Karnataka court admits petition to survey Malali Mosque in Mangaluru, rejects Muslim group’s plea
New
Age Islam News Bureau
10
November 2022
The disputed Juma Mosque in Mangaluru's Malali.
---------
•
Xenophobia, hostility against Muslims on rise in eastern Germany: Report
•
For Western Islamists, Not Wearing Hijab Worse than Killing Protesters in Iran
•
World must take cyberattacks as seriously as terrorism, Saudi energy minister
warns
•
230 unidentified bodies discovered in Libya: International Criminal Court
•
Seven killed as Philippine troops clash with Muslim rebels
•
Haqqani Says Taliban Founder Mullah Omar was Chosen to Protect Islam
•
Winter sparks concerns for 4,100 newborn babies in Sindh flood camps
•
Muslim Americans take leap forward in US midterm elections
India
•
Supreme Court sets up bench to hear Gyanvapi mosque case tomorrow
•
Centre justifies no SC tag for Dalit Muslims, Christians in Supreme Court
•
HC Dismisses Plea Against Acquittal Of Advani And Other Accused In Babri Mosque
Demolition Case
•
Coimbatore car blast case: NIA raids under way at 45 locations across Tamil
Nadu
•
Moose Wala’s latest song: ‘Vaar’ causes stir, top Punjab cleric clears
controversy
•
‘Untouchable’ Telangana State Wakf Board’s search for a CEO proves elusive
•
Indian police investigating film that portrays Kerala as Islamic terrorism hub
•
India alludes to ‘foreign origins’ of Christianity, Islam
--------
Europe
•
From Auschwitz to Iftar: Danish Muslim-Jewish biker club revs up interfaith
dialogue
•
At least a dozen countries interested in joining BRICS: Russian foreign minister
•
EU seeking to adopt new Iran sanctions next week: Germany
•
Iran army issues warning to ‘rioters’ as security forces struggle to suppress
unrest
•
In a first, Israeli general opens up about use of armed drones
•
Cities across Iran strike in solidarity with Zahedan clashes
•
More Afghan children killed by UK forces than claimed amid release of payout
figures
--------
Mideast
•
Iran warns Saudi Arabia its ‘patience’ may run out
•
Outgoing defense minister warns of rising extremism in Israel
•
Interior Minister: Leaders Behind Iran's Unrest Trained in 8 Countries
•
Speaker: Enemies Seeking to Disintegrate Iran
•
Intelligence Minister: UK to Pay Price for Enmities towards Iran
•
Top Security Official: Iran Ready to Help End Russia-Ukraine War
•
Iran Calls for Intra-Regional Dialogue over Caucasus Dispute
•
Border Guards Seize Arms, Munitions in Southeastern Iran
•
Iran arrests ‘agent’ of London-based opposition TV channel: Report
•
Palestinian teen killed in West Bank clash with Israel
•
Yemeni forces down Houthi drones attempting to target Shabwa and Marib
•
Iran designates UK-based TV channel as ‘terrorist group’
--------
Arab World
•
Syrian government aligned forces, Islamic State battle in south
•
UAE: Muslim employers ensure Christian domestic workers attend weekend church
prayers
•
HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister condoles with the Custodian of the Two
Holy Mosques
•
Papal Muslim engagement makes demands on Asian bishops
•
US to give Lebanon $80.5 million in aid amid economic crisis
•
Amid high tensions, Iran warns Saudi Arabia its ‘strategy of patience’ may not
last
•
Mother, eight Syrian children killed in Turkey fire
•
Holocaust survivor shares her story with Emirati and Jewish children in Dubai
•
Parliamentary elections in Bahrain aimed at destroying democracy, prominent
Shia cleric says
--------
Africa
•
Move Over, Ilhan Omar; Minnesota Republicans Pander to Somali Islamists
•
Islamic group makes demand from FG as court convicts EFCC boss, Bawa
•
Somalia retakes key town controlled by al-Shabaab for over 15 years
--------
Southeast Asia
•
Lorry attendant fined RM12,000 for insulting Islam on Facebook
•
Not taking bait to cross over my best decision, says Salahuddin
•
Hajiji confident of record RM6bil revenue for Sabah this year
•
Anwar: Hadi paid a lot as special envoy, but couldn’t even be bothered to
attend Parliament
•
To Rumah Pangsa Simpang Kuala residents in Alor Setar, party logos more
familiar than its seven candidates
--------
South Asia
•
US official visits Pakistan to discuss situation of Afghan refugees
•
Gunman Opens Fire at Civilians in Eastern Afghanistan
--------
Pakistan
•
Govt announces end to riba in five years
•
Imran Khan's party all set to resume stalled long march today
•
Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat Valley witnessing a resurgence of the TTP
•
Religious scholars say Iqbal’s dream still unfulfilled
•
Saudi Arabia never interferes in Pakistan’s internal, external affairs:
clarifies Ashrafi
•
Exclusive: Imran’s candid take on ‘bad romance’ with military
•
Flurry of meetings hints at key decisions to come
•
PM Shehbaz in London to ‘consult Nawaz on army chief appointment’
•
JI joins PTI’s voice for new elections
--------
North America
•
Arab and Muslim Americans expand presence after Tuesday’s elections
•
Iowa voters elect first-ever Arab American state representative
•
In rebuff to Kiev, Pentagon says can’t confirm claims about Iranian missiles to
Russia
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
--------
Karnataka
court admits petition to survey Malali Mosque in Mangaluru, rejects Muslim
group’s plea
Sagay
Raj
Nov
9, 2022
The
disputed Juma Mosque in Mangaluru's Malali.
---------
A
Karnataka Court rejected the plea filed by the Malali Mosque management
committee to not admit the plea filed by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) to
conduct a survey of the mosque located in Mangaluru. The Third Additional Civil
Court of Mangaluru accepted the petition of the VHP to conduct a survey of the
Mosque and dismissed the petition filed by the Mosque management board.
They
had requested to conduct a survey of the mosque similar to the Gyanvapi mosque.
It is a land dispute between Hindus and Muslims. Hindus claim that a temple
line structure was found inside the masjid and want a survey done. Meanwhile,
the Muslims claimed that it was their land,
The
mosque had filed a plea with the court stating that the place belongs to the
Waqf board and that the civil court should not hear the plea. Now, the civil
court admitted the VHP's plea and proceedings will continue at Mangalore civil
court.
In
order to ensure no untoward incident, the Karnataka State Reserve Police will
provide a bandobast at the level of the Assistant Commissioner of Police and
the Deputy Commissioner of Police, law and order, will visit the Malali Mosque
to supervise the bandobast.
Earlier
this year, tensions flared up in Managaluru after a Hindu temple-like
architectural design was purportedly found underneath the Masjid on April 21.
Communal clashes occurred within a month, leading to police imposing Section
144 in and around the disputed area for 24 hours to de-escalate the situation.
Source:IndiaToday
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Xenophobia,
hostility against Muslims on rise in eastern Germany: Report
09.11.2022
BERLIN
Xenophobia
and hostility against Muslims have been on the rise in eastern Germany, the
Leipzig University warned in a recent study.
Some
46.6% of people in eastern Germany demanded a ban on Muslim immigrants, up from
40.2% polled in 2020, according to a representative survey published on
Wednesday.
Also,
42.7% of respondents said they felt like foreigners in their own country
because of the large number of Muslims.
Researchers
pointed out that anti-Muslim attitudes were higher in the ex-communist eastern
German states where significantly fewer Muslims are living and where people
have less contact with Muslims.
In
western Germany, 23.6% said they advocate for a ban on immigration from Muslim
countries, and 36.6% said they felt like foreigners in their own country due to
the high number of immigrants.
The
Leipzig Authoritarianism Study 2022 has also revealed that xenophobia was on
the rise in the eastern German states.
Some
33.1% of the respondents agreed with certain xenophobic statements, with a
majority of them saying “Germany is dangerously swamped by foreigners” and that
they should be sent to their home countries if there is a shortage of jobs in
Germany.
A
country of over 84 million people, Germany has the second-largest Muslim
population in Western Europe after France. It is home to around 4.7 million
Muslims, according to the official figures.
The
country has witnessed growing racism and Islamophobia in recent years, fueled
by the propaganda of far-right groups and parties, which have exploited the
refugee crisis and attempted to stoke fear of immigrants.
German
authorities registered at least 662 Islamophobic hate crimes in 2021. More than
46 mosques were attacked between January and December last year and at least 17
people suffered injuries due to anti-Muslim violence.
Source: Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
For
Western Islamists, Not Wearing Hijab Worse than Killing Protesters in Iran
by
Martha Lee
November
7, 2022
While
Iranian dissidents and their allies in the West protest the Iranian regime in
the aftermath of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody in Iran, Western Islamists
have another agenda. They express more outrage at women who do not wear the
hijab than they do over the death of Amini, who was taken into custody in
mid-September for improperly wearing a hijab. Above, protesters express outrage
over Amini's death at a rally held in Berlin earlier this year. (Photo by Amir
Sarabadani, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.)
--------------
As
women in Iran have continued to remove and burn their hijabs in protest against
the regime that killed 23-year-old Mahsa Amini in September, Western Islamists
have been more outraged about the protesters taking off their hijabs than they
are about the death of Amini in police custody. They also seem indifferent to
the deaths of more than 300 protesters in the streets of Iran since
mid-September. Such reactions are a reminder that the desire to impose hijab on
women is evidently not limited to Islamic theocracies, but is also found in Muslim
communities in the West.
Well-known
Islamist Roshan Salih denounced the women as "Western stooges."
Salih, who runs the British Islamist publication 5 Pillars, was among the most
aggressive detractors of the protesters, claiming that the Iranian women opposing
the regime were "insulting Islam" and that "Muslims all over the
world are looking at [them] in disgust."
Salih's
5 Pillars published a series of op-eds on the hijab by Muslim women. One piece,
written by Anjum Anwar, was titled "Message to liberals: I do not need
rescuing from my hijab." Another took a more Islamist perspective,
claiming that "[hijab-wearing women] are the flag bearers of Islam"
and warning women who burned their hijab that they had also burned "the
bridges that will lead them to the submission of desires in place of their
Lord." In a third op-ed, activist Shabnam Kulsoom asserted that
"Muslim women who disrespect hijab should not be "celebrated"
and described the hijab as a "a magnet for attracting respect and
repelling disrespect."
Islamist
religious figures assented. Prominent Canadian imam Younus Kathrada criticized
as "completely false" the idea that no one could tell someone else
how to dress. Kathrada accused certain hijab-wearing women, who support the
right of other women not to wear it, of sounding "like the rhetoric of the
modernist 'scholars' who support the rights of people who want to commit sodomy
and live contrary to the [nature] God created us upon."
Youssef
Soussi, a Californian Islamist imam, explained that "the so-called [Muslim
woman] who burns a veil/hijab in this [world] may very well be the reason why
she burns in Hell in the [next world]." American Islamist Ismael Royer
argued that the protests were evidence of "mental self-colonization."
Meanwhile in London, the director of the Islamic Centre of England accused the
protesters of being "soldiers of Satan."
Hardline
Islamist Daniel Haqiqatjou, who runs the Islamist publication Muslim Skeptic,
declared that not "mandating hijab is a crime against humanity" and
claimed that "Islam protects" the "fundamental human right"
of having a "modest public space free from promiscuity and harassment by
the inappropriately dressed."
Haqiqatjou's
publication, Muslim Skeptic, published an op-ed on the "Hijab Burnings in
Iran and the Liberal Muslim's Hatred for Islam." The writer condemned
liberal Muslims' "colonised worldview" as "the biggest
hurdle" to the Muslim community's "attainment of the leadership of
the world." A couple of weeks prior to the protests, Muslim Skeptic's regular
contributor Bheria had penned a piece on "the Inevitable Failure of
Political Shi'ism: The Secularization of Iran."
As
for the Council on Arab-American Relations (CAIR), it published an op-ed
warning that supporting women who remove their hijab but not those who put it
on "translates into Islamophobia that risks perpetuating more violence
against girls and women."
Others
were busy attacking Muslim minority sects. Writer Talha Abdulrazaq, infuriated
by Ismaili professor Khalil Andani's stating that there is no consensus that
hijab is mandatory, accused Ismailis of "thinking it's OK to burn down
mosques" and concluded that "hijab burning is nothing to [Ismailis]
by comparison." Ismailis are a Shia sect of Islam that embraces an inward
understanding of the religion and is reputed for its support of women's rights.
The 48th Ismaili leader completely abolished the hijab for Ismaili women while
encouraging their education.
Western
Islamists are, of course, not in a position to legally impose the hijab on
Muslim women but their reactions leave little doubt that they would gladly do
so. Many Muslim communities in the West continue to be dominated by hardline
religious figures who give women the "choice" to wear the hijab or be
ostracized and go to hell.
Source:
ME Forum
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.meforum.org/63779/for-western-islamists-not-wearing-hijab-worse
--------
World
must take cyberattacks as seriously as terrorism, Saudi energy minister warns
November
09, 2022
Minister
of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman (Screenshot)
-----------
International
agreements are needed to thwart the growing risk of cyberattacks, according to
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman as he warned the
energy sector is increasingly vulnerable to such dangers.
Speaking
on the first day of the Global Cybersecurity Forum in Riyadh, Prince Abdulaziz
said governments and companies faced a “collective danger”, although he
insisted the Kingdom is ready for any such attack.
The
minister called for global collaboration to help defeat the hackers, and said:
“We need to have international agreements to mitigate cyberattacks just like
the world is doing against terrorism.”
He
went on to say that the motives behind these attacks could be “anything —
whether political, ideological, etc”, and added: “We cannot afford to be
attacked without being ready.”
The
comments came as Fahad Al-Jutaily, CEO of cybersecurity firm sirar by stc,
warned an attack is being launched somewhere on the planet every 11 seconds.
Speaking
about Saudi Arabia’s readiness for any cyberattack, Prince bin Salman said: “I
cannot proclaim victory before the victory.”
However,
he stressed the importance of not being in a race with one another, competing
on which country has the right capabilities to defend itself.
“This
forum makes the point that cyber-attack is a collective danger that has to be
attempted collectively,” he explained.
The
evolution of cybersecurity is one of the key pillars of the forum, which sees
international leaders from different sectors coming together under the theme
“Rethinking the Global Cyber Order.”
The
event will host over 4,500 attendees from over 110 countries and convene more
than 120 speakers to discuss day-to-day cyber issues.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2196641/business-economy
--------
230
unidentified bodies discovered in Libya: International Criminal Court
Aydogan
Kalabalik
10.11.2022
TRIPOLI
Authorities
in Libya have unearthed 230 bodies, mostly unidentified, from sites in Tarhuna,
a city south of the capital Tripoli, the chief prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court (ICC) said Wednesday.
Karim
Asad Ahmad Khan addressed the UN Security Council after his visits to Libya and
updated the council in a speech uploaded on the ICC's official social media
account.
The
ICC, according to Khan, possesses audio and video records of the atrocities and
mass graves in Tarhuna.
He
said armed groups affiliated with Khalifa Haftar, the leader of the country's
armed forces in the east, were involved in crimes such as extrajudicial
killings, kidnapping and hostage taking in various Libyan cities.
The
city of Tarhuna was liberated on June 5, 2020 from militias loyal to Haftar.
Since then, bodies have been recovered from mass graves discovered almost every
day.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Seven
killed as Philippine troops clash with Muslim rebels
10
November, 2022
Philippine
troops have clashed with Muslim guerrillas in a southern village, leaving at
least three soldiers and four rebels dead and sparking fears that an escalation
could threaten a 2014 peace pact that has considerably eased years of heavy
fighting.
The
sporadic clashes erupted on Tuesday and Wednesday in a village in Ungkaya Pukan
town on the island province of Basilan, where leaders of the military and the
Moro Islamic Liberation Front separately ordered their forces to halt the
fighting and allow de-escalation talks on Thursday.
Military
and rebel commanders at the scene of the fighting accused each other of
violating the 2014 peace accord, which eased years of bloody and extensive
fighting between government forces and the Muslim rebel front, the largest
separatist insurgent group in the south of the largely Roman Catholic nation.
The
clashes left three soldiers dead and seven others wounded, the military said,
while the rebels reported at least four dead and several others wounded.
The
conflict underscored the fragility of law and order in a southern region faced
with a surfeit of loose firearms, private armies, crushing poverty and a long
history of violence.
Under
the 2014 peace pact, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front dropped its secessionist
demand in exchange for a more powerful and better-funded Muslim autonomous
region called Bangsamoro.
The
five-province Muslim region is now led by former guerrilla leaders under a
transition period ending in 2025.
Nearly
half of about 40,000 guerrillas have agreed to lay down their firearms and
return to normal life in exchange for livelihood packages under the peace pact.
Thousands
of other rebels have kept their firearms while waiting to be subjected to a
years-long "decommissioning process", a subtle term for surrendering
their weapons.
The
process has been delayed amid complaints that former rebels have failed to
receive promised cash and other incentives from the government.
"This
is very alarming because the implications are worrisome to us," Naguib
Sinarimbo, the interior minister of the Bangsamoro autonomous region, told The
Associated Press.
"Our
worry is if there are sparks like this, concerns may arise whether the
decommissioning process would continue."
Brigadier
General Domingo Gobway, an army brigade commander in Basilan, said his forces
were cracking down on armed men involved in extortion and intimidation using
homemade bombs.
Amid
the military campaign, the gunmen fled to a Basilan village called Ulitan,
where they were protected by Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas, he said.
The
rebels and the extortion gang were forced to leave Ulitan village in September
amid the military crackdown, but Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas
returned on Monday with their firearms in violation of an agreement that rebel
firearms and other weapons should be restricted in mutually identified Moro
Islamic Liberation Front encampments, Gobway said.
Troops
came under fire in Ulitan on Tuesday and Wednesday, prompting them to return
fire and take action to bring the situation under control, military officials
said.
Mohagher
Iqbal, who led the Muslim guerrillas in years of peace talks with the
government, said the violence "was an unfortunate incident that no one
desired to happen… while the peace process' dividends have started to be felt
by the people".
Iqbal
called for the combatants' "immediate disengagement to prevent the
situation from escalating" and urged government and rebel ceasefire
representatives to carry out an investigation to prevent a repeat of such
deadly clashes.
Western
governments have welcomed progress in years of peace talks between Manila and
Muslim rebels that have turned major battlefields into potential growth centers
in the south in recent years, in the homeland for minority Muslims who live in
some of the poorest and least-developed provinces in the country.
Had
the decades-old Muslim insurgency continued to flare in the southern
Philippines, there were worries that large numbers of Muslim insurgents could
forge an alliance with outside militant forces and turn the south into a
breeding ground for extremists.
Source:
The New Arab
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/seven-killed-philippine-troops-clash-muslim-rebels
--------
Haqqani
Says Taliban Founder Mullah Omar was Chosen to Protect Islam
By
Saqalain Eqbal
November
9, 2022
Haqqani
Network leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, also the Taliban Acting Minister of
Interior Affairs has stated that Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban group’s
founder, was chosen to protect the religion of Islam.
During
a ceremony in Zabul province to mark the revealing of Mullah Omar’s burial on
Monday, November 7, Haqqani stated that he was chosen to defend the Islamic way
of life and system.
“Amir
al-Mu’minin Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid was chosen to protect the religion and
the system,” he said. The title Mullah Omar was given is an Arabic designation
for the supreme leader of the Islamic community. Typically, it is interpreted
as “Commander of the Faithful.”
Mullah
Omar was born in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, he founded the
Taliban movement in 1996 after which he was given the title of Amir
al-Mu’minin.
Mullah
Omar died in Pakistan in 2013, and Mullah Akhtar Mansour succeeded him as
commander of this group, according to information from the National Directorate
of Security of Afghanistan’s former government.
From
1996 until 2001, Mullah Omar presided as the Taliban’s supremo. However, after
the September 11 terrorist attacks and the US invasion of Afghanistan to defeat
Al-Qaeda, the Taliban was overthrown.
Mullah
Omar stopped appearing in public after that, and the US government offered a
$10 million bounty for his arrest. He was also labeled on the list of the top
10 most dangerous terrorist groups.
The
whereabouts of Mullah Omar, the founder of the movement, who was killed and
buried in secret for many years, was made public by the Taliban on Sunday.
Taliban
leaders could be seen gathered around a plain white brick tomb that was
encircled by a green metal fence and covered with what seemed to be gravel in
photographs released by the government.
Omar’s
event came a day after local Taliban leaders refuted allegations that
resistance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud’s burial in the Panjshir Valley had
been vandalized.
The
Taliban’s Zabihullah Mujahid warned that if the accusations were accurate, the
act would be “punished.”
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/haqqani-says-taliban-founder-mullah-omar-was-chosen-to-protect-islam-38464/
--------
Winter
sparks concerns for 4,100 newborn babies in Sindh flood camps
Imran
Ayub
November
10, 2022
KARACHI:
More than 4,000 babies are born in relief camps of flood victims in less than
two months fanning concerns of health experts and officials who see these
children as the most vulnerable segment of the displaced people in view of the
fast approaching winter.
Data
compiled by the provincial administration and health department suggests that
between September 9 and October 31, a total of 4,118 women gave birth while a
large number of these women were facing malnutrition and other health
complications.
“Apart
from these 4,118 births in flood relief camps, there are 4,191 lactating
mothers which took the number of persons at high risk due to approaching winter
to over 8,000,” said an official citing the data.
“By
November 1, there were a total of 6,311 flood-hit pregnant women in different
relief camps across the province. Among them 1,704 are at the first trimester,
2,763 at second one and 1,844 are at the third trimester of their pregnancies.
