Public Humiliation Of Muslim Women: Over 700 Pen Open Letter On Karnataka HC’s Hijab Order Violating The Fundamental Rights Of Muslim Women And Girls
New Age Islam News Bureau
19 February 2022
Signatories to the open
letter state the Karnataka High Court order on the hijab row has led to
violation of the fundamental rights of Muslim women and girls. (PTI photo)
-----
• Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl Threatens To Stop Aurat
March On International Women’s Day, With ‘Baton’
• Anti-Muslim Sentiment Spreading In Asia At Alarming
Pace With India And Myanmar Being The Two Glaring Examples — Seminar In
Istanbul
• Taliban’s Intelligence Services Said Islamic State
‘No Threat’ In Afghanistan
• UAE’s Anti-Terror Stance To Help India Corner
Pakistan
India
• First In Karnataka: Mysuru College Cancels Uniform
Rule To Allow Hijabs
• Hijab Not Essential Practice Of Islam: Karnataka Govt
To HC
• Muslim leaders criticise the way court’s interim
order being implemented
• Hijab Till Qayamat, Says PFI Neta As Outfit Holds
Rally In Bengal
• Won’t fight on streets over hijab row, to take legal
route: AIMPLB
• Pro-hijab protest: Muslims hold march to Azam Campus
in Pune
• Officer who probed Hurriyat terror fund case held by
NIA
--------
Pakistan
• Latest Mob Lynching Spurs Action By Pakistani
Authorities, But Blasphemy Laws Stand Strong
• Letting Nawaz Sharif leave Pakistan was a mistake,
says Imran Khan
• Only politics can keep Pakistan on FATF grey list:
Foreign Office
• Pakistan demands justice for victims of Samjhauta
Express blasts
• Pakistan to enhance mutual cooperation with EU
states based on common interests: COAS
--------
Europe
• UK Citizenship-Stripping Powers 'Discriminate
Against Muslims' Say UN Experts
• Labelling Political Identity To Islam Fuels
Islamophobia: Austrian Scholar
• 'Justice for Hoda': Thousands sign petition for
assaulted Muslim teenager in New Zealand
• Macron rejects Mali’s request for immediate
withdrawal of Barkhane, Takuba forces
• Afghan refugees deprived of papers fear for future
in UK: Lawyers
--------
South
Asia
• Ex-Afghan Security Officer Calls On Taliban To
Honour Amnesty
• World Bank proposal would shift $600 mln from Afghan
trust: Source
• Afghanistan’s Taliban detain Brits, American; reason
unclear
--------
Arab
World
• Hezbollah says ‘untouched’ drone flew over Israel
for 40 minutes: Statement
• Arab Coalition destroys explosives-laden boat
launched by Houthis in Red Sea
• US soldiers, YPG/PKK terrorists conduct joint armed
exercise in Syria
• Failure to stop Assad’s aid abuses threatens entire
region, analysts warn
• Coalition in Yemen launches 18 strikes on Houthis in
Marib, Hajjah
--------
Southeast
Asia
• Muslim Scholar Against 'Wayang', Indonesia’s Traditional
Theatre
• Türkiye, Pakistan, Malaysia Hailed For Fight Against
Islamophobia
• Let courts decide on children’s unilateral
conversion, says law minister
--------
Mideast
• Iranian Minister Says, Looking Forward To The
Production Of Cinematic Works In Line With The Tenets Of The Islamic System
• Iran Categorically Dismisses Fake News Report on
Deal in Vienna Talks
• Minister: Brazil Eyeing to Broaden Trade Cooperation
with Iran
• Iran nuclear deal could be agreed very soon, EU
official says
• Palestinians offer Jerusalem Friday prayers in
solidarity with eviction families
• Hamas warns Israel against crossing red lines in
Sheikh Jarrah
• Israeli forces injure scores of Palestinians as
clashes break out in West Bank
• Israeli troops unleash military dog on surrendering
Palestinian teenager
• Palestine scholars denounce 'kidnapping' of Muslim
children by Sweden
--------
Africa
• Islamic State-Linked Jihadists Kill At Least 40
Civilians In Mali Amid Turf War
• Mali tells France to pull out troops 'without
delay', cites ‘flagrant violations’ of bilateral accords
• Nigerian Muslims denounce Saudi war on Yemen
• Tunisia extends state of emergency until end of 2022
• Niger to host European special forces leaving Mali,
confirms president
--------
North
America
• US Halts Nearly $160 Mln Aid To Burkina Faso After
Finding Military Coup Occurred
• Russian envoy: US occupation must leave Syria, their
presence threatens stability in region
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
UR: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/humiliation-muslim-women-hijab-rights-girls/d/126405
--------
Public Humiliation Of Muslim Women: Over 700 Pen Open
Letter On Karnataka HC’s Hijab Order Violating The Fundamental Rights Of Muslim
Women And Girls
Signatories to the open
letter state the Karnataka High Court order on the hijab row has led to
violation of the fundamental rights of Muslim women and girls. (PTI photo)
-----
Nabila Jamal
February 18, 2022
More than 700 people, including lawyers and activists,
have written an open letter to the Chief Justice of Karnataka on the misinterpretation
of the high court order in the hijab controversy, leading to violation of the
fundamental rights of Muslim women and girls.
A delegation of advocates, students, women's rights
activists from Bahutva Karnataka, PUCL-K, Dalit Minority Sene, All India
Students Association, IISC students and others met the director of the PU
board, stating that several PUC colleges are turning away Muslim girl students,
in violation of the court’s interim order.
“We explained how the interim order applies only to
colleges where CDC has prescribed a dress code and not to colleges which don't
have one or where hijab was being previously worn,” a signatory told India
Today.
However, Muslim students and staff are facing public
humiliation in the wake of the court order, they claimed. Videos have surfaced
on social media showing students being asked to remove their hijab and burqa in
educational institutions in Karnataka.
"This disrobing of Muslim girls and women in
public view is inhuman, derogatory and an affront to the Constitution and
amounts to the public humiliation," the letter states.
It goes on to add that the effect of the decision is
the pushing of Muslim women out of education, and an exacerbation of the crisis
of education in our country.
"The denial of education to women on grounds only
of wearing the hijab is not a reasonable or proportionate restriction of their
rights. The imposition of an absolute uniformity contrary to the autonomy,
privacy and dignity of Muslim women is unconstitutional," it said.
Explaining that exams are ongoing, the signatories
demanded that students be allowed to take the exams or the exams be postponed
till the court’s final verdict. They also demanded a clarification be sent to
all PUC colleges regarding the court’s order on dress code.
The PU board director assured the signatories that he
would look into the matter.
Source: India Today
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl Threatens To Stop Aurat March On International Women’s Day,
With ‘Baton’
Image: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters
-----
February
18, 2022
The
president of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Islamabad has warned to stop
Aurat March, which is scheduled to be held across the country every year on
International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8. He has threatened to stop the
march with the use “baton”
“If
any attempts are made for obscenity on March 8 in Islamabad, we will condemn
it,” warned Abdul Majeed Hazarvi, the chief of JUI-F’s Islamabad wing, while
addressing a demonstration held in the capital’s D-Chowk in connection with
India’s hijab row.
He
warned the government that if the march was allowed, “we will [use] baton to
stop it”.
Hazarvi
said that during Aurat March, “obscenity is spread in the name of women’s
rights”.
The
latest tirade against the event from the JUI-F comes just a day after Religious
Affairs Minister Noorul Haq Qadri wrote a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan,
saying that anti-Islamic slogans should not be raised on International Women’s
Day.
The
minister had also suggested celebrating International Hijab Day instead on
March 8, in an effort to express solidarity with Muslim women across the globe.
After
the letter drew criticism on social media, notably from PPP Senator Sherry
Rehman and Pakistan’s former ambassador to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, Qadri issued
a clarification saying that some political leaders were trying to spread
negative propaganda without reading his letter.
At
the JUI-F’s demonstration, MNA Shahida Akhtar Ali, who heads the party’s women
wing, also spoke about the escalating hijab row in India.
The
issue grabbed headlines last month after a government-run school in India’s
Karanartaka barred students wearing hijabs from entering classrooms, triggering
protests outside the school gate. More schools in the state followed with
similar bans, forcing the state’s top court to intervene.
The
issue further escalated when a video of a hijab-clad student, Muskan Khan,
being heckled and jeered at by a mob of Hindutva supporters in Karnataka
surfaced on social media.
“We
pay tribute to Muskan Khan,” said Ali at today’s demonstration, condemning the
“hatred being directed towards Muslims in India”.
She
lamented that hijab was being targeted in India, adding that “we have all
gathered here today … to raise voice for hijab.”
“Hijab
is our pride, our honour,” she said. “As Muslims, it is obligatory upon us to
respect hijab.”
Ali
demanded that since the matter held significance for the entire Muslim ummah,
it should be raised in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
She
said the opposition to hijab in India was actually “propaganda against Islam,
and we will continue to defend the sanctity and honour of hijab”.
JUI-F
general secretary Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said, “India has been exposed
as its constitution is being violated and rights of minorities trampled.”
He
criticised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “extremist groups” in India,
regretting the “silence of human rights organisations” on the matter.
Haideri
also demanded that the “OIC should play its role and raise voice against the
atrocities in India”.
It
is pertinent to note that Aurat March, which was first held in Karachi in 2018,
is now organised in numerous other cities across the country on March 8 every
year to celebrate International Women’s Day and highlight the issues women face
in Pakistan.
The
march has been subjected to criticism earlier as well, in particular for the
slogans and placards raised during it. In 2019, the march’s participants in the
capital came under attack when male students from Jamia Hafsa took down their
tent and hurled stones at them.
Last
year, petitions where filed in the Islamabad and Lahore high courts, asking for
a ban on the march. But these petitions were dismissed, with courts saying the
right to assemble peacefully was guaranteed in the Constitution.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2022/02/18/jui-f-warns-stopping-aurat-march-with-baton/
--------
Anti-Muslim
Sentiment Spreading In Asia At Alarming Pace With India And Myanmar Being The
Two Glaring Examples — Seminar In Istanbul
(Photo: TRT World)
----
February
19, 2022
Experts
at a two-day seminar in Istanbul expressed concerns about the worsening
conditions of Muslims in Asia, with India and Myanmar being the two glaring
examples of violence against Muslims being normalised.
Political
leaders in Asia are exacerbating the problem of anti-Muslim sentiment by giving
incendiary speeches for electoral gains, said Hassan Abdein, head of Muslim and
Minorities department at OIC, at a two-day international seminar on Muslims and
human rights in Istanbul.
Abdein
said Asia is capitalism’s new home, and despite it being far more diverse than
elsewhere, hosting hundreds of ethnic peoples, it is suffering from dark
electoral populism, one of the exploitative effects of globalisation.
Under
the garb of national security, he added, Muslims are being targeted and
criminalised across the continent.
“Both
in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, we see one particular group mobilising hate speech,”
said Abdein, referring to Buddhist monks who have openly given calls of
genocide against Muslims.
The
academic said that since Buddhists have become a minority in the Hindu
dominated subcontinent, they have engineered the narratives of victimhood to
mobilise Buddhist populations in Buddhist-majority countries like Myanmar and
Sri Lanka.
Abdein
urged the audience to find ways to stand against this religious warfare, as ignoring
anti-Muslims sentiment will only provide aggressors with more space and
opportunity.
We
need to celebrate the leadership that took concrete steps after the
Christchurch Attack, Abdein said. He also applauded the Emergency Meeting held
in Istanbul in 2019 to discuss the terrorist attack on the two mosques in New
Zealand.
