respiratory infections in
Afghanistan in January
·
Nadim Criticizes Meetings Held Abroad on Afghanistan
----
North America
·
US For A 4th Time Blocks UN Security Council
Resolution Calling For Ceasefire In Gaza
·
'A huge step for the Muslim community': New mosque
opens in St. James
·
US, Russia To Speak On Israeli Occupation At Top UN
Court
·
Harvard Pro-Palestinian Faculty Group Apologizes
After Sharing Anti-Semitic Imagery
·
$14b US aid package for Israel crafted with eye to
‘multi-front war,’ not just Gaza
·
US lawmakers hopeful of pause in Gaza war before
Ramadan
-----
Pakistan
·
PPP, PML-N Strike Power-Sharing Deal In Pakistan; Shehbaz
Sharif To Be Prime Minister, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari President
·
Sunni Ittehad Council risks losing reserved seats in
Punjab
·
Over 23,000 Pakistanis languishing in foreign jails,
Senate panel told
·
Experts call for mutual understanding for stable
Pakistan-Afghanistan ties
·
Saudi govt desires to take responsibility of Faisal
Mosque’s maintenance
-----
Africa
·
Borno State Governor Unveils Counterterrorism
Curriculum For Borno Islamic Schools
·
South Africa Asks World Court To Find Israeli
Occupation Illegal
·
SA says occupying entity practices apartheid in
Palestine
·
Sharia court orders mental evaluation of Kano TikToker
----
Mideast
·
Palestinian Icon Rejects Israeli Restrictions At
Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque
·
Israel Raids Gaza 'Safe' Area Sheltering Displaced Palestinians;
MSF Says ‘Horrified’
·
Islamic Jihad Reiterates Demand For Islamic Independence
Amid Israeli Aggression
·
Draft UN resolution before Security Council
demanding ceasefire in Gaza
·
Israeli economy plunges almost 20% as Gaza war takes
heavy toll
·
Iran among top 5 countries in nuclear industry:
Atomic chief
·
Over 700,000 people could starve to death in north
Gaza as Israeli blockade persists, Gaza authorities warn
----
Southeast Asia
·
Home Minister Says Police and State Islamic
Authorities Will Investigate Man Who Claims to Be Prophet Muhammad’s Descendant
·
China Disappointed Over US Veto On Israel-Hamas
Ceasefire Vote
·
Religious affairs deputy minister: Syariah
Prosecution Dept to be established to strengthen Shariah legal ecosystem
·
Taib Mahmud's remains brought to National Mosque in
KL
·
Central zone Madani Rakyat Programme offers various
govt social services to visitors
------
Europe
·
Darlington's Muslim Community Fear For Safety After
Increase In Racist Attacks
·
London High Court Rejects Legal Challenge Against UK
Arms Sales To Israel
·
UK Cabinet Member Mercer Speaks at Hearing on War
Crimes in Afghanistan
·
UK petrol, diesel prices jump as pro-Palestine
Yemeni operations rage in Red Sea
·
Gaza, Ukraine loom large as G20 foreign ministers
meet
----
Arab World
·
Saudi Arabia Expresses Regret Over US Veto Of UN
Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
·
Saudi Architecture, Design Organization To Host
March Research Conference, Educators Forum
·
Cabinet expresses pride over Saudi Arabia’s rich
legacy on the eve of Founding Day
·
A prolonged war on Gaza could lead to danger of
escalation; Saudi FM warns
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/indian-port-workers-israel-palestine-war/d/131768
-------
Indian
Port Workers Refuse To Handle Israel Weapon Shipments Involved In The “War In
Palestine”
Photo:
Mehr News Agency
------
Feb
21, 2024
TEHRAN,
Feb. 21 (MNA) – A trade union representing employees at 11 major Indian ports
has announced its refusal to handle shipments containing weapons for Israel
during the ongoing war against the Gaza Strip.
This
decision follows recent reports of Indian-manufactured drones being transported
to Tel Aviv.
The
Water Transport Workers Federation of India (WTWFI) issued a statement on 14
February declaring their stance to “refuse to load or unload weaponised
cargoes” from Israel or any other country involved in the “war in Palestine”.
“We,
the Port workers, part of labour unions, would always stand against the war and
killing of innocent people like women and children,” a statement by the Union
said.
“Women
and children have been blown to pieces in the war. Parents were unable to
recognise their children killed in bombings that were exploding everywhere,” it
added.
The
Union, comprising over 3,500 employees at 11 government-owned ports in India,
called for an “immediate ceasefire”, while adding, “Loading and unloading these
weapons helps provide organisations with the ability to kill innocent people.”
Moreover,
WTWFI’s General Secretary, Narendra Rao, affirmed that the resolution aligns
with the World Federation of Trade Unions, and the collective choice was made
during a meeting with international trade unions in Athens at the onset of the
war.
Rao
stated, “We decided then that we would do our bit and not handle any
weapon-laden cargo, which will go on to assist Israel to kill more women and
children as we are seeing and reading every day in the news.”
He
said the statement was issued ‘to express solidarity with Palestine’.
Since
7 October, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip,
resulting in tens of thousands of casualties, most of whom are children and
women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and a
noticeable deterioration in infrastructure and properties, according to
Palestinian and international data. This has led to Israel facing charges of
violations of the Genocide Convention before the International Court of
Justice.
Source: mehrnews.com
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click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/212219/Indian-port-workers-refuse-to-handle-Israel-weapon-shipments
-----
Twelve
Houses Razed, Crops Over 44 Acres Destroyed, Cops Suspended Over ‘Beef Sale’ In
Rajasthan
A
bulldozer razes down a house in Rajasthan while a police personnel looks on
-----
20th
February 2024
Rajasthan
police on Tuesday, February 20, bulldozed 12 houses, and destroyed wheat and
mustard crops over 44 acres while electricity was cut off after allegations of
cow slaughter in Kishangarh Bas area of Rajasthan’s Khairthal Tijara district,
local media reported.
Moreover,
the state government suspended four police officials for not acting against the
“open beef sale in the area.”
A
case has been registered under Rajasthan Bovine Act (section 3,4,5,8,9 RB Act)
against 22 people. So far, 8 have been arrested.
The
arrested accused were identified as Ratti Khan, Sahun, Mausam, Haroon, Jabbar,
Aleem, Aslam, Kamil and Saddam.
According
to Navbharat Times, the “open beef market” was recently discovered after
frequent complaints of illegal cow slaughter in RundhGidavada and Balrampur
villages.
It
was alleged that 50 cows were slaughtered daily and home delivery of beef was
provided to 50 villages.
In
the wake of the incident, four police personnel including an assistant
sub-inspector, head constable, and two beat constables, have been suspended for
not acting against the alleged sale of beef.
Police
also shifted around a dozen cows wandering in the area to a cow shelter and
demolished several huts to remove encroachments from government land.
Jaipur
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Umesh Dutta said that various teams were
formed for combing operations in four districts of the range.
Following
information of cow slaughter and beef selling in Kishangarh Bas area, police
detained several people and recovered fresh meat which was sent for testing, he
said.
“We
have recovered some substance which is being scientifically checked. Some
suspects have been detained and are being questioned,” Dutta said.
The
IGP said that four policemen of Kishangarh Bas police station who were in
charge of beats, in which the substance was found and suspects were caught,
have been suspended while the remaining staff were shifted to the police lines.
Source: siasat.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.siasat.com/houses-razed-crops-destroyed-cops-suspended-over-beef-sale-in-rajasthan-2980299/
----
Media
Employees Sin By Shaving Beards And Taking Photos: Taliban Officials
The
head of the Public Invitation and Guidance Department of the de facto
administration stated that many media employees still commit a major sin by
shaving their beards./ Photo: Khaama Press
-----
Fidel
Rahmati
February
21, 2024
The
head of the Public Invitation and Guidance Department of the de facto
administration stated that many media employees still commit a major sin by
shaving their beards.
Mohammad
Hashem Shahid Wror, the head of the Public Invitation and Guidance Department
of the Taliban, said on Tuesday, February 20th in a meeting, that growing a
beard is obligatory and should not be trimmed.
He
said, “Media employees should also keep their beards and refrain from shaving.”
He
further stated that media employees also commit a major sin by taking pictures.
He emphasized that media employees should not waste all their time on
photography, as taking pictures is a major sin and they will be held
accountable before God in the Hereafter.
He
added, “Media employees are our Afghan compatriots, but they are persistently
committing the sin of shaving their beards and are more focused on corruption.”
Earlier,
the governor of the Taliban in Kandahar recently issued a written directive to
all institutions and authorities of the Taliban in this province, prohibiting
any photography of formal and informal meetings and ceremonies.
Mullah
Shirin Akhund, the governor of the Taliban in Kandahar, instructed in this
written directive, which has been published on social media and some media
outlets, that national and military officials of the Taliban government in this
province should refrain from taking pictures and photographing their “human
being” at formal and informal gatherings.
Source: khaama.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/media-employees-sin-by-shaving-beards-and-taking-photos-taliban-officials/
----
‘We See
Him As A War Criminal’: Biden Faces Ire Of Muslim, Arab American Voters In Michigan
Photo:
aa.com/Biden
-----
Muhammed
EnesCalli
21.02.2024
As
the 2024 US presidential election approaches, the consequences of the Biden
administration's Gaza policy are becoming evident.
President
Joe Biden made his first campaign stop this year in the state of Michigan
earlier this month, meeting with members of the United Auto Workers union and
patronizing a Black-owned restaurant.
He
purposefully refrained from engaging with the sizable Arab American community
in the state as he faced growing criticism from Arab Americans and progressives
due to his outspoken support for Israel's relentless attacks on Gaza since Oct.
7.
But
the visit did not pass without incident. When Biden made a stop at a restaurant
in the city of Warren, protesters gathered and expressed their dissent,
shouting "Shame on you!" "Genocide Joe" and "How many
kids did you kill today?"
Some
Arab American leaders in the state also declined an invitation to speak with
his campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez.
However,
journalist Osama Siblani met with her to express how Arab Americans are
disappointed with Biden's policy on the Gaza war.
"I
told her that (members of) our community actually called me and asked me not to
meet with her. I cannot not meet with her because I am a publisher of a
newspaper,” Siblani told Anadolu.
Siblani
is the publisher of The Arab American News, a weekly bilingual newspaper
representing Arab Americans published in Dearborn, Michigan.
"I
looked at her and I said: ‘Listen, I and my community do not see Joe Biden as
our president anymore. We see him as a war criminal, and therefore, we're not
going to vote for (him).’”
"I
told her bluntly that it's going to take a lot for this community to change its
mind. I do not believe that the president is capable of taking all these steps
between now and November for the community to change.”
However,
Siblani said he told Rodriguez during the meeting that they encourage Biden to
do two things right now.
The
first thing is to call for a cease-fire and actively engage in enforcing it,
emphasizing the need to halt the violence for the well-being of both Israelis
and Palestinians, he said.
He
said the second step involves addressing and rectifying the harm inflicted on
the people of Gaza, who are currently enduring difficult conditions -- living
in the cold, sleeping in the mud, facing famine and hunger.
If
this occurs, they can initiate a dialogue on the proposed future solution,
which involves the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside the Israeli
state, Siblani said.
"And
I think that is something that we are able to discuss."
Michigan
stands out as one of the key swing states leading up to November’s election,
with at least 278,000 Arab Americans.
"There
are at least 1 million American Muslim registered voters in our nation,"
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the national deputy executive director of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told Anadolu.
"That
makes them a very important part of the outcome of elections, especially in key
states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Arizona and other
states that help decide the presidency," he said.
"Every
election cycle, American Muslims do play a major role in our elections and can
play a major role in the outcome of upcoming presidential elections."
Today,
many Arab and Muslim voters are questioning their choice for president in the
last election, specifically because of his unprecedented support for Israel.
Biden's
policy on the Gaza war might lead to a decrease a support, potentially
jeopardizing a state he won by a narrow margin of 150,000 votes in 2020, and
which is home to an estimated 240,000 Muslims.
According
to a survey published by NBC News, among likely Democratic voters in Michigan,
16% indicated they would vote for Biden if the election were held today. About
two-thirds of Arab and Muslim Democrats said they are now considering voting to
replace Biden, and three-quarters expressed a willingness to vote for a
third-party candidate.
“The
Arab American community, Muslim community has grown substantially in Michigan,
and now they are about like 5% of the votes that could really sway. If they go
one way or the other, they can sway the election," Siblani said.
"I
understand that in the United States, there is huge support for Israel. And
there is a Jewish lobby in the United States that is very powerful.
"But
also in the United States is the president of the free world. As the leader of
the free world, he should act accordingly," he added.
Mitchell
believes that among many American Muslims, there is significant
"disappointment" and "disbelief" regarding the war in Gaza
and the support it receives from the US government.
"Obviously,
every day, American Muslims wake up, and many of us look at our phones and we
see images of children being pulled out of the rubble, hospitals being
attacked, people dead and murdered and their bodies lying in the streets across
Gaza."
"We
are seeing all this happen with the support of the American government, with
American taxpayer dollars," he said.
'Two
bad choices'
The
2024 elections pose a unique dilemma for Muslim and Arab Americans.
The
potential candidacy of former President Donald Trump for Republicans against
Biden could further complicate the elections for them.
But
with several court rulings pending on whether Trump will be knocked off the
ballot, it’s safe to say that the next presidential term is fraught with
uncertainty for many Arab Americans and the rest of the world.
Siblani
stressed that Trump is "dangerous" to the US because he wants to
"destroy" the institutions which contribute to the country's greatness.
"He
wants to make America one of his corporations," he said.
"Biden
is as dangerous to the world and to America because he's starting wars
everywhere. And he is not capable of running the United States and being the
leader of the free world for four more years," he added.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/-we-see-him-as-a-war-criminal-biden-faces-ire-of-muslim-arab-american-voters-in-michigan/3143604
------
Pakistan
A ‘Global Joke After Mother Of All Rigging’: Imran
PTI
founder Imran Khan. Photo: Screengrab/File
------
February
20, 2024
RAWALPINDI:
In a scathing criticism of the Feb 8 general elections, PTI's founder Imran
Khan has denounced the poll irregularities as the "mother of all
rigging," asserting that it has turned Pakistan into a global laughing
stock, according to statements made by his sister, Aleema Khan.
Speaking
to the media outside Adiala Jail, Aleema relayed Imran's statement, sharing
that the PTI founder referred to the "mother of all U-turns" as
giving respect to the "boot" instead of the vote.
Quoting
Imran, she said that the “mother of all selections” involved dropping criminal
cases against certain individuals and shifting the blame onto the PTI founder,
resulting in a 32-year sentence.
Aleema
asserted that pre-poll and election-day rigging aimed to undermine the people's
right to choose their representatives and voters' freedom to make informed
decisions.
Aleema
Khan said that her brother wants the culture of impunity to end and the mandate
of the people must be respected to salvage the country’s reputation
internationally.
Imran
also ridiculed his arch nemesis, the PML-N, which willingly bartered away its
narrative to grab power. “Instead of honouring the vote, the ‘selected ones’
have honoured the boot,” Aleema quoted Imran.
