'Those Who Burn Books Will In The End Burn People,' Warn Jewish, Muslim Communities In Sweden
New Age Islam News Bureau
27 January 2023
Representative Photo: aa.com
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• Rise Of Islamophobia In Europe Related To Rise Of
Nationalism, Says Anti-Islamophobia Group
• At DGP Meet, Police Officers Flag Islamist, Hindutva
Outfits For Radicalisation In India
• USAID Grantee In Pakistan Associated With Designated
Terrorist Organisations, Alleges Congressman, Michael McCaul
• Terror Cannot Be Used To Impose Sharia Law, Can Be
Considered A Rebellion Or Mutiny - Pakistan’s Top Islamic Scholars
Europe
• Sajid Javid Speaks Of ‘Honour’ At Being First Muslim
MP To Lead Commons Holocaust Memorial Day Debate
• Swedish Rabbi Stresses Quran Burning Sought To
Provoke, Hurt Muslim Community
• Spanish city mourns after church attack as suspect’s
details emerge
• Next tripartite meeting with Sweden, Finland
postponed due to 'current political environment': Türkiye
--------
India
• Islamic State Flag Hoisted In UP On Republic Day;
FIR Registered
• India issues notice to Pakistan seeking modification
to Indus Waters Treaty
• AMU orders probe into religious slogans on Republic
Day
--------
North America
• USAID Grantee In Pakistan Associated With Designated
Terrorist Organisations, Alleges Congressman, Michael McCaul
• Radical Islamic Cleric, Shaikh Abdullah Faisal,
Convicted Of Recruiting ISIS Supporters
• US military kills senior Islamic State leader Bilal
al-Sudani in Somalia
• Ceremony For Quebec Mosque Attack To Be Held In
Prayer Room Where Shooting Occurred
• US criticizes Palestinian move to suspend security
ties with Israel after deadly raid
• US says it’s ‘deeply concerned’ after Palestinians
killed in Israeli operation
--------
Pakistan
• Holy Quran Desecration Unbearable For Muslim Ummah: Minister
Mufti Abdul Shakoor
• No backchannel talks with India by Sharif govt:
Pakistan minister
• Pakistan’s New Blasphemy Laws May Be ‘Weaponised’ Against
Minorities, Says Rights Group
• Khar to lead delegation to UN Human Rights Council
in Geneva
--------
South Asia
• Islamic World Worried About Taliban's Interpretation
Of Islam: Report
• Iran Deports More Than 3000 Afghan Refugees in a
Week
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Mideast
• Iran Adds More EU, British Individuals, Entities to
Sanction List over Terror Support
• Netanyahu to hold security assessment meeting amid
military operation in Jenin
• Israeli army says its surveillance drone downed
during offensive in Jenin, West Bank
• Iran Calls on France to Put Aside Trump's Failed
Policy of Maximum Pressure
• Iranian Envoy Calls on UNSC to Compel Israel to End
Aggression on Syrian Soil
• Gunman kills security chief, wounds two guards at
Azerbaijan embassy in Iran
• Gaza militants fire rockets as Israel strikes in
Gaza
• Israel urges NATO to confront Iran threat
• Palestinians end security coordination with Israel
after West Bank raid
• 9 Palestinians killed during Israeli operation in
Jenin refugee camp
• Israel, Gaza fighters trade fire after deadly West
Bank raid
--------
Southeast Asia
• Dozens Of Muslims, Including Children, Gather In
Front Of Swedish Embassy In Kuala Lumpur To Protest Quran Burning In Stockholm
• Wisma Putra summons Swedish envoy after Quran-burning
in Sweden
• PM Anwar wants to review Islamic studies in schools
to emphasise universal values
• Islamic studies in schools to be reviewed to
emphasise universal values and humanity, says Anwar
--------
Arab World
• Saudi Arabia Strongly Condemns Israeli Raid On West
Bank Refugee Camp
• Egyptologists uncover Pharaonic tomb containing
possibly oldest mummy found in Egypt
• Syrian Kurdish forces arrest Daesh commander in
eastern region
• Lebanese elite bury blast probe, pushing fragile
state closer to edge
• Syrian Kurdish forces arrest ISIS commander, dozens
of extremists in eastern region
• QatarEnergy to join Lebanon oil and gas exploration
consortium: Statement
• Iraq to hang 14 people for ISIS massacre of hundreds
of army cadets in 2014
• Saudi heritage event in ancient Uqair port attracts
more than 60,000 visitors
• YPG/PKK terror group exploits oil to finance
activities in Syria
--------
Africa
• Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed Meets Sudan’s Leaders In Khartoum
• S. Sudan’s displaced hope pope’s visit will bring
peace
• Death toll in bomb attack on Nigerian herders climbs
to 40: Official
• US government restricts visas to Nigerians ahead of
polls
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/jewish-muslim-sweden-books/d/128975
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'Those Who Burn Books Will In The End Burn People,'
Warn Jewish, Muslim Communities In Sweden
Representative Photo: aa.com
---
Dilara Karatas
26.01.2023
"Those who burn books will in the end burn
people," Jewish and Muslim communities in Sweden have warned, quoting
famous German Jewish author Heinrich Heine following recent burnings of the
Muslim holy book, the Quran.
In a reference to book burnings in Nazi Germany, the
Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities and the AMANAH Muslim Jewish
Partnership of Trust said in a joint statement on Wednesday that book burning
often indicates the beginning of the normalization of hatred towards a group in
society.
"Historically against Jews, now against
Muslims," said the statement, warning that racists and extremists are once
again "allowed to abuse democracy and Freedom of Speech in order to
normalize hate against one of the religious minorities in Sweden, by burning
Quran."
Drawing attention to the intensified attacks on Jewish
and Muslim people in the country, they expressed concern.
"In a democratic society, every individual has
the right to feel safe and appreciated. We hereby wish to express our support
to the Swedish Muslim Community and clearly state that every action and sign of
prejudice and hatred is unacceptable."
On Saturday, Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist
Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Muslim holy book in a police-approved
protest in the capital Stockholm.
A day later, Edwin Wagensveld, a far-right Dutch
politician and leader of the Islamophobic group Pegida, tore out pages from the
Quran in The Hague, the administrative capital of the Netherlands. Wagensveld's
video on Twitter showed that he burned the torn-out pages of the holy book in a
pan.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Rise Of Islamophobia In Europe Related To Rise Of
Nationalism, Says Anti-Islamophobia Group
Representative Photo: aa.com
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Feiza Ben Mohamed
26.01.2023
NICE, France
The rise of Islamophobia in Europe is intrinsically
related to the rise of nationalism in European countries, according to a report
by a Belgium-based anti-Islamophobia group.
The Collective for Countering Islamophobia in Europe
(CCIE) said in a report on Wednesday that there was a "remarkable rise of
Islamophobia and the policies that it inspires, in 2022."
Underlining that Islamophobia in Europe was often
denied and minimized, the organization said that this did not help much to stop
the rise of the far right.
It urged the EU Commission to designate a coordinator
on anti-Muslim hatred, to "fight effectively against far-right-spurred
hatred and racism," and end to suspicions "stemming from the fight
against radicalization and separatism."
For the CCIE, more needs to be done to fight
discrimination against Muslims in recruitment and education.
The group said it received 787 alerts of Islamophobic
cases throughout 2022, including of 527 Islamophobic acts, 467 acts of
discrimination, 128 of provocation, 71 of insulting, 59 of moral harassment, 44
of defamation, 27 of physical violence, and 33 linked to the fight against
radicalization and separatism.
These occurred mostly in public spaces, particularly
in schools, it said.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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At DGP Meet, Police Officers Flag Islamist, Hindutva Outfits For Radicalisation
In India
Photo Indian Express/ Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
-----
by Deeptiman Tiwary
January 27, 2023
Police officers flagged the role of Islamist and
Hindutva organisations in connection with growing radicalisation in the country
during the recent conference of Director Generals and Inspector Generals of
Police, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home
Minister Amit Shah.
The role of such organisations were flagged in papers
submitted by officers at the conference that was held from January 20-22 in
Delhi. All the papers submitted were posted on the conference’s website but
removed Wednesday.
One paper described the organisations, such as VHP and
Bajrang Dal, as radical. Another listed the Babri Masjid demolition, growth of
Hindu nationalism, cases of beef lynching and the “Ghar Vapsi Movement” as
breeding grounds for radicalisation of youth. These points were raised in the
context of measures to tackle Islamic radicalism and ideologies of
organisations such as Popular Front of India (PFI).
Several officers argued for greater representation of
minorities in the polity and reservation for Muslims to tackle radicalisation.
In one paper, an SP-rank officer categorised
radicalisation under left wing, right wing and Islamist fundamentalism.
“Far-right individuals or groups…have an authoritative concept of the state, in
which the state and the people, all of which are ethnically homogenous, should
merge into a single unit. India though being a plural society as well is being
portrayed as inching towards majoritarianism. To name a few are Anand Marg,
VHP, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Sena, etc,” the officer said in the paper.
The officer described Islamic fundamentalists as a
“looming threat”. “The Islamist outlook is one that essentially divides the
world into two distinct spheres: ‘Muslims’ and the ‘rest’. Ex: PFI and
frontals, Da’wate-Islami, Towheed, Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen etc,” his paper
said.
Among challenges, the officer flagged “disproportionate
usage of security establishment (Police and Intelligence)”; minimal role of
“scholars, psychologists, civil society”; “missing synergy between online and
offline efforts”; “lack of curative policies”; and, “Framework Flaws”.
To illustrate the point on “framework”, the officer
referred to Germany and its “longstanding EXIT Deutschland programme aimed at
reforming neo-Nazi radicals”. Referring to Islamophobia in Britain, the
officer’s paper questioned “conspiratorial websites and sensationalist reporting”
that lead to “negative community perceptions towards the Muslim ‘other’”.
As a solution, the officer argued for platforms,
spaces and institutions for people to vent grievances and anger freely and
openly.
In a separate paper, another SP-rank officer flagged
Islamic fundamentalism and Hindu extremism as challenges, among others. He
labelled them under politico-religious radicalism linked to outfits like ISIS;
right-wing radicalism linked to fascism, racial supremacism and
ultra-nationalism; and, left-wing radicalism associated with Maoist violence.
This paper associated “Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiyat
Ahle-Hadith, alienation and mistrust… advent of social media, role of global
Islam, role of mainstream media, Hindu extremism, and civil society activists”
with radicalisation.
“The demolition of the Babri Masjid along with the
growth of Hindu nationalism, cases of beef lynching and ‘Ghar Vapsi Movement’
has been a breeding ground for extremist groups to recruit and radicalise young
minds,” the officer said in his paper.
The paper also referred to the fallout of former BJP
spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s comments on the Prophet, including the murder of
Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur. “The example of Nupur Sharma’s speech reaction
establishes that all should refrain from making religious comments and hate
speeches. Similarly, there are regular events of demeaning religious
sentiments. So, we have to impart a strong sense of ‘Rule of Law’… The inciting
videos and messages that poured in from within the country and abroad played a
major role in the radicalisation of the accused in Kanhaiya Lal murder at
Udaipur,” the paper said.
Among the solutions listed were: “De-redicalisation,
economic growth and equal opportunities”; more opportunities for “minorities…to
be part of political and administrative processes”; modernisation of madrasas
and the setting up of industrial enterprises “in the areas of minorities”.
Among the other papers submitted, an officer argued
that radicalisation is frequently driven by national and international events.
These, the paper said, included: plight of Palestinians, Soviet intervention in
Afghanistan, America’s invasion of Iraq and incursion in Afghanistan; military
operations in Pakistan; the Danish cartoon controversy; liberation of J&K
and Hyderabad after Independence; communal riots; demolition of Babri Masjid,
2002 Godhra riots and the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The paper listed “community engagement using secular,
patriotic and intelligent Muslim youth” and reservation for the community in
education and jobs among the solutions.
Source: Indian Express
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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USAID
Grantee In Pakistan Associated With Designated Terrorist Organisations, Alleges
Congressman, Michael McCaul
Image:
twitter/tvopk
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Jan
27, 2023
WASHINGTON:
NGO based in Pakistan and receiving humanitarian aid from the US Agency for
International Development is associated with designated terrorist
organisations, an American lawmaker has alleged.
In
a letter to USAID Administrator Samantha Power on January 24, Congressman
Michael McCaul, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee sought a
suspension of the funding to the NGO pending a full and thorough review of
these allegations.
“This
award must immediately be suspended pending a full and thorough review of these
accusations,” McCaul said.
The
Congressman, in the letter, expressed deep concern that USAID received information
from his office more than eight months ago regarding credible allegations that
one of its grantees is associated with designated terrorist organisations.
In
October 2021, USAID awarded USD 110,000 to Helping Hand for Relief and
Development (HHRD) through the Ocean Freight Reimbursement Program. This award
was made despite longstanding, detailed allegations that HHRD is connected to
designated terrorist organisations, terror financiers, and extremist groups, he
said.
In
November 2019, three Members of Congress requested that the State Department
review these alleged ties to terrorism in a public letter, he wrote.
“Please
immediately personally review this grant to HHRD. I strongly urge you to pause
this grant while you complete a thorough review of the allegations, to include
coordination with the intelligence community, federal law enforcement, the
State Department Counterterrorism Bureau, and the Department of Homeland
Security,” McCaul said.
The
HHRD, a top 4-Star rated USA NGO is also registered in Pakistan with the
Ministry of Interior. It is present in all four provinces -- Balochistan,
Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – of Pakistan, in addition to Pakistan
occupied Kashmir.
According
to the allegations and media reports, some sponsors of HHRD events in Pakistan
include Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), the charitable wing of
Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terrorist outfit responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The
US in 2016, had designated FIF as a terrorist organisation.
In
2019, several members of the US Congress sent a letter to the US State
Department, calling for further investigations into the HHRD, highlighting
Pakistani media reports that the NGO arranged a conference in Pakistan with
both Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation and the Milli Muslim League, two branches of
Lashkar-e-Taiba that are both designated as terrorist organisations by the US
and the UN.