Ambassador
Zamir Akram, Former Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan to the UN, said that despite more than 200 million Muslims living in
India, a version of fascism is taking place at the hands of Hindutva.
Millions
of Muslims are suffering from religious and racial discrimination, ethnic
cleansing, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and even genocide.
An
esteemed panel of experts, diplomats, community leaders, and activists
addressed “The Situation of Muslims in Asia” at the two-day seminar on human
rights violations faced by Muslims in Istanbul, February 16-17 2022.
Explaining
that the Modi government has been “seducing India on the basis of hate and envy
when it comes to Muslims”, Ambassador Zamir said Muslims are facing problems on
the pretext of “the slaughter of cows and eating beef, marrying Hindus",
while "attacks on mosques, forced conversion to Hinduism, removal of
Muslim names from streets, sale of Muslim women on mobile apps and open call
for genocide against Muslims” have been normalised in the country's national
discourse.
Zamir
said that the Modi government is using the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as a
weapon to disenfranchise the Indian Muslims and force them out of the country.
Although
the largest Muslim population is living in Asia, Muslims suffer from social and
economic discrimination, and in some Asian countries like Myanmar and India,
there is an escalating trend of systemic targeting of Muslim communities, said
El Habib Bourane, Director of Muslim Communities and Minorities of the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Habib
said the OIC has been engaging in constructive dialogue with China for the past
three years about the Uighur and Kazakh and Uzbek Muslim minorities.
Explaining
that the Uighur's are not left alone in their plight, Habib also urged the OIC
member states to build consensus on specific issues.
“The
OIC delegations have visited the region twice to understand what is really
going on. Until now, the UN has not been allowed to visit the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region of China,” said Habib, highlighting the importance of
building on this dialogue.
Habib
also highlighted the OIC’s efforts in Myanmar during the past 20 years, and the
steps they have taken, together with the UN and European Union, to advocate for
the Rohingya Muslims’ cause.
“Myanmar
must fully comply with the provisional measures issued by the International
Court of Justice,” Habib said, referring to the case of genocide brought
against Myanmar by The Gambia at the UN court.
The
people of Rohingya have been suffering for almost half a century now, said Reza
Uddin, the Chairman of the Human Rights Committee and Council Member of the
Arakan Rohingya Union.
“Restriction
on religion, marriage, land ownership, deprivation from education and health,
gang rape and human trafficking… all these violations are a blueprint of
genocide,” he added.
Reza
pointed out that Myanmar has been killing hundreds of their own people since
the military overthrew the democratically elected government on February 1
2021. This is partly because of the government’s tendency to comply with the
International Court of Justice’s ruling on the Rohingya case.
Why
do we need to talk about Kashmir?
“Kashmir
was known as the paradise in the world, renowned for its extraordinary beauty,
but has become a hell for its people,” said Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai,
Secretary-General of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum. He described Kashmir as
“the most beautiful prison on earth.”
“Today
Gregory H Stanton, the founder and president of Genocide Watch, warns that
Kashmir is on the brink of a genocide,” Fai said.
Fai
said Modi's rhetoric on foreign tours is entirely out of step with the reality
in India. Giving an example from Modi's 2019 visit to Texas, Fai said Modi lied
to the American people by calling India the world's "largest
democracy", whilst the headlines from places like Kashmir tell a different
story.
Fai
gave an example of an article titled “As Kashmir Is Erased, Indian Democracy Dies
In Silence”, published by The Huffington Post when Kashmir was under a strict
military curfew.
Fai
said the human rights situation has deteriorated to dangerous levels in the
disputed region, referring to
restrictions on freedom of speech under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act
(UAPA), a draconian law used by the Indian state against civilians, especially
journalists and human rights activists.
The
UAPA legislation allows the Indian
government to jail an individual for six months without a trial or bail,
stonewalling any judicial intervention. The state often justifies the UAPA by
saying the law is used to “prevent terror-related activities, unlawful
associations, and activities that may endanger the sovereignty and integrity of
India.”
The
UN has said that the UAPA utilises “imprecise criteria, contains a vague and
overly broad definition of ‘terrorist
act’, allows people to be held in lengthy pre-trial detention and makes
securing bail very difficult,” and that the UAPA does not meet international
human rights standards.
Khurram
Parvez, a well-known human rights activist from Kashmir, was arrested on
November 22 2021, under the draconian UAPA. Mary Lawlor, the U.N. Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, called Parvez's arrest "disturbing."
Fai
said the news media in Kashmir has been brought to extinction in order to
silence dissent, urging the OIC members to initiate a solution. He also
demanded the immediate release of political prisoners and the protection of the
Kashmiri people before a full-scale genocide takes place.
Source:
Trt World
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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Taliban’s
Intelligence Services Said Islamic State ‘No Threat’ In Afghanistan
Dr Bashir speaks to Nikkei Asia at intelligence
headquarters in Jalalabad City, Nangarhar Province. (Photo by Kanika Gupta)
-----
February
19, 2022
JALALABAD:
The head of the Taliban’s intelligence services said Islamic State no longer
operates in Afghanistan, disputing a United Nations report that states the
terrorist group roams freely in the country.
“There
is no IS, not just in Nangarhar Province but all of Afghanistan,” said Dr
Bashirmal, also known as Dr Bashir, during an interview with Nikkei Asia in the
eastern province. He added that the group known as Daesh in the country is not
a threat to national security.
The
29th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the UN
Security Council – a document compiled by UN experts on IS between June and
December – expressed concern about “the potential creation of a safe haven for
the terror groups in Afghanistan for terrorist activity”.
IS
of Khorasan Province (IS-KP) – the movement’s Afghan chapter – has emerged as a
growing threat in the region since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in
August last year.
Since
its inception in 2015, the IS-KP has been an opponent of the US-backed
government of deposed president Ashraf Ghani, as well as the Taliban.
Even
though the group controls only a small portion of the country, mainly in
eastern Afghanistan, it has launched sophisticated attacks, making
Afghanistan’s security situation even more fragile.
“Afghanistan
is a traditional country and there are different tribes living here,” Bashir
said.
“The
country is 95% safe under our government’s rule. The remaining 5% are thugs and
thieves that were released from prisons when the government was falling, and a
lot of weapons ended up in their hands.”
Bashir
added that criminal activity is related to “either stealing due to poverty or
(people) engaged in personal enmity. They are killing each other and using the
name of Daesh. So all these cases are mostly personal enmity rather than an
issue of national security.”
But
heavily guarded checkpoints manned by the Taliban’s elite forces in Jalalabad
City, capital of Nangarhar Province, tell a different story.
“I
have been working at this checkpoint for the last two months,” one person said.
“We
check for thieves or weapons in these vehicles. Just recently, we arrested some
people after we found weapons. We took them for questioning and they later
turned out to be members of Daesh.”
The
UN estimates that the number of IS-KP members has surged from 2,000 to 4,000
following the release of prisoners, most of them foreign fighters.
Asfandyar
Mir, a senior expert at the US Institute of Peace, said the Taliban’s denial of
the existence of IS in Afghanistan does not make the “terror group disappear or
any less threatening”.
“The
IS-KP remains a major threat to both the Taliban and vulnerable religious and
ethnic groups in the country,” Mir said.
“The
Taliban’s counterinsurgency is indiscriminate and wayward, which is fuelling
the threat. The IS is also able to entice those disgruntled with the Taliban,
as well as other major terror groups in the country who worry that the Taliban
might turn on them, to satisfy the international community.”
There
have been several reports of aggrieved Taliban fighters defecting to the IS-KP
in recent months. The economic collapse has pushed millions of Afghans into
poverty and left former Taliban fighters with no source of income.
Last
week US President Joe Biden signed an executive order to free up US$7 billion
out of US$9.5 billion of frozen Afghan capital, splitting it between
humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and funds for 9/11 victims.
But
Mir thinks this is misguided.
“I
see the splitting of the funds to keep half for 9/11 victim litigants as
morally dubious,” he said.
“To
the extent there was a hope that an asset unfreeze will boost the flagging
Afghan economy, that is clearly out of question for now. So as the economy and
humanitarian crisis gradually deteriorate, (Biden’s order) may have an adverse
effect on the country’s security.”
The
Taliban have repeatedly committed themselves to the prevention of international
threats originating from Afghanistan.
But
the panel of experts highlights in the report that “there are no recent signs
that the Taliban have taken steps to limit the activities of foreign terrorist
fighters in the country. On the contrary, terrorist groups enjoy greater
freedom there than at any time in recent history.”
Bashir
insists, however, that their leader has directed them to forge diplomatic
relations with all countries in the world.
“We
want to have good relations with everyone,” he said. “We want to use these good
relations to improve our country for its people. We don’t want any party to use
Afghanistan to hurt anyone, be it our neighbours or any other country in the
world.”
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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UAE’s
Anti-Terror Stance To Help India Corner Pakistan
PM Narendra Modi said India will stand shoulder to
shoulder with UAE in the fight against terrorism (AFP)
----
Feb
19, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Among the highlights of the India-UAE joint vision statement was the fact
that India and UAE reaffirmed their joint commitment to fight against extremism
and terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, in all forms, at both regional
and international levels. This is important for India as it helps the
government corner Pakistan on the issue of cross-border terrorism.
PM
Narendra Modi said India will stand shoulder to shoulder with UAE in the fight
against terrorism while complimenting the UAE for showing interest in investing
in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Following
the successful visit of the Lieutenant Governor of J&K to the UAE last
month, several Emirati companies have shown interest in investing in J&K,”
he said.
“We
welcome investment by UAE in all sectors, including logistics, healthcare,
hospitality, in Jammu and Kashmir,” Modi added.
The
two countries also agreed to enhance maritime cooperation, and to contribute to
maintenance of peace and security in the region.
Source:
Times Of India
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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India
First
in Karnataka: Mysuru college cancels uniform rule to allow hijabs
Feb
19, 2022
BENGALURU/MYSURU:
In the first punitive action against students seeking entry into colleges
despite the interim order of the Karnataka high court banning hijabs, saffron
shawls or any religious clothing inside classrooms in institutes that prescribe
a uniform, police on Friday lodged an FIR against about 20 students of a
Tumakuru college on charges of violating prohibitory orders.
A
historical private college in Mysuru city cancelled its uniform rule on Friday
to allow Muslim students to attend classes with the hijab. It is the first
college in the state to take such a decision. “Four students refused to attend
classes without the hijab and were protesting,” said DK Srinivasa Murthy, DDPU,
Mysuru. “Some organisations extended support to them. I visited the college
today and held discussions with all. Meanwhile, the college announced that it
is cancelling its uniform rule to allow the students to attend classes. ”
The
first FIR follows a warning by Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra, who has
said there would be “no soft approach” anymore and directed cops to take action
against those who flout the interim order. The principal of Empress College in
Tumakuru, about 70 km from Bengaluru, lodged a complaint with Tumakuru City
police against the students for violating prohibitory orders in the past two
days.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Hijab
not essential practice of Islam: Karnataka govt to HC
Feb
19, 2022
New
Delhi: Defending its orders banning headscarves in classrooms, the Karnataka
government on Friday argued before the three-judge bench of the Karnataka high
court that wearing hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam and
preventing it does not violate the Constitutional guarantee of religious
freedom.
Advocate
general Prabhuling Navadgi, while arguing on behalf of the state, said that the
practice of wearing hijab must pass the test of Constitutional morality and
individual dignity outlined in Sabrimala verdict by the Supreme Court. He said
that the state government has taken the stand that the hijab does not come
under the essential religious practices in Islam and preventing its use did not
violate Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees religious
freedom.