“The
selection was so blatant and blind that corruption cases were dropped by the
selectors against the ‘selected ones’,” she further stated quoting her
brother.“Instead the PTI chairman was sentenced to 32 years in jail after marathon
trials on trumped up charges.”
Imran
said that pre-poll, election day, and post-election rigging denied the people
of Pakistan their democratic right to choose their representatives.
“On
the voting day, the internet was shut down, leaving people perplexed. But when
it did not work, post-poll rigging was carried out at night by brazenly
changing the results by ignoring Form 45,” he added.
The
incarcerated PTI chairman also referred to the Rawalpindi commissioner who in a
recent damning video confession admitted to rigging the election for the PML-N.
“Not
just one commissioner, there are many more who have ample evidence of rigging,
but they have been silenced,” he said while fearing that the commissioner would
be subjected to physical torture.
Source: tribune.com.pk
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2457055/pakistan-a-global-joke-after-mother-of-all-rigging-imran
----
India
Nuh
Violence: UAPA Charges Added Against Muslim Accused In Three Cases
21st
February 2024
Nuh:
by Aiswarya Raj
Gurgaon,
February 20, 2024
Police
have slapped sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on the
accused in three cases for their alleged involvement in the murder of three
persons in Nuh violence that took place in July 2023, and an attack on a
cybercrime police station.
According
to court documents, the action by the Nuh Police comes nearly six months after
six persons were killed in communal clashes that erupted in Nuh and adjoining
areas following a Yatra by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal
on July 31 last year.
The
deceased in the three cases were two home guards Neeraj Khan and Gursev, and
Bajrang Dal member Abhishek, who was a Panipat resident. The UAPA sections have
been added against two accused, Osama and Murslim, according to police
documents.
In
response to the bail plea of accused Osama, police said that UAPA sections 10
and 11 have been added in the investigating officer’s report. “Osama could
commit the same offence again, create pressure on witnesses, and violate
conditions set by the honourable court. Therefore, it is requested that the
accused, Osama, not be granted bail in the interest of justice,” read the reply
to the bail plea.
The
counsel, representing accused Tahir Hussain Rupariya, said that the Nuh Police
had mentioned the charges in reply to the bail plea. “Two accused, who are
already in custody, will now face UAPA sections 10 and 11. In these three
cases, naming a total of 65 accused, bail has been granted to 33, so the Nuh
Police will submit a supplementary chargesheet with the names of the accused
against whom UAPA will be imposed. Police had filed the chargesheet against the
accused and the case was committed to the sessions court, but these sections
were not mentioned in the chargesheet earlier,” said the counsel.
Festive
offer
In
response to bail pleas by Murshid alias Murslim, police said, several witnesses
were mentioned in the statement under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section
161. “Based on the charges under sections 10 and 11 of the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act, 1967, or the final report of the case and CrPC Section
173(8), a challan was prepared and submitted on 06.02.2024,” it said.
The
UAPA gives power to the government to investigate and prosecute people over
terrorism, as well as to designate an organisation as an “unlawful association”
or a “terrorist organisation”, or an individual as a “terrorist”.
In
his disclosure statement, Osama cited that they attacked the rally members due
to their “hatred” for Bajrang Dal after the Rajasthan Police disclosed their
alleged connection with the murder of Junaid and Nasir; and that Osama had also
posted an audio asking the members of a WhatsApp group to be “prepared” for the
July 2023 yatra.
Junaid
and Nasir, who were residents of Ghatmika in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district,
had gone missing on the morning of February 15 last year. When their bodies
were found in Bhiwani the next morning, their families alleged that Bajrang Dal
members had kidnapped, assaulted, and burnt the duo to death. According to the
chargesheet, filed in May 2023, several cow vigilantes had attacked the duo on
suspicion of smuggling cattle in Rajasthan’s Peeruka.
Meanwhile,
questioning the delay in imposing charges, Osama’s brother Afjal said, “They
(the accused) are trying to get bail, and even six months after the incident,
police are coming up with a new course of action. We do not know on whose
orders such sections are being added.”
Murslim’s
brother Salman said, “He is just 20 years old and has no criminal antecedent.
Hearing in these cases are underway, with one of them set for Tuesday…”
Source: indianexpress.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/nuh-violence-six-months-on-police-add-uapa-charges-in-three-cases-9170012/
-----
Bengaluru
Mosque Road: Residents Say No To Ramzan Food Mela Offering Delicacies,Haleem,
Biryanis Variety Of Kababs
Feb
21, 2024
BENGALURU:
Fraser Town’s famed food Mela during the month of Ramzan has met with stiff
opposition from residents. They have approached the local MLA seeking a ban on
setting up of stalls during the holy month, slated to start in the second week
of March this year.
Every
year, Mosque Road and MM Road turn into foodies’ haven with hundreds of stalls
offering delicacies, including Haleem, biryanis and a variety of kababs.
However, residents say the Mela is a nightmare for them as thousands descend on
the locality and the feasting goes on sometimes early into the morning, leaving
behind a trail of smelly garbage.
About
2,500 residents under the leadership of Fraser Town Residents’ Welfare
Association (FTRWA) submitted a petition to MLA AC Shrinivasa. The residents
claimed the food Mela is held with no quality-control methods, the vendors have
no licence to conduct the business and stalls are haphazardly put up on
footpaths and the roads resulting in chaos, litter and huge traffic jams.
Further, the business goes on beyond permissible hours. The petition alleged
that unhygienic practices have led to increase in gastro-enteritis cases every
year, traffic jams through the day. The Mela has resulted in consumption of
alcohol on the streets and bottles are strewn around. There have been security
issues, including harassment of women and street fights, the residents told the
MLA.
FTRWA
said there is a huge increase in pollution levels, especially of carbon
monoxide, due to charcoal used for cooking. The sound pollution has led to
issues like high blood pressure, hearing loss and sleep disruption for locals,
the petition said.
‘We
hardly get sleep’
Nikhat
Aman, joint secretary of the association, said: “The Mela begins by 3pm and
goes on till 3am. During this time, it is impossible to step out of the house
or even travel a few metres. In case of any emergency, there is no way an
ambulance can even reach us. There is no regard for hygiene, the pavements are
encroached, and all the garbage is left behind. During the days of fasting, we
stay up late and have very few hours of rest. We hardly get to sleep on these
nights with the chaos around us. While we had red-flagged this last year, it
was too late and the stalls were up and running. This year, we do not want to
go through that experience again.”
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/residents-say-no-to-ramzan-food-mela-on-mosque-rd-bengaluru-fraser-towns-famed-food-mela-during-the-month-of-ramzan-has-met-with-stiff-opposition-from-residents/articleshow/107866828.cms
----
South Asia
Kabir
says IEA’s absence from UN meeting does not mean relations are strained
February
21, 2024
Deputy
Prime Minister for Political Affairs Mawlavi Abdul Kabir says the Islamic
Emirate wants a meaningful presence in future UN-sponsored meetings on
Afghanistan.
A day
after the two-day Doha meeting wrapped up, Kabir said the IEA’s absence at the
meeting did not mean Kabul’s relations with the international community are
“gloomy”.
Kabir
said the IEA is trying to have a “positive and meaningful” presence in future
UN meetings.
In a
meeting with the Japanese ambassador, Kabir said the Islamic Emirate had been
ready to attend the Doha meeting but had set conditions. He said the “designers”
of the meeting missed this opportunity.
He
also welcomed the UN Secretary General’s decision about the need for more
meetings in future and said the IEA “views” these meetings favorably.
Meanwhile,
the head of the IEA’s political office in Doha Suhail Shaheen said in an audio
message that the reason for the Islamic Emirate’s absence at this week’s
meeting was that the conditions they had set were not met.
“We
did not participate in the Doha meeting because the conditions were not
accepted.”
Representatives
of more than 25 countries attended the meeting that was held in Doha on Monday
and Tuesday.
Addressing
a press conference, Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United
Nations, said participants discussed “creating conditions in the next meeting
for the presence of the ruling authorities of Afghanistan”.
Source: ariananews.af
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.ariananews.af/kabir-says-ieas-absence-from-un-meeting-does-not-mean-relations-are-strained/
-----
Faiq:
UNSC to Hold Private Meeting on Afghanistan on Feb. 26
MitraMajeedy
February
20, 2024
On
February 26, the United Nations Security Council will hold a private meeting on
Afghanistan, the chargé d'affaires of the Afghanistan Permanent Mission to the
UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, told TOLOnews.
He
said that the meeting will be held on resolution 2127 of the UNSC.
“The
UN security council will hold a private meeting on Afghanistan on 26 of
February. In this meeting the members of the Security Council and the
Secretary-General will participate and the Secretary-General will provide a
report to the Security Council regarding the appointment of a special
representative and the Doha Conference based on Resolution 2127,” said Naseer
Ahmad Faiq.
“The
envoy that the UN wants to appoint in fact will be like a government leading
foreign institutions in Afghanistan and will be evaluating the politics of
Afghanistan and reporting to the UN Security Council and then the Security
Council will discuss its threats and incentives, and the Islamic Emirate will
think it is interfering in their issues,” said Ahmad Munib Rasa, a political
analyst.
The
UN Security Council in resolution 2127 asked the Secretary-General to appoint a
special representative of the UN to Afghanistan.
“One
or two candidates are from Turkey, from Indonesia, Norway and there is also
supposed to be some from Jordan. The properties of the envoy as stated in the
resolution should be someone who has political knowledge of Afghanistan from a
historical perspective, knows the region, has no close relations with any
political sides or engaged countries and at the same time should have the
necessary ability in the field of human rights and gender issues -- these are the
characteristics that the envoy should meet,” said the permanent representative
of Afghanistan to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Nasir Ahmad Andisha.
Meanwhile,
the head of the Islamic Emirate’s Qatar-based political office, Suhail Shaheen,
in an interview with a Japanese media outlet said that the Islamic Emirate will
not accept another UN special envoy for Afghanistan.
“The
question is why there is a need for a special envoy, second, there is suspicion
that the special envoy may try to impose some decisions on Afghanistan,” Suhail
Shaheen said.
This
comes as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has also in a statement
said that the country will be among the priorities of the agenda of the
upcoming Islamic Summit in Gambia and the Council of Foreign Ministers in
Cameroon.
Source: tolonews.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-187498
-----
President,
PM pay homage to Language Movement heroes
Feb
21, 2024
President
Md Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today paid rich tributes to the
martyrs of the historic Language Movement on the occasion of Amar Ekushey and
International Mother Language Day.
Both
the Head of the State and the Head of the Government paid their homage by
placing wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka at one minute past
midnight.
The
president was the first to lay the wreath at the Central Shaheed Minar, after
which, the premier placed the wreath.
They
stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the
memories of the language heroes.
The
Speaker, ministers, advisers to the prime minister, parliament members, chiefs
of the three services, senior Awami League leaders, freedom fighters, foreign
diplomats and high civil and military officials also paid tributes afterwards.
Later,
the Shaheed Minar was opened to the public. Hundreds of people from all walks
of life paid tribute with flowers at the memorial.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/president-pm-pay-homage-language-movement-heroes-3549036
----
UNICEF:
16% surge in acute respiratory infections in Afghanistan in January
Fidel
Rahmati
February
20, 2024
The
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that in January of this year,
160,000 cases of acute respiratory infections have been reported in
Afghanistan.
UNICEF
shared a report on its website on Monday, revealing a 16% rise compared to last
year for the reported cases.
UNICEF
states that severe cold and air pollution are cited as the causes of this
illness, adding that children under the age of five constitute 62% of all cases
of this disease.
According
to the report, the winter temperature in most parts of Afghanistan drops below
zero, leading to respiratory illnesses in children.
UNICEF
said it has been supporting health centers in Afghanistan to cope with the
increase in acute respiratory infections, with the support of the World Bank,
providing health supplies and heating materials to health facilities.
The
organization added that, in collaboration with the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank, it covers the costs of operating 2,400 health centers and the
salaries of about 27,000 health workers.
UNICEF
claims that its support for health workers and facilities in Afghanistan last
year provided health and nutrition services to approximately 20 million
children and their families.
UNICEF,
citing health experts, said that besides poor weather conditions, other factors
contributing to the increase in respiratory infections include poverty, air
pollution, inadequate respiratory hygiene, and crowded living conditions.
Source: khaama.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/unicef-16-surge-in-acute-respiratory-infections-in-afghanistan-in-january/
----
Nadim
Criticizes Meetings Held Abroad on Afghanistan
February
20, 2024
Nazir
Shinwari
The
Acting Minister of Higher Education, Neda Mohammad Nadim, on Tuesday in a
seminar in Kabul criticized the holding of meetings on Afghanistan abroad,
saying that what is raised about women's rights in these meetings is not
correct.
Speaking
during the seminar, Nadim said that now more than ever, women's rights are
protected in the country.
"Shamelessly,
meetings are held abroad in which concerns are expressed about the situation in
Afghanistan. Their participants also talk about the violation of women's rights
in Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate has paid much attention to the rights and dignity
of women in the country that no one in the world has paid attention to at this
level,” he said.
According
to Nadim, the current government is facing many problems and efforts are being
made to eliminate challenges.
The
Acting Minister of Education, Sayed Habibullah Agha, who was a participant in
the seminar, said that if Islamic laws are properly followed by the citizens,
the current government will be strengthened.
"We
who are in charge of inviting people, must do so based on ethics and the
Prophet's (PBUH) method; Because through this, our Islamic system can become
strong and stable in the country,” the acting minister of education added.
In
meetings about Afghanistan, concerns are expressed about the violation of
women's rights in Afghanistan, especially their right to work and education.
Source: tolonews.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-187500
----
North America
US
for a 4th time blocks UN Security Council resolution calling for ceasefire in
Gaza
February
20, 2024
NEW
YORK CITY: For the fourth time since the start of the war in Gaza, the US on
Tuesday vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate
ceasefire in the embattled territory.
It
said such a resolution would interfere with ongoing, “sensitive” negotiations,
led by Washington, that are attempting to broker an end to the hostilities.
Thirteen
of the 15 council members voted in favor of the resolution, which was drafted
by Algeria. The UK abstained.
“This
resolution is a stance against the advocates of murder and hatred,” Algeria’s
ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, told the council prior to the vote.
“A
vote in favor of this draft resolution is support to the Palestinians’ right to
life. Conversely, voting against it implies an endorsement of the brutal
violence and collective punishment inflicted upon them.
“Today,
every Palestinian is a target of death, extermination and genocide. How many
innocent lives must be sacrificed before the council deems it necessary to call
for a ceasefire?”
More
than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israeli forces began
their bombardment in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, according to
the territory’s Health Ministry. About 70,000 have been injured, and thousands
of bodies are thought to be still buried under the rubble of destroyed
buildings.
After
the vote, Bendjama vowed that he will continue to knock on the door of the
Security Council demanding an end to the bloodshed in Gaza. “We will never tire
and we will never stop,” he added.
Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, the US permanent representative to the UN, described
Tuesday’s vote as “irresponsible.”
She
signaled on Saturday that Washington would block the draft resolution over
concerns it could jeopardize ongoing negotiations to broker a pause in the
fighting and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages held by Hamas and
other groups in the Gaza Strip.
“Any
action this council takes right now should help not hinder these sensitive and
ongoing negotiations,” she said before the vote, warning that the Algerian
resolution would only hamper those talks.