Now the challenge is safe pregnancy and delivery of these babies. With overall
challenging health conditions, these segments of flood victims are at higher
risk in view of fast approaching winter.”
Over
4,000 mothers face healthcare challenge after giving birth in camps in two
months
Dr
Saqib Ansari, director health of Alkhidmat Karachi, which is actively involved
in providing medical care in flood-hit areas with a number of healthcare
facilities and professionals, sees malnutrition as a widespread problem causing
more complications in pregnant women and newborns.
“We
need to keep in mind that they [pregnant women] are under a third extreme
stress within a short period of time in their lives,” he said.
“First
they are already pregnant and then came the devastating floods, which have
ruined their lives and finally they are in relief camps far from their homes
and farmland. The situation is quite complex and we see them in already
compromised conditions.”
The
healthcare experts and those volunteering their services in affected areas
believe that it is an alarming situation in the flood-affected areas as
hundreds and thousands of flood victims are often forced to live under the open
sky and grapple with disease.
The
provincial government and healthcare administration claim that they have
realised the sensitivity of the situation, which has pushed them into action.
“The
approaching winter is definitely challenging, especially for newborns and their
mothers,” said Qasim Soomro, a Member of the Provincial Assembly and
parliamentary secretary health.
“To
address these challenges, we have devised a strategy and are about to start
work on it. With the help of data and available resources, we would mobilise
our teams for an immediate supply of winter protection stuff that include warm
clothing for newborns and other necessary goods.”
Responding
to a query about arrangements for those babies born with complications, he
admitted malnutrition as a key issue among them saying that the government had
made enhanced arrangements at all public hospitals in the affected areas and
they were accommodating each and every child and mother with any complaint.
“Similarly,
there are also a moderate number of pregnant women still in flood-hit areas,
who have not moved to the camps. For them the health department has deployed
midwives and put in place all necessary arrangements,” Mr Soomro claimed.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Muslim
Americans take leap forward in US midterm elections
9
November 2022
There
has been a record number of legislative, statewide, and federal electoral
victories of Muslim American candidates in this week's midterm election, Jetpac
Resource Center and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) have
announced.
"I'm
inspired by the historic wins we are seeing in local and state elections across
the country. It shows that the Muslim community is building solid
infrastructure for sustained electoral success," Jetpac Resource Center
executive director Mohammed Missouri said.
"Policy
decisions on education, housing, climate, and civil rights are shaped by state
legislatures and it is critical that our voice is represented in the
policymaking process."
Abdelnasser
Rashid and Nabeela Syed are projected to win the elections to represent State
House District 21 and State House District 51, respectively. They would be the
first Muslims elected to the Illinois State Legislature.
If
Nabilah Islam prevails, she would represent State Senate District 7 in Georgia.
On the State House side, Ruwa Romman is the projected winner to represent
District 97. Islam would be the first Muslim woman elected to the State Senate
while Romman would be the first Muslim woman elected to the State House of
Representatives.
Munira
Abdullahi does not have a challenger in the general election for State House
District 9 in Ohio, and has become the first Muslim elected to the Ohio State
Legislature. Ismail Mohammad, a Democrat running for State House District 3
would join her if he wins.
Democrat
Mana Abdi made history when she was elected to represent State House District
95 in Maine. If South Portland Mayor Deqa Dhalac prevails in the State House
District 120 race, she could join Abdi.
Former
Euless City Councilor Salman Bhojani, a Democrat, is running for Texas House
District 92 and is projected to win. He would be the first Muslim elected to
the Texas State Legislature should he prevail and could be joined by Suleman
Lalani, who is leading the race to represent State House District 76.
This
midterm election had 145 Muslim candidates running for local, state and federal
office in the general election, including 48 state legislative candidates
running in 23 states. Not all races have a clear winner yet. According to
Jetpac, currently, 29 Muslim state legislators serve in 18 states.
“Tonight’s
historic string of record-breaking American Muslim electoral victories is a
testament to our community’s ongoing rise in American politics and the trust
our neighbours have placed in us to represent them and fight for their
interests," Cair national executive director Nihad Awad said.
"We
are witnessing the next step in the American Muslim community’s political
transformation from marginalised voices that were sidelined, or worse, to
decision-makers. These newly elected officials are building upon the success of
our community’s decades-long investment in civic engagement, voter registration
and running for office."
Source:
MiddleEastEye
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/muslim-americans-take-lead-us-midterm-elections
--------
India
Supreme
Court sets up bench to hear Gyanvapi mosque case tomorrow
November
10, 2022
The
Supreme Court Thursday decided to set up a bench tomorrow to hear the Gyanvapi
mosque case, a day before its order to seal the area where a Shivling-like
structure was reportedly found ceases to be in force.
The
top court, in May, had asked the Varanasi district magistrate to secure the
area where a Shivling was claimed to have been found during a videographic
survey of the mosque area without impeding or restricting the rights of Muslims
to access and offer namaz at the mosque.
Source:IndianExpress
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/supreme-court-bench-gyanvapi-mosque-case-8260172/
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Centre
justifies no SC tag for Dalit Muslims, Christians in Supreme Court
Nov
10, 2022
By
Utkarsh Anand
The
Union government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that Scheduled Caste (SC)
status has not been granted to groups that claim to have been Dalits in the
past but converted to Islam or Christianity because social stigma such as
untouchability is not prevalent in these two religions.
Currently,
the constitutional right to reservations in jobs and education as a member of
the SC community is extended only to people from Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist
faiths, in accordance with the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.
Seeking
to repel the legal challenge to the 1950 order laid by a batch of petitions
that want the umbrella of reservation be extended also to Dalit people who have
converted to Christianity or Islam, the Centre said that identification of SC
is centered around a specific social stigma and the connected backwardness
which is limited to the communities recognised under the 1950 Order.
“The
Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950 was based on historical data which
clearly established that no such backwardness or oppression was ever faced by
members of Christian or Islamic Society. In fact, one of the reasons for which
people from Scheduled Castes have been converting to religions like Islam or
Christianity is so that they can come out of the oppressive system of
untouchability which is not prevalent at all in Christianity or Islam,” argued
the government.
It
added that there is also no documented research and precise authenticated
information available to establish that the disabilities and handicaps suffered
by Scheduled Caste members in the social order of its origin (Hinduism)
persists with their oppressive severity in the environment.
According
to the Centre, it would cause a grave injustice and would be an abuse of the
process of law, consequently affecting the rights of the SC groups if all the
converts are arbitrarily given the perks of reservation without examining the
aspect of social disability.
It
further justified extending the reservation benefits to Buddhists while denying
it to Muslims and Christians, arguing that not only the nature of conversions
is different but the original caste of those converting to Buddhism can also be
ascertained.
“SCs
embraced Buddhism voluntarily at the call of Dr Ambedkar in 1956 on account of
some innate socio-political imperatives. The original castes/ community of such
converts can clearly be determined. This cannot be said in respect of
Christians and Muslims, who might have converted on account of other factors,
since the process of such conversions has been taken place over the centuries,”
said the affidavit.
Calling
the 2007 Report of Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission that which favoured SC
status for Dalits in all religions “flawed,” the affidavit told the court that
the report has not been accepted by the Centre because it was prepared without
conducting any field studies and also failed to into account the effect that
the inclusion would have on the present castes listed as SCs.
The
government informed the court that it has last month formed a three-member
panel headed by former CJI KG Balakrishnan to examine whether SC status can be
granted to Dalit Muslims and Christians.
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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HC
Dismisses Plea Against Acquittal Of Advani And Other Accused In Babri Mosque
Demolition Case
09
NOV 2022
The
Allahabad High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea challenging the acquittal of
32 accused including former deputy prime minister L K Advani in the Babri
mosque demolition case on the ground of maintainability.
A
Lucknow bench of justices Ramesh Sinha and Saroj Yadav passed the order on the
appeal by two Ayodhya residents - Haji Mahmood Ahmad and Syed Akhlaq Ahmad.
The
other leaders whose acquittal was challenged include the then Uttar Pradesh
chief minister Kalyan Singh, senior BJP leaders M.M. Joshi, Uma Bharti, Vinay
Katiyar and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and Sadhvi Ritambhara. The duo contended
in the petition that they were witnesses in the trial against the accused and
“victims” of the demolition of the disputed structure.
In
its objection, the state government and the CBI had stressed that the two
appellants were not complainants or victims in the case and as such they cannot
appeal as a stranger against the verdict of the trial court. After hearing the
arguments of the parties, the bench reserved its order on October 31.
The
Babri mosque was demolished by ‘karsewaks’ on December 6, 1992. After a long
legal battle, the special CBI court on September 30, 2020 pronounced the judgment
in the criminal trial and acquitted all the accused.
The
trial judge had refused to believe newspaper cuttings and video clips as
evidence as the originals of the same were not produced, while the entire
edifice of the case rested on these pieces of documentary evidence. The trial
judge had also held that the CBI could not produce any evidence that the
accused had a meeting of mind with karsewaks who demolished the structure.
Assailing
the findings of the trial court, the appellants have pleaded that the trial
court committed an error in not convicting the accused persons, whereas ample
evidence was on record. In the plea, the appellants have urged that the
judgment of September 30, 2020 be set aside.
Source:OutlookIndia
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Coimbatore
car blast case: NIA raids under way at 45 locations across Tamil Nadu
Nov
10, 2022
NEW
DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been conducting searches at
45 locations in Tamil Nadu in connection with its ongoing probe into October 23
Coimbatore LPG cylinder explosion that occurred in a car, sources said on
Thursday.
A
29-year-old man Jameesha Mubin was killed in a car explosion near a temple in
Coimbatore during the wee hours on October 23.
NIA
officials, in coordination with state police, started its raids early Thursday
at the residential premises of suspects related to incidents in areas like
Kottamedu, Ponvizha Nagar, Rathinapuri, and Ukkadam.
The
Central anti-terror agency's massive search occurred nearly 15 days after it
registered a case following the Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalization
(CTCR) division of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an order asking it
to start a probe into the matter.
The
MHA order was issued a day after Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin
recommended for NIA probe in the case.
Stalin,
in a recommendation letter, to the MHA had requested to transfer the
investigation of the case related to the car cylinder explosion in the Ukkadam
area in Coimbatore to the NIA and directed police to ensure security in
Coimbatore.
Tamil
Nadu Police so far has arrested over half a dozen people in connection with the
case, and have invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Those
arrested are learnt to be associates of Jameesha Mubin, who was charred to
death in suspicious circumstances after an LPG cylinder inside a Maruti 800 he
was driving exploded near a temple around 4 am.
As
per police Mubin, 25, who was an engineering graduate, has been previously
questioned by the NIA officials in 2019 for alleged terror links. His name is
mentioned as the primary accused in the case.
Among
the arrested people are Mohammad Thalka (25), Mohammad Asarudheen (25),
Muhammad Riyaz (27), Feroz Ismail (27), Mohammad Navaz Ismail (27), and Afsar
Khan, a relative of the deceased. Khan is the cousin of the deceased and he was
picked two days before the blast by the special investigation team.
The
explosion occurred in Ukkadam which is a communally sensitive area.
Source:
Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Moose
Wala’s latest song: ‘Vaar’ causes stir, top Punjab cleric clears controversy
Nov
09, 2022
By
Parteek Singh Mahal
Slain
Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s second posthumously released song Vaar, which
talks about the bravery of Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa, has landed in a
controversy after certain members of the Muslim community raised objections to
the lyrics.
The
Muslim community has questioned the reference to “Muhammad” in this song. It
has been learnt, that soon after the controversy Moose Wala’s father Balkour
Singh talked with the Punjab’s Shahi Imam Maulana Muhammad Usman Ludhianvi and
gave an explanation on Wednesday.
Ludhianvi
said that the word “Muhammad” was used in the Vaar song of Moose Wala, and
after release of the song questions were raised. “I have also talked with Moose
Wala’s father in the morning. The song does not refer to Prophet Muhammad (last
Prophet in Islam) as we have also checked the historical facts. But I repeat
that these facts must be clarified in a description before the starting of the
song in future,” he added.
Balkaur
Singh said that the word Muhammad was not referred to Prophet Muhammad in any
way. “These words are used for then Afghan ruler Dost Mohammad Khan and his
five sons, with whom Hari Singh Nalwa had fought a war. It gives reference to
the battle of Jamrud fought between Nalwa and the forces of Dost Muhammad. We
have immense respect for Prophet Muhammad sahib. I apologise if we have hurt
anyone’s sentiments,” he added.
Dost
Mohammad Khan (1792 –1863) was one of the prominent rulers of the Emirate of
Afghanistan during the reign of Sikh Empire led by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Nalwa
(1791-1837) commanded the army of the Sikh empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh
and was known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Attock, Multan,
Kashmir, Peshawar and Jamrud. He expanded the frontier of the Sikh empire to
beyond the Indus river right up to the mouth of the Khyber Pass.
Released
on Gurpurb, Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary, with more than
12 million views in a day, the song is trending on YouTube five months after
the death of the singer.
SYL,
first controversial posthumous song:
The
first song released after Moose Wala’s killing was SYL, which focused on the
more than four-decade old political dispute between Punjab and Haryana on the
construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal (SYL). Striking a sensitive chord,
apart from SYL, the singer talked about the post-Independence undivided Punjab,
sovereignty, 1984 riots, Sikh prisoners’ release, incident of hoisting the
Khalsa flag at Red Fort during the farmer agitation on Delhi’s border.
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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‘Untouchable’
Telangana State Wakf Board’s search for a CEO proves elusive
JS
Ifthekha
9th
November 2022
Hyderabad:
Wonder which is the government institution that none wants to touch even with a
bargepole? No prizes for guessing. It is the Telangana State Wakf Board. It has
become a sort of ‘untouchable’ department as far as government officials go.
They do their best to avoid working here.
The
recent efforts of the Wakf Board to persuade Muslim officers of deputy
secretary rank to head it have drawn a blank. Officers, the Wakf Board has
sounded so far, to work as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) have turned down
the offer and shown no interest whatsoever, it is said.
This
follows the recent developments in the Wakf Board with the latter passing a
resolution repatriating its CEO, Shahnawaz Qasim, an IPS officer of 2003 batch,
to his parent department and seeking a full time CEO. When approached, the
Telangana High Court directed the board to propose names of at least two
officers to the government for appointment to the post of CEO. The Board is
given four weeks to submit the names to the government. But its search to zero
in on Muslim officers willing to serve as its CEO is proving futile.
There
are just half a dozen Muslim officers of the rank of deputy secretary and above
in the state. They are: Abdul Hameed, Additional Collector, Jangaon, Mohd
Asadullah, PS to Home Minister, Ayesha Masrath Khanam, Shaikh Yasmeen Basha,
Collector Wanaparthy and present Board member, M.A. Mannan, Joint Secretary,
Law Department, B. Shafiullah, Secretary, Telangana Minorities Residential
Educational Institutions Society (TMREIS) and its Joint Secretary, Liyakhat
Husain.
These
officials are believed to have shown little interest in working at the Wakf
Board. The reason is not far to seek. It is a well-known fact there is always
intense political interference in Wakf Board’s affairs and officials find it
difficult to work under such pressure. They are also under pressure to approve
the irregular and often ‘unlawful’ demands of the Board members. There are many
instances in the past of CEOs requesting the government to repatriate them back
to their parent departments. Moreover, the CEOs have often faced music for the
omission and commission of the Board members with enquiries initiated against
them, “As such no official is willing to work here”, says a Board official.
As
per Section 23 of the Wakf Act, the CEO should be a Muslim and not below the
rank of a Deputy Secretary. But in practice officers of the rank of Deputy
Collectors are posted and most of the time they are not even full-fledged CEOs.
A lesser rank official is often a mute spectator and sometimes hands in glove
with the ‘undesirable acts’ of the board members. Only the presence of an IAS
or IPS officer will act as a deterrent. The situation can vastly improve if a
civil servant is to head it, it is said. Even bitter critics of the board admit
that its functioning was never as good as when it was under Special Officers’
regime. This was seen when IPS officers like S.A. Huda and Shaikh Mohammed
Iqbal held the reins of the Board.
Part
of the blame for the malfunctioning of the board also lies with the government
which doesn’t take active interest in its affairs. The Chief Minister never
bothers to monitor the Board’s functioning fearing that it might be seen as
‘interference’ in the religious affairs of the community. But this is a wrong
presumption. Proper monitoring by the State Government will not only benefit
but empower Muslims, many say.
At
best, the functioning of the Wakf Board is never above board. Allegations of
financial mismanagement and fraudulent dealings have always dogged it. Efforts
to streamline its functioning have come to a naught. Many an upright officer
has quit unable to bear the pressure from vested interests. One of the richest
Muslim endowment bodies, the Telangana State Wakf Board boasts of 77,000 acres
of landed property and 35,000 institutions. Unfortunately, 70 percent of the
land is under encroachment. What is worse is that the Board has no record of
some of its encroached properties. Efforts to evict the encroachers have been
feeble and tardy.
The
present turmoil in the Board is on account of differences cropping up between
Shahnawaz Qasim and the members. There was a tug-of-war on several issues with
Qasim not allowing the members to have their way. The main grouse against him
is that he is not readily available since he is also discharging duties as
Commissioner, Minorities Welfare apart from looking after the State Urdu
Academy. “We want a full time CEO who can give more time to the Wakf affairs,”
says Masiullah Khan, chairman, Telengana State Wakf Board.
Source:Siasat
Daily
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Indian
police investigating film that portrays Kerala as Islamic terrorism hub
Hannah
Ellis-Petersen in Delhi
9
Nov 2022
Police
in Kerala are investigating a controversial Bollywood film that portrays the
southern Indian state as a hub of Islamic terrorism and forced conversion.
The
Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen, has come under criticism for its
fictional depiction of tens of thousands of women from Kerala who it claims
were converted to Islam and became terrorists for Islamic State in Afghanistan,
Yemen and Syria.
A
teaser trailer features an actor playing a Hindu woman who becomes a victim of
an apparent “dangerous game” of conversion. “I wanted to become a nurse and
serve humanity,” she says directly to the camera while dressed in a niqab. “Now
I am Fatima Ba, an Isis terrorist in a jail in Afghanistan. I am not alone.”
The
film trailer goes on toclaim that “there are 32,000 girls like me who have been
converted and buried in the deserts of Syria and Yemen. A deadly game is being
played to convert normal girls into dreaded terrorists in Kerala … will nobody
stop them?”
The
film-makers say the film is based on real information and events but have not
provided any evidence or official reports to back their claims.
There
was anger in India’s southern states following the trailer’s release. BR
Aravindakshan, a journalist based in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu,
filed a petition to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the office of
the chief minister of Kerala and the Kerala police accusing the film of
distributing “false information” and said its contents should be investigated
and the release halted.
After
Kerala’s chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, directed the state’s police to
investigate the complaint, a criminal case has been registered against the
trailer. Police in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district are investigating
allegations of misinformation and spreading of communal hatred.
VD
Satheesan, the state assembly opposition leader, said the film was “a clear
case of misinformation” and called for it to be banned over the risk of
“spreading hatred”.
The
film’s events appear to be inspired by four women from Kerala who converted to
Islam and travelled with their husbands to Afghanistan to join IS in Khorasan
province between 2016 and 2018. Their husbands were all killed and after
surrendering in 2019; the four women are all still in Afghan jails, with the
Indian government refusing to take them back.
There
is no evidence that there were thousands of such cases in Kerala as the film
alleges.
Kerala,
considered India’s most progressive state with the highest levels of literacy
and mortality, has long been ruled by a heavily leftwing, secular government.
So far it has electorally rejected the Hindu nationalist politics that have come
to dominate India’s central government and northern states under the ruling
Bharatiya Janata party (BJP). The BJP won no seats in Kerala in the last
general election.
In
response, though, Kerala has been accused by figures in the BJP of becoming a
“breeding ground” for Islamic terrorism.
Source:TheGuardian
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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India
alludes to ‘foreign origins’ of Christianity, Islam
November
10, 2022
Christian
and Muslim leaders in India have expressed disappointment after the federal
government cited the “foreign origins” of their faiths as justification for
denying them the benefits of its affirmative action policy.
The
affidavit filed through the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment before the
Supreme Court in October defends the current criteria for determining which
communities can be classified as Scheduled Castes (SC) and hence eligible for
quotas in education and jobs as part of the constitution-approved policy of
reservations.
There
was “intelligible differentia” between Dalits practicing Hinduism, Sikhism, and
Buddhism and those following other religions, the affidavit states.
The
Hindu newspaper reported this as “possibly pointing to the argument that
Christianity and Islam are not Indic religions and that there were foreign
contributions to the creation of Christian and Muslim populations in India.”
J.
George, a member of the National Council of Dalit Christians and one of the
petitioners in the case, said “it was a matter of concern” because the federal
government’s stance could delay the granting of SC status to Christians and
Muslims of Dalit origin.
“It
is not clear though, whether this was done deliberately or unknowingly,” he
added.
Mohammad
Salim Engineer, secretary-general of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, a Muslim
socio-religious group, said the Indian Constitution grants every citizen the
right to choose any religion and this affidavit contradicted this basic
principle.
He
hoped the government would rethink its stance and ensure equal treatment for
all.
“We
hope our Dalit brothers and sisters will not be deprived of the benefits of
reservation simply because they became Christians or Muslims,” he said.
Father
Z. Devasagaya Raj, former secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India’s
Office of Dalits and Backward Classes, said Dalits are treated as untouchables
even today regardless of their religion, Indic or foreign.
“The
indelible stigma of untouchability continues to haunt them in their everyday
lives as several academic studies and official commission reports have proved
in the past,” the priest told UCA News on Nov 9.