McCaul's
letter also raised concerns about the HHRD's relationship with Al-Khidmat, the
official charitable arm of Jamaat-e-Islami.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
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Terror
Cannot Be Used To Impose Sharia Law, Can Be Considered A Rebellion Or Mutiny -
Pakistan’s Top Islamic Scholars
Muslim scholars participate in the national conference
on countering violent extremism organized by the Islamic Research Council at
the International Islamic University in Islamabad on January 23, 2023. (Hafiz
Tahir Ashrafi)
------
By
Arshad Mehmood
JANUARY
26, 2023
Pakistan‘s
top Islamic scholars and clerics declared that the use of force to implement
Sharia – Islamic law as derived from the Quran and the traditions of Islam, including
armed confrontation against the state, sabotage and all forms of terrorism, are
unequivocally forbidden according to Islamic teaching and are considered a
rebellion or mutiny.
The
country‘s preeminent scholars also called for an effort “to devise a
coordinated plan of action to crush armed groups and anti-state actors who are
involved in such activities…and want to impose their ideology through
militancy.”
The
clerics also emphasized the need to take concrete steps to eradicate the trend
of terrorism and extremism and to stop anti-state activities in the name of
what the armed groups call jihad, or a holy struggle.
Pakistani
clerics hold council on countering violent extremism, radicalism and hate
speech
The
clerics came forward during a national conference on Countering Violent
Extremism, Radicalism and Hate Speech organized by the Islamic Research
Institute at the International Islamic University in Islamabad. Monday’s
conference was held on the theme “Pledge of Unity and a Message of Pakistan.”
The
Islamic Research Institute was established in 1960 and is a prominent research
arm of the university. The main objectives of the institute are to develop a
methodology for research in the various fields of Islamic learning; identify
and study contemporary problems; and interpret the teachings of Islam to assist
not only Pakistani society but the whole Muslim community to live according to
the imperatives of Islam.
Authoritative
and learned Islamic scholars and clerics from all over the country participated
in Monday’s conference.
Analyzing
the current terrorism-related situation in the country, they emphasized the
need for a national narrative to deal with such challenges.
Mufti:
Armed activity against Pakistan forbidden by Islamic law
Mufti
Muhammad Taqi Usmani is a Karachi-based prominent Islamic scholar. He has
served as a judge on the Sharia appellate bench of the Supreme Court of
Pakistan and is a permanent member of the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia.
In
an address to the conference in Islamabad, Usmani issued a fatwa, or Islamic
religious decree, that “any armed activity against the state of Pakistan is a
rebellion and forbidden (haram) according to Islamic law.”
“Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP), who is fighting against the Pakistan Army and is involved in
anti-state activities, is a rebel and it has nothing to do with jihad,” he
added.
Addressing
TTP leadership, Usmani stressed: “It is better for you to come out of the
delusion of jihad against Pakistan as soon as possible.”
Usmani
also said that “fighting against national security agencies and carrying out
anti-state activities falls under mutiny.”
The
decree was unanimously adopted by the top scholars of all schools of Islamic
thought who participated in the conference.
"This
is a war of national survival and the entire nation affirms its full and
unconditional support for the Pakistan Armed Forces and other law enforcement
agencies,” they declared.
There
has not yet been a response from TTP.
Earlier
this month, Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud, the commander of the banned TTP Pakistan,
sought guidance from clerics on whether the TTP’s declared jihad is right or
wrong.
In
July 2022, a delegation of Pakistani religious scholars, headed by Usmani,
visited Kabul for talks with the leadership of the TTP, which have a safe haven
in Afghanistan.
An
Islamabad-based senior Intelligence official confirmed to The Media Line that,
“the delegation visited on the initiative of the government of Pakistan, and
the main purpose of the visit was to drive forward the cease-fire between
Islamabad and the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).”
The
delegation held talks with TTP commanders along with their chief, Mehsud.
“It
was agreed during the talks that the security forces and civilians would not be
targeted,” according to the official.
Last
September, TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani claimed that “due to the
non-release of prisoners, continued military operations and lack of
communication from the government of Pakistan compelled us to end the cease-fire”
with the Pakistan government.
Since
the end of the cease-fire, there has been a spike in terror attacks in
Pakistan. Dozens of security officials and civilians have been killed and
injured so far.
TTP
has carried scores of deadly suicide attacks inside Pakistan since the General
Pervez Musharraf-led regime became a front-line ally in the US-led invasion of
Afghanistan.
Hafiz
Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi, special envoy to the prime minister on
Interfaith Harmony and the Middle East, told The Media Line that “based on
self-made demands, nobody is allowed to deny Pakistan's Islamic status.
Declaring state officials and security forces as non-Muslim is completely
against Islamic laws.”
“Terror
attacks against security forces and civilians are not permissible in any way in
Sharia, nor can any kind of such violent and armed action within Pakistan be
called a jihad,” he said.
Dr.
Summer Iqbal Babar, a prominent conflict zone expert and an assistant professor
at the School of Politics and International Relations of Quaid-e-Azam
University in Islamabad where he teaches modern strategy, peace and conflict
resolution, told The Media Line that “this is a very welcome development and
not only should it be appreciated, but should be encouraged, to curb this sort
of militancy and terrorism in any form in any manner by anybody against the
state.”
Babar
further told The Media Line that “since 9/11 onward, if the government could be
wise enough and be bringing those voices that are against such a sort of
terrorism, it could have a better and effective impact.”
He
also said that “TTP has been involved in the killing of innocent people in
suicide attacks and all had been declared anti-Islam.”
Babar
notes that it was very difficult for Muslims in Pakistan after 9/11 when the
government “took a U-turn” against the Taliban with the US invasion.
When
the US withdrew from Afghanistan a decade later, the Taliban filled the void,
“but it also caused the resurgence of other terrorist groups on the jihadist
landscape,” Babar said.
He
adds that this phenomenon should be publicly acknowledged “so the people could
know the real face of those terrorist organizations that are involved in
unlawful activities under the self-claimed jihad ideology.”
Zuma
Gul, a Rawalpindi-based geostrategic analyst, told The Media Line that
according to Article 2A and 227 of the Constitution of Pakistan “every Muslim
citizen can demand the implementation of sharia laws from the state, whereas
there is no scope for armed struggle in this regard.”
Gul,
who is the daughter of General Hamid Gul, Pakistan‘s former director general of
the Inter-Services Intelligence who gained global fame during the Russian
invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and was the toughest critic of US policies in
the region, explains that the TTP demand to implement Sharia gained impetus
after the country unconditionally supported the US-led invasion of neighboring
Afghanistan, which TTP believed was un-Islamic. “So, in the support of its
Muslim brethren, TTP tried to justify their fight against an oppressor under
the garb of jihad. Now, after the US withdrawal, such acts are not acceptable
against an Islamic country,” she said.
“In
response to the clerics’ decree against them, probably they (TTP) will bring
some kind of another decree which will definitely justify their cause,” she
said.
Kamal
Alam, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center,
told The Media Line that “the resurgence of the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan has
filled the masses in Pakistan with dread fearing the return to the bad old days
when terrorism was surging in all corners of the country.”
“Previously
the state was paralyzed and took a while to articulate a national consensus and
joint political, military and theological strategy,” he explained.
It
was time for the religious leaders to step up, he says.
“After
more than a decade of experience and having won a hard-fought kinetic war by
the Pakistan army, the job of the clerics and religious scholars is to remove
any ambiguity about the nature of the TTP violence,” he said.
Alam
also told The Media Line that “any act of violence against the state and
innocent people shall not be tolerated from theologian perspectives to nip the
problem in the bud regarding religious legitimacy of the TTP.”
Alam
said that “TTP knows that, unlike the mid-to-late 2000s, Pakistan Armed Forces
are ready and fully capable to eliminate them; common people are firmly against
the TTP and now they will not get breathing space in the mosques and schools.”
He
claimed that “Kabul’s relationship with General Headquarters and Islamabad will
also be important in this regard. If the Taliban does not support or give space
to the TTP, it will be impossible for the TTP to mount any meaningful terrorism
in Pakistan.”
Dr.
Azeem Khalid, an assistant professor of International Relations at the COMSATS
University Islamabad, told The Media Line that “Tehreek e Taliban's militancy
against the state has changed the scenario, and now the majority sees the
Taliban as terror-spreading warmongers.”
He
says that the current rise of the TTP led to a clear message this week from
Islamic scholars.
“The
statement is significant because it will create a conflicting impression among
the public and the TTP. In light of Islamic laws, the public should know the
reality of TTP ideology. However, it would be a mere fantasy to hope that the
TTP would stop its terrorist activities after such a joint statement.”
“If
Kabul really wants to help Islamabad in taming TTP, then there can be a pledge
of peace in Pakistan, but unfortunately this seems far-fetched in the current
cold tension between the neighboring states,” Khalid concluded.
Source:
J Post
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-729688
--------
Europe
Sajid Javid Speaks Of ‘Honour’ At Being First Muslim MP To Lead Commons Holocaust Memorial Day debate
By
LEE HARPIN
January
26, 2023
Sajid
Javid has spoken of the “honour” at becoming the first Muslim parliamentarian
to lead the Holocaust Memorial Day debate in the House of Commons.
The
former cabinet minister told MPs:”At a time when I worry about communities
becoming increasingly insular, and when too many young men and women are drawn
to divisive voices, our responsibility is to spread the message of
understanding and compassion between communities. That responsibility has never
been greater.”
He
said on Thursday:”Tomorrow will mark the 78th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz-Birkenau—a place of evil, atrocity and inhumanity; a place where more
than one million men, women and children arrived but never left.
“More
than six million Jews and others lost their lives during the holocaust, and
countless more would carry the burden of their persecution.
“Genocide
is a dark stain on the conscience of humanity, and the hatred that drives it is
a disease of the heart.
“After
the holocaust, we vowed, ‘Never again,’ but the killing fields of Cambodia, the
butchery of Rwanda, the deathly silence of Srebrenica and the suffering of
Darfur show that the disease of hatred lives on.
“Although
those dark stains can never be washed out, it is our duty to shine a light on
them in this House.”
In
a clear reference to the conduct of suspended MP Andrew Bridgen, Javid said:”
In the UK, we have seen a rise in anti-vaccine protesters carrying signs
reading ‘vaccine holocaust’ and wearing the star of David, and I must say that
it angers me that any Member of this House would seek to connect the holocaust
with UK public health policy. ”
A
succession of moving speeches followed from MPs across all parties.
Labour’s
Alex Sobel noted his great-grandfather David, who was in Lviv, Ukraine during
the war.
The
Leeds West MP said:”To survive, he needed a job, and to get a job, he needed a
life number.
“He
worked in a hairdresser’s, but he had to bribe the hairdresser and he did not
have enough money to bribe them. His valuable belongings were hidden in a safe
house and the person who owned the safe house would not give them up, so he
could not afford the bribes.
“He
lost his job, he lost his life number, and he was sent to Belzec extermination
camp and killed. He was an ordinary person doing ordinary things, but betrayed
by ordinary people.”
His
colleague Christian Wakeford MP noted how fake news “is something we must stand
shoulder to shoulder against with our Jewish brothers and sisters, from the
rapid development of artificial intelligence, the digital doctoring of pictures
and videos of the time, to the holocaust denial spreading like wildfire across
social media.”
The
MP Bob Stewart referenced his time working as a British United Nations
commander in Bosnia.
He
recalled:”The first people I met were Bosnian Muslim soldiers on the mountains.
When I asked them to please stop fighting because a ceasefire was meant to be
in place, they said, ‘No, no, in the village of Ahmići, women and children have
been massacred.’
“I
said, ‘No, that can’t be. People don’t do that in 1993.’ They said that it had
happened.”
Stewart
then told how he witnessed the truth himself. “We reckon that about 120 people
were killed at Ahmići,”he said.
“I
buried in a mass grave what we thought were about 104 people, mainly women and
children—Bosnian Muslims, by the way. “The Holocaust is also about Bosnian
Muslims.”
Chipping
Barnet MP Theresa Villers spoke of how 92 year-old constituent and survivor
Mala Tribich “told her story to a gathering in Woodside Park synagogue at the
weekend, as she has in hundreds of other settings over many years.
“The
MP added:”She told it with incredible poise, dignity, courage and resilience.
The gathering was hosted by the shul in partnership with the Barnet Multi Faith
Forum, and people of all faiths and backgrounds were there to remember the
holocaust and its victims, and to pledge to root out anti-Jewish racism
wherever it emerges.”
Charlotte
Nichols,the MP for Warrington North also noted:” This Shabbat, Jews in
synagogues around the world will be reading Parashat Bo, a Torah portion
described by the former Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks of blessed memory, as ‘among
the most revolutionary in the entire history of ideas’ and ‘one of the most
counterintuitive passages in all of religious literature.'”
She
noted the text of the Parashat adding:”What does ‘zachor’—to remember—mean?
“The
Jewish concept of remembering is not passive, but active. We tell the Exodus
story to our children
“We
re-experience it and understand it through the elaborate rituals of the Pesach
Seder. We reflect on it in our recitation of the central daily prayer, the
Shema, in the laying of tefillin—a physical ritual with which to commemorate
liberation from Egypt daily—and in the mezuzah, which we hammer to our door
frames. To truly remember is to act. ”
Sir
Peter Bottomley, told MPs the idea that the Holocaust “was the last major
genocide we all know is wrong.”
But
he also used his speech to challenge the need for a Holocaust memorial to
located in Westminster.
He
argued:”We should have a new competition for the memorial. It being adjacent to
Parliament was not in the minds of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, the
committee or the Government eight years ago.
“If
it has to be there, we could consider Parliament Square, where the Buxton
memorial fountain was first placed before it was moved to Victoria Tower
Gardens.
Source:
Jewish News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Swedish
rabbi stresses Quran burning sought to provoke, hurt Muslim community
Dilara
Karatas
26.01.2023
A
Swedish rabbi stressed that the recent burning of the holy Quran in the capital
Stockholm was an effort to provoke and hurt the Muslim community.
Calling
the burning very disturbing and criticizing Swedish officials for permitting
the provocation, Rabbi Moshe-David HaCohen, co-director of the AMANAH Muslim
Jewish Partnership of Trust, stressed that it was also a first step in creating
“otherness.”
