Karnataka Hijab Ban Robbed Thousands of Muslim Girls of Access to Education, Says Human Rights Organisation Report
New Age Islam News Bureau
10 September 2022
A protest seeking the
right to wear hijabs in educational institutions for Muslim women in Karnataka.
| PTI
----
• “Humanitarian Catastrophe”: Senior US Commander
Sounds Alarm over Syria’s Islamic State Prison Camps
• Afghanistan Taliban Government Employees Must Pass
Test to Gauge Knowledge of Islam to Stay Employed
• Fled Afghan Journalists Face an Uncertain Future in
Pakistan
• Swedish Far-Right Politicians Exposed For Wanting To
'Eradicate' Muslims; Pay Tributes To Nazis
India
• BJP 'Terrorising' Muslims on Pretext of Conducting
Madrassa Survey, Says Mayawati
• Opposition, activists welcome SC order granting bail
to Kappan
--------
Arab
World
• Al-Azhar Grand Imam Says Queen Elizabeth ‘Dedicated
Her Life to Serving Her Nation and People’
• Syria’s Aleppo airport to reopen after Israel
strikes
• UAE announces three days of mourning on death of
Queen Elizabeth II
• US mediator points to 'progress' in Israeli-Lebanese
maritime border talks
• Turkish forces neutralize 4 YPG/PKK terrorists in
northern Syria
• Israeli drone crashes into sea near Lebanon border
--------
South
Asia
• Afghan Taliban Urged To Work for Inclusive Govt
• Taliban Make Little Progress in Countering Drugs
--------
Pakistan
• 'Nobody knows where their village is': New inland
sea swamps in Pakistan
• Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif appears before HC in
missing persons case
• President for ensuring harassment-free environment
for women at workplace
• Swatis mourn Queen Elizabeth’s death recalling her
1961 visit
• SC rules against appointments made behind closed
doors
--------
Europe
• Queen Elizabeth II: Scunthorpe Islamic Leader
Recalls Mosque Visit
• Attackers throw stones at Turkish mosque in southern
Sweden
• Swedish far-right politicians exposed for wanting to
'eradicate' Muslims, paying tribute to Nazis
• What the Middle East could expect from the UK’s Liz
Truss government
• Afghan child reunites with twin brother in Britain
after year-long delay
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Gov’t Supports Move To Gazette Kampung Laut Mosque
as UNESCO World Heritage Site: Prime Minister
• Singapore to host study visits for minority Muslim
communities to exchange ideas
• PAS’s botched attempt at polygamy
• Sultan of Brunei becomes world’s longest-serving
monarch after Elizabeth II’s passing
--------
Mideast
• Iran: US Must Avoid Ambiguities to Reach Agreement
in Vienna Talks
• Muslims in Balkans hail Islamic centre inaugurated
by Erdoğan
• Iran Blasts US, UK for Keeping Silent on Anti-Iran
Cyberattacks
• Iranian Army Ground Force Test-Fires Strategic 'Fath
360' Missile
• Iran Condemns Rights Violation of Iranian Diplomats
in Albania
• Iran strongly condemns US sanctions over Albania
hacking
--------
Africa
• Dozens Reportedly Killed In Islamic State Attack in
Mali
• Government slams commission for demanding action
against Ethiopia after resumption of war in north
• Nigeria military kills 420 terrorists during
month-long operations
• Poverty has increased in Somalia amid terror attacks:
World Bank
--------
North
America
• US Sanctions Iran's Intelligence Ministry, Its Chief
Over Cyber Activities
• Senate public hearings on Islamophobia hears
testimony from Muslims in Edmonton
• How the 'war on terror' obscures America's alliance with
right-wing Islam
• Iran’s latest reply on nuclear deal is a step
‘backward,’ says Blinken
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/karnataka-hijab-ban-muslim-girls-education/d/127922
--------
Karnataka Hijab Ban Robbed Thousands of Muslim Girls
of Access to Education, Says Human Rights Organisation Report
A protest seeking the
right to wear hijabs in educational institutions for Muslim women in Karnataka.
| PTI
----
Sep 09, 2022
Thousands of Muslim girls and women across Karnataka
were robbed of their access to education due to the state government order
banning hijabs in educational institutions and the High Court ruling that
upheld the directive, human rights organisation People’s Union for Civil
Liberties said in a report.
The organisation, citing testimonies from students
across the state, said that a range of rights were “comprehensively violated”
after the High Court’s judgement.
“These rights which have been violated include Right
to Education without Discrimination, Right to Equality, Right to Dignity, Right
to Privacy, Right to Expression, Right to Non-Discrimination and Freedom from
Arbitrary State Action,” the PUCL report said.
The organisation alleged that the Karnataka government
completely ignored its constitutional obligation in its “single-minded focus on
ensuring that the hijab was prohibited in colleges”. It said that several
students had to drop out of educational institutes because of the directive.
The PUCL urged Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to
rescind the notification that banned the wearing of the hijab in schools and
colleges. It also urged the judiciary to carry out an inquiry to look into why
the government took such a “sudden, arbitrary and unconstitutional” action.
“The human rights commission and minority commission
should register suo motu complaints against the principals and CDCs [college
development committees] for violating the fundamental rights of the concerned
students and initiate actions at the earliest,” the organisation said.
The study by the PUCL said that security measures put
in place in educational institutions on account of the court case made students
fearful of going to schools and colleges. It also took note of instances where
Hindu boys allegedly posted threatening messages on WhatsApp groups.
The study quoted a student as saying: “They said that
they wanted to punish us and kill us, and other similar threats.”
Students also told the organisation that some boys
harassed them in public and used words such as “O Hijab” and “O Burkha” towards
them. According to the study, some colleges perpetuated the harassment rather
than protecting the students.
The PUCL report quoted a student as saying: “When the
principal sees us, he admonishes us, asks me why we continue to study here. Why
we continue to wear the hijab, and other such taunting questions.”
Hijab ban case
A controversy had erupted after, in December and
January, a group of Muslim students of the Government Women’s Pre-University
College in Udupi city were not allowed to attend classes for being dressed in
hijab. The students staged a protest, and similar demonstrations were held in
other parts of Karnataka.
Hindu students and mobs of men protested against
Muslim women wearing hijabs to educational institutes. At some colleges, Muslim
students were heckled, while in another case, some men climbed up a flagpole to
plant a saffron flag and broke into classrooms.
On February 5, the Karnataka government passed an
order banning clothes that “disturb equality, integrity and public order”.
On March 15, the Karnataka High Court had upheld the
state government’s ban on hijabs in schools and colleges and held that
headscarves were not essential to Islam.
A group of petitions challenging the High Court order
are pending before the Supreme Court.
Source: Scroll
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original story:
“Humanitarian
Catastrophe”: Senior US Commander Sounds Alarm over Syria’s Islamic State
Prison Camps
Members
of the Syrian Kurdish Asayish security forces use a metal detector to sweep the
ground during an inspection of tents at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which
holds relatives of suspected Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the
northeastern Hasakeh governorate, on Aug. 28, 2022, as the Syrian Democratic
Forces mount a security campaign against IS "sleeper cells" in the
camp. - DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images
---
Jared
Szuba
September
10, 2022
The
commander of all US military forces in the Middle East made an urgent appeal to
the international community after visiting the al-Hol camp for Islamic State
detainees in northeast Syria on Friday.
Describing
al-Hol as a “humanitarian catastrophe” and a "flashpoint of human
suffering,” US Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla urged governments around the
world to repatriate their citizens from the camp “and rehabilitate them if
needed.”
More
than 90% of al-Hol's detainees are women and children, with 70% under the age
of 12, Kurilla noted in a statement following his visit Friday. Most lack
sufficient access to running water and other basic necessities to support life.
“ISIS
seeks to exploit these horrific conditions. With approximately 80 births in the
camp each month, this place is a literal breeding ground for the next
generation of ISIS,” Kurilla said.
Why
it Matters: The four-star general’s visit marked the first time ever an
American official has entered into the al-Hol camp and spoken with detainees, a
military official told Al-Monitor.
Kurilla
previously stopped at the camp in April during his first tour of the Middle
East as CENTCOM commander. US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-GA) also visited the
camp in July, though that trip was not coordinated with Kurilla’s trips, the
official said.
The
general on Friday was accompanied by the commander of Syria’s Kurdish-led
forces, Mazlum Kobane. Other US government personnel were also present,
according to a well-placed source on the ground in Syria.
Al-Hol
is the largest of more than a dozen makeshift facilities holding IS detainees
across the country’s Kurdish-controlled northeast. Some 56,000 suspected family
members of IS fighters continue to languish at the site more than three years
after the US and Syrian Kurdish-led forces defeated the jihadist group on the
battlefield in 2019.
The
majority of those in al-Hol were sent there following the mass surrenders of IS
fighters and families making a last-stand at the battle of Baghouz, Syria, in
March 2019.
“Most
residents of the camp reject ISIS,” Kurilla stated after meeting with detainees
and camp security officials. “Many want to contribute to society. Many wish to
return to their homelands, to reenter the workforce and return their children
to school,” the commander said.
“There
are women and children who can be returned to society. They can and want to be
productive," he said, acknowledging that those he spoke to had arrived in
2017, prior to the 2019 prisoner influx.
Race
against time: The CENTCOM chief’s moral appeal comes as US defense officials
continue to say that IS is down, but not out.
In
January, the jihadist group launched a bloody assault on the main detention
facility holding captured fighters in the city of Hasakah. The resulting battle
left hundreds dead, including at least 300 among the Syrian-led forces.
The
group continues to recruit among the population of al-Hol and is likely
planning attacks on other facilities that hold their fellow jihadists.
“ISIS
views the detention facilities where its fighters are housed as the population
to reconstitute its army,” the Pentagon’s top Middle East policy official Dana
Stroul said during an event Washington in July.
“It
looks at al-Hol and al-Raj, and the youth in those camps, as the next
generation of ISIS,” Stroul said.
Without
US funding and the promise of military backup, officials say the Kurdish-led
guard force that runs the makeshift prisons would not be up to the task. Though
some receive US training, the guards operate without US supervision. They are
also inadequately paid, leaving them susceptible to bribery, the Defense
Intelligence Agency reported in June.
A
running series of murders and even beheadings of camp residents believed to be
carried out by a network of IS enforcers known as the hisba have been
discovered by security forces at al-Hol in recent years.
Violence
in the camp has also driven away humanitarian workers. The Norwegian Refugee
Council temporarily abandoned most of its humanitarian work in al-Hol earlier
this year “following an armed raid and beatings of its staff,” the US-led
coalition told a Pentagon inspector general in June. The coalition did not
specify who was responsible for those incidents.
Over
the past two weeks in al-Hol, the Syrian Kurdish-led forces said they’ve
arrested “hundreds” of IS operatives during US-coordinated raids into the
camp’s patchwork maze of tents.
US
Central Command said the Kurdish-led operation had rounded up “dozens” of IS
agents and disrupted a major “ISIS facilitation network, both within the camp
and throughout Syria.”
Four
women bearing signs of torture were also discovered chained in tunnels in the
camp earlier this week, CENTCOM said in a statement. At least one member of the
local Syrian security force was killed in a firefight with IS in al-Hol
Thursday.
The
latest clearing operation follows arrests of some 130 suspected IS members in
al-Hol between May and June of this year, the US-led coalition reported in
June.
Trickle
of repatriations: Kurilla on Friday praised Baghdad’s recent effort to
repatriate its citizens, noting that roughly half of the camp’s detainees are
from Iraq.
The
Iraqi government has brought back nearly 2,500 citizens from the camp since
last year, including 683 people (among them 203 children) in the month of June,
according to the latest inspector general report. Detainees have also been
returned to Kosovo, Russia and other European countries in recent months.
“There’s
a need to accelerate this progress,” Kurilla said in the statement. “Should
Iraq repatriate, rehabilitate and reintegrate its citizens, the problem would
immediately become much more manageable.”
Roughly
a third of camp residents are believed to be from Syria, posing an even greater
problem for the international repatriation effort. International law forbids
returning prisoners to the custody of governments likely to violate their basic
human rights.
What’s
next: In the long term, US officials see repatriation as the only viable
solution to the IS detainee problem. The State Department is leading that
effort, but it is unlikely to be resolved within the next two or three years.