Though
the origin of castes is traced to the Hindu religion, it is wrong to connect
the discriminatory practices associated with it only with Indic religions.
“The
practice of caste-based discrimination has become part and parcel of Indian
society, irrespective of religion,” he explained.
The
benefits of the reservation policy are currently available for Hindus,
Buddhists and Sikhs of Dalit origin while Christians and Muslims have been
seeking them for many years.
Successive
governments have appointed commissions to study the issue but continue to deny
the reservation benefits despite recommendations that Dalit Christians and
Dalit Muslims should be included on the SC list.
The
word Dalit means "trampled upon" in Sanskrit and refers to all groups
once considered untouchable and outside the four-tier Hindu caste system.
Source:UCANews
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/india-alludes-to-foreign-origins-of-christianity-islam/99372
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Europe
From
Auschwitz to Iftar: Danish Muslim-Jewish biker club revs up interfaith dialogue
By
MELANIE LIDMAN
9
November 2022
COPENHAGEN
— Three years ago, Danish neo-Nazi groups vandalized more than 80 graves in a
Jewish cemetery in Randers on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the day on
which the Nazis unleashed a wave of pogroms against Jews in Germany and Austria
in 1938, unofficially marking the start of the Holocaust.
Ever
since the 2019 desecration in Randers, an unlikely group comes to patrol the
main Jewish cemetery in Copenhagen every year on Kristallnacht: a motorcycle
club wearing leather vests adorned with their signature hamsa patch — a
palm-shaped good luck symbol among both Jews and Muslims.
“We
do this to make sure it won’t happen again, and we will do the same if someone
[vandalized] the Muslim cemetery… or even a Buddhist or Christian cemetery,”
said Dr. Sohail Asghar, the co-founder and vice president of MuJu & Co. MC
Danmark, an interfaith motorcycle club in Copenhagen for Muslims, Jews and
their allies.
Biker
groups clad in leather are often perceived as being tough guys who drive fast,
don’t mess around and walk a bit on the wild side. But the members of MuJu
& Co. turn up in places where biker gangs are not expected to congregate —
such as the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial, a mosque in downtown Copenhagen, or a
Jewish cemetery on the anniversary of Kristallnacht.
MuJu
& Co. is Denmark’s first and only motorcycle club with a focus on
Muslim-Jewish relations. It was founded in 2019 to unite motorcycle fanatics
who are also interested in spreading a message of tolerance.
“It
came up as a kind of joke, because we realized that we were several people
riding bikes with Muslim and Jewish backgrounds,” said Dr. Dan Meyrowitsch, a
Jewish epidemiologist and global health expert who knows Asghar through their
work in international public health.
“We
said, we both have this fondness for motorcycles. Maybe others are the same,
and maybe we can gather around motorcycles as an excuse for friendship,” said
Asghar, a Muslim anaesthesiologist/intensive care doctor who was born in
Copenhagen and whose parents are from Pakistan.
Almost
half of Danes see racism as a growing problem, though most of the racism is
directed at Muslim immigrants. In 2020, the latest data available, there were
635 hate incidents reported to the police, including 79 directed at Jews, 87
directed at Muslims, and 360 directed at foreigners, who are often Muslim.
There are about 8,000 Jews in Denmark and approximately 320,000 Muslims, or
5.5% of the population.
“The
idea was to seek dialogue, peace, collaboration, and bridge building,” said
Meyrowitsch, the co-founder and president of MuJu & Co.
Asghar
sees it a bit differently. “The driving factor is friendship and having a good
time,” he said. “We are friends having lots of fun. On top of that, we’re doing
bridge building.”
‘Never
Again’
The
group, which includes a few dozen members, is approximately one-third Muslim,
one-third Jewish and one-third atheist or other religions who support the
mission. But it was the Muslim contingent that pushed for the group’s big trip
to Auschwitz in 2022.
“Visiting
Auschwitz has been something I wanted to do for years,” said Asghar, a World
War II buff who voraciously reads history books. “I have always been trying to
get my head around how atrocities like this could ever happen. How could humans
do something this grotesque? And how can we still repeat ourselves with other
genocides after the Second World War?”
The
group connected with the Polish Embassy in Denmark, which sponsored the group’s
hotel stays in Krakow. Eleven members joined for the more than 1,500-kilometer
(932-mile) ride in early October.
“For
us, as a group, I thought we needed to see the consequences if we don’t do
bridge building and don’t understand each other,” said Asghar. “I have a theory
that if all high school students in Europe visited Auschwitz, maybe there would
be less racism.”
“And
the Muslims among us think if something like this happens again, the Muslims
will be the victims,” he added.
Three
of MuJu’s Jewish members lost relatives in the Holocaust, which made the visit
much more personal for the entire group.
“It
was a big issue for me to face this place like that,” said Said Idrissi, the
MuJu & Co. road captain. His job is to lead the pack on the road, map out
the routes and make sure the group stays on schedule.
“Could
we as human beings be so cruel? I wanted to see it with my eyes,” said Idrissi,
a Muslim from Morocco who moved to Denmark as a young child and now works as a
driving instructor. “If I had been there with my other friends or people from
my workplace, it would be a different visit, but coming here with my Jewish
friends, I saw how they reacted and the pain in their faces.”
Tony
Gelvan, a Jewish member of the group, asked the tour guide for help locating
information about his brother’s wife’s father, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz
for part of the war. “I was happy that it was a 70-kilometer [43-mile] ride
back to the hotel, so I could be by myself on the bike,” said Gelvan.
He
said he spent most of the ride thinking about all of the genocides that have
happened since WWII, especially in Bosnia in the 1990s, furious that the world
had learned nothing.
A
film crew also joined to document the group’s journey, and may make a
documentary. Gelvan said despite the gravity of their destination, the driving
part of the trip allowed them to do what they love best — ride together.
“A
long ride like that will really challenge and test all the existing bonds
between people,” said Meyrowitsch.
On
the road again
On
a recent Saturday in Copenhagen, half a dozen members of the group met at
Meyrowitsch’s house to set off on a two-hour ride from Copenhagen to the
fishing village of Hundested. There was already a fall chill in the air as the
group rode through the rolling Danish countryside. They took winding country
roads, dotted with traditional thatched-roof farmhouses and stunning views of
the water.
The
Saturday rides are the organization’s core activity, exploring areas a few
hours outside of Copenhagen, stopping for lunch, maybe visiting a museum or
cultural site, and heading for home. They ride in tight formation as Idrissi
leads on what he insists is the club’s strongest and loudest motorcycle, though
that is up for debate at the lunch stop. During the stops, they like to tease
Meyrowitsch about his stable of classic motorcycles that are constantly
breaking down, hash out recent motorcycle purchases or maintenance, or talk
shop with other bikers they meet along the way.
MuJu
& Co. is an official club registered with the Biker Foundation Denmark,
which governs motorcycle “patch clubs” that are recognized by the patches on
their jackets. Many of the clubs gather around a certain theme, which can range
from enthusiasm about a certain brand of motorcycle, living near each other in
a local neighborhood, or being military veterans, former policemen, recovered
addicts, or bikers who raise money for charities, explained Gelvan.
While
there are other clubs centered around religious identity, MuJu & Co. is the
only interfaith group for Muslims, Jews and allies, said Meyrowitsch. They’re
not aware of other Muslim/Jewish interfaith biking groups in other parts of the
world, though they would very much like to collaborate.
A
rabbi, an imam and a Harley…
Perhaps
the most perfect interfaith moment on two wheels happened last May. It was just
before a discussion that MuJu & Co. organized at a local coffee shop in
Nørrebro, a Copenhagen neighborhood with a large population of Muslim
immigrants. Before the debate, MuJu & Co. invited guests with wheels on a tour
of Muslim and Jewish highlights of Copenhagen, including community centers and
places of worship.
Denmark’s
chief rabbi, Jair Melchior, joined for the day. But unfortunately, the rabbi
didn’t know how to ride a motorcycle — so imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen, the imam
at a major Copenhagen mosque who rides with the group occasionally, invited the
rabbi to hop on the back of his Harley.
The
event was a success — and not just because an imam and a rabbi were riding a
motorcycle together.
“We
talked about how to proceed with peaceful relations and dialogues, focusing on
between Muslims and Jews, but also in general, about minorities and religious
ethnic minorities,” said Meyrowitsch.
It’s
a big part of MuJu & Co.’s mission to bring their message off the bikes and
into the larger world. On March 19, they participated in the local celebrations
for the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination. And last year, they hosted Liselott Blixt, who was then a
Member of Parliament with the Dansk Folkeparti, for a ride and discussion about
immigration policy and the impact of politicians’ rhetoric about immigration in
Denmark. The MP drove a massive orange Suzuki Hayabusa, considered one of the
fastest production motorcycles available, according to Meyrowitsch.
The
group has also celebrated holidays together, including sharing a huge Ramadan
iftar break-fast meal with three generations of MuJu member Imran Parvaiz’s
extended family, and gathering together to light Hanukkah candles. It’s allowed
them an inside look into the other culture, and, for many, a window into how
other people of their own religion might have different traditions.
“It’s
given us some insight that we probably would have never had, unless we had very
close friends or family that follow these traditions the same way,” said
Meyrowitsch.
This
year, they’ll return for their “peace watch” at Copenhagen’s Jewish cemetery on
the anniversary of Kristallnacht, on November 9. But mostly, they’ll just get
together and do what they love to do: ride their bikes.
“The
take-home message for me is that we have used our hobby, motorcycles, to
increase our friendships and bridge building,” said Asghar, who hopes other
people think about ways to tie their existing hobbies into opportunities to
meet people who are a little different from them.
“I’m
not saying everyone should go with motorcycles. Maybe it’s another type of
meeting club, or a book club, or whatever,” he said, urging people to consider
opening it up to people of different faiths and see what kind of relationships
can form. “It’s about finding friends among unusual suspects.”
Source:TimesOfIsrael
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
At
least a dozen countries interested in joining BRICS: Russian foreign minister
Elena
Teslova
08.11.2022
MOSCOW
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that at least a dozen countries
are interested in joining the emerging economies bloc BRICS.
"Interest
in this global association is very, very high and continues to grow. It's not
just Algeria, Argentina, and Iran. In fact, there are more than a dozen such
countries," the minister told a news conference in Moscow, following a
meeting with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Currently,
the BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- are
working out formal criteria for entering the bloc, Lavrov added.
"Since
the applications are already being submitted officially, of course, we expect
that working out the criteria and principles for admitting new members to BRICS
will not take too long," he said, noting that first it is necessary to
understand how the bloc will develop further in a potentially expanded
composition.
Lavrov
praised Russia-India cooperation, saying the bilateral trade volume will soon
reach $30 billion.
He
also informed that Russia and India continue discussions on the joint
production of advanced weapons, and the countries successfully develop
cooperation in the area of atomic energy and space exploration.
The
minister said he also briefed Jaishankar about details of Russia's
"special military operation" in Ukraine.
"We
discussed the situation that is currently developing around the attempts of our
Western colleagues, under the pretext of Ukrainian events, to strengthen their
dominant role in world affairs and not allowing the democratization of
international relations," he said.
Next
week's Afghanistan meeting in Moscow
Lavrov
also explained why the representatives of the Taliban -- de facto rulers of
Afghanistan -- were not invited to a meeting on Afghanistan to be held in
Moscow next week.
According
to the minister, the Taliban have failed to fulfil their promises about reforms
in the country and to create "a more inclusive government," which
would have representatives of different political, ethnic, and religious
groups.
But
Lavrov promised that Russia will convey to the Taliban the results of the work
of the Moscow meeting.
"We
have regular contact with representatives of the Taliban. They will be informed
about what the participants of the Moscow format meeting will do. Of course, we
do not have any secrets from the representatives of Afghanistan, we will
thoroughly brief the Taliban and other political forces that exist there,"
he said.
The
Moscow format includes Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China,
Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The previous meeting, held
on Oct. 20 last year, was attended by the Taliban delegation led by deputy
chairman of the interim government Abdul Salam Hanafi.
The
new meeting, according to Russian Presidential envoy for Afghanistan Zamir
Kabulov, will take place on Nov. 16.
-
India 'strongly opposes' Moscow-Kyiv war
For
his part, Jaishankar said India strongly opposes the war in Ukraine, because the
conflict in one part creates disturbances in other parts of the world.
He
also stressed that the situation in Afghanistan does not have as much attention
as it deserves.
Jaishankar
evaded the direct answer to a question about India's position on introducing
price caps on Russia's oil, saying India has a great demand on hydrocarbons.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
EU
seeking to adopt new Iran sanctions next week: Germany
09
November, 2022
The
European Union will seek to adopt new sanctions against Iran next week over the
Islamic Republic's deadly crackdown on protests, Germany's foreign minister
said Wednesday.
“We
are working flat out on the next package of sanctions,” Annalena Baerbock said
on Twitter. “We want to adopt it next week.”
“We
won't let up,” she added. “We stand with the men and women of Iran, not only
today, but as long as it is necessary.”
EU
foreign ministers are due to meet in Brussels on Monday.
The
bloc had already imposed sanctions in mid-October against Iran's “morality
police” and 11 officials including the telecommunications minister.
Iran
has been rocked by demonstrations over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old
Iranian of Kurdish origin, following her arrest in Tehran for allegedly
flouting the country's strict hijab dress rules for women.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
army issues warning to ‘rioters’ as security forces struggle to suppress unrest
09
November, 2022
Iran's
Army Ground Forces Commander said on Wednesday that “rioters” would have no
place in the Islamic Republic if the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
ordered a tougher crackdown on nationwide protests, the semi-official Mehr news
agency reported.
“...
should he decide to deal with them, rioters will no longer have a place in the
country,” Brigadier General Kiumars Heydari said.
Anti-government
demonstrations erupted in September after the death of a Kurdish woman, Mahsa
Amini, who had been detained by morality police for allegedly flouting the
Islamic Republic's strict dress code imposed on women.
The
protests quickly turned into a popular revolt, with people ranging from
students to doctors to lawyers to workers to athletes taking part.
Heydari
was speaking 40 days after bloodshed in the mostly Sunni town of Zahedan, which
has become a flashpoint in the protests.
Amnesty
International said security forces killed at least 66 people there on Sept. 30.
Authorities in Zahedan sacked the police chief and the head of a police station
near where the killings took place.
Ethnic
unrest
Iran
has executed two Baluch militants convicted of “terrorism” charges dating back
to about 2016, the semi-official news agency ILNA reported on Wednesday, in a
move that may raise tensions further in volatile Sistan-Baluchistan province,
where Zahedan is located.
The
Baluch minority, estimated to number up to 2 million people, has faced discrimination
and repression for decades, according to human rights groups.
Some
of the worst unrest has been in areas home to minority ethnic groups with
long-standing grievances against the state, including Sistan-Baluchistan and
Kurdish regions.
On
Wednesday, shopkeepers in some Kurdish cities went on strike to show their
respect to the people who were killed in Zahedan, Kurdish rights group Hengaw
said.
Shopkeepers
in the market town of Valiasr, in Tehran province, also closed their businesses
to mark the 40th day since the killings took place, according to HRANA news
agency.
The
Basij militia and other security forces have taken tough measures hoping to
suppress the unrest but the fury has not eased.
While
past demonstrations have focused on election results or economic hardships, the
current protesters seem determined to secure an entirely new political order in
a country where the clerical establishment has ruled since the 1979 revolution.
In
an ongoing act of resistance, videos posted on Twitter under the hashtag of
#TurbanTossing show Iranians sneaking up behind clerics and knocking turbans
off their heads.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
In
a first, Israeli general opens up about use of armed drones
09
November, 2022
Israel
on Wednesday described what has been an open secret for two decades - that it
has used drones not just for surveillance but also in strikes within the
country, against Palestinian militants in Gaza, and possibly targets as far
away as Iran or Sudan.
Israeli
censors in July permitted publication of information about the armed drones and
the chief of Israel's artillery corps - which runs the drones together with the
air force - used his speech at an industry forum to give what he described as a
first public account of the armed versions of the pilot-less planes.
Whereas
previously he could only offer hints, “today I can speak of this openly,”
Brigadier-General Neri Horowitz told the annual UVID DroneTech conference
hosted by Israel Defense magazine in Tel Aviv.
He
said the armed drones not only provide Israel with additional firepower, but
also allow, in a single platform, for both the speedy detection and attack
against targets, such as Gaza rocket crews before they can carry out a launch.
He
disclosed that when extremist insurgents from Egypt burst across the border
into southern Israel in a hijacked armored vehicle in May 2012, they were
destroyed in a drone strike.
Showing
footage of Ukrainian forces using drones to guide shelling of invading Russian
troops, he said: “We have the same application here.”
Israel
is expanding its drone forces, whose personnel are 30 percent female, Horowitz
said, adding that the artillery corps was replacing its cannon insignia with
concentric circles representing the incorporation of the aerial platforms.
At
the same conference, Brigadier-General Omri Dor, commander of Palmachin
airbase, said drones now accounted for 80 percent of the Israeli military’s
operational flight hours.
However,
manufacturers of armed drones remain barred from advertising them and none of
them were among the models on display at the conference.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Cities
across Iran strike in solidarity with Zahedan clashes
09
November, 2022
Cities
in western Iran went on strike Wednesday in solidarity with mourners marking 40
days since security forces killed dozens in a crackdown on protests in the
country’s strife-torn southeast, a rights group said.
Security
forces opened fire on protests that erupted on September 30 after weekly
prayers in Zahedan, capital of the flashpoint province of Sistan-Baluchistan on
Iran’s southeastern border with Pakistan.
It
came two weeks after demonstrations broke out across Iran over the death of
Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, following her arrest in
Tehran for allegedly flouting the country’s strict dress code for women.
Widespread
strikes were underway Wednesday in the Kurdish western cities of Baneh,
Kermanshah, Marivan, Sanandaj and Amini’s hometown of Saqez, the Norway-based
Hengaw human rights group said.
The
stoppages were being observed “in solidarity with the fatalities in Zahedan on
their 40th day death ceremonies,” Hengaw, which monitors abuses in Kurdish
areas, said on Twitter.
The
trigger for the violence that erupted in Zahedan on September 30 was the
alleged rape in custody of a 15-year-old-girl by a police commander in the province’s
port city of Chabahar.Security forces opened fire on men who took to the
streets after emerging from mosques following weekly prayers, killing dozens in
a massacre that became known as “Bloody Friday.”
“What
happened that Friday... in Zahedan, based on international law, is a clear
instance of mass murder of civilians,” Hengaw said.
“This
mass murder must be recognized by international organizations and Western
governments,” it tweeted.
Oslo-based
group Iran Human Rights says that since then at least 118 people have been
killed in Sistan-Baluchistan province.
The
Iranian authorities say at least six security personnel have been killed.
Zahedan
is one of the few Sunni-majority cities in predominantly Shia Iran.
Poverty-stricken
Sistan-Baluchistan province is a flashpoint for clashes with drug smuggling
gangs as well as rebels from the Baluchi minority and Sunni extremist groups.
Activists
have long complained the region has been the victim of discrimination by Iran’s
Shia clerical leadership, with disproportionate numbers of Baluch killed in
clashes every year and also hanged in executions.
The
latest executions were announced on Wednesday.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
More
Afghan children killed by UK forces than claimed amid release of payout figures
November
09, 2022
LONDON:
The number of children killed by UK forces during Afghanistan’s almost
two-decade war could be far higher than claimed, the BBC reported.
It
follows reports that more than four times as many relatives of slain children
received compensation than previous government figures had claimed.
Previous
figures reported compensation payments in 16 cases, but a new freedom of
information request filed by the Action on Armed Violence charity shows that
the UK government paid at least 64 Afghan families over the deaths of children.
The
most common causes of civilian deaths between 2006 and 2014 were airstrikes
launched by British forces as well as accidental killings during crossfire.
In
total, the UK received 881 claims of civilian deaths from Afghan families, but
only about a quarter received financial compensation, amounting to $790,133 in
total payouts.
One
high-profile claim was launched by relatives of a family in which eight members
were killed in 2008 during an airstrike in Helmand province. The UK paid $8,260
in compensation.
In
order to claim financial compensation, Afghan applicants endured a strict
process designed to bar those affiliated with the Taliban.
Afghans
needed to provide photos, birth certificates and letters of support, Action on
Armed Violence said.
But
the UK’s approach to compensation for civilian deaths has faced criticism, with
figures showing that in some cases, Afghans were paid more for property and
material losses than the deaths of family members.
Action
on Armed Violence Director Iain Overton also questioned the government’s
transparency over the financial payout figures, saying the lack of debate
around civilian deaths in Afghanistan was concerning.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2196436/world
--------
Mideast
Iran
warns Saudi Arabia its ‘patience’ may run out
November
10, 2022
DUBAI:
Iran’s intelligence minister told its regional rival Saudi Arabia on Wednesday
that there is no guarantee of Tehran continuing its “strategic patience,”
according to semi-official Fars news agency.
“Until
now, Iran has adopted strategic patience with firm rationality, but it cannot
guarantee that it will not run out if hostilities continue,” Fars quoted Esmail
Khatib as saying.
“If
Iran decides to retaliate and punish, glass palaces will crumble and these
countries will not experience stability anymore.” Iran has accused foreign
enemies of fomenting unrest raging since the death in police custody of Iranian
Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September after her arrest for allegedly flouting
the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code imposed on women.
The
protests by Iranians from all walks of life have mushroomed into one of the
biggest challenges to Iran’s clerical leaders since the 1979 Islamic
Revolution.
Last
month, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami warned Saudi Arabia
Riyadh to control its media outlets.
“I
am warning the Saudi ruling family.... Watch your behaviour and control these
media ... otherwise you will pay the price. This is our last warning because
you are interfering in our state matters through these media. We told you, be
careful,” Salami said, according to Iranian state media.