Jews
know from their own history how Nazi Germany making them into the “other”
eventually led to the Holocaust, he said.
But
HaCohen also stressed that Muslims are not alone in this.
“We
know how it feels. We are with you 100%,” he said, adding: “Let’s work together
and we can create a better future together.”
On
Saturday, a Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist burned a copy of the Quran in a
police-approved protest in the capital Stockholm.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Spanish
city mourns after church attack as suspect’s details emerge
January
27, 2023
ALGECIRAS:
The city of Algeciras was united in mourning Thursday, a day after a
machete-wielding man stormed two churches, killing a verger and seriously
wounding a priest in the multicultural southern Spanish port.
The
attacks took place on Wednesday evening as worshippers met to celebrate the
Eucharist at two churches near each other in the city. Police arrested the
alleged assailant, a 25-year-old Moroccan, at the scene.
As
investigators pressed ahead with a terrorism probe, police carried out an
early-morning raid on his home.
The
interior ministry said he had been served with a deportation order in June but
had no prior convictions and had not been under surveillance.
In
2019, he had been deported from Gibraltar on grounds of illegal entry, a
government statement from the tiny British enclave said.
He
was deported on Aug 8 along with three other immigrants, it said.
Tearful
vigil
At
midday, several hundred mourners gathered in stunned silence outside Nuestra
Senora de La Palma church where the verger Diego Valencia was killed, many of
them in tears.
Flowers
were laid and candles lit in the square, and a minute’s silence was observed
while the church bells rang.
“We
have lived here for years and we have always been very welcomed,” said Nawal
Montaguikie, a Moroccan woman in her 40s who remembered Valencia as “a gentle
person”.
“What
did he do to deserve this?” she said, her voice trembling with emotion.
“We
condemn this man and what he’s done. I hope he rots in jail.”
Also
present was Juan Jose Marina, La Palma’s parish priest, who had been conducting
a service elsewhere when the attack that claimed his verger’s life occurred.
“If
I am alive, it’s because Diego died instead of me. I was supposed to be there,”
he said, his eyes swollen from weeping.
Many
in the crowd were visibly moved, among them family members, police officers,
town council employees and several veiled women who could not hold back their
tears.
Local
media said the suspect lived near the churches, which are just 300m apart in
the town of around 120,000 residents.
A
well-known figure
Although
Spain’s top criminal court has opened a terrorism investigation, interior
minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said it was not yet possible to say whether
the incident was of a “terrorist nature”.
The
suspect was not listed in Spain – or in neighbouring countries – as a radical,
but authorities were ruling nothing out, Grande-Marlaska said while on a visit
to the city. No one else had been involved in the attack, he said.
The
suspect, seen in police footage with a beard and wearing a black, white and
grey hoodie, entered the church of San Isidro armed with a machete just after
7pm (1800 GMT).
He
“attacked the priest, leaving him seriously wounded”, the interior ministry
said.
“Subsequently,
he entered the church of Nuestra Senora de La Palma in which, after causing
damage, he attacked the verger (who) managed to get out of the church, but was
caught by the attacker outside and sustained mortal injuries.”
Witnesses
told local media the attacker was shouting and started hurling icons, crosses
and candles to the floor.
The
priest, 74-year-old Antonio Rodriguez, sustained injuries to the neck while
celebrating the Eucharist at San Isidro church, his parish said, describing his
condition as “serious but stable”.
Outside
the church, mourners laid flowers and lit candles in memory of a man who was a
well-known figure within the local Catholic community.
‘Harrowing
atrocity’
“In
Algeciras, we’ve always boasted about the fact that we have people from 129
different nationalities living together in peace and harmony and we’ve never
had any incident or tension,” mayor Jose Ignacio Landaluce told TeleMadrid TV.
“What
has happened now is more than we can take in, it grieves us and worries us
because when a fuse like this is lit, it has to be put out quickly to prevent
it from causing damage that nobody wants.”
Speaking
at the rally, local Muslim community spokesman Dris Mohamed Amar said they were
there to “publicly show our pain in the face of this harrowing atrocity”.
“We
robustly condemn this murderous act against a man of peace, an unarmed man, a
noble man,” he said.
“We
hope this act does not bring into question the harmony that exists between
different communities in Algeciras.”
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Next
tripartite meeting with Sweden, Finland postponed due to 'current political
environment': Türkiye
Faruk
Zorlu
26.01.2023
The
Turkish foreign minister said Thursday that the next tripartite meeting slated
for February with Sweden and Finland on their NATO bids was postponed due to
the "current political environment."
In
this environment, a meeting, to be held under the June 2022 tripartite
memorandum signed by Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden, is "meaningless,"
Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a joint news conference with his Serbian counterpart
Ivica Dacic, referring to the increased number of occasions where Sweden failed
to fulfill its commitments under the deal.
"The
purpose of this mechanism is to see which conditions in the memorandum are
fulfilled or not. But this was postponed as it would not be a sound meeting because
the environment in this situation would overshadow it," he said.
The
first meeting of the Permanent Joint Mechanism established under the memorandum
was held on Aug. 26, 2022 in Vantaa, Finland, while the second meeting on Nov.
26, 2022 in Stockholm.
So,
there is "no use in that either," he said, adding that Sweden has not
taken any serious steps to implement the memorandum.
Sweden
must choose either to de-mine its route to joining NATO or step on those mines
and blow up its chances, Cavusoglu stressed.
About
the recent desecration of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, he said: "The
vile attack in Sweden is a racist attack that has nothing to do with freedom of
thought," adding: "The Swedish government has taken part in this
crime by allowing this vile act."
The
aim of the PKK/YPG terror group and the far-left parties supporting terrorism
in Sweden is to prevent Stockholm from joining NATO, Cavusoglu said.
"There
are politicians that I know from the Council of Europe, Finland, and Sweden,
who believe in the far-left ideology. They also call me and say 'block the NATO
membership of our countries'," he said.
On
Jan. 21, Rasmus Paludan, an extreme-right Swedish-Danish politician, burned a
copy of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, outside the Turkish Embassy in
Stockholm, under police protection and with permission from the authorities,
drawing a wave of condemnations from across the Arab and Islamic worlds.
On
the following day, Edwin Wagensveld, a far-right Dutch politician and the
leader of the Islamophobic group Pegida, tore out pages from a copy of the
Quran in The Hague. Wagensveld's video on Twitter showed that he burned the
torn-out pages of the holy book in a pan.
Sweden
and Finland formally applied to join NATO last May, abandoning decades of
military non-alignment, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine, which
started on Feb. 24, 2022.
But
Türkiye – a NATO member for more than 70 years – voiced objections, accusing
the two countries of tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups including
the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the
July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Türkiye.
Last
June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum at a NATO summit
to address Ankara's legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their
eventual membership in the alliance.
In
the memorandum, Sweden and Finland agreed not to provide support to the YPG/PYD
and FETO, to prevent all activities of the terror groups, the extradition of
terror suspects, to introduce new legislation to punish terrorist crimes, and
not to implement national arms embargoes among the three countries.
Also,
on Israel's attack that resulted in civilian killings in the Jenin refugee camp
in the occupied West Bank, Cavusoglu called on Israel to abandon "such
attacks and provocations."
The
Israeli side claims that this is a counter-terrorism operation, but there are
also old women among the people killed there, he said.
Various
provocations are ongoing since the new government took office in Israel, he said,
expressing his condolences.
The
Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that nine people were killed
and 20 injured in the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday, adding that an elderly
woman is among the victims.
Tensions
have been running high across the West Bank in recent weeks amid repeated
Israeli raids to detain what they say "wanted Palestinians" or to
demolish Palestinian homes. The raids have sparked clashes with Palestinians,
causing several fatalities.
Türkiye-Serbia
bilateral relations
Praising
the two countries' relationship, Cavusoglu said: "We are experiencing the
best period in our relationships. I had the opportunity to speak with Serbian
President Aleksandar Vucic on the phone shortly before. As Vucic said, our
relationships are experiencing a golden age."
The
trade volume between the two countries increased rapidly, nearing $2.5 billion
last year, he said, recalling that the two countries have also set a target of
$5 billion.
"We
would like to hold the 4th Joint Economic Commission Meeting this year to
discuss extendedly the dimensions of our economic cooperation," he said.
Speaking
about the stability and peace in the Balkans, he said a new government is being
formed not to increase the tension in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The role of Türkiye
and Serbia is very important for stability and peace in the region, Cavusoglu
added.
In
particular, the tripartite mechanism among Türkiye, Serbia, and Bosnia and
Herzegovina has been very beneficial, he added.
About
the visa exemption between the two states, Serbia's Dacic said the bilateral
ties continue based on mutual trust, reminding that visa exemption and free
trade agreements were signed 10 years ago.
Enabling
citizens of the two countries to cross state borders with a valid biometric ID
card was discussed in the Serbian parliament, Dacic said, adding that
"this will hopefully progress quickly" so that it can be applied in
the upcoming tourism season.
"The
EU asks us (Serbia) to re-apply the visa condition for Turkish citizens. We
refused this because we do not think that it will be good for us. We know how
important this visa exemption is for the entire region," he said.
Serbia
is ready to do what is necessary for stability and peace in the Balkans, he
said, underlining that Türkiye plays an important role in the region.
The
two countries have signed many projects when it comes to investments and that
many people are employed, Dacic said.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
India
Islamic
State Flag Hoisted In UP On Republic Day; FIR Registered
January
26, 2023
In
a major act of sedition, some anti-social elements hoisted an Islamic State
flag on the occasion of the Republic Day in the Hydergarh area of the Barabanki
district on Thursday.
An
FIR has been registered in connection with the incident and a suspect has been
detained.
The
Islamic State flag was hoisted on a building located in Rampur Hussainabad
village under the Subeha police station area. After unfurling the flag, sweets
were distributed among children.
As
soon as the information was received, the police reached the spot and started
investigation. A suspect has been taken into custody while search for the
organiser is on .
Source:
The Statesman
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
India
issues notice to Pakistan seeking modification to Indus Waters Treaty
Jan
27, 2023
NEW
DELHI: India has issued a notice to Pakistan for modification of the Indus
Waters Treaty (IWT) of September 1960 following Islamabad's
"intransigence" on its implementation, government sources said on
Friday.
The
notice was sent on January 25 through respective commissioners for Indus
waters, they said.
The
sources said India has always been a steadfast supporter and a responsible
partner in implementing the IWT in letter and spirit.
"However,
Pakistan's actions have adversely impinged on the provisions of IWT and their
implementation, and forced India to issue an appropriate notice for
modification of the pact," said a source.
India
and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with
the World Bank being a signatory of the pact.
The
treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between
the two countries regarding use of waters of a number of rivers.
In
2015, Pakistan requested for appointment of a neutral expert to examine its
technical objections to India's Kishenganga and Ratle Hydro Electric Projects
(HEPs).
In
2016, Pakistan unilaterally retracted this request and proposed that a Court of
Arbitration adjudicate on its objections, the sources said.
'They
said this unilateral action by Pakistan is in contravention of the graded
mechanism of dispute settlement envisaged by Article IX of the IWT.
Accordingly,
India made a separate request for the matter to be referred to a neutral
expert.
"The
initiation of two simultaneous processes on the same questions and the
potential of their inconsistent or contradictory outcomes creates an
unprecedented and legally untenable situation, which risks endangering the IWT
itself," the source said.
"The
World Bank acknowledged this itself in 2016, and took a decision to 'pause' the
initiation of two parallel processes and request India and Pakistan to seek an
amicable way out," it said.
The
sources said that despite repeated efforts by India to find a mutually
agreeable way forward, Pakistan refused to discuss the issue during the five
meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission from 2017 to 2022
At
Pakistan's continuing insistence, the World Bank has recently initiated actions
on both the neutral expert and Court of Arbitration processes, they said.
The
sources added that such parallel consideration of the same issues is not
covered under any provision of IWT.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
AMU
orders probe into religious slogans on Republic Day
27th
January 2023
Aligarh:
A video from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) that went viral on social media,
shows several students purportedly chanting ‘Allah-hu-Akbar’ (God is great)
during the Republic Day celebrations.
Clad
in the National Cadet Corps (NCC) uniforms, the students are heard chanting the
slogan after the hoisting of the tricolour on campus, outside Strachey Hall.
The
Proctor of Aligarh Muslim University, Wasim Ali, said an order has been issued
to investigate the matter.
“Further
action will be taken after the investigation. The police have also gathered
information about the incident,” Wasim Ali said.
Aligarh
S.P. Kuldeep Singh Gunawat said the university has been directed to take
cognizance of the incident.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.siasat.com/amu-orders-probe-into-religious-slogans-on-republic-day-2511641/
--------
North America
Radical
Islamic Cleric, Shaikh Abdullah Faisal, Convicted Of Recruiting ISIS Supporters
By
Patrick Reilly
January
26, 2023
A
radical Islamic cleric was convicted of recruiting and providing support for
ISIS, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on Thursday.
Shaikh
Abdullah Faisal, 59, an Islamic State recruiter and marriage broker was found
guilty of “far reaching crimes” of terrorism following New York state’s first
ever terrorism trial, according to the DA’s office.
Faisal,
a Jamaica native who prosecutors described as “one of the most influential
English speaking terrorists of our times,” preached violent jihad and pushed
for ISIS recruitment on his social media platforms and tried to inspire others
to commit acts of terror themselves in ISIS’ name.
He
additionally provided instructions on how potential fighters could best travel
to Syria and Iraq undetected and worked as a matchmaker for women looking to
get hitched to Islamic militants.
Faisal
was arrested in Jamaica in 2017 and then extradited to New York City following
a joint investigation by the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau and the Manhattan DA’s
Office’s Counter Terrorism Program — which was established in 2015 to
investigate extremists and thwart terror plots, according to the DA’s office.
In
2016, Faisal began communicating with an undercover NYPD officer via email,
text and video chat from his home in Jamaica in a bid to encourage her to
travel to the Middle East to join ISIS and carry out attacks. He also offered
to introduce the woman — who was posing as a would-be jihadist — to a suitable
husband within the terror group.
