About 45 Mosques Of Tamil Nadu Shelter People Of All Religions As Floods Force Them Out Of Their Homes
New Age Islam News Bureau
23 December 2023
Food being
served to people sheltered at a mosque in Paattapaththu near Tirunelveli town.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
-----
·
About 45
Mosques Of Tamil Nadu Shelter People Of All Religions As Floods Force Them Out
Of Their Homes
·
CAIR Calls
on Biden Admin to Stop Sending ‘Genocide Bombs’ to Israel
·
Palestine
Accuses Israel Of Exploiting War On Gaza 'To Seize Control Of The Al-Aqsa
Mosque'
·
Yemen:
Anti-Israel Operations To Intensify If Gaza Aggression Doesn’t End
·
Five
Arrested In North France Over Alleged Islamist-Links
----
India
·
Kerala
Sunni Yuvajana Sangham Cautions Against Celebrating Xmas
·
Muslim Men
Accused In Nuh Violence Allegedly Tortured In Prison
·
Indo-Arab
& NEIEA Holds ‘Education For All’ Event In Jeddah
·
Mirwaiz Barred
From Leading Prayers At Jamia Mosque For 11th Week In A Row
·
Poonch Ambush:
NIA Steps In, Army Hunts For Terrorists
·
Mumbai
University Joins Hands With Oxford Centre For 'Temple Management' Course
------
North America
·
US Election:
Jewish And Muslim Votes Probably Don’t Have The Power To Change The Outcome –
Despite Backlash On Gaza Policy
·
CAIR LA
Welcomes Rep. Katie Porter’s Call for Ceasefire in Gaza
·
CAIR Calls
on State Dept., FBI to Probe Shooting, Detaining of Palestinian-American Child
by
·
Israeli
Forces
·
Israeli-American
Gadi Haggai, held by Hamas, confirmed dead. Joe Biden is ‘heartbroken’
-----
Mideast
·
Israeli
Police Attack Palestinian Muslim Worshipers in Occupied Jerusalem
·
Islamic
Resistance in Iraq Claims Attack on Israeli 'Vital Target' in the Mediterranean
Sea
·
Palestinian
journalists killed by Israeli army in Gaza nears 100
·
Surging
anti-Muslim sentiments, discrimination take centre stage in 2023
·
Hamas and
Palestinian Authority split on UN Gaza resolution
·
Iraq’s Islamic
Resistance Says Hit Israeli Target in Mediterranean Sea
·
Israel
envoy says UN focused only on aid to Gaza, not hostages crisis
·
Dozens of
Palestinians suffocated during crackdown by enemy worshippers in Wadi
al-Jawz& 12,000 perform Friday prayers in Al-Aqsa
-----
Arab World
·
Yemeni
attack leaves enemy entity with almost complete economic paralysis
·
Saudi
customs teams foil drug smuggling attempts at Al Haditha and Al Batha border
points
·
KSrelief
Distributes 1,364 Vouchers to Syrian, Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon
----
Europe
·
France
grounds flight carrying 303 Indians on human trafficking suspicion: Reports
·
Bring
French nationals guilty of Israel army war crimes to justice: MP
·
How to
hold the Islamic Republic of Iran accountable in European courts
·
Russia warns
US of breakdown in diplomatic relations
------
Pakistan
·
Supreme
Court’s Reprieve May Not Bail Imran Out Of Jail — For Now
·
Pakistan
downplays Fazl-ur-Rehman’s visit to Kabul
·
£190m,
Toshakhana cases: NAB forms five-member prosecution team
·
Judge
writes to IHC for jail trial of Imran, Bushra
·
Islamabad
uncertain about Kabul’s claims of detaining TTP members
·
Pakistani
FM discusses Afghan resettlement with Canada High Commissioner
----
South Asia
·
Mujahid
Responds to UNAMA Head About Madrassas
·
Turkey
detains 34 undocumented Afghan migrants on Ayvacik Coast
·
Muttaqi
Travels to Tehran for Palestine Conference
·
Mujahid
Reacts to Claims of Afghans Involved in Pakistan Attacks
-----
Southeast Asia
·
Anwar: I
Decline Invitations From Imams Asking Me To Deliver 'Tazkirah' In Mosques
·
Religious
affairs minister: Preachers should maintain manners, humility
·
Malaysia
welcomes UN resolution on Gaza, calls for urgent humanitarian action
·
Deputy
Foreign Minister in Iran to attend high-level conference on Palestine
·
Rohingya
flee kidnap and hunger in Bangladesh hoping for better life
·
Amanah is
just following in your footsteps, Mat Sabu says, after PAS’ call to drop ally
DAP
----
Africa
·
UN
Security Council Voices 'Alarm' At Spreading Violence In Sudan
·
Tensions
rise between Sudan army, United Arab Emirates
·
War in
Sudan: more than 7 million displaced - UN
·
DRC
elections: RSF condemns attack on RFI correspondent
·
Former
Presidential Candidate Enjoins Nigerians On Peace, Love, Tolerance At Christmas
·
Muslim
society Ansar-Ud-Deen helped me win 2023 presidential election: Tinubu
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/mosques-tn-shelter-religions/d/131370
-----
About 45 Mosques Of Tamil Nadu Shelter
People Of All Religions As Floods Force Them Out Of Their Homes
Food being
served to people sheltered at a mosque in Paattapaththu near Tirunelveli town.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
-----
December 23, 2023
P. SUDHAKAR
About 45 mosques in Tirunelveli and
Thoothukudi had been converted into relief camps where a sizable number of
flood-affected population from all religions were accommodated and served food
thrice a day.
When the Tamirabharani was in spate and
torrential rain flooded the homes of many, the gates of mosques in urban and
rural areas were opened to provide shelter to those driven out of their homes.
Children were served hot milk, bread and biscuits, and the others were served
food.
Around 1,000 people sought shelter at
the mosque in Paattapaththu near Tirunelveli Town for four days. Despite the
hardships caused by the incessant rain, food was prepared on the premises and
served to the people. “They also managed to get medicines for those who were in
need of it and refused to take money for them. They gave clothes for our
children. We were there for four days during which they also did not conduct
prayers...,” said Selvalakshmi of Paattapaththu.
People enjoyed a similar hospitality at
the Miyan Mosque in Tirunelveli town for four days. Those who were from
Santhanammalpuram were accommodated at a mosque in Melapalayam for three days,
and a mosque at Kailaasapuram sheltered many affected and displaced population
in the area, situated on the banks of the Tamirabharani.
“We have served food to the people who
were staying in mosques and the marooned areas,” says Mohammed Ghani of the
Social Democratic Party of India, which deployed its cadre to distribute food,
milk, bread, blankets and dress to the affected persons, besides rescuing the
stranded.
When the students of a National
Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) coaching centre from various parts of the
southern districts got stranded in their hostel, following the heavy downpour,
the MDMK’s Tirunelveli city district secretary, K.M.A. Nizam, — also known as
‘Nizam Maama’ — prepared biryani for them at a mosque in NGO Colony.
“Since his house too was inundated, he
prepared the food in the mosque and served it to the students....He continued
to serve biryani to the affected persons till the situation improved,” said
Perumal of the MDMK.
Mr. Ghani further said that 30 of 150
mosques in Thoothukudi district were turned into relief camps during the
floods. “Though this situation should not recur, it is an occasion for us to
show our love and affection towards the people in distress. We love all,
irrespective of their religion,” he added.
Source: thehindu.com
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-----
CAIR Calls on Biden Admin to Stop
Sending ‘Genocide Bombs’ to Israel
Photo: CAIR
----
Ibrahim Hooper
December 22, 2023
The Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy
organization, today called on the Biden administration to stop sending what it
called “genocide bombs” to the far-right Israeli government after the New York
Times revealed that U.S.-supplied 2,000-pound bombs were “routinely” used
against Palestinian civilians in so-called “safe areas” in Gaza.
The New York Times reports:
“A Times investigation used aerial
imagery and artificial intelligence to detect bomb craters that showed that one
of Israel’s biggest bombs was used routinely in south Gaza. This is an area in
Gaza where, for weeks, civilians fled to find safety…Our analysis indicates
2,000-pound bombs were dropped on a routine basis in south Gaza during the
first six weeks of the war. And it suggests that even for those who followed
every Israeli evacuation order and advisory, there was still no safety to be
found in a war zone that’s more dangerous for civilians than any in recent
history.”
SEE: Visual Evidence Shows Israel
Dropped 2,000-Pound Bombs Where It Ordered Gaza’s Civilians to Move for Safety
Earlier today, CAIR said the Biden
administration must stop “justifying war crimes” the Israeli government has
perpetrated against hospitals after an investigation by the Washington Post
debunked claims by the Netanyahu government’s “evidence” that Gaza’s Al Shifa
Hospital had to be attacked because it was a military command center.
Also today, CAIR called on the State
Department and FBI to investigate the shooting and detention of a 13-year-old
Palestinian-American boy by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
In a statement, CAIR National
Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said:
“The Biden administration must stop
sending these ‘genocide bombs’ to the far-right Israeli government, which – as
the New York Times has revealed – are being used to slaughter the civilian
population in Gaza.
“Each day that passed without a demand
for a ceasefire increases our nation’s complicity in the ongoing war crimes,
ethnic cleansing, starvation, and genocide in Gaza.”
He noted that yesterday, CAIR said
Israel’s new ethnic cleansing order, the bulldozing of bodies in a Gaza
cemetery and the forced starvation of Palestinian children are the latest
“Israeli car crimes of the day.”
Earlier, CAIR joined calls for a United
Nations investigation of the latest “Israeli war crime of the day” –
allegations that Israeli forces in Gaza carried our summary executions of
unarmed Palestinian men in front of their family members. Eyewitnesses are now
coming forward to confirm these allegations.
Israel has now killed more than 20,000
people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and including hundreds of UN
workers, journalists and medical personnel.
Earlier this week, CAIR condemned other
“war crimes of the day,” including the reported mass killing of a Palestinian
grandfather’s family in front of his eyes, vandalism of West Bank homes by
Israeli forces, the deaths and alleged torture of Palestinian detainees, and
more massacres in refugee camps and residential areas of Gaza.
Also this week, CAIR condemned a deadly
Israeli strikes on a Gaza maternity hospital and other medical facilities, the
killing of more than 100 people in a refugee camp and the killing of two
Christians seeking shelter in a besieged church.
Pope Francis condemned Israel’s killing
of two Christian women sheltering at a Catholic parish in Gaza, noting that
“unarmed civilians are targets for bombs and gunfire.”
At least 110 people were killed in
Israel’s bombing of Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp.
Over the weekend, CAIR called for United
Nations to investigate reports that Israeli forces in Gaza bulldozed medical
tents with injured Palestinians inside, allegedly burying civilians alive and
said that the Israeli military’s killing of three unarmed, shirtless Israelis
waving a white flag is further proof that Israeli troops are “wantonly killing
Palestinian civilians.”
Earlier today, CAIR said that the
Israeli military’s killing of three unarmed, shirtless Israelis waving a white
flag is further proof that Israeli troops are “wantonly killing Palestinian
civilians.”
CAIR recently called on the Biden
administration to respond to reports that Israel forces shot women, children
and babies “execution-style” after they sought refuge in a school in Gaza.
CAIR condemned the attempted
assassination of an Al Jazeera journalist (and the ultimate death of another)
by Israeli forces, the desecration of Gaza cemeteries by Israeli troops in
Gaza, and a deadly airstrike targeting a UN school in Gaza.
OTHER ISRAELI WAR CRIMES:
A new US intelligence assessment
concluded that nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions that Israel has used
in Gaza have been unguided, also known as “dumb bombs.” Unguided munitions are
typically less precise and can pose a greater threat to civilians.
CAIR condemned the Israeli government’s
celebration of IDF troops who took over and desecrated a mosque in the West
Bank as an “attack on Islam.”
CAIR said the far-right Israeli
government’s controlled demolition of a U.N. school in Gaza is “further
evidence of the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing.”
Video posted online shows a man,
reportedly with special needs, being detained by Israeli soldiers and then shot
at point-blank range.
CAIR condemned an Israeli attack on
another hospital in Gaza and said the Biden administration is actively
participating in Israel’s “ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Palestinian
people.”
CAIR condemned another “war crime of the
day” – the slaughter of at least 50 civilians in airstrikes on two UN-run
schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza.
CAIR recently called on the Biden
administration to address reporting that the U.S. supplied the Israeli
government with white phosphorus used in attacks on civilian areas.
The Israeli government’s extremist
leaders have declared that there are no innocent civilians in Gaza, justified
cutting off water, electricity and other basic necessities because Palestinians
are ‘human animals,’ embraced an ancient biblical verse about the mass
slaughter of an entire city from animals to infants, demanded a million
residents of northern Gaza leave their homes or face death, and announced that
the aim of the bombing in Gaza was destruction rather than accuracy.
CAIR said a new report by Heritage for
Peace detailing Israel’s ongoing destruction of Palestinian cultural sites
shows its desire to entirely “eliminate Palestinian existence.”
Washington, D.C., based CAIR questioned
whether Western leaders even regard Palestinians as “human” after more than 700
women, children and men were massacred by Israel within just the last 24
hours.
CAIR condemned the “Israeli war crime of
the day” after more than 100 men, women and children were killed in the bombing
of residential buildings hosting displaced families in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee
camp.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil
rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American
Muslims.
Source: cair.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-call-on-biden-admin-to-stop-sending-genocide-bombs-to-israel/
-----
Palestine accuses Israel of exploiting
war on Gaza 'to seize control of the Al-Aqsa Mosque'
Photo: aa.com
-----
Ahmed Asmar
23.12.2023
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry accused
the Israeli government on Friday of exploiting the world's preoccupation with
the Israeli war on Gaza 'to seize control of the Al-Aqsa Mosque' in occupied
East Jerusalem.
"Israel exploits the preoccupation
with the genocide war in Gaza Strip and imposes more Judaisation measures
against Al-Aqsa Mosque," it said in a statement.
It strongly condemned the Israeli
forces' assault on Palestinian worshippers and preventing them from reaching
the mosque, as well as condemned the Israeli assault on journalists who were
present at the scene.
Early Friday, Israeli police attacked
Palestinians in East Jerusalem after preventing them from reaching the Al-Aqsa
Mosque for Friday prayers.
Witnesses said police fired sound bombs
and tear gas at Palestinians.
