Muslim Neighbours Help Perform Last Rites Of Kashmiri Pandit In Pulwama
New Age Islam News Bureau
16 November 2023
A
Kashmiri Pandit neighbour said everything was arranged by Muslim residents.
(Representational)
----------
· Joe Biden: Only two-state solution would resolve Israel-Palestinian conflict, occupation of Gaza ‘a big mistake’
· Russia, US, UK abstain from UN Security Council vote on 'humanitarian pauses' in Gaza
· Muslim Neighbours Help Perform Last Rites Of Kashmiri Pandit In Pulwama
· IslamiAndolan rejects polls results
· Their families wiped out by Israeli airstrikes, grieving Palestinians in Gaza ask why
· Fatwa supporting Palestine is a revival for domestic products: MUI
----
India
· Chhattisgarh’s Bemetara is hub of ‘love jihad’, says Amit Shah days before second phase of polls
· Jaishankar asks Canadian government to provide evidence in Khalistani activist murder case
-----
North America
· US public support for Israel falls, majority backs ceasefire: Poll
· Columbia University students form coalition to push for divestment from Israel
· Biden Picks Muslim Lawyer Who Won $2 Billion Case
· CAIR-Ohio, Muslim Community Issue Open Letter Urging Elected Officials to Take a Stand Against Israel’s Genocidal Actions, Rise of Anti-Muslim Hate
· CAIR-LA Condemns USC Professor’s ‘They Should Be Killed’ Comment to Pro-Palestinian Students, Calls for Investigation by School
· Pro-Palestinian protest turns violent at US Democratic HQ
· Canada police disperse Palestinian protest at restaurant where Trudeau dined
-----
Europe
· Labour rebellion as UK MPs vote on Gaza ceasefire
· In Pope’s home country, Gaza war stokes Jewish-Muslim tensions
· German police raid suspected pro-Hezbollah Islamist groups
· Lancashire mosque group wants UK to adopt Palestine children
-------
South Asia
· Large portion of US aid diverted to the Taliban: SIGAR Report
· UN Human Rights Chief raises concerns about Afghan detentions in Pakistan
· Over 8,000 Afghan migrants return home from Iran and Pakistan
· Trade Agreement Signed Between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan
· Expelled Refugees Suffering From Psychological, Emotional Problems
· Kabul Police: Over 2,000 Criminal Suspects Arrested in 6 Months
· Iranian official claims IEA admits they should give Iran its water share from Helmand River
· The holy Islam guarantees success of this world and the hereafter
-----
Mideast
· Israeli opposition leader calls on Netanyahu to resign ‘immediately’
· Gaza cancer patients arrive in Turkiye for treatment
· Iran: US ups intensity of Gaza war by supporting Israel; Palestinian resistance ‘liberating, legitimate’
· Israel to be eliminated if it tries to expel Palestinians from Gaza: Senior Hezbollah official
· Gaza mosque massacre: At least 50 killed, dozens injured in Israeli airstrike on Sabra neighbourhood
· UNSC calls for Gaza 'humanitarian pauses'; Palestinian envoy says resolution failed to condemn Israel
· Israeli military vehicles start withdrawing from Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital
· Türkiye rejects Netanyahu's 'unfounded slander' against President Erdogan
· WHO says Israeli raid on Gaza hospital is totally unacceptable
· UN Security Council adopts resolution calling for urgent humanitarian pauses, corridors in
· Turkey's Erdogan labels Israel a 'terror state', slams its backers in West
-----
Southeast Asia
· Muslim anti-LGBT groups protest Coldplay's first Indonesia gig
· Travellers should not wear items related to Israel-Hamas conflict, says ICA in traffic advisory for land checkpoints
· Thais to be among hostages freed by Hamas if Gaza truce agreed, politicians say
· Isma, PAS call for Coldplay concert to be cancelled in solidarity with Palestinian struggle
· Palestinian refugee influx may worsen issues in Sabah, says former assemblyman
· Don't jump the gun on Palestine refugee issue, says minister
· Man arrested after car crashes near Israeli embassy in Tokyo: Media
· 'Don't make it an issue, friends': Malaysian laundromat with Muslim and non-Muslim washers draws mixed reactions
· PAS MP questions delay in forming committee to study states’ competence to make Islamic laws
------
Pakistan
· 150,000 illegal immigrants, including Afghans, repatriated: Achakzai
· IHC restores Imran’s bail plea in Toshakhana case
· Al-Qadir Trust case: NAB allowed to interrogate Imran in Adiala jail
· Kundi highlights PPP’s approach to plight of Palestinians, Kashmiris
· Hindutva ideology is a recipe for disaster, warns PM Kakar
-----
Africa
· Keep your lane! Foreign Affairs PS tells Nyong'o on Israel-Gaza war
· Al-Sunni: Libya chairs the conference to establish a Middle East region free of nuclear weapons.
· One in four Somalis could go hungry by the end of the year - UN
· Saudi Arabia Confirmed Visas Of All 264 Nigerians Before Takeoff; They Are Yet To Give Reason For Sudden Cancellation – Air Peace
· Sultan, Emir of Kano, govs to grace commissioning of new Adogba Mosque
· DSS re-arraigns suspect who bombed Kano mosque in 2014
-------
Arab world
· Qatar urges int’l probe into Israeli raid on Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital
· Qatar seeking Israel-Hamas deal to free 50 hostages and 3-day truce
· Saudi aid agency distributes food to Afghan quake victims
· Saudi defense minister meets French minister of armed forces
· Saudi FM discusses Gaza conflict with Red Cross president
· Saudi crown prince receives letter from Kenyan president
· Saudi defense minister meets with Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council head
· Saudi FM calls for stopping forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza
------
Australia
· Australia’s foreign minister declines to meet with UN rapporteur for occupied Palestine
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
-----------
Muslim
Neighbours Help Perform Last Rites Of Kashmiri Pandit In Pulwama
November
15, 2023
A
Kashmiri Pandit neighbour said everything was arranged by Muslim residents.
(Representational)
-------------
Pampore
(Pulwama): Reviving the memories of the glorious traditions of communal harmony
in Jammu and Kashmir, Muslim neighbours in this town helped perform the last
rites of a Kashmiri Pandit who died last evening.
Ashok
Kumar Wangoo died at his residence at Drangabal in Pampore town on Tuesday
around 5.00 pm. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors declared him dead
on arrival.
Instead
of taking the body to Jammu, the Kashmiri Pandit community decided to perform
the last rites here. The members of the minority community expressed their
gratitude to local Muslims for standing by their side through thick and thin.
"The
deceased is Ashok Kumar Wangoo. He died yesterday around 5.00 pm. As soon as
the news spread, people from the entire Drangabalmohalla and adjoining areas
came over and helped with the formalities and arrangements for rituals of the
departed soul," said Raju Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit neighbour of the dead
man.
"Men,
women and children all helped us in it. We did not have to do much. This is not
new for us as it has been there for a long time. This is Kashmiriyat. However,
doing it in present times really means something. We are thankful to
them," he added.
Mohammad
Yousuf Malik, Wangoo's childhood classmate and a Muslim neighbour, said his
area has always been known for Hindu-Sikh-Muslim unity.
"We
have never had any problems here. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs have lived together
amicably. We share each others' joys and sorrows. The Pandit community decided
that they will not take Wangoo to Jammu for last rites and it will be done here
only. So we all came together to help," Mr Malik said.
Source: ndtv.com
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https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/muslim-neighbours-help-perform-last-rites-of-kashmiri-pandit-in-pulwama-4576720
-----
Joe Biden: Only two-state solution would resolve Israel-Palestinian conflict, occupation of Gaza ‘a big mistake’
November
16, 2023
US President Joe Biden also told hostages held by the Hamas to ‘hang in there, we’re coming,’ raising questions about what he meant. (Reuters)
-------------
WOODSIDE,
California: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he had made it clear to
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a two-state solution was the
only answer to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict and that occupying Gaza
would be “a big mistake.”
Biden
told reporters he was doing everything in his power to free hostages held by
the Hamas militant group in Gaza, but that did not mean sending in the US
military.
The US
president had told reporters this week that his message to the hostages was
“Hang in there, we’re coming,” raising questions about what he meant.
Asked to
clarify the comment, Biden told a news conference: “What I meant was, I’m doing
everything in my power to get you out. Coming to help you, get you out. I don’t
mean sending in military in there ... I was not talking about the military.”
Biden
said he was working on the issue constantly, and would not stop until the
hostages — including a three-year-old American child — were freed.
Qatar,
where Hamas operates a political office, has been leading mediation between the
Islamist militant group and Israeli officials for the release of more than 240
hostages. They were taken by militants when they stormed into Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel says 1,200 people were killed during the rampage.
Israel
then launched an unrelenting bombardment of Hamas-ruled Gaza and late last
month began an invasion of the enclave, where more than 11,000 people have been
killed, around 40 percent of them children with more buried under the rubble,
according to Palestinian officials.
Biden
said Hamas was committing war crimes by having its military headquarters under
a hospital, repeating a statement made a White House spokesperson on Tuesday,
and he was confident about the US intelligence supporting that “fact.”
He said
Israel had gone into Gaza’s biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, with a limited number
of troops with guns, and was not carpet-bombing the site.
“They
were told ... we discussed the need for them to be incredibly careful,” Biden
said, adding that Israel had an obligation to use as much caution as possible
in going after targets.
But he
said it was “not realistic” to expect Israel to stop its military actions,
given threats by senior Hamas officials that they intended to attack Israel
again and their past “horrific” actions.
“Hamas
has already said publicly that they plan on attacking Israel again, like they
did before, where they cut babies’ heads off,” Biden said, reviving an
assertion he made last month, when he said he had seen images of beheaded
babies.
The
White House last month clarified that US officials had not seen evidence of
this, and said Biden was referring to news reports of such actions. It was not
immediately clear if new intelligence had emerged confirming that babies were
beheaded.
On
Wednesday, Biden said Israel was now bringing in incubators and other equipment
to help people, and its soldiers giving doctors, nurses and other staff the
opportunity to “get out of harm’s way.”
Israel
on Wednesday said its troops found Hamas weapons and combat gear in Al Shifa
hospital during a search on Wednesday. Hamas dismissed the announcement as
“lies.”
Biden
said he had told Netanyahu that he did not believe the war would end until a
two-state solution was reached.
“I made
it clear to Israel that I think it’s a big mistake to for them to occupy Gaza,”
he said.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409726/middle-east
------
Russia,
US, UK abstain from UN Security Council vote on 'humanitarian pauses' in Gaza
Serife
Cetin and IclalTuran
16.11.2023
Three
permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Russia, the US and the UK --
abstained Wednesday from voting on a draft resolution calling for "urgent
and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors" throughout Gaza.
"I'm
horrified that a few members of this council still cannot bring themselves to
condemn the barbaric terrorist attack that Hamas carried out against Israel on
Oct. 7," US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security
Council.
"The
United States will continue to urge this council to condemn Hamas. Although the
United States is deeply disappointed by what is not in this text, we support
many of the important provisions this Council has adopted," she added.
Barbara
Woodward, the UK's ambassador to the UN, said the UK "regrets" that
the first resolution passed by the Council "could not clearly
condemn" Hamas for its Oct. 7 attack.
Woodward
said it is right that the Security Council calls for a humanitarian pause for a
period of days, noting it needed to "establish a safer environment for
humanitarians."
"This
will save lives. We need it as fast as possible," she added.
VasilyNebenzya,
the representative of Russia to the UN, said the reason Russia did not vote in
favor of the resolution is the "lack of a call for an immediate
cease-fire.”
"This
was, and remains, the top imperative. Any humanitarian actions require an
immediate end to the fighting," he added.
In
addition to calling for "urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and
corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days" to
allow humanitarian access into Gaza, the Malta-led resolution also calls for
the release of all hostages being held by Hamas and other groups, especially
children.
It also
demanded all parties to comply with international law, including international
humanitarian law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians,
especially children.
The
resolution called on all parties to “refrain from depriving the civilian
population in the Gaza Strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance
indispensable to their survival, consistent with international humanitarian
law.”
It
underscored the importance of coordination, humanitarian notification and
deconfliction mechanisms to protect all medical and humanitarian staff and
vehicles, including ambulances, as well as critical infrastructure, including
UN facilities.
It also
asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to "report orally to the
Security Council on the implementation of this resolution at the next mandated
meeting of the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East."
Meanwhile,
the Council rejected Russia's proposal to amend the resolution to include
"a durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to the cessation of
hostilities.”
The
resolution followed four failed attempts of voting at the UN Security Council
regarding the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict since Oct. 7.
Israel
has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a
cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.
The
government media office in Gaza on Wednesday announced that the death toll from
Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 has risen to 11,500,
including 4,710 children and 3,160 women.
The
Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/russia-us-uk-abstain-from-un-security-council-vote-on-humanitarian-pauses-in-gaza/3055087
------
IslamiAndolan
rejects polls results
Nov 15,
2023
IslamiAndolon
Bangladesh (IAB) has rejected the polls schedule and announced fresh protest
programme across the country for tomorrow to press home its demand for holding
the next general election under a "national government".
The
fresh programme came from a mass procession brought out by IAB leaders towards
the Election Commission building in protest of its planned announcement of the
polls schedule this evening.
Chief
Election Commissioner HabibulAwal will address the nation at 7:00pm to announce
the schedule for the 12th parliamentary election.
Several
hundred leaders and activists of IAB started the procession towards the EC
building from the north gate of Baitul Mokarrom Mosque around 3:00pm, reports
our correspondent from the spot.
Syed
Mohammad MosaddekBillah Al Madani, senior presidium member of IAB led the
procession.
Law
enforcement agencies later obstructed the procession at the Malibagh
intersection around 3:45pm.
After
waiting for five to 10 minutes, IAB men left the area after a brief speech by
Mohammad Mosaddek.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.thedailystar.net/top-news/news/islami-andolan-rejects-polls-results-3470346
-------
Their
families wiped out by Israeli airstrikes, grieving Palestinians in Gaza ask why
November
16, 2023
Above,
Ahmed Al-Naouq in a selfie with his nephew Bakr, left, in Deir Al Balah, Gaza.
Ahmed says 21 family members, including 13 children, were killed in an Israeli
airstrike. (Courtesy of Ahmed Al-Naouq via AP)
-------------
KHAN
YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: The night a blast struck his family’s home in the Gaza
Strip, Ahmed Al-Naouq was more than 2,000 miles away but he still jolted awake,
consumed with inexplicable panic.
He
reached for his cellphone to find that a friend had written – and then deleted
– a message. Al-Naouq called him from London. The words that spilled from the
other end of the line landed like world-shattering blows: Airstrike. Everyone
killed.
Four
nights later, Ammar Al-Butta was startled from sleep in the southern Gaza city
of Khan Younis when the wall of his bedroom collapsed over him. A missile had
pierced his top-floor apartment and exploded one floor below.
He
lurched over the rubble, shining the light of his cellphone into the wreckage,
calling out to his 16 relatives.
“Anyone
there?” he cried. There was only silence.
Entire
generations of Palestinian families in the besieged Gaza Strip – from
great-grandparents to infants only weeks old – have been killed in airstrikes
in the Israel-Hamas war, in which the Israeli army says it aims to root out the
militant group from the densely populated coastal territory.
Attacks
are occurring at a scale never seen in years of Israel-Hamas conflict, hitting
residential areas, schools, hospitals, mosques and churches, even striking
areas in southern Gaza where Israeli forces ordered civilians to flee.
Israel
says the goal of the war is to destroy Hamas following the militant group’s
deadly Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel that killed at least 1,200 people, and
it maintains that the attacks target militant operatives and infrastructure.
It
blames the high death toll – more than 11,000 people, according to the Gaza
Health Ministry – on Hamas, saying the group endangers civilians by operating
among the population and in tunnels underneath civilian areas. Israel says the
death toll includes Hamas fighters.
But the
scope of the destruction and loss of life in Gaza, with entire families wiped
out in a single strike, has raised troubling questions about Israeli military
tactics.
GENERATIONS
LOST
It would
take many hours of horror and mayhem before the truth would settle like the ash
from the Oct. 20 explosion that leveled Al-Naouq’s family’s home: 21 relatives
killed.
They
included his 75-year-old father, two brothers, three sisters and their 13
children.
“I can’t
believe this actually happened,” Al-Naouq, a graduate student in London, told
The Associated Press. “Because if I calculate what it means, I will be
destroyed.”
His
father, Nasri, had recently told him that his sister Aya’s home was destroyed
in northern Gaza and she was staying with them in the central city of Deir
Al-Balah, south of the area Israel had ordered Palestinians to leave.
A home
can be rebuilt, Al-Naouq recalled replying, all that matters is that she and
the children are alive.
But just
hours later, they were all dead: Wala’a, the most accomplished of the Al-Naouq
children with a degree in engineering, and her four children; Alaa and her five
children; Aya, known for her wry sense of humor, and her three children; older
brother Muhammed; and younger brother Mahmoud, who was preparing to travel to
Australia for graduate studies when the war broke out.
Nine of
the 21 are still under the rubble; dire fuel shortages prevented civil defense
crews from digging them out.
Identifying
the dead was another traumatizing endeavor; many bodies were unrecognizable,
most were in pieces.
Al-Naouq’s
sister, Doaa, who was not in the house at the time of the strike, told him she
couldn’t bear the smell of the rotting flesh of their loved ones under the
rubble. Someone showed her body parts retrieved from the site and told her it
was one of their sisters.
There
were two survivors: Shimaa, Al-Naouq’s sister-in-law, and Omar, his 3-year-old
nephew. His 11-year-old niece, Malaka, was taken to Al-Aqsa hospital with
severe burns but died after doctors gave her ICU bed to another patient with a
better chance of survival, his sister Doaa said.
Doctors
have to make extraordinarily difficult triage decisions, and severely wounded
patients are being left to die because of shortages of beds, medical supplies
and fuel, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel, in Nasser Hospital, Gaza’s second-largest.
“We
leave most as we don’t have ventilators or beds,” he said of patients in need
of intensive care with complicated blast wounds. “We’ve reached full collapse.”
COMPETING
CLAIMS
Israel
doesn’t say how it chooses targets in densely populated Gaza. But Israeli
officials say many strikes on homes are based on intelligence assessments that
wanted Hamas operatives are inside. Though it gives few details, Israel says
every airstrike is reviewed by legal experts to ensure they comply with
international law.
Many
Gaza families deny any Hamas targets were operating from their homes.
The
Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and
combatants, but says a majority of Palestinians killed have been minors and
women, about 4,500 and 2,200 respectively. At least 304 families have lost at
least 10 relatives; about 31 families have lost over 30, according to a Nov. 6
health ministry report. That number is likely higher now as intense Israeli
bombardment has continued.
Among
the families with the highest number of casualties, many have been children.
The
Al-Astal family lost 89 relatives, 18 of them children under the age of 10,
including three babies not yet a year old, according to an Oct. 26 ministry
report. The Hassouna family had 74 killed, including 22 children ranging in age
from 1 to 10 years old, it said. The Najjars lost 65 relatives: Nine were under
10 years old and 13 were under 4.
Ammar
Al-Butta says his relatives were all civilians with no links to Hamas.