“Demanding
an immediate, unconditional ceasefire without an agreement requiring Hamas to
release the hostages will not bring about a durable peace. Instead, it could
extend the fighting between Hamas and Israel.”
In
addition to the call for an immediate ceasefire, the Arab-backed draft
resolution did also demand the immediate release of all hostages. It also
rejected the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, called for the
unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, and reiterated
council demands that both Israel and Hamas “scrupulously comply” with the rules
of international law, especially in relation to the protection of civilians. It
also condemned “all acts of terrorism,” without explicitly naming either side.
In a
surprise move on Sunday night, the US tabled its own alternative draft
resolution on Gaza that also called for a “ceasefire” but referred to it as a temporary
one to be implemented “as soon as practicable” and “based on the formula of all
hostages being released.”
The
US draft, a copy of which Arab News obtained, also underscored the demand that
Israel should not proceed with a military offensive against the city of Rafah
in southern Gaza, on the grounds that such an attack “would result in further
harm to civilians and their further displacement, including potentially into
neighboring countries, which would have serious implications for regional peace
and security.”
Rafah
has become the last refuge for more than a million Palestinians forced to flee
fighting in other parts of Gaza.
Discussions
of the US draft resolution, which diplomatic sources said has not been
officially presented to Security Council members, have yet to take place and
there is no timetable as yet for any vote on it.
However,
the sources said that based on media reports, the text of the resolution
appears to be too wordy, and they have concerns about the wording of the
ceasefire call, especially the reference to it being a temporary measure to be
implemented “as soon as practicable,” without specifying who will decide when
this might be. This suggests the US will leave it up to Israel to decide when a
ceasefire declaration is appropriate, they said.
Russia’s
permanent representative to the UN, VassilyNebenzia, described the failure to
adopt the Algerian resolution as “yet another dark chapter in the history of
the UN Security Council, again written by the US delegation.”
He
accused the Americans of providing cover for Israel to carry out “inhumane
plans against Gaza, specifically to expel the Palestinians from the strip and
to completely cleanse the strip and quite literally transform it into an
uninhabitable territory.”
The
magnitude of the violence unleashed in Gaza “has surpassed any conflict
humankind has encountered following the Second World War. Public opinion will
no longer forgive UN inaction,” he added.
China’s
envoy, Zhang Jun, also expressed disappointment about the outcome of the vote.
He said the US veto sends the wrong message and pushes the situation in Gaza in
a dangerous direction.
“The
continued passive avoidance of an immediate ceasefire is nothing different from
giving a green light to the continued slaughter,” he said.
While
ceasefire resolutions are being vetoed in the Security Council, Zhang said, the
spillover from the conflict continues to destabilize the entire Middle East
region, increasing the risk of a wider war.
“Only
by extinguishing the flames of war in Gaza can we prevent fires of hell from
engulfing the entire region,” he added. “The council must act quickly to stop
this carnage in the Middle East.”
Slovenia’s
Samuel Zbogar, who voted in favor of the resolution, called for an end to the
killing of civilians in Gaza.
“The
suffering that Palestinians are enduring is beyond anything a human being
should be subjected to,” he said.
Source: arabnews.com/
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2463456/middle-east
----
'A
huge step for the Muslim community': New mosque opens in St. James
Danton
Unger
Feb.
21, 2024
A
Winnipeg family hopes to bring together the Muslim community with the creation
of a new mosque in the St. James neighbourhood.
The
Beit Nabala Mosque opened its doors late last week – welcoming the community to
come and pray together for the first time in this area of the city.
"Praying
together is very important in Islam and for Muslims. In St. James, there isn't
anywhere for people to gather together and pray together," said Ramsey
Zeid, the president of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba.
"This
is a huge step for the Muslim community, especially in St. James."
Zeid
helped set up the mosque with his parents. He said it has been a dream of
theirs to create a mosque in the St. James area.
"A
place where people can come and gather and pray together and worship together –
a safe place for Muslims and Palestinians in Winnipeg to come together," he
said.
The
name of the mosque holds a special place for Zeid's father Wajih. It is named
after the Palestinian town where he was born.
"It's
very important to me because it's my hometown," Wajih told CTV News.
When
he was four years old, his family had to flee their home due to the
Arab-Israeli war in 1948. His family spent time living in a refugee camp before
immigrating to Canada, and eventually Winnipeg's St. James neighbourhood.
"St.
James becomes a second home," Wajih said. "I thought now's the time for
me to do something for my community."
This,
as many Muslims are once again being displaced by the ongoing war between Hamas
and Israel.
Zeid
said the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba is expecting an increase
in Muslim immigrants due to the conflict.
"They
need a place to worship and to practise the Islamic religion," he said.
He
hopes this mosque will help them find their community.
"It's
a place where people can come and feel safe, to look for guidance, to come and
have maybe a few minutes of peace when things look not so peaceful around the
world."
It
comes at a time when Manitoba is already seeing an increase in its Muslim
population. Ruheen Aziz with the Manitoba Islamic Association said census
records show in the past few years, the province's Muslim population has grown
from 15,000 to 25,000.
"That's
a tremendous growth," Aziz said. "Growth like that in the last few
years just shows that the needs of the community are also growing. St. James is
in an area that was requiring a community space for a long time."
Muhamed
Ali, who was at the mosque praying on Monday, said before Beit Nabala opened in
St. James, he would have had to attend mosques that were a 20 to 30-minute
drive away. He said it is nice to be able to pray in his community.
"It's
beautiful," Ali said.
The
new mosque will also include children’s education programming and the offices
of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba.
It's
located at 325 Wallasey Street, and is open daily for prayer.
Source: ctvnews.ca
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/a-huge-step-for-the-muslim-community-new-mosque-opens-in-st-james-1.6775433
----
US,
Russia to speak on Israeli occupation at top UN court
2024-02-21
THE
HAGUE: The United States and Russia will present arguments on Wednesday in
proceedings at the UN’s highest court examining the legality of Israel’s
occupation of the Palestinian territories.
The
International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, was asked
in 2022 by the UN General Assembly to issue a non-binding opinion on the legal
consequences of the occupation.
Israel,
which is not taking part, said in written comments that the court’s involvement
could be harmful to achieving a negotiated settlement.
Washington
in 2022 opposed the court issuing an opinion and is expected to argue on
Wednesday that it cannot rule on the occupation’s lawfulness.
More
than 50 states will present arguments until Feb. 26. Egypt and France were also
scheduled to speak on Wednesday.
On
Monday, Palestinian representatives asked the judges to declare Israel’s
occupation of their territory illegal and said its opinion could help reach a
two-state solution.
On
Tuesday, 10 states including South Africa were overwhelmingly critically of
Israel’s conduct in the occupied territories, with many urging the court to
declare the occupation illegal.
South
Africa asks World Court to find Israeli occupation illegal
The
latest surge of violence in Gaza that followed Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel
has complicated already deeply-rooted grievances in the Middle East and damaged
efforts towards finding a path to peace.
The
ICJ’s 15-judge panel has been asked to review Israel’s “occupation, settlement
and annexation including measures aimed at altering the demographic
composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its
adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures”.
The
judges are expected to take roughly six months to issue their opinion on the
request, which also asks them to consider the legal status of the occupation
and its consequences for states.
Israel
ignored a World Court opinion in 2004 when it found that Israel’s separation
wall in the occupied West Bank violated international law and should be
dismantled. Instead, it has been extended.
The
current hearings could increase political pressure over Israel’s war in Gaza,
which has killed about 29,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials,
since Hamas group attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel
captured the occupied West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - areas of historic
Palestine which the Palestinians want for a state - in the 1967 conflict. It
withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but, along with neighbouring Egypt, still controls
its borders.
Israeli
leaders have long disputed that the territories are formally occupied on the
basis that they were captured from Jordan and Egypt during the 1967 war rather
than from a sovereign Palestine.
Source: brecorder.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40289958/us-russia-to-speak-on-israeli-occupation-at-top-un-court
----
Harvard
pro-Palestinian faculty group apologizes after sharing antisemitic imagery
21
February 2024
JTA —
A group of pro-Palestinian faculty and staff at Harvard University apologized
Monday for posting an image that school administrators and Jewish leaders
called antisemitic, in the latest row over Israel at the Ivy League
institution.
The
image was posted to Instagram this week by Harvard Faculty and Staff for
Justice in Palestine, a recently formed collective, to illustrate the links
between pro-Palestinian activism and Civil Rights-era groups. It includes a
1960s-era cartoon of a hand emblazoned with a Star of David and a dollar sign
holding Muhammad Ali and Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser in a noose.
“The
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee likened Zionism to an imperial
project,” read the image caption, referring to the influential 1960s Civil
Rights activist group. The cartoon appeared to be a cropped version of a SNCC
cartoon that upset Jewish groups at the time.
Harvard
denounced the image Monday on Instagram, and announced that its administrative
board, an oversight body with disciplinary authority, would review the posts.
“Such
despicable messages have no place in the Harvard community,” the university
wrote. “We condemn these posts in the strongest possible terms.”
The
faculty and staff group subsequently deleted the post and published an apology.
“It
has come to our attention that a post featuring antiquated cartoons which used
offensive antisemitic tropes was linked to our account,” the group posted
Monday on Instagram. “We apologize for the hurt that these images have caused
and do not condone them in any way. Harvard FSJP stands against all forms of
hate and bigotry, including antisemitism.”
However,
the group then republished the post but replaced the antisemitic image with one
of radical civil rights activist Kwame
Ture — formally known as Stokely Carmichael — famous for saying the “only good
Zionist is a dead Zionist.”
Harvard
has been beset by controversy over campus anti-Israel activism since the
outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Last week, a congressional committee issued
subpoenas to Harvard administrators as part of a broader investigation into
antisemitism at the university. Two weeks ago, the Department of Education
opened an investigation into the university’s treatment of pro-Palestinian
students targeted by pro-Israel harassment.
And
last month, Claudine Gay, Harvard’s president, resigned under pressure
following plagiarism allegations and a congressional hearing in which she declined
to say that calling for the genocide of Jews violated campus policy.
On
Monday, critics pointed to the image as evidence that the school still has an
antisemitism problem.
“The
cartoon is despicably, inarguably antisemitic. Is there no limit?” Rabbi David
Wolpe, a visiting scholar at the school who resigned from its antisemitism
advisory committee in December, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Harvard
Hillel, Harvard Chabad and the US House Committee on Education and the
Workforce, which issued the subpoenas against the school, also condemned the
post. Jeffrey Flier, a former dean of Harvard Medical School, wrote on X, “No
debate about this being anti-Semitic.”
A
screenshot of the offending image indicates it was reposted from the accounts
of two campus pro-Palestinian student groups. One of them, the Harvard
Palestine Solidarity Committee, was also behind a widely criticized student
letter in the days after Hamas’s October 7 invasion of Israel that blamed
Israel “entirely” for the attack.
The
original cartoon was condemned as antisemitic when SNCC published it in 1967,
shortly after Israel’s victory in the Six Day War widened a growing rift
between Black and Jewish activists. The full cartoon depicted the hand with the
Star of David as belonging to Israel’s then defense minister Moshe Dayan.
“Zionists
conquered the Arab homes and land through terror,” the original caption read.
It also referenced an age-old antisemitic conspiracy theory, citing “The famous
European Jews, the Rothschilds, who have long controlled the wealth of many
European nations.”
The
pro-Palestinian faculty group does not publicly post its membership roster and
did not respond to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency request for comment. According
to the Harvard Crimson, it was founded in January by at least 65 Harvard
faculty and staff upset with the university over what it claimed were efforts
to “methodically censor, surveil, and discipline students, faculty, and staff
for teaching and speech that is critical of the state of Israel.”
The
pro-Palestinian student groups who originally uploaded the post, including one
devoted to “African and African American Resistance,” also deleted the original
post and apologized.
“In
an earlier version of this post we shared an image that was not reflective of our
values as organizations,” they wrote on Instagram, adding, “Our mutual goals
for liberation will always include the Jewish community — and we regret
inadvertently including an image that played upon antisemitic tropes.”
This
week, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government also hosted Jared Kushner, former
US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law and onetime advisor, for an event at
which the Harvard alum said recognizing a Palestinian state now would be akin
to “supporting an act of terror perpetrated in Israel.” Kushner also praised
Harvard even as he, like others upset over its handling of antisemitism, said
he thought it had “perhaps maybe lost its way a little bit.”
Source: timesofisrael.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.timesofisrael.com/harvard-pro-palestinian-faculty-group-apologizes-after-sharing-antisemitic-imagery/
------
$14b
US aid package for Israel crafted with eye to ‘multi-front war,’ not just Gaza
21
February 2024
WASHINGTON
(JTA) — For months, US President Joe Biden has asked for — and Congress has
debated — sending wartime foreign aid to Israel as it battles Hamas in the Gaza
Strip.
The
bill currently on the table, passed in a bipartisan vote by the Senate last
week, would see some $14 billion go to Israel as part of a $95 billion foreign
aid bill. Biden is now pushing the Republican-led House to take up the bill.
The
majority of the bill’s funds would aid Ukraine in its war against Russia, and a
smaller portion is earmarked to help Taiwan deter Chinese aggression. Another
portion would fund humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.
But
the Israel portion of the aid is significant: It’s more than three times the
$3.8 billion the United States sends to Israel in a normal year. And it would
be a clear signal that the United States continues to stand behind the Israeli
war effort as it continues deeper into its fifth month.
Unlike
Ukraine, which has made its need for US funding clear, Israeli leaders have not
publicly clamored for the aid. Defense specialists say that if Israel receives
the money, it may not even be used in this war in Gaza, which began on October
7 when thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel’s south, killing some 1,200
people and taking 253 hostages.
Instead,
a lot of the funding is targeted toward replenishing weapons stockpiles — as
well as helping Israel prepare for a potential future fight against Hezbollah,
the Lebanese terror group.
Hezbollah
fighters and supporters attend the funeral of Ali al-Debs, one of the terror
group’s commanders killed by an Israeli airstrike two days earlier, in
Lebanon’s southern city of Nabatieh on February 16, 2024 (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
Here’s
how the bill’s funding for Israel breaks down, and what lies behind the
numbers.
The
largest amount of funding for Israel, $5.2 billion, is targeted toward systems
that deter missiles and other airborne threats — both long- and short-range.
A
senior Biden administration official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that
the aid was structured with an eye to other fronts — making sure Israel has the
means to prevent, or counter, any escalation on its borders.
“This
is for Israel to defend itself in a multi-front war and to be sure it can deter
a multi-front war,” the official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Within
the $5.2 billion carveout, $4 billion is for procuring short-range antimissile
systems for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. It also funds the
David’s Sling system, which intercepts mid-to-long-range missiles. Another $1.2
billion is for an “Iron Beam” antimissile system that is still in development.
When operational, that system will use lasers to shoot down airborne threats
ranging from drones to mortars, anti-tank missiles and rockets.
Hamas
rocket fire has largely abated as Israel has depleted the group, but those
missile defense systems would be especially critical in a fight against
Hezbollah, which began launching rockets at Israel starting October 8, a day
after Hamas’s invasion of Israel launched the war in Gaza.