Large police contingents were deployed
at the gates of Jerusalem's Old City, and checkpoints were set up to prevent
worshipers from passing, and only elderly individuals were allowed to cross.
Since the start of the latest conflict
in Gaza on Oct. 7, Israeli police have imposed severe restrictions on the entry
of worshipers to the mosque, which intensify on Fridays.
Israeli settlers' extreme groups in the
West Bank have also increased attacks on Palestinians, a development that has
been decried by the UN and a number of countries.
Source: aa.com.tr
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the full text of the original
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/palestine-accuses-israel-of-exploiting-war-on-gaza-to-seize-control-of-the-al-aqsa-mosque/3090355
------
Yemen: Anti-Israel Operations To
Intensify If Gaza Aggression Doesn’t End
Photo: Fars News
----
23 December 2023
The Yemeni defence minister in the
National Salvation Government says the country’s armed forces will intensify
their strikes if Israel doesn’t end its military aggression and all-out
blockade of the Gaza Strip.
“If the Zionist regime does not stop its
assaults on Gaza or anywhere else across the Palestinian lands and doesn’t lift
its siege, our forces will then exercise more options,” Major General Mohammad
Nasser al-Atifi said on Friday night.
Yemeni forces have launched missile and
drone attacks on Israeli targets in the occupied territories and intercepted
vessels bound for Israeli ports.
The US is forming a coalition to support
Israel but the lack of details and clarity over what countries will be doing
has added to confusion, leading some shipping companies to reroute
vessels.
Atifi said, “The recent decisions by
foreign military forces and their regional mercenaries have put many tasks
before us, the most daunting of which is the exercise of vigilance and
watchfulness.”
The official touched on the unwavering
public support for the Yemeni Armed Forces under the leadership of Ansarullah
chief Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, saying they have created a new equation both at
regional and international levels.
Atifi also criticized the international community
for failing to adopt an appropriate stance vis-à-vis Israel’s relentless
aggression against Palestinians, stressing that such a position requires
strategic decisions.
The relentless Israeli strikes against
Gaza have killed at least 20,057 people, most of them women and children, in
Gaza. Another 53,320 individuals have been wounded as well.
The Yemeni people have declared their
open support for Palestine’s struggle against the Israeli occupation since the
regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7.
“Numerous plots have been hatched
against the Palestinian cause, Muslim and Arab nations, and peoples of the
region," Atifi said.
“All sectors of the Yemeni society,
together with state institutions and freedom-loving Muslims worldwide, have managed
to thwart the vile conspiracies though,” he added.
Thousands of Yemenis have taken to the
streets across the country to express solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza
Strip, vow to answer back any US strike.
On Thursday, Eilat's CEO Gideon Golber
said Yemeni operations have crippled operations at the Israeli port in the
southern tip of the occupied Palestinian territories.
Eilat has suffered a whopping drop in
activity since Ansarullah began targeting the vessels that would use the key
Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea to reach the port, he told Reuters.
Source: presstv.ir
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/12/23/716862/Yemen-warns-to-escalate-anti-Israel-strikes-if-Gaza-aggression-doesn%E2%80%99t-stop-
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Five Arrested In North France Over
Alleged Islamist-Links
It has long
been argued that France’s extreme emphasis on secularism already singles out
Islam [Getty]
-----
23 December, 2023
Five people were arrested in northern
France on Friday as part of an investigation into a criminal terrorist
conspiracy, the national anti-terrorist prosecutor's office said.
A source close to the case confirmed to
AFP that they had been taken into police custody, but gave no further details
of their suspected crimes.
The arrests took place in Nancy and two
other towns in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department of northern France, the source
said.
The suspects, picked up by the
intelligence services, belong to an Islamist movement, according to another
source.
On Friday, Interior Minister Gerald
Darmanin called on local authorities to "maintain extreme vigilance"
over the Christmas and Epiphany festivities, due to the "very high level
of terrorist threat that continues to exist".
It has long been argued that France’s
extreme emphasis on secularism already singles out Islam and ties into France’s
recent history of colonialism in the Muslim world, with it being accused of
treating its significant Muslim minority as colonial subjects alien to France
rather than fully integrated citizens.
The ban on the abaya, a modest dress
worn by some Muslim women, introduced in French schools in September has been
cited as one recent example of this.
Not only do critics of French state
policy against Muslims, which also includes ‘anti-separatism bill’, see it as
Islamophobic and racist, but they also say it violates the original intentions
of secularism.
For example, Philippe references the
1905 secularism law, which enshrines the separation of religion from every
facet of the French state, but by advocating a state-run organisation to impose
itself on Muslims, Philippe is violating the part of the law that also
enshrines freedom of religion - but only for Muslims.
Critics have said that laws that single
out religious or ethnoreligious minorities for regulation by the state have
scarcely been seen in Europe since the Nazis introduced the Nuremberg Laws
against German Jews in 1935.
Source: newarab.com
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the full text of the original
https://www.newarab.com/news/five-arrested-north-france-over-alleged-islamist-links
------
India
Kerala Sunni Yuvajana Sangham Cautions Against Celebrating Xmas
23rd December 2023
KOZHIKODE: Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS) state secretary
Abdul Hameed Faizy Ambalakkadavu has said that Muslims cannot celebrate
Christmas and Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama has clarified this stand on
various occasions.
Faizy’s Facebook post on celebrating
Christmas has come in the backdrop of IUMLstate president Panakkad Syed Sadiq
Ali Shihab Thangal participating in the Christmas celebrations along with BJP
state president K Surendran who shared the photographs on his Facebook wall.
In his post, Faizi said that a Muslim
can never celebrate Christmas as the Quran categorically asserts that the
belief that a son was born to God is a big lie. “How can Muslims who recite
these lines celebrate Christmas, which sees Christ as the son of God,” he
asked. The post didn’t mention the name of Sadiq Ali Thangal but it may be
remembered that Thangal is the president of the SYS.
The post added that Islam teaches us to
be tolerant and to establish good relationships with people of other faiths.
“Islam teaches that if a goat is slaughtered in your house, the first share
should be given to the neighbouring Jew,” Faizi said. However Islam does not
allow one to participate in their celebrations, he said.
“It is wrong to take part in certain
celebrations. Participating in certain other festivals would lead you out of
Islam. This is clearly stated in the books on Islamic jurisprudence,” said the
post. Faizi said that Samastha leaders Anakkara C Koyakutty Musaliyar and
Cherusseri Zainudeen Musaliyar had made it clear during the controversy related
to lighting the traditional lamp in 2015.
“Samastha vice-president and SYS state
president Panakkad Syed Umar Ali ShihabThangal took a stringent stand in 2003
when a Muslim minister visited the Sringeri Mutt and sported a tilak on his
forehead,” he said.
Faizi added that practices like
arranging Christmas trees, lighting Christmas stars, Santa Claus and cutting
cake are slowly getting into the Muslim community and one should be cautious
against such things.
Source: newindianexpress.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2023/dec/23/sunni-leader-faizy-cautions-against-celebrating-xmas-in-kerala-2644116.html
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Muslim
Men Accused In Nuh Violence Allegedly Tortured In Prison
December 22, 2023
A relative of a person arrested in
connection with communal violence that broke out in Haryana’s Nuh district
earlier this year has alleged that seven Muslim inmates were assaulted by jail
staff on December 11, reported The Indian Express.
The relative has moved an application
before the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking action against the police, who
have said that the allegations are baseless.
On July 31, a clash had broken out
between Hindus and Muslims in Nuh during the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra, a
religious procession organised by the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad. The violence soon spread beyond Nuh, with neighbouring the Gurugram
district, in particular, witnessing widespread arson and mob attacks on Muslim
homes and shops.
One of the Muslim men arrested in
connection with the violence is Shokeen, whose father Khurshid said that when
he visited him in prison on December 13 and found him in a “severely injured
state”.
In an application to the court, Khurshid
said that when he asked Shokeen about his condition, he said that four to five
police officers beat him and other inmates, according to The Indian Express.
“This was captured by the jail’s CCTV
cameras, which also revealed that the prison’s STD facility was shut down,” the
application said. “The staff forced Shokeen and other inmates into the prison’s
flour mill where they were tortured, and were not provided any medical attention.”
The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in
Nuh ordered a medical inspection of the inmates on Saturday, five days after
the alleged incident took place. In response, the medical superintendent of the
civil hospital in Mandikhera who examined them said that the accused had
sustained minor injuries and their medico-legal case was done at the hospital.”
In a statement to the Chief Judicial
Magistrate’s Court in Nuh, the jail superintendent said that Shokeen and his
fellow inmates Rahul, Mouinudeen, Imtiyaz, Sohail and two of them named Imran
“refused to be counted with the other inmates and behaved disrespectfully with
the deployed officers”.
The statement said that the inmates
insisted on being shifted back to the special ward.
“They continued to misbehave with the
administration, leading to disciplinary action,” it said. “As a consequence,
they were ordered to remain in the security ward until further notice, ensuring
jail discipline is maintained and peace prevails.”
The superintendent claimed that “no jail
staff/officer has verbally abused or physically assaulted the inmates” and that
they are being provided with adequate medical attention.
These allegations were brought to the
attention of the Haryana Legislative Assembly on Tuesday by Nuh MLA Aftab Ahmed
who sought an investigation by a retired High Court judge.
Source: scroll.in
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https://scroll.in/latest/1060990/muslim-men-accused-in-nuh-violence-allegedly-tortured-in-prison
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Indo-Arab &NEIEA Holds ‘Education
For All’ Event In Jeddah
23rd December 2023
Sakina Fatima
Indo-Arab Helping Hands and New
Equitable and Innovative Educational Association (NEIEA) has organized a
“Education for All” event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The event was hosted by the President of
Indo-Arab Helping Hands Professor Asif RameezDoudi and his team Asad Ali and
Imran Kausar at Star Restaurant in Jeddah.
During the event, an insightful talk
shared by President of NEIEA, Javeed Mirza and his team who have helped
thousands of students through their innovative groundbreaking paradigm that
seamlessly blends online and offline learning through Google LMS technology was
truly inspiring.
The NEIEA is a significant organization
that is actively working towards transforming the lives of Muslim and
marginalized students in India.
Source: siasat.com
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the full text of the original
https://www.siasat.com/indo-arab-neiea-holds-education-for-all-event-in-jeddah-2939800/
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Mirwaiz barred from leading prayers at
Jamia mosque for 11th week in a row
December 23, 2023
After 10 weeks of shutting down
Srinagar’s grand mosque for prayers, Anjuman Auqaf Jamia Masjid said
authorities allowed prayers at the mosque Friday. Hundreds of residents attend
the congregational prayers at the mosque every Friday.
However, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was not
allowed to lead the Friday prayers at the mosque.
The Anjuman expressed resentment over
the administration’s decision of not allowing Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir Moulvi Muhammad
Umar Farooq to perform an important obligation like the Friday prayer for the
11th week in a row. He was released from detention at home on September 22
after four years and has not been allowed to lead prayers at Jamia Masjid since
October.
The Anjuman in a statement said Mirwaiz
was not allowed to carry out his official religious responsibilities and the
authorities did not provide any reason for such restrictions.
“Detaining Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir for the
eleventh consecutive Friday is a serious concern for Anjuman Auqaf as well as
the people whose emotions and sentiments are getting hurt by such arbitrary
action of the administration,” the mosque management committee said.
Before closure of the mosque, the All
parties Hurriyat Conference, headed by Mirwaiz had issued a statement
expressing “anguish and grief” at the loss of lives in the latest escalation in
the Palestinian-Israel conflict. Mirwaiz had stated that Palestinian’s have
been “gravely wronged” and are suffering as a consequence of the conflict.
The Israel-Palestine conflict has
featured in Mirwaiz’s Friday sermons in the past and sources in the
administration claimed that authorities had apprehensions of protest concerning
the issue after Friday prayers.
Source: indianexpress.com
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Poonch ambush: NIA steps in, army hunts
for terrorists
Dec 23, 2023
JAMMU: National Investigation Agency
(NIA) sleuths descended Friday at the site in J&K’s Poonch where terrorists
ambushed two army vehicles and killed four soldiers the previous day, scanning
the site and detaining over two dozen suspects in the latest in a series of
such attacks in the Jammu area in the past few months.
NIA teams are not usually sent by the
Centre in the immediate aftermath of such terror strikes on army squads.
Friday’s arrivals in the middle of an intensive army combing operation to flush
out the attackers underscored the gravity of the situation after the attack
that also injured three other soldiers. The banned People’s Anti-Fascist Front
(PAFF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed, has owned up to
the ambush.
Thursday’s strike in Dera Ki Gali of
Poonch’sSurankote area on the convoy ferrying reinforcements for an ongoing
anti-terror operation came a month after forces lost five personnel in a
similar offensive in adjoining Rajouri. “The NIA sent its team to the scene
(Dera Ki Gali) suomotu. Several houses are being searched. Thirty suspects are
being questioned,” an official source said.
Sources said the terrorists, believed to
be three to four, took positions on hill tops and chose a blind curve to target
the army vehicles. “They used US-made M40 rifles, not traditional AK 47 or 56,”
the source said.
Choppers, drones and sniffer dogs are
trawling the dense forests of Dera Ki Gali for the attackers in the
cordon-and-search operation. Additional troops were deployed Friday. General
officer Commanding (GoC), XVI corps, Lt Gen Sandeep Jain visited the area. The
Dhera Ki Gali (DKG) Road has been closed to traffic.
Before this, PAFF had claimed
responsibility for an ambush this April, killing five army jawans after lobbing
grenades and firing steel core bullets. Such bullets have been found this time,
too, with sources saying the group is better armed than most others. According
to the Union home ministry, PAFF came into existence in 2019.
Thursday’s ambush came less than a month
after northern Army Commander (NAC) Lieutenant General UpendraDwivedi indicated
the presence of retired Pakistani soldiers among terrorists in J&K,
flashing the alert days after the Rajouri encounter in which five army
personnel and a top Lashkar-e-Toiba died along with another operative.
According to Dwivedi's assessment then, there could be around two dozen
terrorists in Jammu region, including the Rajouri-Poonch belt.
Security experts voiced concern at the
situation in the region, where 59 people, including 24 security personnel and
28 terrorists, have perished in terror strikes this year.
Official sources saw three broad reasons
behind the spurt. One, a sharp decrease in Pakistan-backed terrorists’ sway
over the Kashmir valley, besides surging public support after abrogation of
Article 370 and initiatives like holding a G20 meet in Srinagar.