The
AG further said that the state government has ordered that the students should
wear uniforms prescribed by colleges and that the government does not want to intervene
in religious matters.
While
the arguments are set to continue on Monday, advocate Mohammed Tahir made a
mention on the Interim Order saying it is causing difficulty for the Muslim
community. “An Interim Order was passed considering the law and order
situation. It was limited to where CDC has prescribed uniform. But even
teachers are not spared. Muslim community members are facing difficulty. Every
department is interpreting the order differently. Yesterday, Minority
Department passed an order. Even in Urdu colleges it is enforced. Policemen are
deployed at gates and are threatening Muslim girls. The order said
"classroom". But at gates students are stopped,” Md Tahir said.
Responding
to him, Karnataka Chief Justice said the order was very clear. AG added while
the petitioner can file an application on this, he said they can give him the
details and assured that he will instruct that nobody will be permitted to act
beyond the order of the court.
A
teacher at Jain PU College in Tumkuru resigned after she was asked not to wear
hijab in the class. She said she has been teaching for three years with hijab
and now she is not okay being denied her Constitutional right.
Source:
Deccan Chronicle
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Muslim
leaders criticise the way court’s interim order being implemented
FEBRUARY
18, 2022
The
joint action committee of Muslim organisations in Shivamogga, on Friday, took
serious exception to comments made by some people suggesting that those who
wish to wear the hijab should be sent to Pakistan.
Addressing
a press conference, members of the committee said they were born and brought up
in India and would remain Indians forever. “We are Indians and Pakistan is
always an opponent for us. But, it seems people like Pramod Mutalik, who often
ask us to go to Pakistan, have a special affinity towards that country”, said
Moulana Shahul Hameed Musliyar of the committee.
In
the last few days, he said, the Muslim girls had not been able to attend
classes. The controversy over the hijab had denied them education. The
children, who were expected to be in classrooms, had been forced to stand
outside. “The hijab is not a new invention. People have been wearing it for
ages. We respect the law of the land and court. However, the State Government
and education institutes had been denying education to the girl,
misinterpreting the interim order of the High Court”, he said.
Source:
The Hindu
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Hijab
till qayamat, says PFI neta as outfit holds rally in Bengal
Feb
19, 2022
BEHRAMPORE:
Students wearing hijabs assembled at a rally in Bengal’s Dhulian, 17 km from
Bahutali high school in Suti, five days after the headmaster there had asked
students to wear the uniform with white head scarves. Thursday’s rally was
organised by PFI, whose national secretary Mohammad Shakif swore by the hijab.
“The hijab will be there till qayamat,” he said. TMC MLA Monirul Islam shared
the dais with PFI leaders.
Source:
Times Of India
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Won’t
fight on streets over hijab row, to take legal route: AIMPLB
Feb
19, 2022
LUCKNOW:
After disseminating information on the importance of hijab and purdah in Islam,
All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Friday decided to take the
legal route in the Karnataka hijab row instead of fighting it out on the
streets. In a letter to members, AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Khalid
Saifullah Rahmani said the Board’s legal cell held a meet to explore legal
remedies.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Pro-hijab
protest: Muslims hold march to Azam Campus in Pune
Feb
18, 2022
By
Nadeem Inamdar
Pune:
A protest march by Muslim community led by women and young girls under the
banner of Kul Jamaat Tanzeem was held at Azam Campus to express solidarity with
the college girls in Karnataka who face hijab ban.
The
protestors gathered in large numbers and police bandobast was in place at
various chowks in Camp, including Kamala chowk and Jyoti Hotel chowk.
Protestors
alleged that the police prevented many in Kondhwa, NIBM and other parts of the
city from reaching the congregation venue at Azam Campus.
Social
activist Sushma Andhare said, “The right wing forces are resorting to creating
division between Hindus and Muslims for political means. Wearing hijab is the
right of Muslim women guaranteed by the Constitution of the country. The Muslim
community is being victimised as part of the long-term planning of right wing
aimed at their marginalisation. The protest demanding for their right to wear
hijab is the right step in the direction of enforcing the constitutional
safeguard guaranteed to the citizens of India.”
Kul
Jamaat Tanzeem co-ordinator Zahid Shaikh said, “The protest was organised to
send a strong message to the central government about the importance of wearing
hijab as per the cultural traditions. We did not get the necessary cooperation
from the police who asked us to hold two protests-one in Kondhwa and other at
Azam Campus. We request the state government that whatever is happening in
Karnataka must not happen in Maharashtra. Wearing of hijab is the
constitutional right and the right wing is encroaching on the secular
constitution of the country.”
Source:
Hindustan Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Officer
who probed Hurriyat terror fund case held by NIA
Feb
19, 2022
NEW
DELHI: An IPS officer, who probed the Hurriyat terror funding case during his
stint in NIA and was awarded a police medal for meritorious service in 2017,
was arrested by NIA on Friday on the charge of having leaked secret official
documents of the agency to an alleged overground worker of the Lashkar-e-Toiba
in Jammu and Kashmir.
Arvind
Digvijay Negi, who was on deputation to NIA and posted at its headquarters
here, was repatriated last year to Himachal Pradesh, his home cadre state where
he was posted as Superintendent of Police, Shimla.. This is the first arrest of
an IPS officer by NIA.
NIA
had in November 2021 raided Negi’s residential premises after investigations
pointed to his role in leaking NIA’s official papers to Kashmiri ‘rights
activist’ Khurram Parvez, arrested around the same time on charges of providing
support to LeT in planning and execution of terrorist activities in India.
Negi, incidentally, was part of the NIA team that had raided Parvez’s house in
November 2020, though he was not arrested then.
Apart
from Parvez, five other accused persons have been arrested in the LeT OGW
network case registered by NIA in November last year.
Sources
told TOI that Negi had shared with Parvez some leads relating to NIA. The
overground worker of LeT, in turn, passed on the information he procured from
Negi to suspected LeT handlers. This is believed to have been corroborated by
forensic examination of Negi’s phone and mails, based on which Negi was also
questioned by NIA.
An
NIA spokesperson, however, declined to share details of the exact charges
against Negi.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Europe
UK
citizenship-stripping powers 'discriminate against Muslims' say UN experts
By
Simon Hooper
18
February 2022
United
Nations (UN) human rights experts have told the UK government that its use of
citizenship-stripping powers is likely discriminatory and unlawful because of
its disproportionate impact on Muslim and migrant communities.
In
a letter to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss made public on Wednesday, five UN
special rapporteurs also expressed concern about government efforts to extend
the powers in the controversial Nationality and Borders Bill.
The
proposed legislation, contained in clause nine of the bill, would allow the
government to remove someone’s citizenship without any requirement to notify
them.
The
existing powers have been used extensively in recent years, mostly against
British nationals who travelled to Syria during the country’s civil war.
Those
targeted include people accused of travelling to join the Islamic State (IS)
group.
But
Middle East Eye exclusively reported in 2017 that British aid workers had also
been deprived of their citizenship.
In
their letter, the special rapporteurs said that the government’s existing use
of the powers was likely discriminatory because of their disproportionate
impact on “people from non-white racial and ethnic backgrounds, and especially
people from Muslim and migrant communities”.
The
letter is signed five rapporteurs: E. Tendayi Achiume Special Rapporteur on
contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance; Fionnuala Ni Aolain, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism;
Nils Melzer, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment; Siobhan Mullally, Special Rapporteur on
trafficking in persons, especially women and children; and Melissa Upreti,
Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls
They
cited figures suggesting that two in five people from non-white backgrounds
could be at risk of losing their citizenship, compared with one in 20 among
white people.
“Such
disproportionate impacts will likely constitute prohibited discrimination on
the grounds of race, colour, descent, and national or ethnic origin, as well as
other grounds such as religion,” the special rapporteurs wrote.
It
is illegal under international law to deprive someone of citizenship if they do
not hold another citizenship or an alternative entitlement to citizenship.
The
special rapporteurs said they were concerned that citizenship-stripping powers
“may be used disproportionately against people from Muslim communities”, and
reiterated concerns about the UK government’s Prevent counter-terrorism
strategy.
'Anti-Muslim
panic'
They
cited a 2016 UN Human Rights Committee report which warned that Prevent had
“created an atmosphere of suspicion towards members of Muslim communities” and
criticised counter-terrorism measures which led to profiling based on ethnicity
and religion.
They
also cited a 2019 report on the UK by Special Rapporteur Achiume that said that
counter-extremism policies had played a part in “amplifying and legitimating
anti-Muslim panic, and even Islamophobia”.
Those
concerns were rejected at the time by the British government which denies that
Prevent disproportionately targets Muslims and says the strategy “addresses all
forms of terrorism”.
But
the special rapporteurs wrote that “this persistent pattern of difference in
treatment could indicate that the deprivation of citizenship from British
Muslims is motivated by political and/or discriminatory factors".
The
letter is published in the same week that Ni Aolain lent her support to a new
report on Prevent which found that the strategy was discriminatory against
Muslims and had led to abuses of children's rights.
They
also warned against the use of citizenship-stripping powers against women and
girls, noting that they faced specific risks based on their sex and gender.
The
UK government has removed the citizenship of several women currently being held
in camps in Syria for the families of suspected IS fighters.
Those
affected include Shamima Begum, who travelled to Syria aged 15. Last year the
Supreme Court ruled Begum could not return to the UK to appeal against the
decision because of national security considerations.
“States
must be mindful of the potential for coercion, co-option, trafficking,
enslavement, sexual exploitation, and harm on joining or being associated with
nonstate armed groups, online grooming and recruitment for marriage, sexual or
household services or labour for the organisation,” the special rapporteurs
wrote.
'Banishment'
The
Nationality and Borders Bill is currently being scrutinised in the House of
Lords, the upper house of the UK parliament, where the government’s use of
citizenship-stripping powers has been likened to “the ancient practice of
banishment”.
Proposed
amendments to the bill have included the withdrawal of clause nine and measures
to curtail existing powers allowing citizenship to be revoked based on the Home
Secretary’s assessment that a person’s presence in the country is “not
conducive to the public good”.
‘The
Government must remove clause nine from the Nationality and Borders Bill and
stop stripping people of citizenship without due process,’ said Emily Ramsden,
senior officer in migration and citizenship at Rights and Security
International, a human rights advocacy group.
“No
one should be stripped of their right to have human rights under vague laws
that could allow decisions based on racism, Islamophobia, or other
discriminatory stereotypes – and potential victims of trafficking should be
helped, not punished.”
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Labelling
political identity to Islam fuels Islamophobia: Austrian scholar
February
18, 2022
European
countries are creating politically loaded terminologies to target civilian
Muslims and justify ban on hijab and halal, says the renowned scholar who once
faced an anti-terror raid.
A
celebrated Austrian political scientist who was targeted in a controversial
anti-terrorism raid on Muslims by his own government two years ago said on
Thursday that the growing Islamophobia worldwide is being fuelled by European
nations that label Islam as a political identity to justify their ban on
mosques, hijab, halal or circumcision.
Farid
Hafez, a widely respected scholar who has written extensively on Islamophobia,
was speaking through video conference at a conclave on human rights violations
faced by Muslims worldwide, especially in Europe. Hafez, 41, teaches political
science at the University of Salzburg, and is also associated with Georgetown
University's The Bridge Initiative, a research project on Islamophobia.
Hazez argued that one of the major problems that
Muslims face today is “the weaponisation of political Islam” through which
countries create terminalogies to target Muslims—Austria’s political Islam,
France’s Islamist seperatism and Germany’s legalist Islamism.