The
Saqallah family, his cousins known for their sweet shops in Gaza City, had
taken shelter with Al-Butta’s family in their four-story house in Khan Younis,
in southern Gaza, heeding Israeli evacuation orders.
The
family arrived with trays of confections for their hosts. Joking with his
cousins in the family’s living room was a rare moment of respite in the fog of
war and displacement, the 29-year-old teacher said.
One
cousin, Ahmed Saqallah, 42, spoke of rebuilding his family’s bomb-damaged home
and looked forward to fixing the plumbing and painting.
“Simple,
sweet dreams,” Al-Butta said.
Ten days
later all 16 Saqallahs, from 69-year-old Nadia to baby Asaad, not yet a year
old, were killed in the Oct. 24 pre-dawn attack.
UNANSWERED
QUESTIONS
A
question left by Al-Naouq in his family’s WhatsApp group the night the blast
leveled their home – “Tell me, how are you guys?” – remains unanswered.
The
distance has made the devastating news all the more surreal. Observing London’s
peaceful nights, where sounds of mirth resonate from restaurants and bars,
Al-Naouq imagines the airstrikes lighting Gaza’s skies, the screams of panicked
residents. His family, lying lifeless under the rubble.
He has
no idea where his relatives’ bodies are buried. There was no space in the
hospital morgue to keep them. They could be in a mass grave, but Al-Naouq has
no way of knowing.
Al-Butta
said the Saqallah family was buried in his family grave in Khan Younis. The
entire neighborhood mourned when they were interred. “Our eyes are dry,” he
said. “There are no tears left.”
In the
chaos of the war, taking account of the dead is a rushed, heart-rending
process.
It
begins with relatives scribbling the names of the dead and missing. They dig
into the rubble with their hands, calling out for survivors. Hospitals later
issue death certificates.
Grieving
relatives, who maintain no one in their households had links to Hamas, ask: Why
them?
“Why
would they kill children and an old man?” asked Al-Naouq. “What is the military
justification for bombing my house? They were all civilians.”
“I wish,
one day, I can meet the one who pulled the trigger. I want to ask him: Why did
you do it?”
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409751/middle-east
------
Fatwa
supporting Palestine is a revival for domestic products: MUI
15 Nov
2023
Secretary
General of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), Amirsyah Tambunan (middle),
during a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday, November 15, 2023. (ANTARA/Andi
Firdaus/rst)
-------------
Jakarta
(ANTARA) - Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) Secretary General, AmirsyahTambunan,
stated that MUI's Fatwa Number 83 of 2023 concerning the Law on Support for the
Palestinian Struggle is also a momentum for the revival of domestic products.
"With
this fatwa, our domestic products can step up for the benefit of our people and
nation. That is important," he stated at a press conference in Jakarta on
Wednesday.
He made
the statement to provide clarification to the public's questions on the impact
of losses in sales transactions for Israeli-affiliated products in Indonesia
due to the influence of fatwa.
Tambunan
noted that local entrepreneurs in Indonesia also have good products that can be
a substitute for Israeli-affiliated products in Indonesia.
"There
are many local products with good quality. This can be their momentum to arise
and also to boost the economic sovereignty of our people and nation," he
remarked.
According
to Tambunan, MUI is not responsible for explaining the fate of
Israeli-affiliated products that are currently experiencing a downward trend in
purchases.
"What
about the fate of Israeli-affiliated products in Indonesia? That is not the
MUI's job to explain," he emphasized.
He
highlighted that Israel's military aggression in Gaza, Palestine, is a war
crime that has causes and consequences.
"The
fact that more than 12 thousand Palestinians were killed is not comparable to
our boycott act to Israeli-affiliated products. Where is the conscience of
those who started the war?" Tambunan stated.
Moreover,
he urged the public to understand the fatwa issued by the MUI as a consequence
of the crimes against humanity that occurred in Gaza.
Earlier,
on November 10, the MUI had issued a fatwa stating that buying products from
companies supporting Israel's aggression in Palestine is haram.
This
fatwa is a form of commitment to support the Palestinian people's struggle for
independence and also resistance to Israeli aggression and efforts to
exterminate humanity, Tambunan remarked.
Source: antaranews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://en.antaranews.com/news/298725/fatwa-supporting-palestine-is-a-revival-for-domestic-products-mui
------
India
Chhattisgarh’s
Bemetara is hub of ‘love jihad’, says Amit Shah days before second phase of
polls
November
16, 2023
Union
Home Minister Amit Shah alleged on Wednesday that Chhattisgarh’s Bemetara
district has become a hub of “love jihad” under the state’s Congress government
headed by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, The Hindu reported.
“Love
jihad” is a Hindutva conspiracy theory that Muslim men lure Hindu women into
romantic relationships in order to convert them to Islam. The Union home
ministry has told Parliament that Indian law has no provision defining such a
term.
Shah
made the remarks while addressing a rally in the Saja Assembly constituency of
Bemetara on the final day of campaigning before the second phase of the state
elections.
Assembly
elections in Chhattisgarh are being held in two phases. While the first phase
was conducted on November 7 across 20 seats, the remaining 90 seats will go to
polls on November 17. Results will be declared on December 3.
According
to the Union home minister, Sahu, Kurmi and Gond communities had been “becoming
a target of love jihad while the Baghel government was sleeping”.
“Who
will wake them up?” asked Shah. “It is your votes. I promise, you bring the
Bharatiya Janata Party to power, no one will dare commit such an act.”
He
further alleged that Baghel had turned the Durg division from being an
education hub to a “centre of betting”.
“Bhupesh
kakka destroyed Durg division,” he said. “During the Raman Singh-led BJP
government, the Durg division had become a centre of education. Bhupesh Baghel
turned it into a centre of satta [betting].”
Targetting
the chief minister over a “betting app scam”, he asked why was the name
“Mahadev” used. “Modi ji sent ‘Chandrayaan’ to the moon and named the spot
[where it landed] Shivshakti, expressing reverence to Lord Shiva and Maa
Shakti,” said Shah. “But Bhupesh kakka named a betting app after Mahadev and
insulted him.”
On
November 2, the Enforcement Directorate alleged that Baghel was paid Rs 508
crore by a cash courier sent from the United Arab Emirates by the promoters of
the Mahadev app.
Mahadev
Online Book, a betting app, reportedly enabled illegal betting in live games
such as poker, cricket, tennis and football as well as on elections in India.
Baghel,
however, had said that the allegations show that the BJP is using central
agencies to tarnish his image.
“The
Bharatiya Janata Party wants to contest Chhattisgarh elections with the help of
agencies like ED, IT, DRI and CBI,” Baghel said in a social media post, earlier
in November. “Just before the elections, ED has made the most malicious attempt
to tarnish my image. This is a political attempt to defame the popular Congress
government which is being done through ED.”
He
alleged that the Enforcement Directorate had first raided the homes of people
close to him to defame them and now on the basis of the statement of an unknown
person, the agency has accused him of taking Rs 508 crore in bribes.
Baghel
said that the central agency highlighted the statement even though the claim is
still being investigated. “If investigation has not been done then issuing a
press release on the statement of one person not only reveals the intentions of
the ED but also reveals the bad intentions of the Central government behind
it,” he said.
Source: scroll.in
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https://scroll.in/latest/1059189/chhattisgarhs-bemetara-is-hub-of-love-jihad-says-amit-shah-days-before-second-phase-of-polls
------
Jaishankar
asks Canadian government to provide evidence in Khalistani activist murder case
16.11.23
External
Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that India is not ruling out an
investigation but asked Canada to provide evidence in support of its allegations
about the involvement of agents of the Indian government in the killing of a
Khalistani separatist in that country.
Jaishankar
made the comments in response to questions during a conversation with veteran
journalist Lionel Barber titled ‘How a Billion People See the World' here.
"If
you have a reason to make such an allegation please share the evidence because
we are not ruling out an investigation…," Jaishankar, who is here on a
five-day official visit to the UK, said while responding to a question.
He
emphasised that Canada has not shared any evidence with India to support its
allegation.
The ties
between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September of a "potential"
involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep
Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a
terrorist in 2020.
India
has rejected Trudeau's allegations as "absurd" and
"motivated".
Jaishankar
said that freedom of speech and freedom of expression comes with a certain
responsibility and the misuse of those freedoms and the toleration of that
misuse for political purposes would be very wrong, referring to the
pro-Khalistani activities in Canada.
He
recalled the attacks on the High Commission of India in Canada, or smoke bomb
attacks on the High Commission and Consulate General, and said Indian diplomats
were intimidated in public, with no action from the Canadian authorities
against culprits.
Last
week, Prime Minister Trudeau underlined that a "fight" with India was
not something Canada wanted to be having right now but reiterated his
allegations and said Ottawa wants to "work constructively" with New
Delhi on this "very serious matter".
Foreign
Secretary Vinay Kwatra said India has conveyed to the US side its serious
concerns over increasing activities of pro-Khalistani elements in Canada.
"Insofar
as Canada is concerned, we have been having very consistent conversations with
all our friends and partners. Our position on this matter has been enunciated
and explained in full detail on multiple occasions," Kwatra said in New
Delhi recently.
Days
after Trudeau's allegations in September, India temporarily suspended the
issuance of visas to Canadian citizens and asked Ottawa to downsize its
diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parity.
India
resumed some visa services in Canada last month, more than a month after they
were suspended.
On
China, Jaishankar said that the 2020 deadly clash has vitiated the relationship
between the two countries.
He said
China did not adhere to the agreement not to amass troops at the Line of Actual
Control as he asserted that such acts of not following pacts have consequences
in terms of credibility.
Except
for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff
and has been published from a syndicated feed.
Source: telegraphindia.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.telegraphindia.com/world/jaishankar-asks-canadian-government-to-provide-evidence-in-khalistani-activist-murder-case/cid/1980341
-----
North America
US
public support for Israel falls, majority backs ceasefire: Poll
15
November 2023
A new
poll shows the US public support for Israel has decreased with the majority of
Americans backing a ceasefire in the besieged Gaza Strip, which has been under
the brutal Israeli offensive since October 7.
Results
of a poll by Reuters and Ipsos revealed on Wednesday that more than two-thirds
of Americans back a ceasefire in the war-torn coastal sliver and that their
support for Israel has eroded by ten points since the previous month.
The
two-day poll, which closed on Tuesday, gathered responses from just over 1,000
respondents, 32 percent of whom said that “the US should support Israel” when
asked about the role of the United States in the ongoing war in Gaza.
That was
down from 41 percent who said the US should support Israel in a Reuters/Ipsos
poll conducted October 12-13, almost a week after Israel unleashed a brutal war
on the impoverished enclave.
Around
68 percent of respondents in the new poll said they agreed with a statement
that “Israel should call a ceasefire and try to negotiate.”
Israel
launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement
Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity
in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long suppression and devastation
against Palestinians.
According
to the Gaza-based health ministry, 11,500 Palestinians, including 4,630
children and 3,130 women, have been killed and more than 29,000 others injured
in the Israeli strikes.
Catherine
Russell, executive director of UNICEF has warned that the situation in the Gaza
Strip is devastating, saying the Israeli regime’s brutal war has left nowhere
safe for the enclave’s one million children.
“The
Gaza crisis has sparked an international outcry that has focused in recent days
on the collapsing medical infrastructure in the crowded coastal enclave.
Palestinians trapped inside Gaza's biggest hospital were digging a mass grave
on Tuesday to bury patients who died under Israeli encirclement,” read the
Reuters report that announced the polling results.
Despite
numerous calls from across the world for a ceasefire to prevent further
bloodshed in Gaza, Israel has so far rejected any talk of implementing longer
pauses or a ceasefire.
Earlier,
Karim Khan, prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), warned that
his office is collecting evidence that could result in an international
investigation against Israel’s political and military leaders, as the occupying
entity keeps pounding almost all areas and facilities of the blockaded
territory, including hospitals, schools and residential buildings.
Israel,
like the United States, is not a member of the ICC. It refused to cooperate
with the court in 2021 over the war crimes investigation into the situation in
the occupied Palestinian territories.
Source: presstv.ir
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/15/714679/Palestine-Israel-Gaza-poll-Ipsos-Reuters-US-ceasefire
-------
Columbia
University students form coalition to push for divestment from Israel
15
November 2023
More
than 40 student groups at Columbia University have formed a coalition to demand
the university divest from Israeli apartheid and “challenge the
settler-colonial violence” that Israel has been perpetrating with the support
of the United States and its allies.
The
groups said in a statement published on Wednesday that the Columbia University
Apartheid Divest will seek to force the university to divest its entire
economic and academic stakes in the Israeli-occupied territories of Palestine
amid the ongoing Israeli aggression on the people in the Gaza Strip.
The
statement said that the coalition is a continuation of the Vietnam anti-war
movement and the movement to divest from apartheid South Africa, adding that
Israel’s brutal onslaught in Gaza over the past 40 days and its imposition of a
crippling siege on the territory have been funded by US taxpayer money and
further enabled by financial investments made by institutions like Columbia
University.
It said
missions will include pressing for cancelation of Columbia’s dual-degree
partnership with Israel’s Tel Aviv University while seeking an end to a project
called Tel Aviv Global Center which it said will certainly restrict the access
of Palestinian affiliates of Columbia due to Israel’s apartheid policies.
The
Coalition said it will also call on US President Joe Biden and parliament
members and government officials in the US to support the demands of the
majority of Americans to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
It said
that true collective safety in the world will only be achieved when everyone, including
the Palestinians in Gaza, has access to food, water, housing, education,
freedom of movement and dignity.
“We know
too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the
Palestinians,” the statement quoted South Africa’s anti-apartheid leader Nelson
Mandela as saying.
Source: presstv.ir
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/15/714678/US-student-groups-Columbia-University-divestment-Israel-Gaza-war
-----
Biden
Picks Muslim Lawyer Who Won $2 Billion Case
November
15, 2023
President
Joe Biden has nominated Adeel Mangi, a litigator frequently named to national
top trial lawyers lists, to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Third Circuit.
Mangi
would be the first Muslim-American to serve as a federal appellate court judge
if he is confirmed, writes New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who praised Biden’s
choice as “outstanding,” and drew attention to the “historic nature” of the
nomination.
[The
first Muslim on a federal appeals court, Mangi would be just the third Muslim
“to ever serve on our federal bench,” New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez said,
vowing support for Mangi’s nomination.]
Murphy
thanked Biden and “our U.S. Senators for their unwavering commitment to fill
our federal court vacancies with exceptional attorneys who reflect the rich
diversity of our state.”
The
Third Circuit Court is in Philadelphia, and concerns Murphy as it covers
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the Virgin Islands. New Jersey has four
of 14 seats on the Third Circuit — Mangi would replace Judge Joseph Greenaway,
Jr., who retired in June.
Born in
Pakistan, Mangi, 46, is a partner at Patterson Belknap, where in May of 2022 he
won a case in which a jury “awarded our client, Appian Corporation, $2.036
billion in damages from Pegasystems Inc. for trade secret misappropriation
following a seven-week trial,” according to the firm’s press release.
How
payments to the firm and Mangi were structured isn’t public information, but a
customary contingency fee in complex corporate litigation can be 33-40%, which
indicates that Mangi may enter his judicial appointment, once confirmed,
virtually free of any financial concerns. In 2023, circuit judges earned
salaries of $246,600 per year.
Source: 2paragraphs.com
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https://2paragraphs.com/2023/11/biden-picks-muslim-lawyer-who-won-2-billion-case/
------
CAIR-Ohio,
Muslim Community Issue Open Letter Urging Elected Officials to Take a Stand
Against Israel’s Genocidal Actions, Rise of Anti-Muslim Hate
Ismail
Allison
November
15, 2023
(COLUMBUS,
OH – 11/15/23) — The Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR-Ohio), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy
organization, today joined numerous mosques and Muslim organizations in issuing
an open letter addressed to Ohio elected officials, urging them to address
Israel’s genocidal actions and the alarming rise of anti-Muslim hate crimes in
the state.
That
letter expressed deep concern over the ongoing violence in the Middle East and
its direct impact on the Muslim community in Ohio. The letter reveals
staggering statistics related to the Israeli attacks on Gaza, in which at least
11,423 Palestinians, including 4,630 children, have been killed by Israel. The
situation has not only led to a humanitarian crisis but has also fueled a surge
in anti-Muslim hate crimes, assaults, and discriminatory incidents within Ohio
and across the United States.
“The
biased rhetoric and misinformation surrounding the situation has contributed to
a hostile environment that fosters discrimination and violence against those
who are Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, perceived Muslim, Jewish, and anyone else of
conscience who speaks up for the human rights of Palestinians,” states the open
letter.
The full
text of the open letter is available here.
CAIR
reports an alarming increase in complaints of Anti-Muslim and Anti-Arab
discrimination in Ohio, with CAIR-Ohio alone receiving at least 195 complaints
in just one month, surpassing the total number of complaints received for the
entire year of 2022. Of these, at least 151 are directly related to the
situation in Palestine, marking an uptick of over 600% from the previous year,
during October 7 through November 4.
In
response to these troubling trends, the undersigned organizations call on Ohio
elected officials to take a stand against discrimination, violence, and hate
crimes targeting the Muslim and Arab community. They also urge officials to
address Israel’s violence against civilians and settlement expansions, express
support for the sovereignty of the Palestinian people, and meet with community
representatives, including medical, legal, and human rights experts on Israeli
apartheid and oppression.
“Enough
is enough. Ohio is witnessing a disturbing spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes
fueled by the ongoing genocide in Palestine,” said CAIR-Ohio Outreach Director
Victoria Hickcox. “This open letter is not just a plea; it’s a demand for
accountability. Our elected officials must actively combat discrimination,
condemn violence, and stand firm against any form of bigotry targeting our
Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab communities.”
CAIR is
America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. CAIR-Ohio
has three offices in Ohio – Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. Its mission is
to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, 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-ohio-muslim-community-issue-open-letter-urging-elected-officials-to-take-a-stand-against-israels-genocidal-actions-rise-of-anti-muslim-hate/
-----
CAIR-LA
Condemns USC Professor’s ‘They Should Be Killed’ Comment to Pro-Palestinian
Students, Calls for Investigation by School
Ismail
Allison
November
15, 2023
(LOS
ANGELES, CA – 11/15/2023) – The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council
on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today condemned hateful comments
reportedly made by a University of Southern California (USC) professor
targeting pro-Palestinian protesters at a student-led protest on campus.
SEE: USC
professor’s comments to students disrupt pro-Palestinian protest
Eyewitnesses
said the professor allegedly walked on a list of names meant to memorialize the
over 11,000 Palestinians who have been killed by Israel’s ongoing and violent
assault on Gaza. In a video filmed by a USC student, one of the protesters can
be heard saying, “It’s [the pro-Palestinian protest] just to pay respects to
those who have been killed,” to which the professor replies, “Everyone should
be killed, and I hope they all are.” The event was part of a nationwide
‘shutdown for Palestine.’
In a
statement, CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said:
“It is
deeply troubling that this professor allegedly decided to direct his statements
at pro-Palestinian students who were peacefully protesting on campus for the
human rights and dignity of Palestinians. Anti-Palestinian rhetoric has been at
an all-time high these last few weeks—especially at schools and
universities—and wrongly conflating Palestinians and those who are in
solidarity with the innocent people of Gaza with Hamas is only adding fuel to
the flames of hate.