The
militant, who previously went by Trevor William Forrest, urged the undercover
officer to listen to his online speeches and lectures in which he encouraged
followers to wage jihad against enemies of Islam and even kill Americans, Jews
and Hindus.
“The
way forward is not the ballot. The way forward is the bullet,” he said in one
speech, according to his indictment. In another he urged followers to “cut the
throats” of nonbelievers with machetes.
Faisal
was previously convicted in the United Kingdom in 2003 for inciting murder and
using racially charged, hateful rhetoric to support terrorist ideologies.
“This
case was about the far reach of crimes committed by Shaikh Faisal and the
promotion of terrorism. Faisal aided ISIS as it committed horrific violence
against innocent people,” said District Attorney Bragg in a statement.
Source:
New York Post
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
military kills senior Islamic State leader Bilal al-Sudani in Somalia
January
27, 2023
US
special operations forces have killed a senior Islamic State group official and
10 other terrorist operatives in remote northern Somalia, the Biden administration
has announced.
The
operation carried out on Wednesday targeted Bilal al-Sudani, a key financial
facilitator for the global terrorist organisation, in a mountainous cave
complex.
This
action leaves the United States and its partners safer and more secure, and it
reflects our steadfast commitment to protecting Americans from the threat of
terrorism at home and abroad, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a
statement.
President
Joe Biden was briefed last week about the proposed mission, which came together
after months of planning.
He
gave final approval to carry out the operation this week following the
recommendation of Austin and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army
Gen. Mark Milley, according to two senior Biden administration officials who
briefed reporters on the operation on the condition of anonymity.
Al-Sudani,
who has been on the radar of US intelligence officials for years, played a key
role in helping to fund IS operations in Africa as well as the ISIS-K terrorist
branch operating in Afghanistan, Austin said.
The
US Treasury Department alleged last year that al-Sudani had worked closely with
another IS operative, Abdella Hussein Abadigga, who had recruited young men in
South Africa and sent them to a weapons training camp.
Abadigga,
who controlled two mosques in South Africa, used his position to extort money
from members of the mosques. Al-Sudani considered Abadigga a trusted supporter
who could help the IS supporters in South Africa become better organised and
recruit new members, according to Treasury.
Al-Sudani
had originally been designated to the Treasury Department in 2012 for his role
with al-Shabab, another terrorist organisation operating in Somalia. He helped
foreign fighters travel to an al-Shabab training camp and facilitated financing
for violent extremists in Somalia, according to a senior administration
official.
No
civilians were injured or killed in the operation, Pentagon officials said. One
American involved in the operation was bitten by a military dog but was not
seriously injured, according to an administration official.
US
officials provided scant details about how the operation was carried out or the
circumstances surrounding al-Sudani's killing. One official said that US forces
had intended to capture al-Sudani but that did not prove to be feasible as the
operation was carried out.
The
operation comes days after Africa Command said it had conducted a collective
self-defence strike northeast of Mogadishu, the capital, near Galcad. In that
incident, Somalia National Army forces were engaged in heavy fighting following
an extended and intense attack by more than 100 al-Shabab fighters.
The
US estimated approximately 30 al-Shabab fighters were killed in that operation.
Source:
The Week
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Ceremony
for Quebec mosque attack to be held in prayer room where shooting occurred
Jan.
26, 2023
QUEBEC
- A commemoration planned for Sunday to mark the sixth anniversary of the
Quebec City mosque shooting will be held for the first time inside the prayer
room where six men were killed.
Mamadou
Tanou Barry, Ibrahima Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Abdelkrim Hassane, Azzeddine
Soufiane and Aboubaker Thabti were gunned down shortly after evening prayers
had ended at the Islamic Cultural Centre on Jan. 29, 2017.
Maryam
Bessiri, a spokesperson for the citizens’ committee organizing the event, said
that holding the commemoration in the prayer room was an emotional and
difficult decision, but an important one.
“For
us, this return to the prayer room is very significant,” Bessiri said.
“Together, we can honour the memory of the victims and reflect on the inclusive
society we want to build.”
Five
other men who were seriously injured and 35 other people who were present live
with memories of the bloodshed.
Ahmed
Cheddadi, a survivor of the mosque shooting, said showing openness must not
fall solely on the Muslim community, but on Quebec society as a whole.
“I’m
here because I really feel a responsibility to my brothers who fell right next
to me,” said Cheddadi, who has been heavily involved with the survivors’
association since the attack. “It is an event that we must never forget, and
this responsibility must also be continuously shared by society.”
He
said many things have improved since the attack, notably the creation by the
federal government of the National Day of Remembrance of the Québec City Mosque
Attack and Action against Islamophobia. Ottawa also brought in gun laws in
response to the 2017 rampage.
Mohamed
Labidi, president of the mosque, said there was the “duty of memory towards the
victims who fell in this mosque by the bullets of hatred” and the annual event
is necessary to promote good relations.
He
called on the Quebec government to do more.
Labidi
said that while steps are being taken to foster inclusiveness and eliminate
Islamophobia, legislation like Quebec’s Bill 21 has the opposite effect. The
province’s secularism law bans the wearing of religious symbols such as hijabs,
kippas and turbans by teachers, judges, police and other government employees
deemed to be in positions of authority.
“It
does a lot of harm to our community,” Labidi said. “Our brothers and sisters
all feel targeted by this law, which violates our rights and freedoms.”
Labidi
said he knows of about 50 people who have left Quebec City over the law, which
was passed in June 2019. Cheddadi recounted a recent conversation with his
teenage daughter, who asked if deciding to wear a hijab would cut short her
dream of being a teacher.
“I
told her, sadly my girl, you will lose it here in Quebec, but you have a
solution. You can go to Ontario or another province,” Cheddadi said.
This
week, the mosque in the Quebec City borough of Ste-Foy is holding open houses
in an effort to demystify the community to the local population.
In
addition to politicians and other dignitaries, the anniversary event will hear
from youth from the Quebec City mosque and young people from London, Ont.,
where in 2021 a Muslim family was run down in an alleged terrorism-related murder.
Bessiri
said it is a way to ensure the continuity of the commemoration by involving
younger generations and “ensuring that there will be a succession and to look
to the future,” she said.
Source:
The Star
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
criticizes Palestinian move to suspend security ties with Israel after deadly
raid
26
January ,2023
The
top US diplomat for the Middle East criticized the Palestinian decision to cut
off security coordination with Israel after Israeli forces killed several
Palestinians during a raid.
“We
don’t think this is the right step to take at this moment,” Assistant Secretary
of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said.
Speaking
to reporters ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Cairo,
Ramallah and Jerusalem this weekend, Leaf described the Israeli killings of
civilians as “regrettable.”
Israel
says it was conducting a raid into Jenin to detain members of a group suspected
of being behind a number of terror operations.
Later
Thursday, the Palestinian Authorities announced that they would be suspending
security coordination with Israel.
“Far
from stepping back on security coordination, we believe it’s quite important
that the parties retain and, if anything, deepen security coordination,” Leaf
said.
Leaf
called for calm from both sides and said Blinken’s weekend trip would be an
opportunity for him to stress the Biden administration’s commitment to a
two-state solution.
Tensions
and violence have been increasing over the last several months, and fears are
growing that the situation could once again spiral out of control following the
new Israeli government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and seen as
one of the most right-wing cabinets in recent history.
Other
nations, including Saudi Arabia, condemned the Israeli raid on Jenin.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
says it’s ‘deeply concerned’ after Palestinians killed in Israeli operation
Rabia
Iclal Turan
27.01.2023
WASHINGTON
The
US said Thursday it was “deeply concerned” after Israel carried out a military
operation in the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, urging “all
parties” to de-escalate.
“We
mourn the loss of innocent lives as well as injuries to civilians and are
deeply concerned by the cycle of violence in the West Bank,” State Department
spokesman Ned Price said in a written statement.
“We
underscore the urgent need for all parties to de-escalate, prevent further loss
of civilian life, and work together to improve the security situation in the
West Bank,” he said.
“Palestinians
and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely.”
The
statement noted that nine Palestinians, including at least one civilian, were
killed in Jenin on Thursday, adding: “We recognize the very real security
challenges facing Israel and the Palestinian Authority and condemn terrorist
groups planning and carrying out attacks against civilians.”
The
Israeli army on Thursday carried out a large-scale military offensive in the
Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank which left nine people dead,
dozens of wounded and great damage to buildings and property.
The
attacks came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Egypt,
Israel and the West Bank this weekend.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
Holy
Quran desecration unbearable for Muslim Ummah: Minister Mufti Abdul Shakoor
JANUARY
26, 2023
ISLAMABAD:
Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor said
the Holy Quran desecration was an unbearable act for Muslim Ummah across the
world.
He
was addressing the video link conference of the ministers of religious affairs
of Muslim countries on the invitation of Head of Turkish Religious Affairs Dr
Ali Arbash the other day.
The
ministers of religious affairs of Islamic countries including Malaysia, Sudan,
Djibouti, Iran, and Palestine participated in the conference.
Condemning
the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden, Minister Abdul Shakoor said the
divine command was our basis and foundation and no Muslim could tolerate its
desecration anyway.
He
said similar incidents had also happened in Canada, New Zealand and other
countries but the recent hateful incident of desecration of the Holy Quran in
Sweden was not acceptable at all. “Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance
and we respect everyone,” he added.
He
said we thanked the head of Turkish religious affairs for realizing the
sensitivity of this issue and uniting his counterparts of various Islamic
countries and important personalities to discuss the permanent solution of such
incidents.
Minister
Abdul Shakoor said the government, scholars and people of Pakistan strongly
condemned this loathsome incident.
He
said it was natural for Muslims to be concerned about this and adopt a firm and
aggressive stance on it.
He
said it was the responsibility of the United Nations and major countries to
play their role as there was a dire need to make permanent and effective
legislation on this matter.
Source:
Daily Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
No
backchannel talks with India by Sharif govt: Pakistan minister
Jan
27, 2023
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan had no backchannel diplomacy with India since PM Shehbaz Sharif's
government took office in April last year, junior foreign minister Hina Rabbani
Khar said Thursday, in what is seen as an attempt to assuage domestic contempt
over the PM's recent remarks that the nation has learned its lesson after three
wars with India and wants peace now.
Khar
blamed "provocative steps" by India for straining relations between
the two nations. "The messages that we are getting are all conflagratory.
Pakistan has the largest interest in unleashing the potential of this region
but when you have a government on the other side, whose prime minister says
that their nuclear assets are not for Diwali, then what can we do," she
said. Khar's statement followed New Delhi's invitation Wednesday to foreign
minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to attend
the foreign ministers' and chief justices' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation in Goa this May.
PM
Sharif had said last week in an interview with Dubai-based Al Arabiya TV that
PM Modi should hold serious talks to address all "burning points",
including Kashmir, and the UAE could play an important role in bringing the two
countries to the table.
A
day later, the PM's office changed its position and stated that talks with
India can happen only after it reverses its action of abrogating J&K's
special constitutional status in August 2019.
Junior
minister Khar told the senate during question hour Thursday that Pakistan had
always taken initiatives to promote peace. "At this moment, there is no
such thing (backchannel diplomacy) under way...Right now, the cross-border
hostility (from India) is of a unique type."
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan’s
new blasphemy laws may be ‘weaponised’ against minorities, says rights group
Jan
26, 2023
Pakistan
has further strengthened its already harsh blasphemy laws to punish anyone
convicted of insulting people connected to Prophet Muhammad.
The
Pakistan National Assembly unanimously passed the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act
2023 last week, enhancing the minimum punishment for those who insult the
revered personalities of Islam from three to 10 years along with a fine of Rs 1
million. It also makes the charge of blasphemy an offence for which bail is not
possible.
This
latest piece of legislation has left human rights activists alarmed, as they
fear the laws would be misused to settle scores and further persecute religious
minorities like Hindus and Christians in Pakistan.
Pakistan's
blasphemy laws carry a potential death sentence for anyone who insults Islam
and its founder, Prophet Muhammad. The laws have also been used to target
minority faiths in the Muslim-majority country.
Expressing
deep concern over the tightening of blasphemy laws, Human Rights Commission of
Pakistan Chairperson Hina Jilani said, “While the stated aim of this bill is to
curb sectarianism, HRCP believes it is likely to exacerbate the persecution of
Pakistan’s beleaguered religious minorities and minority sects.”
Making
blasphemy a non-bailable offence directly violates the constitutionally
guaranteed right to personal liberty under Article 9, the HRCP said.
“Given
Pakistan’s troubled record of the misuse of such laws, these amendments are
likely to be weaponised disproportionately against religious minorities and
sects, resulting in false FIRs, harassment and persecution,” it said.
The
human rights body said that increasing the penalty for alleged blasphemy will
aggravate misuse of the law to settle personal vendetta. It is also feared that
it will increase mob lynchings of those accused of blasphemy.
“At
a time when civil society has been calling for amendments to these laws to
prevent their abuse, strengthening this punishment will do the exact opposite,”
it said.
PAKISTAN’S
STRICT BLASPHEMY LAWS
Offences
relating to religion were first codified by India's British rulers in 1860, and
were expanded in 1927. Pakistan inherited these laws when it came into
existence after the partition of India in 1947.
In
the 1980s, the blasphemy laws were expanded by the addition of a number of
clauses by the military government of General Zia-ul Haq.
Source:
India Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Khar
to lead delegation to UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
January
26, 2023
ISLAMABAD:
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar will lead the Pakistan
delegation to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 30th of this month.
Foreign
Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch has stated this during her weekly news
briefing in Islamabad on Thursday.
Source:
Pakistan Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
South Asia
Islamic
world worried about Taliban's interpretation of Islam: Report
Jan
26, 2023
ABU
DHABI [UAE]: The Islamic world is worried about the Taliban's interpretation of
Islam as it poses political challenges. The Taliban has enforced Sharia laws
based on their own interpretation of Islam, according to Dubai-based media
network Al Arabiya Post.
Taliban
leaders, however, insist that their policies are based on Islamic
jurisprudence.
Columnist
Mohammed Amir Rana, writing for the Dawn newspaper, claimed that Pakistan is
among those Muslim countries that have distanced themselves from the Afghan
Taliban's conception and enforcement of Islamic laws.