Hezbollah
says its attacks are a bid to keep Israel preoccupied, and Iran has reportedly
urged Hezbollah not to escalate its attacks into an all-out war. But with
hundreds killed in fighting already — mostly Hezbollah fighters — the specter
of broader conflict looms: Israel launched air strikes in Lebanon last week
after rocket fire killed a woman in the northern town of Safed.
“As
Israel is battling to remove Hamas terrorists from Gaza, Hezbollah, with a far
more deadly missile arsenal, is threatening civilian populations in the north,”
said Marshall Wittmann, the spokesman for AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby
advocating for the bill. “It is imperative that Israel immediately receives the
necessary resources to defend against these threats.”
Jonathan
Schanzer, a vice president with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a
think tank that gets briefings from top Israel officials, said Israel might
safely assume that two-thirds of the up to 200,000 missiles Hezbollah possesses
could reach populated areas in Israel across much of the country.
He
said Israel could also face continued missile fire from countries farther
afield, such as Yemen.
“That’s
a massive amount of interceptors needed and I don’t think [Israel] is anywhere
near that,” he said. “So I would imagine from a defensive perspective, that’s a
huge priority.”
As
the war has continued, the Biden administration has increasingly urged Israel
to safeguard Palestinian civilian life and exercise greater precision in its
strikes on Gaza. More than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war,
according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, whose unverified figures do
not differentiate between combatants and civilians. Israel said on Monday that
it believed it had killed 12,000 Hamas fighters.
In
December, Biden said Israel’s bombing of Gaza was “indiscriminate.” Israel
rejects that criticism, saying that it takes steps to protect civilians when
shelling in Gaza.
To
enable Israel’s strikes to be more targeted, the bill also sets aside $801.4
million for ammunition for Israel. The Biden administration official confirmed
that that money would go to precision weapons.
“Israel
does not want unguided missiles,” the official said.
In
2021, Congress allocated $1 billion in emergency funding to help Israel
replenish its Iron Dome system after a two-week conflict that May. This time,
it is setting aside $3.5 billion for Israel to replenish systems and ammunition
it may have burned through in the first months of the war, and to maintain
systems used during the war.
Israel
used money from the $3.8 billion it receives annually from the United States to
pay for wartime munitions, such as the Iron Dome. Israel would use these new
funds to return to those priorities, including the modernization of F-15 and
F-35 aircraft.
The
rest of the money for Israel, more than $4 billion, goes to an American
priority: restocking weapons the United States keeps stockpiled in the region,
including in Israel, on a contingency basis.
Those
weapons stocks have been depleted, as Biden gave Israel the green light to
access the stockpile.
“We
have these stockpiles for a reason to make sure we are ready for any
emergency,” the official said. The money in the bill “makes sure the United
States remains strong and we have readiness to respond to any emergencies.”
In
total, the bill provides $9.2 billion for humanitarian assistance for Ukraine
and Gaza. How that breaks down between the two wars is not spelled out.
But
Joel Braunold, the managing director of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle
East Peace, who consults with US officials on relief distribution, said he
understood that between $1.7 billion and $2 billion would go to the
Palestinians’ humanitarian needs.
Those
needs are immense. International health organizations say Gaza is on the verge
of a famine and have accused Israel of not doing enough to let in aid. Israel
has countered that it is doing all it can to provide aid but does not have
reliable partners on the other side of the border.
Braunold
noted that the bill bans any aid from reaching the United Nations Works and
Relief Agency, the Palestinian aid agency known as UNRWA which Israel says acts
in collusion with Hamas.
The
money will “go to Gaza through bilateral and multilateral assistance,” he said,
referring to nonprofit organizations working in Gaza, and to international aid
groups. “While the bill gives significant flexibility to the administration to
transfer resources between these accounts, it bans any resources from going to
UNRWA.”
The
Biden administration has joined a number of Western nations in suspending
assistance to UNRWA in light of Israeli intelligence saying that a portion of
its staffers were involved in the October 7 massacres or affiliated with Hamas.
But Biden administration officials are also pressing Israel to facilitate the
entry of more humanitarian assistance into Gaza.
The
lion’s share of the funding bill, $60 billion, is for Ukraine’s defense needs.
The question of getting Ukraine weapons as it continues its two-year-long
effort to repel Russian invaders has also gotten the lion’s share of the
attention in the debate over the bill.
Democrats
and a portion of Republicans want to continue aiding Ukraine. But another
faction of Republicans, allied with former US president Donald Trump, are
skeptical of aiding Ukraine. Republicans have demanded that the bill include
provisions to tamp down a migrant crisis at the US-Mexico border — though they
recently rejected a compromise to that effect.
In a
speech last week, Representative Steny Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat who is
among Israel’s staunchest defenders in his party, focused on addressing
Republicans who have stalled the funding for Ukraine’s war.
“Give
the victims of Putin’s war crimes a vote, Mr. Speaker,” Hoyer said, addressing
Mike Johnson, the Louisiana Republican who is speaker of the House. “Give
Ukraine hope.”
Source: timesofisrael.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.timesofisrael.com/14b-us-aid-package-for-israel-crafted-with-eye-to-multi-front-war-not-just-gaza/
----
US lawmakers
hopeful of pause in Gaza war before Ramadan
February
21, 2024
AMMAN:
Two senior US lawmakers who held talks with Israeli and Arab leaders said on
Tuesday that they were hopeful a deal could be struck allowing a humanitarian
pause in the war in Gaza before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
In an
interview with Reuters in Amman, Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and
Chris Coons — who said they had earlier met Jordan’s King Abdullah and held
talks with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem — said there was “broad hope” of a deal
soon to release hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a pause in fighting.
“Within
a matter of weeks we could see a pause before Ramadan,” Blumenthal, who is on
the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Reuters.
Arabs
countries led by Jordan have expressed worries that Israel’s continued
offensive against Hamas during the holy month of Ramadan could ramp up tensions
further in the war.
But
Egyptian and Qatari-mediated talks to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and secure the
release of over 100 Israeli hostages being held in the Hamas-ruled territory
have yet to produce results. A round of inconclusive talks in Cairo ended last
week.
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel would not pay any price for
the return of hostages, saying the way to free them was by ramping up the
military pressure on Gaza and defeating Hamas.
Still,
Blumenthal said that talks with Israeli leaders suggested that Israel is open
to a pause as it wraps up a phase of intense fighting in Gaza and moves to a
potential focus on counter-insurgency combat instead.
“Once
there is that agreement on a pause it opens the way toward a negotiation that
could produce self governance by the Palestinians, a state that gives them
control over their own destiny,” Blumenthal said.
But
an Israeli offensive in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge, would complicate efforts toward a
halt in the fighting and the senators warned that Israel had an obligation to
protect civilians and allow for relocations before moving on Rafah.
“There
is an attempt to balance between supporting Israel and its war against Hamas
and supporting the legitimate aspirations of Palestinian people for self
governance and end of conflict,” Coons said.
Source: arabnews.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2463761/world
----
Pakistan
PPP,
PML-N strike power-sharing deal in Pakistan; Shehbaz Sharif to be prime
minister, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari President
21.02.24
In a
breakthrough that could end the political uncertainty in Pakistan, the Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party have agreed on a
power-sharing deal to form a new coalition government after intense negotiations
following a fractured poll verdict.
In a
joint news conference late Tuesday night at Zardari House here, Pakistan
Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari announced that Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, 72, will assume the role
of the prime minister once again.
Similarly,
PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, 68, will be the joint candidate for the
president’s office.
"The
PPP and PML-N have achieved the required number, and (now) we are in a position
to form the government," Bilawal told reporters without revealing the
number of lawmakers they have in the National Assembly after the February 8
elections.
To
form a government, a party must win 133 out of 265 contested seats in the
266-member National Assembly or the lower house of Parliament.
He
said former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)
party-backed independent candidates and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) failed to
achieve a simple majority in Parliament to form a government in the Centre.
Bilawal
hoped that the news of the political alliance with the PML-N to form a
coalition government would lead to a positive market response as the
cash-strapped country faced a hung Parliament after the elections.
Independent
candidates - a majority backed by 71-year-old Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(PTI) party -- won 93 National Assembly seats.
The
PML-N won 75 seats while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi
Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.
Speaking
at the press conference, Shehbaz asserted that his party now has the “required
numbers” with the PPP to be in a position to form the next government as he
thanked the leadership of the two parties for the positive conclusion to the
talks.
The
former prime minister emphasised the unity between the two parties, noting that
they were well-positioned to form the government at the Centre.
Shehbaz,
who led a coalition government for 16 months before the elections, also said
that he had asked the PTI-backed winning candidates to prove their majority and
form the government, but they didn’t have sufficient numbers.
The
PML-N stalwart also thanked Bilawal and Zardari for their cooperation. Shehbaz
said that both parties decided that Zardari would be fielded as the joint
candidate for the post of president.
Responding
to a question about whether the PPP was getting any portfolios, Shehbaz said
that the Bilawal-led party has not demanded any ministry from the first day,
The News International reported.
“Parleys
take place between two parties and issues are resolved through (mutual
consultation). It doesn’t mean that we accept their demands or they accept
ours; they have their views but reaching a middle point is the real political
success,” he said.
The
former prime minister added that the decisions on the “offices” would be made
mutually later under the guidance of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and the PPP’s
top leadership, the report said.
Shehbaz
also thanked the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party,
and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid, who will be part of the next government.
He
vowed the upcoming coalition government would restore the country’s economy and
fight against the menace of terrorism.
The
PML-N leader said that the alliance would bring economic progress and development
to the country. He said they would take measures to increase agricultural and
industrial production in the country.
Shehbaz
stressed that the previous unity forged during the 16-month government paved
the way for their current collaboration, united in their commitment to
addressing the concerns of the Pakistani people.
"We
will not disappoint the people of Pakistan,” the president of the PML-N said.
The
details were not provided but sources said that PPP was still reluctant to be
part of the government as it agreed to have its president, chairman senate, and
governors in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and chief minister in Balochistan.
The
PML-N would have complete charge of the federal government with the prime
minister and speaker. It will also get governors in the Sindh and Balochistan
provinces.
The
two also agreed to form a coalition government in Balochistan with an equal share
in the cabinet.
Meanwhile,
in a post on X, 71-year-old Khan's party hit out at the newly cemented PPP,
PML-N alliance as ‘PDM 2.0’ "PDM 2.0 = #MandateThieves." The
announcement of the alliance came a day after the latest round of talks between
the top leaders of the two parties ended inconclusively on Monday as both sides
failed to reach a consensus on a power-sharing formula to form a coalition
government.
Shehbaz
said that the journey ahead for the new government would not be easy but
fraught with many difficulties and obstacles. He asserted that the coalition
alliance will tackle them together, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Zardari,
who was president from 2008 to 2013, has said the struggle of the political
alliance bidding to make the next government is for the sake of the country and
future generations.
The
February 8 general elections have been controversial, with several serious
allegations of widespread rigging to alter the results.
Imran
Khan’s sister Aleema Khan said the PTI chief has termed the February 8
elections “mother of all rigging”.
Aleema
met Imran Khan at Adiala Jail on Tuesday. She told reporters that the people's
mandate was “stolen” following the elections. She also said that Imran Khan has
strongly condemned the suspension of internet services, which he claimed was
used to “hide the real results”.
Source: telegraphindia.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/pakistan-peoples-party-and-pakistan-muslim-league-nawaz-strike-power-sharing-deal-in-pakistan-shehbaz-sharif-to-be-prime-minister-bilawal-bhutto-zardari-president/cid/2001922
----
Sunni
Ittehad Council risks losing reserved seats in Punjab
February
21, 2024
LAHORE:
With the Punjab Assembly session likely to be called in a couple of days, the
Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) — the new home for successful PTI-backed
independent candidates — may not get reserved seats for women and minorities,
leaving the PML-N with a simple majority in the house.
However,
the outgoing speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Sibtain Khan, has warned the
government to refrain from calling the provincial assembly session without
allocating reserved seats to the SIC.
“The
Election Commission of Pakistan is likely to notify allocation of reserved
seats in the PA on Wednesday (today),” an official source privy to the
development told Dawn on Tuesday.
The
source insisted that the Sunni Ittehad Council was unlikely to get its share
amid legal questions, recalling that the SIC’s head himself had not contested
on his own party ticket. Besides, the deadline to submit a list of candidates
for reserved seats has passed.
The
source said the PML-N’s parliamentary party meeting would also be held today
(Wednesday) and the PA session would be called on Thursday. The source added
that after getting the reserved seats for women and minorities, the PML-N would
have over 200 MPAs in the Punjab Assembly.
PML-N
poised for majority in provincial assembly; more independent candidates join
party
On
the other hand, Speaker Sibtain Khan said that since the PTI-backed MPAs-elect
have joined the SIC, the party should be allocated reserved seats. The
provincial assembly session should not be called in a hurry to elect the
speaker and the chief minister, as it would be controversial without allocating
reserved seats to the SIC.
“A
constitutional crisis will follow if the reserved seats of SIC/PTI are given to
other parties,” the speaker said.
Meanwhile,
two MPAs-elect — Ahsan Raza from Kasur PP-180 and Ghazanfar Qureshi, a retired
colonel from Jhang PP-128 — called on Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N’s nominee
for the chief minister’s slot, at her Jati Umra house and announced joining the
party of the Sharifs.
Ms
Sharif has been meeting top bureaucrats of the province for one week or so as
part of her preparations to assume the coveted post.
The
PML-N has so far managed to take on board 19 independent MPAs-elect (not backed
by PTI) and six MNAs-elect (including one supported by PTI).
According
to unofficial election results, the PML-N has 79 seats in the National Assembly
and 137 in the Punjab Assembly. Therefore, with the inclusion of 19 independent
MPAs-elect, the PML-N number in the provincial assembly has touched 156.
Source: dawn.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.dawn.com/news/1815900/sunni-ittehad-council-risks-losing-reserved-seats-in-punjab
----
Over
23,000 Pakistanis languishing in foreign jails, Senate panel told
February
21, 2024
ISLAMABAD:
As almost 23,456 Pakistan nationals are imprisoned abroad, mostly in the Gulf
countries, the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights on Tuesday directed
the foreign ministry to formulate a much-delayed ‘Uniform Consular Protection
Policy’ within three months and get it approved by the government for its
implementation.
Senator
Walid Iqbal highlighted the non-existence of this policy as it was the
constitutional duty of the government to ensure due process of law for all
citizens of Pakistan wherever they might be. He informed the Senate committee
that then-Lahore High Court Chief Justice Mansoor Ali Shah had directed the
formulation of the policy in the Asma Shafi case in 2017.
During
the meeting, the foreign ministry officials said that there were currently
23,456 prisoners in foreign prisons, mainly in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq,
Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, India and China. Out of the total number of imprisoned
Pakistanis, at least 7,869 were under-trial prisoners.
Senator
Mushahid Hussain Sayed inquired about the foreign ministry’s initiatives to
provide relief to these prisoners. He also inquired about the status of 2,100
Pakistani prisoners that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had announced
to release during his visit to Pakistan during the PTI government.