“We call
on USC to publicly condemn the behavior of the professor and immediately
investigate the incident. University officials must also take action to provide
protective measures and resources for Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab students as
well as any others who are targeted by hate and bigotry.”
Source: cair.com
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https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-la-condemns-usc-professors-they-should-be-killed-comment-to-pro-palestinian-students-calls-for-investigation-by-school/
-----
Pro-Palestinian
protest turns violent at US Democratic HQ
November
16, 2023
WASHINGTON:
Scores of pro-Palestinian protesters on Wednesday night clashed with police
outside the national headquarters of the Democratic Party in a melee that
forced a lockdown of nearby offices of the US Congress.
“Our
officers are working to keep back approximately 150 people who are illegally
and violently protesting” near the party offices, the US Capitol Police said in
a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“Officers
are making arrests.”
Police
escorted legislators who were at the Democratic National Committee (DNC)
offices at the time out of the building to safety.
The
protesters were calling for a ceasefire and an end to military activity by
Israel in the Gaza Strip.
“Was
just evacuated from the #DNC after pro-terrorist, anti-#Israel protesters grew
violent, pepper spraying police officers and attempting to break into the
building,” California lawmaker Brad Sherman posted on X.
“Thankful
to the police officers who stopped them and for helping me and my colleagues
get out safely,” wrote Sherman, a Democrat.
Another
legislator, Sean Casten of Illinois, chided the protesters for “blocking all
entries to a building with multiple members of Congress in it,” which he said
left police dangerously unaware of their intent.
Casten
posted on X that he, too, was “rescued by armed officers.”
Photos
posted on social media showed protesters wearing black T-shirts stenciled with
“Cease Fire Now” in white letters scuffling with police officers trying to pull
them away from the building’s entrance.
Security
agents ordered lawmakers and their staff in buildings near the US Capitol,
close to the DNC building, to stay inside.
“Significant
demonstration activity, no entry or exit is permitted at this time. You may
move throughout the buildings,” a security alert said.
The
violent demonstration came a day after many thousands of people gathered on the
National Mall in a pro-Israel rally.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409701/world
-----
Canada
police disperse Palestinian protest at restaurant where Trudeau dined
November
16, 2023
Nearly
100 police were summoned to deal with 250 pro-Palestinian protesters who
surrounded a Vancouver restaurant where Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
was dining on Tuesday night, police said on Wednesday.
Trudeau
is under pressure from Palestinian supporters to push for a cease-fire in the
war between Israel and Hamas.
“Vancouver
police deployed nearly 100 officers Tuesday night to disperse a protest outside
a Chinatown restaurant where the Prime Minister was dining,” the force said in
a statement.
“Police
assisted in controlling and dispersing the crowd, while the Prime Minister was
escorted out of the restaurant.”
A
27-year-old man was arrested for punching a female officer in the face, police
said.
“Yesterday
evening the Prime Minister was approached by demonstrators in Vancouver,”
spokesman Mohammad Hussain said by email but declined to comment further.
Earlier
on Tuesday, Trudeau said the “killing of women, of children, of babies” in Gaza
must end, in his sharpest criticism of Israel since war against Hamas broke out
over a month ago.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing Trudeau in a social media post,
said “the forces of civilization must back Israel in defeating Hamas
barbarism.”
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original]
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409631/world
-----
Europe
Labour
rebellion as UK MPs vote on Gaza ceasefire
November 16, 2023
Atika
Rehman
LONDON:
With a massive pro-Palestine demonstration taking place outside parliament, UK’s
House of Commons voted on Wednesday on a divisive amendment calling for an
immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with nearly 70 Labour MPs going against the party
leadership.
However,
both motions on Gaza were defeated, as majority MPs voted against them.
The Labour
motion on Gaza called for a humanitarian pause whereas the Scottish National
Party (SNP) motion sought release of Israeli prisoners, end of the Gaza siege
and an immediate ceasefire.
During
the debate, the drama unfolded live as Labour MPs voting for the SNP’s
ceasefire motion simultaneously tweeted resignations from their frontbench
posts. Labour MP and shadow minister for women and equities Yasmin Qureshi was
the first to resign from her post as she supported a ceasefire vote. MP Afzal
Khan from Manchester Gorton followed, resigning from his post as shadow
minister for exports.
Both
Labour and SNP motions defeated
Tory
MPs, however, reiterated their support for humanitarian pauses, and took
exception to the term ceasefire. One MP said the word ceasefire implies “only
one side, that is Israel, should stop violence, which is not the solution”.
Ahead of
the vote, there was high political drama within the Labour party as SNP-led
ceasefire vote split opinion. Thousands of constituents rang Labour MPs, including
frontbench shadow ministers, and persuaded them to vote against the party’s
position and for a ceasefire in Gaza. Nearly 70 Labour MPs defied their leader
to call for a ceasefire now, and nearly 50 councillors resigned from the party
over the leadership’s position on the war.
Zarah
Sultana, Labour MP for Coventry South, tweeted, “In my nearly 4 years as an MP,
I’ve been contacted by more constituents about Gaza and the call for a
ceasefire than any other policy issue.”
As Keir
Starmer in recent weeks stated a ceasefire would only embolden Hamas, his
comments left the Labour party divided. Labour’s official position on the
conflict is to call for a “humanitarian pause” rather than a full ceasefire,
which is the same position as the UK government and the US.
There
were multiple reports of Labour MPs being pressured by the party leadership to
abstain from voting for a ceasefire as they could be sacked. But on Wednesday,
several prominent Labour MPs even before the amendment was open to voting
tweeted they would vote for a ceasefire.
Labour
shadow minister from Bradford West Naz Shah said she would back an amendment,
calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Ms Shah said, “It would be a grave injustice
if the world turned a blind eye while innocent Palestinians are being murdered
by the hour.”
During
the Prime Minister’s Questions, SNP MP Stephen Mark Flynn in the Commons said,
“How much worse does it need to get? 4,609 children are dead, babies in the
neonatal ICU are dying because they don’t have access to oxygen. For members
across this house, this [vote] is a question of values and conscience.”
The PM
responded, “It’s right that Israel is able to defend itself as it suffered an
appalling attack by Hamas which is a terror organisation. We have consistently
called for humanitarian pauses so aid can get in and hospital staff and
foreign nationals can get out.”
Labour
MP from Bradford East Imran Hussain quit his frontbench role last week to
“strongly advocate for a ceasefire” and stated he would vote for the SNP’s ceasefire
amendment. He said: “A foreign policy that is driven by values would not still
be advocating the four hour pauses that do nothing to alleviate the suffering
of innocent men, women and children.”
Source: dawn.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1789751/labour-rebellion-as-uk-mps-vote-on-gaza-ceasefire
-------
In
Pope’s home country, Gaza war stokes Jewish-Muslim tensions
Nov 16,
2023
SÃO
PAULO – In the pope’s home nation of Argentina, encompassing both Jewish and
Muslim populations which are among the largest in South America, the strains of
the war between Israel and Hamas are increasingly taking a toll.
A
meeting between the Catholic Church and the leading Muslim organization in
Argentina on Nov. 14 signaled that interfaith dialogue may still be possible,
but also highlighted the challenges.
In
Argentina a large Jewish community estimated at 300,000 people coexists with
one of the greatest Muslim populations in Latin America, thought to encompass
at least 700,000 people.
According
to some Muslim leaders in the country, since the Hamas attacks on October 7,
the Argentine media has been covering the issue with considerable doses of
Islamophobia. They complain that most TV shows fail to invite Muslims to
debates, and that the views expressed in most of them tend to be pro-Israel and
anti-Islam.
The
effects of that alleged biased coverage, they say, are being felt by people in
their daily lives. Human rights organizations and Muslim entities have been
reporting an increasing number of incidents in which individuals perceived as
Muslims, especially women wearing headscarves, have been verbally or physically
attacked on the street or other public locations.
On the
inter-religious front, the most complex incident involving Jews and Muslims
concerned an article published on Oct. 18 in La Nación, a major Argentinian
newspaper, and later republished on the website of AMIA, the most important
Jewish organization in the country.
With the
title “Those are the same beasts”, it was authored by AMIA’s legal advisor
Miguel Bronfman.
While
Bronfman focused on criticizing insurgent groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah,
which he called “beasts,” he attributed violence and terror to Islam as a
whole, according to some Muslims in Argentina.
Mentioning
Hamas’s foundational documents, Bronfman selected parts in which the group
employs religious rhetoric.
“Israel
will exist and will continue to exist until Islam annihilates it, as it
previously annihilated others,” said Hamas’s charter in a paragraph selected by
Bronfman in his article.
Many saw
those parts of the article as an effort to directly identify Anti-Semitism and
violence with Islam as a whole.
Muslim
entities such as the Islamic Center of the Republic of Argentina (known by its
Spanish acronym CIRA) expected and wanted churches to issue statements
defending Muslims from such criticism, but complain that nothing has been done.
On Oct.
27, CIRA criticized the interfaith movement’s silence during such a critical time.
“We
think that the interfaith dialogue movement did not give the adequate response
to the aggressions suffered by our religion. Catholics and Evangelicals, not to
mention Jews, didn’t say anything about them ,” Hasan El Bacha, CIRA’s
secretary general, told Crux.
El Bacha
said the Muslim community in Argentina has supported other faiths when they
suffered attacks, citing the example of presidential candidate Javier Milei,
who has insulted Pope Francis on several occasions over the past few years and
especially during his campaign.
“We came
to the public and denounced Milei’s attitude of disrespect to the pontiff,” El
Bacha said.
Despite
CIRA’s objection to a perceived lack of solidarity with Muslims, a meeting with
Catholic leaders scheduled before the beginning of the war was held Nov. 14.
“Our
intention was to introduce ourselves to the new Archbishop of Buenos Aires
[Rev. Jorge García Cuerva, who assumed the office in May 2023],” El Bacha said.
The
Muslim and Catholic leaders discussed several themes, including the situation
in Gaza and the tensions in the interfaith dialogue.
“They
heard us when we told them that many pictures were taken [with members of
different faiths], but not much happened after that,” El Bacha said.
Despite
the difficulties, the discussion ended up with a renovated commitment to walk
side by side, he said. Catholics and Muslims agreed to pray together at the
mosque in the near future.
“I think
that the scar has healed, and we hope that one day the scars concerning the
Jewish community in Argentina will also heal,” El Bacha said, saying some Jews
have taken part in pro-Palestine marches in Buenos Aires side by side with
Muslims.
Father
Carlos White, in charge of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires’s ecumenism and
interfaith dialogue commission, told Crux that the Church has been focusing on
the mediation of the relations between Muslims and Jews.
“The
Church can’t take sides in a moment like this. Our commitment is to mediate the
conflictual relationship, and to work to loosen the hard attitudes assumed by
all sides in the dispute,” he said.
White
said that Church leaders such as the pontiff and the Latin Patriarch of
Jerusalem, Cardinal PierbattistaPizzaballa, have provided relevant guidelines
to Catholic mediators in the whole world with their “balanced, wise stances on
the war.”
“We
always need to recognize that violence on both sides is unacceptable and that
we need to work for the victims. We need to promote the idea of a ceasefire and
of pacification,” he reasoned.
White
has been taking part in meetings with Muslims and Jews since the war began, and
said he believes that only when the violence diminishes in Gaza will interfaith
dialogue be fully resumed in Argentina.
Urgent
domestic issues, however, could reshape the landscape. According to El Bacha,
CIRA and the Catholic leaders of Buenos Aires also discussed pressing themes
such as bills concerning euthanasia that are under analysis in Congress and the
upcoming Argentinian elections on Nov. 19.
Milei,
one of two contenders in a runoff for the presidency, has criticized Pope
Francis and the Church’s social doctrine on several occasions. As a
consequence, leasders of the Argentinian church have more or less campaigned
directly against him, breaking with a general tradition of trying to remain
non-aligned.
A
Catholic who frequently says that he is close to Judaism, Milei has been
expressing total support to Israel’s attacks on Gaza. He has already promised
he would move the Argentinian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and
also said that Israel would be the first country he would visit if he is
elected.
“We’re
worried about Milei’s policies concerning religions if he’s elected next
Sunday. One can understand that he is more connected to a religion than with
the others, but not that he will oppose any of them,” El Bacha said.
Source: cruxnow.com
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https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-americas/2023/11/in-popes-home-country-gaza-war-stokes-jewish-muslim-tensions
------
German
police raid suspected pro-Hezbollah Islamist groups
Nov 16,
2023
German
authorities conducted nationwide searches of 54 locations across seven federal
states connected to the Islamic Center of Hamburg (IZH) on Thursday morning,
the Interior Ministry said.
In a
statement, the ministry said the IZH was suspected of "acting against
constitutional order" and of "supporting [the] terror organization
Hezbollah."
No
arrests were made during the raids, which were carried out to secure evidence
on the suspicion that the Hamburg center and affiliated groups back the
activities of Hezbollah.
In 2020,
Germany designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization and banned its activities
on German soil.
What
have German politicians said?
Interior
Minister Nancy Faeser of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) said the IZH
had long been under surveillance by German intelligence services and has been
categorized as "Islamist."
"We
have the Islamist scene in our sights," she said following the early
morning raids.
"Especially
now, at a time when many Jews feel particularly threatened, it's important to
state: we do not tolerate Islamist propaganda or anti-Semitic and anti-Israel
agitation.
"Now
especially is the time to be on high alert and for a tough approach. This is why
we are following every reasonable suspicion seriously."
SPD
politician Andy Grote, the interior senator for the city-state of Hamburg,
called the raids a "hard blow" against the IZH whose time, he said,
"has run out."
"The
sooner the IZH disappears from Hamburg entirely, the better," he said.
"Today, we've come a great deal closer to that."
Grote
said that intelligence services in Hamburg have long been warning of the
"extremist tendencies" of the IZH and have "kept up the
pressure."
"I'm
pleased that the federal interior ministry is pushing strongly for a ban. I am
confident that this process will be concluded thoroughly and that the IZH will
soon be closed."
What is
the Islamic Center of Hamburg?
Germany's
domestic intelligence services believe that the IZH, considered an extension of
the Iranian regime in Germany, has a large influence over certain mosques and
associations, or even controls them.
One
mosque operated by the IZH is the Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg, known as the Blue
Mosque.
The
controlling association was founded in 1953 by Iranian immigrants. According to
the Interior Ministry, its activities are aimed at spreading the Iranian
revolutionary ideas.
Source: dw.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.dw.com/en/german-police-raid-suspected-pro-hezbollah-islamist-groups/a-67413510
------
Lancashire
mosque group wants UK to adopt Palestine children
Nov 16,
2023
Shuiab
Khan
A
council of mosques said it wanted UK residents to take in orphaned Palestinian
children affected by the bombing of Gaza.
During
the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the government launched the 'Homes for
Ukraine' scheme, to support families from Ukraine who sought refuge in the UK.
Anyone
in the UK could take in a family and offer a spare room or home for at least
six months.
During
the scheme people were offered £350 a month for the first 12 months your guest
is in the UK and £500 a month for the second 12 months your guest is in the UK.
The
Lancashire Council of Mosques (LCM) said the ‘act of solidarity was widely
appreciated and made a significant difference in the lives of those affected’.
The
Blackburn based LCM said they wanted to focus on orphaned children.
A
statement from the Lancashire Council of Mosques to members read: “Today, we
find ourselves confronted with another humanitarian crisis, this time in Gaza.
“Many
families in Gaza have tragically lost everything, leaving countless children
orphaned and without anyone to care for them. It is with utmost concern for
their well-being that we approach you in the hope of garnering support for our
proposal.
“The
Lancashire Council of Mosques (LCM) would like to write to our government,
urging them to consider supporting the idea of bringing these orphaned children
to Lancashire, where caring and loving families are willing to open their homes
and hearts to them.
“We
firmly believe that this initiative would not only provide much needed support
and stability to the children but also allow Lancashire residents to embrace
the spirit of compassion and humanity that our community is renowned for.
“We
kindly request your assistance and support in this endeavour. If you share our
belief that helping these families and children who have suffered immense loss
is a noble cause, we would greatly appreciate your endorsement of our letter.
“Together,
we can make a significant impact and provide a brighter future for these
children. Once we have received responses from all the concerned parties, we
will proceed with writing to our government.”
The
statements asks anyone wanting to support the cause to e-mail
admin@lancashiremosques.com.
Source: lancashiretelegraph.co.uk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/23926382.lancashire-mosque-group-wants-uk-adopt-palestine-children/
------
South Asia
Large
portion of US aid diverted to the Taliban: SIGAR Report
Fidel
Rahmati
November
16, 2023
In a
recent testimony before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US House of
Representatives, John Sopko, the US Inspector General for the Reconstruction of
Afghanistan (SIGAR), expressed concerns about the Taliban administration’s
handling of U.S. assistance. Sopko revealed that a significant amount of U.S.
aid has been either diverted or is benefiting the Taliban regime following the
collapse of the Afghan government in August 2021.
The
revelation underscores the challenges faced by international efforts to provide
humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people while preventing funds from falling
into the hands of the Taliban.
The
situation highlights the need for continued oversight and accountability
measures to ensure that aid reaches those in need and does not support the
Taliban’s activities.
Sopko
said: “SIGAR has found that Taliban officials routinely pressure US partners to
hire Taliban allies, insist that US partners contract with Taliban-affiliated
companies, dictate which Afghans should receive US aid, demand payoffs from US
partners before a project can begin, divert US food aid to Taliban soldiers,
and tax recipients of aid once it is delivered.”
“This
interference in and diversion of US assistance is worrying and presents
multiple risks,” He said.
He
stated, however, “Over the last 12 years, SIGAR documented extensive diversion
of US assistance by the prior Karzai and Ghani regimes. Similarly, experts have
noted that diversion and interference are common among other autocratic regimes
the US government has sought to bypass to get aid directly to vulnerable
populations. Nevertheless, the diversion of humanitarian assistance by the
Taliban is of particular concern given the humanitarian crisis the populace
faces as well as the Taliban’s terrorist ties.”
“Unlike
with the prior Afghan governments, diverted funds now may fund terrorist activities
in addition to enriching the pockets of corrupt officials,” he said.
During
the same hearing, Michael McCaul, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, delivered a scathing critique of the Biden administration’s policies
regarding Afghanistan.
McCaul
expressed his disappointment, stating that there were no adequate plans in
place to support the Afghan people or ensure lasting peace following the U.S.
withdrawal. He went on to label the Taliban as “terrorists” who continue to
“oppress” the Afghan population, accusing them of diverting humanitarian aid
intended for starving Afghans.
Chairman
McCaul did not mince words when condemning the Taliban’s treatment of women and
girls. He highlighted their regressive edicts, shedding light on the dire human
rights situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s rule.
McCaul’s
remarks underscore the ongoing debate and concerns surrounding the U.S.
withdrawal from Afghanistan and its consequences for the Afghan people,
particularly women and girls.
“What troubles
me is that the Biden administration is pursuing a policy of engagement at all
costs and has failed to hold the Taliban to account for their crimes.
“The
Biden administration meets with the Taliban frequently, praises the Taliban
often, and haphazardly sends billions of tax-payers dollars to Afghanistan.