The
ideological influence of the Taliban, a hard-line Sunni organization in
Pakistan, is today visible in the form of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Every step that the Taliban has taken to enforce Sharia and make the women of
Afghanistan outcasts in their own land, pushes Pakistan further away from its
historical links with the Taliban much to its discomfort, according to Al
Arabiya Post.
Even
the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), took notice of the Taliban's
actions against Afghan women and reminded the Taliban to mend its ways.
The
57 OIC member countries in December 2022, held a special meeting on Afghanistan
and urged the Taliban to abide by the "principles and purposes"
enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
The
OIC also called on the Taliban to reconsider the "un-Islamic" ban on
women's education and launched a campaign to teach the Taliban the real Islam
that encourages education for women, according to the Al Arabiya Post.
It
said that the OIC Executive Committee, headed by Saudi Arabia, met again in
January 2023 to discuss Afghanistan. The meeting inter alia recalled that
"the right of women and girls to access all levels of education, including
university level, is a fundamental right in keeping with the teachings of the
noble Islamic shariah".
The
Taliban's ban on women's education contradicted Islamic law, according to the
Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar University.
According
to the Al Arabiya Post, the Islamic world is thus rightly worried about the
Taliban's interpretation of Islam as it poses a political challenge. Today,
many Islamic societies have developed compatibility with modern values of
freedom and human rights. However, the Taliban leaders insist that their
policies are based on Islamic jurisprudence.
Earlier,
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on the
Taliban in Afghanistan to reverse the ban on girls' access to secondary and
higher education.
Calling
education a fundamental right, Guterres said that now is the time for all
nations to ensure actual steps to develop welcoming and inclusive learning
environments for all.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
Deports More Than 3000 Afghan Refugees in a Week
By
Nizamuddin Rezahi
January
26, 2023
The
Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation of Afghanistan has announced that more
than 3,000 Afghan refugees were deported from Iran through Islam Qala and Pule
Abrishum borders to the country.
In
a statement, the Ministry of Refugee announced that 3123 Afghan migrants have
been expelled from Iran on January 24th and 25th respectively. In the recent
past in Iran, Afghan nationals have been detained and forcefully deported to
Afghanistan.
Taliban
officials have confirmed that returnees have entered Afghanistan through Herat
and Nimruz provinces, and have called on Iranian officials to respect human
rights and treat Afghan refugees with decency.
Thousands
of Afghans fled the country fearing their survival and the dire economic
situation that has already choked the county under the ruling regime. According
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, currently, more than four million
Afghans reside in Iran.
Iran
is one of the countries accused of violating human rights by the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Since
the overthrow of the previous regime in August 2021, thousands of Afghans fled
the country fearing persecution and death at the hands of the Taliban. Iran and
Pakistan are the two neighboring countries of Afghanistan which saw waves of
mass migration After the Taliban returned to power.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/iran-deports-more-than-3000-afghan-refugees-in-a-week/
--------
Mideast
Iran
Adds More EU, British Individuals, Entities to Sanction List over Terror
Support
2023-January-26
Iran
on Wednesday announced sanctions against 34 individuals and entities from the
European Union and the United Kingdom, days after Brussels and London imposed a
fresh round of sanctions targeting Iranian officials and organizations.
The
ministry said the individuals and entities were designated because of “supporting
terrorism and terrorist groups, instigating and encouragement to terrorist acts
and violence against Iranian people, interference in domestic affairs of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, inciting violence and unrest in Iran, dissemination
of false information about Iran and participation in the escalation of cruel
sanctions against Iranian people as an economic terrorism".
Among
the 22 EU individuals and three entities who face the travel ban and asset
freeze include the Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, the publishing manager of Charlie
Hebdo magazine Laurent Sourisseau, notorious journalist Bernard-Henri Levy, as
well as Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan.
The
foreign ministry also announced sanctions against a British entity and eight
individuals, including the attorney general for England and Wales Victoria
Prentis, former head of MI6 spy agency Richard Dearlove, and head of the
British Army Patrick Sanders.
Tehran
slammed London and Brussels for supporting, facilitating, and failing to
counter the destructive acts of the sanctioned individuals and entities, noting
that such measures are in contravention of international obligations regarding
the fight against terrorism.
The
EU and UK sanctions, read the statement, are “obvious violation of fundamental
principles of international law set forth in the United Nations charter".
The
announcement came days after the EU, the US and the UK announced sanctions on
dozens of Iranian officials and organizations over alleged human rights
violations.
Protests
erupted in several cities across Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini who fainted
at a police station in mid-September and days later was pronounced dead at a
hospital. The demonstrations soon turned violent.
Iranian
officials blame Western countries for orchestrating the riots to destabilize
the country.
The
unrest has claimed the lives of dozens of people and security forces, while
also allowing acts of terror and sabotage across the country. Iran's Interior
Ministry has confirmed the enemy waged a hybrid war against the country to
weaken national solidarity and hinder the country's progress, stressing that
some 200 people lost their lives in the riots sparked by separatist and
terrorist groups.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Netanyahu
to hold security assessment meeting amid military operation in Jenin
Abdelraouf
Arna'out
26.01.2023
JERUSALEM
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to hold a security assessment
meeting late on Thursday after Israel's military offensive on the city of Jenin
in the northern occupied West Bank.
Israeli
public broadcaster KAN reported fears in the government that clashes could
escalate and expand if the Islamic Jihad group retaliates to the attack by
firing rockets from Gaza.
Islamic
Jihad informed mediators that Israel was responsible for the attack and that if
the Israeli offensive does not stop, "all options are possible,"
according to the report.
Israeli
forces are preparing for a possible escalation across the West Bank following
the developments in Jenin, said a separate report by the Tel Aviv-based daily
Yedioth Ahronoth.
Nine
Palestinians have been killed and 20 injured by the Israeli forces as they
stormed the Jenin Refugees camp, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israeli
army says its surveillance drone downed during offensive in Jenin, West Bank
Abdelraouf
Arna'out
26.01.2023
The
Israeli army radio on Thursday said an army surveillance drone was downed
during Israel's offensive in Jenin, in the northern region of the occupied West
Bank.
The
radio, however, did not give further details on how the drone was downed in
Jenin, adding that there is no fear of leakage of information.
The
Israeli public broadcaster KAN said the Israeli army has launched an offensive
in Jenin as the group Islamic Jihad was allegedly preparing for a massive
attack, without providing further detail.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
Calls on France to Put Aside Trump's Failed Policy of Maximum Pressure
2023-January-26
Amir
Abdollahian made the remarks in a phone call with his French counterpart
Catherine Colonna on Wednesday.
The
high-ranking Iranian diplomat criticized the stance of France in “instigating
riot” in Iran as “unfriendly”.
Slamming
the meddlesome remarks by some French officials, he stated Tehran "always
prefers the path of dialogue and diplomacy, however, as you can witness, in
[case of] a confrontational approach, our measures are immediate, effective,
and reciprocal".
Tensions
between Iran and the European Union (EU) hit a new high when the European
Parliament asked the EU to designate the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)
as a “terrorist organization” in a non-binding vote last Wednesday. EU Foreign
Policy Chief Josep Borrell, however, clarified on Monday that the bloc cannot
list the IRGC as a “terrorist” entity without an EU court ruling.
Criticizing
the “unconstructive” measure of the European Parliament with regard to the
IRGC, Amir Abdollahian stressed the elite forces have had an “important role in
maintaining regional security and truly fighting against terrorism".
“The
Islamic Republic of Iran is closely monitoring the EU behavior and will take
its next steps accordingly,” added the top diplomat.
“Do
not repeat the failed Trump’s policy of sanctions,” he advised the French diplomat.
Trump
scrapped the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and imposed severe economic
sanctions on Tehran under the so-called “maximum pressure campaign” to force
Tehran into a new deal but to no avail. Iranian officials, however, say US
attempts to disturb Tehran's trade through sanctions have failed. They state
Washington has been defeated in the maximum pressure policy against their
country.
Amir
Abdollahian also slammed Chalie Hebdo’s insult to religious sanctities, noting
that the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden and the Netherlands is in line
with the same approach.
Charlie
Hebdo published derogatory cartoons of Iran’s religious authority in a special
issue this month. The vulgar act was met with strong condemnation from Iranian
people and officials.
Colonna,
for her part, claimed that France has not intervened in Iran’s internal
affairs.
She
also called for the release of a number of French citizens who are imprisoned
in Iran on spying and security-related charges.
Tehran
and Paris have been engaged in a diplomatic row over French meddlesome stance
on recent unrest Iran.
President
Emmanuel Macron also held a meeting with a number of anti-Tehran figures,
including Masih Alinejad, at the Elysée. In the meeting, the French president
described the recent unrest in Iran as a "revolution".
Iranian
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kana'ani condemned Macron for meeting several
anti-Tehran individuals at the Elysee Palace, and cautioned that the move will
surely remain in the memory of the Iranian nation.
“It
is surprising that the president of a country claiming to support freedom,
lowers his level and meets with a hated pawn who, in the recent months, has
clearly tried to spread hatred, violence and terrorist acts in the Islamic
Republic of Iran and also against its diplomatic missions as well as diplomats
of the Islamic Republic abroad,” Kana'ani said.
The
diplomat called the statements quoted from Macron that he supports the
so-called revolution, led by these people, as "regretful" and "a
cause for shame".
The
spokesperson added the meeting is a flagrant violation of France’s
international responsibilities in fighting terrorism and violence, and is
regarded as a promotion of these vicious phenomena.
He
emphasized that such anti-Tehran measures will undoubtedly be kept in the
memory of the great Iranian nation, who are well aware of the selective
approaches of some European leaders, going against human rights.
Protests
erupted in several cities across Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, a
22-year-old Iranian woman who fainted at a police station in mid-September and
days later was pronounced dead at a hospital. The demonstrations soon turned
violent.
An
official report by Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization announced that Amini’s
controversial death was caused by an illness rather than alleged blows to the
head or other vital body organs.
Iranian
officials blame Western countries for orchestrating the riots to destabilize
the country.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iranian
Envoy Calls on UNSC to Compel Israel to End Aggression on Syrian Soil
2023-January-26
Iravani
was addressing the UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday on political and
humanitarian developments in Syria.
The
Damascus government in recent months has re-established diplomatic ties with
several regional countries, including the United Arab Emirates, after more than
a decade.
"A
secure, stable and developed Syria benefits the Syrian people, as well as the
region and the international community," the Iranian diplomat stated.
He
reiterated that the crisis in Syria should be resolved based on international
law.
"A
political solution based on Syrians’ leadership and under their guidance, which
is facilitated by the UN, is the only way out of this crisis," the envoy
continued.
He
stressed that "such a process should fully protect the Syrian Arab
Republic’s unity as well as its national sovereignty and territorial
integrity".
Iravani
referred to terrorism, calling it a serious threat to Syria and the region, but
underlined that foreign forces present in northern Syria should not use the
fight against terrorism as an excuse to violate the Arab country’s national
sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"Such
an illegal presence continues to violate the UN Charter and international law
while creating ideal conditions for terror activities. It should come to an
end," Iravani noted.
The
Iranian envoy also referred to Israel’s attacks on Syrian territory, urging the
UN Security Council to “immediately” force the regime to stop its acts of
aggression against Syria.
He
underscored that Iran strongly condemns the Israeli attacks which threaten
international and regional peace and stability, and have continued despite
Damascus’ repeated calls on the Security Council to denounce them.
Iran's
diplomat voiced Tehran's support for the Astana peace process, as well as the
international humanitarian efforts ongoing in Syria, saying that political
conditions should not be an obstacle to reaching out to those in need in the
Arab country.
He
called for the removal of unilateral coercive measures against Syria,
especially the measures that are targeting ordinary people and patients,
warning that such “illegal” actions have made it difficult to dispatch
humanitarian aid to Syria and would delay the return of refugees and the
internally displaced people to their homes.
"Iran
demands the international community increase funds required for humanitarian
efforts in Syria, especially with regard to harsh winter conditions," the
envoy added.
Iravani
also expressed support and gratitude to the Syrian government over its efforts
on national reconciliation, calling them a key step in restoring stability in
Syria.
The
ambassador stated that Syria has always played a key role in West Asia and has
been one of the main pillars of peace and security there.
“Iran
backs Syria’s position in the region and the country’s diplomatic rapprochement
because we believe that a secure, stable and developed Syria benefits its
people, the region, and the international community,” he continued.
Since
2011, Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy, as a result of which
Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL) and other terrorist groups emerged in the
country.
Israel
frequently targets military positions inside Syria, especially those of the
Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah which has played a key role in helping
the Syrian Army in its fight against foreign-backed terrorists.
The
Tel Aviv regime rarely comments on its cowardly attacks on Syrian territories,
which many see as a knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian government’s success in
confronting and decimating terrorism.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Gunman
kills security chief, wounds two guards at Azerbaijan embassy in Iran
27
January ,2023
A
man armed with a Kalashnikov-style rifle attacked the Azerbaijan embassy in
Iran’s capital Friday, killing the head of security at the diplomatic post and
wounding two guards, authorities said.
No
one immediately offered a motive for the attack in Tehran. Video purportedly
taken at the scene showed a lifeless body just inside of the embassy past a
metal detector.
Iranian
state media did not immediately acknowledge the attack.
A
statement from Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said that “an investigation is
currently underway into this treacherous attack.” It also described the
attacker as destroying a guard post with assault rifle fire.
Azerbaijan
borders Iran to its northwest. There have been tensions between the two
countries as Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought over the Nagorno-Karabakh
region.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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--------
Gaza
militants fire rockets as Israel strikes in Gaza
27
January ,2023
Palestinian
militants on Friday fired two rockets from the Gaza Strip towards southern
Israel that were intercepted by missile defenses, and Israel then carried out strikes
in Gaza.
The
cross-border fire came after an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank on
Thursday that led to the largest single death toll in years of fighting.
The
overnight rockets triggered sirens in Israeli communities near the border with
Gaza, warning residents to take shelter. There were no reports of injuries.