Over
12,000 women prisoners in Pakistan, 40 on death row
The
panel was informed by the officials of the Ministry of Interior that Pakistan
had entered into prisoner transfer agreements with 11 countries. “Ten were
fully effective and one was under process and was yet to be ratified by a
foreign government.” The committee observed that while these treaties were
government-to-government agreements, their intended beneficiaries were citizens
of Pakistan and these accords should be easily accessible and publicly
available to everyone. The committee said prisoner transfer agreements should
be placed on the websites of the ministries of interior, human rights, overseas
Pakistanis and law and justice.
Bangkok
Rules
The
Senate committee was briefed by the chairperson of the National Commission on
the Status of Women (NCSW) on the state of implementation of UN-approved
“Bangkok Rules” across Pakistan regarding the treatment of women prisoners and
detainees.
In
its previous meeting held in December, the committee had sought data on the
issue.
NCSW
Chairperson Nilofar Bakhtiar stated that there were currently 13,065 women
prisoners in the country. 12,258 women were under trial, 767 were convicted,
and 40 women were on death row. She further added that around 60 per cent of
total prisoners in Punjab were under trial.
The
NCSW chairperson highlighted that her office had ensured that five of the
well-known imprisoned women political activists, Dr Yasmin Rashid (289 days),
Sanam Javed (289 days), Aliya Hamza (289 days), Fehmida Begum (269 days), and
Ayesha Bhutta (195 days) continued to be treated in accordance with the Bangkok
Rules.
Senator
Humayun Mohmand brought the committee’s attention to two Supreme Court
judgements in the Tahira Batool case (2022) and the Ghazala case (2023), where
it had been ordered that in light of Section 497(1) of the Code of Criminal
Procedure women, underage, and sick under-trial prisoners must be granted
bails.
The
committee unanimously recommended to the NCSW chairperson to inquire into the
matter and report to the committee whether bail had been sought by these women
activists.
The
Senate body was also given a briefing by the secretary of the Ministry of Human
Rights on the upcoming periodic report of Pakistan involving the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in March 2024. The committee was
apprised that the ICCPR aimed to ensure the protection of civil and political
rights. The committee learnt that Pakistan had been asked to report on the key
issues of gender equality, violence against women, sexual and reproductive
rights, prohibition of torture, overcrowding of jails, child marriage, same-sex
union, abolition of the death penalty, enforced disappearances, right to
privacy, freedom of assembly, military courts, and child rights. However,
Pakistan had a different set of beliefs on the issue of the death penalty and
same-sex unions. The human rights ministry had conducted consultative sessions
with the stakeholders to obtain relevant information, and a detailed report
would be forwarded to the foreign ministry for its onward transmission to the
ICCPR committee next month.
Source: dawn.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.dawn.com/news/1815845/over-23000-pakistanis-languishing-in-foreign-jails-senate-panel-told
----
Experts
call for mutual understanding for stable Pakistan-Afghanistan ties
February
21, 2024
IkramJunaidi
ISLAMABAD:
Speakers at a conference on Tuesday stressed the need for mutual understanding
and collaborative efforts for stable Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship.
The
focus was on promoting peace, stability and socioeconomic development in the
region and the potential of religious diplomacy. There was consensus on the
need for sustained efforts to address humanitarian crises, promote dialogue and
build trust between two sides.
The
conference, “Pakistan-Afghanistan religious scholars’ conference” was organised
by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in collaboration with
its Afghan partner Organisation for Economic Studies and Peace (OESP) as part
of their initiative Beyond Boundaries.
Council
of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz emphasised the importance of
religious diplomacy and the role of scholars in addressing issues between
Pakistan and Afghanistan. Based on his experiences of participation in various
delegations and dialogues aimed at promoting girls’ education, both
domestically and in Afghanistan, he emphasised the need to engage with key
stakeholders, including religious leaders who possess the influence and
understanding to contribute meaningfully to resolving bilateral issues.
He
stressed the importance of understanding Afghan perspectives, addressing their
concerns transparently and advocating for a people-centric approach to
diplomacy.
Chief
Khateeb Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Maulana Mohammad Tayyab Qureshi noted that the way
forward for the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan lied in both
sides proactively addressing mutual concerns and taking conscious efforts to
promote cordial ties between them at different levels, including
people-to-people, economy and political.
He
stressed the importance of addressing the insecurity and humanitarian crises
plaguing the region, particularly the desire among the young members of the
population to leave due to economic hardships.
Abdul
Hakim Mujahid, former Afghan diplomat, shed light on Afghanistan’s dire
humanitarian situation, calling for the lifting of sanctions to tackle the
crisis and economic challenges effectively. He suggested integrating the Afghan
Taliban into the global fabric to effectively combat terrorism and ensure
stability.
Maulana
Hamidul Haq Haqqani, Vice Chancellor Darul Uloom Haqqani, highlighted the intertwined
fate and historical connections between the two countries. He advocated for
inclusive policies that promote education and empower women, recognising the
crucial role of education in fostering socioeconomic stability and peace.
Mufti
Jamaluddin, former MNA (JUI) South Waziristan, said cultural and religious
similarities between Pakistan and Afghanistan could bind the two nations into a
relationship characterised by cooperation, trust, and understanding. He said
cross-border interactions should not be hindered by bureaucratic hurdles, and
underlined the importance of improved people-to-people ties and mobility across
the border.
Khaliq
Dad Haqqani, Afghan religious scholar, underscored the need for sustained
efforts to address longstanding challenges and promote stability in
Afghanistan. He highlighted the positive developments observed during Taliban
rule, including the restoration of peace and the neutralisation of militant
groups. He stressed the pivotal role of education in empowering Afghan youth
and fostering national progress, advocating for standardised and inclusive
educational systems in Afghanistan for its integration into the global
community.
Maulana
Khanzeb, religious scholar and politician from Bajaur, stressed the importance
of inclusive and well-thought out policies both within Pakistan and Afghanistan
and externally with regard to regional dynamics.
Razia
Aziz, former MNA, focused on the economic and educational aspects of the
Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship. He highlighted the detrimental effects of
trade disruptions and emphasised the importance of keeping trade routes open to
strengthen bilateral ties and promote economic stability in both countries.
Dr
Abdul Rehman, Chairman Department of Law and Sharia, Shaikh Zayed Islamic Centre
University of Peshawar, spoke on the role of media in shaping public
perceptions and promoting constructive dialogue between Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
Abid
Shakiri, a religious scholar, highlighted the significance of women’s education
as a fundamental right and a key driver of socioeconomic progress. He also
underscored the role of religious scholars and institutions in promoting
tolerance, compassion and social justice, calling for their active involvement
in advocating for human rights and equality.
Source: dawn.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.dawn.com/news/1815849/experts-call-for-mutual-understanding-for-stable-pakistan-afghanistan-ties
----
Saudi
govt desires to take responsibility of Faisal Mosque’s maintenance
MUHAMMAD
ASAD CHAUDHRY
February
21, 2024
ISLAMABAD - The
government of Saudi Arabia has offered to take the responsibility of the
maintenance of Islamabad’s iconic Faisal Mosque keeping its dilapidated
condition in view.
At
present, the administration of the mosque is controlled by the Management of
International Islamic University while the upkeep and routine maintenance rests
with the Capital Development Authority.
However,
it is quite unfortunate and strange that most of the local as well as foreign
visitors complain poor management and unhygienic conditions in the mosque
while the university management also wrote the civic authority in this regard
on many occasions.
Sources
informed that the Saudi Ambassador in Pakistan wrote a letter to the Federal
Secretary Interior and desired that his government wants to bear the
maintenance cost incurred on the Faisal Mosque for its better management.
The
concerned formation inside the civic authority is preparing a draft Memorandum
of Understanding in this regard which will be signed in few weeks.
The
project to build said mosque was conceived in 1966, when King Faisal bin
Abdul Aziz visited Islamabad. An international competition for the selection
of the mosque design was held in 1969 and the design of a Turkish architect
VedatDalokay was selected by a jury appointed by the International Union of
Architects.
A
foundation stone was laid by King Khalid bin Abdul Aziz in 1976, but the
project was started in 1978 and completed in 1988 in a period of 10 years.
The
structural engineers of Faisal Mosque were R L Lac Qurix from Paris and S
Erdolan from Turkey. The Project Manager was Muhammad Rafique Ahmed while the
project was executed by contractor M/S National Construction Limited.
It is
pertinent to mention here that there is a false presumption that the Faisal
Mosque was fully funded by the Saudi government, but the official documents of
the project clearly negate this false myth as only partial funding was made by
the Saudi government on the directions of its King, late Shah Faisal bin Abdul
Aziz Al Saud. In response the mosque was named after his name.
The
project’s cost was $45 million in which $28 million were contributed by the
government of Saudi Arabia while $17 million were provided by the Pakistani
government in addition to the allocation of 33 acres of land for the mosque.
The
ownership of the said mosque is with the CDA but the management rests with the
International Islamic University Islamabad. The CDA spends millions on the
renovation and maintenance of the mosque every year but now due to
unavailability of funds, the level of maintenance has been reduced.
The
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a time-tested friend of Pakistan. The bilateral
relationships between the two countries have a vast scope covering multiple
fields of life.
Source: nation.com.pk
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.nation.com.pk/21-Feb-2024/saudi-govt-desires-to-take-responsibility-of-faisal-mosque-s-maintenance
----
Africa
Borno
State Governor Unveils Counterterrorism Curriculum For Borno Islamic Schools
21st
February 2024
Uthman
Abubakar
Borno
State Governor, BabaganaZulum, has unveiled a unified curriculum for Islamic
schools aimed at countering violent extremist ideologies and preventing young
people from being radicalised by terrorist groups.
Borno
is one of the hardest hit states by Boko Haram insurgency, which began in
Maiduguri around 2002.
The
fundamentalists group, known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād,
preached against Western education as depicted by its name, Boko Haram (Western
education is unlawful).
The
sect formed by the late Muhammed Yusuf
and later led by AbubakarShekarau from 2009 until his reported death in 2021,
launched violent attacks on Western education, as it reportedly destroyed about
2,500 classrooms, chasing out hundreds of thousands of the pupils while it also
engaged in pupils abduction.
AFCON
2023: Super Eagles Ends Continental Cup Campaign With Silver Ware0:00 / 0:00
Unveiling
the curriculum on Tuesday, Zulum said, “Our Islamic schools have been operating
without a unified curriculum for at least three to four decades and that is a
matter of great concern to all of us.
“The
so-called Boko Haram insurgency was started as a result of some misleading
preaching, therefore it is imperative for us to devise a way such as this
curriculum to avert such in the future.”
Zulum
said his administration would ensure that all Islamic schools strictly follow
the new unified curriculum.
He
emphasised the importance of teaching and preaching following the authentic
content of the holy books.
He
said, “We are currently witnessing another development recently; we are
concerned by the way some scholars preach. Therefore, the Government of Borno
State will do everything possible to ensure that teaching and preaching comply
with the proper content of the holy books.”
Zulum
also noted that the new curriculum was prepared based on the policies of the
National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies, which, he said, would qualify
students from private Islamic schools to get admission to universities and
colleges.
Speaking
earlier, the Chairman of the Arabic and Tsangaya Education Board, Khalifah
Sheikh Ali Abulfathi, said “The curriculum, which is based on the Maliki school
of thought, centred on the teaching of Arabic, Quran, Hadith, Tauhid and
jurisprudence.
“The
board reviewed existing teaching methodologies and instructional materials used
by the Islamiyya schools as part of efforts to give the knowledge and values
needed.”
Abulfathi
called on parents and other stakeholders to support the new curriculum to
ensure that every child had access to quality Islamic education.
Source: punchng.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://punchng.com/zulum-unveils-counterterrorism-curriculum-for-borno-islamic-schools/
-----
South
Africa asks World Court to find Israeli occupation illegal
2024-02-21
THE
HAGUE: South Africa on Tuesday urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
to issue a non-binding legal opinion that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian
territories is illegal, arguing it would help efforts to reach a settlement.
Representatives
of South Africa opened the second day of hearings at the ICJ, also known as the
World Court, in the Hague. The hearing follows a request by the UN General
Assembly for an advisory, or non-binding, opinion on the occupation in 2022.
More than 50 states will present arguments until Feb. 26.
On
Monday, Palestinian representatives asked the UN’s highest court to declare Israel’s
occupation of their territory illegal, also saying the court’s advisory opinion
could contribute to a two-state solution and a lasting peace. Israel is not
attending the hearings but sent a written statement, saying an advisory opinion
would be harmful to achieving a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians.
At
World Court, Palestinians demand end of Israeli occupation
“A
clear legal characterization of the nature of Israel’s regime over the
Palestinian people can only assist in remedying the ongoing delay and achieving
a just settlement,” VusimuziMadonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the
Netherlands told the judges.
The
latest surge of violence in Gaza, promoted by the Oct.7 attacks in Israel by
Hamas, has complicated already deeply-rooted grievances in the Middle East and
damaged efforts towards finding a path to peace.
The
ICJ’s 15-judge panel has been asked to review Israel’s “occupation, settlement
and annexation ... including measures aimed at altering the demographic
composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its
adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures.”
The
judges are expected to take roughly six months to issue an opinion on the
request, which also asks them to consider the legal status of the occupation
and its consequences.
Source: brecorder.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40289908/south-africa-asks-world-court-to-find-israeli-occupation-illegal
----
SA
says occupying entity practices apartheid in Palestine
[21/February/2024]
LONDON
February 21. 2024 (Saba) - Pretoria filed charges before the International
Court of Justice on Tuesday that the Zionist entity is practicing a "more
extreme" form of apartheid in the Palestinian territories than what South
Africa faced before 1994.
South
African Ambassador to the Netherlands VusiMadonsela said in a statement “We as
South African citizens sense, see, hear and feel deep down the inhumane
discriminatory policies and practices of the Zionist regime as a more extreme
form of apartheid that has been institutionalized against black people in my
country.”
The
response came during hearings before the International Court of Justice, which
witnessed the participation of 52 countries to provide a non-binding “advisory
opinion” on the legal effects of the Zionist occupation in the Palestinian
territories since 1967.
Madonsela
stressed the need to stop the Zionist occupation and apartheid, considering
that the international community's reluctance to hold "Israel"
accountable encourages it to commit other crimes.
In a
related context, these hearings come in light of the increasing legal pressure
on the occupying entity due to the aggression in Gaza and the resulting
attacks, while “Tel Aviv” refused to participate in the hearings and presented
its position as a statement.
In
another development in the case, Pretoria filed accusations that the occupying
entity crossed a “new threshold” by committing “the crime of crimes, genocide,”
as a result of the international community’s reluctance to hold it accountable
for its policies and practices.
This
comes within the framework of international efforts to put pressure on the
occupying entity regarding the situation in the Palestinian territories, especially
after the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation launched by the resistance movement “Hamas”
last October.
For
his part, Pieter Andreas Stemmet, the lawyer representing South Africa, said
“Preventing apartheid and racial discrimination (…) is an imperative in international
law” that obligates all countries, including the occupying entity.
Stemmet
added “Israel’s complete disregard and lack of respect for these principles
makes the occupation illegal in its essence and foundation.”
This
case appears as part of a request submitted by the United Nations General
Assembly to the International Court to consider the “legal consequences” of the
Zionist occupation since 1967.