“Through
these policies, the Biden administration has all but recognized the Taliban as
the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
In his
testimony, Chairman Michael McCaul made further allegations, asserting that the
Taliban had supplied weapons abandoned by the U.S. military to the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He voiced concerns about the TTP’s growing
involvement in terrorist attacks and claimed that al-Qaeda continues to find
sanctuary in Afghanistan under Taliban protection.
In
response to the accusations made by John Sopko, the Taliban administration
rejected the claims, deeming them baseless.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/large-portion-of-us-aid-diverted-to-the-taliban-sigar-report/
------
UN Human
Rights Chief raises concerns about Afghan detentions in Pakistan
Fidel
Rahmati
November
15, 2023
The
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern regarding
the arbitrary expulsion and mistreatment of Afghan migrants in Pakistan and the
destruction of their property.
In a
statement, Volker Türk stated that from September 15 to November 11, over
327,000 people had entered Afghanistan from Pakistan. He further added that the
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had received reports claiming
that Afghans while crossing the border into Afghanistan, have faced misconduct
from Pakistani authorities.
The
statement quoted an Afghan migrant who said, “Local police attacked our house
at night. They confiscated cash, jewellery, goats, sheep, and other belongings
from our house and took them away. As we were leaving, a bulldozer started
demolishing our house.”
The
statement also noted that arbitrary detention and deportation go against
Pakistan’s commitments and international laws.
Volker
Türk wrote in his statement, “Many Afghans, with minimal financial resources,
have been forced to leave their homes and livelihoods. Furthermore, they have
been coerced into paying bribes or relinquishing their assets.”
In this
statement, concerns were also raised about the situation of former security
officials, ethnic and religious minorities, women and girls, human rights
defenders, civil society activists, and media workers who are being forced to
leave Pakistan.
Volker
Türk added, “Pakistan must protect individuals who may face irreparable harm,
such as harassment, torture, mistreatment, or other inhumane treatment, upon
returning to Afghanistan.”
The
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called upon the Pakistani
government to suspend the Afghan migrant expulsion program and investigate
complaints of misconduct by its authorities.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/un-human-rights-chief-raises-concerns-about-afghan-detentions-in-pakistan/
------
Over
8,000 Afghan migrants return home from Iran and Pakistan
Fidel
Rahmati
November
15, 2023
The
Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations of Afghanistan has announced that on
Tuesday, 5,505 Afghan migrants returned from Pakistan, and an additional 2,730
migrants returned from Iran to the country.
On
Wednesday, the ministry, through a statement posted on its social media
platform X, stated that these migrants had returned under both voluntary and
forced deportation, with some among them being individuals who had been
released from detention.
According
to reports, these migrants entered the country through the border crossings of
Torkham and Spin Boldak in Kandahar province from Pakistan and the Islam Qala
border crossing from Iran.
Meanwhile,
returning migrants from Pakistan have been provided with 10,000 Afghanis each,
and they have been referred to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for
further assistance.
Meanwhile,
the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation added that five of the returning
individuals had been held in detention in Pakistan, and all of these migrants
have returned “involuntarily.”
At the
same time, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) has reported that more than 327,000 Afghan migrants have
returned from Pakistan during the process of repatriation.
However,
several human rights and international organizations have expressed concerns
about the situation of migrants in Afghanistan and have called for a halt to
the expulsion of migrants.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.khaama.com/over-8000-afghan-migrants-return-home-from-iran-and-pakistan/
------
Trade
Agreement Signed Between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan
November
15, 2023
Bibi
Amina Hakimi
A
trilateral trade and transit agreement was signed between Afghanistan, Pakistan
and Uzbekistan in Islamabad.
The
extension of commercial relations, joint investments, and strengthening of the
banking system were among the topics covered in the meeting relating to this
matter, according to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC).
"This
meeting has emphasized strengthening trilateral economic relations, regional
connectivity through trade development, more transit facilities, increasing
joint investments, reducing costs, transportation facilities, electrification
of customs systems, food safety, issuance of visas, and elimination of
trilateral transit issues," said MoIC spokesman Akhundzada Abdul Salaam
Javad.
The
Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) considers the meetings of
the delegation of the Islamic Emirate with Pakistani officials as important in
the development of trade in the region.
ACCI
said that the private sector of Afghanistan is also trying to solve the
challenges of businessmen in a permanent way.
"The
demand of the high-ranking delegation of the Islamic Emirate is to allow the
Afghan containers that have been stopped in Pakistan for a long time to pass,
as well as to focus on transit, transportation and problems between Afghanistan
and neighboring countries,” ACCI's deputy head KhairuddinMayel said.
According
to some businesspeople, resolving businesspeople's challenges plays an
important role in business development and increasing exports.
"The
economic balance between Afghanistan and Pakistan, especially the economy that
depends on each other, should be planned for both countries in a way that will
lead to economic growth of both countries,” said MahbobullahMohammadi, a
businessman.
"We
have good relations with Uzbekistan, and connecting South Asia with Central
Asia through Afghanistan is in the interest of all countries in the region,
especially the extension of the Trans-Afghan railway,” said Azerakhsh Hafizi,
an economist.
Acting
Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi visited Pakistan on Monday
leading a delegation that included members of the nation's business sector and
the Ministries of Finance, Transport, Aviation, and Foreign Affairs.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-186053
-------
Expelled
Refugees Suffering From Psychological, Emotional Problems
November
15, 2023
A number
of refugees expelled from Pakistan say they have suffered psychologically due
to harassment by the Pakistani military.
Officials
at the health camp in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar say that many refugees
deported from Pakistan are struggling with
depression due to torture by the Pakistani military.
Every
day, hundreds of Afghans who suffer from depression due to mistreatment and
torture by Pakistani soldiers, visit this camp for counseling and medicine.
"They
suffered from lots of problems during their return. We have services for
depressed patients. During the two or three days that we came, 150 to 200
patients who have depression came to us," Azad Afghan said, head of
special health camp for returnee refugees.
A number
of refugees deported from Pakistan criticized the treatment by the Pakistani
military.
"The
government of Pakistan was harassing and beating. Women and children were all
by the side of the roads, this all has an affect," said Abdulsamad, an
expelled refugee.
"There
was a lot of oppression on the border with us. The soldier was cursing there,
they forced us out of the house and humiliated us," said Ahmadullah, another
expelled refugee.
In more
than a month, more than 90,000 Afghans were deported from Pakistan and have
entered the country through the Spin Boldak crossing.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-186052
------
Kabul
Police: Over 2,000 Criminal Suspects Arrested in 6 Months
November
15, 2023
The
Kabul Security Command said that in the past six months, more than two thousand
suspects have been arrested in connection with various crimes in Kabul.
The
Kabul police command's spokesperson, Khalid Zadran, said that in the past six
months more than two thousand cases of murder, theft, arms smuggling and
various crimes have been registered in Kabul.
The
spokesperson said that efforts are being made to provide security in Kabul in a
better way and to prevent criminal and terrorist incidents.
"94
cars of various types, six motorcycles, five rickshaws, 66 different types of
rifles, eleven Kalashnikovs, 2,644,000 A
afghani,
seven thousand eight hundred dollars, 120 different types of mobile phones were
found on the criminals. And $350,000 worth of mobile phones have been
returned,” Khalid Zadran said.
“We
assure all the people, media, national businessmen, investors and also all the
residents of Kabul of full security. Security is provided throughout
Afghanistan,” Mohammad Shaker Saeed, deputy of the Kabul police command said.
According
to Zadran, the command has conducted more than 500 anti-narcotics operations in
Kabul, and more than 600 people have been arrested in these operations.
During
the anti-drug operations, the following drugs have been found:
628.4
kilograms of heroin, 904.102 kilograms of Methamphetamine, 460 grams of
crystal, and 16,831 K tablets—61,631 Zeegab, Talin, and Tramadol tablets—were
discovered. There were 480.14 kg of chemicals, 603.11 kg of opium, and 485.129
kg of hashish.
“As a
result of a series of investigative operations, this command has arrested 43
people in relation to various terrorist cases,” the Kabul police command's
spokesperson said.
Meanwhile,
some Kabul residents said that there are still some incidents of theft and
crime in Kabul and they asked the Ministry of Interior to pay serious attention
to this matter.
"We
ask the Islamic Emirate that they should do more to ensure the safety of the
people,” Khushal Tawhidyar, a resident of Kabul, told TOLOnews.
According
to data from the Kabul Security Command, over the last six months, there have
been 21 physical incidents, 12 verbal incidents, 29 fire incidents, and 119
traffic issues that have been addressed in Kabul.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-186050
------
Iranian
official claims IEA admits they should give Iran its water share from Helmand
River
November 16, 2023
Ali
Salajegheh, the head of Iran’s department of environment, told reporters on
Wednesday that for the first time, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has
acknowledged Iran’s water share should be released from the Helmand River.
He said
the IEA acknowledged this during the economic delegation’s recent visit to the
country.
“Fortunately,
during the economic delegation’s visit by the Taliban (IEA) to Iran, we had a
meeting, and for the first time, the Taliban accepted that Iran’s water rights
should be respected in the Helmand River,” he said.
“For
about 180 days, the people of Zabul have been facing problems due to the
presence of dust, so we requested the Talabani delegation (Islamic Emirate) release
water for the time being to moisten the lake in order to prevent the creation
of dust, which was agreed upon, and it was decided to carry out the necessary
investigations regarding the water sources of their dams,” said Salajegheh.
Referring
to the stabilization of dust spots in Afghanistan, Salajegheh said:
“Fortunately, they [IEA] promised that this issue will be reviewed in a
comprehensive meeting with the presence of Afghan environmental officials in
Tehran.”
The
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has not yet commented on this.
Iran and
Afghanistan have fought in recent months over the waters of the shared Helmand
River, with deaths on both sides.
Source: ariananews.af
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.ariananews.af/iranian-official-claims-iea-admits-they-should-give-iran-its-water-share-from-helmand-river/
----
The holy
Islam guarantees success of this world and the hereafter
November
15, 2023
The
Afghan nation, at the world level, possesses a devout, committed, and honorable
character. Afghans, in every era, have strived to uphold their religious and
national values, and they have never submitted themselves to slavery or allowed
their identity to be compromised. They have always stood up for the defense of
Islam and Muslims, sacrificing their wealth and all their cherished aspirations
and desires. Our religious nation has a historic struggle against the English,
Russians, and Americans, its alternatives have not been seen in the region,
aiming to not let us remain under their influence. Throughout history, whenever
a colonizer has invaded our land, they have created a large number of servants
to serve their interests, under the pretext of freedom, progress, and
development for our nation, they have used their own hidden agenda, but in
reality, all of their slogans have been contrary to the truth. On this basis,
the Afghan nation has fought against every colonial power and has rejected all
their deceptive slogans. As the Afghan nation know what the money, roads and
buildings of the invaders are in exchange for? And for what purpose are they
shouting sympathy with us?! As it’s clear as the sun, the invaders are always
trying to mislead the new generation, enslave them, promote religious and
national values, and take away economic independence. As you know, the Soviet
and Crusader invaders had built hundreds of centers here under different names
to mislead and confuse our nation and the new generation. Since the infidels
have always been defeated in the military field against the Muslims, that is
why they are making such long-term plans based on which our new generation will
be neglected and all our religious and national values will be destroyed. So
that they can easily bring the Muslim land under their control. The Crusaders
knew that they would definitely be defeated, so they paid more attention to the
intellectuals and propagandas. For this reason, hundreds of media were
operational day and night, they had created different subversive centers for
youth and women under different names, and they even presented our sisters with
the names of models and actors. Indeed, the colonialists, through their
excessive consumption and exploitation, have not been successful in destroying
our nation’s thoughts and beliefs. The small number of people who have fallen
into their traps is insignificant compared to the Afghan people’s resistance
against them. The Afghan nation, as a whole; is a religious, independent and
courageous nation, it believes that freedom has more value than anything else
and strives to upload its own values in religious and national matters. In the
case of occupation and slavery, all the morals of the nations are destroyed.
The price of independence is higher than anything else, in fact, independence
is a fortress to protect worldly and hereafter interests and values, and
without it, life ends in loss. In the past few decades, our entire religious
and national values have been undermined, our economy has suffered, our
spiritual values have been neglected, our voice has been silenced, our dignity
has been trampled upon, we have been bombed and imprisoned, and our new
generation has been deprived of opportunities. Now with the take of the Islamic
Emirate, all our religious and national values are safe, we are moving towards
economic stability, we have our own authority and the work of reforming and
educating the society is going on. Muslims should have such a thought and
belief that they should value their religious rituals more than anything else,
they should sacrifice material things over spirituality, and they should live
by the rule of honorable life and honorable death. As Islam is the religion of
progress and the happiness of this world and the hereafter is not included in
it. When our morals are safe, we need to make an effort for economic
development. Presently, real steps are being taken for the economy and it has
reached such an extent that the system and the country can be developed without
foreign aid
Source: thekabultimes.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://thekabultimes.com/the-holy-islam-guarantees-success-of-this-world-and-the-hereafter/
------
Mideast
Israeli
opposition leader calls on Netanyahu to resign ‘immediately’
November
16, 2023
JERUSALEM:
Israeli opposition leader YairLapid has called on Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to step down “immediately,” without waiting until the end of the
country’s war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“Netanyahu
should leave immediately... We need change, Netanyahu cannot remain prime
minister,” Lapid said Wednesday in an interview with Israeli news channel N12.
“We
cannot allow ourselves to carry out a long campaign under a prime minister who
has lost the people’s trust,” he added.
Four
days after Hamas’s surprise October 7 attack on Israel, Netanyahu and another
opposition leader, Benny Gantz, announced an agreement to form an “emergency
government” for the duration of the war.
Lapid
said at the time he would not be joining, accusing Israeli leaders of an
“unpardonable failure” for not preventing the attack.
Still,
Lapid, who led Israel’s coalition government before Netanyahu was returned to
power in elections last year, has not previously called for the prime minister
to resign since the fighting broke out, according to Israeli media.
In his
interview with N12, Lapid did not call for early elections, but rather a
no-confidence vote in parliament that would allow for the formation of a new
government led by another member of Netanyahu’s Likud party.
“This is
not the time to hold elections,” he said. “We should opt for a national
reconstruction with another prime minister from Likud.”
In a
statement posted to Telegram, Likud immediately rebuffed the call, saying such
a proposal in a “time of war” was “shameful.”
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409716/middle-east
------
Gaza
cancer patients arrive in Turkiye for treatment
November
16, 2023
ANKARA:
More than two dozen Palestinian cancer patients, who had crossed from Gaza into
Egypt, arrived in Turkiye for treatment in the early hours of Thursday,
Turkiye’s Anadolu agency reported.
Two
planes carrying the patients, many of them children, landed at Ankara airport
shortly after 00:30 am local time (2130 GMT).
Turkiye
has sent a ship loaded with material for field hospitals, ambulances and
generators to Egypt to treat civilians who have been able to flee Israel’s
military operation against Hamas militants in the enclave.
Israel
has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to its attacks on October 7, which
killed an estimated 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 240 hostages taken
to Gaza.
The
Hamas-run territory’s health ministry says Israel’s ensuing aerial bombardment
and ground offensive have killed 11,500 people, mostly civilians and including
thousands of children.
Turkish
Health Minister FahrettinKoca said 27 patients had been flown to Turkiye from
Egypt, along with 13 companions, without specifying whether these were doctors
or family members.
He added
that the cancer patients had been able to cross from Gaza into Egypt via the
Rafah border crossing.
Koca had
been in Egypt for discussions on the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza,
and said the patients were able to be transferred to Turkiye thanks to
“coordination between Turkiye, Egypt and Israel.”
He also
said that Turkiye was waiting for Egypt’s permission to open its first field
hospital at the Rafah crossing.
“I hope
that in the near future — our efforts are going in this direction — we will be
able to establish a field hospital in Gaza, in the area near the Rafah gate,”
he said.
Turkiye,
a mostly Muslim but officially secular nation, has long championed the
Palestinian cause and, more recently, has stepped up its verbal attacks against
Israel for the soaring civilian toll of its military operation.
Speaking
before members of his Islamic-rooted ruling party, President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan on Wednesday called Israel “a terror state” that was committing
“genocide.”
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409646/middle-east
-------
Iran: US
ups intensity of Gaza war by supporting Israel; Palestinian resistance
‘liberating, legitimate’
15 November
2023
Iran's
foreign minister says the United States is increasing the intensity of the
Israeli regime's ongoing genocidal war on the Gaza Strip with its all-out
support for the occupying regime.
"The
American administration too has ramped up the intensity of the war on Gaza with
its all-out presence and support for the Zionist regime," Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian said in a meeting with Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president of
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in Geneva on Wednesday.
Amir-Abdollahian
said the Israeli regime has, throughout the course of the war, been
stonewalling Hamas' "positive approaches" concerning the issue of the
prisoners of war.
The
foreign minister was referring to the Palestinian resistance movement's release
of several civilian prisoners, and its expression of readiness for exchanging
more. The regime has, however, ruled out the prospect, pressing with its
atrocities against Gaza.
Amir-Abdollahian
considered Hamas and its fellow resistance groups to be "liberation
movements" in the face of the occupier.
By
launching the hugely-deadly war in response to the groups'
"legitimate" resistance operation, the Israeli regime has
"egregiously violated the legal principles of proportion and
discrimination."
Amir-Abdollahian
outlined the Islamic Republic's diplomatic efforts to address humanitarian
issues in Gaza, stressing that the Islamic Republic is opposed to expansion of
the scope of the crisis across the region.
The ICRC
chief, for her part, thanked the Islamic Republic for its trust in the
committee and positive contribution to its missions.
She said
the both sides are worried about the situation in Gaza, noting that the
committee was trying to stay neutral in the conflict and perform its
humanitarian duties.
Given
the sensitivity of the situation, the ICRC was doing its utmost towards
alleviation of the human suffering, Egger noted.
Israel
launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory's Palestinian
resistance movements waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the
occupying entity in response to its decades-long campaign of bloodshed and
destruction against Palestinians.
According
to the Gaza-based health ministry, 11,500 Palestinians, including 4,630
children and 3,130 women, have been killed and more than 29,000 others injured
in the Israeli strikes so far.
The US,
Israel's biggest and oldest ally, has backed Tel Aviv's ferocious attacks on
the Palestinian territory as an instance of "self-defense," and has
provided the regime with thousands of arms consignments since the onset of the
war.
The US
is planning transfer of $320 million worth of precision bombs to Israel amid
the regime
Washington
has also been casting its veto against the United Nations Security Council's
resolutions that would call on the occupying regime to cease its aggression.
‘Israel
insists on committing war crimes’
Also on
Wednesday, the Iranian foreign minister addressed a gathering of United Nations
officials and humanitarian organizations' chiefs in the Swiss city concerning
the ongoing developments across Palestine.
The top
diplomat noted that the explosive power of the bombs and explosives that the
Israeli regime has so far deployed in Gaza were three times that of the nuclear
bomb that the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
"The
occupying regime insists on grossly violating international humanitarian law
and committing war crimes, genocide, and crime against humanity," he said.