Last
week Iran denied that it posed a threat to Saudi Arabia after the Wall Street
Journal reported that Riyadh had shared intelligence with the United States
warning of an imminent attack from Iran on targets in the kingdom.
Deadly
strike hits pro-Iran militia
A
strike on a pro-Iran militia convoy in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border
killed at least 14 people overnight, a war monitor said Wednesday, without
specifying who carried it out.
The
attack hit a convoy of “fuel tankers and trucks loaded with weapons”, in the
Albu Kamal area, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The
US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the militant Islamic State group in
Iraq and Syria said neither it nor any coalition countries carried out the
raid.
A
spokesman for the Israeli military said: “We do not comment on foreign press
reports.” The Iraqi border official said the trucks were transporting
Lebanon-bound fuel from Iran via Iraq and Syria.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1720042/iran-warns-saudi-arabia-its-patience-may-run-out
--------
Outgoing
defense minister warns of rising extremism in Israel
Abdelraouf
Arna'out
09.11.2022
JERUSALEM
Outgoing
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned Wednesday of rising extremism
inside Israel.
"The
extremism in society and in the government is what bothers me," Gantz said
in statements cited by The Jerusalem Post newspaper.
Opposition
leader Benjamin Netanyahu is set to form the upcoming government in Israel
after his right-wing alliance won last week’s legislative elections.
Netanyahu’s
camp won 64 seats in the 120-seat Knesset (Israel’s parliament) against 51
seats for members of the current government led by Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
One
of his allies, Bezalel Smotrich, the head of the extremist Religious Zionism
Party, wants to hold the defense portfolio in the upcoming government.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Interior
Minister: Leaders Behind Iran's Unrest Trained in 8 Countries
2022-November-9
Vahidi
disclosed the plots hatched by enemies to turn the recent unrest in Iran into
ethnic divisions in a meeting with a group of clerics on Tuesday.
The
minister noted that the people that took part in the unrest in Iran fall into
several categories, some of whom had especially trained in eight countries that
are opposed to Tehran.
"In
the course of the recent plot, in addition to the United States, which in
shortest possible time voiced its support for the rioters, such countries as
Germany and Britain, too, alongside Saudi Arabia and the Zionist regime, had
openly established a headquarters and were busy supporting the rioters,"
Vahidi said.
He
added that the global arrogance tried to guide the recent events towards tribal
issues, and to pretend that it is a supporter of different Iranian tribes and
ethnic minorities, which was a big lie that was soon rejected by the Iranian
people of different races.
"Although
the enemy spent large expenses for this combinate war and unrests, their plots
led to defeat, but while they know about this defat, they have no way, but to
insist on continuation of this hybrid war," the minister added.
The
foes have conceded that its policy of maximum pressure on Iran has ended in
failure, the official stated.
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.
Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei severely censured
the deadly riots, saying they were orchestrated in advance by the United States
and the Israeli regime.
“I
state it clearly that these developments were planned by America, the Zionist
regime and their acolytes. Their main problem is with a strong and independent
Iran and the country’s progress. The Iranian nation proved to be fairly strong
during recent events and will bravely come onto the scene wherever necessary in
the future,” he added.
In
recent days, Iranian officials have blamed the United States, the European
Unions, and several Western states for meddling in Iran's internal affairs over
the death of Mahsa. They advised the US and its allies against
"opportunism and instrumentalization of the issue of human rights" by
misusing the incident.
Tehran
reminded that the countries, which, themselves, towed a "long history of
warmongering and violence" throughout the world, lacked the legitimacy
that could authorize them to "moralize others" concerning the human
rights.
Iran’s
Intelligence Ministry has announced that the United States and the United
Kingdom were “directly” involved in the recent riots across the country.
Dozens
of terrorists affiliated with the Zionist regime and anti-revolution groups
have been detained during the recent days of unrest, the ministry said in a
Friday statement.
The
Iranian Intelligence Ministry underlined that 49 MKO terrorists had been
arrested for actively propagating fake news, inciting the rioters to organize
acts of terror and destruction, directing slogans and being present on the
streets to damage public property.
The
ministry added 77 members of anti-Iran terrorist groups had also been arrested
in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
The
statement pointed to the detention of five members of Takfiri terrorist outfits
with 36 kilograms of explosives that were to be used to carry out bombings in
gatherings.
The
ministry further underscored 92 people affiliated with the former US-backed
Pahlavi regime had been identified and arrested in the riots. It added that
nine nationals from Germany, Poland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and
Sweden, among others, were arrested during the riots.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Speaker:
Enemies Seeking to Disintegrate Iran
2022-November-9
Qalibaf
made the remarks in a Wednesday session of parliament, calling for preserving
unity among the Iranian nation.
He
cautioned that any kind of stance, which hurts unity, will be considered as
loading the enemy’s gun.
The
speaker noted that "the enemy seeks to disintegrate Iran".
"We
should preserve the unity in the country and the anti-Islamic Revolution foes
in particular the United States and the Zionist regime are attempting to react
to revolutionary movements, so we should protect unity to be able to stand
against them," the senior lawmaker added.
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.
Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei severely censured
the deadly riots, saying they were orchestrated in advance by the United States
and the Israeli regime.
“I
state it clearly that these developments were planned by America, the Zionist
regime and their acolytes. Their main problem is with a strong and independent
Iran and the country’s progress. The Iranian nation proved to be fairly strong
during recent events and will bravely come onto the scene wherever necessary in
the future,” he added.
In
recent days, Iranian officials have blamed the United States, the European
Unions, and several Western states for meddling in Iran's internal affairs over
the death of Mahsa. They advised the US and its allies against
"opportunism and instrumentalization of the issue of human rights" by
misusing the incident.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010818000442/Speaker-Enemies-Seeking-Disinegrae-Iran
--------
Intelligence
Minister: UK to Pay Price for Enmities towards Iran
2022-November-9
"The
US, the UK, the Israeli regime and Saudi Arabia played an overt role in the
recent riots in several Iranian cities," Khatib said in an interview with
the Supereme Leader's website on Tuesday.
“We
will never support terrorist and destabilizing acts in other countries as the
UK does, but we also will not be committed to preventing the occurrence of
insecurity in such countries,” the minister stated.
He
then hastened to warn that London will pay the price of acting to make the
great country of Iran insecure.
Referring
to the so-called Iran International TV, Khatib stressed that the “elements of
that network” will be pursued by the intelligence ministry.
“From
now on, any kind of connection with this terrorist organization will be
considered as entering the terrorist domain and threatening the country’s
national security,” he added.
Undoubtedly,
Khatib said, the biggest “influence operation” against a country in the world
was carried out against Iran through hybrid operations by the US, the UK, the
Israeli regime, and Saudi Arabia.
“In
recent events, the hand of the Zionist regime was more evident in
implementation; the hand of the UK in propaganda, and the hand of the Saudi
regime in funding,” he explained.
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.
Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei severely censured
the deadly riots, saying they were orchestrated in advance by the United States
and the Israeli regime.
“I
state it clearly that these developments were planned by America, the Zionist
regime and their acolytes. Their main problem is with a strong and independent
Iran and the country’s progress. The Iranian nation proved to be fairly strong
during recent events and will bravely come onto the scene wherever necessary in
the future,” he added.
In
recent days, Iranian officials have blamed the United States, the European
Unions, and several Western states for meddling in Iran's internal affairs over
the death of Mahsa. They advised the US and its allies against
"opportunism and instrumentalization of the issue of human rights" by
misusing the incident.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Top
Security Official: Iran Ready to Help End Russia-Ukraine War
2022-November-9
Shamkhani
made the remarks in a meeting with Secretary of Russia’s Security Council
Nikolai Patrushev in Tehran on Wednesday.
"Iran
welcomes and supports any initiative that leads to a ceasefire and peace
between Russia and Ukraine based on dialogue and is ready to play a role in
ending the war," Iran's top security official said.
Referring
to the dimensions of the hybrid war against the Iranian nation and the effects
of the US sanctions, Shamkhani noted, "Expanding bilateral and regional
cooperation, especially with neighboring countries in the economic field, is
one of the strategic priorities of our country."
He
also stressed the need for strengthening the Iran-Russia cooperation process in
different fields including trade, banking, energy, transportation, and
agriculture.
"By
taking the necessary measures, the obstacles in these sectors should be removed
quickly," the security official added.
Shamkhani
also noted that it is necessary to strengthen multilateral cooperation in
regional organizations, especially the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO),
to intelligently use the exchangeable capacities of the member countries.
"Danger
of terrorism and extremism continues to threaten the security of the region and
the world," he continued, emphasizing the need to continue and increase
regional and international cooperation to completely eliminate the dangers of
this phenomenon.
The
senior official also called for forming joint institutions to deal with
sanctions and activating the capacity of international institutions against
embargos and sanction-imposing countries.
Patrushev,
for his part, expressed satisfaction with the acceleration of cooperation
between Tehran and Moscow in various fields.
"Creating
synergy in transit capacities, especially the rapid completion of the
North-South corridor is an effective step to improve the quality of bilateral
and international economic and commercial cooperation," he added.
The
security official noted that Western countries, especially the US, are seeking
to impose their political will on independent countries by violating the UN Charter
and using combined warfare.
Patrushev
criticised the role of Western media in “misleading public opinion about how
the Ukraine crisis started and its realities on the ground”.
Iranian
officials have emphasized that Tehran takes no sides in the bloody conflict and
avoids any steps that may result in an escalation of the crisis. They
reiterated their opposition to war between the two countries.
Iranian
diplomats reiterated that Tehran has not provided Moscow with weapons for the
war in Ukraine, and cautioned Ukraine to be careful about extreme European
politicians' attitude towards Tehran-Kiev dispute.
Tehran
has also asked Kiev to submit evidence for the use of Iranian drones by Russia
in the war, and cautioned that arming Moscow or Kyiv will prolong the conflict
between the two neighbors.
In
Late February, President Vladimir Putin stated in response to a request by the
heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special
military operation. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of
occupying Ukrainian territories.
The
US, the EU, the UK and a number of other states have imposed sanctions against
Russian legal entities and individuals. They also increased supplies of weapons
to the Ukrainian authorities. Russia has officially become the most sanctioned
country in the world, surpassing Iran, Syria and North Korea, after launching a
military operation against Ukraine.
Back
in September, Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi cautioned that the
expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a serious threat
to the stability and security of nations.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
Calls for Intra-Regional Dialogue over Caucasus Dispute
2022-November-9
Referring
to recent remarks by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev over Iran's support for
Armenia, Kana'ani said, "Tehran once again announces its readiness for
contributing to resolving the remaining issues between its Northern neighbors
in the framework of bilateral, trilateral and six-sided regional
frameworks."
The
spokesperson further reiterated that the fundamental diplomacy of the Tehran is
based on "good neighborly relations" and "expansion of amicable
relations with all its neighbors", as well as strengthening ties with each
neighbor, but this does not mean using such ties against another neighbor.
"The
Islamic Republic of Iran has always emphasized the need to safeguard the
territorial integrity of every country, and peaceful resolving of the disputes
between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and therefore, we had condemned the occupation
of Azerbaijan's territories and supported their liberation at the highest
political level," the diplomat reiterated, referring to Iran's basic
policy about the lingering conflict between its two Northern neighbors in
Karabakh region.
He
said that it is now almost two years that the Azerbaijan Republic's officials
in various political, military and security levels have been in touch with
different officials of Armenia Republic, paving the path towards peace and
friendship, which was all supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, but the
reason for their worries about our natural contacts at neighborly level with
that country is incomprehensible for us.
The
official added that the recent wargame along Iran's borders with Armenia and
Azerbaijan was a normal and pre-planned move, which had been earlier informed
through official channels to the concerned neighbors.
Iranian
officials have repeatedly underlined Tehran’s opposition to geopolitical
changes in the region, and reaffirmed the country is ready to use all its
capacities to establish peace and stability in the Caucasus region and its
growth and development.
Tehran
believes that peace and stability in the region is enhanced through cooperation
among the regional countries, voicing hope that the ongoing negotiations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over their long-running territorial dispute
results in lasting peace.
Back
in September, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad
Baqeri called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to solve their territorial disputes
through dialogue, warning that Tehran will not tolerate any change to the
borders of the countries in the region.
Delivering
a stern warning against any attempt aimed at changing the regional borders in
the vicinity of Iran, the top military commander called on neighboring
Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve their border issues peacefully.
“We
have repeatedly declared that we do not tolerate any changes to the region’s
borders,” Major General Baqeri said.
“We
advise Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve their problems through peaceful
channels. We do not tolerate any resort to clashes and war and will not sit
idly by in the face of it,” he added.
Iranian
officials have stressed the necessity for the settlement of the crises and
problems in the region through collective cooperation among the regional
states, and underscored that the presence of foreigners is harmful.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010818000089/Iran-Calls-fr-Inra-Reginal-Dialge-ver-Cacass-Dispe
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Border
Guards Seize Arms, Munitions in Southeastern Iran
2022-November-9
General
Goudarzi said that the arms and munitions were cunningly hidden in the fuel
tank of a fuel carrier Toyota which was
discovered and seized in an operation.
The
commander who was visiting the Jakigour Border Guards Station of Sistan and
Baluchestan, further elaborated that the batch included 85 handguns, as well as
a large number of bullets and bullet cartridges, which were confiscated, and
the driver too, was arrested.
"This
was the 3rd batch of arms and munitions, which is discovered and confiscated in
Sistan and Balouchestan by border guards after the social unrests," he
said.
In
relevant remarks on Monday, General Goudarzi said that the Iranian border
guards have dismantled several trafficking bands and seized nearly 600 weapons
in less than two months.
"In
the last 45 days, Iranian border guards have annihilated several arms and
ammunition smuggling gangs and discovered about 600 weapons," General
Goudarzi noted.
Seizure
of arms grew 26 percent while being compared with the preceding year, he added.
The
senior commander stressed that the recent unrest resulted from "the US and
the children-killer regime of Israel and their agents" inside the country
created problems for the security of “our dear citizens".
The
border guards seriously stand against any move to break the law, he underlined.
“Our
border guards are the strong fortress of the holy system of the Islamic
Republic of Iran,” the border guards commander underscored.
Iranian
security forces have identified and dismantled several anti-security groups
across the country in recent months. Hundreds of weapons, including US-made
arms, were seized in the operations.
The
raid on the arms smuggling groups comes as terrorist groups have in recent
weeks ramped up their activities to undermine the security of the country by
hijacking rallies over the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman to foment
unrest and chaos.
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.
Source: Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010818000637/Brder-Gards-Seize-Arms-Mniins-in-Sheasern-Iran
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Iran
arrests ‘agent’ of London-based opposition TV channel: Report
10
November, 2022
Iranian
forces have arrested an “agent” of an opposition television broadcaster, Iran
International, while the individual was fleeing the Middle Eastern country, its
semi-official Fars news agency said.
The
action comes amid the biggest challenge to Iran’s clerical rulers since the
1979 Iranian Revolution, sparked by nationwide protests after the September 16
death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police for not wearing
“appropriate attire.”
On
Tuesday, Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, called the London-based
channel a “terrorist” organization.
“Recently,
the agent carried out numerous activities and actions in slandering the Islamic
Republic, inviting youth to riot and creating terror among the people,” the
agency added, describing the arrested person.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Palestinian
teen killed in West Bank clash with Israel
09
November, 2022
A
Palestinian teenager was killed Wednesday in clashes with Israeli troops that
erupted during a visit by right-wing politicians to a sensitive religious site
in the occupied West Bank, multiple sources said.
The
Palestinian health ministry said: “Mahdi Mohammad Hashash died of serious
wounds caused by shrapnel that hit different parts of his body during the
occupation’s incursion into Nablus,” the largest city in the northern West
Bank.
The
ministry said he was 15. It was not immediately clear if he was killed by an
explosive he was carrying, or by Israeli fire.
The
Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmud
Abbas’s Fatah movement, issued a statement claiming the minor as one of its
members.
The
Israeli military said troops were in the area to secure “the entrance of
worshippers to Joseph’s Tomb,” believed to be the last resting place of the
biblical patriarch Joseph and a flashpoint for West Bank violence.
A
Jewish settler organization told AFP that eight Israeli politicians -- current
lawmakers and others elected on November 1 who have yet to be sworn in -- were
visiting Joseph’s Tomb.
The
group included members of veteran hawk Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud
party and allies from the extreme right Religious Zionism bloc.
A
surge in support for the far right in last week’s general election sealed
victory for Netanyahu over centrist incumbent Yair Lapid, setting him up to
form what may be the most right-wing government in Israel’s history.
The
Israeli army said “shots were heard” at the site and troops “shot towards a
terrorist who placed a bomb in the area.”
“A
hit was identified,” it added, without directly commenting on Hashash’s death.
The
army declined to confirm that the troops were guarding lawmakers, identifying
the group only as “worshippers.”
The
Palestinian office of religious sites considers Joseph’s Tomb to be an Islamic
archaeological monument.
The
Israeli army organizes monthly escorted pilgrimages to the site but prohibits civilians
entering on their own.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Yemeni
forces down Houthi drones attempting to target Shabwa and Marib
09
November, 2022
Yemeni
forces on Wednesday downed a Houthi drone that attempted to target the port of
Qena in Shabwa, according to local media.
The
drone launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militia attempted to target an oil
tanker while unloading its cargo at the port located in the district of Rudhoum
in the Shabwa governorate, the local website Newsyemen reported.
The
report also said that the tanker was carrying thousands of tons of diesel,
adding that it successfully unloaded them after the drone was downed.
Separately
on Wednesday, Yemeni forces also downed a Houthi drone in the Marib
governorate, the Yemen News Agency (SABA) reported.
The
armed drone was launched toward a camp for the internally-displaced and was
shot down before reaching its target.
The
incident came after four internally-displaced people, including two children,
were killed on Monday evening after the Houthis reportedly targeted a camp in
the city of Marib with ballistic missiles and drones.
According
to a report by a governmental committee tasked with managing the camps of the
IDPs, 23 others were injured in the attack.
The
Houthis have recently launched similar attacks in Yemen after a UN-brokered
truce expired in early October.
One
of the major escalations was an attack on al-Dhabba oil terminal in the
governorate of Hadramawt on October 21.
The
Houthis claimed that they carried out the attack on al-Dhabba as a “warning” to
prevent a vessel from smuggling crude oil from the port.
The
attack on al-Dhabba was widely condemned with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans
Grundberg describing it as a “deeply worrying military escalation.”
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Iran
designates UK-based TV channel as ‘terrorist group’
Syed
Zafar Mehdi
09.11.2022
TEHRAN,
Iran
Iran
has designated UK-based Persian-language news network Iran International as a
"terrorist organization" and warned Britain that it will "pay
for its anti-Iran actions."
In
an interview aired Tuesday night, Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib decried
the UK, the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia for their alleged involvement in
protests inside Iran fueled by the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman in
police custody in September.
He
said Iran International has been designated as a "terrorist
organization" by Iran's security apparatus and those associated with it
are "wanted" by the country's intelligence ministry.
The
minister warned that "any kind of communication" with the UK-based
news network will be deemed as "engagement in terrorist activities and a
threat to national security".
The
remarks came on the heels of reports in UK-based Persian-language media about
possible risks to the lives of two journalists working for Iran International.
Khatib
said Iran "will not commit itself to counter insecurities" in the UK,
but added that London "will pay for its actions to destabilize Iran".
Last
month, Iranian officials called for the designation of UK-based
Persian-language news outlets, including Iran International and BBC Persian, as
"terrorist organizations".
Iran's
Deputy Judiciary Chief, Kazem Gharibabadi, said Tehran will take legal measures
against these channels for "directing and inciting riots in Iran through
promotion of terrorist acts and encouraging people to destroy public and
private property".
His
remarks came a week after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief,
General Hossein Salami, warned Saudi Arabia over Iran International's coverage
of protests in Iran, accusing Riyadh of bankrolling it.
He
accused the Saudi leadership of "provoking the Iranian youth", and
threatening "consequences" if the anti-Iran slant of the news channel
was not restrained.
Many
top political and military officials have in the past few months spoken against
Iran International and BBC Persian, criticizing their critical coverage of
protests that have rocked the country since mid-September.
The
British ambassador in Tehran was summoned by the foreign ministry at least
three times to protest Britain's hosting of these Persian-language news
channels.
In
the first summon on September 25, Iran protested what it called the role of
UK-based Persian-language media in "instigating riots" and
"creating a hostile environment" in Iran in the wake of the death of
Mahsa Amini.
Amini
died after being detained by Iran's morality police allegedly for wearing
"inappropriate dress". Her death led to widespread countrywide
protests, with many Western governments imposing fresh sanctions on Iranian
officials and entities.
In
his remarks on Tuesday night, Iran's intelligence minister blamed Israel, the UK
and Saudi Arabia for being active in "implementation, propaganda and
financing" of Iran protests respectively.
Referring
to a recent mass rally in Berlin in support of protests in Iran, Khatib said it
was financially supported by Saudi Arabia.
About
80,000 Iranian expats and their supporters marched in the German capital on
October 22, which many believed was the biggest rally held by the Iranian
diaspora.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/iran-designates-uk-based-tv-channel-as-terrorist-group-/2733357
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Arab World
Syrian
government aligned forces, Islamic State battle in south
Khaled
al-Khateb
November
10, 2022
AL-BAB,
Syria — Battles resumed Nov. 4 between local factions supported by the Syrian
government and Islamic State cells in the city of Daraa in southern Syria with
the end of the truce that began Nov. 2 to allow civilians to evacuate the
affected areas.