For
that reason, Pentagon and State Department officials have been working with
lawmakers in Congress to increase funding for construction of new
“purpose-built” facilities to hold IS detainees in more secure and humane
settings.
The
US-led coalition cycled in a new commander, Army Maj. Gen. Matthew McFarlane,
at a ceremony in Baghdad on Thursday.
Know
more: Pentagon officials are warning that Turkey’s stated plans to invade
northeast Syria and attack the Kurdish-led forces will almost certainly spring
IS jihadists from their prisons.
Source:
Al Monitor
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Afghanistan Taliban Government Employees Must Pass Test to Gauge Knowledge of
Islam to Stay Employed
Photo:
Business Standard
----
September
10, 2022
The
Taliban's Finance Ministry in Afghanistan wants its employees to be more than
number crunchers -- it's requiring that everyone in its ranks must pass a test
of faith to stay employed, a media report said.
A
letter has been issued detailing orders for all employees to be given a test to
gauge their knowledge of Islam. The letter, which bore Taliban stamps and
insignias and was signed by officials, was delivered by the ministry's
Directorate of Invitation and Guidance, RFE/RL reported.
It
says all ministry employees are required to take the test, which appears to be
based on a 10-page booklet that covers issues related to Islam. The booklet,
which was reviewed by RFE/RL, addresses 53 topics, ranging from asking to
describe the five pillars of Islam are to explaining the difference between a
prophet and a messenger of God to describing the signs that Judgment Day has
arrived.
According
to the ministry source, who did not give his name due to fears of retribution,
the booklet is being distributed to employees before they take the test. One
ministry employee, also speaking on condition of anonymity, wrote by text
message that he took the seven-question test last week and was awaiting the
results.
During
its first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban also tested the
religious knowledge of state employees who were not members of the hard-line
group. But this is the first time the Taliban has quizzed public employees
since it regained power in August 2021.
In
July, the Finance Ministry requested that female employees send a male relative
to work in their stead, in keeping with the Taliban government's decision to
bar most women from working in the public sector and government. Only women in
the health and education sectors are permitted to work.
The
ministry said it had made the request in order to speed up processes and reduce
pressures on employees, RFE/RL reported.
Source:
Business Standard
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Fled
Afghan Journalists Face An Uncertain Future In Pakistan
Last
year, after the Taliban took over Kabul, many Afghan journalists fled to
Pakistan (Reuters)
-----
Sep
10, 2022
KARACHI:
Dozens of Afghan journalists who fled from their country last year after the
Taliban took over Kabul face an uncertain future in Pakistan as they wait
anxiously for the renewal of their visas to remain in the country and continue
their struggle to repatriate to European countries or the US. Journalists who
fled from Afghanistan to mainly Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta complain that they
are getting no help from even the international organisations and NGOs.
Malik
Muhammad Afzal, an official who works for the Pakistani Interior Ministry's
visa department said the visas could be extended this week but they had to get
approval from the country's intelligence agencies.
"The
Pakistan interior ministry had given clearance for special issuance of visas
for all media personnel who wanted to move from Afghanistan after the Taliban
takeover fearing repercussions for their reporting and work," Nasrin
Shirazad who worked for the Ariana News in Kabul said.
The
mother of three fled via the eastern province of Nangarhar immediately after
the Taliban took power in August 2021 and she got a letter on her doorstep
threatening her with dire consequences for her "sins" and
"infidel" work.
The
Taliban have denied issuing any such letter and termed it as a 'fake'.
The
female anchor and broadcaster says now NGOs and other western countries and
organisations whom she had approached to move to another country say there is
no proof she faces any threat in Afghanistan.
But
Shirzad said her work as a journalist has earned her and her family many such
threats over the years.
"It
was a big relief for my family when we finally got a visa to evacuate to
Pakistan in February but now the visa has expired."
Other
Afghan journalists are also awaiting visa extensions from the Pakistan
government and for the moment they have been told by their landlords to leave
their premises or they will be evicted.
"Without
a valid visa I can't rent any place in Pakistan neither can I receive any
financial help from any NGO or relatives, friends in Afghanistan,"
Abdullah Hameem, a journalist with leading Afghan broadcaster Tolo TV said.
Currently,
there are said to be around 200 Afghan journalists on the run and they all
communicate through a WhatsApp group.
Hameem
said many journalists who worked full-time in the more progressive landscape in
Afghanistan for more than a decade before the Taliban took power have fled to
Pakistan or some other neighbouring countries for fear of retribution for their
work.
Many
of these journalists are former female broadcasters and anchors like
26-year-old Sodaba Nasiry who worked for the former Afghan parliament's
television channel and left Kabul for Pakistan the day the Taliban stormed
Kabul.
She
said her visa expired this month, leaving her unable to rent a room legally.
For now, she is staying with an Afghan widow in Islamabad.
Nasiry
is presently undergoing treatment for depression and is facing acute financial
problems which have also not allowed her to take proper medical treatment.
She
said all her e-mails and applications to the International Federation of Journalists,
Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the
German, French, Italian, and Canadian embassies have given no positive replies
to requests for any assistance.
A
report by media watchdogs last month confirms that Afghanistan has lost nearly
40 percent of its media outlets and just under 60 per cent of its journalists
since the Taliban takeover.
There
were 2,756 women journalists and media workers working in Afghanistan prior to
the Taliban take over now only 656 are still working under restrictions.
Some
Afghan journalists who fled to Pakistan have even paid bribes in US dollars to
private agents or middlemen to get new documents or visa extensions
"The
emotional, legal, and financial pressures are getting too much for us now,"
said another journalist.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Swedish
Far-Right Politicians Exposed For Wanting To 'Eradicate' Muslims; Pay Tributes
To Nazis
Photo:
aa.com
----
09
September, 2022
Swedish
far-right politicians who are set to participate in Sunday's elections have
been exposed for wanting to eradicate Muslims and "blackheads".
Swedish
magazine Expo, along with news outlet, Expressen, on Thursday outlined many
right-wing candidates who openly pay tributes to Nazis.
Sweden
Democrats (SD) politician Bjorn Halldin has been disseminating anti-Muslim
discourse and spreading hate for years, according to the report.
He
wrote that Muslims do not belong to a civilised world and that he wants to kill
them.
Halldin
shared insulting pictures of Black people using terms such as the N-word and
has portrayed them as lazy.
He
wrote that Sweden should exterminate "blackheads," a derogatory term
for Black people.
The
SD politician has also participated in a hate campaign against Centre Party
leader Annie Loof by spreading "an inappropriate message" about her.
Hate
speech against Muslims
SD
politician Sonja Hellstrom, who has spread propaganda in a Nazi demonstration
resigned saying: “A conspiracy theorist? Yes, I may be, but I am not
anti-Semitic," referring to claims that she is conspiratorial.
Goran
Nordin, who is running for SD in municipal elections, has been spreading hate
speech against Muslims, and Somalis in particular..
Lena
Cederlid, who is running for the SD in Falun said she is a proud member of the
racist Nazi group, DFS.
In
2018, she verbally attacked refugees in a forum when she said: "You burn,
rape, murder, plunder, steal, subsidise cheaters, and hate our country."
During
the 2014 elections, she deemed members of the Neo-Nazi Party of Swedes' as “a
group who dare to say what others think."
Several
politicians are also believed to be members of other racists groups led by
individuals with Nazi backgrounds.
Source:
TRT World
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.trtworld.com/europe/swedish-politicians-exposed-for-wanting-to-eradicate-muslims-60632
--------
India
BJP
'terrorising' Muslims on pretext of conducting madrassa survey, says Mayawati
September
09, 2022
Lucknow:
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday accused the BJP government
of interfering in the running of private madrassas in Uttar Pradesh on the
pretext of conducting surveys and “terrorising” the Muslim community.
In
a tweet in Hindi, Mayawati said, “The complaints of the Muslim community being
exploited, neglected and being affected by riots have been common since the
time of the Congress, and now they are being oppressed and terrorised by the
BJP who came to power by doing narrow politics in the name of appeasement. This
is sad and condemnable.”
“The
BJP government has an evil intent on madrassas in Uttar Pradesh. The attempts
to interfere in the private madrassas, which run on donations by the community,
in the name of survey is inappropriate. They should focus on improving the
condition of the government and government-aided madrassas,” she said.
The
Uttar Pradesh government recently announced that a survey of unrecognised
madrassas would be conducted in the state to gather information about the
number of teachers, curriculum and basic facilities available there.
Minister
of State for Minority Affairs Danish Azad Ansari said the government will
conduct the survey according to the requirement of the National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights in connection with the availability of basic
facilities to the students in madrassas.
During
the survey, details such as the name of the madrassa and the institution
operating it, whether it is running in a private or rented building, number of
students studying there, and information regarding facilities of drinking
water, furniture, electricity supply and toilet will be collected, Ansari said.
Information
regarding the number of teachers in a madrassa, its curriculum, source of
income and its affiliation with any non-government organisation will also be
gathered, he said.
To
a question whether the state government would start the process of recognising
new madrassas after this survey, the minister said that at present, the
government’s aim is to collect information only about unrecognized madrassas.
Criticising
the move, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, a prominent Muslim socio-religious group, had
recently said the move to conduct a survey of madrassas in the state is a
malicious attempt to disparage the education system.
Source:
Firstpost
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Opposition,
activists welcome SC order granting bail to Kappan
Pheroze
L. Vincent | New Delhi
10.09.22
Opposition
parties and civil society activists on Friday hailed the bail granted by the
Supreme Court to Malayalam journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested on
terror charges in Uttar Pradesh 23 months ago on his way to cover the gang rape
and murder of a Dalit teen in Hathras.
Congress
MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted: “Glad the Supreme Court has stood against indefinite
detention at last.”
Trinamul
Congress spokesman Saket Gokhale tweeted: “Long pending but finally justice has
been done!”
“The
arrest of a journalist from Kerala for covering the brutal rape & murder of
a Dalit woman in BJP-ruled UP and his detention for two years is a telling
commentary on the BJP and the state of India under Modi-Shah-Yogi,”
CPIML-Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya wrote on Twitter.
Former
reporter Prashant Kanojia, who was behind bars for two months on charges of
defamation for a tweet in 2020, rued the delay in justice.
“SC
Granted bail to Journalist Siddique Kappan, who was in jail under draconian
UAPA for performing his Journalistic duty. Finally he will be out but justice
is delayed,” he tweeted.
Kanojia
is now president of the SC/ST wing of the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Taking
to Twitter, senior advocate and activist Prashant Bhushan said: “Great! Finally
the SC beginning to undo the enormous injustice done to countless people like
Kappan by the totally malafide incarceration by Govts who are hell bent on
quelling dissent by hook or crook. Hope we see this trend continuing.”
Delhi
University professor Apoorvanand termed Kappan’s bail as a first step in the
right direction.
“It
is only the first step in the direction of undoing a grave injustice done by
the state to Kappan. Other firm steps must be taken,” he tweeted.
Delhi-based
activist Safoora Zargar, who is out on bail in a case linking the citizenship
protests to the 2020 Delhi riots, highlighted the plight of Kappan’s co-accused.
“Bail
after 2 years of unfair and illegal incarceration in a bogus FIR for
#SiddiquiKappan. Masood Ahmed and Atik Ur Rahman continue to languish in jail
in the same case. Kappan’s mother breathed her last longing for her son. Half
of Atik’s body is paralysed,” Zargar tweeted.
Earlier
this week, Amnesty International had appealed for the release of Rahman, who
had been diagnosed with heart and nerve disorders.
The
Left-leaning Delhi Union of Journalists welcomed the bail order.
Source:
Telegraph India
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--------
Arab
World
Al-Azhar
Grand Imam Says Queen Elizabeth ‘Dedicated Her Life To Serving Her Nation And
People’
9
Sep 2022
"I
offer my deepest condolences to His Majesty King Charles, the Royal family, and
the British people on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II," El-Tayyeb
tweeted on Friday.
"Her
Majesty was such a unique, committed and deeply respected head of state. She
dedicated her life to serving her nation and people," he added.
Egyptian
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and the Coptic Orthodox Church also mourned the
late queen yesterday.
In
July 2018, El-Tayyeb met Queen elizabeth at Windsor Castle during his visit
official visit to the United Kingdom.
Queen
Elizabeth II, the UK's longest serving monarch passed away Thursday afternoon
at the age of 96 at Scotland’s Balmoral Castle after reigning for 70 years.