"Inattention
to the Israeli regime's continual, obvious, and intense violations of the humanitarian
rights delivers an irreparable blow to the principle of the rule of law and
credibility of the international laws."
Amir-Abdollahian
called for firm commitment to ensuring compliance with the Geneva Conventions
and preventing a full-scale genocide.
Iran's
foreign minister noted that, "We should now allow an occupying and
apartheid entity to challenge and mock the dignity and credibility of
international systems in humanitarian rights."
Source: presstv.ir
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------
Israel
to be eliminated if it tries to expel Palestinians from Gaza: Senior Hezbollah
official
15
November 2023
A senior
Hezbollah official has vowed Israel “will be eliminated once and for all” if it
tries to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, and that it is essential to
attack US interests in order to bring the aggression to a halt.
Sheikh
NaimQassem, who has served as the deputy secretary general of Hezbollah since
1991, made the remarks in an interview with the Spain-based El Mundo daily.
“If
Israel decides to extend the aggression, it will be digging its own grave and
will provide a good opportunity to be eliminated once and for all,” he said,
referring to proposals by Israeli think tanks to expel Palestinians from Gaza,
which have been publicized by Israeli media.
He said
Hezbollah tries to force Israel to stop its attacks on civilians in the Gaza
Strip, adding that there’s a real possibility of expansion of the war if Israel
refuses to halt its attacks.
“The
number of civilians killed by Israel increases every day. We have a plan to
respond to these types of attacks and force Israel to rein in. But it is a
decision that will be made on the battlefield,” he further commented.
“As to
whether the war will spread, that possibility exists ... If they attack us, we
will have to defend ourselves and we will use all our power. We are not afraid
of Israeli threats. We are convinced that we will win,” he noted.
He said
Hezbollah is in a “much better position” compared to 2006 when it battled the
regime for 33 days, and that its warehouses are full of weapons.
‘Attacking
US essential to stop aggression’
Asked to
comment on a recent threat by an Israeli minister that the regime might decide
to nuke Gaza and if such a nuclear attack might also target Lebanon, Qassem
said they’re not afraid of Israeli nukes.
“If
Israel uses nuclear weapons, it will kill the Israelis before it kills us. This
is a very small territory. In any case, we are not afraid of nuclear weapons.
[The statements of the minister] are an example of his arrogance. The West
should tell us what it thinks about a minister [from Israel] suggesting the use
of nuclear weapons.”
Asked
about the reason behind attacks on US bases in Syria and Iraq, he said the
resistance has to confront both Israel and its allies, namely the US, France,
Germany and the UK, who aid and abet the Israeli massacres.
Pentagon
Chief Lloyd Austin has warned Israel against escalating tensions with Lebanon’s
Hezbollah resistance movement, a report says.
“On the
other side, there is also an axis made up of the United States, France,
Germany, the United Kingdom and Israel. It is the axis that supports the occupation,
legitimizes the murder of children and women, the destruction of hospitals, and
grants immunity to Israel to continue its massacres.”
He said
the United States is directly supporting these massacres and that is why
attacking the US is essential to stop the aggression against Gaza.
“The US
intervention (sending its fleet to the Mediterranean Sea) is part of the
violent Israeli reaction and serves to protect this monstrosity.”
‘AL-Aqsa
Storm, independent Palestinian operation’
He said
Hezbollah is part of an axis of resistance that remains united about defending
al-Aqsa mosque.
“Today
there is an alliance that we call the ‘axis of resistance’, which includes
groups from countries such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen or Palestine.
What they have in common is that they are defending a legitimate cause, the
Palestinian cause and al-Quds. They believe that the Palestinians, not the
occupiers, deserve the land, and that the occupiers must abandon that land and
return it to its owners,” he said.
Sheikh
Qassem explained that there’s no boss in the grouping and each party acts based
on its own discretion.
“There
is no boss in the axis of resistance. We have a unitary vision but each one
judges how to contribute to the victory of Gaza.”
The
Hezbollah official said Hamas’ Al-Aqsa Storm was an independent operation
“Al Aqsa
Storm (the Hamas operation) was an independent Palestinian operation, both in
terms of preparation and execution. All the speculations of the (Western)
Intelligence services about the existence of a global decision-making body in
the axis of resistance are speculation. They have no proof.”
‘Hamas
proved Israel’s inherent weakness’
The
Hezbollah official hailed the Palestinian operation as a great and noble act by
Palestinians who had no other option but to resist the regime.
“What
happened on October 7 was a great act by the oppressed Palestinians against an
occupation that left them no other option in the last 75 years, where they
suffered assassinations, the creation of settlements, the siege of Gaza or
continuous assaults against Al-Aqsa mosque. For all this, we consider it a very
important and noble act, even if some parts could have been avoided.”
He said
the operation proved Israel to be so weak and that it couldn’t stay alive
without US support.
“You
heard [Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan] Nasrallah in 2006 saying that Israel was
more fragile than a spider's web. Israel is weak ... This is what happened on
October 7. The number of hours it took the politicians and the army to react
was too high. If Israel still stands, it is because of the support of the
United States. Otherwise, it would have collapsed in a few days. Israel is
under intensive care from the West and we do not know how long it will last.”
‘Israel
can in no way justify massacres’
Asked to
comment on Western criticism that a number of unarmed settlers were killed on
October 7 by Palestinians, Sheikh Qassem said the Hamas operation was aimed at
the Israeli army and regime and thus the US cannot use the death of some
settlers “as a pretext to justify all these massacres” perpetrated by Israel.
“We have
to focus on the main objective of the attack. It was an act of resistance that
wanted to resolve issues such as the release of detainees. And we cannot focus
on details to justify these massacres. You have to go to the origin of things.
The
military wing of Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, releases two more
female captives on humanitarian grounds.
"Who
caused the operation? It was the Zionist occupation. The operation is a reaction
[to the occupation]. Have you had a chance to count the number of people killed
by Israel in the last 75 years (since Israel was created)? They have killed,
injured or imprisoned tens of thousands without any justification, other than
being the owners of the land. Why are you asking me about a limited number of
people (Israeli settlers) in a justified operation?”
‘Conflict
ends only if occupation ends’
On the
possible solution to the decades-long conflict in Palestine, he said the only
viable option is an end to the Israeli occupation.
“The
Palestinians do not recognize Israel and will never surrender under the threat
of force. They will never give up their land. Israel does not need a
justification for its attacks. They have been the occupiers and aggressors from
the beginning. And they continue to increase their aggression against Gaza. You
should ask Israel why it continues with the occupation and why the West
protects them. Stability will only return to the region when the occupation
ends.”
Sheikh
Qassem said it’s up to the Palestinians to decide their future, and not the
occupiers.
“For
Hezbollah, Israel has no right to exist and the Palestinians are the real
owners of that land. But it is the Palestinians, including Palestinian Jews,
who can decide their future,” he noted.
Source: presstv.ir
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---------
Gaza
mosque massacre: At least 50 killed, dozens injured in Israeli airstrike on
Sabra neighbourhood
16
November 2023
At least
50 people have been killed and dozens of others injured as the Israeli regime's
warplanes targeted a mosque in Sabra neighbourhood in the center of the Gaza
Strip amid the regime's genocidal war.
The
attack was carried out during prayers, when the mosque was full of worshipers,
reports said on Wednesday evening.
Another
Israeli strike on telecommunications towers in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza
Strip killed at least one child.
Israel
has encouraged Palestinians to move from northern Gaza to the south for their
safety, but Palestinians say Israel bombs everywhere and nowhere is safe now.
So far,
at least 11,500 Palestinians, including 4,710 children and 3,160 women, have
been killed, and around 32,000 others wounded since October 7, when the regime
started bringing the blockaded coastal territory.
Also on
Wednesday, head of the Orthopedic Department at al-Shifa, Gaza's biggest
hospital, which was raided by the Israeli forces on Wednesday, said Israeli
bulldozers and tanks invaded the facility, and demolished parts of the
premises.
Earlier,
Ahmed al-Makhalati, head of the Burns Unit at al-Shifa, also announced that
bulldozers had made their way into the hospital through its southern entrance,
saying they had started excavating parts of the facility and destroying
vehicles.
According
to the Gaza-based Palestinian Administration's Information Office, the
occupation forces opened fire at anyone, who could try to leave the hospital,
saying the facility had turned into a "real graveyard."
Speaking
to Qatar's Al Jazeera television network, Khaled Abu Samra, one of the
hospital's doctors, said the facility's water reservoir had been depleted. The
physician also refuted claims that the Israeli army had provided medical aid to
the facility.
"Moving
between the buildings of al-Shifa Complex is very dangerous and may lead to
loss of life of whoever tries to do so," he said.
The
Israeli regime has alleged that the hospital houses a "command
center" belonging to Hamas, a charge strongly denied by the Palestinian
resistance group.
Hamas has called on the United Nations to form
an investigative team in order to debunk Tel Aviv's allegations concerning the
hospital.
Source: presstv.ir
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------
UNSC
calls for Gaza 'humanitarian pauses'; Palestinian envoy says resolution failed
to condemn Israel
16
November 2023
The
United Nations Security Council has called for "extended humanitarian
pauses" in the Gaza Strip, breaking its silence after 40 days of an
unrelenting genocidal war by the Israeli regime.
The
resolution, prepared by Malta, was adopted with 12 votes in favor on Wednesday.
The United States, Britain, and Russia abstained.
It
"calls for urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors
throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days" to allow aid to
reach civilians in the besieged territory.
Israel
rejected the UN Security Council Gaza resolution.
This is
the first time that the council broke its silence on the war following repeated
vetoes cast by the United States, Israel's biggest and oldest ally, against
resolutions calling for cessation of the Israeli regime's aggression.
The
United States opposed any use of the term "ceasefire," diplomats
said. Other terms floated were "truce" and "pause."
"I
know we are all disappointed about the inaction of the Council in the past 40
days," China's UN ambassador Jun Zhang said Wednesday.
According
to the Gaza-based health ministry, 11,500 Palestinians, including 4,630
children and 3,130 women, have been killed and more than 29,000 others injured
since October 7, when the regime launched the war in response to an operation
staged by the territory's resistance movements.
Russia's
UN Ambassador VasilyNebenzya said "the humanitarian pause" should not
replace the ceasefire in Gaza as "the ongoing aggression would hamper
delivery of humanitarian aid to the territory."
Palestine
has written to the Security Council, demanding an "immediate
ceasefire" in the Israeli war, he noted, and expressed concern that the
"provisions of the resolution that has been passed by the council
concerning Gaza might not be implemented in practice."
The
Palestinian UN envoy, meanwhile, underlined the resolution’s shortcomings,
saying it failed to condemn Israel’s killings of more than 11,000 Palestinians,
including some 5,000 Palestinian children, and the UN staff, journalists,
humanitarian personnel, doctors, and rescue team members.
According
to Riyad Mansour, the resolution also fell short of condemning the
“indiscriminate attacks by Israel”, the regime's assaults on "hospitals
and schools," and its arbitrary imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians.
Mansour
accused the international community of displaying “selective outrage,” and
asked Security Council members what they intended to do to get Israel to abide
by the resolution they just passed.
The
United States has, however, backed Tel Aviv's ferocious attacks on the
Palestinian territory as an instance of "self-defense," and has
provided the regime with thousands of arms consignments since the onset of the
war.
The US
even voted against a nonbinding resolution calling for an "immediate
humanitarian truce" in the war, which was passed on October 27 at the UN
General Assembly, where Washington does not wield a veto power.
Source: presstv.ir
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------
Israeli
military vehicles start withdrawing from Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital
16.11.2023
-
The
Israeli army withdrew some of its vehicles from the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in
Gaza City while leaving some soldiers inside, a source at the hospital told
Anadolu on Wednesday.
The
source, preferring not to mention their name for security reasons, said some
troops remain inside the building, coinciding with a cessation of gunfire and a
cautious calm.
He noted
that those inside the hospital cannot leave due to Israeli forces shooting at
anything moving.
The
Israeli army reportedly arrested a number of displaced people, patients and
their families, taking them to an unknown location.
The
source further clarified that Israeli shelling targeted one of the sections of
the complex from the southwest near the maternity building, and “we couldn't
precisely determine the target due to the inability to move at all.”
On the
number of people inside the complex, he said it amounts to around 700 patients
and wounded, 650 medical staff and 1,000 displaced individuals.
Earlier
on Wednesday, a medical source inside the hospital warned that medical services
had completely stopped, raising concerns about the imminent danger of death for
the wounded and patients.
On
Wednesday morning, the Israeli army stormed the Al-Shifa Medical Complex after
besieging it for days.
The
complex is hosting civilians who have been displaced from their homes due to
ongoing Israeli airstrikes in the area.
Source: aa.com.tr
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-----
Türkiye
rejects Netanyahu's 'unfounded slander' against President Erdogan
16.11.2023
Türkiye
on Wednesday rejected "unfounded slander" from Israel’s prime
minister against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying Israeli officials have
"no right to talk about the law."
"Israeli
officials, who have entered the dark pages of history with the oppression and
massacres committed against the Palestinian people, have no right to talk about
the law.
"(Israeli
Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu and (Foreign Minister) Eli Cohen, who are
both uncomfortable with the truth being expressed, will not be able to cover up
their own crimes with their unfounded slander about Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
President of the Republic of Türkiye," the Foreign Ministry said in a
statement.
"Israeli
authorities, who have already lost their legitimacy in the conscience of
humanity, will not be able to conceal the crimes they committed by bombing
hospitals and killing women and children in front of the whole world and will
not be able to divert attention," it added.
The
instigators and perpetrators of the crimes against humanity, which have caused
deep indignation in the global public opinion, will sooner or later be tried,
the ministry stressed.
Türkiye
will continue to stand against the massacre in Gaza and support the just cause
of the Palestinian people, it added.
Source: aa.com.tr
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-----
WHO says
Israeli raid on Gaza hospital is totally unacceptable
2023-11-16
GENEVA:
The World Health Organization head said on Wednesday that the Israeli military
incursion into Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza was “totally unacceptable”.
Israeli
troops entered Shifa, Gaza’s biggest hospital, on Wednesday as part of their
assault on the Palestinian territory.
Israel
says Hamas fighters have a headquarters in tunnels beneath it. Hamas denies
this is the case.
WHO
Director-General TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in Geneva
that patients and staff must be protected even if hospitals were used for
military purposes.
“Hospitals
are not battlegrounds,” he said. “Israel’s military incursion into Al Shifa
Hospital in Gaza City is totally unacceptable.” The WHO, a UN agency, also said
it was “urgently exploring” the possibility for evacuating patients and medical
staff from the facility.
“To make
sure this can be enabled, of course there is a need for safe passage and also
for fuel for the ambulances,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the
occupied Palestinian territories.
Peeperkorn
said that according to their latest information, 34 of 39 premature infants in
the hospital were still alive, and 82 bodies had been buried in a mass grave in
the grounds.
A
further 80 bodies remained unburied, he said, and there was no oxygen, power or
water at the hospital. There are 633 patients there in total, plus around 500
staff and up to 4,000 people sheltering in the hospital grounds, he added.
Tedros,
who earlier on Wednesday had said the WHO had lost touch with health personnel
at Shifa, said the organization had no reports of the numbers of deaths and
injuries in Gaza more broadly for the last three days, making it harder to
assess the state of the healthcare system there.
He said
one WHO staff member had described it as: “No water, no electricity, only
bombing, bombing, bombing...” At the press conference, Tedros also reiterated
calls for a ceasefire and better access for aid into Gaza, as well as for the
release of Israeli hostages being held there by Hamas.
Source: brecorder.com
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------
UN
Security Council adopts resolution calling for urgent humanitarian pauses,
corridors in Gaza
16.11.23
The UN
Security Council has adopted its first resolution since the outbreak of the
Israel-Hamas war, calling for "urgent and extended humanitarian
pauses" in Gaza to address the escalating crisis for Palestinian civilians
during Israel's aerial and ground attacks.
Israel
immediately rejected the resolution.
The vote
in the 15-member council was 12-0 with the United States, United Kingdom and
Russia abstaining. The US and UK abstained because of the resolution's failure
to condemn Hamas' surprise cross-border attacks into Israel on October 7, and
Russia because of its failure to demand a humanitarian cease-fire, which Israel
and the United States oppose.
The
final draft watered down language from "demands" to "calls"
for humanitarian pauses, and for "the immediate and unconditional release
of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups."
Still,
the resolution, which was sponsored by Malta, managed to overcome the serious
differences that had prevented the council from adopting four previous
resolutions.
"What
we have achieved today is an important first step," Malta's UN Ambassador
Vanessa Frazier said. "We will remain steadfast in our commitment to the
protection of civilians and the plight of children in armed conflict that
continue to suffer in a disproportionate manner."
The
resolution doesn't mention the October 7 attacks in Israel, where Hamas
militants killed around 1,200 people and took some 240 others hostage. Nor does
it mention Israel's response with airstrikes and a ground offensive in
Hamas-ruled Gaza that the territory's health ministry says have killed more
than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children.
Russia's
UN Ambassador VassilyNebenzia tried unsuccessfully to amend the resolution just
before the vote with language from a resolution adopted October 27 by the 193-member
General Assembly. It calls for an "immediate, durable, and sustained
humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities."
The vote
on the amendment was five countries in favour, the US opposed, and nine
abstentions. It was not adopted because it failed to get the minimum nine
"yes" votes.
Nebenzia
said he abstained on the resolution because of appeals from the region for
council action on the dire humanitarian situation. But he called it a disgrace
that the council, which has "a uniquely powerful toolbox" including
sanctions and even military action, "finally squeezed out such a weak
call."
"As
the old saying goes, the mountain has laboured and brought forth a mouse,"
the Russian ambassador said.
US
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she remains "horrified" that
a few council members can't condemn Hamas' "barbaric terrorist
attack," and criticised the resolution for not reaffirming every country's
right to self-defence. She did note that the resolution is the first ever
adopted "that even mentions the word Hamas."
Nonetheless,
Thomas-Greenfield called the resolution "a step forward" and said the
US supports its calls for humanitarian pauses and the release of hostages.
United
Arab Emirates Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, the Arab representative on the
council, said its members supported the resolution, which is the first on the
situation in the Palestinian territories since 2016.
"It
is difficult geopolitical times, and to bring the unity of the council today to
speak with one voice on the subject that has haunted all of us over the last
month is, I think, momentous," she said.
The
resolution "is a first, important and overdue step" and will change
the world's perception that the Security Council "is indifferent,"
Nusseibeh said. But the world must not lose sight of the urgent goal of a
lasting humanitarian ceasefire, she said.
Israel's
UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan issued a statement saying the resolution "is
disconnected from reality and is meaningless."
He
criticised the council's failure to condemn Hamas, claiming the militants were
deliberately allowing the humanitarian situation to deteriorate so the United
Nations would pressure Israel to back off of Gaza.
"It
will not happen," Erdan said. "Israel will continue to act until
Hamas is destroyed and the hostages are returned."
UN
Security Council resolutions are legally binding, unlike General Assembly
resolutions, but in practice, many parties choose to ignore the council's
requests for action.
Richard
Gowan, UN director for the International Crisis Group, said the Security
Council has called for ceasefires in wars from the Balkans to Syria "with
little or no impact."