Armed
clashes have broken out in several neighborhoods of Daraa since Oct. 31 between
local groups of former fighters from the Free Syrian Army supported by the
Eighth Brigade, which is backed by the government and Russia, and armed groups
accused of belonging to IS. The fighting has caused casualties on both sides as
well as deaths and injuries among civilians and journalists.
Daraa
journalist Omran al-Hourani told Al-Monitor, “After a two-day truce, the
battles resumed in Daraa. Most of the residents of Tariq al-Sad and surrounding
neighborhoods were displaced, schools were closed and roads were completely cut
off due to the clashes that killed several civilians. The humanitarian
situation is very bad and people fear the battles will continue and spill over
to other neighborhoods.”
Hourani
added, “The groups accused of belonging to IS are holed up inside the
neighborhoods of Daraa and led by Mohammed al-Masalma. Most of the fighters of
these groups are former FSA members who refused to reconcile with the Syrian
government. Other local groups led by Khaled Abazid are supported by the Eighth
Brigade, backed by the regime and Russia, and also include former FSA
fighters.”
He
continued, “The attacks increased significantly after the truce ended. The
Eighth Brigade intensified its operations against the IS affiliates and managed
to kill many and drive them out of the neighborhood to take over their
positions.”
Hourani
pointed out, “Daraa dignitaries took advantage of the truce to try to stop
military operations inside residential neighborhoods, but they failed as the
Eighth Brigade carried on with its operations to eliminate every IS cell.”
The
local news organization Daraa24 reported Nov. 4 on a meeting held between
dignitaries and faction leaders in the Omari Mosque in Daraa. But the effort to
reach a solution and end the clashes ended without an agreement.
An
Eighth Brigade commander told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “The
military operations we are carrying out in Daraa alongside local groups are
part of the security campaign to cleanse the city of IS cells that are behind
most terrorist bombings and assassinations.”
Source:
Al Monitor
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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UAE:
Muslim employers ensure Christian domestic workers attend weekend church
prayers
10
Nov 2022
An
Ethiopian priest recalls that his first surprising experience after joining a
Dubai church, a decade ago, was receiving phone calls from Muslim families
employing Ethiopian female domestic workers.
"A
woman on the other line would ask the prayer time and location of the church,
saying she wants to drop her domestic worker at church for prayers. Being a
Muslim she is not familiar with it and asks: 'can you please tell me when I can
I take her back after prayers?' " reminisces Father Dereje Jimma,
Administrator of St Michael and St Arsema Church in Dubai.
Most
of those women employers are Emiratis, or other Arab nationals such as
Egyptians, Lebanese, Syrians and Jordanians etc. and his church still receives
such calls, reveals the priest, who is also the General Manager of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church in the Middle East.
Weekly
off, church prayers are a blessing for an estimated 200,000 Ethiopians living
in the UAE, around 50 per cent of whom are Christians, he says.
"Most
of these Christians are single women, mostly domestic workers. A weekly off and
an opportunity to attend church prayers are a great blessing for these women
who have left their families back home," says Father Jimma.
Of
course, he says, it is a known fact that the UAE leadership is keen about
progressive legislation for the welfare of all employees in the country,
especially domestic workers who are entitled to get weekly off day(s).
Beginning
with Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE's founding father, all leaders
have been advocates of religious tolerance as well, the priest points out.
"However,
the real challenge is how effectively such legislations are implemented and
whether such ideals of tolerance and co-existence are ingrained into the
grassroots level – into the hearts and minds of the people," he asserts.
The
phone calls from Muslim employers have convinced Father Jimma that the UAE has
been successful in tackling these challenges.
"If
you visit my church during the weekend and see Muslim employers and their
Christian domestic workers coming together in their car, you will also be
convinced. It is a beautiful scene you can witness at any church in the UAE."
In
churches across the emirates, when a Christian domestic worker gets a weekly
off, she spends her morning for church prayers and evening for personal and
social interactions, which are essential for one's spiritual and personal or
social life, the priest says.
"They
are blessed to have such a privilege in the UAE."
The
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church does not have its own building in the UAE,
but conducts prayers in other churches in all emirates, except in Ajman.
Source:KhaleejTimes
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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HRH
the Crown Prince and Prime Minister condoles with the Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques
09
Nov 2022
Manama,
Nov. 9 (BNA): His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown
Prince and Prime Minister, today sent a cable of condolences to the Custodian
of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, following the
passing of the mother of His Royal Highness Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah bin
Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Source:BNA
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.bna.bh/en/news?cms=q8FmFJgiscL2fwIzON1%2bDkbfbE%2f0qahQFzu4M0Aa9Jg%3d
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Papal
Muslim engagement makes demands on Asian bishops
By
Ben Joseph
November
10, 2022
Christian-Muslim
relations are far from cordial in Asia, as Muslims generally see Christianity
as a Western religion, which is opposed to its religious and political
ideologies.
The
Western world’s perception of Muslims across the globe supporting a political
global Islamic caliphate, spearheaded by the Islamic State (IS), makes
relations even worse.
The
imagined caliphate stretches beyond the Middle East to include Andalusia,
Turkey, the Balkans, Iran, South Asia, Central Asia, and Xinjiang in China. The
absurdity of such a vast land under one central Islamic authority, with Arabs
as natural rulers of the Muslim world, is serious for sections of the world's
population, increasing tension and violence.
Amid
this anarchy of minds, Pope Francis is focused on using religions, their ethos
and philosophies to promote peace.
The
three-day papal visit to Bahrain concluded on Oct 3, which was his second visit
to the Arab world. More than 200 religious leaders from different parts of the
world took part in the “Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human
Coexistence” along with Pope Francis.
The
pope is moving forward with “a certain logic” to open new paths to the
“different realities of the Muslim world," said Bishop Paul Hinder, the
apostolic vicar for Northern Arabia, which covers Bahrain along with South
Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
"Like
your patron Saint Francis of Assisi,” the Capuchin Swiss prelate said, “you are
not afraid to build bridges with the Muslim world and to show your fraternal
closeness to all people of goodwill.”
Following
the Bahrain Dialogue, Pope Francis met with the Muslim Council of Elders,
founded in 2014 in the UAE to promote peace and address sources of conflict
within Muslim communities.
He
also had a private meeting with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Egypt, Ahmed
Al-Tayeb. Both of them inked the Document on Human Fraternity in Abu Dhabi in
2019. Since then, the document has been the main guiding principle for
inter-religious talks.
In
September, Pope Francis took the message of peace to Muslim-majority Central
Asia with a three-day trip to Kazakhstan to take part in the 7th Congress of
Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in the capital Nur-Sultan.
The
pope said the visit to Kazakhstan was "an opportunity to [have a] dialogue
as brothers, animated by the common desire for peace, peace that our world is
thirsty for."
He
was expected to visit Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, late in
2020, but this was canceled because of the pandemic.
Pope
Francis has an impressive track record of engagement with the Muslim world.
When he completed six years as Bishop of Rome in 2019, the 85-year-old pope had
already visited seven Muslim nations.
The
papal interest in building bridges with Muslims is hardly reflected in the
Church in Asia, which houses more than half of the world's Muslims.
Nations
such as India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh alone account for 40 percent
(800 million) of the world’s two billion Muslims. If papal efforts have to bear
the fruits of peace and cooperation between Christians and Muslims, the Church
in Asia needs to pay much more attention to its actions.
The
Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences has been holding "dialogue with
religions” vital to its mission in Asia. Along with it, dialogue with the poor
and dialogue with cultures was presented as indispensable for valid Christian
existence in Asia.
However,
decades after these declarations, we do not see any worthwhile engagement with
Muslims in Asia, particularly in South Asia, where Muslims dominate in a few
countries.
Dialogue
with Islam looks neglected as churches in Asia focus on dialogue with Hinduism
and Buddhism in their efforts to engage with Asian religions. It is time the
Asian Church considered Islam an Asian religion and engaged with it in creative
ways to help improve the lives of millions. Peace comes with progress.
The
triple dialogue — with religions, cultures and the poor — will become a
simultaneous action when Christians start collaborative actions with Muslims,
Hindus and Buddhists to lift the poor out of their miseries. Millions in Asia
are poor, despite the fact that they follow a religion, and its culture.
Engaging with the poor is, in fact, engaging with cultures and religions.
One
of the seeming difficulties in engaging Muslims is its link with politics. The
Church, particularly the hierarchy in Asia, fears engaging with Islam will
invariably link it to political Islam, which they want to avoid.
Pope
Francis becomes a beacon here to swim through the sea of political complexities
to reach the shore of friendship and collaboration.
Source:UCANews
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/papal-muslim-engagement-makes-demands-on-asian-bishops/99364
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US
to give Lebanon $80.5 million in aid amid economic crisis
09
November, 2022
The
United States announced Wednesday that it will give $80.5 million in aid for
food assistance and solar-powered water pumping stations in the crisis-battered
country of Lebanon.
The
announcement was made by USAID chief Samantha Power during a visit to Lebanon
ahead of a trip to Egypt for the COP27 U.N. climate conference.
During
the visit, Power is set to meet with Lebanese political leaders to push for a
resolution to the country’s political vacuum and for leaders to carry out a
slate of political and economic reforms required by the International Monetary
Fund to clinch a $3 billion aid package.
The
visit comes as Lebanon is in the grip of its worst economic and financial
crisis in its modern history. On Oct. 31, the six-year term of President Michel
Aoun ended with no replacement elected.
Power
declined to say, however, whether any US assistance would be contingent on
Lebanon taking these measures.
“We
are not focused on what happens if those reforms don’t happen. The reforms have
to happen,” she told The Associated Press.
The
prospect of an IMF deal “should be enough to end the infighting and bickering
and do what is needed for the sake of the country,” Power said.
USAID
has provided about $260 million to Lebanon in 2022 to date. On Wednesday, Power
announced an additional $72 million for food assistance to some 650,000 people
over five months as part of a $2 billion global food security initiative.
Lebanon,
which relies heavily on imported food and has historically imported the
majority of its wheat from Ukraine and Russia, has faced increased food
security anxieties in the wake of the Russian war in Ukraine.
Power
also announced $8.5 million to fund 22 new solar-powered pumping stations.
Lebanon has been dealing with a crippling electricity crisis that has also led
to water shortages due to lack of power at pumping stations.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Amid
high tensions, Iran warns Saudi Arabia its ‘strategy of patience’ may not last
09
November, 2022
Iran’s
intelligence minister told Saudi Arabia that there is no guarantee of Tehran
continuing what he described as its “strategy of patience,” state news agency
IRNA reported on Wednesday.
“In
the case of Saudi Arabia, I say that our fate and that of other countries in
the region are tied together due to our neighbourhood. From Iran's point of
view, any instability in the countries of the region is contagious, and any instability
in Iran can be contagious to the countries of the region,” IRNA quoted minister
Esmail Khatib as saying.
Iran
is currently experiencing a massive country-wide wave of protests sparked by
the death of young Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police. The
Iranian regime has accused foreign countries of inciting unrest in the country
and encouraging the demonstrators who the regime labels as “rioters.”
The
Iranian minister added: “Iran has so far adopted strategic patience with firm
rationality, but it does not give any guarantee for the continuation of this
strategic patience in case of the continuation of hostilities. Undoubtedly, if
the will of the Islamic Republic of Iran is given to reciprocate and punish
these countries, the glass palaces will collapse and these countries will not
see stability.”
This
is the second time an Iranian official has used the phrase “glass palaces” in
reference to Saudi leadership. Weeks ago, Iran had issued a veiled threat and a
warning to Saudi Arabia, when top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards,
Hossein Salami said that Saudi leaders should not rely on Israel, adding that
Saudi leaders lived in “glass palaces”.
The
intelligence minister’s warning comes amid a heightened state of tensions,
following a WSJ report that said Saudi Arabia shared intelligence with the US
warning of an “imminent attack” from Iran on targets in the Kingdom.
The
report added that Saudi Arabia, the US and other neighboring countries in the
region have raised the level of alert for their military forces.
Washington
expressed concern about the Iranian threat against Saudi Arabia and said it
would not hesitate to respond if necessary.
“We
are concerned about the threat picture, and we remain in constant contact
through military and intelligence channels with the Saudis,” said the
spokesperson from the National Security Council.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Mother,
eight Syrian children killed in Turkey fire
09
November, 2022
A
fire in northwestern Turkey killed a mother, her six children and two nephews
despite efforts by the father to save the family, officials and media said on
Wednesday.
The
blaze erupted shortly before midnight late Tuesday in an apartment in the city
of Bursa, where a Syrian refugee family in Turkey since 2017 had moved into a
month a half prior, officials said.
The
mother, her six children aged one to 10, and two nephews aged 11 and 12, were
inside the flat when the fire began, according to local media.
The
father, who came home late after attending a funeral in Istanbul, tried to save
those inside, but was overcome by the smoke, according to the Anadolu news
agency.
“There
are nine bodies inside. Eight of them are children,” Bursa regional governor,
Yakup Canbolat, was quoted by Anadolu.
The
city mayor, Alinur Aktas, said in a tweet that the fire was probably caused by
a wood-burning stove inside the apartment.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Holocaust
survivor shares her story with Emirati and Jewish children in Dubai
10
November, 2022
A
Holocaust survivor shared her life story with schoolchildren in Dubai on
Wednesday, in a public exchange symbolizing deepening ties between Jews and
Arabs in the Gulf.
Eve
Kugler recounted the memory of how her family was terrorized in Nazi Germany –
addressing Emirati and Jewish schoolchildren on the 84th anniversary of the
Kristallnacht pogrom.
“It’s
historic, and it is an amazing honor,” Kugler told Al Arabia English. “I don’t
know how this could have happened, but it is historic and it is hugely, hugely
important, hopefully, as a first step to more personal contact between the Arab
nations and Jewish people.”
More
personal contact between different groups of people should promote
understanding and lessen the chance of prejudice and violence, she added.
Kugler
later visited the emirate’s Crossroads of Civilizations Museum where she
inaugurated a new chapter of the March of the Living foundation – a global
Holocaust remembrance group.
The
91-year-old described to schoolchildren how her family heard a knock on their
door on the evening of November 9, 1938 in the city of Halle in Germany.
A
group of Nazis burst into the family home, along with the local police chief,
and started smashing dishes and turning over furniture.
They
tore apart the family’s Torah holy book and stamped on her father’s prayer
shawl. “Everything that was sacred, they desecrated,” she said.
The
next morning, she woke up to find that the windows of her father’s shop had
been smashed.
Nazis
forced the family to clean up the broken glass, calling her mother a “filthy
Jewish woman.”
The
family fled to France, and were separated when Eve and her sister were sent to
the US when she was just ten years old.
Her
parents ended up being interned in a series of Nazi concentration camps, but
survived the ordeal – a “total, absolute miracle” according to Kugler.
A
burgeoning community
Dubai
is home to a burgeoning Jewish community that has blossomed in size and
visibility since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020 – normalizing
relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
Stewarding
the community in the Gulf nation since 2014 has been the country’s first licensed
Rabbi, Levi Duchman.
“The
UAE is home to over 200 nationalities, and if us in the Jewish community could
take a key role in sharing with the wider community this message of
understanding, this message of peace, this message of getting along with each
other, it’s important,” he told Al Arabiya English.
“And
when children understand it, they then teach it to their children, and they
pass it on.”
Also
speaking at the event was Eitan Neishlos, March of the Living’s Ambassador in
the Gulf.
Neishlos
himself is descended from Holocaust survivors, and spoke about how the UAE is
quickly becoming a safe haven for Jews in the Middle East.
“I’m
standing here looking at palms and I feel like I'm under the shaded palm of the
Abraham Accords, which is a gift.”
“For
the first time. I feel that in an authentic way, we can start to learn about
each other’s pasts, and when we look at each other’s pasts, we can look at the
happy moments, but we can also look at the sad moments.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Parliamentary
elections in Bahrain aimed at destroying democracy, prominent Shia cleric says
10
November 2022
Bahrain’s
most prominent Shia cleric has called for a boycott of the country’s
forthcoming parliamentary elections, saying the sham vote is meant to
"slaughter democracy" in the Persian Gulf kingdom, as the ruling Al
Khalifah regime is insistently exercising its heavy-handed crackdown on
dissent.
Grand
Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim in a post published on his Twitter page reiterated
his call on people from all strata of the Bahraini society to boycott the
elections, stating that voter participation would not result in the
consolidation of democracy in Bahrain as communities are largely excluded from
the political process.
“How
would it be possible to strengthen democracy [in Bahrain], whilst elections
have originally been designed to destroy it? This is an election whose doors
are closed to those who seek democracy,” he underlined.
The
distinguished Shia cleric highlighted that “The right decision is to boycott
participation in the upcoming elections. In that case, democracy would not
completely disappear and dictatorship would not become more institutionalized.”
Earlier,
Sheikh Qassim had stated that the Manama regime wants to maintain its grip on
power and strengthen tyranny in Bahrain by means of the ballots cast in the
elections.
“Elections
in Bahrain are only meant to reinforce tyranny, and people play into the hands of
the ruling regime and are treated as playthings,” the prominent Shia cleric
tweeted on November 2.
“Does
common sense dictate participation in such elections?” he questioned.
Bahrain’s
main opposition group, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, has already
called for a boycott of the upcoming parliamentary elections in the country,
amid an escalation of political repression and absence of meaningful reforms.
In
a statement released on September 14, al-Wefaq described the boycott of
November 12 polls as a national duty, emphasizing that the ruling Manama regime
maintains absolute control over the electoral process and seeks to install a
weak legislature, whose main task would be to burnish the image of the corrupt
Al Khalifah dynasty and cover up its human rights abuses.
It
added that the constitutional and political rift between the Bahraini regime
and the nation is deepening day by day, the main reason for which, it said, is
the lack of any social agreement between the two sides.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Africa
Move
Over, Ilhan Omar; Minnesota Republicans Pander to Somali Islamists
by
Benjamin Baird
November
8, 2022
Minnesota
is experiencing a reshuffling of political loyalties as the state GOP forges
alliances with a once-reliable Democratic constituency. Following years of
indifference, Minnesota Republicans are courting the state's Somali Muslim
community in a bid to drum up support for conservatives running in decisive
state and federal races.
However,
the state GOP's outreach has placed Republican candidates in contact with some
of Minnesota's most radical Islamist leaders and institutions, skirting a fine
line that often results in legitimizing extremism.
The
first signs that Minnesota Democrats may be losing ground with the Somali
Muslim community occurred in July, when a hometown crowd attending a
"Somali Week" concert booed progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) off
the stage at the Minneapolis Target Center. A few weeks later, Omar barely
survived a revolt in Minnesota's reliably progressive 5th District, where she
won by a razor-thin margin over a centrist candidate running on a shoestring
budget.
Since
then, Republicans have doubled down on their outreach efforts. On September 24,
the Minnesota GOP held a Somali Republican Dinner at the Doubletree hotel in
Minneapolis. Attendees, who heard speeches from party notables such as state
auditor candidate Ryan Wilson and Minnesota GOP Chairman David Hahn, celebrated
months of unprecedented collaboration between Somali Muslims and the Republican
Party.
The
high point of this relationship occurred at a July gathering dubbed
"SuperEid," a mass prayer of over 40,000 Somali Muslims at U.S. Bank
Stadium celebrating Eid Al-Adha, or the end of Ramadan. The GOP rolled out its
political heavyweights in a show of support, mingling with community leaders
and expressing common goals and shared values with Somali Muslims.
"Many
in our community feel left behind and let down by rising crime, a struggling
economy and other problems facing our Somali families and businesses,"
said Imam Tawakal Ismail, a favorite liaison between the GOP and Minnesota
Somalis. "We've had great discussions with Republicans reaching out to
offer alternatives focused on shared values, and I look forward to continuing
to build these relationships," he added.
Ismail
has remained at the forefront of Somali-Republican collaboration. The imam was
there when the GOP opened a Somali Republican Outreach Center in South
Minneapolis, he participated in a August luncheon with state Republicans, and
he was showered with praise at the Somali Republican dinner in September.
However,
the GOP's inside man from the Somali Muslim community was also a product of one
of the most radical Islamic seminaries in America. Ismail is a graduate of the
Islamic University of Minnesota, an uncertified religious school that the
Investigative Project on Terrorism refers to as a "hotbed of extremism."
Although
the school is not sanctioned by certifying officials in the U.S., IUM is
recognized by the Holy Quran University, which the military-Islamist regime of
former Sudanese president and war criminal Omar Al-Bashir established in 1990
to propagate Islam. IUM instructors have cursed Jews, refused to denounce ISIS,
and glorified Hamas leaders.
Despite
acting as the primary interlocutor between Somalis and their conservative
partners, Ismail does not appear to publicly speak in English, and save for a
few carefully curated statements, writes mostly in his native Somali.
Nevertheless, translations of the imam's social media suggest that he shares
his alma mater's disdain for Israeli Jews, including a Facebook post where he
promoted a prayer for "the Islamic people who are being massacred in
Gaza" at the hands of "the Jews of Israel."
SuperEid,
where Ismail was one of a handful of prayer leaders, was funded by notoriously
extreme "charitable organizations," such as Islamic Relief USA
(IRUSA) and Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD). During the final
days of the Trump administration, the U.S. State Department announced that it
was "conducting a full review" of IRUSA and its global branches,
ending "U.S. government funding" of the nonprofit due to the
"anti-Semitism exhibited repeatedly by [Islamic Relief Worldwide's]
leadership,"
HHRD
is the international humanitarian wing of the Islamic Circle of North America,
a front for a historically violent and genocidal Islamist movement active in
South Asia. In 2017, HHRD organized a conference in Pakistan co-sponsored by
Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani terrorist group responsible for killing 166
people in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
A
third sponsor, the Muslim Coalition of ISAIAH, is a statewide alliance of over
20 mosques involved in a strategic political alliance with hundreds of
progressive African American churches. This includes mosques such as the Dar
Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, a pipeline for international terrorism
recruitment where no fewer than six congregants have sought to join ISIS or Al
Shabaab, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia.