Her
son, the 73-year-old Prince of Wales Charles, was immediately crowned King
Charles III.
In
November 2021, the then-prince visited Egypt along with his wife Camilla Parker
in his his third visit to the country after previous visits in 2006 and 1981.
Source:
Ahram
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/475747.aspx
--------
Syria’s
Aleppo airport to reopen after Israel strikes
09
September, 2022
Flights
were to resume from Aleppo Friday after repairs were carried out to Syria’s
second largest airport following an Israeli airstrike earlier this week.
Damage
to the main runway in Tuesday’s raid had put the airport out of service but the
transport ministry said repairs had now been completed and the airport was
ready to reopen.
In
a statement carried by the state SANA news agency, the ministry said that air
traffic would resume from midday (0900 GMT).
The
Israeli strike, which Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said targeted a warehouse used by Iran-backed groups, was the
second to hit the airport in just a week.
Since
war erupted in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes
against its northern neighbor, targeting government troops as well as allied
Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UAE
announces three days of mourning on death of Queen Elizabeth II
09
September, 2022
The
UAE announced that the flags in the public and private sectors and in the
country's embassies abroad will be lowered to half-mast for a period of three
days, starting Friday, to mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
In
a statement, the Presidential Court said that the flags will fly at half-mast for
three days, ending next Monday, September 12, state news agency WAM reported.
The
Court expressed its sincere condolences to King Charles III, the royal family
and to the British people on the death of Queen Elizabeth.
The
queen died at her home in Scotland on Thursday aged 96. The world’s oldest and
longest-serving head of state came to the throne following the death of her
father King George VI on February 6, 1952, when she was just 25.
UAE
President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed on Thursday sent his condolences to the
British royal family, tweeting: “I extend my sincere condolences to the family
of Queen Elizabeth II and the people of the UK. Her Majesty was a close friend
of the UAE and a beloved & respected leader whose long reign was
characterized by dignity, compassion & a tireless commitment to serving her
country.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
mediator points to 'progress' in Israeli-Lebanese maritime border talks
Wassim
Seif El Din
09.09.2022
BEIRUT
A
US mediator in negotiations for the demarcation of maritime borders between
Lebanon and Israel announced "progress" on Friday.
"Optimistic
about reaching an agreement" on the demarcation of the border
"soon," Amos Hochstein said at a press conference following his
meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun in Beirut.
"It
was an excellent meeting, and I believe that we have made good progress in this
field," Hochstein said, adding that he would continue his talks with
officials.
According
to the official Lebanese news agency, the US mediator "presented the
results of the contacts he made with the Israeli side and some points related
to the negotiations."
Lebanon
and Israel are engaged in a dispute over a maritime area of 860 square
kilometers (332 square miles), according to maps sent by both counties to the
UN in 2011.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Turkish
forces neutralize 4 YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria
Sevilay
Beki
09.09.2022
Turkish
security forces “neutralized” four YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria,
Türkiye’s National Defense Ministry said on Friday.
The
terrorists, who opened harassing fire on Turkish soldiers, were targeted in
areas of Operation Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield, according to the
ministry.
Turkish
authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply the terrorists in question
surrendered or were killed or captured.
Since
2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across
its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and
enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive
Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israeli
drone crashes into sea near Lebanon border
Abdelraouf
Arna'out
09.09.2022
An
Israeli drone crashed into the sea near the northern maritime border with
Lebanon on Thursday, the military announced Friday.
In
a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces said the drone crashed due to a
malfunction, adding that the incident is being investigated and the entire
fleet of this type of drone, which it did not specify, has been grounded until
the end of the review.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-drone-crashes-into-sea-near-lebanon-border/2680943
--------
South
Asia
Afghan
Taliban urged to work for inclusive govt
September
10, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Speakers
have urged the Afghan Taliban to create an inclusive government to accommodate
various ethnic, sectarian and gender groups to get international recognition
and take the war-torn country forward.
They
were speaking at a one-day conference titled “Future Prospects for Afghanistan
and the Region”, organised by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) in
Islamabad.
“The
inclusive government, as well as a focus on ethnic, sectarian and gender
inclusivity, is important for the Afghan government to match its pace with the
developed and the developing world,” said ISSI Director-General Aizaz Chaudary.
He
that good governance and international recognition was major challenge for the
Afghan Taliban-led government.
Pak
Afghan Youth Forum Director-General Salman Javed said that there exists a
resented mindset among Afghans against Pakistan that the latter was a British
legacy. He asserted that such propaganda hindered good relations between the
two neighbours and that it was imperative to them into account to remove
misconceptions. He also said that Pakistan had increased trade with Afghanistan
which was good for bilateral relations.
Senior
journalist Hassan Khan shed light on the economic and humanitarian crisis in
Afghanistan stating that people in the neighbouring country were struggling to
buy basic commodities whereas, women and children were specifically deprived of
food, which would be impacting the next generation as well.
He
also added that with brain-drain, people were also taking money out of the
country leading to a shortage of currency in Afghanistan.
Director
CAMEA at ISSI Amina Khan said that the Taliban’s performance despite their
claims had been debatable, particularly in the realm of human rights.
“The
extraordinary situation of humanitarian crisis and weak institutions was
exacerbated by the global financial sanctions,” she said adding that the
biggest threat to the region was the presence of terrorist groups in
Afghanistan. “Taliban must counter the terrorism otherwise, the frustration in
the region including within Afghanistan and its immediate neighbours would
accentuate further, as the region has already expressed its uneasiness about
militant activities there."
Source:
Tribune Pakistan
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2375829/afghan-taliban-urged-to-work-for-inclusive-govt
--------
Taliban
Make Little Progress in Countering Drugs
September
09, 2022
Unlike
his predecessor, who almost terminated opium production in Afghanistan in the
last year of Taliban rule with one decree in 2000, the current supreme leader
of the Taliban appears to be unsuccessful in implementing his ban on opium
production.
In
April, shortly after Afghan famers harvested opium from their 2021 poppy
cultivation, Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree outlawing poppy cultivation
and the production, sale and use of all other drugs.
As
this year's poppy cultivation season approaches, the Taliban have presented a
modest scorecard for their counternarcotics achievements.
Over
the past year, less than 100 hectares of poppy fields were destroyed, about
2,000 drug dealers and traffickers were arrested, and 4,270 kilograms of opium
were seized, according to figures from the Taliban's Interior Ministry.
These
figures put the Taliban regime far behind the previous Afghan government, which
presided over two decades of soaring drug production in Afghanistan, in
counternarcotics performance.
In
2020, the Afghan government made more than 3,100 drug-related arrests, seized
about 80,000 kilograms of opium and eradicated almost 1,000 hectares of poppy
fields, according to the U.N. and Afghan officials.
"There
is serious doubt on the intentions of the current rulers whether they really want
to eradicate poppy," said Javid Qaem, a former deputy minister for
counternarcotics in Afghanistan and now a researcher at Arizona State
University.
"At
the time of the Republic, security was a big challenge. Police could not go to
the areas where poppy was cultivated. Taliban claim that they have all the
areas under their control. They should be able to do it easily," he told
VOA.
The
U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has yet to release its annual assessment
of the Afghan opium production for 2022 but says the trend appears unchanged.
"Although
the peace process in Colombia and the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan
have essentially ended insurgencies, both countries have to date retained
prominent roles in illicit drug cultivation and production," the UNODC
reported in June.
Economic
considerations?
Income
from opium production, estimated between $1.8 billion to $2.7 billion, made up
about 12% to 14% of Afghanistan's GDP in 2021.
With
the Taliban's return to power, Afghanistan has plunged deep into an economic
crisis that has pushed nearly all Afghans into poverty. The U.N. says more than
half of the Afghan population is in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
"Drugs
have been a critical source of economic revenue in this impoverished country,"
Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told VOA,
adding that the drug money was also going to members of the Taliban.
Taking
serious action against the powerful drug trade, particularly under current
economic conditions, will worsen the poverty in Afghanistan and could result in
local opposition to the Taliban, experts say.
The
Taliban reportedly pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars from Afghanistan's
illicit drug trade. Between 2018 and 2019, the group earned more than $400
million from the trade, according to U.N. and U.S. officials.
The
Taliban, however, deny involvement in the drug trade.
The
Taliban's war against drugs may also be slow because of internal frictions,
Qaem said.
"Certain
groups of Taliban are involved in this trade. It will be difficult for them to
control their own ranks and files. It could lead to internal rifts, and I do
not think the Taliban leadership will take this risk at this time," he
said.
Not
only a Taliban job
The
U.S. has spent more than $8.82 billion on counternarcotics projects in
Afghanistan over the past two decades, according to the Special Inspector
General for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan (SIGAR).
Because
Afghanistan produces more than 80% of the heroin consumed globally, other donors
such as the U.N., the World Bank and the European Union also aided
counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan.
The
former Afghan government even created a Ministry of Counternarcotics to deal
with the problem, but despite all the efforts made and money spent, Afghanistan
remained the world's No. 1 opium producer.
Foreign
donors have ceased development assistance to Afghanistan, including funding
counternarcotics programs, since the Taliban seized power last year.
"The
State Department's current policy prohibits direct assistance to the Taliban.
While some counternarcotic programs remain active indirectly — administered
through implementing partners and NGOs — other programs have been terminated or
paused following the Taliban takeover in August 2021," a spokesperson for
SIGAR told VOA.
Isolated
and pressed under economic sanctions, Taliban officials say they need foreign
assistance, mostly in creating alternative sources of livelihood for poppy
farmers and employment opportunities for poppy field laborers, in order for
them to effectively rid the country of its illicit drug economy.
Source:
VOA News
Please
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https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-make-little-progress-in-countering-drugs/6737630.html
--------
Pakistan
'Nobody
knows where their village is': New inland sea swamps in Pakistan
Sep
10, 2022
MEHAR:
From a hastily erected embankment protecting Mehar city, mosque minarets and
the price board of a gas station poke above a vast lake that has emerged,
growing to tens of kilometres wide.
Beyond
this shoreline in southern Sindh, hundreds of villages and swathes of farmland
are lost beneath the water, destroyed by floods that have affected nearly a
third of Pakistan.
"Nobody
knows where their village is anymore, the common man can no longer recognise
his own home," Ayaz Ali, whose village is submerged under nearly seven
metres (23 feet) of water, told AFP.
The
Sindh government says more than 100,000 people have been displaced by this new
body of water, brought by record rains and the Indus River overflowing its
banks.
Across
the country, about 33 million people have been affected by the flooding, nearly
two million homes and businesses destroyed, 7,000 kilometres (1.3 miles) of
roads washed away and 256 bridges knocked out.
A
bus conductor with a sharp memory, Ali acts as a navigator for the navy,
identifying each submerged village by the pattern of electricity pylons and
distinct tree lines.
Navy
volunteers cruise the waters on two lifeboats delivering aid donated by locals,
ferrying people in need of medical care back to the city.
With
Ali's help, they search out patches of high ground where families still
shelter, refusing to evacuate despite a desperate situation worsened by the
scorching heat.
"Their
homes and belongings are so precious to them," said one serviceman, who
asked not to be named, looking out at the expanse of water.
"When
I joined the navy, I could never have imagined doing this," he added.
Engine
cut, the boat navigates slowly through the tops of trees, and heads duck under
power lines ahead of a hamlet of crumbling houses encircled by water.
This
time, dozens of people are waiting.
Many
still refuse to leave their homes, concerned their livestock, all that they
have left, will be stolen or will die, and fearing a worse situation at the
makeshift relief camps that have sprung up all over the country.
"Our
life and death is linked with our village, how can we leave?" said Aseer
Ali, knee-deep in water, refusing to let his wife, who is eight months
pregnant, evacuate.
Some
relent, men with fever, toddlers with diarrhoea, and an elderly woman silent in
her anguish, are among those helped onto the boat that carries double its
capacity on a weighed-down journey back to the city.
Among
them is a young mother who had only recently lost her newborn when the water
rose around her home last week.
She
sways dizzily from the effects of heat stroke, her two-year-old child also
distressed by the burning midday sun, both repeatedly drenched in water by a
navy serviceman.
A
new 10-kilometre mud embankment has so far held back the flood from Mehar city,
with a population of hundreds of thousands.
But
the city has swelled with displaced victims who over the past three weeks have
fled to makeshift camps in car parks, schools and on motorways.