The second reason is frustration in
Pakistan and its allied terror groups over India’s increasing international
clout and third is shifting of some troops from J&K, especially south
Kashmir, to the LAC with China after the June 2020 Galwan skirmish, the sources
added.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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----
Mumbai University joins hands with
Oxford centre for 'temple management' course
Dec 23, 2023
MUMBAI: The Mumbai University (MU) will
soon be launching a certificate course in 'temple management' in collaboration
with the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. As the country is home to several
major temples, a unique management course, drawing inspiration from real-life
examples, will help interested candidates, says the university administration.
Based on the interest from students and employment opportunities, the
university may extend it to a postgraduate diploma or an MBA programme in
future.
The university's Centre for Hindu
Studies and Department of Sanskrit has signed an MoU with the Oxford Centre for
Hindu Studies. The focus will be on the comprehensive study of Hindu
philosophy. And both the departments will be developing curriculum in
collaboration with the Oxford Centre for Certificate, Diploma Courses in online
and offline formats. The temple management course is an outcome of the MoU
signed with the Oxford Centre.
The six-month certificate course will be
started in line with the National Education Policy's thrust on incorporating
the Indian knowledge system (IKS) in higher education curriculum. The course
will be designed with the help of university's two management schools -
Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and Alkesh Dinesh Mody Institute
- by seeking real-life implementation of management principles in established
temples such as Shree Saibaba Sansthan Trust and Shegaon'sGajanan Maharaj
Temple or even ISKCON, said a university official.
"Some are managing electricity by
making use of solar-operated systems, some are making use of flowers offered by
devotees to make incense sticks, which is also creating employment
opportunities, some have started using technology to manage queues , there are
books written on these practices, which can be used as references," added
the official. RavikantSangurde and MadhaviNarsale will be the university's
co-ordinators.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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----
North America
US election: Jewish and Muslim votes
probably don’t have the power to change the outcome – despite backlash on Gaza
policy
December 22, 2023
Recent polling suggests that Joe Biden’s
policy of backing Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian war is hurting him in the
eyes of American Muslims.
An #AbandonBiden campaign was launched
by Muslim voters in Minnesota in October 2023, after the US president didn’t
call for an immediate ceasefire in the war. As part of the campaign, some
Muslims have suggested they will organise to stop people voting for Biden in
swing states for the upcoming presidential election in November.
The American National Election Study
reveals that 83% of Muslim voters in the United States supported Joe Biden in
the presidential election of 2020 as the chart below shows. But, while some
analysts have speculated that that this could affect Biden in the presidential
election, if you look at the figures this is unlikely to be significant.
Muslim voters currently constitute only
just over 1% of the US population, according to 2017 census data. So even if a
significant proportion stayed away in the election or voted for Trump (Biden’s
likely competitor) the Muslim vote is not expected to make a difference between
a win or a loss.
But is the Jewish vote significant? The
election study showed that 75% of them supported Biden in 2020 but since they
make up just under 2.5% of the US population, according to the same data, their
direct impact on US elections is also small.
This means that the impact of the war on
US electoral politics will depend on the attitudes to the conflict among all
Americans, and currently they are preoccupied with domestic political issues.
Voting by religion in the US
presidential election 2020
Traditionally, the US has been a staunch
supporter of Israel and in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attack on
October 7 there was a great deal of sympathy for the Israeli side of the
conflict. However, a YouGov poll conducted just two weeks after the initial
attack showed that US attitudes had already started to change.
Within a week sympathy for the Israelis
fell by 7%, and sympathy for the Palestinians increased by 3%. The respondents
having equal sympathy for both sides rose by 5% over the period.
More recently, a survey conducted by the
Pew Research Center on December 7 showed large differences in public attitudes
to Biden’s policy on the war between Republicans and Democrats and between the
different generations.
The poll showed that Americans were
divided over whether Biden is striking the right balance between the Israelis
and Palestinians. Some 21% thought that his administration favoured the
Israelis too much, with 16% thinking this about Palestinians. Altogether 25%
thought he had it about right. But 38% of respondents said they were not sure,
so there are a lot of Americans who haven’t made up their minds about this yet.
An important question in the Pew survey
asked about the Israeli military response in Gaza. Some 45% of Democrats
thought that Israel is going too far in its military operations, compared with
only 12% of Republicans.
In relation to perceptions of the
responsibility for the conflict, age differences were also quite striking. Some
46% of the 18-to-29 age group thought Hamas had a lot of responsibility for the
war and 42% thought this about the Israelis. In sharp contrast 81% of the
over-65s thought this about Hamas and only 28% blamed the Israelis.
These findings raise an interesting
question as to why young Americans and Democrats are much more sympathetic to
the Palestinians than their older Republican counterparts. There are several
reasons why this has happened.
First, US interests in what happens in
the Middle East have declined over time. The late Henry Kissinger is often
quoted as saying: “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only
interests.” Kissinger, who died in November at the age of 100, was a firm
advocate of the realist school of international relations whose views are
captured by this quote.
Read more: Henry Kissinger was a global
– and deeply flawed – foreign policy heavyweight
US-Israeli relationships
For decades, the US and its western
allies saw Israel as a key partner in a region where the west’s vital interests
were at stake. This was where the west got much of its oil – and during the
cold war it was seen as key to protecting the region from Soviet influence.
However, rising concerns about climate
change, which are particularly important for young people, together with the
fact that the US is now much less dependent on oil from the Middle East means
that Israel has declined in importance as a US ally. Thanks to fracking, US
exports of oil reached records highs in the first part of 2023. This is a trend
that will only continue as the world reduces its reliance on fossil fuels.
A second factor is the military defeats
experienced by the US and its allies in Afghanistan and Iraq and, to a lesser
extent, in Libya. The Afghan and Iraq wars were launched by Republican
president George Bush in 2001 and 2003. The late Senator Edward Kennedy
described the Iraq invasion as “George Bush’s Vietnam”. So, it is no surprise
that young Democrats, are opposed to the United States being dragged into yet
another Middle East war.
A third factor is the actions of the
Israeli government and Benjamin Netanyahu since the right-wing coalition was
formed in December 2022. Millions of Israelis have been protesting about the
government’s attempts to concentrate power in the executive and weaken judicial
accountability. Biden also criticised this development as did other Democrats.
Another factor that could influence
voters is that the current conflict is seen by some as a colonial war. Israeli
settlers have been involved in a wave of violence against Palestinians in the
West Bank and some ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition have
actively encouraged this violence.
Meanwhile, the Republicans in Congress
have just defeated a bill proposed by Biden to give more aid to the Ukraine and
Israel. They did this on the grounds that the US should be concentrating on
illegal immigration on its southern border rather than overseas conflicts.
What is still uncertain is whether US
voters’ attitudes might shift away from domestic issues in 2024. At the moment
that seems unlikely.
Source: theconversation.com
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CAIR LA Welcomes Rep. Katie Porter’s
Call for Ceasefire in Gaza
Ibrahim Hooper
December 22, 2023
The Greater Los Angeles Area office of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today welcomed
Congresswoman Katie Porter’s recent statement supporting a ceasefire in
Gaza.
On Monday, Dec. 18, Rep. Porter released
an official statement calling for a “lasting bilateral ceasefire” in Gaza.
In her statement, Rep. Porter said:
“I support working toward a lasting
bilateral ceasefire in Gaza. That must happen between the parties engaged in
conflict, and this is a war between Israel and Hamas. The role of the United
States should be to identify and push for conditions where a lasting bilateral
ceasefire is possible.
“A lasting peace will then require
commitment to postwar economic and humanitarian aid to rebuild Gaza and
negotiations toward a democratic Palestinian state with full and equal rights
for its citizens.”
In a statement, CAIR-LA Executive
Director HussamAyloush said:
“We welcome Congresswoman Porter’s
statement supporting a ceasefire in Gaza and calling on the Biden
Administration to engage in diplomatic efforts that prioritize delivering
crucial humanitarian aid to Gaza and establishing the full rights of the Palestinian
people.
“An overwhelming majority of Americans
support a permanent ceasefire, and it is time for our Congress and White House
to listen to the voices of the people.
“We hope this will be the first step
towards a more robust response from the congresswoman and other elected
officials that addresses the root cause of the violence: 75 years of Israeli
apartheid and military occupation.”
Since Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza
began on Oct. 7, it has destroyed entire residential neighborhoods and critical
infrastructure, displaced over one million people, and killed over 20,000
civilians, including over 10,000 children. Human rights organizations and
advocates from all over the world have stated that Israel’s cutting off of
food, water, electricity, and medicine while it also indiscriminately drops
bombs homes, hospitals, bakeries, schools, mosques, churches, and even refugee
camps in Gaza, amounts to war crimes.
CAIR-LA urges all local and national
leaders to stand for peace and justice by supporting the Ceasefire Now
Resolution (HR 786).
CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest
Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the
understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower
American Muslims.
Source: cair.com
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CAIR Calls on State Dept., FBI to Probe
Shooting, Detaining of Palestinian-American Child by Israeli Forces
Ismail Allison
December 22, 2023
The Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy
organization, today called on the State Department and FBI to investigate the
shooting and detention of a 13-year-old Palestinian-American boy by Israeli
forces in the West Bank.
Malik Jaffal, a 13-year-old
Palestinian-American boy, was released from an Israeli prison Wednesday night
after having been strip-searched, interrogated and wrongly arrested, his family
said. Jaffal reportedly spent a week in an Israeli military prison in a small
room with 12 other boys with no soap or showers after he refused to falsely
confess to throwing rocks at Israeli troops.
He was shot in the arm by Israeli forces
last month and was arrested a week after leaving the hospital. Jaffal’s mother,
who was born in the US, said she told Israeli soldiers both she and her son
were US citizens. One soldier reportedly told her “your son doesn’t have rights
in Israel.”
In a statement, CAIR National Executive
Director Nihad Awad said:
“Once again, the far-right Israeli
government has shown its utter disregard for the basic human and civil rights
of both Palestinians and American. The shooting and unjust detention of a
thirteen-year-old American citizen cannot be ignored by our government. We call
on the State Department and the FBI to investigate this incident and take the
appropriate action that we failed to take when the Israeli government murdered
American citizen and journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in broad daylight.”
He noted that yesterday, CAIR condemned
Israel’s new ethnic cleansing order, the bulldozing of bodies in a Gaza
cemetery and the forced starvation of Palestinian children.
SEE: CAIR Calls Israel’s New Ethnic
Cleansing, Bulldozing of Bodies in Cemetery, Forced Starvation of Gaza Children
the Latest ‘Israeli War Crimes of the Day’
–
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil
rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American
Muslims.
La misión de CAIR esproteger las
libertadesciviles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y
empoderar a losmusulmanesenlosEstadosUnidos.
Source: cair.com
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Israeli-American Gadi Haggai, held by
Hamas, confirmed dead. Joe Biden is ‘heartbroken’
Dec 23, 2023
An American hostage, Gadi Haggai, who
was abducted by Hamas during the October 7 attack, has been confirmed dead.
US President Joe Biden said he was
"heartbroken" over the death of an American hostage, Gadi Haggai, who
Hamas abducted during the October 7 attack in Israel. Meanwhile, Haggai's wife
Judith Weinstein, is still under captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli media
outlet Haaretz.
"Jill (Biden) and I are heartbroken
by the news that American Gadi Haggai is now believed to have been killed by
Hamas on October 7. We continue to pray for the well-being and safe return of
his wife, Judy," the US president said in a statement released by the
White House, as quoted by news agency Reuters.
Wrap up the year gone by & gear up
for 2024 with HT! Click here
Earlier on Friday, a group representing
hostages' families had said that Haggai died in captivity. However, Biden's
statement didn't give details about what happened to Haggai.
According to Haggai's family statement
cited by Haaretz, he was a talented chef, with a love for wind instruments.
"We mourn the loss of our father and grandfather, and we continue to hope
and pray that his body will be returned to us and that Judi is still alive and
we will be reunited soon," the family said in a statement.
What happened on October 7?
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists
launched a sudden assault in southern Israel on a Jewish holiday. The
terrorists massacred hundreds of innocent civilians, beheaded babies, raped
women and abducted people.
People of different age groups including
women and children were abducted during the attack by Hamas. In retaliation,
Israel launched a war against Hamas in Gaza.
During the ongoing war, Israel and Hamas
entered a truce for a few days during which 110 hostages including foreign
nationals were released. As part of the hostage exchange deal, Israel freed 240
Palestinian prisoners.
However, more than 100 hundred Israeli
hostages are still believed to be held under Hamas captivity in Gaza.
Reportedly, Israel is trying for a new deal to ensure the safe release of the
remaining hostages.
Source: hindustantimes.com
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----
Mideast
Israeli Police Attack Palestinian Muslim
Worshipers in Occupied Jerusalem
DEC 22, 2023
Israeli police attacked, on Friday,
Palestinian worshipers near the Old City of Occupied Jerusalem, injuring many
citizens, and restricted access to the Al Aqsa Mosque.
On Friday morning, Israeli police
enhanced their security measures in the Old City of Occupied Jerusalem and the
Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Police closed the Old City with
barriers, inspected the identities of citizens and prevented many from
entering.
A large police force was deployed to
prevent Palestinian Muslim worshipers from reaching the Al-Aqsa Mosque to
perform Friday prayers.
Later, those denied entry to the Al-Aqsa
Mosque, gathered in the Wadi al-Jouzneighborhood to perform Friday prayers.
In a brutal attack against peaceful
citizens, Israeli occupation police fired excessive amounts of tear gas
canisters, in addition to rubber-coated metal bullets, concussion grenades, and
sprayed wastewater at them.
Police attacked Palestinian journalists
who were trying to cover the event, and forcibly removed them from the scene.
Dozens of Palestinians sustained
inhalation injuries as a result of tear gas exposure.
Source: imemc.org
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------
Islamic Resistance in Iraq Claims Attack
on Israeli 'Vital Target' in the Mediterranean Sea
2023-12-23
Shafaq News/ On Friday, the
"Islamic Resistance in Iraq" announced attacking an Israeli
"vital target" in the Mediterranean Sea.
In a statement, the group, which mainly
consists of pro-Iranian Iraqi forces, expressed its commitment to
"resisting the occupation, supporting the people in Gaza, and responding
to the recent atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians."
The statement affirmed that the attack
directly hit the vital target but did not specify its nature.
This announcement follows the group's
claim on Thursday that it had bombed a target in the occupied Umm al-Rashrash
(Eilat) area using appropriate weapons.