The
lead imam at Dar Al-Farooq, who was among a handful of local Somali leaders to
lead prayers at SuperEid, is Waleed al-Maneese. A Muslim jurist, Al Maneese has
cited Islamic scripture accusing Jews of spreading "corruption in the
land" and has instructed Muslims to place Sharia law above
"man-made" laws. He claims his mosque joined the ISAIAH alliance
because, unlike most Christian organizations, it "doesn't approve of demands
from pro-Israel Jews."
Inevitably,
Al Maneese was spotted interacting with GOP leaders who attended the mass
prayer, including Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen. Appearing in
a photo together, the pair cut an unlikely duo: on the right, the top
Republican leader in the state of Minnesota; on the left, a Salafist preacher
dedicated to pursuing far left causes, so long as they don't involve standing
up for gay rights or Israel.
Republicans
who attended SuperEid May have also encountered another prayer leader, Imam
Asad Zaman, the head of the Muslim American Society (MAS) in Minnesota. Federal
prosecutors have called MAS "the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in
America." On social media, the imam has endorsed Holocaust denialism and
the idea that U.S. presidents "depend upon the votes and the influence of
Jews in New York who support Israel."
Besides
Jensen, SuperEid guests included Republican candidates for the top offices in
Minnesota, including attorney general, secretary of State, and state auditor.
In
a gesture intended to cement the relationship between Somali Americans and the
Minnesota GOP, party chairman David Hann offered a $5,000 donation to support
Somali famine relief. "The donation will be made to a charitable
organization that has a record of direct support to the people in need,"
wrote Randy Sutter, executive committee member for Senate District 50.
SuperEid
sponsors HHRD and IRUSA have historically been involved with drought relief
efforts in Somalia, raising serious questions about the ultimate beneficiary of
the GOP's charity. However, party officials have shrouded this recipient's
identity in secrecy. If a donation was made, it was not reported to the
campaign finance board, and Republican leaders have not responded to repeated
requests inquiring about Hann's contribution.
Since
establishing a Somali Republican Outreach Center in August, conservative
candidates from throughout Minnesota have visited the office to pay their
respects to Ismail and his team of activists. Their strategy mirrors a larger
trend experienced in Muslim American enclaves across America, where
conservatives are capitalizing on a growing disillusionment with progressive
politics among mainstream Muslims.
In
October, Republicans running in statewide races converged on the city of
Dearborn, Michigan, joining Muslim citizens demanding the removal of sexually
explicit "LGBTQ" books found in school libraries. In August, two
Republican congressional candidates agreed to attend a candidate forum at the
Mosque Foundation in Bridgeview, Illinois, despite the religious center's role
in multiple terrorism investigations.
Traditionally,
the Minnesota GOP may have considered such outreach a fool's errand. Democrats
have long pandered to the Somali immigrant community by supporting social
welfare benefits and unrestricted immigration, while some Republicans have
viewed their Somali neighbors with suspicion, especially as dozens of Muslim
youth left their families behind to wage jihad with Al-Shabaab or ISIS.
"Yes,
there are some radical elements within the Somali diaspora, but we must not
brand the entire community as unworthy of our affiliation," Sutter wrote
to explain his party's outreach with the Somali community. "We have been
labeled by the [Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party] as prejudiced; we must
demonstrate clearly that we are not," he added.
Yet,
by acknowledging such baseless accusations, GOP leaders risk legitimizing them.
If Republicans are to make inroads with Somalis and other minorities, they
should be thoughtful and strategic about the partnerships they pursue, and stay
away from the radical mosques and extremist groups that have typified
Democratic alliances.
It
remains to be seen if this new partnership will survive the midterm elections.
So far, pundits inside Minnesota are quiet about the rapidly changing political
conditions, and Republicans appear to have escaped criticism for engaging with
extremists.
Source:
MEForum
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.meforum.org/63777/move-over-ilhan-omar-minnesota-republicans-pander
--------
Islamic
group makes demand from FG as court convicts EFCC boss, Bawa
November
9, 2022
By
Don Silas
Muslim
Rights Concern (MURIC) on Wednesday reacted to the conviction of Abdulrasheed
Bawa, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to
Kuje correctional facilities for contempt of court, pending the setting aside
of the order.
MURIC,
however, called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to probe the situations
surrounding the ‘ugly’ development.
The
Islamic group’s call for an investigation was contained in a statement by its
director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
The
statement partly read: “The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), AbdulRasheed Bawa, was yesterday sent to Kuje prison for
contempt of court.
“We
are surprised by this judgement. We are, therefore, inclined to take the ruling
with a pinch of salt.
“Without
prejudice to the wisdom and authority of the learned judge, we posit that the
circumstances surrounding the ugly development should be investigated by the
Minister of Justice.
“The
Honourable Minister of Justice [Alhaji Abubakar Malami] should investigate this
with minimum delay. There must be checks and balances on all sides.”
Justice
Chizoba Oji of a High Court in Maitama, Abuja, ruled that Bawa failed to obey
an order of November 21, 2018.
Source:DailyPost Nigeria
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://dailypost.ng/2022/11/09/islamic-group-makes-demand-from-fg-as-court-convicts-efcc-boss-bawa/
--------
Somalia
retakes key town controlled by al-Shabaab for over 15 years
Mohammed
Dhaysane
09.11.2022
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
Somalia’s
military has captured a strategic town in the central Galgaduud region that was
controlled by the al-Shabaab terrorist group for more than 15 years.
The
town of Wabho was retaken as part of an ongoing new offensive against the
terrorist group, Defense Ministry spokesperson Gen. Abdullahi Ali Aanod said at
a news conference on Wednesday.
The
Somali army, with the support of local militias, captured some 250 square
kilometers (96 square miles) of territory in Galgaduud, including the villages
of Warhole, Elbore, and Elgorof, he added.
Ahmed
Abdikarim, a security analyst in the capital Mogadishu, said Wabho’s economic
importance makes its loss a “huge blow” for al-Shabaab.
“Wabho
is a strategic area that has a lot of villages and a significant population.
This is a huge below for al-Shabab, particularly financially,” he told Anadolu
Agency.
Somalia
has been plagued by insecurity for years, with al-Shabaab being one of the main
threats in the Horn of Africa country.
Since
at least 2007, al-Shabaab has waged a deadly campaign against the Somali
government and international forces that has claimed thousands of lives.
The
UN has also warned of growing instability in the country, with its periodic
reports on Somalia this year detailing attacks by al-Shabaab and pro-Daesh/ISIS
groups.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
Southeast Asia
Lorry
attendant fined RM12,000 for insulting Islam on Facebook
09-11-
2022
KUALA
LUMPUR: A lorry attendant was fined RM12,000 or six months’ jail in default by
the Sessions Court here today for the charge of insulting Islam on Facebook two
years ago.
Judge
Nor Hasniah Ab Razak handed down the sentence after Tham Wai Yuen, 49, as the
person being summoned (OKS), changed his plea to guilty when the case was
mentioned today.
The
man was accused of knowingly making and sending offensive comments on Islam at
2.30 pm on April 4, 2020, using his Facebook account ‘Tham Thamsarak’, with the
intention of hurting the feelings of others.
The
postings were read at the federal police Cyber and Multimedia Crime
Investigation Division, Commercial Crime Investigation Department at Menara
KPJ, here, at 5 pm on April 20, 2020.
Tham
was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act
1998 which provides for a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment for up to
one year or both.
Deputy
public prosecutor Nurilya Ellyna Norazman asked for appropriate punishment as a
lesson to the OKS and the public, taking into account the offensive comments
made by the man.
Source:
TheSunDaily
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Not
taking bait to cross over my best decision, says Salahuddin
K.
Parkaran
November
9, 2022
PULAI:
Pulai candidate Salahuddin Ayub says he can look voters in the eye today
because he refused a lucrative offer from Muhyiddin Yassin during the Sheraton
Move that caused the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to fall.
He
said the Bersatu president, who went on to form the Perikatan Nasional
government in 2020, together with some of his other friends lured him with a
ministerial post but he flatly refused it.
“If
I had jumped then, could I stand here so confidently and face the voters? In
the Johor state elections in March, I won the Simpang Jeram seat with a
majority of 2,399 votes despite the strong performance of my challengers from
Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional.
“My
former PH colleague Steven Choong, who left PKR and stood under Parti Bangsa
Malaysia in Puteri Wangsa, lost his deposit. It shows people do not like
representatives who break their promises,” he told FMT.
Salahuddin,
a former minister in the PH Cabinet, said he won the state seat despite a low
turnout of 53%, and believes he will sail through in Pulai if the turnout
reaches about 71%.
In
the 2018 general election, Salahuddin won Pulai with a thumping majority of
28,924 votes, defeating Nur Jazlan Mohamed (BN-Umno), Mazri Yahya (PAS) and Yap
Keng Tak (independent).
Pulai
is a mixed seat with Malay voters making up 45%, Chinese 40%, Indians 12% and
others 3%.
The
Amanah deputy president said although he would not consider himself the
underdog, he also would not project himself as the favourite since his main
rival Nur Jazlan was a strong and credible candidate.
He
said the racial mix of the constituency was similar to that in the Simpang
Jeram state seat and hence he was confident he could make it here but with a
much-reduced majority. “Even a win by one vote is still a win.”
Battle
between good friends who are both half-Chinese
Salahuddin
described Nur Jazlan as a very nice person and a good friend and that they have
been campaigning decently without hitting each other below the belt. He said
his rival’s family record, where Nur Jazlan’s late father was a seven-term MP
in Pulai, also made the BN candidate a strong contender.
“It’s
interesting because we are not only good friends but both our mothers are
Chinese. The seat is also a fairly mixed seat. I cannot be complacent or
overconfident as Nur Jazlan is a tough nut to crack.”
Most
importantly, Salahuddin said, the election was not between him and Nur Jazlan
but one which would determine the future of the next few generations as the
nation shifted into a different gear.
“We
are just two simple human beings battling for our parties. For PH, a vote for
Pulai and other seats can help the coalition win this election and make Anwar
Ibrahim the next prime minister.
“So,
it’s important for parents to tell their children that this election is crucial
for the future generations. During the Johor state elections, the turnout of
the new voters was far from satisfactory. I hope it will improve this time,” he
added.
A
moderate Muslim party
Salahuddin
said Amanah would continue being a moderate Muslim party as this was good for
the future of the nation, and that was the reason why he and some others left
PAS because its president Abdul Hadi Awang was taking it in the wrong
direction.
“That
was the turning point. We also saw Hadi becoming too friendly with Umno and we
did not agree,” he said.
Asked
how he and Amanah were handling Umno and PAS demonising key PH ally DAP in the
campaign for the Chinese votes, he said they were not focusing on this as they
had bigger issues to attend to although they were still haunted by the
propaganda.
Source:Free
Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Hajiji
confident of record RM6bil revenue for Sabah this year
November
10, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: Sabah is expected to finish the year with a record RM6 billion in
revenue, says chief minister Hajiji Noor.
Pointing
out that last year’s RM5.4 billion in revenue was itself a record, he said the
Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) ruling coalition, which he formed in 2020, had
outperformed the previous Warisan and Barisan Nasional state governments.
“Prior
to this, the highest revenue ever recorded was RM4.5 billion under the
leadership of chief minister Musa Aman in 2014,” he was quoted as saying by the
Daily Express.
“With
the record income, I pledge to manage the funds properly for the development
and benefit of the people of Sabah,” he added during a dinner with the Chinese
community in Tuaran.
Hajiji
said the state’s higher revenue was also an indication of the effectiveness of
Sabah’s five-year Sabah Maju Jaya roadmap, a strategic development plan which
he launched in March 2021.
Stating
that Sabah had managed to attract numerous foreign investors, he added that the
factories and plants they established would lead to more jobs for Sabahans.
The
Daily Express report also said Hajiji had instructed the finance ministry to
allocate RM54 million to Chinese schools, missionary schools and non-Muslim
organisations in Sabah next year.
Source:Free
Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Anwar:
Hadi paid a lot as special envoy, but couldn’t even be bothered to attend
Parliament
By
John Bunyan
09
Nov 2022
IPOH,
Nov 9 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has taken a
swipe at PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang on his previous appointment as
special envoy to the Middle East in the government, which he described as a
cushy job.
Anwar,
who is also the PKR president, said that the Islamist party leader has no
principles despite preaching about Islam and claiming to fight for Malay
rights.
“They
talk about ‘Hidup Melayu’ (long live Malays) and Islam, but don’t have any
guilty feelings,” he said during his dialogue with the Malaysian Armed Forces
(ATM) veterans at Meru here.
“You
were a special envoy with a salary of RM60,000 per month, but you didn’t even
attend the Parliament meeting and yet you don’t feel guilty,” he added,
referring to Abdul Hadi.
Anwar
also said that when he brought up the issue he was labelled as anti-ulama or
the Muslim clergy class instead.
“I’m
not anti-ulama, I’m anti-politicians who disguise themselves with religion.
“I
didn’t criticise the entire party, but the one that condemned the entire party
previously was Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin,” he said, referring to the Parti
Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president.
Anwar
slammed the Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman for working with PAS despite
accusing the Islamic party of unorthodox Islamic teachings.
“Muhyiddin
is the one who labelled PAS as ‘parti ajaran sesat’, but he is the one who
working with them now,” he said, swapping the party’s initials with a Malay
term for a party of religious deviants.
Source:MalayMail
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
To
Rumah Pangsa Simpang Kuala residents in Alor Setar, party logos more familiar
than its seven candidates
By
R. Loheswar
10
Nov 2022
ALOR
SETAR, Nov 10 — Low Seng Song, a resident of Rumah Pangsa Simpang Kuala in the
Kedah state capital for 35 years, has voted at every general election since he
came of age. But with the 15th general election coming up next week, the
77-year-old is not certain how he will vote, if at all.
It’s
not that he doesn’t care about the future of the country at his age or
indifferent to politics, but with seven candidates racing for the Alor Setar
parliamentary seat, and most of them new faces, he has found himself
overwhelmed.
“I
know the Harapan logo, but if you ask me now who I will vote for, I don't know.
I'll decide later, but the other logos I am unfamiliar with. Haven't seen them
yet,” the former medicine salesman told Malay Mail when met at the ground floor
of one of the 20 blocks of low-rise, low-cost flats one afternoon during a
break in the rainy season.
Alor
Setar will see a seven-cornered fight for the first time in its history with
candidates. Three are candidates from the three main coalitions in the
peninsula: Tan Chee Siong from the Barisan Nasional (BN), Afnan Hamimi Taib
Azamuddin from Perikatan Nasional (PN), and Simon Ooi from Pakatan Harapan
(PH).
Two
more candidates are from fledgling parties: Datuk Mohamad Nuhairi Rahmat
representing Pejuang, the latest Malay party founded in 2020 by Tun Dr Mahathir
Mohamad; and Datuk Fadzil Hanafi from Warisan, originally a Sabah-based party
that has since spread its wings across the South China Sea.
The
remaining two candidates are independents: former Kedah Works Department
director Datuk Nordin Yunus, and another former civil servant Sofan Feroza Md
Yusup.
But
Low’s familiarity with the PH coalition logo does not mean he will definitely
vote for the Opposition bloc on November 19.
“In
my opinion, however, sometimes Barisan Nasional can do a better job. Mind you,
last time everyone who competed here were from MCA and also it wasn't like this
year where we're looking at seven candidates. Before this, it was
one-against-one, easy to choose,” the bespectacled man said with a smile.
“As
for Mahathir Mohamad, I feel people may not make him their first choice but
that's what people say. Who knows what they are really thinking. I saw his tent
pitched nearby on the street but I don't recognise the logo,” Low added.
Another
long-time resident Mohd Nasir, who has been living at this People’s Housing
Project for the past 18 years, also said he was more familiar with the
political logos than the candidates standing for elections.
The
school guard said he recognised the PH and BN logos, but had no idea what the
Pejuang and Warisan logos looked like.
“Only
after you told me Mahathir's party tent was pitched on the main road did I
realise it was there,” Nasir told Malay Mail.
He
thought that PH could have done a better job with running the country if it was
allowed to serve its full tenure in office after winning the 14th general
election.
But
he also said he is willing to vote for an independent “as long as they do their
work”.
“Now
we look at all the familiar parties and their logos like they're the symbol of
hope. But I would love to have a good candidate who cares about our welfare
more than theirs. After this 15th general election I hope the government can
improve our economy and create more job opportunities as right now we're all
having a hard time,” he said.
A
younger resident who gave his name as Fuad was stitching broken car seats on
his tiny porch when approached.
The
37-year-old said he has been working odd jobs to earn a daily wage to survive.
Fuad
said the housing project had been neglected and that when residents made
complaints, the authorities dawdled.
He
recalled a time when he made a complaint and was told by the authorities that
repairs would be carried out in return for their votes.
As
such he said, he has become jaded. He also said he was confused by the many
logos in this election. He wasn't sure what Warisan and Pejuang were, but
recognised Dr Mahathir.
“The
previous representatives rarely came here only in the early days then again
once an election is close. With all these new faces and candidates my head is
spinning.
“I
want to vote for the right candidate but I'm also trying not to be influenced
by the familiarity and popularity of parties like BN and PH. After this
election no matter whom I pick I just want someone to look after the youth and
please find a way to provide us with more jobs,” Fuad said.
What
they want
When
asked, most of the Rumah Pangsa Simpang Kuala residents said what they wanted
was basic but proper infrastructure.
Pointing
to their three-storey flats, they said upkeep was sorely lacking. The walkways were
cracked, which posed a hazard for many of the elderly residents when they
walked out to dispose of their garbage at the large bins placed on Jalan
Simpang Kuala, the main road.
Parking
bays were also limited at their flats, and many units had motorcycles parked
right outside their doors, which added to the hazard.
The
water pressure was also poor, they complained, so much so that some of the top
floors of the 20 blocks are now untenanted.
But
their biggest worry was their roof. Looking up, there were pieces of roofing
that dangled and flapped in the wind. The residents feared that at the next big
storm, those pieces would fly and hurt someone below.
A
man who only wanted to be known as Adam was vigorously cleaning the walkway in
front of his unit but paused for a chat about the upcoming election when
approached.
Asked
if he was familiar with the political parties and the candidates, he admitted
that he wasn’t. But he said that would not stop him from knowing how to choose.
Urged
to elaborate, Adam said that though he was a Malay and a Muslim, he would not
vote along racial lines, or for BN or anyone affiliated with the “dacing”
(weighing scales, which is the BN’s logo) because he was fed up with Umno as he
viewed them as corrupt.
His
eyes lit up at the mention of Dr Mahathir, though he fumbled with the veteran
politician’s party name.
“Oh
yeah, what's his [party] called again? Peluang, Pejuang? Either way I feel that
during Tun's time corruption wasn't so rife and the government was way better
than the ones that came after.
“There
wasn't so much corruption unlike now where any discerning and concerned citizen
will realise almost every level of government is corrupt and no one wants to do
honest work.
“That's
why I don't like Umno and it's difficult to say it out loud because the Malays
here are very protective and racist, they will only vote the Malay-Muslim
candidate and if you say otherwise as a Malay-Muslim they will ostracise you,”
said Adam who gave his profession as an accountant.
He
said that politics had divided the residents at the flats along partisan lines
to the extent that had even stopped talking to each other.
“So
when I stop talking or showing support to Umno, the people here ignore me. Well
that's OK with me, I want the best for my country.
“It's
sad to see people fighting, not being friends with one another because of these
unscrupulous individuals who pretend to care for them,” he added.
Like
Adam, another resident who wished to be known as Wan was more than willing to
talk to Malay Mail about the election and politics.
He
declined to give his full name and have his photograph taken as he was in
uniform.
As
far as Wan was concerned, all the political parties and three coalitions that
had governed Malaysia since 2018 were poor at running the country, looking
after the welfare of its citizens and were terrible at finding ways to fix the
economy.
“These
people don't want to help us, they want to fill their pockets first. Everything
is PM, PM, PM, PM. They all want to be prime minister. Nobody cares about
anything else,” he said.
“That's
why I don't have a clue who I'm going to vote for whether PAS, BN or whomever;
all the same.
“Even
for Tun at his age, it's hard to put that vote for him and trust him. Let
someone new get a chance lah, right? I want to see more youngsters in politics
and give it a shot, learning, improving, having high-energy and hopefully a
mind that is for the people not for the money and power,” he added.
But
Wan was full of praise for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is now PH’s prime
minister candidate.
He
recalled the days when Anwar was in the government in the 1990s, saying the
latter had handled the Asian financial crisis well back then.
“But
in the 22 months PH was in office and Lim Guan Eng was the finance minister it
was chaotic. Tabung Haji dividends he reduced it to 2 per cent from 8 in prior
years. PH shouldn't have done that, we needed that money for a lot of things,”
Wan said.
In
the past two general elections, PKR had won Alor Setar with a comfortable
margin.
In
Election 2018, Chan Ming Kai bagged 32,475 votes, beating his closest
competitor Muhammad Aminur Shafiq from PAS by a 15,200-vote majority.
Source:
MalayMail
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
South Asia
US
official visits Pakistan to discuss situation of Afghan refugees
10
November, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], November 10 (ANI): The Charge d’Affaires of the US Mission to
Afghanistan, Karen Decker visited Pakistan as part of her “listening tour” to
discuss the situation of Afghan refugees, Khaama Press reported on Tuesday.