“They
are against Islam and nothing else,” the academic said.
Islamophobia
is not only about having a bad image of Islam, said Fared, explaining that
these European governments use anti-terrorism laws to clamp down on Muslims,
jeopardising not only their freedom of speech but also freedom of association.
The
Muslim Austrian academic, whose house was raided on November 9, 2020 as part of
the Austrian goverment’s anti-terrrorism “Operation Luxor”, said that nowadays
even talking about islamophobia is criminalised and considered as instigating
terrorism.
“What
is really at stake here? It is a question of power,” Hazez said, adding that
the European governments do not know how to govern their own Muslim populations
today.
Explaining
that these governments have been used to handling poor working-class immigrants
— people who could be subordinated for the past 40 years—Farid said now these
European countries are faced with a new generation of Muslims who have full
capacity to participate in the European political landscape as active citizens.
There
is a growing Muslim population in Europe and the far-right’s “superficial
solution” to this problem is to drive out the people so as to avoid committing
outright genocide, Hafez added.
Source:
Trt World
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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'Justice
for Hoda': Thousands sign petition for assaulted Muslim teenager in New Zealand
By
Rayhan Uddin
18
February 2022
Thousands
have signed a petition seeking justice for a Muslim student in New Zealand who
had her hijab ripped off in an alleged hate crime.
Hoda
al-Jamaa, 17, suffered a concussion last Wednesday when her hijab was removed
by three girls at the Otago Girls' High School in Dunedin.
"Two
of the girls held me and one hit me and after I fell on the ground, she ... was
still hitting my face and my body. I was waiting for the teacher to help
me," Jamaa told local publisher RNZ.
She
said the girls took off her hijab and filmed her, and that the video had now
been shared with boys and girls in the school. She added that the perpetrators
attempted to do the same to two of her friends.
"My
hijab... is my culture and my religion. My hijab is everything for me and I
love my hijab and those other girls love their hijabs."
Local
police said they had identified the girls involved in the incident and had
launched an investigation.
"This
altercation has caused significant disquiet and distress for the girls, their
families, and the wider Muslim community," police were quoted as
saying.
"Violence
or threatening behaviour including any involving hate, hostility, or prejudice
regarding race, faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or age
is not acceptable."
The
school released a lengthy statement saying it had "no tolerance for unkind
comments, racism, bullying or any other form of discrimination".
'Justice
for Hoda'
The
incident sparked local and international media attention, with a petition
calling for justice receiving nearly 60,000 signatures in two days.
Several
social media users shared the hashtag #JusticeforHoda to highlight the incident
and condemn Islamophobia in the country.
On
15 March 2019, 51 people were killed in Christchurch when a gunman opened fire
on worshippers at Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre.
Palestinian-Dutch
supermodel Bella Hadid shared the campaign on her Instagram feed on Thursday.
Source:
Middle East Eye
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Macron
rejects Mali’s request for immediate withdrawal of Barkhane, Takuba forces
Aurore
Bonny
19.02.2022
French
President Emmanuel Macron rejected on Friday Malian authorities' demand to
withdraw French anti-terrorist forces Barkhane and Takuba “without delay"
from Malian territory.
"We
have announced the re-articulation of the device and it will be applied in good
order to ensure the security of the UN mission and all forces deployed in Mali.
I will not compromise for a second on their security," Macron said at a
news conference at the end of the 6th EU-African Union summit in Brussels.
Macron
believes that "all this should be done with respect because for nine years
France has been helping Mali, equipping, training and accompanying the Malian
armies as well as the armies of the region."
He
indicated that the French device will be rearranged a few kilometers from the
border in Niger and "that in the future" France will "always
have a vocation to find cooperation to fight terrorism."
The
French response followed an announcement by Mali's transitional authorities
after France and its European partners’ decision to gradually withdraw from the
West African country.
Mali’s
government demanded a withdrawal of the Barkhane and Takuba anti-terror forces
"under the supervision of the Malian authorities.”
It
considers the disengagement of France and its partners as "flagrant
violations" of legal agreements between the two countries.
The
results achieved and officially announced by France have been unsatisfactory,
including Operation Serval launched in 2013, according to Col. Abdoulaye Maiga,
the junta’s spokesman.
Despite
the French and international military presence from 2013 to 2021, "Mali
has risked partition," he said in a statement Friday, noting that
"the terrorist threat initially localized in the north has spread
throughout the territory."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Afghan
refugees deprived of papers fear for future in UK: Lawyers
February
18, 2022
LONDON:
Afghan refugees evacuated from Kabul fear they will soon be treated like
illegal immigrants because they have not received updated papers, their lawyers
have said, adding that it is unclear how many are missing documents required to
work legally and rent homes.
Temporary
visas are due to expire within days, leaving the refugees potentially
vulnerable, but the Home Office has said the lawyers’ warnings are “needless
scaremongering,” the BBC reported on Friday.
British
and other NATO armed forces evacuated around 15,000 Afghans from Kabul last
year as the country fell to the Taliban.
Those
evacuees were granted temporary visas lasting six months, with a view to being
given the right to settle later — a commitment that still stands.
But
the Law Society, which represents solicitors, said firms across Britain are now
receiving calls for help from people whose temporary legal status expires in
the coming week — meaning they have no means of proving they are lawfully in
the country.
The
Afghans, who either worked alongside NATO forces or are the families of people
who did, say they have not received any updated papers and have not been able
to get answers from officials.
It
is not known how many are affected, and ministers have declined to reveal in
Parliament how many Afghans have so far been issued permanent status.
Without
such papers they will be unable to work, rent homes, open a bank account or use
the National Health Service.
“The
Home Office must urgently provide every one of these people with evidence of
their continued right to work, study and rent accommodation,” said I. Stephanie
Boyce, president of the Law Society.
“The
UK’s ‘warm welcome’ is meaningless if the government does not provide concrete
assurances which could allay the fears of thousands of people and give them the
legal certainty they need.”
The
Home Office said Afghans had received verbal reassurances that their paperwork
would eventually come.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2027386/world
--------
South
Asia
Ex-Afghan
security officer calls on Taliban to honour amnesty
18
February, 2022
Kabul
[Afghanistan], February 18 (ANI): An ex-security forces employee of the former
Afghan government on Thursday urged the Taliban to respect the general amnesty
announced by them after they took over the war-torn nation in August last year.
Javad
Jafari pleaded with the Taliban to honour amnesty after he was released by the
Taliban. He was detained by the Taliban for 5-days without committing any
crime, reported Tolo News.
“I
was detained by the Islamic Emirate for five days. The misunderstanding they
had was resolved,” Jafari said.
Jafari,
35, is the only breadwinner for his family of six members. He, like thousands
of other former security forces, became jobless after Kabul fell to the
Taliban, reported Tolo News.
“I
am very happy that my father is released. We call on the Islamic Emirate to
provide job opportunities for my father,” said Ali Sajad, Jafari’s son.
“The
detention of these officers after the announcement of the general amnesty is an
act against Islamic values and will form a gap between the government and the
people,” said Mohammad Matin Mohammad Khail, a military veteran.
Meanwhile,
a spokesman for the Taliban denied the detention of Jafari but said they will pursue
the issue.
“We
will investigate. Who is he and where he was arrested–and this is a wrong
allegation that he was arrested because he was a former member of the (security
forces),” said Taliban’s Spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid.
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://theprint.in/world/ex-afghan-security-officer-calls-on-taliban-to-honour-amnesty/836175/
--------
World
Bank proposal would shift $600 mln from Afghan trust: Source
18
February ,2022
The
World Bank’s management has signed off on a proposal that would repurpose $600
million of the just over $1 billion left in a frozen trust fund to benefit
Afghan education, families and communities, a source familiar with the plan
said.
The
board of the World Bank is due to discuss the proposal on March 1, with a final
decision on disbursement of the funds left up to the donors of Afghanistan Reconstruction
Trust Fund (ARTF), which is administered by the bank, the source said.
The
funds would be disbursed by various United Nations agencies, including UNICEF
and the Food and Agriculture Organization, amid escalating concerns about the
collapsing Afghan economy, the source said.
Donors
to the trust fund in December approved the transfer of $280 million from the
trust to the World Food Program and UNICEF to support nutrition and health in
Afghanistan.
UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the UN Security Council last month to
free up the remaining $1.2 billion in the fund to help Afghanistan’s people
survive the winter.
The
fresh funds will help support food security, health and education programs in
Afghanistan as it sinks into a severe economic and humanitarian crisis. The
crisis accelerated in August when the Taliban overran the country as the
Western-backed government collapsed and the last US and allied troops withdrew.
The
United States and other donors cut off the financial aid that had kept
Afghanistan running during 20 years of war after the Taliban takeover.
The
United Nations is warning that nearly 23 million people – about 55 percent of
the population – are facing extreme levels of hunger, with nearly 9 million at
risk of famine as winter takes hold in the impoverished country.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Afghanistan’s
Taliban detain Brits, American; reason unclear
18
February ,2022
Afghanistan’s
Taliban rulers have detained several British citizens and an American,
including a former freelance television journalist who has been coming to
Afghanistan for more than 40 years, both governments and a family member say.
A
statement from the British government this week said there are a number of
British nationals currently in Taliban custody. While the government refused to
release their identities, Hassina Syed, the wife of Peter Jouvenal, a former
freelance cameraman turned businessman, told The Associated Press, her husband
was taken on Dec. 13.
And
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” on
Sunday that Washington was “actively working” to get the American released from
Taliban custody. He refused to say more, citing the “sensitivity of it.”
The
American detainee and at least four other British nationals in custody remain
publicly unidentified. It was not clear how many were detained together.
Speaking
to The AP by phone from her home in London, Syed, an Afghan, said her husband
was in Afghanistan investigating business opportunities, including investment
in lithium mining. Afghanistan is rich in lithium, a key component of
energy-storage batteries. He was traveling alone and not associated with the
other detainees, she said.
Jouvenal
had worked as a freelance cameraman during the 1980s Soviet invasion in
Afghanistan and followed the country through its many wars.
He
married Syed and they have three daughters.
Jouvenal,
who speaks both Pashto and Dari, Afghanistan’s two official languages, had held
several meetings with the Taliban’s mining ministry before being detained in
December, Syed said, including with the minister. No charges have been filed
and until his detention, Syed said, Jouvenal had been careful to stay in
regular contact with the Taliban authorities to ensure that they were aware of
his activities and movements.
In
the mid 2000s, Jouvenal owed and operated the Gandamak Restaurant and guest
house in the Afghan capital, which had become well known among the many
journalists who traveled to Afghanistan during the US-led invasion that toppled
the Taliban government in 2001.
The
Taliban did not respond to requests for comment on the foreign nationals and on
Jouvenal in particular.
In
a statement, the British foreign office said the detention of British nationals
is being discussed with the Taliban.
“UK
officials have raised their detention with the Taliban at every opportunity,
including when a delegation travelled to Kabul last week,” the British foreign
office said in a statement earlier this week.
There’s
been no explanation for the detentions.
Syed
said her husband was alone and was not travelling with the other men who have
been detained.
According
to people with direct knowledge of the men currently being held in Taliban
custody, at least two of the detainees were apparently in Afghanistan to
secretly evacuate Afghan nationals. The people with direct knowledge spoke on
condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
The
Taliban have made it clear that Afghans without proper documents would not be
allowed to leave the country.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Arab
World
Hezbollah
says ‘untouched’ drone flew over Israel for 40 minutes: Statement
18
February ,2022
The
Israeli army said Friday that it activated the Iron Dome and scrambled fighter
jets but failed to intercept a drone from Lebanon, which was later claimed by
Iran-backed Hezbollah.