Israel’s
Channel 12 aired footage of Israeli interceptor missiles being launched into
the night sky above the city of Ashkelon, about 12 km (7 miles) north of Gaza,
which is controlled by the Islamist militant group Hamas.
A
few hours later, Israel’s military said it had carried out strikes in Gaza.
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli aircraft had targeted a Hamas training camp.
No injuries were reported.
Tensions
flared after Israeli commandos killed seven gunmen and two civilians during the
raid on the flashpoint town of Jenin. Hamas and the smaller militant group
Islamic Jihad promised a response, but there was no immediate claim for the
rocket fire.
After
the Jenin violence, the Palestinian Authority said it was ending its security
coordination with Israel, an arrangement that is widely credited with helping
to keep order in the West Bank and preventing attacks against Israel. It has
frozen the cooperation numerous times in protest.
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was not looking to escalate the
situation, though he ordered security forces to be on alert.
US,
UN and Arab officials spoke with Israel and Palestinian factions to try to keep
the clash in Jenin, among areas of the West Bank that have seen intensified
Israeli operations, from sparking a broader confrontation.
Violence
has surged since a series of lethal Palestinian street attacks in Israel last
March and April.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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--------
Israel
urges NATO to confront Iran threat
26
January ,2023
Israeli
President Isaac Herzog on Thursday urged the NATO military alliance to toughen
its approach to Iran, as Tehran supplies drones to Russia for its war on Ukraine.
“The
crisis there goes beyond the boundaries of Ukraine, with the Iranian threat now
at Europe’s doorstep,” Herzog said on a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels.
“The
illusion of distance can no longer hold. NATO must take the strongest possible stance
against the Iranian regime including through economic, legal and political
sanctions and credible military deterrence.”
The
figurehead leader became on Thursday the first Israeli president to brief
NATO’s main decision-making body.
Members
of the Western alliance have pressed Israel to take a firmer stance against
Russia over the war in Ukraine.
But
Israel has refused to arm Kyiv as it is afraid of angering Moscow, which plays
a key role in its neighbor Syria.
“A
terrible war continues to cause needless human suffering and compromise the
well-being and welfare of millions,” Herzog said, without explicitly condemning
Russia.
“Our
hearts continue to go out to the people of Ukraine as they defend their homes
and their country,” he said.
NATO
chief Jens Stoltenberg said he had discussed “our support for Ukraine” with
Herzog.
“The
Ukrainian people are bravely defending their homeland and NATO allies and
partners are helping to support their right to self defense,” he said.
The
NATO secretary general said Herzog’s visit was a sign of the US-led alliance’s
“deepening partnership” with Israel.
Herzog
pointed to bolstering cooperation on cyber-security, threats from space,
drones, and energy resilience.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2023/01/26/Israel-urges-NATO-to-confront-Iran-threat
--------
Palestinians
end security coordination with Israel after West Bank raid
26
January ,2023
The
Palestinians ended security coordination with Israel in the occupied West Bank
after a deadly Israeli military raid in a flashpoint city on Thursday, according
to a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“In
light of the repeated aggression against our people, and the undermining of
signed agreements, including security, we consider that security coordination
with the Israeli occupation government no longer exists as of now,” said a
statement issued after a meeting of Palestinian leadership.
Meanwhile,
Saudi Arabia on Thursday strongly condemned a raid by Israeli commandos on the
Palestinian town of Jenin that killed seven people and injured two, state news
agency SPA reported.
The
Saudi foreign ministry said it denounced Israeli forces’ “storming of the city”
that led to “the fall of a number of victims.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
9
Palestinians killed during Israeli operation in Jenin refugee camp
MOHAMMED
NAJIB
January
26, 2023
RAMALLAH:
Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, and
wounded 20, four of them seriously, during a raid in Jenin refugee camp on
Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Meanwhile,
Youssef Muheisen, 22, died after being shot by Israeli soldiers during clashes
in Al-Ram, in Jerusalem governorate, raising the day’s death toll to 10.
The
bloodshed, which marked the West Bank’s deadliest day in more than a year,
brought to 30 the total number of Palestinians killed this year by Israeli operations.
Security
forces said they entered the camp to apprehend three Palestinian militants from
the Islamic Jihad organization who, according to intelligence information,
intended to carry out a significant attack against an Israeli target.
The
Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli officials initially prevented medics from
entering the camp, making it difficult to reach the injured, four of whom were
in critical condition. It said Israeli forces had fired tear gas canisters at
the Jenin Government Hospital, resulting in inhalation injuries among children.
Palestinian
Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh called on the UN and international human
rights organizations to “intervene urgently to provide protection … and stop
the bloodshed of children, youth and women.” He added that the occupying forces
continue to commit killings and executions with impunity.
Tor
Wennesland, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process,
said: “I am deeply alarmed and saddened by the continuing cycle of violence in
the occupied West Bank. Today’s deaths of nine Palestinians, including
militants and one woman, during an Israeli arrest operation in Jenin is another
stark example.”
He
urged the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to de-escalate tensions, restore
calm and avoid further conflict.
A
general strike was called in the West Bank to mourn the dead. Large crowds
attended the funerals of the nine victims, amid calls for revenge. Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas announced three days of mourning, during which flags
will fly at half-mast.
Separately,
nine people were injured during clashes that broke out between dozens of
Palestinians and Israeli forces near Bethlehem and Ramallah, during which live
bullets and tear gas canisters were used to disperse crowds throwing stones.
An
EU official in Jerusalem described the situation in the West Bank as complex
and heading toward a dangerous curve. The official added that the EU has
consistently called for immediate investigations into military operations that
result in civilian casualties and for the results of such probes to be publicly
announced.
The
Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “If the international community
and the US administration do not move now, when these brutal crimes are
committed by the occupying forces, then when will they move?”
Maj.
Gen. Akram Rajoub, the governor of Jenin, described the Israeli operation at
the camp there as “the bloodiest and most violent in more than a year.”
He
said great sadness, pain and anger prevails in the city and the camp, and the
repeated Israeli incursions are weakening the roles of the Palestinian security
services and the Palestinian Authority.
A
Palestinian security officer at the Jenin camp, who asked to remain anonymous,
told Arab News that a dairy truck with Palestinian number plates had arrived at
about 7 a.m. on Thursday. Inside, there were about 30 members of the Israeli
Special Forces. When young residents of the camp spotted the hidden force they
attacked it with a barrage of stones, he said. Then reinforcements arrived,
including more than 80 Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers, and a drone to
monitor the camp.
He
said the operation continued for more than four hours, during which the forces
surrounded houses and targeted them with heavy gunfire and rockets.
“The
camp was like a battlefield and reminded us of what happened in 2002,” the
source said.
Following
the operation in Jenin, Israeli troops in the West Bank and along the borders
with Gaza were put on high alert amid fears of Palestinian retaliation, Israeli
defense forces said.
Nabil
Aburudeineh, spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, described the
killings as a “massacre” and condemned the silence of the international
community over such incidents, “which encourages the Israeli government to
commit more massacres against the Palestinian people and continue the
escalation policy.”
Abdullatif
Al-Qanou, who belongs to Hamas, the organization that rules Gaza, said: “The
behavior of the extremist occupation government, the escalation of its crimes,
and its transgression against our people will inevitably lead us to the battle
of Jerusalem to defend our land, our families and our sanctities.”
Daoud
Shehab, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad, said: “The Jenin camp is the most
prominent address of challenge and steadfastness throughout Palestine, and
Jenin affirms that the resistance continues despite the arrogance and crimes of
the occupation.”
Islamic
Jihad is a powerful presence in the Jenin camp, where it operates a “Jenin
Brigade” of about 300 well-trained fighters that coordinate with all other
Palestinian militants in the camps.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2239266/middle-east
--------
Israel,
Gaza fighters trade fire after deadly West Bank raid
January
27, 2023
JERUSALEM:
Gaza militants fired rockets and Israel carried out airstrikes early Friday as
tensions soared following an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank that killed
nine Palestinians, including at least seven militants and a 61-year-old woman.
It
was the deadliest single raid in the territory in over two decades. The
flare-up in violence poses an early test for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s far-right government and casts a shadow on US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken’s expected trip to the region next week.
Palestinian
militants fired five rockets at Israel, the military said. Three were
intercepted, one fell in an open area and another fell short inside Gaza.
Israel carried out a series of airstrikes at what it said were militant
targets. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Thursday’s
deadly raid in the Jenin refugee camp was likely to reverberate on Friday as
Palestinians gather for weekly Muslim prayers that are often followed by
protests. Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, had earlier
threatened revenge for the raid.
Raising
the stakes, the Palestinian Authority said it would halt the ties that its
security forces maintain with Israel in a shared effort to contain Islamic
militants. Previous threats have been short-lived, in part because of the
benefits the authority enjoys from the relationship and also due to US and Israeli
pressure to maintain it.
The
Palestinian Authority already has limited control over scattered enclaves in
the West Bank, and almost none over militant strongholds like the Jenin camp.
But the announcement could pave the way for Israel to step up operations it
says are needed to prevent attacks.
The
Israeli strikes early Friday targeted training sites for Palestinian militant
groups, the military said. Witnesses and local media reported that Israeli
drones fired two missiles at a Hamas militant base before fighter jets struck
it, causing four large explosions.
Air
raid sirens went off in southern Israel as the initial two rockets were fired
and then again after the airstrikes, when the militants fired the other three
rockets.
On
Thursday, Israeli forces went on heightened alert as Palestinians filled the
streets across the West Bank, chanting in solidarity with Jenin. President
Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning, and in the refugee camp,
residents dug a mass grave for the dead.
Palestinian
Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Abbas had decided to cut security
coordination in “light of the repeated aggression against our people.” He also
said the Palestinians planned to file complaints with the UN Security Council,
International Criminal Court and other international bodies.
Barbara
Leaf, the top US diplomat for the Middle East, said the Biden administration
was deeply concerned about the situation and that civilian casualties reported
in Jenin were “quite regrettable.” But she also said the Palestinian
announcement to suspend security ties and to pursue the matter at international
organizations was a mistake.
Thursday’s
gunbattle that left nine dead and 20 wounded erupted when Israel’s military
conducted a rare daytime operation in the Jenin camp that it said was meant to
prevent an imminent attack on Israelis. The camp, where the Palestinian Islamic
Jihad militant group has a major foothold, has been a focus of near-nightly
Israeli arrest raids.
Hamas’
armed wing claimed four of the dead as members, while Islamic Jihad claimed
three others. An earlier statement from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a militia
loosely affiliated with Abbas’ secular Fatah party, claimed one of the dead was
a fighter named Izz Al-Din Salahat, but it was unclear if he was among those
seven militants.
The
Palestinian Health Ministry identified the 61-year-old woman killed as Magda
Obaid, and the Israeli military said it was looking into reports of her death.
The
Israeli military circulated aerial video it said was taken during the battle,
showing what appeared to be Palestinians on rooftops hurling stones and
firebombs on Israeli forces below. At least one Palestinian can be seen opening
fire from a rooftop.
Later
in the day, Israeli forces fatally shot a 22-year-old and wounded two others,
the Palestinian Health Ministry said, as Palestinians confronted Israeli troops
north of Jerusalem to protest Thursday’s raid. Israel’s paramilitary Border
Police said they opened fire on Palestinians who launched fireworks at them
from close range.
Tensions
have soared since Israel stepped up raids in the West Bank last spring,
following a series of Palestinian attacks.
Israel’s
new national security minister, far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who seeks
to grant legal immunity to Israeli soldiers who shoot Palestinians, posted a
video of himself beaming triumphantly and congratulating security forces.
The
raid left a trail of destruction in Jenin. A two-story building, apparently the
operation’s target, was a charred wreck. The military said it entered the
building to detonate explosives.
Palestinian
Health Minister May Al-Kaila said paramedics struggled to reach the wounded
during the fighting, while Akram Rajoub, the governor of Jenin, said the
military prevented emergency workers from evacuating them.
Both
accused the military of firing tear gas at the pediatric ward of a hospital,
causing children to choke. Video at the hospital showed women carrying children
into a corridor.
The
military said forces closed roads to aid the operation, which may have
complicated rescue efforts, and that tear gas had likely wafted into the
hospital from nearby clashes.
The
Israeli rights group B’Tselem said Thursday marked the single bloodiest West
Bank incursion since 2002, at the height of an intense wave of violence known
as the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which left scars still visible
in Jenin.
UN
Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland said he was “deeply alarmed and saddened” by
the violence. Condemnations came from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
and Turkiye, which recently reestablished full diplomatic ties with Israel.
Neighboring Jordan, as well as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries also
condemned the Israeli raid.
The
Islamic Jihad branch in Gaza has repeatedly fought against Israel, most
recently in a fierce three-day clash last summer that killed dozens of
Palestinians and disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis.
Hamas, which seized power from the Palestinian Authority in Gaza in 2007, has
fought four wars and several smaller skirmishes with Israel.
Nearly
150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem last year,
making 2022 the deadliest in those territories since 2004, according to
B’Tselem. So far this year, 30 Palestinians have been killed.
Israel
says most of the dead were militants. But youths protesting the incursions and
others not involved in the confrontations also have been killed. So far this
year, not including Thursday, one-third of the Palestinians killed by Israeli
troops or civilians had ties to armed groups.
Last
year, 30 people were killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
Israel
says its raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart attacks. The
Palestinians say they further entrench Israel’s 55-year, open-ended occupation
of the West Bank, which Israel captured along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza
Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim those territories for
their hoped-for state.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2239856/middle-east
--------
Southeast Asia
Dozens
Of Muslims, Including Children, Gather In Front Of Swedish Embassy In Kuala
Lumpur To Protest Quran Burning In Stockholm
By
Shahrin Aizat Noorshahrizam
27
Jan 2023
KUALA
LUMPUR, Jan 27 — Some 80 people from a local hardline Muslim group calling
itself Hizbut Tahrir have gathered in front of the Swedish Embassy here in a
show of protest against the burning of the Quran in Stockholm last week.
About
15 young children were spotted among the protesters who began assembling here
at about 8.30am.
The
group held up an assortment of flags, banners and posters – some which read
“Does your religion teach you to insult others?” and “Our Prophet, Our Honour”
– while chanting anti-Western sentiments in Malay like “hancur Sweden, hancur
Barat” (destroy Sweden, destroy the West).