The
US official will be taking a look at the plight of Afghan refugees in Pakistan
as well as the organizations and individuals working to support Afghans and
Afghanistan in Islamabad, Khaama Press cited Decker’s tweets.
The
US official is making a visit to Pakistan after 30 ‘long’ years after reports
of Afghan women and children detained and imprisoned in Pakistani jails.
Earlier
former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai had also attacked Pakistan for
‘mistreating’ the Afghan refugees who crossed the border after the Taliban took
over the country.
Karzai
expressed his concerns over the mistreatment of the refugees by the Pakistan
government. He also urged the Pakistan administration to treat the refugees as
per international laws and human rights values.
As
per media reports over 1100 Afghan refugees including women and children have
been arrested and imprisoned in the Sindh state of Pakistan, Hamid Karzai
tweeted.
As
per Khaama Press, the US official’s visit to Pakistan is being hailed by social
media users, particularly the Afghan refugees who are waiting to be resettled
to the US, and those eligible under the US’s P1/P2 program.
Earlier
on Tuesday, Taliban-run Afghan Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, said that 30
undocumented Afghan migrants who had been incarcerated in Pakistani prisons had
been released and deported to Afghanistan, Khaama Press reported.
Khaama
Press, citing its monitoring desk, said that thousands of Afghans cross Turkham
and Spin Boldak borders daily and most do so without holding valid entry
permits and visas.
The
Afghan immigrants in Pakistan do not hold any legal status as the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has not yet started registering the
immigrants.
One
of the main reasons behind the rising number of Afghan immigrants in Pakistan
is the political instability and economic crisis in Afghanistan reported Khaama
Press.
Since
its ascent to power in Kabul, the Islamic group imposed policies severely
restricting basic rights–particularly those of women and girls.
According
to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Taliban dismissed all women from leadership
posts in the civil service and prohibited girls in most provinces from
attending secondary school.
Source:ThePrint
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Gunman
Opens Fire at Civilians in Eastern Afghanistan
By
Saqalain Eqbal
November
9, 2022
Local
Taliban officials in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan said that an armed
attack in the center of the province resulted in the death of one person and
the injuries of three other people.
According
to the Taliban governor for Kunar province, Najibullah Hanif, the armed attack
at the provincial capital of Kunar province, Asadabad city, took place on
Tuesday evening, November 8.
The
Taliban official stated that in Asadabad city, four unarmed civilians were shot
at; as a result, one person was murdered and three others were injured.
Even
though the motive for the shooting is yet to be determined by the Taliban
investigative teams, the Taliban official stated that the shooting gunman has
been taken into custody.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/gunman-opens-fire-at-civilians-in-eastern-afghanistan-357846/
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Pakistan
Govt
announces end to riba in five years
Shahbaz
Rana
November
09, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The
government announced on Wednesday it would implement the Federal Shariat Court
(FSC) decision, implying that it would transform the existing interest-based
banking system to an interest-free model in the next five years.
Finance
Minister Ishaq Dar said in a pre-recorded statement that the State Bank of
Pakistan (SBP) and the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were withdrawing their
appeals against the FSC, inferring that the government would implement the
interest-free banking system by December 2027.
On
the day Dar announced to honour the FSC decision, Finance Secretary Hamed
Yaqoob Sheikh launched a new SDG and Climate Finance Facility to tap foreign
loans from non-traditional international investors.
The
finance ministry and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan,
launched the Climate Financing Facility to mobilise private sector investments
after the traditional financing by the foreign creditors started drying up.
On
the same day, Dar also announced that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB) approved $500 million loan. Pakistan has secured the loan at one of the
highest interest rate of 4.9% by any multilateral creditor.
The
three separate but identical events highlight the challenges facing Pakistan’s
economy due to mounting requirements that makes the government deeply dependent
on domestic and foreign creditors to remain afloat.
In
its April 2022 judgment, the FSC had also directed that future financial
engagements, including the availing of loans and advances, between Pakistan and
international financial institutions and other bilateral as well as
multilateral providers of finance be carried out on the basis of Shariah
compliant modes of finance such as the issue of Sukuk.
Dar
said that Pakistan did not move forward towards an interest-free banking system
during the past few years as it should have. He added that the decision to
withdraw the appeals was taken after permission from Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif and in consultation with the SBP governor.
In
June this year, the central bank had approached the Supreme Court, seeking
modification in the FSC’s April 28 judgment that declared that riba was
prohibited, according to the injunctions of Islam, so it should be eliminated
from the country in five years.
At
present the Islamic banks account for 19.4% of the country’s overall banking
system in terms of assets, while in terms of deposits the share is 20%.
Currently, 22 Islamic banking institutions are running five full-fledged
Islamic banks and 17 conventional banks having standalone Islamic banking
branches with a network of 3,983 branches along with 1,418 Islamic banking
windows.
In
its appeal, the SBP argued that a mass-scale conversion of the banking system
would require infrastructural investment and changes at a mega scale – at least
five times more within the next five years in comparison with the current level
which had been achieved in more than 20 years.
The
government’s decision to withdraw the appeals would now require shifting of the
traditional banking to Islamic banking. But Dar did not give a framework how he
intended to implement the decision.
As
a result of the FSC decision, Pakistan became the first Muslim country to
officially declare modern bank interest as riba, declared haram by Qur’an. The
FSC had declared the laws allowing interest repugnant to Islam in 1991.
The
federal government and certain banks and financial institutions filed 67
appeals against this judgment in the Shariah Appellate Bench of the Supreme
Court.
The
FSC has declared a number of laws of the country repugnant to the injunctions
of Islam, as they have provided for charging or paying interest, which
according to the findings of the FSC, fall within the definition of riba.
Dar
said that the government would try to implement the Islamic banking system as
soon as possible. “God willing, we will take Pakistan towards an interest-free
economy”, he added.
Traditional
borrowing continues
Dar
took to twitter on Wednesday to announce that the AIIB Board had approved a
$500 million loan for Pakistan. The loan has been contracted at the Secured
Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), which currently stands at 3.8%.
Pakistan
will pay 0.81% over and above the SOFR on account of a fixed spread and
variable borrowing cost, taking the tally to 4.61%. Then there is a front-end
fee of 0.25%, which is $1.25 million on a loan of $500 million. This brings the
total interest rate to 4.9% – one of the highest by a multilateral institution.
Meanwhile,
the finance secretary launched a new financing facility aimed at taking a pie
out of available climate change financing window in the world.
“This
is a timely initiative for accelerating financing for development in Pakistan”,
said Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, while launching the facility. “We must call on the
private sector and international stakeholders to expand the financing pool and
reach out to marginalised populations”, he added.
UNDP
Senior Adviser on Financing for Development, Haroon Sharif, said that the
traditional financing sources were coming under pressure but huge sums of money
were available for climate resilience initiatives that could be mobilised by
pitching projects for investors.
Sharif
said that under the new initiative, they were targeting $2 to 3 billion
financing in the next two to three years out of the potential investment of $96
billion that Pakistan could tap.
The
IMF estimates Pakistan’s annual financing gap for the SDGs at $3.72 billion for
2022-23. Pakistan can also arrange $500 million through green sovereign bond,
as it may not be able to raise planned $2 billion through traditional eurobonds
due to its junk credit rating.
Source:
Tribune Pakistan
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Imran
Khan's party all set to resume stalled long march today
Nov
10, 2022
LAHORE:
Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is poised to resume its stalled
long march on Thursday from Wazirabad in Punjab province, where an
assassination attempt was made on the former premier last week.
The
long march to Islamabad, demanding fresh general elections, was suspended
following the attack on Khan.
Khan,
70, suffered bullet injuries in the right leg when two gunmen fired a volley of
bullets at him and others standing on a container-mounted truck in the
Wazirabad area, where he was leading the march on November 3.
He
underwent surgery for bullet injuries at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital owned by
his charitable organisation.
He
is advised to take rest for four to six weeks by doctors.
The
former cricketer-turned-politician, who is recovering from injuries, had
announced resumption of the long march on Tuesday but later the party changed
the decision and rescheduled it for Thursday.
He
would join the long march in Rawalpindi when it reaches there in 10 to 14 days.
"PTI
vice-chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will lead the
march from Wazirabad on Thursday at 2 pm (local time)," PTI Punjab leader
and health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid told PTI on Wednesday.
"The
long march will resume with prayers for those killed and injured in the
shooting. A sea of people will reach Islamabad to push the coalition government
of 13 parties led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to announce the
date for early elections," she said.
During
a meeting presided by Khan at his Lahore residence on Wednesday, it was decided
that the "Haqeeqi Azadi" march would move towards Rawalpindi from the
spot following a public gathering.
The
federal government has not yet granted permission to PTI to hold its rally in
Islamabad.
In
a statement, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said leaders from
Faisalabad and other parts of the country would move towards Rawalpindi in
groups, while more convoys will reach the city in the third week of November,
Geo TV reported. Meanwhile, a three-member probe panel would be formed on
Thursday, which will provide details of the investigation done by local police
to the joint investigation team, it added.
One
person was killed and 11 others, including Khan, were injured in the attack
during the long march.
Khan
has alleged that prime minister Shehbaz Sharif,interior minister Rana Sanaullah
and Major General Naseer were part of a plot to assassinate him in the same way
former Punjab governor Salman Taseer was killed in 2011 by a religious
extremist.
Khan,
who was ousted as prime minister in april this year after a no-confidence
motion was passed in the National Assembly, is seeking fresh general elections
in Pakistan.
However,
the federal government led by Prime Minister Sharif is opposed to holding
elections now. The term of the current National Assembly will end in August
2023.
Source:
Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Pakistan:
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat Valley witnessing a resurgence of the TTP
9
November, 2022
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], November 9 (ANI): The recent surge in attacks by the
banned outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat District
has given rise to the fear that the presence of terrorists and violence is
making a comeback after more than a decade.
The
deteriorating security situation in Swat also highlights the weakness of the
Pakistan Army-led peace process, which appears to be moving inexorably to
failure. Further, it is also seen as the failure of the Pakistan Army under
Army Chief Gen Bajwa to contain the resurgence of the TTP, reported Islam
Khabar.
The
TTP leadership is displaying complete intransigence on its core objectives thus
reducing the possibility of negotiations succeeding.
Consequently,
the people of Swat have come out on the streets and are protesting against
rising militancy in the Swat valley. The resurgence of the TTP is a direct
fallout of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, reported Islam Khabar.
The
recent appearance of TTP in the Swat valley brings back memories of the bloody
period in the early 2000s. According to the latest figures, there have been six
incidents this year alone in which 12 persons, including seven civilians and
five terrorists, have been killed.
Global
Strat View, a US-based virtual think-tank has issued (October 30, 2022) an
analysis which claims that the Pakistani Army had allowed the return of some
TTP militants in the Swat Valley as a part of its ongoing negotiations with the
terrorist outfit.
However,
local leaders and human rights activists see the TTP’s resurgence in KP as a
devious ploy to create disturbances in the Pashtun areas of Pakistan, reported
Islam Khabar.
Global
Strat News says this is a consequence of the Afghan strategy followed by the
Pakistan Army, because of which the Afghan Taliban is no longer willing to
follow orders from Rawalpindi, reported Islam Khabar.
Complications
have also arisen due to the failure of the TTP-Pakistan Army negotiations after
the assassinations of key TTP leaders. This has confirmed fears in the Pashtun
tribal areas that the military and civilian leadership are compromising peace
in the region.
TTP
terrorists were first spotted along the Swat-Dir border (August 2022) as the
Kabul peace talks between the terror organization and the Pakistani government
got underway.
A
UN report (February 2022) estimates that about 3,000 to 4,000 TTP fighters had
regrouped in Afghanistan, under the leadership of Noor Wali Mehsud.
Earlier,
a 12 August 2022 report had noted that TTP militants had established a
check-post at Balasoor Top, besides roaming about freely in other areas of the
Matta tehsil of Swat, reported Islam Khabar.
Moreover,
Geo News correspondent in Swat, Mehboob Ali, claimed that at least 200-250 TTP
militants were in the area. The TTP-claimed attack (August 7, 2022) on a
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA in Lower Dir and the abduction of an Army
man and police official in Swat fuelled fears of the terrorists staging a
comeback.
Regular
extortion calls further stoked fear among citizens. Aimal Wali Khan, President
of Awami National Party’s KP wing, recently claimed that at least three PTI
ministers, the provincial Chief Minister and former speaker of the National
Assembly, Asad Qaiser were paying extortion money to the TTP and its
affiliates, reported Islam Khabar.
Source: ThePrint
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Religious
scholars say Iqbal’s dream still unfulfilled
November
10, 2022
LAHORE:
Religious scholars remembering Allama Iqbal on his birth anniversary expressed
sorrow that country’s leadership has never sincerely tried to make it the
realisation of the dream of his concept, a separate homeland for Muslims of
subcontinent.
Tanzeem-e-Islami
ameer Shujauddin Shaikh said the indifference of our political leaders towards
the ideology and thought of the architect of Pakistan, Allama Iqbal, is
appalling. He said Iqbal had envisioned the creation of an Islamic State in the
North-West of the Indian Subcontinent in his Allahabad speech of 1930.
Tanzeem-e-Islami
ameer Shujauddin Shaikh stated that the objective of creating that state would
be to wash away the stains placed on the shining face of Islam during the era
of Arab Imperialism, so that the world could be shown the benefits of the
genuine Islamic System.
He
stressed that Muslims were facing ignominy and disgrace in the world because of
forgetting the message of unity and harmony of Muslim Ummah given by Allama
Iqbal. TI ameer Shujauddin Shaikh that said the enemies of Islam are spilling
the blood of Muslims around the world because of the internal strife and power
hungriness amongst the Muslim rulers.
He
said that the oppressed Muslims of Kashmir and Palestine were looking
helplessly towards the Muslim Ummah for help, not to be found, while the rulers
of Muslim countries were busy in servitude to the enemies of Islam. He said
Muslims today can become an unassailable force by following the thoughts of
Iqbal.
Jamiat
Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) supreme council chairman Allama Qari Zawar Bahadur said
that the dream of an Islamic state envisioned by Iqbal is unfulfilled till
date. The Islamic ideology on which founding fathers of the country like Allama
Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam created Pakistan has been pushed far behind by the
rulers and bureaucracy of the country, he said while addressing a function
chaired by Haji Naseer Ahmad Noorani in connection with Iqbal Day.
JUP
supreme council chairman Allama Qari Zawar Bahadur said that unfortunately the
rulers after Quaid-e-Azam and Liaquat Ali Khan forgot the real purpose of
achieving this country and actually destroyed the country.
He
lamented that the country has become the sanctuary of thieves, extortionists,
plunderers and killers, and its economy, ideology, political stability,
education and other spheres have been destroyed.
The
country is trapped under a swamp of problems, debts, poverty, unemployment,
inflation and street crimes. Prices of electricity, gas and petroleum products
are increasing day by day and people are forced to commit mass suicides.
Maulana
M Saleem Awan, Rashid Ahmed Rizvi, Prof M Arshad Meher, Qari Liaquat Ali Rizvi,
Hafiz Mustanir Ahmad Noorani and others also addressed.
GCU
VC visits Mazar-e-Iqbal: Vice Chancellor Government College University (GCU)
Lahore Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi along with other teachers visited Mazar-e-Iqbal,
laid wreaths and offered Fatiha on Wednesday.
Source:TheNews
Pakistan
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1008276-religious-scholars-say-iqbal-s-dream-still-unfulfilled
--------
Saudi
Arabia never interferes in Pakistan’s internal, external affairs: clarifies
Ashrafi
Wed,
9 Nov 2022
ISLAMABAD,
Nov 9 (APP): Special Representative to the Prime Minister on Interfaith Harmony
and Middle East Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Wednesday clarified
that neither Saudi Arabia nor Islamic world had ever interfered in Pakistan’s
internal and external affairs.
He,
in an exclusive talk with APP, said there were certain elements who wanted to
sabotage Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s visit to Pakistan to meet
their ulterior motives.
He
said: “Such a group gets activated whenever an important visit takes place in
the country to create hurdles in the process of development and prosperity.”
He,
brushing aside the speculation about Saudi Arabia’s interference on the
appointment of a particular position, termed it baseless and concocted as it
was an attempt to create rift in the Pak-Saudi’s diplomatic and fraternal ties.
He
said the crown prince’s visit to Pakistan was a living example of improved ties
between the two brotherly countries and it would help uplift the crippling
economy of the country.
Ashrafi
expressed the hope that if internal conditions of Pakistan were stable, an
investment of 25 to 30 billion dollars could be expected in the country in a
couple of years. “Steps are being expedited once again for the financial
support of Pakistan by the Saudi leadership. However, Qatar, United Arab
Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain are all ready to cooperate with Pakistan on the matter,”
he added.
He
said the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) and the 2022 United Nations (UN)
Climate Change Conference (COP27) would help Pakistan to deal with climate
change challenges effectively and efficiently.
He
explained that the MGI signified the Saudi Arabia’s commitment to international
sustainability efforts and enabled the region to help protect the planet by
clearly defining an ambitious road map that significantly contributed to
achieving global targets.
“Crown
Prince Muhammad bin Salman has emerged as a great and visionary leader not only
for the Muslim Ummah but also for the entire world,” he added.
He
said under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and with support
of the government of Egypt, the World Conference on Environment had determined
an effective and positive direction at the global level in general and in the
Islamic world in particular.
He
said Pakistan, besides assuring full cooperation, had already welcomed the
Saudi Crown Prince’s vision of Saudi and Middle East Green Initiative.
Ashrafi
who is also the chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council said religious leaders were
constantly creating awareness on interfaith dialogue and climatic issues at the
global level.
He
said the conferences convened by Dar Al-Ifta Egypt and Bahrain Islamic Council
raised an effective voice on the eradication of poverty and ignorance and
thoroughly discussed the ways to create peace and tranquility in the comity of
nations.
The
leadership of all religions appealed to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine
as the world was facing problems due to the wars, he said adding, “we have to
promote peace and discourage wars”.
Source:APP
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Exclusive:
Imran’s candid take on ‘bad romance’ with military
Atika
Rehman
November
10, 2022
There
are at least three dozen personnel from the provincial police force stationed
on the narrow lane leading to Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence these days. But
inside, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman cuts a lonely figure.
Gone
are the days when the Tareens, Aleem Khans and other political bigwigs were his
gatekeepers, making him unreachable. On Tuesday, other than lawyer Aitzaz
Ahsan, who was escorted to the gate by Fawad Chaudhry after paying Mr Khan a
visit, not a single face from the 2018 election coterie or the PTI’s ‘usual
suspects’ was at the scene.
Lawyers,
journalists and security officials came and went, but only when cleared by Mr
Khan’s personal security officer. No phones were allowed. His security, it was
apparent, was serious business. After all, just days ago, Mr Khan was targeted
by a gunman.
“I
am relieved to be alive,” Mr Khan said, in an exclusive conversation with Dawn.
It
was surprising to see Mr Khan, who usually cuts a towering figure, hunched over
a walker, and taking laboured steps to his sofa. His bandaged leg, where
bullets had chipped part of his tibia, rested on a plush futon. One would think
that the attack had shaken him. But Mr Khan was aggressive.
He
did not shy away from addressing the elephant in the room: his bad romance with
the military establishment.
Although
many of his followers now see him as a born-again democrat who wants to rewrite
the rules of engagement between the military and the civilian government, it is
clear that he has faith in the institution’s power and influence, and believes
that — within certain limits — positive working dynamics can produce great
results. But three years into his government, he said, their relationship went
sour.
“I
always imagined that, because the army is so powerful and organised, when I
would try to bring rule of law in the country, they would play an important
part,” Mr Khan said.
He
repeated the mantras that formed the backbone of his 2018 election campaign and
were the main obsession of his government: accountability of mafias; bringing
the elite to task; ending corruption.
But
he rued that the National Accountability Bureau was not in his control. “NAB
was controlled by the army. I couldn’t do anything. They would say, ‘yes there
are cases, we are working on it’. But nothing would happen. I discovered that,
actually, the establishment controlled NAB and proceeded as it wanted… it was
to control politicians by having files about their corruption. They would
squeeze someone, but then he would be out on bail.”
Beginning
of the end
Asked
when it all started to go wrong between him and the army, Mr Khan said that his
government’s failure to convict those whom he alleged of corruption was the
first sign.
The
second, Mr Khan said, was the choice of Punjab chief minister.
“The
army chief wanted me to have Aleem Khan [as CM Punjab] and I wouldn’t. Because
not only were there NAB cases against him, he had occupied and sold land worth
millions belonging to the government.”
When
asked why he included Aleem Khan in his party if he suspected wrongdoing, Mr
Khan said, “We always thought they were just allegations. And he defended
himself. But when I asked the vice chairman of the LDA [about Aleem], he showed
me on a map how Aleem Khan had occupied government land. This was around the
end of my second year, and beginning of the third of my government.”
Mr
Khan is unequivocal that, until the time that Gen Bajwa asked him to make Aleem
Khan the chief minister, the relationship was going swimmingly.
“They
were organised, you could get their help, we were on the same page regarding
foreign policy. It was just the last six months, the issue of them making deals
with these crooks when they should be behind bars…”
To
emphasise his point about the military’s influence over accountability cases,
Mr Khan said, “The army was going after these people before I came to power. 95
per cent of these cases preceded my government. The Nawaz Sharif case, the
Avenfield case… he would not have got convicted had the army not provided the
two brigadiers in the JITs — that was before me.”
Though
Mr Khan points to the NAB inaction and Punjab CM issues as the main sticking
points between him and the army, many speculate that it was actually his
differences with the army chief over the appointment of the new DG ISI that
marked the unraveling of the relationship.