The "Axis of Resistance"
(including Iraqi factions, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Ansarallah of Yemen)
expressed full support to the Hamas Movement in confronting the Israeli
operations in Gaza.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched
about 80 attacks against the US-led Coalition forces in Syria and Iraq. The
Yemini-based Houthis (Ansarallah) fired rockets and drones toward Israel despite
being more than 1,000 miles away from Sanaa, the Yemeni capital.
The Houthis are also utilizing their
control of Yemen's western seaboard, encompassing ports like Hodeidah, to
launch attacks on shipping they perceive as linked to Israel.
On the Lebanese front, Israel is facing
another "enemy," Hezbollah, the most potent Iran-aligned group in the
Middle East.
More than 130 people have been killed on
the Lebanese side, mostly Hezbollah fighters with one Lebanese soldier.
Israel also lost tens of soldiers in the
military operations on the Lebanese-Palestinian borders.
Hezbollah's strategy started with
attacking the Israeli telecommunication towers, which blocked the connection
among the Israeli forces, then attacked with drones and rockets the Israeli
army gatherings, killing dozens.
Source: shafaq.com
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https://shafaq.com/en/Iraq-News/Islamic-Resistance-in-Iraq-Claims-Attack-on-Israeli-Vital-Target-in-the-Mediterranean-Sea
----
Palestinian journalists killed by
Israeli army in Gaza nears 100
Ahmed Asmar
23.12.2023
The Government Media Office in Gaza
mourned another journalist killed Friday in an Israeli army airstrike on his
home in the central Gaza Strip.
The office said the killing of Mohammad
Khalifa brings the death toll for journalists to 99 in Gaza since Oct. 7.
The Hamas group's Al-Aqsa TV said
Khalifa was killed in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, along with his wife and three
children.
Since Oct. 7, the Israeli army has been
waging a destructive war on Gaza, resulting in at least 20,057 deaths and
53,320 injuries, most of them children and women.
It has caused immense damage to
infrastructure and an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” according to
Palestinian and international sources.
Source: aa.com.tr
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/palestinian-journalists-killed-by-israeli-army-in-gaza-nears-100/3090366
-----
Surging anti-Muslim sentiments,
discrimination take center stage in 2023
Omer FarukMadanoglu
23.12.2023
Increasing anti-Muslim sentiments in
Europe and the US have brought discrimination to the forefront in 2023.
The bigotry has been supported directly
or indirectly by governments that are held up as beacons of freedom and in one
particular case as the “only democracy in the Middle East.”
Israel's attacks on residential areas,
hospitals, schools, mosques and churches in the Gaza Strip have left the world
demanding a cease-fire. The attacks have targeted the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the
sacred values of Palestinians.
But human rights violations have
continued in occupied Palestinian territories since Oct. 7, when the
Palestinian resistance group launched a surprise attack against Israel.
More than 20,000 Palestinians have been
killed in the conflict with at least 8,000 children and 6,200 women dead. More
than 52,600 victims have also been injured. Gaza, where thousands are still
reportedly under the rubble, has witnessed the destruction of civilian
infrastructure, including hospitals, educational institutions and places of
worship, in targeted attacks.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
announced Oct. 9 that Gaza would be completely besieged and electricity, food
and fuel would not be allowed to enter.
In the days that followed, Israeli
forces blocked humanitarian aid.
Beginning Oct. 10, Israel
indiscriminately targeted residential areas, hospitals, schools, and places of
worship with airstrikes.
Western countries, notably the US, have
turned a blind eye or openly supported Israel's bombing of the enclave, where
civilians are being killed.
Despite the attacks by forces affiliated
with the Tel Aviv administration, Western countries, including the US, the UK,
France, Germany, and Italy, refrained from issuing condemnatory statements
against Israel's attacks.
Rising anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe
Danish far-right politician Rasmus
Paludan burned the Quran in front of Türkiye's Stockholm Embassy on Jan.21 and
its Copenhagen Embassy on Jan. 27.
Paludan continued his Quran-burning
provocations in Malmo, Norrkoping and Jonkoping during the Easter holiday in
April.
Iraqi-origin Salwan Momika also burned
the Muslim holy book under police protection in front of the Stockholm Mosque
on June 28, coinciding with the first day of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Momika, on July 20 in front of Iraq's
Stockholm Embassy and on July 31 in front of the Swedish Parliament building,
trampled the Quran and the Iraqi flag under police protection. Increasing his
attacks. He continued to burn the Quran in various locations in Stockholm on
Aug. 25, 26, 27, and 29 under police protection.
The UN Human Rights Council said
Quran-burning provocations in Europe fueled hate speech and increased
discrimination. The Council also expressed that future sessions would discuss
religious hate actions in more detail.
Following the announcement by Education
Minister Gabriel Attal on Aug. 27 that the use of the abaya by women in schools
would be prohibited, the ADM Association, which advocates for the rights of
Muslims, took the ban to the Council of State.
The Council of State in France rejected
the request to suspend the ban on Sept. 7. It argued that female students wore
the abaya and male students wore the kamis, a traditional tunic, for religious
reasons.
And Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera
announced that no French woman in the French delegation would be allowed to
wear a headscarf during the Paris Games.
UN Human Rights High Commissioner's
spokesperson, Marta Hurtado, said in response that the ban was not justified.
"The Human Rights Office generally emphasizes that no one should dictate
what a woman should or should not wear," she said.
A report published in November on
anti-Muslim sentiment in Germany noted that one in every two people in the
country approved or used expressions that contained "anti-Muslim
hatred."
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced
that anti-Muslim sentiment had risen recently and mechanisms and advisory
centers documenting it would be increased next year.
In the Netherlands, at least 10
municipalities conducted secret investigations on mosques, imams, leaders of
religious organizations and influential individuals in congregations.
It was reported that the research,
financed by the Dutch Security and Counterterrorism Agency through municipalities,
was conducted by a private firm called NTA, Nuance door Training enAdvies.
Minister of Social Affairs and
LaborKarien van Gennip expressed regret about the investigation and said
lessons would be learned.
Anti-Muslim sentiment across US
A Human Rights Report released by the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in April noted that complaints
about anti-Muslim sentiment, prejudice and discrimination had fallen compared
to 2021, but complaints in the education sector had increased by 33%.
In June, three Democratic members of the
US Congress introduced the "International Islamophobia Combat Act"
against the increase in anti-Muslim incidents worldwide.
Swiss computer hackers, who seized an
FBI's watchlist on June 13, leaked the information to the public. It was
revealed that 1.5 million individuals, including children as young as 7, and
2,500 mosques, mostly with Arab and Muslim names, were secretly monitored by
the bureau dating back 20 years.
CAIR filed a lawsuit against the
government for the "FBI terrorism watchlist." The lawsuit included 29
high-ranking government officials and agencies, including ministers, as
defendants, along with the FBI, the CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA),
including President Joe Biden's government.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human
Rights and Counterterrorism, Fionnuala Ni Aolain, published a report on
lawlessness in the Guantanamo Bay prison after her technical visit June 27.
The UN condemned the US for the torture
of prisoners at the prison and recommended its closure.
On the other hand, according to the
annual hate crime statistics released by the FBI on Oct. 10, violence and
discrimination against Muslims in the US increased compared to the previous
year.
The health sector was not spared as the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US said one in five
women in the country experienced mistreatment in health centers during
pregnancy and the postpartum period.
The report, citing statistics, noted the
rate of encountering mistreatment reached 30% for Black, Latin American-origin
US citizens and biracial women, and 40% of those women reported experiencing
discrimination.
Rising nationalism in India
In the Gurugram region of the Haryana
state in India, Muslim-owned businesses that experienced arson, along with a
mosque, as well as the killing of an imam by ultra-nationalist Hindu groups on
Aug. 8, raised concerns among Muslims.
Following the attacks on minorities, the
Hindutva Watch organization reported Sept. 26 that more than 250 hate incidents
against Muslims were carried out in India in the first half of 2023.
The report highlighted an increasing
trend in hate speech against Muslims since the nationalist Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, noting that government officials have
engaged in insulting and derogatory rhetoric against Muslims and Islam‘s sacred
values.
Myanmar-Rakhine crisis
The Myanmar military seized power Feb.
1, 2021, following allegations of electoral fraud in the 2020 general elections
and political tensions.
More than 1,900 people were killed, over
13,000 detained and an excess of 10,000 are still held in prisons as a result
of the military's armed intervention against anti-coup protesters and insurgent
groups.
Myanmar military courts have sentenced
114 political prisoners, including two children, to death.
Nicholas Koumjian, the head of the UN
Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said the military junta has
disregarded human rights warnings from international organizations and the
lives of women and children are in danger.
The UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs reported that the spread of conflicts between the military
regime and ethnic armed groups in Myanmar has led to further displacement of
residents.
In Rakhine State, where Muslims are the
majority, Rohingya Muslims are considered by the UN the "most persecuted
people in the world" due to the military's violence and oppression against
civilians. The UN describes the violence against Rohingya Muslims as ethnic
cleansing or genocide.
Russia-Ukraine war
The war that began Feb. 24, 2022,
between Russia and Ukraine, continues intensely, particularly in the Donetsk
region.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said
it anticipates that 7.8 million residents will need humanitarian assistance in
2024.
According to a report by the UN Human
Rights Monitoring Mission in December concerning violations in Ukraine, more
than 560 children and 10,000 people have died since the beginning of the war,
and over 14 million civilians have become refugees.
The Special Representative for Combating
Human Trafficking of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) noted that Ukrainian women migrating to Europe fell into the trap of
prostitution gangs.
The women were initially employed in nightclubs
and bars but were later coerced into prostitution.
While the UN and international
organizations have welcomed millions of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war to
Europe, they pointed out that policies for those coming from the Middle East
and Africa are based on religious, linguistic and racial discrimination due to
the war Russia initiated against Ukraine.
Source: aa.com.tr
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/surging-anti-muslim-sentiments-discrimination-take-center-stage-in-2023/3090433
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Hamas and Palestinian Authority split on
UN Gaza resolution
December 23, 2023
CAIRO: The Palestinian foreign ministry
and the Islamist group Hamas issued opposing statements on Friday in response
to the adoption by the United Nations Security Council of a resolution intended
to help bring more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian foreign ministry, which
is part of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, called the resolution “a
step in the right direction,” and said it would help “end the aggression,
ensure the arrival of aid and protect the Palestinian people.”
“We consider it a step that may
contribute to alleviating the suffering of our people in the Gaza Strip,” the
foreign ministry statement said.
But Hamas, the militants who run Gaza,
called the resolution an “insufficient step” for meeting the impoverished
enclave’s needs.
“During the past five days, the US
administration has worked hard to empty this resolution of its essence, and to
issue it in this weak formula... It defies the will of the international
community and the United Nations General Assembly in stopping Israel’s
aggression against our defenseless Palestinian people,” the statement said.
Earlier on Friday, amid global outrage
over a rising Gaza death toll in 11 weeks of war between Israel and Hamas and a
worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, the US abstained to
allow the 15-member UN Security Council to adopt a resolution drafted by the United
Arab Emirates.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2430511/middle-east
-----
Iraq’s Islamic Resistance Says Hit
Israeli Target in Mediterranean Sea
2023-December-23
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraq’s Islamic resistance
said it targeted a “vital target” in the Mediterranean Sea a few days ago as
part of its anti-Israel operations, directly hitting the site.
A source in the group told Al-Jazeera on
Friday that the target was the Karish gas rig in the Mediterranean using a
drone.
In a statement, the Islamic resistance
said the attack was carried out using “appropriate weapons”. It didn’t provide
further details.
The resistance said the attack was in
retaliation for Israeli massacres against civilians in Gaza. The statement
stressed the group’s commitment to keep striking Israeli targets.
Iraq’s Islamic resistance, a coalition
involving an unspecified number of anti-US groups, has repeatedly targeted US
bases in Iraq and Syria, as well as Israeli targets.
Also on Friday, the group said it had
stricken a target in the city of Umm Rashrash, also known as Eilat, in the
Southern part of Occupied Palestine. The resistance group has attacked the
US-run Al-Harir and Ein Al-Asad bases in Iraq, as well as the US embassy in
Baghdad.
The resistance says those attacks are in
retaliation for the US support for the ongoing Israeli genocidal onslaught
against Gaza, which has so far killed over 20,000 Palestinians, mostly women
and children.
Moreover, the resistance has targeted
bases occupied by the US forces in Syria, including the Koniko base.
Source: farsnews.ir
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https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14021002000189/Ira%E2%80%99s-Islamic-Resisance-Says-Hi-Israeli-Targe-in-Medierranean-Sea
------
Israel envoy says UN focused only on aid
to Gaza, not hostages crisis
23.12.2023
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Ambassador to the
United Nations criticised the Security Council for its response to the Oct. 7 Hamas
attack following a Friday vote to boost humanitarian aid to Gaza.
“The U.N.’s focus only on aid mechanisms
to Gaza is unnecessary and disconnected from reality - Israel is already
allowing aid deliveries at the required scale,” said Gilad Erdan. “The U.N.
should have focused on the humanitarian crisis of the hostages.”
Erdan also thanked the United States for
its strong support of Israel during the negotiations on the resolution, which
he said maintained Israel’s security authority to inspect aid entering Gaza.
Source: brecorder.com
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https://www.brecorder.com/news/40280099/israel-envoy-says-un-focused-only-on-aid-to-gaza-not-hostages-crisis
-----
Dozens of Palestinians suffocated during
crackdown by enemy worshippers in Wadi al-Jawz& 12,000 perform Friday
prayers in Al-Aqsa
[22/December/2023]
OCCUPIED AL-QUDS December 22. 2023
(Saba) - Zionist enemy forces fired toxic gas bombs at dozens of Palestinians
during their repression of worshippers in Wadi al-Jawz, adjacent to the
occupied old town of Al-Quds, wounding dozens of people with asphyxiations.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA
reported that worshippers gathered in Wadi al-Jawz for prayers on Friday, after
enemy forces prevented them from entering the Al-Aqsa mosque for the 11th
consecutive Friday, firing rubber-coated metal bullets, poison gas bombs and
spraying them with wastewater.
The enemy forces also assaulted and
removed a number of journalists who were in the scene for the event's coverage,
and kept them out of the place.
Only 12 thousand citizens were able to
enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque because of the aggravated military enemy measures that
began in the early morning by preventing worshippers from entering for dawn
prayers. The doors of the Mosque were closed, preventing those outside Al-Quds
Old City, both from the 48 year's territory and from the surrounding Jerusalem
neighbourhoods from entering.