This
was the second incident in as many days and comes after Hezbollah’s Hassan
Nasrallah said the group was making its own drones in Lebanon.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Air
raid sirens were sounded, sending residents into bomb shelters after “a
radio-controlled aircraft crossed into Israeli airspace from Lebanon,” the
Israeli army said in a statement.
“As
a result... aerial defense systems were activated” and “after a few minutes,
radar contact was lost with the aircraft,” it added, indicating that the drone
was not intercepted.
Hezbollah
later released a statement saying the drone named “Hassan” entered Israeli
airspace on a reconnaissance mission for around 40 minutes before returning
“untouched.”
But
Israeli fighter jets were heard over Beirut late Friday, according to local
residents.
The
Israeli army had announced on Thursday it had shot down a drone that it said
was launched into Israeli airspace by Hezbollah.
That
came a day after Nasrallah had boasted about his organization’s new drone and
missile capabilities.
In
a speech, Nasrallah said “it is no secret to the Israelis... that we have the
capacity to transform our missiles into precision missiles.”
“In
Lebanon, for a long time, we have started to manufacture drones. Whoever wants
to buy them can place an order,” he declared.
Lebanon
and Israel are in a state of war and drones have become a regular feature of
their heavily guarded border.
In
January, Israeli security sources claimed that drones captured after being
flown across the frontier from Lebanon had provided insights into Hezbollah’s
growing aerial surveillance capabilities.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Arab
Coalition destroys explosives-laden boat launched by Houthis in Red Sea
18
February ,2022
The
Arab Coalition destroyed an explosives-laden boat launched by Yemen’s
Iran-backed Houthis in the south of the red sea, the official Saudi Press
Agency (SPA) reported on Friday.
The
coalition added that the boat came from Yemen’s main Red Sea port of Hodeidah.
“The
Houthi’s use of Hodeidah port threatens freedom of navigation and global
trade,” the Arab Coalition said in a statement carried by SPA.
The
Houthis have launched several attacks directed at Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates in recent weeks.
On
Wednesday, the UAE called for “ending the appeasement of the Iran-backed Houthi
militia” during a UN Security Council briefing on Yemen.
Commenting
on the Houthis militia’s alleged use of Hodeidah port to store weapons, the UAE
permanent representative to the UN, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh called on the body to
have presence in the port to prevent using it to serve military purposes and to
launch attacks that threaten the security of navigation and countries in the
region.
In
January, the UAE-flagged ship Rwabee was seized by the Houthis off Hodeidah.
At
the time, the United Nations Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA)
expressed “great concern” over claims that the Houthis were militarizing the
port, stating that the port was vital for the impoverished country and
demanding an inspection.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
soldiers, YPG/PKK terrorists conduct joint armed exercise in Syria
Mohamad
Misto and Ethem Emre Ozcan
18.02.2022
ANKARA/DEIR
EZ-ZOR, Syria
The
US soldiers and YPG/PKK terrorists are carrying out a joint armed exercise in
eastern Syria, local sources said Friday.
US
troops launched the armed training with YPG/PKK terrorists in the morning in
and around the industrial zone located in the Abu Khashab desert, northwest of
Deir ez-Zor province, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity
over security concerns.
Combat
aircraft and helicopters, as well as several tanks and armored vehicles are
joining the exercise.
The
YPG/PKK terrorists will get training on using mortars, artillery fire, and
guided anti-tank missiles during the exercise, which some troops from the
Global Coalition Against Daesh/ISIS are participating in.
In
December 2021, US troops conducted joint armed exercises with the YPG/PKK
terrorists in the desert.
Previous
trainings given to terrorists
The
US and France, which are part of the coalition against the terror group
Daesh/ISIS, have previously supported YPG/PKK terrorists in Al-Hasakah and Deir
ez-Zor, east of the Euphrates River, with various armed trainings and
exercises.
In
Al-Hasakah, the Mount Abdulaziz and Sports Complex areas besides some US bases,
and the Omar Oil Field area in Deir ez-Zor have become training areas.
In
the previous trainings, weapon employment, methods of capturing positions
determined by uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) from the ground, mortar attacks,
artillery fire, airborne landings, and preventing attacks on bases were
explained to terrorists in practice.
In
the sports complex in Al-Hasakah, which serves as a runway for US helicopters,
YPG/PKK terrorists are also given practical airborne training.
The
French soldiers, who were already acting under the auspices of the US in Syria,
had given artillery fire training to YPG/PKK terrorists.
Hence,
the US and the coalition forces it leads have provided armed training to
thousands of YPG/PKK terrorists since 2015.
In
its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a
terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for
the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The
YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Failure
to stop Assad’s aid abuses threatens entire region, analysts warn
February
19, 2022
NEW
YORK: Syrian authorities have grown more skilled at manipulating international
aid during 11 years of conflict, according to a newly published report by the
Center for Strategic and International Study, an independent think tank in
Washington.
It
said that the regime of Syrian President Basher Assad has turned billions of
dollars in foreign assistance, intended to alleviate the suffering of the
Syrian people, into a lasting “profit center” used to reward loyalists and
punish the opposition.
The
70-page report, titled Rescuing Aid in Syria, states that those who are
benefiting from international aid to the country are the same people who
created the humanitarian crisis in the first place. It is based on interviews
with 130 UN officials, aid workers, analysts, diplomats, field monitors and mediators
involved in the Syrian conflict.
They
said the Assad regime has tightened its grip on aid agencies in a number of
ways, including through visa approvals, and is diverting assistance for its own
gain in the areas it controls and restricting international access to areas it
does not.
It
also threatens, tortures and arbitrarily detains Syrian aid staff and withholds
basic goods and services, including food and clean water, from millions of
Syrians in rebels-held areas as a tactic of war, the report added.
Failure
to reverse this damage could push the entire region to the brink of despair, it
warned, as it called on Western donor governments to break the cycle of abuse —
and do it soon as time is running out.
Syria
is at a turning point, according to the report, with the number of vulnerable
people in need rising amid a tacit acknowledgment that Assad will remain in
power and a push, mostly by regime ally Russia, to move to a reconstruction
phase, without any reforms to humanitarian assistance and without addressing
any of the myriad issues affecting the country, including displacement.
Aid
advocates fear that more international money will be used as a weapon of war by
the regime.
“For
a long time, diplomacy has stalled and aid has been used essentially as a
containment strategy by Western governments, or even just kind of a pat on the
back, to think they’re doing something for one of the world’s worst
humanitarian and displacement crises since the Second World War,” report author
Natasha Hall told Arab News.
“With
rising needs and with no end in sight, really, to the core causes of the
conflict, if the international community decides that aid and diplomacy is the
way forward for Syria then we need to essentially start treating it like it’s
the main course.”
Since
the start of the war, western donor governments — the EU, the US and Canada —
have sent more than $40 billion in aid to Syria. Billions more continues to
make its way to the country. Yet despite 11 years of generous payments, every
part of Syria continues to suffer and for millions of people life feels ever
more hopeless.
More
than 12 million Syrians now struggle to find a meal, with the number increasing
by 50 percent between 2020 and 2021. Water shortages and a prolonged drought
have led to depleted wheat harvests, and had a devastating effect on the
livelihoods of millions and exacerbated food insecurity across the country.
In
the government-held northeast, people are moving to camps for displaced persons
not to flee fighting but to escape poverty and hunger. Children increasingly
are suffering from stunted development. A coordinator with one nongovernmental
organization said its workers are reporting alarming malnutrition figures.
“If
the borders were opened tomorrow, millions more would spill across, fleeing
relentless insecurity, hunger and a devastating drought,” the report warns.
The
Assad regime has a long history of facing accusations that it is manipulating
foreign aid. It is accustomed to working with international NGOs and UN
agencies, dating back to when it oversaw the Palestinian and Iraqi refugee
crises.
When
pro-democracy protests began in 2011, therefore, the regime “pretty much off
the bat knew how to establish their own red lines, so they ensured the Syrian
Arab red crescent would be the primary implementer and deliverer of all aid,”
said Hall.
“They
also threatened and co-opted and surveilled international aid workers that were
talking out or talking too much about manipulation, diversion, the hampering of
aid delivery. Those were PNG’d (declared persona non grata) and thrown out of
the country. In this way, they were able to essentially control the aid
apparatus. But today it is a bit more insidious.”
Hall
said the regime is deliberately starving opposition-held areas while food and
other life-saving essentials are left sitting in warehouses, and refusing to
allow opposition-linked NGOs to distribute aid.
She
called on Western donor governments to break the cycle of abuse through a
coordinated, comprehensive and informed approach that includes independent
monitoring. Only these governments have the power to do this “because they are
the donors,” Hall said, given that the Syrian regime “impedes monitoring when
it wants and needs to,” and the threat of coercion and murder that hangs over
aid workers has prevented UN agencies from monitoring aid.
“I
think it’s time to assess if aid is helping the people that are actually in
dire need and if it’s not, then who is it helping?” she said of the challenge
facing Western donors as talk continues about opening Syria up.
Neglecting
to address this question, Hall added, will affect not only Syria but spill over
to the wider region. The sight of desperate Syrians fighting in
Nagorno-Karabakh or Libya, or Daesh cells forming and striking, can already be
seen.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2027681/middle-east
--------
Coalition
in Yemen launches 18 strikes on Houthis in Marib, Hajjah
February
19, 2022
RIYADH:
The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen said it had launched 18 operations
targeting the Iran-backed Houthi militia in the Yemeni provinces of Marib and
Hajjah in the past 24 hours.
The
coalition said casualties were inflicted on several Houthi militants and 13
military vehicles had been destroyed, Saudi state TV reported on Friday.
Meanwhile,
the coalition said it destroyed an explosive-laden boat belonging to the Houthi
militia in the southern Red Sea from the port of Hodeidah.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2027706/middle-east
--------
Southeast
Asia
Muslim
scholar against 'wayang', Indonesia’s traditional theatre
02/18/2022
by
Mathias Hariyadi
Jakarta
(AsiaNews) – According to a Muslim cleric, Indonesia’s traditional puppet
theatre should be outlawed.
"Wayang
should be destroyed,” said Khalid Basalamah, when someone asked him what
Islamic teaching said about this local tradition.
Wayang
is not just a form of entertainment. Young and old alike love to watch
performances, which usually take place from midnight to dawn, also because of
the folk wisdom and philosophical teachings they impart.
There
are two types of performances: wayang orang, with living actors who must excel
in Javanese language and dance, and wayang kulit, played by puppets handled by
the dalang, the puppet master, who also leads the musical band that accompanies
the show.
This
traditional form of theatre originated in India and was imported to Indonesia
in the 4th century AD as Hinduism spread to the archipelago. Today the local
Catholic Church makes extensive use of it.
Fr
Agustinus Handi Setyanto, a priest in the Diocese of Purwokerto and rector of
the seminary in Tegal, a city in central Java, is a dalang of wayang wahyu, a
new form of theatre that incorporates Bible stories. He is concerned about
comments that devalue this form of art.
“As
far as I'm concerned, the wayang wahyu is important because I can spread
Catholic teachings through the nation’s most popular and entertaining puppet
show,” he told AsiaNews.
“The
(Second) Vatican Council told us that every form of knowledge and culture
should be respected and preserved,” he added. “As stated in Gaudium et Spes n.
58, the Catholic Church should cement her union with all local cultures so that
both parties can enrich each other.”