In
the first sessions of the hearing, Palestinian officials presented testimonies
in which they accused the Zionist occupation authorities of running a system of
"colonization and apartheid" in the region, and demanded an end to
the occupation and work towards achieving justice and accountability.
It is
expected that the upcoming sessions will witness more countries expressing
their opinions on this sensitive issue, as the discussion is expected to
accelerate on issues of human rights and international law related to the
Zionist aggression.
Source: saba.ye
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3306669.htm
----
Sharia
court orders mental evaluation of Kano Tiktoker
20th
February 2024
TukurMuntari
A
Kano State Sharia Court presided over by Khadi Yusuf-Ahmed has ordered
Tiktoker, Murja Kunya, to be taken to a government hospital for a mental
evaluation.
Recall
that the defendant is standing trial on a three-count charge of inciting public
disturbance, belonging to a criminal gang, and criminal intimidation.
The
defendant in one of her videos on TikTok which went viral said she is the
“leader of all prostitutes in the city.”
While
delivering the ruling, Justice Yusuf-Ahmad, ordered that the defendant be taken
to a public hospital to ascertain her mental health due to suspected drug
influence.
According
to the Judge, “The defendant’s previous appearance shows she is not in a sound
state of mind due to suspected drug influence.”
Yusuf-Ahmad
further added that “The Hisbah Board should be updating the court from time to
time on her well-being for three months”
He
adjourned the matter until May 20th for a hearing.
Earlier,
the prosecutor, Barrister AliyuAbideen, said the Kano State Hisbah Board
arrested the defendant after receiving several complaints from members of the
public.
The
prosecutor further stated that the defendant usually terrorises TishamaHotoro
Quarters Kano by bringing bad boys at midnight and also disturbs the area by
inciting disturbance and using social media to disturb members of the public.
She,
however, denied committing the offence.
The
prosecutor, therefore, disclosed that the offence contravened sections 341,
275, and 227 of the Kano State Shari’a Law.
Source: punchng.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://punchng.com/sharia-court-orders-mental-evaluation-of-kano-tiktoker/
-----
Mideast
Palestinian
icon rejects Israeli restrictions at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque
Anadolu
staff
20.02.2024
Prominent
Palestinian leader Sheikh Raed Salah on Tuesday rejected Israeli restrictions
on the entry of Palestinian worshippers into the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque
during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
"Our
bond with Al-Aqsa Mosque is sacred,” Salah, the leader of the Islamic movement
in Israel, said in a recorded message.
"We
have the eternal and legitimate right to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he said. “No
one on earth has the right to decide who can enter the site.”
On
Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved recommendations by
his far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to restrict the entry
of Palestinians living in Israel and Jerusalem into the mosque during Ramadan,
due to start on March 10.
Al-Aqsa
Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the
Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel
occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli
War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, a move never recognized by the
international community.
Israel
has restricted access of Palestinians into the Al-Aqsa Mosque since the start
of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 following a Hamas attack.
Nearly
29,200 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza amid mass
destruction and shortages of necessities.
The
Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal
displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60%
of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the
UN.
Israel
stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim
ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to
guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/palestinian-icon-rejects-israeli-restrictions-at-jerusalem-s-al-aqsa-mosque/3142907
----
Israel
raids Gaza 'safe' area sheltering displaced Palestinians; MSF says ‘horrified’
21
February 2024
The
medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has expressed horror over a
deadly Israeli assault on a southern Gaza town that was previously designated
as "safe" area by the regime’s military.
In a
social media post on Wednesday, MSF said the attack by Israeli ground force
targeted al-Mawasi, which is situated west of Khan Yunis and houses a shelter
for MSF staff and their families.
“We
are horrified by what has taken place,” in al-Mawasi, where the Israel troops
killed at least two relatives of MSF staff and injured several others, it
added.
Amani
Shnino, a mother taking refuge in the Gaza town, told the Middle East Eye (MEE)
news portal that she was getting her three children ready for bed when an
Israeli quadcopter broadcast a message to remain indoors.
It
was followed by intense clashes, bombings and the roaring sounds of tanks and
warplanes, she noted.
“My
three children and I were scared to death… We were also in panic and had no
clue of what was going on,” Shnino said.
"We
expected the worst. We thought they (the Israeli soldiers) were coming to
arrest or even execute people. It was highly likely."
She
further said that the clashes continued for about three hours before subsiding.
Israel
waged a genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip on October 7 after the
Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out its historic operation against
the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the
Palestinian people.
So
far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 29,195 Palestinians, mostly women
and children, and injured 69,170 others.
Source: presstv.ir
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/02/21/720483/MSF-Israel-raid-Gaza-Mawasi
-----
Islamic
Jihad reiterates demand for Islamic independence amid Israeli aggression
February
21, 2024
TEHRAN
– A prominent member of the political bureau of the Islamic Jihad has urged
Muslim nations to heed the counsel of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution who
in the early stages of the latest Israeli war on Gaza called on regional states
to sever economic ties with the regime.
Ali
Abu Shahin along with senior Hamas member Osama Hamdan were speaking at a press
conference in Iran’s capital city and responding to questions from journalists,
including a correspondent from the Tehran Times.
"If
the proposal of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei were to be embraced by multiple
nations, it could pave the way for the region to break free from external
economic dominion," stated Abu Shahin. He emphasized the prevalent lack of
autonomy and freedom experienced by some countries in the region, adding that
those states are unable to cut ties with Israel due to foreign constraints.
The
Islamic Jihad member expressed optimism about the potential outcomes if this
call to action were heeded, noting that it could significantly elevate the
dignity of Muslim nations and benefit not only Palestine but the countries that
decide to choose the path of independence.
“Countries
in the region should take inspiration from Iran’s Islamic Revolution which made
the formation of a sovereign and independent nation possible,” The Palestinian
official added.
Source: tehrantimes.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/495205/Islamic-Jihad-reiterates-demand-for-Islamic-independence-amid
----
Draft
UN resolution before Security Council demanding ceasefire in Gaza
[21/February/2024]
CAPITALS
February 21. 2024 (Saba) -The world waiting for the UN Security Council to
vote, on Tuesday, on an Algerian draft resolution urging the Council to
establish a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, amid a renewed American threat to
obstruct it.
While
the International Court of Justice is preparing to begin hearings on the
legitimacy of the Zionist enemy’s occupation of Palestine.
Following
the decision issued by the International Court of Justice at the end of last
January, in which it called on the Zionist enemy entity to prevent any possible
act of “genocide” in Gaza, Algeria launched consultations in the Security
Council on a new draft resolution calling for establishing a truce in the
Strip.
Algeria
demanded the Security Council vote on Tuesday on the text in its current form,
while Washington threatened to use its veto power, as happened during previous
votes in mid-October and early December, despite the increasing pressure
exerted by the international community in the face of the humanitarian crisis
in Gaza.
The
draft resolution rejects the "forced displacement of the Palestinian
civilian population" and calls for an end to this "violation of
international law" as well as the release of all hostages from both sides.
On
Saturday, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield,
issued a statement in which she denounced Algeria’s decision to refer the text
of the draft to a vote... considering that the Algerian move threatens to undermine
the ongoing negotiations between the Zionist enemy entity and the Islamic
Resistance Movement “Hamas” to establish a new truce that includes the release
of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners under enemy attacks.
This
week, negotiations took place in Cairo in which mediators from Egypt, the
United States, and Qatar participated to reach a truce agreement and the
exchange of Zionist hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
For
its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" threatened to suspend
its participation in the negotiations if badly needed aid was not delivered in
the northern Gaza Strip.
On
Saturday, the head of the movement's political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh,
reaffirmed that his movement is committed to the ceasefire and the withdrawal
of the Zionist enemy forces from Gaza.
But
the Zionist enemy repeatedly rejected both demands, and its army continued to
bomb the besieged Gaza Strip, destroying entire neighborhoods, causing the
displacement of 1.7 million out of 2.4 million people, and sparking a
catastrophic humanitarian crisis... according to the United Nations.
Six-day
hearings are scheduled at the International Court of Justice, during which an
unprecedented number of countries will participate, while the Zionist enemy
forces continue their devastating attack on the Gaza Strip.
The
Palestinian Assistant Foreign Minister for United Nations Affairs and its
specialized organizations, Omar Awadallah, says: They want to hear new words
from the court.
Awadallah
adds: The court should have taken into account the word “genocide” in the South
African case, referring to a separate case before the court.
He
continued, saying: Now we want them to think about apartheid.
In
the same context, Awadallah said: The court’s advisory opinion will give them
many tools, using the methods and tools of peaceful international law, to
confront the violations of the occupation.
The
case reached the court after the UN General Assembly voted by a large majority
in December 2022 to ask the world court to issue a non-binding advisory opinion
on one of the world's longest thorny disputes.
Although
the issue is being considered against the backdrop of the war between the
Zionist enemy and the Hamas movement, it focuses instead on the enemy's ongoing
occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and occupied Al-Quds.
The
Palestinian representatives in the court, who will speak first on Monday,
stress that the Zionist occupation is illegal because it violates three main
principles of international law, the Palestinian legal team told reporters on
Wednesday.
Palestinian
representatives say that the Zionist enemy forces violated the ban imposed on
the invasion of territories by annexing large areas of the occupied
territories, also violated the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and
imposed a system of discrimination and apartheid.
The
Palestinians promoted this request and the Zionist enemy authorities strongly
opposed it. 50 countries abstained from voting.
It is
reported that after the Palestinians present their arguments, 51 countries and
three organizations - the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation, and the African Union - will speak before the panel of judges in
the Great Hall of Justice.
The
Zionist enemy forces occupied the West Bank, occupied Jerusalem, and the Gaza
Strip in the 1967 Middle East War.
The
Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the three regions, while
enemy forces consider the West Bank a disputed area and its future should be
determined through negotiations.
Source: saba.ye
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3306726.htm
----
Israeli
economy plunges almost 20% as Gaza war takes heavy toll
21
February 2024
Israel's
economy shrank by far more than expected in the final quarter of last year in
the wake of the war on the besieged Gaza Strip, marking sharpest contraction
since the pandemic.
Israel’s
Central Bureau of Statistics said in a statement that economy plunged 19.4% in
the final three months of 2023, as significant resources were diverted to the
regime’s military engagement in the war on the coastal sliver.
That
is the equivalent of a fall of 5% between October and December.
According
to British daily business newspaper the Financial Times, the significant
downturn in Israel’s economy was partially due to mobilizing 300,000
reservists, who abandoned their jobs and businesses for extended presence in
the military.
Other
factors involved the Tel Aviv regime’s funding housing for over 120,000 settlers,
who left the northern and southern regions of the 1948-occupied territories
close to the border with the Gaza Strip.
On
February 9, Moody’s Investors Service decided to downgrade Israel’s credit
rating.
It
lowered Israel's credit rating from A1 to A2, underscoring the economic damage
of the regime’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has resulted in thousands of human
casualties and stoked geopolitical tensions around the world.
The
TaubCenter for Social Policy Studies, an Israeli think tank, has said the
Israeli economy is expected to shrink by 2 percent this quarter, with hundreds
of thousands of workers displaced by the war on Gaza or called up as
reservists.
Moreover,
a report published by The New York Times newspaper last December stated that
about 20 percent of the Israeli work force was missing from the labor market in
October, up from 3 percent before the fighting began.
Israel
has been waging the war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, when the coastal
sliver's resistance groups staged an operation, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm,
against the occupied territories.
More
than 29,000 Palestinians, mostly women, children, and adolescents, have died so
far as a result of the brutal military onslaught.
Source: presstv.ir
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/02/21/720484/Israeli-economy-shrinks-by-close-to-20--in-3-months-because-of-Gaza-onslaught
----
Iran
among top 5 countries in nuclear industry: Atomic chief
21 February 2024
The
head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says the country ranks
among the top five in the nuclear industry despite years of sanctions imposed
by the West.
Speaking
on Tuesday, Mohammad Eslami highlighted Iran’s achievements in its peaceful
nuclear energy program, including the production of high-quality heavy water.
“Iran
is placed among the world’s top five countries in many fields such as the
nuclear industry,” he said.
“Today,
we are at the top of the list in terms of the quality and purity of heavy water
that is produced without foreign help on the back of research by the country’s
scientists. We have been able to have a share in the supply and export of heavy
water at the global market.”
Eslami
noted that heavy water can be used to produce microelectronics and some new
medicines.
He
further referred to the hurdles on the way of Iran’s scientific progress in the
nuclear and space sectors.
Over
the past years, Iran has recorded many achievements in its nuclear energy
program in defiance of US sanctions.
The
country has also been closely cooperating with the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Source: presstv.ir
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/02/21/720472/Iran-top-five-nuclear-industry
-----
Over
700,000 people could starve to death in north Gaza as Israeli blockade
persists, Gaza authorities warn
20
February 2024
Authorities
of the war-torn Gaza Strip have warned that as many as 700,000 people could
starve to death north of the Palestinian territory as Israel severely restricts
humanitarian aid to the densely populated territory.
In a
statement on Tuesday, Gaza’s Government Media Office warned that more than
700,000 Palestinians in the coastal sliver could perish from deepening
starvation as Israel has tightly restricted humanitarian aid to the enclave.
It
also called on Russia, China, and Turkey, as well as Arab and Muslim nations
and “all countries of the free world” to intervene and apply pressure in a bid
to put an end to the “genocide and famine” in the Gaza Strip.
“We
call for an urgent and immediate end to the genocidal war against civilians,
women and children as we call for bringing 10,000 aid trucks over the next two
days into Gaza. We hold the US administration and the international community
additionally to Israel fully responsible for this famine,” Gaza’s Government
Media Office further said.
The
statement came as the World Food Programme has already announced a halt in its
aid deliveries to northern Gaza, arguing that a “breakdown of social order”
caused by mass starvation could endanger the lives of its crew in the
territory.
Despite
rampant hunger in the northern part of Gaza, Israel continues to block aid distribution
missions in the besieged region, where children are more susceptible to hunger
and diseases. According to a recent UN report, around 15 percent of children
there under the age of two suffer from malnutrition.
Children
in Gaza are also suffering the psychological consequences of Israeli bombings
while losing their families and belongings as they are suffering from acute
shortages of food and water.
Furthermore,
the UN agencies for children, food and health warned in a joint statement on
Monday that at least 90 percent of Gaza children under five are affected by one
or more infectious diseases.
Separately
on Tuesday, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of the Zaytoun and
Turkoman neighborhoods on the southern edge of Gaza City, located north of the
Gaza Strip, where children are starving.
According
to a report by the Global Nutrition Cluster, an aid partnership led by the UN
children’s agency, UNICEF, over 90 percent of children under five in Gaza eat
two or fewer food groups a day, known as severe food poverty.
Israel
waged a brutal war on besieged Gaza on October 7 after the Hamas-resistant
movement carried out its historic operation against the occupying entity in
retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
So far,
the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 29,092 Palestinians, mostly women and
children, and injured 69,028 others.
Source: presstv.ir
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/02/20/720459/Palestine-Gaza-Israel-children-starvation-
-----
Southeast Asia
Home
Minister Says Police And State Islamic Authorities Will Investigate Man Who
Claims To Be Prophet Muhammad’s Descendant
21
Feb 2024
PUTRAJAYA,
Feb 21 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail today said the
authorities will look into the activities of a man who claims to be a
descendant of Prophet Muhammad before taking any action.