It is noteworthy that calls were
launched by the activities of Jerusalemites to travel to Al-Aqsa and pray
there, as it is under siege, in light of a major colonial and Judaizing attack
against it.
Source: saba.ye
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https://www.saba.ye/en/news3290234.htm
-------
Arab World
Yemeni attack leaves enemy entity with
almost complete economic paralysis
[23/December/2023]
SANA'A December 23. 2023 (Saba) - In
light of the Zionist arrogance in continuing to commit more brutal massacres
against the civilians of the proud people of Gaza... comes the Yemeni courage
represented by the bold and courageous stance to afflict the Zionist enemy
entity with almost complete economic paralysis.
The Yemeni Armed Forces’ announcement of
preventing the passage of ships heading to the Zionist enemy entity, Yemen’s
position in supporting Gaza entered a new phase of escalation. The decision to
prevent the passage of all ships heading to the entity’s ports is tantamount to
a siege that is suffocating the usurping enemy entity.
The Zionist enemy entity is facing an
almost complete naval blockade for the first time in its history, isolating it
from the most important waterway through which its ships, imports and exports
have been sailing for decades.
On the one hand, the brave and gradual
Yemeni decision made the enemy entity face a strategic crisis related to one of
its most important strategic pillars on which it built its national security.
For the first time in its history, the
Zionist enemy entity is facing a crisis related to its most vital foundation,
which is the closure of the Red Sea, which it considers the main lifeline for
its maritime trade.
On the other hand, the Yemeni decision
raised the cost of shipping to it due to the behavior of its ships heading to
it via long shipping routes.
The strategic importance of the Red Sea
to the Zionist security system lies in the fact that it is the only corridor
that gives it a maritime outlet to Africa and East Asia, and it was one of the
first steps taken by the enemy entity after announcing its establishment in
1948.
The brave Yemeni decision to close the
Red Sea is considered the first of its kind in terms of implementation and also
in that it included what resembled a complete blockade on the Zionists
historically, Yemen closed Bab al-Mandab in the 1973 war, but the matter did
not last and was not implemented in an effective way to impose the blockade.
Yemen also defeated the most important
strategic goals of the enemy entity since its inception, which is securing
trade routes through the Red Sea.
On the military level, the Zionist enemy
entity has many bases in the Horn of Africa, which it established over the past
decades to secure Zionist trade to Africa, which Jewish commercial companies
rushed to invade from an early time.
The decision to close Bab al-Mandab to
Zionist ships caused an almost complete paralysis of Zionist trade, according
to multiple sources.
Zionist sources confirm that the port of
Eilat was completely paralyzed and at least 40,000 Zionist workers who were
working in factories and maritime trade were laid off.
It also indicated that phosphate and
cement exports to African countries had stopped, and 20 percent of the imports
of this temporary entity had stopped.
According to the Zionist newspaper
"Haaretz", the Zionist enemy entity does not practice any trade by
land as Europe does, for example, and relies heavily on its sea ports, through
which more than 98 percent of the Zionist goods trade passes.
According to the Zionist website
"Globes", Yemen's operations in the Red Sea caused an increase in
transport prices from China to the occupying entity during the first week.
Observers believe that the Yemeni
decision to close the Red Sea forced Zionist ships, firstly, to pass through
the Cape of Good Hope, and secondly, placing the entity under an almost
complete naval blockade.
Not only do shipping and insurance
prices rise and Zionist ships change their course, but it is also accompanied
by delays and traffic jams in larger numbers than usual.
In this context, insurance premiums on
enemy ships increased more than before with a decrease in the volume of dealing
with them, which represents a major blow to the enemy’s economy.
It is worth noting that the decision to
close the Bab al-Mandab Strait represented a powerful strategic blow that cut
off the dreams of Zionist expansion in the southern direction of the Red Sea
and in the direction of the Yemeni islands and shores.
Source: saba.ye
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https://www.saba.ye/en/news3290309.htm
-----
Saudi customs teams foil drug smuggling
attempts at Al Haditha and Al Batha border points
December 22, 2023
RIYADH — Customs teams at Al Haditha and
Al Batha ports in Saudi Arabia thwarted two major drug smuggling attempts,
seizing over 117,000 Captagon pills and more than 6,000 grams of the drug
'Shabu', the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) has announced.
The contraband was found concealed in
two trucks entering the Kingdom through the border crossings.
The authority explained that the first interception
at Al Haditha customs involved 117,210 Captagon pills found hidden in various
parts of a truck.
In a separate incident at Al Batha,
customs officials discovered 6,170 grams of Shabu ingeniously concealed inside
a fire extinguisher in another truck.
Following the seizures, coordination
with the General Directorate for Drug Control ensured the arrest of three
individuals within the Kingdom, who were intended recipients of the drugs.
The authority emphasized its ongoing
commitment to strengthening customs control on imports and exports. Such
vigilance forms a crucial part of their strategy to enhance community security
and protect society by curbing all smuggling attempts.
The authority urged public cooperation
in combating smuggling to safeguard the community and the national economy.
They encouraged reporting any smuggling activities through the dedicated
security hotline (1910), email (1910@zatca.gov.sa), or international number
(+966 114208417). Reports are handled with utmost confidentiality, and
informants are eligible for financial rewards if their information proves
accurate.
Source: saudigazette.com.sa
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https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/638954/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-customs-teams-foil-drug-smuggling-attempts-at-Al-Haditha-and-Al-Batha-crossings
------
KSrelief Distributes 1,364 Vouchers to
Syrian, Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon
22 Dec, 2023
The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and
Relief Center (KSrelief) distributed on Thursday 1, 364 vouchers to Syrian and
Palestinian refugees and host community members in Lebanon's Beirut, Tripoli,
and western Bekaa region to purchase winter clothing from approved stores, as
part of the center’sKanaf 2023 project.
The assistance comes within the framework of
the humanitarian and relief projects provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
through the center, to needy people all over the world.
Source: alriyadhdaily.com
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http://alriyadhdaily.com/article/f43e9ee40a7c434f809bdc68be6b0777
------
Europe
France grounds flight carrying 303
Indians on human trafficking suspicion: Reports
22nd December 2023
LONDON: A Nicaragua-bound plane that
took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrying 303 Indian passengers has
been grounded in France over suspected "human trafficking", French
authorities were quoted as saying by the local media on Friday.
According to a 'Le Monde' newspaper
report, the national anti-organised crime unit JUNALCO has taken over the
investigation.
Special investigators are questioning
all those aboard and two people are in custody pending further examination, the
Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The prefecture in the northeastern
department of Marne said the A340, operated by Romanian company Legend
Airlines, "remained grounded on the tarmac at Vatry airport following its
landing" on Thursday.
The Vatry airport, located 150
kilometres east of Paris, serves mostly budget airlines.
The newspaper report says the prefecture
said the plane had been due to refuel and was carrying 303 Indian nationals who
had probably been working in the UAE.
After landing in France, the passengers
were first kept on the aircraft, but then let out and given individual beds in
the terminal building.
The entire airport was cordoned off by
police.
The prosecutor's office said an
anonymous tip signalled that the flight was carrying people who could be
victims of human trafficking.
Passengers were eventually transferred
into the main hall of the small Vatry airport, where cots were set up for them
to stay overnight on Thursday, the administration for the Marne region told the
newspaper.
Investigators from a specialised French
organised crime unit, border police and aviation gendarmes are working on the
case.
Legend Airlines is yet to comment on the
incident.
Source: newindianexpress.com
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https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2023/dec/22/france-grounds-plane-carrying-300-indians-over-suspected-human-trafficking-2644043.html
-------
Bring French nationals guilty of Israel
army war crimes to justice: MP
22 December, 2023
A left-wing lawmaker has called for
French nationals who have committed war crimes while serving in the Israeli
military to be brought to justice.
Thomas Portes, a member of the National
Assembly representing the France Unbowed (LFI) party, said last week that radio
station Europe 1 had found 4,185 troops with French nationality were mobilised
within the Israeli army on the Gaza front.
He sent a letter, bearing Monday's date,
to Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti, raising the issue of French citizens
fighting for Israel.
"As the UN, through several of its
special rapporteurs, highlights the genocidal risks and that 19,000
Palestinians have lost their lives, the participation of French nationals in
these atrocities casts a shadow on France," he wrote.
"Similarly, since colonisation is
recognised as a crime against humanity, any implication of French citizens must
be scrupulously examined."
Israel's war on Gaza has killed more
than 20,000 people – the majority women and children.
"It is imperative that France
examines the culpability of its nationals involved both in Gaza and the West
Bank," Portes said.
"I therefore request your
intervention, under your general powers of inquiry, for French nationals,
including dual nationals, guilty of war crimes to be brought before French
justice."
Israel has attacked places of worship,
hospitals, ambulances, and residential buildings in Gaza.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed
over 280 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,
since 7 October, the date the Gaza war broke out.
More than 1,200 people have been
displaced in the West Bank in the same period, the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian said, adding that it came "amid settler
violence and access restrictions".
Portes said in a post on social media
platform X that he would also refer the issue of French nationals serving in
the Israeli military on the Gaza front.
He separately posted a video of two
masked men dressed in military gear with weapons who appeared to be taunting
him.
In the footage, the first man said in
French: "Thomas Portes, the LFI, thanks for your support."
The second said "Merry
Christmas" in standard French, before using a slang term meaning "my
brother" which comes from North African Arabic.
The men were each carrying a mortar
shell with a message written on in black ink that was not fully visible.
The New Arab could not verify the
authenticity of the footage or what the message on the explosives was. However,
the writing on the shell held by the man on the right of the screen appeared to
match the start of the word "Thomas".
Portes responded on Tuesday by saying
that for 96 hours "Israeli war criminals have been staging themselves with
weapons marked with my name".
"We will never bow our heads before
them," he added.
"We will always stand by the
Palestinian people massacred by the Israeli army. We will always be on the side
of peace."
Source: newarab.com
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https://www.newarab.com/news/bring-french-guilty-israel-army-war-crimes-justice-mp
-----
How to hold the Islamic Republic of Iran
accountable in European courts
December 22, 2023
The past year has witnessed increased
and sustained calls to secure accountability for the Islamic Republic of Iran
(IRI)’s atrocity crimes and gross human rights violations, particularly in
response to the protests triggered by Mahsa Jina Amini’s death at the hands of
the IRI’s morality police in September 2022. Accountability efforts have
primarily focused on securing justice for victims and survivors of
extrajudicial killings, mass arbitrary detention, torture, and other grave
abuses committed by the IRI in response to peaceful protests. However, these
efforts have also sought to hold IRI authorities to account for unpunished
crimes during prior decades, including the IRI’s brutal crackdowns on
protestors in November 2019 and the 1988 summary executions of thousands of
Iranian political prisoners.
Because the judicial system in Iran is
neither independent nor impartial—and is, in fact, responsible for unjust
imprisonments and complicit in serious abuses in Iranian prisons—there are no
viable domestic routes for accountability. However, there are paths available
through national judicial systems in other states.
This report from the Atlantic Council’s
Strategic Litigation Project explores accountability options that European
states in particular can pursue, with the help of civil society. Throughout
Europe, states have adopted universal jurisdiction provisions, which allow them
to prosecute acts that constitute core international crimes—genocide, war
crimes, and crimes against humanity—even if the crime was committed in a
different state by and against foreign nationals. Sweden used these provisions
to convict former IRI official Hamid Noury for murder and war crimes committed
during the 1988 prison massacres, but so far no other IRI official has been
tried under universal jurisdiction provisions for crimes committed in Iran,
despite newfound opportunities to pursue these cases.
For decades, IRI officials have traveled
throughout Europe, often owning assets and even reportedly receiving healthcare
in different countries. At the same
time, many victims and survivors of the IRI’s brutality have sought refuge in
Europe—making the presence of IRI officials with no accountability all the more
egregious, yet providing an opportunity for these victims and survivors to
support investigations with eyewitness accounts and further information.
The countries included in this
report—Belgium, England and Wales, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden,
and Switzerland—are just seven jurisdictions out of 148 United Nations member
states worldwide that have laws allowing for the investigation and prosecution
of some or all core international crimes, even when those crimes are committed
beyond their own borders. These seven
jurisdictions were selected as a focus of this report due to several factors
including: the strength of their universal jurisdiction frameworks and
frequency of use; their robust caselaw and policies for prosecuting atrocity
crimes committed extraterritorially; the size of Iranian expatriate communities
in these countries, especially those fleeing persecution and violence; and the
possibility of travel by IRI officials to these jurisdictions.
This report details what each country’s
universal jurisdiction provisions entail, how proceedings are initiated, and
what victims’ rights are protected. It also gives an overview of each state’s
relevant jurisprudence to date, analyzing the legal, practical, and political
viability of future cases involving IRI violations, including in light of the
country’s diplomatic relationship with Iran.
Finally, it provides regional and country-specific recommendations to
facilitate more cases against IRI perpetrators and to strengthen universal
jurisdiction frameworks more broadly.
Source: atlanticcouncil.org
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https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/how-to-hold-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-accountable-in-european-courts/
-------
Russia warns US of breakdown in
diplomatic relations
22 December 2023
Russia says it may decide to cut
diplomatic relations with the United States “completely” if Washington
confiscates the billions of dollars’ worth of Russian foreign assets held in US
financial institutions to assist Ukraine in the war.
Washington’s political leadership “must
not act under an illusion... that Russia is clinging with both hands to
diplomatic relations with that country,” the Interfax news agency quoted Deputy
Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Friday.
Ryabkov said Moscow would not be the one
to initiate a complete breakdown in diplomatic ties, but this could happen for
a number of reasons, including, “asset confiscation, further military
escalation, many other things. I would not go into negative forecasts here.”
The Russian diplomat said Moscow was
“ready for any scenario.”
In the meantime, US media reported
Washington and its allies had devised schemes to take possession of Russian
assets to continue funding the Ukraine war. The New York Times reported the
administration of US President Joe Biden is aiming to take possession of the
frozen Russian assets – worth over $300 billion.
The Biden administration is showing
favor in seizing over $300 billion in assets the Russian central bank has set
aside in Western financial institutions.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesman,
said on Friday such a move would deal a serious blow to the global financial
system.
Peskov said Russia would “never leave in
peace” any country that seized its assets, and in such a scenario it would look
at what Western assets it could confiscate in retaliation.