"More
families keep arriving at the camp. They are in a terrible condition,"
Muhammad Iqbal, from the Alkhidmat Foundation, a Pakistan-based humanitarian
organisation that is the only welfare presence at the city's largest camp,
which hosts about 400 people.
"There
is an immense need for drinking water and toilet facilities," he added,
but they may have to wait longer as the government's priority is to drain the
flooded areas.
Pressure
has heaped on swollen dams and reservoirs, forcing engineers to make
intentional breaches to save densely populated areas at the cost of worsening
the situation in the countryside.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
PM Shehbaz Sharif appears before HC in missing persons case
Sep
10, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appeared in the Islamabad high court on
Friday and assured the chief justice of making all-out efforts for the recovery
of missing persons who were allegedly picked up by security agencies on
suspicion of being involved in anti-state activities.
The
Pakistan PM was asked by the court to take the matter of enforced
disappearances to parliament to legislate on it, as “India and other countries”
have done.
Last
July, Chief Justice Athar Minallah had warned that if the missing persons were
not recovered, it would summon the incumbent chief executive, PM Shehbaz
Sharif.
As
Sharif appeared before the court, Justice Minallah told him that he was
summoned as the issue at hand was a big one. The judge recalled that the court
had referred the matter of missing persons to the federal cabinet multiple
times but the cabinet’s response “had not been what it should be”.
Making
a reference to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, he said, “A chief
executive ruled in this country for nine years. He proudly wrote in his book
that we sold our people to foreign countries.” The court emphasised that there
should not be an impression that law enforcement agencies were picking up
citizens.
Addressing
the PM, the chief justice remarked, “You are the prime minister and the
national security of this country is in your hands. This court trusts you. Give
us a solution for this issue.” He directed Sharif to take the matters to
parliament and legislate on them. “India and other countries did the same,” he
said.
PM
Shehbaz Sharif replied that solving the issue was his duty. “I cannot say that
all of the missing persons will be recovered, but we will leave no stone
unturned in this matter,” the PM told the court.
Law
minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, who was also summoned by the court along with the
PM and home minister Rana Sanaullah, asked the court for eight to 10 more weeks
to introduce reforms in the criminal justice system. The court subsequently
granted the government more time and adjourned the hearing till November 14.
Enforced
disappearances are a persistent problem across Pakistan. Human right activists
and observers claim that the law enforcement agencies, particularly
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), are responsible for forced disappearances in
Pakistan. The security agencies, however, deny such claims and insist that many
of the missing persons have either joined militant organisations such as the
Pakistani Taliban. Law enforcement agencies also contend that many had died en
route to Europe as illegal immigrants.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
President
for ensuring harassment-free environment for women at workplace
Sep
09, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
President Arif Alvi has called for economic and financial empowerment, property
rights, health and nutrition, coupled with quality education and skills and a
harassment-free workplace to motivate the women who make up almost 50 per cent
of the population to play their due and active role in business, trade, and
services sectors of the country.
The
president expressed these views while addressing the launching ceremony of the
Federal Ombudsperson Secretariat for Protection against Harassment (FOSPAH)’s
Annual Report, launched in coordination with the UN Women, at Aiwan-e-Sadr on
Friday.
The
president expressed his solidarity with flood victims around the country and
expressed his condolences and offered prayers for those who had lost their
lives during devastating floods. The participants also observed one minute of
silence in solidarity with the flood victims.
Federal
Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment Kashmala Khan, UN Women’s
Country’s Representative in Pakistan Sharmila Rasool, and Country Director of
United Institute of Peace (USIP), Pakistan Adnan Rafiq, also addressed the
occasion.
Members
of the diplomatic community, media persons and women from different walks of
life attended the ceremony. The president, along with Kashmala Khan and other
speakers launched the Annual Report of FOSPAH.
Addressing
the ceremony, the president said that our social and cultural attitudes and
intellectual biases toward women’s rights, their economic and financial
empowerment and gainful employment, and our moral and ethical values needed
correction on the basis of Islamic teachings which called for equal education
opportunities for both man and women and allowed women to seek gainful
employment by following Hazrat Khadija (RA) as a role model who was a
successful businesswoman.
The
president said that women’s inclusion in the economy could be enhanced by
improving their mobility and providing them equal opportunities in the
business, trade and services sectors and creating a safe and secure work
environment to enable them to realise their fullest potential and by taking
affirmative action wherever necessary.
He
said that in Pakistan, only 24 percent of women were working in the formal and
informal sectors of the economy which was very low compared to men whose
economic participation was around 90 percent. He said that no country can make
meaningful socio-economic progress without the full participation of women in
the economy.
He
further said that women should be treated as equal citizens as ordained in
Islam and in the Constitution of Pakistan. He said that the practice of women
voluntarily resigning from their property rights in favour of their male family
members should be discouraged to stop the exploitation of women’s rights on
inherited properties.
The
president said that over 80 percent of the admission taken in professional
colleges were by women but their retention in gainful employment was very low
due to social and domestic constraints. This trend, he said, needed to be
reversed on a priority basis through collective action by the government,
families and women themselves.
He
also called upon the industrial and services sectors to create a
harassment-free work environment in their establishments where their own women
family members and their women employees could contribute their share in
creating wealth for their company and for the country.
The
president appreciated the Federal Ombudsperson for taking concrete steps for
the expansion of its offices to Peshawar, Karachi, and Lahore to provide relief
to women complainants at their doorstep. He also commended the Federal
Ombudsperson for its hard work, commitment and introducing IT-based solutions
for filing appeals, taking statements and recording evidence, which had
increased the number of 500 cases filed from 2010-2018 to 5,000 cases from
2018-2022.
The
president advised FOSPAH to continue its efforts and improve upon it to create
awareness in the society on the importance of women’s education and their
economic role in society and to encourage them to approach Women Ombudsperson
for resolution of their issues relating to property rights and workplace harassment.
Earlier,
Kashmala addressed the ceremony and highlighted that FOSPAH was an autonomous
quasi-judicial body that provided justice to aggrieved persons in cases
involving harassment at the workplace and denial of property rights to women
within 60 days.
She
said that the establishment of a women-specific institution was indicative of
the state’s resolve toward protecting women’s rights and ensuring their
participation in the workforce.
Sharmila
in her address said that enhancing women’s participation in the workforce would
help improve Pakistan’s economy, besides helping it achieve the Sustainable
Development Goals.
Source:
Brecorder
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40196699
--------
Swatis
mourn Queen Elizabeth’s death recalling her 1961 visit
Fazal
Khaliq
September
10, 2022
SWAT:
Grief swept through Swat after the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II on
Thursday with the local elders recalling her 1961 visit to the region, which
was a princely state at that time. Accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip,
the queen stayed here for three days.
She
got so fascinated by the natural and scenic beauty of Swat that she called the
area ‘the Switzerland of the east’.
The
local elders, who were schoolchildren at that time, told Dawn that the
residents accorded a warm welcome to the royal couple on arrival.
“We
[residents] were properly trained for the [Queen Elizabeth II’s] visit and were
told to greet her with the yell ‘long live the queen’. So, when she appeared on
the road, we did that. The queen responded with waving hands and a smile on her
face,” said Mohammad Ismail, an elder of Saidu Sharif, who was a sixth grader
in the Government Wadudia High School at that time.
He
said the last Wali of Swat, Miangul Abdul Haq Jahanzeb, had invited the local
elders, ministers and his family members to her house to welcome Queen
Elizabeth.
Before
the queen’s arrival, the ruler of Swat summoned the state’s official tailor and
asked him to make the Swati cap and a purse for the guest.
“Wali-i-Swat
[Miangul Abdul Haq Jahanzeb] summoned my father and asked him to make a Swati
cap and a unique purse for the British visitors,” said Malik Aurangzeb, owner
of the Swat Cap House, whose father Malik Fazal Karim Jan was the official
tailor of the Swat state. He said his father followed the orders and when Queen
Elizabeth II showed up at the Wali’s residence, she was presented with an
elegant cap and a matching purse from the Swat Cap House.
The
local elders said Britain’s queen was received a warm welcome wherever she went
during three days visit.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1709285/swatis-mourn-queen-elizabeths-death-recalling-her-1961-visit
--------
SC
rules against appointments made behind closed doors
Nasir
Iqbal
September
10, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court has ruled that public appointments made behind closed doors
raise eyebrows since they encourage the possibility of partisan intervention
and patronage.
On
the other hand, an open selection process for offices like the chairperson and
members of the Council of Complaints (CoC) of Pakistan Electronic Media
Regulatory Authority (Pemra) prioritises competition and helps discover best
possible candidates, observed Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah in the judgement he
wrote.
Justice
Shah was member of a two-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of
Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, which upheld the Feb 8 Sindh High Court order
while hearing an appeal moved by Pemra against the ARY Communications Ltd.
The
controversy at hand revolves around the question of whether honorary
appointments to public offices like the chairperson and members of CoC be made
after advertising the positions or not.
Verdict
in Pemra-ARY case calls for selection by advertising posts
Justice
Shah observed that the constitutional imperative of equality and
non-discrimination demands that public sector appointments be made through an
open and competitive process.
The
judgement noted that neither Pemra Ordinance nor Pemra (CoC) Rules 2010 expressly
require public advertisements for appointment to be made to CoC.
The
idea is that CoC will consist of “respected, qualified and experienced members
of society” who will work independently under facilitation of Pemra and take
action on complaints received against broadcast media and distribution service
providers.
The
verdict said that any suitable candidates identified during the executive
search may be approached with the prospective offer of serving in the CoC.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1709321/sc-rules-against-appointments-made-behind-closed-doors
--------
Europe
Queen
Elizabeth II: Scunthorpe Islamic leader recalls mosque visit
09
September, 2022
A
Scunthorpe Islamic leader has reflected on the day "history was made"
when the Queen visited a town mosque.
The
2002 visit to the town's Islamic Centre was the first time the Queen had set
foot inside a British mosque.
Abid
Khan, chairman of the North Lincolnshire Multi-Faith Partnership, said of the
visit: "We felt recognised."
He
described the Queen as "a wonderful individual", adding her legacy
will be felt for years to come.
Reflecting
on the significance of the visit, Mr Khan said: "History was made that
day. People still talk about it."
Mr
Khan remembered the monarch asking, "This is aligned to Mecca?", in
reference to the prayer mat pattern woven into the carpet.
"I
remember clearly talking to her for a few minutes," he said.
"Obviously, there were a lot of people and lots going on."
The
Queen was presented with a copy of the Quran.
Mr
Khan believes the visit, part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee tour, "built
bridges" between communities, not just in Scunthorpe but further afield.
'Keep
up the good work'
Scunthorpe
would forever remember the Queen with fondness, he said.
"All
of us, of all faith and non-faith, will remember Her Majesty's legacy of public
service and celebrate her achievements," Mr Khan said.
Source:
BBC
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-62849119
--------
Attackers
throw stones at Turkish mosque in southern Sweden
Atila
Altuntas
09.09.2022
STOCKHOLM
A
mosque in Sweden affiliated with Türkiye's Presidency of Religious Affairs was
pelted with stones in an attack on the place of worship, an official said on
Friday.
Mehmet
Ozer, an official from the Jonkoping Mosque in southern Sweden, told Anadolu
Agency that they noticed the attack when they went for Friday prayers.
"The
incident was reported to the police and relevant authorities," Ozer added.
"This is the third attack on our mosque in the last three months. We're
filing our complaint, but we aren't too hopeful, as we didn't get any results
from the previous complaints."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/attackers-throw-stones-at-turkish-mosque-in-southern-sweden/2681587
--------
Swedish
far-right politicians exposed for wanting to 'eradicate' Muslims, paying
tribute to Nazis
Leila
Nezirevic
09.09.2022
STOCKHOLM
Swedish
far-right politicians participating in this year's elections have been exposed
for wanting to eradicate Muslims and "blackheads,” a derogatory term for
Black people.
Anti-racist
magazine Expo, along with news outlet, Expressen, revealed Thursday right-wing
candidates who also openly pay tribute to Nazis.
Sweden
Democrats (SD) politician Björn Halldin in Amal has been expressing anger at
Muslims for years, according to the report.
He
wrote that Muslims do not belong in a civilized world and he wants to kill
them.
“It
is time we eradicate these (expletive) Muslims,” he wrote on Facebook in 2015.