The
wayang wahyu began to spread in the 1960s thanks to Brother Timotius
Wignyosoebroto, but gained great popularity thanks to Fr Wiyono, a priest from
the Archdiocese of Semarang in Yogyakarta.
Source:
Asia News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Türkiye,
Pakistan, Malaysia hailed for fight against Islamophobia
February
17, 2022
Speakers
at an international conference in Istanbul have commended Türkiye, Pakistan and
Malaysia for their relentless efforts against the scourge of Islamophobia and
anti-Muslim hate crimes, with Ankara offering to share its "knowledge and
experience" with other members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC).
"As
an organisation (OIC), we need to work together, increase collaboration and use
our platform more effectively," Türkiye's deputy justice minister Yakup
Mogul told a conference on Wednesday.
Muslim
nations need to support people who are facing discrimination around the world,
he told delegates gathered to discuss human rights violations faced by Muslims,
adding Türkiye was ready to "share our knowledge and experience" with
other OIC countries.
"If
we don’t take steps, it would get worse," Mogul said, referring to the
occupation of Palestine's lands and Myanmar’s brutal uprooting of ethnic
Rohingya Muslims.
The
two-day event is jointly hosted by Türkiye's justice and foreign ministries and
the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of OIC.
Responding
to Islamophobic incidents in Europe, he said: "We should not allow Europe
to become a place that is not peaceful for Muslims" while calling for
"effective" UN and OIC systems.
Legal
safeguards
Haci
Ali Acikgul, the chairperson of the OIC's IPHRC, said the Muslim bloc and its
human rights body have remained vocal in "condemning hate-motivated acts
against Muslims around the world, from Palestine to Kashmir, Nagorno Karabakh,
India, Sri Lanka, France, New Zealand, Central African Republic, and
Myanmar."
Islamophobia,
he said, has "transformed into a systematic anti-Muslim rhetoric of
right-wing extremists propagated to achieve well-defined political gains."
Acikgul
said the IPHRC has proposed a comprehensive anti-Islamophobia strategy for the
OIC, but given the scale of the challenge "efforts of the OIC and IPHRC alone
are not enough."
"It
requires concerted collaborative efforts by states, civil society,
intelligentsia and media," he noted while praising the leadership of
Türkiye, Pakistan and Malaysia for their "laudable efforts that provided a
sense of direction and required political impetus to the ongoing efforts at the
global scale."
"We
support their call for instituting legal safeguards aimed at protecting the
sensitivities of all religious groups and galvanising OIC's collective efforts
to project the true image of Islam and its message of peace and
tolerance," he said.
Acikgul
said Islamophobia has "transformed into a systematic anti-Muslim rhetoric
of right-wing extremists propagated to achieve well-defined political
gains."
Studies
show that far-right and anti-Muslim movements have gained ground around the
world, especially in Europe as the refugee crisis has triggered nationalism
across the continent.
Palestinian
official highlights discord within OIC
"There
is inconsistency in our positions and actions as the members of the OIC are not
acting in unison," said Ammar Hijazi, Palestine's assistant minister for
multilateral affairs, while decrying the decision of some nations to normalise
ties with Israel.
However,
he stressed that "we seek solutions based on respect, dialogue and
harmony," calling for solidary and support for the Palestinian people.
People
of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) "are victims of double
standards and discrimination at a larger scale," said Huseyin Isiksal,
special adviser to the TRNC president on international relations and diplomacy.
However,
he asserted that Turkish Cypriots "will never give up our rights (as) we
are not a minority but equal to Greek Cypriots."
Source:
Trt World
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Let
courts decide on children’s unilateral conversion, says law minister
Jason
Thomas
February
18, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: The court system is the best avenue for single mother Loh Siew Hong to
find a solution to her three children’s unilateral conversion to Islam, law
minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said today.
Perlis
mufti Asri Zainul Abidin yesterday confirmed that the state’s religious
department had registered Loh’s three children as Muslims upon the request of
their father three years ago, a move which has been decried by civil liberty
groups and religious bodies.
“As
far as I am concerned, the final arbitrator is the court,” Wan Junaidi told
FMT.
“People
can just go to court and ask for a court order. The court will listen to the argument
of the Perlis mufti or the other side.
“That
is the only way out. Because in Malaysia’s democratic process, arbitration is
by the court (system).”
Wan
Junaidi was asked what steps the federal government would take to ensure state
laws are consistent with a 2018 Federal Court landmark ruling that consent from
both parents was mandatory when it came to the conversion of minors.
Wan
Junaidi was speaking to FMT on the sidelines of a forum on the memorandum of
understanding (MoU) signed between the federal government and Pakatan Harapan
(PH).
Stressing
that religion is under the purview of states, Wan Junaidi said that “the only
federal matter here” is the court system.
“So
if they can go to court, the court will decide,” he said.
Asri
yesterday said the conversion of Loh’s children is legal under Perlis law as
under a 2016 Perlis Islamic enactment by the state assembly, either the father,
mother, or a guardian can convert their minors to Islam.
“Other
states might be different, but only one parent is enough in Perlis. And in this
case, the children’s father wanted his kids to be converted to Islam,” the
mufti said in an online ceramah last night.
Loh,
who obtained sole custody and guardianship of the children from the Kuala
Lumpur High Court last year, had not met her children for the past three years
as she was recovering at a domestic abuse shelter.
After
lodging a missing person’s report to ascertain her children’s whereabouts,
police told her that the children were under the care of the religious
authorities in Perlis.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mideast
Iranian
Minister Says, Looking Forward To The Production Of Cinematic Works In Line
With The Tenets Of The Islamic System
February
18, 2022
He
made the remarks in a meeting with the Board of Trustees of Iran’s Farabi
Cinema Foundation (FCF) on Wednesday, Mehr reported on Friday.
“In
the coming years, we are looking forward to the production of cinematic works
in line with the tenets of the Islamic system, with productions of the same
quality as the Islamic Revolution,” the minister added.
A
national cinema institution such as the Farabi Cinema Foundation plays a
significant role in strengthening the Iranian-Islamic film industry, he noted.
The
Iranian cinema should be helped by the cooperation and mutual assistance of the
economy and culture, and the board of trustees of the foundation should exploit
its maximum operational and executive capabilities, he explained.
Taking
steps to promote Iranian cinema can be made possible with the cooperation of
the related organization, he mentioned.
Speaking
at the meeting, FCF Managing Director Seyyed Mehdi Javadi highlighted the most
recent trends in world cinema and cultural and economic characteristics.
He
also pointed to the position of Iranian cinema in terms of production and
economy in the region and explained what the foundation’s future plans will be.
Source:
Tehran Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/470224/Iran-seeks-pure-and-Islamic-cinema-minister-says
--------
Iran
Categorically Dismisses Fake News Report on Deal in Vienna Talks
2022-February-18
"It
is only meant to boost the position of the western parties to the talks and has
nothing to do with what is happening on the ground in the Austrian
capital," Khatibzadeh said while rejecting a report by Reuters news agency
about a deal having been drafted in the Vienna talks on the revival of the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
On
Thursday, the Reuters claimed that it had gained access to a 20-page draft
agreement allegedly clinched by the participants in the Vienna talks, which
stipulates a sequence of steps to be implemented once it has been approved by
the remaining parties to the deal.
The
news agency further claimed that the agreement starts with a phase, including
Iran suspending enrichment above 5% purity and other measures such as unfreezing
of about $7 billion in Iranian funds stuck in South Korean banks under US
sanctions.
Reuters
also claimed that the draft also includes the release of a number of Iranian
nationals, who also hold American and European citizenships and have been sentenced
to jail terms on grounds of taking measures against the country’s national
security.
The
Reuters report also alleged that the draft has also noted that the removal of
some particularly sensitive sanctions could also require Iranian and US
officials to meet directly, which has so far been categorically rejected by
Iranian officials.
Later
on Thursday, Iran’s Nour News website, which is close to the Supreme National
Security Council (SNSC), carried out a report refuting the Reuters claim and
stressing that it only aims to depict a false image of what is going on in
Vienna in order to boost the Western parties’ standing in the negotiations and
prove that they have gained major concessions from the Iranian side.
“Iran
has stated from the beginning that as long as the United States does not take
the necessary steps to remove sanctions, the Islamic Republic will not do
anything to reduce its nuclear activities, which are in line with its
obligations under the JCPOA,” the report said, referring to the 2015 Iran deal,
officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Nour
News website further rejected Reuters' claim that the release of American and
European prisoners held in Iran is part of the Vienna draft agreement,
stressing that the issue of a possible prisoner swap has nothing to do with the
ongoing talks in the Austrian capital.
“The
United States was the party that withdrew from an agreement on the exchange of
prisoners, and Iran is ready to act in this regard within the framework of
previous agreements,” the report noted.
Nour
News website added that contrary to Reuters' claim that direct negotiations
between the United States and Iran are a prerequisite for reaching a final
agreement in Vienna, the Iranian delegation has no plan for direct talks with
the American side.
Source:
Fars News Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Minister:
Brazil Eyeing to Broaden Trade Cooperation with Iran
2022-February-18
"The
purpose of my trip to Iran is to broaden bilateral relations between the two
countries," Cristina said in a meeting with the members of the Iranian
Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture in Fars Province.
She
said that in addition to exporting to Iran, Brazil is eager to increase the
volume of imports from Iran too.
"My
country is willing to attract Iranian investors because of the country's
capacity for technology and the potential of agriculture," Cristina added.
She
reiterated that Brazil, as a country that has made progress in the fields of
agriculture and livestock, can help other countries in the field of food
security.
"Brazilian
companies and banks want to facilitate the trade process with Iran and solve
some of the existing problems," Cristina pointed out.
She
also expressed hope that her visit to Iran will be fruitful for the two
countries.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001129000322/Miniser-Brazil-Eyeing-Braden-Trade-Cperain-wih-Iran
--------
Iran
nuclear deal could be agreed very soon, EU official says
18
February ,2022
A
senior European Union official said on Friday that a US-Iranian deal to revive
Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement was close but success depended on the political
will of those involved.
“I
expect an agreement in the coming week, the coming two weeks or so,” the EU
official said. “I think we have now on the table text that are very, very close
to what is going to be the final agreement,” the official said.
Reuters
reported on Feb. 17 details of a possible deal negotiated by envoys from Iran,
Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany, the European Union and United States.
“Most
of the issues are already agreed. But as a principle in this kind of
negotiations, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. So we still
have...some questions, some of them rather political and difficult to agree,”
the official said.
The
official said a deal was necessary as Iran’s sensitive uranium enrichment
program was moving ahead quickly. Iran has always denied it is seeking nuclear
weapons.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Palestinians
offer Jerusalem Friday prayers in solidarity with eviction families
MOHAMMED
NAJIB
February
18, 2022
RAMALLAH:
Dozens of Palestinians performed Friday prayers in the Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood in East Jerusalem in a display of solidarity with families facing
eviction by Israeli authorities in the area.
The
groups were provoked by opposition protests, who raised Israeli flags and
insulted them.
The
calls for evictions have been led by the extremist member of the Knesset, Itamar
Ben Gvir, the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party who moved his office
to the neighborhood six days ago.
Ekrima
Said Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Council, said in the Friday sermon:
“The steadfastness of the people of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood is a
protection for the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Denouncing
the attempts to expel the residents from their homes, he added that the
Jerusalemites are facing injustice and racial discrimination.
Israeli
police officers were deployed to the streets of the sensitive neighborhood,
cordoning entrances and the prayer area.
Police
checkpoints were established throughout the neighborhood, while the Israeli
Defense Force has reinforced its deployed forces across the West Bank in
preparation for a Friday of anger called for by the Palestinians.