The
General Assembly resolution was approved on October 27 by a vote of 120-14 with
45 abstentions. Since then, Israel agreed on November 9 to four-hour pauses.
But only limited aid has been delivered to Gaza through the Rafah crossing from
Egypt, and a humanitarian catastrophe has been brewing.
Gowan
said that the council was able to speak at all gives its member nations
"some respite," but would likely not have any significant impact.
"The
resolution is drafted in a way that puts no real political pressure on Israel,
but the US will likely urge Israel to show more flexibility on aid issues to
satisfy global opinion," Gowan said. "The council will not move from
this text to a call for a ceasefire unless facts change significantly on the
ground."
The
resolution calls for humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza
Strip for a "sufficient number of days" for unhindered access by the
UN, Red Cross, and other aid groups to get water, electricity, fuel, food, and
medical supplies to all those in need.
It says
the pauses also should allow for the repair of essential infrastructure and
enable urgent rescue and recovery efforts.
It
demands that "all parties comply with their obligations under
international law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians,
especially children."
It also
asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to report to the council at its next
monthly Mideast meeting, on November 28, on implementing the resolution.
Asked
afterward about Israel's rejection of the resolution, Malta's Frazier and the
UAE's Nusseibeh said it remains legally binding and pointed to Guterres'
upcoming report.
Nusseibeh
said the secretary-general has been asked to bring ideas on what the UN would
need "for further monitoring and implementation on the ground."
Riyad
Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, said the Security Council should have
called for a ceasefire a long time ago, stressing that "Gaza bleeds death,
devastation, destruction everywhere." It is "a small, modest
resolution," he said.
"Israel
considers all of us terrorists," he told the council after the vote.
"Israel is not under threat of destruction. It is destroying Palestine. It
considers the Palestinian state as a strategic threat. It is against
Palestinian rule anywhere."
Mansour
said the Palestinians will keep coming back to the Security Council and the
General Assembly for action, first and foremost for a ceasefire.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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-------
Turkey's
Erdogan labels Israel a 'terror state', slams its backers in West
Nov 16, 2023
ANKARA:
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Israel was a "terror
state" committing war crimes and violating international law in Gaza,
sharpening his repeated criticism of Israeli leaders and their backers in the
West.
Speaking
two days before a planned visit to Germany to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz,
Erdogan said Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group
Hamas included "the most treacherous attacks in human history" with
"unlimited" support from the West.
He
called for Israeli leaders to be tried for war crimes at the International
Court of Justice in The Hague, and repeated his view - and Turkey's position -
that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation but a political party that won past
elections.
Britain,
the United States, European Union and some Arab states deem Hamas a terrorist
group, unlike Turkey. Ankara hosts some members of Hamas and supports a
two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"With
the savagery of bombing the civilians it forced out of their homes while they
are relocating, it is literally employing state terrorism," Erdogan said
of Israel in parliament. "I am now saying, with my heart at ease, that
Israel is a terror state.
"We
will never shy away from voicing the truth that Hamas members protecting their
lands, honour, and lives in the face of occupation policies are resistance
fighters, just because some people are uncomfortable with it," he said.
Erdogan's
trip to Germany will be his first to a Western nation since Israel began
bombarding Gaza on Oct. 7 in response to Hamas's attacks. Germany has expressed
strong solidarity with Israel, while urging a focus on limiting the impact of
military operations on Gaza's civilian population.
"The
West, namely the United States, is unfortunately still seeing this issue
backwards," Erdogan said, adding he would call leaders of the countries
who last month abstained from a vote at the United Nations General Assembly on
an aid truce in Gaza.
Later on
Wednesday, Erdogan spoke to Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and told her
that Ankara expected Rome's support in achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, the
Turkish presidency said. Meloni's office said she had called for rapid
de-escalation in Gaza, adding Turkey had a crucial role in preventing the
spread of the conflict.
Erdogan
also called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce whether or not
Israel had nuclear weapons, adding that Netanyahu would soon be a "goner"
from his post.
He also
likened the conflict between Israel, a Jewish state, and the Palestinians to a
war between the Christian and Muslim worlds, saying the crisis was "a
matter of cross and crescent".
Ankara
would also take steps to ensure Israeli settlers in occupied Palestinian
territories are recognised as "terrorists", he added.
Turkey
has sent 666 tonnes of humanitarian aid, medicine and medical equipment and a
medical team to Egypt for Gazans so far. Ankara has said it is working with
Egyptian and Israeli authorities as part of a coordination mechanism to bring
cancer patients and some wounded civilians to Turkey for treatment.
Speaking
at Egypt's Al-Arish airport after meeting with his Egyptian counterpart and
visiting the hospitals housing wounded Gazans, Turkish Health Minister
FahrettinKoca said 26 patients and their 13 companions would be flown to Turkey
on Wednesday.
Koca
said the 39 people were the first to be brought out to Egypt, and later to
another country, since the fighting broke out, adding Ankara wanted to bring as
many of the nearly 1,000 cancer patients from Gaza to Turkey as possible.
Footage
shared later by Turkish state media showed Koca and officials greeting the
patients as they arrived on stretchers at Al-Arish airport before being put on
a plane to Turkey.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-erdogan-labels-israel-a-terror-state-slams-its-backers-in-west/articleshow/105246146.cms
-----
Southeast Asia
Muslim
anti-LGBT groups protest Coldplay's first Indonesia gig
16 Nov
2023
JAKARTA:
Hundreds of conservative Muslims protested outside Coldplay's first-ever gig in
Indonesia on Wednesday (Nov 15), clashing with police and booing concertgoers
over the band's support for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender)
community.
Several
Islamic groups had called for the British band's only concert in
Muslim-majority Indonesia this year to be cancelled over the rock group's views
which they say clash with their conservative beliefs.
The show
at Gelora Bung Karno stadium in the capital Jakarta is part of the band's Music
of the Spheres World Tour and more than 70,000 tickets sold out in just hours
after going on sale this year.
Outside
the stadium ahead of the concert, at least 300 conservative Muslims gathered to
chant and hold banners opposing the show, according to an AFP journalist.
Many of
them were part of a group that calls itself the "anti-LGBT movement"
and when confronted by police, protesters started to push and clash with
officers.
They
booed at concertgoers arriving at the stadium and shouted accusations that they
were LGBT supporters, according to local media reports.
Some
carried banners accusing Coldplay of "LGBT propaganda" and damaging
the country's "faith and morals".
Homosexuality
is not outlawed in Indonesia except in conservative Aceh province, which
adheres to strict Islamic laws.
But gay
couples often face persecution and discrimination in the world's most populous
Muslim-majority country, where homosexuality remains taboo.
Anwar
Abbas, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council, Indonesia's most
powerful Islamic regulatory body, criticised the decision to go on with the
show.
"We
know that Coldplay supports LGBT, but now the question is, is the LGBT
behaviour in line with ... our constitution?" he said in a statement on
Wednesday.
"There
are six religions recognised in this country, and not one of them allows and
tolerates LGBT practice."
Jakarta
police spokesman TrunoyudoWisnuAndiko told reporters the protesters did not
have a permit to stage a rally.
The
police deployed nearly 4,000 officers to secure the sold-out concert.
The band
has not commented on the protests but it posted an image of lead singer Chris
Martin walking barefoot through central Jakarta on Tuesday.
Source: channelnewsasia.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indonesia-muslim-anti-lgbt-groups-protest-coldplay-concert-jakarta-3922721
------
Travellers
should not wear items related to Israel-Hamas conflict, says ICA in traffic
advisory for land checkpoints
15 Nov
2023
SINGAPORE:
Travellers at Singapore's checkpoints are advised against the public display
and wearing of items related to the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Immigration and
Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Wednesday (Nov 15).
In its
year-end travel advisory, ICA also said heavy traffic is expected at the two
land checkpoints - at Woodlands and Tuas - during the school holiday period
from Nov 16 to Jan 2.
"Travellers
who are clearing immigration by car may have to wait up to three hours before
they are cleared through immigration during peak periods," said ICA.
The
agency reiterated that it has stepped up security measures at the checkpoints
in view of the developing situation in the Middle East, and this may add to
waiting times.
"All
travellers using our checkpoints are also advised against the public display
and wearing of articles in relation to the Israel-Hamas conflict, given the
heightened sensitivities," ICA added.
The
Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier said that "unless expressly exempted,
the public display of foreign national emblems without a permit is an offence
under the Foreign National/Emblems (Control of Display) Act 1949".
The
authorities will take firm action against those who refuse to comply, including
denying their entry into Singapore.
The
offence is punishable with a jail term of up to six months, a fine of up to
S$500 (US$370) or both.
ICA
noted that during the recent Deepavali long weekend from Nov 10 to 13, there
was continuous heavy traffic at the land checkpoints at the border with
Malaysia, with more than 1.53 million crossings.
"This
exceeds the traveller volume cleared during the Labour Day and Vesak Day long
weekends this year," it added.
FOR A
SMOOTHER JOURNEY
ICA
advised motorists to check the traffic situation at the checkpoints before
starting their journeys.
They can
do so via the Land Transport Authority's One Motoring wesite or the Expressway
Monitoring & Advisory System installed along the Bukit Timah Expressway
(BKE) and the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).
They can
also get updated through ICA's Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Motorists
should refrain from queue cutting as it can cause severe congestion and
compromise the safety of other motorists, the agency said.
"Errant
motorists caught queue cutting will be turned away and made to re-queue,"
it warned.
Travellers
should ensure their passport has a remaining validity of at least six months.
Singapore
permanent residents who have renewed their passport will have to transfer their
Re-Entry Permit to the new passport.
Long-Term
Pass holders need to notify ICA or the Ministry of Manpower of changes in their
passport details before entering Singapore.
Source: channelnewsasia.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/woodlands-tuas-checkpoints-year-end-holiday-heavy-traffic-security-ica-3922501
------
Thais to
be among hostages freed by Hamas if Gaza truce agreed, politicians say
16 Nov
2023
BANGKOK,
Nov 16 — Thai-Muslim politicians said today they had received assurances from
the Palestinian group Hamas that all the Thai hostages being held would be
among those released if mediators succeed in brokering a truce in Gaza.
The
Islamist militants took some 240 people hostage on October 7, when they
rampaged through southern Israel killing 1,200 people, according to Israel.
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry says 25 Thais were among those abducted and 39 were
among those killed that day.
“Any
ceasefire either 3 days or 5 days... Hamas will release hostages, including all
Thais being held, which they promised,” Lepong Syed, the president of the Thai-Iran
alumni association, told reporters in Bangkok’s parliament building.
“This
could be in less than ten days or in the next two to three days,” he added.
Lepong
is part of a team formed by Thai-Muslim politicians, headed by House Speaker,
Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, that has been in contact with the Hamas since October.
Qatari
mediators were seeking a deal that would include a three-day truce, with Hamas
releasing 50 of hostages and Israel releasing some women and minors from among
its security detainees, an official in the Middle East briefed on the
negotiations told Reuters on Wednesday.
Over
30,000 Thais were working in agriculture in Israel, according to Thai
government estimates, but more than 7,200 have been repatriated since the
crisis erupted. About 90 per cent of Thailand’s 70 million people are Buddhist
and have co-existed largely peacefully with its Muslim minority. — Reuters
Source: malaymail.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2023/11/16/thais-to-be-among-hostages-freed-by-hamas-if-gaza-truce-agreed-politicians-say/102389
-----
Isma,
PAS call for Coldplay concert to be cancelled in solidarity with Palestinian
struggle
16 Nov
2023
PETALING
JAYA: The Coldplay concert slated to take place in Bukit Jalil next week should
be cancelled, says the Majlis Ulama IkatanMuslimin (Isma).
In a
statement on Thursday (Nov 16), its religious council chairman Datuk Zamri
Hashim said that holding the concert now is insensitive and disrespectful given
the humanitarian crisis currently happening in Gaza, Palestine.
"The
council urges all Muslims not to get involved with the concert and would like
to remind them that their ignorance of what is happening in Palestine is a sin
which will be questioned," he said.
"Isma
urges that the concert be cancelled as a mark of respect for the misery and out
of sympathy for those facing bombing and attacks in Palestine, where more than
11,000 lives have been lost," added Zamri, as quoted by SinarHarian.
Meanwhile,
PAS Dewan Pemuda vice-chairman Muhammad Hanif Jamaluddin also said that the
Coldplay concert should be cancelled out of solidarity with the Palestinian
people.
"At
a time when the world is in solidarity in anger over the cruelty of the
Zionists on the people of Palestine along with the Muslim world praying and
hoping for the safety of Palestinians, this concert could be entertainment that
would evoke His wrath," he said.
Muhammad
Hanif then added in a statement that the Coldplay concert is a form of entertainment
that contradicts the holiness of the struggle of Muslims standing in solidarity
with Palestinians.
Coldplay
will be performing in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 22 as part of their Music of the
Spheres World Tour.
Source: thestar.com.my
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2023/11/16/isma-pas-call-for-coldplay-concert-to-be-cancelled-in-solidarity-with-palestinian-struggle
------
Palestinian
refugee influx may worsen issues in Sabah, says former assemblyman
16 Nov
2023
KOTA
KINABALU: Sabah is not fit to receive any more refugees, seeing that its
existing issue of stateless people has yet to be resolved, says former
assemblyman Datuk James Ligunjang.
The
Sabah rights activist said that the state has long struggled with the presence
of refugees and undocumented migrants, especially from neighbouring countries.
“Effectively
addressing the issue of refugees and illegal immigration is a complex and
sensitive undertaking. Introducing another group of refugees to the existing
mix may complicate efforts to manage and resolve the ongoing problems,” he
said.
He said
this in response to a suggestion published in local press recently by former
chief minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh to accept Palestinian refugees into Sabah.
Ligunjang
said one key concern is the strain that the influx of more refugees, for
example Palestinians, may place on the already limited resources and
infrastructure in Sabah.
He said
the local population already faces difficulties in accessing basic necessities
such as healthcare, education, and housing. Hence, introducing a new group of
refugees could intensify the competition for these resources.
Ligunjang
then added that it is essential to thoroughly evaluate the potential social, economic,
and political implications before deciding to welcome Palestinian refugees into
Sabah.
“The
presence of a large number of refugees and illegal immigrants from various
countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan and India has already
created political and social tensions in Sabah,” he said.
“Bringing
in Palestinian refugees could amplify these dynamics and exacerbate
polarisation within the local population, potentially straining social
cohesion,” added Ligunjang.
In
Sarawak, some leaders including Works Minister and Kapit MP Datuk Seri
Alexander NantaLinggi said the state need not accept any refugees especially
those from countries that are noted for violence and torn by anger and hatred.
Source: thestar.com.my
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2023/11/16/palestinian-refugee-influx-may-worsen-issues-in-sabah-says-former-assemblyman
------
Don't
jump the gun on Palestine refugee issue, says minister
15 Nov
2023
A
MINISTER has urged those involved to wait for a decision from the federal
government before commenting on the possibility of Malaysia accepting refugees
from Palestine.
Sarawak
Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts minister, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim
Rahman Hamzah said there was no reason to jump the gun as there has been no
decision yet.
"There
are non-governmental organisations (NGO) already commenting ... Who are you?
"Once
there has been a decision by the federal government, then you can give your
views," he said as reported by Borneo Post.
He said
ministers who have commented on the matter should also be aware of the protocol
involved and wait for an announcement from the federal government.
"There
is no need to comment on what the NGOs say," he said.
Meanwhile,
GPS Youth and opposition party, PBK in Sarawak said there was no reason for
Datuk Seri Alexander NantaLinggi to apologise nor retract his statement on
rejecting the idea of accepting Palestinian refugees to the state.
GabunganParti
Sarawak (GPS) Youth chief Miro Simuh said Sarawak and Sabah had autonomy over
immigration, which included the right to control the entry of any foreigner
into the state.
"PBB
supports Nanta's statement on Sarawak's autonomous right to refuse entry to any
foreigners considered a risk or threat to the peace, harmony and security in
the state," Miro said as reported in the
New Sarawak Tribune.
Miro is
also the PartiPesakaBumiputeraBersatu (PBB) Youth chief.
This,
said Miro, was stated in the Federal Constitution, Malaysia Agreement 1963
(MA63) and Immigration Act.
"Therefore,
Sarawak has the right to refuse or reject the entry of any foreigners into the
state even if the federal government allows such foreigners to enter
Malaya," he said.
He said
this in response to Umno Youth chief Muhamad Akmal Saleh who had reportedly
demanded Nanta to issue an open apology and retract his statement on rejecting
the idea of accepting Palestinian refugees to the state.
In
backing Nanta, PartiBumiKenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan said Muhamad
Akmal should in fact apologise for being insensitive to the rights of
Sarawakians to protect their land.
He too
pointed out that Sarawak has control over immigration matters and the Sarawak
government should not allow foreigners, including Palestinians and Israelis who
are facing the war now, to seek refuge in Sarawak.
"PBK
supports Nanta’s stand because Sarawak belongs to Sarawakians.
“We have
seen enough trouble in Borneo about foreigners and illegal immigrants coming
here. They have caused lots of trouble for us.
“Be
reminded that Sarawak is not a dumping ground for troublemakers,” he said as
reported by Borneo Post.
Nanta,
who is also the Works Minister, had earlier said that there were still many
poor people in Sarawak who needed attention and care.
"Sarawak
must prioritise socioeconomic development for its people.
“We are
small…we cannot be burdened by refugees," he said.
Nanta,
who is also Kapit MP, called on those who can afford to contribute financially
to assist those suffering to purchase essential supplies.
“That
would be safer and more meaningful for Sarawak.
“Let us
help the victims in the best and safest way we can,” added the PBB
secretary-general. - The Vibes, November 16, 2023
Source: thevibes.com
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https://www.thevibes.com/articles/news/99969/do-not-jump-the-gun-on-palestine-refugee-issue-says-minister
------
Man
arrested after car crashes near Israeli embassy in Tokyo: Media
November
16, 2023
TOKYO:
Japanese police arrested a man on Thursday after a car crashed through a
barrier near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo, local media reported.
Video
footage appeared to show that the small car had crashed through a temporary
barrier and into a fence at an intersection around 100 meters (109 yards) from
the embassy.
Media
also reported that one police officer was lightly injured.
The man
arrested on the spot is a member of a right-wing group and in his 50s, the
reports said.
Right-wing
groups in Japan are generally not known for being critical of Israel or
anti-Semitic.
A fire
department spokesperson said only that they received “an emergency call (for an
ambulance) for 3-11 Nibancho, Chiyoda ward came at 11.57 (am).”
Police
declined to comment and the Israeli embassy could not be reached.
“Around
11:00 am, I heard a huge bang, so I went outside to check out. Then I saw a
policeman injured and in pain near the traffic barrier and it looked like he
was bleeding. There was also a black car parked nearby,” a restaurant employee
working near the embassy told public broadcaster NHK.
Countries
around the world have stepped up security around Israeli diplomatic missions
since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.
Israel
launched an offensive in Gaza offensive in retaliation for Hamas’s brutal
October 7 attacks, which killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
With
Hamas-controlled authorities claiming the death toll from the offensive has now
topped 11,500, including thousands of children, calls for a truce are mounting.
Japan
last week supported a joint call by Group of Seven foreign ministers for
“humanitarian pauses” in the conflict.