On December 19, Russian Finance Minister
Anton Siluanov warned “an absolutely symmetrical response will follow” if the
European Union decides to tap into profits generated from the frozen funds. He
said there are sufficient foreign assets held in specialized ruble-denominated
bank accounts, including dividend reserve liabilities to counterparties from
“unfriendly” countries.
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin of
Russia has said the country’s economy not only warded off the Western sanctions
but also became stronger in the process.
“In general, the situation is stable. We
have overcome all the sanctions-related issues, and have started the next stage
of [economic] development on a new basis, which is fundamentally important,”
Putin said on Thursday in Sochi at the 20th annual meeting of the Valdai
Discussion Club.
Putin gave assurance to the Russian
nation that the West’s anti-Moscow sanctions were helping restructure the
Russian economy positively.
Last year, around €260 billion ($287
billion) of Moscow’s central bank assets were immobilized in the G7 countries,
the EU, and Australia.
Source: presstv.ir
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/12/22/716842/russia-breakdown-diplomatic-relations
-----
Pakistan
Supreme Court’s reprieve may not bail
Imran out of jail — for now
December 23, 2023
Malik Asad
ISLAMABAD: Imran Khan’s journey to
freedom remains arduous despite bail granted by the Supreme Court in the cipher
case on Friday because of his ongoing incarceration in two other corruption
references and about 150 other cases registered at police stations across the
country.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi, on the other hand,
appears poised for a swift return to the political arena after securing bail.
Besides, the Supreme Court’s ruling
supersedes the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) previous order directing the
special court to conclude the cipher case trial within four weeks. This could
potentially decelerate the trial’s progress.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq had
earlier dismissed Mr Khan’s petitions for acquittal and bail in the cipher case
on Oct 27. Mr Shah Mehmood QureshiKhan and Mr Qureshi’s counsel subsequently
challenged this dismissal.
Arrested since Aug 20 in the cipher
case, Mr Qureshi was also implicated in nine FIRs for alleged involvement in
violent protests.
In two FIRs registered with Police
Station Khanna, the anti-terrorism court (ATC) of Islamabad in September
dismissed his bail plea for non-prosecution as he was confined at Adiala Jail
and could not appear before the judge, AbualHasnatZulqarnain.
According to Ali Bukhari, Mr Qureshi’s
counsel, the order dismissing his client’s bail petition was challenged before
the IHC and the matter was referred to the ATC again.
The ATC judge then granted bail to Mr
Qureshi in both FIRs, he said, adding that there was nothing against the former
minister to justify his confinement.
He said the legal team has applied for a
certified copy of the Supreme Court’s judgment to deposit surety bonds for Mr
Qureshi.
Political analysts speculate that Mr
Qureshi’s release might lead to a shift in PTI’s leadership dynamics, with the
outgoing chairman, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, potentially becoming irrelevant.
Mr Qureshi, previously a strong
candidate for PTI’s chairmanship, had his candidacy withdrawn due to the risk
of conviction in the cipher case.
Sources said that Barrister Hamid Khan
was also offered the chairmanship post, but he excused himself because of his
professional commitments, after which Barrister Gohar’s name was finalised.
Meanwhile, former premier Imran Khan
faces an uphill battle with his ongoing arrest in two NAB references —
Toshakhana and £190 million corruption.
NAB Chairman Nazir Ahmed Butt has issued
Mr Khan’s arrest warrants in both cases.
Both cases are pending before
Islamabad’s accountability court, where Judge Mohammad Bashir will hear the
bail pleas on Dec 23 and Dec 27.
A NAB prosecutor indicated that the
accountability court might take at least a month to decide the bail plea in one
case. Besides, the dismissal of bail can be challenged before the IHC, which
can take another month or so to decide the matter.
Under the National Accountability Ordinance,
the accountability court could not entertain the bail plea. However, an
amendment to the law introduced by the previous government led by the Pakistan
Democratic Movement (PDM) empowered the accountability judge with
bail-granting power.
In August, Accountability Judge Mohammad
Bashir dismissed Mr Khan’s bail plea for non-prosecution. However, the IHC
division bench reinstated the petition and referred it to the accountability
court for a rehearing.
The NAB prosecutor said that unless the accountability
court and the IHC decided the bail expeditiously, Mr Khan could not come out of
the jail before mid-February.
However, PTI’ spokesperson Shoaib
Shaheen has expressed hope that Mr Khan will be released from jail before the
upcoming general elections.
Mr Shaheen argued that Judge Bashir
could grant bail to Mr Khan in both cases, enabling him to lead the PTI’s
election campaign.
However, if the accountability court
dismissed the bail plea, it would be highly unlikely for Mr Khan to get bail
from the IHC or the Supreme Court before the elections due to paucity of time,
Mr Shaheen said.
He claimed that the £190m settlement
case was without any substance, whereas in the Toshakhana case, in which Mr
Khan is accused of not declaring state gifts and selling them at a huge
premium, NAB did not accuse those responsible for determining the price.
As far as 150 other cases registered
against Mr Khan in Islamabad and other provinces, legal experts say that the
former premier is not likely to be arrested in these cases.
Among these cases, 46 are registered
with the Islamabad Police, according to a senior official of the Islamabad
Police. The arrest of Mr Khan in these cases is unlikely, as he is already on
bail in most of them.
Source: dawn.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1800107/supreme-courts-reprieve-may-not-bail-imran-out-of-jail-for-now
-----
Pakistan downplays Fazl-ur-Rehman’s
visit to Kabul
Fidel Rahmati
December 22, 2023
Pakistan’s foreign ministry downplayed
the significance of Kabul’s invitation to Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, the leader of
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), suggesting it was merely a personal visit.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Mumtaz
Zahra Baloch, indicated they were not aware of the initiative during a media
briefing.
Baloch responded to inquiries about the
invitation to the JUI-F chief, stating that questions regarding the visit
should be directed to Afghan authorities and emphasizing that Pakistan
typically does not comment on private individuals’ visits to foreign countries.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for
the Taliban administration, announced that Fazl had been formally invited to
visit Kabul. He described Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman as a significant religious and
political figure capable of influencing mindsets.
Baloch clarified Islamabad’s stance on
engaging in talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), noting that there
were no ongoing or planned discussions between Pakistan and TTP. She stressed
that Pakistan is focusing on urging Afghan authorities to take action against
TTP to prevent terrorism on Pakistani soil.
The foreign ministry spokesperson
expressed concerns about the TTP’s access to modern, sophisticated arms and
weapons, calling for international cooperation to neutralize this threat
effectively.
It was confirmed that Pakistan is in
dialogue with the United States to enhance its counter-terrorism capacities.
This is part of a broader strategy to ensure regional peace and stability,
particularly concerning the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.
Baloch reiterated Pakistan’s commitment
to counter-terrorism in collaboration with the US and neighbors, aiming for
peace in Afghanistan, amidst the Taliban’s denial of Afghan involvement in
attacks against Pakistan.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/pakistan-downplays-fazl-ur-rehmans-visit-to-kabul/
-----
£190m, Toshakhana cases: NAB forms
five-member prosecution team
December 23, 2023
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability
Bureau has formed a five-member prosecution team for the Toshakhana and £190
million Al-Qadir Trust references against former prime minister Imran Khan and
other accused.
The prosecution team, headed by Deputy
Prosecutor General NAB Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, includes Special Prosecutor
Irfan Ahmed Bhola, Sohail Arif, Barrister Owais Arshad and Amjad Parvez. The
NAB has recently filed two references in the Toshakhana case and £190 million
Al-Qadir Trust case against Imran, his wife Bushra Imran Khan and other
accused.
Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1140990-190m-toshakhana-cases-nab-forms-five-member-prosecution-team
------
Judge writes to IHC for jail trial of
Imran, Bushra
December 23, 2023
ISLAMABAD:Senior Civil Judge Qudratullah
on Friday approved Bushra Bibi’s request for exemption from appearance in the
wedding during Iddat period case against PTI founder Imran Khan and the former
while writing a letter to the Islamabad High Court registrar for a jail trial.
During the hearing, the petitioner's
lawyer Rizwan Abbasi appeared before the court, reminding the judge that he had
to write a letter to the IHC for a jail trial. “The IHC registrar has to be
informed, the accused have to be distributed copies of the challan, and the
charge will be framed seven days after the distribution of the copies of the
challan. To fulfil the legal requirements, you have to inform the Islamabad
High Court.”
The court then went into recess.
As soon as the hearing started again,
Bushra’s lawyer Usman Gul appeared in the court, saying that the court had
ordered a jail trial. “We sent Bushra Bibi to jail and the bail bonds have been
prepared.”
The court said that the accused should
be called to the court. “When it is known that there is no trial in the jail,
then she should come.”
The lawyer said, “We have credible
information that Bushra Bibi’s life will be in danger while coming to the court.”
The judge said there was no rush, the
court was also empty, and as the jail authorities were informed, why did they
go there.
The court ordered Bushra to appear in
court in her personal capacity.
The court again went into recess.
Bushra did not appear in the court even
after the hearing began.
Advocate Gul, while filing an exemption
from appearance application of Bushra, said that on the previous hearing, the
court had ordered that there would be a jail trial.
“Bushra Bibi reached the jail in the
morning while the court had informed later.”
Due to the jail jammers, the lawyer
said, Bushra could not be contacted.
The court accepted the request for
exemption from appearance and postponed the hearing till Jan 2.
Source: tribune.com.pk
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https://tribune.com.pk/story/2450913/judge-writes-to-ihc-for-jail-trial-of-imran-bushra
------
Islamabad uncertain about Kabul’s claims
of detaining TTP members
Fidel Rahmati
December 22, 2023
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson for
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says that she cannot currently confirm
the claim of the arrest of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) by the Afghan
Taliban.
Previously, a spokesperson for
Sirajuddin Haqqani had reported the arrest of 40 members of the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in Afghanistan.
Ms. Baloch, on Thursday, in a press
conference in Islamabad, in response to a question about the Taliban’s claim of
arresting TTP members in Afghanistan, said ‘At this stage, we cannot confirm
the existence, scale, or effectiveness of any action in this regard’.
However, she called on the Taliban to
take action against terrorist groups, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan.
Earlier, the Taliban’s Ministry of
Interior had claimed that they had arrested several ISIS members and 40 members
of TTP.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of
Afghanistan in August 2021, Pakistan has experienced a significant increase in
insecurity and deadly explosions across the country. The majority of these explosions
have been claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Pakistani officials allege that TTP
leaders are harbouring in Afghanistan, accusing Kabul of not taking sufficient
action against their hideouts. These claims point to a complex cross-border
security challenge that Pakistan faces.
In response, Kabul has consistently
denied these allegations. The Taliban administration asserts that they are
committed to preventing any group or individual from using Afghan territory to
launch attacks against neighbouring countries.
This situation highlights the ongoing
tension and security concerns in the region, with both Pakistan and Afghanistan
grappling with the consequences of the Taliban’s rise to power and its impact
on regional stability.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/islamabad-uncertain-about-kabuls-claims-of-detaining-ttp-members/
----
Pakistani FM discusses Afghan
resettlement with Canada High Commissioner
Fidel Rahmati
December 22, 2023
Jalil Abbas Jilani, Pakistan’s Foreign
Minister, discussed with Leslie Scanlon, the High Commissioner of Canada in
Islamabad, about facilitating the resettlement of Afghan migrants in Canada.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Pakistan said Ms. Scanlon appreciated the ministry’s help in the process of
resettling Afghans.
The spokesperson’s office of the
Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this meeting on its social media
platform ‘X’ on Thursday.
Canada, after the Taliban’s rise to
power, relocated 40,000 Afghans to the country.
Meanwhile, Canada’s immigration
department recently relocated 339 Afghan refugees from Pakistan to Canada on a
special charter flight. This initiative is part of Canada’s ongoing efforts to
provide safe passage and resettlement opportunities for Afghan citizens.
On Wednesday, the Canadian immigration
department announced on social media platform X that the Afghan migrants were
transported to Toronto. Following their arrival, these individuals are set to
be distributed across 40 different locations in Canada, including Windsor,
Calgary, and St. John’s.
This relocation follows a similar move
made on December 15, when Canada transferred 338 Afghan citizens from Pakistan
via a charter flight. The Canadian Immigration and Citizenship Department is
continuously reviewing and processing qualified asylum applications from Afghan
nationals.
The increased deportation of Afghan
migrants from Pakistan has prompted Canada to intensify its migrant transfer
efforts. Similarly, the UK government has also participated in these
humanitarian efforts by transporting over 200 Afghan refugees from Pakistan on
a charter flight.
These actions by countries like Canada
and the UK are part of a broader international response to Pakistan’s
escalating forced deportation of Afghan migrants. The goal is to offer Afghan
refugees safer destinations and stability in the wake of their departure from
Pakistan.
Source: khaama.com
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https://www.khaama.com/pakistani-fm-discusses-afghan-resettlement-with-canada-high-commissioner/
-----
South Asia
Mujahid Responds to UNAMA Head About
Madrassas
December 22, 2023
The spokesperson for the Islamic
Emirate, Zabihullah Mujahid, responded to comments made by Roza Otunbayeva, the
head of UNAMA, about the subjects taught in madrasas.
He said that madrasas (religious
schools) teach modern education, science, mathematics, history, and Islamic
beliefs in addition to religious education.
The spokesperson noted that the nations'
and international organizations' worries regarding madrasas in Afghanistan are
baseless and that they should not be concerned in this regard.
"Madrasas (religious schools) have
a single curriculum in the Islamic Emirate; Usually, most of them are religious
teachings, it includes the studies of Tafsir (exegesis), the studies of Hadith,
the studies of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and the studies of Islamic beliefs,
as well as the studies of history and other parts of contemporary teachings,”
Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Earlier, the head of UNAMA, Roza
Otunbayeva, in a press briefing, expressed her concerns regarding the type of
teaching in madrasas and added that UNAMA should monitor this.
“With madrasa their aim is to teach
children as much as possible, and madrasas, I was talking today in regard of
girls because we keep hearing that more and more girls going to madrasas but it
is very difficult to verify. Yes, this is our job to observe, to understand
what is going on,” she said.
Heather Barr, director of the Women's
Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, in response to the reports about the
education of girls in religious schools, said that "madrassas are
absolutely not an acceptable replacement for school, for girls or boys."
"UN is seeking to verify
Afghanistan's Taliban are letting girls study at religious schools", Barr
said on X.