Halldin
shared insulting pictures of Black people using terms such as the N-word and
has portrayed them as lazy.
He
wrote that Sweden should exterminate "blackheads."
When
a female police officer showed solidarity with the Black Life Matter movement,
he posted an image of the officer’s face on a pornographic image.
The
SD politician has also participated in a hate campaign against Center leader
Annie Loof by spreading an inappropriate message about her.
One
politician has already announced that she is resigning, according to the report.
SD
politician Sonja Hellström, who has spread propaganda in a Nazi demonstration
resigned saying: "Consspiral? Yes, I may be, but I am not
anti-Semitic," referring to claims that she is conspiratorial.
Goran
Nordin, who is running for SD in municipal elections, has been spreading hate
speech against Muslims, and Somalis in particular.
He
wrote on Facebook that they are lazy and violent.
After
rap artist Nils Gronberg was shot dead last year, Nordin wrote: "It's no
victory to live like a Negro."
Lena
Cederlid, who is running for the SD in Falun said she is a proud member of the
racist Nazi group, DFS.
In
2018, she verbally attacked refugees in a forum when she said: "You burn,
rape, murder, plunder, steal, subsidy cheaters, and hate our country."
During
the 2014 elections, she deemed members of the Nazi Swedes' Party as "some
who dare to say what others think."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
What
the Middle East could expect from the UK’s Liz Truss government
September
09, 2022
LONDON:
The appointment of Liz Truss as the UK’s new prime minister represents as much
an opportunity as a moment of suspense for Gulf relations, with her enthusiasm
for the region matched by her being perceived as a “wild card,” according to
analysts.
An
early challenge arrived with the passing of the longest serving monarch in
British history in Truss’ very first week in office. The death of Queen
Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle on Thursday thrust the country into a royal
succession at a time of economic upheaval and political transition.
Paying
homage to a figure who was viewed by Britons as a beacon of stability and a
rare symbol of continuity and national unity, Truss described the late queen as
“the rock on which modern Britain was built” while expressing hope that “in the
difficult days ahead, we will come together with our friends ... to celebrate
her extraordinary lifetime of service.”
Although
her immediate focus will undoubtedly be on the domestic cost-of-living crisis
and spiraling energy bills, there are growing calls for Truss to ensure
continuity in strengthening relations with the Gulf states.
Chris
Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, expects Truss
will prioritize the finalization of the UK-GCC free trade agreement announced
in June, which is potentially worth £33.5 billion ($38.5 billion) in new deals.
“Trade
deals will speak to her primary objective upon taking office, and that’ll be getting
the economy sorted,” said Doyle. “There are warm relations between the UK and
the GCC and I do not see that changing dramatically. On this, it’ll likely be a
‘steady as you go’ relationship.”
Concurring
with this assessment, David Jones MP, a Conservative and Truss supporter who
chairs the UK-UAE All-Party Parliamentary Group, said the new prime minister
“recognizes the importance” of the GCC countries.
“As
former international trade secretary and foreign secretary, Ms. Truss fully
appreciates the crucial importance to the UK of maintaining strong relations
with our steadfast regional ally, the UAE,” Jones told Arab News.
“I
have no doubt that, under her leadership, those relations will be strengthened
still further into a mainstay of regional and global security.”
While
hosting the GCC foreign ministers in December last year, Truss herself stressed
that “closer economic and security ties with our Gulf partners will deliver
jobs and opportunities for British people and help make us all safer.”
But
for Doyle, these comments also exposed areas of concern, notably the new prime
minister’s “transactional” approach to foreign policy, which tends to ignore
the importance of building strong interpersonal relationships.
“Truss
showed during her time in the foreign office a very transactional nature when
dealing with other countries — one devoted to trade, the economy, and what
Britain could get out (of) it. It was looking very much at the short-term
benefits,” said Doyle.
“I
don’t expect to see that change as she steps up into the new role and I think
her focus when it comes to the Middle East will be very much about getting the
free trade deal over the line.”
Such
a short-term focus in strategy ties in with what Bronwen Maddox, director and
chief executive of Chatham House, considers the core of Truss’ perceived
political identity as a “disruptor” or even a “wild card.”
For
Maddox, the new prime minister’s reputation and apparent desire to deliberately
inject unpredictability into proceedings could be “both a strength and a
potentially calamitous weakness.”
“A
degree of improvisation in a leadership campaign is inevitable, but the
priority of the next UK prime minister should be serious. If she indulges this
(disruptor approach) without good judgment, she could do real damage to
Britain’s prospects and world standing,” she added.
Such
concerns appear well-founded and widely shared. According to Doyle, Truss
demonstrated a distinct lack of interest or commitment to global affairs during
her time at the foreign office.
“Foreign
relations should be about building relations, long-term, but she does not seem
to have a vision for foreign relations and quite what that means remains an
unknown. But her time in the post lacked any real investment in these things.
I’d expect her to be a pretty domestic-focused prime minister.”
Lina
Khatib, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House,
says she would like to see this change, suggesting a priority for Truss and her
new foreign secretary, James Cleverly, would be to restore a dedicated cabinet
position for the region.
“The
Middle East portfolio remains hefty and complex and requires diplomatic
engagement to match,” Khatib told Arab News.
“This
not only means restoring diplomatic cabinet distribution to give the region the
attention it requires but also revising the UK’s approach, putting Iran’s
regional interventions high on the agenda and in parallel to efforts on the
Iran nuclear deal.”
Cleverly
takes up the UK government’s foreign brief having previously served in a junior
foreign office post managing the Middle East and North Africa portfolio, which
included responsibility for dealing with Iran over the detention of Nazanin
Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
He
traveled extensively in the Middle East during this time, including trips to
the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. He was in Bahrain when the country appointed
its first ambassador to Israel under the Abraham Accords, which he described as
“genuinely a joyous occasion.”
Cleverly
was an early supporter of Truss’ bid for the leadership, believing she would
lay down a more robust challenge to Iran than her predecessors.
Truss
won the grueling two-month battle to replace Boris Johnson on Sept. 5, beating
her rival Rishi Sunak with 57 percent of the vote — the tightest margin of
victory since Iain Duncan Smith was elected party leader in 2001 while the
Conservatives were in opposition.
Doyle
agrees that Truss will likely “take a more hawkish view than Johnson” when it
comes to Iran. “Where I do expect that a Truss premiership will be even tougher
and take a less helpful line is on Israel-Palestine,” he told Arab News.
“Under
Johnson, government policy was dire and extremely partisan to one side: Israel.
Truss will go even further, including reviewing moving the UK’s embassy to
Jerusalem. It will be a deeply unfair and wrong approach to adopt.”
There
are some Middle East watchers who are broadly optimistic about relations under
Truss’ stewardship. Charlotte Leslie, director of the Conservative Middle East
Council, believes Truss proved her bona fides during her time as foreign
secretary.
“Personalities
really matter in negotiations and Truss has demonstrated that she sees the GCC
as close allies and friends, so I expect to see solid agreements reached that
will quickly grow the almost £30 billion ($34.5 billion) already invested in
each other’s economies,” Leslie told Arab News.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2159591/world
--------
Afghan
child reunites with twin brother in Britain after year-long delay
September
09, 2022
LONDON:
An Afghan boy has been reunited with his twin brother in Britain after enduring
a year of being stranded in France.
Obaidullah
Jabarkhyl, 11, was separated from his parents and siblings during the
evacuation from Afghanistan after the Taliban took over in August 2021.
The
young boy then spent a year living in fear in Strasbourg, a French city on the
German border, while the Home Office processed his asylum application.
Obaidullah’s
wait finally came to an end on Wednesday after he arrived at London’s St.
Pancras train station, the Metro newspaper reported.
His
twin brother, Irfanullah, greeted him at the station in Britain’s capital,
where he had been living with their UK-based family.
Arriving
at the Eurostar train station, Obaidullah said: “I’m tired but happy.
“I’m
most looking forward to learning English at school and meeting new friends
here.”
His
cousin, Qamar, criticized the government delays that kept families separated.
Qamar
added that the family’s case being widely reported along with the support of MP
Bob Blackman led to action being taken.
The
28-year-old British citizen and engineer told the Metro: “As soon as the news
went viral the Home Office managed to make a contact on Monday.
“They
promised back in March or February to take swift action and they didn’t.
“We
are still thankful for the way they helped but I think they should help others
because there are many other Afghans in the same situation, little kids living
away from home.”
Qamar
said that Obaidullah was ready to “put it all behind him” and live a new life
in Britain.
“When
he arrived on the train Irfanullah cried for him, it was very emotional,” he
said.
“He
says he still doesn’t believe he’s arrived in the UK. He’s so excited to be
here and he wants to put it all behind him now.
“When
he left Afghanistan he told me he didn’t feel any happiness for escaping the
Taliban regime because he’d left his family behind.
“Coming
here was the first time he realized. He was upset that his parents are left
behind and he may never see them again.”
The
family’s lawyer, Nick O’Loughlan, welcomed the Home Office’s intervention to
recover the Afghan boy, but warned that family reunion delays are increasing.
“Home
Office guidance states that decisions in family reunion applications should be
made within 12 weeks,” O’Loughlan said.
“However,
we are routinely seeing these applications take up to a year, often with no
reason at all being offered as justification.
“The
long delays we are seeing can be extremely damaging to the mental health of
applicants, particularly to those who are vulnerable and are left stranded
without their family members.
“I
hope that the Home Office will acknowledge this and take steps to ensure that
their service standards are upheld.”
A
Home Office spokesperson did not respond to this criticism, but told the Metro:
“Obaidullah Jabar Khil has arrived safely in the UK and reunited with his
family.
“We
have worked closely with the local authority and social services throughout,
who will continue to support Obaidullah and his family.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2159366/world
--------
Southeast
Asia
Gov’t
Supports Move To Gazette Kampung Laut Mosque as UNESCO World Heritage Site: Prime
Minister
09-
10- 2022
KOTA
BHARU: The government fully supports the move to gazette the Kampung Laut
Mosque as a National Monument under the National Heritage Department and as a
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) World
Heritage Site, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Ismail
Sabri, in his Facebook post today, also described the move as being very
significant.
“I
am very happy, because after more than 50 years, the desire of the people of Kelantan
to bring back the old Mosque of Kampung Laut (to its place of origin) has
become a reality.
“The
government has also spent RM40 million on the Kampung Laut Redevelopment
Project which consists of the Serunding Heritage Site, the Art Heritage Site and
the relocation of the Old Kampung Laut Mosque,“ he said.
The
Kampung Laut Mosque - the oldest in Malaysia at 400 years old - was brought
back to its original location along with original components such as the tower
structure and pulpit, some 50 years after it was relocated to Nilam Puri, due
to floods.
Meanwhile,
Ismail Sabri said the Palekbang Bridge construction project to connect Kota
Bharu with Tumpat scheduled to begin at the end of this year could solve the
traffic congestion issue in the area.
He
added that the four-kilometre-long bridge would also be the main catalyst for
Kelantan as an investment and tourism destination, apart from improving the
socioeconomic status of the local population.
Source:
The Sun Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Singapore
to host study visits for minority Muslim communities to exchange ideas
Tham
Yuen-C
SEP
9, 2022
SINGAPORE
- A foundation started by Singapore's Muslim community will host study visits
for individuals from countries where Muslims are a minority to share best
practices and exchange ideas.
The
Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation, set up in 2009, will organise the visits under
the Singapore Cooperation Programme, which aims to help other countries develop
human capital, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli said on
Friday.
He
made the announcement at the start of the two-day International Conference on
Communities of Success (ICCOS) held at Raffles City Convention Centre.
The
study visits will promote mutual exchange of ideas and practices to develop
successful minority Muslim communities globally and boost cooperation in this
area between countries. More details will be announced later this year.
Mr
Masagos said Muslims living as minorities around the world, especially in open,
secular and progressive societies under the rule of law, face different
considerations and challenges compared with societies where they are the
majority.
It
is important for such minority Muslim communities to be able to refer to
relevant guidance on how to practise their faith confidently," the
minister added.
To
this end, Singapore's Mufti Nazirudin Mohd Nasir urged Islamic leaders and
scholars to work out the principles and values that can help their community
make their own decisions when faced with their own problems.
He
cited the example of how some Muslims had called Muis to ask if they could eat
at particular restaurants when travelling, and said people should be educated
on the meaning of food that is halal, or prepared according to Muslim law, so
they are empowered to make such decisions themselves.