Some
40 policemen stood watch nearby. The pro-caliphate group leader Mu’adz Abu
Thalhah who was equipped with a cordless microphone said three representatives
from Hizbut Tahrir will hand over a memorandum of their objections to the Quran
burning to the Swedish Embassy officials.
Last
Saturday, Swedish-Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan who leads a Danish
party called Stram Kurs (which means Hard Line) burnt a copy of the Quran
outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, sparking outrage across the Muslim
world.
However,
Swedish authorities have said Paludan’s act did not violate its laws.
In
his speech, Mu’adz said Hizbut Tahrir will continue to hold peaceful
demonstrations until the Swedish government makes Paludan apologise for burning
the Quran.
“We
call on the Swedish government to order Paludan to issue an apology to Muslims
for his cruel insult to Islam which has angered Muslims around the world.
“As
long as there is no apology, we will continue to hold demonstrations,” he said
as the crowd cheered in agreement.
Mu’adz
also urged the Malaysian government to mobilise its military forces to “teach”
the Westerners a “lesson”.
“The
only viable response is to teach them a lesson through jihad,” he said,
referring to those who belittle Islam.
The
group is expected to head to the Dutch Embassy here around 2pm today after the
weekly Islamic Friday prayers to hand over another similar memorandum of
objection.
Malaysia
has condemned the Quran burning with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
calling it a vile act and a hate crime last Monday, in a “grave provocation” to
the more than two billion Muslims worldwide.
Yesterday,
Anwar expressed his support for Muslims to hold protests against the Swedish
government even as he stressed the need for Muslims to bridge the divide with
non-believers through intellectual engagements by educating critics about
Islam.
The
United Nations Alliance of Civilizations has also put out a statement deploring
Paludan’s action as “an expression of hatred towards Muslims”.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Wisma
Putra summons Swedish envoy after Quran-burning in Sweden
January
26, 2023
PETALING
JAYA: The foreign ministry summoned the charge d’affaires ad interim of the
Swedish embassy in Kuala Lumpur this morning to reaffirm the country’s strong
condemnation over a Swedish far-right politician’s “vile act” of burning the
Quran in Stockholm.
“The
ministry conveyed Malaysia’s objection and disappointment with the Swedish
authorities’ continuous refusal to take action, allowing Rasmus Paludan to
indulge in his foul antics, including a similar incident in April 2022, despite
strong protests from the international community,” it said in a statement.
The
ministry said it urged the Swedish authorities to undertake serious measures to
combat all forms of violence and hatred against Islam in Sweden.
It
warned that the spirit of peaceful coexistence in a multi-religious society
could be undermined if Islamophobia and xenophobia continued to prevail.
“The
charge d’affaires ad interim took note of the Malaysian government’s protest
and said he would convey the views to Stockholm.”
The
ministry noted that a briefing session was hosted by deputy Swedish foreign
minister Jan Knutsson on Jan 23 and attended by the representatives from the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries in Stockholm,
including Malaysia.
It
called for concrete initiatives by the Swedish government to streamline their
position in respecting the Muslim community as a whole.
Earlier
this week, Swedish far-right politician Paludan’s burning of the Quran at a
demonstration sparked outrage among Muslims around the world.
Prime
Minister Anwar Ibrahim today condemned Paludan’s act and called for action to
be taken against the politician to check what he called an alarming rise of
Islamophobia in Sweden.
“We
in Malaysia will not tolerate the burning of the Quran, Bible and Hindu texts,”
said Anwar.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
PM
Anwar wants to review Islamic studies in schools to emphasise universal values
JAN
26, 2023
KUALA
LUMPUR - Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday that Islamic
religious studies being taught in schools and higher educational institutions
should be reviewed to emphasise universal values and humanity.
There
should be better understanding of religions among the masses to ensure the
survival of a multiracial and multireligious Malaysia, he said at the launching
of a book at the International Islamic University.
Muslim-majority
Malaysia has turned more conservative in recent decades, partly caused by the
teaching of a narrow interpretation of Islam in educational institutions.
The
prime minister last week launched a new slogan for his administration – called
Malaysia Madani – saying he wanted to reset the country’s attitude towards race
and religion, a mainstay of Malaysian politics. The word “madani” in Arabic
carries the general meaning of civilised or modern.
“There
are suggestions from scholars such as Professor Osman who stated that the
Islamic religious studies being taught in schools must be re-looked at and
reviewed to ensure that what is taught gives a better understanding of the
issues of values, character and universal human values. These have to be
emphasised,” Datuk Seri Anwar said, referring to a top local Islamic professor.
“This
is so because many a time, Islam is taught by quoting authorities and fatwas
are issued (by authorities) based on their own understanding. Sometimes, when
we question (the fatwas), they said that it is not right (to do so).
“If
the main teachers take a wrong action, it must be questioned. Just because that
person is a head of a political party, that does not mean all his statements
are right. Islam did not teach us to do so.
Mr
Anwar did not mention any political parties but was likely referring to leaders
of opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), as some of them are prominent
clerics.
Mr
Anwar heads a multiracial coalition in Parliament, with the opposition
comprising Islamists from PAS and Malay-Muslim based Parti Pribumi Bersatu
Malaysia.
PM
Anwar, earlier in a speech before the launching of the book, said that there
must be continuous engagement between different religions to ensure harmony in
the country between races and religions.
Source:
Straits Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Islamic
studies in schools to be reviewed to emphasise universal values and humanity,
says Anwar
By
ZAKIAH KOYA
26
Jan 2023
KUALA
LUMPUR: There should be better understanding of religions among the masses to
ensure the survival of a multiracial and multireligious Malaysia, says Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The
Prime Minister also stated that Islamic civilisation studies are long overdue
in the national curriculum.
He
stated that the Islamic religious studies currently being taught in schools and
higher education institutions should be reviewed to ensure that universal
values and humanity are taught so as to avoid students from blindly following
those who claim authority.
He
said this at the launch of the book "Knowledge, Tradition and
Civilisation: Essays in honour of Professor Osman Bakar at the International
Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation-International Islamic University
Malaysia (Istac-IIUM) here Thursday (Jan 26).
“There
are suggestions from scholars such as Professor Osman who stated that the
Islamic religious studies being taught in schools must be re-looked at and
reviewed to ensure that what is taught gives a better understanding of the
issues of values, character and universal humanity values. These have to be
emphasised.
“This
is so because many a time, Islam is taught by quoting authorities and fatwas
are issued (by authorities) based on their own understanding. Sometimes, when
we question (the fatwas), they said that it is not right (to do so).
“If
the main teachers take a wrong action, it must be questioned. Just because that
person is a head of a political party, that does not mean all his statements
are right. Islam did not teach us to do so (follow blindly).
“Islamic
religious education should be based on deep understanding of the Quran, sunnah
(traditions and practices of Prophet Muhammad) and the earliest of ulamas. The
interpretations must be questioned and corrected if need be. That is the
tradition of seeking knowledge,” said Anwar.
Although
Anwar did not mention any names of political parties, it is likely he was
referring to PAS leaders, as some of them are also known as “ulamas” among
their followers.
Earlier
in his speech before the launching of the book, Anwar said that there must be
continuous engagement between different religions to ensure harmony in the
country between races and religions.
"The
pursuit of civilisational dialogue is necessary for survival of a
multireligious and multiracial country.
"We
must also be wary of forced goals in top universities in Malaysia as they must
have both soul and excellence. It is not enough to have soul but no excellence
or excellence and no soul.
"Character
and ethics are both important in education.
"Islamic
civilisation too is long overdue in the national curriculum at all
levels," said Anwar.
Also
present at the event were Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled
Nordin and top heads of IIUM.
Source:
The Star
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Arab World
Saudi
Arabia strongly condemns Israeli raid on West Bank refugee camp
January
26, 2023
RIYADH:
Saudi Arabia strongly condemned and denounced an Israeli raid on a Jenin
refugee camp that led to at least nine Palestinians being killed.
The
bloodiest day in the West Bank in years erupted during a raid on the crowded
refugee camp in the northern city of Jenin, where gunshots rang through the
streets and smoke billowed from burning street barricades.
The
Palestinian health ministry said the death toll from the clashes rose to nine,
including a woman, and that 20 people were wounded before the Israeli forces
withdrew mid-morning.
The
Israeli military also fatally shot a 22-year-old Palestinian later in a
separate incident.
The
Kingdom’s foreign ministry said it rejected the serious violations of
international law carried out by Israeli forces, stressing its call on the
international community to assume its responsibilities to end the occupation,
stop escalation and Israeli aggressions, and provide necessary protection for civilians.
The
ministry also expressed the Kingdom’s sincere condolences and sympathy to the
families of the victims and to the government and people of Palestine, wishing
the injured a speedy recovery.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2239581/saudi-arabia
--------
Egyptologists
uncover Pharaonic tomb containing possibly oldest mummy found in Egypt
26
January ,2023
Egyptologists
have uncovered a Pharaonic tomb near the capital Cairo containing what may be
the oldest and “most complete” mummy yet to be discovered in the country, the
excavation team leader said on Thursday.
The
4,300-year-old mummy was found at the bottom of a 15-meter shaft in a recently
uncovered group of fifth and sixth dynasty tombs near the Step Pyramid at
Saqqara, Zahi Hawass, director of the team, told reporters.
The
mummy, of a man named Hekashepes, was in a limestone sarcophagus that had been
sealed in mortar.
“This
mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date,”
Hawass, one of Egypt’s former ministers of antiquities, said in a statement.
Among
other tombs found was one belonging to Khnumdjedef, an inspector of officials,
a supervisor of nobles and a priest during the reign of Unas, last pharaoh of
the fifth dynasty. It was decorated with scenes of daily life.
Another
tomb belonged to Meri, “keeper of the secrets and assistant to the great leader
of the palace.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
Syrian
Kurdish forces arrest Daesh commander in eastern region
January
26, 2023
RAQQA:
Syrian Kurdish-led forces captured a local commander of Daesh in eastern Syria
as part of an ongoing operation targeting sleeper cells in the city of Raqqa,
the US-backed forces announced on Thursday.
The
commander served as the chief of the extremist group’s faction for Raqqa and
was among the 68 militants detained in the operation, the Syrian Democratic
Forces said.
The
operation started earlier this week, in response to a December attack by Daesh
that targeted military and security buildings in Raqqa and killed at least six
Syrian Kurdish fighters.
A
Kurdish commander, Mazloum Abdi, said they had indications of “serious
preparations” by Daesh for attacks.
The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor,
said Daesh also targeted a military intelligence prison holding some 200
militants in the December attack.
Daesh
lost all territorial control in Iraq and Syria in 2019, following a yearslong
US-backed campaign that defeated the so-called caliphate, where Raqqa was once
the Daesh de facto capital.
However,
militant sleeper cells persist and have since killed scores of Iraqis and
Syrians.
Syrian
Kurdish and US forces frequently conduct raids targeting Daesh sleeper cells in
northern and eastern Syria.
The
captured Daesh commander was identified as Atallah Al-Maythan.
Syrian
Kurdish forces said he headed the militant group’s operations across Raqqa
province, and allegedly “confessed to his involvement in planning and leading
terrorist acts,” extorted money from residents in the area and kept Daesh
sleeper cells in contact.
Some
5,000 Syrian Kurdish-led fighters are involved in the operation, and have
already raided some 80 locations, said their spokesperson, Farhad Shami.
The
US-led coalition was providing air support, reconnaissance, and gathering
intelligence, Shami added.
This
is the second recent operation by the US-backed forces in Syria. In late
December, the Syrian Kurdish-led fighters targeted Daesh cells in Al-Hol and
Tal Hamis, following a surge in militant attacks.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2239721/middle-east
--------
Lebanese
elite bury blast probe, pushing fragile state closer to edge
26
January ,2023
In
their move to bury an investigation into the Beirut port blast, Lebanon’s
ruling elite have driven another nail in the coffin of the collapsing state,
stirring conflict in the judiciary as they try to avoid accountability at any
cost.
Long-simmering
tensions over the investigation have boiled over since Judge Tarek Bitar
brought charges against some of the most influential people in the land,
defying political pressure as he resumed his inquiry.
With
friends and allies of Lebanon’s most powerful factions, including Hezbollah,
among those charged, the establishment struck back swiftly on Wednesday, when
the prosecutor general charged Bitar with usurping powers.
Critics
called it “a coup” against his investigation.
It
leaves little hope of justice ever being served over the explosion that killed
220 people and devastated swathes of Beirut, raising concern the case will go
the way of countless others in a country where impunity has long been the norm.
With
deep fissures in the judiciary exposed, the tussle adds to the unravelling of a
state accelerated by a three-year-long financial crisis, left to fester by the
ruling elite.
“This
is the destruction of the judiciary,” said Nabil Boumonsef, deputy editor-in-chief
of Annahar newspaper. “I fear they are dismantling the country. There is
nothing left called a state. We face anarchy and the law of the jungle.”
Lebanon
has been rocked by one crisis after another since its financial system caved
in, marking the start of its most destabilizing phase since the 1975-90 civil
war.
A
currency collapse of more than 97 percent since 2019 has picked up speed in
recent days, impoverishing ever more people.
Some
2.3 million people - 42 percent of the population - will face acute food
insecurity in the first quarter of this year, according to a UN-backed study.
Foreign
aid has become ever more critical to keeping people fed and the security forces
on the streets: the United States and Qatar are helping pay soldiers’ salaries.
Ruling
politicians have meanwhile done little to nothing to address the crisis,
putting vested interests ahead of reform.
Establishment
shields itself
On
the political front, factional rivalries, many of which date to the civil war,
have spawned an unprecedented government crisis laced with sectarianism.
The
presidency, reserved for a Maronite Christian, has been vacant for months.
Maronite leaders, warning against any move to bypass their sect, have objected
to meetings of the Sunni Muslim-led caretaker cabinet.
Against
this backdrop, European prosecutors are digging ever deeper into allegations
that central bank governor Riad Salameh - a financial linchpin for Lebanon’s
rulers with deep political ties - embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars during
his 30-year-long tenure. Salameh denies any wrongdoing.