Previously, some officials of madrasas
(religious schools) have said that the number of girls in schools has increased
by fifty percent.
According to officials, the girls
started learning religious sciences after the schools were closed.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-186617
-----
Turkey detains 34 undocumented Afghan
migrants on Ayvacik Coast
Fidel Rahmati
December 22, 2023
The Turkish coast guard detained a boat
carrying 34 Afghan refugees off the coast of Ayvacık by stopping it.
The Turkish Anadolu News Agency reported
on Friday, December 22nd, about the detention of these refugees but did not
provide further information on the matter.
Turkey is a major route for thousands of
Afghan refugees who are fleeing to Europe in the hope of escaping widespread
human rights abuses by the Taliban and increasing poverty in their homeland.
Many refugees attempt to reach Greece
and then EU countries by boat.
Turkey has detained and deported thousands
of Afghan refugees to Afghanistan this year, with the government reporting that
in the first six months alone, 42,685 undocumented immigrants were apprehended
and deported from various cities in the country.
Neighbouring countries like Pakistan and
Iran have intensified their forced deportation of Afghan refugees, exacerbating
an already dire humanitarian crisis. Since November 1st, Pakistan has cracked
down on the expulsion of Afghan refugees, resulting in the deportation of
approximately half a million migrants from the country.
These actions have unfolded amidst a
challenging winter and worsening humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan.
Despite the harsh circumstances, Pakistani officials have remained resolute in
their deportation plan, persisting with the expulsion process.
The escalating forced deportations raise
concerns about the well-being of Afghan refugees and the sustainability of such
measures in light of the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan.
Source: khaama.com
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https://www.khaama.com/turkey-detains-34-undocumented-afghan-migrants-on-ayvacik-coast/
-------
Muttaqi Travels to Tehran for Palestine
Conference
December 22, 2023
The Acting Foreign Minister, Amir Khan
Muttaqi, at the head of a delegation traveled to Tehran.
The deputy spokesman of the Foreign
Ministry, Zia Ahmad Takal, said that the purpose of Muttaqi's trip to Tehran is
to participate in the consultative and political meeting held on the situation
of Palestinian.
Takal added that the Acting Foreign
Minister will also give a speech about the challenges in Palestine in the
meeting.
"The Acting Foreign Minister, Amir
Khan Muttaqi went to Iran at the official invitation of Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's foreign minister. The purpose of the foreign
minister's visit to Tehran is to participate in the high-level conference on
the resolution of the Palestinian issue, which is scheduled to be held
tomorrow,” he further added.
Some political analysts consider
Muttaqi’s presence in such meetings important for the stance of the Islamic
Emirate.
"Our foreign minister went to Iran.
Iran is one of the supporters of the Palestinians, not only Iran, but also
Lebanon and Yemen. We, the Muslims must stand against the oppression that is taking
place in Gaza, which I must say is
international terrorism,” Moeen Gul Samkanai, a political analyst, told
TOLOnews.
“Iran is an influential country in
regional politics, especially in the Middle East. If the Islamic Emirate, Iran
and the countries of the region can have a positive and significant views about
Palestine and other policies. It can have a good position and can have impact
on both confidence-building policies and Afghanistan's legal status,” Sayed
Muqadam Amin, another political analyst, told TOLOnews.
Previously, the acting Interior Minister
Sirajuddin Haqqani, at the graduation ceremony of Kabul University, said that
Afghan people are revolutionary people, they are people of action rather than
words.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-186610
------
Mujahid Reacts to Claims of Afghans
Involved in Pakistan Attacks
December 22, 2023
MitraMajeedy
The Islamic Emirate in response to the
detention of Afghan citizens who are accused of involvement in the terrorist
attack in Pakistan, said that the details of this detention have not been
shared with the current Afghan government.
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman,
Zabihullah Mujahid, noted that the crime is a personal matter and therefore
this issue should not be linked to Afghanistan.
"It has been repeatedly done in
Afghanistan, where we have arrested and killed nationals of Pakistan as
followers of Daesh. We cannot claim that Pakistan committed this crime or that
the government of Pakistan was involved in this. Anyone who committed an act,
it is a personal and individual act,” the spokesman added.
Earlier, Pakistani media reported the
arrest of 9 suspects in the Dera Ismail Khan suicide attack in this country, citing
the Pakistan Counter-Terrorism Department, and added that six of the
facilitators in Pakistan are from Afghanistan.
Earlier, Pakistani media reported that
the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), arrested nine terrorists and seven
facilitators involved in the deadly attack on the compound of security forces
in Dera Ismail Khan, of which six terrorists involved in the attack come from
Afghanistan.
“The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD)
on Thursday arrested nine terrorists including the mastermind and seven
facilitators involved in the deadly attack on the compound of security forces
in Dera Ismail Khan that left at least 23 soldiers martyred earlier this
month. According to the CTD documents
available with Geo News, the mastermind involved in the terrorist attack
belongs to Daraban area of DI Khan while six terrorists involved in the attack
hail from Afghanistan,” the report reads.
"These remarks of Pakistan are
political, and during the past fifty years, their goal was to implement their
strategic plans. Today, when they cannot implement those plans in Afghanistan,
they want to distort public opinion by making such statements,” said Mohammad
ZalmayAfghanyar, a political analyst.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch in a “Weekly Media Briefing by Spokesperson” said that
Islamabad cannot confirm the arrest of TTP members by the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan.
In response to a reporter's question
about the publication of reports about the arrest of 40 members of the TTP in
Afghanistan, she added: “We are unable to confirm the existence, scale or
effectiveness of any action along those lines.”
“Our issue right now that we are
focusing on is the action that the Afghan authorities must take against TTP
elements and rein them in so that the terror threat against Pakistan from the
Afghan soil is eliminated,” Baloch added.
"Afghanistan's relations with
Pakistan are deteriorating and I think that the main reason is that the
internal political dynamics of Pakistan are encouraging the rulers of Pakistan
to increase their accusations against Afghanistan,” Wahid Faqiri, a political
analyst said.
Previously, Pakistani media had reported
that Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry had summoned the Islamic Emirate's charge
d'affaires in connection with the recent attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, an issue
that the Islamic Emirate had denied.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-186609
------
Southeast Asia
Anwar: I decline invitations from imams
asking me to deliver 'tazkirah' in mosques
NAJMUDDIN NAJIB, NuradzimmahDaim
December 23, 2023
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim today underscored the Madani government's commitment to upholding
the principles of free speech, with a caution against its abuse.
Drawing attention to certain Islamic
preachers, he highlighted concerns about their narrow-mindedness and engagement
in politics, warning that such behaviour could foster judgmental attitudes
among the public.
"I would like to emphasise that we
must draw the line. While we (support) freedom of speech, we must abide by the
law.
"Muslim nations have been known to
have been destroyed because of these elements."
Anwar said this during a "no holds
barred" dialogue with senior editors from the country's electronic, print
and online media.
The session, held at the Kompleks Seri
Perdana here, featured journalists from various publications nationwide
including Sabah and Sarawak.
For more than an hour, Anwar fielded a
host of hard-hitting questions, ranging from the country's economics projection
for next year, the unity government's relations with Umno heading into the 16th
General Election, his relationship with the incoming agong Sultan Ibrahim
Sultan Iskandar and others.
Acknowledging the inherent connection
between Islam and politics, Anwar said insulting and condemning others do not
by any means represent the nature of Islamic politics.
He said some 'ustaz' (religious
preachers) had voiced their anger, claiming they were banned from using mosques
for politics.
Anwar clarified that this was a matter
decreed by the Malay Rulers even before he became prime minister.
"There were even instances where
the imam had asked me to deliver a 'tazkirah' (knowledge-sharing) when I
visited mosques.
"I had to respectfully decline as,
although I am the prime minister and speaking in that capacity, I didn't want
to give the opportunity for others to accuse me of allowing some (to speak of
politics in mosques) and not others."
Source: nst.com.my
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/12/993531/anwar-i-decline-invitations-imams-asking-me-deliver-tazkirah-mosques
-----
Religious affairs minister: Preachers
should maintain manners, humility
23 Dec 2023
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 ― Religious
preachers are reminded to be careful, and maintain manners and 'tawadhu' or
humility in preaching and spreading Islamic teachings.
Minister in the Prime Minister's
Department (Religious Affairs), Datuk MohdNai'im Mokhtar, said that preachers
also need to appreciate the value of wisdom, to preserve the unity of a moral,
united and prosperous society.
“Any speeches and talks mixed with
sentiments of division and mutual hatred must be stopped,” he said in a
statement today.
He was commenting on an incident
involving a preacher, who ridiculed and made accusations against the country’s
leader, who was described as misguided and ignorant when discussing Surah
Al-Kahfi of the Quran and the seven ‘AshabulKahfi’ (men of the cave), to civil
servants, recently.
MohdNa'im said the country's leader
never described the youth of AshabulKahfi as non-believers, but instead
emphasised their faith in his speech, and invited civil servants to learn from
their story.
He said the country's leader’s
description of the context of the event is also accurate as a reference to
sources of interpretation and scholarly writings, where the story of
AshabulKahfi took place during the reign of Christians.
He added that the description provided
by the national leader is also in line with the explanation of the Office of
the Mufti of the Federal Territories, which can be referred to in the ‘Irsyad
Al-Hadith Siri ke-50: KisahdanBilanganAshabulKahfi’, issued in April 2016, and
the ‘Bayan Linnas Siri ke-286: AdakahAshab al-KahfiBeragama Kristian?',
published this month.
Thus, MohdNa'im called on Muslims to
always refer religious issues and problems to Islamic religious authorities,
such as the state Mufti's offices or departments and the state Islamic
religious departments, which have authority in related matters. ― Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2023/12/23/religious-affairs-minister-preachers-should-maintain-manners-humility/108932
----
Malaysia welcomes UN resolution on Gaza,
calls for urgent humanitarian action
December 23, 2023
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia welcomes the
adoption of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution titled
"Scaling Up and Monitoring Aid to Gaza" adopted on Dec 22 in New
York, which calls for immediate, safe and expanded humanitarian access to Gaza
and create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities.
In this regard, Malaysia urged all
parties to comply with and implement the decisions of the Security Council
resolutions and all of its relevant resolutions on the Occupied Palestinian
Territories in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter.
"Malaysia repeats its demand for an
urgent ceasefire to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance.
"The barbaric and heinous
atrocities against Palestinians are unjustifiable and must end immediately. The
relentless crimes committed by the apartheid Israeli regime must not continue
with impunity," said a statement from the Malaysian Foreign Ministry.
The UN resolution also calls for all
parties to adhere to international humanitarian law and in this regard,
deplores all attacks against civilians and civilians' objects, as well as all
violence and hostilities against civilians, and all acts of terrorism.
The resolution also demands the
immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring
humanitarian access to address their medical needs.
Besides, the UN secretary-general is
also requested to report on the implementation of this resolution in the
regular reporting to the Council.
Malaysia reiterates its call for a
durable solution by granting the Palestinians their own independent and
sovereign state, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its
capital. –BERNAMA
Source: nst.com.my
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/12/993517/malaysia-welcomes-un-resolution-gaza-calls-urgent-humanitarian-action
-----
Deputy Foreign Minister in Iran to
attend high-level conference on Palestine
23-12- 2023
KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Foreign Minister
Datuk Mohamad Alamin is currently on a working visit to the Islamic Republic of
Iran to attend the High-Level Conference on the Issue of Palestine scheduled
from today until Monday (Dec 25).
Wisma Putra, in a statement today, said
Mohamad is expected to emphasise Malaysia’s firm position on the Palestine
issue which includes urging the Zionist regime to immediately cease genocidal
acts against the Palestinians, and highlighting the country’s continuous
efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, during the
conference.
The conference, held in solidarity with
Palestine, aims to discuss challenges and strategies for a long-term solution
to the ongoing conflict in Gaza as well as explore effective mechanisms for
channeling humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
“The High-Level Conference on the Issue
of Palestine, which is hosted by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, will be attended by several member countries of the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and non-OIC member countries,“ Wisma
Putra said.-Bernama
Source: thesun.my
Please click the following URL to read
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https://thesun.my/local_news/deputy-foreign-minister-in-iran-to-attend-high-level-conference-on-palestine-OB11899979
-----
Rohingya flee kidnap and hunger in
Bangladesh hoping for better life
23rd December 2023
KUTUPALONG: Fleeing brutal violence in
Myanmar, Rohingya refugees had hoped to find safety in neighbouring Bangladesh,
but many are risking dangerous sea crossings to escape hunger, kidnap and gang
violence.
Tears well up in Nur Kayes' eyes as the
mother of two speaks of struggling to feed her family in a squalid camp in
southeast Bangladesh, where UN funding shortfalls have left refugees without
enough to eat.
"When neighbours eat something
before my kids, they start crying," said the 27-year-old, who has been in
a camp since fleeing her home in 2017.
"I can't take my children's tears.
They don't have food to eat. I spend my days and nights crying," she told
AFP.
Bangladesh is home to around a million
members of the stateless and mainly Muslim minority, many of whom fled a
military crackdown in Myanmar six years ago that is now subject to a UN
genocide probe.
But hundreds are now making perilous
journeys to Indonesia and Malaysia as dozens of Bangladeshi camps have become
battlegrounds for rival armed groups who use the settlements as staging posts
to traffick drugs and people.
Police said security in the camps has
worsened, with more than 60 refugees killed in turf wars and drug-related
clashes this year -- the highest number on record.
Bandits
Kidnappings for ransom have also risen
steeply.
"Rohingya are tired of living in
the camps," said Rohingya youth activist Saiful Arakani, 27.
"They don't want to lose their
lives in the hands of bandits."
Kayes said one of her neighbours was
kidnapped and she fears for her own safety.
"The kidnappers took him away while
he was sleeping," she said, explaining that the gunmen forced the
neighbour's family to hand over their life savings and borrow additional funds
to pay more than $1,350 in ransom for his release.
"His family collected the money in
five days and brought him back," Kayes said, adding that she would have no
way to pay a ransom if her family were kidnapped.
Her husband Faruk is in jail for working
illegally as a boatman, defying a Bangladeshi order banning Rohingya from
employment outside the camps.
Kayes cannot even afford to pay a lawyer
to help him get bail.
"Where would I get 4,000-5,000 taka
($35-45), when I barely have anything for my family?"
She already works for a wealthier
refugee family, but must part with two-thirds of her UN food ration to repay
debts incurred for her shelter made of tarpaulin and bamboo.