He
also spoke about Singapore's experience during the Covid-19 pandemic, noting
the religious positions taken then were unprecedented and even controversial
initially, such as shutting mosques.
"We
worked closely with medical experts and listened carefully to scientific
insights before issuing the positions, or fatwa," he added, noting that
some communities around the world mistakenly saw medical guidance as being in
opposition to faith. "We needed to find ways to reconcile between science
and faith: they complement, not conflict with one another."
Whether
for a small but diverse nation like Singapore, or for faith communities, success
hinges on the ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances and
conditions, guided by principles and values, he added. He noted that during
Singapore's circuit breaker in 2020, when places of worship had to close, some
worried that faith communities would lose relevance.
But
if one knew where to look in scripture, there was guidance on social
distancing, mask-wearing and vaccination, Dr Nazirudin said, citing a verse
from the Quran: "Whoever saves a life, it is as if he has saved all
humanity."
He
added that faith groups here adapted and implemented safe measures for the
greater good of society and to protect lives.
"Beyond
that, religious leaders expressed solidarity and support for each other. Faith
communities could draw strength from this togetherness at a time when anxieties
were high," he said.
Source:
Straits Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
PAS’s
botched attempt at polygamy
September
10, 2022
PAS’
stance of wooing Umno while cohabiting with Bersatu is being called out for
what it is: plain-faced double dealing.
The
Islamic party’s attempt at running with the foxes and hunting with the hounds
as an electoral strategy in preparation for GE15 has been pooh-poohed by
significant Umno personages over the last six months.
But
because there are Umno malcontents sympathetic to PAS’ expressed goal of
uniting the ummah to go against Pakatan Harapan at the polls, the party can
foment the impression their overtures to Umno are for a noble cause.
However,
this facade of nobility is now wearing thin.
In
the face of PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin’s disclosure that the party has
been talking to unnamed Umno leaders about electoral cooperation, Muhyiddin
Yassin, president of PAS’ ally, Bersatu, which Umno finds anathema, did not
seem too pleased.
He
said he proposed to ask PAS about the overtures but Muhyiddin is unlikely to
obtain candid answers.
That
is because PAS regards Umno’s implacable antagonism towards Bersatu as
something that can be conjured away under the siren call of Islamic unity.
The
unity of the ummah has been a fiction that Islamist politicians find convenient
to trot out whenever they want to camouflage ambition under the drapery of
religion.
Time
was when Umno and PAS were the only two Malay/Muslim parties in the country.
But
now there is a plethora of Malay/Muslim parties, the result of multiple schisms
in parent parties, Umno and PAS.
Incidentally,
there was no shortage of fervent calls for Islamic/Malay unity as the
splinterings occurred.
From
the late 1970s, the formation of such political vehicles as Berjasa, then
Semangat 46 in the late 1980s followed by Bersatu in the mid-2010s, and then
Pejuang and now, Gerakan Pejuang Tanah Air, in the early 2020s, has exposed
Islamic, or even for that matter, Malay unity, for what it is: a convenient
fiction championed by driven politicians out to discharge rancour over developments
that disfavoured them.
PAS
is calling on Umno to prioritise the unity of the ummah over its desire to
settle scores with Bersatu, to whom PAS seems unalterably wedded.
It
is a marriage that PAS appears unable to disengage from, which is the proviso Umno
has set the party if it wants a tie-up going into GE15.
But
PAS won’t ditch Bersatu, an alliance that has brought PAS its highest haul of
federal power and perquisites in its 68-year history.
Thirty
months and counting of a federal cohabitation with Bersatu and an Umno rump
have given PAS a taste of what it is like to enjoy federal power.
Power
seduces, more so when the wielder has not had a taste of it in a long time.
Umno,
which has had a decades-old dalliance with federal power and then lost it, and now
on course to retake it, knows what’s motivating PAS to sue for Umno’s electoral
collaboration at GE15.
It’s
baiting PAS in order to finish off a splinter it considers responsible for its
ouster from federal power.
But
PAS won’t bite the bait.
To
Umno, that’s just as well because the Islamic party has become too much of a
hot potato on cultural issues.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2022/09/10/pass-botched-attempt-at-polygamy/
--------
Sultan
of Brunei becomes world’s longest-serving monarch after Elizabeth II’s passing
September
09, 2022
LONDON:
The sultan of Brunei is now the world’s longest-serving monarch following the
death on Thursday of Elizabeth II, who was the queen of the UK and 15 other
Commonwealth realms.
Hassanal
Bolkiah, who ascended to the throne in 1967, has reigned for 54 years and 339
days.
His
reign is four years longer than that of Danish Queen Margrethe II, who is now
the world’s second-longest reigning monarch.
Before
her sudden passing on Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving
monarch in the world. Her platinum jubilee — marking 70 years since her
coronation — was celebrated in June.
Bolkiah
was reportedly good friends with the queen, with the sultanate and Britain
enjoying a close relationship marked by several ceremonial associations.
Members
of the Brunei royal family hold several honorary positions in the British Armed
Forces.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2159456/world
--------
Mideast
Iran:
US Must Avoid Ambiguities to Reach Agreement in Vienna Talks
2022-September-9
"We
are still serious in our efforts to reach a good, strong, and sustainable
agreement, but the Americans must refrain from using ambiguous phrases on the
text to reach an agreement in shortest possible time," Amir Abdollahian
said during the phone talk with Wang Yi
on Thurtsday night.
The
Chinese foreign minister, for his part, conveyed the Chinese president’s warmest
regards to Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi.
Wang
Yi reiterated that Beijing favors expansion of relations and cooperation with
Tehran.
The
top Chinese diplomat voiced Beijing’s strong rejection to unilateralism in the
international field, and said that his country supports Iran’s righteous
demands in the Vienna talks.
On
Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian vowed that Tehran will not take a step back from
its redlines in the ongoing talks with the world powers.
Amir-Abdollahian
made the remarks on Wednesday during an address to the Assembly of Experts,
Iran's top leadership supervisory body.
The
top diplomat assured that while partaking in the talks, the Iranian government
was carefully observing "the lines that have been drawn by Leader of the
Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei]" towards neutralization
of the sanctions in parallel with the negotiation process.
The
red lines "are subject of emphasis by President [Ebrahim Raeisi]",
the foreign minister said, adding, "The Foreign Ministry [too] is
following the same path seriously and strongly."
Describing
the government's economic performance, Amir-Abdollahian also said the
administration was not tying up the country's economy and the Iranian people's
livelihood with the issue of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),
the nuclear deal's official title, and potential removal of the sanctions.
The
foreign minister then turned to the issue of Iran's status as a major regional
and international player, saying that "no party is able to ignore the role
and important position of the Islamic Republic of Iran in any regional security
and political arrangement".
He
also hailed that the country's foreign policy was following a "very
hopeful" and "forward-looking" trend across the various
political, economic, commercial, cultural, and security fields.
Regarding
the issue of the Islamic Republic's economic ties with the outside world, Amir
Abdollahian noted the Iranian government was leading a "balanced foreign
policy", which prioritizes ties with the country's neighbors as well as
Asian countries.
The
senior diplomat added that all of the United States' efforts aimed at setting
up new political and security arrangements in the region that would factor the
Islamic Republic out "have resulted in defeat".
Tehran
and the five remaining parties to the nuclear deal have held several rounds of
negotiations since April last year to restore the agreement, which was
unilaterally abandoned by former US President Donald Trump in May 2018.
In
quitting the agreement, Trump restored sanctions on Iran as part of what he
called the “maximum pressure” campaign against the country. Those sanctions are
being enforced to this day by the Joe Biden administration, even though it has
repeatedly acknowledged that the policy has been a mistake and a failure.
Iranian
officials say the ball is in the US' court, and the Biden administration should
assure Tehran that it will not repeat Trump's past mistakes.
Diplomats
have also criticized Washington for raising excessive demands from Tehran
during the nuclear talks, and blocking efforts to reach an agreement on the
JCPOA. They emphasized the Tehran's will to reach a good, strong and lasting
agreement, and stressed that the US should lift unilateral sanctions, and
assure Iran that it will not repeat its past mistakes.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Muslims
in Balkans hail Islamic centre inaugurated by Erdoğan
SEP
09, 2022
Muslims
across Balkan nations welcomed the inauguration of an Islamic center funded by
Türkiye.
Earlier
this week, Erdoğan concluded his three-day tour with stops in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. In Croatia's central city of Sisak, Erdoğan
opened the Islamic Cultural Center, which was funded by Türkiye.
Those
who participated in the opening ceremony shared their joy with Anadolu Agency
(AA).
Mirsada
Biljeskovic, who lives in Germany but traveled to Croatia for the opening
ceremony, said the center will benefit Muslims in the region. "I am very
proud here. Many people, including me, think it would be beneficial for all of
us because it is a positive situation. I dedicate today to our President
Erdogan," said Biljeskovic. Zikrija Hodzic, who has been serving as an
imam for eight years in Slovenia, said Erdogan's visit and support are of great
importance for the Muslims of the region. "The opening of the Islamic
Cultural Center represents a great opportunity for Muslims to spread our good
faith, establish dialogue, promote our culture and religion," said Hodzic.
Imam
Aljo Cikotic, who traveled to Sisak from Bosnia and Herzegovina for the
opening, said the center will be a bridge connecting Türkiye and the Balkans.
"The opening of the center is the 55-year-old dream of the Muslims of
Sisak. I am very happy to participate in this historical program ... This is a
project that will last for generations. "Today's opening actually shows
the desire to build places where Muslims can pray freely throughout
history."
"Today,
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave great support here and this is the place in return.
It will bear his name. This will also be a bridge connecting Türkiye and the
Balkans," said Cikotic. Erdoğan, at the inauguration ceremony on Thursday,
said Croatia is among the countries in Europe which sets itself apart with respect
to the freedom and peace it offers Muslims.
Source:
Daily Sabah
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/muslims-in-balkans-hail-islamic-center-inaugurated-by-erdogan/news
--------
Iran
Blasts US, UK for Keeping Silent on Anti-Iran Cyberattacks
2022-September-9
In
a statement issued on Thursday, Iran's mission blasted the US-UK attempt to
accuse Iran of playing any role in a cyberattack against Albania.
It
said reiterated that Washington and London lack the legitimacy and competency
to put forward such allegations against Iran.
The
full text of the Iranian mission's statement is as follows:
As
a victim of cyber-attacks, Iran strongly condemns any cyber-attack targeting
civilian infrastructure in all its forms & manifestations. We rejected the
baseless accusations of the US and the UK against the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding
an alleged cyberattack on Albania.
The
US and the UK, that had previously remained silent in numerous cyberattacks
against Iran’s infrastructures and its nuclear facilities, and had even
directly or indirectly supported those measures, lack any legitimacy to level
such accusations against Iran.
As
the main victim of terrorism, Iran urges the Member States of the UN to uphold
their international obligations in combating terrorism by not harboring or
supporting terrorist groups within their territory.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iranian
Army Ground Force Test-Fires Strategic 'Fath 360' Missile
2022-September-9
"The
missile, codenamed Fath (Conquest) 360, was launched in the second stage of
Eghtedar (Authority) 1401 drills, which are underway in the Nasrabad region of
the province," Iranian Army Ground Force Deputy Commander Brigadier
General Nozar Nemati said.
"The
Iranian Army units also fired volleys of indigenous Fajr-5 (Dawn-5) missiles.
The missile reportedly has a range of 75 kilometers (50 miles) and can carry
175-kilogram fragmentation warheads with 90 kilograms of high explosives,"
he added.
Fath
360 missile can hit strategic targets at the speed of 3,704 kilometers per
hour, and its velocity can be increased to some 5,000 km/h while communicating
with satellites for quick navigation and fast strikes against enemy targets.
Iranian
Army Ground Force started the two-day Eqtedar (Strength) 1401 exercises on
Wednesday.
According
to Commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters Major General
Gholamali Rashid, the drills have been designed and executed according to
potential future wars and predicted threats.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
Condemns Rights Violation of Iranian Diplomats in Albania
2022-September-9
Kana'ani
has expressed concern after media reports said local officials in the Albanian
capital Tirana had interacted improperly with the Iranian Embassy and its
staff.