“Look,
I don’t know the internal politics of the army. All I know is our relationship
was going well. Later, I discovered there was a big issue going on about the
next army chief. I had never ever thought about who the army chief would be in
November — why would I care, if it’s on merit? It should be the best person. It
matters to the Sharifs and Zardari… but not to me.”
‘His
man’
But
what about the perception that General Faiz Hamid was ‘his man’?
“Gen
Faiz was the only general I knew, because he was working with me as the ISI
chief… and I didn’t know anyone else. I told Gen Bajwa ‘I will take your
recommendations because I don’t know the other guys’, but at the time my worry
was Afghanistan. I feared it would go into civil war. And I felt Americans
would blame us and we would be sanctioned. Ashraf Ghani told me there are
300,000 Afghan soldiers and they will be outnumbered. Not just Ashraf Ghani,
ISI was telling us there will be civil war [in Afghanistan]. I wanted Gen Faiz
to stay till the winter till the transition happened.”
Despite
allegations that the 2018 elections were rigged, his opponents jailed or
disqualified and sections of the media provided enthusiastic support, Mr Khan
insists the establishment did not help him come to power. According to Mr Khan,
he won because of his popularity, not because he was the military’s darling.
The
army did not back me in the 2018 election. I believe we won freely and fairly,”
he said.
To
illustrate his point, Mr Khan added, “Since I have been out of power in the
last six months, out of 37 by-elections I have won 29. The establishment is
openly supporting [my opponents], the government machinery is supporting them.
Even the election commission is supporting them — despite that we have won 29
out of 37.”
Rigging
blues
On
elections and rigging, Mr Khan said his efforts to introduce electronic voting
machines (EVMs) for the next elections were also resisted by the military.
“For
two years, I tried to get EVMs. Rigging disappears when you have EVMs because
all the rigging takes place after polling ends. It was resisted by both main
parties because they have fake votes in most constituencies. It was resisted by
the establishment, because then when it comes to manipulation, that’s the time
to do it [during vote count]. Remember when Gen Bajwa said he got that call
from Khawaja Asif asking for help when he was losing? The next day he won.”
When
reminded that the allegations against his party’s victory in the last election
were the very same, he said. “We lost 17 seats with less than a 3,000 vote
margin… if they [establishment] wanted to help they could easily get those
seats.”
He
acknowledges that his razor thin majority was one of his biggest challenges,
and, if he faced the same situation again, he would “never take government”.
“We
didn’t have the power. This time, if I ever come, I will not take government if
I don’t have majority and can’t make a difference. If you have a coalition, a
thin majority, and are being blackmailed by your own people… it’s impossible
[to govern]. That’s when the army’s role became more prominent, because we
needed their help and we were working together for the same cause.”
So
is he happy for the military to wield influence as long as it does as he says?
“It would be idealistic to completely remove their role,” Mr Khan said.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1720056/exclusive-imrans-candid-take-on-bad-romance-with-military
--------
Flurry
of meetings hints at key decisions to come
Baqir
Sajjad Syed
November
10, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
As Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa’s date of retirement draws closer, the concerned
stakeholders are already at work, mulling potential options that they believe
would best protect their interests.
Hectic
consultations are underway in Rawalpindi, London, and Lahore and the next few
days are very crucial, according to political sources.
The
most important of these meetings took place in Rawalpindi, where the army’s
corps commanders met at the General Headquarters on Tuesday. The meeting was presided
by Gen Bajwa.
The
session is a monthly fixture at GHQ, where the top brass discusses the internal
and external security situation as well as professional matters. Two things
made this meeting extremely important — the impending change of command in the
army and the related debates, both within the institution and outside; and the
tense political environment in the country.
Absence
of ISPR release after corps commanders’ moot, PM Sharif’s abrupt detour to
London indicate events are unfolding at breakneck speed
No
media statement was issued by ISPR, though, which has remained tight lipped on
the matter despite intense speculation.
It
is rare for ISPR to not issue a press release on the corps commanders
conference and only events over the coming days could provide hints about what
decisions were taken.
Gen
Bajwa’s short trip to Peshawar on Wednesday, where he stayed for a couple of
hours and addressed officers and men of Peshawar corps, is being seen as part
of his farewell visits to the formations. This shows that the general is
sticking to his decision of leaving on Nov 29.
Some
retired officers insist that besides deliberations on the institutional process
for the selection of Gen Bajwa’s successor, the commanders discussed the
political situation and unrelenting criticism of some of the officers by the
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.
It
is said that the army wants a de-escalation with the PTI before the transition
takes place so that the new chief takes office in relatively settled times.
Therefore, there is pressure on both sides to reach an accord on a date for the
next elections, which could theoretically end PTI’s long march and enable
political parties to attend to other pressing issues that require urgent
attention.
President
Arif Alvi is also said to be playing a major role in this renewed effort for
ending the political stalemate, having recently met with the military
leadership, whose message he delivered to PTI Chairman Imran Khan as well when
he went to inquire after his health.
When
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif left Sharm-el-Sheikh on Tuesday night, he tweeted
“Off to Pakistan”. But then, he changed his plans and decided instead to stop
off in Qatar, from where he took a commercial flight to London to meet his
elder brother, Nawaz Sharif.
He
only took his personal staff with him to London, while the other members of
entourage travelling with him continued onwards to Islamabad.
“The
trip to London may help in deciding some of the issues that had been pending
for sometime and required face to face meeting with elder Sharif and others who
matter in the family,” a PML-N source said.
Those
issues include the appointment of the new army chief, matters linked to the
next elections, strategy for dealing with PTI, and regaining lost political
capital.
It
is said that the elder Sharif is not willing to budge and thinks that Imran
Khan’s continued confrontation with the army in the absence of an understanding
on election date would cause a hemorrhage of PTI’s political capital.
The
Sharifs would, however, be talking to their allies on these issues over the
next couple days, according to a political source.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1720057/flurry-of-meetings-hints-at-key-decisions-to-come
--------
PM
Shehbaz in London to ‘consult Nawaz on army chief appointment’
Syed
Irfan Raza
November
10, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in London on Wednesday, apparently to
consult his elder brother Nawaz Sharif on the appointment of the new army chief
later this month, in what is his third visit to the United Kingdom since taking
over as premier in April this year.
Almost
all members of the PM’s delegation have returned from Sharm El-Sheikh, but Mr
Sharif departed for London after attending the UN climate change conference.
Education
Minister Rana Tanvir Hussain confirmed in a private TV talk show that the PM
will discuss important issues with Nawaz Sharif, including the appointment of
the new army chief.
Also
read: Who will be the next army chief?
Mr
Sharif will also take up the issue of the long march by the Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), which is likely to kick off today (Thursday) following a
brief suspension of the rally in light of a gun attack on party chief Imran
Khan in Wazirabad last week.
It
has been reported that incumbent COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s tenure is set to
end on November 29. The military spokesperson has already announced that Gen
Bajwa will not seek an extension to his tenure.
On
the other hand, PTI chief Imran Khan lamented that the PM was discussing the
appointment of the next army chief with his elder brother, which was a
violation of the Official Secrets Act and a breach of his oath.
Meanwhile,
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb termed Prime
Minister Sharif’s visit to Egypt ‘very successful’. The minister said that for
the first time, there was a global consensus on providing financial resources
to compensate for the climate-induced losses suffered by developing countries.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1720058/shehbaz-in-london-to-consult-nawaz
--------
JI
joins PTI’s voice for new elections
November
10, 2022
LAHORE:
Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) emir Sirajul Haq adds his voice to Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s demand for new polls, saying fresh
elections are the only way forward to pull the country out of political and
economic crises it is in.
Mr
Haq was presiding over a meeting of the party’s central leadership at Mansoorah
here on Wednesday.
He,
however, said that electoral reforms with the consensus of all political
parties should be introduced before the polls, as without reforms, he added,
the election would be a futile exercise and would add to the ongoing
uncertainty.
“I
am afraid many political parties will reject the outcome of polls without
reforms.”
The
political parties, he said, should hold constructive dialogue on the agenda of
establishing the rule of law, ending the role of the establishment in politics,
and introducing election reforms.
Now
that the military establishment has promised to the nation of staying neutral
in politics, the prime responsibility of the political leadership is to develop
a strong mechanism for it, he said.
The
political parties, he said, should sit together to strengthen the Election
Commission, making the electoral watchdog economically and administratively
strong and independent.
The
masses, he said, have lost faith in the electoral process as there has been a
history of poll rigging and manipulating the polling process.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1720037/ji-joins-ptis-voice-for-new-elections
--------
North America
Arab
and Muslim Americans expand presence after Tuesday’s elections
RAY
HANANIA
November
10, 2022
CHICAGO:
Republican candidates fell far short of the election sweep that GOP leaders had
predicted would occur on Tuesday, but Arab and Muslim Americans increased their
election presence in several US states.
Some
Arab and Muslim candidates, from California to New Hampshire, faced stiff
challenges while a few lost their election bids.
Here
is an overview of how Arabs and Muslims performed in election contests in
several key American states, based on unofficial results that were released by
election authorities or tabulated by major media.
Popular
American TV host and Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz failed in his bid to become
Pennsylvania’s first Muslim-American member of the US Senate when he lost by a
narrow margin to Democrat John Fetterman. However, Arab and Muslim candidates
in Minnesota, Illinois, Louisiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, Florida and
California won contests and strengthened their voices.
In
Minnesota, Attorney General Keith Ellison held a narrow lead in his re-election
bid to retain his title as the nation’s only Muslim attorney general against
Republican Jim Schultz. With 95 percent of the votes counted, Ellison clings to
a narrow but significant 20,000 vote lead in an election that drew more than
2.5 million votes.
“This
election really was tough. Fear, division, the nasty commercials, millions of
dollars spent just to sow hate, division and fear. And you know what, we
overcame it. The votes are still being counted, but we will win this election,”
Ellison told supporters early Wednesday morning, according to the Star Tribune
Newspaper.
Ellison’s
congressional colleague, US Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American Democrat, easily
won re-election over Republican Cicely Davis, carrying 75.2 percent of the
state’s votes in the 5th Congressional District.
In
Illinois, voters elected Palestinian-Muslim Abdelnasser Rashid to represent the
21st Illinois House District with 65 percent of the votes. Rashid is the third
Arab to win legislative office in Illinois, following in the footsteps of the
late Jewish-Syrian American state representative and Cook County judge Miriam
Dweck Balanoff, elected in 1978, and her son Clem Balanoff, elected to the
Illinois House in 1993.
Rashid
came from behind to defeat seven-term incumbent state representative Michael J.
Zalewski in the June 2022 Illinois Democratic primary by only 255 votes in the
heavily Democratic district. Zalewski, whose father was an influential former
Chicago alderman, was seen as being unbeatable by Democrats, having served in
the Illinois General Assembly since 2008.
Rashid
told Arab News: “I am humbled and privileged to have the trust of the voters of
the 21st District, who are sending me to Springfield to be a voice for working
and middle-class families. I am also honored that Arab Americans throughout
Illinois will have a voice in Springfield — someone who understands the
community and who will fight for them.”
Also
winning a seat in the Illinois State General Assembly is Democrat and
Indian-American Muslim Nabeela Syed who defeated a Republican challenger, Chris
Bos, to represent the 51st Illinois State House District.
Lebanese-American
Congressman Darin LaHood, a Republican Christian, won re-election in Illinois
to the 16th Congressional District, defeating challenger and Democrat Elizabeth
Haderlein with 65 percent of the vote.
“I
am committed to continuing to stand up for what people in my district believe
in,” LaHood told supporters on election night according to WCBU Radio. “And
that’s good conservative values.”
In
Louisiana, Republican Congressman Garret Graves, whose mother Cynthia Sliman is
a Christian-Lebanese American, won re-election on Tuesday in the 6th
Congressional District with 80 percent of the vote, defeating libertarian rival
Rufus Craig.
Democrat
Sami Scheetz, whose mother Hala is a Syrian-American immigrant, won the
election to become Iowa’s first Arab-American state legislator, representing
the 78th State House District. Scheetz defeated Republican Anne Fairchild with
67 percent of the votes cast.
In
Michigan, it was no surprise that Congresswoman Palestinian Muslim Rashida
Tlaib was re-elected to her third term in a landslide, winning 73.7 percent of
the votes to represent the new 12th Congressional District over Republican
challenger Steven Elliot.
Dozens
of Arab and Muslim Americans competed for statewide, county and municipal
offices in Michigan, although votes in several races continue to be counted.
Democrat
Sam Baydoun was re-elected to the 13th Wayne County Commission with 64 percent
of the vote over Republican Ann F. Clark.
Lebanese-American
Democrat Alabas Farhat won the race for state representative in the 3rd
District over Republican Ginger Shearer. Incumbent Democrat and Yemeni-American
Abraham Aiyash won re-election to the 9th District State House seat, defeating
Republican Michele Lundgren.
Arab-American
Dennis Denno, whose parents are from Iraq, won his election to fill a vacant
seat on the Michigan State University board of trustees.
In
New Hampshire, Republican Lebanese and Palestinian American Governor Chris
Sununu won re-election with 55 percent of the vote over Democrat Tom Sherman
with 57 percent of the votes cast. His father, John Sununu, previously served
as governor and US senator in New Hampshire and also as chief of staff to
former president George H.W. Bush.
Arab
Americans had mixed results in Florida where Democrat Charlie Crist, who is of
Greek and Lebanese descent, lost his bid to unseat Governor Ron DeSantis, one
of the country’s most powerful Republicans who is believed to be a possible
contender for president in 2024.
Crist
lost to DeSantis, receiving 40 percent or 3.1 million of the more than 7.75
million votes cast in the election.
In
California, Republican Syrian-Lebanese Christian Darrell Issa easily won
re-election in the new 48th Congressional District over Democrat Stephen
Houlahan with 60 percent of the votes cast.
And
longtime Democratic Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, who is Assyrian and Armenian, was
leading Rishi Kumar in California’s 16th Congressional District with 58 percent
of only half of the district’s votes counted by Wednesday morning. Assyrians
trace their ancestry to the Ottoman Empire and Iraq. Eshoo has held the seat
since 1993.
*************
By
Numbers
Muslims,
including many Arab Americans, had a much stronger presence in Tuesday’s
elections.
According
to the Council on American Islamic Relations and Jetpac Resource Center, 145
Muslim Americans were competing in election contests throughout the US and 29
American Muslims serve as state legislators in 18 states.
Five
Arab Americans have been elected to the nation’s highest legislative office, as
US senators. They include:
James
Abourezk (Lebanese), representing South Dakota
George
Mitchell (Lebanese), representing Maine
James
Abdnor (Lebanese), representing South Dakota
Spencer
Abraham (Lebanese), representing Michigan
John
E. Sununu (Lebanese and Palestinian), representing New Hampshire.
Arabs
in Congress
There
have been 28 Arab or Middle East Americans who have held seats in the US
Congress since 1959 when George A. Kasem was first elected to represent
California for one term. Six Arab and Middle East Americans continue to serve
in the US House of Representatives:
Anna
Eshoo, California, Assyrian American
Darrell
Issa, California, Syrian-Lebanese American
Garrett
Graves, Louisiana, Lebanese
Darin
LaHood, Illinois, Lebanese
Ilhan
Omar, Minnesota, Somali
Rashida
Tlaib, Michigan, Palestinian
Arabs
by state population, 2019 *
California 324,000
Michigan 223,000
New
York 152,000
Texas 124,000
Florida 112,000
Illinois 111,000
New
Jersey 108,000
Virginia 79,482
Ohio 77,096
Pennsylvania
75,821
Massachusetts
70,683
*
(Sources: Arab American Institute’s data on demographics, Statista.com)
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2196876/middle-east
--------
Iowa
voters elect first-ever Arab American state representative
November
10, 2022
WASHINGTON
D.C.: In the US midterm elections this week, voters in Iowa for the first time
in history elected an Arab American to represent them in the state’s General
Assembly.
Democrat
Sami Scheetz, a 26-year-old grassroots community organizer from the city of
Cedar Rapids, defeated his Republican rival in Tuesday’s poll by a 30-point
margin. He will be one of the youngest members of the Iowa state legislature.
His
victory, in a state controlled by a republican majority at both state and
national levels, will be seen as significant to efforts to promote Democratic
Party agendas in the state.
After
his victory was confirmed, Scheetz told Arab News that he is very proud and
honored by the trust the community has placed in him to represent them in the
Iowa State House.
“I
feel amazing and grateful because this is the community I grew up in and where
my family live,” he said.
“I
feel honored to represent them and to be given the opportunity to work for them
and fight for their causes and for every working family in my district.”
He
added that his parents supported him throughout the campaign and are extremely
proud of his achievement. His mother, Hala, emigrated to the US from Damascus,
Syria, more than 35 years ago. His father, Raphael, is a native-born Iowan with
German heritage.
“I
am looking forward to working with Republicans and Democrats to build a more
inclusive Iowa, with an economy that works for all people,” he said in a
statement issued by his campaign.
Scheetz
will represent the 78th District, which has a diverse electorate that includes
large Latino, Arab American and African American communities, in addition to
its white population. It also hosts large numbers of recent immigrants and
refugees. Scheetz, who is fluent in Arabic and Spanish, vowed to represent all
residents of the district equally and work to improve living standards.
He
campaigned in particular on the issues of healthcare, education and workers’
rights. He told Arab News that the focus of his political and legislative
agendas while in office will include protecting families and making sure that
women continue to have a choice on the issue of abortion, especially in a
heavily
Republican
state such as Iowa. A recent Supreme Court ruling resulted in access to
abortion being limited in many Republican-controlled states.
Scheetz,
whose official swearing in will take place in January in the state capital, Des
Moines, said he will also work to improve the education system and advocate for
the introduction of universal healthcare to ensure everyone has proper,
affordable access to medical treatment.
Scheetz
predicted that Iowa could move toward Democratic control, given the rapid
growth of its Latino community of Mexican Americans, who tend to be more
progressive in their political views and traditionally support the Democratic
Party. For that to happen, however, he said the party needs to work harder to convince
the people of Iowa that it is committed to addressing the issues that matter
most to them.
Statewide,
Iowa has a sizable Arab American community that began to establish itself more
than a century ago. Cedar Rapids is home to the Mother Mosque of America, which
opened in 1934 and was the first mosque to be built in US.
The
US midterm elections are held two years into each four-year presidential term.
Traditionally, the party of the incumbent president tends to lose seats in the
US Congress in the midterms, often by wide margins, a trend that has been
observed since at least 1978.
This
week, however, the Democrats performed better than many pundits expected; many
had predicted the Republicans would easily take control of both houses of the
US Congress relatively comfortably.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2196816/world
--------
In
rebuff to Kiev, Pentagon says can’t confirm claims about Iranian missiles to
Russia
09
November 2022
The
Pentagon says it has no evidence to suggest that Iran has provided Russia with
ballistic missiles, days after reports emerged that Tehran was supplying such
weapons to Moscow as its stockpile of conventional missiles was running low.
At
a press conference on Tuesday, the Pentagon’s spokesman Brigadier General
Patrick Ryder said the US military could not confirm the allegations about
Iran. “We do not have any information to corroborate right now that Iran has
delivered ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine.”
He
said the Pentagon would “continue to keep a close eye on” the matter. But
Washington does “have concerns” Moscow might “seek to acquire that capability,”
he said.
His
remarks came days after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s aide, Mikhail
Podoliak, called for strikes against the Iranian military-industrial centers
producing combat drones and ballistic missiles.
Kiev
claims Iran has supplied Russia with kamikaze drones. The Ukrainian government
also alleges that drones designated by Moscow as Geran-2 are actually
Iranian-made Shahed-136 UAVs.
Furthermore,
a number of media outlets claim Tehran also sold ballistic missiles to Russia.
Tehran and Moscow both have rejected such claims.
Last
week, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian dismissed propaganda
about Iran’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war.
“Our
relations with Russia are based on mutual interests. I would like to emphasize
here that the fuss made by some Western countries that Iran has provided Russia
with missiles and drones to help it in the Ukraine war, claims about the
missile part is completely wrong and the drone part is correct,” he said.
But
Amir-Abdollahian hastened to add that Iran provided Russia with a limited
number of drones months before the war in Ukraine broke out, assuring that Iran
would not be indifferent if it is proven that Russia has used Iranian drones in
the war.
“We
agreed with Ukraine’s foreign minister that if they have any documents proving
Russia has been using Iranian drones in Ukraine, Kiev should provide these
documents to us,” the Iranian foreign minister said.
US
military officials confirmed the delivery of two advanced NASAMS surface-to-air
missile systems to Ukraine after Kiev on Monday confirmed it had received such
systems.
On
Tuesday, Ryder confirmed the delivery of NASAMS systems but did not give any
indications on whether any Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) have also
arrived in Ukraine.
“These
systems will contribute to Ukraine’s air defense capabilities and will help
protect the Ukrainian people against Russian aerial attacks to include those
conducted by unmanned aerial vehicles or cruise missiles,” Ryder said.
NASAMS
– the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System – is manufactured as a
joint venture between US-based Raytheon Technologies and Norway’s Kongsberg
Defense and Aerospace. The system is a distributed and networked short- to
medium-range ground-based air defense system, designed to shoot down drones,
helicopters, cruise missiles, and crewed fixed wing aircraft.
Russia
commenced what it called a "special military operation" in
neighboring Ukraine on February 24, with the declared aim of “de-Nazifying” the
country. Since the onset of the operation, the United States and its European
allies have imposed waves of economic sanctions against Moscow while supplying
large consignments of heavy weaponry to Kiev over Russian objections.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/11/09/692447/US-Russia-Ukraine-Iran-missiles-drones-Pentagon-
--------
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