Except for some who do aid work inside
the camps, almost all the refugees are officially unemployed.
Two officials from Bangladesh's refugee
commission told AFP that desperation had forced tens of thousands of Rohingya
to flee the camps and find work as fishermen, salt farmers and construction
workers.
"Their entry into the local job
market has driven down demand for local labourers", one official said,
speaking on the condition of anonymity.
"Understandably, local communities
are angry. But can you stop it?"
No matter if they die
Arakani said young people wanted a
"better and violence-free life", and dreamed of reaching Indonesia
and Malaysia.
"Rohingya young people are leaving
the camps because they are desperate," he said.
"They say no matter if they die at
sea... they want to go."
Since November, there has been a spike
in journeys to Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh -- a voyage of about
1,800 kilometres (1,120 miles) -- with the UN refugee agency reporting more
than 1,500 arrivals in the biggest such wave since the 2017 crackdown in
Myanmar.
Muhammad Rahim, a refugee leader, said
hundreds of unmarried women and girls have lined up to go to Malaysia -- home
to a sizable Rohingya diaspora -- hoping to find a well-off husband.
"When they go, they don't care
about their lives, they care about their stomach," said Muhammad Islam,
55, who sent his only son to Malaysia last year.
"Some of them die in the boats, and
some of them are jailed if they are caught."
But human traffickers charge between
$900 and $1,800 for the risky journey on rickety boats to Indonesia or Malaysia
-- far more than many refugees can afford.
For Kayes, leaving Bangladesh for a
"better country" is just a dream.
"If I had enough money, I also
would have gone," she said.
Source: newindianexpress.com
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Amanah is just following in your
footsteps, Mat Sabu says, after PAS’ call to drop ally DAP
Muhammad Yusry
23 Dec 2023
KLANG, Dec 23 — Parti Amanah Negara
president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu today said the party will pay no heed to PAS’
call asking the party to cease collaborating with DAP.
He said PAS once praised the
Chinese-majority party when the two worked together for the general election in
2008 and 2013.
“We are just following in PAS’ footsteps
when it worked with DAP in 2008 and 2013,” he said in apparent jest during a
press conference after officiating the Amanah National Convention 2023.
“We won’t pay any attention to them,
because before this, PAS had praised DAP to the skies when they were together.”
Yesterday, FMT reported Amanah
vice-president AdlyZahari as saying PAS is welcome to collaborate with them in
the unity government as the latter is not an enemy.
He said Amanah believes that taking care
of the rakyat’s needs was far more important than pursuing political interests.
PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Hashim Jasin
responded to Adly earlier today, saying that Amanah should dump DAP if they are
serious about collaborating with the Islamist party.
Hashim added that as long as Amanah is
allies with DAP, it was inappropriate to form any pact with the former.
Amanah was formed in 2015 by former PAS
leaders of the so-called “Erdogan” faction, named as such for their progressive
views on Islam and predilection for Turkiye president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s
ideologies at the time.
They left PAS after the party election
that same year, which saw Mohamad Sabu and other figures such as the late Datuk
Seri Salahuddin Ayub, Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad, Datuk Seri Mujahid RAwaYusof,
Datuk Husam Musa, Datuk Mahfuz Omar, Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud, Datuk Dr
MohdHattaMdRamli, and Khalid Samad ousted.
The Amanah National Convention 2023 is
taking place over three days and will end tomorrow.
Source: malaymail.com
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Africa
UN Security Council voices 'alarm' at
spreading violence in Sudan
23rd December 2023
WASHINGTON: The UN Security Council
expressed "alarm" at growing violence in war-torn Sudan on Friday, a
day after it reported that seven million people have been displaced by the
conflict.
In a joint statement, the Council
"strongly condemned" attacks on civilians and the spread of the
conflict "into areas hosting large populations of internally displaced
persons, refugees, and asylum seekers."
"The members of the Security
Council expressed alarm at the spreading violence and deteriorating
humanitarian situation in Sudan," the statement said, reflecting the
worsening situation in the country.
In addition to the seven million
internally displaced people, the UN said Thursday that another 1.5 million had
fled into neighbouring countries.
Since fighting broke out on April 15
between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Rapid Support
Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed HamdanDaglo, the city of Wad Madani, 180
kilometres (110 miles) south of Khartoum, had become a haven for thousands of
displaced people during the conflict.
But the Security Council said fighting
had spread there too, causing refugees to flee once again.
"According to the International
Organization for Migration, up to 300,000 people have fled Wad Madani in
Al-Jazira state in a new wave of large-scale displacement," UN
secretary-general's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday.
As the rival security forces battle for
the city's strong points, shopkeepers boarded up their stores this week to ward
off looters while women disappeared from the streets for fear of sexual
violence.
The Council called on the warring
parties to allow for "rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access
throughout Sudan."
It condemned a December 10 attack on a
convoy belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross and called for
"the scaling up of humanitarian assistance to Sudan."
The war between the army and the RSF has
killed 12,190 people, according to conservative estimates by the Armed Conflict
Locations and Events Data project.
Source: newindianexpress.com
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Tensions rise between Sudan army, United
Arab Emirates
DECEMBER 22, 2023
Diplomats expelled, accusations of a
"mafia state"... The Sudanese army under General Abdel Fattah
al-Burhane is on fire with the United Arab Emirates, accused of supporting his
rival in the war, General Mohamed HamdaneDaglo.
It all began with incendiary statements
by General Yasser Atta, the army's number two, accusing Abu Dhabi of being
"a mafia state" that had "taken the path of evil" by
supporting General Daglo's dreaded Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries in
Sudan.
In a fiery harangue to his troops on 28
November, he accused the Emirates of having sent arms to the RSF via Uganda and
the Central African Republic since the start of the war on 15 April "with
the help of Wagner", the Russian mercenary group that once had a strong
presence in Bangui.
"With the weakening of Wagner,
their planes passed through Chad. For the past week, they have even been
landing at N'Djamena airport", he added, pointing the finger at Marshal
Haftar, the strongman of eastern Libya.
Experts have been talking about this
circuit since the start of the war.
When contacted by AFP, the Emirati
authorities did not respond.
- Cautious and diplomatic" -
In August, the US Wall Street Journal
quoted Ugandan officials as claiming to have found weapons in a cargo plane
that was supposed to be carrying Emirati humanitarian aid to Sudanese refugees
in Chad.
But, notes JalelHarchaoui, associate
researcher at the British Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), "until
recently, General Burhane's camp was cautious and diplomatic, avoiding any
direct verbal confrontation with key players such as Haftar, Russia or Abu
Dhabi".
General Atta's statements have shattered
this reservation.
Researcher Alex de Waal claims that
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyane, the President of the United Arab Emirates,
supported General Daglo, in particular because he had "supplied him with
paramilitaries for the Saudi-Emirati war in Yemen".
In addition, he adds, "Daglo
benefits from the gold trade, which also benefits the Emirates". And,
according to Washington, this has helped to finance part of Wagner's
operations.
For expert Andreas Krieg, "the
history of the Emirates in Sudan is a history of networks, woven by Abu Dhabi
to achieve strategic objectives with discretion and the possibility of
denial".
This is why, Mr Harchaoui told AFP, the
rare accusations that have emerged about the Emirates' involvement in Sudan
have so far been "lukewarm", despite "significant support from
eastern Libya, Russia and the Emirates" for the RSF.
In August, the United Arab Emirates
firmly denied the Wall Street Journal's reports.
- An impasse" -
But again in November, Sudanese
demonstrators lambasted the United Arab Emirates. Shortly afterwards, according
to the foreign minister appointed in Sudan in the wake of the October 2021
putsch, Ali Seddig, who is loyal to the army, Abu Dhabi expelled Sudanese
diplomats.
"We did not ask the Emirates for
explanations even though we had information about their involvement in the
war," he told state television. "But it was they who started by
expelling our diplomats, so we had to respond".
On Sunday, Sudanese foreign affairs
declared 15 Emirati diplomats persona non grata, giving their embassy "48
hours" for them to "leave the country"."It was because we
were at an impasse with the Emirates that these declarations were made",
explained Mr Seddig.
For Mr Harchaoui, it was a
"desperate gesture" by a force "whose options are
dwindling", particularly on the military front, in the face of the RSF,
which has Khartoum on the ground, as well as almost the whole of Darfur and
more and more parts of the south of the country.
"With this bold move, the army camp
is "surely hoping to attract attention and condemnation for the illegal
supply of arms to the SDF by the Emirates", explains Mr Harchaoui.
Source: africanews.com
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------
War in Sudan: more than 7 million
displaced - UN
DECEMBER 22, 2023
Fighting that has raged since April in
Sudan between the army and paramilitaries has now displaced 7.1 million people,
a UN spokesperson said on Thursday, describing "the largest displacement
crisis in the world."
The war between the head of the army,
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, and his second, General Mohamed HamdaneDaglo,
boss of the much-feared FSR, extended last week to the state of al-Jazeera in
the centre-east of the country, hitherto spared, approaching the town of Wad Madani
which served as a humanitarian hub and refuge for previous displaced people.
According to the International
Organization for Migration (IOM), up to 300,000 people fled Wad Madani as the
fighting approached. “These new movements bring the displaced population to 7.1
million,” including 1.5 million who have taken refuge in neighbouring
countries, said StéphaneDujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General.
According to Unicef, at least 150,000
children have been forced to flee their homes in al-Jazeera state "in less
than a week".
“Our colleagues in Sudan have heard
blood-curdling stories from women and children who experienced a terrible
journey to reach Madani,” commented UNICEF boss Catherine Russell in a press
release. “And now, even that fragile sense of security is shattered as these
same children have once again been forced to flee. ”
“No child should experience the horrors
of war,” she added.
Source: africanews.com
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DRC elections: RSF condemns attack on
RFI correspondent
DECEMBER 22, 2023
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on
Thursday condemned the attack on a correspondent of the French radio station
RFI in Kinshasa by "presidential party militants" during the
elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
General elections (presidential,
legislative, provincial and local) were held on Wednesday and continued on
Thursday in the DRC, in a highly tense political and security climate.
President Félix Tshisekedi is standing for a second five-year term.
Pascal Mulegwa, RFI's correspondent,
"was beaten by militants of the presidential party (UDPS) in a voting
centre in the capital", while covering the elections, RSF said in a
statement.
"They dragged me along the ground
and took my belongings, accusing me of working for RFI, which they say they
hate", said the journalist, quoted in a statement by the Association of
International Press Correspondents in the DRC (ACPI-RDC).
RFI's management "strongly
condemns" the attack on Pascal Mulegwa, who was "attacked and roughed
up by supporters of a presidential candidate", the radio station said. RFI
"will continue to cover the elections" in the DRC "with the
professionalism and balance that characterise the work of its
journalists", it added.
When contacted, an official of the UDPS
(Union for Democracy and Social Progress) was not immediately available for
comment on Thursday.
In its statement, RSF calls on the
Congolese authorities "to protect media professionals so that they can
provide unrestricted coverage" of the elections.
The organisation deplores several other
cases of attacks and threats against journalists, which it has documented since
the start of the election campaign on 19 November. In the space of a month, at
least five journalists have been attacked and threatened by political figures
or their supporters, according to RSF.
In addition to this presidential
campaign punctuated by press freedom violations, "President Tshisekedi's
term in office has been marked by many other abuses against journalists",
notably the arrest on 8 September of StanisBujakera, correspondent for
JeuneAfrique and Reuters. The journalist has since been detained and put on trial
for an article implicating military intelligence in the murder of an opponent.
Source: africanews.com
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-----
Former Presidential Candidate Enjoins
Nigerians On Peace, Love, Tolerance At Christmas
December 23, 2023
Former presidential candidate enjoins
Nigerians on peace, love, tolerance at Christmas
A former presidential candidate and
chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. GbengaOlawepo-Hashim, has
felicitated with the Christian faithful and the entire people of Nigeria as
they join the rest of the world in celebrating Christmas.
In a statement released by his Media
Office in Abuja on Friday, Olawepo-Hashim urged Christians and Nigerians, in
the spirit of the season, to uphold the principles of love, tolerance and
sacrifice to sustain harmony, progress and advance the cause of humanity.
The frontline politician added that the
Christmas season represents joy, peace, hope, love, goodwill, which are all
very much needed in our country at this time when we are confronted with
diverse challenges of development.
According to him, “I celebrate with the
Christian-fold and enjoin all of us to remember the essence of Christmas. In
the true spirit of the season, let’s show love to our neighbours, kindness to
the less-privileged and vulnerable, and tolerance to one another across the
lines of faith, politics and ethnicity; in the spirit of the unique sacrifice
and teachings of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
“I urge fellow Nigerians to appropriate
the hope that comes with Christmas and reinvest trust in God’s ability to
restore the lost glory of Nigeria”
He equally admonished Nigerians to
reflect on the lessons of the period and emulate Christ by fostering peace and
unity in our Nation, while also tasking Nigerians on religious tolerance.
Source: thenationonlineng.net
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Muslim society Ansar-Ud-Deen helped me
win 2023 presidential election: Tinubu
ADEFEMOLA AKINTADE
DECEMBER 22, 2023
President Bola Tinubu, on Friday,
conveyed his gratitude to the leadership of the Muslim Ansar-Ud-Deen Society,
which he said supported his campaign to win the elections earlier this year.
Mr Tinubu ran for presidency on a
Muslim-Muslim ticket as the vice president KashimShettima also practices Islam.
“I thank the Ansar-Ud-Deen Society for
its support during the elections,” Mr Tinubu said at the centennial anniversary
of the Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria (ADS) in Surulere, Lagos.
The president said their support for his
candidacy during their campaigns did not go unnoticed and serves as a booster
for his administration to remain focused “in delivering good governance to the
people.”
“I do not take it (the support) for
granted; rather, the support serves as a stimulus for us in government to
remain focused,” the State House said in a statement.
Mr Tinubu commended the Muslim society
for teaching and promoting the tenets of Islam as well as uplifting the
downtrodden in the country.
“It is instructive that Ansar-Ud-Deen
has attained 100 years through a systemic strategy that maintains its mission
and vision. This is a testimony to what focused planning can achieve in a
society,” the President concluded.
The president, whom the State House said
is on a Christmas vacation in Lagos, attended the ADS anniversary in company of
Lagos governor, BabajideSanwo-Olu.
Source: gazettengr.com
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URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/mosques-tn-shelter-religions/d/131370