Palestinian
citizens traveled from within the Green Line, Jerusalem and the West Bank to
support the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in response to calls by activists and
religious and national bodies.
Sareen
Jabarin, a political activist from Umm Al-Fahm, who was on a bus with a group
of fellow activists, told Arab News: “We are going to support our people in
Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and what they are subjected to — ethnic cleansing
and eviction of their homes — because of the apartheid policy pursued by the
Israeli government.”
Jabarin,
who participated in similar demonstrations last year, added that she would
continue to protest against attempts to displace Palestinian families in Sheikh
Jarrah.
Tensions
are increasing ahead of the approaching implementation date of the order to
evict the Palestinian families from their residences in the neighborhood and
replace them with Jewish settlers. The violent action is expected in March.
The
move has raised anger and concern not only among Palestinian groups but also
among Arab and Islamic countries, international organizations and the EU.
In
a tweet on Feb. 18, an EU delegation expressed its concern over ongoing
developments in Sheikh Jarrah. It said that “incidents of settler violence,
irresponsible provocations” and other acts in the neighborhood “only fuel
"further tensions and must cease.”
The
issue has united Jerusalemites of different religious and political
affiliations to defend those threatened with eviction.
Palestinian
activists from the neighborhood told Arab News that some social media platforms
such as Instagram and Facebook had blocked their accounts for highlight the
controversial events that are taking place.
Fatah
leader in East Jerusalem, Hatem Abdel Qader, said the people’s “presence today
is to respond to the provocation from Knesset member Ben Gvir and the Israeli
police that are trying to provoke Jerusalemites and are trying to create an
environment that expels Jerusalemites from their homes.”
Meanwhile,
a UN statement said: “The announcement of the scheduled eviction has recently
raised tension in the Jerusalem neighborhood, with clashes involving
Palestinian residents, Israeli settlers, and Israeli security forces resulting
in property damage, multiple injuries and arrests, including the arrest of
eight children since Feb. 11.”
Families
have been subjected to attacks with pepper spray and stones resulting in injury
and property damage, the UN added.
There
are 218 Palestinian families, comprising 970 individuals, including 424
children, living in East Jerusalem, mainly in the neighborhoods of Sheikh
Jarrah and Silwan, that are currently facing the threat of forced eviction by
the Israeli authorities.
“The
United Nations has repeatedly called for a halt to forced evictions and
demolitions in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem: Under
international humanitarian law, forcible transfers of protected persons by the
occupying power are forbidden regardless of their motive,” the statement said.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2027526/middle-east
--------
Hamas
warns Israel against crossing red lines in Sheikh Jarrah
18
February 2022
The
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has warned Israel against crossing “red
lines” in the flashpoint neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah or any other area in the
occupied al-Quds.
The
Palestinian Information Center on Thursday cited senior Hamas official Basem
Na’im as saying that the crossing of Hamas’ red lines in Sheikh Jarrah, the
al-Aqsa Mosque, or any other area in the occupied al-Quds would have “serious
repercussions.”
He
said al-Quds was “the essence” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stressing
that what happened there did not concern only its residents but all
Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims.
The
official also stressed that “the leadership of the resistance and the
Palestinian people will not stand idly by” in the face of what is happening to
the people and their sanctuaries in the occupied al-Quds.
Tensions
heightened across the Palestinian territories on Sunday, when Israeli forces
and illegal settlers renewed their attacks against Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah.
The neighborhood has been the scene of frequent crackdowns by Israeli regime
forces on the Palestinians protesting against the threatened expulsion of
dozens of families from their homes in favor of Israeli settler groups.
The
initial tensions that erupted in Sheikh Jarrah last year in part sparked a May
2021 war between the Israeli regime and resistance groups in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli
forces attack solidarity protests in Sheikh Jarrah
Palestinians
staged a mass protest in Sheikh Jarrah on Friday afternoon to express their
solidarity with the residents of the neighborhood against the attacks carried
out by the Israeli forces and settlers.
The
protest was met by force, with Israeli forces hitting the demonstrators with
batons.
Local
sources said the participants in the protest, who came from different areas in
the Israeli-occupied territories such as the city of Umm al-Fahm, insisted on
taking part in the rally despite the Israeli crackdown to stress that they were
the owners of the same land and would not surrender to the occupier.
Hamas
warns won’t allow Palestinian prisoners to suffer in Israeli jails
Zaher
Jabarin, a senior Hamas official, said on Thursday that the resistance would
not allow the suffering of the Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails to
continue, and would spare no effort to repel the Israeli repression of the
detainees.
“We
will stand behind our prisoners with all political and legal capabilities at
our disposal,” Jabarin said.
Israel’s
prison authorities have increased repressive measures since six Palestinians
broke out of Israel’s high-security Gilboa prison on September 4 using tools as
basic as a spoon. The jailbreak was hailed as a victory by Palestinians.
Israeli
jail authorities keep Palestinian prisoners under deplorable conditions lacking
proper hygienic standards. Palestinian inmates have also been subjected to
systematic torture, harassment, and repression.
Source:
Press TV
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israeli
forces injure scores of Palestinians as clashes break out in West Bank
18
February 2022
Dozens
of Palestinians have been injured by Israeli forces in the flashpoint town of
Beita, near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus as clashes erupted after
Israeli settlers stormed the area.
According
to the Palestine Red Crescent, nearly 90 Palestinians, including four
journalists, were injured during clashes with Israeli forces in the vicinity of
Sobeih Mountain in Beita, south of Nablus, on Friday.
The
injured included at least 57 people who suffered breathing difficulties due to
inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli troops, and five others who were hit
with rubber bullets used by the forces.
Ja’far
Shtayyeh was identified as one of the journalists who were injured while
covering the clashes.
Media
outlets reported that the clashes erupted on Friday at dawn as Israeli forces
attacked the Palestinians who were protesting a visit by a group of Israeli
settlers to the area.
Israeli
forces had earlier razed roads that led to Sobeih Mountain in a bid to block
the Palestinians from reaching the area.
Footage
circulated on social media on Friday, showing Palestinians hurling stones at
Israeli bulldozers during the clashes, which also saw arrests.
Since
May, Beita has seen intensified clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians
protesting against a settlement outpost that has been established on Sobeih
Mountain by settlers under the protection of Israeli forces.
To
the east of Nablus, clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinians in
the village of Beit Dajan, leaving 16 Palestinians injured.
Also
on Friday, Israeli forces suppressed a weekly anti-settlement rally in the
village of Kafr Qaddum in Qalqilya Province on Friday.
Murad
Shteiwi, a media spokesman in the Qalqilya region, said the Israeli forces
opened fire on the protesters, injuring a 12-year-old boy.
Palestinian
media reports said scores of Palestinians also suffered breathing difficulties
due to inhaling tear gas fired by the Israeli forces.
Israel
occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — territories the Palestinians want
for a future state — during the Six-Day Arab-Israeli War in 1967. It later had
to withdraw from Gaza.
Source:
Press TV
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israeli
troops unleash military dog on surrendering Palestinian teenager
18
February 2022
Israeli
regime forces unleashed a military dog to attack a Palestinian man during a
brutal overnight arrest, despite the man holding his hands up, a newly-released
footage reveals.
The
footage, made public on Wednesday, relates to an incident that reportedly took
place on Monday near the city of Ramallah, condemned widely as a “barbaric
act.”
It
shows 19-year-old Malik Maala holding his hands behind his head while awaiting
arrest by the Israeli troops at his workplace in the occupied West Bank city of
al-Bireh.
Quite
shockingly, as the teenager prepares to be handcuffed, a military dog released
by Israeli soldiers standing nearby pounces on him, the UK-based Middle East
Eye reported Thursday.
The
footage shows Israeli military forces approaching the university student
moments after he is attacked by the dog, detaining him and taking him to an
undisclosed location.
The
Palestinian Authority's prisoners’ commission, reacting to the incident, termed
it "distressful and cruel" and a "barbaric act."
"It
is another proof that clarifies the ongoing methods of the occupation aiming at
breaking the will of our people to build a successful and stable future,"
the agency said in a Thursday statement.
It
blasted the silence of international human rights watchdogs for their failure
in “defending the minimum rights of our people in building their future and
obtaining freedom."
🇵🇸#Palestine || A
security camera record shows Israeli soldiers released a dog on the Palestinian
prisoner Malik Mu'alla while detaining him in Al Berih city last Monday.
pic.twitter.com/RjZBM7wqzJ
—
Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) February 16, 2022
The
commission also noted that Maala was arrested while working as a guard at an industrial
facility in al-Bireh to raise money for his university tuition fees.
Israeli
regime news outlets tried to justify the vicious cruelty by insisting that the
measure was intended to “frighten” the Palestinian youth and that the dog was
held back to prevent harm on the teenager.
The
report and the Palestinian agency did not cite reasons for Maala’s brutal
arrest.
The
development coincided with media reports that the Israeli regime has refused to
cooperate with a United Nations team probing the crimes it committed during a
full-scale war on the besieged Palestinian enclave, Gaza Strip, last year.
The
regime's ambassador to the UN and international organizations in Geneva, Meirav
Eilon Shahar, announced the refusal in a letter she personally delivered to
Navi Pillay, the head of the Commission of Inquiry that has been established by
the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
"There
is simply no reason to believe that Israel will receive reasonable, equitable,
and non-discriminatory treatment from the Council, or from this Commission of
Inquiry [COI]," Shahar claimed.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Palestine
scholars denounce 'kidnapping' of Muslim children by Sweden
February
18, 2022
The
Palestine Scholars Association yesterday condemned the forced removal of Muslim
children from their families by Swedish social services saying it violates
human rights, Anadolu reported.
"We
strongly condemn and denounce what the Swedish authorities are doing in
kidnapping Muslim children from their families," the association said in a
statement, adding: "We consider this a blatant attack on the Muslim
refugees who came to those countries to escape fierce wars."
The
association expressed "absolute solidarity" with the children's families.
The
Association called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Arab
Organisation for Human Rights, and all human rights groups in the world to
assume their responsibilities in preventing the oppression and persecution of
Muslim immigrants in Sweden.
This
week, Syrian refugee parents Diab Talal and his wife Amal called on Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to help return their five children after Swedish
social services took them into care.
Source:
Middle East Monitor
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Africa
Islamic
State-linked jihadists kill at least 40 civilians in Mali amid turf war
19
Feb 2022
An
Islamic State-linked group has killed around 40 civilians caught up in a
rivalry between warring jihadist groups in Mali’s conflict-plagued north.
There
were “at least 40 civilian deaths in three different sites” during a week of
bloodshed in the Tessit area near the borders of Burkina Faso and Niger, a
civilian official in the area told AFP.
The
official said the death toll was provisional because information was patchy and
coming in slowly from the remote and dangerous area.
While
the focus is on Ukraine, Russia’s presence in the Sahel is steadily growing
“These
civilians had been accused by one [jihadist] group of complicity with the other
group,” the official said.
Two
Tessit residents, based in the regional capital Gao and the national capital
Bamako, confirmed the scale of the violence after speaking with witnesses who
had fled the carnage.
A
spokesman for a group of armed northern militias reported a similar death toll.
The
latest bloodshed comes in a week when France and its European partners
announced they would start withdrawing their forces after more than nine years
fighting a jihadist insurgency.
Tessit
is in the “three borders” area, a hotspot of jihadist violence.
The
Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) and the Sahel’s largest jihadist
alliance, the al-Qaida-aligned GSIM group, are particularly active in the area.