"If
the media reports are true, the way the Iranian diplomats were treated was in
violation of international law and the Vienna Convention concerning diplomatic
rights, and the Albanian government will be responsible for the consequences of
breaching the convention," he added.
Albanian
Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Wednesday that Albania is ending diplomatic
relations with Iran and has ordered Iranian diplomats and embassy staff to
leave within 24 hours.
"The
government has decided with immediate effect to end diplomatic relations with
the Islamic Republic of Iran," Rama said in a video statement sent to the
media.
Albania,
which is a safe heaven for anti-Iran terrorist organizations, accused Iran of
carrying out cyber attacks on the country.
Some
Saudi sources also claimed that the Albanian government has expelled the
Iranian ambassador in Tirana, while Iran has not had an ambassador in this
country since 2017.
Since
2013, Albania has been home to members of the notorious Mujahedin-e-Khalq
Organization (MKO) terrorist organization, which has killed more than 12,000
Iranian civilians and authorities throughout its brutal campaign since the 1979
revolution in Iran.
Previously,
the MKO terror group which is known in Iran as "Hypocrites" carried
out numerous cyber attacks against Iran's infrastructure and network from
Albania.
Earlier
on Wednesday, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama announced the decision, giving
Iranian diplomats and embassy staff 24 hours to leave the Southeastern European
country.
In
a relevant development on Wednesday, Kana'ani strongly denounced Albania's
severance of diplomatic ties with Tehran, and dismissed the anti-Iran
allegations over cyberattack against Tirana as unfounded.
Kana'ani
condemned Albania's decision to cut ties with Iran and send back Iranian
diplomats as "injudicious" and "lacking in foresight".
He
also termed allegations leveled against Tehran as "baseless" and
"unsubstantiated", blaming it on "third parties".
Refuting
the allegation, Kana'ani said as one of the victims of rampant cyberattacks,
Tehran condemns any use of cyberspace toward infringement on other countries'
vital infrastructures.
The
spokesperson identified the United States, the Israeli regime, and the
Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), an anti-Iran terrorist group that has
been hosted by Albania since 2016, as the "third parties" that have
propelled Tirana into taking the decision.
The
statement cited the United States' National Security Council and Israeli media
outlets' expeditious welcoming of the Albanian government's move, noting that
this "bespeaks existence of a choreographed plan aimed at political
atmosphere against the Islamic Republic".
The
United States' National Security Council and the British Foreign Office have
echoed accusations thrown by Albania against Iran of conducting cyberattacks
against the European country's infrastructures.
In
response, Kana'ani stated the US and the UK are not in a position to accuse
Iran of cyberspace violations, given their previous silence and even support in
the face of such transgressions against Tehran.
The
United States and the UK lack whatever right "to level such accusations
against Iran in light of their silence and even support in the face of numerous
previous cyberattacks against Iran's infrastructure", the spokesman said
in early Thursday.
The
official cited the instance of Washington and London's mum on previous
cyberattacks and even direct or indirect espousal of them against Iran's
nuclear facilities.
The
diplomat warned against any "political adventurism" against Iran
under such "ridiculous" accusations.
He
added the Islamic Republic was completely ready to deliver a "decisive,
instantaneous, and regret-inducing response" to whatever plot that could
start targeting the country.
It
comes as the US National Security Agency (NSA), its spy service CIA, and
Israel’s military had worked together to launch Stuxnet against Iran’s nuclear
facilities.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
strongly condemns US sanctions over Albania hacking
10
September, 2022
Iran
on Saturday strongly condemned a US decision to impose sanctions on its
intelligence ministry, blamed for a major cyber-attack on NATO ally Albania.
Albania
severed diplomatic ties with Iran on Wednesday after accusing it of the July 15
cyber-attack that sought, but failed, to paralyze public services and access
data and government communications systems.
In
response on Friday, the United States slapped sanctions on Iran’s intelligence
ministry and its minister Esmail Khatib, saying the attack “disregards norms of
responsible peacetime state behavior in cyberspace.”
On
Saturday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said: “The ministry
of foreign affairs strongly condemns the action of the US treasury department
in repeatedly sanctioning the ministry of intelligence of the Islamic republic.
“America’s
immediate support for the false accusation of the Albanian government... shows
that the designer of this scenario is not the latter, but the American
government,” he added in a statement.
Kanani
accused the US of “giving full support to a terrorist sect,” referring to the
opposition People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, or Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), members of
which are hosted by Albania.
Albania
agreed in 2013 to take in members of the MEK from Iraq at the request of
Washington and the United Nations, with thousands settling in the Balkan
country over the years.
“This
criminal organization continues to play a role as one of America’s tools in
perpetrating terrorist acts, cyber attacks” against Iran, the statement added.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Africa
Dozens
Reportedly Killed In Islamic State Attack in Mali
September
09, 2022
BAMAKO,
MALI —
Dozens
of civilians were killed this week in a northern Malian town attacked by
jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State group, a local elected official and
the leader of an armed group told AFP Friday.
It
was the first time the town of Talataye, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) from
the city of Gao, has been attacked on such a scale by the Islamic State in the
Greater Sahara (ISGS).
On
Tuesday, the jihadists fought a fierce battle with rivals from the
al-Qaida-affiliated Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) and other armed
groups, including the Tuareg-dominated Movement for the Salvation of Azawad
(MSA), people familiar with the events told AFP.
The
ISGS fighters, who emerged from the bush on motorbikes, took control of the
town Tuesday evening after more than three hours of fighting, AFP learned
earlier this week.
The
situation on the ground remains unclear, as information is difficult to come by
in the dangerous and remote Sahel area, largely cut off from communication
networks.
The
death toll also varies according to different accounts.
A
local official said that 45 civilians had been killed, while an MSA leader put
the civilian death toll at 30. Both spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity and
added that houses and the market had been torched.
An
international humanitarian worker in the region said "several dozen"
civilians had been killed.
It
is unclear whether the civilians were deliberately killed or caught in
crossfire.
Both
the local politician and the MSA leader said there had been at least a partial
withdrawal of ISGS fighters since Tuesday.
MSA
fighters entered the town on Thursday, the group said. It says it now controls
one part of the area while the GSIM controls another part.
MSA
fighters have "gathered information and bodies," he added.
"What
really worries us is the humanitarian situation — the people are left to fend
for themselves," the local politician said.
A
women's association from the area, but based in Gao, launched an "urgent
appeal" on Friday to "come to the aid of the battered
population."
Caught
in the crossfire
Talataye,
an agglomeration of hamlets, lies at the heart of competing areas of influence,
and clashes are frequent. It had some 13,000 inhabitants in 2009, the date of
the last census in Mali.
The
area is mainly inhabited by Tuareg Dahoussahak nomads, with few urban centers
and a sparse population.
The
GSIM is said to be influential there.
Other
armed groups consisting mainly of MSA fighters that signed a 2015 peace accord
are also based there.
The
regions of Gao and Menaka, to its east, have for months suffered infighting
among jihadist groups as well as violence between jihadists and other armed
groups.
The
state has a very weak presence, and civilians, mainly nomads living in camps
scattered across the desert, are frequently caught in the crossfire.
Jihadists
attack the civilians, often on suspicion of siding with the enemy.
Hundreds
of civilians have died, and tens of thousands have been displaced.
The
Malian government on Tuesday said it had carried out a "reconnaissance
offensive" of Talataye from the air.
The
army's communications chief, Colonel Souleymane Dembele, told the Malian press
Friday that the occupation of Talataye by ISGS jihadists was "fake
news."
ISGS,
formed after a split with other jihadist groups in 2015, has flourished in
recent years in the border area between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
It
recruits largely from historically marginalized nomadic communities, and is
responsible for numerous civilian massacres, notably in Seytenga, Burkina Faso,
where 86 civilians were killed in June.
Source:
VOA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.voanews.com/a/dozens-reportedly-killed-in-islamic-state-attack-in-mali/6738708.html
--------
Government
slams commission for demanding action against Ethiopia after resumption of war
in north
Addis
Getachew
10.09.2022
ADDIS
ABABA, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
slammed a request Friday by the International Commission of Human Rights
Experts on Ethiopia who urged the UN Security Council to “take action” against
the country.
The
experts made the request Sept. 7, two weeks after the resumption of fighting
between federal forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) rebels,
shattering a five-month humanitarian truce.
“The
Commission has no competence or proper appreciation of the conflict triggered
by the TPLF in violation of the humanitarian truce,” the Foreign Ministry said
in a statement. “The Commission’s ultra vires and blatant call for action
against Ethiopia by the Security Council only show the reckless behavior of the
Commission and vindicates the Government’s assertion that the resolution
establishing the Commission, and the works of the Commission are politically
motivated.”
“The
Commission weaponized human rights for political pressure and exposed its true
intentions, foreclosing all doors of cooperation with the Government,”
according to the statement.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Nigeria
military kills 420 terrorists during month-long operations
Olanrewaju
Kola
10.09.2022
MAIDUGURI,
Nigeria
More
than 400 Boko Haram and Daesh/ISIS in West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists
have been killed by Nigeria forces in operations in northeast Borno State, an
army commander said Friday.
"Our
ground troops have killed at least 420 Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists in many
of our operations in Borno State within August," said Maj. Gen Christopher
Musa, commander of the Counter-terrorism Joint Task Force Northeast.
He
said the air force conducted airstrikes on terrorist locations, leading to the
deaths of dozens and the military received an order from the president to stop
terrorism in the region before the end of 2023.
Nigeria
has faced 13 years of terrorism activities by Boko Haram and its affiliate,
ISWAP, in the northern region.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Poverty
has increased in Somalia amid terror attacks: World Bank
Mohammed
Dhaysane?
09.09.2022
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
Poverty
among the poor in Somalia has increased as terror attacks are threatening the
government and limiting its capacity to implement effective development
policies, the World Bank said.
In
a statement, the bank said that the consumption of households exposed to
terrorist incidents decreased by 33%, mainly on food items.
“As
a result, poverty and the depth of poverty among the poor increases. The
decline in consumption seems to be explained by a smaller share of household
members working and earning income after an attack”, the statement added.
“The
decline in consumption seems to be explained by a smaller share of household
members working and earning income after an attack,” it said, adding the effect
on consumption is restricted to a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) radius from incidents.
“Achieving
peace is a fundamental first step to increase welfare conditions that will also
bring other wider long-term benefits in Somalia”, the bank said.
Somalia
is one of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that still faces many
challenges and remains “fragile”, it added.
The
country has been grappling with increasing insecurity for years, with the
al-Shabaab terror group being one of the main threats in the Horn of Africa
country.
Since
at least 2007, al-Shabaab has waged a deadly campaign against the Somali
government and international forces that has claimed thousands of lives.
The
UN has warned of growing instability in the country, with its periodic reports
on Somalia this year detailing attacks by al-Shabaab and pro-Daesh/ISIS groups.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
North
America
US
sanctions Iran's Intelligence Ministry, its chief over cyber activities
Ovunc
Kutlu
09.09.2022
The
US imposed sanctions on Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and
its Minister of Intelligence for engaging in cyber-enabled activities against
the US and its allies, the Treasury Department announced on Friday.
The
department said in a statement the MOIS and its cyber actor proxies have
conducted malicious cyber operations since at least 2007, targeting a range of
government and private-sector organizations around the world.
It
said cyber threat actors assessed to be sponsored by the Iranian government and
MOIS disrupted Albanian government computer systems in July this year, forcing
the government to suspend online public services for its citizens.
"Iran’s
cyber-attack against Albania disregards norms of responsible peacetime State
behavior in cyberspace, which includes a norm on refraining from damaging
critical infrastructure that provides services to the public," Brian
Nelson, Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said
in the statement.
The
department said the US identified a group earlier this year, known as
MuddyWater, and added that it is a subordinate element within MOIS that has
been conducting cyber campaigns in support of the organization’s objectives
since 2018.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Senate
public hearings on Islamophobia hears testimony from Muslims in Edmonton
By
Nicole Stillger
September
9, 2022
At
a public hearing in Edmonton, members of the local Muslim community shared
powerful testimonies with senators about their experiences with racism and
hate-motivated crimes.
It’s
part of a Canada-wide study on Islamophobia conducted by the Senate Committee
on Human Rights — proposed by Sen. Salma Ataullahjan.
“I
was looking at the stats and I found out the most Muslims killed in a G7
country were in Canada — I was shocked,” Ataullahjan said Thursday.