Attempts
by a Lebanese judge to investigate Salameh have hit obstacles in Lebanon, where
politicians have big sway over the judiciary.
The
difficulties echo the problems faced by Bitar, appointed to investigate the
blast two years ago. His predecessor was ousted after complaints against him by
officials he had charged.
“There
is a systemic attempt by the establishment to protect its members from the port
explosion, from the financial implosions, and from all ... they have actually
been responsible for,” Policy Initiative Director Sami Atallah said.
The
blast was caused by hundreds of tons of improperly stored chemicals of which
the president and prime minister at the time were aware, among other officials.
All
those charged deny wrongdoing.
Bitar’s
inquiry was frozen when judges retired from a court that must rule on complaints
filed against him by officials he had charged, including top members of
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal Movement.
The
Berri-backed finance minister held off signing a decree appointing new judges,
prompting fears of an indefinite limbo.
Resuming
his work on Monday, Bitar charged more officials including Prosecutor General
Ghassan Oweidat and Major General Abbas Ibrahim, a security official with good
ties to the powerful, heavily armed Shia Muslim Hezbollah group.
Oweidat
had earlier recused himself from any involvement in the case as his
brother-in-law, an Amal member and former minister, was among those charged.
This
week Oweidat hit back at Bitar, including by ordering the release of people
detained since the port explosion.
“This
is like a coup - a person charged by a judge decided to defend himself by
pushing aside the judge who charged him and releasing all the detainees,” said
Nizar Saghieh of the Legal Agenda civic group.
Sectarian
tensions
Doubting
local authorities will bring anyone to account over the explosion, some
Lebanese called for an international inquiry from the start.
It
would not be the first: a UN-backed tribunal set up after the 2005 Rafik
al-Hariri assassination ultimately convicted a Hezbollah member of conspiracy
to kill him.
The
Iran-backed Hezbollah, which always denied any role, condemned the tribunal as
a tool of its enemies.
In
opposing Bitar, Hezbollah has accused the United States of meddling in the
investigation and Bitar of political bias.
Washington
denies interfering.
Hezbollah
believes Bitar’s decision to resume the inquiry stemmed from his recent meeting
with French judges investigating the blast, which killed two French citizens,
according to a source familiar with Hezbollah’s view.
Bitar
could not be reached for comment.
In
2021, a Hezbollah official sent a message to Bitar vowing to “uproot” him, and
its supporters marched in an anti-Bitar rally that prompted deadly violence
along an old civil war front line between Christian and Shia neighborhoods.
Mohanad
Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center think tank said derailing the
inquiry could worsen sectarian tensions. He noted that while the blast had
killed Lebanese of all sects, the worst damage was largely in
Christian-majority areas and the Maronite patriarch had called for justice.
With
the presidency empty, sectarian rhetoric sharpening, the currency tumbling, and
people taking security into their own hands in some areas, Hage Ali said “the
ingredients are there” for any street clashes to be worse than in 2021.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Syrian
Kurdish forces arrest ISIS commander, dozens of extremists in eastern region
26
January ,2023
Syrian
Kurdish-led forces captured a local commander of ISIS in eastern Syria as part
of an ongoing operation targeting sleeper cells in the city of Raqqa, the
US-backed forces announced Thursday.
The
commander served as the chief of the extremist group’s faction for Raqqa and
was among the 68 militants detained in the operation, the Syrian Democratic
Forces said.
The
operation started earlier this week, in response to a December attack by ISIS
that targeted military and security buildings in Raqqa and killed at least six
Syrian Kurdish fighters. A Kurdish commander, Mazloum Abdi, said they had
indications of “serious preparations" by ISIS for attacks.
The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor,
said ISIS militants also targeted a military intelligence prison holding some
200 militants in the December attack.
ISIS
lost all territorial control in Iraq and Syria in 2019, following a yearslong
US-backed campaign that defeated the so-called “caliphate,” where Raqqa was
once the ISIS de facto capital.
However,
militant sleeper cells persist and have since killed scores of Iraqis and
Syrians. Syrian Kurdish and US forces frequently conduct raids targeting ISIS
sleeper cells in northern and eastern Syria.
The
captured ISIS commander was identified as Atallah al-Maythan. Syrian Kurdish
forces said he headed the militant group’s operations across Raqqa province,
and allegedly “confessed to his involvement in planning and leading terrorist
acts,” extorted money from residents in the area and kept ISIS sleeper cells in
contact.
Some
5,000 Syrian Kurdish-led fighters are involved in the operation, and have
already raided some 80 locations, their spokesperson, Farhad Shami, told The
Associated Press. The US-led coalition was providing air support, reconnaissance,
and gathering intelligence, Shami added.
This
is the second recent operation by the US -backed forces in Syria. In late
December, the Syrian Kurdish-led fighters targeted ISIS cells in al-Hol and Tal
Hamis, following a surge in militant attacks.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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QatarEnergy
to join Lebanon oil and gas exploration consortium: Statement
26
January ,2023
QatarEnergy
will join TotalEnergies and Eni in a three-way consortium to explore oil and
gas in two maritime blocks off the coast of Lebanon, the Lebanese energy
ministry said on Thursday.
The
announcement said agreements would be signed on Sunday.
“This
will be a major positive development,” Lebanon’s Energy Minister Walid Fayad
told Reuters, adding that it could bring forward the launch of exploration
activities from November.
Following
months of talks, QatarEnergy is set to take a 30 percent stake, leaving
France’s TotalEnergies and Italy’s Eni with 35 percent each.
QatarEnergy,
TotalEnergies and Eni did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lebanon’s
first licensing round in 2017 saw a consortium of TotalEnergies, Eni and
Russia’s Novatek win bids to explore in the offshore 4 and 9 blocks.
Novatek
pulled out in September 2022, leaving its 20 percent stake in the hands of the
Lebanese government.
The
following month, Lebanon and Israel agreed to a landmark agreement brokered by
the US to delineate their long-disputed maritime border.
Block
9 lies mostly in Lebanese waters but a segment lies south of the newly
delineated border with Israel. Total and Israel have agreed a separate deal for
any revenues generated from there.
The
deal stipulated that no Lebanese or Israeli corporations would operate in the
zone below the new border, prompting a transfer of the TotalEnergies and
government stakes to two companies described as “vehicles” of TotalEnergies and
the search for a new consortium partner.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Iraq
to hang 14 people for ISIS massacre of hundreds of army cadets in 2014
26
January ,2023
Iraq
has sentenced 14 people to death by hanging for their role in the ISIS
terrorist group massacre of hundreds of army cadets in 2014, judicial officials
said Thursday.
The
massacre, one of the worst committed by ISIS in Iraq, saw the extremists in
June 2014 abduct up to 1,700 mainly Shia cadets from the Speicher military base
in the Tikrit region and execute them.
The
Al-Rusafa Criminal Court in the capital Baghdad “issued death sentences against
14 criminal terrorists for their participation in the Camp Speicher massacre in
2014,” the judicial authority said in a statement, without specifying their
nationalities.
The
14 men have 30 days to appeal the sentence. Decrees authorizing executions must
also be signed by the president.
In
2016, 36 men were hanged for their participation in the massacre.
The
Speicher massacre took place in the early days of the group’s offensive in
Iraq, when its forces seized the second city Mosul and turned it into its
stronghold – until it was driven out by the Iraqi army and an international
coalition in 2017.
According
to propaganda images released by ISIS, the terrorists executed the recruits one
by one.
Some
bodies had been thrown into the Tigris River, which runs through Tikrit, while
others were buried in mass graves.
The
massacre prompted a surge of Shia volunteers to enlist in militias fighting the
terrorists.
While
Iraqi authorities do not give figures, several thousand people accused or
convicted of ISIS links are detained in Iraqi prisons.
The
United Nations estimated in 2018 that more than 12,000 Iraqi and foreign “combatants”
were being held in Iraqi prisons.
Iraq
has been previously criticized for carrying out hundreds of what rights groups
say are fast-track trials using confessions obtained under torture or without
proper defense.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Saudi
heritage event in ancient Uqair port attracts more than 60,000 visitors
January
27, 2023
RIYADH:
The “Uqair Inscriptions” event held along the banks of the ancient seaport city
in Al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province concluded on Wednesday with more than 60,000
visitors attending, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.
The
event, organized by the Kingdom’s Heritage Commission in cooperation with the
Culture and Arts Association in Al-Ahsa, included heritage and folklore
performances and traditional handicrafts unique to Al-Ahsa through dramatized
scenes of life from the past in the historic port.
The
scenes also depicted its position as an important commercial gateway on the
coast of the Arabian Gulf, from the arrival of sailboats to the port to loading
the camel convoys with goods headed toward Al-Ahsa and Najd.
The
event also included a photographic exhibition displaying pictures of the
founding king in Uqair in 1915.
Uqair
is the first seaport in the east of the Kingdom on the Arabian Gulf coast, the
economic gateway since the beginning of the establishment of the state, and the
main port to reach the east and center of the Kingdom.
Source:
Arab News
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2239796/saudi-arabia
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YPG/PKK
terror group exploits oil to finance activities in Syria
Muhammad
Tosun
26.01.2023
The
PKK/YPG terrorist organization exploits the oil in the areas it occupies east
of the Euphrates River in Syria as a funding source.
Turkish
intelligence sources told Anadolu that "there are many companies active in
exploration and production linked to the Jazeera Oil Company affiliated to the
PKK/YPG terrorist group."
PKK
militants, who were previously active in Iraq, supervise the oil trade in
Syria.
Shahoz
Hassan, the former co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), manages the
Jazeera Oil Company as he held talks with companies in several countries for
marketing Syrian oil.
In
December of last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Syrian regime, in
a letter sent to the UN Security Council, accused the US and the terrorist
organization of stealing Syrian oil and natural gas.
The
YPG/PKK/PYD terror group continues to occupy more than 70% of the oil resources
in Syria with the support of the US.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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Africa
Ethiopian
PM Abiy Ahmed meets Sudan’s leaders in Khartoum
26
January ,2023
Ethiopian
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held talks with various Sudanese leaders in Khartoum
on Thursday, a sign of rekindling ties between the neighboring African
countries, authorities said.
For
several years Sudan has been at odds with Ethiopia over border disputes and its
construction of a massive dam on the Blue Nile that also has caused tensions
with downstream Egypt.
According
to Sudan’s official news outlet, Suna, both the “Renaissance Dam’’ and the
border were discussed in a meeting between Ahmed and Sudan’s ruling general,
Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan.
Ethiopia
says the multibillion dollar ‘‘Renaissance Dam’’ is needed to bring electricity
to millions of Ethiopians who lack power. Sudan and Egypt fear it will reduce
the amount of water they receive from the Nile River.
During
his visit, Ahmed met with various other Sudanese political leaders, many of
whom are participating in talks seeking to end more than a year of military
rule in Khartoum.
Sudan
was plunged into turmoil in October 2021 after al-Burhan led a coup that
derailed the country’s democratic transition. The ruling military and a number
of other political forces signed an initial agreement last December vowing to
install a new civilian government. Talks to reach a final more inclusive deal
are ongoing.
In
a tweet published on his official Twitter on Thursday, Ahmed said Ethiopia was
“non-interventionist” and that “he encouraged the people of Sudan and all
political parties to find homegrown solutions.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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S.
Sudan’s displaced hope pope’s visit will bring peace
January
26, 2023
JUBA:
After spending nearly a decade in a camp for the displaced in South Sudan’s
Juba, Mayen Galuak hopes that Pope Francis’ visit to the capital city next week
will inspire political leaders to finally restore peace, allowing him to go
home.
The
44-year-old entered the UN camp, just a few kilometers from his residence, in
search of safety three days after conflict broke out in 2013.
In
the ensuing years, he has watched as South Sudan’s leaders forged peace deals
and broke them; as militias carried out and denied ethnic massacres; and as
relentless conflict pushed parts of the country into famine.
Pope
Francis is due to go to Congo from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3 and then spend two days in
South Sudan.
The
pope has wanted to visit South Sudan for years but plans were postponed due to
the instability there and a scheduled trip last June was canceled due to the
pope’s knee ailment.
The
Vatican’s envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo has said the trip will
remind the world not to ignore decades-long conflicts.
Source:
Arab News
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2239731/middle-east
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Death
toll in bomb attack on Nigerian herders climbs to 40: Official
Olanrewaju
Kola
27.01.2023
LAGOS,
Nigeria
The
death toll from a bomb blast that struck a group of herders and their cattle in
Nigeria's Nasarawa state has risen to 40, an official said Thursday.
The
Secretary-General of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria
(MACBAN), Usman Baba-Ngelzerma, said 40 corpses were recovered from the site of
the bomb attack in the village of Rukubi in the Doma Local Government Area of
the north-central state.
"The
people involved in the incident are 40. A total of 40 died as a result of the
bomb," Baba-Ngelzerma told a local TV station.
Some
members of MACBAN had blamed a military airstrike for the incident.
The
country's Director of Defense Media Operations, Maj. Gen. Musa Danmadami,
exonerated the military, however. He said they were not involved in the alleged
airstrike or bomb attack on the herders even though troops carry out operations
against bandits in the area.
"The
Armed Forces of Nigeria is professional. The conduct of our operations are
intelligence-driven," he added.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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US
government restricts visas to Nigerians ahead of polls
Ibrahim
Garba Shuaibu
26.01.2023
KANO,
Nigeria
The
United States has announced the restriction of visas to Nigerians weeks ahead
of general elections in the African nation.
US
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement: "To support
Nigeria’s upcoming elections, today I am announcing visa restrictions for those
involved in undermining democracy in Nigeria. The United States supports
Nigerian aspirations to combat corruption and strengthen democracy and the rule
of law."
"Those
believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in
Nigeria" will face visa restrictions, he added.
The
restrictions are specific to certain individuals and not "the Nigerian
people or the Government of Nigeria.”
International
politics analyst Bashir Mohammed said: "the decision by the US government
is a welcomed development that will help for the smooth conduct of free and
fair elections in Nigeria."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/us-government-restricts-visas-to-nigerians-ahead-of-polls/2798219
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