As
well as attacking local and foreign troops, they have been fighting each other
for territory since 2020.
Three
local sources, including the northern militia spokesman, said GSIM fighters
went to several villages near Tessit, including Keygourouten, Bakal and
Tadjalalt, between 8-10 February.
Accusing
the local shopkeepers of supplying EIGS, the GSIM fighters ransacked a health
centre, a pharmacy, a water tower and a shop, as well as stealing an ambulance.
The
GSIM fighters also ordered the residents to leave. Between 150 and 200
households fled to Niger and surrounding towns.
Then
on Monday and Tuesday, EIGS fighters arrived in the same villages.
“They
accused the men of being accomplices of GSIM. They killed the old men and the
young men,” the official in the Tessit area said.
Thirty
were executed in Tadjalalt, the official said.
It
is a common scenario, the official added, saying that “when a [jihadist] group
passes through a village, the one that comes later accuses the residents of
being accomplices”.
Source:
The Guardian
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mali
tells France to pull out troops 'without delay', cites ‘flagrant violations’ of
bilateral accords
18
February 2022
The
government of Mali has asked France to pull out its forces from the country
"without delay," casting doubt on Paris' plans to withdraw troops
over several months.
The
announcement came after Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, the spokesman for the
country’s military-installed government, said in a statement on the public
television that the results of France's nine-year military engagement in
conflict-torn Mali were "not satisfactory."
Maiga
described France’s plan for a prolonged withdrawal from the African country as
a "flagrant violation" of accords between the two countries.
"In
view of these repeated breaches of defense agreements, the government invites
the French authorities to withdraw, without delay," he said.
Mali
has also asked the smaller European Takuba group of special forces, which was
created in 2020, to depart quickly.
Macron
responded with a statement saying that he would not compromise the safety of
French soldiers and the withdrawal will take place take place "in orderly
fashion."
On
Thursday, France announced that it will withdraw thousands of troops from Mali
due to a breakdown in relations with the country, a decade after launching a
war without the initial approval of the United Nations or even the French
parliament.
A
statement signed by France and its African and European allies said
"multiple obstructions" meant the conditions were no longer in place
to operate in Mali.
The
decision applies to both the 2,400 French troops in Mali, where France first
deployed in 2013, and the European Takuba group of special forces.
Relations
between Paris and Bamako have deteriorated since the ruling military took power
in August 2020.
Macron
confirmed at a news conference that France's bases in Gossi, Menaka and Gao in
Mali would be closed within the next four to six months, "completely"
rejecting the idea that France had failed its mission in the country.
Mali's
armed forces spokesperson Souleymane Dembele shrugged off France's announcement,
saying European troops had failed to curb militancy.
Mali's
prime minister earlier this month blasted France for attempting to divide his
country during a foreign military mission against terrorist groups.
Choguel
Kokalla Maiga, head of the government that came to power in June 2021, said the
French intervention "later turned into a de facto partition of the
country."
Paris
pushed economic and other sanctions against the African country after the
expulsion, with the European Union following suit by by imposing sanctions on
several Malian officials, including the prime minister.
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/02/18/677098/Mali-France-pull-out-troops-without-delay
--------
Nigerian
Muslims denounce Saudi war on Yemen
February
19, 2022
Dozens
of Nigerian Muslims, mostly supporters of prominent cleric Sheikh Ibrahim
al-Zakzaky, have demonstrated in Abuja to condemn Saudi Arabia for the war on
Yemen and its continued blockade of the impoverished country.
They
said the bombing of civilian targets by the Saudi-led coalition and its siege
on Yemen has caused a serious humanitarian situation there.
The
Saudi war has escalated recently as Riyadh has intensified its aerial and
ground attacks, worsening the humanitarian situation in Yemen. The protesters
said the ultimate goal of Saudi Arabia is to reinstate the former Yemeni
president.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://en.abna24.com/news//nigerian-muslims-denounce-saudi-war-on-yemen_1230980.html
--------
Tunisia
extends state of emergency until end of 2022
Mehmet
Akif Turan
18.02.2022
TUNIS,
Tunisia
Tunisia
on Friday extended the state of emergency, which was declared in 2015 as a
result of a terrorist attack, until the end of this year.
The
state of emergency, which would end on Feb. 20, was extended until Dec. 31,
according to a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette.
On
Jan. 18, President Kais Saied extended the state of emergency for another
month.
The
North African country first announced the state of emergency in 2015 following
a terrorist attack. Since then, it has been extended by authorities.
Under
the measures, the Interior Ministry is granted emergency powers to stop meetings
and gatherings, impose curfews, and clamp down on media organizations.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/tunisia-extends-state-of-emergency-until-end-of-2022/2506794
--------
Niger
to host European special forces leaving Mali, confirms president
James
Tasamba
18.02.2022
KIGALI,
Rwanda
Niger
on Friday confirmed that it has agreed to allow French and European special
forces withdrawing from Mali to be deployed on its territory.
The
announcement came from President Mohamed Bazoum a day after European leaders
said forces stationed in Mali for counterterrorism missions will be pulled out
due to “multiple obstructions by the Malian transitional authorities.”
About
2,400 French troops were part of the forces deployed in Mali, along with
roughly 900 special forces in the French-led Takuba task force that was helping
Mali and neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger tackle an insurgency linked to the
al-Qaeda and Daesh/ISIS terror groups.
At
a news conference in Paris on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron
announced that the “heart of this military operation will no longer be in Mali
but in Niger.”
The
withdrawal from Mali would take four to six months, during which there would be
fewer operations against insurgents in the Sahel region, he added.
Bazoum
said the redeployed forces would be able to respond to threats posed by terror
groups in the western border area with Mali and Burkina Faso.
“The
discussion we had on Wednesday evening led unanimously to the need for a
reorganization of the system that was in place in Mali. This will lead in
particular to a form of presence of these forces in Niger and on the territory
of other African countries, a little further south, who would request it,”
Bazoum said on Twitter.
“Our
goal is for our border with Mali to be secure,” he added.
Bazoum
said Niger will welcome the special forces because they have the capability to
respond to the threat posed by terror groups.
“We
expect that after the departure of Barkhane and Takuba, this area will be even
more infested and the terrorist groups will strengthen,” he said.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
North
America
US
halts nearly $160 mln aid to Burkina Faso after finding military coup occurred
19
February ,2022
The
United States has halted nearly $160 million in US aid to Burkina Faso after
determining the January ouster of President Roch Kabore constituted a military
coup, triggering aid restrictions under US law, three sources familiar with the
matter said on Friday.
The
State Department made the determination, which has not been previously
reported, in line with a US law under which US foreign aid - except funds to
promote democracy - must be stopped to a country whose elected head of
government is deposed by military coup or in a coup in which the military plays
a decisive role.
“The
State Department assesses that a military coup took place in Burkina Faso,”
said a department notice sent to Congress seen by Reuters.
“Therefore,
approximately $158.6 million in foreign assistance that benefits the Government
of Burkina Faso is restricted.”
The
State Department told Congress it was exploring the possibility of overcoming
the aid restrictions when in the US national interest, notably to provide
lifesaving assistance in the health sector.
The
State Department said on Jan. 31 that it had paused most assistance to Burkina
Faso after the country’s military leader Paul-Henri Damiba led a junta that on
Jan. 24 overthrew Kabore.
But
Washington had not formally determined that the events in the West African
country amounted to a coup and had not made a final decision on the fate of the
aid.
On
Friday, the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for
comment on the halting of aid.
Separately,
Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US government foreign assistance agency,
said on its website that on Jan. 31 it had paused activity related to a compact
agreement signed in August 2020 for $450 million in funding to Burkina Faso.
Such an agreement typically covers a five-year period.
The
MCC did not immediately respond to an email on Friday asking if that assistance
was now halted.
Damiba
was sworn in as president this week. He had cited Kabore’s inability to curb an
Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands of people and forced more than
one million people to flee their homes in the West African country.
The
military coup in Burkina Faso followed takeovers in Mali, Guinea and Chad since
2020, raising fears of coup contagion among regional leaders.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Russian
envoy: US occupation must leave Syria, their presence threatens stability in
region
18
February 2022
Russian
President’s Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa has urges the
United States to end its illegitimate occupation of parts of Syria, saying the
American forces' presence in the Arab country poses a threat to regional
stability.
Mikhail
Bogdanov, who is also Russia's deputy foreign minister, made the remarks in an
interview on Saturday, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.
The
US presence in Syria “is a matter of big concern as it threatens stability in
the region,” the Russian official said.
It
is only through such withdrawal that Syria would be able to properly address
the problems it faces in terms of stability, return of the displaced people,
and reconstruction, Bogdanov emphasized.
The
US occupation impedes the efforts that are aimed at resolving Syria’s woes, he
added, calling on Washington to show respect for the Arab country’s territorial
integrity and sovereignty.
The
US and its allies invaded Syria in 2014 under the pretext of fighting the Daesh
Takfiri terrorist group. The terrorist outfit had emerged as Washington was
running out of excuses to extend its regional meddling or enlarge it in scale.
The
US military interference, however, was surprisingly slow in confronting the
terrorists, despite the sheer size of the coalition that had enlisted scores of
Washington-allied countries.
Numerous
reports and regional officials would, meanwhile, point to the US’ role in
transferring Daesh elements throughout the region and even airlifting supplies
to the terror outfit.
In
2017 and at the height of the coalition's military campaign in Syria, Russia
drew a parallel between the destruction that was being caused by the US-led
forces and the wholesale bombing campaign against the German city of Dresden
during the World War II.
Last
month, the Syrian Military Prosecution announced that it has launched an
investigation into violations committed by the United States military forces in
the country, particularly the occupation troops’ training of the Daesh Takfiri
terrorists and collaboration with them to carry out various acts of terror.
“The
Military Prosecution has come up with sufficient and incontrovertible evidence
that American forces assert fairly direct control over Daesh members as well as
their terrorist activities across Syria, using its illegal base in al-Tanf
[region in southern Syria],” Ahmad Touzan, a spokesman for the prosecution,
said at a press conference in the capital Damascus.
He
noted, “We have convincing proof that many Daesh terrorists are currently being
trained at that base. The armed terrorists visit the base aboard their vehicles
without any restraint.”
Touzan
went on to stress that the Syrian Military Prosecution will explore all
available judicial means in order to prosecute American occupation forces for
the plunder of natural resources in Syria’s oil-rich northeastern province of
Hasakah as well as the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.
“The
probe will provide Syrian authorities with the opportunity to take appropriate
legal actions against the US administration and American occupation forces in
the near future,” Touzan pointed out.
The
US military trains anti-Damascus militants at al-Tanf base, which is situated
near Syria's borders with Iraq and Jordan.
Washington
has unilaterally declared a 55-kilometer “de-confliction zone” around the
facility, and frequently threatened to target Syrian forces within the area.
Back
in May 2020, a number of captured Daesh terrorists confessed to close
cooperation with US military forces stationed at al-Tanf base on carrying out
various acts of terror and sabotage.
Last
December, Syria’s foreign minister said occupation of northeastern and southern
parts of his country by US forces is dangerous and must come to an end.
Faisal
Mekdad, who was speaking in a meeting with Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad
Baqer Qalibaf, in Tehran, elaborated on the efforts made by Damascus to put an
end to occupation of certain regions in the northwestern part of the country,
adding, “US occupationism in northeastern and southern parts of Syria is also
dangerous and must end.”
Source:
Press TV
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/02/18/677094/Russia-United-States-Syria-occupation
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UR: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/humiliation-muslim-women-hijab-rights-girls/d/126405