Committee
member and first Muslim senator, Mobina Jaffer, said they want to make the
community feel like they are being heard.
“When
you come to a city and hear from the people who are dealing with it, it makes
me think this is not the country I know — this is not the country I came to,”
Jaffer explained.
It’s
an escalating issue in Edmonton.
Earlier
this year, police charged four people in connection with six assaults over the
span of several months — all believed to be motivated by hate.
In
2020, Edmonton recorded 79 hate crimes. In 2021, that number jumped to 116.
Jibril
Ibrahim, president of the Somali-Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton, spoke
at the hearing — one of many witnesses calling for concrete action on the
issue.
“Unless
there is a consequence of these actions, then we will see more and more,”
Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim
said those crimes are largely underreported because of historically negative
interactions with police, including not being taken seriously.
The
Edmonton Police Service said it takes these crimes seriously and its hate
crimes investigators want to know about hate incidents.
“Hate
impacts everyone and has far reaching impacts for victims and entire
communities,” a spokesperson for EPS said in a statement.
“For
this reason, we continue to work closely with our community partners to build
trust and encourage citizens to feel safe reporting these crimes and incidents
to police.”
EPS
acknowledges hate crimes are underreported and noted an online reporting system
is currently in development.
Police
hope the tool will make reporting more accessible for those who feel
uncomfortable calling police.
“There
are people who have encountered hate crime, but they are afraid to report it,
because of they’re afraid that the perpetrators might follow them to their
house and do harm to them,” Ibrahim added.
One
of his suggestions to senators is to put those charged with a hate-crime in a
database — similar to sex offenders.
“What
cannot be measured cannot be improved,” Ibrahim said.
“The
only way they can come out of that database, if they want to, is to do
community work of 200 hours — to work with the same community that they
offended.”
Senators
said it’s clear there are many aspect of the study to be closely examined,
including changing the term Islamophobia.
“I’m
re-thinking this whole name now — Islamophobia,” Ataullahjan said.
“We’ve
had speakers express concern — to have a phobia means you’re scared of someone,
but it doesn’t address the issues of the Muslims.”
Source:
Global News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://globalnews.ca/news/9118382/edmonton-senate-public-hearings-islamophobia/
--------
How
the 'war on terror' obscures America's alliance with right-wing Islam
Nazia
Kazi
9
September 2022
There’s
an oft-repeated refrain by Muslim American multiculturalists: “Indonesia is the
world’s most populous Muslim country.” You’ll hear it at conventions and panel
discussions or read it in pamphlets that remind American audiences that Muslims
are not just Arab or South Asian, that the global Muslim population is vast and
varied.
Yet,
there’s a provocative tale buried here, in the history of this most-populous
Muslim nation, and it gets lost in platitudes about the diversity of the Muslim
world.
It’s
a story that indicts not only imperialist violence and capitalist expansion,
but the manipulation of Muslim identity itself in enabling each of these.
A
widespread exuberance swept Indonesia following its 1949 independence from a
brutal Dutch colonialism. Independence brought a robust labour movement,
thriving trade unions, a leap in the status of women, and a marked improvement
in the national standard of living.
The
communist party, the PKI, flourished, ushering in literacy in the countryside
and the nationalisation of foreign-owned businesses. Most PKI members were
observant Muslims, continuing the tradition of Tan Malaka, who had sought to
propagate through the Dutch colony the notion of Islam’s compatibility with
Marxism-Leninism.
Malaka
wrote: “Alongside the crescent, the star of the soviets will be the great
battle emblem of approximately 250 million Muslims of the Sahara, Arabia,
Hindustan and our Indies…let us realise that the millions of proletarian
Muslims are as little attracted to an imperialist pan-Islamism as to Western
imperialism.”
Though
Indonesian President Sukarno was himself no communist, he recognised the
strengths of various forces in Indonesia: communist, nationalist, and
religious, and believed a tripartite blend of these ought to shape the nation’s
political system.
This
was enough for the CIA to make moves to end Sukarno’s rule. At times, these
efforts were cartoonish: the agency once produced a false pornographic video,
featuring a Sukarno body double, in a ploy to deflate his popularity.
Practising,
observant Muslims populated Indonesia’s trade union, progressive, and communist
movements. But their right-wing opposition was also overtly religious, and it
was in them that the CIA and State Department saw key allies.
These
US-backed right-wing Muslim forces would use explicitly religious
justifications - despite the overwhelming Muslim composition of the Indonesian
left – in their assaults on the PKI and other left elements.
What
happened next is well-known: a bloody reign of terror under Suharto that, under
the banner of anti-communism, carried out a genocidal purge in Indonesia.
Hundreds of thousands, if not a million, were brutally murdered.
The
US hailed the outcome a great success. US News & World Report ran a
headline: “Indonesia: Hope Where There Once Was None.” As recently as 2011,
presidential candidate Mitt Romney assessed the US role in this devastating
history, proclaiming, “We helped them move toward modernity.”
Indonesia,
where observant Muslim leftists were stamped out by US-backed right-wing Muslim
forces, is an object lesson for how we might rethink our fundamental
conceptions of Islamophobia.
The
CIA’s Afghan jihad
Perhaps
the most insidious case of the security state’s relationship with Islam is in
Afghanistan, where the US carefully sponsored a regressive brand of Islamic
practise in order to weaken and provoke its Soviet foe.
This
sponsorship would come home to roost decades later in the most spectacular
instance of blowback in US history, the 11 September attacks.
And
Islam wasn’t just a backdrop for the manoeuvrings of US policy in Afghanistan;
it was its raw material.
The
CIA printed and circulated “jihadi” schoolbooks for Afghan children, books that
used the language of Islam and holy war to indoctrinate young Afghans to wage
battle against the Soviets.
CIA
Director Bill Casey explicitly named Islam a natural ally for the US against
communism, printing and circulating thousands of copies of the Quran in
Afghanistan.
This
reality, in which right-wing alliances serve the whims of empire, is lost when
Islamophobia is flattened into a uniform global pogrom against Muslims.
Instead, we ought to take seriously the nuances between, for instance, the
Indian ethno-nationalist current, China’s response to separatist Islamist
movements, and the apparatus of homeland security in the US.
As
in the case of Indonesia or Afghanistan, we see nothing inherently at odds
between Islam or Muslims and the ambitions of the US national security state.
At times, it is the opposite.
The
Islamophobia of intelligence
One
motive of the CIA itself during the years known as the “cultural Cold War ''
was to urge Americans to think in personal, experiential, identitarian terms,
not material ones.
At
the CIA-backed Iowa Writers’ Workshop, authors were taught to reflect on their
lived experiences and sensations, rather than political dynamics and critique.
And
in the art world, the agency saw to it that the paint splotches of Jackson
Pollock – far more innocuous than the politicised, anti-imperialist art of the
time – garnered fame.
Even
today, the CIA pushes individualised narratives of identity and inclusion in
what some would regard as a cynical ploy to distract us from their continued
transgressions in the terror decades.
Last
year, a “woke” CIA recruitment video featured a neurodivergent Latinx agent, to
which journalist Natasha Lennard quipped, “This is not the old CIA of suited
men – it’s a diverse and feminist agency of neo-imperial violence!”
More
recently, an op-ed by a trans CIA agent in The Washington Blade celebrated the
diversity and inclusivity of the agency.
It
follows, then, that liberal understandings of racism often zero in on identity
and lived experiences. In the case of Islamophobia, the analysis often starts
and ends with anti-Muslim violence and discrimination – a reified sense of
hostility – rather than the material conditions that produced it.
Anti-imperialist
scholars have written extensively on the material conditions of Islamophobia
and the ways Islam has figured in US foreign policy calculus.
Their
reminders, that alliances and sponsorship along with antipathy and state
violence, comprise Islamophobia, remain absent from popular understandings of
anti-Muslim racism.
But
history shows us that it was not Islam qua Islam that earned US support for
anti-Sukarno Muslim forces in Indonesia, nor in the case of the right-wing
mujahideen in Afghanistan.
And
in Saudi Arabia, where the royal family has enjoyed decades of bipartisan
American support, it is not the Saudi brand of Wahhabi Islam that guarantees
undying support from the US.
Where
the US relationship to the “Muslim world” is concerned, it is leveraged in
whichever direction best serves the dictates of capital.
America’s
right-wing Islam
In
fact, popular discourse on Islamophobia rarely mentions terms like “leftist,”
“right wing,” or the economic ambitions of US empire – an astonishing omission
given the very motivations for American Islamophobia.
As
historian Michael Parenti reminds us, “The terms ‘Right’ and ‘Left’ are seldom
specifically defined by policymakers or media commentators - and with good
reason. To explicate the politico-economic content of leftist governments and
movements is to reveal their egalitarian and usually democratic goals, making
it much harder to demonise them.”
With
this rejoinder, we might reconsider the US alliance with Afghan warlords during
the Cold War or with Saudi monarchs today.
Such
alliances are not shameful foreign policy blunders on the part of the US. They
are, by design, in service of the economic establishment.
The
Muslims targeted by the nascent CIA were autonomous, progressive, and
left-leaning Muslims - those who posed a threat to the expanding tentacles of
empire.
History
has proven that the US would just as easily sanctify Muslims and Islam as it
would demonise them, and the allies of American capital have run the gamut from
bourgeois democracy to Islamist theocracy.
Regarding
the Taliban government’s Unocal pipeline deal with the US in the mid-1990s, a
State Department official said, “The Taliban will probably develop like the
Saudis did. There will be Aramco, pipelines, an emir, no parliament, and lots
of shariah law. We can live with that.”
Author
Vijay Prashad reminds us that because of such machinations by Washington, a
“belligerent, orthodox Islam seeded what would later emerge in force against
socialism and against the modern world.”
This
is precisely why “client states emerged throughout the Global South that became
ventriloquists for white supremacy, spewing the language of the market … and
extending new forms of coloniality and racial capitalism that sought to
undermine…other projects of radical decolonization,” write scholars Sohail
Daulatzai and Junaid Rana.
What
if?
A
more comprehensive framing of Islamophobia would ask as its central question,
“What if?”
What
if, for instance, every Muslim attempt towards worker dignity, land reform, and
resource autonomy had not been met by the crushing foreign policy consensus in
Washington?
What
might have flourished for Muslims in an Afghanistan or Indonesia not targeted
by the US’s firm commitment to right-wing tendencies around the world?
America’s
mercurial relationship with the world’s Muslims ought to be the raw material of
our understanding of Islamophobia.
The
US’s eager sponsorship, at times even authorship, of versions of Islam that are
now anathema to the liberal West should not be a mere addendum to our
understanding of Islamophobia, but an integral feature of it.
We
sit now at a moment in history - more than two decades after the 9/11 attacks
- when the Islamophobic features of the
war on terror fade in much of America’s collective memory. Without a correction
to the existing narrative on Islamophobia, we risk essentialising this
anti-Muslim hostility, recording it as a matter of identities and intolerances
rather than material realities.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/america-war-terror-obscures-US-alliance-rightwing-islam
--------
Iran’s
latest reply on nuclear deal is a step ‘backward,’ says Blinken
09
September, 2022
Iran’s
latest reply on a nuclear deal is a step “backward,” US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken said Friday, insisting Washington would not rush to rejoin at
any cost.
European
mediators last month appeared to make progress in restoring the 2015 accord as
Iran largely agreed to a proposed final text.
But
optimism dimmed when the United States sent a reply, to which Iran in turn
responded.
“In
past weeks, we’ve closed some gaps. Iran has moved away from some extraneous
demands -- demands unrelated to the JCPOA itself,” Blinken told reporters,
using the acronym for the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“However,
the latest response takes us backwards. And we’re not about to agree to a deal
that doesn’t meet our bottom-line requirements,” he said.
“If
we conclude a deal, it’s only because it will advance our national security.”
President
Joe Biden supports restoring the agreement, under which Iran will enjoy
sanctions relief and again be able to sell its oil worldwide in return for
tough restrictions on its nuclear program.
Biden’s
predecessor Donald Trump trashed the agreement and instead imposed sweeping new
sanctions.
Diplomats
say Iran has dropped a demand that Biden lift Trump’s designation of the
Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist group, a key sticking point.
But
disputes include Iran’s insistence that the UN nuclear watchdog close a probe
into three undeclared sites suspected in previous nuclear work.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
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