On
Thursday, in response to the Israeli army’s operation at Gaza’s Al-Shifa
hospital, Japan’s foreign ministry said: “We feel strong indignation on
tremendous damage to innocent civilians. Attacks against hospitals or civilians
cannot be justified on any ground.”
Japan
had previously condemned the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, offering
“its condolences to the bereaved families and expresses its heartfelt
sympathies to the injured.”
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409696/world
-----
'Don't
make it an issue, friends': Malaysian laundromat with Muslim and non-Muslim
washers draws mixed reactions
NOVEMBER
16, 2023
CHING
SHI JIE
A unique
set-up in a laundromat in Malaysia has caused mixed reactions online.
A TikTok
video shared last Saturday (Nov 11) showed a laundromat having Muslim and
non-Muslim segregated washers and dryers.
According
to the 11-second clip, there appears to only be one non-Muslim washer and dryer
while there were multiple Muslim washers and dryers. The location of this
laundromat wasn't indicated in that video.
"What's
happening to Malaysia?" TikTok user Sunmoon4view asked. "Halal and
non-halal are mandatory, but what is this?
"Maybe
in the future, we'll have Muslim money and non-Muslim money."
The
video has since garnered over 260,000 views.
In the
comments, netizens' views on such a move are mixed.
Several
social media users felt that by segregating the washers and dryers, Muslim
customers can wash their clothes without the fear of dog fur contamination.
"It's
a good move," a netizen said.
"Maybe
the laundromat owner is being considerate to his customers," another
added.
"Don't
make this an issue, friends. This is proof that we understand and celebrate
differences."
Meanwhile,
other netizens said that the laundromat is encouraging racial divide.
"This
is kind of sad," one of them said.
"There's
no segregation when donating blood," another added.
"Only
in Malaysia," a netizen simply said.
In Sept
2017, a laundromat in Johor drew ire after it put up a sign forbidding
non-Muslims from using the washing machines.
Speaking
to The Star then, the owner said that he did so because "it's not just
about clean clothes, but cleanliness as a whole."
"I
am just providing an avenue for Muslims to do that," he added.
The
laundromat later reversed their "Muslims only" policy after a dressing
down from the state ruler.
Source: asiaone.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.asiaone.com/malaysia/dont-make-it-issue-friends-malaysian-laundromat-muslim-and-non-muslim-washers-draws-mixed
-------
PAS MP
questions delay in forming committee to study states’ competence to make
Islamic laws
16 Nov
2023
Soo Wern
Jun
KUALA
LUMPUR, Nov 17 — PAS Pasir Mas MP Ahmad FadhliShaari has expressed
disappointment over the government’s delay in setting up a special committee to
study the competency of state legislative assemblies in enacting Islamic laws.
He said
it has been two months since the Selangor Sultan raised the matter and the
government has yet to take steps in response.
“The
Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had on August 28 ordered that a special
committee be established immediately to conduct a study on how to strengthen
the state authority in the aspect of enacting Shariah laws.
“I’m
disappointed that the reply received from the minister showed that they are not
taking the Selangor Sultan’s proposal seriously.
“The
government had said that it is in the midst of setting up the special
committee, and this is a very disappointing reply, as there is only progress
after two months, despite the Selangor Sultan indicating urgency for the
matter,” Fadhli told a news conference here at the Parliament building today.
Fadhli,
who is also the PAS information chief, said the government should be more
proactive on this issue as it involves enactments related to Shariah criminal
offences.
“Not
only that, I think it is time that the religious affairs minister should have a
deputy minister. Clearly, there is too much on the minister’s plate,” he added.
On
August 28, the Selangor Sultan had ordered the immediate establishment of a
special committee to conduct an in-depth and critical study on the competency
of state legislative assemblies to enact Islamic laws under the state
enactments and the jurisdiction of Shariah Courts.
Sultan
Sharafuddin, who is also the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs
(MKI) chairman, said this is due to the number of cases under the jurisdiction
of Shariah courts being challenged at the Federal Court, particularly
concerning the competency of State Legislative Assemblies in formulating and
approving Islamic laws, as well as the jurisdiction of Shariah courts that
preside over them.
When
asked about the recent shift of support by PartiPribumiBersatu Malaysia
(Bersatu) MPs, Fadhli assured that were no PAS MPs who showed indication of
such actions.
“Actually
it is not a party matter, but more of an individual’s action. It should not be
interlinked,” he added.
On
November 8, Bersatu’sJeli MP ZahariKechik became the latest Opposition lawmaker
to declare his support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his
unity government.
He
joined Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (GuaMusang), Datuk Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan) and
Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar) in backing Anwar, but
still remaining in Bersatu.
Source: malaymail.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2023/11/16/pas-mp-questions-delay-in-forming-committee-to-study-states-competence-to-make-islamic-laws/102401
-------
Pakistan
150,000
illegal immigrants, including Afghans, repatriated: Achakzai
November
16, 2023
QUETTA:
Balochistan caretaker Minister for Information Jan Achakzai said on Wednesday
that 150,000 undocumented emigrants including Afghan citizens had been
repatriated.
Addressing
a press conference at Quetta Press Club, he said that about 250, 000
undocumented Afghan citizens were expected to repatriate to Afghanistan via
Chaman Spinboldak crossing point by December.
He said
that Afghanistan posed two kinds of threats to Pakistan. “One threat is from
border while other threat is from undocumented Afghan citizens living in
Pakistan,” Achakzai said and added that Pakistan wanted to boost trade with
Afghanistan because Pakistan and Afghanistan could develop by promoting mutual
trade. Goods were being smuggled in the garb of trade after Taliban came into
power in Afghanistan, he said.
He said
that the Taliban government should refrain from levelling baseless allegations
on Pakistan. He called upon the interim Afghan government to handover those to
Pakistan who were involved in carrying out terrorist activities in Balochistan.
Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1129584-150-000-illegal-immigrants-including-afghans-repatriated-achakzai
------
IHC
restores Imran’s bail plea in Toshakhana case
November
16, 2023
Awais
Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD:
Annulling a decision of an accountability court, the Islamabad High Court (IHC)
Wednesday restored PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s bail application in the Toshakhana
case.
The
accountability court had rejected Imran’s bail plea on his absence from the
hearing.
Announcing
the reserved verdict on Imran’s pleas for the restoration of bail applications
in two NAB cases, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and
Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri directed the accountability court to hear the
plea in the Toshakhana case again on its merits. The IHC, however, rendered
Imran’s second application ineffective due to the execution of arrest warrants
in the £190m case.
Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1129541-ihc-restores-imran-s-bail-plea-in-toshakhana-case
-----
Al-Qadir
Trust case: NAB allowed to interrogate Imran in Adiala jail
2023-11-16
ISLAMABAD:
The Accountability Court has permitted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)
to interrogate Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former premier Imran
Khan for three days in jail in the £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA)
scam commonly known as the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Accountability
Court judge, Muhammad Bashir, in his written order on the NAB request for
granting physical remand of PTI Chairman Imran Khan in Al Qadir Trust case,
allowed the anti-graft body to investigate the former premier in Adiala jail.
According
to the written order, Investigating Officer (IO) Mian Umar Nadeem, Asim Munir,
case officer, and prosecutors are allowed to interrogate the accused for three
days in jail premises.
In the
revision petition order of dismissal of the pre-arrest application for
non-prosecution has been impugned. Therefore, applications submitted for
physical remand may be kept pending, the order says.
The
order says an application is filed for the physical remand of the accused Imran
Ahmed Khan Niazi. The NAB adopted the stance before the court that the physical
remand is necessary for the purpose of finalisation of the investigation and
logical conclusion of the case on merits. Physical remand of the accused Imran
Ahmed Khan Niazi is required for interrogation and confrontation with available
records, it says.
The
order says that it is submitted by prosecutor Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi that the
accused has been charged with the offence u/s 9(a)(iii)(iv)(vi) and (xii) of
the NAO, 1999, and offence mentioned in the schedule thereto.
Defence
counsel Sardar Latif Khosa has submitted that the name of Ahmed Ali, Malik
Riaz, Zulfi Bukhari, and Shahzad Akbar are not reflected anywhere in the
grounds of arrest. The accused was arrested previously and released by the
Supreme Court of Pakistan, the order says, adding that now, another attempt is
made to arrest him and remand is being sought. It is a case of no evidence.
Khosa
advocate submits that the decision on the revision petition pending in the
Islamabad High Court (IHC), Islamabad is reserved and it may be announced today
or any other day. Further, hearing on the request for physical remand will be
held on November 17.
Source: brecorder.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40273534/al-qadir-trust-case-nab-allowed-to-interrogate-imran-in-adiala-jail
------
Kundi
highlights PPP’s approach to plight of Palestinians, Kashmiris
2023-11-16
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Information Secretary Faisal Karim Kundi said
that the silence of the Muslim Ummah on the oppression in Palestine is a
question mark.
Addressing
at a news conference along with Syed Sibtul Haider Bukhari, Nazir Dhuki, and
Hidayatullah, Faisal Karim said that the PPP always had a clear stand on the
issues of Kashmir and Palestine.
He said
that the PPP has always talked about Kashmir and Palestine. He said that
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is the only leader who went to the Palestinian embassy
and spoke.
He said
that the oppression that is happening in Palestine and the silence of the
Muslim Ummah on it is a question mark.
He said
that the army and the police have come under the attack of a new wave of
terrorism. He said that in the current wave of terrorism, the PPP stands with
the army and the police. He said that the party stands with the army and the
police in this difficult time.
The PPP
leader claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is looking for
political crutches. “On February 8, people will decide who to vote for. The PPP
will not accept the selection this time,” he said.
About
privatisation, he asked how can a caretaker government sell national
institutions. He claimed that national assets are being sold at low prices. He
said that PPP has serious concerns about the employees of PIA.
“The
federal minister of the PML-N era is sitting in the Privatization Commission,”
he said.
He said
that the PPP tried hard to implement the Charter of Democracy (CoD). Whenever
Muslim League needed PPP, we played a positive role, he said.
He said
that the PPP is demanding free, fair, and transparent elections, not selection.
“The
PML-N is trying to make the institutions controversial,” he said.
Kundi
said that Bilawal is arriving in Islamabad. He said that Bilawal would visit
different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for six days, where he will address
workers’ conventions. He said that first of all, Bilawal would go to
Abbottabad. He said that the PPP would celebrate its foundation day in
Balochistan this time. In this regard, a public meeting will be held in Quetta
on November 30, he said.
Source: brecorder.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.brecorder.com/news/40273535/kundi-highlights-ppps-approach-to-plight-of-palestinians-kashmiris
------
Hindutva
ideology is a recipe for disaster, warns PM Kakar
November
16, 2023
ISLAMABAD -
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar- ul-Haq Kakar while strongly condemning
the Israeli barbarism in Palestine, termed it unparalleled even in the medieval
era, reprimanded the world’s double standards on war ethos and its “bizarre and
surreal” rationalization of the killing of children in Gaza.
The
prime minister, addressing the annual Magalla Dialogue 2023 conference held by
the Islamabad Policy Research Institute on “Evolving World Environment:
Charting the Course for Our Future,” said Israeli forces were targeting
vulnerable people in hospitals and eliminating children. Referring to his
discussions with some diplomats who defended the Israeli actions by citing
Israeli children’s deaths, he expressed his surprise at the argument. However,
he reiterated that the killing of any child, regardless of faith or origin, is
condemnable. “So how many Palestinian children have to be killed to appease and
address the Israeli anger? One, five, ten, 500, 1000, 4,700? Can they give us a
number so that we can satisfy those parents to wait as some 10,000 children
needed to be killed to address the Israeli anger,” he remarked.
He said
those claiming to be the followers of Prophet Moses, were actually following
the footsteps of Pharaoh by killing the children which was “utterly
unacceptable.” The prime minister,who had also been the IPRI’s board member,
highlighted the potential for connectivity with the countries in the region
including India, and said Pakistan never shied away from establishing trade
links with India but it could not beg that as trade should be for mutual
benefits.
However,
he said before such links, it was essential to speak out on the Kashmir
conflict as without addressing that issue, it was challenging to have normal
relations with the current Indian regime. He told the gathering that the
Kashmir issue demanded attention aligned with the aspirations of its people as
despite promises and UN guarantees, the Kashmiris could not be given their
right to self-determination. Postponing the issue is not a solution as the
historical resilience against colonization is evident, he added.
Referring
to the Hindutva ideology infesting Indian society, he said such policies were a
recipe for disaster.
He said
contrary to the ongoing persecution in India, the minorities in Pakistan were
sharing their destinies with Pakistan having deep entrenched roots in business
as well as society.
The
prime minister said Pakistan was faced with the challenge of non-state actors
but the country was prepared to respond that, without needing anyone’s tangible
assistance.
Giving a
historical account of human history to the formation of modern-day political
groups, the prime minister said amidst the containment policy, China arose to
become the second biggest economy of the world. He said, unlike India, Pakistan
never incentivized the conflicts.
Prime Minister Kakar said the country was ready
to give a push to its economy by exploiting its potential of land and mineral
resources and that the energies of a huge youth population needed to be
channelised which was yet under-invested in terms of human resource as well as
skill development.
Source: nation.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.nation.com.pk/16-Nov-2023/hindutva-ideology-is-a-recipe-for-disaster-warns-pm-kakar
-------
Africa
Keep
your lane! Foreign Affairs PS tells Nyong'o on Israel-Gaza war
16
November 2023
MAUREEN
KINYANJUI
Government
officials continue to wade into the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine.
Principal
Secretary for Foreign Affairs KorirSing'oei on Thursday told off the Kisumu
Governor over his remarks on the war.
In a
statement, the PS informed the Governor that foreign policy is the exclusive
domain of the National Government.
"Kenya
abhors the gross violation of international humanitarian law in Gaza. It has
not taken any decision to sever diplomatic ties with Israel nor is the matter
under consideration," Sing'oei stated.
The PS
was reacting to Governor Nyong’o's statement early this week, where he called
on African Union leadership and other progressive forces in Africa to cut
diplomatic ties with Israel.
He said
the AU leadership should condemn with utmost staunch what Israel is doing.
“We
would like to appeal to progressive forces in Africa, led by AU to call upon
its member governments to immediately break diplomatic ties with Israel in
solidarity with our comrades in Gaza and West Bank," part of the statement
read.
The
Governor said the move would be geared towards showing solidarity with people
in Gaza and the West Bank, calling for immediate action from progressive forces
in Africa.
However,
the Foreign Affairs PS made it clear that Kenya will continue calling for an
immediate ceasefire and resumption of dialogue to resolve the difficult issues
that underpin the current escalation.
Kenya
had denounced the Hamas attack in a statement by President William Ruto, on
October 8, 2023, saying terrorism cannot be justified.
“Kenya
strongly maintains that there exists no justification whatsoever for terrorism,
which constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security,"
Ruto said in his statement.
"All
acts of terrorism and violent extremism are abhorrent, criminal and
unjustifiable, regardless of the perpetrator, or their motivations.”
The
President extended his condolences to the families affected by the escalating
violence.
President
Ruto condemned all acts of terrorism and violent extremism, deeming them
“abhorrent, criminal, and unjustifiable,” regardless of the perpetrator’s
motivations.
He
called upon the international community to mobilise efforts to hold accountable
those responsible for these reprehensible acts of terrorism, including their
organisers, financiers, sponsors, supporters, and enablers.
In light
of the complex and sensitive security context in Israel-Palestine, Kenya called
for a ceasefire to halt any further military action between Israel and
Palestine, citing the exacerbating tension and the suffering of civilians.
President
Ruto urged both parties to refrain from further attacks and work toward a
peaceful resolution to end the conflict, recognising the distressing
intentional targeting of civilians and the escalating casualties.
Source: the-star.co.ke
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-11-16-keep-your-lane-foreign-affairs-ps-tells-nyongo-on-israel-gaza-war/
-------
Al-Sunni:
Libya chairs the conference to establish a Middle East region free of nuclear
weapons.
2023-11-15
New
York, November 15, 2023 (LANA) - On Tuesday, Libya assumed the presidency of
the fourth session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East
Region Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction in the
presence of the President of the General Assembly and the
Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs.
According
to what the Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations, Taher
Al-Sunni, said through his account on the “X” platform, during the first day of
the conference, general discussions were launched with the participation of
member states, observer states, and representatives of relevant specialized organizations.
Al-Sunni
explained, in a speech on the occasion, the extent of the violations committed
by the Israeli occupation forces, pointing out that this entity has always
ignored all UN resolutions and has not respected international agreements and laws,
even with regard to special agreements related to the disarmament of nuclear
weapons and weapons of mass destruction, and the matter has even reached the
stage of threatening to use nuclear weapons, as happened recently by officials
of the occupation forces in threatening to use nuclear weapons against the Gaza
Strip.
Al-Sunni said, “This matter is reprehensible,
and we will work during our presidency to formulate a unified position in this
conference against these threats.”
Source: lana.gov.ly
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original]
https://lana.gov.ly/post.php?id=294261&lang=en
-----
One in
four Somalis could go hungry by the end of the year - UN
2023-11-15
A
quarter of Somalia's population, or 4.3 million people, is at risk of going
hungry by the end of the year, the UN has warned, as the impoverished country
in the Horn of Africa faces deadly floods.
According
to the World Food Programme (WFP), the floods have severely affected
communities already struggling to recover from the worst drought in decades,
which brought millions to the brink of starvation.
Humanitarian
aid has so far prevented a famine situation, but according to the WFP, Somalia
is facing its worst levels of malnutrition for more than a decade.
Due to
insufficient funding, the UN agency is only able to provide food assistance to
less than half of those most in need.
"But
with a quarter of Somalia's population - 4.3 million people - expected to face
crisis food insecurity or worse... by the end of the year, support from the
humanitarian community remains a lifeline", added the WFP.
At least
31 people have died and some 500,000 have had to leave their homes in Somalia
due to flooding caused by incessant rain, according to an official report on
Sunday.
Since the
beginning of November, Somalia has been experiencing incessant rainfall due to
the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has flooded homes and farmland. El Niño
is currently amplifying the rainy season in the Horn of Africa, with serious
consequences in Ethiopia (at least 20 dead) and Kenya (at least 15 dead).
Somalia,
where the majority of the country's 17 million inhabitants live off livestock
and agriculture, is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change,
experiencing extreme weather phenomena with greater frequency and intensity.
This
poor country is also prey to attacks by Islamist fighters, affiliated to
al-Qaeda, who have been waging a bloody insurrection for over 15 years.
Source: africanews.com
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https://www.africanews.com/2023/11/15/one-in-four-somalis-could-go-hungry-by-the-end-of-the-year-un/
------
Saudi
Arabia Confirmed Visas Of All 264 Nigerians Before Takeoff; They Are Yet To
Give Reason For Sudden Cancellation – Air Peace
November
16, 2023
Nigerian
carrier, Air Peace, has faulted the claims by the Saudi Arabian government that
the cancellation of visas of 264 passengers airlifted from Nigeria was based on
the grounds of incorrect information.
SaharaReporters
had on Wednesday reported that the Embassy of Saudi Arabia Kingdom said the
passengers were denied entry because they “didn’t fulfil the entry conditions
and requirements in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations of the
Kingdom, as they submitted incorrect information to obtain a category of visa
that doesn’t apply to them, which was discovered upon their arrival.”