He
said the joint investigation on Sayyid Muhammad Amin Al Idrisi Al Hasani Al
Maghrobi will involve the police and state Islamic authorities to see if the
latter has violated any law.
“If
his activities are religious in nature and involve violations of the law, the
police will collaborate with state authorities, particularly the religious
authorities under the jurisdiction of the state government,” he said in a press
conference here.
“It
is crucial for us to monitor and ensure there are no issues when individuals
like him carry out their operations, especially when it involves religious
activities," he said, adding that this was necessary to preserve public
peace and order.
The
minister added that Sayyid was a person of interest due to his frequent
movement in and out of the country, as well as his use of social media to build
influence and attract followers.
Saifuddin
then said that records showed Sayyid to be an Algerian travelling on a French
passport.
Source: malaymail.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/02/21/home-minister-says-police-and-state-islamic-authorities-will-investigate-man-who-claims-to-be-prophet-muhammads-descendant/119229
----
China
disappointed over US veto on Israel-Hamas ceasefire vote
February
21, 2024
China
expressed “strong disappointment” over the United States blocking a draft
United Nations Security Council resolution on the Israel-Hamas war calling for
an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, Xinhua said on Wednesday, citing its UN
representative Zhang Jun.
The
United States on Tuesday vetoed for the third time a draft United Nations
Security Council (UNSC) resolution, blocking a demand for an immediate
humanitarian ceasefire as it instead pushes the 15-member body towards a rival
draft that calls for a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of hostages
held by Hamas.
The
US has said the draft resolution put forward by Algeria could jeopardize
“sensitive negotiations” between US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar aimed at brokering
a pause in fighting and securing the release of hostages.
“China
expresses its strong disappointment at and dissatisfaction with the US veto,”
Xinhua said, citing Zhang who urged the UNSC to push for a ceasefire calling it
a “moral obligation that the council cannot shy away from”.
“The
US veto sends a wrong message, pushing the situation in Gaza into a more
dangerous one,” said Zhang, adding that objection to ceasefire in Gaza is
“nothing different from giving the green light to the continued slaughter”.
Hamas
chief insists on Gaza ceasefire
Zhang
said the spillover of the conflict is destabilising the Middle East region,
raising risks of a wider war.
“Only
by extinguishing the flames of war in Gaza can the world prevent the fires of
hell from engulfing the entire region,” Xinhua cited him as saying.
Source: brecorder.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40289957/china-disappointed-over-us-veto-on-israel-hamas-ceasefire-vote
-----
Religious
affairs deputy minister: Syariah Prosecution Dept to be established to
strengthen Shariah legal ecosystem
21
Feb 2024
PUTRAJAYA,
Feb 21 — The Malaysian Syariah Prosecution Department (JPSM) will be
established to further strengthen the Syariah legal ecosystem in the country, said
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Zulkifli
Hasan.
He
said the matter was being discussed by the relevant quarters at all levels.
“We
want to establish the JPSM and it is currently in the discussion stage. It will
be realised to strengthen Shariah legal ecosystem,” he said when met by
reporters after a meeting with about 30 Muslim women’s non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) here today.
He
said the government is committed to implementing Shariah laws in a systematic and
orderly manner, including through the proposed amendments of the Syariah Courts
(Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Bill 355).
“Not
only Bill 355 but also other bills such as the Mufti Bill, the amendment to the
Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Act 1993 (Act 505) and
several more,” he said.
Zulkifli
said the initiative to establish the Malaysian Syariah Judicial Academy (AKSM)
is also the government’s commitment to enhancing knowledge, skills and capacity
in the Shariah Court.
“The
empowerment of Shariah law has been implemented and it’s being done
systematically and orderly,” he said.
Last
Sunday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk
MohdNa’im Mokhtar said the engagement sessions for the proposed amendment of
the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (RUU 355) are about to be
concluded, with the forthcoming report scheduled for presentation to the
Cabinet before its anticipated tabling in Parliament later this year.
Regarding
the meeting with women’s NGOs today, Zulkifli said the Yadim Muslim Women’s
Council (Mawim) will be the patron of the Muslim women’s movement to carry out
activities with the government. — Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/02/21/religious-affairs-deputy-minister-syariah-prosecution-dept-to-be-established-to-strengthen-shariah-legal-ecosystem/119252
----
Taib
Mahmud's remains brought to National Mosque in KL
21 Feb 2024
KUALA
LUMPUR, Feb 21 ― The remains of former Yang di-PertuaNegeri of Sarawak Tun
Abdul Taib Mahmud, 87, who died early today at a private hospital here, were
brought to the National Mosque for prayers.
Abdul
Taib died at 4.40am after about a week of receiving treatment at the hospital.
The
body of the former chief minister of Sarawak was taken in a Malaysian Islamic
Development Department (Jakim) vehicle to the mosque at 9.05am for the funeral
prayers before being brought back to Kuching for the burial.
Earlier,
family members and friends of the deceased were seen gathering at the hospital
grounds. Among those spotted were Deputy Minister of Economy Datuk Hanifah
Hajar Taib and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri FadillahYusof. ― Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/02/21/taib-mahmuds-remains-brought-to-national-mosque-in-kl/119160
----
Central
zone Madani Rakyat Programme offers various govt social services to visitors
21-02-
2024
KUALA
LUMPUR: The Kesejahteraan Rakyat (People’s Wellbeing) booth at the MADANI
Rakyat Programme for the central zone, scheduled to be held from Feb 23 to 25
at the Kuala Selangor Sports Complex, Selangor, will offer visitors a variety
of social services from government agencies.
The
Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department (ICU JPM)
People’s Welfare Division director Mashitah @ SuhailahSuid said that this
initiative aims to provide the public with easier access to various government
services in a single place.
“The
Kesejahteraan Rakyat booth is set to offer various services involving six
agencies. These include counters facilitating the verification and registration
of various forms of assistance by the Department of Social Welfare, checking
the status of Bantuan Sara Hidup and Rahmah cash aid and more.”... and we will
also provide information on social protection through the ICU’s self-developed
database platform.
“There
will also be a social synergy programme with the Social Security Organisation
(SOCSO) that will provide information and services at their respective
counters,“ she said when appearing as a guest on Bernama TV’s Apa Khabar
Malaysia programme today.
Mashitah
said that the programme also serves as a platform to explain to the public the
processes and interconnections among government agencies in providing social
protection.
She
also encouraged job seekers to attend the Career Carnival during the programme,
where approximately 2,000 job opportunities will be available.
“It
is learnt that more than 20 employers have agreed to participate in the career
fair, and some will conduct open interviews,“ she said.
The
closing ceremony will be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
on Feb 25 and will be attended by the top leadership of the federal and state
governments. –Bernama
Source: thesun.my
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original
https://thesun.my/local_news/central-zone-madani-rakyat-programme-offers-various-govt-social-services-to-visitors-BA12124612
-----
Europe
Darlington's
muslim community fear for safety after increase in racist attacks
Bill
Edgar
21 February 2024
Members
of the Darlington Muslim and Palestinian community say they fear for their
safety after an increase in racist attacks following the outbreak of violence
in Gaza.
Rising
Islamophobia has left the community in Darlington on heightened alert amid the
Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East. A letter recently left outside a mosque in
Darlington threatened to “Kill Muslims” and has led to residents safeguarding
each other from hatred and discrimination.
Yet,
amid the rise in intolerance since the atrocities heightened in October, they
have criticised local political leaders for not being bold enough in their
support.
Dr
Hamza Qureshi has passionately appealed for support across the town since
October after hearing horrifying stories
of families’ ordeals in Gaza. But he warned a sense of powerlessness has now
set in among local Palestinians, who have family connections with the region.
He
said: “There are doctors in Darlington Hospital who have lost over 50 members
of their family in the conflict.”
And
while hundreds of people have supported members of the worried community, Dr
Qureshi said, the conflict has also fuelled the vitriol towards them.
He
added: “Every time this kind of conflict happens in the Middle East it leads to
consequences back home. It leads to racism happening here on our streets and
attacks on Muslims and Palestinians. It genuinely hurts people locally and
people are afraid to go outside.”
Imam
Saleh, of Darlington Jamia Mosque & Islamic Society, says the abuse has
left Muslims contemplating leaving the UK. He said: “Muslims don’t see a future
here anymore. They almost don’t even bother raising concerns because they know
it won’t make a change.
“People
are fearing for their jobs because if they speak out they are then at risk.
We’ve been helping each other, and as an Imam, people come to speak to me. But
the silence from our political leaders is deafening.”
Durham
Constabulary said a suspect has not been identified following the incident at
North Lodge Terrace on December 29 but officers increased patrols in the area.
Meanwhile,
the extent of anti-Semitic hate against Jewish communities and their people in
Darlington was revealed by a charity this week - with 15 incidents recorded
across County Durham and Darlington in 2023.
Dr
Qureshi and Imam Saleh both accused the town’s MP Peter Gibson and the Labour
administration running the council of not fully supporting their concerns.
“Within
days of the conflict starting in October, a group of us tried contacting Peter
Gibson, Stephen Harker (Council Leader)
and Lola McEvoy (Labour candidate at the next General Election) to
discuss our concerns,” Dr Qureshi said.
“We
also wanted their help to condemn the racist attacks at home, whether that was
against Palestinians, Jewish people or Muslims. But Peter Gibson basically
refused to meet us, he fobbed us off repeatedly.
“Stephen
and Lola did meet us, but other than words they didn’t have anything to offer.
They refused point blank to say the Israelis should stop killing Palestinians.
We asked them to, at least, release a statement condemning Islamophobia and
anti-Palestinian racism but they refused to do that because they said it would
be tokenistic.
“That
people in Darlington have had to reach out to their politicians for help is
shocking, and even after that they have had no support. It’s such a
catastrophic failure of leadership.”
Since
the start of the Israel Gaza war, the government has made an additional £4.9m
available for protective security at mosques and Muslim faith schools this year
and next, the Home Office said.
‘Hate
crime in any form is completely unacceptable’
A
Durham Constabulary spokeswoman said: “We are aware of an incident in which a
newspaper containing offensive material was left outside an address on North
Lodge Terrace, in Darlington on December 29.
“Officers
carried out a number of enquiries into the incident, which included reviewing
CCTV from the area and speaking with local residents. However, a suspect was
not identified.
“An
officer from our specially trained cohesion unit held a community meeting in
response to the incident where residents could discuss their concerns and were
given advice. Increased police patrols were also carried out in the area to
provide reassurance.
“Hate
crime in any form is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We pride
ourselves on being an inclusive police force which puts victims at the heart of
everything we do.
“As
such, we have robust policies and protocols in place to investigate allegations
of hate crime.
“We
would urge anyone with new information in relation to this incident to contact
Darlington Neighbourhood Police Team on 101, or call 999 in an emergency.”
‘All
forms of racism have no place in our community’
Conservative
MP, Peter Gibson, said: “As MP for Darlington I take pride in our diverse
community, and I regularly engage with a range of community organisations and
faith groups across town.
“I
also regularly host an interfaith round table, which all faiths in Darlington
are invited to. Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and all forms racism have no place
in our community.”
The
Darlington MP’s comments were echoed by Council Leader Stephen Harker, who
added: “What we have witnessed in Israel and Gaza in recent months - loss of
life, displacement, and destruction - is a humanitarian catastrophe.
“The
council debated and agreed a motion. This motion states very clearly the
council's view that all forms of racism - including Islamophobia and
anti-Semitism - have no place in our Borough, condemning any attacks on
individuals or communities, and called on the Government to support all efforts
to end all violence against civilians in Palestine and Israel.
“In
practical terms support has been offered by the council and the police. This
was initiated through the Darlington UNITY group, which is attended by
representatives of both Islamic and Jewish communities. The council and police
have provided information to the communities on what support and assistance is
available through local and national resources. This offer of assistance
remains open.”
Source: yahoo.com
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----
London
high court rejects legal challenge against UK arms sales to Israel
21
February 2024
The
High Court in London has rejected a legal challenge against UK weapons exports
to Israel, despite growing concerns over human rights violations in war-torn
Gaza Strip.
The
court refused the appeal against the UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT)
on Tuesday, saying the criteria requiring the DBT to consider whether there is
a risk the weapons might be used in a violation of international law must be
“clear” and has to be “of a serious violation”.
The
court refusal said there was a “high hurdle” to overcome to establish the
government’s conclusion was “irrational,” adding that “There is no realistic
prospect of that hurdle being surmounted here.”
Palestinian
human rights organization Al-Haq and UK-based Global Legal Action Network
(GLAN) applied for a judicial review of the government’s export licenses for
the sale of British weapons capable of being used in Israel's war on Gaza.
They
warned that the UK government is ignoring its own rules in the Israeli war on
Gaza, saying they are seeking to overturn the court’s decision.
The
legal challenge stated that the government has granted licenses for the sale of
British weapons to Israel under a wide range of categories in recent years.
Existing
UK arms export criteria say that if there is a “clear risk” that a weapon might
be used in a serious violation of international humanitarian law (IHL) then an
arms export should not be licensed.
ShawanJabarin,
general director of al-Haq, said the UK government’s decision to continue
supplying Israel with weapons for offensive against men, women, and children in
Gaza is effectively arming the occupying regime to “completely decimate” the
Gaza Strip, reducing the besieged enclave’s vital civilian infrastructure to
rubble.
GLAN
also said the high court’s decision is out of step with the growing
international consensus that Israel's actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
The
International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued a preliminary ruling on a
genocide case brought by South Africa against the Israeli regime, ordering Tel
Aviv to take all measures necessary to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip
Last
week, a Dutch court ordered the government of the Netherlands to stop supplying
F35 fighter jet parts to Israel within seven days, citing violations of
international and humanitarian law. Italy and Spain also blocked all arms
exports to Israel as soon as the attacks in Gaza started.
Israel
waged the devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance
movement Hamas carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation
Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity over its intensified violence
against Palestinians.
The
Israeli aggression has so far killed more than 29,000 Palestinians, most of
them women and children, and injured about 70,000 others in Gaza.
The
Tel Aviv regime has imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off
fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians
living there.
According
to the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), between 2015 and 2022, the UK
licensed more than half a billion dollars worth of weapons to Tel Aviv.
Source: presstv.ir
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UK
Cabinet Member Mercer Speaks at Hearing on War Crimes in Afghanistan
February
20, 2024
Johnny
Mercer, the UK veterans minister and a former service member, at an inquiry
into alleged war crimes of UK forces in Afghanistan, responded to questions
about his having earlier raised concerns about the possibility that such war
crimes had taken place.
During
a hearing in a UK court on the Independent Inquiry Relating to Afghanistan,
Mercer said that sources including serving officers had told him that UK forces
killed innocent Afghans during their services in Afghanistan.
“UKSF
have done killings of those individuals that posed no threat. My friend told me
that I needed to be aware that this is the situation. You have the allegations,
you have the department investing and equipment to try to understand the
reports were changed… I will not share the name of the source,” said Johhny
Mercer, the UK veterans minister.