However,
Air Peace in a statement published on the company’s X (formerly Twitter) and
signed by the airline’s chief operating officer, Oluwatoyin Olajide, said that
the visa cancellation was not the fault of the company.
According
to Air Peace, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided a visa
confirmation platform that was used to verify the passengers’ visas before they
were allowed to check in for the flight.
“The
visas of all passengers on the said flight to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia were
checked and verified through the requisite procedures and were vetted to be
valid before departure,” Air Peace said.
“The
visas were verified using the visa confirmation platform provided by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saudi Arabia which confirmed the validity of each
passenger visa before passengers were allowed to check-in for the flight.
“All the
visas of the 264 passengers were duly verified, confirmed, and accepted as
authentic for the trip through the visa portal provided by the Saudi Arabia
authorities, if not, no passengers would have been able to depart from Nigeria.
“This is
just one of two steps required before a passenger is accepted on the flight to
Saudi Arabia. The next step is the use of the Advanced Passenger Information
System (APIS). We equally used this system to determine the admissibility or
otherwise of each passenger on that flight.”
Air
Peace stated that the names of the passengers were sent to Saudi Arabia’s
national travel security center before the company’s flight took off from
Nigeria.
“The
APIS was live between Air Peace’s reservation system and the Saudi Arabia
National Travel Security Center carrier portal to transmit passenger details
prior to departure, to the Saudi authorities in order to further determine the
admissibility or otherwise of the passengers,” the airline said.
“No
Notice of Cancellation or any form of denial from the Saudi authorities was
received against any of these passengers despite the live transmission of their
details.
“Furthermore,
the Passenger manifest containing the names of all passengers on board the
flight was sent ahead to the Saudi Arabia National Travel Security Center
carrier portal before the flight departure, yet no Notice of Visa Cancellation
was received against any of these passengers.
“While
we empathise with the affected passengers for this development and assure them
of our full compliance with the provisions guiding international travels, we
wish to state that up till this moment, the Saudi Arabian authorities have not
provided any explanation for the sudden and unexpected cancellation of the
visas,” the airline noted.
Source: saharareporters.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://saharareporters.com/2023/11/16/saudi-arabia-confirmed-visas-all-264-nigerians-takeoff-they-are-yet-give-reason-sudden
------
Sultan,
Emir of Kano, govs to grace commissioning of new Adogba Mosque
By
Rotimi Agboluaje, Ibadan
16
November 2023
The
Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for
Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar; the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado
Bayero; Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed and his Kwara State
counterpart, AbdulRahmanAbdulRazaq, are expected at Tadhamunul Muslimeen
Mosque, also known as Adogba Mosque, Iwo Road, Ibadan, which was rebuilt by the
Oyo State Governor, ‘SeyiMakinde, to be commissioned today.
Makinde
is expected to host the dignitaries, while the Sultan will chair the
epoch-making event.
The
governor had promised to build a new Adogba Central Mosque, as the former
structure had to give way to the development of Iwo Road Interchange.
Besides,
he said that if his administration’s plan to uplift Ibadan, the state capital,
would materialise, the former structure would have to give way, adding that he
would construct another worship centre from his personal resources.
The
governor delivered on the promise with the construction of the new mosque, an
Arabic School, an Islamic Model School, a research centre, a library and an
event hall all of which will be inaugurated today.
Source: guardian.ng
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https://guardian.ng/news/sultan-emir-of-kano-govs-to-grace-commissioning-of-new-adogba-mosque/
------
DSS
re-arraigns suspect who bombed Kano mosque in 2014
November
16, 2023
The
Department of State Service (SSS) has re-arraigned HusseniIsmaila (aka
Maitangaran), the alleged mastermind of the 2014 multiple bomb attacks in Kano,
Kano State.
The
defendant was rearraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday,
November 15.
When the
matter was called, the prosecuting counsel, E.A. Aduda, told the court that the
SSS had filed an amended charge of four counts against the defendant. He asked
the court to order that the charge should be read to the defendant and he
should take his plea.
The
defendant pleaded not guilty to all four count charges, which read:
“That
you HusseniIsmaila, alias Maitangaran, 34-year-old male, professed to be a
member of Boko Haram, a terrorist group, therefore contravening provisions of
the Terrorism Prevention Act 2013, and punishable under the same Act.
“That
you HusseniIsmaila, alias Maitangaran, 34-year-old, male, in 2014, directly
participated in an act of terrorism and made a video message confessing to the
crime of bombing the Kano Central Mosque.
“This
led to the death of many Nigerians, including police personnel. The act
contravened Section 1(2) (8) of the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2013, and is
punishable under the same Act.”
The
prosecuting counsel asked the court to proceed with the trial in view of the
not-guilty plea of the defendant.
The
defence counsel, Peter Dajang, however, told the court that the trial should
not go on because the prosecution had flouted a valid order of the court.
According
to Dajang, the court, on 6 December 2021, ordered the prosecution to transfer
the defendant from its custody to the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja
The prosecuting
counsel, however, told the court that the order had yet to be complied with
because he had filed an application praying the court to vary the order.
The
judge adjourned the matter till 25 January 2024 to rule on the application to
vary the order it made that the defendant be transferred to Kuje.
He also
fixed 7 February 2024 for continuation of the substantive matter.
Source: politicsnigeria.com
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https://politicsnigeria.com/dss-re-arraigns-suspect-who-bombed-kano-mosque-in-2014/
------
Arab world
Qatar
urges int’l probe into Israeli raid on Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital
16
November 2023
Qatar
has vehemently denounced the Israeli military for storming the al-Shifa
hospital in the blockaded Gaza Strip, calling for an international probe into
the incursion.
In a
statement released on Wednesday, the Qatari Foreign Ministry condemned the raid
as “a war crime and a blatant violation of international laws,” saying the
attack caused the tragic death of several patients, including innocent
children.
It also
said that independent UN investigators should be dispatched to Gaza to carry
out “an immediate and comprehensive” investigation into the occupying regime’s
deliberate targeting of hospitals.
Earlier
in the day, the Israeli military deployed soldiers, tanks and bulldozers inside
the al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, as part of what it
called “a precise and targeted operation.”
The
regime’s forces fired at those inside the hospital, where around 7,000 people
are said to be sheltering, along with 1,500 patients and medical staff.
There
were reports of interrogations of Palestinians, restrictions on their movement,
and detentions.
Israel
alleges that Hamas has built its headquarters in bunkers and tunnels under the
al-Shifa hospital, a claim strongly rejected by the Palestinian resistance
movement and hospital officials.
Over the
past few days, the al-Shifa hospital has been encircled by the Israeli military
and targeted in the regime’s bombing campaign.
The
facility ran out of fuel at the weekend to power generators, leading to the
death of dozens of patients, including premature babies.
The
general director of hospitals in the Gaza Strip says Israeli troops have fired
at people inside the al-Shifa hospital.
The
Qatari Foreign Ministry urged the international community to take “swift and
decisive measures” to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against civilians.
“The
international community’s silence on the blatant crimes against humanity
committed by the occupation forces against the Palestinian people could
embolden Israel to perpetuate more atrocities,” it added.
“Such a
scenario... not only poses a direct threat to regional stability but also
erodes trust in the international community and its institutions.”
Israel
waged the brutal war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Storm
against the occupying entity.
Since
the start of the war, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 11,517
Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured around 32,000 others.
It has
also imposed a “complete siege” on the coastal sliver, cutting off fuel,
electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living
there.
Source: presstv.ir
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/11/16/714689/Qatar-urges-probe-Israeli-raid-Gaza-al-Shifa-hospital
------
Qatar
seeking Israel-Hamas deal to free 50 hostages and 3-day truce
November
15, 2023
DOHA/
CAIRO:
Qatari
mediators were on Wednesday seeking to negotiate a deal between Hamas and
Israel that includes the release of around 50 civilian hostages from Gaza in
exchange for a three-day ceasefire, an official briefed on the negotiations
told Reuters.
The deal,
under discussion, which has been coordinated with the US, would also see Israel
release some Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails and increase the
amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza, the official said.
It would
mark the biggest release in hostages held by Hamas since the Palestinian group
burst over the Gaza border, attacked parts of Israel and took hostages into the
enclave.
Hamas
has agreed to the general outlines of this deal, but Israel has not and it is
still negotiating the details, the official said.
It is
not known how many Palestinian women and children Israel would release from its
jails as part of the agreement under discussion.
The
scope of the Qatari-led negotiations has changed significantly in recent weeks,
but the fact that the talks are now focused on the release of 50 civilian
prisoners in exchange for a three-day truce and that Hamas has agreed to the
outline of the deal have not been reported before.
The
wealthy Gulf state of Qatar, which has ambitious foreign policy goals, has a
direct line of communication with Hamas and Israel. It has previously helped
mediate truces between the two.
Such a
deal would require Hamas handing over a complete list of remaining living
civilian hostages held in Gaza.
A more
comprehensive release of all hostages is not currently under discussion, the
official said.
There
was no immediate response from Israeli officials, who have previously declined
to provide detailed comment on the hostage negotiations, citing reluctance to
undermine the diplomacy or fuel reports they deemed "psychological
warfare" by Palestinian fighters.
Read
also: Qatar's prime minister: Hostage release talks progressing, hopeful for
breakthrough 'soon'
When
asked about the negotiations, Taher Al-Nono, media adviser to Hamas chief
Ismail Haniyeh, did not directly confirm the deal under discussion.
"Netanyahu
is stalling and is undermining any progress. He is exploiting the issue of the
captives to continue the aggression. Netanyahu isn't serious about reaching an
agreement," Nono told Reuters.
The
Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment.
Qatar,
where Hamas operates a political office, has been leading mediation between the
Palestenian group and Israeli officials for the release of more than 240
hostages. They were taken by Hamas fighters when they rampaged into Israel on
Oct. 7. Israel says 1,200 people were killed during the rampage.
Israel
then launched an unrelenting bombardment of Hamas-ruled Gaza and late last
month began an armoured invasion of the enclave, where more than 11,000 people
have been killed, around 40% of them children with more buried under the
rubble, according to Palestinian officials.
Israeli
Minister Benny Gantz, who is in the war cabinet, said at a news conference on
Wednesday: "Even if we are required to pause fighting in order to return
our hostages, there will be no stopping the combat and the war until we achieve
our goals."
Asked to
elaborate on what is hindering the hostage deal, Gantz declined to give any
details.
Previously,
talks had focused on Hamas releasing up to 15 hostages and a pause in the Gaza
fighting of up to three days, sources in the Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle
East said.
There
was no immediate comment from Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hamas
political office in Doha.
Two
Egyptian security sources said there was only agreement so far on limited
truces in specific areas of Gaza. They said Israel had shown reluctance to
commit to any wider deal, but appeared to have moved closer to doing so by Tuesday.
Obstacles
Hamas'
armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said on Monday that it had told Qatari
negotiators it was willing to release up to 70 women and children in return for
a five-day truce.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that "we have been
working relentlessly for the release of the hostages, including using increased
pressure since the start of the ground incursion".
Any deal
faces many obstacles.
It is
unclear whether Hamas is currently able to compile an accurate list of hostages
it holds since the war has caused it communications and organisational problems
in Gaza, a Western diplomat in the region said.
Gathering
the hostages for any simultaneous release, which Israel wants, would be
logistically difficult without a ceasefire, said another source in the region
with knowledge of the negotiations.
There
had also been uncertainty over whether the military and political leadership of
Hamas were in agreement, though this was later resolved, and also concern that
Israeli military pressure was making a deal harder, the same source said.
Source: tribune.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
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https://tribune.com.pk/story/2446561/qatar-seeking-israel-hamas-deal-to-free-50-hostages-and-3-day-truce
------
Saudi
aid agency distributes food to Afghan quake victims
November
16, 2023
RIYADH:
The Saudi aid agency KSrelief continued its work in South Asia with the
distribution of 1,000 food packages to people affected by the recent earthquake
in Afghanistan’s Zinda Jan District.
Officials
said 375 families and 6,000 individuals benefitted from the delivery which came
just days after 3,850 people in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province received
550 winter bags from the charity organization.
The
latest aid was part of the humanitarian and relief assistance program provided
by the center to people in need around the world, the Saudi Press Agency
reported on Wednesday.
Separately,
KSrelief assistant general supervisor for operations and programs, Ahmed bin
Ali Al-Baiz, met with the EU’s special representative for the Horn of Africa,
Annette Weber, and her accompanying delegation at the KSrelief headquarters in
Riyadh.
They
discussed aid issues affecting the east African peninsula region and ways to
support humanitarian efforts there.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409811/saudi-arabia
------
Saudi
defense minister meets French minister of armed forces
November
15, 2023
RIYADH:
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met with French Minister of the
Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu on Wednesday in Riyadh.
They
reviewed bilateral relations and defense cooperation, and discussed the latest
regional and international developments, particularly the war in Gaza.
Prince
Khalid stressed the need to stop Israel’s military operations, protect innocent
civilians and secure humanitarian corridors for the entry of relief aid into
the occupied Palestinian territory.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409606/saudi-arabia
-------
Saudi FM
discusses Gaza conflict with Red Cross president
November
15, 2023
RIYADH:
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan received a phone call from
Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross,
on Wednesday, Saudi Press Agency reported.
The two
discussed the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and military escalation in
the region.
Prince
Faisal stressed the importance of an immediate ceasefire, and a halt to
Israel’s attacks on Palestinian civilians and hospitals, the most recent being
its storming of Al-Shifa hospital.
The
Saudi foreign minister also highlighted the need to secure humanitarian
corridors for the entry of urgent aid in order to alleviate the suffering of
Palestinians.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409491/saudi-arabia
-----
Saudi crown
prince receives letter from Kenyan president
November
15, 2023
RIYADH:
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a letter from Kenyan President
William Ruto regarding bilateral relations between their countries, the Saudi
Press Agency reported.
The
message was received by Saudi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Waleed
Al-Khuraiji during his meeting with the Special Envoy of the Kenyan President
Noureddine Mohammad Hajj on Wednesday in Riyadh.
During
the meeting, the two officials reviewed bilateral relations and discussed
issues of common concern.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409481/saudi-arabia
-----
Saudi
defense minister meets with Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council head
November
15, 2023
RIYADH:
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman met with Chairman of the Yemeni
Presidential Leadership Council Rashad Al-Alimi on Wednesday.
On
behalf of the Kingdom’s leadership, Prince Khalid conveyed wishes for the
security, stability and prosperity of Yemen, reiterating Saudi Arabia’s
continued support for the council and stressing the importance of all parties
prioritizing Yemen’s national interests.
The
meeting, which was also attended by several members of the PLC, reviewed the
Kingdom’s efforts to end the conflict in Yemen. It also discussed the
coordination of a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni conflict under
the supervision of the UN.
The
Saudi minister and Al-Alimi had also met in October for similar talks.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2409466/saudi-arabia
-----
Saudi FM
calls for stopping forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza
November
15, 2023
MAKKAH —
Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan underlined the need to
stop the forced displacement of Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip. He
also called for an immediate ceasefire and securing humanitarian corridors for
the entry of urgent relief aid to Gaza.
The
minister made the remarks during phone calls with his Czech and Brazilian
counterparts. During his phone call with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky,
Prince Faisal stressed the importance of an immediate ceasefire. The ministers
discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip and the latest developments related
to the military escalation in the region.
Prince
Faisal emphasized that the international community must shoulder its
responsibility to stop the attacks of the Israeli occupation forces on
civilians and health facilities in Gaza.
The
Saudi minister also held phone talks with his Brazilian counterpart Mauro
Vieira during which the latest developments in Gaza were figured. Prince Faisal
called for an immediate ceasefire, securing humanitarian corridors for the
entry of urgent relief aid, and stopping the forced displacement of
Palestinians from Gaza.
The
ministers also reviewed the bilateral relations between the two friendly
countries and ways to further enhance them in all fields. The regional and
international developments of common interest were also figured in their talks.
Source: saudigazette.com.sa
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Australia
Australia’s
foreign minister declines to meet with UN rapporteur for occupied Palestine
16.11.2023
Australia’s
foreign minister has declined to meet with the UN special rapporteur for the
occupied Palestinian territories amid Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza.
Speaking
to Australia’s National Press Club on Tuesday, the UN official, Francesca
Albanese, said she requested a meeting with Foreign Minister Penny Wong but was
denied because Wong was meeting with someone else.
“I
understand she is very busy,” said Albanese, local broadcaster SBS reported.
Australian
Senator MehreenFaruqi criticized Wong for not meeting with Albanese.
“What is
Minister Penny Wong afraid of? Hearing the truth about Israel’s war crimes?”
she said on X.
Speaking
to reporters, Albanese also raised questions over Israel’s assertion of
self-defense under international law, noting it is not a stand-alone state but
an armed group in the occupied territory that has threatened Israel.
She
compared the attack on Gaza to the 2015 Paris terror attacks, which were
carried out by Daesh/ISIS-linked cells operating from neighboring Belgium.
“Did
France go and bomb entire residential areas in Belgium? No,” she said,
according to SBS.
The UN
special rapporteur compared the situation in Gaza to the Nakba, the 1948
“catastrophe” when some 750,000 Palestinians were exiled from their land by
Israel.
“Individual
member states, especially in (the) West — and Australia is no exception — are
on the margins, muttering inaudible words of condemnation for Israel’s excesses
at best, or stay silent in fear of restraining Israel’s claimed right to
self-defense, whatever it means,” she added.
People
in a number of cities, including the capital, Canberra, staged protests against
the Israeli bombing of Gaza and called on the government to play its role in an
immediate cease-fire.
Students
for Palestine also staged protests in front of parliament and demanded the ruling
and opposition parties to condemn Israel and play its role in stopping the
bombing in Gaza.
Speaking
in parliament, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese again supported the Israeli
assertion of self-defense, saying: “We have also said that the way that it does
matters, and we must distinguish between Hamas and Palestinian citizens.”
“I have
said very clearly that every Israeli and every Palestinian life matters,”
Albanese told parliament.
He added
that his country wants humanitarian pauses and urged Israel to uphold
international law and protect innocent civilians.
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Australia ‘does not militarily support Israel’
During
the debate in parliament, opposition lawmaker David Shoebridge and Wong
exchanged heated words when Shoebridge asked about the US supplying Israel with
weapons used in Gaza.
“What
guarantees can you give that Australian 155-millimeter artillery shells
produced by our munitions will not be directly exported to the state of Israel
in the future or indirectly sent for use in Gaza?” Shoebridge asked in
parliament.
Responding
to the question, Wong said that since the beginning of the war in Gaza,
Australia has not provided any military support to Israel.
She also
called the question inappropriate and accused the lawmaker of trying to make it
a political issue.
“Penny
Wong just accused me of trying to make a political issue of Australian exports
of weapons to Israel -- as if this country making $$ from war crimes is somehow
above politics?” Shoebridge later wrote on X.
Source: aa.com.tr
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https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/australia-s-foreign-minister-declines-to-meet-with-un-rapporteur-for-occupied-palestine/3055055
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/muslim-neighbours-kashmiri-pandit-pulwama/d/131123