The
UK minister of state, citing a source, said that UK forces were asked to carry
an extra unregistered weapon so that they could place it with the unarmed
Afghan individual they killed.
“While
operating in Afghanistan, the UK soldiers were asked to carry a dropped weapon
[a weapon that cannot be linked with NATO forces]. It would appear after my
time that it became practice for some units to take these … so you could place
them with unarmed combatants or unarmed individuals," said Mercer.
Mercer
refused to name his sources, either those sources who claimed second-hand
knowledge of the killings, or a source who claimed first-hand knowledge of
preparing for such a killing by being told to bring a "dropped
weapon" on an operation.
Mercer
said there is a necessary "intellectual rigor" and "intellectual
curiosity" to investigate implausible reports, and this curiosity was
lacking among commanders who were privy to specific operational knowledge and
had the knowledge to recognize anomalies in reports of operations.
“These
perpetrators should not only be brought to justice but made to pay compensation
for their killings so that justice is served,” said Aziz Maarij, a political
analyst.
“I
wish we had the human rights commission in Afghanistan so they could follow
this case independently,” said Wahid Faqiri, a political analyst.
Source: tolonews.com
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https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-187507
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UK
petrol, diesel prices jump as pro-Palestine Yemeni operations rage in Red Sea
21
February 202
Britons
are feeling the pinch of the UK government’s support for Israel, and Yemeni
forces’ pro-Palestine reprisal operations in the Red Sea.
The
price of petrol and diesel jumped across the United Kingdom following the
Yemeni armed forces’ retaliatory strikes on the US and British vessels as well
as Israeli shipping in the Red Sea in support of Palestinians in the besieged
Gaza Strip.
British
media said petrol was up 3.2p a liter and diesel 4p a liter as fuel tankers
were forced over the past weeks to avoid the Suez canal and instead go round
South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope due to heightened tensions in the strategic
Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.
In
the three weeks to February 18, petrol increased by 3.2p to 143.4p a liter,
while diesel rose by 4p to 152p, according to the Royal Automobile Club (RAC),
which said this was “worrying” for motorists.
Reports
said the financial pressure on British petrol car drivers had been easing over
the last three months, as the price had fallen back from 157p to below 140p in
mid-January.
While
the price of diesel had reduced by 15p, from 163p in early October to just
below 148p in late January, it was cheaper for much of last summer.
“News
that fuel prices have bottomed out and are now on the rise again is bad news
for drivers, and possibly the economy and future inflation rates, too,” said
Simon Williams, the RAC fuel spokesperson.
“While
we’re not expecting prices to shoot up dramatically, it appears that oil is
trading up, which in the absence of a stronger pound means wholesale fuel costs
more for retailers to buy in. The result is higher prices at the pump and more
expense for the everyday driver.”
The
RAC pointed to the recent Red Sea attacks by Yemeni forces and the closure of
British refineries for maintenance as the reasons for the fuel price hike.
Yemen’s
armed forces have been targeting Israeli ships and those bound for Israeli
ports since November in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
According
to Yemen’s al-Masirah television network, the Yemeni armed forces have since
November 19, 2023 carried out 30 naval operations, targeting 32 ships,
including three ships owned by the Israeli regime, 13 US ships, 6 British ships
and 10 ships heading to Israeli ports.
Israel
has killed more than 29,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured some
70,000 others in Gaza since the regime launched its US-backed onslaught on
October 7, 2023.
Ibrahim
Mohammad al-Deilami, the Yemeni ambassador to Iran, said on Sunday that Yemen’s
armed forces would strike any US and British targets “within the firing range”
in response to their recent acts of aggression against Yemen’s territory.
The
pro-Palestine Yemeni operations have prompted some shipping companies to detour
around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea, which normally carries about 12 percent
of global maritime trade.
The
Yemeni army says only Israeli, US and British ships are targeted, asserting
that other countries can rest assured of the safety of their cargoes.
Source: presstv.ir
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Gaza,
Ukraine loom large as G20 foreign ministers meet
21 Feb 2024
RIO
DE JANEIRO, Feb 21 — G20 foreign ministers open a two-day meeting today in
Brazil, with the outlook bleak for progress on a thorny agenda of conflicts and
crises, from the Gaza and Ukraine wars to growing polarization.
US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
are both expected in Rio de Janeiro for the first high-level G20 meeting of the
year — though not China’s Wang Yi.
In a
world torn by conflicts and divisions, Brazil, which took over the rotating G20
presidency from India in December, has voiced hopes for what President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva calls “the forum with the greatest capacity to positively
influence the international agenda.”
But
Lula’s bid to make the G20 a space for finding common ground suffered Sunday
when the veteran leftist ignited a diplomatic firestorm by accusing Israel of
“genocide,” comparing its military campaign in the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust.
The
comments drew outrage in Israel, which declared him “persona non grata,” and
could overshadow any bid to de-escalate the conflict via the G20.
“If
Lula imagined he was going to propose peace resolutions on Israel or Ukraine,
that just got swept off the table,” international relations specialist Igor
Lucena told AFP.
More
than four months after the Gaza war started with Hamas fighters’ unprecedented
October 7 attack on Israel, which has vowed to wipe out the Islamist group in
retaliation, there is little sign of progress toward peace.
A new
UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire was vetoed Tuesday by the United
States, which said the text would endanger ongoing negotiations, including on
the release of Hamas-held hostages.
The
outlook is similarly downbeat on Russia’s war in Ukraine, which also has G20
members divided.
Despite
a push from Western countries for the group to condemn President Vladimir
Putin’s invasion, the G20’s last summit, held in New Delhi in September, ended
with a watered-down statement that denounced the use of force but did not
explicitly name Russia, which maintains friendly ties with fellow members like
India and Brazil.
Underlining
the G20 stalemate, the G7 group of top economies — Ukrainian allies Britain,
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — will hold its own
virtual meeting on the war Saturday, the second anniversary of Russia’s
invasion.
‘Putting
out fires’
Held
at a marina on the Rio waterfront, the G20 meeting will open with a session on
“addressing international tensions.”
The
ministers will discuss global governance reform Thursday — a favourite issue
for Brazil, which wants a greater voice for the global south at institutions
like the UN, IMF and World Bank.
“The
number and gravity of conflicts has returned to the level of the Cold War. That
brings new urgency to the issue,” said Brazil’s top diplomat for G20 political
negotiations, Mauricio Lyrio.
“We
need to adapt the international system to prevent new conflicts,” he told
journalists Tuesday. “Now, we’re just putting out fires.”
Brazil
also wants to use its G20 presidency to push the fights against poverty and
climate change.
There
will also be space for bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the gathering —
though a Blinken-Lavrov encounter looks unlikely, given the exploding tension
over Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death in prison Friday.
Blinken
and Lavrov last met in person at a G20 gathering in India in March 2023.
Election-year
havoc
Founded
in 1999, the Group of 20 brings together most of the world’s biggest economies.
Originally
an economic forum, it has grown increasingly involved in international
politics.
But
the prospects for major advances via the group are dim in a year when elections
will be held in some 50 countries, including key G20 members such as the United
States and Russia, said Lucena.
“Reaching
big agreements will be difficult,” he said.
“It’s
not a favourable environment for resolving conflicts. On the contrary.”
A
Brazilian government source said that after recent G20 struggles for consensus,
the hosts axed the requirement that every meeting produce a joint statement —
with the exception of the annual leaders’ summit, scheduled for November in
Rio. — AFP
Source: malaymail.com
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----
Arab World
Saudi
Arabia expresses regret over US veto of UN Gaza ceasefire resolution
February
20, 2024
RIYADH:
The Saudi Foreign Ministry has expressed the Kingdom’s regret over the US veto
of a UN Security Council resolution proposing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,
the Saudi Press Agency has reported.
Thirteen
council members voted in favor of the Algerian-drafted text, while Britain
abstained. It was the third such US veto since the start of the current
fighting, which broke out after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
The
ministry in a statement stressed the urgent need for reform within the UNSC,
highlighting the necessity for the council to fulfill its duties in upholding
global peace and security and ensure the consistent application of
international law without double standards.
Saudi
Arabia has also raised concern over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions
in Gaza, exacerbated by the escalation of Israel’s military aggression.
The
Kingdom has emphasized that this undermines efforts aimed at fostering dialogue
and achieving a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian cause, as outlined in
applicable international resolutions.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2463606/saudi-arabia
----
Saudi
architecture, design organization to host March research conference, educators
forum
February
20, 2024
RIYADH:
The Saudi Architecture and Design Commission will in March host two major
industry events in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
Running
over two days from March 6, the Architecture and Design Research Conference
will be followed by the two-day Educators Forum for Architecture and Design
beginning on March 8.
Titled
“Setting the Stage for Architecture and Design Research,” the conference will
seek to lay the groundwork and outline a strategic vision for research within
the sectors, while connecting academic scholars and professional practitioners
and celebrating local and international research achievements.
The
main aim of the forum event, titled “Change: Shaping the A and D Education
Future,” will be to advance higher education curricula across a range of sectors.
It
will also provide a platform to bring together stakeholders and promote
collaboration among researchers, educators, and experts.
Along
with several prominent regional and international speakers, the forum will
include panel discussions, roundtable debates, and interactive workshops.
In
addition, the event will offer a chance for educators to share experiences,
engage in dialogue, and keep up with international trends affecting
architecture and design education, the SPA said.
Source: arabnews.com
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----
Cabinet
expresses pride over Saudi Arabia’s rich legacy on the eve of Founding Day
February
20, 2024
RIYADH
— The Council of Ministers on Tuesday expressed immense pride over the
brilliant journey of the Saudi state and its rich legacy extending for nearly
three centuries, featuring remarkable accomplishments in terms of unity,
security, and stability. The weekly session of the Cabinet, chaired by
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, in Riyadh, said this on the eve
of Saudi Arabia’s Founding Day, which is celebrated on Thursday, Feb. 22.
The
Council highlighted the unity, security, and stability enjoyed by Saudi Arabia
for generations, saying that this led to constant progress and development, and
creating a better future for everyone who lives on the land of this nation
whose roots are firmly ingrained in the depths of history with steadfastness
and glory.
In a
statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, Minister of Media
Salman Al-Dosary said that the Cabinet was briefed on the recent government
activities, and highlighted the efforts exerted toward deepening ties with
various countries, in pursuit of shared goals and stronger cooperation in
diverse fields. The Cabinet commended the successful visit of the Dutch Prime
Minister Mark Rutte to the Kingdom, and his productive meeting with Crown
Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.
The
Cabinet reviewed regional and international developments and reiterated the
Kingdom's stand that was expressed at the 2024 Munich Security Conference. The
Saudi position on Gaza situation prioritized reaching an end to the
humanitarian crisis in Gaza through ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli
occupation forces from Gaza Strip, and increased delivery of relief aid to the
Palestinian people.
The
Council reaffirmed that Saudi Arabia’s successful bid to host the 11th session
of the World Water Forum in 2027 solidifies its leading role in addressing
water issues both regionally and internationally. This reflects the nation’s
ongoing commitment to achieving sustainable development goals, the session
pointed out.
The
Cabinet commended the outcomes of the World Smart Cities Forum (WSCF) held in
Riyadh, specifically highlighting the successful launches and signing of
memoranda of understanding. These initiatives aim to enhance sustainability and
improve the quality of life in Saudi cities, aligning with the Kingdom’s
objective of having at least ten of its cities ranked among the top 50 cities
globally.
The
Cabinet discussed the topics of inclusion of three new Saudi cities into the
UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities; attaining the highest growth rate
among major tourist destinations worldwide, and emerging as topper in the
Electronic Government Services Index in the Middle East and North Africa.
“These achievements underscore the Kingdom’s unwavering interest and support
for all sectors, aspiring to establish the country as an exemplary model on
multiple fronts,” the council pointed out.
Among
the Cabinet’s major decisions included the approval of the organizational guide
and structure of the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Education. It
endorsed an agreement of cooperation between the governments of Saudi Arabia
and Vietnam to combat crimes. A draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) to
establish a Saudi-Brazilian Coordination Council was also approved and
authorized minister of foreign affairs or his deputy to sign it.
The
Council approved two MoUs between the Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) and
the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence, and the Jožef
Stefan Institute of Slovenia to collaborate in research, development, and
innovation in the field of AI. It endorsed that the Ministry of Culture,
represented by the Architecture and Design Commission, to discuss and sign a
draft MoU for cooperation between the Architecture and Design Commission and
the Royal College of Art of the United Kingdom.
The
Cabinet authorized Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Board of Directors
of the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) or his deputy to sign a draft
agreement between the governments of Saudi Arabia and Iceland to avoid double
taxation on income, and to prevent tax evasion, and to sign the accompanying
draft protocol. An agreement with Portugal in the field of air transportation
services was also endorsed. It approved a MoU between the Saudi Education and
Training Evaluation Commission and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and
Scientific Organization (ALECSO) to cooperate in evaluating and accrediting
Arabic language curricula and programs.
The
Cabinet authorized minister of media and chairman of the board of directors of
the General Authority of Media Regulation or his deputy to discuss and sign
with the Portuguese Regulatory Authority for the Media a MoU for cooperation in
the field of audiovisual media. It also authorized minister of education and
chairman of the board of directors of the Technical and Vocational Training
Corporation or his deputy to discuss and sign a MoU in the field of technical
and vocational training with the South African Ministry of Higher Education,
Science and Innovation, Department of Higher Education and Training
The
Council endorsed an agreement between the King Abdullah City for Atomic and
Renewable Energy and the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding the
Junior Professional Officers Program. It authorized minister of culture and
chairman of the Board of Trustees of the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic
Language or his deputy to discuss and sign with the Tashkent State University
for Oriental Studies of Uzbekistan a MoU for cooperation in Arabic language.
Source: saudigazette.com.sa
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----
A
prolonged war on Gaza could lead to danger of escalation; Saudi FM warns
February
20, 2024
MUNICH
— Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said that his country was
concerned about a regional war. However, he sounded a note of optimism, saying
“I don't believe that the Iranians want a broader war,” he said in an interview
with FRANCE 24 on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“I
feared that the longer the conflict in Gaza goes on, the more danger there is
for miscalculation, the more danger there is for escalation,” he said in an
interview with FRANCE 24 on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
The minister said that Saudi Arabia would continue talks with Iran and an
additional round of negotiations between the two countries are expected soon.
Speaking
at the conference, Prince Faisal described “the level of civilian death and
destruction” in Gaza as “unimaginable.” "We already have a humanitarian
catastrophe on our hands," the minister noted. In that context, "the
potential prospect of military operations in Rafah – the last safe haven in the
south, and without any clear mechanisms to protect the civilians – this is
completely unacceptable".
Prince
Faisal also emphasized: “We have said from the beginning that we need a
ceasefire, and we need a ceasefire now more than ever." Finally, in spite
of rising tensions in the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Houthi rebels are striking
vessels, the Saudi foreign minister said a peace deal between the government of
Yemen and the Houthis was close, and that Riyadh would support it.
Source: saudigazette.com.sa
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https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/640567/SAUDI-ARABIA/A-prolonged-war-on-Gaza-could-lead-to-danger-of-escalation-Saudi-FM-warns
----
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/indian-port-workers-israel-palestine-war/d/131768